Pierless Sailing Adventures

It was a busy day today.  We are scheduled to launch tomorrow afternoon, and there were a number of tasks that needed to be finished before splash time. We started with the mast.  Always cooler in the morning for this type of a workout.  I rewired the steaming light and installed a wind indicator on top of the mast, then lubed up the sail track for the jib sail on the way down.  I don't think Scott is too fond of mast work since he is the one who has to winch me up there... Other tasks included engine fluid check, starting/running the engine, check transmission function, clean the bilge, test all bilge pumps, clean pump filters, install  the knot meter, wash the deck, etc.  Nothing difficult, but stuff you have to check to verify it is working. The yard finished the bottom painting today.  Pierless is looking good!  We plan to do laundry Sunday so Dave won't be too shocked by our lowered standards of cleanliness.  Washing clothes at the marin...

Finished plumbing the head this morning, with the exception of one fitting which Dave will be bringing to the boat next week.  With this project mostly completed, we can put the head back together and clean up the cabin a bit.  It has taken about a bag and a half, but we got it done. Last year, we were puzzled by the sounds in the boat after we launched.  If you imagine yourself inside a carbonated drink bottle when the top is popped off, you would be close to hearing the sounds inside the boat when it is in the water.  Sort of an effervescent, frying, bubbling/clicking noise that is constant and quite audible.  Turns out what we were listening to was the raucous sounds made by snapping shrimp.  I think the sound is made when they snap their claws to stun prey.   More information at this link:      https://ocr.org/sounds/snapping-shrimp/ We finished putting the head together, minus the one fitting we are missing.  Dav...

Today was a mix of boat work and shopping.  On the boat side, we continue to make steady progress on the head repairs.  The new pump is installed, hoses run and we are now making the final connections.  Like most plumbing problems, you have to start at one end of the chain and piece pipe, hose and fittings together until you reach the other end.  We should have it done by Thursday. On the very positive side, we finished the rudder repairs today.  This project was in limbo when my UPS shipment containing the necessary materials did not materialize...  We have been trying for a week now to find epoxy locally- to no avail.  Fortunately, our Argentinean neighbor Juan came to our rescue.  He has been working on his rudder and hull for a couple of weeks now and apparently bought up most of the epoxy in Mazatlan.  He was generous enough to give us what we needed to do the job, so Juan really got us back on the road. Juan on his boat:   My Mexic...

Today's plan was to hop a bus south to the central district "Centro" in search of epoxy, a hose adapter, thimbles for rope, caulk and belts for the engine.  Most of these items were to be shipped UPS to us here in MX, but that didn't work out...  So, off to the maritime district where most of the commercial shipping activity happens.   We took the green bus south.  The green buses are among the finest in Mazatlan public transportation.  The windows are not painted, they are quieter and they have A/C!  Also more leg room.  They cost 2 pesos ($0.10) more, but worth it. We exited the bus at the Monumento al Pescador (monument to the fisherman) roundabout.  From there we walked a few blocks to the "rubber room".  This is the establishment recommended to us for engine belts.  I had looked many places closer to the marina last spring - to no avail.  Though small, they had just what I needed.  One item off the list. ...

  From Scott: Happy Cinco de Bago!  Today marks the 5th bag of ice we have been here.  Time moves differently here.  If we were in Greenland, we would still be on bag one proving my Theory of Smellativity.  Simply put; the more a place smells, the more ice you use and, hence, the slower time moves in an inverse ratio due to the metric system. We lost a dear friend today who will be sorely missed.  Brian and I would go out of our way to pet him and bring him treats and we will both miss the way he'd get excited when he saw us.  Yes, Ernesto is gone. No, not Chester!  Chester is fine, by the way, and sleeping off a pizza hangover. Ernesto vanished this morning just hours after attaining statehood.  I suspect he is either headed to New York to take his seat with the United Nations or headed to a better life in El Norte.  Whatever the cause, long live the United Collective of Ernesto!  No other giant hairball can take your place.  ...

