How I Spent My Summer Vacation

It took a little time to get back to Vancouver from Mexico this year... I mean, what's the hurry?  We like to stop at National Parks and get our passport stamped and collect the odds and ends that the gift shops have to offer as well as see some of the park.  Some days we cover 150 miles while others we might go 350 miles.  When I was younger I thought nothing of pounding out 600 miles or more in a day but now, towing a trailer and being more or less retired, 150 - 350 miles is just fine.

We stop to see shows in Las Vegas, since it's on the way.  We do not even move along every day.  This year, too, we have Abby the boat/RV dog to think about as we go.  She likes it when we are somewhere for a couple of days and walk her a bit more.  On the road she stays in the kennel cage all day and even with frequent stops it is clear at the end of the day when she gets back into the travel trailer that she knows where home is.  Stopping at Emigrant Lake near Ashland, Oregon was fun since our friends, Ken and Linde, are camp hosts there.  

As summer went along we stayed first at the same RV park in Hazel Dell in Vancouver but then decided to spend a month at a park in Fairview on the other side of the Columbia river near Portland.  That park has more trees and grass and other than the fact that it is a longer way to a lot of the stuff we do it was great getting to know a new place... a new area.  There was one dinner we went out to there where they serve a specialty of chicken and dumplings over looking Oxbow Park along a river.  It was great and relaxing (even a little spendy) but well worth the visit.  Watching the people floating down the river on inner tubes was reminiscent of the Salt River activity in Arizona... very relaxing just watching. 

The scooter came out of storage in Florence and has been a good way to get around.  That leaves the truck for Sandy to have a freedom that I know she appreciates.  The scooter is a wonderful way to get around as long as I can find a way to avoid the freeways.  Obviously, if I have get across the Columbia I have to pop up on the freeway to get onto the bridge.  Over-all the scooter goes about 60 - 65 mph but the bridges top out at 55 mph so it's not really a problem.

For a bit we left Fairview and went to Mount Rainier national park for four days then on to Cathlamet, Washington for the Sea of Cortez Cruisers rally.  That's a yearly ritual that has the Linen Sisters ( a bit of a story for another time) playing cards ("sorting the laundry") for the fours days of the get together.

After that it was back to the Hazel Dell park.  Just before we went to Cathlamet we met up with Sandy's realtor friend Nancy and started looking around at houses and duplexes.  That led us to spending a lot of hours looking at all sorts of properties with the idea that perhaps there was something there for us.  A couple of days ago we made an offer on a house so we will see how that progresses.  The banks these days are reputedly pretty non-functional so it may keep us here in Vancouver a little longer than we would normally be.

The World Up to Puerto Escondido

 

 We have been on the mooring ball in Puerto Escondido for the Loreto Fest for several days now.  The L-Fest is now concluded and the wind has come up to trap us on the boat for a few extra days.  The sail across from Mazatlán was exceptionally calm and enjoyable with our guest, Julie taking a watch.  At two hours per watch we had 4 hours off watch to catch a bit of sleep or just relax.  It was just about perfect… until the last three or so hours.  A near to full moon helped when it came up around midnight making for a fine night time watch.  Before the last three hours we had to slow the boat down so that we would get in at daybreak.  That was when the wind piped up and the seas got a little crazy.  Overall though we had fine time crossing to the Baja side and skipped La Paz, opting instead for connecting at Isla San Francisco about fifty miles north of La Paz.

It was during this passage that Abby, the boat dog, became much more the boat dog.  She now knows all the signs of our getting ready to travel.  She notices when we tighten the dingy down, check the lines holding the jerry cans of fuel to the board on the side, putting things away below decks and generally checking everything.  She starts to act a bit more subdued and is watching us very, very carefully.  Her favorite place when we are underway is the corner of the settee, which just so happens is THE place aboard that has the easiest motion.  She discovered this all on her own during the first passage this season.  When it is pleasant sailing she is tolerant of our activity but when things get a bit stirred up she starts shaking and is fairly pissed, irritated, annoyed and just plain cranky.  When she is in the cockpit she is clipped onto her line and does not venture out on deck.  She, unlike so many dogs we know, does not have problem using her baño pad or just taking care of business otherwise in the cockpit.  For some this may seem like an inconvenience but for us it is preferable and keeps Abby healthier.  

