Zabels At Sea

I hope none of you were worried – just an extended case of the retired lazies.  No other way to put it.  The summer heat in Mexico was not conducive to the much more active approach we had from fall to spring.  So here we are, and it’s almost Christmas – better do some catching up before everyone loses interest.

GUAYMAS AREA AND NORTH

When last heard from, your intrepid travelers were finishing preparations to depart for points north of Guaymas, destination unknown.  We had a vague plan to get Larry back to the SF area by mid-September in order to help his buddy Joel finish his boat prep and bring his (Joel’s) boat to San Diego for the 2010 Baja HaHa.  We also had a vague idea that there might be some small amount of paid work for Muggs if she returned around the end of August.

We traveled north for about two weeks with Aquadesiac.  I don’t have the log book to refer to, nor the cruising guide, so I don’t remember the names of any of the places we went.  I do recall that we spent several days in a large bay northwest of San Carlos, just outside Marina Real.  Boats don’t stay there because there is no protection from the typical northerly and westerly winds and waves.  The weather was very quiet, though, so the lack of protection was no problem.  This spot is very near to the Soggy Peso where we watched waves big enough for body surfing a couple of weeks ago!

There was some good snorkeling and another cruisers’ potluck on the beach.  One night we experienced a chubasco while at anchor.  A chubasco is a typical nighttime summer weather event with lots of wind and lots of rain.  It came on fairly quickly, and we were not prepared.  It was so hot that we had unzipped the forward windshield portion of the dodger and removed most of the other screen side panels of the cockpit enclosure.  We were sitting in the cockpit when the rain started – actually, we had hail first, as I recall – and we immediately decided that the entire enclosure needed to go back up.  By the time we got ourselves organized and started trying to zip the windshield back in, it was hailing, pouring rain, and very windy.  Larry was on deck tackling the zipper from one side;  I was in the cockpit trying to help from the other side.  It seemed to take an eternity, but eventually we got it done. 

The chubasco was over in less than an hour.  Soon after that, we started thinking about getting me headed back south in order to get to a city (Guaymas) large enough to be on a major bus route.  The plan had been for Larry to single-hand the boat alongside Aquadesiac to Santa Rosalia where he could catch a bus a couple of weeks later.  I asked a boat in our anchorage that was headed back to Guaymas if I could tag along for the short trip back.  This was my unlucky day, I guess, because the couple we asked (at the suggestion of two other boats that were going the other way) became very pissed off at us, lecturing  and scolding and all the rest of the unnecessary bluster that I’ve come to expect only in the US.  It shocked us to run into it here – after all, it was only necessary to say, “Sorry, no.”  Certainly, it wasn’t presumptuous of us – this kind of thing is done all the time on boats.  Larry and I have done it (taken in an unvetted stranger) for a few days at the dock.  In fact, the idea of asking for a ride hadn’t even occurred to me until it was suggested by other boats in the anchorage.  These other boats, with the one exception, were all headed north, as we had been.  I remember afterwards that Larry was so mad, he scribbled an entry about it in the log book and then wrote, “Sorry, Elizabeth.  These @#*holes were from Australia!!”  Which was true, but doesn’t explain or excuse their behavior.  Anyway, enough of that.

BACK TO CALIFORNIA

It all turned out for the best.  After spending a few days in the very nice (and expensive) marina in San Carlos, I finally convinced Larry that he should come back with me now – not later. We took the boat back to Guaymas where she could be stored relatively inexpensively on the hard.  When we truly faced the huge task ahead to get the boat ready to leave behind in the hot weather (and potential hurricanes), we both realized that we would be lucky to get it done in a week.  Prepping a boat for storage in hurricane season is a huge task.  We ended up removing every bit of canvas (sails, dodger) from the deck plus all the other gear usually stored on deck – dinghy, liferaft, bicycles, etc. – and stowing this stuff somewhere inside.  That all had to happen AFTER we went through the cupboards and got rid of any food that could suffer from an excess of unventilated heat.   And while you’re doing this, you still need to maintain access to the bed in order to get to sleep each night.  I rode the bus back to Stockton a week before Larry.  He finished the heavy lifting and followed me the following week. 

It turns out that the bus only goes from its point of origin — Mexico City, I think – all the way to Sacramento once a week.  Nice bus, too.  $145 one way.  It sure beat $700+ for a last-minute airfare!   Larry’s mom picked me up (in a parking lot of a K-Mart store in south Stockton), then I picked up Larry a week later.  Then a couple of things didn’t happen – Joel changed his boat plans a few times and ended up not going to Mexico this year, and I didn’t get any work.  So here we were back in Stockton, living at Mom’s, with not much to do.  We decided to buy a car because monthly rentals add up pretty quickly.  Larry took up bowling again as a regular substitute in his mom’s Monday league.  He has a 166 average now which isn’t too bad.  I went to Washington DC twice to participate in fire sprinkler technician test-question writing workshops.  But before I went to Washington, we went to Modesto’s Gallo Arts Center to see Jeremy Renner on stage in a fund-raiser that opened the season for the Center this year.  Jeremy was interviewed by Jim Johnson, retired MJC instructor, department head, and vice-president.  After the wonderful talk, there was a limited-admission meet-and-greet upstairs that we attended where Larry took my picture with the only Academy Award-nominee that I am likely to know personally!  Jeremy was very gracious and remembered both of us – big smiles and hugs all around:

And just today I read that he has been nominated for a Golden Globe award for his work in “The Town”.  Congratulations and good luck, Jeremy!!

WASHINGTON, D.C.

The Washington trips were wonderful.  The two trips were similar: I spent three nights in an expensive business-class hotel in Alexandria;  each of those three days I participated in test-question writing workshops;   I spent four nights in the apartment of a local woman who rents her room over the internet to strangers;  and I spent my extra days immersing myself in the wonderfulness of DC historical sights and museums.  After the organization I was working for reimbursed my major expenses, these trips did not cost very much – the room was $40 per night.  AirBnB is the website.  I think they have apartment and room listings in rooms all over the country.

The most important thing I learned during my sightseeing was that the American education system in general is dreadful.  I was shocked to realize how much of American history I had never heard of at all in any forum.  I’m not ready to take any advanced-level tests yet, but I have been enjoying trying to catch up by reading books which I purchased at the museum gift shops.  I also spent many happy hours browsing art museums at my own pace.  There was a very fun special exhibit at the National Gallery of Art, East Wing, that made me laugh out loud —

ARCIMBOLDO:

  This sculpture was done by a modern artist but based entirely on the paintings of Arcimboldo, a 16th century Italian painter.  Arcimboldo painted more than one series of four paintings of each season represented as a head with all details derived  from images of varying scale of fruits, vegetables and other plant matter.  The plant material was all chosen to be season-specific.  Please Google “Arcimboldo” to see what I am talking about.  This artist’s skill is breathtaking.

One evening, I met up with Craig Johnson and his wife and family.  Craig is the son of Jim Johnson, mentioned above.  Larry introduced Craig to fencing when he was a student at MJC, and fencing was the activity that brought Craig and his lovely wife, Clara, together.  Now they have two darling children, Daniel and Clarissa.  We met for dinner at a family-friendly Mexican restaurant where Clarissa drew a special picture for me:

  She used all my favorite colors!

After dinner, Craig took us all for a drive thru the mall area to see the monuments at night.  Everything was, of course, spectacular.  Clara and the children were in the back seat playing games as we drove – name a state!  name a president!   These kids are 4 and 6!  This evening was lots of fun and impressive.

