A new day has dawned and we are going to start tackling the list. Dave has to replace the copper foil in the boat which is used to ground the Single Side Band ground plane. The old stuff was corroded. He had just enough to do from the center bolt in the hull to a connection in the aft of the boat. The whole process had us taking up deck plates so we could run it under them and then the hardest part was getting it to the back end of the boat. We had to take up the mattress in the larger aft stateroom so we could access under the bed and work the foil aft. This foil measures about 3 inches wide and comes in different lengths. Dave got a 50 foot length one. Dave had to clean out the aft locker outside so he could get in the locker to access the area where the foil would be coming up from inside the boat. He was having difficulty with the foil and moving around in the locker so we traded places. With me being a little smaller I can fit a little better with a little more immovability. When I say little-----I mean little. I was pretty cramped and not much space between a hose and where the foil was to come up. I tried to get a hold of the foil with pliers and I did get it a couple times but then the foil got moved. Dave had gone back into the boat in the aft stateroom to see about trying to get the foil to go further so I could pull it up and through the hole it had to come through, but we both were struggling. So finally we switched places again and he found the foil was getting stuck on a bulk head. So he got a hold of the foil with the pliers and worked it out of the hole. Hooray!!!!! He finished the job and we put everything back together again in the aft stateroom and the outside locker. Next we need to check the sea strainers to make sure there isn’t a bunch of gunk in them. It was clean so we struggled getting that put back on as you only have an opening big enough to get your arm in and with Dave on one side of the engine compartment and me on the other side we were able to work it back up and secure it so it didn’t leak salt water. This work has to be done on knees and/or laying on your stomach trying to hold a flashlight with one hand (mine) while Dave maneuvers the strainer back into place. No maintenance job is easy on the boat. You are working in very small cramped spaces. It looks like the strainer is on straight so leaving the engine seacock open, it is time to run the engine and see if we got it right. If we don’t it is back to taking it off and putting it back on. We don’t need to check the other strainers as this was clean the others will be also. Dave started the engine and she fired right up with no problem. Music to our ears. I checked the sea water strainer and no leaks so all is well. We inspected the engine for leaks especially where Dave replaced the hose clamps that broke. The last time we ran the engine we found a leak where the antifreeze goes through a hose. So after the engine got warmed up and the hoses were hot, Dave checked the hose where it was leaking and we still have a slight leak. So he took one or two turns on the bolt, tightening the hose clamp and it is looking better. We shut off the engine so we could take the cover off over the engine (which is the steps that lead down into the boat), in order to have better access for cleaning up the antifreeze under the engine. Once that was done we put the cover back and Dave started the engine again. This time we were getting water where the antifreeze was collecting in a small area under the engine. What?????? Where is THAT coming from!!!! Earlier, Dave had me pour fresh water on the shaft to take off some of the salt water build up but that would not have puddle under the engine. Now it was search time to figure out whence it came. That meant that Dave had to take the doors off from under the sink in the galley (since the access plate is under the sink to where the salt water intake is able to be viewed). Sure enough he found the leak coming from a hose so he tightened the hose clamp on the hose. The engine is off again. Then he went to tighten the bolts that keep the face plate attached to the salt water intake unit and the top of the bolt broke off!!!!!! %#$&#@%^! Dave said that if the bolt is in tight it shouldn’t cause a problem but we have to run the engine again to see. So Dave started her up and I kept an eye on things and sure enough a puddle of salt water was forming under the engine. So the engine was shut down and there isn’t anything more we can do until we get some bolts to replace the old ones. That will have to be in La Paz. We are hoping that bolt without a head will come out when the other bolts are loosened. The fear is having that bolt or the others break and have part of it is stuck in the salt water inlet casing. We don’t want to think about that but unfortunately we have to because that opens up another bag of worms and will delay getting the boat to La Paz. The bad thing about Santa Rosalia is there are no marine stores around so if you have major problems you are on your own. That is where other cruisers get involved in helping out. So we are hoping and praying we can fix this problem after returning from La Paz. The plan is to leave Santa Rosalia on Wednesday, drive to La Paz, stay in our favorite bed and breakfast not far from La Paz Yachts and take care of getting the things we need to bring back to the boat and check out our new slip. Then Friday we will take the bus from La Paz to Santa Rosalia so we can finish getting the boat ready and make sure everything is working, take her out on a test run, and if the weather is good untie the lines on the boat and head for La Paz. Today was a very frustrating day! Tomorrow Dave is borrowing a solder iron so he can connect two separate copper foil pieces together so he can run it under the chart table. Then battery water levels need checking and we have to spray the pulleys and other parts that the sheet lines to the sails go through. Hopefully we will have very little wind so we can pull the sails out to make sure they work properly and smoothly. We also have to secure the deflated and rolled up dinghy to the deck, so it won’t go anywhere while we are under way, and secure the dinghy motor to the back of the boat. There is a stand already secured to the boat to house it. So you see there is a lot of work to be done still.
There is a breeze today and it is nice and warm. There won’t be pulling any sails out today. That will have to wait until we get back to the boat from La Paz. Dave got some WD40 and sprayed the pulleys and such. Then he tackled getting the bolts off the salt water intake cover. God has smiled on us today as all three of the remaining bolts came out without a problem. The 4th bolt came out too. So all is good. We will get new bolts to replace those when we get to La Paz and we should be good to go. I checked the battery water level and added water where needed for the house batteries, starter battery and bow thruster battery. Dave tested the bow thruster and it works and he ran the generator and it is working well too. There is a slight miss reading for battery bank 2 and Dave will have to check the connections to make sure there isn’t a loose wire somewhere. We replaced plastic snap covers on the hatches as the old ones got brittle and broke. The plastic covers are meant to keep dust and debris from getting into the hardware that makes the windows raise and lower. They have been sitting in the sun long enough that they lost their holding power and each time we opened a hatch the plastic cover would fly off, leaving the hardware exposed to the elements. I cleaned the rubber gasket on each hatch and around the frame so that job is finally done. I had wanted to do that for the longest time. It looks as though we are done for now and just a few more things to do before we leave in the boat for La Paz.
We heard the road to La Paz is being worked on and there may be delays so we are going to have to leave early in the morning. It is a 7 hour drive normally but could end up being 9 hours or more. I sure hope we don’t run into too much of a delay. The Mexican Government want a 4 lane highway between Loreto and La Paz and they are blasting a mountain to get most of the rocks contained so there won’t be rock slides.
