we are sitting in mazatlan summering as we have for the past few years. the tormentas are growing and coming at night which is a good thing, so our days are semi productive. no one on board is sleeping well during these storms as much lightning and rain are a major part of tormentas. we turn offalelectricity cominginto bot for the duration of each tormenta for safety as we are alone onthis dock away from and across from themain body of marina.

we emptied the walkerbay 10 first time of 10 inches of water, or about half filled, second night was 1/3 filled. glad i have a trash pump for this job, as thatmakes light work of dewatering so much water from dink.

we have finally figured outhow to stabilizeand securethebeam for shaft tube, which passes thru its delaminated self, andfor this ineedto find a storage and housing location. ahouse in th ebarrio is perfect, and prices are good, so we seek, hoping to find soon. icannot keep myuself and the cats ina boat with fiberglass anddust from said fg during creation and destruction times, so ahouse is the thing to find.

sowe fix th esmall stuff fixable without mayhem and respiratory compromise, then once a house is found, relocate all my goods into that so we can fix without regard for occupants.

alsothisnew setup wordpress is using isnot so user friendly– hard to log in and hard to publish my postings. crazyness. is only one reason why i have been negligent here.

ok so we changed out the batteries, which had been purchased in 2015, and consisted of 4 golf cart batteries, 6v, wet cell, and changed to 12 v wet cell x 2, lth brand, made in mexico.
the cases were beginning to bulge a bit and one had begun to crack. yup i know when to change batteries …..
the plan is to install 2 banks of the 12 v wet cells and improve the interior wiring and outlets so they are usable.. we have 6 solar panels, 1 small, 3 rated 3 amps and 2 larger ones. array to be determined once the hard dodger is created and constructed and solid lifeline system is installed.

we found a 12 v/120v engel fridge/freezer unit and of course didnot let it slip out of my hands….. will be placing it where the original fridge was, under the countertop in galley.
we have a lil cute mint colored 120v fridgelet we will place into the house i managed to find cheap for when bad storms arrive and for when we do major disruption of interior of boat… oh yes house–hahahahaha 3 br 1 ba with laundry room and shower inside and a huge kitchen which may need some tables and stuff.. put mini fridge on a pallette and voilaaa..fridge.
yes i did say house… as we have so much tearing and repairing to do this is a good idea… storage and occupancy zone for birdee and living contents hahahahaha me n catties. and the neighborhood is friendly. 150 usd monthly got htis amazing find. fridge is 500 usd. batteries are 6400 pesos with core charge of 4 batteries for 2 being purchased. so we doing ok , kinda.. budget is on life support but we doing…..
mizzen is just about finished–just needs one shroud for raising it again–those are difficult to find here, so we searching.

house is currently being resided in by a new zealander trying to get his self home. once that happens this house thing will hold my stuff and will hold me n catties when hard to breathe and incredibly itchy repairs are in effect. .

so i replaced old system with new propane in a regulation box, 2 of the 5 pound aka half sized aluminum tanks–yes i kept the old regular sized one, aluminum because momma bought it for me and i can use when this situation is straight…… with gage and solenoid and everything… i used first half sized tank for 2 months before reeek and all gone happened..i changed tanks and reeeeekkk grew daily.. ok problem. no likee…. first half tank only lasted 2 months when that 5 pound tank was empty. now i used to use a 10 pound tank over 6 months…second half tank was draining faster than i was using..oopsy… and reeek means oops…. and often means BOOM HAHAHAHAHA so i didnt boom
in the superinspection we found a cracked fitting to be replaced now, gage quit, replace now, hose leaky both ends..replaced now with aeroquip hosing(done) and new end fittings… whew so much work for a run out tank. we are making it so it will not leak and we put it together so it will leaklessly work until monday when we replace all the crappy old fittings with brand new awesome shiney bright propane fittings in and on aeroquip hosing . how cool is that.
i remember when racing cars was a fun thing for me that the teams i was friends and or working with would need new aeroquip, so i went to earls to buy it in signal hill. now itis readily available in mexico. is awesome.
i was just gonna use until the tank was empty, but stink grew daily, so i called worker and this i under way now… he agrees if client goes boom, he gets no money , so it pays to keep us alive hahahahaha
have a fun day.

finally the mizzen is ready…but parts missing that were accounted for…so we replace and move along towards restepping mizzen and removal of main for maintenance..
mizzen has some loely paint with a clearcoat imron protection, and bonded to the last coat of paint on mast for durability. a car restoration painter did the work. will show when all is done..
meanwhile we fought some termites and some other issues and added a proper propane regulation box and gage for pressure so i can see why i suddenly havent gas. go figger… is a lovely safe box.. with 2 of the 5 gallon tanks in it, and i have already used up one of those.

