Weebles in Mexico - the adventure resumes (aka Tales from the Cruising Crypt)

[mvweebles]

Monday morning we board an Aeromexico flight from Tampa to Tapachula via Mexico City - we're flying first class because we can each carry two 70-lb suitcases for free so it's actually cheaper than coach. Its a one-way flight - no return scheduled. Below are a few screenshots from Rony ("Tony" with an R) who keeps track of Weebles while she's in the yard. He sends me a video the first of each month showing the boat has been washed inside and out and kept clean, plus he checks her weekly to make sure the dehumidifier is working. He's sanded the bottom in prep for fresh bottom paint just before launch, probably in a week or so.

Weebles has been laid-up on the hard since April of last year so 1-1/2 years in the hot/humid climate of southern Mexico just 10-miles from Guatemala. The marina there is new-ish and even has a small pool, but it's 30-minutes from the small city of Tapachula so fairly isolated. It has a great cruiser community with WhatsApp being the adhesive that holds it together. Earlier today, someone reached out on WhatsApp that they needed a second pair of hands to "back" a bolt while they tightened from the inside. A few moments later someone replied "I'm on my way....."

True confession time: I'm nervous. Weebles has been on the hard for 1-1/2 years and while I visited a couple months ago and she looked great, my mind races with all the things that can go wrong during an extended layup in a hot/humid climate. Bugs in fuel tanks? Bugs in water tanks? Will the engine start? Are the batteries trashed? Is the water maker working? I can think of a zillion things. There are very limited resources for parts or help if needed - someone recently posted they had West Systems Epoxy shipped in from Puerto Vallarta which is over 700 miles away. Funny, I'm pretty good and confident on diagnosing stuff on other peoples boat. On mine I sometimes lack confidence.

I'm guessing 3-4 weeks in Chiapas before heading south. There are a few inland treks we'd like to make and we're not in any hurry. And then there is the pool and other cruisers who will be a welcomed distractions......

I'll keep an ocassional diary here.

Peter

 

[ksanders]

Best to you Peter. If you need anything I can get in La Paz I'd be happy to help.

 

[Ron Hopkins]

Have followed all your messages of advise and information to forum members for a long time, including advise to myself. Excited to hear of your adventures, challenges and successes. If you need help or resources, there are many here ready to help.
Hope all is well aboard.
Cheers, Ron

 

[Delta Riverat]

Good for you guys and have big fun! I looked up some eateries there with menus and prices...

At 20 peso/dollar you can eat real fine -

 

[Mac2]

Understandable to be nervous. Boat looks great. You took all the right steps for a layup. Nothing more you could have done. Last year I left my boat unattended in the water for three months. Amazing where your brain will take you imagining the worst. I think once you get on the boat, your apprehension will melt away. Looking forward to your adventures.

 

[Jklotz]

Peter, so glad you guys are finally getting her back in the water! With all the experience you've had, I have confidence you'll get her in ship shape in no time. If there is anything I can do from this end, which probably isn't much, happy to help. Looking forward to hearing tales of your adventure.

 

[Wtrguy]

In following your posts I believe you are one of the more experienced and knowledgeable people on this forum. The fact that you're worried make me wonder what kind of a basket case I'm going to be once we commit.
Best of skill and I look forward to following your adventure as things progress.

 

[SteveK]

Best wishes and looking forward to following the journey.

Peter, you opened a can of worms with that comment on the fuel, the life blood of the boat. Now you have to get rid of it or polish it before launch or you will worry about it.

 

[socalrider]

Best of luck! Hope you manage to make it to San Cristobal if you're in Chiapas. Palenque and Agua Azul, Christmas Tree Falls.... Chiapas is one of the most amazing and beautiful states in Mexico.

 

[ranger58sb]

True confession time: I'm nervous. Weebles has been on the hard for 1-1/2 years and while I visited a couple months ago and she looked great, my mind races with all the things that can go wrong during an extended layup in a hot/humid climate. Bugs in fuel tanks? Bugs in water tanks? Will the engine start? Are the batteries trashed? Is the water maker working? I can think of a zillion things.

