Hola,
We arrived in San Carlos on April 28 following a pleasant and uneventful trip down. After lunch at JJ’s we hijacked Oscar’s dinghy and went straight out to Solera. She had been sitting on her mooring for eight weeks pretty much unattended and I was anxious to see how she looked. Well, it’s amazing what a few seagulls, pelicans and herons can do in just a few weeks. Thankfully I had strung lines over the boom, solar panels, bow pulpit and a couple of other areas to discourage the birds. They did manage to get to the foredeck, stern rail and the aft part of the boom. The pelicans are the worst of the culprits. Their grey poop over time turns essentially to concrete. Cyn and I decided to hire some locals to do the clean-up. Jimmy and Tony did a fantastic job cleaning up Solera. They also waxed the entire boat and polished all the stainless. Both of them spent two full days cleaning and shining her up. She has never looked better. Well worth the pesos.
The weather was perfect so we decided to go for an afternoon sail to check Solera out. We did two laps of Bahia San Francisco for a total of about sixteen miles of sailing. The wind was out of the south so we broad reached back and forth across the bay at over five knots in less than ten knots of wind. Hard to believe but the wind laid down mid afternoon so we headed in.
Cyn and I then spent a couple of days preparing for the trip to Baja. We filled fuel, water and propane tanks, then provisioned at Ley (like a Mexican version of Target}. I went through all the boat systems. Everything was working fine so we planned to depart on Wednesday the fifth, Cinco de Mayo. We decided to leave at 3 pm for the estimated 17 hour overnight passage.
We thought about doing a two day trip to San Pedro Bay to shake down the boat but instead just focused on getting over to Conception Bay on the Baja. So, there we were all set to go. I reach down turn the key and push the starter button…. nothing. Tried it again and ... nothing. Not even a click. I checked the engine compartment for any obvious problems but everything looked ok. Next try she fired right up! Just to be sure I stopped and restarted the diesel several times just to be sure it was ok. No problems so off we went.
The weather was mild with only about a five knot breeze and temps in the mid eighties. We wanted to average about five knots for the passage so it looked like we would be motoring until some wind filled in. The diesel ran great. Fuel consumption was less than two liters per hour at 2200 rpm. At around dusk the wind picked up and we decided to set sail. It was beautiful out there. The sky was full of high altitude mares tails and as the sun set they turned into brilliant red and orange whisps of fire. Solera heeled to the breeze and with a comfortable motion carried us toward Baja.
With a moonless night darkness slowly creeped in and at the same time the wind steadily built up. The bow wake was sending out it’s now familiar shower of bioluminescent sparks. I told Cyn when the apparent wind reaches fifteen we’ll put the first reef in. About an hour later it was time. We’ll just fire up the diesel point her into the wind, take in the reef, shut the diesel down and off we’ll go. Engine wouldn’t start. Tried everything but nothing. So, we hove to and put in the reef. Next, I went and got a screwdriver and started the diesel just like, years ago, I started my 1967 Triumph GT6 when it’s solenoid went bad. We were about 25 miles out but decided to turn back to San Carlos where parts would be available if needed.
Found the problem the next day. I traced the ignition wires and found a plug connection below the engine that was filled with oil and partially unplugged. A quick cleaning and reconnecting was all it took. In more serious circumstances, this could have been done at sea. But, we have plenty of time and are not on any schedule so no big deal. We are going to leave on May 8 in the afternoon for an overnight crossing. Oscar will be crossing also on Bombay. I’ve written this before but the next post should be from Baja.
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