Let the Preparations Begin!
02 May 2016 | Marina Puerto Escondido
Today was a very busy day indeed!
We have a trip planned to the US and our plane departs Loreto this Thursday, May 5th, which means we need to get Cetus prepared to be people-less.
Our original plan was to be gone only 10-15 days with a trip to Anaheim to see Carly run the 1/2 marathon (and the 10K the day before!) -- and to enjoy a day or two at Disneyland of course.
But now we are also going to make a drive north to Gig Harbor after seeing Carly and Ryan in Disneyland, so we will be gone nearly 2 months so much more preparations have to be made.
We won't be hauling Cetus out of the water for this trip since hurricane season doesn't really start until July so she will be safe on one of the secure mooring buoys here in well protected Puerto Escondido.
But it's still important to make Cetus as safe as possible, so just like when we leave her on the hard we will remove everything outside that could be a problem in big winds.
To make these tasks easier we moved into the little marina near the boatyard so we could take advantage of the fresh water and electricity.
Today we got the sails rinsed off and after they dried we took them down and will stow them below. Then the entire boat got a good bath and the outdoor cushions were cleaned and wiped with protectant. Tomorrow the dinghy will get a good wash and then deflated and stowed away. We saved that one for tomorrow so we could go outside the harbor for a nice swim after all the hard work today.
Down below, in addition to regular cleaning I cleaned and defrosted the refrigerator and freezer. We'll still use them one more day, but they'll be easy to empty now with just a few things left in them to remove before we turn them off when we leave.
Tomorrow, in addition to the dinghy, we have to begin the packing along with a trip to the vet for a health certificate for Rosie.
Then on Wednesday morning we will take down the dodger and take Cetus back out to the mooring buoy (which has been inspected and even added an additional line) where she will wait for our return near the end of June or early July. As added security we've hired Carlos, the local diver, to keep an eye on her and inspect the mooring once a week.
We've checked off all the items on the list for today so it's time to relax until tomorrow when we'll get up and do it again.