Whatever Happened to IRIEtimes?

Why had this taken so long? I mean, I've been trying to write this post since about February. And now that it's almost time to head back to Mexico, I finally get around to it. The fact is, I've been reluctant to explain my own stupidity or to relive the events that followed our last post.

You will recall that we had been having a problem with water in our diesel fuel. And I was so certain that it had come from a fuel dock, that we siphoned, filtered, and refilled about 40 gallons of fuel back into the tank three times, only to have it become contaminated again within a day or two. Finally, the light came on. It must be the DREADED LEAKING FUEL TANK. We had read about this as being common with this boat model before we bought IRIE. Yet I had known that our tank couldn't be leaking because the bilge pump never came on. Duh! Long story short, the bilge pump was working just fine, but it wasn't turning on because the float switch that triggers it had gone bad. So, now we have about 40 gallons of contaminated fuel in our tank AND another 30 or so gallons of contaminated bilgewater in our supposed to he dry bilge. Woe is me. Imagine this tank: 15 gallons larger than a 55 gallon drum, 18 inches wide, almost 3 feet top to bottom, and longer than I am tall, located underneath the engine where it will be impossible to replace. Hell, it's hard to even see any of it!

Thankfully we were in La Paz where we had internet and friends, so we searched online to see how other folks had handled this problem. One guy cut a six foot hole in the side of his keel from the outside so he could get the old tank out and a new one in. "I don't think we'll do it that way". Then we called Carlos "Water Works", a local Mexican known for working with this sort of thing. His answer was to basically fill the space and his pockets with our money. He would have us remove the old tank while he had a new one welded up as three tanks so it would fit back into the space. Then, somehow, we would have to hook all three tanks up to each other. "I don't think we'll do that either". Then we called our friend Steve "Falco", a ships carpenter, to take a look. It turns out, to our very good fortune, that Steve is also known as "Mr. Fiberglass", so he readily agreed with my first choice on how to resolve this.

My job was to remove the contaminated fuel and bilgewater. Luckily, many Mexicans are adept at using less than perfect fuel, so they actually wanted it. (There was still plenty of midnight disposal going on too. Sneaking into the marina's disposal site with 5 gallon jugs of slop). Then I would cut out the old tank. The number of pieces didn't matter, and a sawsall was the perfect tool for this bit of ugliness. Then I would clean and scrub, clean and scrub, and clean and scrub again the empty keel cavity left behind - this was a 30 year old bilge you know. We actually used about 60 pounds of kitty litter to suck up what we couldn't siphon out. Then Steve would get in there and grind everything down to bare fiberglass and he would build the new tank with fiberglass and epoxy using the keel itself as part of the new tank.

Now, it all seems fairly simple, but that's the way it is with hindsight, isn't it. In fact, it took us a full month from discovery to this point where we finally had a plan. And for sure there was still plenty of hassle and mess and dust to deal with, but at least now the horrible dreams would stop. Actually, looking back from today, it cost us some money and a couple months of our "vacation", but we all came out better for it. Claudia and I worked through another major hurdle together, and IRIE is stronger than new, and with a really clean tank to boot. What a deal.

Here are some pics to help your imagination:

Removing our 60 gal #2 water tank.





Fuel tank with part of lid cut out.  Pretty gross!



Clean bilge, ready for grinding.







New lid and baffles going in.



Here you can see Steve's head and one hand.
How did he get in there?????
Did he get out?

As you already know from the previous blog post, everything turned out great.  We had a fine trip up the Baja and across the Sea to San Carlos where IRIE is patiently waiting for our return.  With a bit of luck and good weather we will begin recommissioning on New Years Day.  Looking forward to getting warm again, and I promise you won't wait this long for news again.       E

Life's a Beach

Well, a lot has happened since last time.......     We did go up to the islands as planned on Christmas eve day and spent a really good week with friends at Caleta Partida - a fine anchorage, capable of holding many boats on Isla Partida. 

It turns out that someone was watching over us when we decided not to cross the Sea over to the mainland. The day after arriving at Partida, we fired our diesel to make water, and after about two minutes, it died.  It took a while to find the problem as our engine has been absolutely perfect since day one.  It turned out to be bad fuel.  This could have been a serious problem as it would have happened at sea.  Lucky?!?!

