Return to Mexico

Well here we are again with much time having slipped by with no blog posts.  But rather than dwell on that, let's get caught up on things.

We left Seattle on Halloween via Alaska Airlines direct to Cabo del San Jose.  The furry crew was medicated with happy pills and our friend Emma was kind enough to drive us to the airport in the wee hours of the morning.  The flight was uneventful, however it took a good hour and a half to get our rental car which forced us to make the drive to La Paz after dark, a very dangerous proposition.  That said, we arrived at Casa Buena safe and sound where we crashed from the long and tiring day of travel.  Tia and Louie slept the entire way, including the three hour drive to the hotel in La Paz.

The first order of business the next day was to check on Talos IV.  She had been on the hard at Marina Palmar since June and we were anxious to make sure that she was in good condition.  Our worries were for not, as we found her in the same condition as when we left, but covered in dirt and dust from the hot dry summer.  We made arrangements for the bottom job to be completed and set a date about a week out for the re-splash.

That done, we started almost immediately on the installation of our new water maker and new solar panels.  The work was not easy as the water maker literally needed to be shoe horned into a very small compartment in the bilge just aft of the mast.  Milton at Casa Buena was kind enough to let us use his shop to manufacture various mounting components which would have otherwise been challenging to do.  In the end, the water maker and solar panels are both operational and working as we planned.

Meanwhile, the yard was moving fast on completing the bottom job and were on target to get us back in the water several days ahead of schedule.  Once re-splashed, we headed for Marina Palmira, which would be our home for the next several weeks.  There was still much work to do getting the boat ready to go.

A good boat wash was on the top of the list as was getting the sails back up so that we could re-claim space down below.  With that done, we began the process of laying down four coats of varnish on the bright work.  In the weeks that followed, we touched nearly every piece of teak on the exterior of the boat.  Talos IV is beautiful again.

After what was longer than we had hoped, we left La Paz for Isla Espiritu to hang for awhile before making our crossing of the sea.

Talos IV was tucked back into the corner of the yard
where she spent her summer.

She was covered in dirt.

Talos IV with her new bottom paint was ready
to re-splash.

For comparison, this is what the bottom looked
like before the paint job.

The new solar panels.

While in La Paz we of course found time
to enjoy ourselves.  This was just a part
of a parade we happened upon.  I think
they were celebrating Revolution Day.

There were some unusual entries, including this group
of chefs from the local restaurants.

And then Thanksgiving dinner with 165 of our friends.

Janet seemed pretty happy about things.