The Definition of Cruising
21 February 2013 | Zihuatanejo/Madera Playa
Gabriellas G-Pa
The defintion of cruising is "repairing your boat in exotic locations" is my mantra at this time of my cruise. We, my buddy boat Amerige with Joe at the helm, made it out of the bay on our way to Santiago when all of a sudden my oil alert light and buzzer went off. I immediately shut down the engine and lifted the hatch to the engine room. The bilge was filled with oil and I checked the dip stick in the engine with the result being a dry stick. So I filled the engine with oil and started it to see where the oil was coming out. There was a hole in the external oil return line and it was pumping oil out at a fast pace. This is one time that I am happy to be buddy-boating....I called Joe on the VHF and told him what my problems were. He towed me back to the bay and we dropped the hooks in our old spots. I started to tear the engine apart to get at the oil line so I could see if it was repairable. I got it off and determined the problem area was a pinhole and a break. I called Totalyachtworks in Mazatlan to see if they had the exact oil pipe. They did not, so off I went to seek a place to braise the old one back together. Found a place to do the work and after an inexpensive rebuilding of the oil pipe I brought it back to install. As I was installing the oil pipe I broke a bolt in half with too much pressure....a trick I learned from my son! This bolt is not an ordinary bolt as it has a hole down the shaft of it and a pinhole on the side of it. Needless to say that I wouldn't find one of these down here in Zihua. So I contacted TotalYachtWorks in Mazatlan and had them send off 2 of these special bolts. Now I just play the waiting game for the parts to get here. I'm sure glad that I'm on MY time and have no job to report to or other obligations. I'll just have to enjoy more of Zihua and not worry about when I get to my next destination.......I Love and Miss you Gabriella!!!!!