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Lost in the Bearing Sea

6/23/2014

Dinner at Casa Mary Lou

Time flies on the wings of thought and drags like a wheel in the mud.

As I told you last time, we had a bearing on the Victory’s drive shaft burn out. I can’t tell you how distressing this was, on the eve of our big adventure taking the boat back to San Diego. However, I didn’t have time to mope around about it. We had to get it fixed and we needed it fixed right now.

I was really lucky that KC is here to help me take the boat north. He is a great mechanic. I would not have tackled this job by myself.

Friday we took the day off to take Jim and Susan to the airport in Cabo. We spent Saturday cleaning the bilge and prepping the area so that we can work.

On Sunday KC and family went to church with our friend Milton and I went to work on tearing the drive shaft apart. There are couplings that look like big donuts on each end of the shaft that have been sitting, rusting in the bilge for years. On Saturday, we soaked them in penetrating oil. While KC was at church, I went down and got the bolts loose. I didn’t want to take the whole thing apart because I wanted KC to see how it went together.

Monday started with taking the couplings loose. Milton came down to join us and offer his not inconsiderable expertise. Once the couplings were disassembled, we had to take the flanges off the ends of the drive shaft so we could slide the bearings loose.

Naturally, nothing comes easy. The flanges wouldn’t budge. I felt like I was living in an episode of Home Improvement. Every time something didn’t work, Milton or KC would say “moooore power,” and we’d make a run back to Milton’s shop for a bigger sledge hammer, a grinder or some other power tool. Finally, they decided that the only way to get the flanges loose was with an oxy-acetylene torch.

Huh? You mean light one of those bad boys up inside my boat? I didn’t want to be anywhere near by when they did. Maybe they’d burn it to the water and relieve me of my pain.

I had to make a run to the store for parts. When I returned, the smoke alarm was blaring and I could smell the torch from the dock.

“You’re not supposed to be back so soon,” Milton said.

They heated the flange until it was cherry red, then doused it with cold water and popped it off. Unfortunately, there was a snapping sound when they poured the water on. Oops! We cracked the spacer.

Finding this part in La Paz will be next to impossible.

OK, the flange was off, but we still couldn’t get the bearings off. We had to remove the entire drive shaft from the boat.

After a Hard's Day's Work

We undid all of the brackets, took apart the front coupling and it wouldn’t come free.

“Do you have a saw?” KC asked.

He had to cut a piece of bulkhead out to get the drive shaft free.

I just held my head and worried.

I had visions of getting hit hard on the beam by a rogue wave and the boat folding up like an accordion. Oh well, c'est la vie.

Finally, the shaft was free.

“Let’s take it to my shop and clean it up,” Milton said.

Once again, I felt like I was living with Tim the Tool Man Taylor.

At Milton’s shop “we” decided that the shaft really had to go to a machine shop. They would clean it and true up the shaft.

While I ran back to the boat for parts, KC took the flange off the other end and started buffing up the rusted steel parts.

Somewhere in all this mess, Mandy and the girls needed to go to the airport in Cabo and we needed to pick up Sam.

Sam is my brother-in-law, Connie’s sister Marti’s husband. Marti and Sam have been our sailing buddies for years. After all the abuse that Sam has endured sailing with me over the years, he keeps coming back. I think that there’s something wrong with that boy.

Anyway, Sam is here to help KC and me deliver the Victory to San Diego. It isn’t the first time that he’s gone on a sailing adventure with me where we end up covered in dirt, grease and sweat as we lay up somewhere and repaired the boat.

Welcome to La Paz, Sam. We put him right to work. Did I mention that Sam is also an excellent mechanic?

Milton worked his magic at the machine shop and returned with a looking-like-new drive shaft. The spacer that cracked was a little more difficult story. They had to weld it up and then re-machine it. That would take more time.

By now it’s Tuesday and all hope of setting sail on Thursday is gone. The good news though, is that neither Sam nor KC need to be back in the States anytime soon. So we trudge on.

KC and Milton got the bearings on the shaft and the shaft back in place while Sam and I scoured La Paz for parts. The following day, Milton picked up the spacer from the machine shop and we (actually KC) put the couplings back together.

