Andiamo!

It’s getting a bit frustrating for me. It seems like Elvis is showing up for less and less time each day. One day, for instance, he showed up at 11 AM, worked until 12:30 and then took off for lunch. He didn’t come back until after 3 and worked another hour and a half. It was particularly annoying because he was starting to complain about how long the job is taking him. Whenever he complained, I dryly suggested that maybe he should show up earlier and get more work done in the course of the day rather than the short days he’s been working. Perhaps he’d get done sooner. I don’t think he caught on to the sarcasm. (more…)

Elvis and his guys were fairly quick in getting the engine apart. He was sure he could get everything apart on the boat to the point where he would just leave the bare engine block on the boat, and take everything else to his shop to get prepared and rehabbed. Didn’t quite work out that way. When he tried to get the pistons out of the cylinders, it proved to be impossible. (more…)

Since buying Andiamo almost five years ago, there was only one thing I dreaded and feared. Ok, there are actually alot of things that I dread and fear when it comes to boat ownership. But there is indeed one particular thing I really never ever wanted to deal with when it came to owning Andiamo, and for five years, I was able to stave it off. That is, until now.

The thing I’m talking about here is the real possibility of having to do a rebuild of Andiamo’s beloved and revered Perkins 4.236 diesel. Though all the odds were that I was going to have to do the rebuild sometime soon after buying Andiamo.
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There are several reasons why I dreaded this whole fearsome subject. For one, Andiamo’s engine compartment leaves much to be desired. To be honest, there is no real “compartment” or engine “room” like most boats Andiamo’s size. The engine is literally in the floor of the salon. That’s right, smack in the middle of boat’s main space, between the galley and the salon seating, there is a cavernous hole. The engine fits inside quite nicely and is covered from sight and sound by a galley counter section and a settee section (a sofa type of furniture).

It also didn’t help that the engine had about 800 hours on it since its last rebuild in 2000. This meant that the engine would probably need a rebuild soon. Most marine diesel engines should be rebuilt every 1000 hours or every 8 years or so, if you listen to the “experts”.

Because the engine is in this “hole”, it makes accessibility and maintenance a huge pain in the ass. Changing a belt or having to do something near the underside was a trial of patience. If I ever had to pull out the engine for say, in the event of a rebuild, I would have to basically dismantle the salon’s skylight and hoist the engine out that way, using the boom as a leverage point. Just the thought of ever having to do this gave me vivid nightmares of the worst kind.

I managed to stave off this inevitable catastrophe by giving the Perkins decent maintenance and care. Sure, I had lots of trouble with alternators and starters, but that wasn’t the Perkins’ fault. Couldn’t blame it for that. In fact, much of the problems I had with them were just due to my own ignorance, and/or stupidity.

Anyway, things were going relatively hunky dory for the Perkins up to now. Despite the usual quirks and issues that goes with having a diesel engine in an environment that well, hates diesel engines, she always started up when I really need her to and delivered. Out in the anchorage, I was barely running her since I now had my trusty Honda generator handling Andiamo’s essential power and charging duties. If I started her more than once a week, it was a miracle.

And then in March, I brought Andiamo dockside. This was originally supposed to be just a 2-3 week stint to get some heavy duty cleaning and some much-needed interior work done. Alas, it turned into a 4-plus month dockside sojourn.

Ok, I admit it. I got spoiled. I liked not having to jump into the dinghy to get ashore. I liked having somewhat reliable wireless internet available all the time so I can get lots of writing work done and tackle my ever-growing list of side projects! I liked being able to stumble back to Andiamo in the wee hours and not worry about if the outboard is going to stall on me. so, despite my disdain for marinas, I stayed dockside.

Since being dockside, I found myself not really needing to start up the diesel as often as I had been. Every couple of weeks or so, I’d fire her up and run her for a half hour or so. I guess I slacked a bit last April and May, when I was traveling a bit around Colombia, getting involved in various landlubber activities, and didn’t keep to my schedule as much. Incidentally, about this time, it appears that the diesel’s vented loop (a funky hose contraption that allows air to escape from the engine, while keeping the seawater that cools the engine IN) became clogged with dried salt and ceased letting air escape. This, in turn, created a siphon out of the sea water intake and started slowly sucking seawater into the engine. This is NEVER GOOD, make a note of that. Anyway, the engine gradually filled up with seawater. The next time I tried to start it, she wouldn’t turn over, thanks to the fact that my pistons and valves were frozen shut from all the new corrosion from the sea water. Oy… I cringe at the memory.

