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 health that severely curtailed the trip. More on that in due course. Suffice it to say that this was not planned.
I wascteally bummed out after a diver cleared the bottom of the boat. He found that the zinc on our Max Prop had been reduced to what's pictured below. Panic ensued. We have source a replacement zinc and zinc adapter. Heart rate is dropping a bit after soaring through the roof!
Almost Nothing Left
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.
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
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.
View of Underside of Damaged
Circuit Board
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
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.
Brach Front in Old Puerto Vallarta
This is a nice marina surrounded by hotels, condomÃnia, 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
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.
Puerto Vallarta In The Distance
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.
Night View From Our Cockpit
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.
Pacific Coast Cruising Guide
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.
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.
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.
The "Surprise"
The Great Cabin
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.
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.
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
Venice Beach
Santa Monica Pier
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.
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...
