Preparing to Depart for La Paz

This week was mostly about preparing to cross the Sea of Cortez and head to La Paz by way of Muertos.  I feel very fortunate that my longtime friend Curt has agreed to go with me.  He's a great guy and very accomplished sailor.  Of course I also took a little time to do a few of my favorite Mazatlán things for what will likely be the last time.

I went on a little row back into Sabalo Estuary and 

got a few more shots of a heron in flight.

Back on the dock, I was visited by a pair of 

American oyster-catchers for the first time.

I'd seen them on other, semi-abandoned docks

before, but never on an active dock.

They seemed pretty at ease for a while, that is, until

I showed myself.  Then they immediately took off.

With the recent cloudiness, nice sunsets have returned.  This one was

seen right from my dock.

This one was viewed from around the corner near the fishing

charter boats.

A few minutes later

This one, and the following ones in the sequence, were 

all taken the same evening while I sat in Circadian's 

cockpit.

On Wednesday I went with Curt and Mary to Diego's

to see Curt play.

Still, there are things to do when preparing for a passage.

I discovered that a hole in the windvane rudder was

damaged and needed repair so I could tie it up when

it wasn't steering in order to prevent it from 

rattling loudly.

Holding the repair together while the epoxy

putty cures.

Wind paddle and rudder back in place on

the Hydrovane and ready to go.

After five months of sitting, this winch had 

gotten pretty grungy.  Brushing on some

Ospho (phosphoric acid) made a quick

and easy job of cleaning it up.