New shoes for baby

Shed the tread
My 17 year-old tire finally did what it was supposed to do... delaminate and die. I've had a trip to the tire store on my list for a week, now that I'm using the VW Westy on a daily basis. And as I was tooling out of the ranchitos (the desert/dirt road open development on the NE part of San Carlos) after a stop at the GREEN FLASH, something started banging on the van.
My first thought was "blown tire" but I looked out the window and saw the tire wasn't deflated. Then I thought, "Oh No, not the motor!" But I only got the sound when the van moved, and the motor was ticking away as I sat there.
So I finally got out and walked back to the tire where I found a flap of rubber and stainless steel hanging from the top of the tire. The tread had peeled off, but the tire still had air.

A quarter mile down the road was a tire guy's shed- a llantera they call it in these parts. I had used him before and he was pretty good. He has a little metal shelter, no walls, on the side of the road, where he fixes tires and keeps a few used tires in various sizes to sell. I can't remember his name.
I drove the Westy down the road and had him pull off the bad tire and put the spare on the car, and top off the air pressure. He asked for 30 pesos, or about $2.70 US. I gave him 50.
When I brought the van home, the 1st Mate was relieved that the mishap didn't occur at 60 mph on a curve and suggested the trip to the tire shop.

Fresh Tires,
great price
The Continental/General Tire shop on the main road in Guaymas was my choice. The Westy weighs almost 6,000 pounds, so a heavy duty tire is required. My research online showed that the General Altimax RT 205 R70 14 was a good replacement, and as it turned out, they had them in stock. (I had priced tires online. The best deal was $290 for 4 tires out-the-door price, but 10 days to order them in Tucson .) The cost here was $267 complete and the tires were made this year in Mexico. They had new equipment for mounting and balancing, and the people were really nice, and accepted my VISA for payment.
...and a warning
For those of you who haven't seen this video about old tires (even if you've never used them) and how they can kill you, click here: http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4826897

A tale of two sails

The GREEN FLASH is somewhat larger than our current sailboat, BLISS. How much larger, you ask?
Bliss is 33" long, the FLASH is 43' plus a 7 foot bowsprit, taking her to 50' overall. BLISS weighs (displaces) 8 tons, FLASH about 12 tons. The mast on BLISS is 40' from deck to top, whereas you can add almost another 20' to reach the top of the mast on the FLASH... and that's where the major difference is between these boats. FLASH's wind engine is around 1000 square feet and BLISS's is about 400. The difference really becomes apparent at the sail loft (our storage room). The small bundle in these photos is a jib (the sail in the front of the boat) for BLISS; the large bundle in the bag is a jib for the FLASH.
Other things come into play when you add more sail area... The force on a 565 sq. ft. jib is exponentially higher than the 220 sq. ft. jib, so the material needs to be either heavier (to be stronger) or the material needs to be "more advanced." And more expensive...
BLISS's jib is constructed of panels of Dacron (synthetic) fabric, sewn together and fitted with reinforcement at the corners and spots on the sail where it will rub against something. A sail this size of this material will cost about $1400 new.
The GREEN FLASH sail is built from panels of Pentex (advanced synthetic material) with reinforcing at corners and chafe points. It also has heavy threads of Kevlar (the material used to make bullet-proof vests) running through the Pentex to add strength, and few other bells and whistles you should have when you hoist up this monster to the top of a 60 foot mast in a stiff breeze. This sail costs about $5300 when new.

As a general rule, I don't buy my sails new. I find that a lot of sailors have much more money than I do, so I buy their "trade-ins" when they pick up their new suite of sails. The sailmakers can make a little on the mark-up of the used sail, plus repairs and alterations the sail may need for a different boat. If it wasn't for used sails, the sailmakers would probably never see me at all.

Now, I should add that I didn't pay $5300 for that sail. I bought it from the man who made it for his own boat and is a professional sailmaker (for many years) who is now in Mexico and cruising our area. Because he made it for his own boat, he didn't spare any expense, so I think I did really well. I paid him 25% more for the sail to make some revisions to the thing. It's so big, I need a parking lot in order to spread this sail out on the ground... it's a triangle 47x45x25 feet.

When I think about putting this sail up, I have mixed feelings.

Just for Rob

Rob's Comment: "OK, so where is my little red dot on the greater map of things? :o))"

September 15, 2008 11:13 AM

I know you're out there reading this...

