A Vacation from Cruising

Despite the shock of having to haul again here in LaPaz (and sticker shock is the LEAST of it!), we decided to make the most of the experience.  The haul out was amazing -- we honestly had no idea what to expect.  They said "we'll be waiting for you" and sure enough.  At 8am we came around the corner and there they were:  the boss (Alejandro, his panga with driver and 4 men, and 2 scuba divers).  We could see the rail car braces were already in the deeper water.  The panga roared over and the men jumped on --grabbed our lines and told Alan to slow down and kill the engines.  They then proceeded to pull, push, and cajole Magic into place on the rails.  The divers were under the boat and then we waited for an inch more of tide.  Then they began to winch us up on the huge machine.  The whole experience was 3+ hours!!  Very professional.  We hope our re-entry is handled in like manor.

We quickly had the sail drive repaired (thanks again to Ron for having all the spare parts on board from Shea LaVie); the diesel leak found and fixed; and the through hulls changed out so we could have a gone back in the water on Friday.  But there was a forecast "wind event" for the weekend and the tides were not favorable for re-entry....so we stayed another day on the rails.  Once in the water, we plan to begin making our way to Banderas Bay.  Sure it is only about 400 nautical miles away, but we go 5 mph and watch the wind and it will take us awhile.

Here are some more pictures from LaPaz:

Bird Watching a Dinghy

The Newest Sculpture on the Malecon

Plaque for the Sculpture

Panga Pirates come to take over the boat for the haul out

Under the Watchful Eyes of the Crew

Alejandro watches to be sure there are no surprises!

The crew included 2 divers to be sure we were on the rails and stands in place

Top of picture shows the rails where we will be headed

The MEGA machine that hauled us inch by inch from the water.  

The Captain rides the rails on Magic

Sitting high and dry.