Category: 2021-01 (January)

We slept in until about 8 am, had breakfast and watched a sermon from North Coast in Vista. We wanted to go to the bilingual church here in Mazatlan (Vineyard) but they failed to respond not the email we sent to them to confirm the time of the service).  We then headed downtown. We then went to a market this was not an open air market, rather a building about the size of a Costco, with a bunch of small shops inside, narrow walkways and crowded. At every entrance there was hand sanitizer and temperature checks, and several places inside also had the same. So you could only walk about 50 feet or so without sanitizing your hands. I really don’t like crowds, so this was not a good place for me. Renee’ on the other hand loves to shop so she was having a good time. Anyway, we left after a bit.

Found a restaurant and had lunch. This was a challenge, as the part of town we were in was on the “fancy” side, “Old Mazatlan”, and it was a bit early for lunch (right at about noon) so most places were still selling breakfast. One place that had pretty high reviews had a 10 page or so menu, with about 4 items for lunch, all of which had cheese or yogurt in them. I am lactose intolerant, and have to ask them to make it without dairy. There was nothing here that really looked appetizing to me. They had 4 pages of waffles and crepes, but we were not looking for breakfast. We ran into a couple who had been dancing on the porch of one of the buildings by a square. They were about our age, maybe a bit older, and brought their own music to tango. They told us about a live music performance scheduled at the square that evening. We thought about going but by the time it was supposed to start the weather had turned cold and grey, so we stayed in. Back to the lunch restaurant, we finally found one and had a nice view, but I was not really impressed with the food. Then out to walk again.

We chatted with some sailors on the same dock, Eve and Rene.  Eve told us that we could. Be refused the covid test if we brush our teeth, chew gum, or eat or drink anything before taking it.  Yikes…so glad we got this info before tomorrow.

We got up around 7:30, and pulled the anchor up and went into Mazatlan. Near high tide. Some things about the entrance to this harbor, this is not the main harbor, this is the small boat marina. The entrance faces southwest, and is about 50 yards wide (seriously! Very narrow, the canal in back of our house in Florida is wider). The channel is being dredged, so there is a dredging barge tied to one side (as it is Saturday). The reports in Navionics says to be careful entering when there is a swell from the south, as a 60 foot boat wound up smashed on the rocks in October 2019. As we came in I could see how that could happen as we had a slight swell from the west and it pushed us around a bit. Anyway we made it through this channel and into the marina area, which is very large, somewhere over 400 slips. We found our dock and got parked and shore power on and engine shut down by about 9 am.  We checked in at the office, and checked about the refrigeration tech. Then back to the boat to hang out and wait. They showed up about 1:30 or so. They recharged the refrigerator looked for a leak, and said they thought it was under the refrigerator. Then they left. We will try a different tech who actually looks like he wants to find the leak (these two were not even going to look until I asked the third time). In the meantime, The water heater is still not leaking. We went for a walk, and discovered that this is not a good place to walk away from. Oh well, we did anyway and found a bier garden and had a beer. Then an Uber ride back to the boat. We had dinner and were settled in for the night, when we had a post on Facebook from a friend in Iowa who said we should go dancing at a place called Valentinos. We checked and it looked like it was right around the corner. So we changed and took a hike. Well google missed, so we got an Uber and went to the right place (which was closed) so we walked down the Malecón and found another great place for a beer and then finally took an Uber back to the boat. Showers and bed.

We got up early and were ready to get underway by about 8 am. We had gotten diesel the day before, Jerry cans from the fuel dock in carts with help from Omar the marina guy. 47 gallons back and forth a couple of times.

