My neighbor Tony returned from the states this week, while a couple of other cruising couple friends have just left. The major project this week was reinforcing the underdeck where there were stress cracks in the gel coat. That required overhead grinding and fiberglass/epoxy work. Not pleasant. Did a bit of other work too, of course. Still an uncertain verdict about my intestinal issues; the on/off cycle seems to be more or less continuing. I'm not happy about it.
In one of our trips into town, Tony and I discovered what looks like an interesting wildlife boat tour in town for 300 pesos (about $18). They didn't speak English, so my limited Spanish was put to the test. I knew just enough to get by. I'm sure we'll do it. Should be fun.
 |
After I got the blog post done last week I joined a group of
cruiser friends for the weekly BBQ near the harbor entrance.
|
This is the view from the BBQ area.
Thunderstorms are normal in the evenings.
 |
There are half a dozen iguanas that hang out just over
the fence from the BBQ waiting for handouts.
This one was brave enough to come right over.
|
 |
| He really liked carrots! |
Yes, he bit my thumb. But it didn't hurt;
they have no teeth.
 |
A big bronze whale sculpture marks the entrance to
Marina Vallarta in Puerto Vallarta.
|
 |
Marina Vallarta
|
 |
While it's near a lot of things, Marina Vallarta
is not as well maintained as Paradise Village.
|
 |
Apparently, some of the boats aren't maintained well either.
Still sad to see this.
|
 |
| (Danger: Crocodiles. Swimming Prohibited.) And yes, there are crocodiles in Marina Vallarta. |
 |
I've visited three times, but, hadn't seen one until now.
|
 |
This one was a good 12 feet long and right near the
open walkway. Makes you careful! |
 |
This guy was only about 10 feet. Tony and I spotted him in
a swampy area near the river right next to main road.
|
 |
Given all the crocodile excitement, I just had to do the
crocodile slide at the hotel pool again.
|
 |
| Clearly I was going bananas! |
 |
| Might as well play in the warm surf too! |
 |
Couldn't avoid the work forever, though. Time to deal with
the gel coat stress cracking where the cockpit coaming meets the deck
on the port side.
|
 |
To get to the underside, I had to remove a panel and some
wood battens. Here you can see the plastic sheeting put up to protect everything and contain the dust. |
 |
I carefully tented the area to contain the grinding
dust as much as possible.
|
 |
Protective mask, goggles and plastic bag covering
the arm that reached into the tent with the grinder.
|
 |
| The area to be reinforced |
 |
| Grinding the surface of the old glass |
 |
First layer was light weight glass to allow it to closely follow
the steps and curves. |
 |
Next, a couple of medium weight layers wet up
on top of the wetted-out first layer.
|
 |
Heavy weave glass held in place by tape prior
to wetting out.
|
 |
| Heavy weave wet out. Not pretty, but very strong. |
 |
| Excess glass ground off. |
 |
Two more layers of medium weight glass to reinforce
the critical areas and spread the loads from the coaming.
|
 |
One light and one medium weave fabric cut to further
strengthen key areas.
|
 |
Everything laid up and wet out: 2 layers of light weave,
4 of medium weave and 2 or 3 of heavy weight.
|
 |
The most layers are within the area outlined in black, although
other layers go well beyond it. The red line indicates where
the stress cracks in the gel coat are.
|
 |
| Panel replaced. A few trim pieces still need to be remounted. |
 |
Prop shaft packing gland adjusted, bilge bailed out, and
new oil clean-up pads in place.
|
 |
One morning was spent helping Tony get his sails back up
prior to an insurance survey.
|
 |
With the fish-cleaning table improvements, I thought
I should have a decent filleting knife and honing steel.
So I bought them this week. Who knows, it's possible
I might catch a fish some day. |
 |
| They stow nicely in the places I designed for them. |
 |
This is the flower of the banana tree. Not very
pretty, but it's BIG! I've been told it's also edible.
|
No comments:
Post a Comment