Things to do in the next year while we stay in Rio Dulce.

Things to do

Empty fuel tank via polisher into jerry cans and clean out said tank. There be growlies growing in there. I have opened the tank, felt the dirt in the fuel the the polisher fuel pump stopped working. It is working now, I just have to get off my ass.

Re-attach jib roller furling. Need new sheave (pulley) on top of the mast plus a new halyard (rope).

Install dinghy davits. Shudder. That won't be an easy job. Crawling in the lazzarets to install backing plates and nuts will be a nightmare.

Fix BOTH deck hatches. I cracked both with my damned weight smashing down on them in rough seas. Curse my masculine physique.

Re-bed (re-seal) all port lights (windows). Drip, drip..drip....drip, dripdripdrip.

Learn to use the fucking sewing machine and make covers for our sun damaged jerry cans. And maybe a new bimini.

Find and patch leaks in the dinghy....again. Folks, buy a hard dinghy, trust me.

Remove all fluids from engine, and flush the cooling system with muratic acid and try and get the operating temperature down from 190 to a respectable 160 degrees F.

Remove dinette table, sand down and re-varnish.

That is not all but will do for now.

Renewing our Guatemalan Visa

It was a hairy, scary journey from Frontera, Rio Dulce to Livingston in order to renew our tourist visas. First off we get in overcrowded chicken buses then grab a launcha.

On the way there, a Collectiva, a chicken bus, identical to the one we were on was totaled, with a couple of dead bodies hanging out of the wreckage. We decided to take a launch back after our overnight stay in a hostel.

The actual re-checking in was simple.

It was fun except for the deaths. That scared the shit out of me.

Over heating Perkins

190 F, or 95 C, that's how hot the mighty Perkins have been running.

Obviously something is blocking the circulation somewhere, I am suspecting growth in my raw water thru-hull.

Or it could be a heat exchanger blocked.

Or the oil cooler has build up.

Or the closed loop, (anti-freeze/coolant), has scaled up.

Or the exhaust system has a carbon build up and is restricting flow.

Well, the raw water pump is new, I removed the heat exchange and descaled it, not that it needed it and the discharge out the exhaust seems good.

Soooo, I will try the easiest, (seems to me), way first. I will examine the exhaust system.

Then I must drain the closed loop and oil sump.

Remove the oil cooler and inspect and clean then install the oil cooler.

With the oil cooler installed, I must rig up a way to flush the closed loop of any build up. I have ideas.

Good thing we are here in Guatemala for a year or two as this is going to take some time. This does not even come close to the amount of upper deck work that remains to be done in order to continue our journey to wherever.