Lots going on

We are almost done with getting the boat ready. At the last minute, I traced a problem in our fresh water system down to a corroded pickup tube. Tomorrow we have to go on a hunt for some material to make a replacement. We still have to wire in our experimental water towed generator and while I’m doing that I’m going to finally wire in our solar panel now that we are happy with its location. Then we’ll have to finish off the to-do list, but each day we get closer.

The weather still isn’t cooperating yet. Since Hurricane Lane we’ve seen: Tropical Storm (TS) Miriam, Tropical Depression (TD) 2-C, TD 3-C, TS Norman, TS Olivia, TD 4-C and now TS Paul. Paul is expected to build into a hurricane and is currently predicted to make landfall about 100 miles from us. If you’re comparing this to my earlier prediction, you’ll see that I was off by a few storms since Hurricane Lane. We’ll just have to watch the weather, and our next destination is a good hurricane hideout. If you’re curious about Pacific Hurricanes, I’ve found a good summary on Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_Pacific_hurricane_season

Anyway, part of our philosophy of life is to leave a place better than you found it. It could be anything from picking up plastic debris from the water, to volunteering time to build/teach/help do something. Here in Mazatlan we’ve spent a lot of time trapping cats that have either been dumped here or born in the wild. In total we’ve helped about 20 of the 30 cats we’ve caught (in a humane trap of course) find happy homes for them to live in. Some of the others were sterilized and released. We have 2 more 6 week-old kittens to catch (they’re really tough!) which will bring our total to 30. The marina, some businesses and the cruisers have been helping us to recover our costs for getting the animals sterilized and adopted out. The first cat we tried to rescue this summer ended up joining the Sarana crew!

Here’s a picture of Jordan. She was six months old and pregnant when she found us. Now she’s about a year old and at least double in size.

We’re really looking forward to the peace and tranquility of hanging on the hook.

The "done" list

Sometimes the “to-do” list seems endless – it can even get depressing at times.  Since we’re getting ready to depart in a few weeks, we’ve been working extra hard and it seems like there’s not enough time.  So I went over the list of things we’ve accomplished so far and now I feel a little better.  I know I missed a few things but I thought I’d share the “done” list here.

 

Repaired broken dinghy wheel

Replaced 2 thru-deck fills

Emptied/Removed/Cleaned/Installed Fuel Tank

Installed new fuel fill hose for tank

Repaired/Painted manual bilge pump

Installed new filter system for drinking water

Designed/fabricated new dodger frame

Had new dodger and bimini made

Had new lycra suit made for Sherrell

Designed/fabricated water towed generator

Cleaned jerry cans

Removed/Cleaned Stove

Fiberglass/Painted area behind Stove

Polished Stainless Steel fittings

Sewed bag for surfboard

Sewed bag for anchor chain

Sewed 3 new pillows

Sewed bean bag pillow

Sewed covers for our new cockpit chairs

Cleaned/repaired fittings on toilet

Caught/Fixed/Released/Adopted 24 wild cats

Uninstalled electronics in event of lightening strike

Removed roller furling jib

Sanded/finished all external teak wood

Worked on two website design projects

Volunteer work for 3 websites

Added insulation to icebox

Added insulation to galley food lockers

Cleaned all shelves/teak oiled interior

Sorted books/DVD’s/CD’s

Designed new LED anchor light with more lights

Sherrell had gall bladder removed

 

Ok the last item wasn’t really on the list, but there’s no time like the present to deal with a medical problem that could become deadly like gall stones.  So if you’re counting, that’s 5 surgeries in 9 months for poor Sherrell – that’s a lifetimes worth.