Because I have IP2MAP (the little button near the bottom, right hand side). IP2Map tells me where my last 100 readers are from, based on their IP number, then it puts them on a map of the world, like this:


then it lists the last 100 places in the world where you'all logged into the net (an abbreviated version here):

MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN (UNITED STATES)
GUAYMAS, SONORA (MEXICO)
CAMARILLO, CALIFORNIA (UNITED STATES)
GREECE
BURLINGTON, VERMONT (UNITED STATES)
TOKYO, TOKYO (JAPAN)
ROYAL OAK, MICHIGAN (UNITED STATES)
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA (UNITED STATES)
BURLINGTON, VERMONT (UNITED STATES)
GUAYMAS, SONORA (MEXICO)
BEL AIR, MARYLAND (UNITED STATES)
COVENTRY, ENGLAND (UNITED KINGDOM)
BUDAPEST, BUDAPEST (HUNGARY)
EL CAJON, CALIFORNIA (UNITED STATES)
COVENTRY, ENGLAND (UNITED KINGDOM)
BATH, PENNSYLVANIA (UNITED STATES)
TOKYO, TOKYO (JAPAN)
HOPKINSVILLE, KENTUCKY (UNITED STATES)
ELIZAVILLE, NEW YORK (UNITED STATES)
CINCINNATI, OHIO (UNITED STATES)
CLEARWATER, KANSAS (UNITED STATES)
SYDNEY, NEW SOUTH WALES (AUSTRALIA)
BURLINGTON, VERMONT (UNITED STATES)
VICTORIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA (CANADA)
GERMANTOWN, MARYLAND (UNITED STATES)
SLIPPERY ROCK, PENNSYLVANIA (UNITED STATES)
IOWA CITY, IOWA (UNITED STATES)
RENTON, WASHINGTON (UNITED STATES)
BRIDGEVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA (UNITED STATES)
LEESBURG, FLORIDA (UNITED STATES)

I guess most of you are shy, or feeling guilty for reading my blog when you're supposed to counting beans on your (or the company's) computer, because I don't get a lot of comments.

Maybe you feel like, "Gawd, he's a gazillion miles away, doing some things I want to do when I finally dump this stoopid job," or maybe, "Gawd, what a dumbo! He goes out and buys a wreck of a boat when he has a perfectly good sloop to go sailing in. Why isn't he lying on the sand sipping Coronas like they do in the commercials??"

Or maybe it's a BLEND (love that word!) of the two thoughts above, or maybe it's something totally unrelated and/or completely original. The sad thing is, nobody will really know until you put your teensy digits on the keyboard and type something in the comments.

Or maybe, you think, "Gawd. He doesn't know me from Adam/Eve!" I can help with that... I'll go through that list and tell you what I know about each place, so you'll feel more at home here...

MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN (UNITED STATES)-- beer, not Corona, though
GUAYMAS, SONORA (MEXICO)-- c'mon, that's probably ME
CAMARILLO, CALIFORNIA (UNITED STATES)-- Home of Harbor Freight, on Hwy 101
GREECE-- unh...
BURLINGTON, VERMONT (UNITED STATES)-- I know, I know! Woolen clothes and stuff
TOKYO, TOKYO (JAPAN)-- Must be Maria, from Ferroever!
ROYAL OAK, MICHIGAN (UNITED STATES)-- Is this where all those guys with Westy's live?
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA (UNITED STATES)-- Garrison Keillor, mosquitos and ice fishing
BURLINGTON, VERMONT (UNITED STATES)-- see above
GUAYMAS, SONORA (MEXICO)-- More of ME
BEL AIR, MARYLAND (UNITED STATES)-- Oooooh. Sounds ritzy.
COVENTRY, ENGLAND (UNITED KINGDOM)-- Is this one of my old girlfriends?
BUDAPEST, BUDAPEST (HUNGARY)-- unh...
EL CAJON, CALIFORNIA (UNITED STATES)-- hmmm
COVENTRY, ENGLAND (UNITED KINGDOM)-- Can't give me up, can you girl?
BATH, PENNSYLVANIA (UNITED STATES)-- ??
TOKYO, TOKYO (JAPAN)-- I'll check on your boat for ya'.
HOPKINSVILLE, KENTUCKY (UNITED STATES)-- lost me there...
ELIZAVILLE, NEW YORK (UNITED STATES)-- Maybe you could clue me in?
CINCINNATI, OHIO (UNITED STATES)-- Hey! The original owners of the GF lived there!
CLEARWATER, KANSAS (UNITED STATES)-- unh..
SYDNEY, NEW SOUTH WALES (AUSTRALIA)-- It's BEER, mate!
BURLINGTON, VERMONT (UNITED STATES)-- I don't blame you. Must be freezing up there!
VICTORIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA (CANADA)-- Could it be the crew from SOL MATE?
GERMANTOWN, MARYLAND (UNITED STATES)-- I know Chevy Chase, though...
SLIPPERY ROCK, PENNSYLVANIA (UNITED STATES)-- Home of the Slippery Rock State Teachers College, and Rolling Rock beer (I think).
IOWA CITY, IOWA (UNITED STATES)-- Good sailing there, eh?
RENTON, WASHINGTON (UNITED STATES)-- Home of Mr. Softy!
BRIDGEVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA (UNITED STATES)-- unh...
LEESBURG, FLORIDA (UNITED STATES)-- That rings a bell..

