We have been in Mazatlan for nearly a week and have been busy transferring our worldly possessions from Ladybug to Ladybug II, prepping Ladybug II for a summer to be spent here, making ready to sail Ladybug to Hawaii, packing for Rani's trip to BC, and socializing with fellow cruisers and the friendly marina staff.
It took about two days to clear out Ladybug and stow everything in the new boat. On Ladybug, most items were stored in Rubbermaid totes because she lacks dedicated storage spaces but in the new boat there are all sorts of small odd-shaped storage areas into which we have had to squeeze our lives.
To leave a boat in Mexico, you must anticipate blazing sunshine, torrential rain, humidity, hurricanes, insect infestations, nesting swallows, and intense heat. We removed all the external lines and fed them into the mast and boom or stowed them in lockers. Rani is currently taping tinfoil and cloth blinds on all 11 opening ports (it took all afternoon to locate long-life masking tape in Mazatlan – eventually found at the Walmart). We lashed down the dinghy and covers, and tied several extra dock lines with rubber shock absorbers. We also used the huge fender we found floating off San Carlos as a hurricane precaution. All sails are safely stowed in the V-berth after being washed and dried earlier in the week. Tony – a local expatriate Brit will be looking after her while we are away (he runs a boat-watching service).
Ladybug now has only the bare minimum in supplies and spares to get her back to BC. It is amazing how much stuff we had on her and she now floats quite a lot higher! I will be shopping tomorrow for provisions, so that should sink her back down a little. I thought I would be sailing alone to Hawaii but there is a chance that a fellow from Sidney, BC will fly into Cabo San Lucas and join me for this leg. I hope that a friend from school in Victoria will meet Ladybug in Hawaii for the second leg back to BC. I plan to leave on Saturday so that gives me two days more to prepare. Cabo is about 3 days away and then it will be about 4 weeks before we reach Hilo Hawaii, if all goes well. The trip from Cabo may be to windward initially but when we reach the trade winds we should have north easterly winds following us.
Rani flies out tomorrow on US Airways, assuming the Swine flu pandemic does not ground the flight. People are wearing masks here in the streets, but there are no local cases as we are 100's of miles away from Mexico city. She will be working as soon as she gets back to Duncan and is really looking forward to seeing her friends again.
We threw a party yesterday on Ladybug II for some of our 'dock mates' and the marina staff. Rani spoke lots of Spanish and I nodded and smiled and served cake and punch. People seemed to enjoy Rani's curry, rotis, and humous, which are novelties here.
Here are a few pics from Los Muertos that really go with the last posting:
The Train Room at "Grand Sueno" resort
Pool and suite at the same resort
Rani admiring the reflecting pool.
Archeological dig at Los Muertos
Ardy and Marv (off Odyssey) at Los Muertos
No comments:
Post a Comment