Tough Day

It's been a productive but frustrating day. Although we've gotten a lot of small tasks completed, several items have broken that we weren't expecting to break and that's caused us to spend time "in reverse", repairing old rather than fixing new. Sigh.

We installed our main sail and the "Lazy Bag" that is its cover. We got the solar panels wired and the solar controller working, not an easy task although it should have been. While down in the "man cave", i accidentally knocked off the flux gate ccmpass. Damn! I had to re-epoxy that device, as well as the mounting for the solar charger: working in reverse.

Conni and Chip got the cap rail taped for varnishing. Tomorrow, our rigger will return and get the wind instrument re-rigged. When sailing so far, knowing what the wind and direction are is important. We'll also get the radar reflector installed while the guy's here, saving me a long trip up the mast.

Our water maker friend, Tom, has arranged to have a mechanic drop by the boat to deal with the injectors. That will save me a lot of effort. He'll remove the old injectors, install the newly-rebuilt ones, and have the old one rebuilt. We'll take them with us.

Econaviara, our importers, have sworn that the whisker pole will arrive tomorrow afternoon. That remains to be seen.

To legally leave Mexico one needs a "zarpe", a combination health certificate, port captain's permission, and immigration clearance. A Mexican doctor will be shuttled to the boat for a health inspection, and the document will cost us US$300, but things will come to us instead of our hunting all of these offices ourselves. Once issued, we'll have 48 hours to clear from Mexico. So, we're getting very close to leaving: definitely within four days, perhaps sooner.

Tomorrow, we'll have a lot to do and we'll have a lot to of important tasks completed.