Take a deep breath, Peter! It'll be fine... because you put her to bed correctly, hired a good baby-sitter... and you can deal with whatever minor issues might have cropped up from inactivity. Chill!

And fair seas, for your next transit!

In following your posts I believe you are one of the more experienced and knowledgeable people on this forum. The fact that you're worried make me wonder what kind of a basket case I'm going to be once we commit.

Relax. It's a common virus. What did I: forget? put off? do incorrectly? miss completely? et cetera.

Symptoms abate after being aboard again for about an hour. Not that various things might not need a bit of attention... just that the worry level becomes more controllable.



-Chris

 

[Wtrguy]

Relax. It's a common virus. What did I: forget? put off? do incorrectly? miss completely? et cetera.

I'm a firm believer that worrying works. 99% of the stuff I worry about never happens, so...

I had a 5 page checklist for our little sailboat that would be checked over before we left. I can't imagine how long that list is going to get due having more systems & complex equipment.

 

[Bmarler]

I can’t believe it’s been 1-1/2 years since you left weebles there. Where does the time go?
Looking forward to the next leg of your journey.

 

[PierreR]

Fantastic. So you have decided not to try to ship it?
I'm heading out bikepacking for a couple of days.

 

[ksanders]

Peter has some really legitimate concerns.

When he and Cheryl were here in La Paz his boat was in great shape, because he maintained it daily, as they were on it.

Then they left here and he parked it for a year and a half in the hot sun of the tropics. That sun, coupled with a boat that is closed up, coupled with a boat that has not been used, and maintained for a couple of years is a recipe for trouble.

Add to this the logistics issues folks in first world countries can never understand. Even in populated areas of Mexico like La Paz boat parts are super difficult to get and at least doubble what thet cost in the states.

Now he is heading off on a long journey to even more remote areas, plus facing the uncertainty of people problems along the way.

My hats off to you Peter.

 

[Dockmaster]

I'm moving my boat to Loreto at the end of this month so this thread is a little concerning. Are most of these potential issues related to lack of use of the boat or is due to dry storage? I don't plan to store mine on the hard and it should get more use. That being said, I can certainly see some number of months of it sitting at times. I plan to hire a caretaker as well.

 

[mvweebles]

In following your posts I believe you are one of the more experienced and knowledgeable people on this forum. The fact that you're worried make me wonder what kind of a basket case I'm going to be once we commit.

The first 10-feet is the hardest. There are so many reasons to delay departure. One more set of filters. Spare injectors. New AIS. Replace watermaker. There is an endless list I could build to not leave tomorrow. It's the big reason we joined the Baja Ha Ha cruiser rally - a date certain that we must leave. Even after prepping for a few years we felt like we weren't ready but left anyway.

Relax. It's a common virus. What did I: forget? put off? do incorrectly? miss completely? et cetera.

Symptoms abate after being aboard again for about an hour. Not that various things might not need a bit of attention... just that the worry level becomes more controllable.

One more symptom: weird dreams. I cannot tell you how many dreams Weebles has been in over the last few months. We somehow ended up going down a small western trout stream a couple weeks ago. No bigger than a babbling brook yet there we were going downstream.

Fantastic. So you have decided not to try to ship it?
I'm heading out bikepacking for a couple of days.

Shipping is still very much on the table and is our preferred option. Recall, I started a thread a couple months ago on shipping. From that I decided to see about going "standby" for two reasons. First, hoping the cost of $21k will reduce. Second, I don't want a firm schedule. I'm pretty sure we'll be in Costa Rica by February but experience tells me we have a way of getting stuck in places for all the right reasons. We stopped in Mazatlan for a week and stayed 6-weeks.

I'm moving my boat to Loreto at the end of this month so this thread is a little concerning. Are most of these potential issues related to lack of use of the boat or is due to dry storage? I don't plan to store mine on the hard and it should get more use. That being said, I can certainly see some number of months of it sitting at times. I plan to hire a caretaker as well.

