Cruising Indigo
  • Home
  • The Crew
    • Our Dream
    • Our Search
    • Our Why
  • The Boat
    • Why PS34?
    • Bill Crealock
    • PS34 Specs
    • Pacific Seacraft
  • Upgrades
    • Misc >
      • Computer Table
      • Cockpit Step
      • Mast Pulpits
      • Instrument Panel
      • Spice Rack
      • Shelving
      • Dinghy
      • Interior Lighting
      • Exterior Lighting
      • Yacht Transport
      • Ladder
    • Sails >
      • Roller Furling
      • Standing Rigging
    • Wind Vane
    • Batteries
    • Radar & Wind
    • Engine Mods >
      • Engine Panel
      • Fuel System
      • Fluid Capacity Gauge
    • Head
    • Solar Panels
    • Watermaker
    • To Do List
  • Pics
  • Links
  • Blog

Soooo, Apparently I'm Dead

7/31/2016

Comments

 
Picture
Do I LOOK dead to you? OK, maybe I DO.
Yup. Dead. So hopefully you can understand why I’ve been a little distracted the last few months. It’s rather depressing being dead. And I honestly haven’t felt too much like writing until now. What did I do on my summer vacation? Between visiting relatives and friends across the eastern seaboard and rust belt, I worked to make myself undead.

And not the zombie kind of undead. The bureaucratical, red-tape, fruitlessly-beat-your-head-against-a-wall kind of undead. Actually, since I am officially dead, but in reality still alive, does that officially make me a zombie?

What the Heck are you Talking about?
If you are fascinated by red-tape nightmares, read on…but I warn you, it's long. It all started because our credit cards keep getting auto-cancelled/renewed every few months it seems due to this ever-expanding pastime of credit card company database-hacking. It’s not a big deal for 99% of people who just wait for a new card to arrive in the mail; but sending new cards via corrupt mail to Mexico probably isn’t smart. So applying for another backup card was on our agenda as soon as we hit the States.

Declined!
What the heck?!?! But my credit is immaculate! Credit declined due to inability to access my report. Invalid, they said. Something about my Social Security# wasn’t matching up to my name. My TransUnion credit score: N/A.

Huh, I thought at first. Weird. Must be a glitch. They couldn’t determine Brian’s either on the first try and actually asked me if he had a job where his credit history may have been expunged. Seriously? You mean like a top secret CIA agent? Like Mitch Rapp? No. I wish. HE wishes. But they eventually found him and it went through. So I thought my issue was a fluke.

Identity Theft Paranoia
I am mildly paranoid about identity theft. So several years ago I placed a security freeze on our credit reports. Basically, I did what you’d pay LifeLock to do (at least initially) – set up an account for each of the big 3 credit bureaus: Experian, Equifax & TransUnion. Each charges a small fee to do so, ranging from $5 to $10. Consequently, anytime I need to purchase something under credit involving a loan or monthly fee, I must unfreeze my credit and pay the $5-$10 fee. Double that if we want a joint account. Sextuple that if I can’t figure out which bureau our credit will be run through ahead of time. Fortunately, we don’t need to do this very often. It certainly deters spur of the moment purchases and I was OK with jumping through hoops because those evil identity thieves will hopefully head for an easier target.
 
www.annualcreditreport.com
After the credit card debacle, I decided to pull my own credit reports, a task I’d ignored for the past couple years living on the boat. The Fair Credit Act allows 1 free credit report per year from each bureau available from the following website: www.annualcreditreport.com. This is the official website that the FTC advocates, but it’s apparently run by the bureaus who don’t give a ___ whether or not it works. I read so many negative reviews of this site that I was convinced my efforts would be in vain. BUT, I was happily able to obtain my free credit reports from both the E companies: Experian and Equifax. But TransUnion failed. Try again later, it said. I wasn’t TOO discouraged because it told me that for Brian’s as well. Oh well, 4 out of 6 reports…not bad.
​
www.CreditKarma.com
Searching for another free way of obtaining my TransUnion report I found www.CreditKarma.com. While the 3 bureaus suck you into monthly payments for credit monitoring (I used to pay for this), CreditKarma makes their money off the credit card applications they advertise and you do not need to pay a dime to obtain reports. How refreshingly honest. I highly recommend this site since I successfully downloaded my TU report: nothing wrong, other than my addresses hadn’t been updated for 6 years. Maybe that’s why. Hmm. I thought I was good. I decided to sit on it.

T-Mobile Nightmare Begins
A couple weeks later we decided to switch mobile carriers and buy a 2nd phone in order to get data and a hotspot while in Mexico. After spending days researching phones and plans and unlocking our current phone, we hit up a T-Mobile kiosk at the mall. The phone I want is backordered, so I must order it online and have it shipped. OK, fine. So I go home and try ordering online but T-Mobile’s website fails - it keeps adding the pink-colored phone to my cart when I specifically picked silver. Plus, even though it’s unlocked, it says our old iphone might not be accepted for use as a second line. Sigh. I didn’t want to have to call…but I call.

Blocked
A very helpful Keenan from T-Mobile answers my myriad of questions and we are about to close the deal. First problem: T-Mobile says that to run my credit they need to use TransUnion. Great. I just unfroze Experian thinking that was who T-Mobile uses. Apparently, the computer chooses bureaus randomly. Just my luck. I inform them that TU is blocked so I give them my access pin (not the smartest idea, don’t do that, pre-order it online). But at this point it’s been an hour, I am sooo close to finishing…and desperate to remain on the line with the only person that seems willing to help me but who does NOT have an extension I can call back to (quite the ridiculous CSR setup). They run it. No joy: I get invalidated again.  It’s not Keenan’s fault. T-Mobile will not tell me what the problem is, other than it comes up invalid.  Shitballs.

