TURTLE RESCUE

 

 

Pic courtesy of Gary S/v Sea Turtle

Pic courtesy of Gary S/v Sea Turtle

Pic courtesy of  Hendo

The sea of Cortez has a huge amount of marine life including one of my favourites, turtles. 

Sailing home after having been out at the Islands, we cruised past a green sea turtle that was sitting on the surface, wrapped in something.

We turned the boat around and as we scooted back past, I stood on the step, and leaned into the water trying to free her. At this point we realised she was badly caught in a plastic woven sack. She was breathing, but severely gasping for air.

We put the kayak in the water and I went on over to see how I could help. She had strands from the bag tangled around her neck and front flipper, binding them together. 

She looked sad. I was a tad nervous that she might try and eat me or that I would hurt her, but she was incredibly passive. Using some pliers I cut the strands from her flipper and then from around her neck. Instantly her breathing changed. I thought that she might take off straight away, but she was exhausted from the mornings battle. She let me pat her and we hung out until she got up enough speed to go on her own way.

Unlike any other turtle I have seen before she had a pink flower on her head. She was beautiful. When we found her she was so vulnerable and yet had an abundance of smaller sea life using her for food and protection. A little ecosystem of her own.

There was warm fuzzy's all round and from then on in the the town, I was known as Aimee Wildlife Warrior (I made the last bit up)

 

 

FOLLOW MY ADVENTURES ON INSTAGRAM

WHATS IN A NAME?

A name is an important part of a vessel and I was always under the impression that unless you wanted to anger the 'sea gods' and bestow bad luck upon it and yourself, you did not rename your boat. However, after some great research and the realisation that the  previous owners had renamed her Catalpa only a year and a half before she became mine, I figured I can do whatever I want. 

The morning of the hurricane the whole 'what should I name my boat' conversation came up (as it did quite often). At that particular time I must have been hungry because naming the boat tortilla seemed like a brilliant idea to me... Apparently not so brilliant - that only lasted moments.

By mid afternoon, once we had prepped the boat for the hurricane and done all we knew to do, I was laying down, reading a story about a ship that was stolen by pirates and re-named 'The Fancy'. I thought this was an incredible name for a boat and it quickly evolved into 'Fancy Pants'. 

I was beside myself. I had spent ages looking for names and finally I had found one that I loved that had a theme song and everything. Partial love for the name was also due to the fact that every time I would have to be hailed on the radio, or we would enter a port the hailer would have to say 'fancy pants, fancy pants, fancy pants! I had struck Gold!

That night the hurricane happened. 

Two days later, when we were prepping the boat to have it pulled off the mud, we were reflecting on the previous nights misadventures. Talking about how in hindsight we should have done this and in hindsight we should have done that. There were sentences starting over and over again with 'in hindsight'.

After about the 5th time Hendo and I looked at each with a look of astonishment and realisation... an epiphany. Some might say, even similar to that of Isaac Newton when the apple fell on his head and he discovered gravity. Instantly it had become apparent that as much as I loved the name Fancy Pants, the boat wanted... In fact needed to be called Hindsight.

FOLLOW MY ADVENTURE ON INSTAGRAM

ANCHOR WANKER

Anchored in the bay

Anchor Tattoo's

Picture courtesy of Westmarine.com - Doesn't fully capture the part where you have to smoke.

Now this is not technical... And all my sailor mates, be gentle with your criticism... But I feel learning to set an anchor properly was imperative for me.

Talking anchors in the sailing/boating community is like talking religion or politics. Everyone has their own opinion and discussions can get very heated. What type of anchor? how much rode to let out? chain or rope? What anchor for what bottom, etc. Endless contradictive advice came on how to anchor the best way.

Let's be honest, I didn't really care, as long as my boat wasn't  going to go for a wander during the night. 

My boat is already rigged with a CQR as the main anchor and a Bruce as a backup.

