02/18/2009, Mazatlan
We are in the boatyard this week getting some badly needed work completed. We hauled off 23 years of bottom paint. Tender Spirit is now getting an epoxy barrier coat and new bottom paint. We're also going through some through hulls along with the usual zincs and propeller maintenance. Hopefully we will be back in the water Friday.
We have fine tuned our communication and weather retrieval strategies. Hopefully we will be able to streamline our power usage with the singe sideband radio with the priority being weather retrieval. We will be checking into a several radio nets to report our current weather and position as we sail south. We will try to post those on this blog for your information. We will also be posting our current position here on the blog along with tidbits of information for those that are following our adventure. We're hoping to be able to post every 24 hours. We will also be posting our position on Yotreps, a great site that we have posted in the links. It's a great place to track many cruising boats around the globe.
Our preparations are starting to wind down now. We have a few items left on the list of boatwork, but for the most part, everything is about concluded. Now comes the exciting part of concluding our exit paperwork, last minute provisions, and navigation details. It surely looks like we've run out of excuses to stay in Mexico. We have definitely enjoyed this beautiful and hospitable country, but we are looking forward to seeing and experiencing more of our world.
| 2008 & 2009 Mexico Adventure |
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02/04/2009, Mazatlan
Yippie, the solar panels are up and running. We are loving the new panels. We have been generating all of our power now through solar. I've been slowly adding "cruising loads" to see how well we generate power under realistic situations that include the shadows, and varying light intensities throughout the day. We haven't had to use shore power to charge the batteries so far. We are hoping to generate close to 100% of our power through solar and wind generation. This will really lower our engine usage and drastically cut back on our fuel needs. We are hoping to use our engine exclusively for propulsion especially where fuel docks will be few and far between.
Time is sure flying. We are busy crossing items off the lists, but naturally, more things somehow magically appear. The boat is about ready to go. The major items are completed, now its time to get busy on a few maintenance items before we set sail. I've started the provisioning process. The food is so inexpensive that it makes sense to really stock up before heading south. The waterline is slipping underwater, but we will be able to choose when to buy groceries in expensive Polynesia! I'm sure glad that we decided to take these few months to work on things at a leisurely pace rather than to be frantically preparing the boat and not having any time for the fun things that us cruisers love to do.....like enjoying Mexico! Yes, Carnival is right around the corner. It is not to be missed in Mazatlan! We sure had a great time last year. Mazatlan has the 2nd largest Mardi Gras in the world. It is well worth the travel dollars to visit!
| 2008 & 2009 Mexico Adventure |
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Great story about the new Solar Panels on your boat. Would like to hear more about how they work. Thanks for sharing.
We hope you all had a wonderful holiday season. We enjoyed a relaxed week of visiting with cruising friends under warm blue skies and swaying palm trees. This was our second "Green Christmas" in Mexico. Our stockings were hung in the quarterberth with care, and sure enough, Santa slipped through the open companionway and filled them with goodies. There was a glitch in the tradition. Chuck's stocking was missing, but Santa wrapped the loot in a nearby kitchen towel and hung it using some fancy ropework!
We greeted the new year with Fidel and his family. We had a great time celebrating with this wonderful Mexican family. It was probably the best New Year's celebration we've had in a very long time. Getting to know the local people is one of the best things about cruising.
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Our stainless steel projects are now completed. What a great Christmas gift for us! We now have 1" stainless for our top life-lines along with railing to accommodate three jerry cans on the caprail with stainless plating to protect the woodwork. We added a custom outboard bracket on the stern, and a plate on the bowsprit to protect it from the anchors. My favorite project is the new boarding ladder that swivels down and can be easily deployed from the water. It's deep enough so that there won't be any problems getting out of the water even with dive gear. We also added a custom stern roller for the stern anchor, and finally a bracket for the radar reflector that will mount on the mast instead of dangling from the flag halyard. The workmanship is incredible. We looked around last winter admiring the work here. The projects that other cruisers had done were so nice that we also decided to do likewise. The craftsmanship is superior to what we've seen in the states, and very reasonable. These gentlemen were delightful to work with!
| 2008 & 2009 Mexico Adventure |
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