The Sunday Farmers' Market at La Cruz

Saturday we went to the cruiser swap meet on the malecon around the marine. We did not find an new engine but I sold some flourescent light bulbs and a fixture and Rich bought 2 DVDs.

The big attraction is the farmers' market on Sundays from 10 am to 2 pm. It covers a large portion of the shore side of the marina and extends over the breakwater. You can buy a wide variety of hand crafted items such as jewelry, wood bowls, art work and clothing as well as fresh produce and other food items. There are musicians providing entertainment and the fish market is open as well with fresh tuna, lobster, prawns, red snapper, etc. We bought a fresh baguette for our lunch and some pain au chocolate for breakfast in the morning.

Here are some photos to give you an idea what it is like

Marina Riviera Nayarit office, La Cruz Yacht Club and Ikuai Restaurant

Booths lining the shore

Flowers for sale

Woman making pictures with reeds

Rockers entertain the crowd

La Cruz has quite a gringo community as well as evidenced by the musicians above (after playing the stadium circuit, then the casino rounds in the US they seem to arrive here, still playing strong. As in La Paz there is a cruiser club which helps the local community as well as the transient cruisers. The artisans are a mixture of Mexican and gringo. 

The engine saga continues

On Thursday and Friday we had visits from the mechanic. The injector pump will definitely need to be replaced. On Friday, Rich and mechanic extracted some of the oil so it can be tested to see if it is combined with fresh or salt water. This is part of the do dilligence.

After much discussion between Rich and the mechanic as well as with Mark, who rebuilt the engine before we left Seattle in 2001 and with Chuck, on SV Dreamcatcher, we are coming to the conclusion that we need to replace the engine. If we were to try and repair it, it will probably cost almost as much as the engine is out of production and parts will be hard to come by and at the end of the day we would still have an older, tired engine. This is a tough decision but we think it is the correct one for us especially since we plan to travel to Central and South America in 2013.

The next steps are finding out where we can get a replacement engine and how to get it here to La Cruz. Our current engine is a Yanmar 76 turbo which we will be replacing with a Yanmar 75 turbo (one less horse). The good news is we believe it has the same form factor so installing should be easier. Of course removing the existing engine will mean taking some of the interior of the boat apart such as removing the salon table and the companionway stainless steel grabrails as well as the bimini and dodger outside. We will use the boom to help lift out the old and bring in the new.

But I am getting ahead of myself. We need to get one here first.

In the meantime we always have plenty to do, friends to socialize with and La Cruz is a great place to be.

The engine saga

The mechanic is saying bad things about the engine.

On Sunday the mechanic double checked some of the items that Rich was asked to check on Friday. He reached the same conclusion. The two of them worked to remove the injector pump so that it could be taken to the shop to be evaluated.

This morning the mechanic came by and gave us the news that upon examining the injector pump they found a lot of rust. This is a bad thing. It means that somewhere in the cooling system (salt water is circulated to cool the oil in the engine) the salt water is getting into the oil. Of course there is many places where this may happen. It may be as simple as a seal that needs to be replaced or the heat exchanger or something else.

We do not think the the whole engine is bad but we do need to take some of it apart to find the problem and resolve it. Today they are looking more into the injector pump to see whether it is more cost effective to replace some parts and refurbish or just get a whole new pump.

On Friday and Saturday the mechanic will be here to disassemble more of the engine in search of the leak. We are keeping our fingers crossed that it will be easily found and easily repaired.

So it appears that we will be at La Cruz for a while. We will keep you posted. Looking on the bright side, this is a great place, the weather is warm and plenty of social life. Maybe its time to learn some more Spanish.

Hasta luego

Potluck, Bocce Ball and Bonfire

Yesterday afternoon we joined the beach party. It was just a short distance from our dock. Rich made a pasta salad with Mexican pepperoni and salami. Adam and Cindy as well as the crew from Moma brought their Bocce Ball sets.

The last time we played Bocce Ball was when we crossed the South Pacific 10 years ago so we were a little rusty, or at least I was. I am not very good at any game or sport involving spherical objects moving in space and this was no exception. For this game, we divided into four teams of two persons each, each team having a pair of marked wooden balls about 4 inches in diameter, one per person. The game starts with one of the eight persons throwing a smaller, white wooden ball called a pellegrino either onto the grass or the sand of the beach from a predetermined line. The object of the game is to position at least one of your team's balls as close as possible to the pellegrino. Hitting it counts as a point as well. If both of your team's balls are the closest of all then your team gets two points otherwise just one for the closest. We played until one team reached 11 points. Now in most cases my ball was either too long or too short due to my limitation mentioned above but my team member, Adam helped make sure we were not skunked. Rich and his team member, Scott had an early lead but another team won. We were all entertained.

