Say It Ain't So....... or.......The Party's Over

It is fitting that the last morning would dawn spectacularly. We had to be at the ship by 8:00 AM so we left at 6:45 to allow plenty of time.The crew had already begun to submerge Super Servant 3 in preparation of the 13 boarding yachts.Here is Navigator, a Krogen 48 preparing to enter. She will be the first powerboat and will tie port side forward.We are "on deck" to enter right behind Stormy Weather, a Hatteras 48 LRC owned by Dudley and Jean who have been cruising in Mexico for quite sometime. We enjoyed their company on the dock for these past few weeks.Here we are, all nestled in. That's Nor'wester 3 boats back on the right of the picture. The divers will position the bracing before the ship is raised. Welders will weld the bracing to insure that everyone stays where they are supposed to, even inrough seas.

Sadly, we pull away in the launch.

These past two months have been perhaps the best times of our lives. Our dream of creating a world class, comfortable, luxury, coastal cruising trawler has come true. Nor'wester has performed far beyond our expectations. Everywhere she went, she was met with oohs and aahs by guests and passers by alike (even a competitor or two). We have made so many new friends and bumped into old friends as well along the way. We will never forget 2007 and the FUBAR Odyssey.

So now it is time to head north. Back to Anacortes to prepare for the next adventure. What is it to be?

Our Ship Has Come In

Jan asked me this morning if I thought the ship would be on time or late. I said, "probably on time, why?" She then said, "oh shoot, I was hoping it might be 6 months late."I turned on the Nobeltec and lo and behold, the AIS showed that Super Servant 3 was in port.
I jumped in the rental jeep and drove up to where they off load and there she was, already submerged and just out of the picture was a yacht steaming away. The boats remaining on board are pretty large.

We load on Monday morning. I will try and take pictures then, if my hands aren't too full getting us safely aboard.

Isla Espiritu Santos

Today we took potential clients (who have become friends) on an extended sea trial to Isla Espiritu Santos. This is an absolutely gorgeous island that is about 18 miles from Marina CostaBaja where we are moored in La Paz. Much has been written about Isla Espiritu Santos and the neighboring island, Isla Partida. This is a wonderful area to spend days or even weeks anchored, enjoying the warm, clear waters for swimming and snorkeling or dinghying around the bays to see the wildlife.On the way up, we were passed by this guy going about 25 knots. Doesn't he know there is a fuel crisis. He must be burning several hundred gallons an hour. It is hard to tell, the boat is probably about 85 feet long. I wonder if he realized how ridiculous he looked.
Anyway....we made a leisurely 2 hour trip up to Puerto Ballena where we decided to stop and anchor for the afternoon.
This is a shot as we approached Puerto Ballena. You can see the layered rock. The dark layer is lava and the lighter colored rock is volcanic ash. What you are seeing in the picture is actually a small island as we approached the bay. The island's name is Isla Galo.Jan is checking out the layered rock. I wish I had a polarizing filter so that the pictures would show the true color of the water. The aqua blue greens are only what you see in travel brochures.Here we've rounded up and dropped anchor in about 18 feet of water. We could look down and see the anchor below us as clear as looking through glass. The island in the foreground is the back side of Isla Gallo and the island in the background is Isla Gallina.Larry couldn't wait to go for a swim. The water temperature this time of the year is about 75 degrees. We have noticed that it has dropped about 6 degrees since we arrived on the 19th of November.I jumped into the Bullfrog (dinghy) and sped off to get a couple of pictures of Nor'wester. We were the only boat in the entire large bay. We were at anchor here for about 4 hours and in that time I think 3 pangas with tourists came through the bay, but they didn't stop and didn't bother us at all. We had a great lunch that Susan prepared and soon everyone was basking in the sun.After a short rest, we all jumped in the Bullfrog and explored the rest of the bay. We could see sting rays and small manta rays darting in the shallow water beneath us. There were brilliantly colored angel fish and we all wished that we had enough snorkel gear (and time) to do some snorkeling.The sky is almost cobalt blue. Note the erosion that has been occurring for the past several thousand years.Here we approached Isla Gallo. Again, we could see lots of fish beneath the surface. None of the pictures I took came out, though. (operator error)This is looking back the other way at Isla Gallo. Also in great abundance were the birds. Frigate birds circled overhead, gliding on the eddys and taking advantage of the updrafts. The other thing we saw a lot of was the Mexican Air Force which is better known as pelicans. They were everywhere. They love to fly in twos and threes in formation, gliding just inches above the water. They can go a long way without moving there wings at all. This one above is not really gliding, he had just taken off and Jan snapped the shot.I couldn't resit one more shot of Nor'wester in the bay.Before we went back to the boat, we decided to stop by and ask a local his opinion. Pelican's never lie. This guy will be our friend for life!!!

