Thursday, December 23, 2021

NEW INVERTER - XANTREX

 


New XANTREX Freedom 3000 watt Power inverter is replacing an 1800 watt Xantrex that failed when using the watermaker.  The original inverter was on a bulkhead in the area behind the settee.  This one is bigger and is being mounted on the underside of the upper storage shelf behind the settee.  Lots of space for the fans and we still have storage space.  


Wednesday, December 22, 2021

NEW CHARGER INSTALLED

 


Above is the installed charger replacing the one that failed.  It is an 80 amo output charger and it has been excellent in bringing the battery bank up to full charge  

Tuesday, December 14, 2021

TECHNICAL PROBLEMS

 First we had a failure of the Xantrex 1800 Watt inverter.  Then a failure of the vacuum switch on the forward head vacuum generator.  Now we have a failure of the 60Amp charger.  When it rains it pours.  


Burned Positive Terminal 



View of Underside of Damaged 

Circuit Board

Wednesday, December 8, 2021

POOL DAYS

 Boats in the marina have access to the pool at the marina's hotel.  Pleasant days spent reading in the shade by the pool. 


Poolside at Marina Vallarta Hotel 

BEING TOURISTS IN PV

We have taken an Uber into the old area of Puerto Vallarta to look around, have some ice cream, and of course a margarita at a bar that offers two for one.  


Old Puerto Vallarta 


Carolyn and Christopher on the Boardwalk



Brach Front in Old Puerto Vallarta 

Saturday, November 27, 2021

MARINA VALLARTA

This is a nice marina surrounded by hotels, condomínia, and lots of shops and restaurants. It is a short Uber ride downtown.  

Marina Vallarta 



Fantastic Seafood Restaurant 

Make Huge Margaritas



View Across To Cruise Ship Docks



  Lemonade On The Terrace 

TWO DAY RUN TO PUERTO VALLARTA

We spent 2 nights at sea crossing directly from Cabo to Puerto Vallarta.  We arrived in PV mid morning and had a reservation at Marina Vallarta.  We intend to stay here through Christmas and see to the installation of a new inverter, installation of our new mainsail, and repair of the forward head vacuum generator. 


Sunset Sailing to Puerto Vallarta 



Blood Red Moon Rising On Eastern
Horizon


Puerto Vallarta In The Distance

Tuesday, November 16, 2021

CABO SAN LUCAS AND INVERTER PROBLEMS

Well there is good news and bad news   After some very sweet sailing, we are in Cabo San Lucas where our additional crew members left us.  The marina here is all about sightseeing and sport fishing, and Terratima seems decidedly out of place.  We intend to head off to Puerto Vallarta near the weekend for an extended stay at least through Christmas.  

The bad news is that we fried our inverter which we use primarily to make water.  There is no way we can get a replacement here in Cabo, so we hope to have a new one installed in PV.  


The Famous Arched Rock Formations



Terratima in Her Slip in Cabo



Night View From Our Cockpit

Monday, November 1, 2021

DEPARTURE PREP

 Our additional crew will be here tomorrow and Wednesday.  We have our paper as well as electronic charts ready to go, and we are looking to depart late in the day Thursday for an overnight run to Ensenada, Mexico to check into the country.  We then leave for Cabo San Lucas weather permitting.  


Sea of Cortez Cruising  Guide


Pacific Coast Cruising Guide

Friday, October 29, 2021

WATERMAKER UPDATE

 The CruiserRO guys are awesome.  We now have new membranes installed.  We reinstalled the tubes, did all the hookups, and tested everything.  Works like a charm.  

Wednesday, October 13, 2021

WATERMAKER MEMBRANE REPLACEMENT

We have contacted Cruiser RO to get our membranes replaced prior to sailing further south.  They are really busy because of boats preparing for the Baja Haha.  Rich and Charlie have been great and I will run our two pressure tubes out to Escondido for them to do the replacement.  We are just setting up a time slot in what is undoubtedly a busy schedule.  


Pressure Vessels We Must
Disconnect From Mounts


 Closer View of Simple Lines

Saturday, October 2, 2021

SEEING THE SIGHTS

 We visited a few sights as we stay here in Chula Vista.  As an architect, I had to see Louie Kahn's Salk Institute.  Unfortunately, we could only look from afar as it was closed to the public.  We then went over to the Maritime museum to see the "Surprise" from the movie Master and Commander.  


Unbelievable Concrete Work 




More Great Concrete Work 






The "Surprise"



Foredeck of "Surprise"



View of Bow



The Great Cabin 


Monday, September 27, 2021

CHULA VISTA MARINA

 It's expensive, but very pretty and a bit away from the core.  We passed by all of the navy ships on our way to the marina trying to pick out the red buoys in the midst of a thunderstorm.  It was raining heavily and the cracks of thunder was a bit unnerving, but we made it to the marina without incident.  




SAN DIEGO

From Oceanside, we set off for San Diego which will be our home for the next short while.  We will wait for other boats in our group of boats associated with S/V Totem before setting off further south.  It is also not the end of the season of named storms, so we relax, enjoy the sights, and tend to repairs and replacements - including installing our new mainsail.  


Coming Into San Diego Bay
USS Zumwalt 


Downtown San Diego

 


 
Aircraft Carrier Docked Downtown

Sunday, September 26, 2021

OCEANSIDE

 We stopped briefly in Oceanside to reduce the trip to San Diego to a day sail.  We also had a bit of consulting work to do via Teams.  So walks around the marina were in order.  



 

 



QUICK STOP AT CATELINA

 We sailed from Marina del Rey to Catelina Island picking up a mooring in Avalon Bay.  The mooring system is a new one for us with fore and aft lines.  The bay is dominated by a "casino" building which is actually a theatre and the upper level is a ballroom.  I found the building a bit odd although it is characterised as an Art Deco building.  


Avalon Harbour

Sunday, September 19, 2021

MARINA DEL REY


We are now in Marina del Rey - easily the largest marina we’ve ever seen. Carolyn and Chris were being tourists visiting Venice Beach, Santa Monica Pier, and other sights.  Len preferred the quiet of the boat.  


Venice Beach




Venice Beach 



Santa Monica Pier



Santa Monica Pier






Monday, September 13, 2021

FURTHER SOUTH

We left San Francisco and went a short distance south to Half Moon Bay where we anchored overnight.  From there we intended to make Los Angeles but chose instead to put into Monterey Harbour.  So here we are waiting to depart late afternoon heading south for a 2 day run to LA.  

TOURISTS IN SAN FRANCISCO

 Well we succumbed to being just tourists for a couple of days.  


Alcatraz from Fisherman's 
Wharf
 


Obvious Location 


Lombard Street
 


Fisherman's Wharf Pier 39


SAN FRANCISCO

 Crescent City departure was a surprise with local headwinds nearing 20 knots.  It was a bit exhausting for us and after things quieted down and wind direction changed, we put into Drake's Bay and anchored in order to make the approach into San Francisco Bay without high winds and at flood tide.  We were heading for a slip at Emeryville marina.  Emeryville turned out to be an excellent marina with the friendliest and most helpful staff we have ever encountered. 



 


Approaching the Golden Gate



About to Pass Underneath 
A Milestone Reached



In San Francisco Bay 



After Passing Under




Heading to Emeryville 




Alcatraz to Starboard 

COMPLETE THE STORY

 Hello all.  I must admit to being a bit reticente in completing the story of our trip to Mexico.  It is marred by an incident of mental hea...