Wednesday, 12.14.11 Here we sit, anchored at Isla San Francisco (that’s “Son Fronceesco” or something of the sort). A lovely little island North of La Paz, we’re anchored in a little half-moon shaped bay over sand in about 22 feet of water. The half-moon part is a white sand beach and the rest of the island rises in orange and umber colored cliffs that loom a couple hundred feet above. Tomorrow we’re going to spend the day hiking, climbing and taking pictures. Friday, we’ll head for San Evaristo which friends have told us is a tiny Mexican goat herding/fishing village. There’s supposedly a single restaurant in the small town of 200. For 100 pesos (less than $10) per person, you can get dinner. The catch; no menu, it’s whatever they cook that day. We’ll look forward to reporting how that went. We’ll be back in La Paz Saturday night for the dockside “safety meeting” complete with cocktails and hors d’oeuvres. Then Sunday will be the ever present boat maintenance projects before leaving for the Bay Area on Monday for Christmas with the Family. Yesterday was Ann’s birthday. I think she’s 29 or so. Actually we’ve decided that this cruising stuff is actually making us younger. I’m going to be back into my 40’s in a little while if we keep this up. Anyway, we spent most of yesterday sailing out of La Paz, back to Espiritu Santo after dropping our friends Cliff and Leslynn off at the bus station for their flight home. Had a delightful five days sailing with them at the island and then a whirlwind tour of La Paz followed by birthday dinner in La Paz. Really a great time. Pictures to follow when we have a chance to get somewhere with bandwith!! But suffice to say we did some snorkeling, cocktails on the beach to watch the sunset (and moonrise) and did some climbing in the hills above one of the anchorages. So, after dropping them, we ended up in Partida Cove after a fun five or six hour sail over. Several of our boat friends (Camanoe and Klickitat II) were in the cove, so it was great catching up with them on Charisma over what else? Charismas!. The trip from Partida to Isla San Francisco was a bit of a bash into one of the Sea of Cortez’ “Northers”. The winds get up into the 20’s and waves can get into the teens. Fortunately, the conditions for us were a little more benign, but the trip wasn’t without tension. There was some strong wind and waves, but being from San Francisco (California), we’re used to that. The tension came from a persistent low oil pressure reading. I’d adjust the RPM and it would go up then gradually go down. I’d tweak the RPM again and it would jump into the green, then over time go down again. We’re not leaking oil and I’m hoping it’s a pressure sender issue and not something worse (read: “more expensive”, to fix). Tomorrow I’m going to check the oil, it was way too rough and bouncy to do that today, and maybe depending on our day, take the sender apart and try to clean it). We’re learning; it’s always something and the list(s) are huge. You divide the list of stuff you need to do into: “stuff that will cause the boat to sink or blow up” and “stuff that would be nice to do”. You then get to the latter list when you have time and inclination. OK, as an example of one of the primary list issues, I’ll leave you with this story/image. The holding tank developed a clogged vent. You might ask yourself; “what the hell is that and why is it so important it goes on the life or death list?” Well, the holding tank is where all the “poop” goes when you’re in port or an anchorage where people are swimming and such. When the vent is clogged, there’s the risk the tank will explode if you pump too much into it. Think about it. OK, so I spent two days taking the vent line apart (it’s way deep in the lazarette/bilge). I initially tried to just ram it out with a plumbing snake. No joy. So, I then poured a “mild” acid into the line in the hopes it would loosen the clog. It did initially look promising, but only opened a tiny bit. So, I could pour about a pint of acid solution about every hour or so through the clog, but it was still mostly closed. I did that all day hoping the acid would work the clog loose (it didn’t) and then finally let it sit all night. Next day, poured some more acid into the line, then tried the snake again. I was ramming the snake into the hose (which is about 8 feet long) when I heard a gurgling sound. I looked into the hose thinking; “now what?” and heard the gurgling rapidly growing. Yipes!!! Shoved the hose away from my face and over the side just in time for an explosion of acid and poop that shot about six feet across the deck and into the marina. And stink….!!!! Suffice to say, our neighbors commented; “looks like you’ve fixed the problem”. My only comeback — “I’m sooooo relieved!!” And all was well in Charisma Land.