Christmas Day was different for us this year, but great fun. Usually we spend Christmas in Patzcuaro but this year, because of a change in sailing plans, we were on the boat in Barra de Navidad. Of course we missed our usual festivities in Patzcuaro but we enjoyed a new set of experiences.
At about 1 pm on Christmas Day we went to The Sands as that is where the boaters were meeting. It was a potluck meal with turkey having been cooked by a few people..cost was about $4/person!! After a wonderful meal, the gift exchange took place...I am sure you are familiar with this type of exchange...each person receives a number and when your number is called you pick a gift, open it and then someone after that may 'steal' it from you. We ended up with a bottle of wine and a lovely wine opening set (stolen from a friend..no shame!)
Patches went with us to the Sands..not our best plan as there were other dogs and that led to a little scene. We had been sitting by the pool but wanted to join our friends under the palapa. Bob was bringing Patches in when a lady arrived with a cute fuzzy dog who was somewhat bigger than Patches. This dog looked at Patches and then proceeded to put his paw on Patches' head..sort of like a priest blessing a person. Patches was momentarily dumb struck, but then the growling and snarling set in. We exited back to the hinterlands and had our meal. We were able to rejoin the group later when all dogs were in different corners.
At about 4 we left, back to the boat and then onto our friends' house in Barra for another delicious meal..drinks and meeting some new people. All of us were ready for an early night as it seemed that all we had done for too many days was eat, drink and be merry!!
On Dec 28 (yesterday) we left Barra for Tenacatita. No wind. Motored the entire trip of about 2.5 hr. The seas were easy so we did motor at more than 6 knots.
For lunch we went into shore. The restaurant was hopping and we waited for 2 hr for our food...much beer was consumed.
Friday is the Mayor's Raft up here in the bay. We met some new people and renewed acquaintance with others. There was much laughter and of course the stories (The theme was who has helped you or vice versa in times of duress while sailing.)..and of of course every one of us has had those times while on the boat.
Yesterday evening we had a cool breeze and I slept soundly for the first time in weeks. In the early morning, I put on a fleecy top and needed a light blanket. What joy to be sitting here with no sweat running any where on my body.
When we took the dog to shore this morning I swam in. The shore always looks so close but never is. It was a refreshing swim and now I feel so sanctimonious.
Tenacatita now has over 20 boats anchored. Someone told us that there have been as many as 60 boats here. It is a lovely place to be and we will probably stay here for 10 days, depending on the weather.
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
Christmas Greetings from the Burtons
Bob and I spent Christmas Eve on the boat...champagne (good stuff) and then salad and rib eye. The breeze was enough to keep us cool. The mosquitoes did come out and Patches and I are both suffering from bites this morning.
Today it is absolutely calm. We have had breakfast, opened gifts and now we are having a quiet time before we go to the Christmas Party here. I have made my pasta salad, and an appetizer, so all my work is done.
Sunday, December 23, 2012
Deanna B and dolphin photo
 | |||
| Dolphin near our boat |
Yesterday we spent some hours at The Sands, a hotel with a pool, that very kindly allows boaters to use their facilities. The big Christmas Party will be held there as well. That should be a fun event...turkey and pot luck. There will be a gift exchange as well...progressive so if you get something neat, you will be sure to lose it. As I recall this can be very funny ..adults can get quite possessive!!
Last night was very hot..even Bob is feeling the heat at night, but his morning it was 22C in our cabin...strange how cool that feels.
Christmas card to all my friends who read the blog
This is to be sung to the tune of "Jingle Bells".
Crashing through
the waves
In a 6 - horse
open dinghy
Under the surf we go
Swearing all the way
Swells on Bob’s tail grow
Giving us a fright.
What fun it is to be swamped and wet
Once more in the dinghy tonight
O Hell’s bells
O Hell’s bells
Deanna screams the refrain!
O what fun it is to ride
In a 6-horse open dinghy!
A day or two ago
I thought I'd take a ride
And soon Patches was jumping and
Was seated by my side;
The dinghy was red and black;
Misfortune seemed our lot;
As we got into shore a wave smacked us on the back
And we
we got upset
O Hell’s Bells
O Hell’s Bells
Deanna screams the refrain!
O what fun it is to ride
In a 6-horse open dinghy!
A day or two ago
the story I must tell
I went out on the dinghy
And on my back I fell;
A gent was riding by
In a 15-horse open dinghy
He laughed as there
I sprawling lay
But quickly drove away
Under the surf we go
Swearing all the way
Swells on Bob’s tail grow
Giving us a fright.
What fun it is to be swamped and wet
Once more in the dinghy tonight
O Hell’s bells
O Hell’s bells
Deanna screams the refrain!
O what fun it is to ride
In a 6-horse open dinghy!
A day or two ago
I thought I'd take a ride
And soon Patches was jumping and
Was seated by my side;
The dinghy was red and black;
Misfortune seemed our lot;
As we got into shore a wave smacked us on the back
And we
we got upset
O Hell’s Bells
O Hell’s Bells
Deanna screams the refrain!
O what fun it is to ride
In a 6-horse open dinghy!
A day or two ago
the story I must tell
I went out on the dinghy
And on my back I fell;
A gent was riding by
In a 15-horse open dinghy
He laughed as there
I sprawling lay
But quickly drove away
O Hell’s Bells
Deanna screams the refrain!
O what fun it is to ride
In a 6-horse open dinghy!
Saturday, December 22, 2012
Sweating in Barra de Navidad!!
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to All!
Isn't it wonderful when the only thing that one has to complain about is the humidity!!
Here I am once more with perspiration dripping off my nose...on the table beside me is a Christmas tree. You will note the 2 photos of trees. Guess which one is on our boat this year?
Yesterday we had a great breakfast with our friends who live here. They also spend time in Patzcuaro and Mary is the lady who introduced me to bridge. How nice for us to have friends to spend time with while we are here.
Our Christmas shopping kept us busy for at least an hour yesterday. Being on a boat does limit what one buys, but that makes it fun as you have to be innovative.
Yesterday evening we took the dinghy over to a seafood/seaside restaurant and I can say that it is the first here that I have been disappointed in the food. When we returned to the boat, we started the mosquito wars. The sun goes down, the wind dies and the mosquitoes attack in full force. I was spraying in between scratching. Then I brought out the do do coils and a breeze came up. That brought some relief. We do not have enough netting to cover both hatches so we leave them open and hope the wind keeps the bugs moving through.
Last night I knocked over a glass of red wine. There I was mopping it up in the dark, thinking I had done a good job. I had not! This morning our boat (cockpit and down the side) looked like the site of "The Chainsaw Massacre". Red wine stains fibreglass and nothing removes it except time in the sun. Bob was quite calm about the mess that I had made of his boat. Need I say that this was not the first time wine has been spilled on our boat.
Now for the latest on Patches. Here in Barra we often take a water taxi into shore. That way we don't have to find a spot for the dinghy nor worry that it might be stolen. Patches now knows the sound of a water taxi, and tries to catch any panga going by. This morning the French Baker came by and, as he has a panga, Patches thought that it was for us to go into Barra. When the French Baker left, Patches was miffed. He thought we had let our ride slip away. He then stood on his hind legs checking for the next panga. When it arrived he had to be first off the boat. Of course returning he also wants to be first on the boat.
After a busy morning for us: water taxi in, showers ashore, laundry to the laundromat, breakfast at the French Bakers cafe, shopping and then home again, we sit quietly watching boats come and go.
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Back to Barra
Dec 19
Today we will leave for Barra de Navidad. The winds
(according to the weather forecast) seem to be in our favour but we will
see what reality brings us.
Yesterday we went to La Manzanilla thinking it was the day
for their big market (according to the ponga driver), but it wasn’t!!
We did some shopping but we really didn’t need much. They do sell frozen rib eye so I bought some
rib eye.
The big surprise was a restaurant. There are many beach restaurants so there is much to chose from
but of course they serve much the same menu.
Imagine my surprise when, upon checking the menu, it had Dutch and
Indonesian food! The lady who owns it
is Dutch. We had a great chat with her,
and found out that they were in La Manzanilla, traveling the world, and were
running short of money. Apparently they
saw a “For Rent” sign and decided to try running a restaurant…lo and behold
here they are 10 years later.
We ordered their special which was chicken curry, rice and a
fresh green salad…delicious. It is
certainly a place that we will frequent when we return to Tenacatita Bay.
The weather remains hot and sticky. Because of that, we are spending a lot more
time in the water, even though the water is still warm. After a few minutes, it does cool you down
and the effect lasts for a while.
My Manitoba friends will relate to this. Mosquitoes have been bothering me at night
so 2 nights ago, I brought out the big gun “Watkins insect repellent”. Last night I sprayed my whole body and gave
the cabin a few shots…. no bites this morning.
Mind you, I will likely grow extra limbs or something, as those
chemicals can’t be good.
The other night I was awakened by noises in the water. Flashlight in hand, out I went. The water looked like fish soup. The fish weren’t large but the water was
frothing. Occasionally there was a big
splash as a large fish broke the surface.
I watched the water for some time …no sleeping for me, as there was too
much noise!
Then at 5 am the dolphins started clanging the anchor
chain!! At about 6 I gave up, got up, made coffee, and enjoyed a spectacular
sunrise.
Our days here have been placid, with much quiet time spent
reading and chatting. Sunrise and
sunset provide a light show, and by 8 pm I am ready for bed. Getting up at sunrise seems the thing to do.
Barra will seem like a metropolis after the quiet of the
bay. When we get there, we always have
a day or two of stuff to do. Of course,
in the morning we wait, salivating like Pavlov’s dogs, for the arrival of the
French baker, and all his scandalously yummy bread, tarts, baguettes, and much
much more.
We left for Barra at noon and sailed!! The wind was little help but we did average about 2.5 knots/hr.
What a relaxing trip. The seas were so smooth that I read for much of the way.
Our trip into Barra was without incident. Although our chart plotter has the channel marked clearly, I am always concerned that we will find a new bar, etc.
By 6 pm we were taking a water taxi into Barra and by 6:30 we were at a restaurant sitting at a table right on the water. After a fabulous dinner of mahi mahi, we had coffee and brownies at a little deli that has perfect coffee.
The following photos were taken when we were in Tenacatita. Obviously in the first photo Bob is enjoying his morning coffee. Next we have sunrise. The motor yacht was our neighbour for several days, and made us look very small. Then the dolphins frolicking in front of a neighbour's boat.
This is Patches waiting on the ditch bag. He does not want to be left behind!!
Barra always strikes me as such an eclectic place. Discovered on Christmas day by the Spaniards, hence the name Navidad, it has celebrated more than 400 birthdays!!