Viola! We are back in business. The drive shaft is re-assembled and the propeller turns. The cost for this major project: $150 for the bearings and about $100 for the machine shop work.

I know that if I had hired one of the boat repair services here in La Paz to fix it for me it would have cost $5000. Thank you Milton, KC and Sam.

Today we will finish up a couple of little projects and start cleaning up. Tomorrow I intend to take the Victory out for a sea trial. If all goes well, we could be ready to leave by Wednesday, only a week behind schedule.

Dawn still manages a smile with Aubrey

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Dawn’s participation in getting the Victory ready to sail. I’ve mentioned before that she can’t go with us. Her back injury makes it too dangerous for her to be off-shore on a small boat.

However, she can get the galley and pantry ready for a hungry crew. She has spend the week cooking, shopping and provisioning. In hundred degree weather she was baking cookies, making lasagna and casseroles. The kitchen was an inferno.

Everyday we dragged home in the evening, dead to the world. A no less dead Dawn would have a pitcher of Margaritas and happy hour snacks for us, then, after the requisite dip in the pool, she provided dinner for up to eight people.

This was a truly Herculean effort. Thank you Dawn. We will appreciate every bite as we sail up the coast. I will miss you on this trip.

Now, turning to other matters, I got a review for Hacker for Hire that really bothered me. It was a three-star review, so it wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t good either. The woman who wrote the review said “I did not like the constant comment on breast size and legs.”

This really bothered me. Was I wrong? Should I not be emphasizing the sex so much in these books? I thought long and hard on it and came to this conclusion: The reviewer is probably not part of my target audience. I do believe that a couple of twenty-something young men think about sex all the time. (I can’t say this from personal experience, you understand, but I’ve read about it.) When they meet a woman, they notice her physical appearance first, including breast size and legs.

The books are written from Ted’s point of view. If I were to de-emphasize women’s physical appearance I believe that I would not be true to Ted’s character. Some readers may not like the way he thinks, but that’s who he is. No one is perfect, least of all Ted. If some women don’t like how his mind works, I just have to apologize and say, “He is a twenty-three year old male. What do you expect?”

I have introduced a new character to the series that women will like. Catrina Flaherty is a strong female PI who kicks ass. My female beta readers love her.

What can I say? Something for everyone.

Speaking of Cat, I have a Catrina Flaherty short story that I will release in July. Here is your exclusive first peek at Mirror Image’s cover.

This story is a standalone story, but it gives readers a lot of insight into Cat’s character. It is based on a horrifying true story. I couldn’t make this stuff up.

Cat comes to the rescue of a battered wife whose husband just happens to be the chief of police. What do you do when your abuser is The Law? You call Cat Flaherty.

There is lots of action, a little sex and an emotional roller coaster. If you don’t remember the real-life event, I think you will be shocked by the ending. If you do remember it, then it should tug at your heart strings.

This will be my last post from La Paz for a while. We will begin our epic journey up the coast this week and I’ll be out of Internet and cell phone range for most of two weeks. I should have lots of good stories to tell you when we get to San Diego, so stay tuned.

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Happy Fathers' Day

6/15/2014

4 Comments

The Wallace Family circa 1959

Blue Water Charlie

This is a much different June here in La Paz that what I've been used to all of my life. We had a scorching May, but temperatures have settled down into the mid to high-nineties in June. We spend a lot of time in the air conditioning and in the pool.

Along with June comes Father’s Day and my thoughts turn to my own father, Blue Water Charlie. If you want to read about Blue Water in detail, find a copy of my book, Blue Water & Me, Tall Tales of Adventures With My Father.

There’s a tremendous difference between families with fathers and families without fathers. Just Google it. There is no question that children that grow up with a father figure make better citizens.

My father was not a perfect man. He was this bigger than life commercial fisherman. A complex man, full of contradictions, he laid down the law for us like some Olympic God and never explained his reasons. Just because he said so was good enough.

When I had kids of my own, he once told me that “raising kids is a lot like breaking broncos.” He should know because that was his first job, growing up in West Texas. “Show them who is boss, then treat them with kindness.”

Mama and Papa circa 1980

When I was little he often left us to go adventuring. Around the time I was nine years old, Mama put her foot down. When he was about to go off on one of his escapades she told him “If you go, when you come back, the children and I won’t be here.” He gave up the sea to raise his children. He worked every day at a job he hated so that he could put frijoles and tortillas on the table.

