12/09/2010, Agua Verde
We disconnected from out mooring ball just after 0900 and headed out of the harbor looking for the North winds that had been promised to us by the weatherman we listen to each morning on out short wave radio. At 0745, there is a net on the radio called the "Sunrisa Net" that has a man that lives up in the Bahia Conception area several hundred miles not of here. He's broadcast the weather from his home for years. All for free!! It's invaluable for boaters throughout the Sea of Cortez and cruisers coming down the Baja coast from the USA to have accurate weather. Well, today wasn't one of his better days. Instead of North winds in the low teens, there was just about no wind and what there was sure wasn't from th North. So the engine stayed on and we pushed South toward Aqua Verde, about 23 miles South of Puerto Escondido. A good half dozen boats took off so the West cove here in Agua Verde is full. So full that the last two boats had to anchor in the East cove. Not the best place to be if a big blows comes up but right now, it's calm and probably will be for the rest of the night.
It was an uneventful trip down other than coming close to hitting a reef on the way. One of the boats that left before us radioed us to watch out for it just as we were coming upon it. That's about the last thing we need. One reef collision in a lifetime is quite enough.
So here we sit after a trip into town to visit Maria's small tienda(little grocery store). Unfortunately, it has closed since the last time we were here. I guess the bad economy is hitting all over the world. We pushed Puff back into the surf and headed back to Zephyr getting doused by numerous waves as we headed out fro the beach. Now we have lots of clothes hanging all over the boat drying. We also took showers to get all the salt water off ourselves.
Tomorrow, we're off for Los Gatos, a beautiful sand stone cove about 18 miles South of here. A nice easy trip but we're hoping for some wind to make it even better.
Stay tuned, we'll let you know how it goes.
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Wally in Lakewood, 303-202-0339
12/07/2010, Puerto Escondido
We took off last Thursday at 0900 heading back into the Sea of Cortez. Having been hauled out last June 12 for a short Summer respite ended up at well over 5 months. Oh well, our house looks better and many things got taken care of on Zephyr before she had her hull splashed on November 27th just after Thanksgiving and my return from Denver. We took up residence at one of the slips in the marina till Monday when we moved out to a buoy. Cheaper and more fun than staying in a marina. We finally disconnected from the buoy and headed out on December 2 for a return trip to the Baja. A lot more fun and more anchorages than simply heading back down the mainland coast.
Our first stop was San Juanico, an old and favorite stop on our trips up and down the Baja coast. For the most part, it was a straight shot at 180 degrees or due South from San Carlos(27 56.699N 111 03.743W). At 100 miles, an easy trip. Winds were forecast to come from the Northwest so it would be a nice sail. We figured a normal running speed of 4 to 5 knots which put us coming in early the next day. As luck would have it, the best laid plans normally go astray. Instead, we had one of the best sails we have ever had. After motoring for just over a hour, we hoisted the sails once we were clear of the coast and zoom, off we went. Winds were in the mid to high teens with gusts into the low 20 knot range. Zephyr was in her element and with a nice clean bottom(no scuz) we were regularly hitting into the high 7 knot range with our max speed at 9.5 knots. We zipped along with all three sails up--main, genoa and jib having a great time. At sun down, we knew we would arrive in the middle of the night. Not our normal procedure. It has just about been a standing order that we only enter any harbor during daylight hours for safety sake. Not this time.
When we were about 2 miles off shore, I went below and turned the key to start the engine to bring us into the bay. Tracy hit the start button with NO effect. Just a slow grind and then nothing. There was a problem with our starting battery. OK, I hit the switch that joined all of our batteries--house and start banks into one big bank of batteries. After a minute or so, with a turn of the key, she started up. I'm sure you could hear my sigh of relief clear into the harbor. Into gear and on we pushed. We had been here before so we already had a good feel of the bay as well as points in our chartplotter as to where we had anchored before. There were a few other boats in the bay as we pulled in but none near our last anchorage spot so we just pulled in and I dropped the anchor(26 22.096N 111 25.813W). Tracy put the engine to reverse so we could set the anchor and NOTHING happened. We had no reverse gear. For those that have been following our posts over the last few years know we are already on our fourth transmission since we set off in July of 2008. With the anchor down we weren't going any where so I headed for the engine compartment on the double. Tracy had heard some strange noise as we crossed the Sea of Cortez but I had looked at the propeller shaft and coupling joint and all appeared fine. What I had missed was where the propeller shaft joins the transmission. There are normally four bolts holding the shaft to the transmission. As I watched, the fourth and lost bolt fell out!!! The transmission was fine, we simply weren't attached to it. This was not something that normally happens but as Murphy's Law would have it, if it could, it will happen and it clearly did.