Monday, December 17, 2012
Tenacatita Dec 16 and 17
Yesterday, Sunday, we spent the entire day on the boat other than 2 trips to dog beach with Patches. How I spent the day boggles my mind as I really did nothing...but read and make meals.
It is hot and humid. YUK.
Yesterday we had a huge power boat sitting next to us. We were tiny in comparison. I will post a photo when I can. The speed of the internet here is very slow so trying to upload photos is painfully slow.
The dolphins are numerous here this year as are varying sizes of fish. Yesterday when we were leaving Dog Beach, the little fish were crashing into my legs....weird sensation. The dolphins were around the boat from about 5 am until 9 in the evening. We do have photos!!
Our evening meal was a pork stir fry which turned out to be pretty good. Tonight I have made a cold rice salad and as we speak the rib eye is marinating in a raspberry chipotle sauce. Life is tough.
This morning ..Monday we were into shore about 9 am and took a walk along the beach. The restaurant finally opened at about 9:45 am and we were ready for breakfast. I said that I was ordering Shrimp quesadillas and Bob said..for breakfast!? I did notice that he ordered the same thing and they were great.
Although the surf is not big these days I did have a beluga whale episode again this morning. Bob thought we would get in before a certain wave hit us...I didnt jump fast enough and ended up in the bottom of the dinghy and couldnt get up as I had Patches goes postal on me. Going out I was also not quick enough so Bob told me, as another wave landed in the dinghy. I told him that I was advertising for a younger woman for him!! He said nothing to that as I think he believed it was the best comment. Luckily these issues pass quickly, as the boat is too small a place for anger or sulking.
The mosquitoes are out in full force in the evening and at night. Both Patches and I have bites and we react in much the same way. He had scratched himself raw in 1 spot as had I. Bob seems immune and that hardly is fair.
Bob is sitting out polishing stainless and drinking beer. I will be going for a swim in a few minutes.
It is hot and humid. YUK.
Yesterday we had a huge power boat sitting next to us. We were tiny in comparison. I will post a photo when I can. The speed of the internet here is very slow so trying to upload photos is painfully slow.
The dolphins are numerous here this year as are varying sizes of fish. Yesterday when we were leaving Dog Beach, the little fish were crashing into my legs....weird sensation. The dolphins were around the boat from about 5 am until 9 in the evening. We do have photos!!
Our evening meal was a pork stir fry which turned out to be pretty good. Tonight I have made a cold rice salad and as we speak the rib eye is marinating in a raspberry chipotle sauce. Life is tough.
This morning ..Monday we were into shore about 9 am and took a walk along the beach. The restaurant finally opened at about 9:45 am and we were ready for breakfast. I said that I was ordering Shrimp quesadillas and Bob said..for breakfast!? I did notice that he ordered the same thing and they were great.
Although the surf is not big these days I did have a beluga whale episode again this morning. Bob thought we would get in before a certain wave hit us...I didnt jump fast enough and ended up in the bottom of the dinghy and couldnt get up as I had Patches goes postal on me. Going out I was also not quick enough so Bob told me, as another wave landed in the dinghy. I told him that I was advertising for a younger woman for him!! He said nothing to that as I think he believed it was the best comment. Luckily these issues pass quickly, as the boat is too small a place for anger or sulking.
The mosquitoes are out in full force in the evening and at night. Both Patches and I have bites and we react in much the same way. He had scratched himself raw in 1 spot as had I. Bob seems immune and that hardly is fair.
Bob is sitting out polishing stainless and drinking beer. I will be going for a swim in a few minutes.
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Dec 13 - 16
December 13, 2012
We set out at midnight from La Cruz. It was totally overcast so we didn’t even
have starlight. At about 5 am we came
to Cabo Corrientes. Up to that point we
had motor sailed at about 6 knots. The
wind was negligible going around Cabo but the seas were
rough, and it was slow going.
I was able to get a bit of sleep, and Bob had a nap after
sunrise.
At 8 am we were off Ipala which is where we spent a night
coming and going last year. Usually we
leave Ipala at 8 am so we were thinking that we would get to Chamela earlier
than we do when we overnight in Ipala.
Sure enough we arrived in Chamela at 4:30 pm.
The last time we went from La Cruz to Chamela it took us
about 20 hr. This was a faster trip
even though we did not have wind to speak of.
Patches did a marathon 25 hr without a pee. He was panting for about an hr before we got
him to shore..poor guy.
The fates were with us as the surf in Chamela was tame
compared to what it usually is. BUT,
Bob and I both got wet as I was not quick enough into the dinghy and a wave
broke on us! I had on shorts that are
baggy and that impeded me from getting into the boat. Believe it or not I welcomed getting wet as I was so hot. It had been a hot sticky day and that is exactly how I felt.
Back on the boat we had a light meal and were in bed by 8
pm.
December 14, 2012
6 am and we were up.
After breakfast we headed to shore, and the surf was bigger..but we had
had our maiden dunk the day before so we were prepared….bathing suits for easy
scrambling in and out of the dinghy.
By 8:30 am we were off to Tenacatita. Still no wind. The seas were with us so that helped us move. Then for about a half hour we actually did
sail. That makes the trip so relaxing
..no diesel engine banging away.
The trip to Ten went well and we were there by 1:30 pm.
After anchoring and having a cold beer we went to shore for
a meal. There is nothing but a little
restaurant on this beach, and they do make great food. Both us the stuffed fish filet….stuffed with
shrimp, celery etc and served with an almond sauce.
Once more we were asleep at an early hour as we had not
recovered from our overnight.
December 15, 2012
Today we lazed around and enjoyed the serenity of the
bay. Again it was hot. In the last 2 years, it has been much cooler
but we were here in January and February.
It will be interesting to see if it cools down in January.
There are many dolphins in the bay. On Friday night I was awakened by chain
rattling and thought that the dolphins were at it again. The first time we were here I kept thinking
that the boat was dragging. I would
wake Bob and he would check and of course we were not dragging anchor. Then someone told us that the dolphins like
to rub against the chain.
Tonight I made a real gourmet meal. As it was very hot in the boat, I did not
want to have the stove on any longer than I had to.
So I cut the ribeye steak into cubes and marinated it in a
very nice sauce. I also sliced the
potatoes very thinly. It took about 15
minutes and everything was cookied.
Then I added feta cheese and herbs to the potatoes. Steak, herbed feta potatoes and a palm
heart, tomato and black olive salad completed our meal…of course served with
wine. We ate in the cockpit enjoying
the coolness of twilight.
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Leaving La Cruz tomorrow
December 11, 2012
Originally we were going to stay in La Cruz until Thursday but there seems to be some windy weather coming from the north so we will leave tomorrow. Our plan is to anchor out in the bay and leave about midnight Wednesday. It is easier to leave from the anchorage than the marina when it is dark..and it will be dark as there is basically no moon now.
This windy weather has me worried but I am hoping that we will be safely into Tenacatita when the highest winds hit. I trying to be optimistic and hope we will be able to sail.
Our stay in La Cruz has been so pleasant. The marina staff is more than helful.
This afternoon there is a party ...everything free including free t shirts for the first 200 people.
Our dock neighbours from Mazatlan are here now. What a pleasure seeing them again after almost a year.
It will be a few days before I blog again. If the weather holds we will arrive in Chamela Thursday afternoon and head right put to Tenacatita the next morning.
Originally we were going to stay in La Cruz until Thursday but there seems to be some windy weather coming from the north so we will leave tomorrow. Our plan is to anchor out in the bay and leave about midnight Wednesday. It is easier to leave from the anchorage than the marina when it is dark..and it will be dark as there is basically no moon now.
This windy weather has me worried but I am hoping that we will be safely into Tenacatita when the highest winds hit. I trying to be optimistic and hope we will be able to sail.
Our stay in La Cruz has been so pleasant. The marina staff is more than helful.
This afternoon there is a party ...everything free including free t shirts for the first 200 people.
Our dock neighbours from Mazatlan are here now. What a pleasure seeing them again after almost a year.
It will be a few days before I blog again. If the weather holds we will arrive in Chamela Thursday afternoon and head right put to Tenacatita the next morning.
Sunday, December 9, 2012
Marina Riviera Nyarit, La Cruz
This will cover our stay in Chacala and the trip to La Cruz.
When we were in Chacala we frequented the "Chac MoolRestaurant" as the food and service were excellent. Every person that we dealt with was pleasant and helpful. One night I had the tequila mahi mahi with a garlic ginger sauce. They served it with a side of eggplant that also had a ginger flavour. My mouth is still watering. Bob had coconut shrimp and that too was excellent. I am not a lover of coconut shrimp but there I would order the dish. Oh yes and their margaritas are to my taste. They have a 2 for 1 happy hour from 5 pm to 6:30 pm which is a definite incentive to go there.
On Friday morning we did not have any telephone or banda ancha service. The village itself was without electricity for more than 24 hr. Apparently someone or someones had stolen a length of cable!!
On Saturday morning, we were up at 5 am and got under way by about 7:30 am. Putting up the dinghy is a time consuming process. I was freaking out as we seemed to be floating rather near another boat as Bob was bringing up the stern anchor. Bob had put out a lot of chain and when it was coming up the chain got tangled in the anchor locker. During this time I was in charge of steering and it is so uncomfortable for me as I always over steer. I am sure we did a zig zag out of the bay.
The trip to La Cruz was uneventful as we saw no nets and experienced neither big seas or high winds. We did motor sail but the wind was negligible for most of the way. Of course in Banderas Bay just as Bob was taking down the sail, there was enough wind to make that a bit of a job.
We took a shorter route in Banderas Bay this time. In previous years we have taken a route closer to the islands but decided to take another route and it did save us about 1.5 hr. This shorter route also has some unmarked hazards below the surface of the water but we made it through. I have to admit I did fret about this all day. Bob of course was unconcerned and rightly so!!
One of these days he may keel haul when I am going on about every possible thing that can go wrong!!
When we arrived we went to Enrique's Restaurant for dinner...another culinary delight. I had avocado stuffed with shrimp which had the nicest dressing made with fresh thyme, basil and other stuff...not hot but wonderfully flavoured. Bob had ma hi ma hi which came with a garlic butter sauce. I was too busy stuffing myself to try his ma hi ma hi. After that meal we came back to the boat for wine and chocolate.
It was an early night for me.
Sunday December 9
After going to bed so early we were awake and ready for breakfast. Ya Ya has become a breakfast place for us. The lady who runs it greets you with a smile and the coffee arrives in a minute. The food is good and service excellent.