Dave and I have cooled off with a cold beer and I will be taking a shower here pretty soon before going to town for dinner. The motor for the dinghy is on the boat secured on its holder and all we have to do now is get the dinghy on the boat and when we get back from La Paz we will secure it for traveling. The rolled up dinghy has been wrapped in a large tarp to protect it from the elements while secured to the deck of the boat.
Dave reset the inverter charger due to the funny readings he was getting from battery bank 2 but things still aren’t what they should be. So Dave is going to buy a Hydrometer to test the batteries of bank 2 to see if there is a bad cell and if so we will have to get another battery when we get the boat in La Paz. The existing battery won’t have any effect on the trip to La Paz. So looks like we are ready for the road trip tomorrow. La Paz here we come.
The trip was a hot one. In one place it was 101 and we had to wait for about 20 minutes due to them clearing a new road in the mountain side. There were a couple little delays but all in all we didn’t have a bad trip. We left Santa Rosalia between 7:30-8:00am and got to our B&B called Casa Buena mid afternoon. You wouldn’t know it was a motel from the outside as there is a wall around it. Once you get past the wall it is like a tropical paradise. The rooms are comfortable and simple and they serve a simple breakfast in the morning. If you want something else than what they serve you can go shopping and come back and cook it yourself. A family owns it and they use to be cruisers. They found this place and made it home. They live in a house that is right there on the property so it is easy for them to be available if needed. Otherwise they live a normal life. They have a daughter, Michelle, who is 14 years old and a son, Arthur, who is 5 years old. Arthur is adopted and has Cerebral Palsy. He is such a happy guy and loves to interact with everyone that comes to the B&B. They are a great family. I got a hug and some really great smiles from him. Dad and Mom are very attentive but not over protected and it is a great environment for him as you don’t have to worry about him going out into the street or anything like that. They also have 2 cats and 2 dogs. It is a kid and animal friendly place. Milton and Susu (the owners) use to have a young horse too but it got to big so they have it somewhere else. Arthur loved to ride it. The main building houses a gathering area for TV, games, eating, and there is a kitchen. The owners don’t wait on you so if you want something you just help yourself if they have it. It is pretty cool. There are twelve rooms and most are $45 a night and there are a couple larger rooms with 2 queen beds for $55. The price is perfect!!! We were able to get a $55 room this time. All rooms have air conditioning and a small refrigerator. They also have a pool. Most restaurants and shopping are within walking distance.
After our arrival at the B&B, we went down to La Paz marina to see our broker. We told him of our plans again of bringing the boat down and asked him who he knew was best to contact for a haul out; washing the boat and diving to clean the bottom. Then we headed back to the B&B and relaxed and visited with the people staying there. Then we walked to a restaurant named ‘Banditos’ which serve really good hamburgers along with other great dishes. We had a relaxing dinner and the weather was a hot one so a cold beer went down nice!!! After dinner we walked back to the B&B and we retired to our room for the night. I read a little and Dave was on the computer. We were really tired so we went to bed.
Next morning the sun was shining and it was already starting to get hot but not as hot as yesterday. It was in the 90’s and humid. We ate breakfast then walked to a man’s house that has a lot of parts so we could see if he had the one screw we needed for the salt water intake unit. He sure did so that can be checked off the to-do list. Now it is onto Lopez marine store to check out prices of things we need to buy for the boat when it is finally in La Paz, and get a Mexican flag. We can’t buy a bunch of stuff now as we are leaving the jeep at the marina and taking the bus to Santa Rosalia to be back on the boat. We did get some stainless steel cleaner so while the boat is on the hard and the bottom is being painted, we can clean and shine the stainless at the same time. After snooping around the shop and getting the 2 items we needed now, we walked back to the B&B and took the jeep to La Paz Marina to talk with Mike, our broker, again and then it was off to find a man named Alejandro who handles the haul outs and speaks good English. Everything is arranged with him and he said when we arrive just to call him and if it is during the Semana Santa (Easter) he can get a slip for us to stay in until the Monday after the holiday. Then we will be first in line to get pulled out of the water to get the bottom painted and whatnot. So with that arranged, we left and went to Home Depot to see if we could get the color paint we need to finish the inside of the house, Sam’s Club just to look, and Walmart. At Home Depot they didn’t have the color names we chose off the brochures we got in Ensenada. We didn’t have the color code either. The color charts are at the house and this store had different color palettes. So we will have to do some online research with Behr paint to see if we can find a similar color to what we had picked out. We don’t want to go to Ensenada if we don’t have to. We found that Sam’s club is just a little higher priced than Costco so I don’t think we will renew our cards just yet. I did find a swivel rocker among the outdoor furniture that I really want to get for our living room. That is the great thing about living in Mexico. Most places have an eclectic look so anything goes!!!! The chairs are wicker with thick cushions. So that is on my wish list. That list is getting longer------Ha!!!
We’ve been searching online at Behr paint and I think we have the yellow orange we want. We changed the color from Eastern Amber to Amber glow. It is a bright orange yellow and I think it is going to look great. We still like the Azul Tequilla color for the bedroom. So now we have the numbers to take to Home Depot when we get back to La Paz. News flash!!!!! We interrupt this blog to announce that today is my brother-in-law, Higs’ birthday today, April 13. I know he isn’t counting them anymore but it IS the day he was born and I know there are a lot of people who are glad he is still alive and kicking. Happy Birthday!!!! Now back to your regular blogging news.
We got all of the things we needed to do in La Paz finished and walked to the bus station to buy tickets. They said we could buy them in the morning when we want to leave. O.K. We walked back to the B&B and packed up and Milton told us about a great rib place not far from the B&B, so we drove there. Big Joe’s!!!! Southern cooking at its best!!!! The ribs were delicious along with the side dishes. We had some ribs left over as I couldn’t eat all of mine so we had them boxed up and took them back to the B&B to share with the 2 guys that were staying there. We watched a little TV then went to bed.
We got up early the next morning, paid the bill, packed the car and drove to Fonatur Marina where we will leave the jeep until we get the boat down there. We called a taxi and off to the bus station we go. When we arrived we got our tickets and found there were 2 seats left on the bus. Thank goodness we made it on otherwise we would have had to take a later one. Guess where our seats were??? Give up? In the back of the bus!!!!! The bus has air conditioning, but we sure didn’t feel much. The vents above our seats must not have been hooked to the air conditioner so we didn’t get much cool air. It is going to be a long warm ride!!! Through the trip they showed 3 movies. A couple we had already seen and one we hadn’t. They were all good movies. It took us 11 hours to get to Santa Rosalia!!!! We had to wait an hour for road construction and of course having to stop at the bus stations in each town. It had been a long, long day. We were glad to be off the bus and on the boat again. Tomorrow we put in the bolts for the sea water intake unit and double check stuff.
