Dinghy Wheels
14 January 2015 | Marina La Cruz
Pat
Well I’m making my way down the list of things to do while we are at the dock.
The photo is a picture of our dinghy wheels installed. The boat originally came with a dinghy. When I sold the old dinghy in Alameda I forgot to take the brackets off for the dinghy wheels. While we were in San Diego Downwind Marine sold us the brackets and pins needed to install the wheels (which we still had from Dinghy # 1).
I dragged the dinghy up onto the dock and went to work with my electric drill. The install went pretty well. I have to say I’m happy with the way the project turned out.
If you’re wondering why anyone would put wheels on the back of a boat, let me explain. The wheels pivot down and deploy into the water. The wheels are in the stowed position in the photo. So when you are approaching a beach the wheels protect the engine from hitting the bottom. Also, when you get up onto the sand it’s easier to drag the boat up out of the water with wheels.
My other project was washing the boat. I was able to get that done yesterday as well.
A surprise came at the end of a long day of boat projects. My neighbors were having a beer on the dock, so I grabbed a cold Pacifico and went out to say hello. Turns out two different boat crews had returned from trips to the US. So there was a pot luck on the dock. The food was served on a surf board laid across a dock cart! The crew on the catamaran Permanently Temporary made tortilla soup that was delicious. It was a nice end to a hard day’s work. I also got to meet many of our neighbors, most of whom had already been cruising in Mexico for 3+ years.
Today is propane day in the marina. You drop off your empty tank at the office at noon, then pick it up full at the end of the day. I’ll fill the rest of the day with a trip to the street market and the local grocery store for food.