Oh yes we had a minor diesel spill in the marina. Not nice. Bob had looked for fuel containers in Mazatlan and finally resorted to buying some cheapies at Soriana as there were no others to be found. One cracked on the sail from Chacala and we lost a bit of diesel. Even a small quantity of diesel smells and looks pretty yucky.
Apparently Mike and Julie have set up a safety meeting on their dock so we plan to join them this afternoon. What a life!
When we were in Chacala we frequented the "Chac MoolRestaurant" as the food and service were excellent. Every person that we dealt with was pleasant and helpful. One night I had the tequila mahi mahi with a garlic ginger sauce. They served it with a side of eggplant that also had a ginger flavour. My mouth is still watering. Bob had coconut shrimp and that too was excellent. I am not a lover of coconut shrimp but there I would order the dish. Oh yes and their margaritas are to my taste. They have a 2 for 1 happy hour from 5 pm to 6:30 pm which is a definite incentive to go there.
On Friday morning we did not have any telephone or banda ancha service. The village itself was without electricity for more than 24 hr. Apparently someone or someones had stolen a length of cable!!
On Saturday morning, we were up at 5 am and got under way by about 7:30 am. Putting up the dinghy is a time consuming process. I was freaking out as we seemed to be floating rather near another boat as Bob was bringing up the stern anchor. Bob had put out a lot of chain and when it was coming up the chain got tangled in the anchor locker. During this time I was in charge of steering and it is so uncomfortable for me as I always over steer. I am sure we did a zig zag out of the bay.
The trip to La Cruz was uneventful as we saw no nets and experienced neither big seas or high winds. We did motor sail but the wind was negligible for most of the way. Of course in Banderas Bay just as Bob was taking down the sail, there was enough wind to make that a bit of a job.
We took a shorter route in Banderas Bay this time. In previous years we have taken a route closer to the islands but decided to take another route and it did save us about 1.5 hr. This shorter route also has some unmarked hazards below the surface of the water but we made it through. I have to admit I did fret about this all day. Bob of course was unconcerned and rightly so!!
One of these days he may keel haul when I am going on about every possible thing that can go wrong!!
When we arrived we went to Enrique's Restaurant for dinner...another culinary delight. I had avocado stuffed with shrimp which had the nicest dressing made with fresh thyme, basil and other stuff...not hot but wonderfully flavoured. Bob had ma hi ma hi which came with a garlic butter sauce. I was too busy stuffing myself to try his ma hi ma hi. After that meal we came back to the boat for wine and chocolate.
It was an early night for me.
Sunday December 9
After going to bed so early we were awake and ready for breakfast. Ya Ya has become a breakfast place for us. The lady who runs it greets you with a smile and the coffee arrives in a minute. The food is good and service excellent.
Oh yes we had a minor diesel spill in the marina. Not nice. Bob had looked for fuel containers in Mazatlan and finally resorted to buying some cheapies at Soriana as there were no others to be found. One cracked on the sail from Chacala and we lost a bit of diesel. Even a small quantity of diesel smells and looks pretty yucky.
Apparently Mike and Julie have set up a safety meeting on their dock so we plan to join them this afternoon. What a life!
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
On the sea again
December 5, 2012
Here I sit in Chacala again, with the sweat dripping off me! This year, so far, it has been much hotter than the last 2 years. Of course this year I am geared for cool weather...polar fleece pyjamas and a new storm jacket. This year I will be buying hot weather clothing, but one can never predict these things.
So we left Marina Mazatlan on Monday about 1 pm and actually sailed to Stone Island (1.5 hr). Leaving the marina was a bit interesing (that means I was sure we were going to knock off about 5 boats) as the wind was blowing us around. Bob tried to reverse but our boat doesn't do that very well. Of course we did not hit or even come really close to any boats.
Going to Stone Is gives us an opportunity to see if there are any issues with the boat and this year we sailed there with no problems. There were warnings about Stone Is as there had been a dinghy stolen from a sailboat, but we saw nothing out of the ordinary.
Confession time: I was dreading the overnight sail as it seems we encounter bad weather which means either too much wind or not enough. Our trip was quite uneventful weatherwise as we had little to no wind to begin our journey. We did motor sail the entire trip and never had any head winds. That meant 24.5 hr of sailing and if not for an encounter with fishing lines it would have been 23 hours.
Patches got into a frenzy about midnight because he needed to pee. W went through the entire ritual of years gone by. Then because it was so hot and he was panting so hard, he drank water. I had prepared a little toilet area for him and put him and kept returning him to the spot. FINALLY at 2 pm he peed and we were all much more comfortable.
While I was below with the panting dog, Bob was doing major renovations to the sailboat..at least it sounded like that to me. When I asked what all the banging was about, he tells me he has been ..what would I call it..rerigging the sails to get more out of the wind we had. At that time, I was getting a little frazzled with dog panting and Bob crashing around over my head. At those times I wonder WHY am I here??
Our only mishap was running over fishing lines, not nets. The first one we managed to get away from and when Bob took a wide berth around the marker, we found out that the market had lines on both sides!! That little problem took over an hour to sort out. Bob was diving down to cut lines off the prop and rudder. Luckily nothing was broken. Then this morning, Dec 5, we ran into another line which had a maker barely visible in the distance. Bob saw a pop bottle (not uncommon sit) but the fishermen use pop bottles for floats, and you guessed that pop bottle was part of a line. That one did not get tangled in the prop so Bob cut us loose in a few minutes. After that I stayed up top and we watched very closely but of course saw no more lines. These lines run for a mile or two and are badly marked. At night you would never see them.
So we are hot and tired but just fine. It will be early to bed tonight.
Bob has done extensive work on the interior this past year. The clean white ceiling is the best part. We have all new sofa coverings and new covers for the berths. I think this makes the boat smell better! Oh yes and Bob oiled all the teak with linseed oil so the whole place is looking 'ship-shape'.
We are planning to say in Chacala until Dec. 8 and will leave for La Cruz early on Dec 8. Unless something really exciting happens I won't be writing again until then. The internet is very slow here so putting up this blog takes some time.
Love to all.
Here I sit in Chacala again, with the sweat dripping off me! This year, so far, it has been much hotter than the last 2 years. Of course this year I am geared for cool weather...polar fleece pyjamas and a new storm jacket. This year I will be buying hot weather clothing, but one can never predict these things.
So we left Marina Mazatlan on Monday about 1 pm and actually sailed to Stone Island (1.5 hr). Leaving the marina was a bit interesing (that means I was sure we were going to knock off about 5 boats) as the wind was blowing us around. Bob tried to reverse but our boat doesn't do that very well. Of course we did not hit or even come really close to any boats.
Going to Stone Is gives us an opportunity to see if there are any issues with the boat and this year we sailed there with no problems. There were warnings about Stone Is as there had been a dinghy stolen from a sailboat, but we saw nothing out of the ordinary.
Confession time: I was dreading the overnight sail as it seems we encounter bad weather which means either too much wind or not enough. Our trip was quite uneventful weatherwise as we had little to no wind to begin our journey. We did motor sail the entire trip and never had any head winds. That meant 24.5 hr of sailing and if not for an encounter with fishing lines it would have been 23 hours.
Patches got into a frenzy about midnight because he needed to pee. W went through the entire ritual of years gone by. Then because it was so hot and he was panting so hard, he drank water. I had prepared a little toilet area for him and put him and kept returning him to the spot. FINALLY at 2 pm he peed and we were all much more comfortable.
While I was below with the panting dog, Bob was doing major renovations to the sailboat..at least it sounded like that to me. When I asked what all the banging was about, he tells me he has been ..what would I call it..rerigging the sails to get more out of the wind we had. At that time, I was getting a little frazzled with dog panting and Bob crashing around over my head. At those times I wonder WHY am I here??
Our only mishap was running over fishing lines, not nets. The first one we managed to get away from and when Bob took a wide berth around the marker, we found out that the market had lines on both sides!! That little problem took over an hour to sort out. Bob was diving down to cut lines off the prop and rudder. Luckily nothing was broken. Then this morning, Dec 5, we ran into another line which had a maker barely visible in the distance. Bob saw a pop bottle (not uncommon sit) but the fishermen use pop bottles for floats, and you guessed that pop bottle was part of a line. That one did not get tangled in the prop so Bob cut us loose in a few minutes. After that I stayed up top and we watched very closely but of course saw no more lines. These lines run for a mile or two and are badly marked. At night you would never see them.
So we are hot and tired but just fine. It will be early to bed tonight.
Bob has done extensive work on the interior this past year. The clean white ceiling is the best part. We have all new sofa coverings and new covers for the berths. I think this makes the boat smell better! Oh yes and Bob oiled all the teak with linseed oil so the whole place is looking 'ship-shape'.
We are planning to say in Chacala until Dec. 8 and will leave for La Cruz early on Dec 8. Unless something really exciting happens I won't be writing again until then. The internet is very slow here so putting up this blog takes some time.
Love to all.
Sunday, November 4, 2012
November 4,2012
In 6 or more years of being in Patzcuaro at this time of year, we have never had rain. It has poured for 24 hr now but it has brightened in the last hour so I hope the rain is coming to an end. This is the last day of the big market and I did want to go one more time but not in the rain.
I have taken a few photos and will put them up.
You can see that I have featured our lovely copper bath tub. The last 2 photos are of the little altar that I made for the Day of the Dead. That is a tradition here.
There are also some photos featuring my beloved new copper bath tub!!
In 6 or more years of being in Patzcuaro at this time of year, we have never had rain. It has poured for 24 hr now but it has brightened in the last hour so I hope the rain is coming to an end. This is the last day of the big market and I did want to go one more time but not in the rain.
I have taken a few photos and will put them up.
You can see that I have featured our lovely copper bath tub. The last 2 photos are of the little altar that I made for the Day of the Dead. That is a tradition here.
Saturday, November 3, 2012
November 3, 2012
Okay... it has been months since I have updated this blog!! I tend to think of this as our sailing blog, and as the sailing season approaches I start to think about keeping this blog up to date. So here I am.
Since I last blogged in May, the time has whizzed by.
When we returned home in March, my niece came to visit for a week and stayed much longer, much to our delight. She has been a world traveller and Mexico was one of her stops. As we had not seen her in about 2 years, this was a wonderful time to play catch up. At the same time another friend spent a week with us and took our Astro van out of Mexico. That involved some interesting dealings as she was buying our Manitoba registered van to drive through the USA to Manitoba but her home is in British Columbia. The biggest problem was that the people who should have known the protocol didn't. After many calls it was sorted out and she had no problems getting it back to her home.