Fraud Alert x 2
Keenen comes up with another way. I can do the “no credit check” plan. Great. It’s a slightly different plan, but it still works for us. We get everything set up. I give him my credit card. It won’t go through. What the hell. This doesn’t happen. I pay my card off every month. The only reason it wouldn’t go through is for a fraud alert. As I am sounding off a 2nd card number I hear a text message coming through. Hmmm. I wonder. Then Keenan tells me the 2nd card is declined. What???! Now I am uber-concerned. Two declines at the same time. I tell him to hold on and check my texts…sure enough, I see fraud alert messages from both credit cards asking me to authorize this large purchase from T-Mobile. Sigh. I authorize the 1st card via text. He runs it again. No joy. WTF!

Now this is getting almost comical at this point. I am thinking to myself, maybe I shouldn’t be getting this phone.

I call my credit card company while keeping Keenan on hold. Of course… I unknowingly hang up on him. Ironically, to talk to a card representative my “wait time will be 15 minutes.“ I start laughing out loud now. 15 f-ing minutes? Seriously? I am this close to hanging up. I endure several minutes of elevator music, combined with several more agonizing minutes while her computer was “unusually slow”. Then as my authorization was being entered, her computer literally crashed. Wow. She thought the transaction went through before it crashed and if I waited 5 minutes it should be fine. She didn’t sound too sure. Comical? Yes. But wait, it gets worse.

The Men in Black Take Over
Keenan, bless his persistence and patience in getting a sale, called me back after a half hour. Yes, the man actually called me back. I was impressed. He tells me he has never seen a customer with their credit locked down so well. Sigh. Yeah. Well…He ran my card a third time… unsuccessfully. (Authorization had obviously not taken place before that computer crash.) Then the black hole set in. I was put on hold for a looong time. Then Keenan came back on the line and informed me I needed to complete the transaction at a T-Mobile store. They were done with me. Nodding my head, I admitted defeat. Yeah… I get it.

It became crystal clear what was happening. I could picture the Men in Black passing knowing glances, raising eyebrows behind black spectacles, with pursed lips and tented hands, conferring…judging me, my integrity. Not a cool feeling. OK great, now T-Mobile suspects I am not who I say I am. Seriously, do you think I would TRY so hard if I wasn’t ME?

I am exhausted and depressed from the whole situation. I don’t blame T-Mobile. They were very helpful and quite frankly, I probably wouldn’t give me a phone either at this point. Having both credit cards flag that charge as potential fraud was the ironic last straw.  (I had to call both companies back to make sure they didn’t charge me for a phone I couldn’t purchase.) Alas, no phone for me. The following day I call TransUnion. And yup, it gets even better.

TransUnion Sucks
1st TransUnion call: Ah, it’s just your address.
I ask the customer service agent why two companies that have checked my credit are claiming it as invalid. He tells me it looks like it’s because my address is incorrect. I already know this because I have my CreditKarma credit report and the address is 6 years old. I’ve had multiple addresses since. He starts to enter my correct address and I’m initially thinking “whew, that’s all it is, no big deal.” But alas, the system kicks back an error and won’t allow him to enter it manually. The only way for me to fix it is to mail in all this stuff: driver’s license, utility bill (which I don’t have - duh, I live on a boat – I don’t tell him that), blah blah blah. I begin to ask further questions as to how it’s possible that an address is the only reason for the invalidation of my report. He tells me to have the requesting companies ask their “local marketing department of TransUnion” to understand why. What the heck does that mean? He shuts down and refuses further assistance. I am super frustrated.

2nd TransUnion call: Nope, it’s ‘cause you’re dead!
I felt CSR #1 didn’t look hard enough and essentially shut down my inquiries. The next day I call back and finally talk to a guy who seemed to want to help, tell him my issue and this guy actually READS my report. Novel idea. “Hmmm. It looks like you have been reported as deceased by a company.”( Jaw drops, eyes roll into head.) Wait. WHAAATTTTT????

I don’t even know what to say. “But… I’m not. I’m talking to you right now.” I hear myself utter incredulously.  Obvious to me, not so obvious to them. He tells me I must to go to the Social Security office and fill out Form 2458, send in a copy of my social security card and a bunch of other papers to prove to TransUnion that I’M NOT DEAD! I am flabbergasted. Does anyone say that anymore? Well, I just did. Flabbergasted.

Social Security Administration
I call the local office and explain my situation. “I need to see if the SS admin thinks I’m dead.” What? After thinking I am crazy for a second, the employee hears me out and looks up my file. Nope. I’m alive and kicking according to the gub’mint (awesome), including the IRS (damn). But there’s a problem: He thinks I can only fill out Form 2458 if I was dead in the SSA’s eyes, and since I’m NOT, I can’t fill out the form. Since the form is all about verifying benefits, making a change or fixing a mistake and there IS no mistake (on their end), I can’t fill it out. You mean I can’t get the form to prove I am alive to TransUnion because I am not dead according to the government? Accckkkkkk.
​
TransUnion call#3: Customer service agents who could care less.
I call and speak to a 3rd person,” Kevin”, who I firmly believe is NOT really named Kevin. I explained everything ALL over again (since they apparently do NOT add call notes to your file). I tell him I am actually undead according to the government and that it is YOUR records that are messed up. And the SSA says I cannot fill out Form 2458 since they know I’m really alive. But he flat out tells me they need the form like he was reading text on his little computer screen and unwilling to go any further with logic or explain why. I tried in vain to get him to tell me which company reported my death so that I could try and have them UNreport it. I get waylaid. I hung up again, done for the day. I can only take so much angst per day.

