Stepping off the plane at midnight in Mazatlán was kind of like walking into a wall, as the humidity and heat were so intense. We had to spend the first night back on Lanikai as we arrived in town too late to find a hotel room. With fans running and the boat opened up we actually slept quite well. Friday morning wonderful Bear (from Oceania) brought over a thermos of coffee after the morning radio net and we visited in our cockpit for a time. Bill and I then found a room with air conditioning and a small kitchenette at Posada La Misión, sparsely furnished but cheap at $35 a night and good enough to be home for a few weeks until we get Lanikai back together.

Lanikai’s engine is on the dock ready to go back in after a complete rebuild this summer. Hopefully the installation will happen next week and then there is lots of "putting back together" for Bill and I to do before she is ready to sail again.

Today we got a real late start as we spent many hours catching up on sleep. By the time we got to Lanikai it was quite warm but we gathered up some needed items to transport to the hotel before we were totally cooked. We then spent most of the afternoon on air-conditioned Oceania visiting with Susan and Bear.

Monday September 20, 1999

Yesterday and today were spent in the air conditioned hotel room. I read while Bill worked on getting our computers all in-sync again. He transferred the summer's files from the travel laptop to our larger computers so that we are back in business again. We are keeping the e-mail on the travel computer as it is very easy to carry to and use on the street-side pay phones.

Last evening we did go out to the marina to check on Lanikai and neaten her up a little. After only 15 minutes in the engine room removing newspaper masking from pipes and wires I was as wet as if I had been swimming, far too hot and humid for heavy work. While the engine was out, the engine room had been cleaned and painted, even the bilge area under the engine. Before we left last June, Bill removed the boards from around the engine and hid them in the v-berth. It would be nice if I could clean them and get at least one coat of paint on these boards before they go back in.

Wednesday September 22, 1999

Yesterday we went to Immigration to see what was needed for the FM3 visa renewal. We do not need much but we can wait to do the renewal after we return from our visit to the states, which is planned for around the 1^st week of October.

Last night we again went to check on Lanikai and I took all the engine boards out to the dock and washed them well. Today, I returned late in the day and sanded them all. The boards were sure a mess and it will be nice to start fresh again. The engine is still sitting on the dock next to the boat and Bill has decided on one further modification to it. He has decided that a double belt to the large alternator would be a big plus. Bear will remove pulleys from everything and have new ones made.

Friday September 24, 1999

This morning I was off early to the boat to do a little painting.  All the engine boards now have one coat of new white paint on them. By noon I was back in the air conditioned hotel room and glad to be there. Bill has signed us up for another week in the room. The weather here is becoming steadily more pleasant and our plan is to move things back to the boat next Friday. We continue to spend most of our afternoons at the keyboards of our computers. Bill is playing with things that "he never had time for" before and I have been sorting photos to form a selection to take north for "show and tell" with friends and family.

Monday September 27, 1999

Both Bill and I went to the boat early this morning and did a few chores. I cleaned the lower bilge which had not been cleaned or painted with the rest of the bilge, as it is always wet.  Bill checked out and sorted the used/leftover parts from the engine rebuild into trash and keeper piles. We then sucked fuel from the bottom of the main fuel tank; the fuel was clean and there was no water so all is good there.  Another afternoon was spent at the keyboards. Of the over 1600 pictures that I took this summer, I have cut them down to less than a third of that amount and sorted them into a gallery for each country that we visited with a title of at least the city's name.

The day ended with a trip to Tacos Martin for a dinner of tacos pastor  with Bear and Susan and Christina (from Rebound).

Yesterday we woke to a great thunder shower that lasted all morning and cooled things down a lot for a day. By the time we left for the boat this morning it was heating up again.

Wednesday, September 29, 1999

Most of the day yesterday was again spent typing on our computers. Bill actually got to start playing with his own pet projects as opposed to keeping things running. I finished sorting out the best photos of the summer into "Galleries" for computer slide shows.  We do not have prints for friends to go through, only computer files for each photo.

Today, progress is finally becoming apparent on Lanikai. We spent the entire morning on her, along with Bear, getting ready to put the engine back in. The plan is to start early in the morning tomorrow. I painted all the new pulleys and Bear installed them all except the main engine pulley.  It did not quite fit so Bear took it back to the shop for modifications.