     Another issue we have faced with Abby is her nearly boundless puppy energy!  We throw all manner of stuff in the boat for her to chase.  It is not always practical to take her to shore to run this off.  She has what we now call, “crazy dog” times.  We open the doors below decks and then encourage her to run from the settee to the aft berth and back as many times as she wants.  Being fast and agile she takes to this activity like a wild greyhound.  Round and round she goes!!  Her leaping ability is complicating some aspects of life aboard too.  There is not too much that is inaccessible for her… this includes counter tops.  When we come back to Faith after a trip ashore that did not include Abby we open the hatch wondering what she has gotten into.  A recent problem was when she ate about half an avocado and some chocolate while we were off the boat.  Mostly this resulted in a wired dag keeping us awake much of the night.  She knows the counter top is off limits but still goes there sometimes and has to be reminded.

     When in port, she is confident of herself to the point that she will do perimeter checks every so often around the deck and this also lets us know when someone is coming down the dock.  Even so she does not bark as much as many dogs and has had an occasional “conversation” with passing dogs wherein she growls in an extended way more than barks.  Gradually Abby is socializing with dogs and such… she is already quite social with people and wants to be in the middle of every conversation aboard.  Taking this pup from Ashland, Oregon’s shelter has turned out to be one of the best forms of entertainment aboard Faith and I will continue to be glad that we rescued her.

Knee Update

     The results are mostly in from the knee surgery here in Mexico.  For the most part it is good.  I mean, here it is almost two weeks past the cutting and the mending seems well under way.  I am walking, all-be-it with the steadying influence of a crutch, but each day is a little better than the day before.  Today I may have been encouraged to go a “bridge too far,” but survived the trek to downtown Mazatlán and back (via both bus and taxi).  Over the course of the last two weeks the process has been mostly good.  There was a miserable first night but after that it has been better by far.

     The doctor has been great in explaining what is going on at each stage and when I said it hurt he had solutions immediately ready.  Initially I had figured to be out of commission for a lot longer than has been the case.  The cost has been manageable in that it was near what was expected.  Well, the doctors fee was slightly higher than initially expected but I think really still within reason.  Here’s a break down of what has happened so far:

                                      Pesos                     Dollars (12:1)

Taxis                               790.00                            65.83

Bus                                    20.00                             1.67

X-ray                               400.00                            33.33

Blood Test                       340.00                             28.33

Dr. Olmeda                   25500.00                          2125.00

Nurse                             1500.00                           125.00

Anesthesiologist              4500.00                          375.00

Clinic                             4400.00                           366.67

Prescriptions                   1503.00                           125.25

Crutches                           353.00                            29.42

          Totals                 39306.00                         3275.50

     So, if this is close to the end of the expenses that’s a pretty good indication of the final on all this.  I will report back later on the final, final but for now this should be a clear enough picture.  This does not include the extra cost of staying still in Mazatlán to get all this done, but I would have been somewhere!!

Sights & Sounds

     Sometimes there are things that bring back small enjoyments from another time.  We are in Mazatlán, Sinaloa, Mexico in a small marina that has the plus of not being very busy.  The facilities are good but limited and the distance to get to anything, buses, restaurants, or shopping is a little more than, say, Marina Mazatlán or El Cid, is slightly more than is “easy”.