TransUnion Call#4: “Ma’am, we need Form 2458. Form 2458. Form 2458.”
Just for good measure, I call one last time to try a 4th employee and get the same run around. No budging. Like a broken record: “Ma’am you need to fill out Form 2458…” Over and over. My bad attitude is evident at this point and I feel like screaming (or crying). These people are the opposite of helpful. No explanation as to what I should tell the SSA since they don’t think I should be filling out this form.  He DID tell me he will be sending me a copy of my credit report in the mail so that I can review its contents and dispute any inaccuracies. Awesome. TransUnion sucks and the SSA can’t help me. I am just depressed.

Logic-Less
The real kick in the arse here is that this is (supposedly) all based on ONE company reporting me dead. ONE! Just one. Plus, they will not tell me when this happened or which idiot company sent in this misinformation. Regardless, you’d think a little logic would ensue…. The other two credit bureaus are not showing me as dead. Hmmm. Shouldn’t TU require SOME kind of corroboration before flagging me as deceased? Like, oh, I don’t know, contact the SSA admin office to verify my deceasement? Why do I have to do their job?

The Social Security Office – Best Government Agency of All Time, I Know, Right? Who Knew?
By now my ONLY hope is Form 2458. So I went to the SS Admin Office to plead my case. I was told this form is filled out only when someone needs to prove they are receiving social security benefits and how much. Since I don’t currently receive any, and there’s no change in my status, there’s no point to the form – an endless circle. No one in the office had ever heard of using this form to make a person “undead” in the eyes of a credit bureau and had no idea what to do with me.

But bless their hearts, they solved my problem. Instead of ignoring my plight and sticking to the forms’ originally intended purpose, they did what any reasonable human being would do…they used the “Other” line. At the bottom of the form there is a blank line for “Other” in which they wrote: “Ms. Marya Lipiec is alive and NOT deceased (I made them add the not dead part just for good measure) and not receiving social security benefits at this time.” True dat.

The Bad News
Now I have my Form 2458. YeeHa! Then I received my “official” credit report from TransUnion in the mail. (I get it, this story is excruciatingly long and you might have to take a potty break… but this is the best part.) The good news? My name was right. The bad news? Take your pick:
  • My SS# wasn’t right, not even close. Seriously. How does this happen?!!? Speechless.
  • My past credit disappeared…completely. My normally 20 page report was but a single page. One inquiry remained from the credit card company to which I recently applied. What??!! Where’s the past 20 years of hard-earned, paid-as-agrees credit cards and paid-off bank loans?
  • The final straw? A note at the bottom: “File SSN used in death benefits claim for Marjorie Dickerson DOB: 1907. DOC: 2002. Zip code last residence….” (Name changed to protect the innocent ACTUAL dead.)
Two of Me
At this point I am livid. How can this have happened? How is it possible that my Credit Karma report was accurate (pulled from TU using my correct SS#) but the TU official report (pulled using that SAME SS#) is totally f’ed up? How can there be TWO of me? In the one file, everything is normal; in the other, my name is associated with a 95-yr-old woman who died in 2002, has no credit and a totally different SS#? I’m pissed. And even more dejected. I’ll never get this fixed.  Judging from the unhelpful, robot attitude of TransUnion’s customer service reps, I assume I am doomed to be dead for years.

My Sarcastic Dispute Letter
I take the next several days compiling my “dispute” letter. And what a letter it was. I had to reread and edit the irritation out of my words over the course of several days. But it just wasn’t possible. This was someone‘s obvious CLERICAL ERROR screwing my life up, NOT just some “company that reported me as dead”. Someone reported Marjorie as dead and TransUnion inexplicably merged my name with her SS# resulting in a new file. Turns out, my paranoia about identity theft can now extend from the evil life-hackers to the very institutions who are supposed to maintain my credit file – the credit bureaus. I can’t protect myself from their incredible inefficiencies, internal bureaucracies and life-altering error-makers.

Irate English Teacher
I made copies of everything from my SS card & driver license to military ID cards & former utility bills proving former addresses - my “proof of life”. (I’m just glad I didn’t have to cut off a thumb.) I then made copies of both credit reports, the good and the bad. Like a crazed English teacher on Red Bull, I marked those reports up with screaming fluorescent highlighters and angry double underlines and flamboyant margin notes with numerous exclamation points. I added my irritated dispute letter to my stack-‘o-copies and headed to the post office. The final irony? The postal clerk was a bit worried - the address (that I triple checked via calls & website) had an improper zip code for the designated city. Seriously? Sigh. Beat…head...against…wall. I got a return receipt, just in case. Partially relieved it was out of my hands, I waited.

Hiding my Head in the Sand
Credit bureaus are supposed to take disputes seriously and resolve them within one month. Dubious, I waited for over a month. In researching my problem, I had found only one blog about a guy who had “Form 2458” issues with a bureau. It took him over a year to correct. I tried to ignore my constant feeling of dread.

So I hid my head in the sand. We traveled in the van. We saw family and friends. I didn’t feel like writing the blog or even looking at the computer. Near the end, I knew I’d have to make the call to TransUnion soon. But I dreaded another round of runarounds. Just thinking about it made my stomach cringe. Eventually, though, the time came and I had to face the music.

