Just a quick update to the blog. We have been in Mazatlan since November 1st and deided to get the bottom painted since the new boat yard just opened and it is in the same marina area as we are.
After the haul out and the old bottom paint was stripped off we discovered lots of small blisters. None serious or deep so as you can see in the 2007-2008 gallery it was quite a process getting them repaired.
I also noticed when checking the fluid levels before being hauled that th V-Drive oil looked cloudy an indication of possible water contamination so I drained it and it became cloudy again so I had Bob who runs Total Yacht Works in the yard pull it and boy was it a good thing I did. For one thing the cooler was plugged almost solid leading to possible cause of the ongoing issue of higher engine temps than I liked to see at higher rpm's. The biggy was inside the drive. If we had headed south we would not have made it far since the double u-joint was just ready to come apart and it had a bad bearing.
I had Bob go ahead and rebuild it and install a PSS dripless system so I won't have to mess with the packing gland anymore.
We are now back in our slip in Marina Mazatlan and are still attempting to get under way headed south but another issue has come up. The new Nissan outboard has decided to drip some grease from around the prop area so now it is getting checked by the local outboard repair guy (Benjamin. We now hope to be under way by the 1st week of January but who knows.
If we are having to wait Mazatlan is the place to be. Some call it the black hole. Once you come in you never want to leave.

After spending a great summer visiting family and friends all around the country we are on our way back to Mazatlan to prepare TNT for another trip South. Our plan is to spend November in Mazatlan getting the bottom painted and some minor repairs done then head South ending up in Zihatenejo with stops at La Cruz, Chamala, Tennacatita, then Z. We will update this blog as we have wi-fi or internet cafe availability.

After leaving Chacala our original plan was to stop at Isla Isabella a small island about a day out from Chacala but after the restless night at anchor we decided to bite the bullet and push on for Mazatlan a 2 day sail. I elected to go inside of the Island staying closer to shore which I later regretted since inside the island took us over shallow water and a lot of shrimping activity to watch out for. The water was mixed and rough causing Nancy a bit of trouble with sea sickness but we pushed on .
During the overnight part of the passage we were passing the port of San Blas around 4 am and it was pitch black out and I was on watch and could make out the lights on shore clearly. I was very tired from lack of sleep the night before and the days sail and that's when you are at the greatest risk of making a mistake. As I was looking towards shore I could see the lights I believed were city lights but as I continued to watch closely something didn't fit. I was on a set course and it looked like some of the lights were changing position. The more I looked the more confused the lights became and I was getting jumpy as you know what. I was just about to go check the radar when I looked up and could make out a white light that illuminated what looked like a railing dead ahead. I immediately did a 180 heading back the way I came and with a big lump in my throat watched as a huge container ship passed by missing us by about 100 yards. He was going flat out and wouldn't have even noticed if he had run us down. I turned back on course and continued on towards Mazatlan.
The next day we were trying to estimate our arrival time to Mazatlan and realized it was going to be close to dark before we were going to get there and with the proverbial wind on our nose and under power most of the way we were making about 2 to 3 knots per hour. It was either tach 20 degrees to port or continue to power straight into the wind directly towards Mazatlan. I decided to power and as the hours ticked by it was getting obvious we were not going to make it before dark. Just about then we got a very slight wind shift that changed everything. I pulled out the 140 genoa all the way and with full main and staysil up we picked up to 6 knots per hour. This wind held until we were about 20 miles away from the Port of Mazatlan then turned back to being on our nose so it was time to furl in the genoa and go back to powering.
We approached the harbor as it was quickly getting darker and was able to get inside the breakwater just as the sun dropped over the horizon. We were both relieved and pulled into the municipal anchorage looking forward to setting the hook and relaxing.
I went forward and was greeted with a big pile of chain heaped on the windlass from what I later found was a stuck relay causing the windlass to stick pulling all the chain from the well and piling it up on deck. The only good thing is I had secured the anchor as a precaution or it would all have gone overboard and caused any number of problems. TNT is equipped with 2 full anchors one for light anchoring one heavy mostly all chain assembly and I wasn't in the mood to try to untangle the heavier Bruce anchor so I dropped the Plow anchor and had Nancy power back to set it and of course it would not hold and I had to hand pull it back in and attempt to set it again. The second time it held and I called it good and shut everything down and crashed out. We were planning on getting to Mazatlan Marina but with it getting dark it was a good decision to anchor here instead.
We stayed there 2 nights and proceeded on to Mazatlan Marina who gave us a slip which was the end of our winter journey