Tom and I sail from Mazatlan on a mission

Our Destination was San Carlos, MX. and we were presently in Marina Mazatlan, 435 nm away. Tom and I waited for the weather to be favorable and while Tuesday, April 16th looked good we needed to wait for the results of Barb's appointment on Wednesday before deciding that we would depart at all. We were ready for the "go ahead".

Wednesday, Barb called at about 1030 and said go. We cleared out of the marina and pulled in the dock lines at 1145. The wind blew about 10 knots out of 267 degrees as we motored at 6.4 knots heading 287 degrees with a slight swell and two foot wind waves under a sunny sky. We were aiming for Ensenada de los Muertos, 191 nm away, hoping to gain the anchorage before dark the next day. We had the fallback position of heading for Bahia de los Frailes, 163 nm away if we determined that Muertos would not be possible in daylight, but that would cost us another day if we went there.

The remainder of the day passed pleasantly and the night was clear. The wind diminished and the seas flattened. I went below to sleep as Tom took the helm. At about 0200, I came up to the cockpit and noticed that the lights for the engine instrument panel were unlit. With a flash light, I saw that the instruments were not registering oil pressure or water temperature. Since the re-built engine only had 90 hours on it, I wanted to keep a close eye on how it was running and this development concerned me. I went below and everything in the engine compartment seemed normal, no smoke, no leaks, no funny smells and the alternator was charging the electrical system as it should. Two hours later all was well and the wind was now only 7 knots on our port side so we continued to motor, now at 6.8 knots, still heading for Muertos. I must have been dozing because when the AIS (Automatic Identification System) alarm sounded, I looked up to see the lights of a ship dead ahead. It took a few moments for me to gather my bearings and to realize the ship was passing perpendicular to our heading, but only a half mile away. It took me some more moments to determine the ship's light pattern and whether the ship was going north or south and for me to decide whether to turn to port or starboard. The AIS and the RADAR told the story before I could make out the portside red navigation light and I broke to starboard. In the end we never got closer than a third of a mile away, but the lapse in attention shook me wide awake. The ship was the La Paz - Mazatlan ferry and I thought to call on the radio to apologize, but didn't. We motored on toward Ensenada de los Muertos.

As day broke, there was virtually no wind and the seas were flat and we could see that land was ahead.



We arrived in the anchorage at 1615 and settled in with two other sailboats and a big sport fisher. When I pushed the stop engine button nothing happened. I knew than that a fuse had blown to at least one circuit and stopped the engine by putting my palm over the engine's air intake, choking it. Normally, the oil pressure alarm sounds as the engine stops, but it didn't this time. There is a 7 amp fuse that serves the engine shutoff solenoid and the panel and sure enough that had blown, so I replaced it. I tried to start the engine again and got nothing. I was now envisioning sailing with little wind straight north to San Carlos, still about 250 miles away. It could possibly take 10 days.

I got on the radio and called out to the three boats in the anchorage asking if any of them were clever when it came to solving electrical problems. Alex on S/V Lunacy answered saying he was a electrician and could come over in about 15 minutes. He arrived and looked over the engine instrument panel I had already extracted, looked at the wires in the engine compartment and everything looked in order. He went back to his boat to get his "Toner" a device that makes tracing wires and their continuity easy. As he traced the wire to the starter solenoid he uncovered a taped lump from which a bit of bare wire was visible. As he unwrapped the wire he discovered a fuse holder and within that a large 30 amp, AGU type fuse that had blown. He suspected the bare section of the wire had contacted the engine and blew the fuse disabling the starter. Luckily, once a diesel engine starts there is not much in the way of an electrical failure that can shut one off. I'm glad I didn't shut down the engine before getting to the anchorage. I looked in my electrical spares and found the last 30 amp AGU fuse. We plugged that in, depressed the start button and the engine started right up. Alex taped up the connection covering the bare spot of wire. I made a token donation with many thanks. Tom and I slept well that night.

The next morning, we got underway by 0700 and headed north entering the Cerralvo Channel. The wind was on our nose at around 12 knots, but the current with us so we were moving along at over 7 knots. Over time, the wind increased and it whipped up waves in the current opposing it causing us to drop our side curtains to stay dry. As the rising tide slowed, the current also slowed, slowing our progress, but also lessening the wave height. As we left the Cerralvo Channel behind and approached the turn into the San Lorenzo Channel the same ferry we passed the night before came up astern of us at 18 knots. Between the mainland and Isla Espiritu Santo the tide began to ebb, but now we had a good wind angle to deploy all our sail and turn off the engine. We continued under sail and actually picked up some speed slightly as the Max-Prop folded and we sailed on a beam reach through the channel behind the ferry. In the lee of the island the north-northeast wind died. We finally started the engine and motored up the west side of Isla Espiritu Santo looking for a good spot to anchor. I decided to anchor in Ensenada el Cardonal off Isla Partida, having made 60 nm by 1600. This anchorage is almost fjiord-like with steep walls and the wind was blowing fairly strongly from the head of the "fjiord". There were only small wavelets but the rigging was whistling a little. Tom went for a swim to the beach and enjoyed seeing the fish along the way. I swam as well, but only for the purpose of a bath followed by the freshwater rinse before supper.

We were underway the next morning at 0650 and headed to Los Islotes to view the sea lion colony.

There was very little wind and the seas were very calm. I am saddened that we didn't stop at Isla San Francisco or any of the wonderful anchorages along the San Jose channel, but we had the opportunity to cover miles and we did. We pulled into Puerto Los Gatos at 1600 which gave Tom an opportunity for a hike and a swim while I visited with cruisers in the anchorage.

The plan for Sunday was ambitious as I wanted to get to Loreto, visit the town and get lunch at Orlando's for my favorite meal, Omlette Poblamo, make Internet contact through the cellular system and then anchor at Isla Coronado. The following day we could go a little farther north to Punta Pulpito or a lot farther north to Punta Chivato. From Pulpito it would leave us with a 90 nm run to San Carlos and from Chivato it would be an easy 70 nm run. The downside was that no wind was in the forecast so sailing and attention to the wind angle was a non-issue. We would be motoring.