I called. I got the run around.
Surprised? The CSR refused to tell me what, if anything, had been fixed. There were no “notes in my file” indicating a change of breathing status or whether my SS# was even correct or whether I had any of my credit back. Again, another robot. I had no hope. I'm going to be dead for months. She said she would send me another “official” report in the mail. Oh goody.

A couple weeks later, I received my report… Dun, dun, dun.

Shockingly, it was fixed! FIXED!
So, after all the negative stuff I just wrote about TransUnion’s customer service I will state that whoever worked on my dispute behind the scenes was awesome! I am so grateful to that person for doing their job, I wish I could thank them personally. Everything was miraculously right again, my SS#, my 20 years and 20 pages of credit and most importantly, no more “special notes” at the bottom about Marjorie.

I am no longer dead! YAY!!!!
You have no idea as to my relief. Problem is, I’m still dubious (glass-half-empty person that I am). Now I need to get back to T-Mobile and clear my name with the Men in Black. This is personal. I decide to wait a few weeks though to make sure the report “took” throughout their system.

T-Mobile Store – 3rd Attempt
I head to a T-Mobile store a full day after I’d successfully unlocked my credit. Remember, I have to unlock each bureau again to allow T-Mobile access. As I started the credit application process, I could tell I was still on the ‘Men in Black’ shit list. Rolling the credit bureau dice, T-Mobile chose TransUnion again. Fate? Probably not, I’ll bet they purposefully used the same bureau. They think I’m scamming. They actually made a copy of my driver license. I didn’t care. This was personal now. I AM ME dammit, go ahead, make your copies. I tell the T-Mobile guys my story. The sales associate said usually people who try THIS hard to get a phone are the real deal. He says T-Mobile has recorded my multiple attempts already, so I am a “manual” credit, which means they must make me talk to their credit people over the phone while physically in the store. So I talk to the credit guy. They can’t access my TU credit report. It’s locked. ARRRRRGGG! You’ve GOT to be KIDDING me.

Square one?
Not kidding. After ALL that. I feel like I am back at square one. This is the never-ending story. I go home dejected assuming I have additional issues with my file. I call TransUnion anyway because dammit I PAID $10 for an unlock that didn’t unlock. I am told, yes, he sees the unlock I ordered online, but it didn’t take. Technical glitch. He manually fixed it and told me I was good to go. You sure? Like if I go there right now, it’s going to be fine? Yes. Riiiight. I’ll believe it when I have a phone in my warm, alive hands. (As opposed to cold and dead. Ha, I still have a tiny sense of humor after all this.)

The next day I go back to T-Mobile. I talk to the credit dude on the phone again. But I think I am talking to a TransUnion agent trying to access my file. I get agitated because he’s continually screwing up my address. (Even the in-store associate is frustrated talking to him, so it’s not just me and my snowballing irritation at this whole mess.) I can’t understand his thick accent and the first question he asks is not about me. Someone named Shelly Lipiec. What the hell! I start all up in his phone face, like I don’t know this Shelly person, are you sure you are looking at the right file? I assumed he was accessing some other woman’s report – not like it hasn’t happened before.

Turns out I am talking to a T-Mobile employee who has just successfully accessed my (now) unlocked TU file and this is an actual security question regarding people with whom I may (or may not) have had joint credit. Oh. My bad! I calmed down, stated an emphatic “NO I don’t know this person”, and answered the next couple normal security questions about addresses and loans accurately, handing the phone back to the associate, done with my interrogation.

Well?
I passed! I was finally established as ME. I was no longer dead. The Men in Black finally believe me! Just like that. Unbelievable.

It’s good to be alive!
I walked out of that store with more than just a new phone. I was ME again. After 3 months filled with numerous excruciating phone calls, mounds of paperwork, loads of internet research, a month of head-in-sand-waiting, several T-Mobile visits and enough angst and head pounding to cause an aneurysm, I finally had my credit back. My life back. My mojo back. I’m alive! I’m alive!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The moral of this long, boring tale…
Download your free credit reports every year. If something isn’t right, fix it.
I recommend adding a security freeze to each credit bureau to keep the life-hackers at bay. Yes, it makes buying things a PITA but it’s still worth the effort.
Grades:
T-Mobile gets an A- for polite and knowledgeable customer service across my numerous botched attempts at buying a phone. That last credit check guy was polite but a poor communicator while continually bumbling simple data entry.
I was surprised at my awesome experience with the local Social Security office (I mean they ARE a government agency). They get an A for saving me with out-of-the-box thinking.
But TransUnion has proven itself just another vast bureaucracy, staffed essentially with trained seals as agents repeating the computer screen answer and refusing initiative when confronted with a strange problem. I give TU’s phone agents an F- for atrocious customer service, their data entry an F for merging my file with a dead person whose name and SS# wasn’t even close and their dispute fixers an A- for correcting their mistake in a timely manner after receiving my “proof of life”. (They get the ‘minus’ because they neglected to add two previous addresses I specifically requested –partial fail-but at least the important stuff was corrected.) Two out of three, in this case, IS bad.