It was back to the boat, lift the anchor and head on back. A truly marvelous day that we topped off with a scrumptious dinner at the Azul Marina Restaurant with a Mexican version of paella and shrimp.

Meanwhile.....Back at the Ranch

I spent 4 days back in Anacortes this week discussing the latest progress on the project. I tried to get back into the swing of thing but it didn't work very well. I went from gorgeous 80 degree weather in La Paz to mid 30s weather in Anacortes. A shock to the system.

Hull #2

While there I was able to see the progress on hulls 2 and 3. The color for hull 2 is going to be as striking as the green is on Nor'wester.

Port Bow

Hull #3

Hull #3 is a more traditional Flag Blue color. I think it will look very elegant. This boat is going to have an optional larger engine so it should be a few knots faster. The engine is going to be installed later this week and then the boat will take its place in line on the other side of the shop.

Mezzanine Area

A new mezzanine area has been built along the side wall. This is one end where the carpentry tools are located.

You can see the length of the mezzanine here. Hull 3 will be placed just the other side of hull 2.

This picture was taken from the far end looking back. There is room for 4 boats along the side wall with one or two more on the other side of the building. With production coming up to speed, we think that we will not have more than three boats in the building at any one time.

I am back to La Paz tomorrow to load Nor'wester on Dockwise. We are hoping to slip off to Espirtu Santos for a day, but the weather is not looking too promising. A norther is developing that makes the seas very choppy and the achorages at Espirtu Santos very uncomfortable. We'll just have to wait and see what develops.

Life at Marine CostaBaja

Resort at CostaBaja

Entrance Canal to Marina CostaBaja

Entering Marina CostaBaja

Marina CostaBaja

The past 2 weeks have been a bit busy. Thanksgiving day we spent with the Club Cruceros group for a pot luck Thanksgiving dinner. There were over 200 people there and the food was terrific. The club is a group of mostly American cruisers of both power and sailboats who have made La Paz their home base from which to go cruising. The number and makeup of the people is constantly changing, but the goals and lifestyle of the membership never changes. They support a local orphanage here in La Paz with several fund raising events throughout the year.

The week following Thanksgiving, Doug, a client from Vancouver, came down to visit us and take a sea trial on Nor’wester. This was part of his decision making plan and as per Murpy’s Law, the weather was forecast to be snotty for the time he would be here. We left the harbor in a light norther and were able to show the capabilities of the boat successfully. Doug had been reading our blog and knew of our coffee grinder woes. We all had a big laugh when shortly after he arrived, he opened up his carry-on bag and presented us with a brand new Braun coffee grinder, guaranteed to last for many years (so says Doug).

Today, Club Cruceros had their annual Subasta (auction). The items auctioned were mostly unused boat items that have been donated by the Club Cruceros members. They also had several food booths and a couple of baked goods tables. We found wonderful apple pie and banana bread there. There were also several local artisans displaying and selling their wares. We bought 2 Mexican decorated, hand made coffee mugs.

The weather has been quite pleasant overall. The temperatures are in the low 80s during the day and in the upper 60s at night; perfect sleeping weather.

Tomorrow I must return to Anacortes for a couple of days. Jan will remain here and watch over Nor'wester. We have some important decisions to make and it is best I be there in person. I will report on what is happening there in my next post.