Cruise Log #28, La Paz

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1 January to 15 February, 2006
Little Abaroa's Boat Yard and Gray Whales

Updated February 15th

La Paz.

SolMate is on the hard. Yard work in Mexico (at Abaroa's in La Paz, at least) is low-tech, to say the least. Alfredo, our one and only assigned yard worker stripped the old paint off the hull by slapping on paint remover and scraping it off with a 3-inch putty knife; then he poked out some blisters using a hammer and chisel, sanded, buzzing away with a little electric sander. The whole ugly, dirty, gritty, grimey process may take Alfredo a couple of weeks.

Sitting in slings at Abaroa's.

Yard life ain't so bad. The loo is closer than at the marina, and we've got it all to ourselves with our own private key (and someone else cleans it for us!). Pretty convenient, except there's usually no water - we flush with a bucket from the outside spigot, showers are birdbaths on board, just as if we were at anchor. One of the tough things to get used to on the hard is that nothing can drain out the sinks or head (unless we want a very irate Alfredo). We haul buckets of dishwater and other gray water off the boat to the loo to flush. A bit inconvenient, but the rent's free! Yep, by spending thousands on a bottom job we're saving hundreds on slip fees (for anyone keeping track, we're still within budget because this haulout was in the original plan - ha!).

A side note on the bottom blisters - interestingly enough, the resin that creeps out from the fiberglass hull collects under the outside paint layer. The hull, itself, isn't blistered, just the paint. When the paint is removed, the resin streams out of the bubble and leaves a perfectly smooth surface underneath. That's good news for us because it proves that the hull is sound and that the blisters are, indeed, only skin deep.

Alfredo sanding away.

Our surveyor also said the boat is sound - he was very complimentary about SolMate's condition, and very impressed, as well. One of the reasons we hauled this year was because our insurance company required an out-of-water survey. A couple of days before haulout, Cecil the Surveyor came over to the dock and performed a preliminary survey. Then after we hauled, he and Marcos, his trusty assistant, hammered all over the hull. Cecil is an old, very experienced, marine architect and surveyor. He was extremely knowledgeable and thorough, AND extremely positive about SolMate's condition. He was very impressed with all of the new equipment and with the way Stan has kept up with maintenance. He poked his head in the bilge (dry) and behind electrical panels (neat and safe) and he had nothing but great things to say about SolMate and her shipwright.

SolMate's in the best shape she's been since we bought her, six years ago, a fact that brings us to an interesting conclusion - we're seriously considering putting her on the market for sale. Our reason for listing her, now, is because she'll never be in better shape, and we're not using her to her best advantage. Seems a big waste to use a high-performance sailing vessel as a coastal cruiser. We've discovered that we explore ashore much more than we sail. For example, we spend most of our time anchored or tied to docks, rarely do we sail. When we do finally pick up the anchor, we're only able to sail 30% of the time here in the Sea of Cortez. Consequently, all the brand new rigging, the new sails, electronics, etc. etc. (see the specs) that we've installed, are wasted. My thinking is that a trawler would better fit our lifestyle.

In other news, we took a day off from the boat yard grind and ventured off to the Pacific side of the Baja to commune with gray whales.

The overland route to Lopez Mateos.

The gray whale festival in Lopez Mateos coincides with calving season - Stan and I joined a van-load of cruisers for the trip across the peninsula, a panga ride with whales, and lots and lots of eating coming and going. Stan was photographer of the day....