ok… stressors..

time frames and schedules–because they limit your ability to herd cats successfully, as they refuse to herd…

nothing happens to a clock.

weather does not  hie to a schedule.

there is something  telling me quite loudly–a gut feeling– that i am not to leave  here yet, despite my dire need to do so.   there is a reason i am still finding  things done  that were geared   for catastrophic  fail.  my boat speaks  to me with   frightful accuracy.

now it seems oil pan  screwloose-itis?, with bilge blackosis.   ok.  so i only cleaned it well    5 times in  past  3 years. ok i guess it is time, yet again.

as i  dislike dwelling on past   stuff, it is difficult for me to  think the   person who was here  for 6 months  befouling my boat, doing exactly opposite that which i requested be done  was  actually  really  and truly here only to    hurt me and my boat and cat.  (could be why , when i sed we leave next week, he ran like stink the flock out of dodge with my lil  smartfone, including all my contact numbers and such unimportant  stuff).

but most of that has been repaired–  i still find  things  meant to severely  impair  me and my effort  through  murder of my boat.

ok so we got it down to only  8 million stressors  remaining  in my daily life—and dammit my bilge smells like rotting diesel and rotting  bilgewater, despite rose  soap….  yummmmy…  but, why now??it never ever did this before…not even during runaway.

yeah i am on this…would love to be able to reach  far enough to be able to take a pic of underneath engine…..without dropping fone into wet nasty  bilges…

this afternoon we do  soap and dock water  wash n rinse with  a second  person and   broom as brush.

whoooohoooo…  each one means one less to  have to locate and repair…and hopefully ability to  depart sooner than …..

but only   when that  gawdawful  feeling of impending doom leaves.

i have never  had this before a passage  prior to now.  not even  when i  should have, i didnt– this is odd..

and i am still awaiting my boom,  the  epoxy and  helper n clamps to climb and fix  mast, and repacking of   stuffing boxes, shaft and rudder.

i will run the  mizzen halyard forward to redirect the   upper mast away from cockpit if the  ungodly happens. we are continuing to  get done that which is needed to fly away.  we wont fly too  far of shore nor too close in, we wont fly    with  daring and  pizzazzz, but as a death run , or  hail mary run to mazatlan for repairs that are  much needed in a limping   and   somewhat disabled boat, which we are   searching thoroughly for potential fail points an repairing before departure–is 180 miles of   no where  to  duck into on an uphill leeshore run.   whooot.

so–the first 180 miles ‘ll kill ye, then the second 120 miles to  mazatlan  from banderas bay will do ye in….no problem.

what can go wrong….

yes i still have a momma, and she only has  3 of us left, so i have to remain safe.

oops.  .

almost payday with  need to depart from here and   things yet undone.

dink on coachhouse roof,  ready to leave,  just need  filling of   water tanks and  2 more   jugs for fuel–15 gal each.   then we  WILL get to mazatlan without   TOO many issues..mebbe.  oh yeah and a few other ..insignificant  .hahaha .. things

have cat food for 1.5 months,  just need   marlin tailmeat for the spoiled cat… he will have to do without, as i am NOT catching one of those

hopefully   with me as crew will mebbe  be mechanic, and  beto.. if i can afford carlos also,  yes.. working on that…will be a pricey  trip, if i have 3 on board besides me n  bubba

still  debating whether i can  pay crew and  marina and eat and cat food, or if i have to anchor out a month in the  old harbor anchorage…..

spot is activated and ready… fone numbers have been given to  the receiving end of this adventure, and i will warn em of my departure when that happens….i dont want to  remain anchored here  long after i leave marina, as i havent the   tool at my disposal to refill tanks with tap water until i rebuild em–now is only  fro washing. i carry garafones  of water  when i travel    for drinking, which are delivered to boat.

jus tneed the remaining   things repaired and   provisioning, and out the   lagoon for  mazatlan or wherever the sea gods want to  have me go…

we still readying for departure  to mazatlan.    we have found so many  things needing repair  so badly.

i need to stabilize mizzenmast so we can motor under  jib and main..mizzen will be stabilized. i removed the heavy  stuff from mizzenhead–mount and windmill i still have   epoxying of cracked mast to effect, and clamping of it for a coupla  days..

