Splash. Boom. Dang!

 Well, the splashing didn't go quite as planned. 

The day we were scheduled to go in the water, the yard workers came to us and informed us the ramp was just repaired and the cement wasn't dry yet and we needed to wait until the next day. What? Repaired ramp? And we were going to be the test boat to see if the repairs worked. 

Luckily, the splashing went ok but as soon as we tried to back out the engine started to go haywire and I had to jerryrig it. The "channel" out of the the yard area isn't marked and is about 15 feet wide. Instead of marking the channel they decided it would be better to just explain where it is and watch the fun. No one informed us that it is common for boats to run aground from time to time. We weren't 1000 feet from the ramp and hit something, and I know we were in the imaginary channel they described to us. We tried the normal things to get loose, backing up, turning sideways, heeling the boat over etc. Nothing worked. Two other boats were launched as we were trying all this and requests for help were met with, no fucking way are we getting near you! ( not a direct quote, but basically the same). The tide was going out fast and within 2 hours we went from 5% heel to 20% heel. The wind started to blow about 10 knots so as a last effort we deployed the sails to help heel us more in hopes it would free the keel from the mud. But what it did was blow us another 20 feet into the shallower water! Crap!  2 more hours and Nomitia was completely on her side! 

We were told that the first thing you do when running hard aground is cover up the name of your boat, so people can't make fun of you later. Or pull out the paint and make it look like you meant to do this so you can paint the bottom. But, everyone here knows us, so......

So we blow up the dingy, a nearly impossible feat on a boat that's heeling at 35 degree angle now, and (after hours of working on the outboard to get it running) I  took Dominga and the dogs ashore. Using the dinghy, I set bow and stern anchors out in the middle of the channel and then we waited until the tide came back in...over 9 hours later. In the crazy chaos there is always a silver lining. We met some wonderfully crazy 'seasoned' sailors that kept us entertained with rum and cokes, great storytelling, music and laughter (and a magical plant that seems to make people happy, we need to market this stuff) while we waited. We now know them as King George and King Arther. Thank you gentlemen.

About 9 pm the boat was back up to about 10 degrees of heel, so we dinghyed out to the boat with the dogs. Dominga pulled in the stern anchor and I pulled in the bow anchor. It was remarkably easy to pull the boat through the mud and back into the middle of the channel ( which wasn't exactly where they first told us,btw). We motored, very slowly, out to an anchorage near the city and called it good for the night. 

One thing this showed us is that we need to store things much better in the boat. Everything from the starboard side of the boat was now on the port side of the boat. It took 3 days to put everything back in its place, but this time stuff won't move. 

Another thing we learned, attitude is the difference between an adventure and an ordeal. We consider this an adventure.

Arizona, last stop in U.S.

So we're in Wellton Arizona, visiting a friend that is more like family. We only meant to stay a day or two...five days later it's still hard to say goodbye, but we will head for the border tomorrow morning. Tiffiney and her family have been wonderful, helping us relax before the last stressful leg of our six month adventure in the U.S. We look forward to the holidays in Mexico with our friends we haven't seen in months, but will also be missing our amazing families. Love and hugs, happy holidays and peace out.

Splashing!

After 6 days of work on the boat, we're ready to put her in the water. We are scheduled to splash at 8am, which could mean noon Mexican time.

When we got to the boat on Tuesday one of the first things we had to deal with was 6 months of sandy dust covering everything, inside and out. We had to remove and wash everything, clean every nook and cranny and scrub the out side. Two days. 

Then we had to paint the bottom. The paint we put on 3 years ago still looked pretty good. We wanted to add a couple more layers so we won't have to do it again for another 3, or more, years. 

First we had to use paint thinner to clean off the dirt and loose paint. We also wanted to raise the water line because we have added so much stuff that the boat sets about 3 inches lower then when we bought her. So Dominga taped a beautifully straight line 6 inches above the current water line.

We used 120 grit sand to give "bite" to the old paint so the new will stick. Washed off the dust and painted two layers of blue paint. Three days. 

Then we put the sails and boom back together and packed gear from the van onboard. One day.

This may seem like a long time to some of you, but many other cruisers here are amazed we got her ready so fast. We're motivated. 

After we're in the water we still have a few days of tidying the interior and adding additional rigging, then off to the islands.

Dude, I'm working and you're taking pictures.....of me working.

They aren't working.......

And you're taking more pictures.

Mexico or Bust!

The thing about writing your plans in the sand is that the tides change often. After much debate and hours of consideration, we are on our way back to Mexico. Leaving family and friends was even more difficult this time. We have tried very hard to be sure there are more lines of communication, and encourage everyone to follow us on the blog, or face book, or even Twitter. We will post links to our inReach so everyone can see where we are in a detailed fashion, and follow our path "home" to Nomatia.

So we're at Denny's now, somewhere off 101, hoping to make Santa Maria tonight and Wellton Arizona tomorrow night. Love and hugs to all!