July 29, 2008

Yesterday we went looking for water. We had used all the bottles we had on board. We had been told that we could buy it at OXXO (a store like 7-11). One of our neighbors told us that OXXO would fill our bottles for a quarter. We found some big blue water bottles like the ones we had been told we needed and headed for OXXO. But when we got there OXXO told us they only sold bottled water and did not fill the bottles. Someone had given us bad information. Next the waiter in a café told us about a place that would fill our bottles. We spent ½ a day trying to find that place. We went back once and ask for better directions because we could not find it. We finally give up and brought our empty bottles back to the boat. We bought the bottled water from OXXO for $8 a bottle. We will look for the water store later.
When we got back to the boat, I took an old blanket apart to try to cover pieces of foam to make a mattress for our bed. The former owner left this blanket on the boat. It was heavy and lumpy and taking up space we needed for other things. It was full of kapok. I guess that is what you call it when they take material and grind it up into lint and fill a blanket with it. I was very careful but still had lint all over. Most of the mess came from getting it in the air. I tried to be really careful but I had lint everywhere. Then I went outside and shook the material out in the wind. The lint collected on the canvas covers on the boat. That was pretty messy too. Now I get to brush them clean. I worked on the mattress cover for several hours. I didn’t finish it because even though I sewed the pieces of foam together, they did not stay in place very well. I need some of the spray adhesive to make things stay in place. I will have to start over and do it right later after I get the spray and maybe some real material. It is hard to make a nice mattress from old worn out material. I will wait until I get real material. It would be nice to have my sewing machine too.
Jim started working on the refrigeration system. He fixed the motor and then found that the thermostat didn’t work. Ok, he could replace that fairly easily but next he found that there was no Freon in the system so the fridge would not cool. He had to remove the fridge from where it was mounted down inside a compartment of the boat. While he was working on that, he found a leak in the water system that is coming from the hot water heater he fixed last week. He took the refrigeration unit out so he could inspect the lines for a Freon leak. He was pretty discouraged and he decided to take a break and do something he wanted to do.
He had taken the dingy off the boat and put it in the water. The glue they had used on the railing was dry and he decided to hang the dingy on the davits (dingy hangers). The dingy is the boat you are supposed to use to go back and forth to the shore if you don’t have a slip space. When he hung the dingy the rail broke again. He will have to redo that repair job with some reinforcement. You would expect him to take the rest of the day off but he didn’t. He just puttered around the boat for a while doing little repairs and adjustments.
Yesterday, he decided to install the tank that keeps the pump from running all the time. This is a little water tank we bought while we were in San Diego last week. It has a name but I don’t remember it. Those of you who understand plumbing motor homes will know what tank I mean. We also bought a pump to empty the holding tank with. I think every pump on this boat needs replacing. There are 11 of them. He installed the tank and the pump and then he ran some water into the holding tank to flush it a little. The smell was terrible from installing the pump. At least that is what I thought was causing the stink because he had to open to line into the holding tank to install the pump. Sewage had spilled into the boat. The boat had always had an odor that we have not been able to track down but now the odor was horrid.
He cleaned the bilge several times and the odor just kept getting worse. He finally tried pumping the holding tank out. Boy did that make a smell. Our neighbor complained and I was really worried about getting in trouble. The smell outside finally thinned out. I think that was the first time in days that the breeze was not blowing.
He decided that the holding tank must have a leak in it and when he flushed some water into it he must have dislodged something because no matter how many times he cleaned the bilge the odor was still there. And the bilge kept filling up with stinky stuff again.
We finally gave up and went to bed about midnight. The smell was still terrible and we wished we could take our bed out and sleep in the cockpit. Jim got up once and would have tried again to solve the problem except I insisted that he come back to bed and try to get some sleep. I am ready to take this boat to the boat repair shop and tell them to fix everything. Jim says we can’t afford that and I know he is right but I still think that is the only solution. Maybe we could go back to SLC and work until they repair all the systems on the boat, the fridge, the water heater, the sewer, the water, all the water pumps and hoses. Then we could use the money we earn to pay for the repairs.
Well today is another day. It is a very stinky day. We slept a little but the smell was overpowering. It is still there today. I am sitting in the cockpit playing on my computer. Jim is vacuuming up the water in the bilge for the 100th time. He has found two more leaks in the water system and fixed one of them. I don’t know how he can stand to be down there in the boat. I am in the cockpit and I can hardly stand the smell. Our neighbor is having a problem with the smell too.
