David's Sailing Adventures

Pirates, Typhoons, now this...

2010-07-06T18:25:00.000-07:00

Silly photo aside: Malaria is no laughing matter. There seem to be plenty of mosquitos available for transporting the disease from person to person. My take from the article is that this is not the most dangerous strain, the few reported cases are taken seriously by the government, the various agencies jump on the outbreak immediately and the affected area is quite remote from where we're apt to be.

More Bold Malaysian Paint

2010-07-05T16:38:00.000-07:00

Sure is more interesting than the usual hues of off-white blended with urban grime. There is much color here in Kuching. These two buildings look good from the table at the coffee house on Carpenter Street.

Got X

2010-07-05T16:23:00.001-07:00

The X advance team came up with this new promotion which is appearing all over Borneo...

Need GPS Help

2010-06-24T05:52:00.000-07:00

I'm looking for a GPS with a Go From button. The designers seemed to expect a plan. There is no plan, much less a destination. On top of that, this sailing with light winds, currents, and random temptations is unreliable. There's no certainty in it. I know where I've been. I can easily punch that into the buttons. But where am I going?

Spinnaker Furler

2010-06-24T00:19:00.000-07:00

Experimented with the spinnaker several days. X likes it. Pulls along nicely on these light South China Sea winds. Caught the edge of a squall once. Wind rotated 180 degrees and X hit some new, to me, high speeds. Fun and a little worrisome, plus the wrong direction. I flew the 1A on a Code Zero Furler (pictured). Interesting. The PO cut the kite a foot too tall and the furling line 6 feet too short. Sheesh!

Flying Creatures

2010-06-24T00:14:00.001-07:00

Swallows in the rigging, butterfly on a lava boulder. Just saw a bright blue wasp, I think...

Inedible Beef

2010-06-23T23:56:00.000-07:00

Brought along some frozen Malaysian beef. It looks good in a pan with vegetables, curry and coconut milk, However it is far too tough to eat. Fish like it.

Pulau Tioman Cruise

2010-06-23T23:37:00.000-07:00

Pretty bays all around Pulau Tioman. Anchored here a week. No visitors.

Chili Source

2010-06-23T23:13:00.000-07:00

Got the chili problem solved. All the bottled chili sauce in Malaysia has sugar as the first or second ingredient. That is like cooking with catsup (background). What one wants is just ground chili's with maybe a little vinegar, garlic or onions. Chili powder (left) is common, but has no zing. I had been flying in with asian chili paste from Monterey, crazy (middle). Now I know to ask for fresh ground chili paste, a produce item (in bags, foreground). Chili Boh, red, hot and plenty sweet without added sugar.

Banging in the Morning

2010-06-23T23:11:00.000-07:00

Thunderheads come visiting. This boomer greeted me in the morning but went away flashing and booming elsewhere.

Color and Trash

2010-06-23T23:02:00.000-07:00

Local color. Like the Mexicans, the Malaysians are not afraid to use some color. Also like Mexico there is too much trash everywhere. A few months ago in Mexico the President came to visit little La Cruz de Huanacaxtle. The authorities spared no expense to clean up the litter, sweep the streets, paint everything he might see from his limousine. Here on Pulau Tioman the Sultan came to visit his island. Likewise nothing was spared to clean what he might see. Plus the locals hosted a huge colorful party. Dancing, music, food.

One small benefit of all the plastic garbage floating around in the seas is one can find some useful stuff. Seven nice plastic fuel jugs washed up on a pretty beach and are now mine. I also fished from the sea a dozen interesting fishing floats. But what a nightmare: these ball-like floats roll and clank incessantly. Useless to me, I gave them to a fisherman at the first opportunity.

Moldy Electric Spaghetti

2010-06-23T23:01:00.000-07:00

More rewiring of X. I suppose everybody imagines themselves a capable electrician. A roll of electrical tape and a six-pack of beer make everyone a professional. So I've pulled out hundreds of pounds of the unused wire snaking mysteriously between lockers and bilges. Free wire for all the friends. As shown here, an unused piece of X's galley has been converted to a panel holding all the little electronic bits that allows X to navigate, send high-seas emails, and display interesting numbers about speed and wind.

Face Time with Fishes

2010-06-21T22:56:00.000-07:00

X sailed around Pulau Tioman and the nearby islands for a couple of weeks. Not very many miles. Boat maintenance and face-time-with-fishes while at anchor in various idyllic places. At one reef a Batfish (picture credit: NOAA) repeatedly came over to investigate me. Other little fish had been nibbling and pestering me but this one was the size of a large pizza. A nibble will leave a mark. Later I was told that the Batfish is just curious, harmless. The batfish was swimming amongst acres of interesting Vase Corals (picture credit: unknown).

Lucy

2010-06-20T22:50:00.001-07:00

My new best friend, Lucy, from the boat Northstar. Four years old. She likes swimming, ice cream, knocking on the hull during the afternoon nap and made-up games that make no sense. But she has now sailed away and I don't know if I'll ever find her again.

Inside-out Pizza

2010-06-16T00:52:00.000-07:00

The only downside to making many pizzas is the great amount of propane required to heat the oven. So I tried making a pizza in a pan on the stovetop. Saves gas. Free extra crust. (I thought I published this before, but I don't see it anywhere...)

Beer Thirty

2010-06-15T22:45:00.000-07:00

I have not posted since 6 April? Really? Maybe this repeating iPhone alarm is the reason?

Pulau Goal to Pulau Tioman

2010-04-06T22:55:00.000-07:00

I'm dragging my toes in the water. It's midmorning and already hot. The sun is climbing up to it's brutal spot directly overhead. I'm sitting on the shady leeward rail. The water is some color. It's greener than blue and bluer than green. Transparent. I though for a while how I would describe it to you. But didn't think of anything. When my toes touch the water it changes from it's blue tones to sparkling gold as it reflects the sunny sails above.

Honey, I think I want to live on a yacht in the tropics. No dear, remember you promised we'd get a condo in Kuala Lumpur. I just took the picture. I have no explanation. Her name is Asean Lady. Google her.

I arrive at the tiny Telok Tekek marina on Pulau Tioman. A friend who has been half expecting me, someday about now, waves me into a slip after evicting some local boat that had been parked there for a nap. The heat has exhausted me. I take my own nap until the sun goes away. This island is dramatically tall, wooded, tropical, filled with birds, butterflies. Maybe 7 miles across. 5000 Malaysians and a few tourists. Did I just see a barracuda chasing fish out of the water? My photos don't do her justice. Google Images and see for yourself.

150 miles from the Danga Bay mud. Four day of sailing and motoring. Anchored each night. No serious problems. Confirmed that the jib is trash. There's another jib I'll try next time. Three days until Chloe's 17th birthday. Said I'd be fly there.

Sailing...

2010-04-05T22:46:00.000-07:00

Sail all day. Motor just a few minutes to tuck in close to a little island. Spent the entire day under a hot sun tacking against a strong current while slowly passing dozens of little islands. Here's a typical cockpit view. And here's a comment on your Spring Equinox. Up in the frozen north the Spring Equinox might be celebrated. Here it means the sun is directly overhead. The streets do not have a shady side. I cast nothing resembling a shadow. The decks get burning hot and the solar panels finally work as advertised. Clouds are wonderful shady things. I stop for a moment to test the swim ladder. Works perfect. Very refreshing.
Dinner turned out to be a rather yummy potatoes, greens and yellow curry.

But just beyond Singapore...

2010-04-04T22:40:00.000-07:00

Just beyond Singapore. In the South China Sea, along the eastern coast of Malaysia, things start looking much more peaceful. I can still see the petrochemical haze and distant ships in the sealanes, but the sky turns blue. The muddy shoal water gives way to deep clear water. Islands appear. Inviting tropical islands. A few dozen miles back the sweaty crowds are jamming themselves into the MRT trains. Here two tourists are standing on a lonely white beach. Captain orders to stop here for the night, toss over the anchor, prepare a pizza with mozzarella, salami, olives, and egg.

Just Sailing Around in Singapore Harbor

2010-04-03T22:35:00.000-07:00

Ducking into the nav station on X to see if any ships might spring from behind the little island to my left, I snapped this picture of the MacBook screen. Where's Waldo? Each orange label points at a ship. The blue ones are moving, probably fast. The grey ones are not moving, but rather waiting for me to get right on their bow before they start. X and I are near the middle of the action. We have a green dot and are about to get passed very close by the OOS DISCOVERY, a smallish ship throwing a huge wake. This crowd of ships occupies 40 miles east to west across this southeastern tip of Asia.

A half hour earlier I was crossing the equally busy western part of the harbor when a powerful squall roared through. If I could hold my eyes open I could maybe have seen the bow. The rain was torrential. The reefed fold of the main drained rain water like storm drain. The old rule on reefing hold that one should reef the first time the idea arises. My new rule is to reef five minutes before that first idea. I had just gotten the jib rolled up and one reef in the main before we got pushed over hard by the first gust. I had been keeping my eye on several nearby ships which were now invisible. Big fun.

Let's Splash-lah

2010-03-28T08:12:00.000-07:00

Splash day! Watching paint dry for 5 days is enough. Outta here. Today the X-Cruise begins. In the last eleven days on the hard my hardworking friends and I:

Applied new bottom paint, filled 241 minor blisters, faired rudder, cleaned every locker, rewired the entire nav station, wired SSB, PACTOR, GPS and AIS for MacBook, polished topsides, removed redundant antennas, got a new FCC callsign, registered 3 EPIRBS, installed MacENC navigation software and new chart subscriptions and installed a folding propellor.

Tossed out 300 kilos of useless cruiser junk: WX fax, 1000W inverter, shore power system, broken 155% genoa cars, 30m rusted chain, redundant anchors, 5th and 6th table settings, extra propane bottles, dead electronics gizmos, cans of ptomaine veggies, rusted tools, towels for the 5th thru the 30th visitor (what was she thinking?), and the old spare docklines (does one need spare docklines?), all the instruction manuals for stuff long gone.

All that and 95% success in closing the hatches for every squall, which didn't stop me from:

Practicing guitar, updating this blog, working on my curry skills, grocery shopping, recon prowling every local chandelry, filling the propane bottles, crashing a local YC party, cleaning the bilge and pumps, repairing galley faucets, sticking SOLAS reflector tape on mast and transom.

Drank gallons of water and more than a few beers. When the heat finds me working in some cramped spot the sweat just pours. There's a puddle. It tickles. Drips off my nose. It's amazing for this foggy-Monterey boy. I stand in the boatyard with the hose over my head a few times a day. Hose water is hot, but better than sweat.

More than once, noon came and went before I enjoyed a beer. To prevent that from happening too much I programmed the trusty iPhone to remind me. I think it is funny that it offers Snooze as an option. Don't they know that comes after the beer? So I always push OK. There's a small goof in the photo. I assure you that Beer thirty's alarm is set at 10:30am. It took 67 minutes to drink a beer and figure out close-up on the camera.

Put chop, lah.

2010-03-25T00:05:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure exactly when to use the Malay 'lah'. It's one of those funny almost meaningless words. Da kine, huh, yeah, eh. But I know when to Chop! We don't just sign official papers here, the boat signs too. For this she now has a cool self-inking rubber stamp. I've been stamping it on everything lately. Mine, mine, mine. So we stamp the official port papers and put our signature over the stamp. Very official and makes the event rather celebratory for the parties. Chop, chop, pretty document.

42 X Geek = Whatever

2010-03-24T23:49:00.000-07:00

Her name is "X". Why? Don't know. Maybe...

1. Marks the spot on treasure maps.
2. Greek letter Chi.
3. Multiplication sign, also the vector cross product symbol.
4. As a mark, means either 'yes' or 'no'.
5. Signature of an illiterate person.
6. Marks clothing as both bigger and smaller: XXS or XXL.
7. Greek numeral for 600.
8. The Roman numeral for 10.
9. Mathematical symbol for unknown or changing concepts.
10. In astronomy, a comet of unknown orbit.
11. In electronics, reactance.
12. X-band: part of the microwave band of the electromagnetic spectrum.
13. Hobo sign: don't knock here.
14. X chromosome: having just one is good, two...watch out.
15. Planet X, a hypothesised planet in the outer solar system.
16. Conserved quantum number in particle physics.
17. Rating given to films suitable for an adult-only audience
18. Written symbol of a kiss.
19. Symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet for voiceless velar fricative.
20. Stock symbol for United States Steel Corporation.
21. Street names for the drug MDMA, ecstasy.
22. Symbol for a strike in bowling.
23. Straight edgers symbol to show committment to their lifestyle.
24. Embellishes online nicknames of girls who crave attention.
25. Abbreviation of extreme: X-Games.
26. Unnecessary letter, "z" and "cks" already exist.
27. Henry Miller's "mysterious element X" which makes creative people interesting.
28. Archnemesis of O in Tic-Tac-Toe.
29. Mark on a scholastic examination: "Wrong answer!"
30. Written across the hand of someone who is under drinking age in a bar.
31. Slang for "Christ": Xmas.
32. On a map: "You are here."
33. Anima mundi: the bands which form the soul of the world form an X.
34. One-third porn.
35. Used in the names of rock radio stations that repeat the same songs endlessly.
36. The last part of sex.
37. Along with the letter O, reads correctly upside down or backwards.
38. Slang for "cross": Santa Cruz translates to Holy Cross.
39. In chess transcription: takes piece.
40. In marketing: added to product names when actual improvements cost too much.
41. Egyptian hieroglyph it meant to damage, divide, count, or break into parts.
42. 24th letter in the basic modern Latin alphabet.

42 meanings, what a remarkable coincidence.

Photo: X Tee Shirt Logo/Matt Seidenzahl, Silkscreen Express, silkexpress@sbcglobal.net

Made Her Bottom Bright Red

2010-03-24T23:39:00.000-07:00

X leaves Danga Bay, Malaysia for the boatyard at Raffles Marina in Singapore. With the ship's new Certificate of Documentation in hand we're cleared for international travel. It's only a dozen miles. The documentation was greatly delayed due to some blunders by the previous owner and the agent. There was also the previously unanswerable mystery of whether any duties or taxes might be levied by Malaysian Customs. This has clouded my finances ever since signing the deal back at New Years. But all went smoothly. Customs either doesn't care or didn't notice. I wasn't going to point it out. I've a long official paper trail now so I should be safe from taxes. Happily, I paid the 6 Ringgit, two dollar, port fee. It pays for those helpful buoys and lights. Which, by the way, are all brightly painted and winking their lights quite unlike those I tried to spot off California recently. It's probably simpler here. I pay 6 Ringgit, somebody puts fuel in the boat, goes out and replaces the bulb. Direct, simple. No long forms approved by Washington to buy the ten light bulbs needed for California buoys.</rant>

So we motor toward Singapore. X and I. Very slowly. The route is down a long arm of the sea. The prop is completely encrusted with barnacles. Because we must arrive at the marina at high tide we traveling against the tide's current up the channel. So we hoist sail. Much faster. We arrive at the marina and quickly check-in with the border officials. Chop. Chop. X gets hoisted out and into the boatyard. Ugh, she's a mess from neglect.

So the workers clean. It rains. It continues like this for a week. Sand. Rain. Rain. Grind. Rain. Grind. Rain. Epoxy filler. Rain. Rain. More filler. Rain. Sand. Rain. Paint. Rain. Paint. Rain.

And today she's beautiful. Clean, smooth, red and looks fast. It rains.

That entire week I'm inside cleaning and organizing the lockers. I did this once before a month ago. I did it a week ago on Eupsychia. I don't want to do it again for at least two years. There are about 40 lockers and cubby-holes here.

Some lockers are inside other lockers. All of them have treasure. Some of the treasure might have value to somebody. Out goes a few hundred pounds of rusted, or bent, or unidentifiable treasure. The rest gets stowed where it belongs. All I have left is a small pile of "Do I need this and if I do where does it go?" Cleaned the bilge too. Just like when mom let me clean the fireplace at three. I now have a huge amount of room for food, beer and toys. Here's the beer selection so far: S'pore Tiger, Danish Carlsberg and Chinese Yan Jing. There's other brands available, but the tax is high and these are the smart-shopper ones. Actually some cruisers see these fancy beers and remark "Well over at Giant I got Olde Sheep Dip liters for..." But I just won't drink that stuff unless it's handed to me free and cold.

The manager says I'll sail on Monday. It's Thursday now.

All this time I'm eating curry rice dinners on the street instead of tacos on the street. Same spicy yummy cheap idea. Remarkably different asian flavor! Sometimes I cook for myself. Sometimes it's good. I'm also trying to eat through vast stores of Western food like canned tomato sauce and pasta that is cluttering up the lockers. And of course I can't miss the muelsi breakfast.

Photos: X on the hard/DA; Future bilge cleaning man/Mom; Singapore beer and salami/DA

La Cruz to La X. Lah!

2010-03-24T23:11:00.000-07:00

This disjointed blog wobbles and staggers onto another boat. Eupsychia's third cruise in Mexico ends with a fast uneventful 1500 mile trip from La Cruz de Huanacaxtle, home of many good friends, to Monterey, home of family and more good friends. I don't take any pictures during my solo 13 night passage to Monterey so I have none to post here. Not much to say. It is as exhausting as it is adventurous. Grey and wet. Water over the bow and dodger several times a minute for two weeks. A nice break in San Diego as cruiser friend Monte finds me wobbling around Shelter Island on my sea legs just after arriving. Visiting with Monte makes for a nice evening.

Back in chilly Monterey daughter Chloe is loaded on a plane for Spring Break Costa Rica. I go to the cabin in Big Sur. I forget to take a key. My mother is on her way down so I fall asleep on a bench while waiting. She eventually arrives, unlocks the door, puts a blanket on me. I wakeup, sharpen the chain saw and set to manufacturing a huge pile of firewood from brush that sags into the driveway from rain loosened roots.

