11/09/2010, San Carlos, Mexico
Today, we started in on the forward storage locker right behind the anchor locker. As a matter of fact, we actually had thing stored on top of the chain in the anchor locker.
We stow all kinds of stuff down there. From tons of different types and dimensions of lines(also known as rope) to fenders to BIG cable cutters(in case the rigging that holds the mast up breaks) to even extra life jackets. Out it all came for inspection and deciding wether to keep it or send it back to Denver when I leave next week. We took lots of old dock lines and just coils of line to the parking place to see what we actually had. We had one chunk that was 172 feet long. No idea why we had it, or what it was to be used for so it's going home. Heck, I'm taking an entire spool of 600 feet of polypropylene line that we used for stern anchoring up in Canada and haven't used since back with me. What line we decided to keep, Tracy washed in water with fabric softener to get the saltwater in the fibers of the line out. They had been very hard and un-flexible lines. Once washed and rinsed, they were fine.
While we were down there, we stowed all of the caulk we brought back to redo our teak decks when there is time. We also stowed two extra anchors we carry for emergencies and all the line and chain that goes with them. Add in a spare gas and diesel jerry can plus several fenders for when we are at a marina and it's a full locker.
We took time off during the cleaning to go out to a little lunch spot we found called JJ's. A small cafe along the main road in San Carlos. We'd heard about it and have eaten there several times over the last week. Good food at very reasonable prices. It's much like eating at one of the sidewalk carts that are all over Mexico, except that this guy grew past the cart and added all the extras of a small restaurant. I normally get two big pork tacos for just 36 pesos(about $3.00). Tracy orders two equally large fish tacos(it's not like Taco Bell folks). Even adding a beer and a coke, the bill is just about $8.00US. A great bargain for great food.
Yesterday, we started trying out all the outside lights on deck. The deck light(shines down from the mast onto the deck) and the steaming light on the mast were fine. As expected, the anchor light is out again. Something is wrong with the wiring. I'll be up the mast in a few days to see what I can find. We also found that the "running lights"(lights at the bow and stern that tell people which way we are going) were also out. As it turns out, the stern light had a bad connection, and we found the forward light had a broken wire where it comes out through the deck. It took a while to find the break but we did. Out comes the tools--wire cutters, strippers, crimpers, connectors and a new product I brought back with me. Permatex makes a Copper Anti-Seize product that is a grease like product that is full of copper. It not only seals out any kind of moisture, the copper(and there is lots of it) promotes the conductivity of the connection. After cutting out the section of bad wire(sea water is tough on copper wire once it gets through the insulation), I put a healthy dab of the stuff on the each end of the wires and crimped the wires back together. Once that was done, I took my heat gun and shrunk the ends of the fitting so it becomes water tight. I'd learned while in Port Townsend that there are electrical connectors of all types that have an extra piece of heat shrink tube at each end. Once the crimp is down, you shrink the tubes at the end of the fitting and no moisture can get in and screw up the connection. They even make them with a special heat activated adhesive so it makes sure nothing will ever get in. I even took some of the copper anti-seize stuff and put it on the wire connections inside each of the lights. Now, even if it gets some water inside the fitting, it will still have a good connection.
By the time we got everything re-stowed, the lines washed and coiled, it was just about time for dinner. I headed off for the showers to get all the dirt off. It blows here through most of the day and we are surrounded by nothing but dirt so it blows across and through the yard all the time. It's just about impossible to stay clean. Dinner(as always) was great and we settled in for a pleasant evening of watching internet TV.
The kids--both Blue and Snowshoe are really enjoying being home. They spend a good deal of time prowling the decks and sleeping away the day. Tracy sits outside with them for a while each evening so they can checkout Zephyrs deck after it gets dark when cats are supposed to prowl. They are back in their environment. As long as they make no attempt at jumping ship(the neighbors boats are that close)they are free to come and go as they please. But as good parents, we still check where they are regularly.