Mornings have typically been cool and calm, so we decided to tackle the steaming light and the wind instrument on the mast.  The steaming light is about half-way up the mast and faces forward.  It is turned on when we are motoring at night so we can be seen by others.  The wind instrument is at the top of the mast and provides useful information about wind speed and direction.   The top of the mast is about 60 feet up.  To reach it you use a device called the bosun's chair.  It combines a chair with a harness and is attached to a halyard (a rope that hauls up the sails).  I sit in the chair and Scott cranks me up the mast using one of the winches.  Seems straightforward enough.  Unfortunately, the designer of my bosun's chair seems not to have taken human anatomy into account.  Male anatomy in particular...  Now, to be fair, I was also wearing my regular climbing harness in addition to sitting in the bosun's chair.  I do t...

We made good progress on the head repairs.  The old pump and hoses are removed and we will be installing new on Saturday.  Being short on some fittings, we took another trip to Home Depot.  We found most of what we needed, so may have to do some improvising. Of course, we had to stop by the Soriana on the way back.  Scott found the parchment paper I was unable to see on the last trip.  We plan to use it for baking bread.  We also sampled a couple items from the bakery. We had pasta and fresh baked bread for dinner.  The oven did not quite reach Scott's preferred temp, but the bread came out great - just takes a little longer.  This confirms we will be eating fresh baked bread on the trip! It is late, so this is a brief entry.  Here are some pics of the day. Scott at Syriana enjoying a rare bench rest and pastry: Scott holding his first loaf of bread from the oven: Electrical outlet at the marina (not changed since last year...), and yes, it i...

We started working on the head today.  For the landlubbers out there, the "head" is the toilet in boat-talk... Sanitary plumbing on a boat is a whole new world of terms, practices, regulations and contortion challenges.  The problem with our current head is two-fold: First, the pump that removes water from the sink or shower is not working, so needs replacement.  This is a simple sump pump that is installed in a void below the toilet.  Unfortunately, though the void is generous in size, access to the void is not...  What might take 15 minutes were good access available has now extended into day two of our plumbing adventure...  Second is the  Y-valve.  Let me explain.  Most marine heads have two options for directing effluent when the toilet is flushed.  Either it discharges directly overboard (legal if 3 miles offshore), or it discharges into a holding tank in the boat for later disposal either overboard when offshore or pumped out at a...

Today was a rather slow day.  Climbing the mast left me with sore feet and a couple of bruises.  We did haul down all the items we have pulled out of the boat which are redundant or not needed for our trip.  Most of these items will be offered to other folks here in the marina.  A few will be posted in the marina for sale.  We'll see what happens. One of yesterday's purchases was a new bag of (presumably) tastier dog treats for the local canines.  Both Simba and Chester expressed a measure of disappointment in our original choice of treats.  Thankfully, the new treats went over quite well - we are officially out of the dog house!   Needing food and additional storage bins to organize stuff onboard, I headed off to Home Depot and Soriana.  I took two packs and a carry bag to haul my load, caught the bus and was there in no time. Shopping is a slow business in a foreign country.  Items are not arranged the same as at home, and I often...

This is one way to get high in Mexico without risking trouble with the authorities...  Yes, climbing the mast.  More accurately - being winched up the mast in a bosun's chair by your first mate. We have a few projects to complete on the mast before we will be ready to set sail.  Today, I inspected the rigging and removed a navigation light that was not working well.  We have a replacement onboard which will be installed tomorrow or Wednesday.  We also need to install a couple of wind instruments and lubricate the slots the sails slide through. It is fun (if heights don't bother you) and the views are great, but the bosun's chair makers appear to have missed the ergonomics meetings.  It is not too comfortable.  An hour and a half to two hours is my max! Here is a shot of Scott on deck.  Note the hard hat - safety first: We did this work in the morning before it warmed up too much.  It is a bit of a workout for both parties.  I'll  pr...

Since our journey home will be against prevailing winds, we decided to swap our two blade prop for our three blade prop.  This should give us more power when motoring.  The switch was a recommended change from many here in the boatyard.  I expected the switch to be a challenge, as props can become very fond of their place in the propulsion system (i.e. difficult to remove).  Fortunately, it came off without a hitch and the three blade went on easily!    We did more sorting and tossing today and ordered in materials we will be needing later in the week.  We also met a number of other boaters here in the yard.  Some Canadians, an Argentinean, a Brit and others.  They are all friendly and happy to offer advice.  Laundry will be in our future as well.   We found where to buy tokens for the machines, so hope to clean up our act in the next few days. Speaking of cleaning, afternoon showering in the boatyard turns out to be a surprisi...

