"Cruising is the most labor-intensive way to live a third-world lifestyle."

Rebecca and I love to work - and that's a good thing when you go cruising. Here's a short list of Liberte boat chores, after the yacht's been sitting "on the hard" for the past 8 months:

- Bottom paint (Marina Seca)
- Cutlass bearing replaced
- Lube and work thru-hulls (if you have holes in the bottom of your boat - and we have 6 or so - you want them to close on demand).
- Launch and make sure she floats!
- See if engine starts
- Find a marina slip
- Move onboard from hotel with dog and new supplies
- Test and replace house and start batteries
- Happily note that fridge starts now that power is back up - cross that off the list with great gusto.
- Unpack and sort out the boat
- Scrub 8 months of Sonoran dust off the boat cover, dry and repack
- Move everything around at least 3 times
- Bend on the sails - in between wind events
- Fix that leaking water fixture that was spraying everywhere, and you conveniently forgot over the summer. Why is it in such a tight corner?!
- Now can fill water tanks and hope it doesn't spray anymore.
- Hit everything that moves with T-9, Boeing's lubricant of choice
- Move some more stuff around
- Provision the boat with a trip to Wal-Mart - 25 bags full
- Replace pump in the head - now replacing head hoses if they have the right size at Star Marine
- Also happily note that chartplotter reboots correctly, and shows us precisely on A dock where we belong.

Lest you feel sorry for us, please note that we are performing said tasks in the Mexican sunshine, with a great deal of laughter and enjoyment, and taking plenty of siesta breaks and strolls around the town. Still to come...

- Fill propane (local knowledge says go to the corner store and wait there with your propane tank. The propane truck driver stops for a taco at the taco stand for breakfast and will fill your tank. Love it!)
- Find and replace head hoses - also hit with muriatic acid to take away the scaling. In the future we'll use even more vinegar - Don Casey says 1 pint per month - flushed very slowly through the system.
- Engine check and shakedown
- Install Scottimini. Rebecca would like to request that we fly Scott up from the Grenadines to supervise.
- Inflate "Liberteeny" the dingy
- Fire up Liberteeny's Merc8 outboard
- Obtain diesel and petrol from the fuel dock
- Rebed swim platform teak - the Cappy stored some diesel on the stern where it leaked onto and dissolved the rubber compound holding the teak. Have the stuff to do it but "waiting for the right day."
- Check out BBQ. Seems like it was falling apart at last inspection.
- Connect saltwater pump in the galley
- Test & inspect bilge pump
- Replace steaming and anchor light bulbs
- Get Mexican courtesy flag - last one shredding in a violent Norther. Evidently one of our fellow cruisers here makes or stocks them - we'll hail him on the Cruiser's Net on VHF 72 at 8 a.m. manana.
- Test the anchor windlass
- Dig out and install mainsheet
- Patch up autohelm
- Scrub stern
- Obtain our fishing license - it involves finding a fellow named "Manny" on the dock - a short fellow who runs a boat named "Reelaxation."
- Check weather and clear out
- Stow 'n' Go!!