Way back in February of 2019 -- which at this point seems like about 100 years ago -- we started making plans to haul Cetus out of the water for some bottom work.

It was a little more than the 3 day in and out to simply put a fresh coat of bottom paint on as we have some minor blisters to repair, which requires more time out of the water to grind down old paint and open up the blisters and give the whole thing plenty of time to dry out -- maybe about 6 weeks.

So we figured it would be at least 2 months out of the water and we started planning on coordinating that out of water time with an extended trip north to Washington to do our Dr apts and visit friends and family.

First thought was to do it that spring, but since the weather down here in the Sea is so perfect at that time we decided to just go up and do our Dr apts at that time and then haul her out and go up for our visiting in late September/early October.

As that time approached California and Northern Baja started having wildfires all along our route, and then early snows started coming to the passes! Scratch that plan.

We then scheduled everything for March of 2020, but once again decided we just didn't want to miss the spring in the Sea of Cortez and pushed everything to July. Shortly after we changed those dates COVID struck and we were so thankful we'd altered plans when we did or we would have been traveling into the States just as the virus was a raging unknown factor. We were better off to stay down here and self isolate aboard Cetus in the anchorages near Puerto Escondido.

With all the uncertainty of what would happen we kept our July schedule just waiting to see if it would be possible to do the haul-out and drive to Washington then. So about a week ago we felt it was time to evaluate the situation and make a decision.

Not comfortable with the thought of driving to and spending time in Washington just yet as COVID cases are spiking a bit, we thought we should put off the trip north to a more stable time. In addition, nearby Loreto just reported its first cases at the beginning of June so we felt we were safer to stay put instead of making the drive up Baja.

So we decided to do the haul-out in August-September, but instead of tying it to our trip north we will stay down here in a nice little apartment at nearby Hotel Tripui (where we often stay while doing boat work).

So that's the current plan and reservations are made and we are actually quite happy with the decision. Not only will we be off the boat in the hottest months of summer, but we will be able to oversee all the work the yard is doing on the bottom of the boat as well as getting a chance for us to work on the interior, cleaning and refinishing Cetus from stem to stern. As you can imagine many projects just aren't comfortable to do in such a small space when you are living aboard.

Of course the huge downside is not getting to see family and friends....... but that's no different than what everyone has been having to deal with in these strange times.

But with our new plan, we will have the boat work done and we will be much more flexible to go north whenever the timing looks good.

So we'll just cross our fingers and say some prayers that Plan D works out!