Saturday October 2, 1999

On Thursday, one of the hottest days since we arrived back in town, Lanikai got her engine back.  Everyone became quite wilted with the effort but the engine did get dropped into its location in the boat. We had a great thundershower Thursday night that cooled things down a bit. On Friday Bear aligned, bolted down and reattached the engine to the prop shaft.

Another thundershower this morning and it rained until well into the afternoon. Even with the rain, Bill and I remounted the steering pedestal and Bill attached the hydraulic hoses for the steering pump. This took most of the day and it was mid-afternoon when we finished. It started to heat up rapidly after the rain quit and the sun returned. With all the moisture around the humidity jumped up too, so we called it a day and returned to the air-conditioned comfort of the hotel.

Wednesday October 6, 1999

We are living back on Lanikai now. We moved home on Monday and a panga towed us around to our last winter's slip that has power and water. This was another very hot day as the sun was out all day in a bright blue sky with few clouds.  Come evening the humidity picked up and it was after midnight before we could get to sleep even though it had been a long day. Bill had spent most of Monday re-running all the hoses for cooling, oil and fuel to the engine. It was almost 6:00PM by the time he quit for the day. I had spent the day cleaning and playing go-fer for Bill. I did escape for about an hour to make a run for groceries in the air-conditioned mall.

Tuesday morning more progress was made with the engine installation. Bear showed up with some needed fittings and the modified pulley for the engine. They finished all the water, coolant connections attaching the pumps, pulleys and belts. Then they got started with priming the fuel and ran into some of the same problems as we ran into last April. After working through those problems they called it a day. Bill then helped a boating friend get their computer talking to the internet again. Then we went to Zona Dorada and had dinner in an air-conditioned restaurant. After dinner we stopped by a nearby store and picked up a large 110-volt fan on a stand. The fan blowing on us all night sure made sleeping in the heat much better.

Today the engine fuel bleeding was finished and the engine started, but the modified pulley was not modified enough and it rubbed on the engine.  The engine was shut down and the pulley is now off to the shop for further modifications. The pulley problems are because we had new pulleys made for everything to double belt the alternator. The larger alternator that we had installed in Chula Vista, just before heading south, was too large for one belt and therefore slipped with a loud squeal when it was putting out full amperage.  

I have spent the last two mornings going to Immigration to renew our resident visas for another year. All the paperwork was turned in with today's visit and the visas should be ready next week, with another stamp giving us another year of residency here in Mazatlán.

Saturday October 9, 1999

The engine is now running and has about 8 hours on it. Bill and Bear got it running yesterday morning and ran it for about two hours before they discovered a major oil leak. The rest of the afternoon was spent removing the affected part and installing a new gasket. This morning she was again started up and except for a strange "tick tick" sound it seems to be running well. Bill is playing with the engine speed varying it every few minutes to allow the rings to seat properly. We hope to have almost all the 50 break-in hours on it by the time we leave for San Diego on Wednesday morning.

Karen and Dick from Irie stopped by this afternoon with their two dogs. They spent the summer in N. California and are on their way back to their boat, which was stored in PV for the summer.

Monday October 11, 1999

We ran the engine on Lanikai all day yesterday. While it was running we spent the time reading, with breaks to readjust the engine speed every 5 minutes or so.  It seemed to run fine but continues to make a clacking sound. This morning, after adjusting the valves etc. Bear and Neill, the mechanics, listened, scratched their heads and ran off for another mechanic to get his opinion. It was decided to recheck the injectors first and then look for a slight fault in the rebuilt injector pump. Bill removed the injectors and he and Bear will run them into the shop in the morning.

We had a wonderful dinner with Ray and Jeanette from Soul Coaxing at a great Italian restaurant in Zona Dorado. We were the only customers for the entire 2 hours that we were there as the beginning of tourist season is still a few weeks away.