     Although I just had knee surgery (two days ago) this is not about that.  Due to the surgery I am spending the nights in the salon on the bed we made up from the table there.  It is not a perfect bed but it is easier to get around than if I was in the aft suite trying to hike myself up to the higher bed there.  In any event, this morning I was nudged awake by the dog, Abby, who spends part of each night split between my temporary bed and the usual bed in the aft cabin.  On waking there was instantly a smile on my face that I soon realized was from a familiar sound more than from Abby’s gentle persuasion to get up.  In the last few years we spend the majority of our “Mexico” time much further south than Mazatlán and there are sights and sounds there that I now think of as Home (grackles make a great sound for instance) but there is something missing.  Part of reason is that when are anchored out we are too far from shore to hear anything less loud than distant traffic.  

     I can now hear you asking, “So, what is it that you heard?”

     From my years of living in Arizona the most constant morning or quiet time sound you can hear is the cooing of the three types of dove that reside there year round.  The Morning Dove, White Winged Dove and the diminutive Inca Dove all make the subtle coo that is the back drop for mornings with coffee on the porch or companions on quiet walks through the desert.  It is the sound that has secretly meant “home” to me since I was very young.  That is what brought the smile to me this morning and I recognized the missing ingredient as it brought the warmth of home back to me.  Do not be confused about this; I love my cruising life but it was a welcome, refreshing find this morning.

Tsunami and After

You might want to watch this full screen!!

Our experience was very interesting all these miles away but I cannot fully comprehend what this short video is saying... it would have been very scary to be in closer proximity.

To Bash Or Not To...

An unrelated picture from last summer's Wooden Boat Festival

So, if you checked out Sandy’s blog about the trip north from Barra de Navidad to Chamela then La Cruz de Huanacaxtle you know the story of trying to bash northward in some worsening conditions and the tale of the retry. In the last twenty or so years I have been on boats that turned around due to weather developments underway five times.

The first time was a supposed to be a weekend jaunt from San Diego to Ensenada. We had two Ericson 29’s in tandem as we left San Diego headed south; both with crews in search of a new experience. This was when I was in the very early stages of learning to sail. My off-shore clock had only started to turn in the arc of the first few degrees of travel. We jumped out of the truck and went directly to the dock and tossed our gear bags aboard almost as the dock lines were being uncleated. Well, almost, we had driven from Phoenix and gotten to the dock the night before on a long weekend. It was Saturday morning when we took off and there was a fresh breeze as we slipped out past the submarine base at Point Loma. It felt like there was going to be a great adventure ahead of us.

As the day went along the seas started to build and the wind got a bit beyond fresh. By nightfall things were getting boisterous. Since the goal was only to get to Ensenada and return after a celebratory hoisting of a tankard at Husong’s we were not heavily invested in actually getting there. After all, it was just a long weekend and the hidden goal was to get off shore experience. By the wee hours, as we tacked back and forth trying to get any sort of southing it was clear that there would not be enough time to actually get all the way to Ensenada and make it back to the slip in San Diego in time to drive back to Phoenix in time for work. At daybreak the turn around decision was as easy to predict as it gets. Yup, got the miles under the keel and “mission accomplished” was muttered by eight of us. As an aside, if we had landed in Ensenada we would have had to check in at the police dock for immigration/customs when we returned to San Diego, taking up more time.

Time passes and more time sailing here and there happens. I got invited to come along as crew on a boat going from San Diego to San Francisco. This was a fun delivery… the owner/captain (Hartley) wanted to slug the boat north so that his family could join him for the down hill ride returning to San Diego. As we rounded Point Conception (northwest of Santa Barbara, CA) at near 19:00 all things were calm and enjoyable. We were passing the flares of the oil rigs as I came off watch to go below for some rest. I slept awhile but was awakened by the crashing sounds of the boat hitting heavy swell. I rolled over and looked at the clock to note that I still had an hour or so before my next watch would start. As I was drifting off there was a significant BANG from the bow. I flew out of the bunk and was in the companionway in a flash. My friend Bud was already buckling himself in my harness in preparation of going out on deck. The Skipper was attaching the tethers to the jack lines and telling me to grab the wheel and turn us downwind. As I looked forward there was no forestay attached to the bow but a large bundle of what had been the foresail whipping around. There were two brothers onboard who had lost their father at sea not far from where we were. I have always felt for them since that day, they had to have felt a strong panic. I did manage to get the boat turned around; the guys on the foredeck managed to corral the errant fore stay and part of the sail (much of the sail was now in the water) and attach a halyard to the bow. Once the sail was out of the water, we limped into San Simeon to lick our considerable wounds. The forestay had exploded from a one inch diameter of wound wire to a two foot mass of sharp wire ends (that had punched numerous holes in the foresail). OUR turn around was one of the most dramatic ones I have heard about in the years since then. The brothers got off the boat in Santa Barbara and the rest of us got the boat back to San Diego for repairs and the next attempt to do the same trip later.

