Throughout late summer we bought a bunch of boat parts, and found that delivery schedules were not to be trusted due to Co-vid related shipping problems. After getting skunked a few times, I figured out how to assure the part I ordered would actually show up. First, find the part. Then call the company on the phone to make sure they could actually place their hands on it, have them hold it in my name, and finally I'd place the order.
To this day, I might have some solar panels, and some stainless steel bimini parts trapped offshore on a container ship waiting to dock in Long Beach.
Well, we hooked up the little Scamp trailer and left town on September 22, crammed to the gills with stuff. Stopping in Portland to pick up two gallons of tax free bottom paint we drove south through the NE California forest fire devastation, another stop in Reno Nevada where we picked up two solar panels and continued through the endless beauty of Nevada and Utah and finally arriving in Palisade, Colorado to stay with Damon and Desiree who sail on S/V Gaia, presently in the Pacific Northwest.
The next week we met up with Connie's son, Ezrah in Denver and toured the newly opened MeowWolf complex where he works now. Then the three of us set off to central Colorado and some high mountain passes and high country camping, finally getting run out of the altitudes by the approaching snow.
Ezrah drove back to Denver to work and we continued on to Telluride. Our journey continued south to Albuquerque where we stayed with Barb before dashing south to Phoenix for a visit with Connie's sister's family there.
After stuffing the truck with more provisions we finally crossed the US/MX border and made our way to Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico to pick up our friend Leo who flew in to meet us. Then we made our way to San Carlos where Leo had reserved a condo on the water for us all to stay in while we refit the new boat that was waiting for us in the San CarlosMarina Seca. After camping for a month, it sure was nice to be in a comfortable condo, right on the beach. To the west, loomed the "Goat Teats" that appear in countless photos of San Carlos. We'd sit on the balcony and watch people on the beach taking selfies with the Teats in the background.
Our friends Noreen and Myron joined us in a few days towing their 20 foot ocean going Flicka, a Pacific Seacraft cutter. Now we have an entourage of five persons. In two days, they launched their flicka and are living aboard at the marina.
We had Nepenthe moved from the storage yard to the work yard. Once we found a tall enough ladder we were able to climb aboard and start going through the boat to determine what gear was useful, what gear was old worn out junk, and what work we had to do to make this boat seaworthy. The task was daunting.
In the meantime, back in Olympia, our friend Peter, who had been telling us for a year that he wanted to sell us his house so he could retire to Hawaii, decided to seal the deal. So now, once we were in Mexico, we were facing the "put up or shut up" moment and had to decide how to buy this house. Somehow we were able to send paperwork back and forth and make a quick trip across the border to visit a notary and now we own a second house, almost next door to our current house. We've got a temporary renter in place and it will wait for our return in April when we will do a complete remodel and turn it into a rental/investment property. No shortage of work for us!
Back in San Carlos...
First we removed everything from the boat that wasn't bolted down and piled it on the deck and on the ground below the boat. Then I started going through it all, rescuing what was useful and throwing away or donating everything else. The useful items we either kept or gave away. Meanwhile, Connie and Leo started with a deep cleaning inside the boat, a process that would take a week to complete.
Nepenthe has been neglected. We found tons of "deferred maintenance" that needed attention. While the engine, hull and superstructure were quite sound, there were lots of systems on their last legs and a quantity of badly wired components. My list of to-do's grew and grew. After three weeks working on the boat we had a good handle on the existing systems and had made good progress ripping out old systems and installing new. I took great pleasure in tossing parts, wiring, and bits of junk over the side. I was ruthless. I was cruel.
The yard maintenance guy liked me because I filled the trash can with interesting, and maybe useful, things for him to take home and ponder over. Because there were three of us, we made good headway. I was sometimes challenged to keep us all busy and on track but we shouldered through it and kept up the pace for four weeks. Thank goodness (Leo) we had a clean place to come home to at night.
Here is a project list of what we've accomplished so far:
Removed old hot water heater and old refrigerator compressor. We took delivery of a new refrigerator system and Leo finished installing it along with retrofitting the box with more insulation.
Removed an ancient battery trickle charger and replaced it with a modern Blue Sea multi stage charger.
