Launch day...FINALLY!

 It was a long, very hot, very humid week on dry dock preparing the boat for the upcoming cruising season.  An entire day was used just unloading the car with all of the parts, pieces, stocking supplies and provisions we brought down from the states.  Who would have thought that it would take an entire day to unload a 1991 Honda Civic?  Let's just say we did a pretty good job of using every inch of space in our trusty steed.  After the unloading was done we put a fresh coat of bottom paint on the boat, installed a brand new Lewmar windlass on the bow, two new deck hatches and generally organized, cleaned and re-commissioned the essentials in order to get 'er wet.

Thursday the 9th of October at 9am was the official time for the splash and things went off without a hitch.  The boat was loaded on the trailer and trucked down the road about a mile to the San Carlos Marina. Then she slowly rolled down into the water.  It is hard to describe the feeling of happiness once we were in, all systems checked and then motoring out of the marina and into the bay.  We dropped anchor in about 20' of water and have had huge smiles on our faces ever since.

Impressive Sonoran thunderstorm

Once in the water there have been plenty of project still to complete in order to be ready to make the crossing over to the Baja side of the Sea of Cortez.  In between some spectacular thunderstorms all of the running rigging had to come out of lockers and be properly put in place as well as raising and furling the sails.  We have worked on electronics, heads, furnishings as well as some nice homey decorations under the watchful eye of the first mate Marne.

First mate getting the jib up

At this point, we are only lacking one key component to be ready to head out for the season...the refridgeration.  After going in the water we turned it on and although it was working, it was well below par, working very hard to produce very little cold.  Monday we will tackle that project and are praying it is nothing major.  Once that is fixed we can go to the grocery store, buy provisions and be ready for a good weather window to make the crossing over to Isla San Marcos.

As cruising season is just getting under way here in Mexico, we have met up with several friends from previous seasons and are looking forward to running across their paths over the next several months as we head south down the Mexican coastline...indeed one of the very enjoyable things about being part of the very close knit cruising community.

Launch vid

Ciao for now,

SV Liahona
Bret and Marne