One of the things I love most about the cruising life is the support community, and this is why we missed Bahia so much.

Dave Teaches a Class on Water Pump Repair
Our world is one of shared adventure/shared adversity. So we become nearly instant friends with the other cruisers in an anchorage. At Puerto Amistad, there is a 'palapa' built specifically for the cruisers. A palapa is a Central American word for an open air thatched hut. But this one has a power plug every 2 feet, so no matter how many computers, iPods, cell phones, etc one brings ashore, there are enough outlets to plug everyone in.

The palapa is a cruiser's meeting place, away from the bar, where we can bring our computers in, hang out and use shore power and faster wifi, exchange books, music, DVD's, travel stories, maintenance issues, etc. Not a day goes by where there isn't a long discussion about some important issue... everything from renewing visas in Ecuador, to buying batteries, to outboard motor problems.

For example, a boat here called Dream Caper is looking for new batteries. Over the past couple of weeks there have been discussions on (a) reviving their old batteries (b) shipping heavy stuff into Ecuador (c) the merits of sailing back to Panama for batteries (d) Locating deep-cycle batteries for sale in Ecuador (e) The merits and downside of AGM batteries. I think they finally settled on buying Chinese AGM's via Quito. No Golf Cart batteries to be found here, unfortunately, and they don't want to go back to Panama.

As another example, we were having waterpump problems. We had several discussions ashore about our pump issues, and discivered that the boat next to us, Victoria, is also having water pump problems. So when Dave sat down with this box of spares to take apart our water pump and repair it, Kim and Pierre from Victoria came over and got a lesson from Dave in water pump repair.

Another boat, Amigo, is having his Perkins Front End taken apart by the local diesel mechanic. Dave wants to watch, just to get any tips from the mechanic on attacking the front end of a Perkins diesel.

Another boat is working on dinghy repair. We had been monitoring their progress and hoping to borrow a smidge of their 2-part glue to re-glue one of our oarlocks. But it turns out they don't have enough glue for their project... so ensued a long discussion on (a) whether they could bring glue back in their luggage from their trip home (b) the chances of finding the right glue in Ecuador (c) the merits and pitfalls of using 5200 Fast Cure instead.

Someone has a computer problem... word has gotten around that I'm a 'computer wizard', and any time I'm in the palapa, I get consulted on the latest computer issues (my computer runs too slow, my mouse jumps around when I turn my GPS on, Maxsea can't find my charts, Maxsea won't recognize my GPS, will xyz program run on Vista, what about Windows 7, etc). I have been repaid several times--never in cash--but usually with a bottle of wine or a nice meal.

There is also a "pay it forward" mentality here...I help you, you help someone else, they help someone else, and we all get that warm feeling.

And yes, here like every other anchorage, there are some "lost sheep"... people who's boats and mentality are totally unprepared for the cruising life... While WE were spending hours in Panama City doing maintenance and hunting down spares, they were hanging out in the Balboa Yacht Club drinking beer.

Those people tend to end up in remote ports with broken/inadequate gear, no tools, no spares, and no know-how. They are the bane of every anchorage, but we help them too. (Actually, we end up helping 2 or 3 times, and then ducking around the corner when they come ashore !!)

Labels: Ecuador, Maintenance

We have had a really fun and adventurous year, visiting Chile, Peru, Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, Germany, France, California, Florida, NC, SC, Georgia. Plus getting a huge amount of maintenance work done on Soggy Paws. But it sure is good to be back on board, in the water, and cruising again.

Even though we are a bit on a schedule, and the wind is light, we managed to sail for most of the day yesterday. Our light air 'Code Zero' sail is invaluable in these conditions (without having to deal with the complexities of a spinnaker). We anchored overnight at Isla Salango, using waypoints from the Ecuador Cruiser's Handbook http://svsoggypaws.com/files/EcuadorCruisers2009.pdf We will stop tonight at San Mateo, and then get a very early start on Thursday morning, to be at the 'Waiting Room' for Bahia de Caraquez at 9:45am to be piloted over the bar.

We have a small stuffing box leak and a very small transmission oil drip, but neither is serious and both are fixable. (The 'stuffing box' is the hole where the prop shaft goes from the engine out to the prop. It is stuffed with some magic stuff that lets the shaft turn but theoretically keeps the water out. It is always a delicate balance between 'too tight, and there's too much friction', which is bad. And 'too loose, and the water comes in', which is also bad.

