Despite having just splashed S/V Sierra Wind in September, it seems she was going to be back on the hard again very soon. While we were away for the summer, Eitan had contracted Marina Puerto Escondido to redo the boat’s bottom paint. Once back in the water and after a couple of routine bottom cleanings, Eitan began to notice areas where it seemed the new bottom paint had already begun to wear off to the base layer. It seemed the marina had skimped on some of the paint layers and agreed to haul us out and correct it.
Once again, we were back in the haul out slip, but luckily had much calmer conditions compared to the 20 knots we experienced just a few months ago. Once the boat was supported on the stands, Eitan and I got to cleaning up the water line and removing the barnacles. I also worked on sanding the propellor and shaft, removing the crusty organic layer that had formed over it. The painting wasn’t scheduled until the following day and the marina caught wind that we were “working” on the boat, which apparently wasn’t allowed. Since the haul out was free in order for the marina to correct their work, we weren’t supposed to be taking advantage of our time out of the water unless we wanted to pay for it.
To appease the marina manager, Eitan contracted some additional work to increase the size of one of the through hulls. Just like it sounds, a through hull is a fitting that penetrates the hull of the boat and is used to intake or discharge water. Since adding a higher capacity water maker, the existing diameter of the through hull intake was too small to run the water maker while underway. This is obviously problematic considering we plan to be underway for three weeks during the pacific crossing and Eitan thought it valuable to use the time out of the water to change it out to a larger size.
Eitan handed over the new through hull fitting he had previously purchased and they got to work removing the existing fitting. Instead of checking with Eitan before drilling a new hole in the bottom of the boat, they just went ahead and drilled it out. Unfortunately, the new hole they made was now too big, leaving a 1/8th inch gap around the fitting. They had also somehow managed to break the fitting Eitan had given them and replaced it with a cheaper one. Things clearly weren’t going well and I can’t imagine something more frustrating than being forced to pay for work that you could have done better yourself. The gap in the through hull fitting was sealed with 5200, a marine-grade permanent bonding sealant, and Eitan added a few extra squeezes of it for good measure. Now, we just needed to sit for 24 hours to allow the sealant to cure and the paint to dry before going back in the water.
With Eitan’s friends coming to visit on Sierra Wind, followed by our time out of the water, it seemed our window to get to Puerto Vallarta by the holidays was quickly shrinking. Eitan’s parents had booked an Airbnb in Playa del Carmen for the week before Christmas and we needed a place to leave the boat. Also, Eitan was looking for potential captain opportunities for January and February to help fatten up the piggy bank before leaving North America. After checking marina availability, it seemed all the marinas in La Paz and Puerto Vallarta were already booked with the flood of boats that came down to Mexico with the 2021 Baja Haha. Our options were limited to staying in Loreto or crossing over to Mazatlán. So, we decided to stay put in Loreto and have a little more free time before the holidays. This also gave Eitan more time to coordinate contracts for some potential yacht deliveries while having decent WIFI.
With that, we splashed S/V Sierra Wind, put her in one of the marina’s slips and prepared her for us potentially being away for up to 3 months. Not expecting to fly out so soon we had a lot of fresh food and cheese to use up in a couple days and I whipped up some charcuterie boards to get through it all. We did the final preparations of cleaning out the fridge and freezer, pickling the water maker, closing all the through hulls, and storing all the exterior items. With that, it was time to explore a different part of Mexico! Hola Yucatan!
