We left Zihuatanejo in the wee hours of the morning. Even though we stayed longer than we wanted it was really hard to leave. Debbie and I both would like to come back.
We are now heading North. Of all directions, towards home. Outside of our first stop over we ran into another fishing line. (called long lines which are about 5 miles long each). I was kind of irked that this was a FLOATING line right on the surface. Soon as we saw the line we tried to make an abrupt stop but we had no chance. We rode ride over it and immediately got snagged. While I was looking at the line a bunch of fisherman raced up in their panga. They didn't say too much but just cut the line which I was pulling up with the boat pole.@ They didn't exactly apologize for using a stupid floating line like that so I didn't bother apologizing either.
Once they took off I did my off shore diver routine (8 miles off shore) and cut the remaining line off the prop so we could continue on.
We stayed the night in a place called Caleta de Campos. If you dont like anchoring in 4-6 ft. ocean swell you can take a pass on this place. I have some great video of the boats riding up and down in the swell.
18 04' N 102 45' W
Dave & Debbie...
Wednesday we spent in a place called Muruata.(18 15' N, 103 20'W). It feels good to be back on the move again.
We saw well over 75 sea turtles today, plus some whales. Caught one bonito but no dorado.
Had a short choppy swell but otherwise no wind or weather to speak of. Once we rounded Cabeza Negra the seas went flat just like at the lake.
We pulled in late to a bay directly north of Manzanillo called Bahia Santiago. What a beautuful little bay and about the best dang anchorage yet since we entered mexico. It's calm, well protected, lots of clear water and oh yes, it's calm and well protected, forget that 3-4 ft swell crap at anchor. We will sleep good tonight !
Dave & Debbie...
Wow. it was So NICE to sleep in this morning. You would have thought the boat was at a dock. It was mirror smooth in the anchorage, alot like our favorite spots in the northwest.
When we pulled in the bay it was a pleasant surprise to see Rich and Jan from Slip Away and Mai and crew from Dolch Evita. We all met up in the morning as we had an offer from 'Victor' (a local beach cantina owner) to take us in his truck to a remote (and deserted) beach. So 9 of us along with his 3 year old daughter Christina piled into his old pickup and went into the country side. On the way we of course filled up his truck with gas (so we could get there) and also got to stop at his home (to pick fruit off his trees). Let me tell you Debbie and I now have a new definition for Dirt Poor. This guy Victor was so generious but didnt have squat. They had a one room cement house with a thatch roof (that he was proud of as it didnt leak). The kitchen was outside next to the outhouse and shower (as they share the same -stagnate- tank of water). In the back there were some bananna plants, some other fruit trees and chickens amoungst the garbage. Mai bought some 'free range' chickens from him as she likes their taste.
Seeing the way they live was the best part of the day (sorry, it would have been uncomfortable to take pictures). Let me tell you though it was an eye opener. We really enjoyed the beach the rest of the day, went for a long 3-4 mile walk and also swam in the surf to cool off.
Before we left the US we had stocked up on little tshirts, crayons and note pads so Debbie is now making a little 'gift' package for them now. Maybe we'll get a picture of them then.@ We're here for a few more days. We're soaking up the ambiance of Manzanillo and Santiago and of course sleeping in a boat on an even keel.(yea!)@ Bruce and Bobbie from Music just came into the bay heading North too.
Dave & Debbie...
We've throughly enjoyed little Santiago Bay and Manzanillo. We went diving on a wreck near by and had the best snorkeling ever, there were so many incredible fish.
Over the week we've been joined by Music, Jambo and then Maggie Drum in the anchorage. We are now looking for better weather before heading north to Tennicatita. California is getting hit by a gale and we are feeling some of the remnants down here.
We will most likely move on by Thursday after completing some boat projects. We will stay in Tennicatita for a few days, then Chemela and ultimately PV by March 8th or 9th.
Dave & Debbie...
Dave and Debbie asked us to send a note to let you know all is well. They are presently in Chamela waiting for weather to clear around Cabo Corrientes and expect to be in Puerto Vallarta late next week.
Jan & Rich
s.v. Slip Away
> Is the mexican food you are finding down there, anything like the
mexican food we find in resturants up here?
> Do they serve chips and salsa?
> Tacos? enchaladas, etc?