Dave is happy with the engine, though a little stressed by a couple of drops of transmission oil in his clean white bilge. But he is optimistic that he can stop that. We ran the engine for about 2 full hours yesterday, and Mr Perkins sounded good.

We have a few more chores to do on our 'must do before setting out for the Galapagos' list, and we are hoping to fit in one more adventure in northern Peru, and also see a little more of Ecuador. Daughter Nicki and her significant other, Phil, are coming for a Christmas visit to Cuenca (Ecuador). And then we set out for the Galapagos around the 6th or 7th of January. Our Autografo (cruising permit) for the Galapagos is 'in process'.

Can't wait!!
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At 11/25/2009 12:55 AM (utc) our position was 01°35.56'S 080°51.68'W

Labels: Ecuador, Maintenance, On Passage

The last thing we did before we left Puerto Lucia was pay our marina bill and pick up our Zarpe from the agent.

Finally the agent who handled our clearance in, and 2 extension requests, and our clearance out, got paid his $183.50 fee, plus a fee of $45 to the Port Captain for the zarpe.

After all the stories we'd previous heard about boats in Salinas overstaying their 3 month 'limit' (a limit imposed only by the Customs man in Salinas, and not elsewhere in Ecuador), and the troubles they had leaving. But we had been very proper with our paperwork (the extension letters). It turned out to be a non-issue for us.

In general, other than the cost, we are VERY VERY happy with our stay at Puerto Lucia Yacht Club. It is a top-notch facility, and we thought the cost somewhat reasonable for the level of service, just a little high for Ecuador, and for a typical cruiser's budget.
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At 11/25/2009 12:55 AM (utc) our position was 01°35.56'S 080°51.68'W

Labels: Ecuador, Maintenance

I can't believe Dave sent Ignacio up the mast to re-run our spinnaker halyard.




But he had fun up there, and we managed not to drop him.

He's a really fine young man, and we are sorry to have to say goodbye.

Goodbye Ignacio!!

Soggy Paws Looking Pretty Good

Labels: Ecuador, Maintenance

We were supposed to go in first thing in the morning, because that's when the high tide was. But we're on Ecuadorian time, so finally about 11am the lift came. We were afloat by 11:45. They didn't drop us. There is no water coming in any of the wrong places. The engine works. The bottom paint survived the lift. What more can you ask for?

Tomorrow we leave for Bahia de Caraquez. We plan to arrive there on the high tide at 11am on Thursday, just in time for Thanksgiving Dinner!

Labels: Ecuador, Maintenance

After complete disassembly of the back end of the engine (to repair a leaky rear main seal), and some preventive maintenance on the ignition, Dave got it all back together again. No parts left over, either!


And better yet, we fired 'Mr. Perkins' up and he roared to life. Yay!!

The first time we tried, Dave had forgotten to switch on part of the ignition cut-out circuit, and as I listened from down below to the engine turn over and not start... my heart sank. My job was to sit down below with a hose jammed in the intake, to let cooling water flow while the engine was running. So I couldn't tell what was going on.

But once all the switches were in the right place, it started right up. We ran it for a couple of minutes while Dave checked things out. Other than needing to tighten one belt up, everything's ready for our early morning launch.

Labels: Ecuador, Maintenance

We got our liferaft repacked for an unbelievably cheap price of $170.


Almost all boats carry a liferaft. This is a $3,000-$4,000 investment that you hope you never use. I have never even seen our liferaft, except in a brochure. Ours is a Revere Offshore 6-person raft.

Life rafts are required to be 'serviced' every few years. You take it to a certified facility, they open it up, blow it up, make sure it still holds air, and change out the perishable supplies. In the U.S., it's a big deal, and costs a lot of money, between the labor rates and the regulations as to what the can and can't do.

But all 'overseas' repackings are not created equal either. A friend in Panama had theirs done and it cost them about $1200 (!!). So we were pretty careful in asking questions about what the costs were before we took our raft in for servicing. At most places, there is a fixed price for the repacking, and then a price for each item that might be changed out. It is wise to not just compare the fixed price, but also look at the supplies price list. There can sometimes be a huge markup on the supplies.