We arrived at Loreto at 1445 and dinghyed ashore only to find Orlando's closed - and closed until Thursday. We got a decent fish taco dinner at another place. We toured the town, returned to the boat and departed at 1745. During Barb's phone call, she sounded a little down and as we closed on Isla Coronado, Tom and I decided to just head directly for San Carlos. I turned on the water maker as we passed Isla Coronado.

As we motored through the night, the sky was overcast and very dark. We enjoyed the phosphorescence in the water left by our wake and propeller and could see the reflection of Guaymus' lights on the clouds ahead of us. I went below to sleep and when I came back to the cockpit Tom asked if I had been awakened by the loud splash quite nearby? I hadn't, but he said he would swear that it had been a whale registering a complaint about our disturbing its sleep. We approached San Carlos at dawn and, as so often happens on a falling tide, the presence of swells make for an uncomfortable ride. We changed course about 30 degrees to port, into the direction of the swells using the opportunity to continue to make more water. After a while, we tacked back to starboard and avoided the shrimp fishermen, shut off the water maker and headed toward the marina.

Just after 0900, I finally spoke to Aracely in the marina office on the cell phone and requested a slip explaining that we were arriving days earlier than our reservation. I said I'd stop at the fuel dock first. She assigned us a slip and we tied up to the fuel dock. I walked over to the dock to inspect the slip and met a security guard who let me through the gate, but he said that the slip I was given was not the slip I would use. Okay, just tell me where to go. After fueling up we motored over and backed into slip B18. At the office, Aracely got concerned that the slip we took was needed for another sailboat in three days. I said I'd move, but couldn't that boat take the other slip instead? She sighed, consulted the manager and finally said we could remain where we were as she changed our slip assignment in the computer from B21 to B18. While Tom washed the boat, I grabbed my car keys and got a ride from a fellow cruiser to pick up our van at Chuck's place. Chuck is a gringo with a plumbing business and his Mexican wife manages the vehicle storage. She wasn't there and he didn't know what I owed nor where our key was (I had left a valet key) so I paid him the dollar/day she charges plus a little more saying that I would be back for the key and settle up in a day or two.

Tom and I started decommissioning the boat and loading things into the van. By evening, we had accomplished a lot, but I locked my keys in the back of the van! I called Chuck and asked if he could bring my key and that they could keep the extra money I gave him. He arrived with the key in about 20 minutes and I offered to pour him some of our gasoline for his trouble. He refused, but wished us luck and said he would see me again next fall.

Our appointment for our haul out was for 1500 on Thursday, April 23rd and we got everything done that we needed to do before that by Thursday morning. We got a call asking if we would be ready to haul out at noon instead and I was happy to make them happy because that would give us more time in the work yard to get tasks beneath the waterline completed before dark. We got hauled without incident, Tom power washed the bottom, we flushed the engine with fresh water and we got far enough along with our other tasks that day to be able to tell the marina office that we would be gone the next morning before they opened. I arranged for payment and told them that the boat could be moved to the secure storage area the next day. Tom covered all the ports with tee shirts and since the temperature hits triple digits inside the stored boats in the heat of the summer, we emptied most of the food out of the boat. Canned food has been known explode so we removed it. I finished with the last load of gear in the dark.

At 0600, on Friday morning we were on the road. We got to the border crossing with seven lanes open and only one car in sight. We were welcomed back to the USA politely and efficiently answering all questions correctly. We stopped for gas a mile down the road and again in Patagonia for lunch. At a rest stop many hours later, I transferred eleven gallons of old gasoline from our jerry jugs from the boat into the van. We stopped again in Albuquerque for gas and arrived home at 0300. By taking shifts we made the trip (through a time zone) in 22 hours at the wheel.

Tom was able to book a ticket from Denver to Bradenton, FL for a flight the next day. The three of us hopped once more in the emptied van and set out in the rain to head for the airport on Sunday, but the windshield wipers didn't work. They worked the day before! Back to the house we went and since the CRX is a two seater, Barb made her good byes and stayed behind. Tom and I got to Denver's airport in plenty of time, said our good byes, I gave my heartfelt thank yous and we parted.

Tom and I spent three weeks together and it was a good visit with a good end. I appreciate his help and his urging me on to get back home and was glad that he was able to get back to his home in time for Vickie's Birthday and their wedding anniversary. Mission accomplished.

Not Looking So Good - Barb's ordeal

In the previous Blog post (Google search "Jupiter's Smile") about our engine woes, on March 20th I alluded to another topic.

It covers about a three month-long period of time. Here it is.

As the engine fix was progressing we had quite a bit of time to spend wandering around Puerto Vallarta and we would walk about looking at various sights. At one point Barb was behind me a few dozen feet and she noticed her vision seemed odd, so she covered one eye and then the other while looking at me. With her left eye she could see okay, but looking at me from behind with her right eye my head was missing.

No comment please, this is serious. I know, you think you know where my head was, but no, it wasn't up there (this time).

We arranged an appointment with an ophthalmologist for Feb 16th. I was alarmed during the eye exam. Barb would read four letters, getting two correct and there were, in fact, five letters. The doctor diagnosed Central Serous Choroidopathy - kind of like a raised area or blister behind the retina in the center of her vision. He suggested that it would more than likely resolve itself as the serous fluid was reabsorbed over a period of between one and two months, but that it could reoccur. He said if we wanted to really confirm the diagnosis we needed to go to Guadalajara where the equipment needed to do more extensive testing was located. We decided to wait and watch with his blessing and encouragement.

We are now noticing how many expressions in language have references to sight. See what I mean?

By the middle of March there was no improvement at all so we made another appointment for another look. The doctor was concerned about what looked like an indentation in the "blister" and advised us to go to either Guadalajara or back to the US to a retina specialist. By that evening, I had secured a seat for Barb on a flight back to Denver for the next day.

