Getting closer to Baja!

Here are some pictures of what we're working on--its not all put together, especially below decks, but it gives some idea of how its shaping up!
We replaced the heavy plastic (Strataglass) in formerly clouded and scratched windows then made a removable cover for when we're off the boat or want more shade at the dock. A back view of the boat--a bit difficult to distinguish the details unless you know what you're looking for!!...radar arch, solar panels, bimini, monitor windvane, etc. One of the curtains hung on IKEA stainless steel curtain cables. I've made new fore and aft berths with this material and a foam called "Dri Fast" which will be very much cooler to sleep on. This is a shot of the watermaker installed on top of the new 25 gallon holding tank. Its all installed behind the head in the engine compartment (just to the right is the engine). A pretty tight spot--requires "boat yoga"! This is one of two integrated seats we had put on the back when we had the radar arch configured. Our dock mate, Dan Rogers, made the white seats, I've made the back rest and am working on padded seats. Where to put the drink holder, hm.....? Here's the radar arch with the solar panels installed. That orange thing is part of a man-overboard pole that gets thrown off if a person goes over! I'm still working on making the green bimini cover--there's going to be a zip-on piece to connect the front of the bimini to the hard dodger cover (the front flap of that green material to the white plastic piece on the bottom left). That blue "slug" is our de-flated (uninflated?) dinghy. I'm going to make a protective cover for that too so we can store it there and eliminate the need to wrestle it in an out of the lazarette--gives us more storage in the lazarette too.

So we're getting there. Jim is "officially" retiring on Oct. 24th, such a birthday present to us! They want him to stay almost to the end date so we're scrambling on the weekends. It seems our "to-do" list grows as we get closer! Our girls are going to all be in the area the last weeks of September and we'll have a mini-reunion in Palm Springs then Kim and Bill will take our dog Rascal home with them to NY (she does not enjoy the sailing experience!) The next week I'm going to Ensenada for an immersion in Spanish week!

The actual sail date for the Baja Ha Ha is Sunday, October 29th. There is a pre-sail party on the 28th, which we plan to attend - the stated dress is a pirate costume, but we haven't thought about that yet (item 321 on the to-do list!).

On the 27th one of our crewman arrives from Lake of the Pines (our home before San Diego). His name is Mitch Boothe, and he has a lot of background in, and enthusiasm for sailing. Our other crewman, our next door neighbor at the dock, Dan Rogers, is currently helping a brother in the Northwest and doesn't know if he will be back in time. He's been extremely helpful as we work on the boat--he made the seats for the two new perches off the back rail and offered valuable suggestions as we tackle numerous fixes. Our previous crew from the trip down from San Francisco, Jim Degnan, is still deciding if he will make this trip. We can find a replacement crewmember, if needed, at the drop of a hat around here - in fact there will be folks at the party on the 28th who will be looking for a boat to crew on. We will probably all be living on the boat a day or two, since we should have renters in our condo by that time. The race has an official end date of November 10th in Cabo San Lucas. We will probably hang around a bit after we get there. Mitch's wife, Lori, is planning to fly down to Cabo to meet the boat and have a mini-vacation with him. Hopefully we will all be talking nicely with one another at the end of the 12 days or so!

If there is no wind, we will be using the engine to keep up with the fleet and the time table. We have the watermaker installed and running, along with a backup GPS and fishfinder/depth-meter; so we have a lot of backup on the boat. On the way down from San Francisco we were really concerned about staying away from fishing lines and kelp--they could have seriously fouled our propeller if we were using the engine. We had a kelp cutter added to the boat's prop shaft when it was being hauled and painted on the bottom. This is a nasty looking blade that cuts anything that comes near the prop. With 3 or 4 of us onboard, the watch schedule should be relatively easy, allowing us to enjoy the trip a bit more than our first voyage south from San Francisco.