With some good guidance, Paul came over and checked out the ground tackle. He told us of some extra items that were needed. After a trip to the chandlery, Paul showed me how to very technically wire up the new swivels to the anchor and chain (which will never ever come loose) and he taught Hendo how to splice a rope into a snubber. 

We had some of it down, but he ran us through it all again. He told us to Angle the boat towards the wind until in the desired position, keeping in mind depth, swing area, etc. Once in position, Put the boat in neutral and drop the anchor with the desired length of chain at 4x depth. Once chain is out, put the boat into reverse until the anchor grabs. Then, put the vessel hard into reverse for as long as it takes to have a cigarette (none of us smoked, though we have since thought about taking it up just for this exercise) at that point the anchor should be fully set. Let out more chain at another 3x depth for good measure.

Other than hurricane night this proved to be incredibly successful.

FOLLOW MY ADVENTURE ON INSTAGRAM

RECOVERING THE BOAT FROM THE MOGOTE

Dinghy and Power Boat towing in the distance

 

Tieing rope to the channel marker to winch over

Hendo checking for holes



Concerned face, getting towed

 

 We had been off the grid in our hotel sanctuary since we were picked up from the boat the day before, so we headed to the marina first thing, with the intentions of seeing what was happening with the boats, missing people, etc.

Club Cruceras along with the sailing community was in full form. Shelly the commodore rounded up people, dinghies, supplies and fuel. It became apparent that there were people still on their boats and sailors still missing. 

The priorities were to get the people still on boats supplies and to take advantage of the high tides by pulling boats off the Mogote. 

We were pretty keen to get out to my boat to see what

we were dealing with so we grabbed a lift with a dinghy heading past and got dropped off at it.

When we got there we saw possibly the most positive sight we could. The boat was now leaning on her starboard side - the opposite to when we had left her. This meant with high tide she had the possibility of being floated high enough that pulling her off wouldn't be too difficult.

Hendo checked the hull for holes (fortunately their were none) while I tried to pull the anchor that we had dropped. Unfortunately number 20 channel marker which was now about 30 metres behind had still not stopped mocking us. During the hurricane it had wrapped itself around the anchor rode which made recovering it a mission. 

We would have just cut the rope, but it was literally the longest piece that we had and thought we might need it to use as a bridal, or at least to assist in getting the boat of the mud. 

We were having so much trouble untangling it that we ended up tieing a rope to the top of the marker and winching it over. It still proved a mission but we got their in the end. The navy watched us battle with it, from their boat. 

We organised for M/v Oso Negro to come at high tide to pull us off. Green at sailing life, we had no idea how to coordinate a boat tow and stress was still running high from literally everyone involved. Lucky for us, Don from M/v Double Overheard came through with a massive rope and tied it for us to use as a bridal. He showed us where to attach it and made it all happen.

Apparently the theory behind floating a boat that has run aground, is to pull the mast down from the halyard with dinghys and so it rolls the boat over. Then using the massive power boat, the bridal is pulled from the bow. This will swing the boat around and off she goes. 

Sure enough this works a treat. Mind you it is actually pretty scary being on the boat while they pull your cruiser so that the rails dip under the water. For a moment, I was worried if the hurricane didn't de-mast or shipwreck it, this might.

But alas, as soon as she was in deep enough for the saltwater intake to be covered, we cranked the engine. As always she purred instantly. Everybody cheered (I don't know if they actually cheered, but in my mind they did).

We were the second boat to be pulled off the Mogote, the first being our good friend on S/v Rascal. 

We paid out a lot of cartons of beer for that day and the whole ordeal.

 

 

FOLLOW MY ADVENTURE ON INSTAGRAM

THE LEAST GLAMOROUS JOB ON A BOAT - FIXING THE HEAD

Re-sealing the pump

Me broken after finding a whole pump assembly

Flash brand new, newly installed pump

A well deserved sunset beer, while painting my nails

I keep getting told that sailboats are good for character building and I think the head  aka toilet, was the first thing on the boat to help build character.