This was a one way ticket on United Airlines, bought for a Saturday non-stop flight from Puerto Vallarta to Denver about fifteen hours from that moment - during Spring Break. I will divulge the cost of that ticket at the end of this post. My plan to stay with the boat to oversee the engine repair was in jeopardy, but that was how we left it for now.

With Barb's flight arranged to Denver for tomorrow, the next tasks to arrange involved getting Barb home from the Denver airport, getting the house "turned on" again, getting a car insured and running and arranging for the necessary appointment with our ophthalmologist. Friday evening, I sent e-mails to our friends in Colorado Springs relating our situation and they came through for us, especially Karen with John's and Carol's help. Karen checked with John and he said he could drive them both to the airport to get Barb. Karen and Carol use the same ophthalmologist as we do and Carol is a physician and good friend of Dr. Jack's wife. Carol called Dr. Jack at home and he said he would see for Barb first thing in the morning on Monday.  An e-mail to our insurance agent got our trusty, rusty 1988 Honda CRX (50 mpg) road legal.

While Barb was in the air I e-mailed the friends who had stayed in our house after we left for the season. They had "winterized" the house when they left in December and I asked them to bring the house back on line so Barb would not need to do that when she returned Saturday night. Donald and Ethne opened the house, turned on the electricity, adjusted the thermostat, turned on the water and the refrigerator and put supper and breakfast inside it. They even put flowers on the table. Wow!

Barb's flight and arrival home went well and she was surprised to find the house ready for her arrival and pleased that she had a doctors appointment set up so quickly. Her only real worry was to get the CRX running. She had to retrieve the battery from the basement and connect it correctly. She reported (with satisfaction) via text message that she accomplished this task and that the car fired right up.

Everything was in order now for her Monday morning appointment.

Barb went to the appointment which revealed that she had a macular hole. She was sent to a retinologist immediately and surgery was scheduled for Thursday. She was told that a gas bubble would be injected into her eye to "iron" her retina back into place. Hopefully the hole would heal. Over a period of two weeks the gas would dissipate, but, since the surgery would be performed at 6200 ft and we live at 7500 ft, the elevation difference would affect the gas pressure. She could not go home until the gas was gone. Further, she should spend as much time as possible with her face down to keep the gas pressing on her macula.

Karen offered to let her stay at her home to convalesce - thank you Karen! Barb rented a special pillow device that would allow her to rest her head and even sleep face down. From the library, she checked out an arm-load of books on CD because she was told not to read and to greatly limit or eliminate altogether working on a computer or watching TV. This was going to be no fun at all.

The surgery went well, but the follow-up appointment the next day was an emotional roller coaster. The technician asked Barb to do the typical eye chart test. Barb thought that maybe the tech expected that she should be able to see something with her right eye, but she couldn't. Thinking to herself, 'Was something wrong? Am I supposed to be able to see? Oh, no!' Then the tech left her alone and Barb waited for the doctor imagining that something was terribly wrong. The doctor came in and assured her, condescendingly, that there was no way she could see anything with the gas bubble in her eye. Everything looked fine.

Back in Puerto Vallarta, our engine saga was progressing, but not finalized until April 2nd. My brother Tom was planning to arrive on the 5th to help me return the boat to San Carlos +/-700 miles to the north on the mainland coast of the Sea of Cortez.

However, when Ethne took Barb to the following week's examination on Friday, April 3rd, it was revealed that her retina had adhered to the gas bubble and was being peeled away as the bubble deflated. It seems her vitreous humor (the fluid in the anterior chamber of the eye) is more "sticky" than average and that caused the retina to adhere to the shrinking bubble. Another complication of the gas bubble was that it had clouded her lens to the point where the retinologist had difficulty seeing into her eye. This appointment turned into a two hour surgery during which her clouded lens was removed, a "buckle" was applied to hold the retina in place and another, different gas was inserted. She was back to square one, but this time more extensive surgery had been done and she hurt. She was faced with two more weeks away from home, depending on Karen's generosity. Our phone conversation that afternoon was decidedly gloomy. Barb's right eye was now without a lens and she faced more surgery in May.

Darlene took Barb to the follow-up appointment where, again, everything seemed fine except for the pain. Barb was much more upbeat on the phone Sunday afternoon. She agreed that Tom and I should head out as soon as we could and get the boat to San Carlos, but we could take the time to cross the Sea of Cortez to the Baja side to make the voyage less arduous and more enjoyable as Tom could experience the beauty of the various anchorages and wildlife in the Sea instead of making a five or six day non-stop bash.

On Monday morning, April 6th, Tom and I cleared out with the Port Captain, stopped at Ernesto's for an early lunch of tortilla soup, paid the marina and the mechanic and at 1440 pulled in the docklines. We dropped the anchor at 0140 on Wednesday, the 8th, just outside Mazatlan Harbor to get some sleep and wait for daylight. High winds were forecast for late on Wednesday and we were glad we had made the run straight to Mazatlan to make some progress while avoiding bad weather. By noon, Tom and I moved the boat into Marina Mazatlan anticipating an extended period of poor weather.

As time went by, Barb continued to heal and friends visited periodically at Karen's house.  She called me everyday that I had connectivity to the Mexican cell system while Tom and I were in Mazatlan. She confided that she felt she was overstaying her welcome at Karen's and her effort to be no bother was eating at her.  On the 10th, she sounded so depressed that I decided to leave the boat in Mazatlan and fly home. On the 11th, Tom and I began preparing the boat for storage, but during Barb's phone call that evening she convinced me to wait for the outcome of a follow-up appointment scheduled on Wednesday, the 15th. The boat wasn't going anywhere anyway because of the weather forecast so Tom and I waited, walked around Mazatlan while preparing the boat for sea again and watching the weather. On Monday the 13th, a few boats left for the Baja and we heard via radio reports that the conditions were pretty rough and made for an uncomfortable overnight passage. We topped off our fuel because the weather forecast predicted much diminished wind for more than a week if we departed Wednesday so we faced extended motoring. On the 15th Barb called and gave good news along with the go ahead to cast off. Just before noon, we departed heading straight west to the Baja.

