Guaymas Yard: Round 2
Here we are again, in the warm sunshine, with a light breeze blowing through the yard from the south, wafting smells of aguamalas (jellyfish) and sardines, from the processing plants nearby. After almost two weeks up in Phoenix and LA, we returned to the boat with a truck load of provisions, paint, a newly re-certified life, a re-stitched head sails and some other marine odds-and-ends we picked up along the way. We’ve been shipping items to my grandparents home in Phoenix— and my Grandpa now laughs everytime the UPS or FedEx van shows up. They know exactly where they’re headed. We had to cut ourselves off from shipping things, just so we could get back down to the boat!
Everything went as planned up in the states, except for the news that the electrical motor for our Muir Cheetah anchor windlass was toast. Several mechanics looked at the motor and said it was a loss, so we had to quickly make a decision whether we were going to put money into a new Muir motor, or go with a totally new windlass. We chose the latter. Which means… we have another trip up to Phoenix in our near future! The new windlass we purchased will be arriving early next week, and we will make the 8+ hour trek north, and then back down again, after collecting the remainder of our shipped goodies. In the meantime, we’re working on some of the projects we’ve been wanting to complete: including the installation of the Monitor Windvane, replacing the batteries, doing a final coat of bottom paint, and getting the engine up and running—- anything that we can do to get closer to being in the water.
They weather in Guaymas has finally made the shift to Fall— thank goodness— the nights are much cooler. We actually used a thin sheet for the first time in our Pullman berth, and only woke up with two or three mosquito bites, instead of a thousand. Ice cold showers are just a tad too cold, and we’re not consuming the drinking water quite as fast. The yard has become quite busy since our last two week stint. Sailors arrive daily, driving down in RVs, jeeps, camper vans…etc. Our new green paint job attracts a few wondering folks. I’ve been running around the yard on occasion, collecting sounds for the “Guaymas” Episode of the podcast, and getting excited about published both the preview and the first episode. The yard workers have become accustomed to me walking up to machinery with mi grabadora y microphono. Hoping to get a couple more “cruiser” interviews to feel like I have enough material to fill out a good audio picture of the yard.
Looks like Christmas! Second coat of bottom paint and the new Awl Grip Jade Mist Green.
Our goal for the next couple weeks is to do the final up and back to Phoenix for the windlass, finish the thru-hull replacement project, get Sedna into the water, finish up doing some Mexican provisioning (while we have our own truck) and then sail south to Puerto Vallarta before the holidays. All still very doable. More on the final yard projects soon!
Giselle