But that didn’t mean he gave up his thirst for adventure. As we grew older, he took us with him camping, traveling, exploring. I’m so grateful that he instilled that sense of adventure in me.

He always showed us kindness, even when administering discipline. I can’t remember how many times he said “Now Penny, you know that I don’t enjoy this, but you need to be taught a lesson. I’m doing this for your own good.” Was it good that I couldn’t sit down for a week afterwards? But I learned my lesson.

The lesson I learned was to logically decide if what I wanted to do was worth the punishment. I never got away with anything. My mother had the ability to read my mind. She always knew what I was going to do before I did it. So I learned early on to gauge if what I was contemplating was worth the penalty. If it was, I went ahead and did it, if not, I abstained. That way, if I was going to misbehave, I always got my “spanking’s worth.”

Papa taught us lots, both by what he said and what he did. He was a stickler for manners. He grew up in the south and was a southern gentleman. He also was an Army officer and learned US Army style manners. He passed these on to us. I won’t take a bite until the hostess is seated and can’t abide someone wearing a hat to the table.

Papa and Quita

He taught us grammar and the value of education. To this day hearing “where’s it at?” or “Me and Bill” drives me crazy. We learned about human rights and civil rights at his feet. But most importantly, he taught us to question everything and never settle.

But he settled for the sake of his children. He loved us so much that he gave up what he wanted to do to be with us. So this brings me to the question of what is love?

Although he never told us he loved us, the fact that he sacrificed his desires for his family was the ultimate act of love. Aristotle said that love is “to will the good of another.”

Putting the interest of your children ahead of your own interests is certainly an act of love. Even though Papa tried to plan our entire lives and we sometimes disappointed him, he reveled in our successes.

For all of his flaws, Papa was a good father. He set an example for us to follow. He made me want to be a better father than the one I had. I could not be who I am or have accomplished what I have accomplished without him.

When his grandfather, Pendleton Carroll, died, he held his father’s hand at grandpa’s grave site. His father told him that grandpa, “was much of a man.” I guess it’s hereditary. Papa was much of a man.

Now for the unabashed commercial plug. I’ve written an entire book about Papa. To learn more about him, or order your copy of Blue Water & Me, Tall Tales of Adventures With My Father, click here.

Papa took me with him on his last great adventure. He was pushing sixty years old, I was eleven. We spent a summer fishing for albacore tuna off the coast of Mexico.

Adventure followed adventure and Papa told me stories of the good old days and the bad old days.

I hope you will take the time to share the adventure with me.

Happy Father’s Day to all of you dads out there.

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Bad Bearings

6/14/2014

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The free give away is over. Thousands of people downloaded free copies of Hacker for Hire this week. Thank you all for your interest.

Now you need to remember the deal. I give you a free copy of my latest book and you write a review for me. Of course, if you hated the book, drop me a line via email. We don’t need to share that with the whole world.

With all the company we’ve had in the house, I haven’t had time to write a word this week. However, we’re still on track for releasing Mirror Image in August. Mirror Image is a Catrina Flaherty story.

Like with most of my stories, it comes from real-life. I took an incident that really happened (that you probably wouldn’t believe if I made it up) and inserted my characters into it. It deals with spousal abuse. The twist is that the husband is a police officer.

What do you do when your abuser is The Law?

Now on to life business.

This has been a busy week at Casa Mary Lou. My brother Jim and his girlfriend Susan flew into Cabo on Sunday. I drove down and picked them up for a five-day visit. On Monday, KC, Mandy and kids flew in. Dawn drove to Cabo to pick them up.

We have had a full house. Jim and Susan stayed with us on Sunday night, then moved onto the boat for the next few days.

We took the whole group to the beach at El Tecolote on Tuesday. On Wednesday we took the Victory out for a little drive.

There wasn’t a breath of air so we motored up to Pichilenque and dropped the anchor. Then it was “everyone over the side.” We all donned our swimming suits and plunged into the ocean. The water here is like bath water. It’s every bit as warm as the pool.

