Published 04/01/2025
Up at 6 am. Breakfast, and bible reading. Then Reneé headed out for shopping.
We had an “interesting” thing happen as we crawled into bed last night. An alarm went off, that we did not recognize. I thought it was from the radio, (we keep the VHF handheld on all the time, it doesn’t draw much power, and it lets us know if there is something going on that concerns us). But, not the radio, also somewhat inconsistent. I eventually gave up trying to find where it was, then started cycling circuit breakers on the DC panel. I got to the PUMP FUSE BLOCK which stopped the alarm, and when I turned it back on the alarm was back, so I turned it off while I investigated further. I went to the compartment where the fresh water pump is, and took all the tools and vacuum cleaner out and found about 3” of water in the bottom of the compartment (as well as a folding alarm). This compartment has the water pump, a filter, the suction strainer, the manifold for cold water and the manifold for hotter, it s where virtually every hose on the fresh water system starts. See the picture of this compartment. The water is in the bottom of it, but nothing above the bottom is wet. IF the leak is from the pressurized system, either cold or hot, then the pump would have to run periodically. There is no expansion tank, the pump cycles on for low pressure and off when the pressure is up. The pump doesn’t run, therefore the water is not coming from the pressurized system. There is an Air Conditioner in the next compartment aft, but there is a low point in the pan for that unit that drains to the bilge. This is a puzzle, and I am looking for whatever is putting water in here.
Things that have been done on the boat with water in the last week, we got a delivery of water, the fill line is on the same side of the boat, but further aft. We washed the boat, but that has never resulted in putting water here before. I fixed the wash down pump hose yesterday, but that is forward and on the other side of the boat. It drains to the bilge from where I was working.
After running a fan to dry out the water for an hour or so, I took another look. I noticed the water seemed to be coming from the front lower point of the compartment. Above that point is the valve for the washing machine. I checked the hose under it and found it was wet. Upon closer inspection the valve was wet at the point the hose connected to it at the top, I tighten the hose clamps top and bottom (they were pretty loose), and dried it with a paper towel. Now the fan is drying things out again. I will check again in an hour or so.
In the meantime, I also want to flush out the drain on the aft head sink. It is always slow, yesterday I flushed it for awhile, including using boiling water, then put vinegar down the drain. This hose is only about 3 feet long. It goes from the bottom of the sink straight down, then through a wall to the drain valve and out the bottom of the boat. No significant bends, but it is the sink that gets used for brushing teeth and combing of hair happens above it. We have had it cleaned out from the bottom up with a snake, and have taken the hose off (I thought we replaced the hose but maybe not) and tried to clean it out that way. So far it always drains slow.
I posted about this draining issue in the Facebook group for IP445/465 (our model boat) and within a short period of time, I had 4 responses that all shared similar experiences. I am done trying to fix this.
We walked into town to get a pastry, and some California rolls, then back to the boat. Showers (4-7pm) for lukewarm warm water. Reneé went first. When I got back, the covers came off the windows and shore power as well. We plan to get underway by 3 ish. We want to anchor before dark, and it’s about 80 miles to Puerto San Francisquito.
About that time the bottom cleaning guy showed up. Something that has to be done about monthly. This finishes our list for what to get done here.
When they get done, we will head up to Padre Santo for dinner and a beer. Then off to bed.
Below is our list of things to get done in Santa Rosalia:
– [x] Get bottom cleaning done (scheduled for Saturday)
– [x] Grocery shopping (Saturday)
– [x] Stern light repair (Friday)
– [x] Reneé gets a haircut (Friday)
– [x] Take a look at the wash down pump and hose see if I can fix the leak (Friday)
– [x] Order the solenoid for the propane to be at Lukeville in about a week (Friday)
– [x] Put sealant on back edge of mast collar (Friday)
– [x] Fill propane tanks (Thursday)
– [x] Pharmacy (Thursday)
– [x] Wash the boat (Thursday)
– [x] Bank (Thursday)
– [x] Get water (Wednesday)
