May 24, Finishing prep for haul out. San Carlos, Mexico.

It was a calm and glassy morning when I awoke early to get a couple of workers at 7am on the docks to help with some of the exterior clean up of the boat.  Jimmy, originally from Africa, and Ismael, a local, came out early to wash, polish and wax the entire boat from the water line up including the all of the fiberglass and stainless.  Both very good men and hard workers, they have been going at it since early this morning and most likely will finish mid day tomorrow.  The boat looks so good.  I wish I had the drive to keep it like this all the time. haha.

While they did the polish and wax work I went about my chores organizing and decommisioning the boat.  A few items on the list today were diving the bottom to knock off any barnacles and clean away any moss growth.  Having new bottom paint is awesome as it only took me about a half hour in the water to do the entire job.  We also vacuumed the inside, cleaned the throw rugs and finished cleaning the heads. On the outside I was busy taking down the reacher including the blocks and sheets, removing any halyards, furling lines and other running gear that can be removed and storing it below to keep it away from the damaging effects of the sun over the summer months while it is on dry dock.  The main engine was checked over and raw water strainer cleaned.  Cushions were measured for future covers to be made while we are home over the summer as well as removal of electrical equipment in the cockpit like the radar, backup GPS, remote for the auto pilot and a few other things.  This is probably all a bore to most of you but I thought some of the cruiser wanna bees out there might be interested in at least a little detail of some of what is done to prepare for the summer on the dry.

Tallen got his third shot today and is definitely feeling a little better.  This afternoon he is off on the paddleboard with his backpack and shoes so he can go for a short run. Part of his Mammoth training. lol.  

Oh, a note on the dinner last night...we had 6 lobsters to consume between Tallen and I along with some steak and potatoes.  We couldn't finish all of the lobster so there is still one left in the fridge.  How much do you love having "too much lobster"?  I'm smiling and laughing right now because that is pretty freaking awesome and I'm definitely going to miss that over the next 4 months.  That will wrap it up for today I suppose.  Ciao for now.

Bret and Tallen
SV Liahona