There are 4 companies that we found that said they could do it in Guayaquil (the big city a 2 hour bus ride away). All of them are certified by some well-known liferaft company, NONE of them are certified by our manufacturer (Revere). Dave finally settled on Parfi Engineering and Inspectors

Jofrey Parfi, the owners son, speaks great English, and offered to pick us up from the bus station and take us to his facility. One of our requirements was that they allow us to watch them open it up, blow it up, and repack it. Another was that we could choose what 'disposables' actually got replaced. Another was good English, so we could communicate easily with the personnel. A final requirement was the ability to vacuum seal the bag when they repacked it.

A Parfi Technician Inspects our Hard Case
We teamed up with fellow cruisers Steve and Josie from the British vessel Elysian, and took the 9am CLP bus from La Libertad. It was no trouble 'checking' our 75-lb liferaft in the bus's cargo bin. On arrival in Guayaquil, there was a guy with a cart waiting, and for $1 he carted the two rafts out to the pickup point. 5 minutes later, Jofrey drove up in his truck, and picked us up.

Within a few minutes, we were in their warehouse facility and opening up the rafts.









They inflated the raft with their compressor, rather than 'using up' our inflation bottle. Then they have to leave it inflated for 30 minutes and check the pressure, to make sure it holds air. While doing that, they inspect all the perishables, which in our case was batteries, water packages, and flares. We opted to replace the batteries and water packages and NOT replace the flares, which are very expensive. Our experience at New Years Eve, firing off old expired flares, was that even those 10 years out of date worked well. We also have an extra supply of flares in our 'ditch bag'.

We got to get in the raft and check it out, and notice where all the accessories were and how they worked. It seems like a very well-built raft, much bigger and heavier-built than our friends' raft. It comes with a waterproof instruction sheet, telling you what you need to do in the first few minutes of your adventure.

It turns out that the inflation/inspection was the EASY part. Getting the deflated raft back IN the package was what took all the time.

They had to re-fold ours about 4 times to get it in a small enough package. Then they put these big straps around it, and squished the crap out of it.


Then they had to put it in the vacuum bag, seal that up, and pump the air out of it (using an industrial vaccum cleaner!) And into the Revere bag and then back into the hard case.

We had to go run some errands, and so didn't get to watch them do the final couple of steps on our raft. But it took them a total of 5 hours to complete the inspection, get the raft sealed up, and finish the paperwork.

We are very satisfied with what Parfi did for us, and would recommend them to others who want to repack their raft before making the big jump.

Labels: Ecuador, Maintenance

One of the last things to do to finish our 'beautification' is to paint the scrollwork on the trailboards (those black things on the bow). That was my job.


We couldn't find gold paint, so we used silver instead. I hand-painted with a small paintbrush. It looked pretty good when we finished. The silver paint matches our grey canvas pretty well.

Labels: Ecuador, Maintenance

We put on 4 coats of bottom paint (plus some extras at the waterline and leading edges) in 2 days. Now we let it dry. We have a launch appointment for early Monday morning.

Today we take our 75-lb liferaft by bus to Guayaquil to get it serviced. More on this adventure tomorrow!

Labels: Ecuador, Maintenance

Well, all umpteen coats of epoxy are done on the bottom. We purposely used different colors as we applied layers. It makes it easy to see where you've missed a spot.


We've been white, red, blue, black, and now cammo-green.


Today we have them come lift us and move the blocks and stands around, so we can epoxy the places where they were. We're giving the epoxy time to dry really hard, and on Monday and Tuesday we'll put 4 coats of bottom paint on.

We couldn't get black bottom paint (our preferred color). I kind of liked the red, but I think we'll end up blue. Dave says he read that was the best color to keep from getting sunk by whales.


While the Stewart Yacht Services guys have been applying the epoxy, Dave has been putting the engine back together...bell housing on, the flywheel, pressure plate, transmission, and shaft coupling. He also worked on our starter, which has been a little cranky when trying to start the engine when it was hot.


Dave is also responsible for painting all the underwater bronze bits.


We have had Ignacio working on more varnishing, and he's now painting the 'trailboards'... the wooden (black) trim pieces on the bow, and our second spinnaker pole. (Note the Gator hat we brought back from the U.S. for him). We couldn't find any polyurethane paint at the local Ace Hardware, so we're using enamel. It should hold up for a couple of years.