After hopping anchorages for two weeks coming
South from San Carlos, we filled our diesel tank
on arriving in La Paz.  Included with the 160 liters of fuel, we received almost 5 gallons of water - no extra charge. 

This is the result of 4 days of filtering, and we're pretty sure that our fuel is now clean again.

Back to a brighter note, we had a wonderful Christmas this year!  Thanks to our daughters, we were able to do the traditional wrapper ripping to reveal some great gifts.  And, on the day after, instead of going skiing, we ran our dinghies out to a very private beach and spent the day in the sun.  Except for a volleyball that wouldn't hold air, it was a perfect day.  Hope the pics give you food for your imagination.......

With four boats anchored together, we each had a chance to host dinner during the week.  This was taken one evening aboard Hanali - from the left, yours truly, Claudia, Steve with Raja, Laura, Dario, and Steve's wife Cindy. 

Here's another sunset/moonrise.  Taken from Mitch and Laura's sv Hanali, looking at Steve and Cindy's sv Solmate, with IRIE in the distance.

Couldn't resist this one........  This is what can happen when you anchor over a sand bar at high tide. 

Well, that's about all the news for now.  Hope you're all staying warm and having fun.  E

feliz Navidad

Hooray!!!  We lived through the end of the world, at least here in Mexico.  How are you guys?  Still there?

We sure hope you're all good there at home too.    Actually, we know better as you can clearly see in this shot of our backyard in Grants Pass........it may seem like the end of the world to those who need to do a little more shopping.

This is our backyard here in La Paz.  Any questions about why we're here?







And, it looks like we'll stay here this season too.  Our friends on Gitana and Sea Boa left for the mainland a couple days ago - in fact they're probably going to reach Isla Isabella tomorrow AM - and we chose not to go along this time.  Not an easy decision, as we've been planning to see Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta this season for some time now.  But, when it was all said and done, neither of us wanted to go all that badly.  Instead, we're going to hang out here where we are very comfortable and life is good and get going on some boat projects.  We have done our share of boat work, but so far, none of it has been cosmetic.  So now we have time to do the varnishing and painting and such that has been neglected.  And hang with friends here in La Paz. 

That being said, it looks like we'll be picking up the anchor tomorrow morning - Christmas eve.  We'll sail to the islands with many anchorages about 25 miles from here to spend 4 or 5 days with friends on Hanali and Solmate.  Hoping to get some good photos to share.  For now, here are some shots from around La Paz.

Dockbird



Where do you suppose the richest man in the world
keeps his boat?

Sunday shopping in La Paz

More shopping

This is the Malecon on a quiet Sunday afternoon.  It's a miles long boardwalk of hand laid tile at the waters edge.  With artwork and resting places, restaraunts and vendors of all sorts, the malecon is a gathering place as well as a thoroughfare.


The main North South road through the City runs alongside, and parades and celebrations happen here most any time of day or night.

How did they do that?

During Carnival in February, the street is loaded with rides and vendors and games for a couple miles.  Good times, but that's another story




So here's wishing all of you the very best of the season and more fun next year.

San Carlos to La Paz

Yes, you're right of course.  This isn't a sunrise.  It's a sunset.  Just thought you might like to see what it's like here right now......at anchor in La Paz harbor at about 1700 on Sunday.  We'll get to sunrise later.






It was a great trip from San Carlos, but talk about two different worlds. 

We travelled about 260 miles over 11 days, saw friends and some favorite anchorages, had better than average weather, spectacular scenery, fresh dorado til we tired of it, and happy hour most every day at 4:30.  And, except for two days in Puerto Escondido, our feet never touched concrete.  There was no television, mainstream media, cell phones, internet, or any kind of advertising either.  I'll bet most of you have never experienced this kind of disconnect, but you can take my word for it, it's good.  Sorry you missed it.

Then, four days ago, we dropped our hook in La Paz.  We love La Paz, but it's been an almost complete opposite so far.  As you can see above, the scenery is still pretty fine, but most everything else is changed.  As we have projects to complete and no car here, we do a lot of walking.  Still no cell phones, but we have TV on board - all in Spanish of course, but saw the Marquez fight Saturday night and the Packers last night.  The advertising is in Spanish, so of little consequence, but no mainstream media. What a joy!  Thanks to a long walk on Saturday, we now have internet.  That means we can email and update this blog when time permits.  So, as the projects are getting completed, we will return to a much more easygoing pace for the rest of our stay here - probably about another week.