In the next post I will relate the details of the rest of our trip.

Although the gas bubble from the second surgery was not gone by the two week mark, it was significantly diminished, so Barb decided to get a motel room and give Karen her privacy back. Karen agreed, but persuaded her to wait until Monday, the 20th.  Barb checked into the motel on Monday.  That night, during dinner out with friends John and Darlene, Barb noticed the the gas bubble was gone.

On Tuesday, she headed home after the morning rush hour. The drive was uneventful in spite of the fact that she really only had useful vision in her left eye, the absence of a lens in the right eye prohibited much useful vision there.  It was good to be home evidently, because that evening's phone call was filled with relief.

I arrived home early the morning of the 25th and got adjusted to land life in the USA. We had an eye appointment on May 11th that went well and surgery to implant a lens was scheduled for May 20th. That surgery went well. We returned to the doctor that same afternoon and he was pleased with the procedure. Barb's eye got to 20/50 vision with correction and with some distortion, but it works and there is no longer a hole in the center of her vision. In late June, she will get a prescription for glasses to put closure to this ordeal.

The fact remains, however, that this situation may reoccur at any time and in either eye. Barb's vitreous humor is changed, a product of the passing years and there is nothing to be done about it. Whether we set out to cruise as we have before remains to be "seen".

A Joyful Noise? Indeed, but all is not well!

Pi Day (3.1415) and Albert Einstein's Birthday

The final touches to the engine were done and vital fluids were added.  I turned the key, pressed the start button and.... VAROOOM!  YAHOO!  SHE STARTED,  SOUNDED GREAT AND SHE RAN SMOOTHLY.

After a few minutes it was time to look for leaks so I pressed the engine kill switch.  The engine didn't quit.  I thought that was ironic.  First it wouldn't run, it was fixed, it ran, but now it wouldn't quit.  The mechanic put his hand over the air intake and the engine stopped.

There were no apparent leaks so I turned the key, pressed the button and.... nothing!

I turned the key again and we listened carefully for the starter solenoid to click.... nothing.  My starter relay was badly rusted and the mechanic wanted to replace it.  As luck would have it, I had a spare on board.  He installed the new starter switch, but as he did, sparks flew for an instant.  Oops!  He finished installing the switch and I turned the key, pressed the button and..... varoooom!  She started and ran again.

Not all was perfect, however.  The tachometer, hour meter and kill switch didn't work, the alternator did not charge and there seemed to be no life in the regulator.  So, projects remained.  I could stop the engine by putting my hand over the air intake and the engine choked after a few revolutions. 

I ran the engine at the dock, in gear, against the dock lines to put some load and hours on the engine to run it in.  The mechanic thought the mechanical tachometer sensor was "killed" by the shop during the clean up of the engine block, so he thought that the sensor needed to be replaced.  

He suspected that a relay in the kill switch circuit was bad due to its immersion in sea water in the engine compartment when the oil cooler leaked sea water.  

As for the alternator and regulator, that will take some studying.  I will be trying to follow the troubleshooting instructions in the manuals tomorrow as well as I am able.

March 15, the ides of March

Being wary, when I put my head down in the engine compartment to find the tachometer sensor, I saw that, what I thought was the sensor, had no wires attached to it.  I poured over the manuals and schematics and identified the colors of the wires intended to connect to the sensor, found them hanging loose and connected them.  I started the engine and sure enough, the tachometer worked. I ran the engine against the dock lines again for several hours, varying the RPMs every so often, but not exceeding 1500 RPM as I had been instructed.  As time went on and I backed the speed down near an idle, the motor stalled.  It would only run with the throttle advanced so that's what I did and ran the engine for seven hours.  Tomorrow, Monday, the mechanic could deal with the throttle.

March 16

In the morning, I noticed some water and oil in the pan beneath engine.  The mechanic did not show up, but the rain did.  It rained long and hard.  I didn't run the engine today because of the oil and water leak.  It hadn't rained since Super Bowl Sunday (and Monday) and for most of the remainder of February it was sunny every day.  I had been purchasing water in five gallon jugs for 18 pesos (just over $1 US) and had been adding them to the water tank from time to time, only running dry once.  I bought a tarp at Walmart and had shaded the boat against the sun.  The exception to the sunny days came along in the middle of the month of February and I noticed then that the tarp allowed water to run off and onto the deck leaving the cockpit dry.  Our water fill intake is on the starboard side deck almost where most of the tarp's run off was falling on that side.  It was a shame to not use that water.  So, the following day, I rigged a water catchment system that I could install beneath the edge of the tarp.   Finally, after a month of sun, it began to rain and today I deployed the water catcher.  We filled our 160 gallon water tank before the rain ended today!

During the rain, I had a chance to get to know my alternator and regulator.  I tested all the connecting wires between the alternator and regulator and found one that did not conduct.  I could not find the actual fault, but at least I identified the source of a problem, maybe.

