Our First Haul-out: Guaymas

Watching Sound Discovery pull out of the water.

I'm posting this from my grandparents home just outside of Phoenix, Arizona: back in the good old U.S. of A. We hoped a ride with a fellow cruiser in his camper van from Guaymas up to Tucson (crossing the border with ease) and then renting a car with Eric and Pam (S/V Emma Bell-- they were also in the camper van) and making our way up to Happy Trails, Surprise, AZ. Clif and I were squeezed into the back seat with a guitar, ukulele, boat fridge (for return), duffel bag of clothes and Ketch-mo, the dog. I don't know how we managed to pack all of our life-belongings [of two couples] in that little car, but we did, and we showed up and my grandparents smelling of boat and covered in dust from the yard. Pam and Eric continued on their way home to California, and we were happy to see family and take showers.

The sun came in through the window this morning after our first night off the boat in quite a long time. It was so quiet. We're so used to hearing the wind, the waves, sounds of the city in Guaymas and sounds of dogs barking in the dry-yard. The Phoenix sun will be a nice transition before heading home to Juneau, where the weather is still deep in winter. yikes. Maybe I'll get some skiing in before the season is over!

I wanted to post the photos from our haul-out, which went very smoothly, and express how much WORK it is to clean and prep the boat for storage. We worked our butts off for a full 7 days washing/drying/folding sails, clothes, lines, cushion covers... you name it. We detached out batteries and stored our solar panels and windvane. I cleaned out every crevasse of the boat that contained food, in hopes of not attracting bugs, and Clif spent hours putting our old Westerbeke engine to bed. We had some long days, which included many quick taco stand runs and hot dog stands (Mexicans love loaded up tacos--- so many toppings you can't fit the bun in your mouth). We were parked in the dry-yard right next to Emma Bell and had company the entire time we cleaned, which was extremely nice, and both said goodbye to our boats in unison as we loaded up the white camper van with all of our things and left the dusty yard.

As sad as we were to leave the boats, we were all ready for a break, happy to think of coming back within the next year and prepping our boats for the water: coming back as more seasoned cruisers. For now we are headed to work---- work work work so we can fund another period of time on the boat, making it farther south.

Until then... I might take a little break from blogging. At least until we start planning for our next sailing adventure. I hope to post a couple photos of home, just for our cruising friends to enjoy (especially the ones still down in Mexico)! I appreciate everyone following the blog and reading my posts. It means a lot to me. I'm hoping to spend some time this summer writing some articles and submitting to different sailing magazines.

Thanks again. Enjoy the photos! If you're in Juneau, we're hoping to give a "Sail Talk" this summer with SEAS (SE Alaska Sailing), and we will let you know when that happens!
Giselle

Dock time in Guaymas, before haul out.

Emma Bell sailing into Guaymas after a smooth crossing.

Prepping the straps.

Clif, proud to see his boat out of the water.

She's flying!

All set up for the summer time.

Clif working hard in the hot sun and dusty yard. All went well!