Sea Trial.

24.2N 110.3W. Sea of Cortes, B.C.S., Mexico.

19 November 2009. The biggest news with Gitano is that we put her up for sale. We have come up to this line several times over the past two seasons...but always backed down when it came time to pull the trigger. This past October, however, we placed the ad in our favourite sailing magazine (Latitude 38) and quickly began answering calls and emails. We ended up fielding about fifteen queries, yielding three potential buyers. Of these three, one bought another boat, while another arranged to meet up in La Paz to check her out.

We spent a few days at the marina cleaning her up and stowing as much as we could off the boat and out of sight. The evening before meeting with our potential buyer, Steve and I sat side-by-side on the settee, looking all around our nice, clean boat with the same thought...we "don't want to sell her..." But we had made a commitment to this guy and, if he wanted to buy her, we would have to sell.

Dennis arrived the next day and Steve spent the afternoon going over all her systems and answering his questions. The next day, we went out for a sea trial. The day was perfect for sailing. She showed herself to be the racer she was...with speeds up to five knots in light winds. He loved the boat. However, he needed to talk to his partner about it. The next day, the deal was off as she said "no." He really looked disappointed and we felt bad for him....but good for us.

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Splash! and Life at the Marina.

24.2N 110.3W. Marina Palmira, La Paz, B.C.S., Mexico.

November 2009. Steve and I appear to be "stuck" here in La Paz.

After eight years of mostly "make it work" projects and maintenance on the boat, it is time for us to take on some bigger projects. We replaced all the batteries. The starter battery was toast on our return and was replaced (obviously) before we went in the water. The house bank was eleven-plus years old. Cruisers were in total disbelief that we were utilizing such and old bank -- but with frugality and a watchful eye to keeping them properly charged, we had managed to keep them going a long time. We finally felt it was time to change them out and are dealing with the transition (mostly unhappily) from the old gel cells to the new golf cart batteries. Other projects include new marine grade wiring up the mast for our navigation lights and two new float switches for the bilge. Needless to say, we are getting to know Victor, the electrician, pretty well...luckily, he is a great guy and interesting to be around.

We drew the line, however, with our refrigeration system... and look forward to our love-hate relationship for another season.

All these projects require many trips to town. Luckily we still have the Lincoln and know the streets of La Paz pretty well. It is amazing to see how much La Paz has grown over these past eight years. We enjoy the older parts of the town with its cobble streets and incredible buildings...

Dec2009 StreetsOfLaPaz

On the Hard.

24.18N 110.30W. Atalanta Astilleros, La Paz, B.C.S., Mexico.

03 November 2009. It is great being back on Gitano! It is hot and dusty and we have much work ahead of us...but it is so nice.