After the rousing game we grabbed our folding chairs and enjoyed the potluck. We met Paul and Judy of SV Grace, another boat from Seattle as well as some other cruisers. There was only 20 of us but there was plenty of food. Cruisers rarely come empty handed to any potluck.

The folks at the marina had some wood and brush piled up for our bonfire on the beach. At first it was a roaring blaze which felt good against the cool night breeze. The only downside was a gringo who was walking the beach and did not approve of our bonfire and threaten to contact the local police. I am not sure what his issue was as there was nothing and no one in any danger and we had a water hose just in case it was needed. Maybe he was mad that he was not invited or maybe he was from some nanny state and felt we were breaking some rule. Needless to say we ignored him and enjoyed our bonfire.

Mexico, you gotta love it.

 

Marina Nayarit at La Cruz

20 44.904 N, 105 22.771 W

Question: How do you get the boat from the anchorage to a marina slip without an engine and not using the sails?

We decided to stay for the day and have dinner with Adam and Cindy of SV Bravo on Thursday evening before heading out a Friday. The engine worked very well on the way over from Paradise Village to the anchorage at La Cruz but we needed to reset the autopilot. After running the rudder test and resetting the autopilot Rich wanted to check the engine. No go. The engine would not turn over. It was getting power but not firing. This is not a good thing. We went to the boatyard at the marina to see about getting a mechanic to look the engine. The boatyard suggested an American living in on a boat in the marina. Rich talked to him on the phone and got some suggestion of things to look at but he would stop by the boat on Friday. Rich tried the suggestions but no joy. So I guess we are sticking around for a while.

On Thursday evening we dingied in and met Adam and Cindy. We went to dinner at Philo's, a very popular cruiser hangout in La Cruz. It was open mike night with electric guitars. It was a lot of fun. Philo used to be a studio musician in the 1960's and the band played a lot of fun tunes.

Have you answered the question yet?

Since we will need to work the engine we decided it would be better to be at a slip at the marina. We only had to go less than the mile. So Adam and Cindy came over in their dingy with a 10 HP outboard. We tied the dingy to the starboard aft quarter and used it for propulsion and we used the Windarra to steer. It was a little tricky maneuvering since we really did not have any reverse and another sailboat decided to change slips in front of us but after we waved our arms and shouted, they moved so we could go by. Unfortunately we did hit the dock box but no damage. So now we are tied up and the engine fellow plans to come by tomorrow to do some checking and possibly remove the injector pump.

Adam and Cindy helping us move Windarra

In the meantime we will enjoy La Cruz.

At anchor again

20 44.976 N, 105 21.965 W
La Cruz

This morning we had breakfast with Reg and Phoebe of SV Three Sheets before getting ready to leave. After a trip to the office to sign then a dingy trip to the Port Captain followed by a trip back to the office we took the dingy back to Windarra and put it on the davits. Rich filled the port water tank, I reran the yankee sheets, closed the hatches and portlights. Rich fired up the engine and off we went. Of course it was not a long trip, only 6 miles or so to the marina at La Cruz to fill the aft fuel tank before going out to the anchorage.

If the gribs look favorable we will head south or we will wait a day. We are hoping to meet up with Adam and Cindy of SV Bravo before we head out, perhaps tomorrow morning. It seems like other sailboats from Seattle are in the anchorage such as Panta Rhei, and Ponderosa.

It is good to be back out and about. We enjoyed our time at Paradise Village. It is certainly easy. We will be back the last week in February for the reunion and a visit by Jesse, Rae and Sarah. We have many things we want to show them.

No worries (the engine starts)

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Jungle tour and dinner with SV Three Sheets

Saturday, 1/14, Rich cleaned the corrosion on the contact for the engine ground, which is located just behind the starter motor. He started the engine as he has been doing every morning and lo and behold the engine started right up. We think we have found the source of the problem. In the afternoon we rode the bus to the chandlery by Marina Vallarta only to find out that it was closed already. So we came back and that night we went to Tacos El Muelle for dinner.

