A second beach bar!

 

Our first full day of the second half of the is epic adventure saw us depart from our new friends at the San Carlos Beach Resort after some light fettling (Nigel still fiddling with his carburettors and Chris adjusting his brakes). Our host Burma had found Chris adjusting his brakes and it turns out that he’s not a bad welder but his handyman is an excellent welder and before you knew it they had welded Chris’ wings back together. Finally the Rolls is being held together properly rather than with sticking plaster and glue!

 

Apart from Chris eating Ham’s breakfast and then the restaurant having no more (can there be a greater crime on an adventure such as this, than eating your companions breakfast?) the day started easily with a smooth run north past Santiago towards the town of David. As always the temperature rose steadily towards a blistering 34C and we climbed steadily. Ham’s Lagonda continues, despite the repair in Cartagena, to run hot reaching 105C at times as did Chris’ Rolls. The difference being that the Rolls is running with John Deere coolant which won’t boil whilst the Lagonda has water. As long as the temperature keeps coming down when the car cruises downhill it should be okay and Ham will just continue to fill the radiator at every available opportunity.

 

We only got stopped at one police check point where they were very happy to see us. The line of not speaking Spanish always seems to work well and apart from photographs they let us on our way.

 

The three cars cruised comfortably along good, clean, open, unbusy roads. We eventually turned off to get down to Las Lajas and the Show Pony Resort back on the beach. Once again there was an impromptu police check point on the way to the resort where photographs were taken and we were let on our way. Nigel and Tobs were delayed for longer because in their case they wanted an entire album of photographs! It was down a 2km rough track but worth it when we got there. Once again run by Americans who seem to love the weather and relaxed way of life down in Panama.

 

Ham had a call with David Ayre back in the UK about the temperature who suggested jamming the slats open or removing the slats altogether. If the car is getting hot it is simply that the radiator isn’t doing its job properly which is simply a function of age. Both of David’s suggestions will involve removing the radiator once again which shouldn’t take long but we decided to see how it performs tomorrow. One must remember that the ambient temperature is about 35C and about 15C hotter than when we start in the morning. We have some more levers to pull should it be necessary.