Hauled Out in San Blas

April 16, 2025 

On Wednesday morning we had a list of tasks that we were going to do while we were still in the water.  With our back cabin a mess and stuff strewn around the cockpit we worked on pickling our water-maker membrane. 

Jason had just left to take Falcon up to the bathroom when one of the marina workers came down to measure our boat for the placement of the lifting straps.  He spoke a bit of English so communication was easier with a mixture of English and Spanish.  He asked how much water we needed and when I told him that we only draw 5 feet he mentioned hauling out that very morning.  I said, "No", because we were in the middle of stuff and had lots more to do that would be nice to be in the water for.  I asked about Thursday morning and he said that he would check the tides.  

A little while later he came back and said that the tide was way too low on Thursday, and that we had to haul out now.  “Now! Why? We were told that it had to be in the evening?”  Apparently, now that the people who understood more about how much water we needed were involved, and how much water was available in the channel, they knew that it was possible to haul us out in the morning.  We were told, understandably, that everything is easier and safer when it is daylight, and so the manager had said that we had to haul out in the morning.  We agreed completely, we prefer to move during the day as well, but our whole day was underway with the idea that we were not moving until evening.  To top it off we weren’t actually being asked to move at high tide, we were being told to move before the high because they had another boat who needed more water in the haul-out spot at high tide to be able to get their mast put in place.    

Once again the whirlwind of preparation to move the boat began.  About ten minutes later our engine was on, the travel lift was in place, and we were signalled to leave the slip and motor over.  While underway Jason saw 1.7 feet of water below our keel on our depth sounder.  

In San Blas they lift boats backwards in the travel lift so as to avoid having to remove the forestay and so that when boats are launched, they go in forwards.  This meant that we had to turn the boat around and back in.  We thought that we were to do it ourselves under power, which was not a problem, but we were aware that with the lower water level we would have a lot less room for the turn.  The lift guys directed us otherwise, however.  They had us come bow in to the wall and with us giving them lines from different parts of the boat at the right time they swung us around and pulled us into the lift area with perfect coordination.  It was as easy as could be.

After our three days in the marina, and now getting hauled out by the yard crew, Falcon had made friends with everyone from the office lady, the yard manager, the security guards, and now the yard crew.  He would smile and wave saying “hola”, or “buenos dias” (good morning), and say “gracias” (thank you), at the appropriate times.  Everyone knew us and loved him. 

While our boat hung in the slings of the travel lift Jason scraped and pressure washed our hull with the use of the pressure washer rented from the yard. 

When he was done we walked into town for some lunch while the yard crew blocked up our boat and moved the travel lift away. 

When we returned, life and work on the hard began.  Luckily for us, Falcon has long ago mastered climbing ladders, because up and down a ladder was now the only way on and off of our boat.