Saturday at the Office

12-29-12 – Bahia de Tenacatita

It’s Saturday and while I’m sure everyone is enjoying a peaceful Saturday after Christmas, we are hard at work here on Autumn Wind; It’s another Saturday at the office if you will.  So much to do and, well, basically endless time to get it done, but today was a work day for us.

Morning comes early around here

It all started at 6:30A.  First chore is to make coffee.  Of course we ran out of propane.  I may add we have used 3 gallons of propane in almost exactly 2 months.   Not too shabby considering we boil water for coffee every day and do all our cooking with that.  Thankfully we invested in a second propane bottle before leaving San Diego so that’s not a very big chore.  Next, I spend a little time taking advantage of free fresh water deposited by the dew last night to wipe down the boat and remove some or the ever present dirt and salt that accumulates at anchor. 

Getting good use out of free water

Using the dew on the solar panels I wipe them down to clean off any interference that may rob us of free amps throughout the day.  Then with coffee made we launch the dink for a trip to shore.  Lower the dinghy into the water; we pull it out each night and side tie it to the boat out of the water so no one “borrows” it and lock the engine to the rail for the same reason; unlock the engine on the rear rail and lower it onto the dink with the engine hoist.  Now our car is ready.  We load our coffee in a thermos with our handheld VHF, a Frisbee into a dry bag and our trash into the dink and head to shore.  After an uneventful surf landing we drag the dink up out of the surf and go for a nice walk down the beach and back.  A short Frisbee session later we sit on the dink and drink our coffee while listening to the morning net.  Power back out of the surf making sure not to dump the dink and we are ready for the day of work.  Well not quite yet, we need to make some eggs with onions and jalapenos wrapped in tortillas for breakfast…now it’s time for work. 



Elizabeth checking the engine compartment

We need to organize some of the gazillion pictures we have taken and Elizabeth disassembles the engine compartment to make a check of the engine.  We check the oil, the impeller and the belts, look for weird spots, oil or anything that may indicate anything amiss.  We may have sails, but we count on that little 35 HP diesel to get us places when the wind dies.  Check the primary fuel filter and drain a little water out, all looks good there.  Elizabeth removes and cleans the raw water intake that filters the water  coming into our engine to cool it.  Engine check complete.  What’s next? 

After five days in Bahia de Navidad the bottom of the boat has developed a little scum line around the water line.  It could be this or it could be that we have loaded so much junk onto the boat to go cruising that it has literally sank 3 inches in the water.  So the protective paint on the bottom that is supposed to repel this scum is now under water and the gel coat is taking the brunt of the scum bugs.  So we try to keep this clean.  By now it’s actually hot so a little swim, even if it’s work, is welcome.  The water is super clear and 82 degrees so I know you’re thinking this has got to be a tough chore.  Tenacatita is a good place to clean your bottom as you can see the entire keel, rudder and prop.  An added benefit is a clean bottom makes you go faster, so we can maybe sail at a brisk walk now instead of a mosey.

Elizabeth bottom cleaning

Cruiser safety gear in place for
the use of sharp knives

We need a new chafe guard on our anchor rode so we start on this.  Explanation here for non-boater types.  The 35lb anchor that holds our 15 ton boat in place is attached to the boat with a rope.  This rope runs over a roller and as the boat moves around it chafes on the roller.  We do not want it to chafe thru and set us adrift so we put a protective covering on it where it goes over the roller.  This protective covering was procured months ago in Tomales Bay at the fire station.  It’s old fire hose that we slice down the middle and tie around the line.  It’s amazing how quickly the chafe guard gets beat up, so I can only imagine how bad the rode would look if we didn’t protect it.

Wise use of our 1 tray of ice.

It’s already been a long day so Elizabeth takes it upon herself to use our 1 tray of ice per day to make up some afternoon refreshments.  One tray of ice is a good limiting factor on our beverage consumption as warm drinks suck.

Enjoying the fruits of Elizabeth's labor

Mexican hats (flopper stoppers) getting deployed

With the thought that it may get a little rolly tonight I deploy our flopper stoppers.  These are little orange Mexican sombrero looking things that tie one after another in a line with a little mushroom anchor off the bottom of them providing resitance to keep the boat from rolling back and forth.  I deploy them mostly because we have them, not because we need them.  Why not, right?

Is there anything in there?

The little Honda 1000 generator is in need of some gas.  So this is the next project.  Sounds easy until you see where it’s buried in the cockpit locker, the gas is tied to the rail up front and the nozzle is in a separate place.  Then you need to fill a little generator with a five gallon jug in a swaying boat.  Thankfully this isn’t the first time for this so I only spill a little gas.  Our solar is keeping up great today but filling the little Honda in the dark is a pain so might as well get it done.  My work friends know how long these little things can run on a tank of gas; think of endless profilographing, and how they always seem to run out at the exact time you need them most.  We seem to need to run it after two days at anchor to boost the solar and we are running a fine line right now if we will have enough amps to get thru the night and keep our beer cold.  Be thankful for endless electricity, because we seem to spend more time thinking about amps than anything else; except water consumption.

Don't spill!

Which reminds me, it’s shower day!  Always a big one for Elizabeth.  We each get almost a gallon and a half for a shower today.  Don’t worry we don’t get the bathroom all wet, we shower off the back of the boat.  It also helps to wash the salt off at the same time.  It’s like showering on your patio, easy clean up; just wait until its dark if you know what I mean.

Hope everyone enjoyed their Saturday off,  As you can see we spent it slaving away at work.