Sorry we didn’t post the last two Throw Back Thursdays. We were out…gasp, SAILING! Had a great time seeing western Panama and the coast between Bocas Del Toro and Colon. Check out our Facebook page at Sail Joana to see the pictures.

Now, we will go back in time, many many years ago to resume the saga of getting Joana ready…

So much work, so little time. We were working Maria and her dad to death so it was time to call in the troops! Sailing around the world on a tall ship with 30 other people has its advantages…lots of cool people without conventional jobs to call on when you need free labor for a month or two! We reached out to our old engineer, Phil and a jack of all trades, Dustin (nicknamed D Bo). I called them up, enticed them with all kinds of promises of all the mac n cheese they can eat and maybe a beer or two and of course Maria’s charming personality. They were suckered, I mean sold and in PEI within a week.

The motley crew

Productivity went through the roof. Wires were spliced, electronics were up and running, engine was serviced, sails were bent on, food and spares were loaded. Within about a month Joana was almost ready to set sail for New York. Never mind that she hadn’t been in the water for 8 years. Never mind that it was late October in the North Atlantic where the wind and seas can be a bit nasty that time of year. The most important consideration…how the heck to get her back in the water! The man who ran the travel lift and who had hauled her many moons earlier swore he would never lift her again as she almost broke his lift. The only other option was a crane half way across the island with a hefty price tag of $10,000. Hmmmm, what to do, what to do. Well, we will tell you what we did next week…

Maria bending on sails

Harold working on less body parts

Phil

Dustin