March 17,  Happy St. Patrick's Day indeed

When the mechanic came aboard he talked about the rain the day before and that the big bridge between Puerto Vallarta and Nuevo Vallarta, on the state line, was closed due to flooding! He also noticed the oil and water leak.  I mentioned my trouble shooting of the alternator/regulator.  While groping around under and in the recesses of the engine he found that the wire that would not conduct had an in-line fuse connected in the wire.  This wire connects the oil pressure switch on the other side of the engine to the regulator.   When the switch detects oil pressure (and it does that almost the instant the engine starts), current goes to the regulator which energizes the alternator so that the alternator starts producing a large, regulated charging current.  The fuse in that oil pressure switch/regulator circuit had blown (remember the sparks three days ago?) and when I replaced the fuse and started the engine the regulator lit up and the alternator began to produce current to the battery.  The mechanic installed a new stop switch relay, adjusted the throttle, tightened some bolts in the oil pan and left us to run the engine some more.  With an engine that would run and one that I could control, I took the opportunity to move the boat to another slip a little further away from the marijuana smokers and some of the loud music and to face the boat bow-in instead of stern-in for some more privacy finally, after two months.  We moved to a slip with a little more room, width wise, so that we could more safely exit, but more importantly, return.  Because the engine ran, we planned to run the boat in Banderas Bay under real life conditions, tomorrow(?).  We intended to do some more daytime Bay excursions to run-in the engine and seat the valves before having the mechanic give the engine a once over look, change the oil and adjust the valves before we headed to San Carlos.  PROGRESS!  Is that a little oil and water I see in the pan below the engine?

March 18,  My half year birthday

Yes, there is some oil and water in the pan this morning, but I cleaned it up and checked the fluid levels.  The fluid levels were okay -- WE'RE TAKING THIS VESSEL OUT IN THE BAY!!!  Remember that it rained hard on the sixteenth?  The run off from that rain had washed; trees, logs, brush, coconuts, plastic chairs, large "rafts" of assorted debris and other flotsam into the bay, so we had to play dodge'm often until we got farther away from shore.  When we returned to the dock from a good run out on the water, it was dark.   We were delayed entering the channel because a cruise ship was leaving the harbor and we had to wait, but we now had a total of 25.5 hours on the rebuilt engine (by my stopwatch, since the hour meter still doesn't operate).  We missed our land shower at the marina, because the bathrooms are locked at 6pm and there was more oil and water in the pan.  There was more water than oil and the water did not taste salty.  Lots of yuck, but no salt.

March 19

Today we had a mission on the water, in spite of the leaks. We would put some more hours on the motor and bid adieu to friends on a sister ship, another Island Packet 370, Kookaburra, out of Bellingham, Washington, owned by Mac and Wendy with their friend Churro on board as they set out on "The Puddle Jump" (crossing the Pacific to the Marquesas Islands)!  They were docked in Paradise Village in Nuevo Vallarta and we thought we would send them off with a wave and a conch horn salute, meeting them on the water on their way out of the Bay, around noon.  By 3:30 they had not come out of the Nuevo Vallarta inlet and we needed to get back to our dock in Marina Vallarta by 5pm to not miss our land shower again.  As we turned to leave, I spotted them, so we turned back again, motored along side, waved and I blew the conch, wishing them well.

 We got back to our slip at 5:15 and got our land showers as well.

March 20

Our new family members, the mechanics, came aboard and tried again to staunch the leaks.   An oil leak was located at the engine connection for the dip stick tube.  All the oil was extracted and the dip stick tube was removed.  The mechanic, cleaned the surfaces, changed the washers, added more sealant, reinstalled the dip stick and added new oil and oil filter with thirty-nine hours now on the engine.  There is more to Friday's story, but that is a different topic.

March 21

There was about a cup of oil floating on more water in the pan this morning, so the mechanics returned.  A water leak was located at a fresh water hose whose clamp was not tightened enough and more tweaking of bolts was performed.  I ran the engine at the dock.

March 22

This morning there was no water, but maybe three tablespoons of oil in the pan.  None the less, I wanted to take the boat out for a run today.  When I started the engine, I saw that the regulator display was dark.  I shut the engine off to begin the search for the problem.  Again, all but one wire had continuity and this time I knew where that pesky fuse was located.  Yes it had blown.  The mechanic had shorted the circuit as he rooted about looking for the oil leak yesterday.  I installed a new fuse and was out of the slip at 10:30.

March 23

By morning, more oil (no water - little victories!) was in the pan so when the mechanic arrived he decided that he would employ drastic measures. He took off the exhaust water mixing elbow and hose to the muffler, removed the transmission, removed the bell housing and the flywheel and found an oil leak at the crankshaft seal.  We need to replace that seal. I await word about that and therefore the new timeline.  I feel confident about this being the final solution, but only time - yet more time - will tell. Meanwhile the engine parts languish in the aft stateroom.

Engine Problems - In Paradise

Jan 10 - Jan 13

Saturday morning, I awoke at 0330!  I had slept through the alarm!  I woke Barb and we were underway in about ten minutes.  The RADAR showed no traffic and once the engine had warmed up, I ran the engine to 6.5 knots.  The 0200 plan would mean that we would need to run at 6 knots, but since I overslept I needed to run faster to make it to the anchorage by dark.  The bottom and the prop was clean and we seemed to have no problem reaching 6.5 knots, until …….. an alarm went off!!

I slowed the engine, took it out of gear and shut it down.  An inspection of the engine compartment, check of fluid levels and wiring yielded no signs of a problem.  Maybe it was a faulty alarm?  I hit the start button and the engine turned about a quarter turn and went arrummppph.  Not good.  A second try with the starter battery and house batteries in parallel gave the same result.  Really not good.

We were about four miles southwest of the La Cruz anchorage.  There was a little wind from the south so we raised sails, turned the boat around and headed back.  We arrived at the anchorage about an hour before sunrise twilight and I suggested that Barb go below to rest while I remained sailing with only the main sail and with almost no wind, back and forth outside the anchorage.  As dawn broke Barb came up and I decided I would lower the dinghy and tie it to our aft quarter and see how our mighty Tohatsu five-horsepower outboard would push our 14 ton vessel through the water and more importantly, how would it stop it?  The experiment was successful in that I found that it took quite a while to get the boat moving, reaching about 2 knots. That gave Barb enough forward speed to steer (sluggishly).  Stopping the boat took longer than I expected, but it did stop.

I climbed back on board, called the marina and said that we were returning without an engine and would stop at the first available dock slip.  We got an okay and I got back in the dinghy.  We proceeded into the channel and Barb gave a “Securite´, Securite´, Securite´” call on the radio warning that Jupiter's Smile was a vessel in tow entering the marina and that any and all concerned vessels should contact Jupiter's Smile on VHF channel 16.  Barb flawlessly put our starboard side to the “T” head dock as I slowed the boat and then stepped on the dock to secure bow and stern lines.  Safe!

