Whew, it was a whirlwind final week in the yard with the departure date getting pushed back a couple times. We went from two guys working on the boat to three or four per day, with the vast majority of the work polishing the boat. It was a slow arduous process, with many requests by me to go over an area again and again until the gelcoat was shinning. The yard guys; Jose ‘Pepe’, Sebastian, Eric, and Sergio took my requests in stride and worked their butts off. By Friday afternoon it was mostly complete other than a few new areas that needed more gelcoat. That left Saturday to clean the non-skid, strip wash the boat, apply ceramic coat, and apply Woody’s non-skid wax. With six of us hitting it hard, we knocked it out by 11:30am and by noon we were off the dock, waving goodbye to our crew.
With a few projects in Ensenada to go, we felt good having all of the heavy lifting behind us. After the motor out of San Diego bay, out came the main and then the screecher. Suddenly, everything went haywire. The continuous furling line, that I had just replaced, jumped out of the furler. What the f*ck. It was a bit of shitshow but we managed to get a crappy furl on the sail and drop it on deck. Past pictures I had taken were consulted. The internet was searched. And the problem was identified – the line had not be properly run through the furler. What a waste of $450 (new line and the splice). Back to the internet, I downloaded a YouTube tutorial and proceeded to splice the line (now shorter) the correct way. Not the best splice but certainly safe to use, we pulled out the screecher with success this time, just two short hours later. Oh and with a continuous furling line that is now too short (for the long term), it must be replaced again.
It was a beautiful sail for more than half the trip, but as is frequently the case the wind left us and a motorsail it became. Around five with not enough wind to fill the sails we dropped them and conceded that the remainder of the trip would be a motor. We went into watch schedule until arriving at Baja Naval at 12:30am. A smooth arrival on the dock and after a quick clean up everyone headed for their bunk.
Here are the final totals for hours (total cost for labor/parts was $33,199.79) working on the refit:
| The final totals for hours working on the refit: | |
|---|---|
| Hernandez guys | 413 |
| Chris | 303.5 |
| Jack | 53.25 |
| Vicki | 11 |
| TOTAL hours | 780.75 |
| Work Items |
|---|
| Apply new Seawind logos, boat name, hailing Port, and traveller vinyl |
| Attached all engine hoses, check hose clamps, and test run engines 10 minutes at 2,000RPM |
| Check wires and conections on the windvane, speed/depth sensor, and ITC-5 device |
| Clean and treat stainless rivets on the mast |
| Clean boat with wax stripping soap and apply ceramic coating |
| Climb mast and clean contacts on the windvane |
| Distribute wooden plugs to each thru hull |
| Fill extra dinghy jerry cans |
| Install plexiglas behind SB engine to help draw air from the front of the engine compartment when blower fan is operating |
| Investigate water drip forebeam - drill holes to drain, sand paint off of welds, metal epoxy to fill corrosion, prime and paint |
| Locker hinges and latches - remove, polish, reinstall |
| Non-skid - clean, wash, treat with Woody's, non-skid treatment |
| Pick up overhauled scuba regulator/octopus |
| Remove boat speed paddlewheel and clean |
| Remove, clean, and rebed stern stanchions (3m 4000UV) |
| Repair solar panels - remove panels, wire brush corrossion, treat with aluminum jelly, wash with vinegar, wash with acetone, paint with enamel paint, fill seams between frame and glass with 4000UV, and reinstall panels |
| Replace stern light - replace corroded non-marine wire |
| Spot clean mold with vingear on ceiling and window shades |
| Treat engine muffler mounting - remove brackets, sand metal brackets, remove rust from fiberglass parts, prime and paint brackets, reinstall brackets and engine water mufflers |
| Miguel Hernandez Yacht Refinishing (Entire 4 weeks) |
|---|
| Forebeam and Bowsprit - treat extensive areas of corrosion (sand/grind, prime, and paint) |
| Gelcoat - repair cracks and damaged areas |
| Non-skid - repair damaged areas and carve new gelcoat to match non-skid pattern |
| Sterns - fix stanchion mouning pads, fix large damaged area from dingy (grid back fiberglass, dry wet foam core with a heater for two weeks, apply flox/epoxy mixture, gelcoat), paint stern extensions |
| Polish entire boat (112 hours three guys over 5 days) |
| Total for Week 4 | 48.25 | 47.25 | 11 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10/25/2025 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| 10/24/2025 | 9 | 8 | 5 |
| 10/23/2025 | 8.75 | 8.75 | |
| 10/22/2025 | 9 | 9 | |
| 10/21/2025 | 8.5 | 8.5 | |
| 10/20/2025 | 7 | 7 | |
| Chris | Jack | Vicki |
Looks like the crew has got her in ship shape. Here’s Wishing you fair winds heading south.