Eupsychia is being watched by a young family of German Cockroaches. They've brought their own goods so I move everything off Eupsychia. The galley's food and gear goes back to the empty apartment. The sailing gear and toys to storage. I load two hundred pounds of the most interesting sailing gear into luggage bound for X. Eupsychia floats three inches higher. This good work accomplised in Monterey I fly, for the fifth time in two months, across the Pacific Ocean and China Sea to Malaysia. In my heavy gear bags are critical toilet parts for friends in Malaysia. This is the psyche of cruisers, "Oh, you're going to the States, can you bring back toilet parts?" X, the new-to-me Santa Cruz 50, is just how I left her: stuck a half meter in the mud, her bottom covered with barnacles and her deck soiled with the soot of industry.

Photos: A colorful wagon in Costa Rica/Chloe Addleman; Buck Creek Canyon, Big Sur, California/David Addleman

Winter – This Blog Returns to the Moment

2010-01-09T23:53:00.000-08:00

Here we are freezing in Monterey again. I am mostly just standing around waiting to drive Chloe to her next event. School – homework - school – doctor – hair – school – mom's house - party – homework – school. I just stand here in the apartment looking out at the dreary grey uninviting Monterey Bay. I'm making an effort to see all the local friends while I'm here. While my general rule is that no plan is the best plan, I have made a tentative plan because airlines, boat sellers and such see business differently. I will dawdle here in Monterey for a few days. Then go to Mexico to take the old spoiled cheese out of her fridge, check the docklines, pickle the watermaker and have a few fun days with the friends there. I'll return to Mexico at the end of February to sail Eupsychia up to Monterey where she should have an easier time finding a buyer.

When the purchase of Red Sky is completed, and there is nothing simple about international business, I will fly to Malaysia. The current owners are leaving immediately for an extended stay ashore in Thailand. I will take the boat a few hundred miles north to the island of Langkawi. Chloe and I visited there during the Christmas holiday and found Langkawi is a popular yachting center. While there I will haul the '50 out of the water to freshen up the bottom paint. I am planing on having time for a short cruise before I need to fly back to Monterey and Mexico.

This Santa Cruz 50 is presently named Red Sky. She's been cruised by Steve and Carol Easterbrook to Southeast Asia over the past few years after an extensive refit in San Francisco. Prior to that she was sailed in the San Francisco area by Bartz and Bernadette Schneider as Entropy. The records become sketchy, but apparently she was at times sailed as Cara, Clark Kent and Six Belles by various owners perhaps in Florida and on the East Coast. She's hull number 23, built in 1982. Standard size rig plus an inner headstay. Standard keel but a newer carbon elliptical rudder. Her interior is typical. She's encumbered by a good bit of the necessary cruising gear but I believe I can cruise lighter than most people so hope to unload a few hundred pounds to refloat her on her lines.

Of all the things that a boat's name is, from the philosophical to a clever play on words, for a busy cruising boat the name needs to read well over the radio. Eupsychia is a cool word with its new age ring of sweet soul, but it is frustrating on the radio. Some know it but cannot read it - others can hear it but not repeat it - port captains cannot write it even when spelled echo-uniform-papa-sierra-yankee-charlie-hotel-india-alpha in the phonetic alphabet. The pen refuses to form the letters. So I am considering a simple name. Very simple. Something like X. I have several other choices too. Whatever I choose I will explain my own whackiness in this blog. I've got the science to back up my choices.

Summer Fades to Fall

2010-01-09T23:40:00.000-08:00

Chloe drags herself back into high school as a junior. Eupsychia and I get ready for another Baja Ha-Ha. The Ha-Ha is best done with some crew. I choose to take some relatively beginning sailors rather than any of the known rabble of sailing friends. I can have my way with them while introducing this very fun event to some new people. I find these two characters, Evan and Christine, by making a posting on the Ha-Ha crew-wanted list. Evan is a eager and well spoken recent college grad. Some sailing experience. Christine is roughly my age, eager, and sails her own big boat on San Francisco Bay. While all the applicants for the positions, and there were about a hundred, express their eagerness and experience I am only looking for people who will not be boring. No experience expected. I can do it myself if necessary and most of the experience claimed is only on paper. I succeeded.

The Ha-Ha starts from San Diego. I choose to make the 3 day sail south from Monterey singlehanded. I had a great trip that was however not without its challenges. In a pretty good evening blow while very close to Santa Cruz Island approaching an anchorage – Bang -all the boat's power went out. No autopilot, compass lights, navigation equipment – nothing - very dark. Windy and bumpy enough that I really couldn't leave the helm to investigate. Fortunately nearby was my new geeky iPhone. The iPhone has a compass, a GPS, and I'd recently loaded a program that has all the California nautical charts. Pretty cool and it sure made the evening safer and easier. Sitting there in complete darkness I pondered just what might cause the power to go out with a bang and what I might do to restore it. Evantually I was able to restore power by simply flipping a nearby switch to a new position. After anchoring I discovered that the liferaft had become unstowed down below and fallen onto the main battery shutoff switch. Swithing it to off, of course.

The next evening, becalmed behind Santa Catalina Island, I start to motor. Bang - the boat becomes a shaking blur. Something bad has happened with the propeller. Forced to motor for 30 minutes because yet again I'm closer to land that I really should be – this time with no wind with which to maneuver. I take a look at the engine. Its just a blur of vibration. But I figure it's maybe not enough shaking to actually damage anything. I very slowly motor out to where the feeble current and breeze will drift me all night away from the island into open water. At morning light I jump in with the mask for a look. Sure enough one of the propeller blades is completely missing. As nice as it is to have a simple and certain diagnosis the prospect is dim for replacing the propeller in the few days remaining before the Ha-Ha start. But I get on the phone to my always supportive sister Sue. Sue gets on the phone and locates a propeller at a San Diego shop. They recommend a diver who can replace it. Christine finds a boatyard to accept us. It all works out great. As an added bonus I get an extra two days at sea sailing very slowly to San Diego. Can I brag here about docking at the unfamiliar boatyard singlehanded under sail? Should I recommend that everyone practice such things as often I have?

The Ha-Ha was great of course. Christine proved she can both cook well and lean on the instrument switches every time she comes on deck. Evan proved he has all the optimistic energy of youth. There was some rather rough weather for a few days. We broke some minor things when sailing went haywire. Some of the watch standing was pathetic. We all learned a lot. The parties were in the tradition of Ha-Ha fun. And the weather got warmer and warmer each day. I was really missing having Heather along like we were the past two years.

Despite my constant ribbing and mild abuse of the crew they decided to stay on for the several day trip from Cabo San Lucas south-east to Bandaras Bay. We spent several fine days in the beach side village of Chacala before dwaddling into La Cruz de Huanacaxtle, my favorite place to idle. But idleness does not happen. Life here is busy and fun. We sail, we race, we party, we wreck kayaks on the beach, we tease women and they tease us. Sometimes we eat bad food other times the alcohol eats us.

Throughout this time I am calling and emailing regarding buying a Santa Cruz 50. On paper Red Sky, the '50 out cruising in Southeast Asia, is by far the best deal. She's all set up for cruising, has a new rig, good rudder, apparently well cared for, and since she's busy cruising must be mostly functional and seaworthy. However her being in Malaysia makes communication, inspection and buying a formidable project. I get serious. Chloe and I decide to take a Christmas break holiday to Malaysia. Wow, I have forgotten just how dreadfully uncomfortable a long flight is. This discomfort becomes a small consideration in moving my cruising venue from nearby Mexico to distant Southeast Asia. I'm thinking an infinity asea is better than 20 hours aloft. On inspection the boat look good. A bit worn, like Eupsychia, from her 3 years and thousands of miles of cruising. But all-in-all in fine shape. She will do just fine. I agree to buy her.

Photo of Red Sky: Yachtdomain, Bundaberg, Australia
Photo of Eupsychia: Richard, Latitude38

A Winter Blog about A Summer

2010-01-09T19:04:00.000-08:00

It's mid-winter now. Visiting in Monterey for a few days. No blog updates since summer. A large amount of life has happened. All pretty good. Some a little painful. Saw many local friends at the yacht club last night – its January now. Each remarked that they miss knowing what I'm doing. Their dreams are suffering. Here's a stumbling summary. Spent the summer in Monterey. What the local's call summer. Cleaned and painted Eupsychia's bottom but the weather was so cold the paint wouldn't dry. It might harden in a few days. The sun might even shine. But each day out of the water costs money and there is no time to wait for global warming.

Daughter Chloe and I went to New York. Cool music and hanging out in Washington park. Shopping in Soho and seeing the Hair musical. Viewed the Bodies exhibit. Real bodies stripped of the flesh. Very interesting and somehow not as upsetting as I had expected. Perfect weather, Central park, subways, great pizza, all good.

Worked on the cabin in Big Sur where we are not really keeping up with the decay, bugs and rodents. The worst invasive pests are the fellow humans pretending to be friends and neighbors. But it is a nice place. Maybe someday I'll retire there from cruising. Fortunately, like the sea around my boat, the redwoods, rocks and waterfalls are best left to maintaining themselves.

Pulled the cantankerous engine out of Eupsychia. That greasy relationship was blogged above. The little beast powered us all the way up from Mexico last Spring without a single complaint. But I'd left a redundant bolt out of a part deep inside her. On taking the engine apart to simply replace the bolt I discovered more internal damage. A pile of metal chips. Something not understood was causing havoc. That was a Thursday morning. A couple of phone calls, the checkbook, and Friday saw me up in Sausalito picking up a new engine. On Monday Eupsychia was humming with her new bright red engine.

On the subject of broken: All summer I dragged my broken heart around. Parting with “the world's best girlfriend” so she might pursue her own dreams as I do mine was more painful than I expected. We sure had a good time, as the earlier blogs attest.

While in La Paz last spring Bay Wolf, a Santa Cruz 50 sloop, was out of the water for painting. There's some earlier blogging about the fine sailing family that sails her. At some point I made a now widely reported remark that a Santa Cruz 50 is the only other sailboat I would consider owning. Well that comment echoed around all summer. I spent a good deal of time looking into buying a such a boat while considering if it was a reasonable and sane thing to do. I came around to the idea that neither reasonable or sane was necessary. But buying such a boat proved harder than one might expect. Of the few that were available one has been modified so much as to become useless to probably anyone. Another was maybe for sale and maybe not but either way at an uncompetitive price. The most desirable boat was 8000 miles away actively cruising in Southeast Asia. Nothing came of this all summer.

Eupsychia's successful bash

2009-06-08T13:42:00.000-07:00

Since being back in Monterey for a whopping two days we have been flipped off, given a ticket, found new scratches on Davids ride and denied the worlds best margaritas. But somehow i am still glad to be home.

We can't seem to pin down how long it took us, but we made it. The engine putted along happily the entire trip. I had no doubts, but apparently David wasn't so relaxed about it. Well the blog is a little late since David murdered our two laptops so it has been a long and tedious process of uploading all the pics and editing them but now they are ready for your viewing pleasure.

I don't feel like going into the whole bash in detail, but just know it was great for wildlife since we saw the amazing blue whales feeding in krill patches, orcas frolicking around our boat, humpbacks lunging from the water mouths agape and ridiculous amounts of dolphins. The weather was nice enough that we both agreed that last year was much worse in bash terms. So all in all it was a good bash.

This is probably the last post of the season. If not I will update the status on Facebook or something to let you all know of a new blog. Hope you all enjoyed the blog.

Cheers,

Heather and David

Yes the bearings were exactly what we needed until...

2009-05-19T09:39:00.000-07:00

Back up to a few days ago: We got the engine out and David got it disassembled in hundred degree weather. He is that good. The following day was the start of the bearing project which was no problem for our master engine man. The next day was the day that we planned to move the engine back into the boat, start it up and celebrate.

Ha, ha. Cute right?

David got everything all taken care of and we moved the engine back down into the boat. As the moment of truth was upon us David attempted to start the motor and...nada. Yes it turned over, but after a few moments of tinkering he found that the fuel pump decided to stop working. Great timing. So another trip out to a few places and now we have a pump. The moment of truth (part two) is quickly arising.

And...

The little engine that could! The engine fired up and works! Today is the day of provisioning and preparing to go north. We may leave tonight or tomorrow, but we'll see. Hopefully Eupsychia will be back in Monterey soon! WHOOO HOOO!!!!

To celebrate or mourn???

2009-05-15T12:54:00.000-07:00

Finally! The bearings that David ordered two months ago have arrived. We heard word from David's sister that they were on the way, but we weren't going to get overly excited until we had them in our greedy little paws. Which now we do.

So the way this bearing situation had played itself out for us was this: If we get the bearings between dates-A through Date-B then we will assemble and bash up the coast. But if the bearings never arrived or during dates-C and dates-D then we would play in the sea for an additional week or two before leaving the boat here and flying home. So wouldn't you know that it came at that special spot between AB-CD. Neat.

The current plan is: David does some ass kicking on the engine (he is doing that this very moment), gets it put back together proper and then we bash. If the motor poops out at anytime then we say screw it and sail south to points unknown now. I think the biggest thing is that we are just going with the flow.

So there you have it peoples that is the current deal. Things are always subject to change so we will update the blog a few more times before we make it back to the freezing place called Monterey. So now we play as much as possible while getting as much work done as possible. Tough, but I think we can manage.

Exploring the Magote

2009-05-11T16:42:00.000-07:00

So yeah we took a walk on the Magote. I was not impressed. Maybe we went at the wrong time of day, but the coolest thing aside from the tri (Prometheus) washed up on the shore was seeing an osprey.

The spit of land was like a lot of other places. Sand, Cactus, prickly trees and shrubs. And biting flies. Yes those evil effing flies bite hard.

Mohawks, fixing computers with rubber bands and the joys of electrocuting bugs

2009-05-09T18:00:00.000-07:00

The boy was starting to look a little shaggy. So I got the clippers out and went to town. David has a mohawk now heehee. I had to do it.

The computer I use has decided to be uncooperative. It used to tweak once in a while, but that soon turned to more often than not. David tried to repair it, but it still wasn't happy. I had to sit pushing on the screen and twisting it lightly to see the screen contents. If I let it go for a minute the screen fades to white. So I used some innovative technology. Rubber bands. Ghetto, but it works. I see a new laptop in my future. Good thing I have a job lined up!

Glenn is awesome (duh). Our friend Glenn from Beach Access just came down for a visit and we have been hanging with him for the past few nights. It has been great to see him again as he is a partner in crime for us. He even brought us one of the best things ever. An electro-shocking fly zapper. It is so satisfying to hear the POP and watch the fly fall to the ground (or disintegrate or even burst into flames). My kill count is steadily rising and David is yet to catch me and my evil streak. Good times.

Musings on swine flu, zombies and spankings

2009-05-06T10:56:00.000-07:00

Who woulda thunk it??? Of course I am referring to us being (relatively) sober on Cinco De Mayo! Amazing, no? Apparently Cinco De Mayo is not a big deal here in the non-gringoized parts of Mexico. The Battle of Puebla...huh? I am sure there would normally be some stuff going on in PV and Cabo, but with this Swine Flu deal going on...

On the swine flu deal: so far there are no confirmed cases here in Baja. That doesn't mean that people aren't wearing masks, gloves and a look of panic on their faces and all that (which they are), but so far no problema. Though David has had crunchy muscles lately...possibly signs of a virus. Hopefully not, but if he starts coughing I will be weary. I have read many zombie novels and I know how it all starts. First crunchy muscles, then a cough and soon he wants to eat my brain.

We took today as a catch up day for interweb nonsense and friends. Good thing that our friends are more reliable than the internet otherwise they might just pause mid sentence and then stare at us blankly while we repeatedly asked what next. Yes as you may have guessed from the previous comment, the internet connections have been "eh" lately. Whatever, there is always manana. I have been known to be a procrastinator (hard to believe I know) so why do today what you can put off till tomorrow, I ask?! I mean really, what is the hurry right?

We met up with some pals for cocktails and dinner. We did some catching up with Jake and Sharron (s/v Jake) while aboard John and Gilly's boat (Destiny). It was great to chat about everything from anchors fouling, whales, where to provision and even on to spankings deserved (all of us) and who was going to dish them out (Gilly). Not bad dinner talk in my opinion.

Flashback to two weeks ago: Teeter-totters, ice cream and pizza with Bay Wolf and Boomer

2009-05-06T10:16:00.000-07:00

Sound like kid stuff? Well, don't hate cause we still know how to have fun in our old age. We met Bay Wolf (a Santa Cruz 50) and Byron of Boomer while we were still tied up at Marina Palmar. The Bay Wolf family consists of Kirk, Sachi, Miya and Romi. Like usual, I am at that special age where I am not sure weather I fit in better with the kids or adults. So I dabble in both.

We would all go to dinner and I would be involved in the adult conversation (not that kind of adult you pervs). And soon the girls would convince us to go get ice cream at the polka dot tree. Romi would hold my hand and talk non-stop (really non-stop. How that much chatter can come out of something so small still amazes me) and Miya would regal us with stories of times past. David would be one of the grown ups while I indulged my inner-child. We even did some fun teeter tottering in the dark of night.

Another night we ventured to a snazzy pizza joint called Rustico. We dined outside battling the flies for the slices of pizza. Oh man, the thin crust pizza was delicious but the entertainment was better. Romi who is eight and cant weigh more than 60lbs got into a bet with her dad. The bet was Kirk bet Romi 7 pesos that she wouldn't finish three pieces of pizza. Boomer stepped in said he'd give her 20 pesos if she didn't finish the third piece. After some basic math got figured out Romi took Boomer up on the deal and had to pay up 7 pesos to her dad. Good times.

I have to say it is nice to have some young company around. So much of the cruising community seems to just sort of...die here. I mean La Paz has the black hole that constantly sucks people in. So many people come here and don't leave. They grow bitter as the new and budding cruising community moves in. So it is refreshing to see such happy faces and let me tell ya, kids always seem to be happy. That is good times to me.

Most of the boat kids that I have met are strong arguments against birth control. And no my maternal clock is not ticking yet so don't ask.

*Teeter totter pictures courtesy of Bay Wolf

Want a cat?

2009-05-05T10:14:00.000-07:00

So this isn't exactly a sail blog here, but wtf, it is my blog.