There are no utilities on this section of dock so we both got in the dinghy and looked for a likely location to which we might relocate while we assessed the situation.  There was a wide slip with a finger dock on the starboard side (bow in) next to Adesso (Lane and Vickie whom we had met during our first season “in the Sea”.)   We would share the slip with Sailish Sea (Ian and Diane whom we had heard on the radio, but never met) on our port side …. if we could negotiate an “S” maneuver first to starboard into the fairway and then hard to port into the slip.  I alerted Lane and Ian that their first duty was to protect their own vessels and then help us land if they could.

Try to follow this description of our next maneuvers.  We returned to Jupiter's Smile.  I tied the dinghy to the aft starboard quarter, started the outboard, hopped onto the dock, untied Jupiter's Smile’s bow, heaved the line over the starboard side life lines, gave the bow a shove away from the dock, scampered to the stern line untied then and draped it over the starboard side life lines, hopped into the dinghy and noticed that Jupiter's Smile was already moving slowly forward.   With the tide?  The wind?  No matter what, it was good.  I untied the dinghy, scooted it to Jupiter's Smile’s port bow and waited … until the boat cleared the end of the dock and then I pushed perpendicular to the bow with the dinghy like a tugboat would do, turning Jupiter's Smile to starboard and into the fairway.  We were going too slowly for Barb to have any effect with the rudder, but that was okay.  Once headed down the fairway, I scooted to the stern and pushed from behind to get a little  more forward motion up and give Barb a chance to steer.  I scooted again, but this time to the starboard bow and did my tug boat imitation again, turning Jupiter's Smile to port now.  Entering the slip, the people on the dock hooked our bow line with a boat hook, but the stern was too far to port so I raced down the starboard side to the port side aft quarter and gave Jupiter's Smile’s stern a push to starboard, raced to the starboard aft quarter, tied off the dinghy and put its motor in reverse, pulling to starboard and slowing the boat.  The people dockside hooked the stern line and we were in.

We hadn’t seen Adesso last season because they had to have their engine replaced so they didn’t have time to venture far.  As luck would have it their mechanic, Greg Emery, was coming to Adesso to check on something that day and Lane said he would send Greg over to talk to us.  

We checked back into the marina and in with the Port Captain.  He just took our clearing out papers and said he would treat it as if we never left.  Greg did, Lane did and Greg gave us his opinion on what we had done to the engine.  If he was right, we had blown a head gasket or had a cracked head and water had gotten into one cylinder or more.  Since we stopped the engine quickly, we probably didn’t have much damage.  Considering the age of the engine and hours it has run, it would be wise to rebuild it as long as repairs were going to take place anyway.  He said that it would be most convenient for him if we could get Jupiter's Smile to Marina Vallarta and save an hour and a half round trip each day as he worked for us.  We agreed to all this and he said he would find us a slip at Marina Vallarta and call us.  We went out to dinner at Frascati’s Restaurant in the marina to reward ourselves for our bad luck and our good luck in the handling of the situation.

On Sunday, we went to Charley’s Place and witnessed another Denver Bronco playoff embarrassment, this time against the Indianapolis Colts.  But, the Patriots won so at least part of the family is thrilled.  And the Seahawks won again.

Greg called on Monday (the Marina office is closed Sundays) and said there was a slip available.  When could we get there?  We said we didn’t need a tow if there was wind and that we would venture out tomorrow.  I called for help from cruisers with dinghies to effect the exit from the marina and got a good response.  Lane said he would help and Ian, whose dinghy was being repaired, volunteered Jason on Defender.  Dan on Dazzler said he would help as well.  So, we paid the marina and checked out with the Port Captain again.  He asked if we were really leaving this time and I said we would see in the morning.  We would call “Securite´, Securite´, Securite´” on our way out of the marina and the channel as we would be under tow again.

Tuesday morning, at about 9 am the towing team assembled and we got going with only a little direction from me, getting Lane to push, tug boat style, turning our bow to port at the end of the fairway.  Dazzler Dan’s outboard had three times the horsepower of ours so we made good speed and had good helm response out the channel.  As I hoisted sails, Dan cast off from us, we passed out thank you beers to our helpers and we were on our way to sail for the harbor of Puerto Vallarta, about 10 nm away.  There was only a little wind and we were able to make only about 3 knots, but that would get us there before 1 pm if the wind held.  Little by little the wind strengthened, but is was blowing out of the valley off the shore.  I knew this was a geographically influenced meteorologic phenomenon and that the wind would die, then shift as the valley warmed.  None-the-less, we were sailing at six knots for a short while, before the wind died.  I launched the dinghy and went into tug boat mode reaching 2.6 knots with 4 nm to go.  Greg called and asked where we were and after we had gone about two more miles he pulled along side in his thirty-one foot sport fishing boat to take up the tow.  The swells were too big to tie abreast of us so he towed us with a towing bridle into the harbor.  He then tied abreast of us to proceed down the channel to the marina.  With the help of men on the dock, Greg’s patient boat handling and his nimble assistant, Ruffino, we got docked stern in, without mishap.  Greg said sleep well and he would see us in the morning.

Jan 14 - 31

Wednesday morning, Greg and Ruffino arrived and went to work right away dismantling the upper part of the engine.  As Ruffino removed the head, exposing the cylinders, we could see that water had entered all four of them, but after tasting it, Greg said, that at least it was fresh water with coolant and not salt water.  He also said that there was a great amount of carbon present and that we had not been working the engine at high enough RPM to prevent that carbon build up.  He recommended we pull the engine out, check to see if the head was cracked or if only the head gasket had unsealed, rebuild the engine and that I run it hard like it was meant to be run once he reinstalled it.  We agree to all.  Live and learn.  The price of tuition was going to be high, however.