Thursday October 14, 1999

We are in Chula Vista, California, having arrived about 2:00PM this afternoon after a two day drive from Mazatlán with Susan (from Oceania).  Wednesday we drove all the way from Mazatlán to Tucson, Arizona, and today we traveled the US freeways to San Diego. Bill and I rented a car at our usual Chula Vista agency which is conveniently located and checked into our favorite Motel 6, also conveniently located, then took off on a shopping spree. Most of what we need to gather this trip is tiny bits and pieces so, hopefully, we will not be pack animals when we return south on the bus. In the early evening we returned to Chula Vista and stopped by to see Bill’s mother and pick up our mail pouch.

Saturday October 16, 1999

We are now in the Mission Viejo, Calif., area. Yesterday we drove north to continue the great parts hunt and then joined PJ and Loretta for dinner at the Dana Point Yacht Club. Early this morning I was awoken by a long lasting earth rumble that rocked the bed. We awoke this morning to discover that a 7.0 earthquake had hit the Joshua Tree area in the night.

Today was a busy day!!!  With the morning e-mails we found out that Bear had discovered the noise maker in our engine. He had removed the pan and head and found one of the pistons was larger than the others. Since TDC Equipment was not open until Monday, there was not much that we could do, but we did get an e-mail off to Bear, via Neill, to at least let him know that "of course, we had disposed of the old pistons". Tracking down Susan for the message and then getting an answer sent off took up a large chunk of the morning but by mid-afternoon we were off hunting for a laptop computer for our youngest daughter. She is again attending nursing school and would like a laptop so that she can do homework in the library. We did find a fairly nice one for just under a grand.  By the time the computer was purchased we were already late for the dinner party that we were scheduled to attend.  We all managed to get ready and arrived only 2 hours late and had a great time anyhow.

Monday October 18, 1999

Yesterday I spent the day lounging on the sofa at PJ and Loretta’s, feeling quite under the weather. Bill got much accomplished on both our computer and the set up for Gretchen’s new machine, and had a great time just visiting with PJ. Today Bill went into UNISYS for much of the morning to meet with his old cohorts while I got a chance to try to catch up on the last months of Latitude 38 magazine; we are about 4 months behind on them.

We had dinner with friends, Margaret and Doug and daughter Lindy. Great dinner and a fun visit!!!  This was our first opportunity to show off some of the summer photos; Doug saw about half of them before the evening sleepies hit.

Wednesday October 20, 1999

Yesterday we got a late start, then had a great time for many hours in a large bookstore. We looked at much but purchased little, keeping in mind the added weight would have to be carried south. In the late afternoon we again invaded PJ and Loretta's where we again subjected friends to our myriad of summer photos. Late in the evening we made the drive back to the Chula Vista Motel 6.

Today we are spending the day with Bill’s brother Rick; again showing off our many summer photos interspersed with computer play on Rick’s new computer. Actually, Bill installed a CD writer for Rick and then used it to make a disc to send of the daughter Ginger.

Late in the evening Bill picked up e-mail from Bear, our mechanic, with a shopping list. One more part to order from TDC Equipment in Huntington Beach and many goodies to pick up locally here. Something to keep us busy tomorrow morning.

Saturday, October 23, 1999

Somehow we survived yesterday. We had planned to drive north to Huntington Beach to pick up the required engine parts and then spend the rest of the day at the Long Beach boat show. That was not to be. The computer that we had shipped off to Gretchen arrived in Oregon Thursday and all worked except the web browsing.  After many phone calls Thursday night between here and Oregon, Bill discovered that the modem that she had was a new type that still tended to be somewhat flaky. The solution was to pick her up a modem like the one we have and known to work. That should have taken just one quick stop off the freeway in the Mission Viejo area.  We took off about 11:00AM with modem purchase as the first item on our list.  The quick stop produced nothing and we stopped at several other stores with equally poor success.   They either did not carry the modem or were out.

By now it was getting later and the freeway was its typical Friday afternoon full. Not wanting to miss picking up the engine parts we continued on to Huntington Beach.  An accident on the freeway slowed things down to a crawl for about 45 minutes and we finally arrived at the parts store in Huntington Beach just after 3:00PM. They only had some of the parts as a Long Beach distributor had forgotten to send the rest south. So it was off to Long Beach with what seemed to be great directions. Well, the off-ramp that we were told to take off the freeway did not exist and we were almost to the LA airport before we turned around. With rush hour traffic now picking up on the freeways we headed south and finally arrived just after 4:00PM at the distributors. We did acquire all the needed engine parts. The modem was finally purchased at a computer store back in the San Diego area. The modem will be shipped off to Oregon today along with granddaughter Emily’s Christmas gifts.