I am trying to find Maui, the cruising kitty, a home. I refuse to take her to the ASPCA. I want her to have a good home. So she either will find a new home or she will stick with me. But if you know someone that is looking for a laid back (read: lazy), furry, loving, eating machine please, please, please let me know.

Does swearing up a storm act as bug repellent?

2009-05-04T15:46:00.000-07:00

Blurting out a string of unrelenting profanities (that would be sure to make your local sailor blush and maybe your mom disown you) does absolutely nothing against the evil little buggers that are called no-see-ums. I can personally vouch for that one and I have a pretty extensive vocabulary of profanities. But man oh man does it feel great to smear their little bug guts all over whatever part they happened to be biting at the time. After a week out and about we are covered in welts that itch like nobodys business. David got plenty of bites, but it seems I got more. Why must I taste so good I ask?!

And I say unto thee bring me your...whales?

2009-05-04T15:20:00.000-07:00

Two days of relaxation and nudity. The proper way of getting back in the swing of things. We contemplated blowing up kayaks during that time, but naps seemed a better idea. My back healed up over the two days of workout free days and so we decided to set sail for Ensenada Cardonal. It wasn't like it was some huge journey...it is the next bay up from Partida. It is maybe a mile away.

As we were sailing off I swore I heard a blow. Low and behold...two humpbacks were chilling in Partida! Of all the time we have spent in Partida (which is to say quite a bit) we have never seen such a sight. We see shy turtles on a daily basis, rays, fish, gulls, terns, frigates and even ospreys, but this was our first ever whale sighting. We sailed back to say hello and the whales met us halfway. They surfaced a couple boat lengths away and dove with a flash of white flippers and flukes. They seemed to be following us out of the mouth of Partida, but we said our goodbyes as they went south and we headed north.

Cardonal. Wow. It is beautiful. How we managed to skip this place so many times I am not sure, but now we are here and hope to make the best of it. The water is aquamarine with good visibility. A turtle makes its rounds trying to float under our radar. A family of the most adorable grebes swim around calling to one another. One head pops up from an underwater scavange and soon 26 more heads join the first on the surface. Ospreys, turkey vultures, frigates, pelicans and gulls all circle overhead.

Motivation to enjoy our surroundings finally caught up with us...or with David at least. He blew up the kayaks and we launched soon after. We paddled back into the lagoon before making our way ashore. The water was thick with spongy corals and grasses and as we approached our landing we were lucky enough to see a jackrabbit on the beach. Those guys have ridiculously long legs!

Once ashore we did some bird watching/photographing and hiked to the other side of the island. The hike was about a mile and not too tough on us. But seriously, I am sooooo done with all things bitey in bug form. Being back in the desert draws everything to sweaty tasty bodies apparently.

FWOOOMP! SPLAT!

2009-05-04T15:01:00.000-07:00

"How many days were you here?" The marina employee asked us.

"Uh...I dunno. 17 days? Maybe. I am not sure." David replied.

"Oh, ok." The marina guy gave us the total for 17 days and said if we wanted to pay with a credit/debit card that we'd have to wait an hour for the other employees to come in. They know how to work the charge machine and he doesn't.

This is typical of the Mexico way of things. No demand for immediate cash. No hurry. No worries.

We paid and sailed off in search of an internet free existence.

We were welcomed back to the life of water by a whole bunch of common dolphins jumping, splashing, tail-slapping while herding fish into an edible buffet ball. The dolphins had bigger company though. Two huge humpbacks were close by with two more off in the distance. We'd lost track of the humpbacks as we watched the dolphins coordinate their movements. All of this sudden we heard a loud FWOOMP-SPLOOSH! One of the humpbacks decided to do a tail-slap about two boat lengths from our starboard side. The whale repeated the display and its friend surfaced with gusto. We were surrounded by such amazing hulking beasts and nimble dolphins and it was a good feeling to be back.

The day wore on and the sun blazed down on our now 'pale' skin. David summoned me from my reading to check out the ray ruckus. I looked around and saw Devil Rays (they look like small Manta rays, but they are a different genus) leaping from the water. The more we looked around the more we noticed that they were everywhere. We must have seen fifty of them flying from the water flapping their wings and landing with a SPLAT on their white bellies. It was very cool to see so much life in a short time.

The wind slowed as we were about six miles from Caleta Partida. It was flat calm, still warmish, the sun was setting. We made dinner and enjoyed the relaxing pace. Eventually the wind kicked up enough to get us close to the mouth of Partida. The breeze that usually exists in Partida seemed non-existent, but there were enough puffs to get us going. We were tacking back and fourth when I stupidly decided to muscle the sail in with no winch handle. My back did not like that decision one bit and loudly voiced its disdain with shooting pain. David, being the trooper that he is, took over all of the duties of tacking, dropping sails and anchoring as I stood hunched over in the only position bearable for me.

We finally made it. No marina. No clubs blaring mariachi. No halyards slapping abandon boats masts. No squeaky docks. No noise other than the gulls cawing to each other over who gets which rock. Sleep comes easy in such a good environment.

Off to the islands!

2009-04-24T10:56:00.000-07:00

We plan on making our way out to the islands sometime soon. Maybe today. Maybe mañana. Either way it is going to be nice getting away from the dock life that becomes so easy to mesh back into.

I will miss my precious internet, but my eyes will regain some of the moisture that they have lost from the lack of blinking.

If you want to charter a boat in SF...

2009-04-22T09:27:00.000-07:00

We have some friends that charter their boats in SF. So if you are looking for a day out on the bay and don't have a boat of your own check these out:"Bay Wolf" is a Santa Cruz 50 and there is also "Flying Tiger" which is a 36-foot Soverel sloop.

Click here to check out the site for more info!

David returns to Mexico...finally! :D

2009-04-21T12:58:00.000-07:00

All is right in the world!

David finally made his way back home to the boat after about a week and a half. There were some things to do in the states like Chloe having her 16th B-day and the prom. I am a little bummed that I didn't get to be there and give hugs and all, but David sent me pictures which was great.

The engine parts we were waiting on for about six weeks now still have yet to grace us with their presence. We are waiting on about a dozen bearings. That would mean that we would be able to get the engine up and running again if we get those parts...hopefully.

David got down and dirty yesterday by disassembling the engine yet again. We got it outdoors and now we wait for a call from a Universal dealer to see if we have any parts to look forward to anytime soon. So there is nothing else to be done at the moment. We wait.

The cute thing is how clean the boat was and how quickly it gets transformed back into our proper bachelor pad once the engine comes out. It was getting way to tidy for my tastes anyhow.

Bored? Not me.

2009-04-12T11:09:00.000-07:00

This is how I keep myself busy while alone.

Of course I read, watch way too many movies and go play with Patsy, but this was my latest obsession. From all white to that. Sharpies are fun.

How to walk up the mast with a kitty costume and boots on

2009-04-08T14:32:00.000-07:00

Observe the tail out the back for comfort.

Thank you to Laura of Cirque for the photos.

Sea of Cortez Sailing (half)Week 2009

2009-04-07T11:41:00.000-07:00

So if you read the previous blog you would know that we were a few days late joining up with the Sea of Cortez Sailing Week fleet. If you didn't read that then go do it right now. I'll wait...

Okay now that we are all on the same page lets get on with the show!

From Caleta Partida we were to sail to Isla San Francisco. The wind worked in our favor allowing us to set the spinnaker for the 21 mile race. It was a beautiful day for sailing and a beautiful day for some fun with friends. Glenn of Beach Access volunteered his service as not only a great friend, but also dinghy shuttle. We joined Beach Access, Serendipity, Capricorn Cat and Talion aboard Profligate for a low key potluck dinner. Well, it was going to be low key until we all got into the sangria that Beach Access made and it turned to a dancing and general enjoyment party.

The following day was a layday. We had some serious cleaning to do. After a week of living and being comfortable on our floating home we had to get things stowed away. A little bit of heeling over reminded us that stuff gets stowed for a reason. We took the morning easy and cleaned at a leisurely pace until we were ready to go play some beach volleyball. Something we learned early on in the cruising life is that things are always subject to change. Volleyball never happened, but we had a great time drinking and socializing on the beach with our friends for awhile. But there was no time to dilly dally by 4:00pm since we had a costume party potluck to take place on Profligate at 4:30.

Richard is a crazy mofo. He invited the entire fleet onto Profligate for a sunset cruise along with the potluck/costume party. The entire fleet was about 85 people and 45 boats! the key was to keep everyone spread out. There had been a scare when a bunch of people went to one ama and the other ama started to lift out of the water. Oops. Richard dubbed me the official Latitude 38 photographer and sent me on my way. I have to say I was super impressed with the costumes that cruisers pull out with little warning. The cruise was a success but it was going to get better...I was going to go up the mast for an aerial photo! It must have been a sight since I had on my super sexy black boots. I am hoping someone got a picture of that spectacle. Once back down on the ground I had a sad realization...my beloved boots (that should belong on no boat) died. Mast walking split the zipper. Oh well, it was worth it.

The next day it was back to Caleta Partida. David and I decided not to set the spinnaker and just use the 155. It was a pleasant sail, but where we finished was a ten mile reach into the anchorage of Partida. The wind piped up and it was blowing 20 or more which was a little much for the big genoa, but we managed. Once set in sand we were to have another potluck followed by movie night on Beach Access with the Don Quixote girls.

The potluck was yummy and fun as usual. For the movie we watched Twilight the vampire movie. Everyone hated it but me and that is fine since it is my movie and they never have to see it again. I will say that the books are so much better than the movie, but that is usually the case in that situation. It was fun to hang with the girls, Beach Access and of course David.

The next day was the last day of organized fun. We raced from Partida to Roca Lobos outside of La Paz. The wind was light and the waves constant, but we set the spinnaker and went. We managed to stay in the wind the whole race which couldn't be said for everyone else. About 20 boats went into a dead patch and we watched as they limped along some even moving backwards. Suckers. We had the breeze all to ourselves...until Profligate, Cirque, Talion and Escapade came into our precious wind. We were about the fifth boat to finish and thankfully Talion gave us a tow into La Paz where we anchored.

Night brought us all to Rancho Viejo for the delicious arachara tacos, awards and socializing. While people are chatting I looked up to see a beautiful blond come racing in...MERRY! The look on David's face was priceless. His eyes glassed over and I could hear his heart thumping and I was across the room. There were big hugs and exchanging of stories before we moved on to Tequila's bar. It was a great night that couldn't have been better. Life is sweet.

The seven day crossing (that usually takes three) or Everything is Eventual

2009-04-07T09:59:00.000-07:00

We left Friday evening to head to the Sea of Cortez. The motor happily putted along for the night until we got the sails up. We sailed on as much as possible until the wind was non-existent. I turned on the motor and went to the foredeck to drop the sails and the motor got funky sounding. David tells people that I have a heavy throttle foot and burned the bearing out. Whatever the case was the motor was no more. Again. Oh well, nothing to be done out at sea. For the first three days we saw the Tres Maria islands. Three days with no change of scenery. Stupid islands. We had one mile nights and we did good if we had twelve mile days. Painfully slow. Suprisingly it didn't really bother us. Sure we wanted to make it to the Sea, but it was beautiful, warm and calm.

The wildlife was neat when it was present. We had some Black-vented shearwaters flying by the boat for a long time. We saw tropicbirds, a masked booby and a pomarine jaeger. A couple times we were fortunate enough to see some long-snouted spinner dolphins and they played at our bow after showing us some spectacular aerial displays. They have definitely earned their name. The spinner dolphins are the only dolphins that spin on their longitudinal axis. They can get up to seven full rotations with one jump! Truly an amazing sight.

By the fourth day we managed to sink the Marias. We even thought our wind would stay (silly us). We had 15 knots of apparent wind (9 true) and we made a big 24 mile day! David and I realized that we were excited with 6 knots of wind...sad, but true. Another day of bobbing. And another. And then...wind! We were able to fly the chute for a while as we progressed towards our destination of Caleta Partida. By then we had already missed two days of racing and fun of the Sea of Cortez Sailing Week and we started to get excited that we might just make it before the event ended on the sixth. By the night of the seventh day of our trip we were in the San Lorenzo channel. The wind was blowing like stank. Some 26 knots spitting us out of the channel at eight knots of boat speed. That was a change!

By 1:30am we were at Partida. Sweet relief. More than two hours of sleep just an anchor away. I went to tend to the windless as David led us screaming into the bay. Wouldn't you know the windlass wouldn't work. Some sprays of WD-40, many hopeful clicks of the remote and 10 minutes later it still refused to cooperate. We decided to loosen the anchor windlass with the wench handle and send it flying over the bow. As we were ready I let is go and...it stopped as soon as it hit the water. Seriously, this wasn't happening! We got the little stern anchor out, rigged, tossed over and brought to the bow and set. Of course by the time it set we were now one boat length away from the catamaran Don Quixote. We went to inspect the windlass electrical box to see if we would be able to use our proper anchor since it was still blowing 23 knots in the anchorage. After some hitting, cursing and prodding we got the windlass to work. YAY!.

Now what to do with the little anchor? David muscled up some rode and no we were two lengths from the the large cat. Ugh. We debated pulling it up, but it seemed set so good that it would never come up with it blowing so much. Hmm, bundling the remaining rode and tossing it over with a fender attached so we could retrieve it tomorrow? Too iffy. We settled on David wenching the anchor up until we were a more comfortable distance from Don Quixote. The rode kept getting stuck between the roller and the big anchor so David devised a plan: He'd let out 20 feet and I would grab the slack, run it through the chalk and around a cleat. Sounds easy enough right? Wrong. He let it go and I hadn't been ready. I grabbed it but the rode had gotten full of tension by then. It did lift off the roller like desired, but it pinned my leg to the lifeline...not good. I weaseled my way out of that fiasco sending the rode to the side of the boat almost ripping a stanchion out of the deck before David got it under control. Well shit, now we were anchored from the stern back to a boat length away from Don Quixote. I did have a mental chuckle thinking if they were to look out* from their salon that it would bring panic to see nav. lights pointed directly at you 36 feet away. Not funny ha ha, but funny terrifying.

*I did talk with Toast and Dean the next day and they saw it all with a bit of worry not knowing it was us a.k.a. the awesome sailors.

David decided to turn on our poor little motor and use that to try and retrieve the little anchor. The motor will run for about two minutes before it poops out so we hoped that it would last for us. It did. We got the little anchor up and the big anchor down. Whew! What a trip, but we had finally made it.

The next day it was really touching to hear from so many people that they missed us and hoped for our quick arrival. We have great friends. We hailed Profligate and got their generator fired up and running on Eupsychia. We were amazed that the batteries lasted a week, but we weren't going to push it another day if we didn't have to. Richard asked us if we were going to sleep in or race to Isla San Francisco. I laughed and told him we sailed for a week to make this event and there was no way that we were going to miss one more minute than we already had.

Adios La Cruz! Hola La Paz!

2009-03-27T14:25:00.001-07:00

As some of you may have heard through the grapevine or other various ways, David is freaking amazing (duh) and he got the engine running. From plastic baggies to a functioning motor in two days. I have the best man ever. EVER I say!

So now we are checked out, cleaned up, stowed and stocked with plenty-o-beer. In fact we built the Beeramid of Eupsychia. One of David's places of worship. Now we are ready to get going to La Paz. We will be partaking in the fun event known as the revised Sea of Cortez Sailing Week. It is a sailing, beach volleyball, potluck, sunset cruise and general merriment event beginning on April first. If you want to read up on it go here and you may want to plan on making it down next year because it is the best event of the year.

We will be off later tonight so the blog will be on hold until April 6th or something. Hopefully it will be a smooth crossing and the engine will do its job proper as it is supposed to be almost windless.

Caballos en Sayulita y la enfermedad

2009-03-25T18:28:00.000-07:00

"Now you will get sick and have to stay in bed while I am gone!" David proclaims as he gives me a big kiss goodbye. I didn't care, but I did need that kiss. I waved as David got into the cab. This time I managed to choke back tears as I made my way back to the now empty boat.

The sickness. It begins. I got it. I awoke Monday morning to a sore throat and a general feeling best described as bleh. That kiss did me in, but it was worth it. I got up and made my way to Sea Level to hang out with Ann. She debated going back to the states, but I asked her to stay and keep me company. She did. We talked of big plans. Maybe going to San Sebastian or exploring PV. Heck, maybe even surf lessons at Sayulita. Feeling the way I did that first day...I had to bail. I vegged on the boat all damn day. It paid off though because I felt 80% better the next day.

Ann and I got moving a little later than planned, but whatever. We were on a mission to go to Sayulita. Surfing was off the map since now Ann had developed a bit of a cough. We decided to keep it low key by stopping by to see Eugenie and maybe do some horseback riding if we were feeling adventurous enough.

We stopped at the palapa topped restaurant at the La Cruz marina for a drink and we were soon joined by Richard. We chatted over tortilla soup (yum) and chips with salsa. On the way out we discussed our plans of Sayulita. Richard was appalled at the taxi idea saying it would be $50 USD for the round trip. Whoa, that was more than I bargained for. So the bus it was...except the bus to Sayulita doesn't come to La Cruz or Punta Mita. After some negotiating we settled on hopping on the back of Rico's bike for a lift to the bus stop. I got dropped off first followed by Ann with fenders (that she had taken for Eugenie) in tow. We caught the bus for a whopping 10 pesos and were there in 15 minutes.

After wandering around in the streets for a while Ann called Euge to get her coordinates. Once we made our way to the casa we were greeted with Nayali at the door. She led us to the bed ridden Euge. We talked about various things before deciding to go horseback riding and leave Eugenie to rest up. Nayali told us where we could find some horses and off we went.

We met Antonio and saddled up on our rides. Ann's horse was Gordo and mine was Tomate. It was a nice ride on the streets to the beach where were were allowed to run at full speed before slowing to a gallop and eventually a trot. Those were my horses two favorite things to do...run and eat. Tomate was eating constantly. Everything from tree palm leaves to shrubs. Antonio pointed out where Tomate has already eaten everything along the path.

