Well, it looks like for Astraea and her crew the Baja Haha has become the Baja Boo Hoo. We are not going to be able to leave on Monday October 26th as scheduled.
I had not posted a blog update for the past week as I have been working day and night getting Astraea ready to leave for Mexico along with the other 190+ sailboats taking part in the 16th annual Baja Haha regatta from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas. The "to do" list was almost complete, the "buy" list was complete, and we were ready to head South to Mexico. Then, last Sunday, it happened. I started the engine to do routine engine checks and to warm up the transmission in order to change the transmission fluid. I heard this rather distinct metallic noise coming from the engine. It was a noise that I knew was not there before. It sounded like something was loose on the engine and rattling or banging against the engine. I checked every part of the engine and could find nothing loose, no oil leaks, nothing apparently wrong with the engine.
Now this was NOT expected as the boat has a brand new Westerbeke engine that was installed last year by the boatyard in Alameda and the engine has less than 180 hours on it. That is not even broken in for a new diesel. I called the Westerbeke dealer in San Diego first thing Monday morning and was told, of course, that they were "very busy" and would "try" to get someone out to listen to it. I told them that it could be nothing, but that I was not willing to go to sea on this nearly 800 mile trip without an experienced mechanic inspecting the engine.
Finally, four days later, on Thursday afternoon, the mechanic arrived. He turned out to be a very experienced master mechanic with 30+ years of experience. This guy knows diesels. He listened and started doing what I had done, looking for something loose on the engine. He then proceeded to open each of the air injectors and when the air injector for cylinder #4 was opened the metallic clanging noise stopped. This was not a good sign. In fact it was a very bad sign. The mechanic looked a bit concerned and said he would return on Friday afternoon with some special instruments. I could see our underway date for Monday starting to fade.
On Friday the mechanic showed up with a second mechanic and some sound isolation devices. He also conferred with one of the mechanics at the boat yard in Alameda, Svendsen's, who installed the new engine. The analysis was not good. It appeared that there was a bad rod bearing, rod, or rod connector in cylinder #4. Continuing to run the engine would soon result in throwing a rod through the engine block and destroying the engine. The mechanics took an oil sample and departed, and I called my crew to give them the sad news that we were not going to make it.
Everything now is in limbo. We are waiting for the oil analysis results on Wednesday, and then the dealer will talk to Westerbeke about doing the warranty work to repair the engine. Fortunately the engine is so new that it is still under full warranty for parts and, most importantly, labor. I have my fingers crossed that Westerbeke will come through on this without a lot of hassle and red tape as the repair is likely to be extensive. The mechanic said that the engine will have to be disconnected, lifted out of the engine compartment, disassembled, repaired, reassembled, lowered back into place, and then reconnected. I have no idea, none, nada, when the work will start nor how long it will take.
After a year of waiting, and weeks of preparation, and all of the excitement and anticipation leaving next Monday I was surprised to find that I was not really angry nor frustrated or really upset, much. I was primarily relieved that this happened in port in San Diego and the engine did not throw a rod 50 miles out off the coast or in some small village in Mexico. That would have been a much more difficult situation.
Meanwhile I am back home in Palm Springs doing what I do not do well.... waiting. Once the repairs are authorized and scheduled then I will start to look for probably one crew to go with me to Cabo and LaPaz, Mexico. Or, perhaps, I may decide to single hand her down there. We shall see what unfolds once I know what is happening.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Update via satellite
This is a test of updating my new blog page via my satellite phone. If this shows up on my blog page properly it will mean that I can blog from anywhere in the world via my Iridium phone, a modem, and my tiny little Acer laptop that is set up to work with the Iridium satellite phone.