And I have been working on finances... trying to get everything set so our financial lives will run pretty much on autopilot next year. We WILL be able to get internet in some places in French Polynesia, but it will be slow and expensive, and I don't want to have to spend all my shore time sitting at a computer.

I've also been provisioning... I've made 3 $250 trips to the grocery store so far. We generally spend $300-$400/month on groceries, and I'm trying to buy a year's worth of groceries!! Of course we won't be able to really carry a year's worth, so it's strategically buying and then carefully stowing.

Labels: Ecuador, Maintenance, Provisioning

We have finally started putting the first coat of epoxy on the bottom today. It took George's guys 2 days to get the waterline right (to Dave's satisfaction), and then another day to finish prepping around the new waterline.


It was raining this morning when we woke up, and we were kinda bummed. But it was just the typical Ecuadorean mist, and it cleared up by mid-morning. They started laying the first coat of epoxy on around noon. It doesn't look like we'll get a second coat on today, but at least we've begun!

While the Stewart Yacht Services guys have been working on the bottom, we've been doing other things, including putting the new name on.



Notice our Paws!!

We used SpeedySigns.com to design, order, and ship our custom vinyl lettering. I don't know if it is the cheapest place on the internet, but their interactive lettering tool sure was easy to use, and it was all waiting for us when we arrived in the States. Putting on the vinyl lettering is a cinch, too.

We have finally finished unpacking all the stuff we brought back with us.

Dave has already mounted the new swim ladder with brackets we brought back. And he's started working on putting the engine back together.

And then there's the socializing--several new boats are in the marina, so we've been trading boat visits and discussing boat projects and Ecuadorean travel. Eight of us got together and shared $2 taxi rides over to Pizza Express in Salinas for two-fer pizzas and beer.

Labels: Ecuador, Maintenance

Well, we finalized the deal for almost $3,000 worth of Hempel brand epoxy product and bottom paint today... here's the plan:

2 coats of Low Viscosity Epoxy Primer. This is a thin 2-part epoxy that flows easily. It is supposed seal up the fiberglass and fill in the pin-holes.

2 coats of Mastic

2 coats of Coal Tar Epoxy

1 coat of Chlorinated Rubber. This is a 'tie coat' that preps for the bottom paint.

4 coats of Hempel Globic Bottom Paint (in 2 colors).

We are hoping this will seal up the fiberglass bottom, keep from having more blisters, and provide good bottom paint for about 4 years of cruising the Pacific.

I've uploaded our spreadsheet with all the detailed Hempel paint product numbers. Here All this stuff was provided directly by the Hempel dealer in La Libertad (near PLYC).

I know you Facebook-ers probably aren't interested, but our fellow cruisers might be. Those of you with questions... email Dave! He'll probably put a more technical post in his Workshop section of the website when he gets a chance.

For now, we've stored all the paint stuff in a locker under the boat, so we can start applying the stuff as soon as we return.

Dave With All Paint Packed Away

The Cats Supervising the Paint Organizing

Dave Checking the Hull Moisture Level One More Time

Labels: Ecuador, Maintenance

A new boat has been put in the vacant slot next to us in the boat yard. It is a wooden Ecuadorian fishing vessel, about 50 feet long.


We were astounded to hear the distinctive sound of a chainsaw coming from next door. Dave went to investigate and found them performing 'surgery' on the stern, below the waterline, with a chainsaw (and they are still at it today).


Because labor is cheap, and import duties are high, it is much cheaper to keep an old old vessel running than to try to bring in a new one from outside the country.


Just the beginning of their surgery. This picture was taken early yesterday, and they are STILL running the chainsaw. (More subsequent pictures below)

Labels: Ecuador, Maintenance

Ignacio Varnishing
We don't have much exterior teak left on Soggy Paws, but we try to keep what little we still have looking nice. This time, with the help of another cruiser, we found Ignacio to do our varnishing.

Our friend Cameron, the captain of Morning Calm III, met Ignacio while out surfing in Salinas. Ignacio is a young Ecuadorian who loves to surf.

Though Ignacio already has a 12-hour night job at the local 'fish factory', Cameron hired Ignacio to help him do cleaning and sanding on Morning Calm for a few hours a day, in exchange for a surfboard. And Cam told us that Ignacio was a really hard worker. So when Cameron had no more work for him, we took him on.