Installed a new AIMS Solar controller for the house bank and a smaller controller for the starter battery. Added a small inverter for charging our laptop and phones. Thank you Leo.
Ripped out miles of wire that went nowhere and was connected to nothing. I keep finding more.
Built a solid Bimini frame out of stainless steel to hold our two new solar panels.
Sanded and painted the bottom. Thank you Connie.
Replaced the windlass solenoid system with new and disassembled, lubricated, and reassembled the windlass. Thank you Leo.
Inspected the sails. Cleaned all the interior cushions on settees and bunks. Thank you Connie.
Made new screens for all the port lights and the companionway. Thank you Connie.
Hired a carpenter to give us better access to the area under the pilot house where the fuel delivery system resides so we could refit that system.
Lacking any way of measuring the amount of fuel and water in the tanks, we ordered a new Tank Tender system and are in the process of that installation.
The depth sounder readout is unreadable so we've ordered, received, and installed a new depth sounder system. I was pleased to see that the hole in the hull I drilled brought out a plug that was 1- 1/16 inch thick. That's a bullet proof hull!
We checked all the thru hull fittings. There aren't many, and they are very very beefy items, all in good working order and all solid brass.
Installed a new GPS.
Connie finished making new dinghy chaps and dinghy fenders so we can hang the dink off the side of the boat.
After finishing the bimini, Connie made more shade, converting our old shade trees from Traveler to fit Nepenthe. We were surprised to find that these shade canvasses fit Nepenthe without much adjustment.
We replaced a halyard and jib sheets.
Replaced the on demand water supply pump for the galley and head sinks.
New LED fixtures and bulbs are going into the salon, galley, pilot house, and vee berth.
Hired Omar to come help. He has removed the fuel delivery system and with new valves and tubing will be installing a system to handle two tanks and two Racor filters.
Two more items on Omar's list is to replace a cracked prop shaft coupler and inspect the heat exchanger for pinhole leaks. This project is taking awhile because Omar is in high demand here in the yard. Merely replacing the coupling might result in some vibration so we're removing the entire shaft and prop and sending it out to be balanced with the new coupler.
This part of the process is depending on Omar, our marine buddy mechanic. The problem here is that he rarely shows up at our boat... because everyone wants Omar. It's a waiting game. We wait for Omar.
Our friend Myron went into the bilge and replaced the packing in the stuffing box on the prop shaft. He is the one who found the cracked prop shaft coupler. Good eye... Myron! Noreen weaved us up an anchor snubber / harness for the big CQR on the bow.
So as you see, we've been quite busy these last weeks. It was nice to be able to go to work on the boat in the morning and then return to a nice clean condo in the afternoon where we could have a relaxed dinner, hot showers, and time to get ourselves organized for the next day.
We are slowly figuring out where in San Carlos and Guaymas to get supplies and provisions and tools and parts. More importantly, we now know where to get the slow cooked whole chickens and the Negra Modelo. Recently we found the pork carnitas place where we can get a half kilo for 130 Pesos. (About $7)
After a month in the condo the reservation ended, Connie and I moved into the Scamp and Leo took the bus to Tucson to spend time with friends there. We set up camp in the parking lot at the yard and stocked the refrigerator in the Scamp. Nice view to the north.
In the meantime we've ordered a windex, 30 feet of port light gasketing, a fresh water foot pump for the galley, and a few other parts. There is a woman here who drives back and forth between Tucson and San Carlos every week and many of the boaters arrange with her to bring parts across the border.
Now, with the luxury of a little time, we're finding space inside the boat to store items and getting the galley ready for cooking meals.
The boat yard here is very busy as people constantly arrive and move their boats out of the storage yard and into the work yard. We see them washing the boat, painting the bottom, doing some refits, then BAM, the launch trailer shows up and the boat is whisked off to the marina where it splashes into the water and off she sails into the sunset. We sure wish that would happen to us.
In the meantime, Noreen and Myron are happy in the marina doing tasks on their boat getting her ready for the crossing. It's nice to have their company. When we do get into the water, we'll all cross together.
Again, we knew that Nepenthe was a fixer-upper and she has proven to be just that. But her hull is super solid, the sails are good, the engine runs well and she's a big comfortable vessel. I think we made a good choice and look forward to sailing off into the Sea of Cortez soon.... er or later.