The next time I looked at a turn around I was on my own boat (Visigoda). By that time I had a bunch of experience and was feeling pretty confident about my abilities and judgment. I was going north in the Sea of Cortez on a nice southerly breeze when I turned the corner at Bahia Concepción to go to Santispac. As I entered the channel (narrow by some standards) I tried three times to tack into the wind while staying in the channel in my heavy cruising boat. Okay, so finally, I just said never mind and turned around to find an anchorage -- the one I found was not very good but it worked at the time. Today I would still have turned around but I know of a much better anchorage.

A few years later I went to Mexico to crew for friends doing a crossing from Mazatlán to La Paz. It was a wonderfully warm spring day when we left the dock and I was looking forward to sailing one of my very favorite boats. As we left the harbor there was a sweet breeze blowing and we quickly had the boat moving nicely in the swell. You can see the “but…” coming by now. By near nightfall the wind had kicked up substantially and we started bashing into ever increasing waves. .” It was the Skipper (Alan) who said, “I am not having any fun.” “Okay, there are only a few choices.” I said, “We haul off a few degrees and make for a point lower on the Baja side; we can ramp up the motor and continue bashing; or, we can turn around and go back to Mazatlán.” It was quickly agreed to turn around and find Mazatlán in the dark. That seems to sum up the essence of my philosophy on the matter. “If it’s not fun do something else,” would put the finer point to it. I might mention here that we got back to Mazatlán around midnight and a bunch of cruisers met us at the entrance to the harbor in dinghies with flashlights to guide us in. As it turned out we got some sleep and left again the next morning for one of the best passages I can recall in the last twenty years.

So, now comes the time we are coming up from the Chamela anchorage moving toward La Cruz. It was the moment when I saw the look on Sandy’s face and heard the, “I am not having fun,” just after we had almost come to a halt after bashing over a larger than average wave in worsening conditions that defined the next decision. “Let’s turn around and wait for a better weather window.”

I doubt that it will be the last time that this happens as I continue sailing. Fortunately my personal philosophy includes the permission to do so… I have nothing to prove to anyone and will give voice to the thought as soon as I can recognize that it needs to be said!!

Nieto Jordan

Jordan at the Crocs!!

So, it came to pass that Sandy’s grandson, Jordan, came down for a visit this season. It is a pretty good fit for us because he was able to continue his school work via the internet as he normally would. When Sandy and I first talked about this visit we knew there were a few things that we would need to do to make it happen.

Getting along with the adults...

First of all we needed to get Jordan a passport. You just cannot travel until that requirement is complete, so, last summer while we were in Vancouver we took Jordan to the Post Office and started the process. Since we needed parental signatures it was necessary to make a second trip to fully accomplish that. It was easily done and we heard very soon that he had received his brand new, good for five years, passport. For minors the requirement is that the passport is good for a shorter time than the normal ten years for adults. He also had a preview of cruising because we taught him to play Mexican Train (dominoes) while he was with us for his passport excursion.

We bought a one way ticket for him and that caused a momentary bit of excitement when his father, Chris, noticed it. “Umm, are we going to get him back sometime?” We had figured out that it might be easier to find out how much he would like the trip before deciding how long his visit should be. As you will see we might have been able to extend his time far beyond what we have given him.

