Pretty Good Day

After coffee with the guys of the palapa I walked into town with Bob so that he could take me to a shop where I could purchase the velcro that I need to keep the backs of Pachuca's seats from falling over.  I was able to get 4 meters of 50mm (2") wide velcro.  The seat backs already have one side of the velcro sewn in.  We figure that I'll be able to use contact glue to fix the other side to the painted wooden surfaces.  We also visited a very good hardware store and on the way back I picked up fruit, vegetables, and a kilo fresh tuna at the Bravo market.

After putting away the food I had a look at the companion way landing and decided that 5 coats of varnish was enough, so that was the end of the varnishing.

After lunch and a short nap I took the bike out for another shopping circuit.  The first stop was Arcos where I was hoping to get replacement neon tubes for my failing galley light.  Each of the 3 neon lights on Pachuca has a pair of foot-long tubes, number F8T5/D.  My fear was that these tubes would be available only in the Australian-European world and I would have to replace the lights.  I need not have worried.  Arco had the exact F8T5/D tubes and the price for four of them was only 37 pesos, which works out to about 75 cents each. 

I then swung back to 5 de Febrero to a place that sells solar equipment to have a look at an LED strip that had caught my eye in an earlier visit.  The small LED in the head had quit working and I had thrown it out a month ago only to find out from Ib later that LED's frequently shut down if the voltage is too high - and Pachuca's battery bank had been running at over 13.5 volts.  Anyway, I showed up at 3.30 PM and the place was closed.  The posted store hours stated a generous lunch shutdown of two hours, 1-3 PM.  I walked across the street to Lopez Marine and Hamish told me to try them after 4 PM.  I replied that if I hung around his boat shop until then I would go broke from all of the goodies that I'd wind up buying.

I walked crossed over to another corner and and had a look at some plastic milk crate type of boxes that might be good for a suggestion of Bob.  When I am sailing over the horizon, particularly in my run around the horn, I can lighten the front of the boat by feeding the anchor chain through the front hatch straight into a milk crate directly below, in that secure triangle of floor between the V berths.  That space is currently occupied by the sea anchor rope bag, which I can move into the cabin, on the floor on the port side of the table against the forward bulkhead.  I took measurements of a crate that I thought might be suitable then noticed that the solar shop was open so crossed the street again.

The LED strips look good - about twice the size of what was there before, and should light up the head very well.  The strip is priced at 390 pesos (about $32) and the switch is only 15 pesos. 

Back at the boat I changed the neon tubes in the galley and cabin lights, and tomorrow I'll purchase four more tubes to carry as spares.  ... Yes, I know, neon tubes cause electrical noise and use more power than modern LED lights.  But these lights are well made, work well, and are already there.  I don't want to get involved in a major lighting effort.

I then confirmed that the milk crate will fit nicely in the V berth area to take the chain and after that planned the mounting of the LED strip.  So tomorrow I will set out on the bicycle to get the milk crate and LED strip.  I should be able to lash the milk crate to the bike's small carrier rack.

The northerly winds are definitely back.  Today we had 10-15 knot winds from the north which are the strongest that I can recall since the beginning of summer.  Out beyond the islands the wind will have been much stronger.

Which reminds me, I dropped by the office and notified Adriana of my travel plans.  I am to leave a key to the boat with the office along with my contact information during my absence, as well as the name and contact information of a person that I nominate to watch over the boat.  I then asked her if all danger of hurricanes this year had passed.  She replied Yes, so I got to the real point of my question: would I have to remove my headsail before I left?  To my relief she replied No.  If my absence had occurred during hurricane season I would have been obliged to strip the boat of all sail (except the mainsail, I think) and canvas.

And I must confess that I fell into the trap of visiting Club Cruceros to look over the latest batch of books.  I walked out with Tom Wolfe's The Bonfire of the Vanities.  I'm trying to diversify because last week I picked  up The Battle of Leyte Gulf and Dumb But Lucky, Confessions of a P-51 fighter pilot in World War II.  I need help.  There must be some 12-step program to help me control this mania before I overload the boat.