Update

Sigh, we're still in Curacao - haven't moved the boat an inch since I came aboard. The autopilot issue is FINAlly fixed as of just a couple of hours ago though, so that's good. The bad news is we're in a really tricky part of the world weather-wise. From Trinidad to Panama is one of the roughest passages in the world, believe it or not, due to weather. So there's a teeny tiny weather window opening up tomorrow, but given that we haven't tested the autopilot, it doesn't make sense to go. They hand-steered here because they had to. It wouldn't be wise to choose that scenario.

Sooo, it sounds like we're going to sail up to Klein Curacao - a little island off the mainland and anchor up there for a few days...leaving maybe late tomorrow afternoon or first thing Sunday. Then maybe later next week we'll get lucky with another little window, or just choose to go for it - which has to happen eventually.

In other news, I did 2 dives yesterday. Alex and Melissa are doing their PADI Open Water Certification and I came along for the ride. But, eesh, talk about embarassing, ...I've got a Divemaster certification, so when they were being taught howto set up the tanks the Instructor said "oh she should know what she's doing." But then he said something that didn't make sense to me about the way the valve should go, so I second guessed myself and spun mine around. Course then I'm attaching everything backwards, which felt REALLY wrong, but I kept at it. Anyway, then the instructor was like, "um, that's wrong." UGH, duh. Ya know that's the first time I've done that, ever...after I don't know 80 ish dives? Bleh.

Anyhow, the diving was pretty cool. I have to say doing your open water in the ocean is awesome. The dropoffs here are kinda unbelievable. We went from 10ft. to a sheer wall that dropped to, man, I don't even know, a few hundred feet maybe? In my opinion this is quite dangerous to take students to, particularly if the instructor doesn't pay super close attention, which he didn't, as the students are much more likely to be disoriented and/or not paying attention to their depths. Despite my earlier equipment snafu, I do still know what I'm doing underwater, and I'm very much like a mother hen while diving - keeping an eye on everyone. So I was glad I was there. Alex and Melissa both seemed pretty natural at it though, and with more experience, they'll be great.

Oh, last, I'm learning how to deal with SSB and pactor modems for sailmail, out of necessity, as Todd has never used them before. It's kinda neat! And a great skill to chuck onto my sailing resume. This way I'll be able to send very very small email updates to the blog and those that care even out in the middle of the ocean! If you're reading this and you want to be added to the list to receive those updates, email me.

Adios por ahora.