We spent the month of June in Manitoba visiting family and friends. It was great to see everyone but I did not feel that I wanted to live in Manitoba. That was good. We drove both cars to Manitoba and thanks to my brother were able to sell the Vibe before we returned to Mexico. The drive there and back is not something I want to do any time soon. We had no problems on the drive but it is long and boring.
From mid July to mid August, we took care of our friends' dogs. Having 3 dogs to care for was a new experience, and after the initial 'break-in' period for all of us, we enjoyed having them. Patches loved having playmates, but of course there were spats. After they went home, our house was very quiet and Patches was bored!
During the summer, we did some work on the house. Here if you have a lot of wood in your house, insects love you. Every few years the wood needs to be treated and we had that done while we were in Manitoba.
Finally I bought a copper bath tub and Bob installed it (which was not without some technical difficulties). It is installed and now I am finishing decorating the master bathroom. After buying the tub, I went shopping for bath oils, bubble bath, etc, and cannot find anything like that in Patzcuaro. Mega and Costco also do not carry that type of product. Most houses do not have bath tubs so I guess there is no market for these items.
The rainy season here this year lived up to its name. In fact we are still having cloud and some rain. During October we had weeks of very warm weather for this time of year (28C), but we also had some storms. Now it is feeling like autumn and the deciduous trees are losing their leaves. Nights are getting cooler but the days for the most are pleasant.
Bob has spent a lot of time working on the boat during the past months. I have not seen the boat since March so I expect to be surprised when I go to Maz in about 3 weeks. He has replaced the ceiling and we have had the sofas redone. The old ceiling was stained and impossible to clean so the new white ceiling (which I can clean) should brighten up our living space. Bob has also oiled all the teak.
Some of you know that Patches has allergy problems. He developed a nasty rash and was keeping me awake with the licking and scratching. Off we went to the vet who said that he was allergic to grass! It may be grass but I think it is some other plant that grows in the empty lots next to us. He was put on prednisone and that has cleared up his problem. Now I am keeping him on a low dosage until we leave for the coast.
Another new venture for me, and not nearly as hazardous as sailing, this summer has been learning to play bridge. It has been interesting and a real challenge but I now know some basics and enjoy the game. I am very fortunate as I play with a group of very helpful and kind people. We are all in different phases and that seems to work out well.
Now I am once more enjoying the Day of the Dead festivities. I had an opportunity to spend the night with a family from a village near Patzcuaro. The day was cool and as the time to leave came closer I decided that I didn't have the energy to spend the night in a cemetery. Now of course I wish I had gone. NEXT YEAR!
But I have been to been to the market every day and most days I have made a purchase. I do not know if it is my imagination but I find prices lower than last year. Last year I felt that the prices were very high as compared to the year before.
In the little street where we live, 2 houses are being built. One is under construction now and I check every day to see what they are doing. The construction is so different to what we do in Canada. First of all it is all done by hand. Excavating, mixing cement, moving cement...manual labour. They did us a machine to break large rocks (which they use for a foundation) and move some dirt but that was about it. The up side of this type of construction is that it is quiet.
Bob is in Mazatlan and should be home tomorrow. He has been gone for 2 weeks and it is quiet in the house. But of course the longer he stays away the more it seems like the norm!!
Here are our sailing plans, if there is such a thing as a sailing plan? We hope to leave Mazatlan the beginning of December but it is all about the weather. Again if the wind is from the right direction we would like to spend a few days in the little bay at Chacala. Then it is on to La Cruz (near PV). I enjoy La Cruz and we stay in the marina which makes life easy. Great place to walk and lots of pleasant restaurants. Then we have to navigate the dreaded Cabo Corrientes and will likely stop again in Ipala but only overnight unless we are tired. Then a brief stop in Chamela and then we will be in Tenacatita Bay. There we will stay for some time and move to Barra. Where we spend Christmas is still a question but it will be either Barra or Tenacatita.
Our most southerly stop will be Manzanillo. Our plan is to return to Maz by the end of January. February and March will be spent in Patzcuaro and then we head for the Baja in April. Yes I am planning to be on the boat for 4 months in this season. Sometimes this fills me with dread but I have to remind myself that I usually only have have 24 hr of real dread during the 2 month sail. That is not so different than when we travelled with a truck and trailer. During that period I usually had an anxiety attack per day. Sailing for the most is better as when we are at anchor, I am very relaxed. Another added attraction is that Bob cannot speed in a sailboat. But the reality for me will be when we are on the water!! One thing I can say is that life is not boring!!
Okay... it has been months since I have updated this blog!! I tend to think of this as our sailing blog, and as the sailing season approaches I start to think about keeping this blog up to date. So here I am.
Since I last blogged in May, the time has whizzed by.
When we returned home in March, my niece came to visit for a week and stayed much longer, much to our delight. She has been a world traveller and Mexico was one of her stops. As we had not seen her in about 2 years, this was a wonderful time to play catch up. At the same time another friend spent a week with us and took our Astro van out of Mexico. That involved some interesting dealings as she was buying our Manitoba registered van to drive through the USA to Manitoba but her home is in British Columbia. The biggest problem was that the people who should have known the protocol didn't. After many calls it was sorted out and she had no problems getting it back to her home.
We spent the month of June in Manitoba visiting family and friends. It was great to see everyone but I did not feel that I wanted to live in Manitoba. That was good. We drove both cars to Manitoba and thanks to my brother were able to sell the Vibe before we returned to Mexico. The drive there and back is not something I want to do any time soon. We had no problems on the drive but it is long and boring.
From mid July to mid August, we took care of our friends' dogs. Having 3 dogs to care for was a new experience, and after the initial 'break-in' period for all of us, we enjoyed having them. Patches loved having playmates, but of course there were spats. After they went home, our house was very quiet and Patches was bored!
During the summer, we did some work on the house. Here if you have a lot of wood in your house, insects love you. Every few years the wood needs to be treated and we had that done while we were in Manitoba.
Finally I bought a copper bath tub and Bob installed it (which was not without some technical difficulties). It is installed and now I am finishing decorating the master bathroom. After buying the tub, I went shopping for bath oils, bubble bath, etc, and cannot find anything like that in Patzcuaro. Mega and Costco also do not carry that type of product. Most houses do not have bath tubs so I guess there is no market for these items.
The rainy season here this year lived up to its name. In fact we are still having cloud and some rain. During October we had weeks of very warm weather for this time of year (28C), but we also had some storms. Now it is feeling like autumn and the deciduous trees are losing their leaves. Nights are getting cooler but the days for the most are pleasant.
Bob has spent a lot of time working on the boat during the past months. I have not seen the boat since March so I expect to be surprised when I go to Maz in about 3 weeks. He has replaced the ceiling and we have had the sofas redone. The old ceiling was stained and impossible to clean so the new white ceiling (which I can clean) should brighten up our living space. Bob has also oiled all the teak.
Some of you know that Patches has allergy problems. He developed a nasty rash and was keeping me awake with the licking and scratching. Off we went to the vet who said that he was allergic to grass! It may be grass but I think it is some other plant that grows in the empty lots next to us. He was put on prednisone and that has cleared up his problem. Now I am keeping him on a low dosage until we leave for the coast.
Another new venture for me, and not nearly as hazardous as sailing, this summer has been learning to play bridge. It has been interesting and a real challenge but I now know some basics and enjoy the game. I am very fortunate as I play with a group of very helpful and kind people. We are all in different phases and that seems to work out well.
Now I am once more enjoying the Day of the Dead festivities. I had an opportunity to spend the night with a family from a village near Patzcuaro. The day was cool and as the time to leave came closer I decided that I didn't have the energy to spend the night in a cemetery. Now of course I wish I had gone. NEXT YEAR!
But I have been to been to the market every day and most days I have made a purchase. I do not know if it is my imagination but I find prices lower than last year. Last year I felt that the prices were very high as compared to the year before.
In the little street where we live, 2 houses are being built. One is under construction now and I check every day to see what they are doing. The construction is so different to what we do in Canada. First of all it is all done by hand. Excavating, mixing cement, moving cement...manual labour. They did us a machine to break large rocks (which they use for a foundation) and move some dirt but that was about it. The up side of this type of construction is that it is quiet.
Bob is in Mazatlan and should be home tomorrow. He has been gone for 2 weeks and it is quiet in the house. But of course the longer he stays away the more it seems like the norm!!
Here are our sailing plans, if there is such a thing as a sailing plan? We hope to leave Mazatlan the beginning of December but it is all about the weather. Again if the wind is from the right direction we would like to spend a few days in the little bay at Chacala. Then it is on to La Cruz (near PV). I enjoy La Cruz and we stay in the marina which makes life easy. Great place to walk and lots of pleasant restaurants. Then we have to navigate the dreaded Cabo Corrientes and will likely stop again in Ipala but only overnight unless we are tired. Then a brief stop in Chamela and then we will be in Tenacatita Bay. There we will stay for some time and move to Barra. Where we spend Christmas is still a question but it will be either Barra or Tenacatita.
Our most southerly stop will be Manzanillo. Our plan is to return to Maz by the end of January. February and March will be spent in Patzcuaro and then we head for the Baja in April. Yes I am planning to be on the boat for 4 months in this season. Sometimes this fills me with dread but I have to remind myself that I usually only have have 24 hr of real dread during the 2 month sail. That is not so different than when we travelled with a truck and trailer. During that period I usually had an anxiety attack per day. Sailing for the most is better as when we are at anchor, I am very relaxed. Another added attraction is that Bob cannot speed in a sailboat. But the reality for me will be when we are on the water!! One thing I can say is that life is not boring!!
Thursday, May 3, 2012
A word or 2 from Deanna
It is now May 3 and Bob has been away for 6 weeks. The first week was difficult for me even though Bob was in the marina in Mazatlan. I kept thinking of his trip and worrying that he would be hurt or fall overboard..yes I have a vivid imagination. Patches, our dog, was also missing Bob, and still is. He has become very attached to our male neighbours. Just as an aside, yesterday when I was leaving him, he went and sat at their door!!
As time has passed I have become more accustomed to being on my own. I have never minded living alone as I do enjoy that freedom, but just as Bob missed me to talk about the days's aventures or mundane issues, I missed him for the same reason.
Whereas Bob was very solitary on the boat, I have a great network of friends here who support me if and when I need support. My social calendar has been full!!
When Bob was at anchor or doing a day sail, I really wasn't concerned but every time he had an overnighter, I did not sleep. In fact when he returned from the Baja I was awake every hour and finally got up at 6 am!! And yes when I did not hear from Bob for 24 hr, I did have a meltdown. Thank goodness I have a great neighbour who lent me a shoulder to cry on, literally and metaphorically.
