Our Rituals

We arrived in Shelter Bay Marina, early on Sunday morning, around 9am, a rather easy entrance with minimal wind and almost no current, which is always a good feeling. The beauty of coming into this Marina is that we were met by 3 staff on the doc ready to tie us down, now I always feel a little anxious about passing the lines to people on the doc as they don’t always know how we like it. Also, Eric and I have our own rhythm and are used to communicating only with each other. These guys were very professional and tied us up so well we did not have to re-do or adjust anything, Intle was snug and perfectly steady in the water with barely a sway.

Since Sunday meant no customs clearance, we took the time to take a shower without having to hold on to something to keep you steady. Then off to the Marina Hotel to enjoy an ice-cold beverage and a meal not made on board.

The next few days was a busy mix of preparing Intle for her upcoming haul out, next week, we were also getting ourselves ready for a stretch of travel, 10 days in Panama City after which, we will fly to South Africa and Europe, so plenty to do and plenty to think about.

In the meanwhile, we had a pretty good cleaning routine going, that also involved taking a break to go for a daily swim come rain or shine. Each evening brought us back to the hotel bar for happy hour which clearly became our ritual, a toast to the days’ work, to the journey ahead and the peace we have found in the harbour, knowing that Intle Breeze is going to have her underbelly dealt with.

There are also some seriously big boy boats around here for us to oogle when we can lift out heads up from all the work we have.

Wednesday has arrived and it is time for haul out, ironically, we have had absolutely no wind here in Shelter Bay for an entire week, but of course this morning it decides to blow on a day that we need to get this vessel into a very tight space. Well, what to do, the show must go on.

A little nerve wracking to say the least, but Eric handled it like a pro. Finally, Intle is on the hard and you can see in the pictures the ever-whitening underbelly I have been talking about. We have now decided to make the long-term investment in our floating home and give her a copper coat.

The next couple of days we will be staying in the Marina Hotel, so that we can keep an eye on the initial phase of work that needs to be done. Staying on board when on the hard, would be incredibly uncomfortable and since we do like our comfort we have chosen the hotel.  Then off to Panama City.