In Santa Rosalia with work to do
Sunday April 24th – arriving Santa Rosalia
Our last visit to Santa Rosalia was with Craig and Linda Lyons 2 years ago limping Gato Loco north with motor problems. We were able get a motor lower unit repaired with a little networking in the cruiser community. Today we’re coming in with our food frig on the blink. I’ve worked on it the last few hours of the crossing without any luck.This is not good with both the refrigerator side and freezer side loaded.
BTW.. We had a great crossing.
Gato Loco on the fuel dock >>
First order of business is dinner on shore and off in search of Tonka’s Grill which was recommend by Rolland & Jocelyn. We found it on the southern most street about a mile up. This is a meat lovers grill with everything including burgers and salads. Good recommendation.
We’re sharing the Fonatur dock the Marine search and rescue boats with young very friendly crew. They spend their day cleaning, exercising and swimming laps and seem very ready for sea emergency.
Below Tonka’s Grill where got a contact on a refrigerator repair man.
Below some photo of Santa Rosalia as we walk back from Tonka’s. I was very surprised to find that they have had 2 major fires in the down town historic are since our last visit. The entire block across from the historic French baker is gone and now just gravel. Two blocks closer to shore and another 1/2 block is gone. The down town is totally built of wood and they are lucky to not have lost the entire area.
Back on board some good news.. After completely disassembling the frig control board it suddenly started running and we went to bed with things cooling down after not being on for 18 hours.
Monday April 25th
We’re going to hang in town and see if we can make some frig repairs. Julio Romero is coming by to check things out.
There’s 7 cruisers on the dock and we soon meet them all as we are near the office. Lot’s of discussion about our frig problem. Julio shows up and says the compressor is bad and needs replaced. After checking there’s nothing available in Baja. A call to Kurt in San Diego and he links up to specialist who says it’s very very very unlikely to be the compressor and is always a control board. Humm…. Julio checks and no control boards in Baja.
The good news is the frig running last night everything is staying cool if we stay out of the frig.
Our dock neighbor Steve organized a Chinese dinner with most of the dock attending. His wife is in the states with family and he’s here until her return. Quite a mixture of boats. Canadian’s Rick and Mary had their boat hauled in Penasco recently and are returning in a few months. While in Penasco she got involved with Barb’s dog rescue and has arranged maybe 50 dogs to be sent to Canada. Small world.
Went to bed with the frig not working but finally climbed out and disassembled it like last night sure enough it started again. Maybe I’m on to something.
Dinner with our cruising friends and the Malcon walk back to marina. The Santa Rosalia loves to walk, exercise and enjoy the evenings.
Tuesday April 26th
North winds have arrived and we’re not having any luck with the frig repair here so there’s nothing to do but head south towards Loreto were we might have a bit more chance to make a repair. Bidding goodbye to our new cruiser fiends we get a full load of fuel from the gas dock and head towards Isla San Marcos on our way to Mulege. We’re going to stay in cell/internet range to communicate with everybody working to solve our problem. 15 kt north winds have us surfing down 5’ swells hitting 10kt, much better than setting in marina worrying about frig problems. After considering the large swell we decide not to chance the Mulege entrance and opt to anchor at Punta Chivato with great north wind protecting. The area has an air strip and lots of nice beach homes.
North winds brought cooler weather and before long the sweater come out.
Frig update.. Got info from Australia on completely disassembling the control and the part info to make the repair. Made an inspection but found nothing and again the unit came on to cool things down.. Seems if the unit is allowed to cool completely down it will start so we can probably limp through the week and bring parts when we return to Baja on the 8th of May. Hopefully.!!!
Beautiful evening and dinner with dolphins swing the anchorage all during sunset.… Heading to Mulege tomorrow.
Until the next Update
Update on Bill’s Mom.. She’s home and making steady recovery. There was stroke involved and she needs some rehab. All going in the right direction. Bill will visit her the coming week for Mother’s Day.
Jeffrey and Lynne,
Jeffrey you should have put on round glasses, worn a loin cloth and sipped that margarita on that porch as you spun thread. It looks like you both are having a wonderful time. See you both soon.
Lowell, I’m sure you’ve had lots of advice…you might want to check the solder joints on the controller board. Sometimes they crack. They can be hard to see. When it heats up there is no contact. When you disassemble it it probably cools down and makes contact. You may be able to have someone re float the solder joints and make it work until you can get a new one.
Fridge sounds like a thermostat issue since it does cycle? McGiver to the rescue!
Good luck!
So sorry you are having to deal with this on such a wonderful vacation.
Big Hugs to all of you, Leslie
You guys all look well. I think this little town looked pretty swanky. Only the service opinion differs on the frig, mine is that you trade in and buy a bigger and better catamaran! One that comes with a real chef, maid and Captain?! Don’t waste your time sweating the small stuff with a bad compressor, weak seals, bad board – just trade it! I’m sure my rich brother would love to split the cost with you! (May be my ex-brother now, but what the hell, I got a good chuckle out of it!) Hope the weather is fabulous, good laughter, smooth sailing, no bugs and great food. Love you Jeff and Lynn
Oh I envy you three. Loved Santa Rosalia. And always love being on Gato. Keep sending the great pics. Enjoy yourselves….glad the fridge kicked in.
What’s a sailing trip without speedbumps? I seem to remember an abnormal amount of intertubes being sent your way one year….this seems much more fun 🙂 Looks like you all are still smiling! That’s what I love about the three of you =D