Approaching critical mass

As they say in the space program, we are approaching critical mass here on Traveler.  The pressure being applied (and the momentum) pushing us forward to embarkation is almost equal to the forces holding us to the dock.  It’s like the surface tension on a drop of water as you push it with your pinkie finger. Eventually it’s got to release.  I think the one item that will push us over the top (like the states of Ohio and Florida in the election) will be the much anticipated arrival of Ms. Constance Bunyer next Thursday.   Having our esteemed navigator and co-pilot aboard will clear the way for us to march to the Port Captain’s office and get our Zarpe.

Zarpe

The Zarpe is a document that says we are clear to leave. We’ve got our crew list complete and all our papers are in order. This does not mean we are in any way ready.  It just means that the port authorities are ready to see our backsides.  

Speaking of the Port Captain, we went to see him yesterday.  The thing is, we have some fairly expensive items to bring across the border from San Diego to Ensenada.  Normally, you are able to bring about $100 worth of stuff across the border, stuff that is not a normal personal item.  What we do for miscellaneous items is just take them out of the box and strew them around the back of the car so it looks like a lot of old junk.  When we go through the border and get stopped, we just try to look innocent and they let us proceed.  

This week I’m bringing not one, but two Hydrovane wind vane systems back to Mexico. These puppies cost about 6K apiece.   So I’ll be way over my quota on this trip.  What we need here is some official looking paperwork.  If you wave lots of paperwork at the customs agent, she will smile and wish you a good day.  “It’s all about the paperwork.” says Brent, our friend at the dock.  

Brent and I visited the port captain’s office yesterday with invoices and copies of invoices and important stamped papers with bright shiny official letterhead.  When we came into town in Traveler last year we reported all the equipment on the boat to customs.  Now we need to add a wind vane and a generator to that list.  The port captain was happy to do this for us.  And now when we cross the border with the wind vanes in the car, all I have to do is wave my paperwork and Brent’s paperwork and Voila’ the gates will open. 

As a side note, when we went to the port captain’s office last week to get Rebecca’s visa everyone was very serious, almost mean.  When we went there yesterday someone from Cruiseport Marina took us there to help with the paperwork.  Everyone was all smiles.  My advice here in Ensenada is… if you are coming into port and need your TIP (Temporary Import Permit) and visa come to Cruiseport Marina for your entry and they will smooth the waters like Moses and that unending basket of fish.  I’m getting my religious stories mixed up here aren’t I?

Speaking of immigration, there are new immigration procedures happening this week at the Mexico border.  Because the US has ramped up its visa enforcement, Mexico has decided to do the same.  Now, every time we exit the country for the day we have to buy a new visa when we return.  This is 295 Pesos per person each time we visit San Diego.  That takes some of the fun out of going to SD.  Actually, I’m very tired of making that day long trip.  It all seems so busy on the dark side.  Traffic, noise, cars, shiny metal objects, and big jets in the sky.

In other news, Barak and Michelle will be in Washington four more years.  That’s a load off my shoulders of worry.  I’d hate for my country to get any worse than it already is.  Bruce Cockburn says, “The trouble with normal is it always gets worse.”

Congratulations on you, the state of Washington.  Now gay partners can get stoned and marry legally.  The west coast is the best coast. Note the map above.  See how part of the east coast is still red?  We need to do something about that. At least that little skinny state at the bottom is trending blue now. We get those three red states to turn and then we've got them cornered.  Get liberal or else!

Back on the boat, we’ve finished the settee work and now instead of two big black leather chairs on the starboard side, we have a nice comfortable settee.  Settee for sitting or settee for lying down and taking a nap which is my favorite thing to do when underway at sail.

One of the expensive items I recently snuck across the border was a single sideband antenna.  The rigger talked me out of replacing the back stay and insulators that previously acted as the SSB antenna.  Most sailboats use the back stay as the big antenna.  This is accomplished by inserting two ceramic insulators, one near the top and one near the bottom. This isolates part of the cable which can be used to push out the powerful SSB signal. Don’t touch that back stay when Connie is down below talking on the SSB microphone or your head will explode!  

If you think about it, the back stay is the second most critical piece of rigging on the boat. If it goes, so does the mast.  To insert two insulators adds four more connections to the back stay. This is four more points of possible failure.  After Ed explained this to me I finally acquiesced and had him rig a one piece back stay and then went down the street and bought a separate SSB antenna for a ridiculous amount of money.  This new antenna slips over the back stay.. separate but equal.

So the rigging is done for now.  The only thing left is the fore stay which we plan to address next year sometime.  We took the boat out for a sail this week and put her on a starboard beam reach.  Then we felt the leeward shrouds to see how loose they were.  We tightened a little, then tacked around to a port beam reach and checked the other side.. and tightened them.   Now we are just about tuned, rig-wise.  Once we sail for a day or so, the rigging will stretch a little and we’ll do some more fine tuning. 

I also smuggled a little Honda generator across last week.  And I’m pleased with the performance.  We unplugged the boat from the dock and turned on the refrigerator compressor and some lights.  Then I attached the generator to the AC input on the boat.  We then turned on the microwave and you could hear the little generator rev up a little.  It was able to handle both the big Xantrex battery charger and the microwave at the same time.  We’ll feel better now knowing that even if we have a string of cloudy days we can always crank up that little Honda and put a nice charge on the house battery bank. Now where to stow that item???

Next up this week are a couple of projects.  We’ll need to water up the boat with nice fresh drinking water, about 150 gallons of it.  I checked out the watermaker onboard and found that it would only put out 1.5 gallons per hour, if it operates at all after sitting for 4 years.  That small volume is disappointing to say the least. So that project is on hold for a little while while we do some research.  One product I've found is the Cruise RO watermaker.  It runs on 110 volt but uses all non proprietary parts.  So when something needs replacing it won't cost an arm and a leg and might actually be found in far off ports. The best thing is that it is designed to be able to run off the power of the little magic Honda 2000i generator.  I guess the plan is that when you need more water, you fire up the Honda and charge your batteries while you are making 20 gallons of water per hour.  In the picture above you can see that we've already got that center red item.  All we need is a couple of white plastic tubes and such.  Simple huh?  Cheap, not.

We’ve already had the bottom of the boat cleaned and the zincs replaced. Then we need to get fishing licenses for everyone aboard, provision the boat with foodstuffs, load up with gasoline and diesel and we’re ready for departure.

It’s been a long haul.  And Traveler is not actually ready to go.  But go we shall.  The way I think of it is that we are merely moving our base of ongoing boat projects down the coast a little to take advantage of warmer working conditions.   Our plans are to head down to the cape and stop at San Jose del Cabo where we’ll spend a night and Rebecca will disembark.  Then Connie and Scott will continue around the corner to LaPaz.  There we will continue working on the project list and Connie’s son Ezrah will join us for a while.  We’ll cruise locally then cross over to the mainland where we will meet up with our friend Chris for a week or so then later in February with Daneen and Mary.  

Stay tuned, send money

The sun sets behind the cranes of Ensenada harbor.

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