We’ve spent days and days doing a summer layup to Island Summers. Coating outside parts with aluminum foil and sunshades. We’ve taken the genoa down and stowed it. We have dehumidifiers in the boat and fans running. Hatch covers, binnacle covers and cockpit table covers are made and installed. All linens and clothes left inside are in airtight space bags and all food has been removed. All told a huge amount of un-fun work. The amount of work we’ve done is dramatically different compared to the work we did for winter lay-ups in Anacortes, install heaters to keep things from freezing. The summer in Nuevo Vallarta is hot and humid. The sun is intense and it will bake the fiberglass if not protected. We’ve hired a boat-watcher to check on Island Summers during hurricane season. Modern technology also allows us to monitor the electrical system too and make sure the batteries are properly cared for.
This season has been a season of learning for us. We’ve learned about the tropics and life there. We’ve learned the things we like about living on a boat and traveling and some things that we like less but it’s all been an adventure. We’ve put some open ocean miles in and we’d be confident supplying our sailing resume to anyone to demonstrate our competence on the water. At home it will be nice to live in a somewhat larger space and give ourselves some time to assimilate all our experiences on the water.
We moved off the boat a couple of days ago and we are staying in a villa in Puerto Vallarta so we can prepare the boat without all our gear in the way. We will be heading back to Washington to spend the summer on the lake and we will return to Mexico in October. Enjoy your summer!
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