Though he's never varnished before, he's a quick learner and follows direction well. Dave has coached him through the steps to prepare the teak and apply the varnish, and he's done a beautiful job on Soggy Paws' teak, with minimal supervision. This has freed Dave and I up to continue working on other things.

Dave also had him clean the topsides and polish all the exterior stainless. He's quick but meticulous, and really a hard worker.

Ignacio speaks a little English, and is working hard on learning more. He has helped Dave with some of the Spanish vocabulary when he was trying to deal with other people in Spanish.

Labels: Ecuador, Maintenance

While Soggy Paws continues to dry out, Dave has been busying working down his 'high priority before crossing the Pacific' and 'must do while hauled out' projects lists.

He spent a couple of days polishing the prop & other bronze underwater fittings, and installing a new zinc.

He has rebuilt several of our pumps... our galley macerator had gotten erratic, the forward head macerator wouldn't work, and several spare macerators needed checking. One extra macerator motor needed rewinding, so he took it into town to a motor guy, and got it fixed up for $12. Then he installed new bearings, shafts and seals in our two spare engine raw water pumps so they would be ready for quick replacement if needed.

He took our Monitor Wind Vane off, made some adjustments to the gear mesh play because when we finally got to use it on our trip from Costa Rica, we found the gears were way too loose. Then of course it had to be all shined up.

While he was at it, he also raised the swim platform about 10". It was too low and kept slamming right next to our head in the water, when we were trying to sleep in rolly Pacific anchorages.

And we've got new Boat Name and Hailing Port vinyl lettering on order back in the States with Speedy Signs.

He re-plumbed our 2 3700 GPH electric bilge pumps with new Tigerflex smooth bore hose. Now these emergency pumps discharge into the cockpit. While doing so, he found one of the discharge hoses was completely blocked with oyster-like growth. Hmmm... that's probably why it wasn't pumping water out! Then he replumbed our big manual pump with the same hose.

The details of his bilge pump arrangement are on our Soggy Paws Plumbing page, under Bilge Pump Engineering if you are interested.

The past couple of days he has been equalizing the batteries and tracing down a voltage drop on one bank. And so it goes. Next is a week of engine work.

Soggy Paws, Bare and Drying Out

Labels: Ecuador, Maintenance

When we got back on Soggy Paws from 6 weeks in Peru, the boat was fine. Except the deck was completely befowled with bird-poo.

Dave spent about 2 hours scrubbing it down. But at dusk... the pesky bird came home to roost... on the top of our mast. It was a huge Man-O-War bird. We banged the rigging and it flew away. But during dinner, we heard a 'splat' on deck. Yup, he was back, and had just splatted Dave's clean deck.

So the next day, Dave made an 'anti-bird device'. He went up the mast and took down our wind arrow... it's the first thing to go when big birds start roosting on your mast. And then he made a template of the mast top, using an old plastic placemat.


The end result was a plywood 'cap' for the top of the mast (with a hole cut out for the light and lightning dissipator), that has long screws sticking up. He also tied a piece of string from the back of the rod that the masthead fly was on, up to the top of the trilight.

Update: August 10...So far (in 10 days), no more poopy birds!

Labels: Ecuador, Maintenance

Well, Soggy Paws is stripped down to the fiberglass and drying out in the nice cool dry air at Puerto Lucia.

So we are headed off to see some of Peru. We are starting in Lima, with our friends Eduardo and Anamarie. If Edy can take the time off work, we are hoping we can go together to visit the Huarez area of Peru. If now is not a good time for Edy, Dave and I will head off on our own to see Cuzco and the surrounding area.

We don't have a real concrete plan on this trip. Unlike our trip to Chile, where we almost had the entire 7 weeks planned out day-by-day. But Dave has been to Peru twice before, and we've got lots of notes from several cruising friends who've visted Peru recentl, plus the Lonely Planet. We also have the Bolivia section of the LP South America guide.. if we get a chance, we'll try to hit the high spots of Bolivia on this trip as well.

For a compact summary of where we went and where we stayed on our travels within Peru, see our Travel Peru page on the website.

