WE'RE GETTING A NEW BOTTOM .

On Tuesday afternoon February 28, Mirador is sitting on jackstands in Don Jose Abaroja's boatyard.

The yard is about 1/4 mile from the Santa Cruz virtual marina where we had been anchored since we came back to La Paz on Feb 12.

Mirador's bottom was getting kinda slimy and grass was growing a little faster than I could scrape it off.

The grass was growing especially fast along the hull above the waterline and below the first boot stripe. MIrador's stern now sits about 8" deeper in the water after we added all our extra cruising equipment and supplies. The bow sits actually higher than normal because the 85 gallon holding tank is always empty.

The unpainted hull above the old waterline is now submerged most of the time.

You can see in the picture to the left how the grass and small barnacles have grown on the unpainted area above the waterline.

It has four years since we had last had the bottom painted with Petite Trinidad paint.We have been very pleased with how long it lasted. There was nothing attached to the boat after the bottom was pressure washed.

Our poor Maxprop was covered with barnacles. The prop shaft and strut were even worse. Less than four weeks ago I dove on the prop and polished it fairly clean, but the darn barnacles keep coming back.

This morning a marine surveyor stopped by the boat to chat. He was very freindly and interested in our boat. He has had several boats with Maxprops and knows them very well. Ours based inspection with a perfect grade, other than having a few too many barnacles.

I am in the process of polishing the blades and the shaft which should slow down the barnacle growth. I guess I'll just have to dive on it and polish it more often.

We are going to raise the waterline about 8" in the stern, about 6" amidships, and about 4" at the bow. You can see the new waterline, marked by blue tape on the port side, in the photo to the left.

The new bottom paint is Hempels hard black. It is not available in the US and will not be available anywhere in the world after the first of the year, 2003. The stuff is really toxic but cruisers here in the warm water swear it is the best stuff available.

We are also adding a "booster" to the paint, 1.5 ounces per gallon, that is supposed to make the paint even more toxic.

The ladder on the stern allows us to climb aboard, which is a good thing, because we are staying aboard while in the yard. We have running water and electricity so life is OK. There are two restaurants and three marine stores within five minutes of the yard. The yard has very nice bathrooms and showers in it.

However, our first visit to the bathrooms revealed that we must supply the toilet paper.

The view from our cockpit is pretty nice, we are only about 50 yards from the water and look NW over Bahia La Paz and El Magote.

The weather is starting to warm up. The sun is now very warm and the daytime temperatures get into the mid 80s. It is hot when there is no breeze blowing, but the breeze is fairly constant. Night times cool off to the low 60's so sleeping is comfortable.

We are the only folks living on their boat in the yard.

Boat work is somewhat less expensive here in La Paz, compared to Puget Sound or San Diego. Some of the work is downright cheap.

Abaroja's will rub out the old oxidized wax and then polish the hull from the waterline to the toe rail for $50 labor. I had to buy the rubbing compound and wax which was another $50.

The labor to haul the boat, pressure wash the bottom and hull sides, sand the bottom, and apply three coats of paint, and then return the boat to the water is $480. That is a lot less than I paid in Gig Harbor four years ago.

The work crew is very conscientious, fast, and reliable. I am impressed with the work they are doing. The Abaroja family owns three of the four yards in La Paz and one of the three marine stores. They run a small marina, four charter fishing boats, dive boats, water taxies, and other small craft. Alejandro is the manager of this yard. He is about 30 years old and lives on his 50' powerboat in the marina adjacent to the yard. Alex has a 100 Ton US Captains license and worked in yards in San Diego and Ft. Lauderdale for several years. His english is excellent and he keeps a close eye on all his crew.

We are stuck in the "lazy La Paz" mode again. Not much gets done but we sure have fun doing it.

We are struggling with Federal Express package delivery. On February 19 my sister sent us a three pound package which was delivered to Guadalajara Mexico on Feb 21, Feb 22, and Feb 26. In case you don't know your Mexican geography, Guadalajara is on the Mexican mainland, about 475 miles SE of La Paz. I have written three e-mails to FedEX, they have responded to none. I talked to Fed Ex International Customer Service on Feb 25. They looked at their records and verified that the package was properly addressed to our marina in La Paz. They assured me the package would be forwarded to La Paz. That phone call cost us $11 US.

Since then the package has returned to Memphis and was again shipped to Guadalajara. AH MEXICO!

The problem is that the package contains important tax info, and our overseas medical insurance policies that we have to sign and return.

We plan to be back in the water on March 2 or March 4. We will put on some more provisions and then head out to the Islands of La Paz for another two to three weeks.