11th of August, 2009

I am here, moored to a buoy, but I may be forced to anchor. I am not at all ‘happy’ with the idea for I know I will be constantly worried about my weak chain, even if I will attach an additional rope...

Anyways, catching the buoy was a great feat in itself... I would rather not repeat it – it is a very big cylinder with a shackle in the centre. I had to go to a nearby ship and convince its crew to help me out with their pontoon. The guys, although ready to help, did not speak English, and my Spanish needs a lot of improvement. What is more, they had no idea how to operate the pontoon :) As if that was not enough, heavy rain came – it is a real pity I did not record it, you’d laugh your heads off:)
Later, a gentleman from the port authority and a doctor came. My lungs and tongue were examined and I was found to be healthy and ‘able’ to stay on the island. It ‘turned out,’ though, that I had no permission to moor to the buoy, but I did! Crazy, I’m telling you!
The port authority guy, sergeant Romero was touched by my story (and my person), though. He even made a shower available to me (at his friend’s in a captain hotel). Later, he took me to Jonny Romero (names coincidentally the same). Jonny is my friend, whom I had opportunity to meet when I was here for the last time. He has his own office and he is an Agent. www.naugala.com
An agent is necessary, as he speaks to the authorities on your behalf. It cannot be done in any other way. Since my yacht had been his first client ever (long ago, when I was here before and Jonny was starting his business), he declared that this time he will serve me pro bono. I am very grateful to him since my financial situation doesn’t look good after my VISA was stolen from me in Panama. Together with the port authority guy, they decided how to help me. Most of all, we need to register my prolonged stay here. Under normal conditions, one is allowed to stay on the island for 24 hours. But I need to rest!!! Fix many things, refuel, etc. Maybe I will get a permission to stay here even for a few days... We will see...
I have an impression that a lot has changed since my last visit to Santa Cruz. There are a lot more tourists, shops, bars, and no iguanas whatsoever. It is the same with the Academy Bay, where Tanasza Polska Ustka is moored. I remember that there was a lot of pelicans, blue-legged ‘booby’ birds, manta rays and large tortoises. And now I see none of them...
It happened so that on the day of my arrival there was a festival, the kind where you can buy candy-floss and find children making soap bubbles, hear music in the streets... I wandered among these people, feeling as if I was drunk ... with fatigue; I burnt my tongue a bit because I bought a local speciality from a street vendor – a kind of corn donut with cottage cheese inside, and I was so hungry that I did not wait for it to cool down. Later, I managed to get lost in little streets. It was charming, in a way. I surfed the Internet, too, in order to read messages from you and then, not wasting time, I turned to fixing my sail mail so that I could send you my blogs straight away from the sea. Chiollo Basan helped me out. He is a guide in local park and he knows EVERYONE! He arranged a group of techs to help. So far I did not manage to fix anything but I did manage to develop a new kind of depression – a computer one. All of this while digging in the OS, talking to Janek over Skype...

to be continued...