Hazel’s First Mate Earns a Flogging!

As most of you know, one day into our fifteen day journey from New Orleans to Panama, our marine head failed. The crew of Hazel spent the next fourteen days relying on a five gallon bucket to accomplish their daily requirements. One of the first repairs we tackled upon reaching Panama was the marine head. I want to be very clear. Repairing a marine head is the absolute worst job on a boat. I had the privilege of taking on this project, which consumed an entire day. Every hose, every seal, and every mechanism had to be taken apart. Every hose, seal, and mechanism was also backed up with human excrement.

For those who do not sail, you must understand that nothing goes into a marine head unless it comes out of the human body. No toilet paper, no tissues, no garbage. Nothing is allowed except what the body produces. That is a hard and fast rule. Everything else used to perform your daily chores goes into a wastebasket next to the head.

A few things you should know about my First Mate. Peter loves tea. He probably drinks five cups a day. Peter also loves chewing tobacco, the kind that comes in those little white pouches. Any guesses what clogged our marine head and forced us to use a bucket for fourteen days? Not only did I find tea bags and their strings, but also used tobacco pouches. The hoses, the macerator, and the hand pump were all jammed with these two items.

I truly wanted to vent some anger on my First Mate. However, he had already abandoned Hazel because the stench was overpowering. He chose to go lie out by the marina pool and work on his suntan. The crazy thing is that he did this with zero remorse or guilt. In a very odd way, I envy him for this trait. He carries nothing with him. Whatever happens is over in his mind within two minutes. It must be very freeing for the soul. As I thought about this, my mind went from he needs to be flogged to only Peter could move on from this in sixty seconds and never think about it again. How I ended up admiring him for this while my hands, although well gloved, were still lathered in stench and feces, I will never understand.

As this update is being published, I have flown back to Minnesota to spend time with my wife and organize boat parts that cannot be easily obtained in Panama. Peter remains with Hazel as his wife will be flying down to meet us soon.

Before my departure, I believe we accomplished everything required to bring Hazel up to standard for her next five thousand nautical mile journey across the Pacific. A few critical items we addressed over the last couple of weeks include the following.

We replaced all our running rigging. These are the ropes you see all over a sailboat. Some pull the sails up and are called halyards. Others pull the sails tight and are called sheets. Some of our running rigging was old and some had chafed, so we made the call to replace everything. We also added a new spare for each line.

Hazel’s standing rigging was fully retuned. Standing rigging consists of the cables that hold up the mast from different angles. This is the first time I am confident that our standing rigging is completely correct. I believe it will pay dividends in the way Hazel responds and sails.

All of Hazel’s electrical issues have been fixed. Every light and system is now fully functioning.

We went over every cotter pin and screw on deck to ensure they were either tightened or removed, treated with Loctite, and reinstalled.

We also re-bedded three of our port side chain plates. A small leak had been running down the rigging into the chain plate and then into the boat. We dug out all the old bedding compound, which was 3M 4000, and replaced it with fresh butyl tape. For the sailors reading this, I re-bedded all the starboard chain plates with butyl tape this summer and removed the 3M 4000. I truly recommend butyl tape over any 3M product for chain plate work.

At this point, we are waiting for our sails to be repaired. Both the Genoa and the staysail had damage. The sail loft is heavily backlogged and estimates another ten days. Assuming all goes well, weather permitting, and the Canal authorities do not make any changes, our plan is to transit the Panama Canal on March 2.

In the meantime, Hazel is resting in Shelter Bay Marina. To my surprise, SBM is home to two large crocodilian species: the American crocodile, Crocodylus acutus, and the spectacled caiman, Caiman crocodilus. These reptiles inhabit mangrove swamps, river estuaries, coastal lagoons, and parts of the Panama Canal where freshwater meets the sea. The American crocodile is a true crocodile species, often found in brackish water and capable of growing up to twenty feet long. If you have a hard time believing that, just check out the photo we took: