PREPARATIONS GO ON (AND ON) IN LA CRUZ

Remember, for our very latest position from our live tracker - have we left yet??? - go to https://forecast.predictwind.com/tracking/display/SV_TinoPai/

We successfully picked up our refurbished water maker in San Diego, before crossing the border at Tijuana for our flight back to Puerto Vallarta. We'd enjoyed our brief time in the States, but it was time to focus on getting Tino Pai ready for our Pacific crossing. Our survey had noted a few action points and we got stuck into them.

First up was our standing rigging; inspecting the gooseneck, pulling the side chain plates, and removing the t-bolts from the side shrouds for close inspection. There was some minor pitting on all the chain plates, and a couple of small cracks in the t-bolts - we decided to be abundantly cautious and replace them all (it’s a Pacific crossing, after all). The gooseneck weld had small cracks on both sides, so we had it ground off and arranged for a new bracket to be fabricated. The process of getting all this done has proven to be enormously frustrating, with delays in getting the parts, incorrect sized parts needing to be reordered, an incorrectly fabricated gooseneck needing to be started from scratch, and ongoing delays with the work. Our boom has been sitting on the cabin top for weeks, and these delays pushed back some of the other work we’d planned to do. At this time the chainplates are done, and we’re hoping to have the t-bolts and gooseneck finished by the end of this week. About 3-4 weeks later than we’d thought it would take. There has been some stress!

Happily, between boat jobs we we’ve been able to spend time catching up with cruising friends passing through La Cruz; Rodd and Shelly (Tasi), Tom and Theresa (Rio), Jason, Noah and Aiden (One World), Gordon and Jera (Manifestation), and Tim and Pamela (Koukla). It’s been wonderful and poignant to spend time, as we head across the Pacific we don’t know when next our paths might cross. That’s the joy and sadness of cruising friendships.

On the bright side we’ve also spent time with friends who are in La Cruz preparing their boats to cross the Pacific: Ben, Laura, Nora and Alexandra (Dovka), Michael and Anne (Nimue), Duncan and Larissa (Freeranger), and Steve and Tracy (Salish Dragon). We’re also meeting new folks planning to cross, and are enjoying making new connections. It’s good to have company while crossing, though uncertain that our paths will cross after departure - but at least there’s a chance!

Once the chainplates were in, we were at least able to put away the stuff we’d had piled in the salon. This was nice for a brief moment until we needed to stack up our gear from around the engine - the next project. We’ve replaced the exhaust elbow (it had clogged up a bit), rodded-out the heat exchanger, checked and cleaned out the siphon break, checked zincs, and changed the oil, filters, and transmission fluid. A leaky coolant pump is being replaced today (luckily we had a spare), and changing all the fuel filters is the final job which will have the engine ready to go.

Otherwise, we’ve taken a celestial navigation course, as well as online mechanical and electrical courses. We pulled out and inspected our chain rode, changed it end-for-end and put on new depth markers. We’ve reinstalled the water maker, added a 12V booster (12V to 24V) to run our mini Starlink satellite dish, and installed a Pelagic autopilot on our Monitor windvane as a backup to our main below-decks autopilot (affectionately called “otter”). We’ve pulled the genoa off for some minor repairs and restitching, and have been buying spares (filters, fluids, some minor parts), tools, and dry provisions, while also trying to winnow out things we don’t need. It’s a process!

In the next couple of weeks we’ll be focusing on more maintenance (hello, windlass and winches!), cleaning the rigging and lifelines, stowing and organizing, some minor repairs here and there, having the teak toe rails varnished, checking all the thru-hulls, completing dental and health checkups, testing new systems, provisioning, prepping meals, and generally setting up the boat - and ourselves - for four weeks offshore. And waterproofing! After several tears in the hot and dry Mexican climate, we’ll need to be ready for regular tropical rainfall. That means checking caulking around the prisms and topsides in general to prevent rainwater intrusion. At least there will be regular freshwater rinses to get salt off the boat. We hope.

Before we depart though, we’re looking forward to Jen and Ron visiting at the end of the month to celebrate our looming departure and Andy & Jen’s birthdays. We’ll have a nice few days off the boat, some resort time and a fishing trip. A nice celebration after a lot of hard work!