Getting closer

Katya practiced her special effects make up on Ethan

We were getting close to departing for the Galapagos via the Cocos islands but the cruising Gods saw fit to delay our departure. The service of our turbo charger turned into a monumental disaster. The mechanic who was supposed to service it did so much damage to the unit that we have had to buy a new one and I have had a valuable lesson in getting things fixed in foreign countries: don't trust anybody to do a good job. Its actually quite amazing as to the damage that he did. This now means that we have not only had to cancel our plans to head south but now the boat is not operational and I have to purchase a new turbo from Japan and o and collect it from San Diego. Fuming is not the word. What makes it worse is that the turbo was working fine before I gave it to the mechanic.  


We have now decided that we will start our trans Pacific passage from  La Cruz, mainly because we have no other alternative as the boat is in pieces at the moment, but I suppose that is not so bad, La Cruz is a great place to be. 

Jude making covers for the Kayaks

Jude and Katya decided to take a trip back to Australia to see Jude's mother who is not well. I took advantage of an empty boat to complete so of the more complicated boat projects one of which was  installing 4 new 220 amp hr batteries each weighing 65kgs each. I decided to move the position of the batteries to where they were originally located, under the aft starboard bunk, but this required quite a bit of modification.    

450lb Swordfish

On the 16th Feb I boarded the flight back to San Diego California to collect the new Turbo. I could have had it sent by courier to the Marina but I did not want to risk having it held up, or even lost, in Guadalajara which is not unusual. I was back in La Cruz within 3 days and very pleased to have the turbo back. The following day I reattached the turbo, refilled the coolant, replaced the impeller and fired the engine up for the first time in nearly three months. I cannot express the relief of having a boat that is capable of moving again.


The other boat projects are nearly complete and now I can focus on planning the passage across the Pacific, for which we hope to depart the 2nd week in March, weather and crusing Gods permitting.   

Katya made this pom-pom hat, not great for the tropics but quite amazing.