|
Home Port Our Logs The Crew Calendar Favorite Links The Boat Photo Album Route and Charts Miscellaneous Stuff |
Larry's LogWednesday morning I went to the marina's internet place and uploaded some updates to my friend's web site, checked email, downloaded the data update to the weatherfax software and canceled the automatic payment on our mortgage. (That last part felt particularly good!) Back at the boat, I put away the last length of chain and some other items into the starboard cockpit locker. I also discovered a small plastic bottle of 2-cycle oil that developed a leak so I was glad to find it before it made a mess. After lunch, more work. I wanted to route the serial cable from the radio to the PC via the 'inside' route rather than hanging out of the locker door so I emptied everything out of the navigation table, the locker under it, and took the cover piece off the wires to the navigation instruments. Seeing a good route, I used my new angle drill (a regular drill wouldn't have fit) to make 2 holes next to one that was there already. I then used some wood chisels to clear out the space between the holes to allow the DB9 (serial) connectors to fit through. I then drilled 2 more holes in the bottom of the table (out of sight) and ran the cable. I straightened up the wires with some tie wraps, vacuumed the dust, etc., cleaned up and relaxed for a bit. That evening we went over to the Maremares Marina for the manager's cocktail party with Sweet Lou. They gave us a lift in their dinghy since ours was getting the cover made. The marina/resort complex was very impressive, with a wave pool and such. There were lots of people there and the food and drink were very good. The freebies only lasted an hour but we managed to get our fill of both. I also met a guy who worked for Sailnet (a very good internet sailing site) and knew the people I had been dealing with at JSI (where I bought much of my cruising gear) over the years, which was nice. The next morning, I went on the internet to get the phone numbers for the insurance agencies we wanted to call. I had the 800 numbers but they won't work down here. Diane made some calls about boat insurance and finally got through to IMIS and it seems that they had sent a message 2 days ago but we never got it. She spoke to the VP there and he sent an email that night saying that we could probably get a policy for about $3300, a little over $1,000 more than our present premium. I think we will probably get it since we decided we want to have insurance and our current company isn't renewing any policies for the Caribbean for American boats. Orient Canvas brought the dinghy back with the new cover in the early afternoon, as promised, and made templates for the engine and 2 gas cans that they said would be ready tomorrow. After they left, I setup the dinghy with the security chain and new fenders and we then hoisted it out of the water. Diane made a lomito (tenderloin) that night for dinner that was very good. (She said to say that she even picked out the cow and butchered it as well, but I don't think that part is true.) The next day was spent working on a computer of one sort or another. I finished making the CDs for Diane and then made data backups on other blank CDs. Then I went back to the internet to get some pictures that Joe wanted to put on his web site. When I got back, Orient Canvas was at the boat with the covers for the outboard, gas tank and jerry jug, and they had done a very good job. Hernan, one of the owners, came back later to collect the payment and also to take the gas tank cover back to add a small flap to cover the plastic fill and hose connector. I did some more work on Joe's site in the evening and whipped the end on the new dinghy painter. In preparation for leaving (will we ever leave?), the next morning I worked on cleaning the stern lines that had been in water connected to the mooring balls, for over 2 months - they were really bad, with barnacles and lots of weed. This entailed getting in the dinghy and scrubbing the lines with a brush and even a scraper for the barnacles. I then put a hose on the exhaust thru-hull, extending it well past the end of the transom, to prevent the transom from getting blackened from the drips from the exhaust. Then I cleaned the side of the boat a bit since it was stained from something unknown. Finally, I organized and inventoried the port side settee storage locker and then ran the engine for 10 minutes to check for proper operation after being layed up for 2.5 months. Everything seemed fine. Diane did the laundry again and then worked on her logs. Sunday, October 13, and its our 17th anniversary, so we treated ourselves and went to Maremares for their Sunday brunch and it was really very good. We walked around the place a little before heading back. At their dinghy dock though, I went to help Patrick, the assistant dockmaster there, with his SSB. He couldn't transmit beyond the immediate area. I looked at it and the setup didn't have any grounding and so I suggested testing it with aluminum foil before running any expensive copper foil, to see if that was the problem. He thanked us and we headed for our dinghy. When we finally got in the dinghy - it wouldn't start. After struggling with it for 10 minutes, Diane got Patrick and he helped us now. After 30 minutes of pulling and looking and scratching, we ultimately figured out that there wasn't enough oil in the gas. The engine