Guaymas, Mexico 2019 - Boat Yard Hell

Still in the yard, working on TWO boats now.

Yona working on engine

We have moved all our belongings from Eileen May to Holoholo. That took a good while since it involved ladders and pulley’s for hauling gear up and down. Thank Buddha the new boat was in THIS yard. Otherwise it would have taken even more effort. 

We've started on the project list too. Shay is working on sanding the bowsprit and repairing some wood rot, prepping the hull to be painted and I’m working on the engine and propane system. We brought a truck load of gear from EM to the cruisers swap meet in San Carlos and made a few pesos. There’s a list floating around that has all gear we are selling from Eileen May. Not that we have taken the gear off yet, we will save that for some other month. 

The goal is to get Holoholo prepped enough to get in the water so we can stop living in the boat yard. Living here is getting old. We are constantly dirty and

Shay woking on Bowsprit

grumpy. Its like camping but worse, cause you have to get up and work, not go for a hike, or swim. Speaking of which, I haven't even been in or on the ocean yet since we arrived in Mexico. Not even a pool swim! Once we are in the water and living aboard the boat, life will improve drastically, and we can start doing fun things like testing the boat and putting her through her paces. Maybe actually sail.

But that’s still a ways off. 

For now we try to enjoy the little things that Mexico has to offer. Its still an adventure everyday, even grocery shopping. Let me share a few of my favorites. 

The Pothole Plant

Mexico has an extraordinary amount of potholes. Its one of the reasons driving is so dangerous and driving at night is just stupid. They are big. Like you could lose an electric car. And they come in multiples. So you end up swerving around, in and out of ongoing traffic to avoid breaking your axle. 

So we were driving around San Carlos looking for some boat part and I see up ahead a potted plant in the road. I point and say, “Plant.”

Shay does a wide swerve, and as we pass we peer into the hole. “OMG, did you see that hole?”

So of course we immediately pull over, get out, and take a picture of the pothole plant guarding the pothole. There are a few dead plants inside and so clearly this pot hole has had a protecting plant for some time.I think this should become a trend. 

Midnight Karaoke 

After living in a local neighborhood casita for 6 weeks, (think concrete block house with a hot tin roof), I feel I have the right to have an opinion on the night noises in a Mexican town. Or at least this Mexican town. 

During the week dogs bark all nights, chickens don’t really know when dawn is, and general music playing is loud and at any time of day. There are no boundaries. No one calls the police (that wouldn't work anyway,) and there are many holidays, and events that require Mexican music. The weekends get much lounder and start around 8 or 9 pm. 

High School bands are popular here and they play all evening, sometimes until the wee hours. Drums and horns and what-not. Sometimes there is a party on the street, a Quincinera, or holiday party. Many people have outside spaces where the partying takes place and the music is turned up as loud as possible. Maybe its a calling card to visitors, or status symbol, we don’t know. No amount of ear plugs helps and most parties last all night until 3 or 5 in the morning so many nights I just watched videos until I am so exhausted I don’t care anymore. I don't know how locals do this and go to work the next day? 

Its also popular for cars to mount loud speakers to their roof and drive down every backroad advertising a store, or a restaurant, or political candidates. There is also a neighborhood bar where a Mariachi band might be playing, or a rock band. 

And then there is the Karaoke. A particular neighbor likes their Karaoke machine. This tone deaf family loves to sing. Its terrifying. I do think THEY think they can sing. But, and I’m not being mean here cause I’ve gotten additional opinions, they CANNOT sing. This family likes to do this on Saturday or Sunday nights, all... night... long. I’m sure there is alcohol involved. 

So this cacophony of dogs, bands, music, singing, chickens, cars is present All The Time. And since we live someplace that has no insulation and lots of ventilation we get to hear everything as if it in the next room. 

It wasn’t until we moved back to the boat yard that we realized how sleep deprived we had become. In the yard we still hear cars and the ever present dogs, the band on the weekend, but we also hear crickets and sometimes just blessed silence. I am so looking forward to getting on the water and hearing boat sounds, water and wind noises again.

Mattresses and Mopeds at the Grocery Store?

I know you are thinking of Costco, or Sam’s Club. But no, this is not what I refer to. 