Anyway we had the boat ready to go and dropped the lines as the port captain announced that the port was open on the radio. Issues this morning, the back light on the chart plotter at the helm is out. Which means effectively we can’t use it on deck. Oh and the refrigerator is not working well.  This promises to be a very quiet trip from here to Mazatlan. About 230 miles, NO wind. We got out of Topolobampo,, and turned south. Flat calm water, I engaged the auto pilot from below, and checked when it expected us to get to Mazatlan, which was around 3 pm. Good it will be daylight when we get there. Bad, it is at low tide, and the harbor master has recommended coming in at high tide,

We had lunch on deck, and then dinner. Somewhere along the way, I pumped out the holding tank, then started the water maker. We filled the water tank and shut down the generator, and checked the expected time to get to Mazatlan, still around 3 pm. What makes this odd, is that normally 7.2 knots is about as fast as we go, ever. To get there by 3 we had to average about 7 knots. This is pretty hard to do, but since we were running on the engine and there was no waves, or wind, we did the trip in about 30 hours. Probably our longest distance yet in one trip at 230 miles, but not our longest passage by time. We watched the sunset and then turning to the east saw the moon, and just kept going. We saw a whale, but no pictures, and we had the typical seagull’s circle the boat several times, we even had one land on the top of our mast. This bird decided to perch on the wind direction pointer, we have two of these, one goes to an instrument on deck the other is visible from the cockpit. The pointer that does not go to the instrument had two little flags that show where there is no wind (about 30 degrees off the stern to port and starboard), now it only has one the other hit the deck.

Along the way, Renee was making an effort to schedule Covid tests.  She found a clinic which allowed online registration.  She struggled through the only Spanish site to schedule the appointments…initially on Saturday (because the clinic is closed on Sunday).  Then she realized that Saturday being 4 days prior to travel may not work.  The test results may not be accepted.  She communicated with the clinic by way of Whatsap and successfully changed them to Monday.  Now we have to hope we get the results in 48 hours as we fly out on Wednesday.

Once we got to Mazatlan, we anchored near an island in about 20 feet of water. We got on the phone and called support for Raymarine (chart plotter, and instruments). The various numbers we had for refrigerator techs and the marina to double check our slip. Then had happy hour then dinner and went to bed about 7 for me, and 8 for Renee’.  A very uneventful trip. Things that don’t work now:

1. The refrigerator, we will get that looked at in Mazatlan, the marina office said they will get us a refrigerator tech to the boat.
2. The chart plotter back light. The Raymaine place in Puerto Vallarta said the chart plotter would have to be sent to the states for repair, but that it was too old to get fixed. Instead they said call “this guy” he works on this stuff, but he is hard to understand. So, I called Victor Gonzales, (who speaks some English is very soft spoke and might have a speech impediment as well, as in very hard to understand) and he is Puerto Vallarta. He says he may be able to fix the back light. But he does not work on the instruments.
3. The water heater (which stopped leaking??)
4. Wind speed instrument (this stopped working at the beginning of the trip from Topolobampo)
5. Boat speed instrument (this is the little wheel under the boat that spins, we still have several GPS’s that give boat speed)

This is life on a boat, what is broken today??

As we really need to get to Mazatlan in time to get Covid testing done and get on the plane by Feb. 3 to fly back to Sacramento for the skiing trip with the kids and grandkids, we are planning to leave and sail south. Somethings we need to do is get fuel, get drinking water (our water maker still has issues). So, we checked the weather, Tuesday WINDY, VERY. Wednesday through Friday not so much, Saturday Windy. So, we looked out the window, by noon on Tuesday, the water was flat calm, smooth. Almost no wind at all. But we are about 7 miles in from the Sea here and somewhat protected. 

By late afternoon the wind had started to come up, and by 7 pm or so, I turned on the instruments to check the windspeed, bouncing to 40 knots. Which is VERY windy. We are thankful we are in a marina. In the meantime, we walked to the store and got a few supplies. I worked on the blog, which required going up to the office to get on WiFi. I was able to publish about the last 2 weeks worth of posts and pictures. We had a quite dinner and as the wind calmed down a bit, we got some sleep. 

Wednesday we got up at 7:30 with plans to get underway by about noon. We walked out to get water and check the fuel dock. Double checked the price of fuel and height of the dock to see where we needed to have fenders in place. We have an option, either take the boat to the fuel dock and deal with figuring out how to get the fenders high enough to block the boat away from the dock, or take Jerry cans to the gas station and carry it back to the boat and pour it in. Both are somewhat difficult, and for once the cost of fuel here does not have the added dockage fees. We have paid as much as 12% for docking the boat while getting fuel. While that sounds high, consider the fuel docks in the states. Typically the fuel at the dock is about $1 more per gallon than at the gas station. Which is between 25 and 33%. We are still deciding which way to go with this, and waiting for the wind to come down a bit more. It is not horrible, but still bouncing around 10-15 knots. 

