We added 15 horses to the fleet and we're pumping an extra 50 amps an hour into the battery bank!

Since the last blog, we have settled back into life in La Paz. We have been running many errands all over town, bought a bigger dinghy motor, received our alternator back from a warranty issue, and I had a visit to the eye doctor. There is a lot going on here!!

As I have mentioned before, we have spent a lot of time in La Paz, so it's nice to be back and know where to get all the things we need. We have filled our CO2 tank (at a fire extinguisher shop), which we use to make carbonated water. We picked up some miscellaneous items for Karuna (meaning we went to 10 different places hoping we would find what we were looking for, and will most likely have to modify everything we bought), enjoyed the culinary arts, and have literally biked the entire town.

For the most exciting news to report: we have upgraded to a 15 horsepower dinghy motor! On the morning net there was another boat selling their 2010, 2 stroke dinghy motor for a very reasonable price. We currently have a 6 horsepower motor, so this was a huge upgrade, bring on the extra ponies! Our dinghy is like a car for us, it's how we get to shore and cart our groceries, water, and other supplies back to Karuna. With the bigger outboard motor, we are able to plane, which means we use hydrodynamic lift, rather than hydro-static lift...aka we can go faster! We typically like to anchor out from the crowds and further away from shore, so getting around is a bit easier and faster now.

The main reason for our long layover in La Paz is that we were awaiting the arrival of an alternators that we sent back to the US for warranty work. It's a bit of a hassle to get things to Mexico. Shipping and import fees are a bit cumbersome and expensive…. but we have our new alternator back on Karuna and installed! Even better news: Balmar did a warranty replacement which upgraded us from our 200amp high output alternator to a 250amp high output alternator. Woot woot!

Next...I've been fighting a bit of an eye infection, so after calling a few eye doctors, I got an appointment and got checked out. Medical, vision, and dental are handled very different in Mexico compared to the US. We pay out of pocket here, however it's very reasonable. I received a full eye exam, including a diagnosis for $50 USD (this is actually considered a bit expensive, as I went to a private doctor). I was given an antibiotic and my eyes are feeling much better! Yay!!

Other than all that, we are waiting for a few final, imported deliveries and then we will be on our way to Puerto Vallarta. We are looking forward to leaving, we have been "stuck" at port the past few days, due to wind. The port captain takes his job quite seriously here, and if the wind is blowing more than 17 knots, he closes the port. Fingers crossed, once we have all our deliveries, we will have a good weather window, say 'hasta luego' to La Paz, and head across to mainland Mexico, and keep heading south!!