This is a poor attempt at trying to remember Lazarus. Lazarus was my first boat, a Hardin 44 Ketch. She was clearly to large for my first boat but she had great "pirate ship" lines and I could afford her. She had previously been named "Mahalus" or something like that and I wanted to resurrect her from a dock-side condo, which she had become under the previous ownership, back to a sailing vessel which she was designed to be. However, I did not know the fury of the sea and wind gods when you rename a boat and they lose track of her. Lazarus was purchased in March or maybe April of 2001, I can't remember which, and after receiving new rigging, extensive interior floor work, new scroll work on her exterior lines, a new radar, a chart plotter, and a GPS she was planning on spending three months in Ensenada, Mexico to avoid California state tax. I set sail toward Mexico in early July having previously driven to Ensenada and purchased a three-month slip. The crew included my girlfriend, a male "friend" of mine and his wife. Neither of the women had any previous sailing experience. I had never done an overnighter and I only knew of my friend's daysailing experience. But, I thought, it was a simple one-day trip and nothing could go wrong. Lazarus was a heavy, slow ketch. We left San Diego around 9am and made our way South under very light winds. It was dark before we got close to Ensenada and my friend wanted to do the navigating, as he was fascinated with all the electronics. Foolishly, I did not double check his work and did not have night-lights on my depth sounder or the other instruments that were already on the boat when I purchased it. Nearing midnight on Saturday, my friend looked at the Ensenada harbor on the chart, found something similar on the chart plotter and guided us directly into a slough. The first time I knew we were in shallow water was when the keel hit bottom with a solid thud. I tried to back out but we were on a full moon high tide and the waves kept bumping us toward shore. I called a "Mayday" to the US Coast Guard who, after ascertaining we were not in immediate danger, called my towing service, Boat US, for me. I was told Boat US towing would be arriving in about six hours from San Diego. The crew and I put on life-vests and spent the night listening to the boat bump up onto the beach. By daybreak Lazarus was at a severe angle and, upon coming up on deck, I found we were completely on the beach. At low tide you could walk off the boat. I contacted the Coast Guard, having actually kept in touch with them every hour to confirm our safety. Great bunch of folks, the US Coast Guard. They informed me that Boat US towing had declined to come down to Mexico and that Boat US towing had instructed I find a local towing service. Yes, I was to call channel 16 at 6am Sunday morning in Mexico to find a towing service. Unfortunately, I do not speak Spanish and did not get any reply. Surprise, surprise! Finally, I convinced my friend, his wife, and my girlfriend to leave the boat and walk into town. We could see the town across the bay. They did so very reluctantly as they did not want to leave me alone. My friend found a telephone and contacted my insurance carrier, who contacted SeaTow in San Diego. SeaTow dispatched a boat and a crew by car toward my location. They arrived on site late Sunday afternoon after Lazarus had spent an entire day on the beach. Fortunately at this point there was only some rudder damage to the boat. SeaTow brought lines from their boat to Lazarus and attempted to pull her off the beach but it was not to be. After trying for two days and numerous tide changes, the surf started to break into Lazarus' portholes and she began taking on water. I stayed with the boat the entire time as to leave it would be to give up salvage rights. The scariest night for me was the second night on board when Lazarus was partly filled with water, heeling at a severe angle on the beach. I had to untie the lines from Laz