Taking a Break from the Boatyard

Well we've reached the end of another season in the boatyard and the bottom of our pocketbook. We've completed a lot of projects and yet the boat is still not quite ready for the water. We'll be spending the next several months, possibly years at the rate we go, replenishing the cruising kitty while we wait for the temperatures in Guaymas to return to a more comfortable degree.

The following are photos of some of the things we did complete.............

The entire interior was repainted

The floors were all sanded down and refinished

Lettering is complete

The electric windlass is installed

The solar panels are bolted in place and wired in

The mast is back where it should be, 6" forward of where it was

Old rudder, New rudder

The uncomfortable cockpit is now an aft deck with new cushions

All the portlights have been rebedded, new dorad boxes, the electrical panel and batteries are all in a new location and have been wired in, we added Aries self-steering, the new tiller has been welded up and installed, had to put another coat of paint on the dog house because the primer was still showing through, nearly finished with the engine room, foam for a new bed and a number of other little things. Still to go, finish the new counter top and reinstall the sink, finish the new refrigerator box and reinstall the refrigeration, finish installing the engine and the new controls, reinstall all the electronics and the cabin lighting. Then maybe we can finally splash the boat. 

We survived aguamalas season with all the awful smells from the processing plant and then the 1000s of flies that followed

Zero kept a vigilant lookout for dogs who might want to board the boat

The fireworks of Carnival

Mowing the grass

New, more creative graffiti began appearing around town

Zero finds a cool new place to hang out

New Moon

Blood Moon

Survived the invasion of the scary bugs, the Tailless Whip Scorpion and several Bark Scorpions were found in the house we were renting in the barrio

Sunrise at the shipyard

Another beautiful sunset as viewed from the confines of the boatyard

We met a lot of new people this year and made a number of new friends from Sweden, Poland, Germany, Scotland, England, France, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, Japan, and of course the US, Mexico and Canada. If you hang out in the boatyard long enough, nearly everyone makes a stop there at one point or another.

About Time to Head Back

We're doing a pretty good job finding everything that's on the list and so we should be ready to head back down to Guaymas in the next couple days. We've found a few good deals along the way, thanks to Craigslist, but for the most part we've been experiencing a lot of sticker shock. Every time we come back here prices seem higher than they were before but I did find bars of dark chocolate on sale, buy 1 get one free so at least didn't get moved to the 'things we want, but don't really need' list.

So far we've had no luck selling any of the things that we need to get rid of like Jim's BMW motorcycle, his portable welder or the manual windlass. We were hoping some of it would sell so we'd have the extra cash for the main sail purchase.We've got to get the ordered and on the way so we don't end up stuck in Guaymas after the summer heat arrives.

Oh, and check out my new Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/JuanitaWitkopPhotography

A Moritz Bronze Windlass if you know anyone who needs one.  It's manual but it can be modified to be driven by an electric motor.

Stocking Up

We have returned to the States for a brief period of time in order to get those last few parts we're going to need to finish up all the projects we have left to do before we can finally return to the water. We'll see how much money we have left over for stocking up on all those things that we have a hard time procuring in Mexico like dark chocolate, Vermont Cheddar or any aged cheese, maple syrup, pesto, pepperoni, tea, micro brewed beer... the list goes on. We have gotten used to not being able to get certain things due to the fact that they are either; available but very expensive or just nowhere to be found, we try to eat what's locally available, I love Mexican food, but it's limited and it can get old, especially when you're used to having so much variety. When we come back, it's hard to not over indulge. What do we really need, what can we afford, what are the things we just want because we haven't had them in so long, what will keep, what can we buy extra of that will be in high demand, what can we legally get across the border?

Once we're back in the water, which I hope happens soon after we get back, possibly by the end of March, and that depends on how long it takes to complete all the tasks we need to do here. We have some packages that we are waiting for, hope they all show up next week. Where was I, oh ya, once we get back in the water, and we can change our location, I hope to do a better job at keeping up with the blog, have something more interesting to write about than boat projects, and have something else to take a photos of besides Guaymas Bay.

