Ready for Visit to the USA

I expected the last few days in La Paz after finish of the boat yard work to be easy and relaxed, but the days turned out to be as busy as ever.

It became obvious that the screws penetrating the deck from Reggie's teak work were a serious health hazard.  Many of them protruded 1/4" and it was only a matter of time before I embedded one of those sharp screws into my skull while rummaging around the quarter berth in a rough seaway.  I tried nipping the tips of the screws with side cutters but the stainless steel screws were much too strong for the mild steel cutters.

Last Sunday I decided to take the bus ride to Home Depot and purchase whatever tools I needed to deal with the screws, knowing that the solution would probably be a Dremel tool, which is a small palm-held high speed drill which can take various attachments. Of particular interest to me would be the grinding attachments.  Fortunately I decided to drop off something at my lockup storage ("bodega") on the way to the bus stop and as luck would have it John the rigger happened to be in his workshop.   I explained my problem and explained that I normally have no hesitation in purchasing tools as I need them, but it would gall me to have to buy a 110 volt drill when I'm about to depart for Australia's 240 volt world.  There was more good fortune when John produced a Dremel tool and had no hesitation in lending it to me.  I still went to Home Depot, to get various grinding tips.  (I returned the Dremel kit to John today, with 5 or 6 new attachments, 2 of which haven't been used and are still in their blister packs.)

Yet again I had to clear the quarter berth area and yet again I had to create a lot of dust from hours of grinding down what turned out to be over 100 screws.  One of the grinding bits that I had purchased outperformed the others so on Monday I returned to Home Depot for two more of them.  By the end of that day all of the screws had been ground down, the quarter berth area cleaned, and all of the material stowed in its proper place.

On the weekend Bob Carroll had dropped by and helped me drop the headsail, to meet one of the obligations of every sail boat owner who is leaving the Marina de La Paz during the hurricane season.  That went without a hitch but  Bob pointed out a parted join the UV strip along the leach of the sail.  I had already noticed it but had decided to ignore it and sail on - quite foolishly as I learned.  My reaction to Bob was along the lines of  "Yea, maybe I'd better get it looked at."  On Monday Doug and I got the sail to his "Snug Harbor" loft and as he had predicted most of the stitching holding the UV strips in position was perished.  I could run my finger along a line of stitching and the seam would part as though there was no stitching.  The sail's UV protection was hanging on by, well, a thread.  Doug told me that even "UV resistant" thread will succumb after a few years. Carol Hasse's team had checked out the sail in Port Townsend two years earlier, but a lot of degeneration can happen in two years. (Besides, I expected to be back in Australia 4 months ago.)

I caught Doug at the right time because today, Tuesday, the sail was ready at 3 PM.  He charged me only 720 pesos for 1.5 hours work.  He said that most people wait too long, then bring the sail in for repair when everything is in tatters, and that I had wisely (thanks Bob!) brought it in brought it in at first sign of trouble, making the repair relatively easy.

At 4.30 PM the repaired sail was safely in Pachuca's V berth and I set off for my last venture before departure, to the Chedraui supermarket to purchase some good quality tequila to take to the USA.  It was a hot ride because the temperature had been predicted to hit 100F.  (But tomorrow's prediction is worse: 104F.)

I finished off the day by making further requirements of preparation of the boat.  I removed the anchor off the bow roller and lashed it securely behind the mast.  I then used a long rope to tie down the mainsail, even though it is in a zipped-up stack pack sail cover.  Then I removed the spray dodger and lashed down its stainless steel framework lest a high wind lift it and slam it back toward the cockpit.  This leaves the companionway instruments a bit exposed so I'll probably cover the entire companionway with a tarp.  I also immobilized the Rutland wind charger blades.

This marina was basically destroyed by Hurricane Marty.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wyzlZdTiHo will show some of the devastation of that event, which left many of the boats stacked up in one corner of the marina.  The lessons learned from that led to (1) new marina protection barriers put in place and (2) new set of protocols and procedures, some of which I am following now.  I've been told that Marina de La Paz is the only marina in La Paz where during a hurricane all staff are on duty attending to the boats, whereas in the other marinas they are sent home.  The following shows the success of the new protocols when the eye of Hurricane John passed over La Paz: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rd0WOj8CTuk.  
 
I finished the day by spending 30 minutes washing down the boat.  It will be filthy when I return in 4 weeks, but I may as well begin my absence with the boat as clean as possible.  At the end of this it was 9 PM and I couldn't be bothered going to a restaurant after my shower, so I settled for 4 fried eggs smothered in Parmesan cheese.


I'll be returning to the USA a bit leaner that when I visited last year.  I had stacked on a lot of weight during the year and by the end of April I was in pretty bad shape.  That 'flu that Brenda and I picked up in Topolobamp was the last straw.   When Jak left in late May I was still weak, coughing, and having bouts of vertigo.  Three months of hard work, the hot La Paz climate, no alcohol, and a diet of fruit, vegetables, and one meal a day seems have done the trick.  I haven't had bread, butter, sugar, honey or milk for 3 months - but lots of nonfat yogurt.  I managed to lose 3.5 inches in my waist, leaving me with what I think is a 39 inch waist. For two months I had no beef, chicken or pork - just fish six nights a week and the occasional main course of beans or eggs.  I could have done better but a grumbling back has prevented me from doing any jogging or situps.  I've got no weight numbers because I haven't had access to a scale.  Anyway, now for the hard part: keeping the weight off.

I expect to board a cab for the airport at noon tomorrow.  It'll be a long day, with arrival at Seattle at  10.15 PM.