I finally got that old 2000 lb. (exagerating) hunk of metal(my engine) out of the boat. It sure put a lot of stress on the rigging as I winched it up on deck and then over the side to the ground. Now I start pulling all the old wires that are not being used and degreasing the engine room. Can't wait till I pull up my new sweet and light weight Yanmar on deck. I pulled everything out of my amas(side hulls) and the focs'le and stored them in the bodega with all the new stuff I brought down with me. I will seriously go through everything and start tossing and selling stuff......I want to sail a fast boat this year. Other boats are going in the water left and right making me feel like I'm on the slow track. My day will come in about 3 weeks. My meals have been a little boring...Mahi-Mahi three different ways, Cordon Bleu tonight and some traditional Mexican fare. Breakfast..Cheerios. Lunch...occassional ham and cheese at the local Oxxo(7-eleven type store).

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The beginning of Season 3 and it feels like it's my first. When I left the house to pick up my riders to Guaymas I thought they might cancel once they saw all my stuff loaded in the van. This year I bought a new(451hrs.) Yanmar diesel and 2 transmissions and all the other peripheral garbage that goes with it. Plus I bought a huge microwave for a friend here in Guaymas and of course all my fun toys I can't do without. When I showed up, they said they will try to get it all in. Bottom line.....we couldn't get in a six-pack of coke in there after they got all their stuff in. I will post more pics of the load in the gallery. When we stopped in Arizona for the gas, the attendant said it looked like my rear springs were going to break. The springs were inverted. At the border the Mexican customs started looking and they called the supervisor over to look at all the stuff to see what they could charge customs duty on. The supervisor took one look and shook his head and said let them go...Praise the Lord.....that was my biggest fear and it was for nothing. When we pulled into the Singlar yard with the car still performing it was a big relief. Got everything unloaded except the engine. The next day I drove to Mazatlan to have the friendly Yanmar dealer check out my engine and give me a thumbs up for installation. Thats like driving from Sacramento to Los Angeles to have mechanic do work for you. Plus the auto-pistas cost me 1130 pesos(about $90) to do the round trip. Now the work begins on installation of the engine and cosmetic work on the hull of the boat. The interior flooding of the boat from hurricane Jimena wasn't as bad as I was told...thank goodness. I think the next post I will go into what my eating habits are down here and probably will be disgruntled over the work I have to do in this wonderful hotbox. Oh yeah, hurricane Rick is on its way to hopefully make a visit just south of us. Won't know until Monday or Tuesday.

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Made it in to Guaymas after a nice overniter from Santa Rosalia. I anchored right in front of the Singlar facility in about 8 ft. of water. I noticed when I was motoring in that there were a lot of people standing at the marina docks. When I stopped short of the docks and dropped anchor, there were a few waves from the people and I thought nothing of it. Later, when I went ashore to say Hi and hug my favorite girl in Guaymas(Arianna), she told me all the workers at Singlar came out to welcome me back. They were waiting there to help me tie up, but cheap charlie me wanted to anchor instead of paying for dock space that I didn't have to. After a week at anchor, I hauled out a little early so I could be right next to Capricorn Cat while I help Wayne work on his boat. We tore out all the stairs on both hulls because they were soggy and soft and creating cracks in the fiberglass. We epoxied in honeycombed boards to stiffen them up the stairs, then he had a Mexican crew fair and paint the steps. Left Guaymas early in the morning with Steve and Kathy of Psyche so we could stop for the night at Lake Havasu City. My good friends Chuck and Elaine of Boomerang fame were our gracious hosts. We filled them in on all last seasons cruising stories. Left Lake Havasu for home and did the 395 thing up over the mountains....the last time for that route. This time I was not about to surprise my Princess...I don't think her heart or mind can take another surprise. Of course she was super happy to see me and me her. I've been home for 9 days now and I still can't shake her...she is with me everywhere. What a culture shock to be home. It was nice to go to my first church service and really feel welcomed. Now I can't wait for October 1st to arrive so I can start cruising all over again.

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