when  i removed the windmill, i should have  taken pix of the  connections. err lack thereof. and i wondered why it didnt work after patricia– the  wires were not connected but, rather, tied into a knot. ok. and the   gasket to keep out weather was not correctly  installed,leaving big gaps in  the waterprufing. hhhmmm…… seems someone took apart the unit and failed to  make sure this was done correctly, so i think i need to    find another unit.  we will see when they are tested  once i  arrive in mazatlan.   ultimately i will   again   have 2  installed and working along with my solar generation.

found a  charger invertor   to  finish out my  electrics–i  still need to relocate the panel but i   found that grail i been seeking– and at a reasonable price. whooot.   the electrickeryman is the best in mexico, so i am in good hands.  chebio  from cihuatlan. awesome.  he is   good friends with my engine man, diaz, from joluco and manzanillo.  and they are  buddies with my  injector pump genius, javier in  casimira castillo.

the first 180 miles is the bitch in this   treck.   there is no where to duck into if there  occurs a situation we fix at sea.  i am taking with me a diver and mcguyver mexican, and i am seeking one more  to  sail  via motor  to go with. i have asked my mechanic  a she is   the  creator of this engine which has fewer than 10 hours on it to accompany, we see. not answered yet.

new year transitioned in with the  fireworks i forgot to   fotograf, as i was in bed already, and cat wasnt interested…    music until 0700 from late in dark.,   celebration  means just exactly that in mexico.  was a good way to  go to sleep.  cat  didnt wanna sleep with me, so he found a berth to enjoy solo, with eyes on me and   entry  to boat. good kitty.

we will pack the  rudder post box and  shaft stuffing box and head out into wild blue yonder of wetness.  spot works.

https://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=1SkxQp9cU7E1XsnTzrdjLTaut7uXMGigO

donot know  when we leave–will prolly anchor a  short time as 2 weeks is  almost now..eeps.. hard to herd cats in high season, and my  electrickeryman  is on vacation until 7th…  tight, but good.

we workin on leaving for mazatlan and  repairs.

ok

so we have the carpenter for the boom and   we have consult for stabilization of  mizzen  while underway….

we have inspected the  packing unit and the stern tube and tested the cutlass bearing.   ok….  still need to pack the unit,  but have packing and  we get it done before departure..

engine still pending, and electricals still pending. just need to coordinate this with 3  people..   not so easy..

and computer in  shop will be 60 usd to repair..  and hotspot is 800 pesos, similar in price, so all is well there–and with the way wifi here is going,  hotspot is needed to  make up  for the loss of an antenna serving marina.   funny that   this  problem has not been addressed nor considered in their  alleged search fro the problems with the wifi post patricia..   it  WAS working well until then..i pick up  hotspot puter today and pay for paarts for   my good puter which decided to quit working at 11 months of age….

so.. with limited  moneys and with limited  help, i am progressing on my list of  gotta be  fixed before departure items  of catastrophic fail…   seems like a lot, but actually is only   a few  things, but necessary.  i will   replace the lost and broken items   from cane as i go, it seeems, as i am not able to absorb those losses into my already overtaxed budget AND prep fro departure. this will limit my  ability to anchor out–no ladder no anchoring..simple..

i was able to , with assistance of donors,  help with the repair of   2  necessary for fishing and income generation outboard engines  injured in the  storm, and re roof one house. i wish i coulda done more,  but , with limited  moneys and limited donors, that aint happening.   we did what we could and that feels   ok.

thankyou to those who donated. it helped a lot.  roof on one home and  2 engines done so work can be   done.

whoooot!!

how does one broken human  triage the need for  roofs when an entire town has lost   theirs???    we did by youngest kids in home.  that one was roofed.   instread of buying  a boarding ladder for birdee–(mine  was crushed by  bird against dock after patty baby’s eyeball passed  over us..) i helped an outboard be repaired. one family gets to make  income   immediately post patricia.. has been a hard recovery.   govt sed no damages no casualties, but the reality is different.

yes i said 2  were fixed–one from donations and one  fromm y own pocket, as donors for the ref=roofing oof colimilla   has  not been received wiell by potential donors. probably because mex govt said no  damages bno deaths, which was   beyond wrong.  oops..  only so much  one disabled woman  can do.  this is why i  will wait a ladder for merely boarding and disembarkin gmy boat.  these folks  need roofs. makes my reality a lil absurd on occasion.