Mexico is a shopping challenge for northerners of more generous stature.  I have been looking for socks and flip-flops down here with no success.  I'm not really a flip-flop person, but Scott seems to think they are important for personal hygiene when in community shower stalls.  I think his concern stems from years in the navy with shipmates who practice a more liberal form of cleanliness... We did find socks at Walmart.  The package implied they were one size fits all.  In a fit of optimism, we purchased two packages.  In retrospect, I think the correct translation may have been "One size fits anyone with small feet".  I could barely get them over my heal and the fabric was so tight over my arch, it cut off my circulation!  I still have not seen any flipflops large enough to fit my size 14 feet.  I'll keep looking. Today being Sunday, it was quiet in the boatyard.  We decided to have an easier day as well.  We did tackle some morn...

Today's big accomplishment was getting the galley sorted.  Scott did most of this work (thanks!).  He went through the utensils and dishes, then pots and pans.  Did some rearranging to make frequently used items easier to get to.  We also modified a cabinet for dry food storage.  We need some bins to keep that area in order, but it will be easy to get to and has quite a bit of room.  Another area is being used for longer-term storage of food items.  We will rotate those items into the more accessible areas as we consume our larder... When tested, our stern navigation light did not work.  We pulled it off and found a bad bulb and some corrosion.  Once the bulb was replaced and the contacts cleaned up, it worked fine.   We still need to caulk around the fitting, but it is back up and working. Our other big project today was to start on the starboard (right) fresh water tank.  We discovered a leak in the filling flange and  h...

We decided to head toward the main part of town to check out an alternative to the Walmart store.  The Walmart is close to us (bus or walkable), but somewhat limited in scope.  We have seen a few other stores, so decided to try the local Soriana.  It was pretty nice and had a greater variety of items available.  It was a bus ride there and back, but that is nice as it helps get us better acquainted with the area. The Soriana is similar to our Fred Meyer stores.  Groceries, housewares, linens, clothing, sporting goods, electronics...  You get the idea.  We found many items that we could not find at Walmart, then took the bus back to the marina and restocked the kitchen. The rest of the day was spent on projects:   We fixed a section of the handrail on deck.   Sorted and tossed some more items.   Verified the sump pump in the head needs replacement.   Tidied up some cabling on the solar panels.   Routed t...

As I mentioned before, the boat came with a full load of gear, materials, etc.  We have been consolidating, sorting and tossing.  It is going well so far. We have a new radar unit to install.  The antenna is being shipped to MX, but we brought the cabling with us on the plane so we could get the hard work done while waiting for the antenna.  The boat had a radar unit, but it was not functional.   We removed it yesterday and pulled out the old cabling today.  Now we have to thread the new cable through the boat, out the stern, and up to where the antenna will be mounted. Of course, cables are not all the same size...  The new cable won't fit through the hull opening that worked for the old cable.  Looks like we will need to drill another hole in the boat...  Not really a difficult thing,  but I have to buy another part for this process.  We will get the cable pulled as far as we can until the new hole is in place. We finished th...

Lots of sorting and tossing today.  Worked on clearing out dead weight in the "hold'...  I bought the boat from a couple who lived aboard for many years.  When they sold it, they left a lot of stuff onboard.  Linens, kitchen ware, tools, supplies, parts, dive gear, canoe, paddle board - the list goes on.  Many of the items are useful and of value.  We also appreciated having tools and hardware onboard for repairs last year.  The downside is the boat is fairly well stuffed with stuff.  It makes working on projects difficult as items have to be moved back and forth multiple times to access different areas of the boat.  With a final crew of four, we need room for everyone to function.  So...  Time to sort and toss in earnest! We will offer some items of value up for sale on local cruiser bulletin boards.  We will give much of it away to folks here in the boat yard as well.  This "weeding" will help make living in close quarte...

This is a picture from last spring of Pierless hauled out in the boat yard.  We are in the same location at this time.