Arrived in Zihuantenejo

This afternoon we arrived in Zihuantenejo, after 30 hours sailing form Manzanillo.

After leaving Barra de Navidad on Monday we sailed to Manzanillo and spend the first night anchored in front of Las Hadas marina.

The next morning we left early and cought a couple of hours of decent wind, enough to turn off the engine and enjoy the quietness of sailing and the calm Pacific Ocean. It is very very hot, and everyone are doing their best to find cover from the sun which has been shining all the time.

There was almost no swell and no one got seasick, and we arrived in Zihuantenejo without any problems.

Tomorrow we'll spend the morning exploring the town, and in the afternoon we'll probably take off so we can arrive in Acapulco Friday afternoon.

Ready to go!

Today we did another sea trial, and everything worked fine. We went to Coastecomate where we anchored and went for a swim and later returned to the marina.

Tomorrow we'll leave Barra and sail to Manzanillo, where we'll anchor in front of the Las Hadas marina to go for some provisioning and buy spare parts for the engine.

This evening we had Jim and Juanita over for yet another goodbye dinner, have had quite a few of them since we left the marina in Ventura, California, where they were our neighbors.

We're all happy to be leaving tomorrow, it's time to move on!

Sea trial - and a bit of drama

Yesterday we went out in the bay for a sea trial, to test our newly rebuild engine and transmission for the first time.

We started out spending about an hour at the fuel dock to taking on diesel, and then headed out in the bay. On board was Laurent, Martin, Johanne and the mechanic, I stayed in the dinghy and followed the boat. Just in case...

All went well and the engine was running fine, and after about an hour we returned to the marina. There was some wind, and it was not so easy to park the boat in our slip - and it suddenly got a lot harder when the transmission failed and Laurent could no longer use the reverse. As the boat was drifting towards some big expensive powerboats I pushed with the dingy and Laurent did his best only being able to move the boat forward, and we managed to dock the boat making only a small scratch on another boat.

The mechanic took the transmission out, checked it and put it back in this morning making some adjustments to the idle rpm. This afternoon we went back and forth a lot outside the marina, and all seems to be ok now.

Tomorrow we'll go out and test everything again, and if it still works we'll leave Monday morning. We cross our fingers...

Engine back on board!

Yesterday, after more than 2 months delay, we finally got our engine back. Completely rebuild and with all moveable parts replaced, this will hopefully be the end of our many engine problems.

After the engine being held hostage by evil mechanic, we finally decided to involve the marina management, pay the ransom and get our engine back.

Hopefully the installation will be completed tomorrow, and we will be able to get out of here by the end of the week.

3 months in Barra de Navidad is more than enouhg, and it's about time we continue South.

Martin and Johanne joined us about a week ago, they will be sailing with us for a couple of months. Johanne started the Open Water course and we have been diving in the pool at the hotel the last couple of days while waiting for the mechanic to finish the work. Then we will do a sea trial, and if everything works we'll be on our way to Huataulco very soon.

Engine out!

Last weeke we took the engine out of the boat to have it rebuild.

It was heavy, but after about 2 hours we managed to get it out of the boat and onto the truck.

Hopefully it will be ready again in another week or so, we are still waiting for the new parts to arrive from the states.

Charlotte arrived almost 2 weeks ago, and will stay with us for 2-3 weeks more.

John finished the Open Water course, and has started on the Advanced course. Diving is ok in this area, and really nice around the Melaque anchorage where the visibility is much better.

One of the best things about being here in Barra de Navidad is the French bakery.

The baker comes to the marina in his boat every morning, selling fresh baguettes and croissants.

We have decided to stay in Barra de Navidad for 2-3 weeks to have the engine rebuild. By doing so we will hopefully avoid any more engine problems in the near future.

So we'll just have to endure the beach and the pools at a 5 star hotel a few weeks more.

It's a hard life...