During my time in DC, I spent a half-day at Mt. Vernon:

I did not get a chance to visit Monticello, home of my new hero, Thomas Jefferson, but I did spend some time in his memorial:

As a matter of fact, my first day in Washington I spent on foot seeing all the monuments on the mall.  This was where I was stunned by the depth of my ignorance simply by reading all the engraved quotations and well-written explanatory material that is displayed at each monument and in guide books.  (I had never read Lincoln’s Second Inaugural address, for instance.)  My favorite quote from the Jefferson Memorial is this one:

I am not an advocate for frequent changes in laws and constitutions. But laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made, new truths discovered and manners and opinions change, with the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also to keep pace with the times. We might as well require a man to wear still the coat which fitted him when a boy as civilized society to remain ever under the regimen of their barbarous ancestors.

Actually, I think every word is worth a red highlight.  Whoddathunk – realizing that knowledge would grow and times would change!

And then there was the grand, relatively new FDR Memorial;  I can’t begin to do it justice here, but if you haven’t been to Washington since it was installed (1997), you might want to see it:

Another inspiring idea, this from a wealthy Roosevelt! 

Some days I left the world of history and ideas and reveled in the beauty of art:

This painting was one of the last painted by Van Gogh.  It is part of the exhibit in the National Gallery of Art, West Wing.  Van Gogh has been a favorite of mine for a long time along with his French contemporaries Monet and Renoir. I clicked this picture before being told not to by a guard.  The museums have varying rules about picture-taking.  The rules can vary from exhibit to exhibit within the same museum.  I honestly didn’t know – I had checked for signs which I somehow missed seeing.

“Luncheon of the Boating Party” by Renoir is the centerpiece of a beautiful small mansion museum, the Phillips Collection.  I stayed there all day and enjoyed an amazing piano recital by a very talented Spanish pianist, Daniel del Pino.

HIGH SCHOOL REUNION AND RETURN TO MEXICO – THE GIANTS WIN THE WORLD SERIES!!!!!!!!!!!

I returned from Washington the second time on the day of my 40th high school reunion.  That was lots of fun!  I learned that there are actually two or three people following us on this website that I haven’t talked to in 40 years!  That is very cool.  Later in October, we attended a Sock Hop at the Oakland Yacht Club.  I walked a 5k Bridge to Bridge with Jim Golden and his sister.  Larry came along just for laughs, and by the end of the day I think he had walked as much as anyone else.  The webmaster, Patrick, invited us to share the hospitality of himself and his wife, Valerie, more than once.  They have become enthusiastic foodies, and eating at their place is always terrific!

Eventually, it was time to return to Guaymas.  We had made arrangements to help our friends, Kathy and Robert of Blue Dolphin, drive their truck back to Mexico.  We loaded it up pretty full – there are two bikes on the roof, and it’s not easy to close that rear window!  We stopped along the way in San Diego where we visited their beautiful yacht club on Coronado Island and relaxed in the club’s hot tub.

In San Diego we watched the Giants lose the only game that they lost in the World Series.  We watched them win the next game while staying at a lovely hostel in Tucson.  Then we watched them win it all at a gringo sportsbar in San Carlos after arriving without incident in Mexico that morning.   We became fairly rabid fans for just fair weather fans – we watched every game of the playoffs with Larry’s mom who seemed to enjoy it as much as we did.

OFF WE GO AGAIN

After arriving in Guaymas, both cruising couples were faced with the daunting task of re-commissioning their boats for cruising.  The job was big enough for us, but it was absolutely huge for Kathy and Robert – a beehive had been built and was thriving inside their main mast!  Yikes!!  They tried many, many things to get rid of the bees.  One of the moderately effective efforts involved a hose connected from the exhaust of their gas-driven generator.  A vacuum cleaner was always close at hand for cleaning up the dead ones.

There was a couple staying near our marina that had a pair of small dogs that looked like mastiffs (I think – I’m not real knowledgeable about dog breeds).  Anyway, darling, sweet dogs, but one of them had become very sick during the week before we arrived.  Doug and Linda of Aquadesiac had already returned to Guaymas after spending their late summer in the Bahia de Los Angeles area.  Linda tells us that this couple found a great veterinarian located in San Carlos – 14 miles away – who came out to their boat in Guaymas harbor at anchor!  I think Linda took him from the dock to the boat by dinghy in order for him to get to the dog.  By the time we arrived, the dog was walking around but still very sick.  However, a day or so after that, he was his old self again!   It was easy to tell the dog’s progress because the pair was always together, and the other dog didn’t get sick.  Great veterinary care, and boat calls, too!

We had our bottom painted black for about 30% of the US price.  Then we were splashed and stayed a couple of nights at the gas dock:

  I believe this is a 50-ton travelift.  These pictures don’t do a very good job of showing what I want to illustrate – the operator is not located in or on the travelift.  Horacio is the man in the center of the picture below.  He has a driving console slung over his shoulder like a guitar and is operating every aspect of the lift by remote control.  He was pretty good at this, too.  During November, the yard is very busy.  Since it is also small, Horacio often has to relocate boats in order to get to other boats.  It would not be unheard of for a boat to be moved more than once in a day or several times in a week.  At least one couple we talked to had deliberately requested to be located at the far back of the yard where they would not be in the way of any hauling and launching operations.  Our boat was moved once before being splashed.

At the gas dock, here you see everything looking fairly ship shape and ready to go, but it took a lot of work.  We had taken all of the dodger canvas to the local seamstress to get it  restitched.  She did this huge job for $40!  Getting it back on the dodger frame was a pretty special challenge which involved unprintable language and strained muscles.

Later that day, I noticed a pair of shrimp boats coming into the boat yard which you see across to the left.  The boats were tied together, one towing the other rather like Vessel Assist in the US.  Except these boats are REALLY BIG!!  When the boats arrived at a position roughly opposite Peregrine, they apparently had to turn 180 degrees in order to tie up in the correct spot.  The driving boat scraped the towed boat right up against a third that boat you see on the left below with its bow pointed out.  The metal-on-metal scraping didn’t stop until the two boats were turned around completely and finally pulled away to tie up at a dock:

OUCH!!

Sometime during this period, a young man, about 22 years old, approached Linda and Doug and asked if they would like to have crew.  Linda immediately snagged him – he is cute, he speaks French, Spanish, and English, he is experienced on sailboats, and he COOKS!!  After Leo arrived, no one on Peregrine or Aquadesiac did any serious cooking for dinner.  Plus, he cleans up, too. 

TO TOPOLOBAMPO

We left the gas dock soon after and anchored out in front of this marina for about three days.  During that time, Larry and Doug from Aquadesiac had to troubleshoot — including a trial replacement that didn’t work — our alternator.  Eventually, they had it fixed, or so they thought.  Everyone else was ready to go, so we headed out for Mazatlan by way of Topolobampo about a week before Thanksgiving.  Along the way, Larry realized that the alternator still was not working correctly so he gave it one good long, last look.  This time he figured out the mistake that had been made in some rewiring, corrected it, and voila!  Fixed!  Another miracle at sea! 

