(posted 12/17/22)
Up at 7, breakfast and bible reading then get the dinghy down and into the marina to meet up with the other cruisers.
8 of us ran across the bay in MV Tits Pierre a 47 foot motor cruiser. Once there we got a mooring ball and took a ride ashore. We hiked to the nearby waterfall, one that I had not been to before then back to the beach/town where we hung out for lunch and drinks for a couple of hours then a ride back to the boat. The way it works, you get a mooring ball, and a ride to and from the beach for a single price. In this case it was 600 pesos, at 20 pesos to the dollar that was $30 for the day. Lunch was great and the company was great as well.
Dave from S/V Ohana a 43’ catamaran suggested a solution to our mutual problems. He and his wife Michele have another couple coming to join them for extended cruising aboard their catamaran, and they have a dinghy (Highfield CL310) that has a 15 Hp two stroke engine on it. Relatively new (2020). While we have a dinghy (Highfield CL290) with a 20 Hp four stroke engine. In their dinghy they have found that with two people their dinghy will get up on a plane and run fairly fast, but not with four people, and since they will have four people most of the time, that is a problem. We will most often have only the two of us, and our outboard is a bit heavier than theirs. Ours is 97 lbs, (lightest 20 hp motor when we got it in 2019) theirs is 83 lbs. So, Dave suggested we swap, neither motor is “brand new” but both are relatively new and both have low hours on them. Both are Suzuki outboards, so the brand is not an issue. We are considering the swap. Negative, the two stroke uses a carb, whereas the 20 uses EFI, and the new two stroke now uses EFI, which means the carb may be difficult to get as a replacement part.
In any case, we got back to the marina and made our ways back to our respective boats, We ran the generator for an hour or so to finish charging the battery, and I got a shower, after a light dinner just a salad and veggies, then we read and will probably get to bed at a reasonable time tonight.
A note to the reader, this was written on about the day that is shown in the title, but it has been a very busy month, so not posted until the date soon on “date posted” line. I have notes and pictures that I need to process for all the posts to finish the season. Please be patient.
