Category: 2019 – 2020 Season 1

We got up about normal for us, 7 am or so. Had our breakfast and did our devotions. The only thing on the schedule for today is for Jesus Salas Phoenix Multiservice, to come by and look at/fix the alternator on the engine. He is the guy who fixed the bow-thruster the other day. He did a great job the with that, saving me a ton of work doing the wrong thing. So, that is what I am hoping for again.

I expected Jesus in the morning, but he did not show up and until early afternoon. He went right to work, first thing he did was figure out that the alternator was not a problem. We then took some time exploring what and how my system works. I now know hot the smart controller for the alternator works. I also know what to look for there, as it has a screen that only displays when the alternator is running. To see this I have to open the door on the side of the engine room and look across to see it. I normally rely on the video camera in the engine room to see what is going on in there, but the camera does not see that screen, so now I have another thing to do periodically.

We also checked to see if the alternator was charging the house bank (it was) and the engine start battery (it was as well). I really need to get a clamp on amp meter, this is the second time in recent history that I have seen a need for one. I will be picking one up this summer when we are back in the states.

Bottom line, what we think might be the issue with the discharged engine start battery is that it could be:
1. A conflict between the alternator and the solar controller

1. dirty contacts on the alternator or the smart controller or something.

but at this point there is nothing wrong. All three batteries are fully charged, the alternator is working, both of the battery chargers are working, and the solar panels and charge controller are working too.

On another subject, Renee’ and I worked on our plan for going north to Puerto Penasco. We have decided that will haul out up there. The cost is reasonable, it is close to the boarder and we have heard good things about the yard as well. So, we made reservations for haul out on May 11, 2020. We have to be there within a week of that date or there will be higher fees for the haul out. Or possibly no room, especially if we are too late.

It is about 250 miles from here to there. We have about 49 days to get there, if we average 3 days per stop that gives us about 16 stops on the way up. So, we have some planning to do.

We do have room for guests, if anyone is interested in visiting and spending a week or so with us, drop us a line and we will coordinate. What you have to do/have is you need a passport and will need to be able to get to where we are when you are going to be down. When we know what time frame you are thinking about we can let you know where we expect to be so that you can make your travel arrangements.

If you want to know where we are, click this link:

https://forecast.predictwind.com/tracking/display/Make_Me_Laugh_Again

Oh, and no pictures again today.

Renee’ got up very early this morning (about 5:30) to make cinnamon roles. She used some starter that she made bread with last week. The starter came from Reina on S/V Karma, as did the recipe. I got up a bit later (about 7:30), and we had our neighbor, Kay from S/V Gone Nutz over and we watched the service from North Coast and had rolls. It was a good sermon. Done by the young Chris.

Afterwards, we took the boat out and ran the water maker for 4 hours or so.

The wind was significantly more than I had expected. At the dock we had about 2 knots, but when we got out around the corner we had 25 knots with gusts to 35 knots. Somewhat uncomfortable. In any case we dumped the holding tank and ran the water maker, then came back in and tied up about 5:30.

After dinner we had Kay and OJ over to learn a new card game called Baja Rummy, a rather complicated game that requires one more deck than people playing and drawing two cards each turn and discarding only one card.  Scoring is complicated as well.

Finally we got to bed at about 11:30. A very long day.

We do have room for guests, if anyone is interested in visiting and spending a week or so with us, drop us a line and we will coordinate. What you have to do/have is you need a passport and will need to be able to get to where we are when you are going to be down. When we know what time frame you are thinking about we can let you know where we expect to be so that you can make your travel arrangements.

If you want to know where we are, click this link:

https://forecast.predictwind.com/tracking/display/Make_Me_Laugh_Again

Oh, and no pictures again today.

We got up, had breakfast and did our devotions. Then got started with our day. 

First thing up was to move the boat. One of the other boats on this dock is being hauled out today to move the boat onto the hard. Their dock is on the other side from us, and the dock is much better, for example it is longer, wider, and has 50 amps of shore power available. Compared to 30 amps at the dock we are at this morning. 