We now have almost all the necessary trinkets for heading south and our bags have almost reached the required weight. Looks like we will again be pack animals on the southward journey.  To make the trip south easier we visited a travel agent here in Chula Vista and picked up tickets to fly from Tijuana to Mazatlán on Monday. The flight is costing us only slightly more than the first class bus tickets and with all our goodies it seems like a better way to go.

Wednesday October 27, 1999

We are home in Mazatlán again. We arrived here late Monday afternoon after a quick flight from Tijuana. That was certainly the way to go. We took the trolley to the boarder where we boarded a Mexican bus that took us directly to the airport.  A few hour wait at the airport and a fast flight and we were home before dark.

Yesterday Bill and Bear put the engine all back together again and got her running. She is now running without making the clack and all seems to be well. The engine ran well enough that Bear took his tools home, freeing up the cabin and we even started to put the boat back together. Returning the engine room to normal will have to wait until a few more hours are put on the wee beastie and Bear gets a chance to re-torque the head.

Saturday October 30, 1999

The engine now has its required 20 hours (again) and Bear finished up this morning by re-adjusting the valves and re-torquing the head. All seems to be going great except a few minor oil weeps.

Both of us have been not feeling up to snuff since our return from Southern California.  Today we seem to be on the upswing with both of us feeling a little more energetic.

More cruisers are arriving each day now. Many of the boats left empty for the summer are again occupied and more boats have already started to make the crossing from the Baja side. Sylvia, the marina secretary, returned to work on Thursday after her maternity leave and she brought her new little girl with her on  her first day back. The baby will not be here often as daddy will be babysitting much of the time.

Monday November 1, 1999

The last few days Bill has been busy getting the engine room back together. There is still much to do but each day the boat becomes more like home.

The weather has definitely turned; we needed a blanket over us last night and turned the fan off. This morning there was a definite chill,  below 80°F, in the air. It did soon warm up and by mid-afternoon it was hot again.

We took the crew of Shazam out to the Shrimp Bucket for dinner.  We owe them big time as they had turned on the bilge pumps many times and kept Lanikai from sinking when the engine was first removed. We all had a wonderful time, so wonderful that it we did not realize that it was already 9:30PM when we caught the bus back to the marina.

Saturday November 6, 1999

Another week of projects, getting Lanikai ready to sail again. The engine room is now back together and all the batteries re-connected. I painted the engine room cabinetry with a few more coats of white paint and yesterday put a coat of white paint on the overhead fiberglass. The paint sure brightens things up in the engine room and the lone light fixture now produces enough light to work by. Bill, sometime in the last few days re-connected the cockpit wiring. Everything that we took apart for the engine rebuild is now back in its pre-rebuild state or better!!

Bear, and others, convinced us that a three-bladed prop would be a great addition to Lanikai. On Tuesday Mario the diver removed our two-bladed prop and it, along with many numbers, went off to the prop shop so that we could have a three-bladed one made. The new prop should be ready for us on Monday.

Bill fixed up the outboard motor yesterday, Friday, and it runs great and even stops with its new kill switch. Since I had inflated the dingy earlier in the week, we now have one toy ready for use. Thursday he fired up the genset and it ran too, so right now all of our engines are working.

Bill even found time to help some of our cruising friends with their computers. Many of the returning cruisers are bringing new computers with them and others are picking up the older ones. E-mail is becoming the favored means of communication with family and friends back home.  AOL, with its worldwide local telephone numbers, has helped e-mail use to pick up big time among the cruisers.  It takes many e-mail sessions to equal the cost of just one phone call home.

