RACING THE CONDO

Sea Story heading for the starting line after a night at anchor in Caleta Partida, one of the prettiest anchorages in Bahia La paz.  From this start, we raced back to the entrance of the La paz harbor channel (about 20 miles) and finished second in our class.

A couple of years ago, some local cruisers got together and started Veleros de Baja, a loose and very informal organization of racing enthusiasts here in La paz.  Because most of us are racing the boats we live on, the races are pretty low key, and no one gets too excited about a slow start or raggedy tack.  They're mostly fun events and a good excuse for getting out on the Bay for a pleasant afternoon of whale watching and sunbathing.

 Sea Story is fairly fast for a fully loaded cruising boat, so we usually finish in the top two or three of our class.  In this particular race, there was a big lull midway through, so we were one of only five boats out of thirteen to even finish the race within the allotted time.  Best of all, we managed to beat Talion, a very fast fifty footer that usually dominates the competition.  If course, it helped that skipper Patsy was single-handing Talion - but maybe I shouldn't have mentioned that....!

There's a full rundown and more photos of the race at:  www.velerosdebaja.wordpress.com

THE GLAMOROUS SIDE OF BOAT OWNERSHIP

Cleaning a clogged diesel fuel filter bowl on a nice Sunday afternoon at the dock.  Usually this happens at sea, in rough weather at 0300 hours.  Managed to catch a break this time...



I once thought nothing could be a bigger pain in the ass than owning and maintaining an airplane. 

I was wrong. 

None of my airplanes had plumbing systems, electrical systems operating in a salt water environment, or diesel fuel systems, ultra-sensitive to line leaks and algae growth.

So now I find myself continually re-educated and doing maintenance chores far beyond anything I could have imagined for someone who once was challenged by simply changing oil in my car.  Not sure if this is progress, but it does keep me busy and more knowledgeable about the inner workings of my floating home.  Of course, it also reduces my maintenance costs - most of the time.  Once in a while, the opposite happens, and I have to hire an expert to fix something I buggered up beyond my ability to correct. Fortunately, that seems to be happening less and less as time goes on, so this not-so-glamorous side of boat ownership has just become part of the experience down here in La paz.

Just letting you all know it's not all sunshine and pina coladas every day!

Like most old skydivers, I really don't like being this high without a parachute, so I'm hanging onto everything I can!