HEADED NORTH LOOKING FOR A REFRIGERATOR REPAIRMAN

Mirador is still in Puerto Escondido but  is leaving mid-afternoon today (Saturday August 30) for a 95 mile overnight trip to Coyote Bay in Bahia Concepcion.   Coyote is about 15 miles out of the way for me but Dick from SV Corozon de Acero (Heart of Steel - a beautiful 45 foot steel sloop) is there and he was a professional refrigerator repair guy in his previous life.  One of the small capillary tubes (about 2 mm) that run from the cold plate to the compressor broke the other day and the cold plate no longer gets cold.  Dick has spare tubes, vacuum pumps for replacing the R134A refrigerant, and the skill to fix the thing.  So, I'll head about 72 miles NW along the Baja East Coast  to Punta Concepcion where I'll make a 160º turn to the SW and head 15 miles SW into Bahia Concepcion to find Corozon.

All is not lost because the eight boats in Coyote Bay and the dozen or so gringos that live in shore side cabins there are having a beach Bar-B-Que Sunday evening.  The fiesta is to celebrate the passing of Ignacio which hit them with only 35 knots and almost no rain. The winds from Ignacio hit Coyote Bay from the NE, then East, and then SE as he tracked Northwestward about 40 miles west of them.  It was fortunate that he was tired and weak by then.   The anchorage at Coyote is not very well protected and is wide open from the NNE to the SSE so the boats there were very happy when Ignacio wore himself before getting that far north.

Mirador has an ISOTherm 5201 refrigeration system which uses a water cooled GE compressor.  The Surflow waterpump that is supposed to be pumping one pint a minute thru coils that surround the compressor seems to have lost some of its oomph.  I measure about 1 pint every three minutes flowing from the cooling coil outlet when the discharge hose is at the same level as the pump.  But if the discharge is even a foot above the pump no water flows out. 

I suspect there may be some blockage in the suction line for the pump.  When I disconnect the pump suction line and place it in a bucket only about 4 oounces a minute of water flow from it.  The entire suction line is below the waterline and water used to gush from it when disconnected from the pump.  I dove under the boat to clean the intake thruhull and found it clear and unobstructed.  So now I need to put backpressure on the line to blow it clear.

SV Summerwind lent me a Surflow 4 pint per minute pump that I can use if the existing pump is not repairable.  I also have head rebuilt kits for two other types of Shurflows that look like they might fit.  I am sure that one way or another I can get the water flowing again to cool the refrigerator compressor which will not run unless there is cooling water flowing.

I think the capillary tube, which broke at the quick disconnect fitting on the compressor, failed due to corrosion.  The corrosion was due to excess salt water that repeatedly dribbled onto the fitting.  There is a minor problem with something in the water suction line such that when Mirador sails at over 5 knots on starboard tack the water suction line develops an airlock if the compressor stops while Mirador is sailing, i.e. the cold plate freezes and the compressor no longer needs to run.  I then have to remove the water suction line from the pump and bleed the air out of the suction line.  There is no way to do that without a little salt water getting onto the capillary tube which is just below the water inlet for the pump.  I try to dry everything each time but it is impossible to get every drop of saltwater off the fittings.

This airlock problem is a fairly new phenomena, having just started about 18 months ago.  I have found no solution for it other than to not run the refrigerator when sailing, and I am not even sure that prevents the air lock. 

I should plumb the compressor cooling water to the fresh water tanks so that no salt water flows thru the system.  This may be the impetus to do that project.

For now I am putting ice in the bottom of the 'fridge.  Six 10 pound bags of crushed ice last about four or five days.  I would like to put block ice in but there is none available in Tripui which is only about 1/2 mile from the dingy dock.  The nearest block ice is in Loreto, about 15 miles from the dinghy dock.  A round trip cab ride to Loreto is $50 which makes for expensive ice.

Trying to clear the thruhull for the 'fridge cooling water was interesting.  The water in Puerto Escondido, due to the runoff from the 20" of rain, is a deep brownish-red and the visibility is about 3 feet or less.  When I got under Mirador where the keel curves into the hull I could see about 12". 

I have been giving the outboard that I allowed to sink a lot of exercise and it appears to have suffered no damage. 

Mirador is all back together and ready to go sailing again.  I am just waiting for the afternoon SE winds to pick up so I can have a nice leisurely sail NW up the coast to Punta Concepcion where I head SW back down into Bahia Concepcion.   The Bay is lovely and full of interesting anchorages and beaches but is hot as in very HOT this time of year.  When you get 15 miles into the Bay you have 3000' mountains to the SW thru NW and 300' foot hills on all other sides.  The bay is about four miles wide and 25 miles long but gets little wind to cool it.  Most cruisers visit the Bay in April thru May and October thru December when it is cooler and the North or Northeast winds can blow SW into it.

I still plan to head north to Bahia de Los Angeles as fast as possible.  But, now I'll have to stop in Santa Rosalia for a day or so to get groceries, AFTER, my refrigerator starts working again.  So, it will be 10 days before I get up to BLA.

Here are several pictures of Puerto Escondido

This is looking from Mirador to the WSW at the Sierra Gigante Mountains and the boats in the SW part of the Puerto Escondido inner anchorage.

The entrance to Puerto Escondido is the low spot in the center of the picture.  There is a right angle turn to the left at that point so the channel goes behind the hill to the left of the low spot. 

Mirador is just to the right of the boat furthest to the left in this picture.  This is looking WNW from the SE side of the inner anchorage.