Speaking of La Paz-----it might be a while before we can leave Santa Rosalia for La Paz.
Saturday was a busy day. Dave can now put the plate back on the salt water intake unit. We opened the seacock to the engine and there were no drips!!!! It was perfectly dry. Very good sign and we both sighed with relief. The real test now is to run the engine and see if it remains dry. So I was on drip watch with the engine while Dave fired her up. Everything looked good for about a minute and then I saw drips but it wasn’t coming from the salt water intake tank. Dave shut the motor down and he did some inspecting and we found that water was dripping at a rapid speed from the heat exchanger!!!! Another------not a good sign!!! He couldn’t see where it was leaking so he tightened a couple hose clamps which were loose and hoped that would be the end of it. But Noooooooo!!! It was still dripping. After a lot of inspection he saw where it was leaking and he had to really tork on the bolts of the end cap to the expansion tank but he got it to stop leaking. Hooray right?????? Well Dave wiped up the water and I went top side to start the engine. As soon as I fired up the boat Dave yelled from below to shut it down immediately!!! So I did. Water was spewing out where he had tightened up the bolts on the end cap. Now Dave is thinking the bolt has broken off inside the unit and therefore causing no seal. Now there is nothing left but to see if he can take that end cap off. There was quite a bit of salt water encrusted on the outside where the cap meets the tank. So with a lot of difficulty, he managed to get the cover off. No broken bolts. Whew!!!!! He cleaned off the salt water and tried to get the o-ring off but it didn’t want to come off all the way so part of it is still stuck to the end. We don’t know if we have another o-ring to fit it. Then the real eye opener came when Dave was inspecting the unit. He found that the bottom part of the unit, which the cap was hiding, was all corroded away!!!
This is really bad! The unit will not work in that condition. So he said a few non-mentionable words and said “NOW WHAT”!!! We are dead in the water and of course it is around 4:00pm and businesses are closing. Dave tried to get a hold of our boat broker but no answer. Later his significant other called and Dave talked with her and explained what was going on and she said she would have him call him back. Well that never happened. In the meantime Dave got a hold of a guy in San Diego whom we used when we needed parts on our first trip to Bahia de Los Angeles. Dave explained what was going on and the guy said he would make some phone calls to see if he could get the part we need. He will let us know on Monday. If he can get a heat exchanger for our Yanmar engine he will send it via Baja Pak that stops right at the bus station next to the marina here in Santa Rosalia. That is if we can pay for it. We are hoping and praying it doesn’t cost 3 thousand dollars as we just don’t have that kind of money. But we won’t know until tomorrow. Depending on what happens we may have to go to a plan B which we don’t have yet. There isn’t a boat AAA down here to call and get a tow, darn it!!!! Well nothing we can do now except keep plugging along with things we need to do to ready us for the trip to La Paz. Dave had a feeling that when we had the heat exchanger boiled and cleaned in Mazatlan about 5 years ago, the guy who did the work didn’t put it back properly. He used the wrong size o-ring and who knows what else he did. Dave was able to call and talk to Mike, our broker to tell him what was going on. We told him we would have some kind of news on Monday then go from there. Mike said that Bob, who owned and operated Mazatlan Total Yacht Works, where we had the heat exchanger boiled, had a guy clean and re-install our heat exchanger. Apparently other work he did for cruisers was not good so people had been complaining. There was a falling out with Bob and this guy so the guy left and started a business of his own, leaving Bob to fend for himself. One day Bob never showed up to work and later found out he skipped town and ended up seen in Hawaii!!! Imagine that!!!
In the meantime we managed to pull the main sail out and in, working it after lubrication and then repeating the taking out and rolling in of the sail. We did the same thing with the head sail. That is on a roller furling so it worked great. While we were doing that a couple of Mexican young men came to the boat asking if we needed our tanks filled with drinking water. That was awesome! They came to us without us trying to find them. We took on 14, 5 gallon jugs of water in our 4 tanks, 70 gallons! So we checked that off the list along with the sails. We ended up putting all the things away down below because there isn’t anything more we can do right now until Monday, for the engine that is. Dave was really tired and we both didn’t feel like going out to dinner so I walked to the store and picked up a few items to have burritos. That tasted really good.
It is Palm Sunday already. Time does fly. Yesterday was cloudy all day but warm. We thought it would rain, but it didn’t. It was nice to have a break from the hot sun!! It is humid though. Dave pressure washed the deck and the windshield plus dodger and bimini. He will clean the cockpit tomorrow with it. The boat is looking better. Our young Mexican friend and neighbor helped us put the Windex on the top of the mast to give us readings on the wind and direction. (It is known in some circles as a wind bird, or indicator). It is installed and working great!!! The one Raul took down was bent from birds sitting on it. The new one has a rod that sticks out of the middle to keep the birds off. I hope it works!
I cleaned the stove and did exercises, washed the icky towels I had soaking, out, and then hung them on the lifelines to dry. The sun is shining and it is warm today. We are supposed to get strong winds tomorrow so I am really glad Raul was able to put the Windex on. If he couldn’t do it I would have been the lucky one to get hauled up the mast. Been there done that but I am a lot heavier than Raul so it was easier on Dave to crank him up the mast. I was the safety person on the end of the halyard that was hooked to Raul’s boson chair. There is a nice breeze today and we are enjoying it. I think we need to take our beat up Mexican flag down because when the wind comes up tomorrow it will beat against the shrouds (rods that keep the spreaders in place that are attached to the mast) and it vibrates to the hull and makes a lot of noise. The wind is supposed to be short lived and so hopefully when we get everything fixed it will be great conditions to head south to La Paz. Dave is draining the rest of the coolant out of the engine so when we take the old expansion tank off there won’t be any of it spilling into the bilge. We already have salt water in the bilge but when we get all done we will siphon it out and add fresh water and siphon that out too. Oh the joys of it all!!!! Owning a boat is like owning a home------it is a big responsibility and cost a bunch of money and time!!!! I will be glad when we have everything working properly and we can be on our way. We were soaking the heat exchanger end cap and the 2 screws in vinegar overnight, and when Dave looked at it this afternoon, found the cap was cracked where one of the bolts went through.
