Dion Goes South

Quadrant and such...

If you followed our progress during our journeys last year you are familiar with our autopilot, Dion the Wanderer, and his predilection of going to starboard from time to time. Well, we thought that we had solved the issue this year when I cleaned his contacts and moved some metal that had accumulated near his “heart” (the fluxgate compass). Our passage from San Carlos to La Paz was amazing because Dion did not hiccup even once… hmmm, that’s not entirely correct, as we entered the channel to La Paz Dion turned himself off but since we were there we didn’t think too much about it. I guess believing that you can fix something is a powerful way of putting off fixing it.

The Pump suspected of being undersized

Control heads

So, we were ready to head for Puerto Vallarta (La Cruz de Huanacaxtle) and popped out on our way via Los Muertos. Dion seemed to be partially functioning during that first day but by the second day of the three day passage it was very clear that he had died. Normally as soon as you set him on a course he would take control of the wheel and not allow you to make any adjustments until you put him in Standby mode. That is what he was designed to do and some of the time he actually did it. During this last gasp you could set him to On but then he would allow you to tweak his course… hmmm, not good. Then he went crazy and veered off course by more than 90 degrees and would not come back on.

The "Brain" - hmmm, insufficient?

What this meant was that we had to hand steer for two days. Fortunately it was a fairly easy passage with relatively flat seas and wind on the right quarter most of the time. The steering was nicely balanced so there was less effort involved than there might have been.

That brings us to the current state of things. We are now researching the best way to replace Dion with a really stout autopilot. We have asked lots of people to make suggestions and the answers are rolling in. What we have is a Navico autopilot of probably early 1990’s vintage. The hydraulic pump seems to be in good order as does the fluxgate compass. It is probably the “brain” that has given up on the unit and should be buried at sea.

We have been headed south at a fair clip this year once we got Faith ready in San Carlos. It was almost like being on a delivery schedule at first. Now that we are back in the warm zone the rest of our southerly meanderings will be at a more relaxed pace. This is especially the case without a working autopilot!!

La Paz... Again!!

Minney's is THE place for more stuff

After what seems like months of running around getting things done to make the boat ready we are, whew, finally on our way into a new season. It was really only about two months since we got back from the South Pacific but it has been so filled with activity and “get-readies” that there has barely been time to breath. On the way down the coast we stopped by places like Minney’s to get parts and such. What a great place, along with Downwind Marine in San Diego these are fantastic boat-folk stores! By way of catch-up, while we were away there was a hurricane (Jimena) that swept north into the Sea of Cortez and Faith ended up in the path of its rain in the aftermath of the down graded tropical storm. This dropped 26 inches of rain and we had a small amount end up in the galley area of the boat. The marina crew pumped it out in our absence but there is damage to the sole of the galley. We installed the new windlass when we got to the boat and started restringing all the lines in the work yard and the slip when we finally got there. Elvis got inflated and the motor worked on the third pull!! We were comfortable in our new (to us) travel trailer while all this was going on but the work was slow. Luckily my brother Lee and his wife Julie were there too so we had diversions before we were to leave San Carlos. It seems to me that the blur of boat projects and guests arriving while we tried to play and work had us ready to leave but not ready as well. Our first attempt ended about an hour out of San Carlos when it was noticed that alternator was not working.

Some have called it Boat Jewelry!!

We had just installed the new inverter so we returned to the anchorage and further tested the whole shebang with long distance coaching from Alan, Dr. Electron, and re-reading the manuals. When Alfredo had the alternator done (rebuilt) and installed we tested a bit more then declared ourselves ready to go again. The visiting crew (JJ & Cher) agreed that it was decision time for them too (see Sandy’s blog to update all that bit of flexibility). We either had to get to La Paz or they needed to fly, ride, and walk back to La Paz in time to catch their flight. As one of the cruisers said when we were chatting about guests coming and going, “You can pick the place or you can pick the time… but you can’t have both!” As it turned out we had a great motor-sail down to Isla San Francisco, one of my very favorite places, and at least JJ & Cher got to see one of the places that we were going to take them too had we been able to stick to our plan of picking them up in La Paz. The whales, dolphin, turtles, birds and fish cooperated, for the most part, and our guests got to see lots of “stuff” on our delivery-like journey down the Sea. We managed to get into La Paz in time to get them to the hotel (La Perla) and up to La Fonda for a spectacular meal… again, whew, made it.

Elvis on station again!!

Now we are going to provision a bit and get ourselves more back to the main plan and sail to La Cruz (Banderas Bay – think, Puerto Vallarta). There were those small issues in getting this far after we left San Carlos too. When Alfredo installed the alternator he placed the three small washers that keep the thing at just the right angle on the wrong side of the bracket. As we motored it was clear that we were burning through the belt. Ugh, in the first anchorage, Isla San Francisco, I corrected that and everything worked marvelously after that. The generator can now charge the batteries as well and we are able to make coffee from the inverter too!!! This last may seem like a strange use of power to some but the thing is that when you have more than just the two of us on the boat the amount of coffee that can be made by other methods (French press or stove top percolator) is insufficient. We needed a way to keep up the guest demand and stay sane ourselves… this has answered that nicely. By the way, if you come across a stainless steel stove top percolator that makes more than eight smallish cups let me know!! It was something I thought would be easy to find but all attempts to secure one have ended in failure. It’s just one of those odd things that living on a boat brings to your attention from time to time. So, here we are in La Paz with a few moments to rub together and time to contemplate again. It is such a luxury after months of going and doing and seeing that this morning feels like a new day of a different sort indeed!