NOW i prep  birdee and  we gonna try   err we gonna leave barrra in end dec to mid jan sometime….  as soon a s stuff is stabilized and repairs are finished.

the pricing in marinas is variable here –in mazatlan in winter, my rent , long term, is 400 usd monthly..  big difference from the  1400  usd  that they want here….  summer in maz is  24 cents per foot per day–works out to being under 300 usd monthly  for my boat…    biiig difference from the 450 here.  yeah so the cane hole in   maz isnt nearly as cool as here–but….

and so i will remain in  mazatlan mebb e2 yrs mebbe 3 for  complete repairs to my  poooor    old boat….  she is a good solid hull and basically comfortable..just needs a lil reconfiguring and reduction in numbers of broken  items, with a  slight   addition of   thing that work …then we go south again.

the rigger in mexico is inla cruz de huanacaxtle.  peter. he is excellent.

in barra area is THE diesel mechanic one needs  to keep a boat in  good shape)(diaz in joluco an dmanzanillo). also electrickeryman(chebio from cihuatlan) and  injector pump rebuilder (javier in casimira costillo).  some cruisers think this is a vacation only locale–is kinda, but there  are   those  who are able to do reasonably priced work without removal of parts to ensure  immediate return for more abuse. sorry i donot   condone that method of operations.   that is  something brought here by gringos, not   done by locals who donot speak english.

and so far i have met  4   good  carpenters. one is making my mizzen boom, and one is  consulting my stabilization issue…

i have had a  bilge pump rebuilt..  whooot, and  i have had my engine  rebuilt and injector pump and injectors and rewiring limited done.. these folks are awesome and smart.   good history for over  30 yrs ..even to include shrimp boats. good work and not pricey.

and so we prep.

poco a poco until time to  get away….ohmy that time is coming   like NOW…

\

some  how, proly by way of folks shopping  until dropping  from  extra low priced items  being sold off for christmas  window filling and  prw  holiday mayhem.

i hope everyone had a lovely holiday yesterday.

is  a time of   commercialism at its best..or worst.  thank gods i dont have that to deal  with here.

my kind of black friday is an i miss my brother  kinda   day.

with rain and  wet everywhere.

the  sky is crying, but it is crying because sandra is   pissing on mexico.  she is quite beautiful, but……she is still a storm with a name.  she actually ot to  cat 4 status out in the  deep blue sea, and is aimed at mazatlan.  glad i didnt  get there yet. i have friends  spending the cane time in san blas,mx, for  bottom work.   woulda loved to be there when they are, but the   repairs on  this boat aint  working in  timely  fashion.

i still need mast(mizzen)  stabilized–yes there is rot below spreaders andit is   significant now.. wasnt there last year.  ok

and i neeed to tune rig some–it is  floppy.   ggrr…but cannot do that here..

and i need   to  find me some  decent jerry jugs for my  deck stored diesel fuel, so i  am able to make mazatlan without stopping for  refueling.

and i need my engine man and an electrickeryman here to   ready those parts for  travel. that has been arranged, now pending

and do daily need stuff….  and  rent  goes out of wak in december, so i need to fix before december…  1400 usd monthly  isnt  conducive to repairing and   using dock space for prep. ok.

and so promises of help fail.

no one shows up.

folks have lives of their own,and i am seeking someone, a mcguyver, without  a life yet is  decent human for  accompaniment–and hopefully the   individual hasnt 20  voices  saying to kill me, as last one did..lol..always  fun and  exciting…and hopefully  someone  willbe able to troubleshoot problems as they arise–no i donot  count on  way too much, do  i….

and so i am prepping with help  at intervals from  locals,  but they, too, have lives and homes to repair and ……

and so   i am trying my best to  get ready to leave a  lovely safe and definitely  overpriced dockage to   travel a shiplet to  mazatlan with issues.  ok.   we see if we live thru this…and succeed in further travels  and repairs as we go.   at present  that future is unknown, if   available.