As red-tape situations go, this could have been far, far worse! I'm just glad it all worked out and I can now move on with my life, happy to be alive, officially!
Picture
Welcome to my bureaucratic Hell. (Thought this Hell, Michigan pic was appropriate. Yes, it's a real town!)
Picture
Form 2458. Form 2458. Form 2458. Alright already!
Picture
Proof I am now undead! My new phone!
Comments

Van Mods

7/29/2016

Comments

 
Picture
Our final van modification? A name change - hereafter known as V-ger. Until we change our minds again...
Excited to be back messing about in his dad’s woodworking shop, Brian spent several weeks completing some pretty awesome and quite useful custom modifications before we set off for the great outdoors in our Winnebago Travato …
  • New Bump Stops (Sumo Springs)
The first fix-it item to take place - new Sumo Spring bump stops. Yes, the original ones were OK, but these new ones raised the back end another inch. A mere inch? Who cares? Well, our generator is positioned at the lowest point under the vehicle and only 6” off the ground. That’s a little too close for comfort. In fact, I once backed Brian into a parking spot and forgot that said low generator was behind the wheel base. That expensive generator juuuuuuust baaaarely whisked the top of the curb. After that near disaster, I am more vigilant. But having that extra inch has been really helpful for clearing higher curbs or road debris or small children (just kidding).

  • Battery monitor
One major reason we bought the Travato is its similar setup to a cruising boat. A solar panel on the roof allows us to boondock in remote areas without attaching to power for a day or two at a time. But doing so requires constant vigilance of power usage. The refrigerator runs exclusively off of the coach 12 volt batteries and is the largest battery draw. Our existing battery monitor is almost useless, blinking when full and in trickle charge mode, otherwise notating the voltage as it depletes which is the least accurate method of measuring. Worse, when the sun is charging the batteries, the current gauge only shows the solar panel output voltage, not the actual battery voltage.  So unless we cover up the panel or wait until dark we really have no idea what state of charge the batteries are at. Useless. As a rule, batteries should never be depleted below 50% charge; and if you want to keep your expensive battery bank healthy and lasting longer, an 80% minimum is best practice. (Brian gets jittery when it gets below 80.) So in order to view the more accurate ‘percentage’ method, Brian installed a Balmar Smart Gauge. (We have two friends with the exact same gauge on their boats.)
 
The entire installation took only one day (once we got all the parts) but most of that time was spent dinking around with the batteries. Each battery sits on a tiltable “shelf”, tucked up into the chassis and impossible to access without tipping at a really dicey angle. Brian raised the van on wood blocks (in order to crawl under the low clearance) and then used a motorcycle jack to keep the battery shelf from sliding out of its slot, hurtling this hazardous 75 pound hunk onto the pavement (or someone’s head). I got the job of making sure the jack didn’t roll away. Yeah, that means I also had to be under the elevated van – good times.
 
After drilling the necessary wire access hole in the bottom of the van and cutting an opening in the wall of the bed for the gauge, Brian ran electrical wires from the battery post into the interior. Our new meter works as expected and is reasonably precise, within a couple points plus or minus. As on the boat, Brian is once again content, now possessing this immediate information. Picture Mr. Burns from the Simpsons – a giddy “amp accountant” reveling in his “bank status” and dictating whether or not I can “afford” to watch an episode of Downton Abby. Loan… DENIED!

  • Bedside tables
One major feature lacking in our Winnebago Travato K is a dining table. We could eat from the captain’s chairs but we love lounging on our couch-beds. Aside from perching plates precariously on our laps, there’s no suitable place to rest a floppy paper plate or a drink. We didn’t like the idea of a cumbersome shared tabletop sprouting up from the floor between the already narrow walkway, even if it was removable. So we decided on two mini tray-tables.

Our TV-tables are made of three types of solid wood (sapelle, cocobola, bubinga) and finished with a clear gloss. Brian fabricated brackets from aluminum bar stock, using the existing window trim screws to avoid drilling any new holes in the van metal. Each table has two screws protruding from the back that slide and lock into these brackets. And there’s a single support leg that rotates down into a routed space for flat storage vertically under the bed using Velcro. Plenty strong for a drink and a plate of food, they only take a minute to set up or take down. For us, it’s the perfect solution. Now we can eat dinner while lounging on our respective beds watching Downton Abby (but only when we have sufficient amp credits or plugged into electricity!) Our ‘tiny house’ living room is complete.
​
  • Spicerack/backsplash
My original 1-1/2” backsplash is about as inadequate as using a garden hose for a parking curb. It doesn’t block water from splashing or food from falling into the inaccessible black hole in back of my tiny kitchen cabinetry. I’d read a Facebook post about a grape accidentally dropping into that abyss with the owner having to remove the fridge to get it out before it rotted. Yuck. But worse, the thought of what happens when you don’t see it fall? So Brian made me a beautiful 4-1/2” backsplash with a built in spice rack out of the same wood as the tables, sapelle. I insisted it be made removable so I could clean up liquid spills, lest it seep into/underneath the wood. So he crafted toggle clamps on the back side that loosen with a quick turn of the screw instead of drilling into the Corian. It works beautifully: my spices are easy-to-access and organized and the piece looks as though the van was born with it.

  • Windshield shades
We purchased and installed retractable front windshield shades from Eclipse Sunshades. The ones that came with the van are cumbersome to put up each night and take up tons of room in the overhead compartment. We found and copied this solution from the Winnebago Travato Facebook page, an extremely helpful tool filled with owner ideas for van modifications. These install vertically along the far left and right windshield edges and stay in place while driving. We don’t even notice any peripheral vision blocking. Closing them is a snap, just Velcro shut in the middle. While they are not blackout shades, they block the sun when parked for a few hours sightseeing and when stopped for the night they provide sufficient shielding from onlookers with no background shadowing visible. The ease of use and added storage space was worth the $50. They are so convenient, we have already discussed our future despair and solution when, inevitably, we damage one from too much use. Yup, buy another set!  