This is what going "uphill" looks like.  It feels about the way it looks too.  Crash, slam, spray.

And this is "downhill", which is mostly what we did last week.  Feels a lot like being in a rocking chair.  Much mo betta than the other.

Sunrise at Puerto Escondido.

As nice as these photos may look, they represent about 20% of the real thing.  I just haven't learned how to get it all into the lens.   I should mention though, that you can double click on these pics to make them bigger if you want.

Sunrise at San Evaristo.

Here's a shot of IRIE at anchor in a place called Candeleros.  Just behind us - already there when we pulled in - is s/v Ballena with friend Dario aboard.  You may recall that we talked about buying Ballena a few years ago.  That was before we saw IRIE of course.  What a nice surprise to see them both!

This one is my personal favorite - 

A moonrise sunset off the bow with s/v Gitana in the background.  This boat is the magic carpet for our friends Greg and Janis who have offered to show us the ropes of cruising the mainland of Mexico in the area of Puerto Vallarta and Mazatlan.  C and I are still weighing in on that trip as there are several overnights, rolly anchorages and other yet to be experienced discomforts, and then quite a bit of "uphill" sailing to do  in order to return.  We'll see......        But right now, it's happy hour, so........................hugs to all.     E

Back in Ol Mexico

0845 Nov 18:    Up at 0600 this AM with hopes of getting a picture of the sunrise.  Yesterday, it was pretty spectacular!  Today, a non event.  That would explain why you don't see it here........   Will try again.

We had a pretty nice and easy 4 day drive to Mexico.  The first day was a bit hectic as we had to go to Freemont near San Francisco to buy foam for our cockpit cushions, but they are oh so nice to sit on now.  The highlight of the trip had to be spending the second night at the Colorado Belle in Laughlin, NV - a fine reminder of days past on the Harley.  And a great room for only $30 to boot!  The Camry turns out to be the perfect cruiser for us.  Even fully loaded, which I assure you it was, the car was agile, comfy, and so powerful that I liked the two lane highways best - passing cars with this Camry is another fine reminder of the Harley.  And it still gave us better than 30 mpg.  What a deal.

Here's IRIE where she spent the Summer in dry storage.  The great cover that Hector made for us in La Paz last year worked outstanding.  Underneath, she was pretty clean and definitely protected from the Summer sun.  I wonder if any of the power boat germs from the fishing boat next in the lineup rubbed off?







Highway boat



We were four days in the work yard sanding and painting IRIE's underwater parts. Then, on the 7th of Nov she took to the highway for the trip to the marina where we've been recomissioning since.


It's too bad you can't see beyond the snapshot here.  It's really pretty bizarre looking.




I had all the good intentions for updating the blog back on the 18th when the above was written, but one thing after another..........   today is the 23rd.  Last night we dined on big fat very fresh shrimp in a stir fry with no dressing or gravy but rum cake for dessert.  Ummm.  We knew it was Thanksgiving though, thanks to a skype video phone call with Jenifer and Kristen and Elan the day before.  I suspect C will have something to say about that, so I'll just move on.

We've had a real mix of weather here.  Some days are so hot and humid by 10:30 that we just want to crawl into a shady spot and hide.  Other days, mostly the ones with clouds, have been downright near perfect, even for working.

This afternoon we're taking it easy.  The list is now very short, so while I'm typing, C is enjoying the other side of the cabin. 

We'll be having a meeting of the minds this afternoon with Greg and Janis from s/v Gitana, but I'm pretty sure we're going to sail out of San Carlos on Sunday for the Baja on the other side of the Sea.  It will be about a hundred miles (20 hours) on an overnight cruise with a near full moon.  Should be outstanding as the wind promises to be quiet.  We look forward to living at anchor again as we bounce down the coast to La Paz probably two weeks away.  Until then, there will be little or no internet, but I promise to get some shots of the beautiful anchorages we'll be enjoying.  E

More San Carlos

Gilberto & Gustavo stripping varnish

Ready for the trip to dry land

Leaving water behind

Highway boat?