The head has been an issue for me since the start. Originally the boat had a compost head. Emptying it involved carrying the 'jug' of urine or bag of compost out past the galley (kitchen) to throw overboard. Safe to say the compost head was made redundant on my boat almost immediately. 

Now the new standard pump head wasn't working properly and was leaking. As with any component, it seemed a $90 seal kit/service was in order. 

In all fairness Hendo offered to do it, but with my weak stomach and average mechanical aptitude, I figured if I could do this, then I could actually do anything.

WORST JOB EVER!!! The grossest thing I have done to date. Once it was all back together, the toilet was now working, but it was still leaking out of the cover. Turns out there was a crack in the plastic. At this point I was shitty - no pun intended! 

I had to go back to the Chandlery and find a cover which of course they didn't have. To make sure we were talking about the same cover the shop assitant pulled out a complete pump unit. I asked the price very half-assed thinking a whole unit wouldn't even be an option when he told me it was $125.

At this point I was broken! 

I spent 4 hours of my life, covered in poo, to save $35! 15 mins (minus the 30 mins I spent telling everyone about my outrage) and an extra $125 later toilet was fixed, there were no leaks and I had learnt a very valuable lesson.

When it comes to anything on a boat that has to do with human excrement, don't repair it, replace it!

FOLLOW MY ADVENTURES ON INSTAGRAM

THREE WEEKS ON

Sunset over Marina Don Jose



Dive Operations on Tobasco II



Fleet of Dinghy's for Gunthers Memorial

 

Getting Sexy Bruce Ink from Manuel

 

Nearly 3 weeks post hurricane Odile and life around the sailing community has started to come back together. The constant hugs and questions of how you are coping are getting few and further between.

A lot of the boats have been pulled off the beaches and the ones too far gone signed over to salvagers. 

The bodies of the three fellow sailors lost at sea were found and memorials have been held in their honour.

We have spent a week diving for the personal items of Paul and Simone on Tobasco II. An honour to be able to help out the family of an amazing couple that I know would have done the same if the circumstances had have been reversed.

Once again, the dolphins are visiting, the sunsets have become beautiful and the gentle rock of the boat at night is soothing to sleep to. All signs that La Paz and the sailing community here is slowly healing. 

 

 

FOLLOW MY ADVENTURE ON INSTAGRAM

BOAT UPDATE # 4 - PAINT THE TOWN RED... ONLY AFTER YOU HAVE SANDED, PRIMED AND PAINTED IT BLACK'

Tri-coloured Hull with stand marks

 

Before pic - Haul out last year

 

After Pic - Sexiest Hull in La Paz

 

According to Hendo, the last few coats went on a treat, with several tiny conundrums along the way, but nothing too unexpected and difficult to solve.

One thing that was established and explained to me is that putting the last coat of paint on now and then leaving the boat sit on the hard for a couple of months will cause the copper to oxidise and the paint will lose it's barnacle killing ability. Therefore there is one last coat to go on just before she goes back in the water... And more than likely I will finally be there to help with it. 

It seems boat paint is copper based and has big warnings about being carcinogenic. Who knew that it would take both Hendo and Eddie to use a drill to mix the paint and spill most of it on themselves before coming up with this ingenious 'hole in paint lid idea'.

 

*For the record (it's in the blog so it's a legal disclaimer), no compo will b paid for work carried out on this boat...

 

The two troopers moved stands back and forth, sanded, painted, and spent time strategically placing and sikaflexing zincs so that water cant get behind them, yet also ensuring that the zincs have good contact for electrical current.

 

Looking at the obvious difference from the haul out until now you can appreciate the amazing amount of effort and work gone into it. I am so stoked, who knew a mechanic could be such a craftsman with a hull.

 

 

*I will be sure to update with a picture of Hendo and Eddie with a finished Hull.

