STILL IN LA PAZ - STILL WAITING FOR THINGS

Today is May 6 and we are sitting in the bright La Paz sunshine waiting patiently for our new sunshade/awning. Chuy, the canvas guy, brought the unfinished awning out to Mirador last Thursday to mark all the cut outs for shrouds and to mark where the batten pockets need to be. I suspect that Chuy will need most of this week to make all the final adjustments to the awning. So, it will probably be May 11 or 12 before we can leave La Paz for the summer.

The weather here is settling into it's summertime routine. The sun is very bright and very hot but, at least for now, the northeast breeze that blows each afternoon greatly diminishes the impact of the the sun. The air temperature gets into the low to middle 90s each afternoon but, as long as the nice wind blows Bahia La Paz stays pleasant. We've had a couple of days where the air temperature reached 98 or 99 and it defintely felt hot. The humidity stays in the 25% to 35% range so I guess the old saying about "But, it's a dry heat" is true. Mirador's interior temperature reaches the mid-80's each afternoon but the evening breeze lowers the temperature in the sleeping cabin to the mid-70s by the time we finishing watching the evening movie.

The La Paz locals keep telling me that all this will change in a couple of weeks or by mid-June at the latest. The cool northeast sea breeze that now comes up each afternoon will be a rare thing during most of the summer. The only hope for cooling after mid-June will be the evening Coromuel that starts blowing off the land around sunset.

When we walk around La Paz we notice how much warmer it is when we are away from the water. The 90 degree temperatures that seem quite pleasent when we're on the boat in a 10 knot breeze are rather warm, if not hot, when there is no wind. I guess that means our wind scoops and sun awning will be very important.

We have a nylon wind scoop, shaped 'kinda like a spinnaker, that is placed over each of the two big overhead hatches. Each scoop is about three feet high and will direct any little zephyr that might waft across the deck down the hatch. We have not used them here in La Paz because Mirador is seldom pointed head into the wind. Right now there is a 14 knot NNE wind but we are broadside to it because the 3 knot ebb current is coming from the WSW and that is where Mirador is pointing her bow. We'll keep the wind scoop up all the time once we leave La Paz and all these difficult currents.

Chuy brought the almost completed sun awning out to Mirador this morning, just as the wind came up. We really could have used a calm day to raise the awning and test all the fittings and battens. But the four of us were able to get it up and rigged in 15 to 20 knots of wind.

Here is a picture of Chuy, his son, and grandson working on the awning.

The awining is made in two pieeces. The bigger of the two extends from the front of the mast to the solar panel arch at the aft end of the cockpit. There are 26 yards of 60" wide oyster shell colored sunbrella in the big awning. .

The big awning has a full width batten along the aft most edge which is tied to the radar arch. In the center of the awning is another full width batten. That batten pocket has a loop sewn to the top where the main halyard attaches. Each batten has a rope attached to each outboard end. The awning can be shaped by lifting up on the halyard and pulling down on the outboard edges.

By doing so, we can raise or lower either side to compensate for the height of the sun and the angle of the wind.

The big awning has a cutout for the mast and is attached to the smaller awning via twist connectors that go thru grommets in the aft edge of the forward awning. The small awning has a full width batten at it's forward edge and also its middle. The topping lift pulls the center batten upward to shape the smaller forward most awning. The front of the awning covers the width of the boat, about six feet aft of the bow.

The foward awning required eight yards of sunbrella.

All the battens are made from white one inch PVC pipe. It can be easily drilled and curved.

Chuy and crew took the awning back to the shop to fit some more connectors and to clean up some edges that were pretty ragged. They will bring the awning back in the next couple of days for its final fitting.

I just came back from filling all the jerry cans that carry gasoline for the outboards. We have been surpised about how much gasoline we burn in the outboard. We have a 6 HP Evenrude 2-stroke that burns about six gallons a month of fuel. We carry the fuel in a 3.5 gallon tank that is kept in the PortaBote and is attached to the outboard. We also keep a spare one-gallon gas container in the outboard. We then keep a 2.5 and one gallon container in the forward anchor locker. All that gasoline aboard Mirador makes me nervous but I don't know what else to do with it.

We just spent $75 US to repair the Evenrude. It had been running worse and worse for the last month. It would run fine for three or four seconds and then slow down to an idle. Several seconds later it would speed up again, or maybe stall. I suspected a fuel pump problem but I did the tests recommended in the shop manual and the fuel pump seemed OK. New spark pugs and cleaning the carb jets didn't solve the problem.