The mexican food we're finding is 'kind' of like what you see in the states but a bit different. It's all hot of course but a bit 'simple' is the best way to describe it. It's cheaper. which is nice. (5 to 8 bucks for Fajitas; which are always good and always 'safe'). Some restaurants do serve chips and salsa (or picadoguiol which is chopped up onions and tomatos.)
The best win is the stuff you buy in the store or in the local markets (mercado). The fruit is absolutely wonderful. Big huge sweet pinapples for $2. Of course the Bimbo bread lasts forever and tastes the same everywhere.
The part Debbie doesn't like are the big meat stands. They just seem to hang the beef, pigs and chickens about everywhere and expect you to pick it right off the rack so to speak etc. (it's pretty close to 'being on the hoof') (she doesn't like that). The eggs you buy are not refrigerated but last longer that way believe it or not.
Dave...
We left Santiago a bit early as there is a report of some ugly weather coming our way. We pulled into Tenacatita again this afternoon to see a whole bunch of boats hanging out. I suspect there is a social vortex here too. ha ! Tenacatita even has an unofficial 'mayor'. He presides over the 'mayors night out' on Fridays which is the dinghy raft up or bocce ball on the beach. Then of course there is the 'womens afternoon swim team', and the domino tournaments at the palapa. The morning VHF net today was over a half hour. (!)
I got several boat projects done the past few days. I will not admit to working on the dinghy again, however we don't leave it too pumped up on the hot sand anymore. We found out it's possible to blow out any marginal (and large) patches you have. (ahem) Our poor dinghy. I still have to fix the dinghy wheel where water can sometimes get inside the hull.
On the way to Tenacatita we didn't catch any fish but I did catch a brown footed boobie bird. (the blue footed ones are a bit more rare but just as stupid) He took a liking to our fishing lure and got caught up in it. I reeled him in with the fishing pole and was able to free him with no complications. He seemed ok with his near drowning. Debbie has a picture of me holding him on the swim step before I let him go. He had a large 3 ft wingspan but was very quiet while I untangled him (but I wasn't about to let go of his beak).
I'm convinced that sleeping in a hammock takes training, expertise and above all experience. When you first try it you get yourself all ready. You get your book, your cervesa or margarita, then your VHF radio and your binoculars, sometimes your hat and of course don't forget the sunglasses. When you remember all that you realize you've been up and down more than you've been in it. Next time, training and experience will tell you to get all that crap before you settle in.
Now that you've done this, inevitably you're so excited about the primo spot you've got you won't be able to sleep for quite some time. It will take awhile to sort that out and relax but experience also helps there.
When you close your eyes that's when it all gets better. The excitement ends as you get to swing back and forth in the hammock along with the boat riding in the ocean swell. Off in the distance you might hear a boat or two driving across the bay along with the surf crashing in the background. That's when you can tune the rest of the world out and just enjoy the moment of being here.
We are due to be in Puerto Vallarta on March 8th. Since Debbie's mom and dad are not coming down to visit now we may adjust our plans a bit but don't know yet.
We've been a bit delayed due to weather coming out of the North. Big ugly swell along with winds in the 20 to 30 knot range. We've been pampered enough this season and it's now time to start paying more attention it looks like. We're glad we have the SSB radio and can at least pick up Don on Summer Passage in Oxnard California. (he does daily weather for down here).
Dave and Debbie...
We've made it north as far as Chemela but are now all hunkered down due to bad weather. Apparently there is a huge low near Panama that is drawing lots of air straight down the coast which is causing high winds. It looks like we'll be here for awhile too.
I sent out a short email via slip away's SSB radio to let everyone know we're ok but not going anywhere soon. We will most likely miss our reservation in paradise village (PV)
Yesterday the winds piped up quite a bit. 3 boats trying to go north turned around. One boat lost their dinghy, another one broke some rigging and encountered engine problems. We all listened to their problems on the VHF radio that night until they got back in ok. Then today, the afternoon winds picked up early and came straight into the anchorage causing big swells and white caps. Vamoose dragged anchor and nearly went on the beach until they finally got the engine started just as they got into the surf line. Talk about close. I could see sand coming out of their engine exhaust as they went by us to re-anchor. As it was Debbie and I had just returned from the beach through some ugly surf. The only way we got off the beach was doing it 'commando style' where we just lay on the tubes, hanging on, while I give the engine all she's got to make it out before the next breaker. We've learned it takes too darn long to actually get into the dinghy so we just don't. (I think we're getting good at these beach launchings).