For a couple of hours we frolicked in the sea, then it was time to weigh anchor and head home. Jim and Susan were taking the truck and driving to Todos Santos for a couple of days so we had to get them home early.

You know how things go on a boat. Mandy was in the galley feeding the baby when she noticed smoke and saw a nut and washer on the floor. She called KC who called me and viola! We had a full fledged emergency.

One of the bearings on the drive shaft from the engine to the propeller burned out. The vibration on the mount was so strong that it worked the nut off of one bolt and the other was hot enough to cause the wood work to smoke. A little longer and we would have a fire on our hands.

KC tore the assembly apart and inspected it. We decided that we could limp back into port. It took about three hours at three knots, but we made it back to Marina Palmira.

Now the problem is replacing the bearing.

We were really fortunate to have Jim here. He’s a world-class mechanic and machinist. He and KC conferred on the problem and agreed that we need to replace the bearings.

The good news is that the bearings are common parts and we were able to source them here in La Paz. As a matter of fact, we found an upgrade. The new system will be better than the original.

The bad news is that we have to tear the middle portion of the drive shaft out to get to the bad bearing to replace it.

As long as we have the drive shaft out, I decided to replace all of the bearings. There are three bearings on the middle portion of the shaft and they were all underwater, so I think it will be better to start fresh.

Once again, this is sorta, kinda my fault. When the boat was submerged, the bearings were under water. I should have replaced them in Ensenada when we were repairing the boat. I just didn’t know enough about them to realize that the dunking would cause problems.

The bearings aren’t sealed, so the sea water got in around the ball bearings and in the races and I’m sure they are all rusted up. From the outside, they are well rusted.

Anyway, it’s a live and learn situation. It will be a major pain in the rear end to replace them, but it could have been worse.

As you may surmise, this was not something I wanted to happen. However, we are getting ready to take the boat back up to San Diego and it’s a whole lot better to have this happen here in La Paz than for it to happen off the coast of Abreojos. $150 for three bearings is a lot cheaper than $14,000 for a tow.

This was probably not how KC planned to spend his vacation. I’m grateful that he’s here though. He’s a first-class mechanic. I don’t know if I would have tackled this project on my own.

After spending a day depressed about the problem, I’m feeling grateful that the situation occurred as it did. We’re tied up to a dock; we have access to parts and tools. We have friends here who can help and we have a comfortable place to stay.

So, today KC and I will head down to the boat and begin the ugly job of getting the drive shaft loose and removing the bearings.

I’m hoping that we can get the boat repaired in time for our planned June 19th departure. Sam flies in on the 18th and I plan on leaving the next day. I’ll keep you informed of our progress.

On the bright side, there is a hot air balloon festival in town today. After we spend the day slaving away, we’ll come home, clean up, have a bite to eat and go watch the colorful balloons in the evening sky. It should be fun and we’ll try to get pictures for you.

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June 06th, 2014

6/6/2014

2 Comments

I have a big announcement to make today.

This was originally supposed to be my birthday present to you, but due to technical reasons, I had to postpone it for six days. BUT, for the next four days, you can download your copy of Hacker for Hire for FREE.

Click here to download.

Hacker for Hire is a morality tale about the conflict between money and ethics. It deals with corporate greed and industrial espionage. This time Ted and Chris get sucked into the battle when the CEO of a major computer corporation goes to war with the Chairman of the Board.

I’m also introducing an exciting new character to the cast. Catrina Flaherty is a former Port of Seattle Police officer turned PI. She specializes in women’s issues such as divorce cases, abuse and sexual harassment, but when the female CEO of Millennium Systems asks her for help, Cat can’t refuse. Women love her character.

That’s right, I said you could get your copy of Hacker for Hire for FREE. Well, not totally. Yes, you can download the book without charge, but in exchange for a free book, I ask that you write me a review.

I’ve explained before how important reviews are to independent authors. They are the lifeblood of the industry. Most promotional websites won’t even look at your book if it doesn’t have between ten and eighteen reviews. Customers judge whether or not they will by a book by the reviews that other readers have posted.

So, when you finish reading Hacker for Hire, I implore you, go to Amazon.com or Goodreads.com and post a review. As always, that is if you liked the book. Mama always used to tell me “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.”