After moving the boat and getting it all tied up and shore power run, I took the Plankton strainer housing out of the boat and up on the dock I was able to get it apart and clean the strainer. Then reinstall the filter. While I was at it, I replaced the cartridges in the two filters one is a 20 micron filter the other is a 5 micron filter. We talked to the neighbors for a bit, there is a lot of confusion about what to do with the Coronavirus. Whether to end the sailing season early, park the boats and go back to the states, or stay on the boats and stay here in Mexico. Some of the people have to leave, as their visas expire soon. The normal visa for Mexico is 30 days, 90 days or 180 days. You can ask for any of these when you cross the border  We are still planning on staying here until the end of May. We reset our visa’s when we were back to the states in February for parts.

We spent some time on the phone with relatives, and Renee’ cleaned inside. 

We do have room for guests, if anyone is interested in visiting and spending a week or so with us, drop us a line and we will coordinate. What you have to do/have is you need a passport and will need to be able to get to where we are when you are going to be down. When we know what time frame you are thinking about we can let you know where we expect to be so that you can make your travel arrangements.

If you want to know where we are, click this link:

https://forecast.predictwind.com/tracking/display/Make_Me_Laugh_Again

We got up late, very late. As in 9am. Had breakfast and did our devotions separately. Renee’ went to the store with the neighbors across the docks and I got the boat ready for the electrician who was coming to help with the Bow Thruster, engine alternator and water filter issues. 

He arrived at about 1pm, and got right to work. We quickly figured out that the next stop with the water filter is to remove it from the boat, and work on it either on the dock, or in a shop, as we are dangerously close to breaking the filter off of the mounts. So, we stopped that work, and went on to the Bow-Thruster issue.

Within 5 minutes of his starting into this project, I was convinced it was the right answer to get help. I had the trouble shooting guide and the tech manual for the thruster. He looked at it and figured out that one wire that he expected, to be there was not there. 

So, there should have been six wires to the Bow Thruster:

1. The 12 volt Positive from the battery (large red wire)
2. The 12 volt Negative from the battery (large black wire)
3. The 12 volt ground for the control circuit from the joy stick at the helm (black)
4. The blue control signal wire from the joy stick (port)
5. The grey control signal wire from the joy stick (starboard)
6. The 12 volt positive wire going to the joy stick (not here)

At the joy stick at the helm there are four wires:

1. The 12 volt ground for the control circuit from the joy stick to the thruster (black)
2. The blue control signal wire from the joy stick (port)
3. The grey control signal wire from the joy stick (starboard)
4. The 12 volt positive wire providing power to the joy stick (which is at the joy stick, but has no power).

So, where I would have spent several hours trying to figure out what was wrong at the bow thruster, I would probably have done more damage than good. Instead, we only had to figure out where it came from and figure out why it had no power.

We looked in all the obvious places for this fuse, or breaker. Then we started chasing the wire from the helm down and spent the next couple of hours tugging on the red wire.

We finally gave up, and tapped into the power to a switch at the helm for a dinghy light. Installed a fuse and got the bow-thruster to work. 

He then spent about an hour putting the tie wraps back in that he had cut to figure out where the fuse was. 

So, four hours invested and the thruster is working again! 

He will be back either tomorrow or Monday, to deal with the alternator. 

On a completely different subject: Last night I saw a request for help from someone on the Sea of Cortez who was looking for an Iridium GO! SIM card. He was asking for someone who had one that was close to Guaymas. (Which is where we are). I contacted him and we will get together and I will give him the SIM card and show him what I know about how it works. 

We do have room for guests, if anyone is interested in visiting and spending a week or so with us, drop us a line and we will coordinate. What you have to do/have is you need a passport and will need to be able to get to where we are when you are going to be down. When we know what time frame you are thinking about we can let you know where we expect to be so that you can make your travel arrangements.

If you want to know where we are, click this link:

https://forecast.predictwind.com/tracking/display/Make_Me_Laugh_Again

Oh, and no pictures again today.