The drive down was uneventful. The only excitement was getting thru Mexican customs, which we did without declaring anything. We had to lower the tailgate on the truck to get everything on. Sooner or later we will get caught. The boat was clean, thanks to Pancho, the man we hire to take care of her during the hot summer hurricane season.
It takes days of work to get the boat ready for sea. Before we leave in the spring we take the sails and everything else below that we can, cover all the working parts with old canvas, cover all the ports with aluminum foil, cover the hatches, wheel, instrument cluster, compass, solar panels, remove the wind generator, replace the halyards (4) with small sacrificial “tag lines”, prepare the engine for a long period of inactivity, close all the thru hull fittings, shut down/drain the propane system, shut off the refrigeration system and clean the freezer and refrigerator, drain the water tanks, fill the fuel tank, run the outboard and generator dry, chain Vagari to the dock pilings and say good by to other cruisers in the local cantinas. Vagari is in an area that has been hit by hurricanes so we prepare her for the worst. In the fall we reverse this process plus install whatever goodies we purchased for the boat and repair whatever needs fixing.
As cruisers we are not driven by work schedules as we have been for the last four decades. We plan to go where the wind blows, when the weather is favorable. The hurricane season is “officially” over on Monday November 1st. As luck would have it the forecast for Monday from my favorite forecaster is for 40 knot sustained winds with higher gusts from the northwest. So we have a few more days to get ready and to enjoy San Carlos and meet and learn from the experienced cruisers.
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