eventually started but it was smoking and spitting gas and oil. We then ran it with gas from their engine (the same type) with the right mixture and it was fine. They very kindly loaned us a gas tank with the right oil/gas ratio and it got us home to Bahia Redonda. I had been concerned that I hadn't put oil in the gas jerry jug 2 months ago but thought that I had (I usually do it when I first get new gas) but I guess I forgot that time and of course I didn't remember so much later. When I filled the tank from that jug, the gas oil mix was much reduced - we were lucky the engine was OK. When we got back, I put more oil in our tank and in the remaining gas in the jug. Of course, it was just a guess about the right amount but better too much than not enough. We also hoisted the dinghy out of the water to prevent growth - it was really amazing that the new dinghy was so much harder to lift than the old one, even with the halyard winch. Of course, the new one weighs 160 lbs plus 85 lbs for the engine. The old dinghy was 100 lbs and 65 lbs for the engine so all told, the new setup was 80 pounds more. The next morning, Diane went shopping at Plaza Mayor again with Janice. Since she was going by dinghy, lowered the dinghy and swapped the Maremares' gas tank with ours and made sure it was running OK. While she was gone, I printed some things on out on Venezuela that she wanted to read and fixed the small a/c clip-on fan that we had. It runs continuously for many weeks and months when we are in a marina and had finally stopped, after about 3 months of continuous running. I took it apart, cleaned it, sprayed it with some electronic spray and it worked so I put it back together, gave it a spray of WD40 and called it good. To make sure the batteries were in good shape, I equalized them for 40 minutes, according to instructions provided by Lifeline for AGM batteries. I turned off the shore power and everything DC that might be sensitive to high voltage while doing it. When Diane came back and after I helped unload the groceries, she said the engine was stalling at low speed and started smoking badly. Rather than try to get just the right mixture by guesswork, I figured I would just dump the old gas and start fresh with the right oil/gas mixture. So I went over to the fuel dock and the attendant dumped the old fuel from the jerry jug and I then bought 22 liters (actually 19 but the guy wasted some rinsing out the old fuel) and paid about $1.10 USD. Gas was certainly cheap enough. I then went back to the boat added the correct amount of oil, dumped the old gas from the tank and put in the new gas/oil mixture. It seemed to run better but the carbon deposits were still making a lot of smoke. I would run it for a while and see. That evening we went to the weekly potluck. I left early and when Diane came back, she said she had talked to Tony and Benta from Side by Side. They had just come in last night. We hadn't seen them in many months. It would be nice to see them again. The next day was a busy one. In the morning, we went to get the 'despacho' that let us get diesel fuel and then we went to the fuel dock and filled the 3 jerry jugs and the gas jerry jug. I emptied the diesel into the tank and added Biobor and stabilizer. My friend Joe had suggested I use the stabilizer as well as the Biobor since in this hot climate, the more easily combustible parts of the diesel fuel tend to evaporate quickly and the stabilizer helps prevent that. I then put the right amount of oil into the gas jug. Happily, the outboard stopped smoking and runs fine at all speeds, including idle now, so everything seems fine. After the fuel trip, we had lunch and then rolled up the old Avon dinghy and put it into its bag and just placed it on the deck near the mast for now. I needed to figure out where to tie it down permanently. We would try to sell it at some point but we wouldn't get much for it here. I cleaned the foredeck from the crud that had built up under the old dinghy and Diane made some dishes so she wouldn't have to cook them later after a tiring passage. After looking at the fuel gauge though we decided we would get some more fuel tomorrow, so I didn't put the jugs away. We could have brought the boat to the fuel dock but this was easier (I think) since we would have to untie the boat and get everything ready to move first. We then hoisted the dinghy and I put away the new supplies and tools in the forward head. As I finished that, Orient Canvas came back and gave us a price to do the rest of the settee cushion foam and we said OK. They were also going to modify the cover for the gas tank for me again, doing a cutout for the handle of the tank. While they were taking the cushions off the boat, Alejandro came by to clean the bottom. He is the dockmaster from CMO, and was recommended by our friend Giulio. Giulio had called him to say we wanted it done and he had stopped by last Friday to introduce himself and talk to us. We had talked on the radio earlier and he said he would be at the boat today to do the bottom. Since we were going to the movies, I went and took a shower while he was cleaning the boat. He took about 90 minutes and just finished as we were leaving. Since we were leaving, he said paying him tomorrow was fine. So we went to the movies, eating at a sports bar in Plaza Mayor (very good) and seeing 'Road to Perdition' in English with Spanish subtitles. Excellent with Tom Hanks and Paul Newman. |