Tomorrow, on to more projects plus pulling every thing out from under the stern bunk. Inventory and decide what will be joining me for the trip home. If we haven't used it in a year, it's out of here. The car is quickly loading up. I don't think we really need to carry around the last 4 years of "Practical Sailor" magazine.
Stay tuned, more to come.
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11/08/2010, San Carlos, Mexico
Unfortunately, the list just keeps getting longer the more we explore. But at least they are getting done. Tracy is still a bit under the weather with either an allergy or a small cold. She's taken to vegging on the starboard settee--reading and exploring the internet. Hopefully she will be better today.
Yesterday was another day on "pick it up and put it away" if at all possible. I took out the old outlet in the galley and installed one of the two GFCI outlets we brought back. They are apparently hard to get here in Mexico as the last time I looked, everyone was out of them. We'd literally melted the last one with all the electrical problems we had back then.
We bought straps to keep the microwave in place well over a year ago and they finally got installed. In the past, every time Zephyr heeled to port, the microwave would slide out of its spot and try and go into the sinks. Hopefully, not more.
I installed a water sensor in the forward head so if any water should happen to make its way in there--leak or switch to the head not being in the correct place--we will know. I have another to put in the bilge for the same information. The last thing we want is water streaming into Zephyr without our notice. We had that happen as we headed North into British Columbia 18 month ago. The "Dripless" packing gland around the prop wasn't so "Dripless". I just happen to lift the board that covers where the prop goes through the hull and saw gallons of water pouring in. If I hadn't lifted that board, the problem could have been horrific to our journey. Luckily, once the prop stopped turning, the leak stopped.
We're slowing getting back in order and looking better but we have a ways to go before I can get rid of the car in Colorado and get her launched. All in good time.
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11/07/2010, San Carlos, Mexico
It finally warmed up by late morning and off came the jeans and on came the shorts. As we listened to the morning VHF net that goes between Guaymas and San Carlos, we found out that there was a morning "flea market" at 0900. Well, we have lots of extra stuff aboard so we packed up some blocks, fasteners and anything I could find that I felt we could easily get rid off and took off. It was only about 1.5 miles off so no big drive. We pulled in and set up on the ground. About 10 others there so there was plenty of room. Some brought tarps to lay their thing out on. I just used the dirt. Several dozen cruisers showed up and we sold a few things that we no longer needed.
Tracy, meanwhile scoped out the other sellers. She found a set of "rocker stoppers" that some one was selling. If you're at anchor and the wind is blowing from one direction and the waves are coming from another, you dangle these things over the side of your boat about 6 feet down in the water. With the wind from one direction, your boat will face that direction but with the waves from another, the boat tend to rock and roll from side to side. It's a big help keeping the inside of your boat stabile and makes a bad anchorage tolerable for the night. We've seen several boats use them as we sit an anchor. We walked off with two of them. One for each side of the boat for better stability.
Off we went for Star Marine to pay for the electrician that came on Friday. A bill for just $40.00 awaited me. More than worth that price to get one of our biggest problems solved.
Back to Zephyr to drop off Tracy and I was off for Guaymas to pick up our repaired hatch boards for the storage compartments on deck. I'll post pictures in the photo area as a subheading under the "Main" gallery for San Carlos boat yard. They looked great with lots of epoxy and sheets of fiberglass laid in the recess area of the hatch that was coming apart. Where the wood had split, they filled the cracks with epoxy and sanded it smooth. They were as solid as a brick of epoxy which is what they now were. Built properly to withstand the everyday traffic they had suffered through for years. Back to Zephyr and out with the screw driver and they were back where they belonged. The deck is now a safe place to walk without fear of falling through. A great relief.
A quick lunch and off for the local Pemex(gas)station with all the gas and a diesel cans to get them all filled. We'd planned properly and made sure they were all empty when we let. So three 5 gallon gas cans, one 6 gallon gas can, one 5 gallon diesel can, plus the outboard motor gas can and we were set. While I was gone, Tracy set up the crane we use to lift the outboard motor on deck with so we could get these heavy cans back aboard. Up they went one after another till all were aboard. I took them forward and covered them with nice blue sunbrella covers Tracy made last year and belted them to the port side bracket I had made for them way back in Port Townsend.
