Category: 2025-03 (March)

Published 3/18/25

Up at 6:30, breakfast (cereal) listened to the service from Savannah, TN. Then got my tools together and went after the solenoid valve on the propane system. Of course I don’t have that spare (about $189 at West Marine), and no they don’t have it in Puerto Escondido, or Loretto, or probably Santa Rosalia, all our next stops in the next week or so. They probably won’t have it in Puerto Peñasco either, but it can be had in the US almost anywhere. For example, West Marine in Phoenix, or San Diego they have them in stock, just walk in and get it. So, we will be 4 hours south of the store in Phoenix, the question is can we get it delivered, to where we will be when we get there, or will we have to make an 8 hour drive (round trip) for this part? One way or the other we will have it fixed in a couple of weeks.

In the meantime, I did find an old used solenoid valve in the spare parts on board. While it does not work, I was able to take it apart and get it stuck open so that it will pass the propane, this means that we don’t have the safety/convenience of being able to easily turn it on/off from inside, but we can still cook. So, we will have to go on deck and open the valve then cook, then close the valve. At least we still get hot meals.

Things to note we live on the ocean, so EVERYTHING rusts, I was unable to take the screws out of the installed solenoid valve, as they are steel (not stainless steel) and they were very rusted. It was good that we had a couple of old valves to work with. One of the screws that I took out (I thought all 4 were stainless, but perhaps one was different) when I screwed it back in the head came off, as I said EVERYTHING rusts.

After lunch we got the kayak down and went ashore. We took a hike to the other end of the beach and up the ridge to look south to Isla Partida, we thought about waling along the ridge to the west, but the wind was really blowing and the walk did not look safe. So, we came back down and walked up into the canyon and looked to the west and north from the other side of the island. Then back to the beach and kayak. Once back on the boat we had a break then defrosted the freezer.

This is something that has to be done periodically, it is not automatic like freezers at home. We move everything from the drawer fridge to the Yeti (everything in the Yeti gets to sit out (bread and stuff like that. Then everything in the freezer moves to the drawer fridge and we turn it off and run a fan into it, This time we are also using a blow dryer. As the ice melts and drains down to the bottom we run the pump to send the drains overboard. This takes a bit more power than normal (especially the blow dryer, so we started the generator. Added benefit, we will have hot water for showers. This sounds like a long process, but it only takes a little more than a half hour or so.

 

Published 3/18/25

Up at about 6 am, breakfast, bible reading and underway by about 8 am. A short motor up to Isla San Francisco and anchored in time for lunch. It is sort of crowded here, at least 15 boats plus us.

We have a pretty protected anchorage, the first time we dropped the anchor we managed to tangle it up with the chain, I don’t remember doing that before.

We communicated with Tracy and Danelle from SV Parable we went to church with them while we were in Paradise Village. They are in the Loretto area (Puerto Escondido) and wondered when we might be in the area. We will probably see them in a week or so.

So, then it was dinner time, and …. Well no gas. The solenoid had finally given out. On a boat, for safety reasons, there is a solenoid valve between the regulator on the propane system and the inside of the boat. This solenoid is powered by the 12 vdc system, there is a breaker on the dc panel for it, and a switch and fuse in the galley which allows good control of the system. Well, eventually everything fails, and today was the day for the solenoid. There fore we had to fall back on the microwave for dinner, (we could have BBQ’d, but that would add more time and we were ready to eat). It is a boat, and everything eventually breaks.

Published 3/18/25

Up at 6:30 underway preps, less than yesterday, the covers are already off the windows in the dodger and the screens are up. Breakfast, the net.

Well, the packing on the shaft needed to be adjusted, but that drains below the engine room floor, along with the AC. So, that’s not the issue. The investigation continues.

Finally!! We have the “smoking gun”. Most people run these engines at 2000 rpm maximum, I don’t know where that comes from, but the Yanmar manual clearly shows the normal continuous duty rpm is 3000, with 3800 rpm for up to an hour. I run ours at 3000 rpm, the difference is 4.5  vs 6+ knots.

At 2000 rpm, no leaks, but at 3000 rpm there is a steady stream out of the raw water pump. Upon further investigation two bolts were loose. The o-ring was flat, so a new one (yes we had one) was installed some cleanup and then we will see what we get.

We ran up to Isla Partida north of Espirto Santo and anchored at Ensenada Grande. The engine room remains clean and dry!!

Carlos and his wife worked on the boat from about 9 am to 1230. Then we immediately got underway as the next boat to rent the slip was pulling in. Very close!

It was a calm night, good sleeping weather.

Published 3/18/25

Up at 6:30, breakfast and getting underway preps. Shore power off, screens around the cockpit up, etc. we plan to get underway by 800 to get over to the fuel dock and get going. We forgot to call the office last night, so we can’t leave until they open at 8 am, but we want to be ready to go. We have 47 miles to go to our anchorage tonight. Which is about 10 hours. With the fuel stop, we hope to be anchored by 6 pm.

We left the fuel dock at 8:55 am. We left our keys there for the marina. Checked out with the port captain via radio and we are on our way.

False start! I checked the engine room after about a half hour, and the oil absorbing pad is soaked. It is water, and it appears the shaft seal need to be adjusted. We went back to our slip in  Costa Baja, at least we have one more night that is already paid for. We checked with Carlos, he will be here at 8:30 tomorrow. He says the adjustment on the shaft seal will only take a half hour.

We should be underway by 0900 tomorrow.

We did our bible reading back at the dock and midafternoon we took a walk to the far side of the marina, probably a mile and a half each way. Had sushi for happy hour. While we were out we went to the market and found they had Scorpion Beer (Baja Brewing) this is very good and is a treat when we can find it.

We watched a movie “Unforgiven” with Clint Eastwood.

No pictures today

Published 3/18/25

Up at 6:30, breakfast the net and bible reading. Then off the boat and up to the shuttle by 9 am for a ride into La Paz. We walked the Malecon, checked on a part for the outboard, then walked the other way, stopped and had a beer and chips and guacamole.

The restaurants that we wanted to eat lunch at were both closed on Wednesday Oh well!

We caught the 1:30 return shuttle back to the boat, I started the water maker to top off the tank, Reneé is going do some laundry today while we are filling the water tank.

Today I have a few tasks to get done, fill the water tank, clean the strainers for the engine, generator air conditioning and shower drain.  Reneé is doing some cooking, tomorrow we will stop and get diesel on our way out of the marina.