We had dinner at a friend’s boat tonight. They’ve got two kids, six and eight, and we got to see first hand just how much easier life will be in a few more years. While their kids happily played, Ouest had a small accident on the floor, and Lowe pulled a plate of food off the table. Actually our kids were great, but man, it’s always something at this age.

I’ve discovered that with the current alternator setup there is no way I’m going to be able to run the line for the coolant through to the water heater. Where the coolant line plugs in is directly alongside the alternator and no matter which direction I tried to run it it was all crimped up. In the States this is a fifteen minute problem requiring nothing more than a drive to West Marine for a ninety degree fitting to route it out and around the alternator. Here I’ve visited two chandleries at the marina plus the big one downtown and haven’t even come close to finding the simple fitting I need. At this point it appears that it will actually be easier for me to remove and modify the alternator mounting bracket than to buy a three dollar part. Mexico is no place to buy and outfit a boat for cruising. Fair warning to anyone considering such.