we only have today. we all know this.

if canes didnt add to wood rot i didnt know was so awesome ly advanced under white paint.   ok , next time no white paint. i wanna SEE the  bludi rot, thankyou, not count on decent wood when it aint so.

oh   by the way..  never presume your taiwanese boat had   spruce spars.. rodlmffao.

seems mine are   made of  no longer vailable  green teak .

wow.

beautiful  boom and it is covered in white paint.   gag cough choke spew…oops.. kids present…so what do i wanna cover the epoxy with after my parota wood  spars are created????

so

with chopped off masts i can half mast it into mazatlan  …. with   full spars i will die.

ok

easy choice. where’s the  damn sawzall….wish  it were that easy….. we will know soon what the agenda is for this repair.  yes it will be done prolly  completed in mazatlan.  there is no crane here for pulling masts.   this does  solve the problem of the windmill removal, however…..   wont have to climb to remove– lower down easily–electricity is  dismantled first by patricia then uninstalled inside by me…. soooo…..  momma nature is  facilitating my repairs.. just hoping for a window  during which  repairs do not scream at me  to be done asap….

i will   take pix of  boom innards so y’all can  see the beautiful wood..  wish  it were still gorgeous not rotty.

and to  design   sail cover that is kinder to  teak wood  booms….  donot wish this again.  even if it was damnnear 40 years before problems happened…and, no wonder my masts had such healthy bases….rodl.

i have seen a roller furl set up that  could well work, as booms would be left without covers and sail is loose footed, which is  fine.  i will be checking htis out in mazatlan.. i saw  this set up on lung ta and  then a similar set up  on the mainsail of a   newly purchased boat of a friend…   could well keep the  rain out of th e  wooden boom.   i would have to find new homes for the    battens–is a fully battened  smaller than original mainsail.  and a sewing machine…  will definiitely need one of those

i will be having  masts inspected before further misadventures in wood creations.  the  carpintero agrees. mebbe we can  raise his son up   mast  once we know it is ok and strong….   i need   desperately to tighten my triatic stay. and tune rig, as triatic is  floppy and  very loose.   i know the rake of masts is  helping that  be as it is,  and  4 yrs of not being  addressed….. was fine before i  became stuck in pair a dice…

ohmy such awesome good fortune!!!!!!
el senor diaz, maestro de machinas de diesel has been here agrees to fix machine perfect and mebbe if he can overcome seasickness, accompany us to mazatlan. whew we not sink that way.. whooot..
a carpenter actually works here in marina whoooot!!!!! i showed him boomand missing ladder and one other thing– yes i has a woodworker, now to find help to remove sail and boom from boat to rebuild whoooot..
and i still need a packing gland packer with mcguyver skills to create a nut keeper for the unit so we dont have problems while underway and we are gonna make it ok.. whoot and fookinhooraay!!!!!
and chebio the electrickery magician to reverse what the cabron de floriduh did to my boat.. and i can go without qualms yet again into the deep angry ocean and deal with momma natures whims much better.
once around cabo corrientes, wind should be abeam, so mizzen and jib will work perfect to get me into mazatlan.. whoooot…
now i cross EVERYTHING so i have progress and good fortune.anyone got a shamrock or 4 leafed clover for best luck????

changing my life for the better.  lifeis how we choose it to be.many do not understand this. they think th ebad fortune intheir lives is due to other forces.. ha haha lo siento , pero is our own choices to live or not live.  to be happy  or not be happy.

personally, i choose happiness over   misery  every day of the  year, forever.  now, as i am rid of falsle friends and   slaggards and other negative influences, —  excelsior!!! onward ever  upward.

ye know it aint easy overcoming emotional and spiritual paralysis….sr diaz  looks sooo  good now–his wife  and soulmate died last year in fall, he looked   very lost and old.   today i saw him and was sooo happy heis poco a poco   getting  better. his eyes  sparkked at the sight of his engine, and he smiled so   nicely.  the sound of the beautiful engine inmy bays  was enough to makke both of  us ssmile  biiig  sincere face consuming smiles.