Both of us were tired after such a sail but we knew we couldn't go to bed with no way to get us out of trouble is something should come up during the rest of the night. So out came the tools and I changed into cloths already stained from previous jobs and dug in with Tracy at my side. I gathered the bolts and a part that was a cap to hold grease inside the fitting and went to work. The cap was bent but with a wrench(no hammers were handy) I pounded on it till it would fit back in place. Far from perfect,it would fill the bill till I can get a replacement. Back the the compartment behind the engine and in I went again bolts in hand. About 30 minutes later, we were all bolted back together. We coaxed the engine back to life and tried out the transmission and propeller shaft. It rotated just fine. Job done just after 0400. We fell into bed and awoke several hours later
Next job, fix the battery connections for the start battery. Off came each wire which was then brushed with a wire brush to clean away any corrosion and then each connection was coated with my new copper based grease to help with the connections and all the wires were reattached. Since then, no problems have arisen at least with the engine, transmission or propeller shaft. The forward head(commode) on the other hand has given us some concerns. It won't flush.
I took it apart and changed out the "joker" valve. This gizmo keeps what ever you have flushed out out. It won't come back. It still wouldn't flush so we emptied the forward locker where the hose goes carries the "stuff" out of the head. With Tracy pumping the pump that forces the "stuff" out of the head, it still wouldn't function. So off with the hose that connects with the tank(and you thought we were out here having fun didn't you)and stuck it in a bucket(gee what fun) and had Tracy pump again. Thank God I have a bad nose! With the hose cleared, we checked the air vent(it was fine) and put it all back together again. Now it pumped fine but what we pumped out and out the hose just came streaming back in. I needed another "Joker" valve to replace the one I had already replaced. It's a good thing I carry spares of just about everything. I finally replace it this afternoon. We still had one functioning head on board so it wasn't critical. She now works just fine.
With a big Norther headed our way, we made plans to head off for Isla Coronado. A Norther is normally a three day event where wind will blow at any were from 20 to 30 knots with no letup. We were well protected in San Juanico but didn't want to spend three more days there. We had already made the pilgrimage to the South shore to look for the rock I left behind last Spring when we were there. It was unlike any rock I had ever seen before. If you check out pictures, there are some there that show it. Unfortunately someone had beaten me too it and it was no where to be seen.
We upped the anchor on Sunday morning and headed for Isla Coronado(26 06.274N 111 16.443W) about 20 miles farther South. Leaving at about 0930, we pulled in shortly after 1400 and dropped the anchor after a very rollie trip south. The winds were from behind us the the seas were full of swells in the 3 to 4 foot range with bigger ones in the 6 foot range coming by to visit every now and then. We rocked from side to side the whole way down the sea. Once at anchor, the winds continued till about 2000 when calm came over the anchorage but the swells continued to rock Zephyr from side to side through the night. Strangly, it remained calm through the night even with the Norther in the forecast.
This morning we took off for Puerto Ballandra on Isla Carmen. A short trip of 8 miles but again in rocky seas that through us all over the place. We pulled in just before lunch and dropped anchor(26 01.204N 111 09.832W). In the anchorage with us was a Liberty 458, a cousin to our boat. It was "Evergreen" that we had met just before we hauled out in San Carlos. They came out a few days before we did. About 30 minutes after we dropped anchor, they took theirs up and headed for Puerto Escondido. We expect to meet up with them there in a day or so weather permitting.
So now we sit here with wind blowing nicely outside getting a few more jobs done inside.
Tomorrow is another day. I guess we will decide what to do then.
OK, it's now tomorrow and we have upped the anchor and set off again. this time, back to Escondido to deliver some Emmitts Irish Cream. We met Dale and Linda on SV Moxie way back when we were tied up to the Police dock in San Diego and came across them again when we got into Puerto Escondido last Spring. Dale loves Irish Cream and could not find any down here in Mexico so while we were in Colorado, we picked him up a nice bottle and have brought so we can deliver it to them. So we upped the anchor this morning and headed out before the supposed Norther starts up again and got here about 1300. We tied up to a buoy and motored in in Puff(our dingy) and got all registered for two days here before we head South again for Agua Verde and on to La Paz in a few weeks. The goal is to be in Puerto Vallarta by the first week in January. From there, we have not a clue as to what or where we will be doing or going. TIme will tell.