Along the way, we all passed through a very large group of dolphins:

  Again, a picture doesn’t tell the whole story.  These dolphins had some jumpers and spinners among them.  You can barely see one jumper in this picture:

We continued on and arrived at an estuary and bay area called Topolobampo.  Just in case you’re wondering, this is an indigenous word, not Spanish.  “Topolo” means turtle and “bampo” means water.  We didn’t see any sea turtles here, though.  Topolobampo is an active ferry terminal.  The ferries arrive around 10pm which is approximately the time we arrived – what timing!  We were actually in the area offshore before sunset, but the area is huge and not well marked.  Eventually we found lighted channel markers (red-right-return!) and headed in.  I suggested that we pull out of the channel before we got very far and anchor for the night in a small cove near the harbor opening.  This would leave the serious navigating challenge for the daylight the next day.  Everybody agreed that this was a good idea, so we proceeded onward, counting channel markers to locate the cove.  We got about halfway in when we had to “pull over” to the right to make way for a ferry which was arriving at full throttle (the ferry dock is another mile or two inland).   Aquadesiac pulled over a little too far – they were in the lead – and went aground!  Blue Dolphin and Peregrine pulled back into the channel while Aquadesiac, fortunately, powered themselves off the mud.  Then Blue Dolphin took the lead taking us into the cove for the night, but before we were all settled they beached the Dolphin!  They were able to power off fairly quickly, and soon we were all anchored and snug for the night.  Kathy says she will never forget the sight of looking just over her bow and seeing the beach!!

Next morning, we headed out with a plan and a leader – Aquadesiac was going to take us to the 20’ to 30’ deep anchorage area inside the bay, beyond the ferry dock.  Off we went, staying more easily between the middle of the channel and the channel markers – no groundings this time!  Aq. was about a mile ahead of us, and at one point we saw them start to turn around and backtrack.  They told us that a guy had come up to them and offered to show them a better way in – he would guide us in from his jet ski.  He now had us headed to a different part of the bay, but it turns out it was the only area where we would be welcome.  BUT, it wasn’t a really ideal place for sailboats.  The channel was narrow, and the waters outside the channel were very shallow.  This time Blue Dolphin AND Peregrine went aground.  While we were dealing with this, Aq. was in the back of the pack.  They saw and heard what was happening with us, so they stopped and anchored right in the middle (almost) of this small channel.  But at least they weren’t aground!  Meanwhile, Blue Dolphin and Peregrine were unsuccessful at powering off the mud.  Our new friend on the jet ski, Pancho, told us we had just arrived during one of the lowest tides of the year.  The water would start to rise in about three hours!  I was ready to just sit it out, but a local power boat came over and pretty much insisted, in a nice way, on pulling us off.  And that they did, but not without a lot of grunting and groaning and whining of engines.  We went further in and found a spot off the docks of a new marina.  By now, we have noticed that there are no other sailboats around!  While we were struggling with our problem, a local fishing boat – not a panga, a large boat, maybe 50’ long – went aground just outside the channel markers.  Apparently, they felt familiar enough with the area to think that they should be safe in there, but it didn’t turn out that way during this very low tide.  That boat got towed off, too, and eventually we were all safe and snug.  For reasons that I never completely understood, Blue Dolphin anchored verrrry close to us.  Fortunately, the assumption that we would move in tandem turned out to be correct.  We were anchored for two nights just as you see us in this photo:

You can also see green growth in the background – these are mangroves which are breeding grounds for mosquitoes.  Our two boats were far enough away to not be bothered, but Aquadesiac was not as lucky.  The first evening, Linda thinks she had over a hundred mosquitoes in her boat.  She radioed to us about them, and we put out a repellent burn stick.  No one else had a problem with them, so we figure it must have been their location that made the difference.

Pancho, the jet ski guy, brought pastries over the day after our arrival and invited us to a restaurant nearby that did amazing fish cookery.  The next night, nine of us (I think) crammed into his Jeep Cherokee and went to this place about 20 minutes away.  And the fish was amazing!  Larry ate at least his fair share, too.  First crab legs, then shrimp, then a whole fish broiled with a wonderful sauce.  All for about $12 apiece.

UNEXPECTEDLY, HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS

On the Monday morning before Thanksgiving, we received a phone call from Larry’s cousin Shelly.  She had received a call from Larry’s mom (Jeane) who was in distress – she couldn’t breathe.  Shelly told her to push her Lifeline call button which she did.  Unfortunately, this also disconnected her from Shelly without warning.  Now Shelly wasn’t sure what was going on, so she called an ambulance, too.  Anyway, by the end of the morning, Jeane had been admitted to the hospital and was being treated for pneumonia.  We talked to Mom and the doctor later that afternoon, and they both gave us the idea that she wasn’t extremely sick.  Larry says his mother agreed that it wouldn’t be necessary for us to go home.  When I passed this news on to Shelly, she got very angry with us.  It turns out you can’t ever know what people are really saying, and trying to say without speaking, when you are communicating by bad cell phone connection.  We made an about-face and arranged to fly home on Wednesday.  We spent Tuesday getting the boat into the marina  and put to bed.  This wasn’t quite as difficult as the hurricane preparation.  Also, we just did this drill three months ago, so we were pretty good at it this time!  Meanwhile, our new best friend, Pancho, agreed to pick us up early on Wednesday and take us directly to the local airport which is about 10 miles away.  What a prince!  We locked up the boat and gave a key to Pancho.  About a week later, we asked him to go to the marina one night and open the boat for Leo.  It turns out that Leo, Aquadesiac’s new crew member, had gotten a ride on a different boat that was heading back to Guaymas.  They needed a key to that marina when they returned, and we just happened to have one.  Pancho let him in and reported that all is well.

Linda had just told us a story about a family that left their boat to go home for a family emergency.  They were away for two years before they could return.  Every single liquid or food in any kind of bottle, can, box, whatever, exploded.  The mess was unimaginable.  Thankfully, we will not have to worry about that!  Mom is doing much better.  She was in the hospital for five days, then rehab for five days.  Now she is home and doing well.  We put up Christmas decorations, and we are starting to feel a lot more cheery.  We will stay through Christmas since we are here.  She still gets tired quickly.

We had her annual Christmas party last Saturday.  We were visited by a choir from MJC under the direction of Richard Colla.  These singers were extraordinary, and everyone enjoyed it very much. 

Sadly, we received a phone call tonight from one of Jeane’s bowling buddies to tell us that one of the other bowlers passed away suddenly today.  We were all together just yesterday for the Monday bowling league.  The group always goes out to lunch together, and Toni was there with every one else.  Arlene of Ubuntu (our boat buddy from last spring) just lost her own mother this week, too.  All we know for sure is that our time here is short and precious.  We hope that all of you are able to enjoy one more special holiday season with your family and friends.  We send you our best wishes, and I promise to post again some time in January! 

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Guaymas in July is all about heat control – no way to pretty it up.  I start most days with a shower, then a swim.

Nice pool, but the sun heats it up pretty fast every day.  You have to swim before 8 to get reliably cool water.

I only use a towel to dry my face since the water dripping in my eyes is annoying.  Other than that, you let the water soak into your clothes and evaporate.  This is the best technique short of air-conditioning for heat control.  For terrific a/c, we go for a drive in Linda’s Suburban.  Lots of places to go around here.  We have made several trips to Marina Real in San Carlos to help with various problems on the boat of a friend.  The boat is called Blue Dolphin.  They have two CO detectors which overreact in the heat.  We have disabled them.  We went once to locate special varnish to hand off to a worker who will sand and varnish for them.  Meanwhile, Kathy and Robert of BD are at home in Texas, swimming in rivers and generally keeping cool as well as they can.  Our friends on Ubuntu are in Hawaii – lucky them!  That is after spending some time at Doug and Linda’s beautiful home on the Napa River.  We are all very fortunate to have stumbled into the world of Aquadesiac – beautiful home on the river to visit, Suburban with 4-wheel drive and air-conditioning, Doug the super-trouble-shooter guy who will work past midnight, and Linda, the wonder woman.  No problem too big or too small, she seems to find the solution!  We have made many great friends, more every day.  We are very, very fortunate.

