(posted 05/05/24)
Ok, so what happened is:
We thought about it some more, we checked tides (have to have high tide to leave Mazatlán marina) and talked about it and decided to get fuel then leave the marina since the tide was rising. The plan at this point was to anchor outside and leave the next day.
Well there are two fuel docks in this marina, and we didn’t communicate well, so I missed the turn for the first one, and had to turn the boat around. We almost got beaten to the dock by a fishing boat that passed us heading to the dock. But he let us go first.
Then we had to do a backwards three point turn to get off the fuel dock. Then down the channel we headed. Up ahead of us there was a trimaran next to the dredge, and we couldn’t tell which way they were going. This is a very narrow channel, but we were in a wide spot so we turned around again.
By the time we were back in the channel the trimaran was gone and we could get out. When we were out we talked about it and realized that it was about the right time of day to go to Isla Isabela to arrive in the morning, so off we went.
This made for a long night, with the instruments repeatedly turning off because of the voltage issue. But there was no wind just some very rolly waves.
We arrived at Isla Isabela, and the anchorage was crowded, so we discussed it some more and decided to just go to Matachen and anchor off San Blas. An hour or so later, I went down below and checked the battery voltage on all three batteries, the house bank and engine start batteries have a digital display that also is available via Bluetooth, but the only way to check the generator start battery is with the analog gauge at the breaker panel, and you have to select it with a rotary switch. In doing so I saw that the house bank was showing 17 volts, which was way too high. Finally I figured out that the alternator and voltage regulator on the engine were the problem!
In the meantime, I checked other electrical stuff, the inverter was off, which meant no Starlink, no internet, and no phones. The freezer was acting up and not working. On deck, we were 20 miles off shore, with no waves, and 2 knots of wind. It was Friday, so tech support to ask questions of had to be done today. I figured out that if I turned off the engine, most of the electrical equipment came back on. But Starlink didn’t work right away, and we were too far out to get cell service. I wanted to disable the alternator but not kill it, because they are pretty expensive. So, we motored until were closer to San Blas, turned off the engine and then the inverter started working again, and this time the Starlink router came back on line. We still had no cell service. But now, we could make a call over WiFi! I looked up the number for Balmar tech support (the voltage regulator company) and called them. They told me which plug to pull on the voltage regulator to let the alternator freewheel and cause no problems. I pulled it, and restarted the engine.
The freezer is working, as well as all the other stuff. The chart plotters stay on etc.
We eventually got to Matachen, which is a huge bay, 10 miles out we were in 40 feet of water, shallow! When we were in the bay we looked for any other boats, because there is safety in numbers and we had heard of a theft problem here. Seeing none we decided to go to the marina. Reneé called and we made arrangements for a dock. No power though. Once again high tide is required for the channel. The tide was rising and we headed in. We were at the dock at about 4 pm, almost exactly 24 hours since we had headed out for fuel.
Then showers, dinner and bed! Of course, this is a marina in Mexico, so hot water in the shower is an “iffy” proposition. Reneé said she had a cold shower, but either she didn’t tell me that, or I was too tired to understand her. I went to get a shower, and there wasn’t even water in the hot side of the shower. I gave up and came back to the boat and took a shower here.
Black, White, Big, Small, Bird & Turtle.
This is White Rock.