The big waves made it hard to get the dinghy back on board the mother ship and we snapped one of the lifting harnesses (which I repaired). In the middle of all this we let out over 240 feet of chain so were ok. No one else dragged anchor.
It was a long day but the wind finally clocked around to make the anchorage more protected about 6 hours later. Rock and Roll will always have a new meaning for us.
Dave and Debbie...
So here we sit in Chemela. You make the call. There is a slight weather window in the middle of the night where the wind is expected to die down to 15 knots on the nose for a period of time. That window however is going to close by morning with winds in the 20 to 30 knot range for at least 5 to 6 more days. The longer we sit in Chemela we will continue to chew up any reserve we have left in our fuel. Our options are getting reduced to a) heading South back to Barra de Navidad in order to get fuel, but we run the risk of running into more late season weather, b) going north around Cabo Corrientes knowing we're going to get beat up or c) continue to hunker down here at least for another week and possibly using jerry jugs to transfer fuel from town over to us. So today Debbie and I are in a bit of a quandary.
The entire fleet of boats within Chemela has agonized all day about what to do. It is the number one topic of discussion. As always the decision to go rests with each individual boat but doesn't make it any easier. For us, I know, we made the decision over and over again at least 15 different times. It keeps changing the more we talk about it.
The final decision for us didn't get made until late Sunday evening. We are going to go. Even though we don't like over night passages the strategy is to leave at 9 PM, for a rounding of Cabo Corrientes between 6 and 7 am before the winds get to build again.
You know those short stories that start with 'it was a dark and stormy night'? Well that would about sum it all up for us. For the first few hours it was pretty darn lumpy and windy as we continued to bash into the waves. Every once in awhile a huge wave would hit us where the entire bow would rear up and than crash down into the trough behind it. It was so dark out you couldn't see them coming so they always hit with a surprise, which was a good thing. We might as well have been driving along in space. There was nothing outside our windows except black.
There were 8 boats that left in a staggered fashion out of Chemela with us. Big John from Rod Lee decided to perform hourly radio checks on everyone throughout the night which actually helped quite a bit. Every hour John would entertain us waking everyone up. By 4 am he was getting pretty goofy and you could tell he was getting tired. We had to keep reminding him what he was talking about and who he was talking to next.
About 20 miles south of the punta the waves started to lay down for us so I even got some sleep. By this time we had passed all of the sail boats and were now riding 'point'. At each hourly radio check we would tell the others behind us what we were experiencing and what they could expect up ahead.
Rounding the point went ok for us. We didn't see any dragons but that was probably because it was so dark outside. By the time we pulled into Paradise Village the water was a mill pond and felt like we were on lake Coeur d'Alene again. First up on the agenda is LONG hot showers for everyone and a trip to McDonalds for some French Fries, then maybe some ice cream.
Dave and Debbie....
On the first leg of our adventure down the west coast we had a pretty tough time. Not everyone remembers Grays Harbor, The Columbia river bar or Cape Mendocino. I assure you those names are etched into our memories though.
In Santa Barbara and before we left the United States (back in October) Debbie and I discussed our options. Going South was the easy part. Heading North and getting back to the Pacific Northwest is supposed to be a bit harder as you have to bash into the northerly winds and waves the whole way.
As part of the adventure then Debbie and I have decided on an alternative to driving the boat the 3500 miles north along the west coast. That option is to have the boat actually shipped via a specially designed freighter back to Vancouver BC. These freighters are kind of like a floating dry dock. They sink the boat down into the water, everyone drives their own boat into the central hold of the ship and into a cradle and then they re-float it. (check out www.dockwise.com) The ship taking our boat is going to pick up our boat around May 18th in La Paz Mexico and then two weeks later it will appear in Vancouver BC all ready for us.
I think it's going to be a bit like the wizard of oz. We get to click our heals together a few times (no ruby slippers required, just a plane ticket) our trip to Mexico will suddenly be over and we'll be home within the next day.
The adventure doesn't quite end here though. Our original plan was to spend the summer driving up the coast back home. Now we have another option open to us. Once we pick up the boat in Vancouver BC the first week of June we will re provision the boat and then head North maybe to Alaska for the summer. This is all tentative of course and dependent upon several items like, funds, the job market, etc. but right now that is the plan. We will be home for one short week the end of May before the boat arrives and that should give us time to swap the tropical clothing for colder weather, get charts and other necessary items which we will need.
