Out and Back

Delorme Tracker 

You might have figured out that we are not at sea right now.  We went out.  Then we came back. Halfway to Cabo San Lucas I turned on the heavy duty Alpha 4404 autopilot, the same one we used for 24 hours straight a week ago when we crossed the Sea of Cortez.  It performed well for about 15 minutes then it suddenly turned the boat hard to starboard.  No amount of fussing with it could convince it to steer straight.  We went around in circles for an hour while dismantling the cockpit lockers and diving down under to inspect everything.  Eventually we bit the bullet and headed back to the marina at San Jose del Cabo.

Chris, at Alpha on Mercer Island, walked us through some troubleshooting steps and it was determined that we needed to replace the drive unit which is 27 years old.  And so we wait at the dock for Federal Express to deliver the new drive.  Shouldn't be long now, a couple of days perhaps.  I swear on a stack of chocolate chip cookies (very dear to me) that we WILL escape this coast and we WILL sail our dear Traveler across an ocean. 

Don't be disappointed in us.  Don't lose faith.  Join us in spirit tonight as we grill fresh Marlin on the back deck and watch the orange sunset reflecting on the huge powerboats here in the marina.