Landlocked 6/20 (A post that never got posted)

We managed to motor-sail up the Mexican coast into the Sea of Cortez to a nice little town called Guaymas. Here there are a couple of marinas and boat haul-out yards in the area. One of the yards can handle catamarans the size of Stray Catz. Guaymas is also clear of most hurricanes.

A small problem occurred when we showed up at our boat yard of choice. Their brand new trailer used to pull out catamarans was not yet in service. It also was not scheduled to be finished for another three weeks. Being as I really wanted to attend my friend Ed’s retirement party we needed to park Stray Catz at a marina while we jumped on a bus to Phoenix. This of course meant we would have to come back to Mexico and put Stray Catz in a more secure location later.

We were obviously a big surprise to Ed at his party. He had no idea I would be there, and by the look on his face it was a pleasant surprise.

After the party, the next item on the Phoenix to-do list was to secure a land based vessel that would carry us safely around the USA. Since the trailer that would put Stray Catz on land still wasn’t ready, we made a decision to visit Anna’s family in Lake Tahoe. And of course visit our dogs who Anna’s parents have been so kind to dog sit for us all this time.

Arriving at Lake Tahoe, the reuniting of the dogs with their owners was bittersweet emotionally.  After the brief moment of stranger barking, Panda recognized and greeted Kylan. Diva however was holding a grudge. She greeted Kylan and I just fine, but avoided Anna like she had the plaque.  After a night of coaxing and apologizing on Anna’s part, Diva finally forgave her and they became the best of friends again.

Back in Mexico, the yard and their trailer were finally ready so we headed back to Stray Catz. We arrived on Friday expecting to haul out on Monday. We had a few things to take care of prior to the haul out so we got right to work on them. Now this being Mexico, everything didn’t go exactly as planned. First there was no fresh water at the marina, so washing the sails couldn’t happen. Washing of many other things couldn’t either. Meanwhile across the bay at the boat yard, the new haul out trailer got damaged doing a job, so it was questionable whether our haul-out would be possible on Monday. And the temperature was hot!!!!

As it turned out the trailer was repaired and they were able to haul us out on Monday. We motored Stray Catz across the bay to the storage yard and that’s when the fun began.

Being only the second boat to use this trailer to haul out at this yard, there was a bit of a learning curve going on. In the past they have always used a boat lift to haul boats. Stray Catz however has a 24′ beam and the yard would have to borrow a lift from the shrimp boat facility next door. To avoid that this yard custom built a trailer to haul out the catamarans that are over 18′ wide (most of them). With a brand new trailer and ready to use it, the yard hauled a 50′ cat out that Friday. This damaged the trailer. Minor damage but easily fixed, so the trailer was back in service on Monday.

It took about 4 hours to haul Stray Catz out of the water and securely placed her on blocks in the yard. The job was completed without any incidents, however I believe some design changes will be in order for the trailer.

It took another day of taking sails down, securing systems and various other odds and ends before Stray Catz was ready, and with a tear welling up in our eyes, we said good-bye knowing we weren’t going to see her again for at least 6 months.

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