At our local supermarket, lets say the like of a small Kroger store, but called Ley’s where we buy produce and potato chips and juice, we can also find a $75 mattress. Or a large moped, or 3 wheeler. Or just one tire if we really wanted. Its just plain weird to be buying oranges and see a mattress for sale. There’s a stack of three on the floor. One size. Just in case your wife put it on the grocery list. 

Stamp my Home Depot Receipt Please

This is the land of stamps. There is a stamp for everything here. Mexicans love to stamp. Any bank or official like visit ends with at least one stamp. I’ve actually seen 3 stamps hit one piece of paper. It is slightly humorous, but this practice is taken very seriously and so I don’t dare crack a smile. 

Whenever you leave a store the store guard at the door takes your receipt so they can stamp it. 

Now its official. Until then I’m not sure what I bought, but with my stamp I know its a good receipt.

Abuela Power (Grandma Power)

Shay went to the ferreteria (hardware store) to get something and the intersection out front the yard was blocked with an old couch, roofing material, and old mattress and a bunch of women were standing there with Abuela on the cell phone, clearly in charge. Traffic was stopped and backing up.

Shay asked Alejandro what was this about and he threw up his hands and said, “Mexico!” Just down the street is Guaymas Protein, a large operation that turns shrimp into something and sells it by the large truck full. It’s a large operation for this town and the couch barrier is definitely causing a ruckus. The Abuela is yelling at the cell phone, people are honking and driving through the bushes around the barrier and the women are yelling about something. This is a major cufufal! The women were angry about the barrio school water being shut off, or we heard it could of been the school was dirty, and we also heard it could have been the lack of supplies. Either way, these mom’s were not happy about the state of things! 

It all cleared up within an hour and we are optimistic that the school is getting the attention it needs. Pussy power is alive and well in Mexico!

And so we are entertained and in awe and slightly frightened by our daily insights into Mexican culture. It keeps us on our toes and reminds us we are visitors in a strange land.

Guaymas, Mexico Boatyard February, 2019 Part 2

Holoholo - A journey led by spirit and intuition
Part 2

We don’t yet know how Eileen May (Sin Nombre) will rest in peace. It could be the bottom of the sea, or the dump, or the back corner of the boat yard. But before we can think about that there is lots to do. First comes stripping her of parts and selling those parts. Marine parts are at a premium here in Mexico but the timing is not great since most cruisers are already out having fun and cruising.

It will be work getting all the parts out, steering, pumps, electronics, tanks, appliances, stainless railings, EVERYTHING. And the mast and maybe parts of the rigging too. Its a humongous job and I’m not sure our timing to finish that project, or if it will even happen this year.

Some of the gear will move over to our New Boat; the winches, solar panels, inverter, and BBQ, maybe the generator, and a sail and Shay wants to keep all the great stainless. Which is probably worth about 8k alone.

In the yard currently

What?! Wait just a minute, did you hear that correctly? 

We have a new boat!

Finally, we have a sailboat for the sailboat name we’ve been hoarding for years. We purchased her last week!

I know, I know, so quick, so rash, so unlike us to be impulsive and intuitive and go with the flow. Maybe it was all the diesel fumes killing our brain cells the week before, but it happened. Maybe it's the upcoming lunar eclipse making us a little crazy. I really don't know. 

If you recall, we were making the hard decision to put EM to rest. We both immediately felt relief once the decision was made. That’s how we knew it was the right one. Within moments of making this decision Dale walked by, and after hearing about our decision to stop the repair work on EM, he told Shay there was another boat for sale across the yard. 

Inside is a mess during the move over

I generally ignore this type of gossip, as number one, there is always a boat for sale, and number two, we had viewed a few sailboats the month before just for fun and I was not overly impressed. 

So of course Shay left to find the mysterious boat for sale. 

On her return she begs me to come look at it, right NOW, while the owners are around for the weekend. I think this is way too soon to look at boats, but I follow anyway because a distraction is a good thing when faced with the mortality of your boat and only home at the moment.

Deck after hauling some sails out.

My first impression of the boat for sale is that she’s a big boat, full keel, heavy dispacement, 42’ LOA, and she’s maroon colored. Not my favorite boat color, but okay, up the ladder we go, and its then I realize its a DownEast. They have a unique cockpit. During our many years of boat shopping we considered a DownEaster but I wasn’t fond of their flush cockpit, full keel and bowsprit. 

