Up early and then out to catch a bus to get to church. We were a little late to church (only missed part of the first song). A very good message, the pastor and associate are both bilingual and sometimes one will forget he is preaching in Spanish and will shift to English, the other will immediately shift what language he is speaking so that it is correct. I have seen them shift in the middle of a sentence for 1 word. It goes both ways, the one giving the sermon will start in English and 99% of the sermon will be given by him in English, except for the occasional word.
After church we walked with Bethany from Church to the Rhythm and Blues Lounge for lunch with some of the others from church then back through some shops and I bought a new hat. (No idea where I left the last one).
Then back to the boat and hang out until 4:30 or so, when Ivett showed up to deliver our dodger windows. WOW! Are they clear we can actually see now!
Afterwards, we went to the pool and happy hour, then back to the boat finish up the blog then showers and bed.
Just us on the busThe crack in the vacuum pumpWe are in BuceriasOur new Strataglass dodger windows
I flew out at 10:37, leaving Reneé to watch the boat and enjoy PV without me. My flight to Tijuana was quick and uneventful. In the TJ airport, I used the CBX system to walk across the border. I had purchased my ticket on line before leaving PV, so it was only $19. The walk across and out the other side put my in the States. I sent updates on where I was to Reneé, so I can tell it was 34 minutes from the time we touched down and I could turn my phone on and when I was in the US looking for a ride to the train station. If I had chosen to walk across the border (leave the airport and cross TJ it would have been hours, in my mind that $19 is well spent!
I was at our friends the Miller’s by 6 pm. We had dinner and talked for a bit, then bed.
Neil’s story:
I picked up the rental truck from Penske, we had checked with U-Haul, too much money, so we checked our options. Interesting note here, the price to rent a U-Haul 10 foot truck from Southern California to Pensacola, $5,600 from Pensacola to Southern California $670. We rented a 12 foot van from Penske for $3,200. The van was almost new, (when I turned it in in Pensacola, it still had less than 10,000 miles on the odometer). Nate and I drove the truck from Potrero (east San Diego) to El Centro (short first day, as I had a doctor appointment in San Diego, then we had to pack the truck and finally drive east) on Friday. From El Centro to Las Cruces, New Mexico, to Junction TX, to Jennings LA, arriving in Niceville in Florida Tuesday night.
We unpacked the truck, met his roommate and had dinner then bed.
Wednesday, Nate and I went to a laundromat and washed all of our clothes between the two of us I think we used 10 washers and probably 7 dryers, while he has access to a washer and dryer at his new place that would have taken a couple of days to do. Afterwards, we did some driving around Niceville (where the people are Nice! They will tell you that). We did some shopping and just looking around. We planned to drive around to some churches on Thursday, but it was Veterans Day and the churches we went to were closed. So, back to his new place and Nate spent the day cleaning and putting stuff away. It looked great by the end of the day. Then dinner and beer at the nearby brewery THE 3rd PLANET. Then bed and getting up early for me.
Friday, I left at about 6:15 am to get to Pensacola to drop off the truck by 8 am. Then Uber to a hotel and a quiet day for me. My flight back to Puerto Vallarta was a 7:30 am flight to Dallas then a 12:45 flight (that was delayed to after 2!) finally back on the boat by 6 pm.
Reneé’s story:
11/4
Washed shoe crate
Repaired deck shoes
The settee above the water heater fiberglass work was finished.
The holding tank got pumped out.
Put the pirate costumes away
Put the curtains up
Made pozole
11/5
Sergio and friend replaced the toilet gaskets but found cracks in both pump mounts. They will return to replace the mounts when the parts arrive – Neil is ordering them. (Both 11/5 and 11/6)
Worked on removing blue tape from bottom of mast.
11/6
John Pounder worked on electronics – found damaged connections behind nav station and got the speed probe working.
Finished removing blue tape as best I could
11/7
Was gone most of the day…church, out to lunch with church group, shopped at La Comer.
11/8
John Pounder replaced the depth gauge which fixed the obnoxious anchor alarm.
Made hummus and refried beans
Washed the floors
11/9
Visited Tracey and Steve on Sailish Dragon and Turi and Jelly on Alexsea (Slip B28…next to Brendon)
Went to the parking lot market behind the boat and bought three pairs of shorts
11/10
Left at 8:15 to get to a Bible Study at Church…it was on Romans 6. Good study and lots of prayer time.