  • Shower curtain
The shower curtain that comes with the van uses snaps that fasten around the upper portion of the bathroom. Lame. We figured it would be annoying to put up and down every time. So Brian installed a bendable slide utilizing about 30 spring grips that attach to the curtain top. Now we can slide the curtain in a U-shape around the shower basin and rope it off when done, leaving the curtain in place at all times. It IS a much better solution, but not as necessary so far since we have been staying at State Parks with shower facilities or relatives houses. We plan on using it much more next summer when we head out west boondocking in isolated wilderness.

  • Sewer hose holder/”bumper step”
Brian really wanted to upgrade to a Rhino sewer hose as the one that came with the Winnebago was (pardon the pun) crappy. It wasn’t long enough. It’s rather thin and chintzy. There’s no 90-degree bend at the end allowing proper fit into the sewer hole without stepping on the end to keep it in place (I don’t want my shoe anywhere near that sewer hole.) But the most important thing…there’s no “pee-viewing window”. While watching your pee+ stream from the tank into the sewer seems a bit (OK a lot) gross, consider the alternative…
 
Just today, we witnessed what we recognized as inevitable with the windowless hose: camper thinks sewage is done streaming, camper unhooks hose prematurely from trailer, camper eyes go wide as he sees his shit-stream is NOT done flowing and actually is still flowing quite profusely, stuff splashes everywhere (on the ground, the trailer, the camper), camper swears loudly, camper fumbles to reattach, camper (grumbling) resolves to buy a better hose. Who hasn’t done this to one degree or another! It only took us one use of the crappy hose to agree this was a priority. After watching that spectacle, we our looked at each other and smirked. WHO wants a crappy crapper hose? Not us.
 
But storing the additional 90-degree attachments and the longer 15ft hose was problematic. Brian researched and found the adjustable Sanitube storage tube to hold everything in a sealed container. But he could find no good way to attach it under our van. We really didn't want to store it IN the van (gross) and didn't desire the added length, weight and cost of a Stowaway trailer hitch storage box. So Brian came up with this idea of a “bumper” of sorts, fabricating a 5ft wide bracket made from 1” square steel tubing that attaches the Sanitube to the trailer hitch. As an added feature he welded a step on top to protect the tube, making it easier when getting in and out the back door. He painted the whole thing black to match the tube and added non-slip tape to the step (‘cause he thinks of everything). The whole contraption sticks out only 7 inches from the bumper. After having used it many times now, we are very pleased with our new gadget; it makes an icky job much less so. Plus, we will never be THAT guy.

 
V-Ger
Amid Brian’s month-long van modification session and the beginnings of my TransUnion death debacle (see last post), we squabbled over what to rename the van. Alas, Brian didn’t like the name Winndigo. Too hard to say. What?!  I thought it was cool, whatever. Brian liked Silver Bullet (no way, too much like the Budweiser slogan… wait, I think that IS the slogan). I wanted to name it KYLE: Kickass Yuppie Liveaboard Expediter or TIMMY: Travato Inspires More Miscellaneous Yondering. But Brian didn’t like my Southpark references. Sigh.
 
What about V-Ger? From the first Star Trek movie “The Motion Picture” (1979 and yes, the worst one) in which the newly self-aware NASA Voyager 6 satellite assumes its name is “V-Ger”, rather than Voyager, because moon dust covered up the “oya” portion of its name on the ships’ hull.  Not such a smart satellite. Yeah, we just spoiled the surprise ending if you haven’t gotten around to watch the 40 year old movie yet. Anyway, we feel it’s fitting:
  • our silver van looks a little sleek and space-shippy;
  • it’s intended purpose is for us to voyage where we haven’t gone before;
  • while self-aware satellites (or vans) usually are NOT a good thing, self-aware humans ARE… and so we shall strive, in honor of Spock;
  • and finally, if you don’t get a little dirt on your space vehicle, you haven’t really explored!
Comments

Two Years in Review

7/29/2016

Comments

 
Picture
Sunrise. Indigo sailing towards Isla Cerralvo, heading to Mazatlan. Photo by Starfire.
Two years?! Yup, I know right? It’s hard to believe! In May of 2014, Brian retired after 20 years in the Marine Corps and I quit my job of 17 years. We sold or donated most of our possessions and entered the Baja Ha Ha cruisers rally that October, sailing to Mexico on our 34ft sailboat, Indigo. Before leaving on this stupendous sojourn, the skeptics were in abundance.

“Wow, you sure you want to live on a boat full time?” (No, but we’re going to risk the attempt in order to escape the rat race for a while and see some of the world.)

“What about pirates?” (Haven’t seen or heard any stories of such on the West coast of Mexico.)

“I could never live with my husband in such tight quarters every second of every day.” (I do, and it’s no problem…I have my side of the boat and he has his.)

“How are you going to get food?” “Are you going to have to fish every day?” (We eat better in Mexico then we do in the States. It’s cheaper. Fishing not required.)

“No way, I’ll give you 6 months, tops. You’ll sell the boat and come back.” (…they’re still waiting.)

“You CAN’T do that!” (We CAN and DID.)

So… what’s the verdict?
Two years are gone, but we have no regrats. Not a single letter. Yes, we still enjoy living on a boat. No, we haven’t strangled each other, yet. Yes, we still want to continue the journey... we just don’t know where to, or when, or for how long... you can’t make these decisions lightly.