Many of my concerns are just sitting fallow for so long - @ksanders posted this well. Who knows what's going in my water/fuel tanks (I do have a polishing system). Did I pickle the watermaker correctly? What remote controls did I forget and are now destroyed due to leaking batteries? All sorts of stuff race through my mind.

Hiring a good caretaker is super calming for me. Rony is $100/mo for a full wash inside/out and checks the boat weekly (at least). He receives packages for me, has a decent rolodex of mechanical workers, and is a super nice guy to boot. Weebles looks bristol all the time. Most of the other boats in the yard are sailboats who just use a network of cruisers to check on their boats - and it shows. I noticed a Cabo 38 sport fisher in Mazatlan that had a full-time guy who spent 5-6 hours five days a week. Even the rocket launchers get disassembled and polished monthly. Probably cost the owner under $400/mo to keep the boat looking brand new.

Chiapas Marina was Plan C. Plan A was Costa Rica.......until we found out how much the slip fees were ($2000/mo, partially because finding a slip smaller than 45-feet was difficult). Plan B was mooring in Bahia del Sol, San Salvador. That got nixed when we chickened-out on crossing the bar there after a friend's boat hit hard on the bar and snapped his keel and lost his boat. We had hoped to make it further than Chiapas but it became Plan C which has worked out really well. Opinions vary, but I think storing a boat on the hard is less hassle/worry than in the water. Given our 1-year delay, it's worked out for the better.

Peter

 

[Jklotz]

Hiring a good caretaker is super calming for me. Rony is $100/mo for a full wash inside/out and checks the boat weekly (at least). He receives packages for me, has a decent rolodex of mechanical workers, and is a super nice guy to boot. Weebles looks bristol all the time.

$100/mo? Wow! I can't even get the folks around here to return my calls for $100.

 

[mvweebles]

Peter has some really legitimate concerns.

When he and Cheryl were here in La Paz his boat was in great shape, because he maintained it daily, as they were on it.

Then they left here and he parked it for a year and a half in the hot sun of the tropics. That sun, coupled with a boat that is closed up, coupled with a boat that has not been used, and maintained for a couple of years is a recipe for trouble.

Add to this the logistics issues folks in first world countries can never understand. Even in populated areas of Mexico like La Paz boat parts are super difficult to get and at least doubble what thet cost in the states.

Now he is heading off on a long journey to even more remote areas, plus facing the uncertainty of people problems along the way.

My hats off to you Peter.

There is a decent chandlery in Puerto Vallarta (Zaragoza - there are a few locations in Mexico). But that was a thousand miles ago. Thank goodness for Amazon.mx and Home Depot. And the largess of other cruisers (Scot/@slowgoesit - I still owe you a 400A fuse for my thruster that tripped when I fouled my anchor in Isla Isabela). You'd think other cruisers would closely guard their spares. Perhaps some do but my observation is extreme efforts to 'pay-it-forward' to build credits in the cosmic cruisers karma account. It's pretty cool.....

Peter

EDIT - BTW - The name of Scot's boat is "Muirgen." Two definitions in the Gaelic dictionary: First is "Floating Chandlery." Second is "Pina Colada."

 

[Don L]

Glad to hear OP back to the boat

Every NE/Northern boaters knows the OP feelings each Spring when they turn the engine key to see if it will start after 6 months on the hard in freezing conditions

 

[Retriever]

I can relate! I left Akeeva in Puerto Escondido thinking I’d be back in a few months, and ended up (mostly) gone for two years. When I got back down to the boat, I only had a few weeks in two different chunks to get her ready to run up to Ensenada.

The two years I was away were spent on a different boat circumnavigating the North Pacific. This gave me confidence in fixing things, but anxiety about all the things that could go wrong!

Despite all the worrying, we had a pretty unventful trip north, with just a single three night stop in Mag Bay. The only real problem was a stabilizer cylinder that failed and dumped all the hydraulic fluid 12 hours out of Ensenada. All the important stuff worked great. Fingers crossed that you have similarly good fortune!