Walked to Mega Soriana (1.5 mi east of church)…compared prices between Mega and La Comer…cheaper at Mega.
Met Monica at the bus stop on the way home. She was with her crying 3 yr old. She shared with me that she and her husband are fighting over custody. I gave her bus fare + and I prayed for her.
Didn’t make it to happy hour for the first time this week. Made banana bread instead.
11/11
Did laundry
Made oatmeal raisin cookies
Missing Neil
11/12
Took the bus to Walmart and fortunately ran into Turi (Alexsea) from whom I bummed a ride home.
Made meatballs
Replaced the blinds on the portholes with pieces cut from a yoga mat with suction cups. They are easy to put on and to remove and if on, let less light in than the blinds. I only plan on using them for privacy. I like them much better than the blinds.
11/13
Finished the blinds
Cleaned the portholes
Dropped off the contact information for Sergio to Rona on Paloma (E Dock). Met Charlie, a local who can do the fridge replacement. Got his ph#.
Waiting for Neil to get home.
Reneé’s viewNeil’s view for much of this weekI think this was in Arizona, note the octane!At happy hour, it’s 2 for 1. While sitting on the beach or at the pool.This is what I am seeingWhat we wish we were doing (still no sails)At the church in BuceriasJust another sunsetReneé made covers for the portholes. I think they look excellent! They work really well too!Reneé got to see some turtles hatch and get to the ocean.Neil’s viewReneé saw a fish swimming in circles, so did the bird. Guess who caught the fish.
First let me point out that many of these pictures have been posted elsewhere in this blog, and that the final replacement happened on 10/30/2021. This is a more complete explanation of what was involved.
Our water heater has been leaking on and off for “a while” When we bought the boat there were indications of a leak at the base of the water heater, but no standing water (earliest reference I have for the leak is late January 2020. Yes, that is 23 months ago. Sometimes it would leak and be a pain for days or weeks, and sometimes for weeks or months it would not leak. It is very hard to find an intermittent leak. Eventually we decided to just go ahead and replace the heater. This is far easier said than done. As a reminder we are in Mexico, so first up is the issue of figuring out where to buy the heater, then how to get the heater here, then how to get the old one out and the new one in. So, in no particular order here are the questions and answers:
How to remove/install the heater. I asked Island Packet how to do this, from the pictures, you will note that the heater will not fit through the access to the heater. Island Packet (who made the boat) said that the heater was installed after the internal fiberglass was installed, and that it went through the back of the settee and slid down the hull to the correct level, then was moved to the centerline and bolted down. Sounds good, but the pictures show that there are now three refrigeration compressors located here. All installed after the water heater and before the boat left the factory. In other words this is an issue on all of these boats. So, comparing notes with other IP445/465 owners, at least one has cut his settee and removed/replaced the heater and then repaired the settee (Jim Shanahan on an IP 445-14 S/V Watermark III) I got pictures and suggestions from him. I asked Island Packet about which way they would go, cut the settee or remove all the refrigeration? They responded with, cut the settee.
Where to buy the water heater, I searched on line and finally bought it on Amazon and had it shipped to our son in Sacramento Jan 25th, 2021. We paid about $485 for the heater.
How to get it to the boat. We brought it to Mazatlan as “checked luggage”. When we got there we had to pay 19% import duty on it. But at least we had it on the boat. Oh and by the way when we got back the “intermittent” leak was not leaking.
Somewhere in here, I figured out that we needed to get an anode for the heater (this is a small metal piece that is designed to erode faster than the internals of the heater and be replaceable). It screws into the heater where the drain valve is. So, I ordered one and brought it down a month ago.
Finally HOW to actually remove/install this heater. We asked Elizabeth (she runs the company who watched our boat through the hurricane season). She gave us the connection to Sergio who brought a fiberglass guy who spent several hours cutting the old settee out, then he left and another guy showed up to help Segio with the plumbing work. The fiberglass guy was supposed to be back on Monday, then Tuesday and finally he showed up on Wednesday. This sounds pretty bad, but in all reality it probably had more to do with language barriers than anything else. We are in Mexico, and they celebrate the Day of the Dead, this is an important holiday here, and it involves a 4 day weekend. Saturday – Tuesday, and the Monday and Tuesday we were expecting him to show up were part of the 4 day weekend. In any case the finished product works great and looks fine.
