One challenge of cruising and living aboard a sailboat in a hot climate, is how to secure yourself and the boat's contents from uninvited visitors* while still keeping the boat well ventilated. * "Uninvited visitors" = your boat might one day be boarded by strangers who intend to steal items of value – or worse.…
Sometimes it's economical to hire a professional for boat canvas work. For example, certain projects are too large and complicated to be done well by one person using a small sewing machine on a boat's deck or down below at the salon table. A cockpit's spray shield, aka dodger, is one such project. As Karen…
Meet the top men of Total Yacht Works in Mazatlan. Up first, we have the cool, calm and taciturn Bob Buchanan from The Great White North. Yanmar expert, takes very good care of his clients, gives each boat lots of hands-on attention. He owns and lives aboard a sailboat, himself. He is a serious-minded man.…
The Fox spent 6 full weeks on the hard, the longest it has ever been out of the water. Most of this time was spent waiting for parts to be shipped from various elsewheres. The Total Yacht Works team of mechanics took our Yanmar 4-JH3 all apart, cleaned it, buffed out the salt water damage,…
We returned to Mazatlán late this past summer, not only to hide somewhere for potentially the worst part of hurricane season, but also to visit the fine mechanics at Total Yacht Works. They'd done work for us before and the timing of our return coincided nicely with Yanmar's recommended 2000-hour engine maintenance, so we decided…
It was our 7-year-old 9.8hp Tohatsu dinghy motor that failed. The one that we'd just paid 600 pesos (about $46 US)* to have overhauled in San Carlos. Turns out, it hadn't been. * 300 pesos for the cab ride from Guaymas to San Carlos, carrying the dinghy motor; plus 300 pesos for the overhaul. I…
Our approach to big boat projects involving tool skills or physical demands is this: GB does almost all that sort of work while I handle the parts/supplies procurement, keep myself available to help GB when he asks for it, follow the instructions he gives me, and otherwise keep myself out from underfoot. Meaning, I had some spare…
It took GB 6 days to sand, fill and paint The Fox's hull at Marina Seca in San Carlos. To be sure, it's a big job and physically demanding, but GB's been there before and knows what to expect. In this photo on the left, GB has filled the dings and dents left by mostly-vegetative…
Late March is a good time to haul out in San Carlos to work on a boat. The Marina Seca there is a large and busy place, but the end-of-season rush hasn't begun so it's easy to schedule a haulout and gather supplies. The weather is generally warm, dry and sunny, yet still cool enough to be comfortable for working. …
So, here I am: I got my blogging mojo back just in time to leave Internet connectivity again. Sailing is like that sometimes. Anyway, the last thing that went according to plan, occurred waaay back in late March when GB dove on the hull in Bahia Concepcion over on the Baja Peninsula and advised me The…