A visit by El Presidente

The marina has been full of activity. The COPA races began March 4, including over 60 J-24s plus windsurfers and kite boarders. These races are Olympic qualifiers and countries competing include Mexico, US, Canada, Chile, Brazil, Germany and France. Friday, the boats racing in the San Diego to Banderas Bay race started to arrive. There are many Transpac 52s as well as one large race boat with an 18 foot keel that must anchor out in the bay since it is too shallow in the marina. Today the week long Banderas bay regatta started.

Along with the race boats, sailors, additional structures for the press, race committee, beer tents, etc comes security. There are all flavors here in attendance from the turistica police, transit police, navy in dress whites, navy in full camouflage gear, flak jackets, helmets, weapons and assault rifles. The Mexican secret service and the bomb squad are also in attendance. I am not sure if I feel safer that they are here or more of a target, but they are all nice and police and low profile, if you can say that with someone under every palm tree holding a gun.

Today Presidente Felipe Calderon arrived to start the regatta. We walked to the Sunday Market as normal but we needed to go through metal detectors similar to the airports on our way back to the boat. We watched the helicopters arrive and the Presidente walk to the yacht waiting to take him out into the bay. Standing on the aft deck of Windarra I was able to get a picture of him as he passed.

Here are a few pictures.

Under a tree with an assault rifle

The Mexican Navy is prepared with automatic weapons

Helicopters arriving

The crowd watching El Presidente walk across

El Presidente arriving on the yacht

El Presidente Felipe Calderon as the yacht motors passed Windarra's stern

In case you can't tell, he is the man in the center wearing a white shirt. It is not every day you get to see a president.

I hope that La Cruz will return to being a sleepy little town soon.



10th year reunion of the 2002 Pacific Puddle Jump Mar 1-3, 2012

With Sarah, Jesse and Rae, we attended the 10^th year reunion of the 2002 Pacific Puddle Jump. There were 25 cruiser attending, representing 13 of the over 38 boats that left Puerto Vallarta in 2002.

Thursday we celebrated with drinks and a pig roast at the Vallarta Yacht Club at Paradise Village. Paradise Village was where most of us were moored and attended the seminars in 2002 to help us prepare for our grand adventure across the South Pacific. They were just beginning to dig the foundation of the yacht club when we left.

Friday we met with the Pacific Puddle Jumpers of 2012 and answered some of their questions and provided some of our ‘sage advice’. They had a lot of the same questions, same anxieties and the same excitement that we did 10 years ago. Jesse and Sarah got up and recounted their experience being alone on Windarra in Niue when the boat slipped the mooring and started to drift away and they were down below doing homework while Rich and I were on shore, checking in. Jesse also suggested that boats with kids get their kids involved in boat handling and sailing. We were proud of their suggestions. That evening we went to Philo’s in La Cruz for dinner and dancing. Sarah laughed at Rich and me shuffling to the music.

Saturday, Rich, Jesse, Rae and I went to Los Arroyos Verdes just outside of Bucerias. It is a sustainable resort, built and operated by Lupe of SV Moon and the Stars. Lupe has been involved in the cruising community at least since we met her 10 years ago. Her resort is a beautiful oasis with a restaurant, a pool, several types of lodging and gardens. We joined the rest of the cruisers for lunch and a tour. Jesse and Rae took dips in the pool while a 3 piece ensemble played classical guitar. It is a special place and if anyone wanted to get away from it all and go to a place to relax and rejuvenate, I would recommend it.

We had a great time at the reunion, catching up and reacquainting. We share a common experience. A few of us are still sailing but almost all of us are still travelling, if not by our own boat but by some other means. It did not take us long to resume our friendships, and it seemed like our adventures together were just a few days ago instead of several years. The cruising community bonds in a different way than most friendships. I wish I had better words to describe it. We are used to spending a few days together and then we would sail away in sometime different directions but when we meet ago, it is just like we saw each other the day before, not skipping a beat. We are glad we had the experience as a family 10 years ago and that we are still able to share it as a family 10 years later.