The rest of the time we have in Mexico is starting to firm up into a plan leading up to that one departure date. Anyone interested in our cruising schedule right now it is:
So there you have it. Neither of us can believe how fast the time is flying by. The next week will be tough on us as we are now saying good bye to a number of really really good friends. Music and Jambo are leaving their boat here for the hurricane season. Maggie Drum, Moana and Nereida are making the puddle jump to the South Pacific.
Dave and Debbie.
While here in Mexico Debbie and I have studied the number of different techniques people use to get their dinghy off the beach. Always with the hope that they too will make it in one piece. When the surf is kicking up this isn't always the way it goes.
Of course everyone down here has made what we call the 'market day run'. This is when your timing is just off a bit that day. On the trip through the surf you inevitably take on a ton of water from a big wave and you find all your fruits and vegetables you've just schlepped a few miles to the boat floating around you like one of those fun little kiddie pools. I can attest to over a gallon of water streaming out of a very limpish box of bran flakes one day. It was not a pretty sight.
One method some people use for launchings is what I call the 'Chinese method'. You get about a 100 volunteers who hold the dinghy straight in the surf while the passengers all pile in. Once the engine is started they all let you go and you get to drive on out. There isn't any timing associated with this method. You usually get to drive straight into the largest set of waves to be found as all your volunteers will abandon you when they see it coming, making a mad dash for the safety of the beach while you get to deal with what's coming.
A more common method we've seen is called the 'submarine method'. Usually a smallish dinghy with several passengers will exit the beach this way. The master of the craft has everyone pile on in, sitting in the bow. As they leave through the surf line the over loaded craft gets to plow through the waves taking on water over the bow. Before you know it they are a bit more like a submarine than a boat on top of the water.
Our preferred method we use especially if the surf is quite large is what I call the 'commando method'. With big surf there simply isn't time to actually get in the dinghy. We move the boat out to about waist deep and start the engine making sure we're pointing straight out. When the timing is right everyone lays down on the tubes and we race out across the surf line before the next wave hits. This works pretty well and if the inflatable shoots up over a big wave everyone is in a good position to at least stay on board.
The 'nascar method' can sometimes work. While the boat is on the beach everyone starts their engines and then after the next big wave comes through they try to drive it through the surf using the dinghy wheels. This is ok as long as you don't tear off your dinghy wheels. While sitting on the sand the boat also tends to have a nose down attitude, which causes you to take in a ton of water over the bow before you even get started.
Methods that always lead to a bit of entertainment are ones like 'the backwards method'. This is where someone will move the dinghy off the beach stern first. While ignoring the surf coming up behind them they start their engine and then try to back off the beach. This is usually about when they look backwards to what's coming. It's too late by then and they get to watch several waves wash over them hitting them about chest high . This is sometimes called the 'swamp method'.
The most entertaining and consistent method you see all the time is what I refer to as 'the southern method'. This is where everyone decides to get in the dinghy with about the speed of molasses in the winter time. One at a time everyone leisurely gets in single file, slowly getting in, each one looking for just the right spot to sit for their upcoming 'boat ride'. While all this is going on waves are of course coming in and any window they hoped to catch is of course long gone. Before everyone can get in a huge wave inevitably comes along and starts to turn the inflatable sideways. This method is always entertaining and leads to what I call the mode of 'Honey, I'm in and I'm not gettin out'. The ones who did make it into the craft are now refusing to get out, gripping the sides of the dink in mortal fear. They are now in the position I refer to as 'impending doom'. Once the dinghy goes sideways in the surf you are all doomed unless you can get the craft straight again before the next wave hits. Once you are sideways and in this doomed position when that next wave hits you will know that you and your inflatable are not going to make it. If you don't flip over and turn turtle (trust me, you don't want to know what that mode of travel is like) you'll immediately be swamped as tons of water comes on board, you'll certainly submarine through the next set of waves and you'll have to have a hundred volunteers pick you and all your stuff you bought at the market up off the beach afterwards.
For your reference and maps
In the past week the boat projects we've completed amounts to a spring fitting out, getting it ready for a new cruising season. In this case though it's basically freshening everything up after a winter's hard use. We've just completed changing the oil in all the engines, changing all the fuel filters and also replacing all the raw water impellers. For the most part I must say that the boat has performed flawlessly. Especially when you compare it to the trials and tribulations the other boaters have had while down here. (mostly older sailboats). For now all systems on the boat are at 100% for the 200 mile crossing over to La Paz and it gives me some piece of mind for that big jump.