This gives me some pause as I sit here and contemplate all of this technology and the pace that technlogy is moving. When I hit the "send" button on my laptop this e-mail will transfer from my laptop via a modem to my Iridium 9505A satellite cell phone, a portable phone that looks like a large cell phone with a one foot antenna sticking out the top of it. When I click send on my e-mail interface the cell phone will lock it's signal onto one of the 66 Iridium satellites orbiting the earth, broadcast my blog entry into space to the satellite where the satellite will then send then beam the message back to earh to the Iridium land network. This e-mail will then pass through countless switches and routers as it connects to the Internet, and then post on my blog. This will all happen in a few seconds, probably a few milliseconds.
Amazing this day and age we live in. When I graduated from the Naval Academy and went to sea for the first time in 1972, the words "laptop, e-mail, blog, Internet", were not even in the vocabulary. I can also remember as a child when the Russians launched the first satellite into space, Sputnik, in October 1957. I stood outside with my grandmother and like millions of other people looked up in the sky at night to try to see this thing flying overhead in space.
Now, 52 years later, which is a long time relative to our lifespans, but a mere blink of the eye in the history of mankind, I am using all this technology and these gadgets to do easily what would have then been the subject of science fiction. A hundred years ago it would have all been called magic. Yet we take it all in stride. Could even DaVinci have dreamed of this type of consumer technology?
It is easy to become jaded in our age of technological miracles. If however we stop and think about it, wow, it is really in fact quite miraculous.
Now, if I can just figure out how to post on Facebook via satellite! So totally kewl.
This gives me some pause as I sit here and contemplate all of this technology and the pace that technlogy is moving. When I hit the "send" button on my laptop this e-mail will transfer from my laptop via a modem to my Iridium 9505A satellite cell phone, a portable phone that looks like a large cell phone with a one foot antenna sticking out the top of it. When I click send on my e-mail interface the cell phone will lock it's signal onto one of the 66 Iridium satellites orbiting the earth, broadcast my blog entry into space to the satellite where the satellite will then send then beam the message back to earh to the Iridium land network. This e-mail will then pass through countless switches and routers as it connects to the Internet, and then post on my blog. This will all happen in a few seconds, probably a few milliseconds.
Amazing this day and age we live in. When I graduated from the Naval Academy and went to sea for the first time in 1972, the words "laptop, e-mail, blog, Internet", were not even in the vocabulary. I can also remember as a child when the Russians launched the first satellite into space, Sputnik, in October 1957. I stood outside with my grandmother and like millions of other people looked up in the sky at night to try to see this thing flying overhead in space.
Now, 52 years later, which is a long time relative to our lifespans, but a mere blink of the eye in the history of mankind, I am using all this technology and these gadgets to do easily what would have then been the subject of science fiction. A hundred years ago it would have all been called magic. Yet we take it all in stride. Could even DaVinci have dreamed of this type of consumer technology?
It is easy to become jaded in our age of technological miracles. If however we stop and think about it, wow, it is really in fact quite miraculous.
Now, if I can just figure out how to post on Facebook via satellite! So totally kewl.
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Three weeks and counting!!!!
It is hard to believe that it is only three weeks to go until time to cast off the lines and sail Astraea 760 miles to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Last week I flew to Little Rock to see my mother and sister and attend my 42nd (yikes) high school reunion. Then this past Tuesday it was back to the boat to get some work done. Time is getting short and I am starting to freak out! How will I ever be ready!!!!
However right now it is Fall in San Diego and the weather is changing and it is absolutely beautiful. The mornings are foggy, the days bright and sunny but cooler. The nights are getting downright chilly, soqn in rhw loq 70's. Brrrrr.
There are so many things that I want to get done before leaving, but time is getting short therefore I am starting to prioritize those jobs which really need to be done before leaving from those that I can do once in Mexico.
I brought all the upholstered cushions from the main salon of the boat to Palm Springs to clean them. They have several years of sun tan lotion, sweat, salt water, wine, and other things on them and are a bit musty. Today I set them out by he pool in the Palm Springs sun and cleaned them with an upholsterey cleaner device from Rug Doctor. I cleaned them three times as the first pass produced disgustingly dirty water, the second pass light brown water, and it was not until the third cleaning that the water from cleaning the cushions showed that the cushions were actually clean. It is amazing how dirty these chusions had gotten.