So that is why it leaked and destroyed the unit!!! It had been having a problem for a long time but never saw it due to where it was located. So the unit was installed incorrectly and the bolt was cranked down so tight it cracked the cap.!!! So there ya go! What a bummer!! Well I still say it is a good thing we are discovering stuff now instead of out at sea!!!! That would not have been good! There is a reason for all of this!!! Time will tell.
Monday, April 14, (my mother’s birthday and if she were alive would have been 90 years old)! Dave made some phone calls. One was to a parts guy and he gave us the bad news that the replacement part is going to cost around $3,000.00. Ouch!!!!! Not only did it cost a bunch but it was coming from Georgia where the Yanmar factory is located. Our fears have come to light! Now we really do need that money tree!!! I had a little melt down with a tear session, as I guess I was more stressed then I thought. I had my pity party for a short time and then decided it was time to just straighten up and move on to figure something out. Dave went up to the marina office to tell Isabel our problem about the engine and we would be here a little longer than anticipated and she said she can work something out financially for the extra days we need to stay. So with that done Dave came back to the boat and called Bank of America to see if we could get his credit limit raised on the credit card. Since we paid the moorage at the marina in La Paz on that card we didn’t have enough on the balance to use it to pay for the part. So Dave mentioned an amount and they asked a few questions and then approved it. It is a onetime increase on the card and that should help us out as long as the part doesn’t cost $3,000.00 or more. I still have faith things will work out!!! So now it was time for Dave to call the guy in San Diego (Jessie) where we get parts from, for the boat down here. With a little checking for a part locally and back and forth phone calling, Jessie was able to find what we needed in Los Angeles. Yahoo!!!! He can have it ordered and sent out either the same day or the next and be to the bus station next to the marina the following day. So Dave ordered the part and the total for everything was only $2,800.00. We should get the part on Wednesday. Jessie is supposed to call us tomorrow and let us know when to expect it at the bus station. So if we get the part on Wednesday, Dave can put it in and we might be able to leave on Saturday. It all depends on how difficult it will be to install it. So with that done, I washed the cockpit out really good and used spot remover on the windshield of the dodger to try and get the water spots off. There has been an accumulation of spots from all the washings that were done and the windshield never got wiped down. Hard to do when someone else is washing the boat and you are miles away. I washed the windshield a couple times inside and out and it is actually looking better. We can at least see out of it better. I think I will have to do it a couple more times but it is 90% better than it was. I washed our travasak bed (it is like a sleeping bag with sheets) and hung it on the boat to dry since it needs to air dry. We thought it was going to be windy today but there was just a nice breeze in the marina. There were white caps out on the sea though. The wind came later in the afternoon. With all the activity I did today my back really started hurting and we had to figure out what to have with the yellow tail fish one of the guys gave us the other day fresh!!!! We have no food on board, so this means I need to walk to town and get something to serve with the fish. Well maybe the walk will be good as it will loosen up my back. I hope!!! I decided to cook potatoes in some olive oil with seasoning and we would have that and green beans with the fish. After dinner and clean-up I relaxed and sat with the heating pad on my back for awhile. There is an eclipse of the moon tonight, so we heard, so we want to see it. The time for the eclipse is sometime after 10:00pm. We went out to the cockpit to watch and nothing. The wind died down and it was really pleasant for being outside. We checked again about 30 minutes later-----nothing. Then at 11:00 and 11:30-------nothing. Well I gave up and went to bed so I don’t know if it happened. A few of the Mexican people that came down to the marina for a better view, some of them ended up leaving around 10:30-11:00. Oh well. Such is life.
We found out that the eclipse didn’t happen until 1:00am. Way too late for us. Can you tell we are getting older????? Everyone said it was pretty and lots of orange and yellow colors behind the moon. It would have been awesome to see but we’ve been working on the boat everyday and we are ready for bed by 11:00pm.
There has been another snafu in our parts situation. The part has reached Tijuana and Jessie’s driver is taking the part to Baja Pak. Unfortunately when he got there he found out they couldn’t guarantee the shipment for the next day due to the Semana Santa week, (Easter week). So long story short, the young Mexican man that is moored across from us at Santa Rosalia contacted his friend whom is coming down on Thursday and he is bringing our part. So we should get it Thursday afternoon. This has been a headache trying to get a part during Easter week in Mexico. Now we just wait.
We won’t be getting the part today until late afternoon, or early evening as the man who is bringing it is driving from Ensenada. It is about a 12 hour drive from Ensenada to Santa Rosalia. Dave’s mission today is to get all the bolts loose on the heat exchanger and get it out. He ended up trying another cruisers socket that was elongated so maybe he could get a better grip on the bolt but that didn’t work. He ended up having to have a tool made. He took a wrench he didn’t need and bought a set of extension bars and had the handle of the wrench cut off and the extension bar welded on to make a crows foot wrench. Pretty ingenious!!!! He was able to get the bolt off with that. I walked to town to get more provisions and stop at the ATM.
There was a cruiser who came into the marina yesterday with engine problems so we made friends with Brian and Barbara. They have an old 30 foot boat they sailed from the mainland, San Carlos, across the Sea of Cortez to here. They were happy to meet Dave because he knows a lot about engines and could help them get in contact with Jessie, our parts guy. The saying is true------misery loves company!!!!! Ha!! This is their first time to Santa Rosalia and they wanted to do some sightseeing and asked us where a rental car place was. We told them there wasn’t one. So they would either have to walk; call a taxi, or have a car here. Most everything is close together but it does amount to a lot of walking. I told them where stores were and gave them a map so they should be able to find their way around. They are really friendly people. Most cruisers are. The afternoon was devoted to getting the heat exchanger out. Dave had a really difficult time with it and was fighting another bolt that wouldn’t budge. There wasn’t anything I could do to help Dave at this point so I read for a while then created a business card to have for the craft show in November. Then I cleaned all the hatch covers and side windows and they look really good. That was another thing I had wanted to do for a long time but never was able to do it until now!!!!