summer coming to an end means we may or may not have any canes this year[hoping la nina keeps em totally away. however this is the high cane season.
i wish we were sailing this year but we aint so lucky. still have too much work to do before we can depart. of the 2 yr refit i cam ein to effect, we have accomplished mebbe 3 months of work. that is a killer for sailing soon.
still gotta refresh engine, make dodger and set up davits and other fun issues.
bubba is doing well, getting old, but so am i.. and chico is still a lil pest and pita to bubba..bullying him but LOVES me…. is a shadow and always under my feet.
so much siamese.. i have a suggestion fo rothers– never mix a siamese gened cat with a maine coon mix in same residence or boat.. hahaha siamese will bully mc.. the big huge kitties are such gentle giants they will not fight back unless needed.

i have been bad at keeping up this site, but i am not ditching it. hopefully i will remember to keep it up better…

ok so we had a cu-rack   crunch nocturnal issue occur..    was searching all over for the  source–took 2 weeks..hahahahaha

so.  called worker and we got busy and strengthened the supports   under sole in framing…    there were 3 sites of    cracked  wood and broken fasteners.

used one  floor jack,   boards and  screws and epoxy to fix this mess and  ta daa…. no more noises when that sole is   walked on..  now for the other two cabins of squeaks….

these boats are truly built like brick  sh**houses…  strong and sturdy.   water ingress will yes break stuff..that we are repairing now… and masts… mizzenstep only needs fasteners for the    dish holding mast in place and  rigging   re[placed on mast itself then   restep into hole and done.    then we address mainmast…

and the only one we didnot   photograph has been    sick for  over a year and supported by a  bit of wood..now is repaired  and   sturdy again…..

life is good. formosas are easily repaired when shtf….

i love this boat.

friends ct41 was  90 percent finished for his retirement home use and lightning struck. it.   bad.   burned in flames.  his hull is still  intact as are some of topsides. these babies are strong, thankfully. he will rebuild again.

please find it in your heart to help a diabetic one legged  retired icu nurse   re-rebuild his   retirement home.  pictures and   spiel are in the  linky. please read and spread this word.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/donald-pecoraro?fbclid=IwAR2l1CSc-cNSxdZsgRTMDxPDUyLVZ7rt1EKuoyxAb4IwrAvFdzxoMuKza6M

personification of the phoenix rising..  he  essentially rose from  flames and recovered  to again    win championship. despite all odds.  excellent example of   overcoming that which  has been endured.   r i p niki lauda….

http://grandtouringmag.com/grand-touring-man/remembering-niki-lauda/?fbclid=IwAR2F1C-1uQMMC1vEqVqKrJ7IbzZZ4SIhaWFwpUlZag4Nqk4dhxbAbDXmPe8

seems our  alleged worker has become  entrenched into marina mafia  issues and   now   charging   much higher rates than  agreed upon in original   deal.   funny how working within marina mafia  controlled   companies has   changed his   outlook.  now we need  someone who can do these  jobs    for the  agreed upon  fees.

the rate of return here is 98 percent,  aka 98 percent failure at sea.   wow impressive isnt it.  and for this   the workers  demand   more than   agreed upon and    demand no   accountability.   so.   our goal is to  repair that which can be repaired fore transiting to another locale for    completion of this  massive project.  yeah i picked wrong city for repairing. this is essentially a border town  as shown in their   attitude   towards   people  in general–transients donot need to have good works done  to their   equipment     as   there is no responsibility factor    in the mix.

the best electrician is located in cihuatlan, some 300 miles south of here, as is the    injector pump repair man and  the   good engine builder. i came to mazatlan for the use of   yard on  south side of town, and for use of   reasonable repairing…   no longer available here.   the flustration is    in the    creation of a working   propulsion  system,  both sail and  machine.   sail is in  repair  shop and   masts and booms are  being repaired most slowly.

ancillary issues develop as  waiting is  the only    activity  in mazatlan.

ships and sailors rot in port.

mechanics here are dime a dozen but skill level is   grossly lacking.  for example,  one year and 4    workers later my mizzenmast is almost  ready to re rig.  almost.   however the mast step is still  unfinished and electricals  still need to  be  relocated from  area of mizzenmast to a  realistic   placement of panel. the   engine work has been   procrastinated due to    supporting issues   relating to shaft tube and packing gland support  issues–yes that again…..some things do not  change but  morph into other issues ..it is a boat, after all….and my   3 yr refit  seems  to need 5 more years or more…  sad   situation  for a   port with alleged   yards and workers. unfortunately the workers are  low skill and reflect badly on the   area  as a result..

yes we still looking for  relief and assistance in this project  from    the other side of town, where working ships are repaired, skillz are better and pricing not so delusional. …

ok so today we    checking rig and  wires,   only to find we would notta made it to next  destination with intact mizzen even after  repairs..

ok  ..

twing twang pop    would a  rebroken mizzen.  so we changing out ALL    the   standing  rigging of mizzen. cores of cables are   rustedy and bustedy this also   causes me to stop and think perhaps it is a good idea to  step mainmast to repair and  maintain   so all can be done despite  the  lacking skill level here…

hhhmmmmmmmm

and so…  cleaning rig  wires is a  grande idea–  hopefully my rig is   worthy  after  the   repairs, as i do wish to sail more…..

now to find    replacement   cables…..

and more chainplates forward, gonna be  external….

glad  friends  were not given headaches from their  mayhem..   and glad i am  inspecting mine before restepping mast