Archiv
CW 42 2003
13.10. - 19.10.2003
The week starts early since SILVER BUE will be taken out of the water again
today. High tide is at 5am and with more than 5m tidal lift we should take
her out during the midst of high tide. At the Flamenco marina they have a
150-ton travel-lift and even with our impressive 7.40m we easily fit into
the basin for the lift. After one hour, without any problems, we're standing
high and dry.
Originally only a new anti-fouling coat was planned, but in the end it turned
out to be a lot more work. I'd spotted a few small bubbles in the gel-coat
at the waterline and those were to be sanded down, then a good epoxy primer
was to be applied and the waterline raised.
| Unfortunately we found out that the entire boat has gel-coat-blistering.
That's no osmosis yet, but high time to get something elementary done.
We found someone with the know-how and the necessary equipment and now
the entire underwater-body will be abraded to the fiberglass - und for
that SILVER BLUE is nicely rapped up and a new watertight epoxy coating
is applied layer by layer. This job will take some time, but in the end it is a reasonable and necessary solution. So we spend the week doing this one and lots of other small jobs. And it is such a pleasure if you only have to go to the nearest store when you need something - in Columbia it always turned into a massive search. |
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We rented a car for the weekend and our first trip took us to Colon where we left our lifeboat-island for a service. We watched as they ejected the island - very impressive. We also visited the famous Portobello, discovered by Christopher Columbus and conquered by Sir Francis Drake. |
On Sunday we use the rented car to visit the beautiful national park siding the Panama Canal and covering the area from Gamboa to Lake Gatun. The birds here are unique and fauna and flora seem to burst from every corner.
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And last but not least we visit the marine national park on the island
Culebra where we have a long conversation with the staff concerning
the Pacific's underwater world. (Bild Panama 5- 019) TOM |
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