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11/30/2010, San Carlos Harbor
We slipped our dock lines early yesterday morning and took off for the fuel dock and much needed Diesel fuel. A quick 109 gallons and $320.00 bucks and we were done. Now that price includes a nice 10% charge to use their fuel dock to get their fuel. Yes, that's right. If you use their docks to get the fuel, they add on a nice 5% fee. It's how they bleed people with boats as everyone know, we have so much money. Yeah, right.
Once done, we took off for a mooring buoy out in the harbor. Fran and Ed off AKA stopped by when we were still at the fuel dock. They had made a trip over to see our buoy and took off ahead of us incase we needed any help getting tied up. What a great couple of sailors. In the afternoon, all four of us headed in for Guaymas for one last trip in for provisioning. Tracy and I were in the back of their truck. Memories of times in the past when we had a pickup truck.
Once we hit all the store we needed, we headed for "Ernies" for lunch and had a great meal. Since it was after 1430, that pretty much took care of dinner too.
We headed back to the marina and loaded poor Puff(our dingy) with everything we had bought and headed back to Zephyr.
The head(toilet) in the bow was still not working so I's taken it apart earlier before we headed in. I'd cleaned some of the parts of it as time and salt water had left lots of deposits on it. I'd made a call on the morning net looking for parts and another boat at the marina(Warren Peace) had volunteered some of their parts to see if it would fix it. No go, but at least we tried. another boater today offered other parts but they still don't match what I need so we will jsut have to pour fresh water into the bowl to do the flushing until we get to La Paz and see what we can find.
Meanwhile, this morning, we made reservations at "Paradise Village Marina and Resort(http://www.paradisevillage.com/) in Puerto Vallarta to spend some time in January and February making up our minds as to where we will be heading after that. That's one thing about "cruising". We don't have a clue as to where we will be heading next.
With luck and Mother Natures help, we will be heading out from San Carlos on Wednesday or Thursday. There's a big blow coming and we want to avoid it.
Stay tuned, more to come.
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11/28/2010, Marina San Carlos
We're back in the water again!!! The workmen came for us at 0930 and backed in the big trailer to hoist us up and take us away. We all stayed aboard as we were quickly driven to the harbor. Heck, we went faster on the trailer than we go most of the time when we are in the water. We were whipping along at well over 6 knots and for a trailer rig to go that fast with a boat as big as Zephyr, that's not bad. By 1000, we were at the launch ramp and about to be launched. Unfortunately, the man with the key to the chain that blocks the ramp was no were to be seen so off went the engine on the tractor that brought us there and we waited. About 10 minutes later he showed up and apologized. In we went and then stopped so we could check all the thru hulls we had rebuilt as well as the stuffing at the top of the rudder post that had to be repacked after we lowered the rudder for it's repair. I turned the key and vorruum the engine sprang to life with a roar and water shot out of her tail pipe just as it was supposed to. All was well, except for the fact that someone was parked in the slip we were supposed to go into. OOPS!!
Off to the office a voila, we were assigned to another slip. This one was 56 feet long. A BIG slip and much easier to get into(and at no additional charge too). It was a straight shot right into it. Even I couldn't get it wrong and surprise, we made it in on the first try. Tracy started grabbing the fenders that keep the hull from bouncing against the dock and took them to the opposite side as well as the dock lines and off went. A few minutes later and we were safe and sound tied up to our slip.
The rest of the day was spent doing a few more tasks. At least after a nice lunch at the local Marina Cantina. We put more things away and then started filling our water tanks. Now the water here can be a bit suspicious so we brought out our BIG water filters--one charcoal and one a paper filter and then for good measure, we added one of our smaller filters that is supposed to be good at blocking small little microbes that might be hiding in the water. All in all, our new water would be filtered three times before it ever got near our tanks. As you can imagine, with three filters in the line, it slowed up the delivery of our water so it flowed in a crawl. About 90 minutes later, our tanks were finally full.
About the only things that isn't working so far is the forward head(toilet). It won't draw in water from the thru hull that flushes it. The valve is turned on, but no water is getting into the bowl. Tomorrow, we'll be tearing it apart to see what is wrong down there. At least the one in the stern is working. Do we really need two? It's in there, so it's one of my jobs to make sure it is up and running.
Apparently from what we have heard, San Carlos has a bit of a problem with people stealing things off boats, especially dingys and motors so we will have ours safely under lock and key. We've made it even harder by not inflating it and leaving it upside down on the front deck. Puff(our outboard) is lock nicely to the stern railing and if you want it, you are going to have to take the railing with you.
