September 27th, 2010

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Monday Sept 27 Biding my time

Monday, September 27th, 2010

Marian ( not Mario) is around the dock here somewhere, but just like last Saturday he totally ignores me. I think he is drinking aboard one of the tug boats. He was supposed to meet me at 1 p.m. according to the guys from the Capitanaria. I need find another mechanic, one with a compression gauge.

Maybe part of the revelation for the reason of being marooned here is the fact that it turns out to be a good spot to run out of propane. It happened Saturday evening while cooking dinner. On Sunday one of the men from the Capitania (Harbor master) saw my empty tank and offered to take me to have it filled. Well, every country has its own ways of filling tanks. In Holland I had to junk my South African tank and this time I needed to have a reducer made up to fit the Romanian system. But the friend arranged for all that and then he came with a sack full of home canned delicacies his wife had given him to bring to me. Delicious pickles, olives, peppers and a chunk of fresh Goat cheese. So after eating bread with salami and tomatoes and the canned pickles for the three meals yesterday I’ll be able to cook again. The 10 3/4 liter propane cost me $9. That is my entire utility bill for 8 months living and cooking aboard. Remind me when I feel sorry for my self again…. Electricity from the solar panel.

The below picture shows the typical push boat on the Danube. These power houses ( this one 1600 HP) push these double width triple lengths heavy barges. This particular one pushes the ferry barges and the barges that are being unloaded with gravel, right next door.