La Paz... Again!!

Minney's is THE place for more stuff

After what seems like months of running around getting things done to make the boat ready we are, whew, finally on our way into a new season. It was really only about two months since we got back from the South Pacific but it has been so filled with activity and “get-readies” that there has barely been time to breath. On the way down the coast we stopped by places like Minney’s to get parts and such. What a great place, along with Downwind Marine in San Diego these are fantastic boat-folk stores! By way of catch-up, while we were away there was a hurricane (Jimena) that swept north into the Sea of Cortez and Faith ended up in the path of its rain in the aftermath of the down graded tropical storm. This dropped 26 inches of rain and we had a small amount end up in the galley area of the boat. The marina crew pumped it out in our absence but there is damage to the sole of the galley. We installed the new windlass when we got to the boat and started restringing all the lines in the work yard and the slip when we finally got there. Elvis got inflated and the motor worked on the third pull!! We were comfortable in our new (to us) travel trailer while all this was going on but the work was slow. Luckily my brother Lee and his wife Julie were there too so we had diversions before we were to leave San Carlos. It seems to me that the blur of boat projects and guests arriving while we tried to play and work had us ready to leave but not ready as well. Our first attempt ended about an hour out of San Carlos when it was noticed that alternator was not working.

Some have called it Boat Jewelry!!

We had just installed the new inverter so we returned to the anchorage and further tested the whole shebang with long distance coaching from Alan, Dr. Electron, and re-reading the manuals. When Alfredo had the alternator done (rebuilt) and installed we tested a bit more then declared ourselves ready to go again. The visiting crew (JJ & Cher) agreed that it was decision time for them too (see Sandy’s blog to update all that bit of flexibility). We either had to get to La Paz or they needed to fly, ride, and walk back to La Paz in time to catch their flight. As one of the cruisers said when we were chatting about guests coming and going, “You can pick the place or you can pick the time… but you can’t have both!” As it turned out we had a great motor-sail down to Isla San Francisco, one of my very favorite places, and at least JJ & Cher got to see one of the places that we were going to take them too had we been able to stick to our plan of picking them up in La Paz. The whales, dolphin, turtles, birds and fish cooperated, for the most part, and our guests got to see lots of “stuff” on our delivery-like journey down the Sea. We managed to get into La Paz in time to get them to the hotel (La Perla) and up to La Fonda for a spectacular meal… again, whew, made it.

Elvis on station again!!

Now we are going to provision a bit and get ourselves more back to the main plan and sail to La Cruz (Banderas Bay – think, Puerto Vallarta). There were those small issues in getting this far after we left San Carlos too. When Alfredo installed the alternator he placed the three small washers that keep the thing at just the right angle on the wrong side of the bracket. As we motored it was clear that we were burning through the belt. Ugh, in the first anchorage, Isla San Francisco, I corrected that and everything worked marvelously after that. The generator can now charge the batteries as well and we are able to make coffee from the inverter too!!! This last may seem like a strange use of power to some but the thing is that when you have more than just the two of us on the boat the amount of coffee that can be made by other methods (French press or stove top percolator) is insufficient. We needed a way to keep up the guest demand and stay sane ourselves… this has answered that nicely. By the way, if you come across a stainless steel stove top percolator that makes more than eight smallish cups let me know!! It was something I thought would be easy to find but all attempts to secure one have ended in failure. It’s just one of those odd things that living on a boat brings to your attention from time to time. So, here we are in La Paz with a few moments to rub together and time to contemplate again. It is such a luxury after months of going and doing and seeing that this morning feels like a new day of a different sort indeed!