Labels: Ecuador, Maintenance, Peru Inland

Clearance in La Libertad

The clearance here was easy, but expensive. PLYC arranged for all the officials to be here. We had 5 guys in our cockpit... 4 officials and an agent. We only had to pay $13 for 'Reception', but the agent gave us a 'bill' that we will have to pay on clearing out, for the following additional costs:

Zarpe: $43.50
Immigration: $15
Agent Fee $185

This is just for clearance from Bahia de Caraquez, and our clearance back to Bahia. Coming in from somewhere else, would cost a little more, I think. We DIDN'T have to pay a 'lights and bouys' fee, which we had already paid in Bahia (and could show a receipt for).

The agent fee is for a commercial agent to do all our in/out paperwork. (In Bahia, an agent is also required when entering or leaving, but Puerto Amistad acts as the agent and charges no fee).

I am not sure who bore the cost of getting the officials here... in Bahia you pay $60 taxi fare to taxi the officials from Manta. This fee is likely either the 'Reception' fee, or embedded in the Agent Fee.

We discussed with the Customs official, the one who has been making cruisers lives miserable here, our plans to stay at Puerto Lucia for about 2 months. This is the guy who has been using a rule not intended to apply to sailing vessels, to limit the boat stay to 6 months. (which, of course, can be extended if you jump through the right hoops). He agreed that we could stay 2 months (which would make our stay 'in country' over 6 months), and said that if we needed more time, we'd just need to write a letter explaining that we were still working on the boat. We won't know how this will all turn out until we leave, but we're not too worried about it.

Haulout

Costs to Haul Out, for our 44' Boat are as follows:

Travel Lift: $445.76 (does not include pressure wash)
Monthly Fee: $663.04 / mo (gets a little cheaper months 3+)
Liveaboard fee: $5/day
Water: Metered at $3/250 gallons
Elec: Metered at .25/Kwh

The 'Liveaboard Fee' only applies when we are actually on the boat. It seems high when added on top of Water, Electricity, and the monthly cost for the boat, but what it does is give us access to the BEAUTIFUL club facilities here.

I think dockage is the same as the 'on the hard' fee. And right now there are plenty of slips available. The prices are high for Ecuador, but the facility is first class. Is a great place to leave the boat safely.

Puerto Lucia Yacht Club

Wow, what a nice place. This is a full 'yacht club' complex, including about 10 hotel rooms, 2 restaurants, 2 pools, a sauna, 3 tennis courts, a fully-equipped gym, a computer room with internet access, a 24x7 gate guard and foot patrols. The $5/day liveaboard fee (which is NOT optional, if you are here), pays for access to all that.




There is a big mall right down the street, complete with 8-screen movie theater, food court, and a big 'Hypermart', which is somewhat like a Super Walmart... Ace Hardware, clothing store, and big grocery store in one.

We haven't yet had time to explore the town of La Libertad, but I know there is a great market there, where we can get fresh veggies and seafood for really good prices. It's a 35-cent bus ride from here, or a $1 taxi ride. And the beach town of Salinas is about the same distance in the other direction.

The Weather and Working Conditions

We have never had such a nice environment for working on the boat. Or living on the boat for that matter. The temp is a fairly constant 75F during the day, and a little cooler at night. There's usually a 10kt breeze. It is dry, no thunderstorms, or the hot muggy weather that's in Costa Rica, Panama and Colombia right now.

Stewart Yacht Services

Run by Canadian ex-pat, George Stewart, and his Ecuadorian wife, Marisol, Stewart Yacht Services is a do-all yacht services company that works out of PLYC. He comes highly recommended by other cruisers. We have George and his guys stripping Soggy Paws down to bare fiberglass, addressing blister issues, and then building it back up with a barrier coat and bottom paint.

So far we have found George very helpful and knowledgable, and his 'guys' very hard workers. We are paying George for good, experienced workers at the rate of $60/day, plus materials. George regularly ships stuff from the U.S. into Ecuador, and also knows all the local contacts for things like galvinizing chain, bottom paint, etc.

Immigration Issues

We were really sweating the 3-month tourist visa limitation, when we found we didn't get 'reset' on re-entry to Ecuador a few weeks ago. But since then, we know of one cruiser here at PLYC who successfully extended himself another 6 months (in Guayaquil). He documented the process for us, and we plan to follow his lead and do our own extension when the time comes.