When we were stuck in Chemela we had one heart stopping moment that lasted about an hour. While the wind was blowing through the anchorage and we knew we were going to be there for a few more days yet the generator decided to shred it's water impeller and stop working. On a power boat like ours losing the generator is 'not good' especially when you are tied down and can't get to power for recharging the batteries. Anyway; I knew I had a spare impeller. After looking for the first hour though and not finding it anywhere on the boat I started to question my sanity and the sweat really broke out. I didn't want to think about running the main engines for several hours a day to charge batteries. (I didn't have the reserve fuel either). The second hour I spent retracing all my steps and re-looking in all the same places so it was a big relief when I found the little rubber impeller hiding under a stack of oil filters. The replacement went smooth and we were back in business before lunchtime. (whew).
By Friday or Saturday depending upon weather we will be on the move again. This week has been very rough on us emotionally, saying goodbye to a number of friends who are not continuing on or have already gotten their flights home. (Jambo, Maggie drum, Music, Moana, Cherokee Eagle, Misty Sea etc) After leaving Puerto Vallarta we will first be going to La Cruz for a day or so, then motoring up to the little town of San Blas. When we see a good jumping off day we will grab it and motor for two days across the lower part of the Sea of Cortez for Las Muertos which is just south of La Paz. (Incidentally the Henry Longfellow poem 'the bells of San Blas' is written after some ruins found there). Unless we run across a phone in San Blas we will be out of touch until about the first week of April when we reach La Paz. (Just so you all know and don't worry). We are looking forward to having about 5 to 6 weeks to explore La Paz and the surrounding anchorages north of there before we get loaded onto the freighter for home. We still can't believe how fast this trip is going. We don't quite know what it is going to be like going back to 'the world' but we do miss everyone.
We expect to be seeing Slip Away, Freezing Rain and Nakia once again when we get to La Paz so we are looking forward to more adventures with them so stay tuned.
Dave and Debbie.
We left Puerto Vallarta and have been anchored out in La Cruz for several days now. Even though we can see the lights of the city and hotels, being in La Cruz still gives you the feeling of being out the way in a small town.
On Saturday and Sunday they have a really neat deal called 'tacos in the street'. A couple of families block of a couple of their cobblestone roads and put these tables and chairs out in the street. Everyone from the community comes out bringing wine and beer and then they eat taco's which the family sells. It's very very cool. Something that would never happen in the states I guess but incredibly enjoyable.@ We went with several boat loads of cruisers both Saturday and Sunday, Including Rich and Jan from Slip Away and John (Juanito) and Linda from Nakia. (she is feeling better now) The tacos they serve are also the best tasting tacos I have ever had. While everyone claims that La Cruz is being discovered and that the land prices are skyrocketing ahead of it at night when you walk around the town you get the feeling that this is one sleepy place. There are more people walking on the dusty streets then there are cars.
Today is March 21st, and our 7th anniversary, can you believe it ? This has been one incredible trip and this area is a very romantic place to celebrate. We are happy. I have also promised a very nice dinner once we get to La Paz later in the week since we aren't close enough to a nice restaurant to equal the event. If any of you had told me a year ago we would be anchored in Mexico for our next anniversary I would have called you crazy.
Spring has definitely finally come to Mexico. We survived the winter it looks like as it was getting pretty darn cold there for a while. In the wee hours of the morning it gets clear down to 65 degrees and we've even gone as far as to put blankets on. The sun has finally come back though during the day and we're seeing temperatures back in the 80s.
We are having to deal with some strong March winds which is keeping us pinned down in various spots but I think that will get better if we're patient. We definitely are feeling the pressure to head North as time is passing quickly and people are even using the 'H' word (Hurricane Season). (don't worry; we will be long gone before this is an issue).
Today a Mexican fishing boat dragged anchor and several boaters went out to push it out of the way of several sailboats. When the locals were told about the problem they said to 'cut the line, he is not our friend'. I guess they don't like the competition around here too well.
On the Amigo Net in the morning a number of people we know that have left for French Polynesia log onto the net and let everyone how they are doing. This is where SSB and the nets really shine. Several are out about 700 to 1000 miles now and almost to the equator. (No; we are NOT doing that). Each morning we listen in to their progress. It is so cool to here about how their trip is going for them. We also get those all important weather updates that tell us what is going on North of us in the Sea of Cortez and along the coast.
