The days started out overcast and windy. We are being affected by a system sitting between Hawaii and California and has been fairly stationary for the last 10 days. It is still hard to complain when daytime temperatures are in the 70s.
In the morning we headed to town to look at a health food store where Emily was looking for hard to find (in Mexico) supplements. No luck, but found they do carry some items we have looking for. Also picked up some coffee in our slow quest to restock Makara for heading North.
We then stopped at a restaurant on the Malecon, which has become a frequent spot for us. They have an avacado burger that is amazing. The place is called Che food. We highly recommend the place.
We went back to the boat after lunch to do a bit of work before an afternoon walk on the beach of El Mogote. Since the battery bank needed charging due to the solar not keeping up, I decided to use the alternator on the engine. The alternator is a large frame Balmar capable of putting out 250 amps. I have been keeping it down rated to 70% but wanted to adjust it up to 85%. The one problem has been the belt needed adjusting.
I think it took about 4 tries to get it close to correct adjustment. The alternator puts such a high load on the belt it is hard to get it to stop all slipping, especially right at startup. There tends to be a chirp in the belt until the engine warms up. With the engine work coming up I will give it another go later to see if it can be improved
A walk on the beach was in order afterwards. We have been going over to the Mogote for walks. It is easy to get to and has a beach which stretches for miles. Now to end a good day with a few hours of work.