Diesel Fuel

Getting diesel fuel has been a bit of a problem in Ecuador in the last few years. The problem is, they sell fuel to the people of Ecuador at nationally subsidized prices (the price is currently around $1/gallon ). Apparently some boats (maybe not cruisers, but fishing boats) were coming to Ecuador and filling up, and then going elsewhere and selling Ecuadorian fuel at a huge profit. So Ecuador made a law that prohibited selling fuel to foreigners. Of course, that was a great inconvenience for visiting sailboats, and there has been much said about the problem in the SSCA newsletters and online forums.

Now, 2 years later, things have settled out a little. Puerto Lucia has a permit, that they say cost them $100,000 in fees and surveys, to sell fuel to foreigners. The cost for 'foreign fuel' is around $2/gal right now. Double what the locals pay, but still substantially cheaper than surrounding countries.

Bahia WAS selling fuel under a temporary permit, for $1.50/gal when we arrived in Feb. But recently, they became 'unpermitted' (don't ask, we don't know). Tripp Martin at Puerto Amistad is working feverishly on formalizing an official permit. In the meantime, there is a 'workaround' so cruising boats coming to Bahia can get diesel when needed.

Ecuador is a great place, I can't believe there aren't more cruisers here. Even with the changing regulations and the high agent fee in Puerto Lucia, it's still a great place.

Labels: Ecuador, Maintenance

Or... the 'great chain caper'.

Dave found out that there was a place in Manta, the big city nearby, that would do chain galvanizing. So he hustled around the anchorage and rounded up 2 other people interested in going together on a truck to take the chain in.

Then we started the big task of getting 3 boats worth of chain and anchors ashore.

Carlos and Evan Unload Our Chain from the Puerto Amistad Launch

Dave Pulls the Chain up the Seawall
At 0700, taxi driver Giovanni met us at the side lot of Puerto Amistad to load up the chain in his pickup truck. Then Peter, from Amigo, and his Ecuadorian girlfriend Joanna, and Dave and I loaded up for the trip into Manta.

The galvanizing place didn't look like much from the outside, but Dave went on an inspection tour and pronounced it a pretty impressive operation. They quoted us $1.30 per kilo (about $.60/pound) to sandblast, acid wash, galvanize, and clean up our chains and anchors.

Dave Negotiates the Price
The galvanizing place was only the first stop... both Peter and Dave had a list of things they were looking for in 'the big city'. Peter brought along the motor from his anchor windlass, which he'd burned out trying to winch himself up on the beach to paint the bottom of his boat. Peter was ecstatic that we found a guy that would rebuild his burnt out motor for only $30. He had envisioned having to replace his whole windlass for close to $1000.

The Motor Rebuild Guy
We also made stops at the Fish and Dive store (nice marine store/dive shop), the Setmabas liferaft repacking place, and several fishing stores, hardware stores and paint stores (looking for specific things). We went to the big mall for lunch at the food court. And the last stop was at the Supermaxi grocery store. Dave and I didn't buy much, but surveyed what was there, so we knew what we'd have available when it came time for our big provisioning. It was a big beautiful US-style grocery store.

The Manta Mall
The one thing on MY list was to try to find my blood pressure medicine. We'd struck out in Panama and Costa Rica and I was down to a few days supply. The drug store in the mall said they didn't have anything similar. But the drug store across from the grocery store had the exact Central American equivalent that I'd last found in Guatemala. I got a 60-day supply--enough to get me back to the States, where I have more waiting. No prescription required. Just write down what you need and purchase it. Only narcotics are regulated.

On our way out of Manta, we went by the port. Wow, what a HUGE number of fishing boats of all sizes. We also went past a 'carpenter's row' where they are building fishing boats by hand, the old fashioned way.

The Tuna Fleet
Boats Under Construction on the Beach

Labels: Ecuador, Maintenance

We've been looking for a timer to automatically switch on our 12v refrigeration. We finally (with the help of friend Ron Sheridan) found one for $60.

It will control either 12v or 110v devices and is programmable for up to 8 different "on" times per day, and for 7 days of the week in any combination.

We bought this while back in the States and have recently gotten it installed and operating. It's pretty slick!

Source: Backwoods Solar
Direct Link to Timer Page

Labels: Maintenance

Dave's Alternator Repair Tools
Last week, Dave disassembled our alternator and replaced the diode tray.

Labels: Maintenance

You can view our 2007 / 2008 Maintenance posts here:

http://www.svsoggypaws.com/blog2008/labels/Maintenance.html

Labels: Maintenance