This is Jose.  He works here six days a week (a typical Mexican work-week), and has the most colorful, friendly personality Linda and I have seen in a long time.  He reminds me of the character of Belle’s father in “Beauty and the Beast”:

Today, we asked him for an idea about a restaurant for breakfast.  He and his co-worker discussed this for several minutes before sending us to a great place with really good food.  Jose is our good friend.

Here in Guaymas, we have spent a lot of time driving SLOWLY to Wal-Mart or the Soriana supermercado.  Then we browse SLOWLY thru the aisles, sometimes with specific objectives, most times not.  We went to see the new Tom Cruise movie, Knight and Day, at a local movie theater with terrific a/c, plus artery-clogging popcorn as required for proper movie viewing.  The movie was presented in English with Spanish sub-titles.  The movie was actually very entertaining – should be billed more as a comedy than an action movie.  The action was nearly non-stop, but it was all way over the top and done for laughs.

We took that trip to Ciudad Obregon where we purchased walnut for the construction of Aquadesiac’s cockpit table:

This was one of those outings where Muggs earned her keep by being the designated spokesperson.  My fractured Spanish got the right ideas communicated, and the table has been built with good results:

Teak is unavailable here, but the carpenter who did the work (here in Guaymas) recommended walnut which he could obtain in about two weeks.  Instead of waiting, we drove to Obregon and purchased it ourselves.  The lumber store was quite something:

No signs!  We had directions which turned out to be good, but the shop was closed when we first drove by.  Eventually, we asked some people on the street where the lumber store was, and they pointed to this shop which was closed at the time.  We can back about an hour later, and they had reopened after a two hour lunch-siesta.  The only way to cope!   No air-conditioning here, and the temperature in Obregon topped 116 degrees that day!

While we were in Obregon, Larry and Doug went into an appliance store and bought a fan (for us) and an a/c unit (for Doug and Linda).  Then, of course, they had to build a platform for the unit:

Before I arrived in Guaymas (going back to early July), Doug, Linda, and Larry witnessed a young Mexican couple that had just gotten married come down to our dock for pictures – look how beautiful they are:

As a foursome, we went to the Delfinario last weekend.  This is a water park similar to Marine World but much smaller.  There was a dolphin show and a sea lion show.  Both were very cute with a particularly entertaining clown who started the action at each show.

And the price was right.  There were only the two shows that interested us, and admission was about $4 for Larry, $8 for me.  You could pay $40 extra for a swimming and touching experience with the dolphins, but we decided not to spend the money.  There was a little audience participation in the sea lion show.  A pretty young woman was brought into the pool area and escorted to what she did not know – a sea lion kiss!

We also met an interesting family from Juarez who helped us communicate when there was a snafu with our tickets – fluency is a very good thing!

I talked to her daughter for a while.  We eventually learned that she and her husband work with disabled children in Juarez.  Juarez is one of the hot spots of drug-fueled violence in Mexico.  It was eye-opening to meet people who are leading dignified, productive lives in the midst of such horror.

After the dolphins, we went to the Soggy Peso, a beach bar where the swimming was fine and the drinks even finer:

Somewhere over this past weekend, we also visited a pearl farm.  This was very interesting.  First, you arrive in a parking lot (naturally) where there are free nature sights:

Note the iguana in the center of the picture.

Then we were greeted by a man who turned out to be a partner in this venture.  He had studied marine biology in university and did his master’s thesis on the process of “farming” cultured pearls (my word, not his).  He led us down to the water where we sat under a palapa roof, and he described the work they do there:

The building at the top of the hill.  It is part of a small campus of buildings which comprise a small, private university.

The palapa

The floats used to hang the baskets with oysters in the water.  The floats are being cleaned here.  The problem is the same that we have on our boats – barnacles stick to the water-side of the float and grow and prosper!  It takes nearly a crowbar to get them off.

A “field” of pearl farm floats.  Each float has a multi-tiered basket full of oysters at various stages of development.  There are approximately 120,000 oysters here.  The particular, colorful oyster which is used to create cultured pearls here is endemic and exclusive to the Sea of Cortez.  The scientist described how the “grain of sand” (which is not a grain of sand, but a pearl-shaped ball of shell material made of the shells of a clam that is only found in Tennessee!) is inserted into the oyster with a small piece of the shell’s mantle material.  If all goes well, a small pearl has developed after approximately 12-18 months, and a more commercial-sized pearl after two or three years.  Doug and Larry bought us jewelry at the end.  There was no charge for the tour, and the jewelry was very reasonably priced if set in silver.

On a different day, Linda and I left the boys behind and went exploring.  We drove out to Canon de Nacapule (there should be a tilde over the first ‘n’ of canon).  This turned out to be an interesting drive – goat herds, longhorn cattle, several well-laid-out farmsteads – with a beautiful canyon at the end:

There were gulleys and washes all over the place, and the rain to fill them appeared to be on its way.

Somewhere in here, Larry and I went for haircuts.  Linda had a pedicure:

The sky was starting to look dark and ominous, but when we asked the beautician if she thought there would be rain, she insisted that there would not.  There was!  Bigtime.

That evening, we had planned to go out to dinner.  I went to the restroom in the yard because it was closer to Linda’s truck.  When I finished changing clothes, I stepped outside to the start of rain.  Large drops.  I had no jacket or other protection, and I didn’t want my nicer clothes to get drenched.  So I changed back into my original clothes and “stole” a pink plastic shower curtain (which I replaced the next day) to use as a rain cape.  I ran to Linda’s truck.  Meanwhile, she got drenched coming to find me and then Larry.  We gathered up Doug, and then Doug decided that we should go for a drive in the rain!  Seemed nutty at the time, but what an experience.  Within fifteen minutes, the water was running 10-12” deep in the streets.  You could not have crossed the street safely on foot.  We were all truly amazed that we did not see one car stall nor any accidents.  It was rush hour, and the traffic was very heavy.  We still talk about it with a certain awe.  Anyway, eventually we arrived at a restaurant that had been recommended to us which is located adjacent to the Wal-Mart store.  We all went in, but Linda and Larry decided to drive over to W-M to buy dry clothes.  They were well and truly drenched.  Meanwhile, Doug and I sat and ordered drinks and remarked on the fact that the very large palapa roof had not one single leak anywhere.  There was a drip-drip leak near the entrance to the restrooms, but this was thru a more standard-type roof structure.  Eventually, Larry and Linda returned and changed into bright new dry clothes.  Look for them soon on People of Wal-Mart!

Meanwhile, Tucker is always with us.  One day, he had a run-in with some fly-paper:

Earlier, though, he was the supervisor of the rigging project:

After I returned to Guaymas this month, Linda gave me some extra fabric she had which she figured might make nice covers for our cockpit cushions.  It is really difficult to keep them clean, and she thought these might be more easily washed, etc.  We took the fabric and one cushion to a local seamstress.  We had enough fabric for only two cushions, so we asked the seamstress to pick a different fabric – her choice – and make them all up.  The final price for these four beautiful cushion covers was $80!  They include elastic in the back for getting on and off and a finished hole for the handles to poke through:

Fabric chosen by

the seamstress.

