Getting the boat ready & leaving Mazatlan 3.14.2011

To sell…. A horrible 4-letter word. We’ve spent the past few weeks doing lots of projects to make the boat ‘beautiful’er. J The teak was stripped & re-varnished, we had new foam put inside the cushions, had the dodger & bimini re-stitched, new covers made for the liferaft & winches, the inside of the boat was given a good scrubbing, those little beautifications that we’ve been overlooking have been done, fixes needing fixed, fixed.



She looks pretty good, doesn’t she?! She’s literally in the best shape ever. Everything is working perfectly, she’s all varnished & gorgeous, and is ready for a new owner. So if you know anyone looking for a ready-to-go cruising boat, this is the one!

Check out the listing here…

And of course, going through every nook & cranny on the boat and deciding whether the items should be left for the new owner, sold, packed & stored for later, or packed & taken with us on the plane. This job sucks. We’ve lived on the boat for 10 years and didn’t plan on doing this when we moved everything on. We sold so much stuff, gave away even more, and packed 8 Rubbermaid tubs that we’re placing in storage until we have a chance to come back down & pick them up.

You see, we usually drive down but this year we decided to fly. Looking back this was a bad decision but o-well! Nothing we can do about it now.

Our good friends Mike & Julie agreed to take two Rubbermaid tubs that had some of our ‘sensitive’ items – things that were heavy weight-wise and we didn’t want to fly with and we didn’t want to leave in storage. Things like Michael’s coin collection, pots & pans, knives, and a bunch of other miscellaneous stuff. Luckily for us, they were driving back with an almost empty van and they didn’t mind some other last-minute items as well like Michael’s guitar, my ukulele, a blanket, & a craft box. I don’t know what we wouldn’t have done if they didn’t take it for us!

But it’s done. There have been LOTS of tears, tough decisions, and difficult days. I’m glad it’s over for now. My most saddest day was when I had to leave my plants. Who knew I would be so sentimental over those silly plants?!



We’ve been staying at a condo for the last couple days which has made it easier to pack the four suitcases we can take on the plane and the four carry-ons. It’ll be a miracle if we make it through customs, immigration, & TSA without them being opened up and rearranged, which I hope the person who does remembers where everything went so they can get them closed again! They’re literally so packed I fear they’ll be like jack-in-the-boxes if opened – everything will come boinging out!

And of course, we said goodbye to our favorite little Dock 5 kitty – White Kitty with the crazy eyes….



We’re sad. Sad to leave Mazatlan, sad to leave the boat, sad to leave our friends. But a wonderful friend shared with us an Italian saying that goes something like “Leave the party while you’re still having fun”….and that’s what we intend to do. So we’re on to bigger and better things, a new chapter in our lives!

More to follow…
Rene