Visit with Sarah, Jesse and Rae 2/26-3/5

On Sunday, 2/26 we picked up Sarah. She was nice enough to bring down some items we had ordered from the States such as a new pivoting wrench for tightening the tie downs at the mast, Dyneema loops for the lifelines, our repaired night vision monocular and a new GSM wireless router. She also brought down a new pair of waterproof binoculars, a gift from our friend Dan Sego. I think that when he joined us on the Baja Ha-Ha, he got so frustrated with our old pair that he decided we need new ones. We are excited about trying them out. Thank you Dan and Madeline! Sarah also brought us some new dvds and gave us each an iTunes card. Yippee, thank you Sarah!

Tuesday, 2/28, we went to Costco with Adam and Cindi of SV Bravo to pick up a few items. They were doing some provisioning before heading south. They plan to spend this next hurricane season in Ecuador. While the Costco here at Puerto Vallarta is much the same as a typical Costco in the States, you could tell this one was different as it was handing out samples of Corona and Miller Lite beer.

In the afternoon we picked up Jesse and Rae at the airport. They brought us some books to read, yay! plus pictures and videos of the wedding, YAY! That evening we enjoyed a dinner at Eva’s Brick House Restaurant next to the marina. Eva is originally from Peru, so we asked her a few questions about staying there. The barbeque ribs were tasty. Rich and Jesse sampled some tequila from an old barrel, a specialty of the house.

The four of us in front of the anchorage at La Cruz

Dinner at Eva's Brickhouse at La Cruz

Wednesday and Thursday we went to Paradise Village to spend some time on the beach. Jesse and Sarah remember this from when we stayed at the marina here 10 years ago. It was a little different this time as they were also able to order beer and mixed drinks as they sat in beach chairs on the sand looking out at the ocean.

While they were here we also participated in a 10^th year reunion of our Pacific Puddle Jump in 2002, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. I will write about that in another blog entry.

Saturday night we had dinner together on the boat. Rich fixed a lamb ragu, a boat favorite.

Sarah, Jesse and Rae

We went to the Sunday market. Sarah and Rae bought a few souvenirs and gifts for friends. Rich and I stopped and sampled some of the local fare and picked up some baked goods. In the afternoon we took Sarah to the airport. After she passed security we waited for Heidi and Joe of SV Huck to arrive from San Francisco and gave them a ride back to Paradise Village.

Monday after a little excitement about our engine mechanic (more later in another blog post), and breakfast we were off to the airport again to drop off Jesse and Rae.

The boat is empty without our kids and we miss them already. We are glad they could take time off from work and join us even if it was only for just a week. Now we are back to projects and preparing to have the new engine installed.

Cleaning up after engine removal

After we removed the engine, we began the process of cleaning up and putting the boat back together, at least part way before Sarah, Jesse and Rae arrive.

Here is what the bilge under the engine looked like when it was removed and we took out the fiberglass engine pan. It was very 'yucky' (note: the technical term), and cleaning it involved siphoning out all of the old 'fluid', and going in with bilge soap and brushes to clean.

This is what it looks like now after we cleaned it and Rich painted it with bilge paint.

We still have more work to do before we install the new engine but that will wait until after the visit with the kids.

In the meantime we have been visiting with friends. We had dinner on Wednesday night with Adam and Cindi of SV Bravo, along with the folks from SV The Rose and SV Boomer. They gave us some good suggestions of places to anchor at in the Sea of Cortez this summer. We are looking forward to seeing the places they talked about.

Thursday we took the bus into Puerto Vallarta and met Reg and Phoebe of SV Three Sheets. As they are having their engine rebuilt and will not make it to Ecuador in time for their daughter's visit, Reg is staying with the boat to monitor the rebuild and Phoebe flew to Ecuador on Friday. They took the 'express bus' from Barra Navidad and had plenty of stories about their adventure. We spent the afternoon and evening with them at Marina Vallarta, then took the bus back to La Cruz.