The original fabric.  Gorgeous!  Plus she made six napkins from the extra fabric.  (See the handle poking through…)

Yesterday was an eventful day.  After the usual activities – yesterday it was refilling water bottles and topping off diesel and gasoline cans – Linda started discovering termites.  Then the guys moved a small pile of plywood that was waiting to be turned into a support for Peregrine’s air-conditioning, and they found the source – a large colony of termites!!!  Yikes!  Then later that evening, we all heard a loud bang which turned out to be a battery of one of the boats on the dock:

This sent the smell of sulfuric acid into the air throughout the poor guy’s boat, so we contributed our new fan to help air the place out.  The boat this happened on was the biggest one here – a 75’ motor yacht called FnFun.  And no, that is not misspelled!  Anyway, it is a beautiful boat with twin engines and twin engine rooms, but he is not immune to the vagaries of battery charging problems.  He has been trying for two weeks or more to get an electrician to visit, but the man has not arrived yet.  Maybe tomorrow!

Our rigger has finished his work, so now we are ready to discuss the next move.  And we all think it won’t be a minute too soon.  If we can leave here and get to a nice anchorage, we can spend most of the day in the water!  We will lose the nice wifi connection we have here in the marina, but I have fired up the Telcel Banda Ancha device, and everything is still in working order.  Whenever we have cell phone coverage, we will be able to keep in touch by internet.

So until we have more to report, this is Admiral Muggs signing off.

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The masts are painted, stepped, and today the rigger is here tuning it up.  Doug took lots of good pictures of this process, so I am putting them here for my own reference in the future.  You may want to skip to the next post for more interesting news.

First time in the yard – getting ready to remove the masts.

The crane guy goes up to get things properly attached.

Peregrine is stickless, first at the yard, then back at the dock.

The pretty result of hours of sanding, scraping, refilling, and general prep work.

Close ups of the paint job after Larry and Doug reattached the rigging.

Back in the yard, getting her ready to re-step.  We brought Peregrine to the yard the day before these pictures were taken.  The crane was delayed, so the boat spent the night with Larry on board.  There was a deluge of rain that night – more on that story in the next post.  Larry heard the dock lines creak about 10 pm as the tide fell.  It was tricky keeping the boat protected from the concrete pier but allowing for the fluctuation of the tide level.  We had forgotten to plan ahead for this, but there was really no way to prepare.  He just had to release and retie the dock lines two or three times that night – didn’t get much sleep.

Picture on left shows high quality work.  On the right, the underside of the spreaders. 

This is your basic “before” picture!  (Underside of same spreader, two months ago.)

Nightwork in the yard, reattaching rigging.

Nightwork in the slip, reattaching more rigging.  I don’t think they’ll ever be done!

This work was done for us for approximately 30% of a price we had been quoted in Alameda.  Not 30% LESS, but 30%!

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July in Guaymas, Mexico is HOT!!  We have not had an update lately because we went back to the U.S. for about four weeks.  We had various doctor check-ups, some lab work, and then unscheduled dental work, but we are both back in Guaymas now working to get the boat ready to continue the cruising life for a month or two.

Our last contact was from the Baja side of the Sea of Cortez.  We were anchored at Isla Coronados, watching whales and mantas, and Larry was learning how to sew.  We left this cove the next day to seek a better-protected anchorage in advance of some weather (read: wind over 10 knots) coming our way.  Our next stop was in San Juanico, 26 degrees 22.013 minutes North, 111 degrees 25.860 min West.  We arrived Tuesday afternoon and departed Saturday morning.  The only reason I can tell you what we did is because I made notes in the log.  There is a wonderful relaxed air to this as well as a certain sameness which, I hope, will not lull us into carelessness!

San Juanico is a large anchorage with nice beaches.  I say beaches because various parts of the cove are separated from each other by rocky outcroppings.  One set of rocks consists of three “spires”, two of which have osprey nests at the top!

This picture is taken with maximum zoom.  The bird is an adult osprey.

We did the most snorkeling of the trip so far in this cove.  There were many areas to choose from, and lots of fish to see:

Many of the folks on the other boats we are traveling with are avid fishermen.  One night, we had a bonfire on the beach and cooked fish and potatoes and drank large quantities of terrific Mexican wine (L.A. Cetto is the winery – try it if you can find some).  The men of our five boats were having a great time:

From top left:  Doug of Aquadesiac, Steve of Ubuntu, Harold of Seabear, Robert of Blue Dolphin, and ours truly, the Skipper of Peregrine.  After a couple more glasses of wine, they were having even more fun:

Fortunately for you, I didn’t actually get a picture of a naked butt!

At San Juanico, we joined Doug and Linda for a hike over a hill which connected two opposite-facing coves.  The other cove, open to the north, shows why we were in the southern cove:

Remember, these are simply wind waves.  There is no real surf to speak of inside the Sea of Cortez.  This beach was littered with dead puffer fish:

When we left San Juanico, we started a two-day trip to Playa Santispac inside Bahia La Concepcion.  At Playa Santispac, latitude 26 deg 45.8 min N, longitude 111 deg 53.0 min W, we found a happy home for several days. There are about a dozen largish (20 ft by 20ft) palapa-roofed structures on the beach.  These are rented for the season I gather. Lots of people just hang out/hide out here for several weeks or months every year. 

This cove and beach (playa) is located about 15 miles south of Mulege.  If you find Mulege on a map, you will see that it is located at the mouth of the Bahia.  Mulege sustained considerable damage during Hurricane Marty in 2003.

We took a taxi or bummed a ride into Mulege two or three times while we were here.  There is a wonderful hotel in town called Las Casitas which has free wifi.  So, naturally, we camped out there for the better part of the day, drank many expensive drinks and ate two meals!  Each night, we gathered on a different boat for drinks and dinner.  On about the third day of this, we relocated south by about half a mile to Playa El Burro.  Harold on Seabear expressed an interest in starting up the hooka, so he and Larry figured it out.  It worked great!  Everybody had a go at it, and the snorkeling here was amazing:

Doug using a breathing hose from the hooka. 

Fish!  (Panamic sergeant Major)

Cortez Angelfish.

Stingray!  Safely at a distance on the bottom.

Photo taken from my kayak from above the water surface – a little different perspective.

Our friends, Arlene and Steve on Ubuntu, made a very special CD of many of everybody’s pictures from the last few weeks.  We will be bringing this home so that you may watch, too, if you are interested.

We had several adventures in cooking along the way – pressure cooked a chicken with potatoes and apples (Linda’s idea), fresh beets and broccoli (mine).  All efforts were successful.  Larry and Doug discussed our perceived engine overheating problem.  Doug lent us his laser heat sensing gun which we used regularly on the trip up from Playa El Burro to Punta Chivato.  We spent time at Punta Chivato in preparation for our crossing to Guaymas.  We wanted to be able to maximize our speed so that we could arrive in Guaymas well before dark.  The bay is a little tricky to navigate with many shallow areas.  Anyway, we convinced ourselves that the engine is not actually overheating, but the gauges are wrong.  The gauges are original (35 years old), so this is not unlikely.  We will buy replacement gauges when we are in California.

