An Uncertain Future

Sherwood Park, Alberta, Canada

When we left the boat, back in May of 2018, we had every intention of continuing this adventure.

The boat needed a lot of work, largely a result of much neglect over the last few years.  The first, and probably the most urgent need was to repair the severe blistering issue with the hull.  To this end, we contracted the local boatyard in San Carlos to carry out this repair.  We understood that the required drying out period would most likely take a year or more.  We made the decision to hold off on any other work until this vital repair was completed, thus we expected that the down time could be closer to two years by the time we were ready to sail again.  What we did not expect was a couple of additional setbacks

First, it turned out that the boatyard was unable or unwilling to proceed with the hull repairs without our constant supervision, which was difficult when we live so far away from the action and they don't respond to emails or phone calls.  In spite of making two trips to the boat, once in May of 2019 and again in February of 2020, little was being accomplished.  However, after the last visit, we believed that we now has them re-focused on the work and looked forward to completion by the summer of 2020.

Second, as we were returning to Canada from our trip to Mazatlan and San Carlos, in March of 2020, we were shocked to find ourselves in quarantine as a result of the recent outbreak of Covid-19.  Needless to say, this pandemic brought everything to a halt, both here and in Mexico.

At the time of writing this update, the boatyard appears to be under some new management and if they can be believed, the bulk of the work on the hull has been completed and the boat is back in the storage yard awaiting our return.  It has now been 3-1/2 years since we left the boat in San Carlos.  We know there is still a lot of work left to be done to the boat that we knew about when we left it there, and sitting in the alternating hot desert sun and winter rain has probably not helped the situation.  Add in the fact that we are now 3-1/2 years older as well and we find ourselves wondering if spending the time and money on an old boat is the best use of our resources.

Needless to say, if and when we are actually allowed to travel again, and we feel it is prudent to do so, we have some tough decisions to make.  This may indeed be the end of our sailing adventure.