 

[mvweebles]

$100/mo? Wow! I can't even get the folks around here to return my calls for $100.

Wash is once a month. Boat check is at least weekly. Every marina in Mexico has someone who 'owns' the boat-boy concession, sometimes it varies by dock. I am pretty sure 10% of their take goes to the marina. And if you hire someone through them (upholstery, mechanical, etc), I'm sure the boat-boy takes a few bucks, and the marina takes their 10%.

Everyone wets their beaks in the marina.

Peter

 

[MV Moira]

Monday morning we board an Aeromexico flight from Tampa to Tapachula via Mexico City - we're flying first class because we can each carry two 70-lb suitcases for free so it's actually cheaper than coach. Its a one-way flight - no return scheduled. Below are a few screenshots from Rony ("Tony" with an R) who keeps track of Weebles while she's in the yard. He sends me a video the first of each month showing the boat has been washed inside and out and kept clean, plus he checks her weekly to make sure the dehumidifier is working. He's sanded the bottom in prep for fresh bottom paint just before launch, probably in a week or so.

Weebles has been laid-up on the hard since April of last year so 1-1/2 years in the hot/humid climate of southern Mexico just 10-miles from Guatemala. The marina there is new-ish and even has a small pool, but it's 30-minutes from the small city of Tapachula so fairly isolated. It has a great cruiser community with WhatsApp being the adhesive that holds it together. Earlier today, someone reached out on WhatsApp that they needed a second pair of hands to "back" a bolt while they tightened from the inside. A few moments later someone replied "I'm on my way....."

True confession time: I'm nervous. Weebles has been on the hard for 1-1/2 years and while I visited a couple months ago and she looked great, my mind races with all the things that can go wrong during an extended layup in a hot/humid climate. Bugs in fuel tanks? Bugs in water tanks? Will the engine start? Are the batteries trashed? Is the water maker working? I can think of a zillion things. There are very limited resources for parts or help if needed - someone recently posted they had West Systems Epoxy shipped in from Puerto Vallarta which is over 700 miles away. Funny, I'm pretty good and confident on diagnosing stuff on other peoples boat. On mine I sometimes lack confidence.

I'm guessing 3-4 weeks in Chiapas before heading south. There are a few inland treks we'd like to make and we're not in any hurry. And then there is the pool and other cruisers who will be a welcomed distractions......

I'll keep an ocassional diary here.

Peter


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Disclaimer: The following is based on our stay of multiple years in Mexico about 20 years ago, so it may no longer apply. (1) Back then it could be less expensive and more reliable to fly back to San Diego, buy the parts, and bring them back yourself; and (2) if you brought your parts back in a box, you were certain to be pulled over for customs inspection/impuestos, but if you brought them back in a suitcase, you were highly unlikely to be pulled over. We got our single-use suitcases at Goodwill. Good luck.

 

[mvweebles]

Disclaimer: The following is based on our stay of multiple years in Mexico about 20 years ago, so it may no longer apply. (1) Back then it could be less expensive and more reliable to fly back to San Diego, buy the parts, and bring them back yourself; and (2) if you brought your parts back in a box, you were certain to be pulled over for customs inspection/impuestos, but if you brought them back in a suitcase, you were highly unlikely to be pulled over. We got our single-use suitcases at Goodwill. Good luck.

Things have changed a bit. Everything is X-Ray'd these days. The US seems to check outbound suitcases - there is almost always a TSA Inspection placard in my bags even going into Mexico. The best advice I've gotten is anything a normal person would have in their suitcase is fine. Unfortunately, a lot of boat parts are not normal. 2-months ago when we visited Weebles in Tapachula, I brought down a Victron 3kw Multiplus inverter (60-ish lbs!!!). I knew this would not go undetected even in a suitcase. So I expected to pick-up in Mexico City and pay customs there, but was told it had been forwarded directly to our final destination Tapachula. So I expected to pay customs duty in Tapachula. The bag was detained in Mexico City and was never forwarded to Tapachula - I retrived it a week later when we returned to Florida. So this time we've arranged for a 5-hour layover in Mexico City to work through aduana.

