Blog Post 12 - Life on the Hard at Baja Naval Shipyard

SAVARONA
JIRIG & TERESA NERSESYAN
Fri 11 Sep 2015 16:11

Blog Post 12 – Life on the Hard at Baja Naval Shipyard

31:51.26 N 116:37.32 W

September 9, 2015

 

DSC06756When a boat is pulled out of the water in a shipyard it is called being on the hard. Well, we are living on the hard and have been for the past 10 days in more ways than intended. We had been told by numerous people that it was better to haul the boat out and have the repairs we needed to the hull and have it painted at Baja Naval Shipyard in Ensenada instead of in La Paz. We were told they did great work here and it would be less expensive to have it done in Ensenada. We came to the shipyard numerous times to discuss the work that needed to be done, the materials needed and the estimated costs and timeline for it to get done. What should have been a 4-5 day job has turned into almost 2 weeks so far and we were just notified that they have run out of the paint we need for the hull and now it may be another week until they can get the job done. We had at first planned to stay in a hotel but when the time came I nixed that idea. The thought of packing everything up, clothes, electronics and their associated chargers and cables, all Nico's school stuff, I thought it would be easier to just stay on the boat. Lots of people do it, in fact most do. How bad could it be? We are troopers and can stand more than most. What a flipping idiot I was! It is a shipyard after all and it is Mexico so I should have taken that into account. We are spending a lot of money fixing up the boat and we thought why not save the expense of a hotel and 3 meals a day in a restaurant and just stay in our home and live like we normally do? Big mistake! We have to climb a 10 foot ladder just to get into the boat. IMG_4479Try doing that 15 to 20 times a day. Oh and by the way most of the critical systems on a boat like the generator , the air conditioner and the toilets all function with a salt water intake to either cool them or flush them. So that means no AC, climbing down the ladder every time you have to go to the bathroom and to top it off we do not have a grey water tank (the tank that the sinks and showers would run into) so we cannot use any of the sinks or the showers. It is difficult to cook as you cannot clean the dishes; you have to brush your teeth in a cup and then dump it in a bucket and yes carry it down the 10 foot ladder. It is worse than camping. You get the picture…..Oh did I mention the toxic dust and the noise? There are at least 20 other boats here all being worked on at various times. There is the grinding, the sanding, the drilling and crews of 25 workmen who all get to watch you as you go to the bathroom in the morning in your PJ's. Almost everything the workmen do on a boat here is noisy, dusty and dirty. They use fiberglass and resin and epoxy and lead and copper paint. They never clean up after themselves at the end of the day so that is left to us. The boat is a mess. There are tiny particles of dust everywhere. It is worthless to dry to clean it up as it will only reappear the next day either from the work they are doing on our boat or on the boats next to us. I have tried several times to no avail. The constant dust requires that all the hatches and windows be closed which just adds to the discomfort inside the boat.   The coup de gras is that there is Hurricane Linda who promises to be a category 3 hurricane forming 700 miles south that is following a NW course that will take it approximately to the middle of the Baja Peninsula near Magdalena Bay. The Pacific is too cold (a hurricane needs water temps of 84 degrees or more to support it, the water here is 74 ) this far north in Ensenada so there is no chance that it will hit us but it is just close enough to make it hot and humid as well with a chance of thunderstorms. It is 92 degrees at 6pm and the humidity is in the mid-nineties. Remember we cannot run the AC. I have fans blowing everywhere. There is absolutely no wind the air is just thick, hot and humid.

IMG_4568We are trying desperately to locate the paint ourselves which may require Jirig to make a run to San Diego to get it.

So as I said life is beautiful here how are things with all of you?

 

Update: We have located the paint at West Marine in San Diego and as Daniel and his girlfriend Christina are coming to visit for the weekend they will stop and pick it up on their way. Jirig had it out with the shipyard manager and ordered him to put the boat back in the water. We can’t take this another day. We are headed to Cruiseport Marina in Ensenada to stay there for the next month. Jirig worked out a deal where they are going to haul the boat out at the end of the month at no cost to us and put on the last coat of bottom paint.

Cruiseport is a nice marina. It is full of cruisers just like us. At Marina Coral all there was were multimillion dollar fishing boats with arrogant and obnoxious owners. There was not one kid in the entire marina. Here at Cruiseport we are next to a cruising sailboat with 4 kids. There are 3 boys ages 10, 12 and 14 and a girl of 16. Nico finally has some friends to play with.

 

In addition we brought Jirig’s truck down here so that we could have transportation and that has made a big difference in our ability to get out and about.

 

Chalk it up to a lesson learned. The next time we have to haul the boat out we will book ourselves into a nice hotel for the duration.

 

It has not been all bad though. We have taken some day trips to the wine country….yes, Mexico makes some very fine wines and they have an up and coming wine area that in 10 years will rival Napa, Temecula and San Louis Obispo or so they claim.. We shall see about that.

I  have started Nico’s home schooling as well.

 

But those stories are for future blog posts…….

 

Until next time….

Please do not reply to this email but respond to savarona {CHANGE TO AT} mailasail {DOT} com

 

 

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