SEE? Now don't you feel at home?
I've done my part, the rest is up to you.

Captain Chlorophyll is Back

In my distant past, when we lived on an old chicken ranch in Northern California, I would don my grubbies and grab my weed eater and go out and whack weeds. After several hours of this I would return to the house, my body covered in tiny bits of green foliage, sort of like a Gilley Suit, or a survivor from a coleslaw accident.

I took one look in the mirror and said to myself, "I am Captain Chlorophyll, defender of well groomed lawns."


Whenever the yard needed whacking, I would warn the 1st Mate that Captain Chlorophyll would be making an appearance. Today, the desert needed it.

So, behold my work... It's been said that a redneck is a person who cuts his lawn and finds a car.

This is what the Captain finds...

Fortunately, the insects were off eating something else, (I haven't seen Miguel's German Shepard for days), so the work was just hot and sweaty and slightly less painful.

A new (permanent?) home for BLISS

I went out to the GREEN FLASH as promised and gave a pint of blood to the local insect population before scampering back to the house with a five gallon paint container filled with polyurethane foam to act as a temporary mooring buoy.

Then it was off to the bay in the dinghy to move the boat one last time. We've been on four different moorings in as many months, until we heard that Vincenzo, owner of the charter boat BRAVO was the guy to see about putting in a mooring. Two weeks and $500 later, we now have a home for BLISS.
Vincenzo (do they call him Vinnie?) will relocate the mooring if we want, so that's a good thing. He tells me the mooring consists of a block of concrete four by six feet, three feet high.

Next up, I'm going to see if I can find instruction online on how to build a proper mooring ball.

It's Alive!

After a week and a half of turning wrenches, reading manuals, spraying high temperature paint, cleaning parts, asking questions online, removing gunk from my hair and getting all the doorknobs in the house covered with dirty grease (yuk!), our 1986 Westy camper runs just fine.

This vehicle sat in our Errorzona RV storage lot next to out 27 foot motor home for about a year and a half. The mice moved in and left their calling cards everywhere. They didn't chew on the wires (that I know of) and when I discovered their presence, I left them a couple of box lunches (MousePruf). The bait was all gone when I returned 2 weeks later and the boxes themselves chewed up. So I left a couple more. I found their little mummified bodies curled up next to each other in a cabinet filled with shredded insulation (awwww...) when I cleaned out the van.

The 1st Mate and I jumped into the Westy and took off for Algodones Beach for a test drive. The van passed with flying colors (except maybe the temp gauge showed it warming up to 2/3 of the way, but it's 100 degrees today) and my joy has no bounds, 1st Mate grinned until her face hurt and I owe it all to my higher power and the guys and girls on the Vanagon and Westy discussion group (click on the title above to go there) on the internet... and to the 1st Mate who allowed me to turn our carport into a mechanic's workshop.

I had decided to clean and paint all the parts I could as I dismantled the motor, (like I had done with the diesel on BLISS, our Morgan 33 sailboat) and I'm glad I did. It makes things easier to see and work on when it's not all that same dirty grease covered with dust color. I'm pleased with the way it came out, but the proof will be in how long it runs before it breaks.

Now I have the "garage" to clean, and put away all the tools, and get out to the GREEN FLASH with my machete and a weed eater. The boat is living in a jungle after all the monsoon rains. You know, a sailor's work is never done. Thank God.