The ride lasted about an hour. We went along the beach of Sayulita, up a "mountain" and down the other side to Playa San Pedro before turning around and going back. It was a lot of fun and I got to practice my spanish on Antonio who spoke no english. It was great fun.

After a stroll through town, a drink and a walk back to Euge's place we got our stuff and got a cab back to La Cruz where David would return to me later that night. I missed my boy, but Ann is great company. Thanks Ann!

Banderas Bay Regatta 2009

2009-03-22T08:45:00.000-07:00

Wow, what a fun packed few days the racing was! There had to be over 50 boats racing in the regatta. There were every different size, shape, rig and number of hulls. There was a beautiful old schooner out that looked marvelous sailing with all sails up. The cats came in every shape and size, there were little J24's and a J160, heavy cruisers and super fast race boats. It was great to see so many smiling faces on the bay. And what weather! The sun was shining with great visibility in the whole bay. Amazing.

We were recruited as crew for Sea Level a ways back so we were both looking forward to it for quite a while. Our friend Ann even flew in from SF to do this race. For the first day I jumped over to Endless Summer since they were in dire need for crew. With me aboard it brought the grand total to a whopping three people and one dog. Though Endless Summer didn't do especially well in the race they were more than happy with themselves. The night before the race Steve and Manjula were unattended on the "enemy boat" of Sea Level. They were all giggles the next morning as they proudly showed me pictures of their sabotage...they wrote LOSER on the port ama of Sea Level in blue tape! The funniest part was that no one told them until they docked after the whole day of racing. Ha, ha, ha! Those two are too much fun, slightly evil, but fun.

The second day of racing I was back on Sea Level, but David was not. David has had a sore throat and a cough for a week and he had worn himself out on the first day of racing. So we were down two people since Carol had taken a bad spill into the cockpit of Sea Level the day earlier and was out of commision. The spinnaker had also ripped and was in the process of being repaired so it was going to be a semi-relaxing day under white sails. Sea Level didn't have a great first day, but we were hoping the next couple days would be better.

The race went alright, but without our tactician it was tough. We found way to many pockets of windless air to be a threat to anyone. We never went into irons, nothing broke and we got fifth place again. So all in all it wasn't a bad day.

The last day David was ready to be back in action as tactician/grinder. Our spinnaker was returned to us 20 minutes prior to the start. The guys got it in the sock and hoisted to make sure all would be proper for when the time came. We were a little late to the start, but we were in the running. We were late hoisting the chute for one leg, but we got it up and flying. It had been stuck in the sock somehow, but Jim and Dan got it fixed. It doused with out a problem and we sailed on. On the final leg we were neck and neck with Cirque when we saw a hole in the spinnaker. We dropped it and crossed the line under white sails.

With it all over we placed fifth. Not bad considering we lost to Profligate (63 feet), Escapade (52 feet), Humu-Humu (75 feet) and Pantera that is just stupid-fast. There were five classes in all, but I can't remember all of the winners. One did stick out really well though...Cirque. Luis got juggling with some crazy cool baton thingies as they went to accept their first place plaque. It was awesome. I guess the boat name Cirque has some history.

Now that things are done with racing it should settle down a little more. David is flying back for a couple days to see the worlds-most-perfect-daughter and pick up engine parts. Hopefully we will have enough parts for David to reassemble the engine so we generate electricity again. We are going to do a crossing to the Sea of Cortez for the race week that begins on April first. For now it is time to come down from the high energy racing and slip back into island time.

Pirates for pupils, Lucha Libre and the scrotum totem

2009-03-16T13:25:00.000-07:00

This past weekend hosted the annual Pirates for pupils fundraising event. On Saturday all the boats participating were to "race" from La Cruz to Punta Mita. Of the six boats racing to Punta Mita only two were mono-hulls Blue the J-160 and Charissa. The rest were catamarans: Capricorn Cat, Endless Summer, Escapade and Sea Level. We were recruited by Jim and Kent Milski to be on Sea Level a while ago. David and I were both looking forward to sailing on this beautiful cat. The start of the race was intense! We were pushing Endless Summer up trying to pinch them out at the starting line, but Steve did an amazing job of turning up and dropping back down barely making it inside the line. Kent couldn't watch as we were about 18 inches away from having Endless Summer crawling up our rear.

Cap Cat was hot on our trail for most of the race, but two not-so-good tacks let them take the lead. We stayed inside hugging the coast to keep with the pressure and Cap Cat had gone towards the middle of the bay. By the time we tacked out of the beach some huge swells were rolling in...we had been in the surf zone! We could tell Jim was pondering going back to that very spot after the race, but for now we had to keep on racing. That little trick allowed us to catch Cap Cat. We kept closing the distance until we knew Cap Cat couldn't tack. We were both on starboard tack and they would have to duck us and lose valuable time. While we kept playing with Capricorn Cat taking them up towards the Marietas, Escapade started to catch up. We knew we had to pull out some serious tactics. We pulled up alongside Cap Cat less than a boat length away and began talking to Wayne. A little history about this tactic: We have raced with Cap Cat many times and David made a rule that no one was to talk to Wayne or vice-versa because he would stop steering the course. So we pulled out all the stops and taunted, yelled and chatted until there were water guns being pulled on us. Once everyone was distracted on Cap Cat we tacked in and made a hustle towards the finish line. Cap Cat scrambled and tacked quickly and were hot on our heels for the remainder of the race, but we are happy to say WE WON!!!

It was a great day of fun sailing so we went over to Cap Cat to congratulate them on a great race and give them their second place prize...the scrotum totem courtesy of Jim and Kent. Jim and Kent found these baskets in Zihuatenajo that turned out to be bulls balls made into cute "little" baskets. Huge and furry bulls balls. Wayne seemed pleased with his new toy and we all got a good laugh. Soon Cap Cat turned into the party boat as every boat came over to hang out, talk tactics, sail trim and mingle.

Later we caught a panga ride (since the swells were big) into the Blue Water Grill for some drinks and food. We got into some playful trash talk and started to throw down some money on the Lucha Libre challenge. The food arrived and my plate was delicious. I had the Pollo Adobada with a green pepper. Mmmm yummy. We enjoyed the socializing, but after a long day of fun in the sun we called it a night by cruisers midnight.

As we piled into Sea Level feeling elated we heard a horrible scraping noise on deck. Jim went up and was astounded to find that a turnbuckle (silicon bronze) broke allowing the now free shroud to flop around. The guys secured it to a cleat and ran the spinnaker halyard down to the deck for added safety. A closer inspection inside the boat revealed cracks in the partition joints. Luckily Jim realized that it wasn't structural part of the boat, but still a pain in the ass to repair. Not the best way to end the night.

The following morning we called Mike to see if he had any 3/4 turnbuckles laying around. Turns out he did. He brought two to the El Dorado brunch for us. We strutted the beach in full on pirate garb and made our way to the gathering. We weren't sure which restaurant it was until we saw two little pirates running around slaying people. Yep, that was us. The brunch made for some more successful donations for the Pirates for Pupils, more trash talk Lucha Libre fun and more Punta Mita Y&SC members. A successful start to the day.

Since we had our two turnbuckles to try out we hoped to be participating in the spinnaker run. We took on the Don Quixote family and after trying both turnbuckles with no luck we quickly hustled with them to Endless Summer. It was a full boat with Manjula, Steve, Dean, Toast, Jamie, Mera, Aeron, David, me and Sookie the boat dog. We were late to the start, but our spinnaker was up and we were on the way. It was a great boat to sail and a decent day for a spinnaker, but we never caught up to any other boat once we blew by Tomatillo. I really enjoyed talking with the Don Quixote family. I think both the parents of the girls and I had preconceived notions of one another and they were quickly set straight once we actually got talking. I love when that happens. The girls are so smart and free in the way that they think. We need more people in the world like them.

So in the end Cap Cat won followed by Escapade then us on Endless Summer. At least we got on the podium. I am told that it was a "photo finish" between Blue and Capricorn Cat. That would have been great to see, but we were busy not catching up, but enjoying ourselves fully. I also heard from Ronnie the Tea Lady that we raised a whopping 30,000 pesos, the most ever for this event! Very cool.

Happy birthday David!!!

2009-03-12T10:12:00.000-07:00

There happened to be about four birthday boys all in La Cruz at the same time. Barry of Anna Banana's, a guy named Dale, Mike's son Merrik and of course David. Anna Banana's had live music, dancing, food and a cake. Kameron got the girls up on the dance floor and started to do the macarena. Anna gave us a special little piece of cake complete with relighting candles which thrilled Anna to no end. The festivities got going and the tequila got flowing. We found old friends and made new ones. We got a picture of a hound dog barking the blues and three celebrities all in one place! Gene Wilder (Monty) Clint Eastwood (David) and Michael Caine (Barry, but not the birthday Barry). The party moved on to the Britania where yet more tequila was distributed. We skipped the tequila and I opted to play with the most adorable puppy ever. I have never had dogs or puppies so I fell in love with the little ball of joy. I think David even had a moment of weakness and took a liking to the little puppy.

Puerto Rico for a night

2009-03-12T09:46:00.000-07:00

Our first layover was 23 hours in Puerto Rico. After David did some flight research he found the *shortest* layover was 7 hours in either Miami or Puerto Rico. We opted for the longest layover in PR. Once off the plane we had to collect our luggage and an extra empty (read:full) bag that Dona asked us to fly down for her. We thought we would be able to check the bags, but it turns out that is not the case. The bags can not be checked until the same day of the flight. No worries. We grabbed our stuff and got a cab. The driver asked where to and we said "we don't know." He found us a nice hotel for a low price. The Hotel Las Americas was renovating so it cost a whopping $65 USD for the night. We thanked the taxi man, Rafael, and made our way to our room.

The hotel was all old style with paintings of Colombus on the walls, beautiful stained glass windows , fancy chandeliers and some things like the "peeping toms." The ceilings were painted along with banners over the balconies. The room was smallish and bare, but it was practical. We only needed a place for our bags and to sleep and this room was perfect for our needs. We dropped off our bags and headed to the local restaurant for some mofongo. Mofongo is the popular local dish made of fried plantains that are mashed and sometimes stuffed with chicken, shrimp, pork or other meats. I had the chicken variety and it was both filling and delicious. After such a big meal we had to lay down and let it settle if we wanted to be active later.

Later that night we found a nice place for a drink and appetizer before going to see a movie. We saw Milk which I thought was phenominal. We had to return to the hotel semi early so we wouldn't miss our flight the following morning. Not that staying in PR would be bad, but Eupsychia beckoned us.

We had a last chance to get some Puerto Rican grub before we were flying to Dallas and then home to PV. All went well and after flying all day we were glad to drag our weary bodies to our floating home. The cat was very happy to see us and she expressed that love with licks and copious amounts of fuzz all over everything she could reach. Vacation was great, but its is nice to be home.

Always, always, always down wind...except...

2009-03-12T08:51:00.001-07:00

On the morning of the 6th we got the boat to ourselves. By six am we were motoring towards our delivery destination of Tortola. We were going to stay the night at Virgin Gorda's Spanish Town if all went according to "plan." It didn't.

As we rounded the west end of the island we knew it wouldn't be just a pleasant sail. The seas were building and the squalls were coming down to us. We motored for a while before getting the sails up under a double reefed main and reefed jib. We were going faster under sail than we had been under motor. Once the waves got to the eight foot area we started taking waves over the side. The winds picked up to 25-30kts. Waves would slap the bottom of the boat with a BOOM and bounce the contents around. We found where the ports leak and that one door refused to stay neither latched open or closed. We sailed on and did eventually make it to Virgin Gorda, but the anchorage was blown out so we sailed on to Tortola's Fat Hog's Bay. We dropped the hook and made a beeline to the closest food joint. We had no beer on board and little food so we were ready for a spot of both by the time we anchored. We found a place called Emily's and we got ordering the food. We met the new owner Jamie who was a really nice guy.

The following day we had to rush to Road Town for immigration. All went well and we explored the town. We found a restraunt called Midtown Restaurant that served good ol' greasy food. We went back to the boat to relax after a filling meal and were startled to see guts floating by the boat. Tripe anyone? Eww, definitely not going swimming here.

Once we got 'Ti Profligate to the charter base, we took the dink to go find sustenance. We hopped around different restaurants before ending up at the Pussers Rum place where we ordered some pub grub and a much too sweet rum drink. The food was good, but the atmosphere was ruined once some stupid frat boys came in rude, drunk, obnoxious and hurling profanities at one another. Time to go.

The day to leave finally came. We packed up and got a cab to the airport. The taxi man was astounded to hear that we came across in such rough weather. He tipped his hat to us as he took us on the scenic route of Tortola.

I have come to a conclusion...I like being in places where roosters roam in and around the airports. That spells out some kind of freedom somehow. Casual I suppose. It was a nice airport even with chickens walking through it. We didn't have time to ask why the chicken crossed the runway. Good times.

Saint Martin

2009-03-11T11:18:00.000-07:00

The fun at St. Barts had to end eventually or so I am told. We had a great time hanging out with all of the people we met throughout our visit. What a slice of *expensive* paradise. Our trip was marvelous and the only bad thing we heard about was the day before we left. A boat named Wild Horses reported it's big red dinghy lost or stolen. The worst part was that the last guy that tied and locked it up was not on Wild Horses at all. Anyhow the rumors began flying on such a small island and settled on our ears as a yellow ketch stole it. We had seen the particular yellow boat in question a few days earlier at Fourchue. They had no dinghy and tried to bum rides constantly. With no evidence it meant nothing though. So with nothing more to do we left. Our next stop was to be at Saint Martin.

St. Martin (or St. Maarten) is a Dutch and French island which makes it interesting to observe. The French side seemed rather rundown and bleak looking and the Dutch side looked well taken care of and cleaner. We were to stay the night so we could drop off Dona and Rico at the airport. We arrived midday so we dropped Dona off at an internet cafe and got to touring in the dink. We toured Simpson Bay in the dink and wouldn't you know we saw that yellow boat, but the red dink was nowhere insight. Richard goes on about how Dona shouldn't jump to conclusions based on stupid rumors. After food, beer, buying batteries and relaxing we went over to say hello to Mike Harken of Wanderlust. After a few minutes of chatting we glance over at the yellow ketch. IT HAD THE RED DINK!!! Rico says sayonara and off we go full speed to the thieving boat. Richard starts screaming at the top of his lungs, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH THAT DINGHY?!" One of the scrawny french guys comes out and tried to explain how he found it at Fourchue full of water. Riiiiight. We aren't leaving without the dink so David untied the bow and I got the stern free and off we went. It was an intense situation and thankfully it was over in minutes with no problems. Hours later we would check and see that the yellow boat left in a hurry. Rico owed Dona an apology.

The rest of the night went on rather calmly. The bay filled up with a ridiculous amount of boats that were going to do the Heineken Regatta. There must have been over a hundred boats anchored out and that doesn't include the 50 others that were waiting for the bridge to go up. The bridge goes up twice a day unless you want to spend $5,000 to have it opened just for you. It was a neat spectacle to see, but a big traffic jam for all the car commuters.

Exploring St. Barts

2009-03-04T08:49:00.000-08:00

We have made a few friends since arriving in St. Barts. The great thing is that they all want to show us the cool sights, beaches, surf spots, bird wathing hot spots and trails to hike. We met up with a cool guy named Will and toured the island by jeep. We stopped to hike a trail that went from to a beautiful beach called Colombier. The other trail we took was a bit longer and on the opposite side of the island. It was a hike out to what is called the "washing machine". It is a boogieboarding spot with continuous waves and whitewater. It gets churning out there! We hiked on and came to a gorgeous place with natural pools. Ahhhh it felt so nice to take a dip after hiking for 45 minutes.

It is our last night here in St. Barts so we have to soak it all up. We are taking the boat to St. Maartan for a night to drop off Rico and Dona. Early in the morning we will get sailing to Tortola where we will say goodbye to the Caribbean and fly back to Mexico. So no more time to blog...MUST GO PLAY!

St. Barths.

2009-03-02T05:42:00.000-08:00

It's normal to arrive in St. Barts on Saturday and pick up your luggage on Monday. We had no ride from the airport since we flew in early, no worries. We hitchhiked our way around. It took a few days for our bags to arrive, but whatever. We like traveling light. No worries is the motto of this trip. We went to Le Select (the local burger joint/hangout) and quickly made friends with an array of people.

On Sunday we upped the anchor and went to Colombier for a couple hours to relax and enjoy the absolutely stunning water. The anchoring was a new experience for us since people seem to anchor really close to each other. REALLY CLOSE! No worries though, right? We survived the close anchoring and made our way back to our original spot before heading ashore to Shell beach. Shell beach....wow, we saw some of the most beautiful people imaginable. The DJ rocked the trance and the people all moved to the rhythm.

I was lucky enough to get a tour of the island by hopping on the back of Richard's motorcycle. Every turn of the island reveals a place more beautiful than the last. The views are breathtaking. I love that every home on the island has one either a red, green or white roof. Nothing flashy, but very purposeful homes that are constructed well. We toured the surf spots, beaches, salt plant, fancy bars, stores, and everything else in between. The coolest part is that it took maybe an hour and a half. We did stop for a while since it started raining so it was probably only an hour around the island.

Drums pounding constantly. It is intoxicating to be in such close proximity to the constant rumble of the drums. Primal and animalistic feelings course through our veins. The smell of pot in the air. Costumes, laughter, confetti and conch shells all mean one thing...Carnaval/Mardi-Gras/Fat Tuesday! The streets are packed with people of every age, sex, color, costume and there are no police (Gendarmeries) in sight. Flatbed trucks with music, dance brigades and flocks of followers slowly move around the town. We were all in the best of spirits and immersed in our new experience. We turned in early...maybe midnight and the festival was still going!

The following day there was a ceremony called the burning of Vaval. Vaval symbolizes the white man. That being said there were tons of whities there, us included, cheering them on to burn the man. The fire chief is the fire starter but apparently he was never a pyro. I guess they have a hard time lighting the man every year. Maybe its because fires usually get started from the bottom to become successful. Once Vaval went up in flames it was truly a spectacular sight. We danced in the firelight as the flames licked upwards into the dark sky.