Saturday afternoon as we were finishing cleaning the boat, Biaggio of SV Gem stopped by on his dingy. Biaggio was on the Pacific Puddle Jump with us in 2002. He is now a single-hander and just arrived at La Cruz from Isla Isabella. The last time we saw him was in Australia in 2004. It was good to catch up with him. Biaggio will also be cruising in the Sea of Cortez this summer. We look forward to visiting with him more and others during the PPJ reunion on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

This afternoon we will pick up Sarah at the airport. Tuesday we pick up Jesse and Rae. We can hardly wait.

Old engine is gone

Yesterday, Butch helped us move Windarra to the work dock so we can lift the engine out and put it on the dock.

Rich removed the companionway stairs and the grab rails. We removed the dodger and set it on the deck. Using the main halyard we lifted the boom and again Butch secured a line around the boom and attached the hoist. At first we tried to lift the engine as sits normally on the salon floor.

We got the engine partially lifted but realized it would no go through the companionway. So we had to lower it back down, tip it on its end and then lift it out.

Here is the engine coming out with the transmission end downward. We then set it down on the cockpit floor, readjusted the hoist, lifted it back up then swung the boom over and set it down on a dolly on the dock. When we set it down in the cockpit, some of the remaining oil spilled out onto the cockpit floor. After the engine was off the boat, Rich and I removed the slats cleaned up the oil and then scrubbed the cockpit floor and each of the slats trying to get as much of the oil off as we could.

The old engine is on the dolly at the end of the dock.

This morning, Butch helped us move Windarra back to our slip. He removed the brackets that hold the engine mounts. Rich and I spent the rest of the day cleaning the engine compartment. This included draining the pan that is under the engine, removing the pan and cleaning the bilge and the inside of the engine compartment. What a messy job!



Removing the old engine

This morning, Butch, the mechanic, was at Windarra bright and early with his tools, a long 2 in steel pipe, some plywood, a chain hoist and come-alongs to help remove the engine.

Rich removed the salon table to provide more room in the salon.

Butch drilled a hole in the aft stateroom closet through the bulkhead to the engine compartment and a 2 by 4. After securing a 2 by 4, one end of the pipe was put through the hole.

The engine was tied to the pipe.

A come-along was also tied to the engine and around the mast to pull the engine out. The hoist went around the boom and the chain went around the pole to help take the weight of the engine.

After successively adjusting the come-along, the hoist and the lines around the engine, by 1:15 pm, the engine was sitting on plywood in the salon.

Tomorrow we will move the boat to the work dock and lift the engine out and onto the dock.

It appears that there was an inner cooler failure which allowed salt water to get into the engine and was exhausted into the turbo which froze. It is a good thing we are replacing the engine.

The Engine has Arrived!

On Wednesday, Feb. 15, Rich and I decided to walk over to the boatyard to see if they had any new status on the arrival of the engine. As we were waiting to talk to Alejandro, a delivery truck arrived and dropped off a large wooden box with YANMAR in big letters on the side. Our engine had arrived. We took the top off and looked at the shiny new engine. Oh boy!

Now the fun begins. Before we can take the old engine out some preparation was required. Rich took off some parts we might be able to use as spares. He also removed the Racor fuel filter and it's enclosure and cleaned it up. The watermaker was removed and is on the floor of the pullman. We took the sunshade panels off the bimini and the panels on the dodger. They are stored in the v-berth along with the cockpit cushions and the starboard salon cushion. We tied a line around the mainsail to lift if off the boom, it is loose fitted, so it will be easier to tie lines around the boom for hoisting the engine.

The mechanic, plans to arrive on Sunday morning at 8:00 am to begin.

I will keep you posted....