Chacala

We arrived here in Chacala Wednesday afternoon. After checking in with the Capitania de Puerto yesterday, we wandered over to a palapa on the beach and had a nice lunch of Camarones a la Diabla.

This morning we awoke to clouds and a large surge from the southwest. We had put out a stern anchor the night before so it was easy to let out a little more rode to keep our bow into the surge.

Because of the dreary weather we thought it would be a "stay at home" day and I made heuvos rancheros for breakfast.

Then I sewed a little project I've been wanting to do for a long time. We have these nice teak seats on the cockpit coaming and the stainless steel rails make a perfect backrest, but the rail starts hurting after a while. So I bought a pool noodle in La Paz and made two little backrests and covered them with Sunbrella.

This is the first time I've sewn anything in a lumpy anchorage, but it went okay and I'm glad I brought my sewing machine.

Finished Sail Cover

I finished the sail cover this morning and we put it on after lunch. So good to have that new sail protected from the sun.

As our departure day approaches, we have been busy doing all those last minute things like: getting Visas, our TIP, Mexican insurance, cruising guides, a medical book; going through lockers organizing and culling; selling furniture, household items, and our vehicles; getting our daughter set up to write checks for us if necessary; purchasing spares and provisions; notifying the harbor master that we are leaving; organizing a Bon Voyage party.....the list just goes on and on!

Somehow we will get it all done, and if we don't it will just have to wait until we get to San Diego.

Mainsail Cover

Look what arrived the other day: a mainsail cover kit from Sailrite. I was impressed with speed of the delivery; it arrived less than a week from when I ordered it!

Even with all the last minute things we have been doing, I have managed to get it sew together. I just have to do the final fit and the fasteners.

My trusty old "Anker" sewing machine has paid for itself many times over in the 30+ years I have had it. And yes kids, it's going on the boat with us.

TravaSaks

When we first got this boat my Dad had recently gotten rid of his travel trailer. He offered us two TravaSaks, which are basically cute sleeping bags with sheets that Velcro in.

We have used them for quite a while and really like them. They are comfortable and really easy to keep neat. Just zip them up and the bed is made! The only problem is they are pink and we don't have a speck of pink anywhere on the boat, so I wanted to get some new ones.

They are no longer made, so I decided to make my own. It took a while to gather all the materials and now I realize why they were so expensive. For two TravaSaks I needed 10 yards of outer fabric, 10 yards of lining, 1 queen size piece of thin batting, 1 queen size piece of thick batting, 20 yards of Velcro, 4 sleeping bag zippers, and 1 set of king sheets.

I chose a fabric that has an ocean theme to it and picks up the colors we already have on the boat. The sheets are plain white and I got extra pillowcases because when you can't wash sheets, a clean pillowcase can still freshen up your bed.

I'm really pleased with how they came out and know we will get many years of use from them.

It's A Cushie Life

I think decorating a boat is a little harder than decorating a house because in a house you can easily repaint the walls or get new furniture. But here on the boat the walls are cherry so I'm stuck with that. The furniture is all cherry and built-in, so I can't change that. The settees are upholstered in light beige suede (done in Italy, I'm told) and it's in fine condition, so I'm keeping that. The hull is dark blue so I'm stuck with that color. And the boat is very traditional looking, so I'm stuck with that theme.

Here's what I ended up with for some new throw pillows. I also made two larger pillows that add a little more color. I think that bit of red in the larger pillows will be nicely complemented by an oriental style rug which we hope to find soon. We'll let you know when we find it.

A Sewing Project

Our boat came with a "cover" and I managed to rig it up right after we got the boat. However, I couldn't  figure out what it was supposed to do. It wasn't high enough to walk under so it couldn't have been a sun awning. And it didn't really cover the cockpit, so it would have allowed rain in, so it wasn't a winter cover.

So I have decided to make it into a rain awning. By sliding it way aft of where it was designed to go, it is now wide enough to cover the entire cockpit with fabric enough to create a wall at the transom. Our transom faces South and that's where our winter storms come from, so hopefully it will block the rain from that direction. And it still goes over the dodger so we should have a snug refuge from the winter storms. 

And what a beautiful day to be outdoors sewing. I think I'm getting a sunburn!