We travelled to Punta Chivato on Wednesday, May 26.  Lat. 26 deg 48.48 min Long 111 deg 51.13 min.  There is a beautiful hotel here which appeared to have no guests.  Apparently, they deal with a moneyed clientele which flies in by private jet to a nearby private runway.  A large group was scheduled to arrive in a few days.  We dinghied to a nearby beach where the shells literally cover every inch of the place, at least 3 inches deep all over!  I have never seen anything like it.  Needless to say, Linda and I went crazy, Doug and Larry waited patiently!  Our big frustration was that we had to leave most of them behind.

The Guaymas crossing was beautiful.  I have forwarded a video to Patrick the Webmaster which says it all.  We achieved Nirvana!  (Whatever that is….)

In Guaymas, we worked.  Doug left the next morning after our arrival at 27 deg 55.342 N lat, 110 deg 53.152 W long.  He took a bus to Mazatlan in order to retrieve their Chevy Suburban.  Ernesto, their friend from the taco stand in Mazatlan, had let them store their car there after they returned last March.  Meanwhile, Linda, Larry, and I cleaned and organized and threw out stuff and packed.  When Doug returned two days later in the evening, we were ready to go!  We drove that first night to Hermosillo where we spent the night in a great motel.  For $60, we had finely decorated rooms with BIG beds (kings wider than we had ever seen) and all marble and tile in the bath.  Plus, we were able to have Tucker (the dog) come along.  Next day, off to Nogales, Mx, in search of a metal sculpture artwork that Doug bought for Linda for their house in Napa.  It had been shipped to Nogales and stored since their travels last winter.  We found the warehouse easily enough, they gave special directions for getting to the border, and we were through and inspected in an hour!  The car was loaded to the gills with the artwork taking up all the space between the luggage and the car roof.  The US Border Patrol asked us to unload the whole car, but they only searched a couple of bags.  The only item they were interested in (besides Doug’s pork rinds – no pork products allowed!) was a piece of driftwood Linda had stuck in her box with her shells.  It came from an endangered species of cactus! 

Then, it was balls to the wall to Stockton.  We arrived at Larry’s mom’s house around 3:30 am.  I will finish this update in another day or two.  Stay tuned!

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Ok, so we got into the new office and have the server set up just fine.  It took a week and a half to work through some of the connection issues with Comcast, but I think I have them all sorted out now.  On the bright side, you should see an immediate improvement in load times for the videos – our new internet connection is blazing fast!

Thank you for your patience, and sorry for any hiccups over the last couple of weeks.

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Hi All,

As you’ve probably noticed, the blog has a slightly new look to it.  Please let me know what you think of the new theme.  Do you prefer the old one? Have a suggestion on how to make it better? Leave a comment to this blog and I will see what I can do.

Also, the website will be down for about a day sometime soon, probably early next week.  We’ll be moving the server to my new office in Modesto and will have to be offline while the server travels.  Sorry in advance for any inconvenience – I’ll send out an email before we take the server offline letting you know the exact planned downtime.

-Gilligan

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We spent nearly a week at Puerto Escondido after LoretoFest, and we did many things.  Some interesting, some not so much.  So about the interesting stuff –

Muggs is fascinated by birds, and she caught this one up in the rigging.  If anyone can identify this bird from a North American Field Guide, she would much appreciate it.  I have a Mexico Bird Guide, but it does not include pictures of birds that are already pictured in the North American books:

He has a sparrow-like shape.  The color starts red at the head and fades gradually to lime-green-yellow below.  Thanks for your help – there are lots of these birds around here in the anchorage.

The most fun things that happened this week were both with our new friends, Larry and Dianne of Sea Toy.  On Wednesday, we tried to change the oil in the engine.  Larry discovered the previously mysterious source of the oily bilge water – a leak in one of his plastic oil jugs!  So we dinghied over to the dinghy dock just as Larry and Dianne were coming out to find us!  Long story short, we got a free ride into town (sure beats a $35 cab ride) AND special service straight to the oil store first, then the liquor store.  We stocked up on the most important fluids on the boat and then went for a drive up a dusty beach road to a beautiful waterfront palapa-style restaurant with amazing, wonderful food!  It just got better after that as the food arrived and we swooned.  Larry ate shrimp quesadillas, and I had to make sure he didn’t take more than his share!  Larry is not a big seafood eater – these were just the world’s greatest quesadillas, that’s all.  All this for us because Larry and Dianne wanted to move their boat, which they didn’t manage to do that day!

The next day we had a planned outing with them to Mission San Javier.  You will find this in Baja guidebooks where it is written up as the most important outing to be made from Loreto.  What a beautiful place!  After first taking us into Loreto for cash and paper towels (sometimes boaters’ needs are very basic!), we went up a paved road that quickly lost its paving.  Then we bounced along on the hard-packed dirt and rocks (mostly small) for about 45 minutes.  Along the way, we made a stop at a creek with some cave paintings nearby:

Cave painting

R to L, Larry, Dianne, and his other brother Larry!

I know I promised you a waterfall in my last posting, but this is as close as I got.  Not bad for just by the road – no hiking involved.  It’s too hot for hiking right now.

Then we completed the trip to the mission with great views along the way:

The cactus may not seem impressive in these photos, but it is very impressive up close and personal.  The cardon cactus grows for over a century, maybe two centuries.  The base becomes very large, and the woody structure becomes exposed as the green outer skin thrives on the upper branches.  And there are other types that are also fascinating – cholla, agave, and elephant come to mind (I am forgetting the complete name of the elephant bush – maybe Dianne will let us know).

Then the mission church comes into view with two domes:

I think Dianne said that the Spanish brought in the palm trees to these canyons.  Many of the Baja canyons have palm trees that were imported by the Spanish.  Imagine that, so long ago!

The architectural details of the church were many and all fascinating.  This one is special – a metal-sculpture wind vane:

The plaza leading into town and the church are beautiful with lots of special stone paving and flowers everywhere:

The town here is relatively prosperous with many agricultural products and artisan work being sold in Loreto and distributed from there to other areas.  The agricultural all thrives because of the water, naturally.  But for many years (decades), the town’s electricity has all come from this generator:

But there are signs of the future all along the road.  Electrical utility lines are installed from Loreto to about two-thirds of the way up the road, and many of the rest of the poles are delivered in stacks at various spots along the way as you drive up the mountain.  The town itself is READY:

Meter boxes!

Then we had a great drive back.  The light was fading fast, but early I caught a few good shots:

Flower of the agave cactus.

Larry and Dianne

Agriculture — green things growing in the desert!  And finally, dinner back in Loreto:

Our friends on Aquadesiac, Ubuntu, and Blue Dolphin may recognize this restaurant.  It is the same one us four couples wandered into when we stopped for lunch on our trip to Loreto several days before.  We wandered into one of the best restaurants in Loreto according to Larry and Dianne!

Aquadesiac –

had already left Puerto Escondido a couple of days before.  Finally, after our big day with Larry and Dianne, we left along with Ubuntu and Blue Dolphin:

That’s Peregrine rafted up to Blue Dolphin at the water dock.  Ubuntu’s barbecue shows in the lower right corner of the picture.  All three boats are visible here through the tangle of rigging:

We gave our boats a thorough fresh-water bath as this is a luxury we had paid for with our mooring fees, and we weren’t going to pass it up.