Our part arrived around 5:00pm and we met the man who brought it down. We thanked him and he ended up helping Dave get the bolt he was struggling with out. The heat exchanger is almost out!!!!! We are so close and at this time Dave needed my help. I had to help pull the heat exchanger toward me while Dave moved another part away to make it easier. That thing is heavy!!!! I was also on my knees with my head under the sink in the galley trying to pull this heavy object through an opening with little clearance. Dave wasn’t any better off. Boat working spaces are small!!!!! We couldn’t get it out because it was hitting a bolt on the alternator. So we had to take that off and try again. With a little more huffing and puffing and maneuvering we got it out!!!!! Success!!!!! Now Dave is hoping we didn’t damage the fuel hose in the process. Always something!!! There was still a bit of antifreeze in the heat exchanger and when Dave lifted it up over the engine it leaked out all over part of the engine and a lot on the floor! No worries. I just mopped it up and Dave took the heat exchanger outside and put it on the dock. It is getting late and time to clean up now and wait until tomorrow to put the new part in. I had been wondering what we were going to have for dinner as neither one of us wanted to go out to eat. I was thinking about grilled cheese sandwiches when Raul offered us some ceviche. That was dinner. Dave discovered on the new part a bolt was missing. Why they failed to include it is a mystery to us. Now Dave has to get the bolt from the old part out to use it in the new one. There is always something that doesn’t want to go smoothly! NOW-- Dave can’t get the fitting out of the old part. He is afraid to really tork on it because he doesn’t want it to break. The other fittings came out with no problem and we can’t understand why this one is being such a pain. He had sprayed it with WD40 and that didn’t work. He tried ice to help shrink the casing around the fitting but that didn’t work. So now he is off to the auto shop across the street to see if they can help him.
As Dave and I were having our morning coffee and he was stressing his concerns about getting things put back together, I played devil’s advocate and asked what we would do if we couldn’t get up and running and his worse fear was realized and the fuel hose was damaged! He said we could sail. Well yeah, it is a sailboat, but how are we going to get out of the slip with no propulsion and out of the marina? Once we are out of the marina we could sail if there was wind!!! There isn’t any right now!!!! So then Dave said he had no idea!!!! Well I am praying that once we get that bolt out things will go a lot smoother. It has to!!!!!
Dave has a couple marina workers who have been helping us periodically, and while Dave was on his way to the auto shop they asked how things were going so he told them of his predicament and now the guys are putting their heads together to come up with a solution for getting the fitting out. Three minds are better than one I hope!!!!! The marina people have been really good to us!!! One of the men had been a machinist and just got hired by the marina so he said all the ferreterias (hardware stores) and auto shops are closed just for today so we can’t get any parts. But he may be able to take it home this afternoon to try and get the fitting out or he can create a new fitting. So we are delayed a little longer in getting the new part in. But at least we are making progress!
I am going to do laundry today and prepare as though we are leaving tomorrow. We may not be able to leave until Monday, but we don’t know. So I have a couple meals I want to cook and freeze so I don’t have to do much cooking on the trip. Dave says it is wishful thinking and he is right. Might as well keep plugging along and be prepared because when we get things up and running we will want to get out of here.
Well Praise Be to God!!!! Elysa, the machinist, got the fitting out of the old heat exchanger!!!! It is late to start the project of getting the new part in today, but tomorrow we will hit it full throttle. Finally!!!!!!
We have had our coffee and breakfast and now Dave is putting the fitting into the new part. The fun begins now!!!!! Ha! The part went in easier than the old part came out I tell ya!!!! There were a few snags along the way, most of it is trying to screw bolts in places you need to be a rubber person in order to contort so you are at the right angle. Think of trying to work in a refrigerator cardboard box. That is about as much room to maneuver on the boat. Unfortunately we don’t have one of those fancy yachts that have an engine room you can stand up in and turn around and work!!!!! That’s o.k. Don’t want one of those anyway. But if I did, I wouldn’t be working on it!!!!!! Ha!! We got the part in and tightened all the hoses so now the true test comes in to play. We start and run her at the dock. So we did that and no drips or leaks!!!!! Yahoo mountain dew!!!!!! We did it!!!! There were a couple snafus’ while we were putting things together. One was I was helping Dave tighten a bolt on the alternator. I was under the galley sink with a ratchet holding on to one end of the bolt while Dave was on the other side turning it. My ratchet slipped and there were sparks a flying!!!! Yowzer!!!! I was alright but it left a burned mark on the ratchet handle. The ratchet slipped and hit another bolt and it was alive!!!! Anyway---after that little excitement we were able to get it tightened and all is well but we were worried we may have shorted out the alternator. Well as you can see from my comment above-----she ran with no problems. Whew!!!! We ran her up to cruising speed at the dock and no leaks or drips. Tomorrow we will take her on a test trip. It’s been a long haul but it looks like God has smiled upon us. Hip, hip, hooray!!!!!
The tide is going out this morning so we had to wait for it to turn and get high enough to get the boat out of the slip and through the channel to the Sea of Cortez outside the marina. So while we waited for the tide, I did a load of laundry as I waited until we had all the smelly dirty clothes together. While that was happening Dave and I secured the dinghy to the deck, got 2, 5 gallon jerry jugs filled with diesel and poured one 5 gallon jug in the tank. We can’t get the boat to the gas dock as the navy has taken over that pier with their boats. Since today is Sunday, the marina office is closed so there was no moving those boats today. The order has to come from the marina office. So Dave carted the empty jugs to the gas dock which isn’t that far, and then came back to the boat. We filled up the jug we emptied so we will have enough fuel as we travel. It is just a precaution. The tide is coming in and it is high enough we can move the boat. So out we went. The weather is really nice. Hardly any wind so it was nice to go out and run the engine. We kept checking the engine and hoses and all looking for leaks or drips but thankfully there were none. Success!!!!!! It felt good to be on the Sea again. It has been 4 years since we have had the boat out of the marina!! We have run it at the dock but the real test is taking her out and running her like we were cruising. So today was a success and we will be leaving for La Paz in the morning. We have a 12 hour trip tomorrow to our first anchorage so it will be a long day. We are looking forward to the trip down as it will be our last one on the boat. We have had a wonderful time on her and she has been good to us. Yes there has been a lot of maintenance, but what boat doesn’t have that???? If the guy had put the heat exchanger in properly we wouldn’t have had the problem. We found out that they used too large of o-ring to seal the front and back of the heat exchanger and over time caused it to leak as it wasn’t sealing.
Well that is behind us and we are keeping the old heat exchanger as a spare. Always need spares on a boat. So today was a wonderful day!!!! Oh by the way------HAPPY EASTER or Feliz Semana Santa!!!!!!
Here we go!!!!! It is Monday, the 21st and we have left Santa Rosalia for La Paz. Yahoo!!!! Both Dave and I are apprehensive about the trip as we hope and pray everything stays working and together and have an uneventful trip.
It’s been 4 years since the boat has left the dock so Dave and I have to get our sea legs back. Auto Pilot is working and so is radar, depth sounder, and knot meter which is muy bueno!!!! My plan is to check the engine for any signs of trouble, starting every half hour then on the hour after that. The weather is beautiful and the seas are calm. I pray the seas stay calm.
