Category: 2024-06 (June)

(posted 06/07/24)
0600 up and morning routines. Except bible reading. We usually spend 20 minutes or so. We will get it probably sometime today.
Today is a travel day and last day on the boat so a pretty busy morning. We were off the boat and in the cab before 0900. Through ticketing and baggage check by 1000, and supposed to take off at 1124. We will see, next stop Dallas.
So, the only excitement on the flight home was, the stop in Dallas included a time change. So we thought we had an hour more for lunch and we did not. Reneé got the message that they were boarding and we told the restaurant that we had to go. They packaged our lunch and we were late boarding but made it! Then in Nashville, we got to our hotel (Drury, they serve dinner and breakfast, we were too late for dinner). In the morning an Uber ride to the Uhaul dealer and picked up a truck to drive home. There is not a car rental place within 60 miles of our house in Savannah. So, we figured out that we can get a Uhaul truck for about the same price, and there is a dealer about a half mile away. We were home by noon.

This is the last post for the season, I don’t expect to update this blog until we are headed back to the boat (or actually on it) in November or December.

(posted 06/07/24)
Up at 0630, morning routines. Then pump out the bilge. First I put some boat soap in it, then use a hose to clean the bilge. Our bilge is very deep, probably 4 feet or more. Then I put enough water in to start the bilge pump, and when it stops, I use the manual pump to get more out, then repeat until all the soap bubbles are gone.
Next up is clean out the freezer and fridge. The only thing left at this point was enough ice cream for two bowls. Yes, we had ice cream at 0930!
Then turn off the power and use a hose to rinse out and defrost both units. There’s a pump at the bottom to remove the water.
We’re supposed to meet with Cano for a final review of what we want him to do while we are gone. He was a little late, but we went over what needs to be looked at.
We worked on stuff on the list, then stopped for lunch. At 2 pm, Reneé went and got the laundry, we lost one of the cloth napkins. Then we packed. At 4, we are going to the office to check for outgoing mail, then we will go get showers and go out for dinner.
While we are walking and having dinner, the drink cooler will be off, open and have a fan blowing in it to defrost it. Right now it’s only got milk for breakfast tomorrow, and the last 6 pieces of sausage that we found when defrosting the freezer. We will have those for breakfast as well. Those are moving to our Yeti ice chest overnight.
So, at about 4:30 pm, shore power went away. Reneé was walking to the office and when she got back she said that the gates were not working, they failed open, so there’s nothing I can do about this.
We have batteries, an inverter and solar panels. So, shore power should come back sooner or later. Just no air conditioning until then. The power was off for about an hour by that time we were ready to go to dinner. We had our showers and we headed out. The first stop was the pool, where we ran into Tad and Robin in the hot tub, then Curt and Jill at the pool and two other couples, finally broke away and headed to Jude on the beach, but they were closed, so out to the road and used a cab to get to Cavernitas were we had a very good dinner then used the Collective to get back to the boat

This is the list of stuff we had to get done to leave the boat for a while:

Things to do on the boat to prep for storage
– [x] Defrost
– [x] beer cooler
– [x] fridge
– [x] freezer
– [x] Filters and strainers cleaned
– [x] Air Conditioning
– [x] Generator
– [x] Refrigerator pump (AFTER last defrost)
– [x] Anchor wash down pump
– [x] Fwd shower
– [x] Engine
– [x] Aft shower
– [x] Bilge pumped out
– [x] 2nd time
– [x] 1st time
– [x] Water tank
– [x] Pickle water maker
– [x] Filters out and replaced for next season
– [x] Fill water tank
– [x] Lubricate all the locks, don’t forget the one on the outboard
– [x] Adjust battery chargers as directed by Battleborn. Lowering the float setting to the 13.3v-13.2v range. This will at least allow for some power to be cycled out of the batteries while in this setting. (MANUALS ARE IN THE WHITE 3 RING BINDER LABELED: WATER PURIFIER WASH DOWN …. BATTERY CHARGER AMP METER) Lower the Absorption Voltage to 13.2 as well
– [x] Solar can be done on the phone app. Lowering the float setting to the 13.3v-13.2v range. Lower the Absorption Voltage to 13.2 as well (NEW PIN 006345, as of 5/20/2024)
– [x] Port
– [x] Stbd
– [x] Multi plus FIND THE VICTRON ENERGY MANUAL EN AND APPENDIX 23 PAGES PLUS APPENDIX A – G. (TO DO THIS REQUIRES HOOKING UP VIS NETWORK CABLE AND ADAPTER)
– [x] Inverter off this can be done remotely no, keeping it on for Starlink 5/2024.
– [x] Fuel cans stored in cockpit
– [x] Gas empty (give gas to Cano)
– [x] Diesel
– [x] Propane off rail
– [x] Gas out of dinghy
– [x] BBQ off rail
– [x] Put Canvas on
– [x] Canopy
– [x] Cover over mast
– [x] Covers over hatches
– [x] Cover over helm
– [x] Covers over windows in Bimini
– [x] Water craft on deck
– [x] Paddle boards
– [x] Kayak
– [x] Fold in racks
– [x] paddle boards
– [x] kayak
– [x] Dinghy (not this time)
– [x] Tape base of mast (we’re trying plastic this year 5/2024)
– [x] Take out the key
– [x] Wash boat
– [x] Rinse things on deck etc
– [x] Paddle boards
– [x] Kayak
– [x] Kayak seats
– [x] Snorkel gear
– [x] Anchors and chains
– [x] Fill fuel tank so that it is full for the year (7/8’s May 2024)
– [x] lines stowed
– [x] Fenders
– [x] Dock lines
– [x] Furling lines
– [x] Main
– [x] Staysail (Stays on deck – shrink wrap will cover it)
– [x] Jib (Stays on deck – shrink wrap will cover it)
– [x] sheets
– [x] Staysail (Stays on deck – shrink wrap will cover it)
– [x] Jib
– [x] Main
– [x] halyards down
– [x] Jib
– [x] Staysail
– [x] Spinnaker
– [x] Spare topping lift
– [x] Main
– [x] preventers
– [x] Outboard crane (staying up this time)
– [x] Dinghy davit lines (staying up this time)
– [x] Tighten both fishing pole holder
– [x] Clean (with vinegar) latches for kayak seats
– [x] Clean dock lines
– [x] clean speed probe
– [x] (take it out)
– [x] Flush outboard and run it out of fuel
– [x] Turn off AIS etc.
– [x] Sails down and folded/stowed
– [x] Staysail
– [x] Main
– [x] Jib
– [x] Pull drain plug on dinghy
– [x] Check in with the port captain where ever we are.
– [x] Clean Fenders
– [x] Anchor wash down hose rinsed with fresh water
– [x] Anchor chain washed down for the storage
– [x] Stop subscription to PredictWInd / Iridium GO (has to be at least one month after started, for example 4/13/22 – 5/30/22)
– [x] Steel wool in hull penetrations when hauled out
– [x] Measure plastic slides for hatch in companionway sample in backpack 6 1/2 feet long, need 2 of these.
Renee’s list
– [x] Vacuum seal “everything”
– [x] Remove food from shelves
– [x] Pack up spices
– [x] Go through medicines and toiletries to determine what goes and what stays.
– [x] Pack
– [x] Clean
– [x] floors
– [x] Fwd head,
– [x] Aft head
– [x] Wipe down teak inside with vinegar (just teak oil this year)
– [x] stove and oven
– [x] below floors
– [x] behind settees
– [x] Portholes & screens
– [x] Lube zippers
– [x] Washing
– [x] Laundry – take to laundromat
– [x] Hand washing
– [x] All clothes to be left aboard washed and put away
– [x] Put Vaseline on porthole weather stripping (not in Puerto Vallarta)
– [x] Put Vaseline (snap lube) on snaps
– [x] Polish stainless
– [x] Covers for instruments

