N 24° 6'
W 110° 12'
January to May, 2007
• MARINA PALMIRA◊ The Art Incident
• LA PAZ
• TECOLOTE
• TODOS SANTOS
• A VISIT FROM THE KIDS
January to whenever, 2008
• THE MARINA OBSERVED• MORE PROJECTS
MARINA PALMIRAWe took a slip in Marina Palmira, where we had chartered a Moorings boat in 1996, along with our good friend Steve Morrell and his wife. We really like this marina, it's just 2 kilometers from the center of town, out along the Malecon. There are two good restaurants and two bars, a chandlery, and a tienda; the staff are all friendly and the place is clean and quiet, except around Lucy the goose.
Marley didn't seem to like Lucy much but never actually got close enough for a decision.
Our slip was at the end of number 4 Dock; the occasional jumboat sloshing around nearby made it seem like close quarters out there, but most of the time we were quite comfortable.
When we first got there in January the dock parties were all on dock 3 but with the arrival of Captain Mac aboard Venture Forth the party honors passed to dock 4 and stayed there all winter.
Better party technology attracts a crowd every time.
Most days on dock 4 were pretty slow, a few people did a bit of work, but not much.
Well, apart from the 3 engine rebuilds and the recommissioning.
The view from our slip was pretty good, when there was no jumboat on the end tie, at high tide we could see waves breaking on the sandbar outside the channel.
And there were the glorious, gleaming, never ending sunsets of La Paz.
The Art Incident
Art was a sea lion who came for a visit one morning in March.
We first saw him way over on the end of 5 dock.
Then he came swimming towards our dock.
What is it Chen?
Wow, that's a Sea Lion, a big one.
He's coming aboard. Yup, that's our boat right there.
How did we know his name was Art? We asked him, and that's what he said, "Art, Art."
LA PAZ
We walked around, getting to know La Paz again; it is a lovely town, the state capital of Baja California Sur, its been there since 1535. We found our friend the Happy Shrimp in a new location, he'd been moved from the restaurant near the Hotel Los Arcos, and now lives halfway out to Palmira.
There is a 100 foot cell tower disguised as a palm tree downtown by the Marina de La Paz now.
John's back was hurting so bad he couldn't walk very far between bars, and he was darn grumpy most of the time.
Get over it John!
TECOLOTE
Ron and Beryl Seabourn had rented a car so we all drove out to Tecolote, up the peninsula, on the San Lorenzo channel, you can see Isla Espiritu Santo just across the channel. We partied on the beach in exactly the same spot we'd been 10 years earlier. Same restaurant, same chairs, same waiter, I think, different prices.
Tecolote is popular with gringos and Mexicans, always an excellent thing in our view, the marinas generally being so gringo-ish.
We tipped well.
TODOS SANTOS
A semi-funky little artists' colony on the coast, Todos Santos is on the road to Cabo San Lucas, where we went to pick up & drop off the kids at the airport. Its where you'll find the legendary Hotel California. On the way back we stopped at the hotel for a drink but we didn't check in.
I can still hear that tune …
A VISIT FROM THE KIDS
Young Aidan Thomas Murray brought his mother, his father, and his aunt to see us.
Tom and Tracy are having a wonderful time being parents. Judy is quite happy being a grandmother, John's not so sure about being a grandfather, maybe a grumpa.
Tiffany is doing really well, working hard, all over the country, and she certainly knows how to relax.
The kids could only stay for a few days so we didn't take them out sailing, and that was probably a good thing.
It felt good to have the family all together with us again.
♥ Our friends Mick and Sharon from Mammoth also came to see us in La Paz, they stayed for more than a week but we didn't get any pictures of them, so there is absolutely no evidence that they were there.
January to whenever, 2008
• THE MARINA OBSERVED
January 11, 2008John's been putting on a bit of weight, and what with his bad hip he has to slim down; so we got a bicycle. A Chinese chromium beauty, one-speed, for maleconeando. The decals on it say 'Marsstar' so I thought it was imported from Mars, but the tires say Hang Zhou Rubber Factory.
January 26, 2008
Interesting things happen in a marina, this week we saw the jumboat that has everything, a charitable pirate ship, and an expensive founder.
⇐ The boat that has everything
The jumboat is M/Y Silverado, on the Dock 4 end tie, and yes, that is a roto-tiller hanging from the crane. John's theory is that its for fluffing up beaches before the guests go ashore. M/Y Silverado spends a lot of time at Marina Palmira, rumor has it that one of the co-owners is Conrad Hilton, so we've been expecting to see Paris …
⇒ A Charitable Pirate Ship
This ketch is actor John Amos' S/V Halley's Comet; he keeps it here in Marina Palmira. Halley's Comet is the flagship of the Halley's Comet Foundation, it looks like a lot of fun.
