Our world is one of shared adventure/shared adversity. So we become nearly instant friends with the other cruisers in an anchorage. At Puerto Amistad, there is a 'palapa' built specifically for the cruisers. A palapa is a Central American word for an open air thatched hut. But this one has a power plug every 2 feet, so no matter how many computers, iPods, cell phones, etc one brings ashore, there are enough outlets to plug everyone in.
The palapa is a cruiser's meeting place, away from the bar, where we can bring our computers in, hang out and use shore power and faster wifi, exchange books, music, DVD's, travel stories, maintenance issues, etc. Not a day goes by where there isn't a long discussion about some important issue... everything from renewing visas in Ecuador, to buying batteries, to outboard motor problems.
For example, a boat here called Dream Caper is looking for new batteries. Over the past couple of weeks there have been discussions on (a) reviving their old batteries (b) shipping heavy stuff into Ecuador (c) the merits of sailing back to Panama for batteries (d) Locating deep-cycle batteries for sale in Ecuador (e) The merits and downside of AGM batteries. I think they finally settled on buying Chinese AGM's via Quito. No Golf Cart batteries to be found here, unfortunately, and they don't want to go back to Panama.
As another example, we were having waterpump problems. We had several discussions ashore about our pump issues, and discivered that the boat next to us, Victoria, is also having water pump problems. So when Dave sat down with this box of spares to take apart our water pump and repair it, Kim and Pierre from Victoria came over and got a lesson from Dave in water pump repair.
Another boat, Amigo, is having his Perkins Front End taken apart by the local diesel mechanic. Dave wants to watch, just to get any tips from the mechanic on attacking the front end of a Perkins diesel.
Another boat is working on dinghy repair. We had been monitoring their progress and hoping to borrow a smidge of their 2-part glue to re-glue one of our oarlocks. But it turns out they don't have enough glue for their project... so ensued a long discussion on (a) whether they could bring glue back in their luggage from their trip home (b) the chances of finding the right glue in Ecuador (c) the merits and pitfalls of using 5200 Fast Cure instead.
Someone has a computer problem... word has gotten around that I'm a 'computer wizard', and any time I'm in the palapa, I get consulted on the latest computer issues (my computer runs too slow, my mouse jumps around when I turn my GPS on, Maxsea can't find my charts, Maxsea won't recognize my GPS, will xyz program run on Vista, what about Windows 7, etc). I have been repaid several times--never in cash--but usually with a bottle of wine or a nice meal.
There is also a "pay it forward" mentality here...I help you, you help someone else, they help someone else, and we all get that warm feeling.
And yes, here like every other anchorage, there are some "lost sheep"... people who's boats and mentality are totally unprepared for the cruising life... While WE were spending hours in Panama City doing maintenance and hunting down spares, they were hanging out in the Balboa Yacht Club drinking beer.
Those people tend to end up in remote ports with broken/inadequate gear, no tools, no spares, and no know-how. They are the bane of every anchorage, but we help them too. (Actually, we end up helping 2 or 3 times, and then ducking around the corner when they come ashore !!)
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