After Carnaval was over the town quieted down considerably. With no need to hang around town we decided to take a sail. We ended up anchored in the crystal blue waters of St. Jean. One of the spectacular things about St. Jean it that is it right where the runway ends onto the beach. Seriously, right on the beach. So we hug out at the Pink Parrot at La Plague and watched the planes land. David and I walked back toward St. Jean the following day so we could get pictures of the planes coming in. One plane came in not six feet above David's head!

As you can all see, we have been very busy enjoying every last thing the island has to offer which is why the blog has been put off so long. Sorry for the delay and check back often because we might have more coming soon.

We are having too much fun to blog

2009-02-28T07:36:00.000-08:00

There you have it...we are having too much fun here which leaves little time to blog. I am suffering from writers block anyhow. So I promise to get pictures and words up soon, but for now just use your imagination. If you lack imagination go here:

http://www.latitude38.com/lectronic/lectronicday.lasso?date=2009-02-25&dayid=236

and here

http://www.latitude38.com/lectronic/lectronicday.lasso?date=2009-02-27&dayid=237#Story2

We are off to the Caribbean!

2009-02-20T13:39:00.000-08:00

To all that didn't know...now you do. We are flying to St. Barts to visit Richard and Doña on Ti Profligate. We will arrive before the St. Barts Carnival which we are told it is like a high school production, but really fun. I am positive we will have a blast.

It was great to see all our pals form the MPYC. Thanks for making us feel loved, even if we suck because we are having so much fun while most of you work ha, ha. Ann and Paul made a special trip down to see us. Thanks you two. See you in Mexico soon!

More to come with pictures and blogs when we get to the Caribbean.

Pacific Puddle Jumpers

2009-02-17T13:55:00.000-08:00

There was a cool going away party for the Jumpers atop the La Cruz Yacht Club at the Sky bar. Philo and his band showed up and Banjo Andy got in the mix. It was great fun even though it got cloudy and chilly. But with a little dancing and some munchies we all got warmed up quickly.

I (along with many others) was surprised to see how many people with kids are doing the jump. Some families had three youngsters none over nine. There was even a family with two boys aged maybe twelve or thirteen going along with two adult boxer dogs! That is a lot of mouths to feed. Crazies.

Hopefully soon we will head in that same direction. We know a few people going this year and people like Capricorn Cat and possibly Snowgoose that plan to make the jump next year. Mexico might just be a little lonelier without those familiar faces, but I am sure we can up our game to make up for the lost mischief.

Hooray for Canadians!

2009-02-17T13:20:00.000-08:00

We met some cool friends last year up in the Sea of Cortez named Wayne and Susan. They have a cool 50 foot aluminum boat named Daydream. We hit it off well and thought we'd run into each other again someday. We did.

The reunion took place in La Cruz and it lasted about a week. There were many, many, many tacos, late nights and laughs. It was great to have so many friends from such different walks of life, places, ages and types all gathered in a tiny Mexican town. Our Valentines Day was not spent at some romantic dinner place, but at Tacos on the Street before moving to Philo's with Cap Cat and Daydream. That is my kind of V-day celebration.

They are now going to go off into the South Pacific...lucky bums, eh? Anyways they will have a blast and someday we will catch up with them again...nobody is safe ha, ha.

That's something that I love about the cruising community, the fact that you will find friends no matter where you go. They might be new friends or previously known, but there will be good people.

Quimixto

2009-02-09T13:09:00.000-08:00

We hoisted the sails and took off across the bay in search of new scenery. The last time we were
on the south side of Banderas Bay we visited Las Animas. David and I suffered through mariachi music from dusk until dawn. I shudder when remembering the horror. We hoped that this would not prove to be the same situation. The sailing was excellent. We were on a close reach for the whole trip and there was no tacking involved so the crew got a bit of a rest. We made our destination around 3:00pm. We dropped the anchor and enjoyed the lush, tropical goodness of Quimixto. David made the error to feed one gull and soon every gull in the neighborhood was at our boat. They came in a blizzard of white feathers and squawking. Maui wasn't sure what to think...dinner or run for cover? It turned out to be an educational feeding though. They were a different type of gull than we had seen before. With three pieces of bread and two bird field guides we were able to find out they were Laughing Gulls.

The pangas were constantly speeding by in every direction shuttling people to and from the little bay. All of the commotion made it a bit choppy. After setting a stern anchor, a delicious dinner and a movie we called it a night.

In the morning we kayaked to the little beach so we could have a look around town. While we
walked along the water we saw the adorable black-necked stilts, snowy egrets, gulls, terns,
pelicans and even a little blue heron. Lilac crowned parrots chattered while flying overhead and
landed in trees perfectly matched to their shade of green. This was a birders paradise, but we
were here for more than birds. We walked down the main drag, the only street, to find two cars and stands
selling coconuts, chips and Mexican M&Ms. We walked on until we reached the end of the road and saw horses. Lost of horses. More horses than people in the town. They rent the horses out to the tourists that come over in what we refer to as "Cattle Cats". Basically your standard booze
cruise on big motoring catamarans a.k.a. motormarans. We ended up renting a couple horses,
accompanied with a guard dog, and made our way back to the waterfall. David's horse was very well behaved. It didn't even try to scrape him off using a low branch like David's previous riding
experiences. My horse didn't seem so happy. She had her ears back the whole time which made me slightly nervous that she might get feisty with me, but they got us to the waterfall with minimal
problems.

The waterfall was beautiful. Though a more beautiful sight was the palapa selling cold beers
right by the waterfall. We settled in the palapa for an overpriced cold one with, as David said
so perfectly, "surely service". We hopped back on our horses and made our way back to the
starting point. It really was a touristy thing to do, but I am really glad we did it. That was
our first journey inshore in two years of cruising.

We decided to get moving back to La Cruz a.k.a. internet withdrawls. While lifting the anchor I
saw that we had caught ourselves a little octopus. It was tiny, but an exact replica of its much
larger relatives. I was going to catch it, but it made a leap for water. Too bad because and
octopus pet would have been cool. Once we got the anchor lashed to the deck and the sails up we
had another pleasant day of sailing.

To Punta Mita and back...again

2009-02-04T18:53:00.000-08:00

We set off in search of a barless existence for a few days. We headed back to Punta Mita. It was a hot and sunny day with minimal breeze for a while. David took that time to make some dough and I got to take the helm. The whales were out and about so we turned up the tunes as to alert them to our whereabouts. The noontime wind picked up and we got to Punta Mita by lunchtime. We saw our friends on Capricorn Cat hanging out so we made our rounds to say hello and got offered to go aboard for lunch. We anchored, hung up the laundry to dry and got dressed for the occasion. Wayne picked us up and took us to one of our familiar home feeling boats. We dined like kings! Turkey, salami, cheeses, salsa, chicken curry, tortillas, chips and some other yummy things. As we exchanged stories and settled in from a food coma, Carol spotted a whale breaching. Gary, Lynn, Wayne, Carol, David and I all watched for the spouting and other activity. Wayne took us back to our boat and made a couple phone calls before deciding to hang around for the night. We planned a morning get-together of either a swim or a trip to the islands. It was great to be back hanging out with out pals!

The following morning I felt like poop warmed over. I hadn't slept much and when I did it wasn't well. Like the good crew I am, I made coffee before going back to sleep. And sleep we did. We slept on and off all day. By the time we were coherent and rested up it was 4:30pm and Cap Cat was leaving. Amazingly enough we were both still tired and hopped in bed at a reasonable hour. Must have been a little bug...that or still recovering from seeing our friend Eric.

After two days of hanging out at Punta Mita for a couple nights we were ready to come back to La Cruz. We are running low on beer and cheese and we are out of tomatoes. I am sure it has nothing to do with it being a "Philo's night" tomorrow. It was a beautiful day to sail so we put the chute up and avoided hitting whales as we sailed silently. The whales seemed to be breach happy today. We saw two breaching at the same time within a few feet of each other. The thundering noise of their breaches could be heard a mile away. That is some serious heft getting tossed around! As we got by La Cruz we were surprised to see a thirty foot humpback breach about fifty yards off our port side. On the second breach it came completely out of the water, tail and all, before doing a corkscrew in mid air. It was so amazing. David dropped the chute and we planned to go back and watch since it continued breaching though it moved off to a safer distance. But simultaneously the wind died and a loud annoying whale watch boat showed up. So we made our way to La Cruz instead. We made it in just as Cap Cat was coming in. Normally we would hangout and enjoy dinner and drink though tonight I think we are both resting up for tomorrows fun filled night at Philo's.

La Cruz!

2009-01-30T11:53:00.001-08:00

We headed towards La Cruz the following morning. The wind was behind us, but it took a while to catch up. It was quite a slow day, but we really can't complain since it was sunny, hot and we were surrounded by whales. We saw so many whales that at one time I said, "Wow, I haven't seen a whale in ten minutes," David found one not 30 seconds later. The coolest part of all the whales around was that we could hear them talking or singing through the hull of the boat. Super cool.

We made it to La Cruz, anchored and tossed the kayaks into the water. We paddled in to check in with the Port Captain, but he was closed by 2:30. Not bad hours for a job, 8am-2:30pm. A little later we checked out the happinings of the town to find it rather dead. We were walking up to Los Amigo's taco stand when we saw two of our friends sitting at a table. We were stoked to see Eric of Nanu and Glenn of La Sirena. We had thought that Eric left already so it was a good surprise to see him. We were joined by a guy named Peter after Glenn left and the party got rolling. I think we were up until 2:30am catching up on past happenings.

The following day we got word from Wayne and Carol (Capricorn Cat) that our friend Merry might come around. It seemed that the ol' friends were reassembling! We passed the word to Eric and rested up. Later we were told that Merry had to work and we wouldn't be seeing her that night. We were bummed, but decided to go on to Philo's bar and enjoy the night. After getting warmed up on Nanu we went to Philo's and a little bit later Merry comes walking in followed by our friend Mike. She said the owners of Besame let her take the rest of the night off so she took Chrisitan's jeep and came here! Wayne and Carol showed up with some friends soon after. The music got played and David drooled and happily danced with Merry just like old times. What a cool surprise to see so many of our friends gathered in one place. We love this town.

Chillin' in Chacala

2009-01-30T11:41:00.001-08:00

Chacala was beautiful as always. The houses are so festive and colorful and can easily be seen from a distance. We walked through the town in about five minutes which should tell you how small it is. Roosters roam in the yards as panganeros maintain their outboard motors. The sun is warm and the beers cold. It is hard to imagine how things could be better. We kayaked to the beach and dined at Las Brisas one night. We found out that our little kayaks could punch through some little breaking waves. We also found out that when David gets sideways to the waves that he will capsize. It is all in good fun and we did manage to get to the boat safely and soaked. We joked that our yaks converted to personal pools quite fast.

After about four days we lifted anchor and got moving in the direction of Punta Mita. While out sailing we saw a humpback breaching and flipper slapping. It was truely amazing to see especially when it breached about a hundred yards from our bow. YIKES! We made sure to knock on the hull to let the whale know of our whereabouts as we sailed by. A little later we got the spinnaker up and were visited by some dolphins. We made Punta Mita by sunset, dropped the hook and relaxed. Another beautiful day in paradise.

My obsession with Tropicbirds pays off!

2009-01-24T11:49:00.000-08:00

David puts up with my crazy persistence of things well. While I would go in search of birds to photograph, he would work on the boat or accompany me if I asked.

My favorite bird finding that didn't involve rescuing, was finding the the tropicbirds nesting spot. It took about an hour for the birds to land once i found their favored area. I suppose it took a while to adjust to my presence. The tropicbirds nest on the cliff faces so they are hard to get to, but with enough patience and a little rock climbing I found them! I made sure not to scare the nesting tropicbird away, but they are so pretty to look at that it was difficult to walk away. Especially after waiting for so long to find where they land and nest.

Something interesting is that even though they look like terns they are actually related to pelicans and cormorants. I learn all kinds of weird things reading books!

Daily fun at Isabela

2009-01-24T11:13:00.001-08:00

Our time at Isla Isabela was busy. Between frigate rescues and boat chores we kayaked daily, around the whole island (about five miles) once. The hiking was gorgeous. We made it up to the lighthouse and hiked the ridges back down. Though the weather was a little overcast for my liking, but it was still beautiful.

While hiking back behind playa Tiburon we found a sight we hadn't before seen...baby frigate birds! The white fuzzy little birds are too cute. Each time we had been to the island before we had been too early or too late to see the nestlings, but this time we were right on!

From one ridge we were able to see some beautiful colored rock and cliff faces. The reds, blacks from old volcanic activity and white from guano all blended together so beautifully.

As usual the bird life is amazingly beautiful from the seagulls to the tropicbirds. The iguanas seemed quite relaxed and all seemed to be shedding into new skins. As for the waters...well, I did capsize my kayak at one point and it was quite warm. I think the water temperature hit 76 or 78 while we were there. My only worry in the water was that we had seen a couple Man-O-War jellyfish, which according to one book we have don't exist in these waters, and the last thing I wanted was to ruin the trip with a horrible sting.

Such a cool place.

How we rescued Fredrick, Xena and Leyla from horrible fates at Isabela

2009-01-24T11:00:00.002-08:00

We awoke early in the morning to a humid and overcast day. It was in the 80's with 75% humidity by 8:30am. We decided to go get some exercise in the kayaks. We set out to go around the huge rocks that were in close proximity to the boat. David was watching as a new boat came into the anchorage and they were fiddling around with their anchor. I moved around the rock a bit more and saw some bird flailing in the water. It was a frigate. Frigate birds can't swim. Apparently he didn't get the memo. I hailed David and we went to the bird's aid. We got the bird between our kayaks and tried to get him to climb aboard. He was too weak and too heavy with water. I grabbed his wing and pulled him onto my bow. He lost his balance when a swell went through and I pulled him back on. I now had a new hood ornament. Since he was going to hang out with us for a while we decided to name him. Funny enough we blurted out names and they were the same, sort of. I said Fredrick and David said Freddy. Freddy chilled out on the bow as we paddled around. Half an hour later we were trying to think of what to do with him. We decided to take him to the beach and put him in a tree so he could dry out. Our beach landings were staggered so if it was rough David could come wade out and get Freddy, keep him as dry as possible. The landings went fine, but when David tried to grab Freddy he took a flying leap back into the water. David went and got Freddy and carried him ashore. We picked out a good tree and David put Freddy on a branch. Hours later he was still there making sure his feathers would be extra crispy for future flights. Hopefully Freddy will grow up to be a big and strong frigate bird someday.

A couple days later we saw another Frigate in the water. This one was getting blown towards a reef with breaking waves. So into action we went and retrieved the bird. We named her Xena. She was shivering and didn't have much energy. We took her back to the boat to let her dry off. After an hour she thought she was dry enough and tried to fly off the boat ending up back in the water. This time we hosed her off with fresh water, to rinse off the heavy salt, and kept her in the cockpit where she was less likely to fly away. She dried off for a while before deciding she should go for another swim. We knew she was still to heavy to make it anywhere but back into the water. We bundled her up in a towel and put her in a kayak and took her to the beach. Once ashore David put her in a tree away from the water.

The last and final bird we assisted was Leyla. She was the largest of the birds we had rescued. She calmly sat on the bow for the beach landing. I took her to a tree and set her down. A day later she was there , but a booby had taken over her spot sending her to a lower branch. I shoo'd the booby away and replaced her on the higher branch so she could easily fly away when she wanted. She did. All three of our birds successfully flew off again...not into the water! Yay for happy endings!

Oh and Paul thank you for the kayak surfing lesson in Chacala. I retained your teachings and was successful every time! Thanks again!

Ewww...

2009-01-24T11:00:00.001-08:00

We have discovered the nastiest cheese EVER!!! As we were getting ready to grate cheese onto a pizza I got a whiff of something rank. I sniffed the cheese and I swear it smelled like goat manure. I made David smell it and he too had a lip curling response. Feeling brave, we both tried a slice. It tasted fine. We decided to use it on the pizza hoping the stank would get cooked out of it. Nope. As we dined on our steaming hot pizza we both had to smell the stank. It was like a goat with a digestive tract problem laid a steamy poo on the pizza in the form of melty cheese. Good visual, no? I am not sure why we both thought goat since it was actually from cow's milk. I guess it just seemed right at the time. Never, and I mean NEVER will we buy queso Adobera again. Never.

Close contact with the Gigantic kind

2009-01-24T10:45:00.000-08:00

WARNING! If you are easily offended with profanities be forewarned that I am a bad, bad person for saying and writing such words. Do not attempt this at home, we are trained professionals. Read at your own risk!

Sailing along with the wind at our backs, David and I were discussing the population of whales now compared to a hundred years ago or pre-whaling days. I was bummed that we hadn't seen any whales during our crossing so far. Just as we finished that conversation we spotted a few humpbacks fifty yards off our starboard bow. I like it when that kind of stuff happens.
The following day we were nearing Isla Isabela and saw a pod of 12-16 Humpbacks, presumably the same pod that we had seen our last time we visited Isabela. The whales were traveling fast perhaps on a mission for food, but this particular pod usually seems to be in a hurry. Maybe too much coffee. David suggested we dropped the jib so we could maneuver easier if we neared the whales. We dropped the jib and began to gather it onto the foredeck when the whales were right beside us. I am not exagerating when I say RIGHT BESIDE US. In fact they were so beside us that one had to go under us to avoid collision. My legs turned to rubber and my fingers clumsily fumbled with the sail tie as I blurted out, "Jesus-fucking-christ! Babe turn the boat!" I looked down into the water and saw a flipper and made out every single knob on the whales flipper as it proceeded to swim ahead of us. There were at least six gigantic humpbacks that were within spitting distance...and I can't spit far, though I wouldn't want to spit on them anyhow. Whatever. I can't begin to explain the horror and euphoria of having those huge beasts in such a close proximity. David kept his cool and I almost peed my pants. I was sure that we were going to be hit by a careless fluke or bulky body that didn't see us until it was too late, we held on tight. The whales promptly made their way away as quickly as they showed up. The upside of sailing silently and not motoring is that the whales dont seem to mind the closeness. The downside of sailing silently along is that if the whales aren't paying attention (its not like they have many enemies from above or need to look before they surface) a little bump on the rudder or keel or anywhere else on the boat can mean real trouble for us on the fragile boat.

