Food
Tuesday morning started well with the arrival of the new hydraulic hoses. Within two to three hours they were installed, leaks eliminated, the system bled and ready to go.
While they were working, we needed to stay out of the way so decided that, since we didn’t have any food, we’d walk to a nearby restaurant for breakfast and then a little grocery store for some food.
One of the men working on the steering system, Mark, recommended a place nearby named El Palacio de los Jugos.
When we arrived we felt a bit lost, studying various menus, all in Spanish, of course. As far as I could tell, it was a cash only place-something I had little of at that moment. Ultimately, we decided on each getting a chicken empanada and a bottle of milk. It wasn’t very filling but was tasty. While eating at one of the outdoor tables, a man told us they had traditional breakfasts too and that they were cheap. I guess one just needed to know how to ask!
The next stop was the little grocery, Pardo Supermarket. Again, nobody there spoke English. Things were quite expensive. For example, a pineapple was $5, bananas were $0.99/lb. A half gallon of milk was over $3. This is double or more compared to home prices.
Boat trip anyone?
Not long after getting back it was determined we had steerage and were ready to take it for the first trial.
Bill, the company owner and previous owner of Strider, came to the marina, and we set off.
It was wonderful! The new engine purred and we were flying (at 8 knots…). We passed through the 22nd street draw bridge and all was good.
Suddenly, the over-temp alarm sounded. We shut the engine down right away and drifted, backwards, up the river, being driven by the wind upstream. Those were some very tense moments. I didn’t expect my first time steering Strider would be unpowered and adrift.
Bill and Mark were down in the engine bay trying to figure out what was going wrong. Oh, and it was also blowing diesel around the bay.
We very nearly hit several other yachts along the river as we slowly were blown upstream. I had steerage but no propulsion.
Slowly, starting the engine for a minute here or there as needed, we made our way back to marina and to the slip. Nobody got hurt, and we didn’t hit any boats or bridges, so we’ll call it a success!
It seems the raw water impeller may have failed. It was brand new, but I guess these things happen. Also one of the raw water hoses was loose.
As for the diesel, it seems the return line wasn’t hooked up correctly. Let’s just say that mistakes had been made. We’re officially blaming the first guy since he is no longer here.
Power to the people
Everyone went home by 4, and we spent a quiet evening on the boat. Then the air conditioner stopped working. It seems it burned out a brand new 30 amp shore power cable.
So we spent the night without 110 volt current. This isn’t a big deal; most things run on 12V power. However, the refrigerator wasn’t working either. This is especially troubling since it is supposed to be powered by the inverter from the house batteries. This remains to be solved….
Oh, and the bilge was slowly filling from somewhere, and the primary bilge pump decided to not work. I had to pump the bilge in the middle of the night with the backup bilge pump.
The fun continues…