On Sunday afternoon we got into the dingy and joined Reg and Phoebe of SV Three Sheets for a ride up the river. The marina at Paradise Village is located where the river enters Bahia de Banderas and on the dock there is a sign warning not to feed the crocodiles. Well, we thought we would explore up the river and just see. The river is bordered by mangroves and in the branches you can see brightly colored iguanas, some as long as 3 1/2 feet. The males have orange crests with orange stripes on their tails. We also so several varieties of herons. In places the mangrove has been cleared and there are large homes on the banks, some with docks or a ramp for launching a boat. One home had replicas of the Chinese warriors holding tiki torches on the deck, very cross-cultural. Reg and Phoebe motored their dingy over to get a closer look at an iguana and suddenly there was a loud splash coming directly at them. A crocodile! We were all too startled to see how large it was but it sure did surprise us. As we wound around the mangrove we just saw the tail on another crocodile run off a boat ramp into the water. Hmmm. We came around a bend and Rich saw yet another crocodile sunning itself on the bank. We motored by quietly but we could only see the back and the tail but not the head. That was close enough. That evening we had dinner on SV Three Sheets and recounted our adventure into the wild.

Reg and Phoebe going up the river

Rich and Elaine on our dingy, Boomerage *

Watch out for crocodiles! *

Heron takes flight *

Colorful iguana watching us carefully *

Crocodile sunning on the river bank *

Viva Mexico

* Photos from Phoebe of SV Three Sheets

Progress is being made

We are still here at Paradise Village.

Rich is making progress on the engine and electrical system. He has verified that both fuel pumps work and set up an installation so if one pump is installed, he can quickly remove and replace with the spare unit. He traced and checked all of the engine sensor and alarm wiring, cleaning contacts and replacing wire where needed as well as adding to his wiring diagram. The wind generator has been completely disconnected to help isolate the problem. Yesterday Rich replaced the wiring in the solar panels that mount on the port and starboard aft quarters. This was an item on our to-do list. As part of his checkout he starts the engine every morning. The last few days the engine has been starting using just the starter battery with a residual charge. The start is not immediate so the electrical problem still exists but progress is being made.

While Rich has been working the engine, I have been doing other projects. I now have the AIS and the autopilot NMEA 0183 data being transmitted from the DMK unit to the Ipad 2 via wireless. This means that on the Ipad, using iNavX with the Navionics Gold charts, the AIS targets are overlaid on the charts, plus I may use either the internal GPS or the boat's GPS for our location and I can display the boat parameters such as wind speed, depth on the Ipad. To top it off, I loaded a diagramming app on the Ipad and now my wiring is documented. Another feature of iNavX is that gribs may be overlayed on the chart.

My other project has been cleaning stainless. I have done all of the stanchions and the Yankee track on starboard (the shady side) and the forward pulpit and anchor roller. I am taking a breather before tackling the port side. It is nice to have it shiny!

It has not been all work and no play. Our evenings are fun. We had dinner at the hotel beach restaurant with Three Sheets upon their return from Toronto on Tuesday. Keith and Susan had us over for stir fry on C'est La Vie on Wednesday.

Last night, Thursday, a group of us went to Tacos El Muelle or Tacos on the Dock. Rich and I picked up Heidi of SV Huck in our dingy and Reg and Phoebe of SV Three Sheets joined us in their dingy and we motored across from Paradise Village over to Nuevo Vallarta. We tied up to the older dock between the pangas with the banana floats and gingerly walked up the dock. The dock had seen better days and was in sore need of repair but we all made it unscathed. We were rewarded for our efforts to a delicious and very inexpensive meal with included 10 peso tacos with fresh tortillas made on the premises. The five of us split some guacamole and chips with a combination plate that included Mexican meatballs, quesadillas, sopatos (spelling?), plus we ordered flan and grilled plantains with cream for dessert. They do not serve alcohol but there is a convenience store next door where Rich and Reg bought some Dos XX, which the restaurant kept chilled for us. Excellent! We topped off the evening with the ride back in our dingies, looking at the megayachts.

This morning we dropped off the laundry and I got my haircut. It cost 300 pesos or $22 USD including washing my hair, cutting and blow drying. Much cheaper than I would have paid in the US. Rich helped Keith and Susan launch their Whaler which had been in storage. They also took us for a tour up the river. We looked for crocodiles but none were seen, instead we saw plenty of iguanas and herons of many varieties. We also motored passed some very nice homes.

We just returned from a walk with Reg and Phoebe which included a stop at a small restaurant along the river for a few beers. Now it is time for dinner and a movie.

Is this paradise or what?

Luck?

This morning on the cruisers VHF net, Rich asked if anyone had a fuel pump they would trade for coconuts (you are not allowed to 'sell' items over the radio). Robert of SV I'O responded. We agreed to stop by his boat in an hour. Another boat, SV Gia, called Robert afterwards, also seeking a fuel pump. Robert pointed him to the local AutoZone store. Maybe we do have some luck.