Stats
I have been asked (hounded, actually… sheesh… alright already) for an overview of our time here in the Sea of Cortez. So here are the stats after two seasons of cruising in Mexico:

Miles traveled:  (2yr totals)
2496 miles

Hours at sea:
575 hours on the water = 225 sailing hours + 350 engine hours since we left San Diego
​
Nights / passages at sea: 14 total nights (a night meaning dusk 'til dawn) / 9 total passages
3 nights straight, San Diego to Turtle Bay (Longest…and uber-tiring)
2 nights, Turtle Bay to Bahia Santa Maria (Worst. Big waves = mental breakdown. I don’t know if I can do this!)
1 overnight, Bahia Santa Maria to Cabo San Lucas (Getting warmer. OK, we can do this. Truly felt like we accomplished something!)
1, Cabo San Lucas to Bahia de los Muertos (First tropical anchorage… “Ah, now THIS is cruising!”)
1, Playa Santispac to San Carlos (Brian’s best - sailed all the way, dolphin escort, no motoring!)
1, San Carlos to Playa Santispac (Marya’s cranky crossing, moonless night, no fun steering)
2, La Paz to Mazatlan (Our crossing w/Starfire was great! Finally learned how to sleep while sailing.)
2, Mazatlan to Playa Bonanza (Marya’s best - perfectly calm, skating-rink water, 24hrs straight motoring! Can you tell the difference now between my perfect crossing and Brian’s? Basically: motor vs. no motor.)
1, Punta Mangles to San Carlos (Now we are old hats…no biggie.)

Islands Visited: 6, Coronados, Danzante, Carmen, San Francisco, San Jose, Ispiritu Santos

Anchorages Visited: 44, many of these more than once

Favorite Anchorages:
Marya’s favorite anchorages – Isla San Francisco, Puerto Los Gatos

Brian’s favorite anchorages – Bahia de los Muertos, Caleta Mezteño

Best sunsets – Caleta Lobos

Best snorkeling  – Marya - Bahia Cobre, Brian - Los Gatos

Best week of seclusion – Caleta Mezteño, 2nd  Ensenada Grande

Clearest water – Honeymoon Cove on Isla Danzante

Best beach hotel – Bahia Candeleros

Best kayaking – Can’t decide: San Juanico, Agua Verde, Candeleros, Ensenada Grande, Honeymoon, Los Gatos – all good

Best tide pool strolling – Agua Verde

Coolest rock formations – Puerto Los Gatos

Best wildlife sightings – Isla Coronados (jumping mobula rays all evening), San Marte (more jumping rays and fish) and Bahia Cobre (fish galore and a bighorn sheep)

Most picturesque anchorage – Isla San Francisco (west)

Best cliff hike – Agua Verde; 2nd – Isla San Francisco

Best canyon hike – Steinbeck’s canyon in Puerto Escondido; 2nd – Ensenada Grande

Best rocky beach – Isla San Francisco (east)

Best sand beach – Playa Bonanza

Best shell beach – Punta Chivato

More Bests and Worsts, Firsts and Tidbits:
Most difficulty anchoring – Punta Mangles (due to strong winds)

Trickiest anchorage – San Juanico (multiple shallow reefs, plus someone inevitably has taken the good spot!)

Easiest anchorages – Coronados (south)

Anchorages we’ve entered in the dark – Timbabiche (first), Bonanza

Anchorages we’ve left in the dark – Timbabiche, Caleta Lobos, Ensenada Gallina

Anchorage in which we’ve re-anchored in the dark (not recommended) – San Juanico

Best anchorage for norther’ protection – Playa Santispac

Anchorages we’ve had all to ourselves – Lobos, Mezteno, Ensenada Grande (believe it), La Raza, Gallina, Amortajada (south)(where the biting no-see-um’s hung out, no wonder it was empty), Colorada, Perico, Coronados (south), Honeymoon (south), Mangles, Pulpito, Santispac, Santa Barbara, El Burro

Shared with only one other boat – Timbabiche, Punta Salinas, Cobre, Bonanza, San Francisco (east)
This endearing characteristic of the Baja Peninsula (lack of people) is why we enjoy it so much.

Best night’s sleep anchorage – Puerto Escondido
​
Worst night’s sleep – San Juanico (south swell caused us to re-anchor); Partida (idiot power boat dragging anchor)

Worst anchorage of all time (experts agree) – Bahia Amortajada (biting jejene’s)

First tropical anchorage (wow, we can see the anchor!) – Bahia de Los Muertos

Rolliest anchorage  – Los Frailies (so bad we didn’t even set the anchor, kept on going overnight), 2nd – San Juanico (see worst night’s sleep)

Windiest anchorage – San Evaristo (unexpected night blast), Playa Santispac (30kts but we knew it was coming and it wasn’t bad)

Worst beach – Ensenada de la Raza (I wouldn’t call this a “beach”, more like a mud pit)

Anchorage most happiest to arrive at (after sailing 2 nights in uncomfortable seas) – Santa Maria

Worst anchor neighbors encountered – Ensenada Grande & Partida (the two most populous spots)

Unsurpassed fish taco shack – Lupe and Maggie Mae’s in San Evaristo

Best bay if you like bees – Ballandra on Isla Carmen

Cool ghost towns – Bahia Salinas, Punta Salinas


Marinas:
Best Marina Ever – Camp Pendleton Marina

Best Mexico marina overall – Marina Costa Baja in La Paz ties with El Cid in Mazatlan, Palmira a close 2nd

Best pool – Marina Costa Baja

Best internet – Marina El Cid

Worst internet – San Carlos (1st yr, they’ve since stepped up to 2nd best!); Marina Mazatlan (2nd yr)

Best and ONLY Cable TV – El Cid

Best swimming beach – Costa Baja

Best (and hottest) place to do boat projects (like a refrigerator) – Marina San Carlos

