Hacienda Tijax
The good news is that the repair to our
boat is costing next to nothing by US standards -- only $100
for the fiberglass work, and a total of about $200 for the
wood repairs, which began early this month.
Oscar was also kind enough to recommend a
canvas guy, Luis to help us reconstruct a new bridge cover
and recover the flybridge cushions. Although he used
the old one as a pattern, when he brought the new one over,
it didn't fit. Undaunted, he came back with his sewing
machine, and sat on the dock fitting, cutting, and refitting
until it worked. Unfortunately, he was a few snaps
short (sounds like a mental condition, but it's not) of a
full bridge cover, so he has to make a special trip to
Guatemala City for more. I'm so impressed with his
work that we're having a dinghy cover made to match.We were also fortunate enough to get hooked
up with an American woman married to a beef rancher who is
willing to supply American-cut steaks, chops and roasts.
She's from Wisconsin, apparent in the way she spoke to me
about homemade "saaaasages" -- so we gave her a try.
Four of us boaters ordered filet mignon, New York and
sirloin steaks, and talked Eugene and the staff into making
us a barbecue pit out by the pool -- needless to say, a good
time was had by all. There's a little palm-covered
outdoor bar with refrigerator, bar stools in the pool that
sit against the bar -- and all of it was put to good use,
with each of us bringing pot luck. The hit of the
evening was an impromptu invention of men-vs-women water
polo that had us all laughing our sides off and feeling like
little kids. Really -- how long has it been since YOU
got to engage in physical, rough-and-tumble
honest-to-goodness play!
Our game was observed in drunken amusement by about 15
Dutch students, who stayed at their end of the pool stacking
up empty beer cans six-deep and wondering why they couldn't
cut loose like we did.
Even the staff had fun, peering out from the kitchen on
occasion, and gratefully accepting tips of ice cream
sundaes. Maggie continues to get thinner by the day,
and by the end of the month, she's just about half her
normal weight. Thankfully she's eating (we're now
supplementing with canned sardines) and drinking plenty of
water, and still fairly cheerful, thanks to the more
frequent use of air conditioning. If I were to
anthropomorphize, it's almost as if she knows her little
days are drawing to an end. I'm still sad, but talking
to other boaters about how they celebrate the passing of
their pets. I think we can do her honor when her time
comes.
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