Hot Times in Chiapas

Bird sitting on a turtle.

We have been in Marina Chiapas for about 10 days, it is a brand new marina being dedicated while we visit. So new that it is not on the charts yet, so we found it by tooling around the harbor until we came upon an un charted channel.  There was a greeting party when we arrived, so I guess they knew where we were, even if we didn't.

The boarding party.

 

We found out that the boat documentation we have been using to check into the marinas along the way is not the current one and we will not be able to get exit papers from Mexico until we produce the current one. We have turned the boat upside down a couple ot times to no avail, so I ordered a certified copy from the coast guard documentation center. We took a little trip to the colonial city of San Cristobal de las Casas. to escape the heat. It is up in the mountains with a mild climate and lots of indians trying to sell us clothing and bangles of all sorts.

 We took a tour of Sumidero canyon and saw some monkeys and crocodiles. The canyon was formed by an opening  fault and had some 1000 meter faces along with water depths of 200 meters.

 The next day we visited the city market which was clearly the largest we have seen on this trip. Once we left the crafts section, we were in true Mexico with everything on earth for sale in stalls on the ground. It streched on for about 6 blocks square.

We took the midnight special bus back to Tapachula that night leaving at 10 p.m. and arriving in Tapachula at 6 a.m. They had to wake us up to clean the bus. We made it back to the marina by mid morning, where Bob eagerly awaited us.

I figured out that the documentation we ordered did not go through, so gave it another go. With extra time afforded us by this screwup and a big storm forecast to move up the west coast of Central America, we had a little time on our hands to look for trouble. The engine has not been running as smoothly or delivering the expected fuel economy, so we enlisted the aid of a local mechanic to check for a problem with the injectors. We went through the fuel system in detail, determining that the tank uptake was plugged and starving the injector pump. I cleared it up by blowing on rhe hose, but the engine ran only marginally better. By removing the fuel lines to each injector, we found that #2 & #3 cyliders were not contributing much, and probably had a blown head gasket causing them to leak compression between each other.
Where can we get another gasket? Not in Mexico, seems. After some digging around checking out going to Guatemala, or trying to order one from the US, we decided it was hopeless and we would just run it as is until we got to Ecuador. As luck would have it one of the other boaters getting ready to return to the states happened to have a spare for his Yanmar and was willing to let buy him a new one in the states in exchange for the spare.
The mechanic will alledgedly come put it on today.
We also initiated the costruction of a transom boarding ladder to make getting on the boat from the water easier. The welder seemed determined to no use my design exactly, but should bring me something before too long. I didn't front him any money,so it should be interesting.
Mechanic showed up mid day and proceded to remove the head from the engine. The head gasket looked intact, but the valves in cyl 2 and 3 were pretty coated in carbon, especially no. 2. It only cost about $40 for him to take it to a shop and have the valves ground and the head cleaned, so we went for it. He didn't return that day, so we figured it would be Mon. before we got back on task.

The welder showed up with his version of the ladder, which I confess will probably serve us better than the current method of crawling aboard on your belly like a crocodile.

 

 

I had intended the hinge at the center to bear the load for the lower section when it was in the lowered position, but the welder needed to weld a piece of steel onto it which will drag in the water. I will have to mount it so that it does not stick sown farther than the transom of the boat/

 

The mechanic returned Sun. afternoon to reassemble the engine. When we fired it up, it sounded better, but still not up to par. Disconnecting the injectors revealled the weak link to be #2, as expected due to not much fuel coming from the pump on that line. More discussion led to him removing the injector pump and taking it to the Laboratorio Injection on Monday to have them inspect, clean and possibly repair it. If it is simple, it will cost about $80, and if it is complicated, they won't be able to get the parts, and will just reassemble it and return it. The mechanic is charging $80 to remove it, take it to the laboritorio, retrieve it when done and reinstall it. Seems like a reasonable wager to maybe get the engine back up to snuff.  Either way we should have it back together by Wed., The weather may give us a break on Thurs. and Fri., so if the documentation gets to Ruskin and is overnighted to here by Thurs. we may be able to leave for Ecuador. More icky weather is forecast for the weekend, so we just have to play it by ear.

 

 

 

The Rest of Mexico

We stayed in Zijuatenejo for four nights, did a bit of shopping, fueled up, and generally lazing about. When the first of May showed up, the government and all the banks shut down for May day, and the lead into cinco de mayo began. We headed out for Acapulco on the first breezy afternoon and were rewarded with a nice sail for about 12 hours. We wandered into Acapulco in the middle of the next day. We went into Bahia Puerto Marques, next bay down and anchored close to the new marina project in one of the calmest anchorages to date. No surge reached us at all. The next day a few jet skis and some banana boats showed up, but still a pretty nice spot. We were able to take a taxi from the beach to buy fuel  and groceries. By Friday, it was obvious that the Cinco deMayo frenzy was building, so we opted for a two night passage to Bahias de Huatulco to pass the mayhem at sea. A pretty easy passage brought us into Bahia de Sacrificios right as planned.
We got anchored and Joan went for a swim. Unfortunately, a bunch of jelly fish were already enjoying the clear water, yielding some nasty stings for her. Sigh, one of the last fabled paradises and we can't go in the water.
Moved to the town of Huatulco the next day and filled the fuel tanks again. The only spot to anchor near the fuel dock was pretty packed with fishing boats, so we kept an ear open for bumps in the night as the wind shifted. I got up a couple of times to find us within a boat length of a 40' sport fisher. The next morning I checked the wind foecast and we were lookig at three days of settled weather to cross the dreaded bay of Tehuantepec, famous for howling gales as weather fronts from the north are funneled across the narrow isthmus. A nice breeze came up, beam on, so we sailed along at wind speed in 5 to 7 knots and smooth seas fot the next 20 hours. These were perfect conditions for easy passagemaking, and it was a treat.
We had to motor for the next 24 hrs. As the same light breezes came from dead astern, which is too light to keep the sails filled as we try to move ahead of it.
We got to Puerto Madiera mid morning, and went into the port to find the marina. This marina is too new to be on any charts and they weren't answering the radio. We found an uncharted channel snaking off to the southeast and sure enough, the marina appeared at the end. A guy motioned us to slip, helped us get tied up, and intrduced us to the representatves from the navy, port captain, and customs, along with a german shepherd to come sniff Bob. Quite a production, but very courteous and professional. This is the final frontier with Guatemala about 15 miles south. It's hot, remote, and relatively secure, not too hard to go to town, and a very cheap place to leave the boat. We want to visit the colonial city of San Cristobal de las Casas in the mountains for a few days to escape the heat, and head back to the USA for a few months to sort it all out.