OH, and now that the old heater is out we can see what the problem was, the plumbing system on the boat is hoses, and the supply hose to the heater was clamped onto a plastic nipple (cracked), screwed into an iron elbow which was screwed into a brass fitting screwed into the aluminum tank. At this point we had a new heater on board, and all required parts to install it. So the old heater was removed and the new one installed.
THE WATER HEATER IS A WHALE/SEAWARD MODEL F1100. THE F MEANS THE ENGINE HEATER HOSES GO TO THE FRONT OF THE HEATER. THE 11 MEANS 11 GALLONS. THE 00 MEANS IT IS 120 VOLTS (IF IT WAS S1150 IT WOULD MEAN THAT THE HEATER HOSES GO IN THE OPPOSITE SIDE FROM THE FRONT, IT IS STILL 11 GALLONS, BUT IT IS A 240 VOLT HEATER.
Measurements to cutMeasurements to cutThe piece that was cut out headed to the shop to make it into a piece that can be installed and removed for the next time.The old water heater coming out.The hole with the water in it.The old water heater, note the top right fitting is broken. This is what was leaking. As you might be able to see, we have a hose connected to a plastic fitting screwed into an iron elbow, screwed into a brass fitting, which is screwed into an aluminum tank. Oh, and there is no anode in the tank.This is the new heater installed. The cover will get put in on Tuesday.This is the finished settee.
Up at about 8 am. No particular reason to get up early, so why? We are expecting someone today to work on the cover over the water heater. I have to pack for my trip, we have to pick up mail to take back to the states at 5 pm, and we are meeting Danny and Robyn (who watched Reneé’s sourdough starter over the summer) for dinner. It is another glorious day here in PV!
Most of the fiberglass work got done today, but he will be back tomorrow to finish it up. I am not posting pictures until it is finished. I announced on the net this morning that I could take mail and that I would pick it up at 5 pm in the office here at Paradise Village. While I was watching the work getting done on the boat, there was a knock and lady was standing on the dock, her name was Turi and her boat is S/V Alexsea she had a letter for me to put in the mail for her. Shortly after she was here getting a tour of the boat, Reneé got back from Home Depot getting a fan. I gave Turi a boat card and she and Reneé talked about getting together while I was gone. After everything was done for the day, I packed for my trip tomorrow, and then we hiked up to the office and then to our dinner date with Danny and Robyn, dinner was at the Fajita xxx and was a fantastic dinner on the river. Afterwards they brought us back in their golf cart. We had showers and bed.
Work was scheduled on the boat today. John Pounder came and worked on electronics. Our VHF radio did not sound very good on our first day back so I had him look at it. Our radio is a nominal 25 watt radio (he said in most cases they were typically close to 20 watts) ours was over 23 watts, all the rest of the checks also came out good. He had listened to us on the Net this morning as well and said we were fine. Next up was our tank level monitor. He figured out that the computer terminal strip (card edge connector) was dirty and used a pencil eraser on it and it is working now. Finally he checked our speed probe. After about 45 minutes on that he is planning to come back on Saturday with a plan on how to fix what he found. (4 out of 5 wires have no continuity between the probe and the instrument).
Next up is the cover over the water heater. They are scheduled to be here about 1 pm. Sergio showed up and we discussed the issue with our vacuflush heads (they cycle too much). He will be back Friday to work them. The fiberglass work will be tomorrow.
Today is the day of the market that happens in the parking lot right next to the marina. Reneé got a new purse and I got a new hat.
We had several discussions with Mike about the sails, shackles, and lines.
At the end of the day we discussed what we had gotten done today. Reneé made carnitas and coleslaw, bought a gift, got the laundry done while I watched the work on the radio, the tank level instrument, and the trouble shooting on the speed probe, I also adjusted the battery charger and solar controller for the cruising season. While doing that I realized I need some forced ventilation for the battery charger, so I ordered a fan that I will pick up in San Diego. Together we took the dodger windows down to get them replaced, as they are pretty foggy and hard to see through. Finally we went to the pool and just hung out for an hour or two.