The irony of this is had I been just starting the engine up on my usual schedule, the engine probably would have survived. It would have at least survived long enough for me to fix the problem and keep the water from flooding the engine to the point of certain, slow death.

After several desperate and feeble attempts to get the crankshaft freed up (if you manage to do this, you can actually SAVE the diesel from turning into an internal rust heap), I knew I was in deep shit. Here in Cartagena, there is really only one reliable marine diesel mechanic in all the land. His name… Elvis. I’m not kidding. Elvis Castro, “El Doctor de Diesel” as his peers blithely called him. After discussing the situation with “The King”, as I liked to call him, we made arrangements to start the rebuild in a few weeks after I got back from the states. Karen and I had already made plans to head stateside later in May to do some visiting and take care of some business.

Though we had a fantastic time in both Florida and SoCal, I looked at returning to Andiamo with dread for the first time since I’d gotten her. I knew that this engine rebuild was going to be a BEAST of a project, I just didn’t know how bad or protracted it would be. Elvis claimed he could get the engine rebuild done in a week. As much as I trusted The King’s instincts, I just knew that wouldn’t be the case. I really did not look forward to this project. It was a black cloud over my head during the whole stateside trip.

Anyway, we’re back now, and Elvis and his crack team have started the project in earnest. Hopefully, this will not be as bad and drawn out an ordeal as I so fear.

We shall very well see.

Ok, so in the time I’ve been slacking on the blog the past few months. I’ve had a few revelations.

One, I’ve neglected it far too long, and that has to stop, and it does effective immediately. This blog has become a strange part of my life, and in my zeal to accomplish other things, I found this weird void because I wasn’t keeping up with it. Nevermind the few almost daily emails and facebook messages I’ve been getting from people wondering what was up and why I haven’t been updating!

Two, I’ve had a few interesting writing and consulting projects this past year that have definitely boosted my confidence about my ability to write about various subjects.

And three, I think it’s time to take the Andiamo Blog to the next level. And yes, there IS a next level…

Well, for one, I want the blog to be more driven about the whole concept of cruising, rather than just my experiences. I’ve learned a great many things about boats, cruising, and cruisers over these past few years. I’ve received quite a few emails, facebook messages and other communications from newbie and future cruisers. I’ve been asked about everything from what criteria I’ve used in choosing the right boat, to cruising with pets, boat maintenance, to opinions about various cruising grounds I’ve been to. I think it’s time that instead of just answering emails, it’s time I put up some of what I’ve learned on this blog.

Now, look I don’t consider myself a cruising guru by any means. I’ll leave that to the Bob Bitchins, Jimmy Cornwells, Captain Woodys and Nigel Calders of the cruising world. But I do know a few things that can help people thinking about doing this kind of lifestyle. All I can do is share what I’ve learned through practical experience on Andiamo, and through some hellacious hard knocks. LOTS of hard knocks. I’ll talk about it all, the good, the bad, and ugly. No glossing over or endless “ain’t it kewl?” chants here. The hope is that maybe it won’t have been all for naught and if someone else can benefit from some of the crap I’ve gone through and from what I’ve learned so they don’t have to, then that’s an ok thing.

So, coming soon, I’m going to be doing an upgrade on Andiamo’s blog software to accomodate my changes. After a few overdue cosmetic treatments, you’ll see a couple new categories pop up. And yes, there will be some google ads and some other monetizing stuff. Another thing I’ve learned over these past few years is that keeping a boat can get expensive. And if this blog can provide some financial benefits that will keep Andiamo humming, the banks off my back, and keep me from having to go back to the real world, well that’s an ok thing too.

One thing I also plan on doing is pushing more of my activities and efforts for Unicef, Red Cross, The Tap Project and some other worthwhile causes that I try to stay involved with. I’m sure there will be plenty of adversarial subjects to arise, as I have been known to get entangled with from time to time.

So, for those who were complaining that I wasn’t updating the site enough, watch for the changes. I suspect you’ll like what you see.

Milestone time for me again…

My mom passed two years ago today. On some levels, I find it absolutely incomprehensible that it has been two years already. How is that possible? It feels like just last month that I was on a plane back from LA to Orlando after getting the news. My sister and I missed saying goodbye to my mom one last time by a matter of a day.

Much of what I’m feeling these days are “coulda’, woulda’, shoulda'” about my parents’ final days. Wishing that I’d been there on time or soon enough to just say goodbye to them just one more time. Or, to just remind them that regardless of all the stuff I had to go through on their account, I was glad as hell that they were my parents.

