When we drove home in May Bill had a job awaiting him back on the boat. He picked up a new water maker, along with several other 'boaty' items and then headed south again. Alice stayed home to prepare for her trip to Clovis, CA and her oldest grandson's high school graduation. The Magic Man, aka Bill Johnson, installed the lovely new water maker system and then decided to hie himself and Grey Wolf across the Sea of Cortez to the bustling harbor at Guaymas, Sonora so he could have the boat pulled out, surveyed for new insurance, and then repainted. Being a frugal guy, he decided to do the painting all by himself!! A three day estimate turned into a two week project... First, he waited three days to be pulled out, then found so many barnacles that it took him three days to scrape them all off. Upon getting a good look at the bottom he found numerous paint blisters, which he then scraped off, filled, and sanded. He also sanded the entire bottom, and in his words "You have no idea how big this boat is until you work on the bottom (50 ft. long, 17 ft. wide...)" Trekking back and forth to the city for supplies was a challenge with no vehicle. No black paint was to be had, so Bill settled for blue. The propeller was damaged in the pullout, so he hired a man to repair it. A through hole was leaking, so he had to re-fiberglass it. Since he was "on the hard"- in a boatyard- the A/C did not work, as it is water-cooled. He could hardly sleep at night and drank a gallon or more of water every day to keep himself hydrated! Once the job was done and he was back in the water he had to travel to an anchorage and wait out the wind before crossing back over. He was able to catch up with brother Barry and his friend Cindy before finally crossing back over, and two good dinners with them began his recovery from the ordeal. The icing on the cake was catching a 51" dorado on his way back to Santa Rosalia!! Two days later Alice returned via bus: all's well that ends well, in the words of the Bard!
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