We bussed into Puerto Vallarta from La Cruz de Huanacaxtle and waited patiently for Jordan to pop out of the customs door. It took a lot longer than usual, perhaps because there were three planes that came in within a fifteen minute time frame. Soon enough though out popped Jordan and we were on our way back to the boat. The first order of business was to feed the young fellow which, oddly enough became a recurring theme, so we marched off to find an open restaurant. Having come to El Rey de Bombaro and, soon to be dubbed Nieto Jordan, having perused the menu we settled into watching his surprise when his order of fried fish was delivered. He thought he was going to get something like fish sticks but, of course, received a whole (here’s looking at you) fried fish (red snapper).

Favorite sport... eating.

Over the next few weeks we stopped at Tacos on the Street several times to fill up El Nieto. We learned that Philo’s has no extra charge for Coca Cola refills and that Nieto J likes refills on his plate of ribs. Leon, from Philo’s band, tried to get him to play the washboard with him but Nieto J steadfastly refused to be lured in. We also learned that he was very good about doing his school work and, further, that he lived up to deals to drive the dinghy… ½ an hour of rowing the hard dinghy earned him an hour of driving the inflatable with its 8 h.p. motor! Nieto J’s oft heard, “I like it here!!” was the back drop for walks on the beach, stops at the local open market and similar “Mexico” experiences. Our first run over to the Bucerias market streets was fun if only because El Nieto had not even fully stepped onto the street when he had blown his first $200 (pesos) on a trinket. “Almost free,” as the vendor said… there was no bargaining or discussion just buying. His next few purchases were much more involved and I think that he had learned a thing or three from that first experience.

Standard walking tour of a small town

When our friends, Michael and Gabrielle, arrived he was still with us, living in his cave (the V berth) and then joined them for a Zip Lining trip. Our fishing jaunt was more fun than I can say!!

The part of the haul we kept

We went to do a turtle release but arrived just as the turtles were let go so he only saw the tail end of that experience without the informative lecture. We tried to fill him in as best we could recall from our visit there last year and he seemed to enjoy the whole thing fairly well. Our trips into Sayulita and Puerto Vallarta were via bus and we found that this experience was among the least liked. It was the jostle of the over packed busses that made it so far down the list. Nieto J likes taxis quite well however!! We found him to be an adventurous eater too. He did at least try everything that came his way and he said he liked most of it. Low on that list was the jicama in lime juice sprinkled with chili power. High on the list was any sort of fish, tortilla soup or, naturally, hamburgesas!!! He liked the tacos, the enchiladas, the tamales, the chips with salsa and sooo much more as well!!

El Nieto "enjoying" the bus

The “sailing” we did from La Cruz to Tenacatita was a little queasy but he held up pretty well; sleeping in the cockpit on an over night passage is not my idea of a good time but it seemed to keep his sea sickness in check. The whales and dolphins along the way were appreciated as was driving the big boat. A bus ride over to La Manzanilla to see the crocs seems to have been a hit too. We have lived on the boat for several days at anchor now as well (almost two weeks) and he seems quite comfortable now. He is allowed to go out by himself to Barra de Navidad, taking the water taxi in as needed and he seems a good bit more independent than when he got here. His few words of Spanish are not yet enough to sustain long trips to town or any serious shopping but he does communicate what he needs and has learned a lot about how to get around here. As nearly as we can tell El Nieto has enjoyed the cruising lifestyle (I mean, what’s NOT to like?) and the cruisers themselves. He is very comfortable around adult discussion and fits into what we are doing. Over all I have to say that Jordan will want to come down again sometime. The good news is that he will be welcomed and enjoyed. Now we are waiting to see what color his parents have painted his bedroom in anticipation of his return. We understand that it may be pink!!

"I like Mexico!!" He was heard to say.