Victron is in the big black bag. All three bags are Goodwill finds. Prices have increased: around $14/ea.

Peter

 

[mvweebles]

BTW - here's a chartlet of our general cruising area.

 

[Blissboat]

Whenever I head offshore after any extended period of being tied to land, the initial hours underway find me opening compartments, re-examining through-hulls, gripping hoses, etc. As long as the ocean stays on the outside of the boat, most other things can be dealt with.

 

[Island Cessna]

Peter,
I have been following your adventure closely (and enviously) since you and Weebles left San Francisco for Mexico. I have owned two Willard 36 “Standard Cruisers”. I have followed your thorough, well documented progress, and visited you, Cheryl, and Weebles in Ensenada from a passing cruise ship. I feel confident in saying YOU AND WEEBLES HAVE GOT THIS!

Go and continue your adventure. I look forward to vicariously enjoying the continuation of the story.

Bill

 

[slowgoesit]

Peter, I suspect you will have less issues than you are dreading. Pretty sure you dosed the fuel tanks before you put her to bed as well. We'll live vicariously with you as you head South. Hopefully you'll be in luck in Golfito with regards to shipping. It would be nice to cruise that section of coast, but than that leaves you with crossing the Gulf of Mexico with it's fickle WX. Can't wait until you get you boat here to Florida, and we can pester you and Cheryl in your local travels!
Re/ the fuse, I'd forgotten about it. We had it, you needed it, it's yours! We gave away/sold a number of spares on the trip to FL, as well as helping a few sailboaters out with diesel. Told people, look it up on Amazon, and that's what you owe us. Other stuff we just gave away. It's what you do. Probably the funniest thing we gave away was in Bahia Tortuga (Turtle Bay), MX. One of the guys in the Haja adopted a cat from ashore. He very plaintively came on the morning net asking if anyone had any cat supplies. We ran over and dropped off a couple of weeks of cat food (canned and dry), flea treatment, some new catnip mice toys, a spare cat pan, and about 40 lbs of kitty litter. Ahhh, on the food and cat litter, we didn't really miss it, as we may have had . . . well, about 14 months of food, and 850 lbs of litter . . . . we may have over provisioned for the trip from WA to FL . . . .

 

[nwh10]

I can’t believe it’s been 1-1/2 years since you left weebles there. Where does the time go?
Looking forward to the next leg of your journey.

Yes, agree! I thought it had been six months!

 

[ranger58sb]

Shipping is still very much on the table and is our preferred option. Recall, I started a thread a couple months ago on shipping. From that I decided to see about going "standby" for two reasons. First, hoping the cost of $21k will reduce. Second, I don't want a firm schedule. I'm pretty sure we'll be in Costa Rica by February but experience tells me we have a way of getting stuck in places for all the right reasons. We stopped in Mazatlan for a week and stayed 6-weeks.

Chiapas Marina was Plan C. Plan A was Costa Rica.......until we found out how much the slip fees were ($2000/mo, partially because finding a slip smaller than 45-feet was difficult). Plan B was mooring in Bahia del Sol, San Salvador. That got nixed when we chickened-out on crossing the bar there after a friend's boat hit hard on the bar and snapped his keel and lost his boat. We had hoped to make it further than Chiapas but it became Plan C which has worked out really well. Opinions vary, but I think storing a boat on the hard is less hassle/worry than in the water. Given our 1-year delay, it's worked out for the better.

So Plan D (?) is shipping... maybe from Golfito? Sounds less stressful, to me, than all the on-her-own-bottom transit routes you'd been exploring...

-Chris

 

[Don L]

I wonder the why of the boat being on the hard for 1.5 years. But figure if OP wanted us to know he would have said.

Lets move on ....................... what the splash date?