Before leaving the boat, Rich tried to start the engine but no luck. There is definitely a problem and it may be bigger than just the fuel pump.

We got a ride to SV IO from Guillermo. Robert and Bobbie have two large, friendly dogs. A few years ago Robert replaced his engine and has lots of spares from the previous one, hence a spare fuel pump. This pump also has a pressure sensor, which the latest one that Rich installed does not. More good luck. We traded for the pump and Bobbie noticed that she had two copies of "Pacific Mexico, A Cruiser's Guidebook" by the same authors as our Sea of Cortez guidebook. Would we like a copy? Yes, more good luck.

We got a ride back, stopped by the marina office to let them know we had not left, bought a week's worth of internet access at the yacht club, got lunch at Subway and headed back to Windarra. We decided that instead of just replacing the fuel pump and seeing if that worked and head out that we should take a step back and a serious look at the electrical mysteries and try and solve them. This might take a bit of time but it is a lot easier to get parts here than at some anchorage down the coast. Besides, this is Paradise...

Rich got out his manuals and started to work up a plan.

I tried to start up the computer but the monitor would not stay on. The power connection at the monitor was melted and the fuse was blown. So we disconnected the monitor, removed if from the attachment arm and took it apart. The connector on the inside was a little melted. Rich removed the connector and put new connectors on. We put it back together and now it is up and running. This was definitely an unplanned event.

As we had the navigation station apart to fix the monitor I looked into the Simrad autopilot network connections and tried to figure out why the NMEA 0183 from the autopilot to the DMK transmitter was not working. Lo and behold there were no connections to the AT10 from the autopilot, this is what translates the NMEA 2000 to NMEA 0183. So I fixed the connections and verified that the autopilot is still working and that I am getting voltage on the NMEA 0183 output. Tomorrow I will look into connecting it to the DMK and draw out the autopilot wiring for future reference.

Rich now has a plan for working the engine, batteries and electrical. It will be a lot of work the next couple of days but we hope to get rid of some of the mysteries.

So maybe we do have some good luck after all.

Is leaving on a Friday bad luck?

Today we had just a few chores to do and then we would leave Paradise Village and go over to La Cruz for fuel and then anchor out. Well, at least that was the plan.

We took off the sail cover and folded it up, a cumbersome task as it is a lot of material, and took off the covers from the dodger windows. Rich did some provisioning, while I washed some of the dust and dirt off of Windarra. Next stop was dropping off the key and a book at SV Three Sheets. We continued walking down the dockway and gave the check to Camelia of Full Sail Canvas, for the dingy chaps and repair. We saw Heidi of SV Huck across at the Vallarta Yacht Club so we said a quick goodbye. After a quick walk by the tigers, we stopped at the marina office to pay our bill and check out with the Port Captain. To do the check out we got a ride with Guillermo on the water taxi. The ride was longer than checking out with the Port Captain. Next, a quick goodbye to Susan on C'est La Vie and a swing by the grocery store for some water and vinegar then back to Windarra. We closed the hatches and portlights, disconnected the power, turned on the instrumentation. So far so good. Rich started the engine. It ran for a few minutes then stopped. Repeat the process and same result. Hmmmm.

Rich took a look at the fuel pump he just installed a few days ago. Was it getting power? Yes. Was it getting fuel? Yes. Was it outputting fuel? No. Was it making a clicking sound (the solenoid)? No. Conclusion: bad pump. This is baffling since Rich ran the engine and at high rpms after the installation to make sure it was working. So Rich removed the pump and put in our other spare. After a quick check it did start the engine. So we walked up to the 2 chandleries on the premises. No fuel pumps. We checked with the large chandlery in town, no luck either.

So we will stay here another night. Tomorrow we will take the bus into town and see if we are able to order another pump. Our departure will depend on what we find out.

So, is it bad luck to leave on a Friday? I don't know.

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Time to go exploring

The last couple of days have been very social for us.

New Year's Day we had breakfast with Reg and Phoebe before they caught their plane to Toronto. Brrr! We have been looking in on Three Sheets while they have been away.

Monday was a trip to Telcel to buy another month's worth of internet time. Luckily it did not take three hours but it was about half of that. So now we will have internet if we do not have wireless and there is cell coverage. Of course we still have email over our HF radio.

Tuesday we had Heidi and Joe of SV Huck over for dinner. It was so warm inside the boat we ate in the cockpit. There was plenty of conversation and laughing. We first met Heidi and Joe as we pulled into our slip at Cabrillo Isle Marina in San Diego. They were also on the Baja Ha-Ha with us.

