Cruising ~ The Cat’s Meow Style ~ January,
February, March 2007
More amazing stuff
TCM’s engine in early February, 2007
The engine of The Cat’s Meow
has been broken since late in June of 2006. The repair of the engine would
normally be about a six-week job; however, nothing has been normal around here
for a very long time. If you have checked-out earlier versions of our stories
here on this website, you know that we spent a frustrating and hottt summer in
the Pto. Escondido area, and we were towed to La Paz (thankfully) by friends
Houston & Gail on their sailboat, Blew Moon. That was late in November 2006. Since then we have been trying,
and trying, to get the engine put back together. December found the mechanic
“Marteeeeen” on TCM and working on the engine…… but……. for the fourth time, we
had to exchange another engine part, which caused Marteeeeen to wait, again,
for the boat to be ready for more engine work. This brought us into January of
2007. Jeeeez. Exasperating does not even come close to what we felt at that
point. Well, Martin (Hardy, not “Marteeeen”) decided that if the engine was
going to get put back together, he would have to do it. This is a very daunting
job. This is a HUGE engine, a 1960-something International Harvester Marine,
not your average Perkins engine!! Martin rolled up his sleeves, gave up getting
anything else done on TCM for quite a while, and jumped in……
Also, Martin had been
diagnosed with a very early stage of prostate cancer in late 2006. He receives
medical care through the Veteran’s Administration system, and he has been quite
happy with the care he has had. He flew to the San Francisco Bay Area in
January for a pre-op visit. Daughter Debbie and family, who live in San Carlos
(Bay Area), took her dad in and took care of him while he was there. Of course,
Martin took advantage of being in the States to do some engine part and boat
shopping while he was there…. In early February, both of us flew to the Bay
Area and moved into Debbie’s home for a 10-day visit. Martin had minor surgery
at the VA in San Francisco on February 9th at the VA in San
Francisco. All went fine – he was “in by 10, out by 2”, and had very little
recovery time.
Martin’s bro, Jim, and son-in-law, Tom in California Mom Hardy – isn’t she cute??!
The most difficult part of being in the Bay Area was the weather:
it was COLD!! Well, for us folks who have been living in Mexico for a while, it
was cold. Debbie and her friends thought it was just fine…. Both of us had
layers of clothes on at all times! Hats, socks, and even leather jackets. It
was nice to be with Deb and her family; Martin’s bro Jim drove Mom Hardy down
from Oregon, so we had a chance to see them too. We ate wonderful Asian food
and fresh Dungeness crab (YUM!), treats we don’t usually get in the Baja. All
in all it was a good trip, and Martin is just fine. Robin was able to get
together with a couple of her friends she has known since high school – and
that was a long long time ago!! Andrea & Kathy made room in their schedules
to see Robin, and she is very thankful for that. Another really good long-time
friend, Cinny, also drove “down from the mountain” to spend some time with
Robin. Ya’ can’t beat those kinds of friends. (Note the winter-type clothing we
are wearing…)
Robin with Kathy & Andrea – long time friends Robin with “Cinny” – another long time friend
Soon after returning to The
Cat’s Meow, we were once again privileged to experience and to be a part of
some incredible cruising-community togetherness: As we were preparing to leave
Billie & Ted’s boat Siempre Sabado one evening after a very nice dinner, we
saw another boat at anchor fully engulfed in flames!! We wanna tell ya’, that
is a scary and awesome sight. Billie caught some moments digitally, including
the Navy guys on the burning boat!
ShellyB on fire at anchor, Bay of La Paz Mexican Navy personnel onboard ShellyB
At that point we only could hope there was no one, including pets,
aboard. Some cruisers raced out to the boat in dinghies, but pieces of the boat
were falling into the water, aflame, and it was pretty dangerous. Brian, the young man who owned the boat,
Shelly B, was standing on another dock, watching everything he owned burn to
the waterline. This was so sad. The next day, many cruisers came forward during
the morning radio net to offer assistance – a place to stay, food, clothing,
money, etc. The real surprise came the next day, when three of the cruisers
presented Brian with his new boat: one that had been damaged three years ago
during hurricane Marty, but was still floating, and: it was the same type of
boat he had lost!! Brian had been blindfolded and led down a dock to see his
new home only about 36 hours after losing the Shelly B! For the next 10 days or
so, work was a’foot to repair the new boat – appropriately renamed the Phoenix
– and to get her ready for sailing. Many cruisers pitched in with all the hard
work. Robin participated in organizing a dinner-auction at Ciao’ Molino’s, a
very cruiser-friendly restaurant, at which time well over $10K, US was raied!!!
Now, that is a great story, isn’t it??! Here are some more photos:
Brian on the “new” soon to be named Phoenix Ted n’ Billie, of Siempre Sabado fame
Well, that is a good point
to rest on. Please come back, ‘cause we are finally (!!) updating our stories
& photos for you. We hope you enjoy seeing and hearing about our ups &
not-ups!! See ya’ next time, here at Cruising ~
The Cat’s Meow Style.
Sunset on the malecon, La Paz, Baja
California Sur, Mx.