Dave was on the bow watching for seaweed and we had auto pilot on, but I was keeping watch on the instruments and radar so I missed some of the things he saw like a hammerhead shark, a whale shark, and a large yellowtail and a manta ray. He told me to look but when I did it was too late. I did see flying fish, a couple manta rays jump out of the water and a large school of dolphins. We saw evidence of whales due to seeing their spouts in the distance but none up close. So far the ride is uneventful and going well.
We left Santa Rosalia around 7:30am and won’t be at our anchorage (La Ramada) until 7:30pm tonight. It is a 12 hour trip which is the longest one of the journey to La Paz.
As we got closer to the anchorage we ran into some tidal current so we slowed down enough to have to increase speed to get through it and keep at a 6 knot speed. It was a little on the lumpy side but just small rollers, nothing serious. We both are tired and looking forward to anchoring for the night.
We finally made it to La Ramada and no other boats were anchored there so we had the whole place to ourselves!!!! That doesn’t happen very often so that’s nice. We had some trouble setting the anchor which hardly ever happens. It acted as though it was hitting on rocks and this is supposed to be a sandy bottom. We had a little wind which didn’t help matters and ended up having to back up to get to deeper water then try again. This time it set and we were fine. When we finally got anchored it was getting dark and it looks like we will have a beautiful night. I fixed us a cocktail and we sat in the cockpit enjoying the view, the water lapping alongside the boat, and the music of crickets!!! I am glad we ate dinner earlier as I didn’t feel like making anything now. I had defrosted the mac & cheese with polish sausage I made while at Santa Rosalia. So now all we will do is relax.
Dave went below to check on house battery voltage and found it to be 12.40 which are not good. That is low!!! We have the refrigerator, freezer running, and the vacu-flush heads use voltage too. Dave suspects, even though the batteries hydroed good, because they have set for so long without having much fluctuation, they have lost some of the umph!!! We will have to buy 4 batteries in La Paz. I turned the freezer down so it won’t run as much and put more installation in it to try and keep the ice from melting too much. Later we checked and it seems to be a little better but the voltage is still low. The start battery is separate from the house batteries so the engine will start with no worries.
It was pleasant while we sat in the cockpit and drank our cocktail. Then a breeze came up and I had thought of sleeping in the cockpit with Dave but I changed my mind. So Dave got his pillows and blanket and got comfortable in the cockpit while I went to bed. I couldn’t get in to a sound sleep as the wind was picking up and I heard the anchor chain clunk. Around Midnight Dave came down below and I asked what was going on and he said the wind had picked up to 15 knots and it was coming from the West which forced the wind down the mountains to us. We waited for a while to see what the wind was going to do. It would go up to 15 then down to 10 then up again to 15 then down to 10 then 15 with a few stronger gusts. It made us a little nervous as we couldn’t put out any more chain as the bay was too shallow for that so we had to be on anchor watch just in case we had to pull up the anchor and move somewhere else. I got my pillow and a blanket and joined Dave in the cockpit. We both fell asleep and the next thing I knew a light was shining on me. I woke up thinking it was morning then realized it was the moon. So I picked up my pillow and blanket and went to bed down below. The wind had died so all was good. The next time I woke up was 6:30am. Both of us were tired but we had to get moving. We made coffee and Dave checked the engine and transmission oil and had to add some oil to the engine, but none to the transmission, then he checked the antifreeze and added a little more. All was good. Then we fired up the boat, pulled anchor and headed for Puerto Escondido where we will pick up our friends Kristi and Robert. They were the couple who were interested in the boat but because of a house not selling, he couldn’t, but we have remained friends. Yesterday when we were calling for any boats anchored in La Ramada, someone answered and it turned out to be friends we knew at Brownsville Marina in Bremerton, Washington. They are down here cruising and heading back north for San Carlos, on the mainland, to have their boat hauled out for the summer. Ron and MaryAnn were anchored off the south shore of Coronado Island so we decided to stop and see them on our way to Puerto Escondido. Coronado Island can be seen from Escondido.
We drove by their boat and they were standing outside on the deck. We had a little chat and told them we were picking friends up in Escondido to go to La Paz. We needed fuel also. We wished them well and said we would see them this summer in Bremerton and took off for Escondido. As we were fueling up, Robert and Kristi arrived. They loaded some food and drinks onto the boat and their personal belongings and once fueling was over we took off, heading south. Our plan was to spend the night in Agua Verde, which is a beautiful anchorage, but the wind had picked up to 20 knots and we had choppy waves and a little water splashing on the bow. So we were going to travel south a while to see what the wind is going to do before we decided if we should go on to Agua Verde or anchor somewhere closer to Escondido. We lucked out and the wind died down enough to continue on to Agua Verde.
There were about 4 or 5 boats at anchor so we had to choose our anchorage wisely since we were expecting 20 knot winds that evening from the west. The anchorage is fairly large but when you know winds are coming you don’t want to be too close to any boats. As it was we put out enough anchor chain so if we did get wind we would be alright. Because the wind was blowing a little bit it made it hard for me to handle the boat while Dave dropped the anchor. The bow gets blown off quickly. So I asked Robert if he wouldn’t mind taking the helm which he did and we got anchored with very little problems. A little later we had dinner (which Robert and Kristi brought with them, BBQ’d chicken, French fries and tortillas). Yum!!!! We opened a bottle of wine and sat and enjoyed the evening. Then we did dishes and Robert and Kristi went to bed and Dave and I sat in the cockpit for a while then I went downstairs and read a little before turning in. The wind picked up a little but it didn’t bother us. Dave came to bed a little later and we slept the night through. We heard the wind pick up during the night but it didn’t affect the boat at all. Everyone had a good sleep.
Next morning we got up, had coffee and fruit and then pulled anchor and headed to our next anchorage which is Evaristo. This is the last anchorage before La Paz. Here is a picture Kristi took of the sunrise before we left Agua Verde.