The outside temperature is 84 as is inside the boat. The water is now 76. We look at all the birds flying around, the fish in the water and the humpbacks that are on patrol. The pod of whales returned within our sights and keep rounding the island. The fish must be plentiful to support so many birds and whales. The island is not as green as it was a month ago, but I take that to be a good sign that it has been hot around these parts. David is attempting to work with the auto pilot(s). Of the two auto pilots we have neither wants to steer the damn boat on the correct course. The tropic birds are out chattering, it must be 3:30 in the afternoon. We could set the time by those dependable feathered friends. The chef is going to make a pizza for tonights dining experience. Mmm...pizza.

Leaving La Paz for warmer climates

2009-01-14T10:29:00.000-08:00

We want to leave La Paz before this black hole sucks us in for good. We have many friends here and have found many good places to eat. The bird life is amazing. We are sad to depart from here as we are very comfortable here. So we are going to uptie ourselves from the dock before we become permanent residents...we have decided to leave La Paz today. We have no functioning motor, but no worries. We are a sailboat, so we will sail. We may stop off at Isla Isabela before Chacala. From there we will probably go to Banderas Bay to do the real engine maintenance. Hopefully it will be a nice journey with lots of sunshine. We are stocked with books, movies, beer, food and plenty of love so we are ready. Next time we blog we hope to be a few shades darker and in a warmer climate.

Engine troubles in La Paz Pt. 2

2009-01-09T17:15:00.001-08:00

Yesterday David managed to get the engine unbolted and ready for lift off. We rigged the preventer on the boom and lifted the motor out into the cockpit for an easier place for disassembly. My sweet David has been working, hunched over the engine for days only to realize he lacks certain tools. So today it was an interesting day trying to find all the parts we (David) need to toy with the engine. We went to about five or six auto stores finding a little of what we need in each store. It is not so easy trying to convey what we need in our broken spanish to their broken english. Thankfully we only have a few more things to get...until David finds more. The problem looks like more than just one thing though.

As bad as having a pooped engine is we are still making the best of the situation. We are not necessarily the marina type of people, but it does have its perks. We sure dont miss the cold and bumpy dinghy rides back to the boat at night. We have found some new restaurants and friends to enjoy them with. Showers in the morning with warm water! While David tends to the motor, now in the cockpit, I make cookies or walk the docks in search of my feathered friends. If I the birds aren't around I can usually chat with the neighbors. We stay busy.

Engine troubles in La Paz Pt. 1

2009-01-09T16:41:00.000-08:00

We had to say goodbye to Chloe as she flew off from Cabo. Two three hour bus rides later that day we were back in our little boat and it was all business. Engine troubles. David is the master of all trades, but without the proper tools he is just sad. After a whole day of pulling apart then reassembling the engine the prognosis was a rod bearing problem. First he thought (and hoped) it just to be a stuck valve, but that hope was dashed quickly when he found other symptoms.

Lacking a metric socket set we set off the following day for Walmart. Yes there are many other places we could have gone, but I was in need of some DVDs. We got all the things we needed for the moment and went back to the boat. Another day of fiddling leads to the realization that the hub of the prop shaft wont budge therefore nothin' doin' until that gets removed. Eventually we got to a marina, Don Jose, and went in search of more tools. We found one at an Auto Zone today and so far so good. As I was sipping tequila and chatting with our dockmates, David popped the hub off. Hours later David is hunched over the small engine disassembling hoses and other various parts of so we can take it out and flip it over. Sound like a lot of work? It is. I am tired just writing about it. I should probably stop writing and start helping...well, it seems I can't help much so I guess I will just get him some engine disassembling fluid (beer).

Celebrating New Years Island Style

2009-01-09T16:34:00.000-08:00

Bahia San Gabriel was our last adventure while Chloe visited us. We dropped the hook and enjoyed the gorgeous blue waters. We decided to go snorkeling knowing that San Gabriel has a lot of coral to check out. As soon as we anchored the dinghy and took to the water we swam into a school of 20 or more king angel fish. It was as beautiful as ever even though the aguamalas (small jellyfish) tagged each of us. Chloe and David took the kayaks out and explored for a while and then I did the same when one freed up. There was plenty of life to satisfy my standards. There were fish that would dart around the kayaks. Manta rays glided through the water effortlessly while the sting rays were nestled or resting on top of the sand. Egrets danced in the shallows grabbing fish that venture too close to danger. An osprey caught a fish and sat on a cactus calling to another osprey.These all all things that I love to see. All this nature keeps me happy.

The following day I looked in our cruising guide and saw there was a trail to the other side of the island. It was said the trail was only .25 of a mile. Heck we were all up for a trek like that. Okay...that was a misprint in the book. The "trail" was actually 2.5 miles to the next beach. We turned back at about 1.5 miles dreaming about cold water, ice and cerveza. Along the hike we did see some jack rabbits, goats, little birds and plenty of insects. As we neared the dinghy we found out the tide had ebbed...a lot. That left our dinghy high and dry about 100 yards from the water. The three of us must have looked pathetic trying to move the dink because a kayak outfit, that just arrived, sent two big and strong dudes to lend a hand.

Chloe and David took the dink out for driving lessons later on. Chloe enjoyed it until some dolphins came around the dink and played making her worry that she would chop them up. David took the helm and all mammals survived unscathed.

The holiday whale and the raft-up

2008-12-28T11:03:00.001-08:00

We left Partida in the morning and tootled along. We were happily surprised with David's sighting of a whale. Chloe and I clambered to the bow and watched as a fin whale swam along less than fifty yards from the boat. I think the spotting of amazing wildlife is becoming a new holiday tradition. Last year we saw Hubert the huge manta ray on x-mas and this year it was the fin whale. I like this lifestyle.

We pulled into the Magote by 2pm and got ourselves presentable before heading over to the raft-up. It was the same three boats as Turkey day, but there were more people this time. I counted 24 people, 3 ferrets and 2 dogs. We mingled, saw some friends from the Ha-Ha, Chloe and I played with the ferrets, we drank and we ate the delicious feast laid out before us. Turkey never tasted so good! With dinner in our bellies we left for a good nights sleep.

We did some provisioning the following day which worked out great since today the wind is blowing a steady 20 knots. The idea of being ashore sounds great, but none of us want to brave the "cold", bumpy and wet ride into the marina. So we are pretending it is a rainy day and taking the day off. With sloppy joes to look forward to for dinner it is still a great day in my book.

How I got out-smarted by Sea Turtles or Welcome to the Island Life

2008-12-28T10:42:00.000-08:00

Here in Mexico all is good as usual. We have the daughter for a while which is great. We booked it from La Paz to the islands six hours away. We are currently at the island of Partida. Yesterday we stayed at Ensenada Grande. We love that place and it is usually a great place, but the wind kicked up last night and the waves got going. It wasn't so bad until the wind died and we turned sideways to the waves making for a restless nights sleep at best. The morning sun got us to get up and set a stern anchor to stop the rocking for a few solid hours of sleep.

As the day began to unfold we experienced the only reason I don't like Ensenada Grande...BEES! We had at least 50 bees visit us in an hour or so. Even the cat gave up trying to eat and kill the bees. That got us to lift anchor and head to Caleta Partida. It is tied with Ensenada Grande as to our favorite place for different reasons. The bird life is amazing at Partida, but the hiking isn't as easy or fun to me as it is in Ensenada Grande. We love them both anyhow.

Chloe and I kayaked around and saw manta rays, fish, terns, gulls, pelicans, ospreys and turtles! I got outsmarted by turtles...a sad realization. I was paddling around trying to get pictures of the turtle, but damn it was fast. It turned out to be two turtles and I bounced back and forth between them like the ball in Pong. Though at the time I was thinking more like "Whack-a-mole" 'cause every time I would go after one the other one would surface ten yards away. I would refocus, but it would dive away while the other surfaced and so on until I gave up. Jerks! Word must have traveled that we hit a turtle last year. Those turtle networks move fast you know.

For x-mas we are going to a boat raft-up potluck. It will be with our same turkey day friends maybe more. So 16 people, two dogs and three ferrets...not bad for diversity. I love the little weasels! We will leave x-mas day for the raft up 5 hours away. It will be a great time among the cruiser family.

The following morning started out sunny and warm. David suggested we go snorkeling. After checking the water temperature and seeing *gasp* 72 degree water. I grabbed my new suit and put on the long-legged farmer John suit. I decided to skip the top not wanting to over heat so I put on my rash guard top as a type of cover from the aguamalas. Chloe tried (unsuccessfully) to slip into my midgity summer suit, but surprise, it was too short. David decided to brave the cold and go just in his board shorts. We went to the North West side of Partida and got snorkeling. We saw tons of little bait fish that surrounded us wherever we swam. There were yellow-tailed surgeon fish, yellowtail, jack crevalles, king angelfish and many other tropical fish. While David and Chloe froze, I happily floated along in my warm suit. Thank you Janice.

The rest of the day was a lazy pace...we are on island time. I took a kayak to the Espiritu Santo side of Caleta Partida while Chloe vegged out on Anthony Bourdain and David cleaned the stainless. Of all the time we have anchored there and even gone ashore we have never gone ashore on that particular strip of land. Partly since it isn't as inviting as a white sand beach. It is all rocky shore and upon landing I saw way too many sea cockroaches for my comfort. Once back in the thick of things it was a very cool place to explore. I was greeted with the chirps and sightings of small birds fluttering around. There were lagoon like ponds that were muddy like, but even at high tide the water can't reach those spots. We guessed some springs must be back there. The muddy beds had tons of fiddler crabs inhabiting them so I would guess that they somehow get saltwater. A mystery for the time for my little brain. I saw the same little paw prints that we saw at Ensenada Grande too....hmmm.

Once back from my excursion, David got to making the bread dough for tomorrow's potluck. Once he was done I started to make the cookies. David and Chloe decided to go to the beach for some father-daughter time while I worked. Fun fun fun!

El terminal de auto bus and the safe arrival of Chloe!

2008-12-28T10:39:00.000-08:00

David and I got moving around 7am like usual, but today was going to be a different day. The daughter is coming!!! David and I got dressed and coffeed up before huffing the 10 blocks to the bus station. Once at the station we bought our tickets and waited in a little glass box of a room that had two computers with internet even. How sophisticated. The bus showed up on time and we found our seats. This was a luxury bus! There was fold down leg rests , reclining seats and a tv that played movies the whole way. The ride took about three hours, but at least we were comfortable. Once at the airport we had to seek out terminal three. Now we wait. And wait. And wait. And wait some more. The best part about the wait was this guys t-shirt. Paul we still love you, but I had to get this picture and I would expect the same from you. Two hours after the flight arrived we see Chloe smiling and making her way out to Mexico all on her own. Mission accomplished on both ends. This is the first time Chloe has flown by herself and she is already pro. Once all the hugs and chatter winded down we had to find the bus. It turns out that the station is actually in San Jose del Cabo even though we got dropped off at the airport. We hopped in a shuttle and got to the bus station, purchased tickets, found our seats and got moving back home to La Paz. We took the slower bus but the shorter route. It almost evened out, but the ride home was a bit longer. Though I don't think any of us minded since we got to see a few cute little towns along the way and they harbored places with funny names like "Do it center". We rested on the way to La Paz, but all I could think about was RANCHO VIEJO! As soon as the bus made it back to the malecon we got a cab to Rancho Viejo and stuffed our faces on account of us missing lunch...or that's my story at least. So all is good in the land (or water) of Eupsychia as usual.

Log from being asea

2008-12-19T13:45:00.000-08:00

It has been fairly nice conditions. The wind is hesitant to keep it's speed and direction consistent, but that is just fine with us. The longer we are out and about the more chances we get to enjoy sailing and, of course, the wildlife. We got to see a truly spectacular sight at sunset one evening. I was on watch and David had just woke up from a nap. As I looked around I saw splashes on the horizon. David came out and observed for a minute until the curiosity got the best of us. He turned the boat and we were off to investigate. We got closer and saw it was a whole bunch of dolphins breaching, tail slapping, belly flopping and leaping with wriggling tails. It was amazing! There was every size of dolphins from calf to full sized adults. We got closer, but the dolphins moved away and continued their shenanigans. We turned to glimpse them once again and again they dispersed. All at once, dozens of dolphins took off porpoising in lines exactly in synchronization with each other. We couldn't really say anything to capture the moment on paper (or screen) but we were both wide eyed and had huge smiles plastered on our faces.

Lately we have both been feeling much better. Being ill really took it out of us as we are still grabbing up sleep whenever possible. Its silly, but we are excited to be back eating real food and enjoying our sundowners again. We had avoided alcohol since we were in no shape to process food, let alone booze. So...cheers!

We left Isabela Sunday afternoon and are still sailing as of Wednesday evening. It only took us three days on our last trip from La Paz direct to Punta Mita. we are already on day three and have another day to go, but really, whats the rush? We adjust to the watches and enjoy sailing and since Chloe isn't scheduled to be here until Sunday...tenemos tiempo. The leisurely life of cruising is a brilliant one.

We made it to Balandras last night and it was the rolliest and most uncomfortable night yet. We got motoring by 7am just so we could stop the rolling. We have finally touched down in La Paz as of this morning. With our boat chores done and cookies made we are gearing up for a reward of Rancho Viejo. Mmm. Maybe Pizza Son tomorrow. Yum.

Isla Isabela: Love, awe, sickness, tragedy and blue footed boobies

2008-12-19T13:10:00.000-08:00

We departed Chacala around 6:30am Friday morning. After some minor difficulties of the groggy anchor wench (me) we got underway and enroute to Isabela. It was a nice journey to Isabela with meager winds, but the sunshine was much appreciated. We saw some big black dolphins that were at least 9 feet long and very robust. After snapping a few photos (that didn't seem to help much in the identification) we narrowed it down to either the Melon-headed Whale or Pygmy Killer Whale both of which are dolphins even though the word "whale" graces their names. All Blackfish are dolphins actually including Orcas and Pilot Whales. The use of the word "Whale" in their names indicates size rather than zoological affinity...or so I have read. Hey you just got your marine mammal lesson of the day! Some people pay good money for that *hint hint*. After all that excitement we noticed a dorado swimming around our boat. Normally we would try to catch said fish, but she was small and so neat to watch with her electric blue pectoral fins.

Isla Isabela, for those of you who have not heard or seen the beauty itself, let me try to explain. The trees are green speckled with black, white and red of the frigate birds. The fine white sand beach lined with nesting Boobies, hatchlings and even Marine Iguanas. The constant chatter of the birds soon become easily identifiable from frigates, boobies, gulls and the beautiful, but screechy, tropic birds. The water surrounding the island is aquamarine only changing color where the rocky or coral reefs inhabit the waters. The fish are so plentiful and colorful that it is truly amazing to watch just from the boat. At any given time of day I pop out of the companion way and am almost guaranteed to see at least one humpback. A place that even National Geographic thinks is worth seeing. My words still cant do it justice.

When we did arrive the sun was going down, a humpback was breaching in the distance and the birds were, as expected, everywhere. There were no other boats not even pangas. It was our island. We anchored off a shoal on the eastern part of the island. Earlier David had mentioned feeling a bit under the weather, but we figured it would pass after a nights sleep.

Morning came and mi pobrecito is doing worse than before. He is now running a fever (feeling cold in 85 degree weather) and has an upset tummy. I cleaned the boat and checked on my love every few minutes which I think annoyed him since he told me he needed sleep and I should go kayak. So I did. I paddled over to the closest beach for a nice and dry landing. I found my heaven on earth...again. There were hundreds maybe even thousands of birds on this sliver of a beach. My personal favorite is the display of the male blue footed booby. First he will fly to/saunter up to the female booby that tends to be bigger and have huge pupils I noticed, though otherwise identical. He will then make sure he has her attention by lifting one webbed blue foot and alternating to the other a few times. Once she is enrapt with him, he pulls out all the stops. He points his tail perpendicular to the sand, wings go out then face flat towards her and he squeals with booby joy. She then looks on as he repeats said courtship dance if she is interested. If she is not she saunters or flies away. Do not fret for the rejected boy booby, he goes up to the next female and repeats his courtship display endlessly until he his paired up to make an egg or three.

A boat had come in and anchored by us earlier and they were now coming ashore with their dinghy. We recognized the name "Calou" as a Ha-Ha boat, but we'd never met. There was two boys, two adult men and one woman. I spoke to the woman and she asked about overnight anchoring. I let her know we have anchored here many-a-time with no problems, but it can get rolly and be exposed. Our conversation was halted by one of her boys demanding she come check out the dead thing with hermit crabs all over it. Ah yes, the job of mom and dad.

I paddled back out to our boat and made sure my love was alright. Alright might not be the proper term, but he was still in one piece. After watching him sleep I decided another kayak exploration was in order. The last time we were at Isabela we were anchored at the southern shore by Bahia Tiburoneros. We had discovered the iguana house and more frigates than we knew what to do with. I decided to revisit those places, but damn I didn't know how far of a paddle it was! I paddled in and rested on the beach for a moment before stuffing my feet into shoes (blech) and heading into birdland. I was greeted by some iguanas that I think spit at me, though we quickly made amends and they posed for my camera. They seriously look like little dinosaurs!

I trotted on and made my way past the basketball/volleyball court and back to the hill that overlooks a large portion of the southern shores. I was quite happy with all of my pictures so I decided not to climb on up to the lighthouse that tops the ridge. That and it seemed dangerous doing it all on my lonesome with over three quarters of a mile to our boat and no people on the rest of the island (the other boat left soon after their beach visit and experienced quite a bit of anchor lifting difficulties). So I descended and made my way back to the beach. I decided to hike one more portion and was rewarded with the sight of a downy baby booby just getting some real feathers. I didn't want to bother the chick so I turned and made my way back to the beach. After a good bit of sweat and paddling I made it back home. Turns out that I paddled about 2 miles...no wonder I was pooped out. I made sure my love was not cooking his brain and thankfully the fever had gone down. I napped as did David for the remainder of the day. We went to official bed by 7pm that night.

