The upgrade of our cockpit included a new and enhanced stainless steel stern pulpit; a stern arch on which to mount our radar dome and a couple of new solar panels; and a brand-spankin'-new dodger and bimini combo platter made out of Stamoid. This entire refit took four months exactly to complete, from late November 2015 to late February 2016. That was fine by us because it gave us plenty of time to work on a variety of repairs and boat projects, as well as plenty of time to hang out with friends and do as much tourism as we wanted. G and J of m/v Shamrock invited us to join them and other friends for their weekly lunch-and-a-movie get-together and other excursions; and we traded occasional dinners on each other's boats. I even substituted as net control for the local morning cruisers' net a few times. We were becoming Mazatlan residents for sure.
Rick of s/v Cape Starr designed and installed the stern arch and pulpit assembly, which needed only a few 
adjustments to get just right. Mounting the solar panels and radar dome required more tweaks and troubleshooting, as did the installation of new cockpit lights and stern-mounted dinghy davits. There were the 
typical boatyard-style delays in getting certain specific parts and hardware shipped to Mazatlan from who-knows-where, but Rick and his crew worked steadily to see that everything eventually fell into place. They were also happy to do some side-work at the same time, such as refurbishing our spare alternator and climbing the mast to replace our deck light and our mast-head wind indicator with a new, more bird-resistant spiked version. Thanks for everything, Rick!
Reuben and his helpers installed the new Stamoid cockpit fabric and – with a fair amount of manhandling – made 
the dodger drum- 
tight. That Stamoid dodger ain't going ANYwhere. Reuben had even fabricated snap-on Stamoid covers for the clear plastic portions of the dodger, for extra sun protection when we were not underway. Everything was so shiny and purty and new. 
Meanwhile, GB and I did all of the smaller necessary projects that we could find around the boat: chasing down and fixing small leaks before they became big leaks; servicing the engine; replacing the marine toilet in the head; sewing a number of Sunbrella covers for various objects; troubleshooting the ESPAR space heater; performing regular maintenance on the water heater; and inspecting and testing the watermaker.
By February's end all this work was FINALLY done and we were ready to cruise….
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