We made the crossing over to the Baja side safe and sound. The first part of the trip was incredible and one we won't forget. The first day we left the bay of banderas in the early wee hours and cruised up to Isla Isabella. If you remember this is very tiny uninhabited island about 20 miles off the coast. It survives mostly as a prehistoric bird colony and a breeding station for bugs.
Over night the boat became a magnet for these no-see-ums which blanketed the boat the next morning. On the crossing I spent a good couple of hours whacking the whole upper area of the boat on a mad killing spree to finally deal with them.
Isla Isabella is also is a very precarious anchorage so we were a bit nervous throughout the night. This year a boat was lost at anchor in the very same spot we were sitting in after a southerly wind came up. The wreck of the boat was still floating back and forth about 3 miles away and there were continued reports on the nets as it was a navigation hazard. (see the march issue of latitude 38 about the boat Maxine).
Anyway; It wasn't a problem for us and we left early that morning for the long diagonal trip across and over La Paz. Our target anchorage was Bahia de Los Muertos (bay of the dead) about 32 hours away.
That Thursday the cruise was so incredible. The ocean was absolutely table top smooth without a ripple to be found except for our wake. We saw numerous sea turtles many of which have birds standing on their shells. It is pretty funny to see a bird standing up way out in the ocean riding along. There was also one thing I couldn't identify at first floating on the surface so drove up to within about 50 feet of a marlin sleeping. A bit of his dorsal fin and his sword of all things were sticking up out of the water. I couldn't believe it. He just kind of woke up and cruised on out away from us. I had been trolling a lure along behind the boat but he wasn't interested. That was good because I have no idea about how to land one of those things. Plus; he would probably take a liking to our dinghy hanging off the back and stick a big hole in it. Ha !another patch !
The second half of the trip across was also memorable for us. That evening on the crossing I would have to say that 'the weather changed'. After we were about 12 hours out (and past the return point basically; which must be one of Murphy's laws or axioms somewhere. ) the wind piped up from zero to 25 knots right on our nose and the seas built to a sharp 5 to 7 feet. If you ever had a 'bad day' this was it. To top it off that bad day lasted for two. We were slowed down to 6 to 6.5 knots all through the night and into the next day. We were glad to at least have a full moon the entire night which helped out a great deal and gave us a horizon to view the whole time. We limped in to Los Muertos towards Friday evening, after 36 hours, covered in salt spray everywhere and a bit weary but pretty much ok. We put the hook down in the calm protected water of the anchorage, ate a quick dinner of franks and beans and went to sleep. There isn't anything like a nice warm and somewhat stationary bed after being in a washing machine for that long of time.
We will stay here for a few days while the latest change of weather blows over us before heading in to La Paz.
We are thinking of you and everyone else back home.
We rolled into La Paz this afternoon enjoying a wonderful cruise up the Cerralvo channel and through the San Lorenzo pass. We have definitely left behind the tropical landscape of the mainland with its palm trees and lush vegetation and are now into the Baja desert area complete with miles and miles of cactus and huge open mountain ranges. (Very beautiful sunsets). We have found a really nice and protected anchorage called Caleta Lobos only about 5 miles outside the city limits. We will stay here for the night enjoying the peace and quiet and then roll into the city proper tomorrow to fuel up and to get a moorage at one of the marinas. The water here is an incredible crystal clear and blue, nothing like the waters to the south on the Mexican Riviera. When we lifted the anchor this morning Debbie could see it sitting on the bottom 30 feet down in the sand.
The battery for our inverter finally gave up the ghost and has become unreliable so we will be replacing it this week which is why we're moving in to the marina for a few days. We've gotten over 6 years of very heavy use out of the battery so I certainly can't complain, it's done really well. We're hoping Rich and Jan from Slip Away will show up soon to help me lift the old battery out and slid the new one in. These 8D batteries weigh about 125 pounds a piece and there isn't much space inside the engine room to sling them around.
We now have a mystery for everyone to help us solve. When we left Ballard we came across a big (big!) yacht called the 'Lady J'. We thought it was kind of neat that it had a hailing port of Coeur d'alene Idaho on it same as us. We then saw the boat again in Puerto Vallarta and now today anchored with us in La Paz. I don't know what the odds are of two boats both from Coeur d'Alene being in La Paz at the same time but it got our attention. We at first thought it was Duane Haggadone's boat. We came across the crew (skiing in the anchorage) and asked them but they said No. it is not his boat. So: If anyone knows please tell us. Who owns the 'Lady J' ? It is about 250 feet long, a grey steel hull, 3 full size decks and superstructure and also has about a 40 foot sport fisherman on the back as one of it's tenders. (and who else besides Duane Haggadone has this kind of money from Coeur d'Alene ?)