If you haven’t read The Inside Passage yet, you might want to read it before Hacker for Hire. While Hacker for Hire is a standalone book, The Inside Passage takes place immediately before Hacker for Hire and you will understand Ted and Chris a lot better if you read it first.

Click here to get your copy of The Inside Passage.

So, what else is going on in my writing world? Well, I’m about half way through the first draft of The Mexican Connection. This time our heroes are sucked into the drug wars south of the border. There’s a lot of Mexican color and flavor and tons of action, so stay glued to my Web page for further announcements.

But here’s a big announcement for you Catrina Flaherty fans. Cat is the female PI that hires Ted in Hacker for Hire and I guarantee you that you will be seeing more of her. Women seem to love her character. She is strong, yet vulnerable too.

Catrina will be appearing in a story of her own this summer. Mirror Image is a short story (about thirty-six pages long) about what happens when Cat comes to the aid of the abused wife of a big-city police chief. Who do you turn to when your abuser is the Law?

This exciting story with a shocking ending is based on a true story. You won’t believe it. Once again, it’s a case of the truth being stranger than fiction. I couldn’t make this stuff up.

We’re working on the cover now. Look for Mirror Image’s release around August.

I hope this sets you up for a summer of good reading. Enjoy yourselves and don’t work too hard. This is supposed to be the fun part of your life.

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Happy Birthday to Me

6/3/2014

9 Comments

Under the Palapa

It’s my birthday; I can party if I wanna.

Wow! Sixty-three. I can’t believe I made it here. For years I’ve been telling people that I’m thirty-nine (with a nod to Jack Benny). My wife, Connie, use to say “You should claim your years. You look awful for thirty-nine, but really good for ____“ (Fill in the blank.)

I woke up with the usual aches and pains. For some reason, my back decided to bother me today. My philosophy is that we were never designed to live this long. In the era when we evolved, we would have been eaten by a cave bear or a saber-tooth tiger long before now. So, it makes sense, that we start falling apart at this advanced age. In the caveman era, we really served no purpose and were a drag on the clan. Too old to hunt, we consumed what food the hunters brought in. We had only our gathered wisdom and stories to contribute.

Hmmm . . . I don’t know about the wisdom, but I’ll keep contributing stories.

So this is my twenty-fourth annual thirty-ninth birthday. And Dawn is throwing me a party.

It also happens to be my friend Ulla’s birthday so we’ve combined parties. Together we’re celebrating our one hundred thirty-seventh birthday. Dawn has the villa decorated in Mexican colors.

The Pool Area

The tables are all clothed in green with red stripes down the center. She has a large cloth with three Mexican flags on it hung to block off the driveway and back of the property. She’s set up the BBQ area with the grill, a green clothed table and ice chest. Opposite the BBQ table is the side dish table.

All of this is oriented around the pool. There are four round tables surrounding the pool and she has set out a bunch of beach towels for any guests who want to take a plunge. I told everyone to bring a bathing suit in the invitation; we’ll see how many people comply.

Then, of course, there’s the food. We expect a couple of dozen guests, so we had to prepare plenty. The main feature is “Penn’s Taco Bar.” I’ve marinated chicken in adobado sauce and beef for carne asada and prawns in my patented Margarita marinade. We’ll put out a basket of hot tortillas, chopped cabbage, chopped cilantro, roasted onions, marinaded cucumber slices, grilled chiles, radishes and red and green salsa. Each table will have a bowl of guacamole and chips. It should be a blast.

We’ve asked our guests to bring side dishes. I expect everything from frijoles and arroz to fruit and vegetable trays.

Penn's Taco Bar

The Bar is Open

Since Mary Lou and her husband were Irish and Democrats, they have a tiled outdoor bar. It’s set up with glasses, ice bucket, beer, soft drinks and pitchers of Margaritas. Something for everyone.

Dawn is still dashing around getting the grounds ready while I write. Even now, she is putting the finishing touches on her “bandidos.” She found some small straw sombreros that she placed on top of some cactus. She’s given her “bandidos” eyes, serapes and arms. It is soooo cute.

Since we have invited a lot of people that don’t know each other, I’ve prepared an ice breaker. As each guest arrives, I will ask them to fill out a name tag. Along with their name, I want them to put the name of some place that they haven’t yet visited, but would like to. Mine will be the Galapagos Islands.