Morning comes after a restless night. David was in and out of bed getting water and trying to feel better. I woke up sore from all the rocking the boat had been doing. David was standing in the companion way with the binoculars out. I stumbled out of the v-berth and mumbled a groggy good morning. "The dinghy is on the beach," was David's reply. Huh? Apparently all the wear and rocking broke the painter and the dinghy was on the beach. I figured I get to be macho woman and save the day. I hopped in my yak and landed ashore. The waves aren't big but they were forceful and coming fast with very little rest between constant sets. I landed fine and hauled the yak ashore and hauled ass to the dink. It was filled to the brim with water making it ridiculously heavy. I pulled out the paddles, seat, and spinnaker stays'l before trying to get a grip on the unwieldy bouncing boat. Two things realized: 1) I am not starting the motor and rescuing it easy-peasy as thought 2) I am not strong enough to do this on my own. Wow how is that for putting myself in check before coffee?! I did manage to get it ashore a bit with the aid of a few big waves. I got most of the water out by rocking the bow up and down, but a wave would come and fill it back up again. I looked at the drain hole thing, but I remembered hearing about a one way plug or something or other so I continued on my quest without giving it a second thought. There was no good place to anchor the boat so I tried to bury the anchor in the sand and cover it with logs. I knew it wouldn't last long. I hopped back in the kayak and paddled back to the boat. I relayed the circumstances and David asks,"Did you open the drain plug?" Gah!!! Frustrating to the effing maximum! He tried to calm me down with talk of breakfast and coffee. I told him the boat can go at any moment since it isn't really anchored. David remained calm and said he will go in with me and help. So he donned shoes over his scabby foot and got some shorts on and we got moving. The boat had refilled with water and was barely hanging on by the anchor that caught on a rocky part of the shore. We managed to get right back to where it was water wise and hey, that drain thing did work quite well. We were able to wade the dink out past the exposed rocks and breaking waves and I gave David a push and he rowed on his way. I made my way back to the kayaks, tied David's yak to my stern, waded out and paddled like the dickens. Success. We did it. Tragedy narrowly avoided. That seemed to take it out of us since the rest of the day we cat napped with occasional stirrings. A big thank you to Capricorn Cat for parting with the anchor that in turn helped save our dinghy. We put it to the test and boy did it ever pass with flying colors!

Later that afternoon I did leave the boat for one more paddle. I saw fins slicing through the water. First I thought rays, but that changed once I saw they were undulating sideways...SHARKS! There had to be at least 10 of them. So what do I do? I go take my INFLATABLE kayak out to the fins. I was curious and so were they. As soon as I neared the fins changed direction and headed towards me. I backed off but they still followed. With camera ready and adrenalin pumping I was ready to see some sharks! There were closer to 40 each two and a half feet long circling my kayak, but they weren't sharks. They were Jack Crevalles. I hate those damn deceitful jacks! Though I have to say I was slightly relieved...don't tell David though. He still thinks I was brave...dumb, but brave.

The night was calm and smooth...well, except I have taken David's sickness on and now we are both up twenty times a night doing things you don't need to know about. I assume our boat smelled as good as a dead whale. Speaking of whales, that was a great way to wake up on or last morning at Isabela. Though my brain felt shrunken and seemed to rattle in my skull I still got giddy at the sight of five humpbacks about 200 yards from the boat. I decided to paddle out closer. David declined saying that"Those are man-eating humpbacks." If that was the case I knew I'd be safe since I am all woman. The five humpbacks were moving quickly so I turned my focus to two that were closer, but they seemed too far away. Later as we were both on the boat, we saw the pod of seven or more passing by at a good clip about 50 yards from the boat. There were a few whales lingering so the total amount seen was about 11. What amazing place!

David is now feeling much better so we decided to visit the little beach. We kayaked in and walked around. David set a new standard for having our own island...naked hiking. It seems there would be a possibility of scratches and scuffs, but taken at a nice crusierly pace, everything works out just fine. We walked the beach and watched the boobies do their dance and the iguanas that were in "invisible mode" that swore we couldn't see them even though they were on white rock with orange bodies. I think it was too blissed out to care. The good life. We kayaked back after a while to escape the sun. We lazed around and discussed leaving at sunset. I wondered, "Why not now?" So we did. I wanted the chance to see wildlife in the daylight this trip.

Chacala and the feeling of empty nest syndrome

2008-12-19T12:54:00.000-08:00

We all had a lazy morning but the idea of a hike burned in our minds. We managed to pull ourselves from comfort of the boat and make it ashore. Once ashore I got halted by some beach guys. One was Pablo and the other was Bobby from Watsonville. They had a bet on my age but I refused to divulge such information with out the proper trade...beer. I got a fatty Pacifico and spread the wealth among my comrades. Bobby wanted to go hike with us so we set off leaving David at the Las Brisas palapa since he had ripped the scab off of his slowly healing stingray boo boo. Merry had done the hike last year so she led the way followed by Ann, Laura, Paul, Bobby and myself. Our first obstacle was a chain-link fence. We'd heard the property along the road had been sold, but now we knew it was fenced off as well. As we went to double back a big shirtless Mexican dude appeared. I recognized him as one of Bobby's friend from the beach. His name was Guadalupe Lopez Lopez. He said there was another trail off to the right instead. We did find the other trail to a pond of water that we had to cross. I was perfectly fine where I was since we had stumbled upon butterfly heaven. There were bunches of the mariposas all over the place. We pushed on until the trail was a bit too overgrown and we had an uneasy feeling about the situation. We rounded up the troops before Ann and Laura hiked the countryside without us. Merry, Paul and I were ready to call it quits and do the "palapa" hike back to the beach. I knew Ann and Laura really wanted to continue hiking, but they settled on turning back so they could meet Guadalupe's god.

As our crew reassembled at Las Brisas we were joined by Guadalupe. We had a great night of chatting, massages from Ann, Coronas, margaritas, lots of pictures and even more bonding. Paul graciously treated us for dinner and Guadalupe as well. It was an evening to remember.

The following morning we all lazed about the boat under the hazy, thick tropical air. Eventually we all made it into town for a last beer together before saying our goodbyes. Having all four of our amazing friends all leave at once was like having empty nest for me, the non parent. I missed them as soon as they left. David and I made our way back to the boat and it seemed strangely clean and empty. We are already finding things reminding us of our temporary companions like Merry's spanish/english dictionary, wine opener and Paul's electric toothbrush charger. That is all the physical evidence of our boatmates that we have discovered so far...that and wine that will probably still be here waiting for their return.

It is not all sad though. David and I get to go to Isla Isabela and that is a great way to get back into the way of just us.

Chacala

2008-12-10T10:31:00.000-08:00

Once we got to the tropical Chacala we all relaxed...as if we were tense! David took Ann into shore for internet time while he went to the Port Captain to check us all in. Paul and I blew up the kayaks with minor difficulties, but we got them launched and set off paddling. We had no real destination or idea of where to go until we saw a couple humpbacks. We made our way to the mouth of the anchorage and watched the flukes raise allowing the monstrously large whales to dive effortlessly. Though they were at least a half mile or more away, it was still amazing to see them from the kayaks.

Paul and I decided to surf our way in and do a beach landing. It was a pretty tame landing since we managed to hit a lull in the waves which was fine by us. We pulled our yaks up on the shore and went for a stroll. Ann came bounding out of Las Brisas to let us know that's where all her magic was happening on the computer. We agreed to meet back up on our way back down the beach. As Paul and I walked down the beach he saw someone jump off our boat and start swimming to shore. The timing was perfect as we made our way down the beach and met up with Laura swimming up to the beach. She looked like a mermaid walking out of the ocean. We all walked back to the Las Brisas together and joined Ann for a drink. One drink turned to three and soon Merry and David dinked in to join up with us.

Ann had brought her camera and we got snap happy amongst ourselves and a kind guy took some pictures of all of us together. Laura even showed her handstand abilities for the camera. Some ceviche, nachos, guac and chips were ordered and we munched until deciding to move the party back to the boat. Paul and I still had our kayaks and we decided to launch through the surf. I asked Paul "So what is the best way to launch from the beach?" and as he was answering me, "Well I would..." I coldly left him in my wake as I hopped in and got paddling. How rude of me, but We both had a successful launch. I did ask what he was going to tell me on how to launch before I so rudely left mid-answer and he filled me in. Not that either one of us are competitive, but we hauled ass back to Eupsychia. We were in a desperate race of each other (Paul won) and the dink. Not that it was a race, but we won. Once the rest of our boat family reassembled David made some burgers and we finished our dining experience. Not a bad day at all if you ask me.

Another beautiful day at sea with friends sigh its a tough life

2008-12-09T18:11:00.000-08:00

We decided to skip out on surfing and all that Punta Mita plans. The new "plan" was to go to Jaltemba for the night. After playing on the internet blogging, facebooking and all that other stuff we finally got moving. With anchors aweigh we motored on due to the lack of wind. As we were at the mouth of Banderas bay we saw some spouts. We were able to catch glimpses of three humpback whales fluking and just meandering around. It was one of the first sighting since being on the mainland. We all watched and happily pointed as they spouted in new places. That was not a bad way to start a day.

It did got overcast which Paul seemed to think was a godsend. Silly pale white boys. We managed to get enough wind to hoist the mainsail but decided to wait on the jib which was fine since we had a few pantropical spotted dolphins riding our bow. Paul, Laura and I squealed and jostled for position on the bow to watch, clap, whistle, cheer them on and of course, to take pictures!!! One of the dolphins was very spotted and it did a fancy corkscrew as the grand finale before departing.

How do you make the wind die? Raise the sails. We did manage to get the jib up though the wind died soon after. So we got motoring and made it to Jaltemba by sunset. We dropped bow and stern anchors and got to the evening cocktails. Ann made a delicious vegetarian dinner and it was amazing! This coming from me, the meatasaurus, anti-veggie girl. Very impressive. Ann taught Laura and myself to play dominoes and I taught them to play Bananagrams. We soon worked out the sleeping arrangements and nestled in for the night. I love having a boat full of people more than I'd expected. Don't get me wrong I love just me and David, but its kind of like a college dorm room now with so many different personalities and views on life. It has been nothing but a blast and I suspect it will continue to be great.

Pals and Potlucks

2008-12-08T09:29:00.001-08:00

We all attended the Chili cook off on the sixth. After some "planning" of a potluck at Richard and Dona's we all decided to hop on our boats and go to Punta Mita and drop a hook. Ann, Paul, David and myself all went on Eupsychia while Laura and Merry joined Endless Summer with Steve and Wayne.

We all made some various yummy things to eat last night. We chatted with people and ate some damn good food. The view from the condo was spectacular, though I think we all favor the boat. We did go swimming in fresh water! That was a nice treat. We found out that Merry wears the same size bathing suit as me. To most people that doesn't matter, but that means that Cherie, Merry and myself "are the same size"! Ah yes good times.

I caught a baby gecko while in the process of changing clothes with Merry. No pants on, but I had a gecko! We let it go and got dressed proper before heading to the Blue Water Grill for a nightcap. Mark had closed up, but let us in for a free drink, some T-shirts and talk of surfing tomorrow (today).

We all headed back to our boat with our "crew" to sleep. It is a lot of fun having so many people on board even though it is a small boat. I think we are managing alright. Maui seems to love the extra people to pet her and feed her.

We are probably off to Chacala today after I finish this and the whole crew assembles. Good times in sunny Mexico.

Hooray for us! Our friends have arrived!

2008-12-08T09:01:00.000-08:00

Well, technically they have been here for a while, but since the Blast they have been on other peoples boats. Ann had joined up with Sea Level for the Blast after doing some legs with Glenn of Beach Access. Paul joined up with Profligate, Laura went with Monty as previously said and Merry was on Cap Cat. But NOW we have Ann, Paul, Merry, Laura, David and myself all piled on Eupsychia for a while.

The final leg of the Blast

2008-12-08T08:43:00.000-08:00

We left from Punta Mita enroute to the Paradise Marina breakwater. It was a fluky bit of winds for a while, but we managed to fly the huge chute on Capricorn Cat with the four of us that were on board. Previously we'd had Wayne, Carol, Laura, Merry, Monty, Laura, David and myself all onboard and working. Monty stole Laura and took his boat "Heavenly Star" and Carol flew home :( So we went from 8 people down to 4 people. It was still a great run though. The wind did pick up enough that we played cat and mouse with a few boats before crossing the finish line.

After the race we went to Sea Level for a drink and then headed into Paradise to the Vallarta YC to do Commodore things...meaning not much. We caught a cab back to La Cruz and ate some Los Amigos tacos before calling it a night.

Punta Mita, the Blue Water Grill and a night on the hook

2008-12-06T11:14:00.000-08:00

The next race started from La Cruz and was headed back to Punta Mita. We had yet another great day of sailing surprise, surprise. We ended up dropping the hook and heading ashore to Margarita's restaurant. We had a few drinks and met some cool people like Hawaiian Al, Wayne and Lisa, Luis and Randy of Cirque and Commodore John from the Vallarta YC.

We were told that the Blue Water Grill had great food at an affordable price so we decided to move on to the next joint. We met Mark, the owner of Blue Water Grill and got some drinks ordered. Mark is an excellent guy, he surfs and offered up any of his boards anytime to us and he has a ranch with horses! We had great food, good drinks and met even more people. Unfortunately I cant post any pictures since Richard took my memory card. I should get it back soon, but no promises.

Ah yes, days later I can finally update the blog with a few pictures since I got my card back!

Surfing, sailing and water balloons

2008-12-06T10:56:00.000-08:00

The morning after the party we gals (Laura, Merry and myself) were taken surfing by Rico. It was a lot of fun for me since that was my second try ever but my first time trying to actually stand up. Yay, I did get up each time I tried though it wasn't for all that long. Ann swam out to the waves and I swapped spots for a rest on the dink. It was difficult to take pictures in the dink with the swells that were running, but I managed to get a few of the girls. Wow that was the most excellent way to start the day.

After some surfing we got on board Capricorn Cat for a "race" from Punta Mita to La Cruz. It was a nice leg that ended at the La Cruz marina. We took the party up to the Sky Bar and began with the water balloon toss. We tossed the balloons down from the Sky Bar to the ground floor. It was a hoot! People were trying to catch them down pants, shirts and other creative things. Rico and I judged with points and got to eliminating people down to the winners of a Philo's pizza.

We all stopped off at Los Amigos for some yummy tacos before heading to Philo's bar for some dancing and pizza. It was so nice to see all of our old friends again. We are having so much fun here!

I'm the new Commodore of Punta Mita Yacht and Surf Club!

2008-12-06T10:42:00.000-08:00

To kick off the fun cruising "racing" event the Banderas Bay Bash, we had a party on club Profligate. I got to hand out paddlings with a Laird Hamilton all carbon surfing paddle. We had burnt cork mustaches given by ex-commodore Eugenie. There was goofy dancing, drinking of kool-aid and mingling. We had a great time partying. The girls dog piled "innocent" and unsuspecting people and caused the general mayhem that we are so good at. Wow my club is awesome!

After letting Rico get some sleep, we all went back to Cap Cat for a night swim. The water was warm and glowing with bioluminescence. That was my first night swim and it was marvelous!

Hallucinations? Oh yeah we got 'em!

2008-12-01T09:02:00.000-08:00

After going on two hour shifts for our crossing to Banderas Bay things start to happen. David was doing a watch and saw a face come out of the water and sink back in...it was Michael Jackson (or "Mikaael" for his new religion or whatever). Later when he told me about it he said the face had a beard. I paused and pondered trying to remember a time when MJ EVER had facial hair and drew a blank. I pointed it out to David and he agreed, but said it just was *presented* as Michael Jackson. Later as we were out together on a watch towards sunset I saw a big orange unicycle on the water. Not a "real" unicycle, like orange water dyed in the shape of one laying on its side. It dissipated and turned to streaks of orange though David saw none of it. Man, sleep deprivation can be neat sometimes. Single handers amaze me to do 24/7 watches until too tired to cope and they sometimes tell tales of a man that comes to them and says he will take the helm and for the Captain go to bed. Once they awaken they look and find no man, but managed to get much needed sleep and survive in a risky situation. The people that have had such an experience say "You have to go with it" like, your body and mind are saying everything will be ok just sleep for a while. Strange things from the mind.

No Jive Turkey's here!!!

2008-12-01T08:54:00.000-08:00

We joined the raft up party of Patsy with Katie aboard Talion, John/Juan his two sons Hans and Eric, a dog named Red and three ferrets named Fat Bob, Speedbump and Weasel and finally, Pete/Pedro the Carpenter and his boat. Pedro's son showed up as well, but I seemed to have forgotten his name at the moment. Pedro and Juan are brothers and their dad David was there as well. Soon more cruisers showed up: Eros, Forte and Timeless. As you can guess it was a pretty smashing potluck. David made some of his famous bread that was gone not soon after being set down. We had a great time meeting such cool people as the attendees of the T-Day gathering. There was "weasel handling", joke time, food and of course beer. It was all in all a great way to spend Thanksgiving. We took lots of pictures, though they may not catch the atmosphere you see everyone is always smiling and not just a cheesy camera smile. Real smiles. That is something to be thankful for.

Who's are these?

2008-11-26T16:22:00.000-08:00

We walked down the beach here at Ensenada Grande and were intrigued to have found some wee little paw prints. They dont look like dog, cat or chipmunk prints so we are puzzled. I wonder...

Too big-a bite?