Now it was time to tackle the missing ground wire I discussed yesterday. Out came some nice 10 gauge green wire and in I went. We're lucky enough to have a huge, easily accessible engine room which leaves me plenty of room to even sit on our engine. The breaker switches I needed to get to were above the engine on the starboard side. Out came the screws and off the cover came. I sized up the size of the screw it was going to have to be screwed to. Guess what---I didn't have the right size fitting for the end of the wire. With all the connectors I had brought back with me, I couldn't find the one I needed. If my head wasn't attached, I swear I'd loose it too. Off to Star Marine--it's now 1640. Not sure if they were still open but I had to take the shot. I got lucky and found them still open. Of course, there were none available on the walls of the store, so I got them to go through the bins they keep behind the counter and voila, after a bit of digging, they came up with just what I needed. Off for Zephyr stopping for a bag of ice along the way. The freezer is working just fine but it's full of food.
With connector in hand(I bought three just in case and will get more in Denver) I sat on the engine and crimped on the connector with my trusty crimper tool. In the wire went and on to the needed post so the ground would be completed. Wire then treaded to the electrical panel, snipped and another connector attached and screwed in and the job was done. At least sort of. I had to screw all the screws to all the boxes and panels I had uncovered. Of course while doing that, I dropped one of the screws for the switch box down under the engine. Rats!! While I installed the rest of the screws, Tracy started looking under the engine for the missing screw. She had good access from the starboard side. with flashlight in hand, she found a screw. Not the right one but at least a screw. She couldn't get a good hold of it so I got here some Scotch tape to try and grab it with it. She reached in an snagged it. With it about 90 percent out, it dropped off again and promptly disappeared back into the engine room. Oops! Problem was that she was right over one of the alternators when it dropped and she was afraid that it might have gone past the blades of the alternator and gone inside the gears. That's a quick way to fry a piece of electronics. We had that happen just North of Ketchikan, Alaska and it fried it real well. Flashlight in hand she started looking all over the compartment. A while later she found it. It had rolled back to exactly where it had started. I meanwhile found the screw I had lost so all was well. One thing we did find while poking around in the engine compartment was that there is a water leak at the raw water pump. I'd planned on replacing the impeller that rotates inside it so that should solve the problem as I'll be resealing the pump once the new impeller is in.
Off for the showers once EVERYTHING was reattached. With all things back to normal(at least as normal as they get here), I took off for the showers to shave and look more presentable. We're not quite into the "cruiser mode" yet where showers are every few days and the clothes get changed only after you take a shower. I've taken a shower just about every day since we got here.
Once back, I fired up the grill to do a piece of "mystery meat". I'm not sure what it's called but it rolls out into a relatively thin piece of meat about 8" X 12". It lays nice and flat for a good grill. Spread with a nice barbecue sauce during the grilling and it was great. Tracy cooked up some "Spanish" rice. She'd taste tested it during the cooking and pronounced it the blandest stuff she had ever tasted. In went lots of spices to try and pep it up. Even with salt and pepper added after it was done, the only way it got any kind of flavor was to add some of the barbecue sauce. Then it was fine. Weirdest stuff I've run into having just no flavor.
In for a night of internet tv. Tracy has been suffering with a severe case of allergies so she's not up to her normal self and the pills she has been taking just aren't stopping it. We'll have to check out pill locker and see what we can come up with to get her all fixed up.
Today--more projects of course.
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ID DAVE in St Paul, Alaska dont visit here.
11/06/2010, San Carlos, Mexico
I'm sitting at the table typing with a blanket over me. It's just 57 degrees!!! What the heck is going on? I'm in Mexico!! It's supposed to be nice and warm all the time. OK, the days get up to the high 80's but boy is it cold this morning!! Come on Sunshine. Warm us up-Please!!
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11/06/2010, San Carlos, Mexico
We spent the morning trying to get more messes straightened out. Open and put away over and over and over. Some progress was made, but we still have piles everywhere. It's looking a bit better. We even took a bunch of things off Zephyr and put them in the car to go back home with me.
