Cruising ~ The Cat’s Meow Style ~ January – mid February, 2005
We never thought we would be
living in La Paz for essentially a year, and we did not expect that work on The
Cat’s Meow would be so slow. Every day we work on our boat, and every day we do
see forward progress. What a HUGE undertaking! We have been working at this
almost non-stop since June, and we are STILL working in the stateroom and head!
Hopefully, the rest of the boat re-do will go much faster!
The year 2005 started out
just like 2004 ended. We were living in the apartment, with our two cats, close
to the boat yard, and we were working on TCM. The workers at the yard replanked
the areas on the stern that needed to be repaired.
Stern hull replanked
Meanwhile, the interior was
finally beginning to look once again
like our boat. Looking back on the earlier photos of the stateroom and head, it
is a miracle that they could look this good!!
Stateroom January ‘05
The walls have been painted,
the tile in the head has been replaced. Thank the gods, the brand new bathtub,
completed in Mazatlan just before the boat accident, was not ruined! However,
the rest of the boat still looks like a construction site, which it is.
The lanai
room, February ‘05
In late January and early
February, Martin and Robin put Squeak and Toes in the borrowed truck and headed
for Southern California. It was time for THE BIG SHOPPING TRIP. It was also a
good time to break from the work on TCM, to get a different perspective. The
drive through the Baja desert was just spectacular ~ the cactus were in bloom
or about to burst into bloom, the floor of the desert was like a carpet of tiny
wildflowers, purple and yellow, the entire desert was GREEN. It was a beautiful
drive.
Big cordon cactus Desert green
Desert, mountain, fog Silly cerios cactus
It took us two long days to
drive to Chula Vista, where we stayed a couple nights with friends Ron and
Kathleen, and their 3 dogs. They had been our neighbors at the apartment until
mid-January when they returned to California for an infusion of dollars into
their cruising kitty. Martin flew to Oregon for a short visit with his mother,
brother & family, and his two daughters. It was a great visit for him, and
very good for him to see his family, especially his cute little mom!
A Hardy family
gathering
Meanwhile, Robin was
beginning the shopping trip, and she was also enjoying the “land of PLENTY”,
just agape at all the things in all of the stores….. There was a long long list of things needed for TCM, and for life
during the next many months in the Baja. This was definitely a “shop till you
drop” excursion. Robin drove from Chula Vista to the Rancho Palos Verdes area
and stayed with friends Dianne and Hans, who welcome us into their beautiful
home any time we need a place to base our travels in the area. Robin was out spending money like water,
running around like the proverbial chicken…. Trying to find and purchase sooo
many things, like the micro-convection oven, a mattress, the carpet, trim for
the headliners, flooring for the galley, foodstuff, etc. etc. etc. It was the
carpet that almost did her in…… This
was all after she had already spent many hours during previous visits locating
and pricing almost everything. Alas and alack, many things were not available
at all, or the prices were much different!! GADS. It is a very good thing that
good friends like Hans and Dianne are there when they are needed! During this
time, Skip and Diane, some more friends, brought a whole load of goodies they
had been stashing for us since the summer!! Some of these were items donated to
The Cat’s Meow from people of the Hurricane Gulch YC, which we used to attend
in the San Pedro area, and from people we don’t even know! Other items had been
purchased with monetary donations and from our friends’ own kind hearts, all such a big help! We thank
everyone who has donated items or money, and especially their good strong
thoughts for our cause!
Dining with friends
One night, while in the RPV
and San Pedro area, we had a chance for a quick get-together with just a few
friends, Helen & Fred (who were the couple that performed our marriage
ceremony in 2000), and Kathleen & Ray, friends from the aforementioned
Hurricane Gulch Yacht Club. It is always so very good to see our friends, and
we are sorry that we did not have time to see many more during this trip.
We packed up the truck, with
the cats in the forward part of the bed, and headed south to San Diego area
once more. There we stayed a few nights and days with other good friends, Sheri
& George, in El Cajon.
Martin & George
problem solving
We continued our shopping
spree, loading and repacking the truck at least twice while there. This was
definitely not a trip built for fun; we worked each day to find the items we
needed and we were pooped by the evenings. We did work in one evening of
visiting with Dario & Erin, of Ballena and presently in San Diego. And, Robin was able to find and spend a
short time visiting with Dawn Wilson, our friend who endured almost 18 months
in a prison near Ensenada and another 3 months in a minimum security facility
in California. It was wonderful to see Dawn and to see how well she is doing,
and what a great spirit that gal has! Diane & Pat, formerly of Springbok,
joined Dawn and I for a quick visit, too.
Seeing Dawn for the first time since her release 
Again, we wish we had time
to see many more friends and to have more time for enjoying the area, but we
did not.
One dark and rainy morning,
with the truck completely full to the brim and very little room left for the
cats, we crossed the border at TJ along with Dick & Judy of Corazon. They
were driving their “new” 5th wheel and doolie truck, and had some of
our larger items….. like the darned carpet…. in their rig. Well, every single
vehicle was given a red light at the border ~ something very unusual, and
obviously meant to “catch” everyone and anyone heading south with a “load” . We
were tagged for the carpet, but after forking over not quite $80US, we felt
lucky to be scootin’ through with only that much of a customs payment!! We
buddy-carred down the Baja Hwy.1 together, stopping at the very dirty village
of Guerrero Negro for a night, and a second night in Loreto. We acted as the point vehicle for the
Corazon folks while they carefully brought their big, heavy rig down the cuesta
del infiernillo, which is a very steeeeep decline from the mesas of the
peninsula to the Sea of Cortez
We arrived safe and more or
less “sound” in La Paz, grateful to have the opportunity to see friends and
family, and to be able to make our BIG SHOPPING TRIP. We were also very, very glad
to be back in the city of peace and tranquility!!
Next: getting The Cat’s Meow
back in the water! Read on for more of