Jim from SeaOtter, a trimaran anchored near us, is the local outboard and diesel repair guy. He used to be the service manager for an Evenrude and Johnson outboard dealer. Jim has lived in La Paz for 16 years and has established a great reputation. JIm found that the check valve in the fuel pump had come apart. Tthe little ball in the checkvalve had come out which allowed the spring that should hold the ball in place to tear the diaphragm in the fuel pump. That in turn allowed too much or too little fuel to flow to the carb, thus stalling or flooding the engine. Jim had to replace the fuel pump twice because the first replacement pump worked worse that our old one. Now the 1979 Evenrude is running as good as new.

Bahia La Paz is starting to fill up with boats again. The cruisers who spent the winter on the Mexican Gold Coast, i.e. Puerto Vallarta to Acapulco, are now on their way north into the Sea of Cortez. Most of those boats work their way north from Ixtapa to Mazatalan (about 700 miles) during the spring. They then cross the south Sea of Cortez to La Paz which is another 250 miles. Everyone reprovisions and re-fuels here in La Paz before heading north to Bahia Concepcion (about 200 miles). The boats that will spend the summer in the Sea may stay in the Bahia Concepcion area or go even further north to Bahia de Los Angles. The smart cruisers will make their way across the Sea to San Carlos (100 miles) where they will leave their boats for the summer. No matter what the destination, La Paz is the last easy provisioning town until San Carlos. There is also no diesel available at a dock until San Carlos.

So, everyone comes to La Paz for a day, week, or forever. This makes for interesting boat watching because of the mile long uncharted sand bar in the middle of Bahia La Paz. The Bay is formed by the city of La Paz along the south shore and the El Magote pennisula/island on the north shore. The inner Bay, really Ensenada de La Paz is several miles wide and long but only 3 to 5 feet deep. Almost all cruisers have to stay in the mile wide bay between the city and the Magote. There is a new sandbar, which was formed in September 2001 by hurricane Juliet, that runs along the north middle of the anchorage. The sand bar is between two and five feet deep at low tide and only nine feet deep at the maximum high tide.

The Magote anchorage, which is the biggest in the bay, lies to the north of the sandbar. But, you can't get there from here! Local knowledge is essential. You line with the commericial pier to the south and head straight for a big mangrove plant on the Magote. That passage is about 1/4 mile wide with 2 foot water east and west of it.

At least every other day there is a new cruiser aground on the sandbar. It has become a regular sport here for five or ten cruisers to jump in their dinghys and head out to the sandbar to help pull/push/heel/drag/kedge a boat off the bar. The port captain keeps the channel markers in place for the channel east of the sand bar and the channel markers to the south side of the channel in the area of the sand bar. However, for no apparent reason, he refuses to put channel markers on the east and west end of the new sand bar. There are four channels markers on the east side of the channel leading up to the sandbar but none on it. Oh Well - it's Mexico!

Arlene and I now have FM3 Rentista visas which allow us to stay in Mexico for an indefinite period of time.However, we must renew the visas on an annual basis. A "Rentista" is someone who lives on income from savings accounts or other assets. Rentistias are not allowed to work in Mexico. The FM3 process was very simple and straight forward. The Migraccion folks were very helpful. We started the process on Monday afternoon and had the FM3s in hand at 3 PM Friday afternoon.

We are making twice weekly visits to a dentist in La Paz. Arlene had five old fillings that her dentist in Tacoma had been wanting to replace for several years. We found Dr. Lao Morales thru a recommendation we got on the VHF cruisers net. Arlene really liked the work he did to reattach a crown that had come loose. She decided to have Dr. Lao replace all the old, very questionable fillings. Each replacement filling costs either $70 or $110 US depending on it's size. Dr. Lao practices with his wife who graduated from dental school in the same class, 1977, as he. They each work as the other's assistant when necessary. Much of the equipment looks like it was obsolete 25 years ago but Arlene says he has a wonderful touch and it is all very painless. My Spainish is improving and they speak a little English so we get by.

I am taking Spanish lessons, mostly one on one, each morning from 9 AM to 10:30 AM from Ramundo who has a classroom in the Marina La Paz complex. I pay for the classes by teaching two hours of English classes to Ramundos students each afternoon from 3 PM to 5 PM. Each hour of my teaching English to his Mexican kids earns me one hour of Spanish lessons.

Ramundo has been teaching English and Spanish for some 20 years in La Paz. He attended high school in Los Angles and lived there for a while. He has his Spanish classes at Marina La Paz and then has a small school building about 6 miles from here. The school has between 150 and 200 students ranging in age from young children to adults. The kids attend class after their regular school and the adults attend class all day long. The school also has afternoon and evening homework sessions for kids who need help with their assignments. Ramundo employs regular school teachers who help the kids with their assignments.

I am teaching a group of about 10 kids who are nine to 12 year old for the first hour and then another group of 15 kids between 13 and 16 years old during the 2nd hour. They are great to work with and really help me with my Spanish.

I will post some pictures of our new awning as soon as Chuy finishes it. Right now I have to run off to teach English.