About 1130, Tracy took off for the laundry to get all our clothes washed. I kept opening and labeling things as to what they were and where they go. Engine parts particularly. I don't want to forget what each part goes to. Now all I have to do is make notes as to where I put it when I need it.
Just after 1200, I walked over to the laundry to meet up with Tracy and have lunch. She met me half way and gave me a lift as she had the car. We ended up at one of the local eateries at the marina. Good food at decent prices. While we ate, the laundry got finished. Good timing.
After lunch, I started in on the electrical. We have lots of nice power on the Port side but none on the starboard side. Weird as we used to have power everywhere. I checked the wires for the outlet I put in in the back of the galley. It has always been hinky. It even melted one of the GFCI outlets I installed a while ago. I pulled some of the wires off the main panel and with volt meter in hand, attached them to different connections. Voila, we had power in the outlet and correctly wired power to boot. The circuit--at least that outlet--tested out fine. On the the rest of the outlets. Still no joy. I did figure out that while they indicated they were wired alright(neat circuit tester), there was only 65 volts in the outlet--not the 130 as usual. More work with the volt meter and after 3 hours working on it, I finally gave up. We even pulled out one of the old outlets to see what condition it was in. Not really that good. I'll be buying some new outlets tomorrow when I'm in Guaymas and changing them out.
After throwing in the towel so to speak, I headed off in search of an electrician that would work on boats. I was recommended to go talk to a guy named Luis. I found his shop but he was booked solid for the next week. Off again to Star Marine, one of the local big boys in San Carlos. I walked in and started talking to the service desk telling them my problem. "No problem, we have an electrician that can help". He was right beside me at the counter. I explained again the problem. He was all for coming out. "When?"was my question. "How about right now?" was his response. Say what!!!!!???? Right now??? How lucky could I get? Out he came and he went right to work checking the circuits right from the boat yard outlet all the way into Zephyr. Every splice and junction as well as the circuit panel and the outlets. Once he saw exactly what was going on, he pulled off one wire on the electric panel and moved it up two screws and we were done!! It was that simple.
While checking the switch box that Sea Marine installed--it's located just inside the hull where the electricity comes in. If there is a problem, there is where you can turn off all power coming into Zephyr. In the box were the "hot" wire, "neutral" wire and the "ground" wire. The hot and neutral continued in to tmain circuit panel but the "ground" wire stopped at the switch box. There is no "ground" wire going to the main panel!!! Then he asked the big question--"Have you been going through lots of zincs?" Those are the metal pieces we have been screwing to the prop and the rudder as well as dangling another big blob of it over board attached to the main grounding strap on the propeller. My answer was yes, we could go through one in a month or so. That's much quicker than we felt normal but since our boat had been rewired by an "certified ABYC electrician" we felt sure we were just fine. His comment was that when we were in the water attached to shore power, we were literally bleeding power into the water destroying not only our zincs but the zincs on other boats that sat nearby. To correct it, we have to run a ground wire from the switch box I mentioned earlier to one particular screw on the main electric panel and our worries will be over. Plus, we should no longer get shocked when we touch the main outlet where power comes into Zephyr and one of the lifelines. We've had that problem ever since we left Port Townsend. It doesn't happen all the time, just every once and a while. Now it should stop. Let's hope so. It stings!!
As to paying for his expertise, I'll find that out tomorrow. the shops computers were down. His bill is only for a 30 minute job. It won't be that bad and I really don't care as long as it solves all out problems.
I will be heading off for Guaymas tomorrow to pickup our two hatch panels I talked about earlier this week. The epoxy and fiberglassing should be done. I'm looking forward to seeing how they look.
I've posted a picture of the rudder and prop assembly so you can see the zincs I've installed to keep Zephyr safe from self destructing.
Stay tuned for more exciting adventures aboard the good ship Zephyr and her faithful crew of four.
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11/05/2010, San Carlos, Mexico
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.
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