Sunday, September 21, 2014

News, News and More News


Where to start? I guess I should begin where I left off. We hauled Bettie out and painted the bottom. Vlad and Jaime sanded off all the old bottom paint and ground down and fared the keel. Then, they painted on two coats of epoxy primer and three coats of bottom paint mixed with cooperous oxide and New Mexican hot chili powder (don’t ask!). It took seven days of pretty grueling, in-the-hot-sun work, but they got it done and done well. 

Look at that awesome, shiny paint job!

Of course, as I complained before, it cost mucho dinero, because as we now know the La Cruz Shipyard has the most expensive haul out fee in North America at $19.80 a foot for the haul out and $1.10 for lay days. At least, I couldn't find a pricier work yard after a few days of internet scouring. They raised their already vastly inflated prices 10% from 2013. Go figure. 

Anyway, for eight days on the hard, we paid $1,100, which was a slight discount due to my complaining. I would highly recommend going somewhere (pretty much anywhere!) else if you want a fair price and decent service. (The service wasn’t terrible, but it was pretty crap when you consider that we were paying such an astronomical price. Everyone told me to get used to it because "it’s Mexico," but my thought is that if they want to charge more than the United States they had best have better, faster service. Or you might as well go to San Diego. Which I highly suggest anyway.) Ok, I’m done complaining about this, and I hope I’ve warned all future, budget, DIYers to steer clear of the Banderas Bay area if you need a shipyard. I repeat DO NOT go to La Cruz or Puerto Vallarta for a haul out if you at all value your money. 

So, what else has happened in the past month and a half? Well, we have been hashing over our future plans for a while now and decided that it was time. Time to head back to land. Back to jobs. We are now in New Mexico, where Vlad is working and I am on Jaroslav duty, and we are contemplating our next move.

This is what we look like when we contemplate.

And so we are putting Bettie up for sale. When we started this adventure back in 2012, we knew we had enough savings for a couple of years of sailing. Then, we had a kiddo, and then we got stuck in working in La Cruz, and then we decided that maybe it was finally time for something different. I have some final thoughts on our trip that I'll go into detail on in subsequent posts, a bit of nostalgia mixed with excitement for whatever we decide to do next. And of course, I'll give details on Bettie in case anyone wants to buy the best boat ever.  


13 comments:

  1. Nice paint job.

    Good luck with the next phase of your lives. The boat looks good and hope she finds a good home to be taken care of.

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    1. Us too, Dan! And thanks for the kudos on the paint job. Vlad worked incredibly hard on it.

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  2. As someone once said, the two happiest days of your life are the day you buy your boat and the day you sell your boat.

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    1. Lol! That's pretty funny. However, I'm still a big fan of all the parts in between.

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  3. You've already started your next adventure with the bambino. Keeping fingers crossed that Bettie will find someone to love her as much as you do.

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    1. I certainly hope so, Melissa! Bettie deserves a good home because she is one!

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  4. Oh it was so fun to watch your adventure around Central America, Panama and then Mexico. I really enjoyed your blog as you went a direction many other did not.

    Goodluck to you and Vlad and Jari on your next adventure and I hope Bettie sells quickly and to someone that will her! You've put her in a great position to cross the Pacific, just a hop skip and a jump away.

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    1. I'm just sad that we never got to cruise with you guys! Too bad our adventure is ending right as yours is about to begin.

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  5. Looks great ! Good luck on the next adventure.

    The Fluenta crew (SV-Fluenta.blogspot.ca)

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    1. Hey! I hope you all are doing well! We wish Benjamin were here to play with Jari. They are finally old enough to have some real fun together.

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  6. Wow! Qute a drastic change! Sounds like a good plan though. Hope you two got enough of the "Sea adventure" out of your souls for awhile! You'll enjoy land, too. The very best to you three!

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    1. We definitely quit while we were still having fun, which is the best way to do it I guess. Thanks so much for the well wishes!

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  7. I am excited for the next land based adventure for you and your little crew but a bit sad at hearing you are selling Bettie. I get it though, and I am sure there will be other boats and other Grand Adventures for you in the future. Hey, you never know but it might be you want to a buy a boat in Scotland in a few years and sail Europe for a bit. We'll save you some charts. ;)

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