So, we're back in the water and at this time plan on heading out by Wednesday if the weather cooperates. The weather dictates when and where a sailboat normally goes and we are no different.
Tomorrows another day but at least we are in the water and all of it is staying out(as of now).
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11/26/2010, Back in San Carlos, Mexico
I made it back to San Carlos by the skin of my teeth. Having made sure that there was plenty of time between landing in Tucson and the bus leaving for Guaymas--two hours--I never counted on the snows in the mountains affecting my flight, but as we all know, the best laid plans of mice and men typically go astray. My 8:25 flight finally got in the air at 9:45. That cut my time by quite a bit. We landed at 11:52 and I was at the luggage carousel by 12:08 for the bags to come up at 12:10. Off for the taxi stand and off we went like greased lightening since I'd told the driver my deadline. He got me there by 12:25 and I was set. I finalized my ticket(pre-purchased in Guaymas) and waited. We were on the road by 12:40. They were 10 minutes late!!! Yea!!!
Seven hours later, we pulled into Guaymas. Off for the taxi stand as I had four, yes that's right, four bags of things for Zephyr. You'd have thought that we already had everything since we pulled down a UHaul trailer but nope, we needed more things--like $800 of charts to get us from Mexico to Indonesia. Crazy huh? It's one of those "Don't leave home without them" moments. As I sit at the table typing this, they sit in front of me in a roll as big as one of those rolls of butchers papers. Now all we have to do is find a place to store them till needed.
That's how Wednesday ended.-- OH, the taxi drive from Guaymas---my driver never met a red light that applied to him. When one presented it self in front of his car, he just turned right, made a U turn and then turned right so we never actually stopped. Now that's Mexico!!
Thursday dawned with lots of jobs that needed to be done before we launched(set for Saturday at 10:00). Up the mast I went as big wind was scheduled for the afternoon and there were things that needed done with me aloft. Our anchor light at the top of the mast hasn't worked in months and we have had to use an oil lantern hung from the stern all the way up the mainland coast from Mazatlan. Once at the top I pulled the nylon sheath from around the wires and took one of my pliers and re-smashed the wires and voila, the light came back on. A simple bad connection. Back on went the sheath to cover the wires and on to the next project. On the way down, I stopped at the bottom spreaders and installed the line for the flags we use that fly from the mast. We'd taken them off when we put Zephyr to bed back in early June. Now they needed to be attached. Since I was on the spreaders, I paused to re-cover their ends. Each has a rubber cover a their ends so sails won't rug against the metal as they fly in the air. If you don't know what spreaders are, they're the big arms that come out from the side of mast that the wires go through that hold up the mast. Sort of important to the sailing aspect of any sailboat. The covers had come loose and needed to be reattached. Once back on deck, we continued on with more projects. Into the engine room to replace the impeller that pumps water through the engine. The last time we had it changed, we hired a guy in Port Townsend as I had never done it nor seen how it was to be done. We watched and learned and now it was our turn. Plus, I was installing a new cover for it called a "Speed Seal". It's supposed to make future changings easier and quicker. As this one took well over and hour to accomplish, I sure hope the next one will be easier and quicker. On to an electrical problem that Tracy had had discovered when see went looking for the hole in our hull(see earlier post). She had found a wire dangling from the grounding strap at the propeller shaft that is made to do the final grounding of Zephyrs entire electrical system. Apparently, at some time, it had snapped at one of the connections and poor Zephyr was not properly grounded(gee what a surprise). In we went, with wire cutters and connectors to solve the problem. We found the fitting that had connected all the grounds on the boat. It was corroded beyond salvation. Out it came and work started to save what was left of our grounding system. Wires were stripped to check if they were still all right. Once we finally came to bright shiny copper, we joined all the wires together and reattached it to the grounding strap. Another problem solved. We stowed and installed and cleaned and prepped for hours as the day passed.
Today, I was to go back up the mast to install our "Blipper". This is a fancy name for a radar reflector that used to hang from the spreaders on a line. Now we had had bracket made so we could bolt it to the mast and get it out of the rigging. Out came the bosun's chair(what you sit in as you go up the mast) and up I went again. All went well till the silly drill bit broke on the second hole. Now this isn't your normal drill bit, oh no, this is a special bit that includes a tap to put screw threads in the hole so with one pass of the bit, the hole is all ready for the screw. Now as a good sailor, I always have a second(many times a third) but could we find it. Heck no, that would make the job to easy. So down I came and onto the next job. Tracy took off for the hull, paint roller in hand and I took off for down below in the main cabin stowing and looking for the elusive drill bit.
