Cruiser's plans are written in sand...

Mazatlan

And some will add, "at low tide" but that doesn't rhyme worth a damn, and if art isn't important, what is? We originally had planned to leave this morning, but when I checked the weather, something had popped up. Actually, two things (so far).

Hurricane Alex moved over northeastern Mexico and started pulling air from the Pacific Ocean. The spillover across the Baja peninsula was creating high winds and seas off the coast and up into the Sea of Cortez. Stuff that would overpower our autopilot and force me to hand steer for 36 hours through dangerous seas. Postpone the trip. Maybe to Tuesday.

Last night, the 1st Mate made chicken mole on rice and I washed the dishes... and I discovered that the light over the galley sink wasn't working. It was a leakage of electrons, I learned today, inside the wiring in the engine room, which adjoins the galley. Armed with a light, I entered the engine room and while there, found that the fuel line from the deck fill to the tank had a problem.

Evidently, the hose clamp had loosened, allowing diesel to seep around the fitting on the tank, attacking the exposed insides of the hose where it rested against the tank. The material of the hose had turned into a black, greasy, sticky substance that can only be removed by petroleum distillates or (lucky for me) automotive hand cleaner. Also lucky for me, the gunk hadn't entered the tank, which would have clogged up the diesel engine in a hurry. Loosening two other hose clamps enabled me to pull out the hose for the 1st Mate's camera.

We'll locate a replacement hose somewhere and look for the next show stopper. But since we can't do anything about the weather, we'll try to take it easy and enjoy the "time off."

The work goes on...

We are getting into the real heat of Mexico summer. The First Mate took my photo as I was leaving for the Green Flash... here's the summer fashion for this morning: cut off sweat pants, tank top, cheap but sturdy sandals, iPod, kerchief headband to keep the sweat out of eyes, super-dark sunglasses (prescription). What you can't see is the sheen of spray-on sunblock by Banana Boat (great idea), but you can see the sheen of sweat already starting at 6 am.

The sun comes up early here- we're on the eastern edge of the combined Mountain/Pacific daylight savings time.

Over the past couple of days, I've been putting up more vertical supports and using them to haul the cut-up deck sections off the FLASH using block and tackle systems. I also built a frame for the front gate to the area.
Later today I'll haul up four deep cycle 6 volt batteries and build a battery bank in the bathtub. I'll rig the wind generator to this bank and run a 2000 watt inverter to power my electrical tools and lights if I should need them. I also have an Onan 4kw generator and a Honda 2000, but if I can work without the noise and the cost of gasoline, I'm happier... plus I can hook up my stereo and listen to my favorite music if I want. Hmmm. Maybe it's time to get the 12 volt fridge fixed?

Yet another "Before" picture of the GREEN FLASH. The bathtub circled in red.