Dinghy was


Well, we have had and exciting and productive two weeks. we are in full swing getting our science project going which means getting Vltava going as well as getting together the list of supplies needed for the science experiments. The generosity of the cruiser community here keeps blowing my mind. Not only have I had a handful of guys helping with all the mechanical stuff that needs to happen to get Vltava moving but people have been coming up everyday with supplies for projects, offers of food and even diesel! Ida on Magic Dragon spent one weekend baking amazing treats and then got together with some other wonderful ladies of the fleet and had a bake sale for us. They made over 1000 pesos and coffee hour was packed with people eating all the treats! We also held a dinghy wash(kind of like a car wash for all you land-lubbers out there). The Marina de La Paz was great enough to let us totally take over the fresh water dock and Sam and Isabelle, their two friends off of IWELD, Nick and Sydney, and the two 7 year old twins from Imagine, Holly and Che, spent two hours in the sun scrubbing dinghys and making them shine! The did a great job and had fun also. The french fries and ice cream some of the cruisers bought them for a job well done sweetened the pot. While all this is going on Jack, on WATERDOG,our science teacher extrordinaire, has been help getting all the supplies together, writing up curriculum, meeting with the teacher and I going over details and just overall being available for questions and suggestions from interested people. He even managed to find time in his busy schedule to physically and single-handedly fill all the holes, on the port side, made when Ryan, a few months ago, cleaned and painted the hull. The guy has great energy and is the real reason this is all happening! Larry, on ROSALITA, filled all the holes on the starboard side so we are ready to primer the hull.(Hopefully before we leave). Larry is also going as crew on the school trip and has been a huge help in doing a lot of the little things we find ourselves doing to get ready to leave. He also has a great sense of humor so he is really good for morale! Mike,on TEHANI, helped do some of the nastiest jobs we have had to do. He and I spent one whole day cleaning(sort-of) the bilges, emptying them of water and scraping out all the junk that seems to accumulate there. We had to remove an old water heater and move some things around, which I was glad to have his muscle for. We cleaned and painted the new riser for the exhaust for the engine so it looks great and he strung up tell-tales so we can see the wind direction when we sail. Andre, on WINDROSE, and Richard,on SAIL LA VIE, spent about a week cleaning the bottom of the boat and it is cleaner than it's ever been. It will be interesting to see how much more movement we'll be able to have with a cleaner bottom. Kevin has been a lot of help and spent a few days going over the engine before we got it running. Dean,on IWELD, and Adam, on SMILES TO GO, spent a day helping work on the shifting cable so now all is running smoothly. The biggest help I've gotten has been from Matt. He returned, after an exciting delivery to San Diego and has been a part of every step of the way! His knowledge and easy going-ness is perfect and I feel like we could go any where!He is the captain this boat needs right now. We are planning on a "sea trial" on the 17th. We will motor out to the bay at Lobos and meet up with the Veleros de Baja sailboat race and sail back into the bay with them. We will be able to run all the systems and see if we need to work on anything before our big trip on the 24th. We are still trying to get donations and they keep coming in so we can stay on schedule. It really is amazing! I am going to put in a lot of pictures so you can see all the progress. Allison