The engine mounts were unbolted, the prop shaft was unbolted from the transmission and the engine was moved forward in its compartment.  The transmission was unbolted and separated from the engine and removed from the compartment.  With a hoist tied to our boom and the boom supported with our spare halyard, the engine was lifted out of the engine compartment and into the companionway to our bridge deck.  The hoist was repositioned so that when we swung the boom, the engine would clear the coach roof and it did.  We lowered the engine to the dock.  Ruffino cleaned things up, hand trucked the engine to Greg’s truck and off they went.  So the engine is in the shop being machined, parts for the rebuild will arrive from the US and then we will have a new, rebuilt engine and we will have learned much.

We have passed the time at the marina cleaning up the engine compartment, dinner plate clean and doing a myriad of other little boat chores.  We have been into the city only twice so far.  Barb is knitting and we are both reading a lot.  We walk the marina’s waterfront and sometimes we walk the two miles to Walmart and if we have much to carry we take the bus back, but usually not.  There are two laundry shops in the marina.  We have run into two boats we have known from the past and two more boats with new friends.  Barb has been preparing meals aboard, but we have gone out to dinner, lunch or cocktails eight times (including Ernesto’s two more times) over the eighteen days we’ve been here … waiting.  One of those times was at a restaurant just outside our dock’s gate to watch the Seahawks and Patriots both win and to pit them against each other in the Superbowl.  Along with Betsy and Leona, we shall support the Patriots.  Unlike Betsy and Leona we will be surrounded by Seahawk fans no doubt.

March 13

Our engine(lessness) saga, which began on January 14th when the engine was removed, continues.  On Friday, March 6th, the machined and partially assembled engine parts were delivered to the boat, hoisted aboard and the engine block, minus the head, water cooling jacket, flywheel and transmission was inserted into the engine compartment.  The engine is too large to simply be put into the compartment in one piece, so the big parts needed to be mated together inside the engine compartment.  Then came the task of attaching all the hoses and electrical parts and connections to the engine.

Over the next few days, the mechanic assembled the parts.  On the 11th, As we added oil there was a small leak which they fixed.  When we added fresh water to the cooling system it was discovered that a plug in the rear of the engine block had not been installed, so fresh water was running out.  To fix this required taking most of the engine apart again to get the plug inserted!  During the disassembly (which required the removal of the engine’s heat exchanger water tank, starter, transmission, flywheel and bell housing) one of the six bolts that attach the flywheel to the crankshaft broke off.  The plug that was missing has been installed.  Various remedies have been employed to try to remove the bolt stub without success.  As I write this, I am waiting for the mechanic to return to drill out what remains of the bolt before the engine can be reassembled.  The engine should be able to be reassembled fairly quickly (lots of practice!) BUT the bolt stub has got to come out FIRST!  

These are the facts of the matter.  I shall not share my feelings about all this.

Health care in Mexico and a friend

I shall relate a story that illustrates how healthcare concerns may be handled outside of the United States.  We have become friends with a 75 year old gentleman from the UK.  He sailed a Contessa 32 around the world with his wife in the 1970s and on his present vessel, a 36 foot sloop he has circumnavigated again, single handed.  He keeps a fine racing bicycle on his boat.  In his youth, he was a bicycle racer and he still dresses for racing and rides his bike whenever he gets the chance.  Last year, he took time to tour the US Rocky Mountains by rental car and had his bicycle with him.  He bicycled many of the mountain passes reaching a elevation of over 12,000 feet several times. He seems fit and full of life.

A short while ago, soon after we arrived in Marina Vallarta, he asked me if I had a recommendation for a doctor with whom he could schedule a physical.  I didn’t, but I made a query on the cruiser’s net on the radio the next morning.  I got a name and number and gave the information to him.  He eventually called and went for his physical exam.  A complete exam was priced at 6000 pesos, but he didn’t want to pay that much (a little more than $400 USD.)  He settled for a 2000 peso exam.  During the EKG and stress test he got to just 2.5 mph and hardly an elevated pulse rate when the doctor stopped the test and said that our friend needed to go to the hospital and have an angiogram immediately.  The doctor said that this would cost about $17,000 USD.  Our friend was startled to say the least.  He told me afterwards that the idea for the physical arose because of some mild indigestion he had been experiencing over the past month.

At the end of our dock is a mega yacht, Invader (164’).  The captain and crew are nice people, friendly with us all.  Our friend related his situation to the captain.  The captain offered the use of his telecommunication system so that information could be relayed back and forth between Mexico and the UK.  Our friend called his insurance provider in the UK, but after that, e-mail and fax served to facilitate communications.  The doctor sent the EKG and his report to our friend’s doctor in the UK and the doctor replied by email that our friend should go to the hospital immediately.  When the hospital replied, the cost of helping him was now $75,000 USD.

“Immediately”, became relative as the UK insurance carrier and the hospital haggled over the price (add the six hour time time zone difference to this mix).  I do not know the final details, but the UK insurance agreed to cover the bill and our friend walked to the hospital at 6 pm immediately, the next day.  The hospital admitted him and started an IV, but they would not perform the procedure until the following day, immediately.  6 pm is not the ideal time to try to gather a surgical team together on a Friday night during a three day weekend (Constituçion Day on Monday).

At 6 pm, the next day, Barb and I went to visit our friend.  He was in the ICU with the doctor checking on him after having discovered three coronary arteries 95% blocked.  He had repaired those with four stents.  A fourth artery was 65% blocked and that artery was repaired without stents.  The doctor said that our friend had been very lucky to have avoided a massive heart attack.  The hospital staff asked him if we could gather his belongings out of his regular hospital room and take them home because personal items are not allowed in the ICU where he would be overnight.  After a chat with our friend, we did that.  So, I saw the ICU, walked past the nursery (no occupants) and explored his regular hospital room.