Timing; it's all about Timing.

Ok, ok, this may qualifiy as TMI (too much information) but sitting here in the Totonaka RV park in San Carlos after a long day of getting the boat ready for the season and my Sweetie sends me one of many irreverant connections to the REAL world!!!

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Yeah, got it!!! We do have fun most of the time just messing around!!! I know I have been absent here but that is fully explainable. It is warm and at the end of the day I just head for the shower and hope we have something planned for dinner... that includes beer or wine. Life is really simple but a sense of humor is more important than a sense of accomplishment.

Gathering Momentum...

New Zealand Navy, Greek freighter with stranded island trader in the back!! Apia, Samoa

Funny how priorities get tweaked as you move along. Today we were going to get going but after a few seconds of discussion it was clear that neither of us REALLY wanted to leave this awesome internet connection after just one day!!!

We are in this great place in Sutherlin, Oregon that used to be an Drive-in Movie Theater!!! They still play movies every few nights for the residents... free popcorn included!! You dial the stereo into a station and get the sound on your FM radio. It is clear to me that we will stop here for longer next year on our way to Portland / Vancouver. Too much fun.

Today it's drizzling as if we might need more water. That aside, we also needed to do a few things on the trailer (like try to get the left tail light to work). Anyway, it is a different life here and we are still anxious to get back to the boat.

Moving Again

Off Niuetoputapu

Just a short missive about our being on the move again. We are only a few miles south of Portland at this point because we wanted to stop and visit Sandy's daughters family. Mission accomplished. We did find this great RV park with awesome interenet and we are happily catching up on several things.

We have been so busy finding all that Stuff we need for this coming seasons happenings. We have a new windlass that has been described as boat jewelry. It certainly does shimmer and glitter in the sunlight!!! So, there are boat projects in my future. We have also been trying to line up the schedule for all the folks that have said they wanted to come for a visit while we are in Mexico!!! Whew, no shortage of visitors!!

It is just a lazy trip down the middle of I-5 while we soak up a little coolness to hold us on those warm days to come in Mexico.

Fishing,.. sort of.

Well, we have done a little fishing on the way to Vava'u and after sorting out the broken lines and such I got a few really strong parts together and rebuilt the tackle being used on the boat. This has worked incredibly well but there were only a few days of sailing between the main stops on the journey.

Here's a little hint about knots. They are as important to fishing as they are to sailing. There are lots of kinds.

A Bit More Catch Up

When we were bouncing between the islands of French Polynesia the size of the population surprised me a bit. There aren’t a lot of people now. Still, when I have heard and read about the high population of pre-colonial times I can’t believe that they all fit here. The landscape does not lend itself to building up the mountains because they are steep to volcanic structures that essentially have cliffs once you get a mile or two inland. You are either on the beach (think hurricane here) or at such an angle that building on the incline would be difficult at best and exposed to high winds from time to time. It is just amazing that such a complex society was based here.

The closeness of the people to the sea surpasses anything I have seen before too. I bought a small symbol of this in a shop here. It is a representation of a hook, a fishing hook, with designs built into it that are common to the tapas we have seen. I wore it during a party where Tongans were present and the first Tongan person to approach me asked if I was a fisherman. Since I definitely identify with fishing I said, “Yes,” and we were off and running in conversation. It turns out too that all of the necklaces here have a specific meaning as well. The stylized hook is just one way the people see the fact that they are surrounded by water as a status symbol. It is amazing that every child we see is so comfortable around the water. Of course I can say this about the cruising kids as well. They can handle their dinghies as if they are extensions of themselves.

Given the amount of rain we have seen since we arrived in Tonga (Vava’u) there is no reason that the surrounding islands are not green! They are very much so. Even when it is bright and sunny you are never very far away from a squall. All across the Pacific we have been drenched from time to time. It is a warm rain but just as wet as any other rain! In Bora Bora we were soaked on our first dinghy ride into check out of the country and on several adventures as well. Across the voyages we dodged a few squalls but mostly just had them roll over us cleaning the boat. Several days in Vava’u had the gray appearance of rain be the main feature of the day. It does not deter us though as we go about our shore visits and general business in a warm, damp way.

We have spent time just sitting from time to time. For instance, today (as I write) we had lunch at the Aquarium Café. Not a complicated thing to do but I found myself drifting along on a thought wave pondering the anchorage and sailors in port. The temperature was idyllic and the conversation sparse as we waited for our waitress to return with the order. No matter, I speculated about the boat we are on here, the abundance of the Tongan’s lives we have seen, the lushness of the vegetation, the other boats in the anchorage… especially the unlikely ones, the dinghies and their variety and “What are you thinking about?”, asked Sandy in the midst of the revelry. “Oh, nothing, really,” I said. It is easy to get lost in thought, or what passes for it. At the back of my mind for all the time since we left San Carlos has been the list of things to acquire to make the boat better and the last several days have held the issues of the hurricane Jimena in the foreground as well. When my mind wanders like it does so often all of that is the sub-theme. We have time here without anything we can actually do about what is going on “back home” there is a huge amount of time to be dealt with. There are no choices that make a difference yet except to write down as we think of them the things that we need to do or get.

This is Sunday here (Saturday in the U.S.) and NOTHING happens here on Sunday. It is truly a day of rest. We are waiting for tomorrow, I guess. One funny thing that will happen when we leave is that we will lose a day in going back across the Date Line. As a result we will arrive roughly a half an hour before we leave Nieafu.