We normally have a case of “itchy feet” when we are in a
port for too long. This season of
cruising has been short on cruising and long on staying in La
Paz, BCS, Mexico. As has been detailed here and on Sandy’s blog we started out with a longer than usual stay
in San Carlos, Sonora, Mexico
to get some much needed work done on Faith.
The new auto pilot, the painting, the rudder repair and so forth took
about two months of our season and we thought we were doing really well with
getting so much done and on our way. It
turned out, of course, that we weren’t really ready to leave because we soon
discovered that our alternator was toast and we limped into La Paz.
This first problem was solved within two days with a fresh
alternator of the correct sort and we could have proceeded with a great season
by crossing over to La Cruz de Huanacaxtle (Nayarit) on Banderas
Bay near Puerto Vallarta (Jalisco). That was before I had the inspiration to
contact Sergio Galinda, a welder of some repute, to give us an estimate on
building a stern arch to house and reconfigure how we collect solar power and
raise the dinghy and outboard motor. We
had seen his work a few years ago and enjoyed his vision of how such a thing
could be created. The way I thought it
would go was not how it turned out to go.
That is, my vision was that we would get an estimate and be told that he
was far too busy right now to complete the work right now. That would likely entail bringing the boat
back sometime, say, in the summer, and having the work done. Surprise!!
Sergio said here is your quote after about fifteen minutes of discussion
about what we wanted to do and it was more than reasonable but the scorcher was
that he had time right NOW to finish the work, probably before the end of
February!
THAT was just too tempting.
We started the work. Slowly at
first the measurements led to the first arch piece showing up and adjustments
being made. Then as things began to fill
out we decided that we would be here a little longer than anticipated and
signed up with the marina (Palmira)
for a second month. With that I went to
retrieve the car from storage in San
Carlos and life took a pleasant turn. We were comfortably installed in La Paz. We had the mobility we normally do not have
while cruising. We filled in the time
with trips to Todos Santos an artsy town, Los Barriles and Balandra beach to
name a few. It gave us full motion to
explore La Paz
as well. Going out to eat was a regular
feature of our time spent. We discovered
a lot more of what was available in the area.
Before long Sergio was finished and we were left with the
finishing touches to install the wiring for the new additional solar panels and
wind generator. I had not brought along
the necessary controllers but found much of I needed and got the solar panels
working for us… the wind generator would have to wait until I can retrieve the
special controller it needs from our home base.
In any case, we also added replacing some foam in the settee cushions
and having a cockpit cushion rebuilt. I
also changed several electrical items and rebuild the aft head (oh joy) while
hanging around.
A day or so ago I bought the ferry tickets needed to take
the car back to San Carlos
and we are starting to think about the end of the season already. We have friends that have gone on to cruise
our other favorite places. At this point
they are heading toward us and we might as well stay just a little longer until
they make it this far.
That is the story of how you get vortext-ed. You get slowly lulled into staying put. We have seriously itchy feet now but feel
like we have had good season with a bit more to follow. Certainly we have one of my favorite times
ahead and will have considerably more comfort because of our improvements.
