Boat Chores are done
17 September 2011 | Bahia de Los Angeles Village, Mexico
Larry Nelson
We've moved back to Bahia de Los Angeles Village. Basically we followed all the other boats. Everyone wanted fresh vegetables and access to the internet, even it if it poor. Also we had a nice invitation to dinner out with Jake and Sharon. It was their thank you to us for bringing them their watermaker membrane and it was a tremendously enjoyable evening.
As the days move further into September the probability of another Chubasco decreases and as I type this there are no tropical storm warnings in our region of the Pacific. Are we lucky? I guess so.
So this morning Larry got up early and started the generator. We've been having trouble with the engine oil temperature switch on the generator. On boats, generators are located in out of the way places and tightly cowled to reduce noise. They run a lot and who wants a loud roar to listen to? Because of their remote location and tight cowling, generators are protected against faults (that you wouldn't otherwise see) with a host of over temperature sensors. There are two down near the oil cooler, one in the exhaust, one in the fresh water cooling system for the engine and so forth. We had a leaking salt water event this spring (which was detected by a special sensor) and now that appears to have resulted in an intermittent connection to the engine oil temperature switch. It's either that or the sensor is failing. I've cleaned the contacts and that did seem to help. It isn't a perfect fix though. There are intermittent difficulties still. The difficulties only occur when the engine/generator are cold which leads me to suspect the sensor. Sensors all assert their faults by going "open". So I can bypass the sensor if I need to with a wire connecting the terminal connectors. Of course I don't like to do that. I've ordered new sensors. I was expecting to have to by pass the sensor this morning, but wonder of wonders, the gen set started and we got our dose of electrons delivered into the batteries for the day. We had a little time to do other chores. So we set about cleaning watermaker filers, cleaning engine water inlet screens, and cleaning the house water inlet screen, and changing zincs on the refrigerator. The house inlet screens were the worst I've ever seen them. Running the air conditioners apparently causes this (there is lots more sea water circulating to meet the air conditioner needs). We had barnacles so dense that we could hardly get the screens out. Basically we had to chisel our way around every water port in the screen housing to reopen the pathways. It is like mowing a lawn that is very tall. It makes you feel good about having done something that needed doing. Of course you also feel bad about not doing it sooner.
Its all done now and we are feeling good. Its time for visitors. Paul and Judy Meany (SV Grace) are coming over and SV Solona too (David and Donna just showed up in the anchorage). The temperatures have moderated and swimming and a cold beer in the cockpit are perfect ways to enjoy this paradise.