Boat on Hardstand

At 9.30 AM Bob Carroll came on board and at 9.45 we were on our way to La Marina del Palmar less than a kilometer away.  It was an easy exit because the boat was berthed bow-out and the 10 knot wind was just off the port bow, which would help me make the right turn into the fairway.

The yard wanted me to back into the lifter and as we approached the jetty we were fortunate to find three employees there ready to take our lines and turn the boat around.  At precisely 9.56 AM local time I shut down the Sabb engine for the last time.  Soon the boat was out of the water and on blocks still in the slings for the high pressure washing of the hull.  Any misgivings that I had about antifouling the hull disappeared after a few minutes of watching the high pressure hose dislodging the barnacles and other marine growth along with my year-old antifouling.  I would have preferred to have had the barnacles scraped off followed by a gentler wash but I had to accept their methods.  The cleaning operation took hours, some of which was interrupted by the Spain-Germany soccer  match.

I check into the office and learned that they had expected me on Friday at 10 AM.  Language problem, I guess.  I apologised for the mistake and fortunately my unexpected arrival had not caused  a big problem.  

While  Bob and I were attending to the boat Brenda went ahead to the hotel room and started setting things up.  Soon after the hull washdown began I walked the short distance to the hotel (one block away) and signed a paper then visited the room.  I went back for lunch, took a nap, then returned to the boat yard to find everything pretty well shut down for the soccer match.  I returned to the room and watched most of the second half of the match on the small TV provided with the room.  I then returned to the yard, saw the man finish the wash down, then patiently waited for over  2 hours wondering when they would  put Pachuca in her position so that I could retrieve my gear and lock up the boat.   During this wait I did get a chance to explain my requirements at the boat yard, and I made sure that they understood that Pachuca had to be positioned with enough room at her side for a crane.  Later I spoke with someone (Arturo) who asked me to leave the antifouling paint in the cockpit because the man doing the job would  start the job at 8 AM the following day.

At 4.20  PM I was politely asked why I was hanging around - was I planning  to sleep on the boat?  Once they understood that I needed to get into the boat they produced a ladder and soon I was inside  preparing my exit.  Instead of being so patient  and polite I should have spoken up right away and saved myself hours of waiting.

I found the ceiling,  three walls, and the marine toilet in Pachuca's head covered with  what  appeared to be a black soot.  I figured out that the hull cleaner must have stuck the high pressure hose into the outlet of the sink and blown all sorts of strange things into the head.  So a warning to all sailors:  shut off all drain cocks before  a haulout in Mexico if you want to avoid 30 minutes of hard cleaning.

Brenda and I had dinner at the marina (T-bone  steak special) then visited the boat yard to see where they had placed Pachuca.  From the fence it looked like she was still  in the slings and I was not happy.  Fortunately the gate was  unlocked and the guard let us visit the boat.  Pachuca was in fact fully on the ground  with the best propping up job that she's ever had.  I think that there were 5 props on each side, but I'll count them tomorrow to be sure.

Brenda and I like the hotel very much: very quiet and out of the way, very Spanish and therefore cool, very secure, and very close to the boat yard.  We have access to a communal kitchen and a wonderful palapa on the top floor with views to the Mogote and comfortable furniture including two hammocks.

The first photo shows high staffing typical of Mexican operations.  In this case six people are attending to the haulout.

The last two photos show Brenda outside our room, which is at the end of the second floor.  Above us is the palapa which helps keep our room cool.

Brenda's Bird of the Day is another woodpecker. It looks like the sapsucker type of woodpecker with white wing patches but does not seem to make an appearance in the Bird Book - 'National geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America' which does cover as far south as this part of Mexico. These birds seem to favour coconut palms and they fly between them landing on the trunks and disappearing under the fronds. Have noticed several of them over the past few days. Robert was interested to find that Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers really do exist and are not just an invention of comedy routines in the fifties.