Lil' Rumi Boat

Part of what drew us to sailing was the notion that it would be a way to live more lightly on this planet. Once we’re living on Rumiko our physical footprint will be wee, and our ecological footprint will also be quite small (very minor diesel fuel usage, about a gallon of fresh water per person per day, electricity generated by solar panels, etc). But there are aspects of the sailing life that are not so “green.” For example, bottom paint is notoriously nasty . In the past it was laced with metals such as mercury, lead or arsenic. Copper and tin are used today, but are being phased out in many regions of the world. Biocides are also used in the paint. The various toxic products are used to prevent or minimize the build-up of marine organisms, such as barnacles, on the hull, keel and rudder. Different toxic mixtures may be used depending on where one sails, as differences in salinity, temperature and dissolved oxygen levels in water can impact the effectiveness of the paint. The tox...

A week ago, Lisa and Dan joined Burke, Kacey and Quinn for the maiden voyage of Isis . We set out on a four-day trip, and ended up staying out five days. We would have been away longer, but we ran out of beer, ice and cocktail mixers (oh, and food, too). And there was the gentle-but-persistent feeling that there was some reason that Lisa and Dan had to get back to La Paz... namely, Rumiko , waiting for her thorough scrub-down and engine installation. Thursday, March 5th was sunny and gorgeous as we headed out of La Paz. We motored out of the main channel, where we passed by the Bercovich boat yard and Rumiko . The oil tanker anchored upwind from the yard provided a great photo-op. Once out of the main channel we headed north for Isla Espiritu Santo and Isla Partida. While Burke and Kacey tested out various equipment on Isis , (the sails, diesel engine, GPS, etc.), Dan and Lisa soaked in both the sun and a lot of new information. Just before dusk we pulled into our anchorage at Caleta...

First impressions on being new boat owners: excitement, dismay. Yesterday we visited Rumiko . And yes, we still think she's a beautiful little boat. We looked up at her, and our hearts started beating faster as we thought about what adventures we have in store. She's up on stilts or "on the hard" in the Bercovich boat yard - a sunbeaten, dusty place, downwind from a Pemex (state-owned) petroleum refinery. Great neighborhood. Also, beside our boat is the boat yard's welding, painting and machine shop - great fumes coming from there. . . We opened up Rumiko and started poking into all of the holds and cupboards. The boat had previously been owned by a bachelor, who was going to sail it single-handed. But before he could get into the water, he had a heart attack. So he'd been living on it for the past year or so. The layers of filth are akin to living in a shared-house during university, where the common spaces (kitchens/bathrooms) are disgusting because...