Last Days
– [x] Turn off propane
– [x] Deck open around mast in case of rain
– [x] Engine and generator battery banks should be left disconnected. Make sure ALL LOADS are off.
– [x] All loads off (fans, lights, water pump, heads, etc.)
– [x] Generator off (not this year)
– [x] Engine off (not this year)
– [x] Through hulls/sea cocks
– [x] Closed
– [x] Air Conditioning
– [x] Fwd sink drain
– [x] Aft sink drain
– [x] Aft Shower drain (inside clothing cabinet by aft head, above the water line)
– [x] Washer dryer drain (behind Washer/dryer, above the water line, next to the Fwd shower drain)
– [x] Fwd Shower drain (behind Washer/dryer, above the water line)
– [x] Refrigerator drain
– [x] Water maker
– [x] Generator
– [x] Engine
– [x] Holding tank discharge to sea
– [x] Anchor wash down pump
– [x] Open
– [x] Galley sink drain LEFT OPEN – (if dehumidifier is used) dehumidifier drains to the galley sink
– [x] Cock Pit Drains (2) LEFT OPEN in case of rain
– [x] Hanging locker open to dry out
– [x] All cabinets open
– [x] Close up boat
– [x] Tighten all portholes
– [x] Close all hatches,
– [x] close all portholes
– [x] close the blinds
– [x] use insulated blocks for large windows in salon
– [x] VERIFY passports in backpack
– [x] Check pockets and backpacks for knives
– [x] Get bag of “things to take to Tennessee” (battery for windows PC, etc.)
– [x] Get boat cards for the summer (we forgot to do this in 2021)
– [x] “Lock” aft Lazarette.
– [x] Dehumidifier running (not in Puerto Peñasco)
– [x] Flonase (packed)
– [x] Batteries out of all appliances, flashlights, radios, Etc.
– [x] Setup motion detector camera
– [x] engine start battery
– [x] Hook up battery maintainer
– [x] Charge
– [x] generator start battery
– [x] Hook up battery maintainer
– [x] Charge
– [x] Holding tank pumped out, and refilled with “some water”.
– [x] House bank charger off, inverter off this will power the bilge pump (necessary while in the water), can be controlled remotely only do this with no shore power.

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(posted 06/07/24)
Up at 0630, (we slept in a bit), morning routines, then off to church. Tracy Cain came with us. His wife went home to play with the grandkids, but her father (with dementia) fell and broke a hip, so she is helping there as well.
After church we went to lunch in Bucerías at La Cocina (the red roof near the bus stop). Then went to Tracy’s boat it’s an IP38 from the 1980’s or 90’s. We exchanged ideas, and suggestions his showers appear to drain to a “bucket” in the bilge, we could tell it had a float switch, but didn’t have appear to have a pump. We also noted that he has two dorades.
These are vents that have a box on the deck, they have a “horn” that can be pointed into the wind, this air goes into the box, and there is a drain for any water, the internals of the box is two levels the lower level has a drain, the upper level has a hole that goes into the boat. This keeps most of the water out of the boat. We use styrofoam disks to plug this hole, and have a dehumidifier running to minimize moisture during hurricane season.
In any case, we offered him two discs from our spares, if we could find them easily. We came back to our boat and found them right away. He came and got them and we talked some more. He borrowed our wet dry vac to get the water out of the bucket. He bought a small portable air conditioner and ran it overnight, draining it to the bilge. The drain actually went into the bucket resulting in it being full.
He is moving the AC unit to the counter, so it can drain into the sink and overboard, he will set it to just dehumidify. There’s a lot of humidity already. We have the AC running inside our boat, draining to our bilge, and in the time we have been in Paradise Village the bilge pump has run about 50 times just from the condensation from the AC.
A couple of days ago, we got a message that Ralph de la O was going to be here, so we communicated and he and his friend Greg stopped by for cookies and Ice Cream.

(posted 06/07/24)
We got up a bit later than usual, about 0700, morning routines, but we forgot to listen to the net.
Then flushed the sinks (ran a hose down to clear drains. The aft head drain is always slow, so after it was flushed BTW, it is only slow to drain, when I put the full force of the hose down it takes it all and clears any water standing in the sink as well. I suspect an issue with venting. Then flushed the aft section of the boat down to the bilge. Finally started filling the water tank at about 0910. This means the AC is turned off and all portholes and hatches are open and it is hot and humid on the boat.

I also started the charger on the generator start battery. I have a maintainer that will be hooked up later to hold the charge so that we don’t lose the battery over the hurricane season.
So, at almost the first hour we sprung a leak in the supply hose for thte water maker. It only took 15 minutes to shorten the hose and we are back to filling the water tank.

I put together a charge cord for our autopilot remote. Normally it is plugged into the system and is charged that way, but we turn everything off when we are in port and being dead is bad for the battery. Now it is plugged in for the season. Of course making that cord meant getting the tools out (one cubby, getting a short patch cord from the spare parts another cubby, getting crimps, another cubby, getting a fuse (because I overloaded one) another drawer behind the settee. Because of the battery charge there are two cubbies open as well, so, both sides of the salon almost all cubbies investigated and opened.
We charged the generator start battery (about 10 hours) and hooked up the battery maintainer for it. Then started charging the engine start battery, which will take over night.
The water tank is full, the old water filters are out, the new ones are in, and the pickling solution is in the water maker. We have used 1196 gallons of water since we last filled the tank on 12/11/22. This was the biggest job left on the list.
We are pretty much done until Monday, our last day in Mexico.