When we set out, we headed for a cove called Puerto Ballandra where Aquadesiac had been playing already for a couple of days.  Here, we got our first REAL manta ray sighting.  Not just one or two or three or four, but dozens.  I don’t know what you call these large groups of animals, but there were about a zillion at our last count.  They jump out of the water for no obvious reason.  Some guess that they are slapping off parasites, others think it is a feeding technique.  I think it looks like they are just playing and having fun.  I took about thirty unsuccessful photos of this action, but my friend Susie Crabtree of SV Catch the Wind got a picture of one while she was cruising:

Sometimes, they are jumping straight at you so you see the big mouths and white bellies.  They sometimes jump two, three, or four at the same time.  We have figured out that they travel in these large groups almost all the time, but only some of the animals will be jumping at any given time.  I DID get a really good shot using the camera as a video camera, so Patrick will be posting that soon.

Aquadesiac (middle) and Blue Dolphin (left) at anchor:

(Sorry about the smudges – these are the lens cap which stopped fully retracting all the time.  It took me a few shots to figure out how to fix this.)

The sunset at Ballandra was one of our most spectacular so far:

We almost missed this because we were so busy yakking and drinking in the cockpit.  Then someone yelled, “Hey, look at the sunset!”  and here you are.  Next day, we played in dinghies and kayaks.  Some of us saw a bright red starfish.  He was the color of a ripe strawberry and clinging to brown-gray rocks.  Pretty amazing sight.  Lots of fish (look up the King Angelfish) and occasional rays jumping at random for fun.

Next day, we motor-sailed to Isla Coronados by way of Bahia Salinas.  This actually makes no sense if you look it up on a map, but that’s the way the plans are around here – changeable on a moment’s notice.  Doug of Aquadesiac has named us the Ballandra Fleet for purposes of radio hailing.  As our flat calm sea turned into a blustery SE wind and seas, he called the fleet and suggested we change destinations from the east-facing Salinas to the west-facing Isla Coronados.  We all readily agreed, and four boats turned 180 degrees to reverse course.  The admirals set the new waypoints, and off we went.  During this passage, we had a short visit from dolphins, and I got another fair picture of two:

I also got a shot of the pod as they glided along in front of us:

The “fleet”:

About 30 minutes before this picture, we were all beating into 4’ seas (at 2 seconds on center – imagine it.  No fun!) with 18 knots of wind.  The wind waves in the Sea of Cortez are short but very close together.  They create a not-so-nice ride with lots of bow crashing and splashing.  You can see the wisdom of Doug’s idea to change course in this picture.  That’s Isla Coronados, our new destination, on the left.

Along the way, we passed this islet with light:

Isla Coronados is another beautiful cove with good protection from all sides but west.  We are currently riding out the end of a short norther.  Earlier this afternoon, we had 18 knots of breeze here in the anchorage, but now it’s only 10-12 and the difference is bigger than it sounds.  Because we always start our days late (remember, we are cruisers, not fishermen), and then the breeze came up, there has been very little off-boat activity today.  But Kathy of Blue Dolphin came over to show Larry and me how to use our new sewing machine:

Larry was going solo very quickly:

What do you think, Annie – a new career.  His first project was a cargo net to hold back some of the stuff that keeps falling out of cupboards around here (one more reason to stay away from splashing and crashing.)

But the BIG highlight of the day was WHALES!!  Two of them right here in our anchorage, and they were jumping and carrying on something fierce:

There are two animals in this picture.

The end of a jump – big splash.  I got another decent video, so watch for that from Patrick soon, too.  These whales (there were two) traveled around our anchorage for about thirty minutes before they left.  While they were playing off this beach, they spy-hopped – straight-up jumps one showing about 10 feet of his body – and they tail flapped.  You will see a good one in the video.  Again, at least ten feet of the body comes clearly out of the water in the tail flapping.  I don’t understand how they can do that.

Later, there were a few more rays jumping.  Then the wind came up more, and now it is dying (around 7:15 pm).  Larry has just served meatloaf, and I think this day is just about done.

Hoping all is well with y’all.  Until next time, this is Admiral Muggs off the sailing vessel Peregrine:

————————-

Patrick’s Edits:

Muggs sent me the following three movies to add to this post.  Please note that the movies have to download fully before they’ll play, so you will likely get a bit of a delay where it looks like nothing is happening.  Please give it a minute or five – they’re pretty big!

The Whale:

And the Mantas:

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First stop – Ensenada Grande     

We departed La Paz on a beautiful Saturday afternoon.  First order of business is to check out with the Port Captain.  I’ve been told he speaks English, but I always speak Spanish with him.  Today went well.  He finally wished us “Buen Viaje!”  (Good travels!)  We motored out of the Bay and found wind a little after two o’clock.  We motor-sailed since the seas were lumpy, and we were anxious to get to our first stop with time left to relax.  Other cruising friends will be following us tomorrow – Doug and Linda of Aquadesiac and Robert and Kathy of Blue Dolphin.  Steve and Arlene of Ubuntu got out here a day or so earlier and were already in the anchorage when we arrived at 24 deg 33.836 N 110 deg 24.259 W.  There was enough breeze to kick up some white caps, barely visible in this picture looking back at the El Mogote peninsula resort north of La Paz:

We got some splashing at the bow.  It was such a beautiful day that Muggs is beginning to actually like this!

Skipper had a nap:

We anchored in the middle lobe of Ensenada Grande.  There were other boats, including Ubuntu, already taking the prime spots in the larger south lobe.  The boat in this picture helps to illustrate the geography:

Next day, Aquadesiac and Blue Dolphin came into Caleta Partida, about an hour south of our location.  So we went back and joined them but not until the skipper had his breakfast!

At Caleta Partida, we launched the dinghy

and went ashore.  We didn’t get very far, though.  The beach was covered with Fiddler crabs!!  Little crabs, about 1 1/2 inches across, with one tiny claw for eating and out great big claw for mating!  Ouch!  They were all scooting across the beach like an army – in rows and columns as far as the eye could see!  Got our first pic of Aquadesiac:

Look at that water!  As we dinghied over to the beach, we saw two long (3 or 4 feet long) very thin fish – perhaps some kind of trumpet fish – chasing each other, or so it seemed.  They were swimming verrry fast in about 30 inches of water.  Very cool sight.

That evening, we all gathered on Blue Dolphin for drinks and things.  Linda made an outstanding cheese—taco dip.

Next day we departed for Evaristo on the peninsula of Baja.  Today the wind was so fine that we set the spinnaker.  Through the wonders of friendship and high technology, Aquadesiac contributed these terrific pictures:

Muggs took a few pics from the deck:

Many thanks to Rooster of Rooster Sails back in Alameda for this beautiful sail!

Aquadesiac making tracks toward Evaristo.

At anchor in Evaristo – 24 deg 54.69 N 110 deg 42.33 W.

Those of you who have been paying attention may recognize this unusual sailboat. :

   This is a 80 foot custom-design schooner, hailing port Panama, that we watched during its arrival at Marina Palmira last December.  In this anchorage, they were truly just one of the crowd.  We ALL were moving around at anchor that night.  There was a bit of breeze.  The anchors tend to hold well here in the sand, and no one dragged.

Blue Dolphin is also a ketch:

That is Aquadesiac immediately behind and to the right.

We gathered on Peregrine for drinks and good times:

Robert and Kathy – Blue Dolphin

Doug and Linda – Aquadesiac

Next day (Tuesday, April 27, if you’re keeping track), we headed for Puerto Los Gatos.  Left early afternoon.  Early morning starts are for fishermen!!  Today, I saw manta rays jump.  That is an incredible sight which I don’t think we will ever catch on film.  There is no warning, and they are only out of the water for about two or three seconds.

