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".