As we are still thinking about this, and doing the last minute stuff, Omar came back to tell us that the port is “closed” that is a determination by the Port Captain. Leaving Port with a closed port results in Fines, and issues with the authorities. NO THANKS! So, we will stay here until they open the port. Maybe while we wait we will get diesel.  

We woke up and it was calm, and Predict Wind (the weather app we use) said it would be a great day to head south. I walked over to the fuel dock to check out how to approach with the boat to get fuel and Renee’ filled our water bottle for drinking water. Our water maker is still not making great water, it is acceptable, but not great so we get drinking water from the store. About that time Omar came and told us the port was closed and we could not leave, as in not even go get fuel. So, back to plan B and carry jerry cans. Oh well.

 

We got up at 7am, had breakfast and Renee’ took the laundry in while I worked on trying to figure out what is going on with our water heater. It has a small intermittent leak. First I vacuumed all the water out and tried to see where it was leaking. I thought perhaps it was the safety valve, as it is as I said intermittent. But that is not it. I checked the cold water in and hot water out lines and did not find it. Finally I called for help. Probably a significant reason I did not find the leak is that I did not want to fix it. The marina fixit guy was down, and looked at for awhile, and said, “the water heater leaks”. So, I looked online for a replacement, and checked with other Island Packet 445 owners on how to take the old one out and get a new one in. The problem is that the water heater measures 16 inches W x 22 inches D x 16 inches H, and the access hole is 17.5” by 11.5” (actually about 1” smaller in both directions as that is the measurement of the plate that goes in the hole. So, the situation is that the water heater leaks about 2 gallons per hour, and as built there is no shut off valve for it. So, we installed one, and will have to be careful how we use the water heater for the time being. This is a boat water heater and it is heated by the engine when it is running (like the heater in a car) and by an electric heater when on shore power. We have to keep it turned off when the water is turned off, and we will have to keep the water in it when the engine is running, which means keeping the water pump one while motoring. I found the heater on line for about $500, but the hard part is not finding and buying the heater but getting it to the boat. It weighs less than 40 lbs, and will be delivered to our sons home in the Sacramento area and will fly back to the boat with us as luggage. The other issue is how to go about getting the old one out and the new one in. I asked other IP445 owners if any had done it and how, and one replied that he did it about 3 years ago in St. Thomas (US Virgin Islands). He described the cut that he made in the settee and how he used aluminum blocks behind it to rebuild when he was done. I plan on taking a bunch of pictures as this is done. I also sent an email requesting help from the factory on how this was supposed to be done.

Regarding this trip that we just completed, we were very blessed to be able to see God’s handiwork every day, both in the mountains, and canyons as well as in the people. We saw the missions and we saw a very gracious people. We took the time daily to read the Bible, we are in the process of reading through the Bible in a year, we have missed one day so far, we were late for breakfast and our tour guide was a little bit early, then we forgot when we got back at the end of the day. As an example of the people, our taxi driver here in Topolobampo sent a series of GIFs via WhatsApp this morning that were all christian with great meaning.

At the end of the day, I have tightened all the fittings on the aft head pump (which has been running periodically) and I think I slowed down the cycle, I tightened the spring on one of the hatches that was drifting closed, the isolation valve for the water heater has been installed, and the laundry has been done. I have also gone through all the pictures from the last week. The kitchen faucet screen has been plugging gradually for some time, and it (of course) is not obvious how it comes apart for cleaning. Well, I finally thought about where we bought it (Lowes) and looked through the receipts until I found what brand it is (not labeled above the sink, and about 3 hours work to get at from the bottom) then looked it up on YouTube to find out how to disassemble and clean it. That is done too!