This hospital was as up to date as any hospital in the United States with state of the art monitoring in the ICU.  The private room in which our friend spent the first night was nicer than any hospital I had seen in the US.  All was as spotlessly clean as the ICU for which I, as the Senior Corpsman, had responsibility as we received frequent awards from the Commander of the USNH Philidelphia.  I notice these things with a trained, critical eye.

The next morning, I called the hospital to learn that our friend was still in the ICU waiting for the doctor’s orders.  The ICU has visiting hours from 12 to 12:30 and 6 to 6:30 only (we had lucked into 6:25 the day before and the staff were relaxed about us staying past that time) so unless we heard that our friend was released from the ICU, we knew we could not see him until noon.  At noon, I walked over with his belongings so that, if he was being released, he would have them.  The doctor was there as I came in and said that our friend was being released to home (his boat) so after another chat, I left his belongings with him and left saying that I could accompany him back to his boat if he would call me.  He said he didn’t need me to do that.  He would call a cab.  I knew he wouldn’t and he didn’t.  I learned that he had walked most of the way back to the boat before stopping at Starbuck’s on the way.  Later, I checked at his boat and saw that it was occupied, but decided that I would not disturb him.  Later, I got a text message stating that he was aboard, okay and glad to be back.

Does this story sound much different from healthcare in the USA.  I don’t think so.  I have every confidence that should Barb or I need attention that we could rush back to the US, but probably wouldn’t.  Of course, that would depend on our insurance coverage ... immediately!

Mainland Mexico - Banderas Bay

27 December, 2014 - Jan 9 2015

Having reached the mainland of Mexico we grabbed our Passports, boat’s paperwork, launched our dinghy, paid 40 pesos at the dinghy dock for “parking” in Marina Riviera Nayarit in La Cruz and set foot on dry land for the first time in six days.  We walked to the Port Captain’s office and checked in from our previous port, La Paz.  We walked into town and had some lunch, got some groceries and before we got back to the dinghy, we introduced ourselves to the crew of  Vivacia,  Alan and Elizabeth in the marina.  We returned to the anchorage stopping to say hello to Rich and Jenny on Plan Sea and then to rest.

As the year came to an end we were able to watch the last American football games of the regular season and the Bronco’s won.  We were not able to see the game at Charley’s Place because they had the Seahawks game on instead.  Seahawks fans are everywhere on this coast.  (The only kind of Seahawk fan seems to be a passionate, rabid, in-your-face Seahawk fan.)  

We took the bus into Puerto Vallarta and got to Ernesto’s Good Grub for lunch and then went to Costco for a load of groceries that we carried back on the bus.  On New Year’s Eve, like most cruisers, we were asleep around 9 pm, but we got to ring in the New Year at midnight because of the fireworks displays all around Banderas Bay doing their job - waking us up and scaring away the demons that might influence the new year.  There were fireworks as far as the eye could see along the bay.

Richard’s Visit

When we were in La Paz, a device we use for downloading weather information through our satellite phone ceased to operate and the final fix was to replace that piece.  My lifelong friend, Richard O., is a retired commercial pilot who may now fly at much reduced rates and he had expressed an interest in sailing with us.  I e-mailed him saying that we would be very pleased if he could join us here in the Puerto Vallarta area, carrying a replacement part and go sailing with us.  He agreed that, once the part arrived at his house, he would catch a flight from Phoenix to Puerto Vallarta.  I ordered the part on Dec 30.  It was shipped December 31 via UPS Next Day Air Saver and it arrived at mid-day on January 5th in Tempe, AZ.  Rich flew on Jan 6th and we met him in Puerto Vallarta the morning of the 7th treating him to an authentic 45 minute bus ride from Puerto Vallarta to La Cruz, Tacos on the street in La Cruz and a visit to our boat.  We had decided to spare him the joy of a dinghy ride to the anchorage and to experience sleeping at anchor in the ever present ocean swells by bringing Jupiter's Smile into the marina and taking a slip for five days.  Unknown to us, Rich had reserved a room at a B&B and elected to avail himself of that opportunity even though it turned out to be only a B.  No breakfast.

Rich slept well, then joined us aboard and we headed out into Banderas Bay to spend the day on the water.  There was little wind while we motored past the sights of Nuevo Vallarta and the beach front of Puerto Vallarta.  Around noon the winds picked up a little so that we could sail at as much as 6 knots toward and past the city before turning back to La Cruz.  The wind was variable as we headed back and finally it picked up as we approached the anchorage.  It was time to call it a day, however, and we motored back to our slip.  We dined at the Red Gecko and that seemed like a good choice until a band assembled and we knew from the sound check that the conversation was over.  Loud rock’n roll is not our idea of dinner music.  Richard demonstrated ear plugs for us and that seemed to allow him to enjoy the rest of his steak.  We departed Gecko Rojo as soon as we could.

 A short stroll brought us to Philo’s Bar where we knew a less amplified and more mellow band was playing.  We sat down to beers and enjoyed Philo and his friends playing while patrons danced to soft country and mild 60’s fare.  We especially wanted Rich to see Leon, the 80+ year old, thimble fingered washboard, bike horn, cymbal playing percussionist.  The day before, it had been our good friend Viva Bob’s birthday.  About fifteen years ago Bob sailed into La Cruz with a woman named Peggy.  Bob sailed on but Peggy stayed, eventually learning to play the bass guitar in the band and marrying Leon.  I asked her if she had remembered Bob’s birthday and she said she had and had spoken to him recently.  Small world.

Richard came down to the boat on Friday morning for breakfast and we had a nice chat.  After lunch, we escorted him to a cab at the marina gate sending him back to the airport and Phoenix with our thanks for a nice, albeit short visit and acknowledged that he did us a big favor by bringing the electronic part that got our devices operating again.  That afternoon, we checked out with the Port Captain, fueled up at the marina fuel dock and headed out to the edge of the anchor field in preparation for a 2 am, Saturday morning, departure southbound to our first anchorage, Bahia Chamela, 96 nm away.