It was a beautiful morning and the seas were calm. We got to Evaristo around 4:00pm. There were a lot of boats already there and there was a sailboat that was trying to beat us in but we made it first. We wanted to get a protected spot so if the wind did blow from the south or north we wouldn’t be near the opening of the bay. Again we had a stiff breeze and there were a lot of boats so I got nervous and asked Robert if he could help with the anchoring. Even he had trouble keeping the bow from blowing off. But he did a great job and saved me the stress!!!! We found a nice anchoring spot so we dropped the anchor. We were about 300 yards off another sailboat and we could tell they were not happy we were there. The wife was in the cockpit reading and when we anchored she went below. The husband said he was uncomfortable with us being so close so we pulled anchor and moved further away. When we got the anchor set we asked him if that was better and he said yes. He said his boat doesn’t always turn and face the wind like the other boats. So everyone was happy with the move. It was a hot day and we had to put down the screens on the boat to get a little relief from the sun. We had cocktails and I even took my chair to the bow and sat out there to get a little breeze. When the sun went down we had dinner and wine and talked for a bit then Kristi and Robert retired for the night and Dave and I sat out in the cockpit for a while. It was a nice night. We don’t expect any winds tonight. This is our last night at anchor. Tomorrow we will be in La Paz.
We woke to a beautiful morning. Kristi took pictures of the sunrise. We had coffee then got the anchor raised and headed for La Paz. The seas were calm to start with but shortly after leaving the anchorage we had wind on the nose.
The seas were getting sloppy and the wind was building. Pretty soon the seas were confused and about 6 foot waves and the wind was at 20 knots. It was a sloppy uncomfortable ride. It reminded Dave and me of our trip down the Pacific Coast. We had auto pilot on so that was good as it is hard to steer in sloppy seas. I had hatches open and had to go below to close them as water was coming over the bow. We would come up on a wave and be on the crest then crash down the other side, only to repeat the action again, and again, and again, for 4 hours. I got a little queasy from being below while we were bashing on the waves so I didn’t eat or drink anything for awhile. Then as I was feeling better I had some fruit Kristi brought up and water. It was an ugly ride. Kristi and Robert did well but you could tell they didn’t like the ride either. We had to head into the wind and waves because if we didn’t we would have had those 6 foot waves on our beam (side of the hull) and that is dangerous. So we just watched and waited and pretty soon the wind started dying down. Then the seas calmed down and pretty soon there was no wind at all and it was hot!!!! Go figure. From one extreme to the other. That is how it goes for us!!!! We finally made it to our spot where the boat is going to get hauled out in the morning. They had a slip we could go into for the night and then all of us took showers and had cocktails. Then we took Robert and Kristi to our favorite restaurant called Banditos!!! They serve the best hamburgers we have ever had in Mexico. The grill is under the hood of an old car. It is pretty awesome. We were hoping to have ribs but they didn’t have any. So I got a Chimichunga which was delicious, and Dave got a burger. Kristi and Robert enjoyed the place and when we were done with dinner we walked back to the boat and retired for the evening.
It is another beautiful morning. It is going to be a hot one. At 8:30am the guys were at our boat ready to tend lines and Dave was moving the boat in position for the lift. Kristi and Robert drove the jeep to the hotel to off load refrigerator stuff and our belongings so they weren’t there to watch the boat be lifted out. Dave and I were on board while they got the straps under the hull and lifted the boat out of the water and positioned it over a cement area where after we climbed down the ladder they provided for us to get off the boat, they pressure washed the bottom. Dave looked for blisters, which sometimes happens when the water gets really warm against the paint, but there wasn’t any. That was a huge relief!!!! There weren’t any barnacles because the diver in Santa Rosalia got those off before we left the marina. The bottom actually looked pretty good. Some places the paint was gone and you could see fiberglass but other than that we were really pleased with the condition of the bottom. We watched them pressure wash the boat and while that was happening, Kristi and Robert came back. They were going to walk the Malećon to a car rental place and rent a car for a couple days. So we stuck around and it took 2 hours for them to get the bottom pressure washed. Then they moved the boat to the spot it would stay for painting and waxing. After they had parked her in the spot she was going to stay until they were done painting and waxing her, we climbed the ladder they provided so we could get in and out of the boat, and locked her then went to the office and talked with the head man to get prices written down so we have a total. Thanks to Kristi, we have pictures of the boat being hauled and washed and put on stilts.
Then we left the yard and drove to the B&B and got situated. Kristi and Robert met us there. We relaxed and were really happy the boat was in La Paz and we were finally getting the bottom done. Today is Friday and they said she will be ready to splash either Monday or Tuesday. They are closed on Sunday. Kristi and Robert had the room next to ours so we sat at the little table they have outside the 2 rooms and had some wine. Then we went to dinner at Big Joe’s and had BBQ ribs. They were really good. We had a bunch of ribs left over so we took them back with us to the B&B and shared some with Bill. He is an interesting fellow. He is about our age, and a few years ago he got into an accident that almost killed him. He was in the hospital for a long time getting well and receiving therapy. He is fine now except he talks funny. He says things backwards and says incomplete sentences. At first you think it is weird, but if you listen to him you start to understand what he is saying. Milton and Susu, the owners of the B&B, have kind of adopted him 6 months out of the year. Bill has a sailboat in the bay which he goes to at night, and his days are spent at the B&B. He rides a scooter back and forth from the boat to the B&B and he usually goes home to the boat around 10:30-11:00pm. He is a funny guy and fun to be around. He stays in La Paz for 6 months then come May he goes back to the mid-west somewhere.
Saturday we woke and had coffee and breakfast then went to the boat yard to see how the guys were doing. They were waxing the painted part of the hull.
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They had quite a few guys working on her. We left and did some running around. We had to go to the ATM machine to get money. Dave and I each have a card and we can both take money out of our checking account on the same day. So we did that. We went to a store that has a line of ATM machines and Dave did his transaction and then I went to another machine to do mine. Dave helped me because sometimes there is no English. I got money out too and all was well. Or so we thought. We got back to the B&B and had lunch and I did some blogging and Dave was on his computer. Then I took a nap and Dave went and talked to the guys in the main area where there is a kitchen, TV and dining table and such. Kristi and Robert took their rental car on an excursion to the beaches north of La Paz. When they got back they told us how their day was. We got together after they rested and had a glass of wine or two, then we went to a fish place just down the street from the B&B. It was good but I wasn’t really hungry. I think the heat got to me. It was pretty warm today. We had a great dinner then went back to the B&B. Kristi and Robert retired for the night and Dave and I stayed up and watched TV with Bill and another guy. Then we went to bed.