2008-11-26T16:18:00.000-08:00

As we kayaked around we saw something awesome. A Great Blue heron was on the rocks abeam from the boat. We paddled toward it and it flew in front of us a bit, landed and jabbed its big pointy beak into the water. When we got closer we saw that it had seriously wounded a fish, but the fish was too far out for it to reach. After a few failed attempts at grabbing it the heron watched us come closer, but it did not want to leave its meal. We used the paddles to push the fish closer to the bird and we backed off. The heron quickly jumped in and grabbed the fish. The fish was meal sized. I say 3 lbs, but David thinks smaller. Either way it was too heavy for the bird to fly with so we stuck around to watch. "He cant eat that whole. He's got to break it into pieces," Says David. I say, "It's going down in one bite." So we watch. The fish squirms and the heron drops it and plunges its beak through the whole fish! It stabs the fish a few times until it doesn't squirm any more. We watch intently as the heron lines up the fish and eats the whole thing in one bite! It took a minute or two to get it all the way down where we could see the fish stuck in its neck slowly working its way down. It was amazing! Check out the picture and keep in mind that the heron is about 4 feet tall. The fish doesn't look small to the size of the bird!

2008-11-26T16:03:00.000-08:00

The following morning we decided to go back to the beach and hike on the trail a bit more. We worked our way through the path weaving between cactus, scrubby brush and the occasional bush festooned with gigant-o wasps. We were rewarded many times for our efforts. First we came upon a couple chipmunks, but they scurried under a low bush. We have found that they are set at ease rather quickly. If we stand still long enough they come back out and resume going about their business of being cute furry little things. I watched one female come out of the bush and hop on a rock facing me about 7 feet away. She watched me and must have decided I wasn't a threat because she went on to do the cutest thing. She went under an overhanging bush limb, dug for a second with fore paws then shoved her face into the dirt, pushed forward with her snout until she was laying in a small ditch stretched out on her stomach and pretty vulnerable. We didn't know if its a mating thing, a way to cool down or a "look how cute I am" display. Either way it was pretty funny. Meanwhile some little birds were chirping and fluttering around so I decided I would quietly make my way over to them. It was a damn good thing that I was looking where I was going because nestled between two rocks less than three feet away was a rattlesnake. Though it couldn't have been more than two feet long, I know the last thing we want is a bite from one. David came over with his walking stick and stretched the snake out a bit which was cool until it doubled back and came towards us. With David's guidance (or poking it with a stick) it moved to the shade under a large shrub. That got my adrenaline going!

We doubled back towards the mangroves since we saw some little birds in the trees. David watched a warbler while I snapped some photos of the Black-throated sparrows. Once I headed over to investigate the bird David was watching I found another surprise...another snake. This one was in the tree on a branch looking ready for any food to come its way. I am not too familiar with types of snakes, but David says it looked like a Garter snake. I still wasn't going to stick my fingers anywhere near it though. We left the snake to do its thing and went back towards the lagoon and found some fiddler crabs to bother.

We are in our happy place or Ensenada Grande

2008-11-26T15:56:00.000-08:00

We hustled out of La Paz after realizing that the internet was down and had no eta for being brought back to life. We set out to the islands not sure exactly where we would call it in. It was an overcast day, which was nice for a while, but the sun craving in me wasn't satisfied. The wind was pretty much non-existant so we motored on. David made some phone calls as La Paz faded into the distance and managed to smack his foot wound on the auto pilot. Ouch. We thought we saw Sea Siren just outside Caleta Partida, but after a closer inspection we found it to be a New Zealand boat instead. We motored on and decided to set the hook in Ensenada Grande. There was already a crowd of sailboats most of which were Ha-Ha boats. The sunset painted the clouds reds, oranges and pinks making it one of the best yet. We played the night away drawing, watching Planet Earth and some No Reservations during a fettucinni alfredo dinner. We talked about going ashore before sun up for a jog (haha) and maybe a look around the beach.

We did wake up before the sun was on the bay and got to the beach before coffee and breakfast. There was a little lagoon that had a couple egrets dancing around trying to catch the quick little fish. The lagoon is surrounded by mangroves and I have learned where there are mangroves there are birds! We hiked on a trail for a ways back before coming across a cactus that I thought was the coolest thing. It was about four feet high and the spikes on the top were red with white tips. Lower on the cactus the spikes were yellow and black. I thought it was pretty cool, but I am a nerd. We turned back since the terrain started to get a little too much for David in flip flops with a bum foot. Back on the beach with enough poking and proding mixed with taunting, David got me to do my jog by running with me. After a morning workout we went back to the boat to wake up proper with coffee and food.

Around noon I blew up the kayaks and we took a paddle to the same beach we had been to earlier. I wanted, no...I NEEDED a picture of the cool cactus and whatever else decided to show up. As we walked along we were startled to see a furry little thing dart away from us and it was a chimpunk! Too damn cute. We didn't know they inhabited the islands out here. We found three different types of lizards, bright blue and yellow morning glories, more chipmunks, a couple little chirpy warbler sized birds and tons of dragonflies. I stood still hoping the birds would get closer and it worked. I took a few pictures and we were able to identify them. The one with a gray body, yellow hood and red spot on it's shoulder is a Verdin. The other little gray one is a Blue-gray gnatcatcher. I like to know that kinda poop and maybe you do too.

After the hike we paddled back to the boat to escape the sun. Unfortunately our shade has the magical ability to do very little shading. Once again David's genius was showing...he found a small and old spinnaker and rigged it so it shaded us. Imagine a boat with a spinnaker up...now, Imagine that boat flying its spinnaker from the stern and thats what it looked like. We found our anchor was set firm and it worked for shade and bringing lots of wind to the cockpit. Of course the wind did pick up and it got a bit gusty so David dropped the chute and "suffered" through the heat of the persistant sun.

The rest of today has been pretty lazy really. We are preparing for dinner and on tonights menu: cheeseburgers with salad. The cat cries for food, my love tends to his nasty, scaly, no-longer-covered-by-a-blister scabby foot and I do the pre-blogging fun. We both have picked up books, but havent gotten too far yet as the scenery is distractingly beautiful. Ah, the pains of island life.

Enjoying the City of Peace

2008-11-26T15:54:00.000-08:00

We got up early and listened to the "conspiracy net" (Obama was really born in Kenya, USA is at cyber war with China and someday there may be Ameruo as currency) before getting ready to go ashore for propane. It turned out we didn't need any propane, but we did still need to provision for our trip out to the islands. On our way back out to the dink with our groceries we ran into Jennifer and EriK from Ekotopia. We threw out our plans for dinner at Rancho Viejo and would be glad to have more company. It was agreed to go out after sundown for food, drinks and friends.

After some napping, relaxing, playing on the internet and cutting the blistered skin off David's heel we rallied and headed over to invite Patsy (Talion) to join up with us which she said she gladly would. We continued on our way in and knocked on the hull of the Jolly Roger and found out that Don was already at Rancho Viejo. We were on our way when we came across Jennifer and Erik in their car. We gladly hopped in and caught a ride to dinner. The four of us chatted and exchanged stories from traveling south to hacking through tough ribeye. Patsy and Don joined us soon after and the food got ordered. Eventually Patsy's new crew showed up and joined the growing party. It was a nice time to chat and eat in the warm night air. After dinner we decided to visit the polka dot tree which marks a favored cruisers ice cream parlor. While we were there there were a couple of young people were walking around with signs for "Abrazos Gratis" or "Free Hugs". We gladly took them up on the hugs and started our own free hugs within our little group. It was a great night with great people.

Happiness is forgetting to put your pants on or How David achieved Cruisers Nirvana

2008-11-21T07:30:00.000-08:00

We got up by sun up and got the boat all ready to get moving. We tied the kayaks down to the lifelines, hoisted the sails and sailed off the anchor. Well, the wind did die a few seconds later so we started to motor sail. We waved good bye to all of our new friends and were on our way to Balandras.

We putted along looking into anchorages we passed by so we might find our amigos on Sea Siren, but no dice. David noticed a little lagoon behind one of the anchorages so we decided to stop for lunch and check it out. We ate and got the yaks in the water. As we loaded up the water, shoes and camera David untied his kayak and I asked, "What about your pants?" That my friends, is cruiser nirvana...not needing you pants enough so eventually they are forgotten.

Yes we paddled on and had to climb over dried coral with yaks slung on our shoulder all done with David bare assed. I managed to kill my flip flop so I had to launch in a different spot to avoid walking on the glass like coral. In the lagoon there were tons of herons, egrets, frigates, pelicans and even a couple ospreys. It was a pretty nasty (water wise) lagoon, but the bird life was still amazing. We paddled for an hour or so before trying to find an alternate route to the boat that hopefully had less coral to walk over. Success. We hobbled our way over the rocks me with one shoe and David with no shorts. He tossed me his flip flop so I could go over the one coral spot and I tossed it back before launching. Its always an adventure.

We sailed on once again. We arrived at Balandras and were greeted with 15 boats already anchored. We decided it was too crowded so we checked out Bahias Lobos and Falsa before just going on to La Paz.

We dropped the hook, got the computers up and running and got blogging. David inflated the dink and we went inshore for a yummy HOT pizza at Pizza Son.

Bocci! and all things fun

2008-11-20T16:56:00.000-08:00

We slept in till seven or so before getting a move on. David got to cleaning the lifelines and all things stainless. I finished reading Cannery Row, which to my surprise was pretty good. After a dip in the "pool" we launched the kayaks and paddled around. First we stopped at a cave that appeared to be small from a distance, but once approached it was quite sizeable. We could paddle into it and maneuver around. Neato. We continued along the smoothed pink rocks to the next anchorage area and saw a nice sandy white beach. We landed the kayaks and walked the shoreline. Some people playing what seemed to be an overhand version of bocci ball said hello. We chatted and soon disrupted the game meeting Emily and Josh from Ursa Major (a badass powerboat with a laser 2 aboard) and Shawn and Heather from Om Shanti...the book people. After chatting we soon found out the drunkeness of the group. Wow, we had some serious catching up to do. We mingled and gladly joined the next game of bocci. Amidst the ball tossing we visited the fiddler crabs. They are too cool! The males have one big claw and it is ridiculously large for their small size. I found a pet "Mr. Krabs" and held him while we played. Though I did let him go after a couple tosses of my ball. After winning (Josh and I were on a team) we called it quits temporarily. We were to rendezvous at Ursa Major for steaks and cocktails if there were any survivors from the rum coma. We paddled back to our boat, maybe the slowest to get to the boat, but we had the most fun. We rammed each other and all sorts of other deviant things to try and stall eachother.

Once safely back aboard Eupsychia, David made bread and we cleaned ourselves up a bit. By sunset we paddled over to Ursa Major to find a sleepy Josh and non-existant Emily. She was too pooped to party so we kept it down and got to the steaks fast. Soon we heard the approaching of a dink and to our surprise it was Shawn. He joined us and Emily soon rallied. It was quite a nice night over steak and cocktails.

With a day of sun, fun and full bellies it is time to lay down for sleep. We should be headed to Balandras tomorrow aka just north of La Paz. We will see! Nighty night!

Breakfast of Champions and Ensenada Grande

2008-11-20T16:39:00.000-08:00

We decided to skip dinner last night in exchange for a "healthy" sized breakfast. David fried up some potatoes with cilantro and I made the eggs and toast. A good team breakfast. After much debating i.e. H:"Do you wanna hike or go whale watching?" D:"I dunno, whatever you wanna do." H:" I asked you first." D:"Uh, I dunno. What about you?" We decided on the least taxing after a big meal, whale watching. We reversed roles with David hoisting sails and me at the helm. We sailed off the anchor and out of the anchorage. We had a nice calm sail for a couple hours with no luck. Finally we did see some spouting, but they managed to disappear before we caught up to them. No problem. We continued on our sail to Los Islotes and then back towards Partida. David relieved auto pilot of the helm and took us into Ensenada Grande. The last time we were here it was absolutely breathtaking, but I was a little unsure this time. I mean the last time we were here we got mobbed by bees and I got stung by a jellyfish...not very inviting. This time was different. We were welcomed with big loving arms made from white sand beaches and clear water. We sailed onto a good spot and dropped the hook. Another free sail. I looked around and recognized a boat here as "Om Shanti" which is the boat of Shawn Breeding and Heather Bansmer who wrote the new and popular "Sea of Cortez A Cruiser's Guidebook". Which I thought was cool since we bought their book this year and have been using it all the time.

After all the tiding of the decks, sails and all that good stuff we got the kayaks in the water. Stocked with a couple beers, flip flops, water, sunscreen and a towel we hit the little rocky beach. We could have gone to the white sandy beaches, but we like shade and the little rocky beach had just that...SHADE! We had a lay down in the sand and David learned an important rule: Never siesta on the beach with your mouth open! Once we'd had enough shade we paddled around and some more. We did come home shortly after to escape the sun and heat. David, the genuis he is, decided to put up the sunshade. After all that work it gave us 0% shade. So David went ghetto and clipped a bunch of towels up, but it did the trick. It is in the mid eighties and should be cooling down soon, but right now things are as perfect as can be. I think I hear a pillow calling my name for an afternoon nap.

Ever been licked by a moth?

2008-11-20T16:37:00.001-08:00

I have.

Bullseye!

2008-11-20T16:26:00.000-08:00

We got up early (thank you cat) and observed our serene, picturesque surroundings. The water was so still, not even a ripple on the surface. I grabbed my camera and started trying to take pictures of the rays that chill on the sandy bottom. There is a very cool looking ray that I named Bullseye beacause as you can guess it has a large bullseye like mark on its top side. Yes there are more than one, but they are all Bullseye. Why do I name them you may ask. Its easier to ask, "See Bullseye?" then to ask, "Do you see the ray with that bullseye marking on it around?" That is my reason, that and I like to name things. It entertains me. Anyways, we found Bullseye and a few others and snapped off some pictures. While I was taking a picture of Bullseye I watched it shimmy for two seconds and a cloud of sand surrounded the area and when it settled Bullseye was gone. I know they bury themselves, but it was so quick and I couldn't even see the bullseye itself. Jeez, no wonder David stepped on one! Quick and effective cover in seconds.

It is a little before 10am and my love is making bread. Yessss! We already have a fan on since its in the mid-eighties already. Not a bad way to start the day. I think we may yak over to a part of shore and hike a hillside for a bit. I am on the prowl for birds, lizards and snakes or whatever else we can find. We need to make sure our legs don't atrophy this cruising season so a hike will do us good as long as its before the peak heat of the day. We'd better get moving! We did not go hiking...too hot. I hopped in a kayak and paddled over to the bird island to take another couple hundred photos of terns, seagulls, American oyster catchers, whimbrels and an egret. I was probably gone 45 minutes or so before paddling back home. Later on after the bread was made and half devoured we kayaked to the north part of the anchorage. It was great to see so much more bird life. We saw an osprey dive a few times before coming up successful with a fish in its talons. There were little sanderlings, godwits, great blue herons and a snowy egret all meandering on the packed tidal sands. We watched a few more boats anchor and we paddled back to our quiet little spot.

Like moths to a flame

2008-11-20T16:18:00.000-08:00

We got moving before 7:30am and got to the important things like the coffee, assembling the sunshade and hanging up the laundry. It was so cool to look off the side of the boat down to completely undisturbed, clear pool like (color and temperature) water and see all the different types of rays swimming along the bottom, the fish swimming over the rays and the teeny tiny tadpole like fish right by our hull. After all the morning hustle and bustle I inflated the kayaks so we could have a look around places too shallow for the dink. We paddled around for an hour and a half exploring. My favorite thing to do was paddle up to the reef towards the beach and drift while taking pictures of the Elegant Terns. They weren't frightened or annoyed on the contrary they were yawning and preening their feathers. David patiently waited for me to exhaust myself before we paddled through the little canal that opened up to the other side of the island. We turned back with the wind shift and made for the mother ship. We managed to paddle with the wind no matter the direction that we went which is always a good thing. Back to the boat for lunch and a nap to escape the noon time sun.

Another something that has nothing to do with anything previously mentioned: Anchoring in the masses. David and I are anchored in the South East part of the anchorage. At the moment there are 12 boats all in the Northern part of the anchorage. A big reason might be because the Charlie's Chart guide recommends anchoring there. Well, over on the south side we get the sunset and protection from the night time coroumels. David jokingly said,"Turn on the radio. They must be warning other boats not to anchor by the boat with naked people in the southern part of the anchorage." Hey maybe that is what does it. Would you park your car by a guy naked in his own ride? Probably not. I am entertained at the mob mentality of anchoring though. David and I were thinking of doing our own little study by going to an empty anchorage and finding a crappy place to anchor and wait and count the boats that would come and anchor around us. It would happen. Like moths to a flame.

Its 4:40pm and Maui is insisting that it is kitty feeding time though I know different. I keep trying to get her to read the clock right but no such luck. David is plopped down with a book to read and I will follow suit in a few minutes too. I guess that is all the updates for now, oh David's foot is still doing well. Still a nasty bubbly blister of clear fluid, but good otherwise. Time to finish another book and maybe feed the cat a couple minutes early so we can have some peace and quiet again.

Later on we had dinner. I tried my hand at tacos with ground beef, onions, jalapeños, lettuce, tomatoes, refried black beans and hand made masa tortillas. Success! David said it was the best taco he ever had. I would lke to think its true. After food and an episode of "Anthony Bourdain No Reservaions" we crawled into bed. We saw a bat fluttering around which was awesome because some of you may remember me telling you about Tyler, if not here's the story. We picked up a bat along the way down south last year. We heard his constant chattering every night no matter if we were out 100 miles at sea or bobbing in an anchorage. We never, not once, saw him even though he stayed with for about 5 months. He finally left us at Caleta de Campos where we heard many bats and saw some excellent caves to make a better home than a boat. I have to say I missed his annoyingly high pitched squeaks and when other bats came around later on we could tell by the pitch that is wasn't our Tyler. Tyler got his name from a dream I had when I matter of factly told someone that his name was Tyler. That is the story of Tyler, not all that exciting, but we were excited to finally see a bat this year after not seeing our own pet bat of 5 months last year.

As we were in bed we looked at the time, 8:30pm. Seriously? That is before cruiser midnight! We are so used to dining, digesting and going to bed that the time never occurred to us. No matter, we snuggled up and slept like logs through the night.