Went to shore at our anchorage on Isla Partida and walked across the island through the mangroves with friends from MV Tango. Coincidentally, SV Delos posted a great video of the same hike on their YouTube channel this week.
We were going to spend another night out in one of the long protected bays of Isla Espiritu Santo but we heard on the radio that the La Paz Port Captain had just opened the port after keeping it closed for the previous five days. Hmmm, we sure didn’t want to get stuck and not able to go into la Paz. So we skipped the night out and went straight into town and anchored. We later found out that boats can always come in but, like the song says, “… you can never leave” ($10,000 fine). The reason for this is the long narrow entrance into La Paz opens to the North and then West and is several miles long. The constant “northers“ that blow five of every seven days in the winter cause pretty significant chop/swell and I guess they’ve had a lot accidents over the years. So if the wind exceeds 18 kts from the north, the port is closed until The Man says otherwise.
The day after we arrived we took Theresa to a very nice hospital with a hand specialist. First class equipment, first class treatment and we were in and out in an hour for a total cost of $136! That was x-rays, Dr., splint and hospital bill. The right middle pinky bone is broken into four pieces. If it holds together surgery will not be required.
Our new water maker finally arrived on Tuesday. But we had to leave no later than Saturday night! The guy who sold us the water maker couldn’t help install it at the last minute, but he recommended some guys… After a bit of cajoling, they agreed to come out and install it over the next three (out of four) days. After the first day they were late to very late arriving, didn’t answer the phone and didn’t show at all, once. Eventually, the day we HAD to leave to make it across the sea, there was only one bit left to do – hook it up to power and they said they would be here at 9 am. They eventually showed up about 4:30 pm and finished about two hours before we departed. But of course El Jefe closed the port after we came in and it did not appear it was going to reopen in time for us to make the two day crossing to Mazatlan. We frantically tried to change our flights home, but no changes were allowed on the Orbitz website. Alaska Airlines was happy to accommodate us but couldn’t because we did not book directly through them… (won’t make that mistake again.)
As luck would have it, the wind died down and there was an announcement in Spanish on channel 16 about 8 pm. We thought they may have said that the port was going to open at 10 o’clock so I called el jefe on the radio, did my best to impersonate a Spanish speaker – and he said “affirmativo” con gusto! So I am writing this from the middle of the Pacific/Sea of Cortez interface. It’s a beautiful day, nothing but blue water in every direction (some of it being turned into drinking water as we sail) and the forecast is for lovely conditions all the way across. We should make our flight with no problem.
Oh, did I mention that Tess has Covid? I must be immune as she’s been sick for days and I’m still negative.
We just watched Messi finally win the World Cup from the middle of Neptunes realm. Hopefully, neither of us have to quarantine over Christmas but it will be nice to see our families for a bit.
Don’t walk on the wrong half of the sidewalks around here… Imagine this at night!?!
And the hits just keep on coming.
As I said, we left La Paz with our new water maker and ran it the next day at sea. It made about 30 gallons and then shut off, giving a low pressure alarm. OK, what’s that all about? Arrived in Mazatlan and discovered that there was a bit of salt water in that first compartment where it enters the boat – not good! But when the guy first installed it, there had been a leak there that he had addressed, so I didn’t think it was more than something needed to be tightened. I wasn’t planning to deal with it until we get back so I hit the flushing button to flush the system with fresh water to clean the filters as you are supposed to do each time. I immediately heard spraying water so shut it off. A little looking and I found that a hose had now burst! Not a big cleanup, as that had just happened and was not related to the salt water problem. Tess went to retrieve a bag to go get the laundry she was doing at the marina and we discovered eight bilge compartments had as much as an inch of salt water in them and all were filled with food or other stuff… Apparently this problem was bigger than I thought. The movement of the boat during the two-day crossing had spread that “little bit of salt water“ throughout the bilges while we sailed. Spent several hours cleaning each item that was in the salt water and getting it all out of the bilges. Not what we wanted to be doing the night before we fly home!
Maybe we’ll start a go fund me campaign for a catamaran.
I’m now absolutely certain it’s just a matter of time before she divorces me.
But hey, we’re making progress! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
