Equipment update

Isla Coronados, BCS, Mexico

I suddenly realized that I have not talked about equipment failures since we left San Carlos. It goes without saying that if you cruise on a boat there will be failures - nothing designed for the marine environment will work for more than its warranty period, and anything that is not designed for the marine environment has probably voided its warranty by just being on a boat. Either way, equipment failures are a way of life for the average boater.

Having said that, we have been very lucky on this trip so far. On the crossing from San Carlos to Bahia Concepcion the only thing that went wrong is that the oil pressure gauge stopped working after running the engine for about two hours. The oil pressure warning buzzer was still ok and I did check to make sure that we had plenty of oil and the engine was not overheating, so overall this did not affect us greatly. After we were anchored in Bahia Concepcion, I traced the wires for the pressure sensor and made sure all the connections were secure. I could not find anything wrong and everything was good and tight - and now for some reason it has been working fine every since.

When anchoring for the first time in Bahia Concepcion, one of our depth sounders (the reliable one) could no longer find the bottom. Fortunately we have two separate depth sounders and the other one did not have any problem. After we were anchored, I determined that I had inadvertently dislodged the in-hull transducer for the depth sounder when I was storing some 2-liter Diet Coke bottles in the bilge. Easy fix - silicone to the rescue.

One good surprise has been how well our little Mercury 5-horse outboard has been working. After I gave it a little TLC back in San Carlos (just an oil change really), it has been a real trooper; starts easily and actually idles smoothly for the first time in its life - I can even get our dinghy, with just me aboard, to plane. Just yesterday I was commenting on this to Susanne, who agreed that it has never worked this well before. Of course, that was the wrong thing to say. We had angered the boating gods and they immediately got even. Minutes later, the motor started dying. Right now, it still starts easy and idles like a dream, but it as soon as you crank up the throttle, it dies. Probably a plugged fuel filter (no, I don't have a spare) or fouled carburetor jet, caused no doubt by me trying to use up the gasoline I purchased last year in San Diego - when will I ever learn! For now, we have just stowed the motor and are using oars - hopefully we will not have to row very far until I can get this solved.

Meanwhile, the mothership is on the move. After 3 wonderful nights at Caleta San Juanico (some nice hikes and more bocce ball on the beach), we have motored about 20 miles further south and are now anchored off the south shore of Isla Coronados. We might have stayed longer at San Juanico except that we could hear on the VHF radio that a lot of boats, especially power boats, were converging on the bay for some kind of party tonight. We prefer when things are nice and quiet. Here in the anchorage at Isla Coronados, there are only 4 sailboats including us; Perfect!

Isla Coronados is a small island, made up primarily of a single volcanic cone, rising to a height of 928 feet. There is a trail to the top if we feel really energetic tomorrow. We shall see...

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