Costa Baja November 2012

November 06, 2012

We arrived back in La Paz on November 05. Our trip from Los Cabos to La Paz on the Eco-Baja shuttle bus provided us with a good view of the greening of the countryside that had occurred due to the high rainfall this summer. There was lush verdancy in the villages we passed and colourful bougainvillea provided a burst of vibrant colour at regular intervals. It was dark when we got to Marina Costa Baja. Seareach was sitting high on the water and all the tarps seemed to be intact. Hurricane Paul had been downgraded to a tropical storm when it hit the Baja in late October and passed inland north of La Paz. Still, we expected that a good deal of rain and wind would have swept through La Paz during its passage. On closer inspection, one of the tarps had completely disintegrated. It was a cheap one we had purchased as additional cover at the last minute. The lock to the companionway fell off the eye bolt as I attempted to open it – metal fatigue. Inside, everything was as we had left it, the cabin was dry and mildew free. We were very pleased with the interior condition after a 5-month layup.  We would check the outside in the morning.

The morning inspection was a little less inspiring. Clearly our diver had not come to clean the bottom while we were away. He had also promised to do a quick wash of the deck along with 2 scheduled bottom cleanings. Neither had been done and there was an impressive beard of growth at the waterline. Our friendly neighbour, ‘Boomer’ was quick to introduce himself and come over with his power hose to help get the decks washed. He also phoned the diver he uses who happened to be in the marina at the time and within half an hour, two divers were busy scraping the bottom, cleaning the prop and the through hulls. Inside systems that we know are working so far; the batteries and solar power, the freshwater supply, the refridgeration and the propane. That’s enough to get us settled in. The next few days will be spent re-rigging.

November 07, 2012

The watermaker isn’t working. We fear that the membrane has failed. John has been on to the suppliers in Canada but no easy fix was on offer over the phone. It’s not critical for our winter stay here in Mexico but we will have to get it sorted before we do our Hawaii trip in the spring. Today we started to attach the halyards to the fish lines left in the mast and rethread them up the masthead. Feeling quite chuffed we proceeded to thread the reefing lines through the boom. The second reef line parted company with its fish line as it was being tugged around the sheaves – oops!  We had to hoist the boom parallel with the mast as John climbed up the mast and dropped a weighted fish line down through the boom. This worked but took time and effort and by the time we were finished the sun was blistering at high noon and we were both drooping under its glare.  We retreated to the cabin after purchasing a tub of ice cream from the marina store and had a long siesta before heading to the infinity pool to really cool of. Yeah – it’s a hard life if you don’t weaken.

November 08, 2012

The good news is that all the sails are now up and ready for action.  The engine fired up at the first crank of the ignition and the dinghy is pumped up and launched. The bad news is that the fresh water pump switch is sticking and needs to be manually pushed to start the pump. This requires taking up a floor board, unscrewing the cap and pushing the switch several times a day -- at least until we get it fixed or replaced. Convenient water supply a bit dicey at the moment.

Hey - it's good to be back!