Another day down.
05 November 2010 | San Carlos, Mexico
sunny and warm
Well, it's now after 2200 and Tracy is off to bed with the kids and I'm out at the table letting you know how it is going.
So far, we've cut off the blue tarp, put on the main sail, jib and the roller furling Genoa sail. The reefing lines have been installed on the main. The deck has been vacuumed of all the blue dust and the San Carlos dirt. I've changed out the blocks that the lines that raise the main run through. The old ones took two lines(primary and backup lines) through one set of blocks that had two wheels. When one line was pulled, the block had a tendency to twist making raising the sail harder. Now each line has it's own block. I'll be posting some more pictures so you can easily see what I'm talking about. Check under the "Main" photo album for the pictures under the "San Carlos boatyard" heading.
The hull has been cleaned and waxed so she's looking good.
Tracy has stowed tons of supplies in the numerous cubbies we have onboard and is making a pile of things I will be taking back home. After being out here for a few years, we know what we really need and what we don't.
The water tanks pressurized just fine(sigh of relief) and the batteries took a full charge. The frig/freezer is up and running after getting two cans of coolant run into it. Not sure where the old stuff went but it was sure gone. I borrowed and coolant sniffer(amazing what you can find on peoples boats out here) and checked all the copper lines. NO detectable leaks. Oh well.
I've torn apart two of our through hulls(the first one three times) cleaning off the surface with a "valve polishing compound" normally used on car engine valves(again---amazing what you can find on boats out here. I bought my own supply today at Autozone in Guaymas.
We have two deck hatches in a fiberglass shop in Guaymas getting the underside fiberglassed over. Again--take a look at the pictures for a closer look of what shape they were in(bad).
I've installed the zincs on the propeller as well was five on the rudder. It keeps the metal on each from getting eaten by electrolysis or some such thing. Once that was done, I spent a good bit of time pumping grease into the gears of our propeller. It's not like you "normal" prop that just spins. This baby rotates as it spins from forward to reverse. Called a "MaxProp", it's a VERY expensive piece of equipment for a boat. The last owners of Zephyr had it installed. Works great but again, it's another maintenance project.
As I said earlier, the kids are adjust ing quite well to being back home. Sleep all day other then a few walks around the deck and then Blue wants to stroll the decks at night. That's not going to happen.
Brackets are made for our radar reflector but I have to go up the mast for that installation and it's a few days off.
Tomorrow--on to our electrical problem. We have power on the port side but not starboard. Out with the volt meter for some real fun. Sure hope I don't fry myself.
Check the pictures for more show and tell. If you have any questions, just leave them in the "comments" section.