Next morning Dave gets up and I am still in bed and he must have looked in his wallet for his bank card and noticed it wasn’t there. Hmmmm! He looked all around the room and couldn’t find it so he went out to the jeep to see if it was somewhere in there. Nope!!!! Oh no!!!! He started thinking and said he must have left it in the ATM machine. He checked the bank and there hadn’t been any transactions since he did one at 1:00pm yesterday so that was a relief. He talked with Milton and Susu and told them what had happened and they said that if you don’t retrieve your card from the ATM right away it sucks it back in and you have to wait a few days to get it back if at all. So Dave was really concerned and drove back to the store where we used the ATM and as he arrived the money guys were there filling the machines. He mentioned he may have his card in the machine. They couldn’t give it to him. He would have to go to the bank that serves the ATM. It was an HSBC bank. Well this is Saturday so we had to wait until Monday. When I saw Dave come back I knew he didn’t have luck in getting his card back. Anyway-----to shorten this story-----Monday we went back to the store and talked with the people there and asked if a card had been turned in. Nope. We drove back to the B&B and then walked downtown to the bank. We spoke to a gentleman that spoke fairly good English and Dave told him the story. He said he would ask the clerk. She told him that the card is read for the address and is sent to that address. Hmmm!!!! Really????? From Mexico????? We thanked them and walked to the boat broker’s office and asked Cindy, who speaks Spanish to call the bank and ask what happens with the card. Before I go on, I have to say that Dave called our bank in the U.S. and told them what happened and they said they would suspend the card until they heard from us again. So Cindy called and talked to one of the gals that is in the office and they told her all cards that come from the ATM’s are destroyed!!! So there you have it. Now we are down to one card but because the number on my card is different Dave just has to cancel his card and mine stays active. It makes it more difficult to get money now because we can only do one transaction a day. At least we had plenty of time before we had to pay for the haul out and wax and paint job. There have been no further transactions made on Dave’s card which tells us it was sucked into the machine and no one used it. Always something isn’t it????? Dave was beside himself that he did that but he got side tracked trying to help me and didn’t think about his card. It happens to the best and worst of us!!!!! Ha!!! At least we still have my card to draw out money!!!! We checked at the yard and they said they will be splashing the boat Tuesday morning at 9:00am. So today was taking money to Cindy at the broker’s office to pay for the guy who is going to wash the boat 2 times a month and the diver who will clean the bottom once a month for 4 months. Then we will be back in September and if the boat hasn’t sold yet we give some more money for the washer guy and diver. The season for selling boats is coming to a close and will pick up again in September. So we figure things will pick up in sales come September. So we shall see.
Robert and Kristi drove to the airport and got on a plane for Loreto. It was cheaper than the bus. There they turned in the rental car. So we were on our own for tonight. We couldn’t decide where to eat dinner. We thought of pizza so we asked Milton and Susu what was a good pizza place and they said downtown on Allende. Well there isn’t any parking downtown and it was a bit to walk at night so we thought maybe chicken. We got in the jeep and drove to Big Joe’s but he wasn’t open. Darn. So now where???? We ended up taking the jeep back to the B&B and walked about 3 blocks to a chicken rotisserie place and split a whole chicken and had some macaroni salad. It was good. Then we walked back to the B&B and watched some TV then retired for the night.
Dave got up early since he had to go to the Fonatur Marina and pick up a guy that was going to go with Dave on the boat to guide him through the narrow channel to the marina. I stayed in bed a while longer then got up and had some coffee. The plan was to walk to the boat yard and get the jeep then load the jeep with all our stuff from the B&B and head down to Fonatur Marina and meet Dave there. I walked to the boat yard and the guys were on board and they had the straps already in place ready two get her in the water. I waited until the boat was splashed and they were tied to the dock before leaving. They had to wait for high tide. So Dave told me it would be about 11:00am before they could leave to get to the marina. So I drove the jeep back to the B&B, had another cup of coffee and listened to an interesting man talk about things to come according to the bible. Very interesting!!!! I said my goodbyes to Susu and left in the jeep and drove to the marina where I waited for Dave. I got there around 10:00am so I had a book with me to read so I did that then I just walked around and watched for him and waited. Pretty soon I could see the shape of our boat and saw him coming down the channel. I thought he was going to get fuel but as he got closer I noticed he wasn’t turning for the fuel dock so I went to meet him on the dock where the boat is going to be moored. A couple of the men at the marina helped him come in and tie him up and then we got situated in the slip where it would be snug and with little motion on the lines. The marina had a guy working on the electrical box at the dock. It wasn’t working right, so he had to order parts so we just plugged into the next one over. No worries. The wind was blowing a bit and I mentioned to Dave I thought he was getting fuel but he said since it was breezy he decided not to try and do it. We don’t need that much so we can take a couple jerry cans up to the fuel dock, have them filled and bring them back to the boat and pour the fuel into the tank. We will do that in September. We thanked Ted who helped Dave and he left for his boat and we got started on getting the boat cleaned up. It was a hot day so we decided to wash the boat with boat soap to get the dirt off and then I washed off the top of the dodger, solar panels, screens and bimini. Then when that was finished I rinsed out the cushions and cockpit and let everything dry. Then I started on the stainless steel later in the afternoon. While I cleaned and shined the stainless steel on the port side of the boat, Dave waxed the smooth parts of the deck on the starboard side. By the time we finished with those jobs it was late, so we quit. I fixed a cocktail and we both collapsed to relax. Our backs were hurting and we were tired, hot, and sore. We want to leave on Thursday so we only have today and tomorrow to get what we need done, done. We opened all the hatches and had the fans going down below and it was still warm.
The next morning we got up, had coffee then breakfast and started to work. I tackled the stainless steel on the starboard side of the boat. Dave made many trips to the jeep taking things off the boat to take to the house. We figured we better take off as much stuff as possible so we won’t have a lot to take off in September. It was a hot day and we listened to the weather report on the net and they said today was the last of the 90 degree weather so consider it cool today because for the next 10 days starting tomorrow it was going to be in the 100’s. It is time to get out of town!!!! We pushed ourselves to make the trips to the jeep which was quite a few and I had 2 beds to make and laundry to do and I cleaned the shower, heads and vacuumed. I packed up what things we were taking back to the house from the kitchen and then I packed my clothes. When it cooled down I finished shining and cleaning the aft stainless steel and Dave finished his wax job. The boat looks so much better and almost like she did before we left her at Santa Rosalia. I liked being moored there except for the birds, but I am really glad to be in La Paz where people can see the boat and there is more of a chance it will be sold. So the timing is right. We both feel good about the move. We are sooooo tired and hurt all over. We didn’t have a lot of energy today because of the heat, but we pushed ourselves to get what we needed done so we can leave in the morning. So now everything is packed and all we have to do in the morning is close the thru haul to the sink, and close the boat up. Bahia here we come!!!!!
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