Replaced the melted switch!!
Often enough we think we have a different life style by living on a boat although sometimes these days it seems all too much like living anywhere on land. Just about the time you get complacent about all this something happens to jerk you back into reality.
We left Mazatlán with a couple of guests on board and did the usual motor-sail across to the Secret Anchorage (Playa Bonanza) on Espiritu Santo. The two mile long white beach was worthy of a bit of a walk and leg stretch once we had rested a bit from the two day crossing. There were not a lot of shells or anything of great notice but the beach was very pristine and we were greeted by a boat we knew already at anchor there. There was a “Cormuel” (southerly to westerly winds) blowing part of the time during our stay and we were nicely protected from that. The big decision then was to go northward instead of popping immediately into La Paz. Off we went to Isla San Francisco about 30 miles north of Playa Bonanza following the eastern side of Espiritu Santo. Now, I have to say, Isla San Francisco is one of our favorite places and, we have been told, one of the most photographed places along the Baja’s eastern side. It was here that we were joined by two surprise visitors!
As we were lounging about both Toucan and Sea Peace sauntered into the anchorage and I gave a loud, “Whoop!!” as I realized who had come in. These are friends from the Tucson Sailing Club. Naturally nothing would do but to have a party. An invitation was extended from Faith and both crews from the newly arrived boats came over that evening for cocktails. It was the next morning while trying to make coffee that I felt the first tug from the La Paz Vortex. This is the phenomenon that occurs when your boat is about to demand marina time to fix things. In this case the DC side of the electrical circuitry had a melt down and completely stopped working. Eventually this also caused a problem with the controller for the inverter so we had zero electrical power. Hmmm… I wired around the main switch and we decided that we really should not stop at Caleta Partida as we had originally thought we would on our way back to La Paz. Off we went after spending two days at Isla San Francisco and having two parties with the Toucans and Sea Peace’s.
Having a spare switch we had no problem having an electrician fix the initial problem only to find that the overload had also damaged the controller to the inverter. Hmmm… a new controller was located and, “Viola!” we had power again. Problem solved, or so we thought.
Shiny new refrigerator!!“Why is the refrigerator clicking on and off?” I thought as I listened to the boat for things that were not correct (a past time I have developed over a few years of Boating). Hmmm… well, it turns out that the refrigerator has an issue too. To make a long story short (sort of) we found that we could no longer get the controller for the old Alder Barbour refrigerator so there was nothing but to replace the bloody thing and carry on. It takes about ten minutes to uninstall the old one and roughly an hour to install a new one. Cleverly the manufacturers have improved them over the years and we now have a much better, more efficient unit than previously.
At this point we may need to stay in La Paz for another ten days while we wait for still more guests. Deep down I am thinking that we need to achieve escape velocity before another “issue” occurs but then if things happen in threes, as is often said, we can stay for a while longer without incident.
"I know I put it down here somewhere"I need to be getting back to the point of all this meandering. A house takes a certain amount of care to live a “normal” life but a boat takes that and additional thought and action. Which side of the island do I anchor on to stay out of the waves and such? In a house if the utility company has an issue you might lose power for awhile but that’s fixable. In a house if the circuit breaker pops to off you can easily reset it. In a house curing a broken refrigerator does not usually cascade into a city wide search for the cure. In a house making the bed is not something that takes all your effort to get tucked in or to stay put. In a house getting things out of the bottom of the refrigerator does not normally mean you have to stand on your head while you drop through a hole to find the lost mayonnaise. In a house flushing the toilet does not require multiple steps. Having a full holding tank is a small but persistent problem but can be urgent at times. It just is not a thing you have to think about in a house. In a house you have no need to walk a few docks over to get to the restroom. Cooking aboard requiring a refill of the propane bottle mid-meal is another thing that comes to mind. This could be a very long list by the time you find all the differences and nuances by living on a boat for a few years. Once you start thinking it’s just like living anywhere on land you have begun the process of mind warp that will have you completely out of sync with the rest of the world!