Wednesday, Keith and Susan of C'est La Vie were kind enough to take us to Costco. We were able to stock up on some essentials such as chocolate, chicken, paper towels, coke, etc.

Keith and Susan were also on the Baja Ha-Ha in 2001 and the Pacific Puddle Jump in 2002 with us. They now keep their boat at Paradise Village all year long and spend the winter here and the rest of the time up in the Sacramento area.

Today they drove us out to Punta de Mita and we had lunch at Si Senor, a great restaurant on the beach that is part of a small hotel and patrons of the restaurant may also use the pool. It has a great view as well as a garden entry. It was a little different being on shore as we have only anchored at Punta de Mita before. We started lunch with guacamole and salsa with chips that they made right at our table. Rich and I split an order of coconut shrimp with mango sauce while Keith and Susan had chicken tacos. Their yellow labrado, Sadie, enjoyed chasing her ball on the beach and checking out all of the wonderful smells. It was a great afternoon and we will definitely have to go there again.

Upon returning to Paradise Village, Rich and I picked up our dingy with the new chaps, covers for the tubes. Camelia and her crew did a great job. The idea is to use this cover to protect the dingy from the ultraviolet rays of the sun and extend it's life. We hope it works. It will also be a lot easier to sit on the dingy in the hot sun this summer in the Sea of Cortez with this cover.

Tomorrow we plan to say good bye to Paradise Village and head south for a while. We will be back at the end of February for the Pacific Puddle Jump reunion.

Adios

Feliz Ano Nuevo 2012

We decided to spend New Year's Eve on the Malecon in Puerto Vallarta. Our friends, Reg and Phoebe on SV Three Sheets, Terry and Kellie of SV Noah, joined us. At 5:00 pm we caught the bus from Paradise Village to Puerto Vallarta and walked to the Malecon.

By the time we got there it was already a happening place. Boats were already starting to anchor to share in the festivities and to have a great view of the fireworks at midnight all along the beach. There was a large police and military presence but everyone was friendly and there did not seem to be any threatening behavior by anyone, anywhere. New Year's Eve on the Malecon as a family affair. Many families bring chairs to sit on the beach and watch the fireworks. Street vendors are selling food as well as things that having blinking LEDs such as light sabers ala Star Wars and rabbit ear things that fit on your head and flashed. All of the restaurants provide special dinners. We were lucky to find an opening at one restaurant that was on the second floor with a balcony on the Malecon. For $700 pesos a person, we had an appetizer, soup or salad, main course and a desert with champagne. Other drinks were extra. It was not bad but the dessert as not the best. The view was great and we were the only gringos. Many tables were full of families from infants to grandparents. We enjoyed the atmosphere and everyone oooh'ed and aaah'ed over the fireworks.

Police presence *

Sand Castles on beach along Malecon *

Crowd watching fireworks at midnight *

Terry and Kellie of SV Noah

Reg and Phoebe of SV Three Sheets

Phoebe and Rich

Feliz Ano Nuevo, Puerto Vallarta, 2012

Afterwards we walked through the crowds past many parties still going strong to find a way back to the marina. The ATM bus to Paradise Village had stopped at 10 pm so that was not an option. We walked to one of the large resort hotels and asked about calling a cab. No senor, no cabs. We crossed the street and tried to hail a taxi for the six of us. One taxi stopped but would not take all of us so Terry, Kellie and Reg piled in and took off. Phoebe, Rich and I tried to hail another taxi. One stopped and let off two people but there were still another two people in the cab. The woman in the backseat of the cab said no, so we started to look for another taxi. The driver got out and asked where we wanted to go and then told us to pile in, so it was the woman, Phoebe, Rich and I in the back seat and I was sitting on Rich's lap the whole way. The driver drove like he was from New York City and in a hurry. I was holding on where his seat belts attached to the frame of the car as he was not wearing them and held on for dear life. We wove in and out of cars, no signalling, hell bent. It was the fastest ride from Puerto Vallarta to Paradise Village I have ever had. The only time we slowed down was for speed bumps, which was lucky for me or I would have received a concussion from hitting the roof of the taxi at the speeds he was travelling. We arrived at the marina around 2:30 am. The taxi driver only charged us $260 pesos compared to the fare of $400 for the other taxi. What a deal. I have no idea where he was taking the two original passengers.

We walked back to Windarra and across the water there was a party at one of the large homes and it was still going strong until 6:00 am but we were so tired we slept right through it.

We want to wish all of our friends and family, Felix Ano Nuevo, Happy New Year. May 2012 be a healthy and happy new year for your all.

* Photos from Phoebe of SV Three Sheets