Howdy folks, and happy Thursday. We hope yours is going well. Ours has been quite productive. These past few days have contained periods of mad, crazy flurries of activity, interspersed with the rest and refreshment demanded by over-heated and dehydrated bodies…governed by the temperatures and humidity levels. We’ve all been working in different directions, sometimes independently and other times in couples or as a team. It’s about the only way to move forward on the several projects on the go. The only stable one, Miss Sophie, has continued to exhibit her fine sense of humour and her patience with all of us as we have left her stranded on her couch, or laying on her floor bed… while we run about in ever-decreasing circles. At least she’s got air conditioning :-) and I haven’t heard her complaining about her comfy couch bed too much.
The weather has, at least, been stable… high 80’s to mid 90’s during the afternoons and fairly cool (relatively speaking) over-night. We’ve had no more thunder storms and no more leaking ceilings, walls or floors. All is well. It’s been fun in the yard watching old friends arrive. Working on SSpirit we get to watch as their boats get moved into the works yard from storage. The yard guys are fantastic at moving boats safely, quickly, and precisely. They can take a 48-50’ boat and park it parallel to another with about 3’ in between… no problem. It’s absolutely amazing how many boats they can fit into a small space. It’s also no wonder the boats don’t fall over in the hurricanes… there’s no where to fall!
The same two old yard dogs are still around.. ‘she’ is getting pretty decrepit now and just moves from one patch of shade to another… very slowly at that. The ‘he’ dog is a little younger and a bit more spry. He gets up enough energy to wander over for a pat, it you’re not too far away. Otherwise they just both wander and ‘look’ like yard dogs. I’m not sure if they actually scare any one or anything away… but at least they look the part.
Anyway, as I was saying, the boats are coming in now, more and more each day. Katy G, Juce, Dream Catcher, Cahoots, and soon Swan… all cruising friends… all in line waiting for their spruce up before splashing. We’ve had a chance for brief get togethers with a few of the cruisers… longer gatherings may occur, or not, depending on work schedules. As well, everyone tends to splash at different times.. then some, like us, spend at least a week in the marina getting ready before taking off. Others splash and go… we’re not that brave. Especially with a new boat, we want to be sure all systems are working well and, hopefully, will continue to do so as we cruise. There will also be some ‘in the water’ work that needs to be done… such as rigging check-over, in water engine alignment, finishing the engine service. Then it will be up to us to pack the boat without over-stuffing her (as has been our tendency in the past). We’re really hoping Sue and John can control us as we sort through what we ‘think’ we need vs. what we ‘really’ need.
For now, know we are well and enjoying some progress. Work on the dinghy has progressed to the stage where tomorrow, at precisely 1400 hrs., air will be introduced to the newly patched (and sealed we hope) starboard pontoon…. and we shall see then whether or not Sue’s kayak will have to be donated as an outrigger. Work on the engine began today. We are delighted to report we found Omar… or rather he found us… thanks to some cruising friends we are now connected. Wonderful guy, skilled mechanic, and even speaks English very well. We are in good hands and will spend the next day or two re-juvinating the engine into the fine piece of machinery it was intended to be. Our splash day is moved to Monday to accommodate the engine repair and we’re all looking forward to getting on board and cleaning and packing… sounds horrible but it’s not. Once the boat is in the water life on board will be cooler and life at the marina is very pleasant… imagine, floating in the Sea of Cortez, in a nice marina, surround by like-minded people… it’s pretty awesome!
Oh yes, a quick note. You’d be proud of me. I’ve turned into the thrift shop at the works yard..yup, spread out all the stuff we trying to get rid of…under the boat (on the shady side of course). There’s no swap meet coming soon enough for us and we really want to move this stuff along so I now remind them on the morning net that ‘a few’ things are under SSpirit and they’re welcome to come take a look. I’ve even got repeat customers!
So I guess that’s all for now…. Except Kathy wanted to show you the “after” picture of the DC panel rewiring job and our new favorite Mexican electrician…. she’s been working with Salvador for over a week and we now have a new SSB radio, a new propane system, a new DC subpanel and a bunch of spiffy lights, fans and other wiring upgrades. Salvador is a wonderful guy, so competent and resourceful and worked for hours at a time, without complaint in hot, cramped conditions… always with his gentle and respectful sense of humour. Thanks Salvador, you are the best!!
Hope all of you are well and your fall/winter weather isn’t too awful… Talk to you soon…. CJ
