MdP - Hull Clean, Engine OK, Differet Slip

I had a great time visiting M&M aboard their boat "Pinta" for drinks last night. They invited Alberto and his wife Celia. Alberto had introduced himself while I was walking the jetty to plan the movement of the boat. Wow, how friendly and helpful he was. He suggested that with a 2.3 meter draft I should plumb the depths at the slip from the Zodiac just to make sure that there was enough water for the boat, in spite of what Carlos had said. The boat will be tied to four posts. This morning when I do the depth soundings I'll pre position lines on the outer posts. Alberto told me that both his boat and Pinta are Van der Stadt's (if I got the spelling right). Pinta is slightly larger at 40 ft. Both boats have hard chined steel hulls. Martin's father built Pinta.

Back to the drinks, also visiting where Antonio, John, and I think Cecilia. I had briefly spoken with them earlier in the day when I had been trying to find Pinta. We all sat in the cockpit around a small table drinking out of magic glasses that never ran out of beer. The conversation was lively and I learned a lot.

Alberto has sailed around the Horn. They arrived in darkness so they dropped anchor at a nearby island until daylight in order to be able to take photos. Then they actually landed on Cape Horn and went ashore. He's got some sort of ear ring or medal to commemorate his visit. We talked about the San Francisco Bay area because he goes there every year to visit his son. Alberto confirmed that on the way to BA, which will be about a 2 day trip, I'll be able to drop anchor in 4 meters of water over a sandy bottom for sleep and rest.

I learned a couple of other useful things. There is free WiFi internet at the club restaurant, with one power outlet. Also, Argentina is on 220 volts of power. That means that I'll probably be able to use my hardwired 60 amp transformer/inverter during my stay in Argentina. If I can get that working (e,g. possibly have to mate my Australian plug to the Argentinean cable) I'll have unlimited power when I'm at a marina, both from the batteries and directly from the 220 V wall plugs in the boat.

And everybody wants to help me bring the boat in, which has taken a big load off me.

First thing this morning I checked out the free WiFi at the club and got connected. Unfortunately I had to rely on the internal battery of my Acer machine and had only about 15 minutes of up time. In the next few days I'll try to find a computer shop so that I can set myself up with a power pack for the Argentine system.

Then I set off in the Zodiac and set up the lines on the outer posts of the proposed slip for Pachuca. After that I took Alberto's advice and sounded the depths of the slip and found it to be too shallow for the boat: as low as 2.4 meters with Pachuca requiring 2.3 meters. The tide was low but not at its lowest and besides a margin is required for swells from passing boats, the effects of strong winds, etc. Fortunately Antonio is leaving his slip tomorrow and after discussions with Martha and Carlos it was agreed that I could move into the slip that Antonio will be vacating, which has a depth of 3.0 meters. (Alberto had given me good advice which was a salutary reminder that it is ultimately the captain's responsibility to attend to the welfare of his boat.)

At 2 PM Carlos arrived on a dinghy with Daniel the diver. Daniel asked what I required and I explained that I thought that the hull was pretty clean but that I needed his services because the club demanded it. He came on board and I showed him the blocked salt water inlet for the engine cooling. The hose was already uncoupled and I opened the valve and only a trickle of water came through. While I was explaining how this had caused the engine to overheat the water suddenly started to rush in. Shocked, I didn't know the Spanish word so I used the English word "miracle". Somehow the obstruction had disappeared. Daniel returned 30 minutes later with his diving gear and set to work. After one minute in the water he surfaced with what appeared to be two starfish in his hand and told me that the hull in fact badly needing cleaning and it looked like the club had done me a favor in forcing me to have the job done. Twenty minutes later he surfaced with the remains of a creature maybe 2 inches long and half an inch in diameter, which he had extracted from inside the salt water cooling inlet, saying that the Japanese liked to eat them, if I heard correctly. He reckoned that it was this gooseneck barnacle or whatever it was that had caused the blockage. (I've taken a photo of it which I will publish later.) Afterwards the inrush of water was even stronger. Daniel cleaned everything: hull, propeller, its shaft, the Dynaplate, the thru-hull inlets, and even the log impeller which is no longer used. For his services he charged 300 pesos (about $70) which I considered good value.

While Daniel did his work I freed the corroded screws clamping the windvane onto the Monitor self steering then greased them with lanolin grease, then removed and stowed the airvane. After he left I completed the task of putting up the stack pack sail cover (without the lazy jacks) in order to protect the mainsail from UV damage. The zipper stitching has failed so I had to use rope to hold the sail cover in position, and will have to use tarps to protect an exposed strip of sail along the top.

I then turned my attention to the engine. I reconnected the raw water inlet hose, checked the engine oil to find it at the correct level and with no visual abnormality, specifically no evidence of water. The coolant level was spot on. I did a visual check of the engine in the light of day and found no evidence of overheating. I then opened up the raw water strainer and removed small bits of some creature similar to what Daniel had dug out of the thru hull fitting. I then started up the engine which sprang to life as usual and watched the normal amount of cooling water coming out of the exhaust. Everything seemed normal and I was thinking that I had dodged a bullet with the overheating crisis. After moving into the slip I would think about the oil and impeller changes.

Then I went to the club restaurant and purchased 3 1-liter bottles of cold beer (They didn't have any Heineken left so I purchased Belgian "Stella Artois".) and spent a pleasant two hours with M&M aboard their boat "Pinta" (hic!).

I couldn't complain about the day. I had established an Internet beachhead, had the hull cleaned, the engine cooling water was flowing, the engine was running again and seemed OK, my mainsail was covered, thanks to Alberto I had avoided being slipped in shallow water, and I expected to move Pachuca to her new home the next day.

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