Awake at 8 this St. Patty's day. It's our first morning with our crew mate, Chip Derrick. His sense of humor and easy-going nature have already made him fit in easily, as we knew that he would.

Friday was a fiasco, and that's why I didn't post a blog. I was too disheartened. Conni wanted the aft head to work since Chip, we both feel, needs his own head (toilet, for you landlubbers!)

It took several hours to dismantle the hoses from the head. I bought the correct sized hose for the fittings to which the head pumps effluent, but when I tried to fit the hose on the head outflow port, the port was too small! Oh, NO! I used some good caulk to try and bridge the gap, but it leaked anyway. The hose was ID (internal diameter) of 1-1/2 inch, the head port is 1-1/4 inch ID, so a bit larger OD. Too much to fill with caulk. What to do?

The local marine store operatives suggested the "atomic bomb" of caulk, 3M 5200. As I was trying this approach, the aged plastic of the fitting broke. Well, that was the last straw, I thought, but the nice guys at Lopez Marine here in La Paz had loaned me the same part from another brand/model of toilet. Most parts worked but there was no obvious way of connecting it to the old toilet pump. In a moment of thought, I realized that, perhaps, I could use some threaded rod to jerry-rig the system. So that's what we've tried. I'm not sure that it will work, but I hope it will work. "Work" means that it won't leak. All day Friday and Saturday I worked on this project and spent no time at all on the water maker project. We worked like fiends and got the aft berth cleared and ready for Chip, and just dumped stuff on the deck to clear the below-decks. Luckily for us, it doesn't rain here!

So, the boat looks like a boat below decks and like a garbage scow above decks. Conni worked VERY hard in terrible heat and got the various cockpit covers installed, stainless steel polished, got the interior cleaned, and prepared Chip's berth. I got the damned toilet installed but it's untested. I'm giving the caulk maximum time to cure! This is a one-shot deal. We'll have to replace the head at some point since it's been discontinued since 1986 so parts are not available.

Chip arrived without fanfare on Saturday afternoon and settled in nicely. We had made previous arrangements to buy dinner for the rigger, Jeffrey Walker, and his attorney wife, Alba. They took us to a local Mexican pizza parlor where we had excellent pizza and three hours of fascinating conversation. As much as we love Mexico, and we do, there are things about how Mexico operates that are just difficult for us to understand. Alba, is a unique person, daughter of a campesino (land worker) in a pueblito on the mainland. She's an attorney, she's a professional rigger, and other things as well. She's also a free thinker and has traveled to other countries to study her own, Mexican, culture. She provided answers and well-considered viewpoints that we, as Americans, could never have known.

Today, it's back to the water maker for me, and Conni and Chip will prepare to varnish deck teak. No rest for the wicked.

We hope that things allow us to leave by 25 March since there's not much way that we can leave by 20 March, I don't think.

Perhaps tonight I can report on the toilet fix. I'll post some photos of this outrageous hardware fix, too.