Update from Puerto Peñasco

Hola Amigos!

It’s been a long time coming and we figured it was time to post an update. We’ve officially been out of the water just shy of 10 months, and I can honestly say time has flown and crawled at the same time. We hauled Perspective out of the water on September 5th, 2019 to spend quality time with family and to get a few projects done while she’s out of the water. We spent about 3 months in the states, enjoying the extended time with family, friends and all that the US has to offer.

After those 3 months were up, we headed back to Perspective while Brad handled one of the most labor intensive jobs possible. He peeled every inch of the bottom of our boat, 1/8″ deep. We’ve known all along that Perspective had blisters, and we figured while we were in one of the driest climates around, we would get the job done. You might be wondering what blisters are, let me explain. Back in the day when Perspective was being built in the shipyard in Taiwan, there was a slight hiccup in their process of laying fiberglass layers. This hiccup was not specific to Perspective, in fact, a lot of boats built in that era have the same issue. Ok, so back to what a blister is. There are multiple types and layers of fiberglass used while constructing a boat. When the yard laid up the top layer of fiberglass called the mat layer, it wasn’t completely saturated. This allowed small voids between the top two layers of fiberglass to appear. Over time, salt water crept it’s way into those voids creating a liquid filled pocket, a blister. The size of the blisters varied and we knew we needed to address the large ones. After some exploratory surgery, more like “pimple popping”, we discovered that these blisters smelled like sour vinegar and were quite acidic. Gross! Our girl could not be tainted with these unsightly and stinky pustules any longer! It was time for “Dr. Harley” to find a cure.

Unfortunately the cure, peeling, took 14 days of back breaking work and literally went inch by inch. The tool Brad used was heavy, weighing about the size of a bowling ball, and awkward to hold. If you know Brad, you know he is one to do his research before diving into a project and he does it right. The research he conducted paid off in spades when the peel was done and the bottom was smooth and blister free. After the peel was completed, we had to let the boat sit and essentially dry out. The hull was carrying moisture from those blisters and we wanted to make sure everything was as dry as possible before covering it back up again.

While the hull was drying out, we turned our attention to other projects. Such as replacing the gaskets in our 17 port lights, which in theory, will stop some of the pesky leaks we had been getting. Brad completed various plumbing projects, installed a new inverter which will power our blender and other power tools beautifully, removed and installed new chainplates (this was another major project), removed and sold our diesel generator that was no longer necessary, removed and sealed thruhulls that were no longer needed, and sealed up the old generator exhaust muffler. Oh and we have a shiny, newly painted transom (rear end of the boat). One could say that Perspective has gone through another refit.

While we planned for the projects to take some time, we didn’t plan on a global pandemic happening in the middle of it. We are super fortunate that we’ve been able to hunker down in an apartment near the boat yard and stay in complete comfort while we wait things out. We are also blessed that our family has remained healthy and that they are keen to use Zoom so we can get our “family time” fix. This goes for friends as well! It’s been 4 months since we’ve been to the states and we know we have at least one more trip north in our future. The timing of our return is still unknown, but I suspect we will know when the time is right.

You may be wondering what it’s like to be in Mexico during Covid. I can say that I am proud of the town we are in for taking Covid-19 seriously. Until recently Penasco was on complete lockdown and tourists were not allowed into the town. Our only time spent out of the apartment was to go to the boat, walk Sydney or grab groceries. Entering a grocery store goes like this: one person per household is allowed to enter, your temperature is checked, your hands and cart are sanitized and you are required to wear a mask. The great thing is that everyone complies with these rules, so shopping feels “safe”. About two weeks ago, the town surrendered and opened up to tourists, and with this opening, the port opened as well. This means Perspective could potentially splash and resume cruising once the projects are completed.

We are anxiously looking forward to getting back in the water but are also anxious about what is going to happen in the next couple of months. The virus seems to be spreading at an alarming rate and it is unknown what the next moves will be regarding port and town closures. Current cruising conditions are not what they used to be. In populated areas cruisers are tiptoeing, trying their best to be respectful of the rules. For some areas, this means no swimming or aquatic activities, and certainly no beach visits. One can get around this by staying in remote anchorages but eventually a trip to town for groceries becomes necessary. Our worry is that those visits to shore will not be welcome by the locals who are afraid of us spreading the virus to them. This is a legitimate concern because most small villages in Mexico do not have clinics or hospitals. Medical care is often several hours away on treacherous roads, bringing their risk even higher.

For now, we will continue to hunker down and chip away at our project list and dream of the day we can get back in the water. When that time comes, Perspective is well equipped for us to be able to quarantine for a few weeks to ensure the safety of others.

Well folks, there’s our latest update. We hope this message finds you healthy and happy during these unique and challenging times!