Friday November 12, 1999

The new prop would not go on!! The diver Mario and his helper tried many times to get it on both on Tuesday and again on Wednesday, after returning the prop to the prop shop. Bill even disconnected the rudder from its piston so that it could be forced over a little further and still no luck. It was decided that we needed to shave a little off the rudder to enlarge the prop aperture and that will require a haul out to accomplish.  Bill spent yesterday in town trying to track down a haul out date for Lanikai so we can apply the new bottom paint and to see what can be done about the rudder. He returns to the yard again today to talk to the big boss who was not around yesterday.

Bill spent much of the early part of the week helping other cruisers to get their new laptops connected to AOL. Several evenings were spent up at the payphone at the top of our dock giving acoustic coupler lessons and setting up computers.  Bill also spent several mornings helping to get Fair Winds satellite phone to talk to the computer and connected to AOL.

The marina here has really filled up in the last week. There are very few power+water slips left and a long list of future arrivals. Many boats want to be here for the Thanksgiving feast.

Monday November 15, 1999

The "big boss" never showed up at the yard last Friday so Bill has returned today to try again to catch up with him. This time he took some reading material for the wait. Since he was prepared for the wait there was no wait; Lanikai will be hauled out of the water on Thursday or maybe Friday. Wednesday we will move to the main harbor and tie to a fish boat or anchor just off the yard.

We had a very nice weekend. Saturday we had a late season Chubasco come through and dump a nice washing rain upon us. We took advantage of the rain and finished the clean up job by mopping down the decks and wiping down the hull. We then spent the rest of the day relaxing, saving our energy for the first margarita party of the season. It was a great party with many of our old cruising friends in attendance and a whole flock of newbies to meet.

Sunday we replaced some of the fuel hoses that were  discovered to be "not so great" when the engine was reinstalled.  Since one of the hoses ran to the auxiliary fuel pump, Bill spent some time getting it working and all the air leaks stopped. After a shower we took off for a dingy spin through the channels here. Part way into the ride the outboard started chattering in its gears so we turned for home and soon were paddling. Upon return to Lanikai, Bill took the outboard lower-unit apart and discovered that a bearing had blown up. We have the spare parts for rebuilding the gears but needed expert help (the proper tool) to remove the outer casing of the bearings stuck in the housing.

Wednesday, November 17, 1999

We left the marina for the boat yard about 10:00AM in the morning. Our haul out is scheduled for Thursday or Friday and we want to be anchored off the boatyard tonight so that we are ready in the morning just in case they are ready for us. We spent much of the day anchored off Isla Venados where we could swim in the clean water and laze in the sun watching the tourist catamarans sail by. There is a restaurant palapa on the beach of the island that serves lunch to the tourists that go ashore.  Several para-sailors were pulled by for our viewing pleasure too.

Mid afternoon, we pulled the anchor and entered the main Mazatlán harbor, heading up it to buoy "21" where we turned into the boat yard basin. We anchored in the center of the small inlet surrounded by shrimp and fish boats. We watched the yard pull two shrimp boats out of the water. Bill rowed ashore and talked to the yard. They told him that they had a small power boat ready for bottom paint in the morning. It would then be dropped back in the water in the afternoon and they would haul us out.

Thursday, November 18, 1999

No haul out today. We spent much of the day reading and watching the shrimp fleet. I did crank Bill to the top of the mizzen mast so that he could change the light bulb on our photo-cell controlled anchor light.  The repaired light did duty for us in the night.

Friday November 19, 1999

We are out of the water. The power boat was dropped back in the water this morning and we tied up over the rail car about 10:00AM. After much futzing-around to make sure that Lanikai was coming out level we reached the dry land at noon. A crew of 5 workers had showed up to help get us on the rail car cradle; one stayed in the row boat and the rest climbed on board to handle lines. After we were tied up and kind of centered in the cradle one of the 4 dove into the water and blocked us up. It was a slow drag out of the water with several stops to readjust the blocks.

After lunch, the same crew came back and washed down Lanikai’s bottom and then scrubbed off the loose paint with wire brushes. Her bottom looks clean now and there are many areas where the red bottom paint has been worn through to the barrier coat. Sea life was clinging to these bare spots but the rest of the bottom was fairly clean. Bill and many of the crew here spent some time playing with the new three-bladed prop. It does not want to go on and weakening the rudder by cutting out enough for it to fit is not a real option. Everyone is off thinking.

