S/V Koinonia Weekly Sailing Log - Week Two in Ponce, PR (Wed June 7 - Tue June 13, 2023)

Wed Jun 7th - boat work all day today. Kids do school. Lizzy made breakfast burritos for lunch; they were delicious!  Changed the oil, engine fuel filter, and the Racor filter.  Polished the fuel with our portable DIY polisher Ben built in Virginia; looks like we must have gotten some bad fuel while in the DR. Adjusted the throttle cable and idle on the engine.  Ordered a new cutlass bearing in advance of our haul out.  Amber made a chicken, rice, and broccoli casserole for dinner.

Thu Jun 8th - kids do school. Ben worked on cleaning the area around the quadrant and painting the base of the quadrant to help prevent corrosion; also made arrangements with the marina office and several contractors for our haul out, survey, and sail repairs.  Seared teriyaki tuna steaks with homemade fried rice and cabbage. Watched the movie, “Hook” with Dustin Hoffman, Robin Williams, and Julia Roberts.

Fri Jun 9th - kids do school. Removed the mainsail and our dock neighbor offered to give Ben a ride to the sail loft to drop it off, which he gladly accepted.  As it turned out, the sail loft was a Quantum shop, the same make of our sails!  Charlie at the loft was very knowledgeable and spoke excellent English. Leftover casserole for lunch. Continued boat projects:  replaced all of the rubber feet on the Honda generator, flushed the watermaker, tightened the rudder post packing gland (it was dripping too much), repacked the aft lazarette, etc. Homemade pizza for dinner (a rare treat; since we have A/C at the moment, heating up the oven and thereby the galley is not a problem). Kids watched, “The Hunger Games” for the first time.

Sat Jun 10 - intermittent rain all morning. Lizzy made pancakes for breakfast. Took an Uber to Walmart and Home Depot in Ponce, about 10 minutes from the marina.  Bought essentials and a few birthday gifts for Maddy and Aliza (August) while we have access to stores. Had lunch/ dinner at Firehouse subs. The Britton twins brought some cookies by the boat and met the girls. Ben installed PVC tubes with end caps on deck to store our boat hooks and the gaff more securely and conveniently.

Sun Jun 11 - Sunday morning worship (virtual) with Bethany Place Baptist.  Had loaded chili nachos for lunch. Finished up some miscellaneous boat projects and vacuumed the bilges dry, then walked down to the beach/ boardwalk area near the marina and enjoyed scoping out 20+ food trucks where we ordered a smorgasbord including pinchos (grilled kabobs), fried shrimp, tostones, mojitos for the adults and ice cream for the kids. The girls played for a while on the playground, before returning to the boat.

Mon Jun 12 - More boat projects as we prepare to haul out tomorrow. Got new zincs out of storage and prepped for install once we’re on the hard.  Went to help the Britton’s with rigging their whisker pole (pole designed to hold the forward sail open when sailing downwind); this inspired us to take down our whisker pole and check for smooth operation of all components.  Ben and Amber take turns doing laundry. Received an embarrassing number of packages, which we had family ship to the marina. Ben went up to the marina office and waited to receive them so as not to burden the marina staff. It took three of us plus our folding hand truck to bring everything back to the boat!

Tue Jun 13 - kids do school. Scheduled haul out postponed until tomorrow morning…welcome to the Caribbean!  The wind is really blowing hard today, so the delay is probably for the best. Took advantage of the additional time to complete a few more boat projects before the survey on Thu. Finished the laundry and got the boat closed up and ready for hauling out tomorrow. Took a taxi to the apartment, Edificio Gladiolas, in downtown Ponce; walked around and had a yummy dinner at Tablas restaurant. The street noise, even inside the apartment, made sleep difficult; definitely getting some ear plugs!

God Bless,

S/V Koinonia