Up and off to the Marina Vallarta with Capitan Lauro! He picks me up at the Villa this morning so we can make the best use of our day remaining. The house has another real estate showing on Friday so I make use of my time in the morning by stripping the bed, washing towels and general cleanup. Lauro shows me we need to pull in the deck furniture and pull shades and curtains. Looks presentable for now. Housekeeper will come tomorrow and fix it the way they like it to be shown. On to Breathless.
Breathless has a ship mascot who is a pelican. I asked Lauro what he calls him but he said that it wasn't very nice. This pelican likes to sit on the bow and watch out over the harbor. Needless to say what his other end is doing to the boat... This makes the tarp on the bow end kinda stinky so I was no longer singing the praises of our funny looking mascot who makes life just a little more difficult for those who do the cleanup.
At lunch my captain went home while I siesta'd in the wheel house. I walked about knowing this was the end of my time here and got a little tearful. She is so beautiful. Displaying craftsmanship from every direction. It is amazing how boats are made with such detail but functionality. Everything has a purpose (sometimes multiple) and a place. Small areas but efficient. My pictures don't do her justice but I had to try.
Clean and tidy, ready for another day, we leave her at the dock while we make our way to the airport. We talk about Lauro's life at sea. How he hadn't seen his son born until after he was a year old. It is a tough life but he loves it. It suits him. He has been to so many places all over the world. His observations of people are profound. He is a wise young man at 47 years old and I am happy to have been able to spend this time and learn from him. A hug and a job well done from Lauro - that way to Alaska Airlines.
We start by noting no condensation has accumulated so we do not need to wipe her down. Humidity must be low. Placing the bagged ship covers forward and aft up near the hatches, we un-bag the monster covers. We drop the boom by tying off the hydraulic lift arm to a small rope so it wont drop and hit Breathless. Lauro removes the carter pin and moves up to the top of the boom and lifts the tension off so I can remove the bolt that holds it in place. Now comes the big job of covering her. We worked slowly and carefully. I like his style. Nothing gets broke and no one gets hurt. We work well together. I watch where he is going and help him to get the cover into position. We zip each section together as we go. We work our way to the stern where we remove the cover from the outside cockpit (I'm sure he told me the name but my brain is fried from having this sore throat). Off comes that cover and on goes this. Next we install sand bag weights to keep the cover in place. These are zipped on to the lower edge and set out side the boat deck. This took nothing to type. It took so much longer to to do. Lauro washes the cockpit area covers by lying them on dock, I spray with the hose and he scrubs with a brush. Meanwhile, I practice my method of tying down the bow, spring and stern ropes on the cleats. Also practiced the bow knot and another 2 Lauro showed me but was unable to name. These are important tools of the trade and I am so happy to get to learn them. There is so much a boat needs all the time you are never without work. We talked about it being like the Golden Gate bridge, finish from end to the other and start over again. We polished stainless steel, we covered floors.
Breathless has a ship mascot who is a pelican. I asked Lauro what he calls him but he said that it wasn't very nice. This pelican likes to sit on the bow and watch out over the harbor. Needless to say what his other end is doing to the boat... This makes the tarp on the bow end kinda stinky so I was no longer singing the praises of our funny looking mascot who makes life just a little more difficult for those who do the cleanup.
At lunch my captain went home while I siesta'd in the wheel house. I walked about knowing this was the end of my time here and got a little tearful. She is so beautiful. Displaying craftsmanship from every direction. It is amazing how boats are made with such detail but functionality. Everything has a purpose (sometimes multiple) and a place. Small areas but efficient. My pictures don't do her justice but I had to try.
Clean and tidy, ready for another day, we leave her at the dock while we make our way to the airport. We talk about Lauro's life at sea. How he hadn't seen his son born until after he was a year old. It is a tough life but he loves it. It suits him. He has been to so many places all over the world. His observations of people are profound. He is a wise young man at 47 years old and I am happy to have been able to spend this time and learn from him. A hug and a job well done from Lauro - that way to Alaska Airlines.