Since we had played around with the engine and I didn't want any surprises when we launched(like it won't start), we made arrangements to have some of the workmen come by and assist us getting Zephyr started. Marine engines need water to stay cool and we are nowhere near water, so their job was to get water to the engine. On many boats, there is a simple hole in the side of the hull that you can put a hose to and bingo, the engine has water. Not ours. We have a screen over our thru hull to keep stuff out. So what do the guys do, they cut the bottom off one of the bigger coke bottles and stuck the hose in the screw end of the bottle and stuck it up against the hull while I turned the key and Tracy pushed the starter button in the cockpit. I took off for the engine room to make sure it was running nice and smoothly and there was no water leaking out of the raw water pump that we had worked on on Thursday. I'm proud to admit that not only did Zephyr start right up at the first turn of her drive shaft, but that there was not a single leak from anything(especially the water pump). Our work the previous day had been done to perfection. YEA!!!
Tracy, meanwhile just kept on painting and painting(and still no drill bit)while I kept putting things away below decks. Once she was done with the painting, she took on the job of covering our beautiful MaxProp with lanolin. Since the very expensive paint we had applied at the last haul out had failed miserably, we decided to try something different. We had read that lanolin covered props will last a long time before things start to grow on them. We had nothing to loose and since I'm allergic to lanolin, Tracy took on the job. Let me tell you, smearing on lanolin is a messy, sticky job. Once the prop was covered, a plastic bag was put over it to keep the dirt that blows around the yard every day from sticking to it. By mid afternoon, we gave Zephyr a well deserved bath to get all the dirt off her. Five months in the blowing dirt and dust of Mexico and she was a mess. The water that poured from her decks was anything but clear. Out came the scrub brushes and buckets and hoses with nice nozzles and the dirt slowly washed away. Her decks have a new lease on life.
With the Sun slowly setting we headed off for the showers and took the time to get all the dirt off ourselves. Two long hard days gone with lots of things taken care off. Tomorrow, we launch. We're on the schedule for 1000 hours so that means any time from Sun up to about noon. Stay tuned for tomorrows post to see if we made it.
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11/21/2010, I'm in Colorado, Tracy is in San Carlos
Here's an update of the last few days.
I left San Carlos for Denver on Wednesday and made great time and got in late Thursday. Having to go through Customs slowed me down an bit so I only made it to Deming, NM the first day--535 miles. Thursday added up to about 700 miles but all trouble free.
While I've been gone, Tracy has been working with the fiberglass men on the yard. I made sure to warn the "boss" before I left that she knows lot about boats and not to treat her like most women get treated by boatyards(It's a woman, what does she know?"). On Wednesday, the workmen found that water had seeped into the core of the fiberglass where we had first discovered our problem(you remember, the hole we found). Out came the grinders and out came the core of our hull for a section of about 6" X 8". It's a good thing that Tracy had tented the area of the boat where the work was being done. TO get the moisture out of the rest of the core, they soaked it in paint thinner to draw out the water and put heaters down in the bilge. By Thursday, they went in and started fiberglassing in the area and build it up to a good inch thickness which is back to a depth that make the hull much more sturdy. Since then, Tracy has primed and painted the area to seal it against any more moisture. Now we get to do the starboard side once I get back. I've bought a rasp attachment for out Fein Tool Multimaster. I'm off to a wood show here in Denver today to see how it works. It's a tool that we bought a few years ago so we could sand down out teak decks when we re-caulk them.
Yesterday, Tracy put on two gallons of bottom paint to the hull is just about ready. On Monday, the yard men will jack up and move the stands on Zephyr so she can paint the areas that are concealed by the pads of the stands. A few coats there and she will be done with a tough and physically exhausting job.
Meanwhile, I'm running all over Denver picking up the last of the small things I can bring back with me. Our box of charts for the South Pacific arrived so I'll be lugging them back with me on the plane.
I'm out of here on Wednesday, flying to Tucson and then on the bus to Guaymas. Of course, I made sure to book myself on the day that is scheduled for big airline/ TSA revolt about the screening procedures. Gee what a fun day I'm going to have. When we flew back from Miami back in September, I got to go through one of the Xray scanners. No big deal. I'll take that over being frisked anytime.
I'll let you know what is happening in the yard as the week progresses. Never a dull moment.
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