I look forward to seeing Bob tomorrow and hearing all about his adventures. He should have some great photos for me to post. Look for photos.
As time has passed I have become more accustomed to being on my own. I have never minded living alone as I do enjoy that freedom, but just as Bob missed me to talk about the days's aventures or mundane issues, I missed him for the same reason.
Whereas Bob was very solitary on the boat, I have a great network of friends here who support me if and when I need support. My social calendar has been full!!
When Bob was at anchor or doing a day sail, I really wasn't concerned but every time he had an overnighter, I did not sleep. In fact when he returned from the Baja I was awake every hour and finally got up at 6 am!! And yes when I did not hear from Bob for 24 hr, I did have a meltdown. Thank goodness I have a great neighbour who lent me a shoulder to cry on, literally and metaphorically.
I look forward to seeing Bob tomorrow and hearing all about his adventures. He should have some great photos for me to post. Look for photos.
Bob's Trip April 29 - May 1
April 29, 2012
This morning I was up at 5:00 am. I made and ate breakfast and prepared the
Deanna B to go to sea. I hauled up the anchor at 6:00 am and
headed out. All the weather forecasts called for northwest winds.
When I was about 2 nm off shore I sent Deanna a spot message so that
she would know that I had left the bay and was heading out to sea. I
was under sail with a NW wind and was making 7 knots. My chart
plotter gave my estimated time to Mazatlan as 27 hrs. Things were
going great. Then the wind changed to the southeast. I slowed to
nearly a stand still. I started the engine and motored. The best I
could do was to get the wind to 20 to 30 degrees off my bow. The
headsail came down because it was just slowing me down. All the
forecasts had called for NW winds. The course was 105 degrees.
Should I set a course to the NE and wait for the forecasted winds to
change and allow me to sail back south to Mazatlan? The winds
increased to 15 to 20 knots but continued to blow from 125 to 135
degrees. By 12:00 noon I was down to 4.5 knots and the chart plotter
was now giving my time to Mazatlan as 40hrs. That is disappointing
when you sail for 6 hrs and your ETA has increased
by 13 hrs. As the wind increased, I set the mainsail just right
and by motoring at 2200 rpm I was able to get the speed back up to nearly
6 knots. This made me feel a little better but with the increase in
wind speeds the seas grew as time went on and that did drop my speed
again. As it got dark the winds did drop and with them the seas. I
motored on with the winds still coming from the same direction and at that point I was cursing
all the weather forecasters in the world.
April 30, 2012
By daylight the winds had shifted another 10 degrees to the south. I
was still motor sailing at the same rpm but I was able to get the
headsail back up and my speed back up to 6.5 to 7 knots. By 12:00 I
was only 20 nm from Mazatlan and passing through fog banks. When I left
the Baha I was able to see the mountains until I was nearly
50 nm off shore because of the clear dry air. I was now unable to see the
coast near Mazatlan until I was less than 10 nm of shore. Back into
the high humidity!
When I arrived at Mazatlan at 3:30 pm the channel
into the marina had been closed because of the size of the waves at
the mouth of the channel caused by 36 hrs of SE winds. This forced me
to motor 5 nm south to Stone Island to find a rough anchorage for the
night. The waves were breaking and big enough to surf on .. around the point and the islandenough, but by coming straight in between them on large but
not breaking rollers I was able to anchor. I ran out 150 ft. of
anchor chain even though I was only anchored in 20 ft. of water. I
was not taking any chances of dragging onto the beach behind me.
There was one other boat anchored in the same area. I was very tired
but I sent Deanna a spot message and then called her to let her know
why I hadn’t gone into the marina. I was able to heat some soup on
the stove even though the boat was rocking at a pretty good rate. As I sat in
the cockpit eating my soup I watched some fishermen setting their nets
seaward of me and I wondered how they expected them to stay there in
these seas. By 7:00 I was in my bunk and sound asleep. After 38 hrs
with only 45 minutes of sleep it is very easy to go to sleep.
May 1, 2012
When I woke up at 7:00 this morning both boats were gift wrapped in
those damn fishing nets. The fishermen were working at unraveling the
mess. The other boat was free first and it was of out of the bay and
heading back towards the channel into the marinas. 30 minutes later I
was free and following. When we arrived at the channel there were
still large seas running into the mouth. It was interesting looking
up at the number of people on the cliffs above.. with their cameras, and
watching to see if the sailboats would be successful surfing into the
narrow channel without winding up on the rocks.... and we were
successful!
Deanna B did turn slightly to port as the wave picked her
up from the rear but I was able to straighten her out again in time to
make the channel. Surfing into a narrow channel on big seas is
something that I do not enjoy doing. Later I was talking to a sailor
who was waiting to go out through the channel and he said that after
watching us coming in he decided to wait another day before attempting
to leave. After tying up at my slip I had a very appreciated shower
and breakfast at Gus y Gus restaurant. My plans are to spend 2 days
getting Deanna B ready to leave for 3 months and then drive home to
Patzcuaro on Friday. The happy end to another successful voyage.
--
This morning I was up at 5:00 am. I made and ate breakfast and prepared the
Deanna B to go to sea. I hauled up the anchor at 6:00 am and
headed out. All the weather forecasts called for northwest winds.
When I was about 2 nm off shore I sent Deanna a spot message so that
she would know that I had left the bay and was heading out to sea. I
was under sail with a NW wind and was making 7 knots. My chart
plotter gave my estimated time to Mazatlan as 27 hrs. Things were
going great. Then the wind changed to the southeast. I slowed to
nearly a stand still. I started the engine and motored. The best I
could do was to get the wind to 20 to 30 degrees off my bow. The
headsail came down because it was just slowing me down. All the
forecasts had called for NW winds. The course was 105 degrees.
Should I set a course to the NE and wait for the forecasted winds to
change and allow me to sail back south to Mazatlan? The winds
increased to 15 to 20 knots but continued to blow from 125 to 135
degrees. By 12:00 noon I was down to 4.5 knots and the chart plotter
was now giving my time to Mazatlan as 40hrs. That is disappointing
when you sail for 6 hrs and your ETA has increased
by 13 hrs. As the wind increased, I set the mainsail just right
and by motoring at 2200 rpm I was able to get the speed back up to nearly
6 knots. This made me feel a little better but with the increase in
wind speeds the seas grew as time went on and that did drop my speed
again. As it got dark the winds did drop and with them the seas. I
motored on with the winds still coming from the same direction and at that point I was cursing
all the weather forecasters in the world.
April 30, 2012
By daylight the winds had shifted another 10 degrees to the south. I
was still motor sailing at the same rpm but I was able to get the
headsail back up and my speed back up to 6.5 to 7 knots. By 12:00 I
was only 20 nm from Mazatlan and passing through fog banks. When I left
the Baha I was able to see the mountains until I was nearly
50 nm off shore because of the clear dry air. I was now unable to see the
coast near Mazatlan until I was less than 10 nm of shore. Back into
the high humidity!
When I arrived at Mazatlan at 3:30 pm the channel
into the marina had been closed because of the size of the waves at
the mouth of the channel caused by 36 hrs of SE winds. This forced me
to motor 5 nm south to Stone Island to find a rough anchorage for the
night. The waves were breaking and big enough to surf on .. around the point and the islandenough, but by coming straight in between them on large but
not breaking rollers I was able to anchor. I ran out 150 ft. of
anchor chain even though I was only anchored in 20 ft. of water. I
was not taking any chances of dragging onto the beach behind me.
There was one other boat anchored in the same area. I was very tired
but I sent Deanna a spot message and then called her to let her know
why I hadn’t gone into the marina. I was able to heat some soup on
the stove even though the boat was rocking at a pretty good rate. As I sat in
the cockpit eating my soup I watched some fishermen setting their nets
seaward of me and I wondered how they expected them to stay there in
these seas. By 7:00 I was in my bunk and sound asleep. After 38 hrs
with only 45 minutes of sleep it is very easy to go to sleep.
May 1, 2012
When I woke up at 7:00 this morning both boats were gift wrapped in
those damn fishing nets. The fishermen were working at unraveling the
mess. The other boat was free first and it was of out of the bay and
heading back towards the channel into the marinas. 30 minutes later I
was free and following. When we arrived at the channel there were
still large seas running into the mouth. It was interesting looking
up at the number of people on the cliffs above.. with their cameras, and
watching to see if the sailboats would be successful surfing into the
narrow channel without winding up on the rocks.... and we were
successful!
Deanna B did turn slightly to port as the wave picked her
up from the rear but I was able to straighten her out again in time to
make the channel. Surfing into a narrow channel on big seas is
something that I do not enjoy doing. Later I was talking to a sailor
who was waiting to go out through the channel and he said that after
watching us coming in he decided to wait another day before attempting
to leave. After tying up at my slip I had a very appreciated shower
and breakfast at Gus y Gus restaurant. My plans are to spend 2 days
getting Deanna B ready to leave for 3 months and then drive home to
Patzcuaro on Friday. The happy end to another successful voyage.
--
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Bob's Blog from April 17 - 28
April 17-22, 2012
These days were spent wandering around La Pas and lounging on the boat.
April 23, 2012
Today I was off again. Up at 6:45 so that I could be ashore by 7:30
in order to make the ½ hour walk to the Port Captain’s office for 8:00
to pick up my departure papers. The office was actually open by 8:10
so I was out by 8:15 with my papers. Back to the marina by 8:45 for a
shower and breakfast. I had actually hauled anchor and was motoring
out the 4.5 mile channel by 10:15. This was good because high tide
was at 11:50 so if I had trouble with any of the bars on the way out I
would have still had a chance of floating free at high tide. It is
always interesting how, as one leaves a port, that you looked so hard to
find your way into, how simple it seems now. Oh well it should be a
snap next time. As the speed of the boat and the wind speed were
identical and the wind direction indicator showed the wind right on
the nose I motored. The wind later shifted 30 degrees off the nose and
registered 7 knots so I ran up the main and tried sailing. When the
best I could get was 1.5 knots no matter how I approached this wind, I
went back to motor sailing. At least by doing this I could maintain
5.5 knots on this flat sea at 2000 RPMs. At this speed I can
stretch close to three hours out of a gallon of fuel with my little
3GM30F Yanmar. And that is about how long it took me to reach
Ensenada de la Raza which is a small bay on Isla Espiritu Santo. The
bay is very well protected by the high cliffs around it and Isla Gallo
(Rooster Island), from every direction but on the south. Any bets on
which direction the wind will come out of tonight? This is a
beautiful bay. The water is an emerald green because of the white
sand below it with a white sand beach at the head of the bay. The bay
is surrounded by sandstone cliffs. Many birds have dug into these
cliffs to make nests. There is a sea turtle that keeps circling the
boat and sticking his head out of the water to look at me. It is very
hot in this bay because of the high cliffs surrounding it. The down
side is that there are many tiny flies. They don’t bite but they do
irritate one. I don’t know for sure but I would guess that they are
the Bobos that people talk about around here. I won’t be cooking
diner until later with this heat. This is a time for sitting beside a
Dodo coil and drinking beer. I sent Deanna a spot message to let her
know where I am but there is no Banda Ancha signal here for email. I
will try my cell phone later on.
