What have we been doing since the last blog?

Aeeshah refit continued

Photo album link——>> https://photos.app.goo.gl/FkuGZUdYM6DhFyFU6

Aeeshah was moved to the outside world and then put on display to all those who were interested in getting their boats recoated, painted and beautified. She was shown to quite a few potential Ram clients. Our friends on N’Aimless are now getting N’Aimless tarted up too.

Meanwhile we have been hard at boat work.

I had the interior to get back together, cleaned, organised and readied to be lived in again. I must say it was a massive effort. Every nook and cranny, cupboard, shelf, floor, etc had to be washed, cleaned of fibreglass dust, polished and redone. Yes, the boat was sealed off, but that dust literally seeps in through any crack. I found fibreglass dust even inside cupboards! I even cleaned all the brass on board. Phew! I was mightily relieved when that job was finished. Well, I am almost finished, as the aft cabin still needs a final fix up and clean.

My next challenge was trying to get what was still being stored inside, for example dock lines, rigging, mast parts, stowed so it wasn’t piled in the way of our being able to get around. Finally I was onto the extra chores, little fixes, cockpit cleaning.

We had Nery come and reattach the vinyl to the ceilings. It had been unattached so the workers could unbolt all the deck fitting – for example rails, stansions, cleats and such. He did a wonderful job, it’s all back perfectly. Nery is also working on a new dinghy cover – chaps for our dinghy.

John had a slight mishap with the dinghy. He was returning with a pizza for dinner, miscalculated the turn into our dinghy corral and tore the side open on a exposed piece of metal. Therefore the dinghy had to go for a repair job which took a week. We had a loaner “dinghy” which was like a tiny tub.

Anyway to avoid further punctures we will dress the dinghy in new chaps. John was mightily relieved to get our fixed dinghy back. The cover should arrive soo.

Refit stage 2

The second biggest job after the gelcoat and painting of the hull was to have the rudder shaft remodified. We already had our welder Caesar making the shaft in his welding workshop. He too is an amazingly knowable fellow.

Why?:

It never was a long, shaft therefore it was not really strong enough for heavy weather sailing at sea.

Our main worker became Saul, who is a fibreglass expert. He was tasked with recreating the rudder shaft – the hole, in Aeeshah for the new rudder shaft.

He started by chiseling and grinding out the old shaft and delrin bushing. While doing this he discovered to his and John’s horror that at the top under the removed fibreglass there was rotten wood. So the job grew…all of the rotten wood extended through the stringers. These are the “arms” which hold the rudder in place. He along with his worker Noel chiseled out all this rot, then using a special technique they epoxied hard wood fitting it expertly into the stringers, completely fixing the entire rudder area.

Our welder Caesar delivered the newly modified rudder, its stock lengthened by 3 feet of stainless steel round bar, which he had crafted. All of this took over three weeks, but the work is excellent and done to perfection.

The shaft hole was remodelled to be the perfect fit for the new rudder shaft. Everything had to be completely perfect to a thousandth of a inch.

This took much work on Saul’s part. He worked until it was perfected. Admittedly I was getting fed up waiting for the rudder job to be completed. Finally it was judged absolutely perfect!

The cutlas bearing arrived and was put on by the project manager Chris. John cleaned and polished up the propeller plus all the surrounding bits were checked.

The mast foot was made by our welder, it arrived and John was very impressed. John then put it into place ready for our newly redone mast.

John dressed the mast, that is he put everything back on the mast. I helped at one stage, the threading of the electrical wires down the conduit inside the mast.

He normally could only work on it in the afternoons as it was then shaded in that area where it was suspended. Yes, it is still darn hot here, most days temperatures in the 90s.

Our buddies Pam and Don did some varnish work for us. They did a wonderful job on our entrance steps and the cockpit table and cup holder, all of which had been very worn and now look better than new.

Other activities:

With the still, windless, hot, humid weather we did not walk as much as previously. We did fewer walks over the bridge.

Tijax walk

We took a Sunday off and along with Pam and Don we went to Tijax for a hike. Tijax Hacienda Hotel and Ecolodge has over a 400 acres of trails some of which for a fee we could walk. None of us had hiked in the wilds for many months as we had been not allowed to.

It was a wonderful day, sunny but not scorching. The trail took us along walkways through the mangroves to the car park where we unlocked the gate to the trails. Across a hanging platform, over marshy grasslands to a slow uphill path which led to the little Museo.

There we read about different plants, animals and fossils.

From there we kept to a trail which took us through the jungle. As always the jungle was lush, green and silent except for the occasional bird and the buzz of mosquitoes.

We had a few challenges from downed trees which we climbed over, as we had missed the detour signs.

Emerging from the jungle we were faced with the rubber plantation and the pathway continuing uphill to the tower – our goal.

At the tower you climb several flights of steps and emerge on the roof to look out over the Rio Dulce to your south, west and east and Belize in the distant north.

We all enjoyed the views for a while and then set off down and along the return path.

This one led us to the suspended canopy bridges that hang around 30 feet above the jungle.

They are quite long and allow you to really see the canopy in its glory.

Back down we hiked to the downhill pathway, over the marshlands, over the mangroves and into the main hotel area. It was an excellent, several hours out enjoying the countryside.

After Tijax we went to Catamaran for a delicious lunch, a wander around and a chat with friends. An excellent day off, the first we had had in nearly a month.

Our other activities have been, grocery shopping, visits to Catamaran, and exploring our new area.

Our new home:

Our Casa sits on the river edge so we can motor right up in our dinghy. It’s a small place, a studio but quite adequate for our needs.

The entire place and all the furniture were made by the fellows who work here. Their craftsmanship is brilliant! I would love to have some of the furniture at home.

Behind where we stay at Punta Bonito there is a tributary. We went along it in the dinghy and found it to be very pretty, amazingly so, as it is just behind Fronteras.

Chico finds our new place to be a big cage, so he tells me. He literally climbs the walls. Spending his time staring out longingly watching the birds. He watches the humming bird that visits every morning with a passion in his eyes!