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.
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