Things we got right

16º 26.801s 145º 21.905w

Fri Jun 21 2019

We spent a lot of time with our training wheels on, in the waters of California, Pacific mainland Mexico and the Sea of Cortez. We learned a bit about ourselves and one another, and we learned a lot about JollyDogs – her sailing needs, energy needs, strengths and shortcomings. We know enough about ourselves and our boat now that we’d prefer a bigger version of something similar, but Seawind hasn’t answered the mail on the 14-meter version we’re asking for, so we may go shopping soon, if not just for fun. In the meantime we’re putting together our wish list for numero deux (I’m somewhat multi-lingual) which is at least a fantasy for us. Everybody needs a fantasy, don’t they? We’re beginning to realize we need more secure storage for toys!

Sailing in Mexico was at many times an exercise in frustration. As our friend Rich Boren advised us long ago – the wind often doesn’t blow when or from the direction you want or need it to; get used to motoring more than expected. Boy was he right. Rich also noted that anytime you anchor, the concept of a “lunch hook” is absolutely ludicrous. Here a squall can appear and slam us with 30+ knots, in Mexico it was the Chubasco or Elephante winds or just a strong thermal blasting through the anchorage. Always anchor like your life and safety of the vessel depend upon it.

We spent a lot of time staying out of the sun, so we got some pretty good shades made. We didn’t get done with that, and perhaps that worked out OK because now we’re looking for ways to keep the boat as open and livable as possible when squalls blow through the anchorage. Blowing rain forces us to pretty much shut up the boat and the aft cockpit gets pretty soaking wet. We’ve got some ideas and some fabric; perhaps we’ll find canvas people in Tahiti who can help us get it right. The key is waterproof shade that extends far enough to provide shelter from blowing rain (until it just gets insane) and is mechanically secured and built to stand up to strong winds. Fair to say that when it rains and blows all day we’re not the happiest campers in the anchorage. That said, the big Leopard and Lagoon catamarans that have tents enclosing their cockpits aren’t the answer either – they’re too big a hassle to remove I suppose, so they just leave them up. Might as well live in a monohull cave.

Isabel researched the heck out of anti-fouling paint, and we settled on Micron 66 (it’s blue – she likes blue). It’s amazing how well it works – we haven’t had to clean the bottom yet. Interestingly enough, here in the Tuamotus ramoras swarm the bottom and slurp any accumulated slime or other creatures. Along with that I elected (thank you Kurt Jerman) to install a cheap “beer can” zinc that is electrically bonded to both engines. Any time we’re anchored it’s deployed, and it has drastically extended the lives of the expensive zincs that are required for our folding Gori props.

John and Becca on SV Halcyon let us demo their Red brand inflatable stand up paddleboards SUPs, I think in Santiago down South of Barre de Navidad. They were as stiff as the hard Corban boards we had. We sold those boards and scored a couple of 9’8” Red inflatables which we love, and we can deflate and stow them for passage. We were certain we didn’t want a couple of large hard things stored on a side rail, things which might break loose in heavy weather. Inflatables eliminated that risk without costing any fun.

We replaced our multi-mode inverter with a much simpler pure sine unit, and purchased a world-wide power battery charger/power supply. The sum total of each unit was much cheaper and is much lighter and less bulky than the fancy unit they replaced, and now we’re good for anywhere in the world. We ditched our 920 watts of solar for 1440 watts with individual controllers, along with 720 amp hours of LiFeP04 batteries, leaving us virtually energy independent. We have a Honda generator on board but haven’t needed it yet.

Isabel did a spectacular job of provisioning for extended life aboard. We have all the essentials of life to make Thai and Indian curries and plenty of beans, rice, and other staples. We can fish or buy fresh fish dirt cheap here. Most meat is no more expensive that in the US, most staples the same and fresh veggies are available. The avocados Isabel bought last week weren’t cheap, but at least she could get them. Wow do we miss Mexican avocados!

JollyDogs is strong and sails well in light airs. That’s extremely important here. She’s also very well ventilated, and with the ATN DoorCap devices Isabel selected and I fitted to each forward hatch, we keep the boat pretty well ventilated even in hard rain unless we’re underway. Our TakaCat dinghy is envied by all around us, and being able to scoot along on a small 9.9 hp outboard that sips gasoline is a huge advantage for us. Our twizzle rig has made dead downwind sailing painless and easy. Our screecher or jib and big roachy main make us go fast when reaching and running to about 135 apparent, then we can use the Parasailor for about 110 apparent to dead downwind and it’s well behaved. Jamie Gifford convinced me to purchase a 600’ spool of 6mm dyneema, which I’ve used to build safety lines, soft shackles, continuous loops, all sorts of things so that we’re slowly doing away with steel cables and fasteners. Dyneema weighs less and doesn’t hurt if it whacks you on the noggin.

Our B&G Zeus3 12” chart plotter, 4G RADAR and all B&G stuff works great, as does our Vesper Marine AIS transponder. Iridium Go has changed our lives, but we still enjoy our SSB nets. Our Sarca Excel #5 anchor is really doing it here, and the new 265’ of Acco G40 anchor chain has been a big safety enhancement over the original 170’ of BBB chain. Coral eats rope for breakfast and there are bommies most everywhere we look. Our forward scan SONAR provides great utility when evaluating anchorages, creeping over a bar or easing through a narrow channel.

Google Fi has made local telecommunications pain free. The cost is low, and truthfully we don’t call enough to care what the per minute fee is. Data is cheap, but we don’t even use much of that. We can always find internet ashore if we really need it for banking or whatever. We got lots right. We made some mistakes but they’re all recoverable. We’ll keep adapting to our new environment, essentially a large playground that will smite anyone who doesn’t show the proper respect. Seawind built us a great boat, we made it better, but we’d love more storage and living space and rain/sun blocking devices that enable good ventilation.

We’d love to hear your thoughts! jollydogs@myiridium.net