We expect to be here a few days and then head north for a few weeks enjoying the remoteness that the Sea of Cortez is known for. We will fill you all in on our current plans for this before we leave here.
The boat Lady J that Dave asked about belongs to Gary and Jeaneen Norton, of Silverwood fame. You can see a picture of the boat, and get a tour of its interior, at http://www.micapeak.com/~marcl/trips/PuertoVallarta/html/H0000.html. It is 190 ft, not the 250 that Dave guessed, but still impressive enough.
Dwane Haggadone's boat is the Lady Lola and the auxiliary boat Shadow. Both are described at (http://www.ladylolaandshadow.com/) . Dwane is the owner of the Coeur d'Alene resort, of course. Dwane wanted to circumnavigate the world, but could not get insurance for the more dicey areas, so he decided to get rid of it. Lady Lola is in the serious 200ft + range, and Shadow is a 186 ft boat that travels behind with his helicopter, pilots, spare boats, toys, 186 mph catamaran, and submarine. And limo. While The Lady J is a nice boat, the Lady Lola is a humongeouos boat, five stories above the waterline with a huge radar and communications area above all that. Brilliant white. Dwane is now building a 30,000 ft house in Palm Springs. He has been in the news recently because he wanted to close down the streets in front of the CdA hotel and build a $20 million garden in memory of his parents. It was one of the few times that the city council told him to stick it in his ear, only because everybody in three states were squawking about it.
I sent the above stories to Dave Oliveria, a newspaper columnist for the Spokane Spokesman Review who covers Idaho stories. He has a blog, and has already published this in his blog at http://www.spokesmanreview.com/blogs/nhb/archive.asp?postID=1751 And he said some mention of this will be in his next Monday's column in the SR.
D2
Getting sick in a foreign country can be un-nerving experience if not a little bit frightening. Debbie and I got sick for about 3 days when we came into Puerto Vallarta the first time and spend those three days somewhere between the bathroom and the bedside. Our hearts really went out to poor Linda on Nakia the other day when she herself came down with a malady. Not that we thought she was going to succumb to what ever was ailing her. Those things just kind of run their course. Our real concerns for her were all the other cruisers in the area that 'wanted to help'.
Now it seems in any anchorage when ever someone gets sick there is this un heard of cry of appeal that goes out. One thing that happens when that 'cry of the sick' goes out is that people start to empty their medicine cabinets. So when Linda got sick it wasn't more than an hour or so and she had a whole host of new found drugs, most of them inapplicable to the case at hand but never the less; everyone wanted to help and brought something. It's kind of like a pot luck for the sick. If you aren't careful though the narcotic 'cocktail' that will ensue from this smorgasbord will make you even worse off than if you hadn't taken anything.
Another thing that happens is you'll find that about 'one out of every third cruiser' seems to perk their head up and say excitedly; Sick ? did someone say they were sick ? Our experience tells us that these 'one out of every third cruiser' has what I call 'The Big Book of Medicine'. When someone gets sick they get to get out what I refer to as ' the big book of medicine' and help diagnose what ever it is that ails you. It is these same people that get a wild gleam in their eyes as they pour over and over all the new found diseases found within it's pages which you may potentially have. I have always been amazed when you get a crowd of them together as they debate all the different symptoms (real or imaginary) that you could develop if it was this disease or that type of ailment. It is equally amazing at how effortlessly the friends you have made fit in words like Beri Beri, Botulism and dysentery into other wise normal conversations.
If the assembled 'readers of the big book' really gets cranked up we find that some sort of ugly death is usually the most prescribed result of their readings. For this reason we don't recommend that they perform their diagnoses during the evening drinking hours any more.
On this day there was a pretty heavy debate regarding 'botulism' versus regular plain old food poisoning. John had already checked that presence of 'dehydration' simply by pinching Linda all over various parts of her body. John assured us that he had read in the big book of medicine that if the skin doesn't bounce right back after pinching the skin then the patient is definitely dehydrated and should drink more water. Linda was promptly ordered to drink until the holding tank was filled. She would do about anything right about then to stop all that pinching.
