Countdown Resumed

Mazatlan, Sinaloa, Mexico

3 2 1 Go!
Tomorrow we take off.

Gitte, David, Susanne, Richard, Mike and Mike

Yes, the stars are finally aligned and all systems are go.  Susanne is finally feeling better (the month-long coughing spree is over).  The boat is as ready as it ever will be - the bottom is clean and the engine seems to be running great, the course to La Paz is plotted and the tides are minimal.  The only bad thing is that the wind still seem to be predominantly from the NW; we will just have to deal with it - we really need a change of scenery.

For better or worse, our life seems to have been reduced to a series of lazy days, lying around getting a tan, doing a lot of reading, get-togethers with friends for coffee or drinks or meals, etc.,  with only the odd small boat jobs thrown in to keep us honest.

After a while, I think I start to get a little loopy, doing stupid things that I probably would not do if I was in my right mind - a prime example is my experiment to see just what would happen if I sat on my Amazon Kindle reader - the results are predictable and not pretty!  Now I get to find out just how hard it will be to order one of these from Mexico - Really, how hard could it be?

What we really crave is some high seas adventure to shake things up.  OK, maybe not, but at least a different venue for a while.  La Paz promises to be an interesting place with the possibility of seeing some friends that have already made the journey over.  The passage should take about 2 days or possibly a bit longer at the slow speeds we travel - even more if we insist on trying to sail close-hauled all the way against the prevailing winds.

Here are some parting shots of dock 6, our semi-permanent home here in Marina Mazatlan.  Will we ever see it again? - only time will tell.

Interesting note:  When we left Nanaimo, I was concerned that I may have overdone the solar panel thing - there were really not that many boats with large solar arrays up there.  Just a glance at the boats next door to us will give you some idea of just how popular they are down here - there is no such thing as too much solar power, especially when you plan to spend the summer in the Sea of Cortez.  For my part, I wish I had done more!  That boat furthest away in this picture has my favorite array - that arch holds five 130Watt panels for a total of 650Watts - they never bother to even plug into shore power at the marina in spite of the fact thay the run some pretty big appliances such as a huge freezer and a microwave oven.  It's funny the different things you start dreaming about when you live on a boat.

{GMST}23|16.25|N|106|27.2833|W|Marina Mazatlan|Marina Mazatlan{GEND}