San Carlos Marina Seca ( dry )

The days are counting down!  We had hoped to "hitch" a ride from someone travelling by car to Tuscon AZ but the weather seems to be keeping people returning to San Carlos waiting in a holding pattern on the other side of the sea.  So, we will be travelling by bus on Thursday night (do any of you remember our last bus trip??) to Tuscon AZ where we will be catching a flight to Medford (via Phoenix & Denver).  I have been promised that the bus will be luxury ride with movies in English, bathrooms that can be used & best of all seats that really sit up!  We also get to skip the every 2 hour inspection routine by the "Federalies".  Yahoo. 

Well, a lot has happened in the few days since Claudia wrote the above.  We're home!!

Preparing a boat for dry storage in San Carlos is a lot more involved than what we had to do to leave Sojourner in La Paz.  San Carlos/Guaymas is a lot hotter in Summer, and being a dry (that is, dirt) yard, there were a few new hazards to prepare for. Fine dust that will invade any opening, piece of hardware, or line left exposed.  And a new variety of bugs such as scorpions that will crawl into and nest in thru hulls and such.  And then there is the heat.  We had to be very careful about what we left aboard and where we left it.  Things like some canned foods have been known to explode.  And, any unsecured food left behind would be a magnet for the bugs. 

We had a full boat cover made for IRIE in La Paz which we hope will protect her from the wind and the dust.  And we carefully plugged every thru hull with kitchen scrubbies to keep the bugs out.  We spent the better part of each day in the San Carlos Marina making the preparations so that once we were out of the water there would be mostly just fitting the cover left to do.

In our favor this year, since we are not trying to sell IRIE, we didn't have to remove all our personal stuff.  That had been a BIG job before.  I don't even want to think about doing that on this boat!

Anyway, as you can see in the pictures, IRIE had to become a "Highway Boat" to make the 1/2 mile trip to the storage area.  They floated us onto a flatbed trailer with padded hydraulic arms that held the boat upright, then a front end loader type tractor pushed us on down the road.  We felt like quite the attraction, though in about a month, this scene will be repeated a few times every day. 

San Carlos Marina Hotel courtyard

The bus ride was OK.  Comfortable seats for the 7 hour ride which included one Federal inspection in Mexico and one hour for US Customs.  Compared to the 19 hour ride we did two years ago, well, I bet you can guess.  Even the flights went mostly on schedule, though, I dream of never having to spend another minute in an airport.

Well, as you know, our blog here will likely become pretty quiet for the Summer,  but, even though there is no schedule, we have a lot planned for the next sailing season:  A train ride to 9,000feet to see the Copper Canyon, sailing to Mazatlan and maybe Puerto Vallarta, back across to La Paz for Carnival, then up the Baja again and back across the Sea to San Carlos for Summer storage.

San Carlos

Motorsailing to Santo Domingo

Hola from San Carlos, Sonora, Mexico.  We got here yesterday, a day earlier than we planned  -that weather thing again.  What a great place!  We took a dinghy ride around and took some pics. We have from now until March 7th to get IRIE all ready for the dry storage here which will be very HOT and dusty.  The list has been getting longer each day instead of shorter.  Right now she's getting a spa treatment by a couple of locals.  Body wash and nails buffed and polished. Looking good!

We've managed to visit three local bars/restaraunts so far - all good - and met up with old friends from s/v Circe who we played volleyball with in La Paz a couple years ago.  So much to do, and so little time.  We dedicate ourselves to boat work until mid afternoon each day, then it's time to enjoy ourselves.

Reach out and touch some...

Escorted into Bahia Conception

Hitchhiking to Mulege

From the dinghy in San Carlos

This shot was supposed to be posted after the next one as that would be the way it actually happened, but either way, pretty fun time.

San Carlos harbor entrance

There were probably 20 dolphin playing around us here in Bahia Conception.  Sorry I couldn't get a better picture of it all.








No one had a working telephone in the little bay we anchored in (el Burro) so we had to hitchhike to Mulege about 16 miles away for supplies.  This was a new experience to say the least!  And yes, we did find a taxi to bring us back.








San Carlos is an exceptionally beautiful place with all sorts of rocks and caves, islands and bluffs, bays and mountains, and homes to match. A small town with a large percentage of Americans in residence.  Most of the locals speak some English which sure makes it easier for us.  It's easy to see why people like it here.

The marina is very nice, but at California prices, it should be.  Yet, the dry storage facility is really quite reasonable at about 1/2 to 1/3 the cost of putting up a boat in La Paz or other ports.  That's one of the main reasons we're here.

So, it's back to work for now.

E

View from the Yacht Club