Category Archives: Maintenance

Where we did maintenance to keep the boat running well.

Second Trip tp Marina Costa Baja, Day 13

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Sunrise on Saturday, February 11. It was another morning where the clouds mostly, but not completely, blocked the sun.

We’d made an appointment at the fuel dock to get 250-gallons of fuel. As you can tell from the photo above, it was a low-wind day, so it was perfect for moving Kosmos to the fuel dock and back.

Since we were moving Kosmos anyway, we decided to take her for a short spin in the bay to give her some exercise before the fuel up. Obviously, we ran the main engine. We also ran the wing engine, generator and flushed AC water maker.

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Second Trip to Marina Costa Baja, Day 12 — La Paz and Black/Grey Water Tanks

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On Friday (February 10), Christi had an appointment for another haircut, so we took the 0900 shuttle into town. From the cathedral (where we were dropped off), we walked a few blocks south to a bank to use the ATM.

ATM’s are not nearly as common in Mexico as they are in the US. Most of the towns we’ve visited, including Bahia de Los Angeles, don’t have any. We’ve only found them in the bigger cities that we visited: Santa Rosalia, Loreto and La Paz. We want to take a moment to rant about the bank called BBVA, which charges $9 (US) in ATM fees and gives a terrible exchange rate. Plus your own bank charges fees, too. We’ll only go to BBVA when there is nothing else available, but sadly, today the other bank’s machines were down so we were stuck using BBVA.

From the bank, we walked northeast about 1.5 miles. The farther inland we went, the less gentrified the neighborhood became. Even though we’d driven through this area before, it was interesting to get a closer look on foot.

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Second Trip tp Marina Costa Baja Days 9 – 11

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Sunrise on Tuesday, February 7

The weather was back to cold and windy again. On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, we mostly laid low in the marina. Eric finally completed a project that he’d started in San Diego: creating a system to better secure the anchor. Back in San Diego, Eric had bought a piece of 3/4″ starboard and had cut some slots in it to hold the anchor in place so it wouldn’t rattle around when the boat was in motion. He secured the board in place with some dyeema line that has an anti-chaffing sleeve cover over it and a clip. He strapped the line to the cleat on the deck.

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Second Trip to Marina Costa Baja Days 7 – 8

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Sunday and Monday (February 5 and 6) were more chores days. The weather was sunny and warm, with it reaching 80 degrees Fahrenheit (27 celsius) both days. Eric:

  • Changed the on-engine fuel filter and flushed it with Stanadyne
  • Re-organized the spare parts and supplies that we kept in the engine room
  • Took apart the accumulator tank that he’d recently removed to see where the leak was. He couldn’t find any overt leak. 
  • He put extra sealant on the lift pump on the main engine. 
  • Put away more things in the engine room. 
  • Tightened a loose fitting on the freshwater spigot at the anchor chain. 

Christi and Keith finally got around to washing the boat. They were dismayed to see that it wasn’t mud all over the boat, it was some sort of water-resistant residue. It was similar, but not quite like the jet fuel residue that we used to get on our first boat, which we’d kept next to the San Diego Airport. It was less similar to, but not totally different from, the container ship exhaust that was all over Kosmos when we briefly had her in the Port of Los Angeles (In 2010, while the blog was on hiatus). We’re guessing the residue must have come from the nearby power plant, or maybe the container ships that we’ve noticed anchored in the area, or some combination of both.

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Second Trip to Marina Costa Baja, Days 3 – 5

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On Wednesday (February 1), we awoke to a sunny, beautiful morning. However, we were dismayed to see that the rain had left the boat covered in mud, just as been the case in Santa Rosalia. What the heck was going on with the rain in Baja?

Instead of washing Kosmos, we decided to take care of the dinghy first. Eric got the dinghy down and gave it a good wash down, including eliminating the copious amount of sand that had accumulated inside. He also cleaned the dinghy motor.

After mulling it over overnight, Eric decided that he was not going to try to adjust the belt. on the dive compressor, so he put dive compressor back together.

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