We departed from Barra with high hopes this afternoon heading into a fresh breeze. When we were about a mile offshore we started to raise the sails; part of this procedure was to tension the backstay. The backstay adjuster is hydraulic, and I found that this device was leaking oil when we were using it. So we reluctantly returned to port to make repairs. I have some new o-rings on order from San Diego ... It will be a few days before they arrive I think.
| Mexico Sailing Trip 2008-2011 |
|
Comments [0]
We said our "adios" to the wonderful staff at the Grand Bay Hotel, and to Maria from Maria's tienda, they have become friends to us and we will miss them very much!
| Mexico Sailing Trip 2008-2011 |
|
We have been taking care of many projects prior to sailing south. Now, finally, we are ready.
Prior to our departure, we did a major upgrade to the fuel filtration system on board Calou. Fuel filters are of critical importance on a diesel powered boat. The fuel filters on board were really inadequate. The new filters are Racor filters about 4 times the size, and there are two of them, with valves so that we can switch from one filter to another while the engine is running. We can now also change a fuel filter while the engine is running, and transfer fuel from the auxiliary fuel tank to the main tank.
Our friend Bob Soleway joined us for this part of the trip, he'll be sailing with us for the next few weeks.
We were ready to depart today from Barra de Navidad (we've been here since January!!). However at the last minute the water pressure pump blew a fuse. We had noticed that the pressure pump was also taking a long time to come up to pressure. This was a signal to us that the pump needed tp be replaced. Fortunately we had packed a new replacement pump on board when we left California. So instead of leaving Barra today, I spent the afternoon installing the new pump. The old one was so noisy, and the new one is so quiet, we can't hear it at all! So we're happy to have taken care of that item.
Now it looks like we're all ready to sail south to Manzanillo in the morning. We'll spend one or two nights in Manzanillo to provision before heading south to Zihuatanejo.
| Mexico Sailing Trip 2008-2011 |
|
Looking forward to hearing about this next chapter in your saga!
Francois and I both passed the PADI Open Water scuba diving certification today. Now we're diving buddies. Francois is one happy diver!
| Mexico Sailing Trip 2008-2011 |
|
Jeff
Francois takes a breath from the regulator at the pool in Barra de Navidad during his first Scuba lesson. Francois and I hit the books over the weekend to pass the tests and get certified.
| Mexico Sailing Trip 2008-2011 |
|
Cela doit rappeler de bons souvenirs de baptême à Pascale !
Bzzz à tous
Our friend Henri left Barra today on his boat, C. Boubou, heading south towards Costa Rica. Notice the prevailing winds in the palm trees!
We'll soon be following close behind.
| Mexico Sailing Trip 2008-2011 |
|
View of the pool at our marina in Barra de Navidad.
| Mexico Sailing Trip 2008-2011 |
|
Pascale and Antoine dressed up for Halloween here in Barra. Pascale put her former movie-makeup-artist skills to good use! The boys Francois and Antoine went trick-or-treating, but it had a different outcome from what they expected. They were inundated by little Mexican kids asking for the candy that they had collected, and by the time the night was over, they had given it all away!
| Mexico Sailing Trip 2008-2011 |
|
Pascale is frightening in that photo!
