At the Marina

Yesterday afternoon Brenda and I were entertained by hundreds and probably thousands of fish swimming around and under Pachuca. They seemed to be holding their ground by swimming into the incoming flood tide so perhaps they were feeding on whatever the tide was bringing in. Frequently a group would reach the surface and roil the water with a loud 'bubbling' sound.

We had a quiet night of Scrabble (Brenda 2, Robert 0 in this series) and set the alarm to make sure that we were up in plenty of time to make the final preparations for motoring into the marina.

At 9.30 AM today we were ready: sun screens and link sheet put away, outboard motor on the rail and the Zodiac on the foredeck, wheel unlashed and binnacle uncovered, deck and cockpit cleared of unnecessary items. At 10AM Ken and Bob arrived and soon Bob was on board. I started the engine, showed Bob the rope setup, and he raised the anchor while I helmed the boat. Ken returned to the marina to join Rick and Al who were waiting to take our lines.

There was no current and the wind was light, so I should have been able to make a perfect landing even though I had never reversed into a pen. I underestimated the strength of the prop walk and went a boat length too far before going into reverse. The boat began to spin on its axis as though it had a bow thruster and the guys had to pull me in with ropes while fending me off the corner of the walkway. Fortunately there was no boat in the adjacent slip which made the operation easier.

I went through the formalities of checking the boat into the marina then found Neil and told him that the boat was in the slip. Soon Neil, his father Mac, and Joel the chief mechanic were on board Pachuca discussing various aspects of the repowering process. There does not seem to be too much concern about the extraction of the Sabb engine. They've done this sort of thing before and have plenty of timber on hand to do the job. Mac was very concerned about the amount of effort required to modify the engine bed. I told him that at least the area was accessible and everything should look simpler when the Sabb engine is out.

They agree that I should dismantle as much of the Sabb as possible. Mac advised that I keep the 160 amp alternator. I am to take all of the bits and pieces that I remove to the workshop so that Joel & Co can decided what to do with it.

Neil asked about the status of the Volvo engine and he advised that I call Judith at Columbia Transport, which I did later. As I watched the three men walk away I marveled at their "can do" positive attitude about the job. Their main concern is how to best do things.

I telephoned Judith and she said that tomorrow she should know the result of the Customs assessment - the formal question being what will and will not be duty free. Judith asked me to telephone her tomorrow at about 2 PM when she expects to be able to give me a reliable estimate on the ETA of the engine in La Paz. There is a chance that the engine will leave San Diego on Friday's truck, which would put it in La Paz on Monday. If everything still looks good after our conversation tomorrow I'll begin dismembering the Sabb so that we may be able to extract the block at about the time the new engine arrives.

We took it easy in the afternoon. Yesterday's highest temperature was 104.3F and today it was supposed to reach 105F. In the late afternoon I put in a couple of hours setting up proper dock lines and washing the boat down with fresh water. It was great to finish the day with real showers and in the cool of the evening we went for a pleasant walk up the jetty where we struck up a conversation with Steve and Charlotte of Wilful Simplicy.

The first photos are of the fish around Pachuca, a regular event. The next photos were taken by Brenda during our recent evening visit to La Paz. Then there is Bob and myself in the cockpit on the way to the marina. At the marina are left to right Rick, Ken, Al,and Bob. And finally there is a photo of Neil and Mac discussing the repowering project.

Brenda's Bird of the Day is a Blue-footed Booby. These are large sea-birds, similar to Gannets,and like Gannets, launch themselves like airborne missiles to plummet into the sea and spear fish. This was underway over at the Mogote one day last week when we were there. They have a few breeding colonies in the Sea of Cortez. Reading this Robert was reminded of a couple of passengers he had one night during the Hawaii to Neah Bay passage.