Saturday November 20, 1999

No yard work today as it is a national holiday (Constitution Day). Bill spent much time checking out the rudder and its attachment to the boat. New bolts are needed in all of the fittings. Four of the bolts have actually rotted off in the middle hinge and a little epoxy filling will be needed behind the hinge where it attaches to the hull. The rudder also appears to be mostly hollow and a crack along the bottom and a large gap at the middle hinge has let lots of water in. We will need to repair and seal up the rudder, but first, at Bear’s suggestion, we will try to find some of the two-part liquid foam to fill most of the hollow with solid foam. Bill ended the day by getting the three blade prop on after taking a little of the thickness off of the upper edge of the rudder at the opening. More smoothing and a finish coat of epoxy will finish up the modification. He then discovered that the propeller shaft needs to be shortened by about ¾ inch for the propeller to spin in the center of the opening. There are marks on the rudder that lead us to believe that the old prop did not fit quite right either.

Sunday November 21, 1999

Today we started on the repairs. We stuffed some glass mat that was well soaked with epoxy into the crack in the bottom of the rudder then applied three layers of glass cloth to the lower part of the rudder sealing up the crack completely. We also filled in the backing area in the hull for the middle hinge. I smoothed and epoxied the cut in the rudder that Bill had made to get the propeller on. The propeller still came off after the repair was made, so I had managed to not add too much fill to the cut area.

Tuesday November 23, 1999

Yesterday was a long day for Bill and me. I went into town early looking for bolts and spray urethane foam. I had no luck with the bolts but did find the foam. Bill spent much of the day either watching the crew here try to remove the shaft from our flexible coupling or working on it himself. He worked on it until after midnight and had only succeeded in moving the shaft about ¾ inch. We did get the foam into the rudder; it ran out like growing snakes from the many holes that we had drilled in the rudder for just that purpose . Late in the afternoon I started to fill up the many holes with thickened epoxy. The rudder hinge pieces were turned into the shop here where they would remove the rotted off bolts and fabricated others. They also would fix a bushing and base washer into the gudgeon of the base plate, so that the rudder would again rise to its proper place.

Today after more effort trying to remove the prop shaft with little or no results, it was decided to cut the shaft at the coupling. This allowed the piece stuck in the coupling to be pressed out in the shop. Bill then purchase a new shaft and the shop set to work turning the ends to match up with the prop and the coupling. The new shaft stock only cost us $250 pesos or about $25 US. Of course, the shop milling will add to the cost (only a little over $200 US).

We finished filling in the many foam entrance holes in the rudder and sanding them smooth.  We also sealed and strengthened the rudder at its middle hinge attachment. After much more sanding the rudder is now ready for painting in the morning.

Thursday November 25, 1999 (Thanksgiving Day)

It is Thursday morning and we are still high and dry in the yard. Yesterday the shop spent the entire day making us a new prop shaft from the piece of stock stainless  that Bill purchased on Tuesday. Late in the day, they did get broken bolts drilled out of the rudder hinge piece and the holes taped for new bolts, of a slightly larger size. Bill and I then attached the repaired hinge to the rudder and painted it with bottom paint, in the dark, last night.

Earlier in the day Bill and I wandered off and, several shops later, tracked down an axle for the paddle wheel of our knot meter.  Bill then got the whole thing back together and installed. He also cut out the old cutlass bearing and replaced it so Lanikai is ready to receive her new shaft whenever the shop is finished with it.

We took the bus to Marina Mazatlán for the Thanksgiving celebration.  It was great. We arrived in time to take showers and then watch the priest take off in a panga to bless the fleet. We then checked out the horse shoe tournament with a nice cold Pacifico in hand. Dinner was served to about 300 people by Panama’s Restaurant and they did a super job. We had plenty of food and delicious pie for desert, not quite like home cooked but as far as feeding a crowd they did wonderful.  During dinner and for several hours afterwards, we were entertained by a wonderful 12 musician band that played great music for dancing or even just listening to. Bill and I returned to the boat yard about 7:30PM only to discover that in our absence, the parts had still not been finished.

