Rapturous!

Having been at sea or on the hook for almost two weeks, the Rapture crew were eager to come into a dock where we could have shore power to change all our many devices, take long, hot showers and walk without holding on to something all the time. Although Cabo San Lucas has a large marina, the fleet had been warned that they might not have space for all 150 boats but there would be plenty of space in the anchorage (groan). However, on the morning roll call as we approached CSL, the Grand Poobah informed us that only 13 boats could get slips and Rapture was one of them. How did we get to be so lucky? Our punctillious skipper had been the 8th boat to sign up for the Ha Ha and priority was given to the early birds. Yay, Greg!

Well, it wasn't quite what was promised. Cabo San Lucas is a Riviera- type town crowded with foreign tourists at all times of the year. The whole town is organized around keeping those money bags entertained. The marina is the gateway to parasailing boats, glass-bottom sight seeing pangas and big game fishing trawlers. We were assigned a side- tie on the main fairway. Three Ha Ha sailboats were crammed into space meant for two. Early in the morning and late afternoons the fairway was like rush hour LA freeway accompanied by blasting 60s and 70s pop music. No-wake speed limits were ignored and there was no concept of orderly single file. Amazingly, we witnessed no close encounters and our slow, lumbering sailboats were adroitly avoided. The experience was surreal coming after two weeks of infinite space and quiet.

Once docked, we could enjoy the facilities but when we plugged into the 120 Volt shore power with its adapter cable from 50 Amps to 30 Amps, nothing happened. There was electricity in the cables but the boat was not receiving it. Greg was pissed! He had had the whole electrical system upgraded at great expense in anticpation of different internatioanal shore power configurations and it wasn't working. After hours of investigation and a sleepless night trying to troubleshoot, Greg concluded that the Isolation Transformer was burned out. Why and how it happened is a mystery and the consequence is that we can no longer charge the ship's battery with shore power. Fortunately, the solar panels in this intense sunlight are producing enough electricity to keep the battery topped up and when we run the engine, the alternator will recharge any deficit. We have to limit using appliances that are huge drains on the battery like the air conditioning. Thank goodness it's not mid summer. The temperature is reasonable except from about 10:00am until about 4:00pm when we think longingly of the cool, foggy (and smokey) Bay Area.

The other shock was that the so called potable water at the marina was not recommended for drinking or to be put in the tanks. Great! so why even bother with the slip at $85 a night. Well, we did get our laundry done and we took advantage of the showers. We also were able to attend all the Ha Ha parties without worrying about driving the dingy down the LA freeway. We will run the watermaker when we motor out in the clean ocean. It's a great feeling to be self sufficient, although not really because we will have to get help in La Paz or Puerto Vallarta to fix the charging system.

We had reserved our slip for 3 days but decided to stay for 2. Tomorrow we head up to La Paz. I will be posting remotely so sorry, no pictures until we have good reception.