Well no luck with contacting Deanna. No cell phone coverage either.
Earlier when I thought that there was a sea turtle swimming around the
boat I was wrong. There are dozens of sea turtles everywhere in this
bay. So it wasn’t just one turtle swimming around the boat it was
many different turtles.
I have never seen the sea as alive as I see it tonight. First of all
it is absolutely flat which does make me a little nervous. And when I
sit in the cockpit, the water is alive with sea life. Something was knocking
the dingy back and forth so I decided to hoist it out of the water.
When I turned on the deck light there were schools of fish shooting
back and forth just below the surface. As I reached into the water to
attach the hoisting lines to the dingy I watched hundreds of fish
swimming around my hand. The sea was actually frothing with life.
April 24, 2012
Well the sea stayed relatively calm last night, but the boat was rolling a
bit this morning ..really nothing to speak of. I was able to make coffee
and eggs with no problem. I had the anchor up and was gone shortly
after 8:00. The down side to the calm night was that there was also
no wind to sail with this morning. I hoisted the main, mostly because
it made me feel better, and motored for 4 hours over a very flat sea
to Isla San Francisco. There is a very pretty crescent shaped bay on
the south side of the island. When I arrived there were boats
anchored all along the beach. The sailing guide suggested anchoring
at the northwest end of the beach. This spot was open so I took it.
Since then the boats in the middle left and most of the new arrivals
have crowded into the bay at the other end of the beach. Once again I
wonder what they know about this bay that I and the person that wrote
the guide don’t. Oh well. The bay again has a white sand bottom and
very clear water. I could watch the anchor chain dropping onto the
sea floor 25 ft. below.
I sent Deanna another spot message to let her
know that I am here. Again no Banda Ancha or cell reception. I
figure that in the morning I’ll pack my laptop and cell phone into the
backpack, row into shore and climb to the top of one of the big hills
around the bay to see if I can get a signal from there. I don’t have
much hope but I’ll give it a try. This is a very remote area for cell
towers. But I am suprised how many boats that I have seen along the
mainland are here. I rowed into shore today and walked across the
island to the bay directly across from here and there were 7 boats
anchored there. The water is beautiful around this island but the
land is sand, cactus and dry shrubs. This is the kind of place that
one keeps a sharp watch for rattle snakes when hiking around. So far
there has been no repeat of the sea life that I saw last night. Mind
you something has been rattling the anchor chain. I would expect that
to be the dolphins that I saw coming into the bay before dark.
April 25, 2012
Well this morning I climbed up the hill and as expected no Banda Ancha
or cell phone reception. Great spot to take photos from though and a
fantastic view. The no reception is interesting because I can listen
to the net on VHF from 44 km away in La Paz. I did learn some things
on my walks around the island today. First most of the white sand
beaches end above the water line and then it becomes gravel. That
probably explains the very clear water in the bay. Secondly I have
decided that my worry about rattle snakes was unfounded. Even thought
the land around here is identical to Arizona desert it is an island.
So unless someone accidently or purposely brought them to the island
or some rattler decided to become a long distance salt water swimmer
they are most likely not here. I haven’t seen one at any rate. But I
do still watch for them when I walk. I will most likely spend at least
two more days here. Last forecast that I could get called for 20 –25
knot winds here for tomorrow. The winds today were very light and
from the southwest. I will wait for them to shift back to the
northwest. Those are the winds that I will need for a good sail back
to Mazatlan. I will watch the winds and decide whether or not I will
sail for Mazatlan from here or head back south to Bahia los Muetos and
sail across the sea from there. I am getting more used to being on my
own but it is more fun sharing places like this with someone else. I
don’t mind the sailing on my own. In fact when the weather really
gets bad I would rather be on my own. If at some point I really screw
up and have to pay the ultimate price I would rather pay it alone.
And I have never felt that I have needed someone to help me sail the
boat better. Other then I get pretty tired sometimes when I can’t get
the sleep I need. But when I get to where I am going it is nice to
have someone to share that experience with. I am not saying anything
negative about other solo sailors. I have nothing but respect for
these people because I have been there and done that. I am just
describing how I feel. In some ways I am a bit of a sentimental wimp.
April 26, 2012
Well today the winds were a little stronger from the NW and it was
cloudy. After breakfast this morning I rowed into shore again and
went for another hike through the hills. The hills are made up of a
lot of loose shale. You have to be careful on the slopes because it
would be really easy to start sliding. This could result in anything
from a loss of shin to sliding over a 100 ft. cliff down to the
seashore. I took some photos today of the terrain, a couple of
turkey vultures, and one of the little lizards that run around on the
ground. When I got back to the beach I went for a swim. I think that
the water is warming up. A little. The big 'around the island' race is
supposed to take place tomorrow. I imagine that is why more boats
than usual showed up in the bay today. When the winds shifted to the
NW last night I was glad that I was anchored close to the cliffs at
the NW end of the bay. I am not sure yet but if the weather is ok
when I get up Saturday I’ll most likely make the run back south to
Bahia Los Muertos. That gives me a shorter route across the Sea of
Cortez back to Mazatlan. It also gives me a more easterly course
across the sea which I hope will give me a better angle to the wind.
April 27, 2012
Well I wasn’t going to leave Isla San Francisco until tomorrow but
when I got up this morning the weather looked fine so after coffee I
hauled anchor and headed for Bahia Los Muertos. It is a long sail for
one day nearly 70 nm. I left sending my spot fix until I was about 5
nm away from the island so that Deanna would know that I was on the
move again. What I didn’t realize at that time is that I had
forgotten to send out my spot fix the night before so she was already
worried. The sail was not bad from Isla San Francisco until almost to
the south end of Isla Cerralvo. Because I knew that I had a long way
to go and that I had started a little late I chose the most direct
route. This took me on the outside of Islas Partida and Espiritu
Santo which was a little bumpy because the seas were still running
fairly high from the winds that had been blowing the day and night
before. My course then took me between Isla Cerralvo and the Baja.
The sailing guide had warned of the currents that could be running
through this channel. When I had gone north through the same channel
last week, it had been morning and there was very little wind. But I had
noticed that between the south end of the island and the coast where
the channel is the narrowest, about 5 nm, there was about a 2 nm wide
stretch where there was only 180 ft. of water. On either side of this
stretch the water averaged about 600 ft. Today however I was running
down wind with about 20 knots of wind behind me and about 6ft. waves
right on the stern. When I hit the shallower water the current seemed
to really pick up. The auto pilot couldn’t keep up and I had to hand
steer through this area. The auto pilot cannot anticipate which way
the boat is going to spin and by the time it reacts the boat is facing
back into the wind. What I am still trying to figure out is if this
is a wind current, and the wind was hitting the channel at the perfect
angle, why would the depth have so much effect on the currents speed.
Wind currents usually only effect surface water. Mind you this is also
the narrowest part of the channel so who knows. I guess that there
could also be a deeper current running through there that combines
with the wind current. Whatever causes it makes for an interesting
ride. After I got over the shallow stretch the auto pilot had no
problem keeping up. I arrived at the anchorage right at dark. About
a mile out I could see where the other boats were anchored so I didn’t
want to stop to lower my mainsail because I would lose track of them.
I find that when it first gets dark it is the worst time for seeing boats at anchor as people
don't turn on their anchor lights until later. Some people aren’t back on their boats
yet and others just haven’t thought to turn them on yet. That is one
reason that I like anchor lights that turn themselves on as it gets
dark. At any rate I came into the anchorage under mainsail and
dropped anchor. When you have enough room this is a very safe tactic.
I wound up having to switch on the deck light to take down the
mainsail but I was in.
When I phoned Deanna I was in trouble for not
sending a spot message the night before. Sometimes you cannot get
them to work, in very rough seas as it is very difficult for it to get a
fix on the satellites, and at other times one can just forget as I
did. When the person at home is used to receiving the canned message
saying that everything is fine every morning and evening and it
doesn’t come in they instantly think the worst. At any rate I’ll have
to come up with a better communications system. More money.
I made a late dinner and was in bed by 10:30.
April 28, 2012
Today I must admit that I slept in until 7:30. When I was sitting in
the cockpit having my coffee, most of the boats that are heading north
into the Sea of Cortez, left. There are now only three of us anchored
here. I then put more money on my Banda Ancha. This allowed me to
get onto the internet to check the weather but it has been very
overcast so I can’t get a strong enough signal to use my email. I
then replaced some stripped bolts on the windlass, topped up the
fuel, checked the batteries for water, checked the engine oil and
the stuffing box. I am ready to head out on the 190 nm sail across
the sea to Mazatlan tomorrow morning.
NOTE from Deanna
Bob arrived in Mazatlan yesterday afternoon but was unable to enter the marina until today. The winds had created enough wave action so the channel into the marina had been closed. Today Bob is enjoying hot showers and restaurant food!!
These days were spent wandering around La Pas and lounging on the boat.
April 23, 2012
Today I was off again. Up at 6:45 so that I could be ashore by 7:30
in order to make the ½ hour walk to the Port Captain’s office for 8:00
to pick up my departure papers. The office was actually open by 8:10
so I was out by 8:15 with my papers. Back to the marina by 8:45 for a
shower and breakfast. I had actually hauled anchor and was motoring
out the 4.5 mile channel by 10:15. This was good because high tide
was at 11:50 so if I had trouble with any of the bars on the way out I
would have still had a chance of floating free at high tide. It is
always interesting how, as one leaves a port, that you looked so hard to
find your way into, how simple it seems now. Oh well it should be a
snap next time. As the speed of the boat and the wind speed were
identical and the wind direction indicator showed the wind right on
the nose I motored. The wind later shifted 30 degrees off the nose and
registered 7 knots so I ran up the main and tried sailing. When the
best I could get was 1.5 knots no matter how I approached this wind, I
went back to motor sailing. At least by doing this I could maintain
5.5 knots on this flat sea at 2000 RPMs. At this speed I can
stretch close to three hours out of a gallon of fuel with my little
3GM30F Yanmar. And that is about how long it took me to reach
Ensenada de la Raza which is a small bay on Isla Espiritu Santo. The
bay is very well protected by the high cliffs around it and Isla Gallo
(Rooster Island), from every direction but on the south. Any bets on
which direction the wind will come out of tonight? This is a
beautiful bay. The water is an emerald green because of the white
sand below it with a white sand beach at the head of the bay. The bay
is surrounded by sandstone cliffs. Many birds have dug into these
cliffs to make nests. There is a sea turtle that keeps circling the
boat and sticking his head out of the water to look at me. It is very
hot in this bay because of the high cliffs surrounding it. The down
side is that there are many tiny flies. They don’t bite but they do
irritate one. I don’t know for sure but I would guess that they are
the Bobos that people talk about around here. I won’t be cooking
diner until later with this heat. This is a time for sitting beside a
Dodo coil and drinking beer. I sent Deanna a spot message to let her
know where I am but there is no Banda Ancha signal here for email. I
will try my cell phone later on.