and so we  replace all rubber and  rebuild  fresh water pump and prepare for this trip into the unknown, which i have done   downhill before.   it isnt bad except the cabo  corrientes part near the rocks and    currents.  if i getthere at   rising tide, one setof conditions exists, and  ebbing tide  brings a  totally different situation.  yes i want to be far enough off to avoid the tidal influence and  close enough to avoid the isla  ….

sounds easy enough…….

with faith inmy boat i can  sail farther off the rocks than  if  my boat were    not up to it.   new boom and   perfect engine..no sudar. we rockin this  passage. might be a  6 pizza passage………

the emotional paralysis of the past year  is still   pulling  my  mtorvation to a  hallt.. i am  pushing against it,  yet  there comes a time in day  when i  have t o let it win.   damn i am  really finding it old, n ow,   and  so i  push onward.

so today i contacted with my mechanic,   awesome, now i can  mechanically progress.

that will help a lot.

i need some progress now.

and so i took a look a tm y mizzen boom and saw nope and nope.

is it repairable.     —     nope.

is it safe to maintain as a suncover without the sail or anything but some line keeping it immobile??  do not know.  may not be even that good.

ok.  will strip it and see what i can  do to  keep it in place until i can   create new in  mazatlan. if i could do it now–   i would.   that would be optimal. hell,  i already paid   some for the  starting of the  unstarted project.  1500 pesos.  ok.   another loss i cannot actually afford but must sukup..    no sweat. i am  indefreekingpendent.

looks like the  rapidly advanced and advancing rot had some   assistance  in   growth.  wood is paper thin that was still healthy  last year  .

it pays to inspect ypur  tropically located  wood spars  more often  every 6 months

not truly  looking forward to this upcoming  misadventure with joy at this time.

WHOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!
FINALLY contacted with the BEST diesel mechanic in mexico. i finally have learned enough spanish to make an appointment withhim, but conversation mighta been a liloff.. face to face works best. he says a time on fone i say bueno perrrfecto and it is ON …. whew.
thank gods for sr diaz.
without his efficiency and abilities in diesel mechanicry, i da been still without a working engine.
no, i willnot use english speaking blowhards who have to exaggerate self worth

new engine color scheme

ok so that bitch   is gone thank gods.  whew it wasnt a good storm. beautiful and destructive in its center thank  gods it didnt hit first here.  we did  get eye , however and was a good opportunity to pump  bilges… the boarding ladder was   still in place before  eyeball  came. after, then all hell broke loose..

wow was immense.

however it did hit la perula, which is now no more .  nor  are the inhabitants there anymore…  whoosh out to sea. gone./ not even a bye bye.   ok

part of la manzanilla se  fue also.    but then a  furycame hit the living hellout of these areas.  the strongest one ever measured  wow.  879 mb..  sheesh and we lived thru it.  awesome.

caroline set   a  go fund me for  repairs  to bird but  mine are   not much.  what i wanna do is donate   to the   places that need it most  and with least good fortune.

so i need a  boarding ladder and an 02cool fan. that aint much.  oh yes and a can of  white   epoxy  type paint. no problem comex is having a 28 percent off sale soon.   whoot  there we go. life rocks. \

so.

do not ever  take your poor  cat out into a freeking furyucame.   especially not  twice. poor baby has ptsd and peed self and smells sccared  even  to now.  yukky smell.  next time we remain on boat. sorry folks is safer on boat.

oh yeah  4.5  foot seas in lagoon.   omy..and the canals   with houses and  cabo  blanco–omygods   biiig  as rebound seas  from the incoming   4.5 footers were awesome. 3 boats left that area and went to land. fuel dock left. gone.   one pump remains, and is stripped.   the hotel  water taxi dock went away..  new and gone., oh well…one in mangroves decided to  go walkabout–a  nice ericson 35mII  named corsario, which belongs to  a    

rmexifriend here.

no major damages in marina   under the  posh hotel.   marina puerta navidad or puerta nueva  de navidad. good place..   awesome response

and someone lost a bulk cargo carrier loaded with grains  on the rocks just outside this   rock… seems the storm had other ideas as to where the ship should go and took it as a sacrifice. crew   all saved .

i rate this  cane hole 4 stars cane hole.   come on down folks we rock here.