Ready, Fire, Aim..........and the search for the PERFECT fruit hammock

Dinghy on the deck, diesel on the deck and jacklines set

OK guys, sh_t's getting real now. Our weather guy for the South Pacific (the venerable "Bob") has told us that our weather window opened 2 days ago and closes on Feb 17. Yikes! Scramble the fighter jets...we've moved up our departure 3 days, which has thrown L'ORIENT into utter chaos.

More fuel, and more canvas than Ringling Bros.

Food, fuel, wine (of course), parts.........everything must be purchased and on the boat YESTERDAY!
We rented a car and have been buzzing around Panama doing our errands at top speed. The good news is that we've caught up (to a degree). We think we're 95% ready to go. We will see.

Our pride and joy- the 95 liter fuel bladder (aka "big bladder")

The busy days have prevented us from dwelling on the 600lb gorilla in the room. Panama City to French Polynesia non-stop ? 4200 miles? 30 days at sea? What are we thinking? We've had hours of conversation at happy hour about this voyage being a mind-set challenge. It's not about how far from our destination we are.........we need to live in the "now". Enjoy the journey. It sounds easy but we make fun of people who talk this way when we meet them on the street so it could be a challenge.

We've loved Panama but lately we've felt a little "hustled" by various vendors, administrators, and the two different shiesters who jacked our credit card numbers. Panamanians (or at least the one's we've encountered lately) have been a tad too transactional.

Tom- "Hey Trevor, can you repair the leak in my dive tanks and fill it with air for $80 ?"
Trevor- "Sure, I'll have it back tomorrow"
Result- Trevor ruins the tank by repairing it with non-marine glue, can't get it filled (because it's ruined) but still wants his $80. Tom has to buy a new dive tank for $250 but in retaliation (remember the NJ roots) kills another job he was going to give Trevor which was worth $100. Trevor went for the "quick score" and ignored the prospect of a longer, more lucrative commercial relationship.

How about another ? We eat a a restaurant in Panama City and use our credit card. That same night, our credit card number is used two blocks away at another unrelated restaurant for $780. Shady servers selling our number while we're enjoying dinner! It's hard to feel sorry for attractive, rich yachtees living an unimaginably exciting life, but please try.

Yo-ho-ho.......a pirate's life for me...........nothing more legit than a fruit hammock !

But our big news is, yes.........we've found the perfect fruit hammock! L'ORIENT now looks very 18th century in the galley..........Pitcairn Island and all that. Our new white fruit hammock sways proudly and adds an air of "legit" to the boat. We couldn't be more excited.

So to our readers, critics, members of the media, etc. - you won't see a new blog post for a bit but you can follow us across the Pacific by clicking on "Where are We" at the top of the blog home page - our satellite system SHOULD populate the map automatically. If we don't appear (or appear not to be moving) do not be concerned - we have some conscientious family members as our emergency contacts.  Au revoir until we emerge in French Polynesia!