This IS an adventure. I wonder what our next adventure is going to be. I am not sure I want to know.
August 2nd
Today is a better day. One of the ladies from another boat invited me to meet with a group of ladies on Friday morning and do needle work or something. Humm. I wonder what I could do. It has been quite a while since I did anything like that and I left all my craft supplies in SLC.
I got really tired of not having anything for dinner that needs to be refrigerated. I went to the store and bought real meat. The grocery store we went to was very much like home. I wonder if I am adjusting or just finding better places to shop.
I have a book that tells me how to keep meat fresh for a few days without a fridge. I will try that. For Sunday dinner, we will have a real roast, cooked in the crock pot. The book said that you can cook meat and leave it on the stove with a lid on it. If you heat it every day to boiling for a few minutes and leave the lid in place, it will keep for a few days. It seems to me that would work. I am going to try it. August 3rd
Today, live is great! This is Sunday and I went to church today. The smell is gone. Jim finally put some Clorox in the tank and flushed out all of the smelly stuff. Now the boat smells good. I used our little shower for the first time last night. We have been using the public shower on shore. Our little shower was so nice! The water was hot! It felt so good. Isn’t it funny how grateful you can be for such small things?
We figure we only have 4 more problems to solve before this place can be a comfortable place to live. The holding tank is the biggest problem. The leak in the water heater is another problem. The fridge needs to work and the toilet needs a lot of repair. The way the toilet is now, the whole ocean will fill the boat if we leave the valve open. That won’t do.We have decided that we need to go back home to SLC and close the loan on the house. We will have to do some work on the house in order to do that. Then we will be able to come back and stay here as long as we find it convenient.
I attended the correct ward today. I liked the other ward a little better. Maybe that is because it was the first. People here are very helpful and anxious to make me feel welcome. For some reason, they are not using the Joseph Smith Teachings in RS. I wish I could ask what book they are using, but I can’t seem to get my question across. The people are very thoughtful and helpful.
We plan on returning to SLC as soon as we can get the paperwork from the boat sale straightened out. The broker left us without the proper papers to be here. The dock master said that we are legal but I just don’t think so. Kevin, the former owner, did not have his entrance paper with him when we bought the boat. They could not issue his exit paper. That means that we could not get our entrance paper which we need to get the proper paper work done. The dock master says we are legal but we don’t know if we can depend on what he says. We got the paper we needed and gave it to him. Now after waiting 2 weeks he tells us they need more paperwork from the former owner. We hope this all works out OK. Things are looking up and I think the worst is behind us now.
I was reading this journal to Jim to see what he thought, before I sent it. He said that I make it sound like we have had nothing but problems!!! Gosh, I wonder why I make it sound like that! Well things are looking better now. They really are. It is all in your attitude and Jim is actually much happier than he has been for quite a while. He is right at home and he is willing to fix whatever needs to be fixed so It will all work out.
Aug 4th
Jim worked on the toilet. He cleaned clogged hoses etc. We learned we have to replace many more hoses and also the toilet. Oh Well. This means we get a new toilet. That is a good thing. We also got an email from Wendy and Tony. Tony and Wendy will try to take care of the repairs on the house. They will let us know if there are things they cannot do. That is wonderful! Hopefully that will save us an expensive trip to Utah.
Aug 5th
We took the day to go exploring. We went to La Bafadora. That is the blow hole that is around to the other side of the gulf. If you look at a map, there is a chunk of land missing that looks like a circle. We are on the north side of the circle. La Bafadora is on the south side. It was fun and I took many pictures. There were about two blocks worth of stands on both sides of the road you walk down to get to the blowhole. People were trying to sell things there. I want a bracelet but they charged too much there.
We did stop and eat lunch at the Hanana Banana. We had a great view of the ocean and the food was very good, but mine had jalapeno peppers all over in it. Wow! I wonder if I will ever get used to them. But it was really good anyway.
Then we also found a dog groomer, the water store and a fabric store. And I made a new friend. That makes two that live here at the marina. This lady has lived here in Mexico on a boat for 7 years. Her husband got Parkinson’s so they can’t go sailing any more but she loves it here so she stays. Her name is Kim. She gave us a lot of advice. I will try to send some pictures with this. I do not know if I can.

Love you all,
Donna and Jim