Arenal Kayaks Tours on Lake Arenal, Costa Rica

It's raining as I write this post. It's been raining almost non-stop since returning from Nicaragua on Wednesday. I dumped 4.5" yesterday and 3.6" today out of the rain gauge and if the rain keeps up I expect we'll see another 3+ inches in there tomorrow morning.

Depressing? You bet. We normally expect to see sunny weather by this time of year. Our "summer" is typically from mid-February through mid-May. We all save up our outdoor projects for this time of year to take advantage of the nice weather. For instance here at Arenal Kayaks we are anticipating replacing the 30-year old roof on the house along with some interior remodeling and adding on some covered patio space. In order to do that we need some dry weather. But with the rain not letting up much at all so far this year those projects languish.

There are certainly some projects that could be attempted in the rain. We have several smaller projects around but we need to get sand and gravel delivered in order to mix cement. The problem is that our driveway is an uphill mud bog from the constant rain and it would be impossible to get the delivery truck to the top. The only option is to have the material dumped at the bottom by the road and pay extra for a backhoe to haul it up the driveway. That just ends up costing more not only for the backhoe but a portion of the material gets left behind at the bottom. But, I'm thinking that maybe that's the price that has to be paid to get off square one here. We'll see.

There's another small problem. It seems the 4WD has broken in the Land Cruiser. Normally not a big deal but we depend on it to make it up our driveway when it's wet. We have a moderately steep driveway that is not paved. We've dumped many loads of rock and gravel on it over the years and it has stabilized some but after several days of rain it becomes too slippery for 2WD to manage it. I've been able to make it up the past few days and once yesterday but not last night. Probably not so easy in the dark anyways but after a visit to Gingerbread, and an awesome bowl of Eyal's chili, I was unable after 2 attempts to make the top of the drive. So, the Land Bruiser is parked precariously about halfway up and I haven't braved the rain yet today to make another attempt.

In attempting to fix the Bruiser I replaced both front hubs thinking those were the most likely to fail. The racket it makes sounds like gears slipping so that made sense. After replacing the hub on the driver's side it seemed to be working again so I thought that was going to be it. A few days later it started again so I replaced the other hub. Well, apparently that wasn't the problem so now I suspect that I need a new pinion (or is it a planetary gear?) gear in the front differential. I've never rebuilt a differential so am leery about taking on that project and may just take it over to Carlos for an evaluation.

So, how's the kayaking you ask? Well, the Great Auk, my handmade kayak, is collecting dust and spider webs hanging in the shop. There are several locals who have guests visiting who have also been waiting for some nice weather to get out on the lake. There's been no kayaking here for at least a week, maybe more. While we're not opposed to kayaking in the rain most people aren't that adventurous and we can't blame them for wanting nicer weather.

Pura Vida!