Red-breasted Merganzers

And by the way, you will now be able to order prints of some of these photos online at
http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/juanita-witkop.html
If you see a photo here that you would like to order a copy of, let me know and I will make it available. As always, please ask permission before using any photos you don't own the copyright to. Thanks

At Last, an Update...

It's been over a year since my last blog update. It's been two years since we hauled the boat out of the water, depressing when you think about it. This project that we've undertaken to change and correct the boat to make it safer, more comfortable and chase rust seems endless, but looking back over the last 2 years, we have accomplished a lot and it may be possible to finish what's left by the end of the year, well that is if we ever get back down there. We haven't actually spent the entirety of those 2 years in the boatyard as the heat and humidity of the summer months in Guaymas make it nearly impossible to get anything done. So we spent some of those months in the relative coolness of the mountains of northern New Mexico.............

Zero pretty much makes himself at home where ever we go

As for progress on the boat.............

We decided to change a few things at first and then Jim got a bit carried away with the cutting torch

Removed the aft hung rudder, cut away part of the keel, removed nearly a ton of excess ballast, replaced it with a 100 gallon fuel tank

Removed the cockpit and lazarett

New plate welded in place

Removed some of the interior walls, moved the bed towards the center of the boat, added more insulation in the ceiling, rebuilt the frig box so there is now room for a freezer.

Removed the life lines and welded in solid rails all the way around. Bowsprit was unbolted and then welded into place

Engine was moved a bit forward and down since we had been having problems with the prop coming out of the water in rough seas.

 

Newly designed rudder

Sand blasting, had to wait an extra 3 months before the yard that had been scheduled to do the work finally was able to fit us in.

New antiskid on the deck. Notice the windows on that had been on the deck were removed.

Paint, paint and more paint.

This is pretty much how we left her in May. Most of the exterior work is complete. Now for the inside...

We added that jungle gym on the back to help protect the new cockpit, which is now big enough to sleep in, from the elements. All that canvas work has been completed. Jim removed nearly every bolt that went through the hull and deck and welded every hole shut. The manual winch is being replaced by an electric one. We were lucky to find a highly skilled welder to help us out with that portion of the project. The sand blasting, once it finally happened, was excellent for the most part and was done by the shrimp boat yard next door due to the fact that they have both the equipment and the proper experience to do it right. That steel was etched! when they were done, and mainly why it took so much primer to re-coat the whole thing. However, being a fishboat yard, they are not in the business of working on yachts, and so there were problems with them being careful not to damage the wood or the fresh paint or realizing that it's not a good idea to grind rusty steel directly upwind from our boat while the paint was wet. The painting didn't go so well, took gallons more, actually twice as much primer than we had calculated, the top coat didn't turn out as nice as we would of hoped due possibly to the wrong conditions, choice of paint, and access to the proper equipment. There's a few places that need to be re-coated due a lack of attention to detail by the person who helped out with the paint job. The mast and boom are all repainted and ready to go up, we'll need a new mainsail before we go anywhere. We have to finish the interior which needs painting, re-installation of the engine, rewiring, completion of the new frig box and then maybe we'll refinish the floors while we're at it. We're going to need some new cockpit cushions and new piece of foam for the new bunk and then there's probably quite a few things I'm not thinking of at the moment. So looking forward to being back in the water.

Cruising to Alaska

Recently I went on a cruise to Alaska with some of my family. We headed up the coast from San Francisco and ran into 20 foot seas and 60 knot winds. I was happy that we weren't on our 40 foot boat and was quite surprised that the conditions were bad enough to make an 850 foot ship very uncomfortable, I never thought I would need sea sickness pills on a cruise ship.

We got lucky and arrived in Ketchikan on one of those rare days they actually get to see the sun.

The mountains above Juneau

Train ride from Skagway

Dawes Glacier

 

Victoria, Canada

Eventually we'll be heading back down to Mexico and get started working on the boat again. Lots of work left to do before it returns to the water where it belongs. We've made some major changes, I'll post photos at some point.