We sailed today, then motor-sailed, then sailed again.  It was a beautiful day.  Caught Blue Dolphin in the act:

Then Tucker, the Dog:

Took some travelogue pics:

Arrived at anchor around 6:00 pm – 25 deg 17.8 N 110 deg 56.6 W.

At this port, we gathered on Aquadesiac for drinks and things (I think – it all runs together in my mind!).

At Puerto Los Gatos, there is a long reef that sticks out into the bay.  Next morning, we all congregated there by dinghy.  The divers – Kathy on Blue Dolphin and Doug on Aquadesiac – went diving, Larry snorkeled, and the rest of us watched from dinghies.  Linda and I took a walk on the beach with Tucker:

Skipper and I decided to move on again that afternoon (around 1:30), so we headed to Agua Verde.  Today we had the very best sea life sightings of the trip so far – first manta rays up close enough to see their true size and shape, then two dolphins at the bow long enough to take over a dozen pictures.  Here are the best:

We anchored in beautiful Agua Verde around 5:00.  Position 25 deg 30.938 N 111 deg 3.757 W.  We radioed Fonatur Escondido (the harbor master at Puerto Escondido) to confirm our scheduled arrival for tomorrow on mooring ball #70.  We thought we were the only boat to travel today, but Ubuntu pulled in around 7:00. 

Looking the opposite direction, just a few minutes later:

More travelogue pics as we left the next day:

  Solitary Rock

Pyramid Rock

What do you think – Mexico’s Mt. Rushmore, maybe:

We are headed to Puerto Escondido.  We had a great sail today for about 20 minutes.  Then Mother Nature kicked in some more serious stuff – 25-30 knots of wind with 5-6 foot waves at 2 seconds.  We were bouncing around a lot.  I used the floor as a table to make my cereal.  But the boat did fine, as usual.  There is a tight spot for navigation through here.  We were a little nervous, but the waypoints we had worked perfectly.  Another boat followed us because they were nervous!  Blue Dolphin caught up with us and passed us:

Arrived at Puerto Escondido around 2:00 pm.  25 deg 49.45 N 111 deg 18.53 W.

There is no internet service here because there are so many boats gathered for the LoretoFest.  Cell phones are at one bar, but I successfully made a couple of calls.

Friday we are back in the swing of land-based activities and spending money.  The four day break was too short!  There are many friends from La Paz here, though, and we are having another great time.

The Skipper and wench on the left are Jesse and Shanna of Jesse’s Girl.  Larry met Shanna last year on the ‘08 HaHa (OK, a year and a half ago, but everything around here goes by season, not the actual calendar.  For you working types, it’s sort of a cruiser’s fiscal year!)  Then Linda and Doug of Aquadesiac.  Muggs took this picture, and she apologizes for its awfulness.  It’s the only picture we’ve taken of people at this fest so far.

Friday and Saturday night, Larry learned some basics of juggling, and he actually did pretty well.  His best was three balls juggled for 4 rotations – not bad for a first-timer.  I took some still-camera video of Friday night’s first efforts which I will forward to the webmaster.  Look for future postings!

And now, time is running out.  Last night (Saturday), Muggs finally met Larry and Dianne of SeaToy.  They were also on the ‘08 HaHa.  They have built a home down here and consider themselves local residents.  They are mucho fun and saved Larry from mental destruction after his fairly awful HaHa ride that year.  There will be more about them later as we stay here a few days and visit and see the sights.  I have just been told that we are going for a hike to a water fall.  That is an amazing concept – a waterfall in the desert!  Off I go so that I may report to you later whether it is real or the old fakeroo.

Now, if I can just get a few minutes of my allotted on-line time, I will upload this report.  See you again real soon!

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Hello, everyone.  I know it’s been a while.  We have been busy with lots of different land-based activities.  I will share some of that with you.  Then we have to finish our preparations to leave La Paz and head up into the Sea of Cortez for a real cruising adventure (we hope!)

We actually did go spend one night in a cove called Ensenada Grande.  The west wind, which comes at night around here fairly predictably, blew hard all night, but we didn’t budge.  Great anchoring by Larry!!  I do the driving when we anchor, but Larry set the anchor hard.  You could tell it wasn’t moving.

The Clampetts go to sea!

We watched a cruise ship go into the next cove and bring their passengers onto the beach of our cove by small boat:

Travelogue pics:

  A close-up of the cruise ship as we left.

Before BayFest, as part of his careful preparation, Larry got a massage on the beach!

The masseuse is a wonderful gal named Daniella.  She brings her table and assorted stuff to the beach, and gives massages – what a life!!

I wandered around, read my book, looked at shells on the beach, and studied the birds.

La Paz BayFest 2010 kept us busy for at least two weeks, probably more.  We brought the boat into Marina de La Paz in order to simplify everything.  There has been a lot of backing-and-forthing to and from the boat in making this happen.

First, there was the Art Show and Wine Tasting day.  Muggs has been painting here, mostly on Wednesdays with a small group of fellow painters.  Most of the others are much more experienced.  Roger on Avalon did the lighthouses.  You can’t see the detail, but they are very fine paintings.  You can probably tell which of these paintings are mine – they have lighter colors and are much less bold.  I am working on attitude!  I have six paintings here.  Left to right, the blue flowers, blue heron, blue parrot (is there a theme here), butterfly, blue flower vase, and seaside building above the rocks.  The lady pictured here is Ramona of Jatimo.  She worked at MJC, so if you recognize her, there is a reason.

Larry taught a knot-tying seminar that was better attended than we expected.  He put together a curriculum (a list of knots to teach) and made up this board for illustration.  Then he prepared 20 lines, each about 10 feet long.  These were for the students to use for practice, and there was some sharing going on.  But think about that – 200 feet or so of miscellaneous extra lines sitting around on this boat somewhere.  No wonder we can’t find room to store everything!

Cool classroom, don’t you agree!

The photographs which appear slightly fuzzy were copied from the Club Cruceros web page.  Something in the copying caused the fuzziness.  If you are interested in the better quality pics, just go to www.clubcruceros.org and take a look at the pictures behind the Bayfest 2010 link at the top of the page.

We participated in a blind-folded dinghy race and came in third.   Not too bad among 7 or 8 boats.  Here we are with Muggs telling Larry where to go:

We are in front here.  Larry is using his T-shirt as a blindfold.  (The pictures really are VERY sharp if you access the originals.)

I helped sell raffle prizes and was a cheerleader for the volleyball team.  Unfortunately, the volleyball team got whumped by the Mexican Navy, but not for lack of practice and great team spirit!  Larry played Bocce Ball later in the day, but there are no pictures to prove it.  Just as well as they were defeated three times.

The Club Cruceros volleyball cheerleaders:

Larry volunteered to be the Man Overboard for a hands-on practice, and as a prize he was awarded a life jacket and a bottle of red wine!  A friend of ours has said she has a video of this.  If we receive a copy from her as planned, we will be sure to get it posted right away.

For the knot-tying seminar, he got a bottle of red wine.  And for just being all-around helpful, we won a bottle of good-quality tequila.  The whole thing was almost profitable for us!  LOL!!

Along with fun and games, there has been some work on the boat.  We re-organized some major storage.  Here is Larry inspecting the really hard-to-get-to spots before  installing hooks for bungee cord hold-backs under our berth:

I don’t even remember taking these pictures, but they do capture some of the beauty and specialness of this city:

Well, that is all for now.  Off to Puerto Escondido for LoretoFest 2010 (don’t ask – we’re not sure we understand, either!  Puerto Escondido and Loreto are about 14 miles apart.)

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