I woke up today, glad that the internet was FINALLY back on, happy that I can get some work done. Only to be incredibly disheartened to find out that one of my all time cultural heroes, George Carlin, died yesterday.

I grew up listening to Carlin’s records and watching his comedy and philosophy evolve from that of a counterculture funny-man to one of an incredibly articulate, no-holds-barred, and direct philosopher of modern life. Reading his books, watching his amazing stage presence on his HBO specials (I regret I never got to see him at a live performance), and just plain taking in his amazing wit played huge roles in my outlook on life and the world today.

There are only a few people in my life that I consider “true” heroes. No sports figures, no movie stars, not even politicians. But rather seemingly ordinary people who’ve done amazing things with their lives. People like Jane Gooddall, Michael Moore, and of course, Carlin. George Carlin started out as just another suit and tie comedian on the gritty club circuit in the 50’s and 60’s. Yet, thanks to his cultural environment and influences, including Lenny Bruce, he became an icon of wisdom, cynicism, pragmatism, secularism, and even libertarianism for my generation.

I salute my hero, and his cut-through-the-bullshit wit and audacity, which is so BADLY NEEDED in these very strange times of so-called “cultural war”, will be SORELY missed. Nonetheless, the mark he made on American culture, and the fundamental voice of reason against the insanity of religion, politics, and corporate greed will not fade anytime soon.

I thank him for the life he lived.

…how much “hate mail” and nasty comments on Facebook I get when I don’t update the blog in any significant way for awhile. Usually from people I don’t even know personally!

All I can say is thanks for rattling my cage, and asking me what’s up. Things have been both mundane and hectic at the same time, thus the strange void of updates. I still don’t understand why people find all this kooky drivel I put up here so interesting, but it motivates me nonetheless.

Here’s some stuff to get caught up on pending my updates the blog:

– I FINALLY got to do some traveling around Colombia over the past couple of months. GC Mitzy, Scott and Susan of “Sirena” and I had a fun trip up the coast to Santa Marta back in March. It was a great, fun trip, and Mitzy and I even got to terrorize their local poker scene to our benefit. More on this on a backdated post when I get it out of draft.

– I also went to Medellin and Caucasia for a couple of weeks with a Colombian chica I met in Cartagena. Her name is Karen, a pharmaceutical chemist (who’s smokin’ hot I might add). Had a great time in a wonderful city that really shows the contrasts of life in Colombia. Spending time in Karen’s hometown of Caucasia was also quite an education. Keep an eye on the blog for that whole story.

– I also won a satellite tournament in Cartagena back in April that earned me a seat to the COLOMBIAN NATIONAL POKER TOURNAMENT in Bogota in Mid-May. This was a full-blown mega tournament (the biggest one I’ve ever been in) that got national media attention, and had a few heavy-hitter Latin-American pros. Out of 350 players, I made it to 38th place (just 3 positions out of the prize pool!!!). The painful part was that I got killed by one STUPID, BAD decision that cost me big. Oh well, I learned my lesson on that!

– I had a bad stroke of luck with Andiamo. Since I’d been leaving her on the dock the past few months, a clogged vent caused a siphon effect on the engine, and it sucked in a CRAPLOAD of seawater. As you can probably surmise, seawater inside an engine is NEVER a good thing. I tried in vain to get the engine freed up so I can start it again, but no go. So I’m going to have to rebuild the whole damn thing. Luckily, it will cost less than half for me to do it in Colombia than in the states. Still, not looking forward to that project.

– One more note, it would appear that I have a… “GIRLFRIEND” now. This is probably the first time I’ve actually mentioned that word on this site. Don’t ask me why, but I’ve always been a bit on-the-shy about details of who I’m involved with, etc. It’s that girl Karen, btw, in case you missed something. The one I went to Medellin with. Yeah, her. She’s currently traveling with me and things are interesting to say the least.

– And finally, it’s that time of year, the milestones… Pop’s birthday is tomorrow, and while new, fun and exciting things are happening for me, it never fails to put a somber tone on things. I just plain miss my dad.

Terribly.

I have some musings about all this that I may or may not put up here. I’m strangely getting more sensitive about talking about this subject when I should probably be doing the opposite by now. What’s up with that?

So hope this tides everybody over for now. I’ll be finishing up those drafts and stuff as soon as I get back to Andiamo, I PROMISE. There will be lots of back-dated reading.

Cheers for now.