Friday, February 26, 2010
You went to the wrong blog...
Saturday, February 13, 2010
The Return of the Mold Monster
The toerails and lifeline stanchions have needed rebedding for some time now, and it was these leaks, along with Barra's warm climate, that unleashed a serious mold infestation on BLISS. I arrived in Barra just after dark Friday, after 11 hours of two lane, pothole dodging, nerve-wracking driving from Mazatlan to Barra. The discovery of reeking, soaked bedding sent me screaming to the nearest hotel, where I purchased an overpriced room in order to rest my weary self.
I was only suicidal for a little while.
This morning at 6 am, I left the hotel and started pulling out musty, damp linens, pillows, cushions, towels and food items that suffered from the intrusion of rain. Once the pile was in the cockpit, I hauled the dinghy off the foredeck so I could fully open all the hatches and went off in search of equipment and chemicals.
Not long ago, I was induced into doing a similar job on the condo, so I knew that I didn't need anything exotic to do the job: two gallons of white vinegar, a face mask, a one gallon garden sprayer, lots of disposable latex gloves, and several pots of good coffee.
I don't have to go into detail here, but you should know that 12 hours later, I moved onto the boat and although there's a strong odor of vinegar in the vessel, the presence of mold is history. I'm now sitting in the cockpit, writing this by the light of my little kerosene lantern (filled with citronella oil for the bugs), and listening to the sounds of this little village and the slap of water against the hull of the boat.
I do have some photographs of the day, but my usb cable for the camera is packed somewhere else. I'll upload them tomorrow if possible...
Happy Valentine's Day to you all, share your life with a loved one.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
It's a Wrap for this Season
But I wanted to show off some of the work completed on Bliss before the switch. Below is the galley as it has been for the past couple of years.
And below, is the galley with the new double sink & faucet, and the new formica on cabinets and countertop.
And then there's the dish holder with the formica on the outside. The rounded ends were made by cutting a 4 inch PVC pipe in half and glueing it to the end of the dish holder. They hold the cooking utensils.
The three holes behind have been merged into one large ovoid window that will provide more light and ventilation to the cook. The holes held the old instruments (wind, speed, depth) that have been replaced with new stuff at the helm.
So that's it for Bliss this season. Although I won't be adding anything new to the boat until the winter, I will be chronicling some of the improvements that were done in prior years.
I'll get back to her this winter, after a summer of working on the business and The Green Flash.
See ya'
Saturday, May 30, 2009
The best laid plans...
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Last night at anchor...
I just dropped the hook in Melaque, near Barra de Navidad... it's 8 pm.
Melaque is about 20 nautical miles west of my last anchorage at Santiago Bay, and should be the proverbial "three hour tour." The morning was beautiful and calm, as I motored out at 8:30 am.
The seas were flat, turtles floating around everywhere, three fast looking warships anchored off Manzanillo and a lovely day.
I took a course to the south that would allow me to reach in front of the lone rock that sits about a half mile off the Barra headland. A single port tack once the sea breeze fills in, I think. Barra in three hours, I think. So confident. So competent. Life is good.
Six hours later, I'm battling to keep my footing on the stern of the boat as I try to lift the 23 foot ham radio antenna out of the water, after having the brackets shaken loose. The PortaPotti has flipped onto its face in the head, but fortunately, is not leaking. All the books on the boat have come flying from their storage places and are piled with numerous other articles on the cabin sole. The fresh water jug has escaped its restraints and is caroming across the floor. The sunbrella cover I made for the generator is missing, as is my cell phone. There's a reef in the main and the jib is furled in half. All the water and coolant has boiled out of the heat exchanger/radiator of the diesel engine and the motor registers over 200 degrees... very bad. I've pulled up the hatch and the engine room doors in the cabin, having removed and cleaned the sea water strainer, the cover for the sea water pump which is now being held together by one screw and a visegrip. It leaks like crazy... but the bilge pump is taking care of that. The radiator cap was probably the culprit after all. Just not fitted on correctly. Once the engine is running, without overheating, I turn the boat for the third time toward the Barra headland. Twice before the high, steep waves have turned me away... stalling all forward progress toward Barra, which is only two miles away, on the other side of the headland. The wind screams at me, throwing spume and foam off the thousands of whitecaps that surround me.
It takes what it takes.
So, here I am, in Melaque. My last night at anchor for this season. Tomorrow morning I'll take Bliss up to her slip in Cabo Blanco. And in a few days, I'll lock up the boat until November, get in the Westy camper and drive back to San Carlos.
I'm good with that.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Erratic, but sometimes, just lucky
Monday, May 11, 2009
Gag me with a spoon
The cabinets, once the trim is taken off, appear to be a lot of work. The trim is burned in places, the cabinet doors are grungy and this pice of vinyl I took off the shelf is going directly to the trash. It's beyond hope or redemption.