We’re still five hours away from the party and I promised you to tell you about the dance fiesta we attended, so I better catch you up.

Dancin' the Jarabe

The Veracruz Wedding Dance

The local technical school has a dance program (you’ll have to explain that one to me, but what the heck, ees Mejico.”). As part of the Founder’s Day Fiesta, the school put on a ballet folklorico. Their theme was Mexican Weddings.

The performance was held in the Teatro Cuidad, the City Theater. The State of Baja California del Sur built the facility for the city. It is a lovely theater which holds around a thousand people and has a great stage, art gallery and park-like grounds. This is where we saw the Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) celebration last fall, a truly beautiful venue for any theatrical event.

I wish they had prepared a program. The dancers whirled and twirled to music, showing us wedding dances from all the different regions of Mexico, but we didn’t have a clue where they were from.

We talked to one woman at intermission who told us the last dance was from Veracruz. She was born in Veracruz and recognized it.

The Jarabe Tapatio

I recognized the Jarrabe Tapatio (The Mexican Hat Dance for your gringos out there) from Jailisco because Mama taught me how to dance it when I was about twelve years old. We were going to a Christmas party at one of her friend’s house. Her friend was from Argentina and said that everyone was going to have to do a dance from their home country.

Papa wouldn’t dance, so Mama made me her partner. I remember spending hours practicing the dance, but I don’t remember if we had to do it at the party or not. Mama is a very shy person and would not have wanted to perform, but she loved music and dancing. Mama, do you remember this? Did we actually do the dance at the party?

Anyway, the troop did a masterful job. There were dancers of all different abilities from beginning dance classes to a professional troop that is preparing for a tour of Mexico. They even brought back alumnus who had been in the classes in years past.

This was the director’s fortieth anniversary with the school, so it was a big celebration. The costumes were amazing, a blur of colors and movement. Someone spend hundreds of hours sewing. The music fun. A small band came on stage for part of the performance.

Dawn's Bandidos

Dawn has made a new friend here in La Paz. She met Shari when walking Odin on the Malecon. It turns out that Shari has a seven month old Dane.

Shari came up to us before the performance and re-introduced herself to Dawn. Her daughter, Sabrina, was performing as part of the professional troop. Sabrina is a beautiful, tall red head, the only red head in the troop and the tallest person on stage. She did a wonderful job, but she stood out in all the performances she was in because she looked so different from the Mexican girls.

In one dance, Sabrina played the bride and that really worked, because her height draws the eye’s attention to her.

Shari and Nicky, her husband, own a resort hotel up the coast a few miles from La Paz. Nicky inherited the property from his father who founded it in 1953. Nicky has spent his whole life in Mexico. Shari has been here the thirty years they have been married. Sabrina was born here and is as Mexican as she is American. I wish I had her command of the Spanish language.

Dawn has been helping Shari and Sabrina train their puppy, Toku. At seven months old, he is almost as tall as Odin, but very gangly. His paws and legs are bigger than Odin’s, so we think he will be a big dog. He has had no training to this point and Dawn feels that he must be trained now. You can’t have an untrained two hundred pound dog running around your house, much less taking him out in public.

They have had several sessions so far. Dawn is training Shari and Sabrina. She’s merely encouraging Toku to follow their commands.

I made it all the way to the end of this post without any shameless self promotion, but you’re not off the hook yet. I published Hacker for Hire last week. If you haven’t bought your copy yet, click here.

I really need your reviews. So far, no one has written a review. Please, as soon as you finish the book, crank out a review for me.

One of the things that make reviews so important is promotions. There are several Websites that promote indie books. However, most of them require either ten or eighteen reviews before they will run a promotion for you.

If I am to ever make a serious run at selling these books, I need that kind of promotion. So PLEASE, write me a review. If you have read The Inside Passage and haven’t posted your review yet, do it today. If you’ve read Hacker for Hire, get right on it. If you haven’t read either one yet, shame on you. Download them today. To see all of my books, click here.

Think of it as a birthday present to me. What I really want for my birthday this year is reviews.

Have a good week. I’ll have some exciting news for you next week. Stay tuned . . .