Make Me Laugh Again

Up as usual, then the net. Our new beer cooler was delivered to the boat, and Charlie has been told it is here. He is scheduled to be here “midday”. We are down to about 2 items on our list of “TO-DO” items before getting underway to Barra, the beer cooler and the sails. We also want a new mast boot before we leave the area for the last time. This is not a MUST do, but would be very nice to get done. We also need to fix the dinghy wheels, the parts have been shipped from the states. Thanks Brendan!

Reneé is making a pumpkin pie this morning. Thanksgiving is tomorrow, we won’t be having turkey, but we do get pie!

The beer cooler was installed today! We had him check the freon in the aft A/C unit. I think it might be just a bit undersized for the demand on the unit. It is a 6k unit and that is big enough for the forward stateroom which is a bit smaller than the aft stateroom. In any case, all of the refrigeration equipment is working!

We have checked out of Paradise Village effective tomorrow, everything is done but paying the bill. They have our credit card, and when we call to tell them we are leaving they will total our bill and pay it. Tomorrow night we will be in La. Cruz across the bay. We have a couple of things to do there, and hopefully get our new sails.

We celebrated by going to happy hour at the pool and then getting a hamburger and onion rings for dinner. On the way there we saw an iguana, and we saw a pretty good sunset at the beach.

Up and moving, after breakfast and the net, we went to the market. Our new beer cooler is not here yet, but Mike contacted me and he has a guy on motorcycle who is bringing the documents over, should be here in an hour or so. After the market we came back to the boat and found Cano cleaning the bottom.

Next up was setting up the Iridium GO! (Our satellite connection) I got that set up including our track. The link is here on the right. Then updating all the firmware and apps. Followed by flushing the drains for the head sinks. To do that I brought a hose in and directed the nozzle down the drain. When Cano cleaned the bottom, I had him use a stick up the drain for the aft sink, as it has been very slow ever since we got the boat. We have replaced the drain hose so, I know it is clear down to the sea cock (shut off valve for the through hull). Cano said nothing came out, and the drain seemed about as bad after as it had been before. When I flushed it with a sink full of water it got a little better and with the hose it was significantly improved, still not as good as the forward head. The next time we get hauled out this problem will get fixed. 

Then make sure that the outboard will run. So, first set up the cooling water to it. We have an expandable hose that is a tube inside of a cloth this has been a source of leakage for ever. Pretty frustrating, well this time I hooked it up and had pressure from the faucet to through the hose up to where the spray nozzle was screwed on the end of the hose, but no water. Further investigation the tube had gotten twisted and sealed itself. This is the last straw, so a new hose for potable water is needed. 

Next up was filling the gas tank for the outboard. I had gotten gas a couple of days ago, so the gas was here I just needed to put it in the correct tank. So, I got everything I needed out on the dock and found the cap on the tank full of gas was broken. I got past this, but will need a new cap. I got the outboard running and put everything away. 

Hose issue: This failed hose is a problem as being in Mexico means somethings are not really easy to find. Like a hose. Home Depot does not have potable water hoses (this is the white hose you fill your RV water tank with), Walmart does not have it, and there does not appear to be an RV store anywhere. So, we went to Zaragoza, the marine store. Somebody must have told them that if it says marine you can mark it up a bunch. I think we bought a 100 foot white hose, 2003 pesos, or abut $100.00 US. 

Gas cap issue, we rode the bus to Walmart and Autozone, Walmart only had small (very small) gas cans, and no caps on the ones on the shelves. Auto zone had the same brand cans as we had on the boat but small (not as small as the ones at Walmart) so, we bought one of these smaller cans and took it back to the boat and swapped caps (it fit). A new cap cost 269 pesos. At 20 pesos to the dollar, about $13.50 for a plastic gas cap. I put the old cap on the new can and put it by the garbage can. When we got back from the marine store with the new hose, the gas can was gone.

Oh and I have checked the tracking on the beer cooler and it has been delivered to security here in Paradise Village, so we expect it in the morning.

Another glorious day!

So today’s schedule is pretty full, we have a survey scheduled for our insurance. This means we pay a person to come down and look at our boat and write up what they see. They check all the nook and cranes and systems and tell us what MUST be fixed and what we might want to fix and appraise the boat relative to what is available elsewhere etc. This is expected to take about 6 hours. We will only get a dockside survey as we have no sails yet, and we are not hauling the boat out of the water. If we had sails it would include sea trials and if we hauled out they would inspect the hull.

We also have Cano coming to clean our bilge again. We are not done with the oil spill yet.

Reneé will be making a trip to Home Depot and maybe Zaragoza Marine (a store for boat stuff) to get a hose that we can use.

Our new beer cooler is due today, and Charlie is scheduled to install it tomorrow.

Well, when the survey guy got here and we talked some more, he will comeback between Christmas and New Years to do the survey. Cano cleaned the bilge and we scheduled a bottom cleaning for tomorrow.

So, at the end of the day, what got done, was watching the bilge get cleaned. I spent the whole day waiting for documents that I must sign to get the sails. Oh and we washed the boat.

No pictures today.

So, up and about and off to church. After church we went to lunch with the same people we did last week. Rhythm and Blues lounge in Bucerias. Then another bus ride to Home Depot to get a hose and some rings. Then back to the boat and remove the covers on the wood.

One of the things about having a sailboat in a marina (especially when you are parked near where people can come and look through the fence or near a gate) is the number of people who stop and talk. Almost every time we are on deck here we wind up in a conversation. This time it was a couple from across the street at the Hard Rock hotel. They are from California and vacationing here. They have been sailors and knew about Island Packets. We finally invited them in for a tour and discussion that lasted an hour or two. They were Allen and Eddie.

Oh and when we got back to the boat, we found that the hoses (we bought two of them) had a caution (on the inside of the box) that said don’t use for potable water. Which is OF COURSE why we bought them. So, tomorrow Reneé will take them back.

 

We got up and had breakfast and we were ready when Sergio and his helper arrived to work on the heads. While they worked, we took down the canopy. I gave Sergio my ratcheting crimper for crimping butt connectors (electrical tool) and I ordered a new one. This is about $30, I will consider that I have given most of the tip for this project, but not all. Typically the cost for labor is very low, and giving a sizable tip helps them out a lot, and it still is way cheaper than getting this done in the states. Final price was about $150 for two days work for two guys each day. New vacuum generators installed, all new seals where needed, and it all works again, YEAH!! This is a very big deal, in case you did not get that. 

Canopy is down and folded up in a sail bag. Next up is some odds and ends on the dinghy.

We got into the dinghy and pumped it up, no real leaks, just 6 months since the last time. Found a broken strap, it will wait until we have time to fix it. We filled the gasoline jerry cans. We worked on transferring the dinghy wheels from one set of broken bars to the new one, but, one of the bolts is stuck and we will be shopping for a new bolt tomorrow. We verified we could unlock the outboard, last year we could not I think we finally cut it off. This year (better lock) it worked first time!

This was the first time I tried a new app for getting a ride. It is called InDriver, and instead of being told how much it costs, you tell how much you are willing to pay. I used this because there were no Ubers available. It is a little different, as you pay the driver in cash. Apparently, Uber has not done that (actually getting the money to the drivers) well here in Puerto Vallarta.