Now that I have purchased a boat I thought I never would consider (EM), I realize that my preconceptions need to be broadened a tad. 

The DownEaster ls roomy, beamy, with many berths and lots of good offshore and safety gear. I notice the nice size of the galley, the quarterberth(!), all the storage, the liferaft, the Kubota engine, the windvane. But still I’m not sure about this idea. It feels weird looking at another boat today. The day we decided to put EM to rest. 

Then Shay tells me how much they are selling her for, or should I say, how much they told Shay they would sell her for. My interest is piqued. She’s clearly worth much more. Its easy to see that she was cared for, but that the years sitting in the yard have left her rough and discontent, she needs new canvas, paint, lots of TLC. 

My new engine room

The owners are very nice. They are here in the yard, to put her up for sale this week. Its always good to meet the owners, to get a feel for how they speak about the boat, and to be able to ask questions that a boat broker would not be able to answer. After an hour of peeking around I’m feeling overwhelmed, so I ask Shay if we can come back later when we have time to digest this surprise (or as Shay says: the Universe granting us Grace), so we return to EM to stare at the hole in the hull. 

During the next couple hours I see Shay peering at me sideways as we are cleaning up the perpetual mess that is EM, to gauge my mood. It’s obvious Shay likes the boat, the currently named Clipper Spirit, and the soundness of her, and the improvement to safety she would bring to our lives. Shay's energy has changed from sad, and depressed to excited, and a little hopeful. I wonder again if this is her greiveing in a really weird way. But I can’t help but think about the Clipper Spirit myself. All the prebuying questions start popping up in my head. How’s her rigging, tanks, an engine? Is this a project boat? (All boats are project boats. Rather, is she worse of a project than we already own?)

I feel drawn to find out more. 

And so we walk over to her and have and chat with the owners on the side deck. They get out the manuals and I ask all the questions running around inside my head. They are patient with me. 

We leave in the afternoon with plans to start the engine the next day, and go through a few systems together. 

Our little home next door on loan from Georgia

Shay and I  go home a little dazed. We are silent on the way. Too many thoughts and conflicting feelings. I decide to just sit with it all awhile and see what happens. This MIGHT be kismet. But I don’t trust it. I don’t trust myself, or us, right now. 

I’m typically a very right brain, list making, dot the i’s, think it all through, kinda woman. It feels uncomfortable to act impulsively. 

I ask Shay why this is so easy a decision for he since she's ready to sign on the dotted line, and its clear she’s smitten. She says its because we would be much safer and the DownEaster is a sound and seaworthy boat. She adds for my benefit that it's a great deal too. She’s right. It’s a great deal on a good, well known, ocean going sailboat. This does make me feel more at ease. 

But is this a good decision all around, for us, at this time, do we want another project boat? Or do we want to wait a season? Have more time to process what just happened? Make a plan maybe? Start a new boat kitty and do some boat shopping?

About 10 years ago and looking pretty

The next day we meet the owners at Clipper Spirit and go about learning all we can about the boat, with a finale of starting the engine. After some hiccups, she starts! She sounds very good. I am pleased. 

There have not been any red flags all afternoon. A couple yellow flags maybe, but I expected those. 

Shay and I are leaving for a pre-planned trip to Phoenix the next day and the owners are leaving in a couple days to drive home. I am watching myself, detached, kinda floating above as I turn to the owners and say, “Let’s get the process going,” and quickly glance at Shay (since I didn’t discuss this before making this proclamation), to see her reaction and she is smiling big. 

As we walk across the yard to EM I return to my body a little. OMG, what just happened? I can’t explain it. I just did it. For better or worse we just bought a sailboat that could take us anywhere in the world we want to go. A boat in much better condition than EM. If you had told me 2 months ago about this day I would have thought you were cray cray. 

So we all (new and old owners) met in Phoenix and signed the papers a few days later, and now we are waiting on our Coast Guard Documents (with new name). We signed the bill of sale, 2 days before that lunar eclipse, big orange wolf moon event. 

We watched the lunar eclipse from the deck of our DownEaster 38 soon to be named Holoholo. 

What I look forward to; SAILING!