As a note, the reason that some of these things have not been done is that they are way harder to do than the same thing in a house. For example the cycling head pump is a similar problem to the toilet running in the bathroom that you jiggle the handle to and it stops (for awhile). In this case it is a vacuum pump. The hoses and fittings got dislodged when I had to move the vacuum tank a little bit to install the new batteries. To access the vacuum pump the following had to be done:

1. The table has to be put up
2. The cushions on the port settee all have to be moved out of the way, in this case to the forward stateroom.
3. The bottom of the settee makes into a full sized bed, and this must be pulled out.
4. The cover over the compartment that the pump is in has to be removed (just pick it up)
5. All the stuff in this compartment has to be moved.
6. The vacuum pump is under a cover in this compartment (made by a previous owner, I believe). This cover is a marvel. It has two small supports one forward and the other aft in the compartment. The top piece has two screws that go through the top into the aft support. It also has three screws that go down into the vertical wall of this box. Because of the shape and location of the access to this compartment, there are no screws that go into the forward support, Also because of the size of the cover and the size, shape and location of the access and the compartment, one of the two supports must be removed to get the two pieces of the box out of the compartment, which must be done to access the pump. Oh, and a retainer for the batteries sticks into the compartment and “just” fits above the lid to this box.  Note that to remove the support for the lid to this box and then to reinstall it, two screws must be removed/installed while holding the cover of the box out of the way.
7. So, now it is out of the way and I have access! Roughly a half hour to get that far in.

There are about a half dozen hose clamps and 8 screws into the top of the pump that hold a rubber diaphragm in place. I tightened all of them, but really don’t want to go too tight, as, oh yeah, we can’t get parts here!

Then put it all back the way it was when I started. (A 5 minute job with an hour of access!). By the way, I have been down to this pump 3 or 4 times, and there are supposed to be 11 screws to hold it all together, 3 for each support (1 missing from each) two through the top into the aft support (both are there) and 3 through the top into the side panel (1 missing here as well), so there are 3 out of 11 screws missing, and I don’t have any of the right size.

Finding stainless fasteners here in Mexico in these small ports is very difficult and while it can be done, most of the time, sometimes you just can’t find them. As an example I point out that I spent 3 days looking for the right size bolts to fix the hatches and finally got the right size, but the head of the bolt was too big, so I had to go back to the states and get Allen head bolts. Those hatches took the better part of a year to get fixed, with multiple trips for parts some I thought I needed and some I actually did need. It included not one or two, but three trips back to the states to get parts. The problem with not using stainless, is that we are sitting in sea water, which means that there is salt in the air. Most of the time, I don’t just want stainless steel fasteners, but type 316 stainless steel. This is much more expensive and hard to come by in the states, much less Mexico.

Regarding the three hour estimate for access to the bottom of the sink, I believe I wrote about that way earlier in the blog, I am not sure exactly when it was, but it was a matter of a couple of weeks finding out how to drop the box above the engine and access the bottom of the sink. In the process I broke one of the engine room lights, so a plumbing job that would take about an hour (maybe 3) took about 3 weeks and turned from a plumbing issue to electrical and re-insulating the engine room. Working on things on a boat is just hard.

Well, dishes are done, that required either using the hot water heater or heating water on the stove to do the dishes, we elected to heat the water on the stove. No automatic dishwasher here. The clothes came back folded (not the way we do it, but sort of good enough) but they had to be put away, we had 5 loads of laundry that got done today, and it all fits in the various cupboards and lockers, but it has to go a certain way to get it in. It is now after 8:30 pm, and we are going to go up and take a shower here in the marina. Good news they put a door on the shower the week while we were gone!  It is all good and I will try to get this all published tomorrow!

One last thing, had to check the weather! It still shows that tomorrow is very windy (too windy for our taste) and that it will be good for Wednesday through Friday, so we are going to leave Wednesday about noon for a 240 or so mile trip at 5 to 7 knots. 48 to 36 hours.  If we sail more it will be slower, which is what we plan to do. Oh, and yes I need to get diesel before we leave. OOPS! Omar the guy here at the marina doesn’t work tomorrow, oh well, we will figure something out. We have enough fuel, but I really wanted to top off before we headed south.