Category: 2025 Season 6

Published 03/28/2025
Up at 5 am, underway by 6 am. with the first light. It’s still calm with flat seas. We should be there looking for a spot to anchor by 10 am or so.
We slowed down to sail for a bit, but still we were anchored by 11 am.
After lunch I caught up on the blog, Reneé floated for a bit, we talked to Tracy (he came over on his paddle board). We are going over for dinner at 5 pm.
Well, about 4:30, I headed up on deck to get the dinghy ready. Reneé had put the screens down earlier, they not only keep the bugs out, but also tend to block the wind. As soon as I unzipped the screen and stuck my head out, my hat was blown off my head. I had it snugged down pretty tight, but it was blown straight off the boat, last I saw it, it was headed south.
We elected to try for breakfast with Tracy and Danelle.
We had dinner, Arroz Con Pollo, very good.

Published 3/18/25

Up at 5 or so, underway by 6 am. Breakfast and bible reading underway. We have a longer than normal trip, about 60 miles to get to Agua Verde. The weather today is supposed to be fairly calm.

We arrived about 3pm, got anchored and relaxed for a bit.

Then dinghy down and go ashore. There is a small tienda (market) and we are out of a few things. After checking the weather, something we do pretty often, we decided to only stay one night here. The wind is supposed to be in the 20 knot range from the north west starting sometime after noon. This is not a very protected anchorage from that direction. Also, we have friends waiting for us at Punta Colorado on Isla Carmen, which is supposed to be better protected. This is about 20 miles northwest of Agua Verde.

We went to Leonore’s restaurant on the beach, this is our favorite restaurant here. The Tienda did not open before 5 something, as there had been a death in the family.  So, while we waited we had fish tacos for dinner. Then Reneé went and got some of what she wanted, the Tienda is very small. We talked to some other boaters one lady was from Hawaii with her family, they sailed over last year. The other group of 3 were motoring in the sea. The couple are getting ready to celebrate their 50th anniversary in a month or two. They fly back on Friday (I think).

Back to the boat, dinghy away, some down time and bed.

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.