We have been on the boat in Nuevo Vallarta, MX for over a week getting it ready to set sail. We had a list of things to do before we could depart but as we crossed off completed items more were added to the bottom of the list. Why does that always happen? The pull lines had gotten stuck at the top of the mast and were shredding from the intense sun. This meant I had to hoist Kevin to the top of the mast to retrieve them. We did it in the early morning when there wasn’t any wind and only a light breeze. It’s not his favorite thing to do 🙁 We had covered the windows with foil to protect them from the sun and secured it with painters tape. Some of the tape had baked on. Needless to say, that was a tedious job to remove (not sure I will use that method again). Once I got all the tape off, we hired a cleaning crew to wash the boat. It was also time for them to dive under the boat and clean the bottom. They do such great work and the boat looks so nice and shiny!
Several items were taken down or removed when we left the boat for hurricane season. Some of the items on our “To Do List” were install running rigging, re-install depth finder sensor, check running lights, flush tanks, recommission the water maker, check fluid levels, replace impellor, etc. When Kevin attempted to start the engine he quickly determined the starter battery needed replacing. That meant another Uber ride into Puerto Vallarta to Zaragoza Marine (which we’ve already been to twice). The water maker decided to give us trouble but Kevin was able to troubleshoot that problem right away and fix it but not until after he had torn the boat apart to access the different parts. Everything worked great when we left the boat in June. It’s amazing the problems extreme heat can cause over a six month period.
Since we hadn’t left any food on the boat it took a few trips to different stores to get enough provisions to stock the boat. It’s not easy shopping in Mexican markets to make American dishes. After 10 days we are finally ready to leave. The dredger for the marina entrance has not been working so sailboats have been hitting bottom in the channel during low tide. We will time our departure for high tide tomorrow afternoon so this doesn’t happen to us. First we have to take a water taxi to the Port Captain’s office to check out of the marina. They don’t allow us to check out via VHF radio. They need to stamp their paperwork (whatever that means).
Before we leave tomorrow, we will visit the Tuesday market to get fresh veggies. Hopefully, we will be ready to leave the marina when its high tide at 1pm. Our plan is to sail to La Cruz where we will fill the boat and jerry cans with diesel and gas up the dinghy. Even though its been a lot of work getting the boat ready to go out for another season, we are excited to be back cruising.
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