⇓ Another one bites the mud
According to the owner's brother this is (was) a very expensive sport fisher, a US$400,000 38 foot Black Marlin. The owner said he would not move it until he found out whose fault it was.
It took eight bosses and two divers to raise the boat.
After an oops or two, they got it up and away.
• MORE PROJECTS
- Replaced cockpit lifelines with stainless steel railings.
- Repairs to canvas
- Mast repairs
- Standing rigging replacement
- Radar
We replaced the cockpit lifelines with stainless steel railings. We'd had the usual wire lifelines around the cockpit; they were a bit wobbly, and were not a good place to mount stuff.
La Paz Stainless Steel Welding & Fabrication made and installed new 1" SS rails where the wire lifelines used to be.
Sergio Galindo wields a fine TIG welder.
Life in the yard
Saturday, 4/12. Arrived at La Marina del Palmar.
I see that the jefes get a runabout ride rather than a panga run, and nicer lifejackets too.
DECOMMISSIONING
It took us three days to take down the jib, unship the boom and gather all the halyards at the bottom of the mast, then we waited for 3 more days before we got the crane, the line handlers, and Jeffrey the rigger together to pull the mast. Kevin from Sunbreak loaned us four old, long lines, Bob from Genesis and the gentleman from South Carolina came to help and Anthony, whose ketch Mandalay is here in the yard also helped. We were fortunate that a stranger named Tony, from Sweetie was here too, he was helping another boat called Meha get its mast out right after us.
On Friday, April the 18th we warped the boat into the hauling slip, tied her up, hooked on the crane sling from Don Nicho's 5 ton Grove, loosed the rigging and wiring and popped the mast out.
We've been in the yard slip for two weeks now, I gave Alejandro a list of the work we want to accomplish but it seems like I have to remind him what we want.
The work goes slowly, but it goes.
• Paint mast
• Repair spreader mount
• Install radar mount
• Install jib halyard
restrainer
• Install mast steps
• Install mast cleats
• True the mast step
• Install motor lift
on boat transom
Judy and I pulled the masthead apart, ran messengers for all the lines, and removed the spreaders, then the yard guys started sanding and painting.
We are figuring out how to repair the spreader mounts, and deciding where the radar mount and the new steps and cleats are going to go.
Jeffrey the rigger is re-rigging the boat with all new wire and Hahn Hi-Mod mechanical (swageless) fittings.
Sergio has made new stainless steel rigging pieces, one to raise the furling drum up 11" to clear the anchor, and one to replace the backstay bridle plate.
Here's the paint crew working on our mast, notice Don Nicho's crane in the background, you'll never guess what its doing.
Life in the yard is a boy's dream, its a bit grubby, there are boats and parts everywhere, and big, heavy equipment moving around with 15, 30, and 45 ton boats dangling from slings. There's lots of sanding and painting going on around the yard, and fiberglass repair too, along with some welding and mechanical work.
Here's a typical job; a large cabin cruiser gets two new, marine Volvo engines. They disassembled the old engines and took them out in pieces a few weeks ago, but to get the new engines aboard the aft bulkhead of the salon had to be cut out. Don Nicho's crane picks up a new engine and then, using the combined movement of the crane and the travel lift, the engine is inserted into the boat and lowered to its bed.
This is a big, heavy engine and that boat is in slings 8 feet above the water...
all in a day's work for the guys at El Marina del Palmar.
We've been seeing some folks we know here, Lou on Nina del Mar is down from Santa Rosalia for his tri-annual bottom job, and Bradford - the gentleman from South Carolina - came by for cocktails one evening. Later on that night he got himself chased by the police but that, as they say, is a different story. Vicki and Dishes aboard Inspiration at Sea are in the next yard north of us, along with Alex and Sue aboard Mi Tiroa. There's a nice, palapa style seafood restaurant - La Costa - right next door.
We're only a block from Marina de La Paz and the Club Cruceros, and there's three other restaurants within limping distance, the Dock, Bandido's and Ciao Molino.
COMMISSIONING
Monday, May 26, 2008
We stepped the mast today, got no photos of the ceremony but it was just like taking it out except backwards. A lot of nice folk showed up to help us so we had plenty of line handlers, dock hands, and advisers. A couple more days here tuning the rig, putting up the sails & canvas and running lines then we'll move back up to Palmira to finish a couple more projects and prepare for the run north.
SV Pegasus Home
Our Maiden Voyage
The Run North