Jonco 1st Annual Pig Roast 1.18.09

Well, we changed plans...again...and decided to hang in Barra de Navidad for another few days, rip the generator out of the engine room & take it in to a mechanic in Melaque. Michael worked hard to wrangle that monster out of the engine room, stripping it down as much as he could to minimize the weight. The mongrel weighed in around 80lbs! Michael had hoped to take it in his backpack so he could shoulder the weight, but it ripped the backpack on the first attempt so we put it in some heavy-duty canvas bags and gingerly moved it into the dinghy. Luckily, Joe & Deb and Mike & Marylyn were also going into Melaque the same day so Joe helped lug it on the 8 block walk to a taxi. Funny enough, when Joe first helped Michael get it out of the dinghy, he said "it isn't that heavy"...but after walking the 8 blocks to the taxi, commented "that's a heavy @($#%&!!". haha... We had been given several suggestions for mechanics in Melaque and drove to one but he took a look at it and sent us to another one down the street. The 2nd mechanic, named 'El Chalan' which translates roughly to 'the helper' took a look and said he could do it. We left it with him on Friday and he expected to have it done by Monday unless he needed parts. We will call him first thing Monday to make sure no special parts are needed. So keep your fingers crossed that it will run better! When we get the generator back, we'll have Jonco come out & help Michael put humpty dumpty back together. We spent the rest of the day hanging out in Melaque and while there, I found a photo processor & dropped off our 2 underwater cameras with high hopes of some spectacular photos. They won't be finished until Monday either but if there were any that develop, I'll post them as soon as possible.

Speaking of Jonco, on Saturday John & his wife, Lupita, hosted their 1st annual Pig Roast at their house. It was a lot of fun. He had an entire pig cooking in a bbq pit on his property and asked the cruisers to come & bring a side dish. I love attending shindigs like this as you get to try some spectacular foods prepared by everyone else. We made BBQ'd pineapple - a favorite from a luau evening we cooked up for friends previously. You take the pineapple & cut it into rings, leaving the core. Then you take 1/2 cup honey, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup rum, 1/4 cup butter, & 2 tbls water & heat in a saucepan. Once everything is melted, drizzle it on the pineapple & marinate for a bit. Heat the bbq & grill the pineapples on each side for 5-10 minutes or until brown. It's FANTASTIC!! So incredibly yummy... We decided to take a taxi to their house because we didn't know exactly where we were going and it turned out we got a nice tour of the ranches of Barra as we passed the house but continued for probably 5 miles! We made our way back the way we came and found some other cruisers walking and jumped out with them, who knew the way. There were probably 70 or so people there and everyone was hiding out in the shade as it was a very warm & sunny day. The one thing that John did not remember was chairs and so with some leftover building materials and John's permission, we constructed a couple benches in the shade...perfect!

The pig was roasted to perfection - the meat was incredibly tender and the BBQ sauce spectacular. All of the side dishes were a wonderful compliment to the pig and there were even pitchers of margaritas as refreshments. The majority of people present were cruisers, but some neighbors & other land-based businesses that service the cruisers were also represented. I missed getting a photo of the pig before it was cut up....but it was pretty ugly anyway. We spent about 3 hours or so chatting with everyone & then made the walk back to town. It was a welcome walk as we were all stuffed! We walked through town & made a stop at Diane & Drew's for a bit and then back to the water taxi.

So it's Sunday now and we're resting from all the excitement of the past few days...haha. Actually, Michael has been doing projects like crazy - the head discharge hose was plugged (urine mixes with salt water & creates this crazy crystal reaction and coats the hose....until almost nothing goes through) so he took it apart after unsuccessfully snaking it and had to beat, bend, & rinse the hose to get it clear again. Success! The rear head works like new again! He also tightened the packing on the shaft as it was dripping a little too much. So this afternoon he's taking a much needed break from projects.

We're staying put for a few more days, or until the generator is functioning again. The plan is still to go further South and we've been hearing Lovely Reta & Eyes of the World on the radio & know they're close! We're looking forward to seeing more spots and getting back in clean water! Today is 97 degrees outside and very little breeze, it's HOT!

Rene