Friday November 26, 1999

We are back in the water and anchored back at Isla Venados. We finally got all the parts this morning and we finished the installation just before noon. By noon we were moving toward the water and off the cradle and on our own soon thereafter. The anchorage here is quite rolly as the northerly winds have picked up in the Sea of Cortez, but it is great to be in the water and anchored again. We took the opportunity to clean some of the boat yard dirt off the boat with the clean sea water and then had a refreshing swim before settling down to relax for the rest of the day.

Monday November 29, 1999

We are back in the marina again. We moved back in Saturday afternoon.

Saturday morning we woke up to a leaking head. Bill spent much of the day, at anchor, trying to repair it. With epoxy setting up in the base of the head, about 3:00PM we picked up the anchor and moved back into the marina. The marina is quite full now so we tied up at the end of dock 3, the dock with water but no electricity. By Sunday noon even that dock was full. The head got reinstalled soon after our arrival and, we think (hope), that it is repaired. Anyhow it is not currently leaking. Yesterday I spent much of the day cleaning the topsides and some down below to get rid of the boatyard dust. The last of the boat yard dirt finally left with today’s laundry. Bill spent much of yesterday aligning the engine up with the new prop shaft and new cutlass bearing. The alignment was fairly close but we had noticed a definite vibration at some engine speeds on the way here from the yard. That vibration seems to be gone now that the engine is better aligned.

Today Bill dove into the water and installed a new zinc onto the prop shaft. We had the zinc out and ready to attach in the yard but just forgot. Then Bill finished the rebuild of the lower unit of our friendly two-horse outboard.  The shop at the yard had taken care of the removal of the broken bearing piece.

Thursday December 2, 1999

Tuesday was shopping day and both of us went to Sam’s Club and purchased a large cart full of goodies to restock the boat for our winter travels. Wednesday, it was back into town again. Bill visited the hardware area to pick up bits and pieces that he needed for the final few repairs and I visited a super mercado to pick up a few items in smaller packages than were available at Sam’s.

While Bill was in town he found a replacement CD changer for our boat stereo system.  In early November the old one just quit working one day in the middle of a CD.  Bill tried to repair it himself to no avail so he tracked down a car stereo repair shop in the city.  The proprietor was sure that he could repair the broken changer.  When Bill returned for the changer a week later the shop had had no better luck than Bill had.  Bill was given the name of a shop that just might have a replacement for us.  All was put on hold while we accomplished the boat haul out.  Today the replacement CD changer was installed, connected to our 6 year old system and it worked!  We now can listen to our many CDs again.

Tuesday evening was another party here at the marina.  We enjoyed tacos fixed especially for us here at the marina.  After all were full, those with musical talent brought out their instruments for an enjoyable jam session until the cold and bugs chased us all home to our boats. 

Today was small project day as we try to tie up the loose ends so that we can head south by the middle of next week. Bill did such things as making sure that all the running lights work and making a chain break so that the newly galvanized chain will fall off the gypsy into the locker smoothly. I finished sewing the second replacement zipper onto the roll up center panel of the dodger window.  After 7 years in the sun, the zippers have been zipped so many times that the teeth were wearing thin and breaking off. 

Monday December 6, 1999

We had a wonderful weekend.  Saturday afternoon all the projects on the list were completed and Bill had more time to help friends with computer problems.  In the evening was another jam session and the music playing lasted for over three hours.  It got cold again, but the bugs seem to be a lot less than a few days ago.

Sunday Bill helped solve a few more computer problems.   We spent the rest of the day just visiting with other cruisers and relaxing. It sure is a great feeling to not have any pressing chores to do.   In the evening we enjoyed BBQ'd ribs at one of our favorite restaurants with Donna and Howard from Nintai

Tuesday December 7, 1999

Yesterday we went to the local Pesca office and got our fishing licenses for the coming year.  Today we did our official paperwork thing and checked out with Immigration and the Port Captain.  A top-up with fuel in the morning and we are ready to head south and explore new areas.  Mazatlán has been good to us and a fun place to spend some time.  We do plan on returning in the spring as we head north to spend another summer in the Sea of Cortez and we are maintaining the marina here as our official domicile in Mexico.

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