Some people poke fun at my "flower tapestry" upholstery. I like it a lot. It reminds me of the amazing flowers that I saw in French Polynesia back in the Spring of 2008 during my month sailing there with Modern Sailing Academy. Most modern boats have blue ultra suede or faux leather that looks great in the showroom but would not necessarily hold up well under the conditions normally found on a cruising boat.
When Dave and Ingrid lived aboard Astraea Ingrid made the upholstery. Ingrid is a master seamstress and she did an incredible job making these cushions. She even perfectly matched the complex pattern at every seam. The fabric itself is thick and bulletproof. When I had new cushions made for the quarterberth and the v-berth those four relatively simple cushions and the upholstery for them cost $3200. I cannot imagine how much it would cost to try to reproduce Ingrid's work. She said that that making these was so labor intensive that she almost got carpel tunnel syndrome. Now after a thorough cleaning and sitting in the Palm Springs sun they are clean and bright and ready to go back aboard.
I am home in Palm Springs for this week and will be back in San Diego in a week to do the final preparations, provisioning, fueling, cleaning, and stowing of gear in preparation for getting underway. Will I be ready to leave on October 26th? Probably not. Will I leave anyway, definitely yes.
However right now it is Fall in San Diego and the weather is changing and it is absolutely beautiful. The mornings are foggy, the days bright and sunny but cooler. The nights are getting downright chilly, soqn in rhw loq 70's. Brrrrr.
There are so many things that I want to get done before leaving, but time is getting short therefore I am starting to prioritize those jobs which really need to be done before leaving from those that I can do once in Mexico.
The reefer and freezer are working ![]()
How much time is left???
perfectly. I have been purchasing all the last minute "must have" items like dinghy wheels (who ever heard of wheels on a boat, but yes, they are necessary in Mexico), spare parts for the engine, and all those other necessities that may be needed once extended sailing begins.
This week I was able to connect the new salt water pump at the galley sink to the thru hull, fix the leak on the sink in the head, install three 12V fans, and complete a few other small but important jobs. It seems like every project on a boat takes much more time and money than is planned.
I brought all the upholstered cushions from the main salon of the boat to Palm Springs to clean them. They have several years of sun tan lotion, sweat, salt water, wine, and other things on them and are a bit musty. Today I set them out by he pool in the Palm Springs sun and cleaned them with an upholsterey cleaner device from Rug Doctor. I cleaned them three times as the first pass produced disgustingly dirty water, the second pass light brown water, and it was not until the third cleaning that the water from cleaning the cushions showed that the cushions were actually clean. It is amazing how dirty these chusions had gotten.
Some people poke fun at my "flower tapestry" upholstery. I like it a lot. It reminds me of the amazing flowers that I saw in French Polynesia back in the Spring of 2008 during my month sailing there with Modern Sailing Academy. Most modern boats have blue ultra suede or faux leather that looks great in the showroom but would not necessarily hold up well under the conditions normally found on a cruising boat.
When Dave and Ingrid lived aboard Astraea Ingrid made the upholstery. Ingrid is a master seamstress and she did an incredible job making these cushions. She even perfectly matched the complex pattern at every seam. The fabric itself is thick and bulletproof. When I had new cushions made for the quarterberth and the v-berth those four relatively simple cushions and the upholstery for them cost $3200. I cannot imagine how much it would cost to try to reproduce Ingrid's work. She said that that making these was so labor intensive that she almost got carpel tunnel syndrome. Now after a thorough cleaning and sitting in the Palm Springs sun they are clean and bright and ready to go back aboard.
I am home in Palm Springs for this week and will be back in San Diego in a week to do the final preparations, provisioning, fueling, cleaning, and stowing of gear in preparation for getting underway. Will I be ready to leave on October 26th? Probably not. Will I leave anyway, definitely yes.
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