 

 

FOLLOW MY ADVENTURE ON INSTAGRAM

BOAT UPDATE # 3 - A SEXY PRIMED HULL



Almost a fully primed white hull, minus the teak run off from the rain
 

My mate Hayley giving Hendo a hand

 

No words necessary

 

Just kidding when I said pack up the tools... There's heaps more work to b done....

The original plan was to have the boat (I really need a name for her) back in the water on June 27th, but now looks like it will b staying on the hard for a couple more months.

Due to a few storms and really high humidity, work on the hull was slightly delayed. Luckily now the weather is just back to dry and hot the work has continued.

The yard took the generator away so Hendo and Eddie had to do the last hull pre-paint prep sanding by hand.

The painting/mixing process as explained to me by Hendo

"3 parts big tin, 1 part small tin, 20-25% of the mix green tin (that makes no sense I know....). Stir the shit out of it, pour into paint tray and roll on hull while copping paint all over yourself and in your beard"

Unfortunately I am not there to observe this intricate process but am kept well informed by email. She looks a beauty all white.

 

I have been told, 'Only one coat of primer, one coat of black, two coats of red and four sands in between and her hull will be done...'

 

FOLLOW MY ADVENTURE ON INSTAGRAM

BOAT UPDATE # 2 - THE IMPORTANCE OF THE VENT (SUNBAKE AREA)

A beautifully flushed vent

 

View of the vent from the head

              

Me imagining myself laying out (needs a towel and beer though)

                   

More exciting times on the boat fixing front. For me, possibly one of the most exciting achievements to date (after the removal of the compost head of course)

The installation of the skylight/flushed air vent.

Part of the compost toilet was a vent that was setup on top of the raised deck right in the prime 'layout' location.

Being a girl that takes a lot of time and bases great importance on her tan, this saddened me greatly. It was possible to lay on, but was not flush so there was a discomfort factor but More importantly than that was the stench of the compost through the vent. Safe to say, I found different, less well functioning tanning spots. 

Whether Hendo knew it or not (but I'm sure he did) the importance of the vent decision was a 'make or break' moment. 

As you can see from the picture it was a pure success. The new skylight is unable to be seen through, due to the Perspex and sun reflection, will have no permanent stench and provides adequate and comfortable tanning space! 

Pack up the tools.... Boat complete!

 

FOLLOW MY ADVENTURE ON INSTAGRAM

BOAT UPDATE NO 1

Sanding the hull still in his work shirt

Half Goo-ed

Jesus

  

The boat is still safe and sound in Mexico on the hard. From the photos and regular updates I get she is looking good. I'm pretty sure Jesus might be working on it so its going to be a pretty well done job!

Poor Hendo, while looking like Jesus and drinking copious amounts of Tequila - but as I have been told, not before knockoff (mine site spec) has been smashing out tons of work on the boat. To date he has replaced the engine mounts, replaced the compost head to a standard marine toilet (anyone that wants to hear about my hate for compost heads - I will make a whole post about it one day), serviced the engine, has had the boomkin stays fabricated and replaced AND the biggest job of all, fixing the blisters on the hull. Along with every other day to day failure that happens with boating life like unexpected dinghy problems while a km out in the harbour, generators exploding and the struggle for supplies in a non-English speaking country.

Still not sure why he's doing it, I'm going with love of the community, the lifestyle and tequila. He now has a mate named Eddie working for him so the work is getting done doubly as fast at the moment. The amount of work involved with the hull is insane, I could fill the next 15 posts with it.

In super brief, It is currently at the point of goo-ing aka epoxy-ing. After the hull was sanded back and all the blisters popped and gauged, the hull then gets goo-ed and sanded again. There are plans for painting soon and dropping her back in the water.

Bit worried I might never see either the boat or Hendo again once she's back in the water. Tracking device might be a good investment!

FOLLOW MY ADVENTURES ON INSTAGRAM