Well no luck with contacting Deanna. No cell phone coverage either.
Earlier when I thought that there was a sea turtle swimming around the
boat I was wrong. There are dozens of sea turtles everywhere in this
bay. So it wasn’t just one turtle swimming around the boat it was
many different turtles.
I have never seen the sea as alive as I see it tonight. First of all
it is absolutely flat which does make me a little nervous. And when I
sit in the cockpit, the water is alive with sea life. Something was knocking
the dingy back and forth so I decided to hoist it out of the water.
When I turned on the deck light there were schools of fish shooting
back and forth just below the surface. As I reached into the water to
attach the hoisting lines to the dingy I watched hundreds of fish
swimming around my hand. The sea was actually frothing with life.
April 24, 2012
Well the sea stayed relatively calm last night, but the boat was rolling a
bit this morning ..really nothing to speak of. I was able to make coffee
and eggs with no problem. I had the anchor up and was gone shortly
after 8:00. The down side to the calm night was that there was also
no wind to sail with this morning. I hoisted the main, mostly because
it made me feel better, and motored for 4 hours over a very flat sea
to Isla San Francisco. There is a very pretty crescent shaped bay on
the south side of the island. When I arrived there were boats
anchored all along the beach. The sailing guide suggested anchoring
at the northwest end of the beach. This spot was open so I took it.
Since then the boats in the middle left and most of the new arrivals
have crowded into the bay at the other end of the beach. Once again I
wonder what they know about this bay that I and the person that wrote
the guide don’t. Oh well. The bay again has a white sand bottom and
very clear water. I could watch the anchor chain dropping onto the
sea floor 25 ft. below.
I sent Deanna another spot message to let her
know that I am here. Again no Banda Ancha or cell reception. I
figure that in the morning I’ll pack my laptop and cell phone into the
backpack, row into shore and climb to the top of one of the big hills
around the bay to see if I can get a signal from there. I don’t have
much hope but I’ll give it a try. This is a very remote area for cell
towers. But I am suprised how many boats that I have seen along the
mainland are here. I rowed into shore today and walked across the
island to the bay directly across from here and there were 7 boats
anchored there. The water is beautiful around this island but the
land is sand, cactus and dry shrubs. This is the kind of place that
one keeps a sharp watch for rattle snakes when hiking around. So far
there has been no repeat of the sea life that I saw last night. Mind
you something has been rattling the anchor chain. I would expect that
to be the dolphins that I saw coming into the bay before dark.
April 25, 2012
Well this morning I climbed up the hill and as expected no Banda Ancha
or cell phone reception. Great spot to take photos from though and a
fantastic view. The no reception is interesting because I can listen
to the net on VHF from 44 km away in La Paz. I did learn some things
on my walks around the island today. First most of the white sand
beaches end above the water line and then it becomes gravel. That
probably explains the very clear water in the bay. Secondly I have
decided that my worry about rattle snakes was unfounded. Even thought
the land around here is identical to Arizona desert it is an island.
So unless someone accidently or purposely brought them to the island
or some rattler decided to become a long distance salt water swimmer
they are most likely not here. I haven’t seen one at any rate. But I
do still watch for them when I walk. I will most likely spend at least
two more days here. Last forecast that I could get called for 20 –25
knot winds here for tomorrow. The winds today were very light and
from the southwest. I will wait for them to shift back to the
northwest. Those are the winds that I will need for a good sail back
to Mazatlan. I will watch the winds and decide whether or not I will
sail for Mazatlan from here or head back south to Bahia los Muetos and
sail across the sea from there. I am getting more used to being on my
own but it is more fun sharing places like this with someone else. I
don’t mind the sailing on my own. In fact when the weather really
gets bad I would rather be on my own. If at some point I really screw
up and have to pay the ultimate price I would rather pay it alone.
And I have never felt that I have needed someone to help me sail the
boat better. Other then I get pretty tired sometimes when I can’t get
the sleep I need. But when I get to where I am going it is nice to
have someone to share that experience with. I am not saying anything
negative about other solo sailors. I have nothing but respect for
these people because I have been there and done that. I am just
describing how I feel. In some ways I am a bit of a sentimental wimp.
April 26, 2012
Well today the winds were a little stronger from the NW and it was
cloudy. After breakfast this morning I rowed into shore again and
went for another hike through the hills. The hills are made up of a
lot of loose shale. You have to be careful on the slopes because it
would be really easy to start sliding. This could result in anything
from a loss of shin to sliding over a 100 ft. cliff down to the
seashore. I took some photos today of the terrain, a couple of
turkey vultures, and one of the little lizards that run around on the
ground. When I got back to the beach I went for a swim. I think that
the water is warming up. A little. The big 'around the island' race is
supposed to take place tomorrow. I imagine that is why more boats
than usual showed up in the bay today. When the winds shifted to the
NW last night I was glad that I was anchored close to the cliffs at
the NW end of the bay. I am not sure yet but if the weather is ok
when I get up Saturday I’ll most likely make the run back south to
Bahia Los Muertos. That gives me a shorter route across the Sea of
Cortez back to Mazatlan. It also gives me a more easterly course
across the sea which I hope will give me a better angle to the wind.
April 27, 2012
Well I wasn’t going to leave Isla San Francisco until tomorrow but
when I got up this morning the weather looked fine so after coffee I
hauled anchor and headed for Bahia Los Muertos. It is a long sail for
one day nearly 70 nm. I left sending my spot fix until I was about 5
nm away from the island so that Deanna would know that I was on the
move again. What I didn’t realize at that time is that I had
forgotten to send out my spot fix the night before so she was already
worried. The sail was not bad from Isla San Francisco until almost to
the south end of Isla Cerralvo. Because I knew that I had a long way
to go and that I had started a little late I chose the most direct
route. This took me on the outside of Islas Partida and Espiritu
Santo which was a little bumpy because the seas were still running
fairly high from the winds that had been blowing the day and night
before. My course then took me between Isla Cerralvo and the Baja.
The sailing guide had warned of the currents that could be running
through this channel. When I had gone north through the same channel
last week, it had been morning and there was very little wind. But I had
noticed that between the south end of the island and the coast where
the channel is the narrowest, about 5 nm, there was about a 2 nm wide
stretch where there was only 180 ft. of water. On either side of this
stretch the water averaged about 600 ft. Today however I was running
down wind with about 20 knots of wind behind me and about 6ft. waves
right on the stern. When I hit the shallower water the current seemed
to really pick up. The auto pilot couldn’t keep up and I had to hand
steer through this area. The auto pilot cannot anticipate which way
the boat is going to spin and by the time it reacts the boat is facing
back into the wind. What I am still trying to figure out is if this
is a wind current, and the wind was hitting the channel at the perfect
angle, why would the depth have so much effect on the currents speed.
Wind currents usually only effect surface water. Mind you this is also
the narrowest part of the channel so who knows. I guess that there
could also be a deeper current running through there that combines
with the wind current. Whatever causes it makes for an interesting
ride. After I got over the shallow stretch the auto pilot had no
problem keeping up. I arrived at the anchorage right at dark. About
a mile out I could see where the other boats were anchored so I didn’t
want to stop to lower my mainsail because I would lose track of them.
I find that when it first gets dark it is the worst time for seeing boats at anchor as people
don't turn on their anchor lights until later. Some people aren’t back on their boats
yet and others just haven’t thought to turn them on yet. That is one
reason that I like anchor lights that turn themselves on as it gets
dark. At any rate I came into the anchorage under mainsail and
dropped anchor. When you have enough room this is a very safe tactic.
I wound up having to switch on the deck light to take down the
mainsail but I was in.
When I phoned Deanna I was in trouble for not
sending a spot message the night before. Sometimes you cannot get
them to work, in very rough seas as it is very difficult for it to get a
fix on the satellites, and at other times one can just forget as I
did. When the person at home is used to receiving the canned message
saying that everything is fine every morning and evening and it
doesn’t come in they instantly think the worst. At any rate I’ll have
to come up with a better communications system. More money.
I made a late dinner and was in bed by 10:30.
April 28, 2012
Today I must admit that I slept in until 7:30. When I was sitting in
the cockpit having my coffee, most of the boats that are heading north
into the Sea of Cortez, left. There are now only three of us anchored
here. I then put more money on my Banda Ancha. This allowed me to
get onto the internet to check the weather but it has been very
overcast so I can’t get a strong enough signal to use my email. I
then replaced some stripped bolts on the windlass, topped up the
fuel, checked the batteries for water, checked the engine oil and
the stuffing box. I am ready to head out on the 190 nm sail across
the sea to Mazatlan tomorrow morning.
NOTE from Deanna
Bob arrived in Mazatlan yesterday afternoon but was unable to enter the marina until today. The winds had created enough wave action so the channel into the marina had been closed. Today Bob is enjoying hot showers and restaurant food!!
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Another post from Bob
Bob will be in La Paz for a few more days, depending on the winds. They are to calm by tomorrow but who knows??
April 16, 2012
Well I was up at 7:30 today so that I could listen to the VHF net at 8:00. I even went on as a new arrival to the area, which is rare for me, because I don’t like talking on the radio. Someone came on the net this morning and said that he had found a sea snake in his dingy so he felt that he should be warning the rest of us to be careful. A sea snake is far more deadly then a king cobra. The saving grace is that their fangs are set far back in their mouth so unless it finds somewhere, like between your toes, it has a hard time delivering all of this grief (many bare footed third world fishermen have been killed by sea snakes when they have accidentally land them with their catch).
I live on the boat on my bare feet. The last thing I need to worry about is a sea snake in the dingy. I have always hung the dingy out of the water from a halyard to make it harder to steal. Now I have to worry about sea snakes. It will soon be hanging from the masthead 45 ft. above the water!