Best marina for: canvas work – El Cid; varnish – Marina Mazatlan; engine repair – Palmira

First Mexico marina – Cabo San Lucas

Most expensive – Cabo San Lucas

Loudest – Cabo San Lucas

Cheapest – Puerto Escondido Moorings at $10/day; 2nd Cheapest – Marina San Carlos

Most cruiser-friendly – Marina Palmira

Best wildlife viewing – Puerto Escondido

Most remote – Puerto Escondido

Most resortish – El Cid

Nicest marina admin. – (aside from Camp Pendleton) Marina Palmira ties with Marina Mazatlan

Most surge – El Cid

Least surge/best weather protection – Costa Baja

Cleanest bathrooms – El Cid (hands down)

Best shower facilities – Costa Baja open-air showers at the resort pool ties w/ El Cid, but Palmira now comes in close 2nd with their brand new facilities

Worst bathrooms – Marya - Marina Mazatlan; Brian - San Carlos (the men’s bathroom is just BAD)

Marina restaurant with the most consistently good food & still cheapish – Hammerhead’s at Marina San Carlos

Favorite restaurant (but expensive) – Marina Azul at Marina Costa Baja, La Paz

What's on the agenda this season?
We will be spending the entire winter in La Paz this year (with our friends who are coming down on the Ha Ha) in order to explore the area further. There’s just not enough time to see everything in each anchorage even after two winters. Los Gatos, San Marte and San Francisco are must return-to’s to name a few; we missed several coves on Ispiritu Santos such as Gabriel, Candeleros and El Cardonal; I still haven't visited the baby seals of Los Islotos nor the whales in the Bay of LA.  After that, maybe we’ll have seen enough and want to move on down further south. Who knows? Since the majority of world cruisers we meet declare the Sea of Cortez as the best cruising grounds around, we are not in a rush to go anywhere else just yet... 
Comments

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    March 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013

    Categories

    All
    Agua Verde
    Air Conditioning
    All-inclusive Resort
    Anchoring
    Bahia Amortajada
    Bahia Cardonal
    Bahia Cobre
    Bahia Concepcion
    Bahia Salinas
    Baja Ha Ha
    Baja Ha-Ha
    Balandra Beach
    Ballandra Bay
    Balloonfish
    Baluarte Bridge
    Bashing
    Boat Refrigeration
    Boatwork
    Boatyard Fatigue Syndrome
    Bottom Paint
    Bullfight
    Campervan
    Cancun
    Candeleros Bay
    Canvas
    Carlsbad Caverns
    Carnaval
    Chainplates
    Charleston
    Chichen Itza
    Cliff-Divers
    Cockpit Table
    Containers
    Cortez Angelfish
    Crossing
    Cruising Friendships
    Culture
    Cutlass Bearing
    Destination Wedding
    Dinghy
    Dodger
    Dolphins
    Driving In Mexico
    Dry Storage
    Durango
    EcoBaja Tours
    El Burro Cove
    Ensenada Grande
    Fireworks
    Fish
    Flat Tire
    Food
    Fun Baja
    Georgia
    Grandpa
    Gray Whales
    Guaymas
    Gulf Of California
    Haulout
    Hermosillo
    Hoffmaster State Park
    Holiday-inn-express
    Honeymoon-cove
    House
    Hurricane Blanca
    Hurricanes
    Interlochen
    Isla Carmen
    Isla Coronado
    Isla Danzante
    Isla El Coyote
    Isla Ispiritu Santos
    Isla San Francisco
    Isla San Jose
    Jumping Mobular Rays
    Kilometer 21
    La Paz
    Leelanau
    Life Raft
    List
    Llantera
    Loreto
    Los Gatos
    Los Islotes
    Los Osuna
    Marina Costa Baja
    Marina El Cid
    Marina Palmira
    Marina Seca
    Mayan
    Mazatlan
    Mexican Food
    Mexican Health Care
    Mexico
    Michigan
    Mobular Rays
    Mountains
    Mouse Aboard
    Moving Onto A Boat
    Mystical River
    New Orleans
    Nogales Border Crossing
    Nopolo
    Octopus
    Okefenokee Swamp
    Onilikan
    Pancho Villa Museum
    Pensacola
    Pima Air & Space Museum
    Playa Algodones
    Playa Bonanza
    Playa Coyote
    Playa Santa Barbara
    Playa Santispac
    Playa Santo Domingo
    Posada Concepcion
    Puerto Escondido
    Puerto Lopez Mateo
    Punta Chivato
    Punta Mangles
    Punta Perico
    Punta Pulpito
    Punta Salinas
    Radar
    Renaissance Festival
    Retinal Tear
    Retirement
    Rigging
    RV
    Safety
    Sailing
    Sailing Mexico
    San Carlos
    San Evaristo
    San Jose Channel
    San Juanico
    San Marte
    Sapphire NOW
    Savannah
    Sea Fireflies
    Sea Frost
    Sea Lions
    Sea Of Cortez
    Sea Turtles
    Serenbe Playhouse
    Shells
    Sleeping Bear Dunes
    Sleepy Hollow
    Snorkeling
    Stainless Steel
    St. Augustine
    Stingrays
    Storage
    Tacking
    Teak
    Tennessee
    Tequila Factory
    Texas
    Timbabiche
    TransUnion
    Tucson
    Tufesa Bus
    Tulum
    Underground River Swim
    Varnish
    Waterfalls
    Watermaker
    Whale Shark
    Wilderness State Park
    Wind Generator
    Windows
    Windvane
    Wing-on-Wing
    Winnebago Travato
    Woodworking

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.