The one symptom that had yet to be verified and would prove conclusively in favor of botulism for the cluster of book toters (they all have their own copy) was the effect of extreme skin sensitivity to sunlight. Linda's husband John was determined to rule that out for the assembled entourage and promptly went down into the boat to 'get her'. Dragging her out of the companion way by the arm and across the cockpit Linda was laid with little more ceremony than a bucket of crab bait into the bright sunlight. As several of the people peered down inquisitively at her face John asked the bewildered Linda if she hurt anywhere. Her reply as she grabbed him by the hair was 'only where you hit my head on the doorway you numskull !'. The resulting ohhss and Ahhs masked the over riding disappointment of confirming botulism in favor of a normal stomach disorder for the crowd but the strength she displayed in whacking her husband upside the head assured them that she was actually on the mend and would soon be on her feet.
With the assemblage moving on to an unending discussion of where to go for happy hour Linda quietly started to crawl by herself wearily back into the boat. She was abruptly halted however with Cindy yelling out "John; don't let her go to bed and fall asleep; she might have a concussion ! "
Editor's note -- this is not from Dave, but was sent in from one of the peanut gallery in response to Dave's note on getting sick overseas. Since Dave will be completely out of touch for at least the next three weeks, and I only have a couple more communications from him left to send, I thought that this would be an interesting addition to his previous message.
D2
I feel compelled to chime in on this one.
When I was in India for Kaiser, I came down with a 103 fever. I didn't really have any other symptoms, except an all over tiredness and no appetite. After three days of this 103 fever, and eating nothing but soup, the group decided to drag me into Korba to see a doctor.
I remember the main office/entry to the waiting room had no front door. There were various sick people in the "waiting room". Our office assistant (The Indian guy that took care of us - like a guide) spoke to the doctor and told him I was some important person with an important meeting soon, so I got bumped up. The Doctor's desk was on the other side of this doorway - again no door, just some beads to walk through. This inner room was dimly lit, and there were cots around with sick moaning people lying about. I sat in a chair next to the doctor's desk, and he took my temperature and blood pressure. He looked at the thermometer and said I had the fever. I said, "Yes, I know, I have a fever". He said, "No, you have THE fever". I said what the he** is that, malaria?" He said no, it's just a common Indian virus that will pass.
He gave me some medicine called Paracetamol, which I took with a glass of scotch, per my boss's recommendation. About a half hour later, I broke out in a sweat and the fever left. Wow, it was magic medicine.
When I got back to Spokane, I saw my doctor and told him what I had and the magic medicine that cured me. He had never heard of it and looked it up. It turns out that Paracetamol is the European name for acetaminophen (Tylenol).
Bill Borhinger
This just in; Late breaking news:
When we provisioned the boat last august (about 9 months ago) we thought we pretty much planned for everything, spare parts and what not. Well we're doing ok; so rest easy, no need to worry. We found another cache of toilet paper so we're safe for another month or two at least, three if we conserve.
It's amazing what you can stow on a boat in all these little hidey holes. It's also amazing the little places you forget you had put the stuff in as well.
Debbie thought it was a nice surprise and kind of like Christmas coming across stuff you didn't know you had. Maybe I'll hide some more stuff around the boat and forget it is there just so she can have some fun finding it again.
On my short list of extra 'stuff' to bring to Mexico on a trip like this is:
- More peanut butter. Especially the crunchy kind. You can't hardly get it down here or it is extremely expensive.
- More engine oil for diesels. It is over twice as expensive down here if you can even find it. $14 a gallon vs $7 in the states. We take about 8 gallons to service both the main engines and the generator.
- A second set of water pump impellers. (we've used the spares we have so now are out of spares).
- A second set of zincs. Same story here plus we've found several marinas are 'hot'. (especially Puerto Vallarta).
- A bigger dinghy patch kit and the associated glue to bind it all with. (enough said here).
Don't worry about the toilet paper. You can find that about anywhere. Including all over this boat apparently.
Places we will be going to over the next three weeks are:
These are all excellent anchorages (Aqua Verde is very famous and a must see) in the various islands in the sea of cortez. We'll have lots of pictures of them when we get back.
Dave.
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Editor's note:
Dave expects to be away from any internet connections for the next three to four weeks. So I do not expect any communications from him till then.
I have updated the Mexico map on his web site with these locations.
DF Oliveria did include the note about the Lady J, and about his earlier rescue mission, in his column in the Spokesman Review this past Monday.
Also, Dave has sent a few more pictures. They will be up on his web site later this evening.
D2