After the net I took the dingy (after checking for sea snakes) back into the La Paz Marina. There I had a nice hot shower and then went looking for fan belts. I even found cogged belts at Quaker State. I have been looking for them in the size that I need for about 2 years, and haven’t been able to find them until now. I am hoping that they will take the load without the slipping problem. I bought 3 cogged belts and 1 standard. Just in case. I then walked to the Mega and did some shopping. The mile walk there was nice but the one back with all the plastic bags cutting the circulation of in my fingers wasn’t great. Yes Deanna I should have taken a cab. Then, because I was told in the marina office that it was standard policy to just check in on the radio with the Port Captain, I loaded my stuff in the dingy and went back across the harbour to the boat. The wind is still blowing out of the north at 15-20 kmh which made for a bumpy dingy ride. When I got back to the boat I attempted calling the Port Captain on channel 16. Half of Mexico were taking on 16, which is only to be used before calling; then you are to go to another channel. With everyone speaking Spanish over everyone else I finally gave up. Back in the dingy, back across the harbour and then I walked the 2 miles to the Port Captain’s office. Seeing that all that I had to carry were my boat documents it was a nice walk. By the time that I got back to the boat it was 4:00 pm. I spent a pretty quiet afternoon and I expect that it will be another early night.
Sunday, April 15, 2012
This is Bob's Log
Deanna B Log
Bob Burton
Log 2012 April trip to Sea of Cortez
April 10, 2012
Got away from the dock in Mazatlan this morning at 8:00 AM. Even
though I pushed things a little, because I wanted an early start, and
left only 2 hours after low tide, I still had 4 ft. of water under the
keel when I went out through the channel. All the weather forecasts
called for 5 to 10 knots winds until the afternoon of the 11th and
then they were to increase during that evening and the next day to 15
to 20 knots. After 2hrs of motoring west on a course to La Paz with
no winds suddenly I had winds from the SW at about 10 knots. I set
both sails and could sail. The wind increased to 18 knots and, even
though I was sailing only 50 degrees of the wind, I was now sailing at
between 7.5 and 8 knots. During the afternoon the winds dropped
back to about 10 knots but I was still making over 6 knots so I was
very happy. At this rate I would be into La Paz on the afternoon of
the 11th ahead of the forecast 20 knot winds from the NW. I saw
little sea life. A few flying fish, one ray that did his usual jump
and flap back onto the water and one seal that startled me when he
stuck his head out of the water beside the boat and then slowly swam
off on the surface toward the mainland. I must admit that I did
wonder about these non forecast SW winds. Was there such a low
somewhere to the north that it was drawing these warm winds into it?
I dozed in the cockpit during the afternoon and enjoyed the warm
breeze. There was a lovely sunset and I even got the green flash, and
then the horizon lit up in a beautiful red. Things looked good.
April 11, 2012
Things started out this morning much as they were going along
yesterday. I was still making excellent time. I was sitting in the
cockpit thinking about how impressed Deanna would be when she got the
Spot message showing how far that I had come since leaving Mazatlan.
At 2:30 AM I was only 85km of the coast of the Baja. Suddenly the
wind just quit. Strange I thought. Then the temp dropped 10 degrees
in 20 min. Wholly s…! I furled the headsail as fast as I could. By
the time I got a second reef in the mainsail I was getting over 25
knot winds out of the NW. I was thinking of what friends said “If
there are forecast winds that you don’t want double them”. I was now
in my foul weather gear and it was foul weather. The waves were now
10 ft. with very little time between them and many were beginning to
break. This meant that I was getting a lot of water in the cockpit.
There were things starting to slide around on the sole of the cabin.
And I started to get water down the companion way. I closed the main
hatch. I must remember to put a latch on that because I had to open
it every so often to check the radar and my auto pilot controls are
down there so I didn’t want to lock it and it kept flying open in
these wild seas. I could still make way (5-6 knots) by motor sailing
because the winds were 30 degrees off my nose. This made very
uncomfortable going because of the angle at which I was hitting the
seas. The boat would come off the face of the waves half land on its
side in the trough the auto pilot would moan as it shoved the rudder
over to climb up the face of the next wave on an angle. The winds
were now hitting 35 knots at times and because they had been forecast
from the NW for the next 4 days I didn’t want to hove to for that long
to wait this whether out. By dawn I was cold and tired and still 65
nautical miles off shore. I tried to send Deanna a spot message to
let her know that I hadn’t sunk but the spot couldn’t get a fix on the
satellites because of all the pitching and rolling the boat was doing.
I wound up on my knees in the bottom of the cockpit trying to
compensate for the movement of the boat with my hands and at the same
time protect the spot from the breaking waves. If anyone could have
seen me I’m sure that they would have thought that I was preying for
salvation. I found a bay about 30 miles south of La Paz called Los
Muertos. It wasn’t very comforting to be trying to fight my way into
a place called Dead Men Bay but I have since discovered that it was
named for the dead men anchors that were used here at one time. Dead
men anchors were huge stones with holes drilled through them for
mooring lines that were dumped on the bottom of the bay with floats
above them so ships could tie up to them. The knots were slowly
ticking off. 40, 30, 20. At 10 miles off I could see the dunes
behind the beach. I was very cold and very tired. The charts showed
deep water along a 400 yd. beach with reefs at either end. My plan
was to make a pass through the bay under sail and motor. If it looked
like it could be done I would go back in with an anchoring plan. If
not I would be forced to go back out about 10 miles from the coast
hove to and try to sleep on the sole of the cabin and hope that no
ships ran over me during the night. As I came into the bay I could
see that there were other boats anchored along the beach. I quickly
dropped the main sail and hung the anchor. Anchoring was pretty
straight foreward after the last 14 hrs. I Spotted Deanna so that she
would know that I was safe because I couldn’t get reception on the
Banda Ancha to email. Before I went to bed I tried my cell phone and
got through to Deanna. It was so good to hear her voice. I ignored
the mess in the boat and fell into bed at 6:00 pm.
April 12, 2012
I didn’t wake up until 7:40 this morning. It is funny but the boat
looked in far better condition today. It is something what a good
night’s sleep can do for one. Spencer Boat Works mad one hell of a
boat. I even got enough of a Banda Ancha signal today to check my
email and send a couple of emails to Deanna. But no skype. I have
spent the day cleaning the boat up, checking oil and fuel and reading.
And typing this Log. It looks like I will just hang here on the
anchor until at least Saturday waiting for the winds to drop a bit
before going on to La Paz. Hope that my beer holds out until then/
April 13, 2012
Today was a great day. The weather was fine. I probably should have
gone to La Paz today but I didn’t know how nice it was going to be
when I got up this morning and the weather forecast showed tomorrow as
the best day so who knew. I spent the day sitting in the cockpit
listening to 60s music on Sirius radio and reading. Another tough day.
April 14, 2012
Well I was up at 5:00 this morning and ready to go. Of course the sun
did not come up until 6:20 but I was waiting in case Deanna called.
She was to call if the weather forecast changed for the worse. My
internet reception is so poor here that I cannot count on being able
to get the weather so Deanna was to call if there was a problem. No
call from Deanna so I send her a Spot message so that she would know that I
was leaving. I start the engine and am about to haul in the anchor
when I hear a sound coming from the engine. When I check it has
shredded another fan belt. There is an over sized alternator so when
it first starts it can easily be putting 80 amps into the battery
bank. This puts so much strain on the belt that if I don’t over
tighten it then it slips and burns out, but when I do tighten it until
it does not slip then it shredds to pieces because it is over tight.
Guess that I will have to put double belt pulleys on everything. More
money. For the first couple of hours after leaving the bay the wind
is aft of my beam so I make between 6.5 and 7 knots but after a while
it shifts to 30 degrees of my nose so I am down to 5.5 knots and motor
sailing. I have prepared myself to go through the San Lorenzo Channel
to get into Bahia de La Paz. The channel is named after one of the
ships that ran aground and sunk there. The sailing guide is full of
warnings about this channel. Don’t attempt it in bad weather. Make
sure that you go between the lighted towers in the middle of the
channel and stay closer to the south one because the north one cannot
be trusted. And watch out for the Rocas Suwanee reef that may not
even be marked at all. I get there and there is only one tower in the
middle of the channel. Sweet, that gives me a 75% chance of running
aground and sinking. I look at my charts and except for the reefs
there is a minimum of 30 ft. of water if you stay in the middle of the
channel. There are not a lot of sailboats out there that draw that
much water. The Deanna B draws 6 ft. There would have to be some
pretty wild seas out there before you would bottom out. Who writes
these guides? So through I go into the bahia. The Bahia La Paz is a
very pretty bay. At this point I am running back south so the NW wind
is doing it for me again. When you enter the harbour at La Paz there
is a 4.5 km channel that leads behind the sand bars into the harbour.
It would have been a simple thing to find it except someone has parked
his ship in front of the entrance. I drop my sails, hang my anchor so
that I can drop it from the cockpit in case of an emergency and motor
towards the ship, where according to my chart, the channel entrance
should be. One eye never leaving the depth gauge. Sure enough as I
get close to the ship I can see the channel entrance. So I’m off
again down the channel with the dolphins playing in my bow wake. One
has to come down this channel with a fair amount of speed if you want
any steering what with the wind and current. Full keeled boats like
the Deanna B need to be moving in order to steer. Other wise they
like to go straight which is not a good thing in a winding channel. I
did notice that there were about three other boats behind me after I
started in but that must have been a coincidence. Mind you I hung
around out in the bay for awhile hoping that someone would go in first
and show me the way. There are a lot of sailboats in this harbour so
finding a spot to anchor can be a challenge. I first drop anchor
right near the channel but as my boat swings I only have 5 ft. under
the keel. I go on the radio and ask what the tide is like in the
harbor. The answer comes back about half way. Hum, I decide to move
back to the back of the harbor where there is a little more room and
more water. I am anchored about 4:00 pm. I’ll go ashore in the
morning.
April 15, 2012
Was up this morning at 7:30. It is a beautiful morning. I have
coffee in the cockpit and launch the dingy and motor into shore. I
have breakfast at the marina where I dock the dingy. Then I wander
around La Paz for a bit. On the way back to Deanna B I see a
beautiful ( about 45ft.) Sloop laying on her side where she settled on
the bar as the tide went out. Or maybe they ran aground and laid her
over. At any rate I am glad that I moved anchorages when I came in
yesterday. I just looked out a couple of minutes ago and a tug had
dragged the sloop off the bar and she was upright again and back into
deeper water. Tonight will be another quiet evening. Tomorrow I’ll go back
to shore to check in with the Port Captain and see what the charges
will be for leaving the dingy at the marina.
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