Good Boat Karma

Five days out of La Paz and we couldn't ask for a better trip. The weather has been perfect, sunny and calm, and the boat has been performing perfectly. After months of sitting in a marina we were concerned that some of the boat systems may have become atrophied from non use but that's not the case. Before leaving we inspected and ran all of the systems on the boat but you never know what will happen until you're out here. Like Captain Ron says, "If it's going to happen, it will happen out there."

When we last used the water maker in November it was showing it's age, output was low and it did not hold the high pressure so we did a chemical cleaning of the unit and replaced the needle valve. We were afraid that the membranes were going bad but our work did the trick and we are now getting over 30 gph and it's holding a steady 800 psi. We plan to replace the membranes this summer, they are over 6 years old which is their expected life, but they now seem to be ok until we reach Ensenada in 3 months.

All other systems are working great. The house batteries, again over 6 years old, are holding a good charge and responding well to the charge from the solar panels. The dinghy motor is running great for the first time in years. It looks like we finally found the problem with the outboard motor over the winter. The fuel line connector to the motor was failing causing it to cut off the fuel so we just connected the fuel line directly to the motor without the connector and all is well.

We are trying to visit some anchorages where we have not been before as long as the good weather continues. We are currently anchored on the East side of Isla Carmen at Punta Colorado, our first time here. Click on the 'Discovery's Location' link on the right to see a map of our location.

Life is good on Discovery and we look forward to a great few months cruising in the Sea.

----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com