Monday, December 13, 2004

Journal Entry – December 13, 2004 – Tournesol’s Face Lift

Author: Pam

During our three week stay in La Paz one boat project after another seemed to present itself. The first order of business was to reconsider how we had organized the storage areas on the boat and to take on the overwhelming task of reclaiming the v-berth. As a side note, during our original packing plan we had decided to bring the v-berth mattress, but with no plans of sleeping on it any time soon. After more than a month of sleeping on the settees, Scott decided we should reclaim the v-berth. It would be difficult to describe how overwhelming this idea was initially, but consider that the v-berth is our largest storage area and we had taken full advantage of this. Long story short, we emptied almost every storage area on the boat and started over again. The goal also included more knowledge of what we needed more access to under way. We unburied the mattress to find it had begun to mold, nothing a bleach bath and a day in the sun couldn’t cure. The mold added fuel to our determination. Much to our surprise we found a home for everything and slept in the v-berth for most of our stay in La Paz. The boat feels in much better order than when we first left, but I am sure there will be more fine tuning as we go.

The next project happened after a man came by the boat one morning and told us he charged $10.00 an hour for varnish work. We had planned to begin refinishing all of the exterior wood in Puerto Vallarta, but who wouldn’t consider this offer. So, after getting a bid and a promise the work could be completed by our departure date in six days, we hired Havier on a handshake (not the original person, we never saw him again). Over a four day period on a sporadic basis the wood was sanded down to remove all of the Cetol that had turned an unsightly orange. We were sure we would not use Cetol again after removing it and seeing the natural beauty of the wood. However, after much debate about Cetol vs. varnish, Cetol won. Cetol will better withstand the sunny hot climates we plan to visit. It is also easier to maintain, it wears from the outside in, where varnish wears from the inside out. We should therefore be able to maintain the Cetol with light sanding and one new coat. Back to the accomplishment of the project, we soon found hiring Havier meant hiring everyone and their brother. In the end we were not sure how many people worked on sanding, but on Saturday morning when there was still half of the boat to sand, we woke up to find four people going to town, including a boy no more than ten. The deadline was extended one more day, due to the addition of the handrails and hatches, otherwise all was on schedule. We paid $3500.00 pesos for this work, which included the Cetol. We have since learned it is not uncommon to make $7.00 a day, but we are still in awe of how this money was shared amongst the at least eight people involved. The wood looks beautiful after four coats of Cetol and we are thrilled to have a better starting point for maintenance.

We had an awesome in the right place at the right time experience. One morning there was a boat parked at the fuel dock that looked a bit like Tournesol from a distance. When we approached the boat we found someone working on the roller furler on the bow, so we asked if it was his boat and the make. He was not the owner, but he was a rigger, and that was something we were in need of. Scott described the problem with our boom and asked if he could take a look. He knew exactly what the problem was and said he could fix it, but not until next Tuesday (it was Saturday). We said that would be great. The next thing we knew he was on the boat, determined a solution and decided to just take care of it. The boom needed to be removed from the gooseneck, then the four bolts attaching the boom to the gooseneck had to be drilled out, and larger bolts with nylocks needed to be drilled and tapped. In a little less than an hour the problem was fixed and his fee was $45.00. Wow! We highly recommend Jeffery from Dawn’s Rigging.

Next enters Chui. We learned early on during our stay in La Paz that Chui is the man to see about canvas covers. Tournesol is now decked out in green sunbrella with new covers for the outboard motor, BBQ, aft hatch, life raft, a winch cover replacement and a bag for the dinghy and our second head sail. Again, the cost of his labor is astounding. We would have paid five times what he charged us for these hand made items. Now dealing with Chui is a completely different story, he shows up when he wants, usually refuses to speak English though he lived in the states for years and speaks great English, and never really lets you know if and when the work will be done.

We were very satisfied with all of the above and ready to leave La Paz when one morning at breakfast Bob (an acquaintance Abe had made) mentioned the guy who does his canvas and upholstery work. Somehow this lead to Bob offering to take us to meet Rafael to discuss the possibility of getting our settee cushions recovered (you see there was an issue months ago that involved tomato soup). The next thing we knew we were in the car with one of our cushions and off to a fabric store. We chose a fabric and headed over to Rafael’s shop. Yes, he could take on the job and committed to deliver them on Saturday, which was in four days. This would extend our stay again, but it was worth it. He quoted and charged us $1500.00 pesos (approximately $135.00), this included fabric and labor. The cushions arrived on Friday and they look absolutely beautiful. We will post a picture in the scrapbook soon.

Since we had a few extra days we finished off our stay by giving Tournesol her much needed bath. This included polishing all of the chrome in the cockpit, waxing the green stripe and many other small details. She looks beautiful, is well organized and even more ready for her trip around the world. Scott also gave the engine an oil change and performed regular maintenance.

At last we are ready to go, but not so fast. On the “net” on Saturday morning a cruiser announced during swaps and trades he had two solar panels for trade for coconuts (you can not sell anything over the VHF radio). We contacted Bill on Shazam. He came over and described exactly what we had decided we wanted to add to the boat to generate more natural power. We got so distracted by considering the solar panels we forgot to check out (you can not leave a port without checking out with Port Capitain). Once we remembered around 4:00 pm the office was closed. Our plan to leave on Sunday was postponed until Monday morning, but we are now leaving with two additional 50 watt solar panels. Mounting the solar panels will be one of our projects during our stay in Puerto Vallarta. More later on how we use solar energy.

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