We have not blogged for a long time .
we crossessed thesea to LAPAZ in December and came again Just Kim & I on a work trip in Feb.
We have returned and just picked up crew (Josh Hall) yesterday and are leaving for the Islands on a 10 day cruise. 6 people on board we will report from Puerto Escondedo ( by Loreto) in 10 days
first stop San Gabriel on Isla Espiritu Santo
Gypsywind on channel 16
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Saturday, February 19, 2011
ONE Fine Lady
I arrived Feb. 14 Valentines to find 7 people living on board. Don't worry, Kim, Kiya, Noah, Mechelle, Rob, and 3yr old Hania. Gypsywind was in dissrepair, mainly the heat exchanger was missing. So much for preventative maintainance.In November we commissioned some service work mainly, new injectors adjust the valves and timing. oh and clean the heat exchager core.
Well....... the core could not be removed from the housing, so as a last ditch effort I gave the OK to drill out the core to save the housing which is worth $1500 alone. The core is $1750. Its like getting a cavity filled, next thing you know you are paying for a root canal and a crown. Welcome to the reality of boating.
Our dear freind Jay back up Marina Del Rey was the first to ask me "Do you know what Boat stands for?"
B.O.A.T= Bring On Another Thousand.
Harvey
Well....... the core could not be removed from the housing, so as a last ditch effort I gave the OK to drill out the core to save the housing which is worth $1500 alone. The core is $1750. Its like getting a cavity filled, next thing you know you are paying for a root canal and a crown. Welcome to the reality of boating.
Our dear freind Jay back up Marina Del Rey was the first to ask me "Do you know what Boat stands for?"
B.O.A.T= Bring On Another Thousand.
Harvey
Friday, February 18, 2011
Sharing Gypsywind with family
When we were living on Gypsywind more full time we longed to share our experiences with family and friends and to share a tid bit of lifestyle with them.
My opportunity came when this past month We had the honor of my sister Mechelle and Niece Hania stay aboard with us in mazatlan Elcid marina for 3 weeks and having her husband Rob join us for the last week.
It was interesting to arrive at the boat without Harvey and just us girls with all kids in tow I had my start the boat list ready and was pretty excited, breakers, water pressure, battery checks, refrigeration start up, check the dry goods on board make sure no bugs then bedding and cleaning unpack and then the Margarita! It was sure nice the first few days, Mechelle took to the VHF right away and at times was up before me with receiver in hand ready to check in, she was also busy converting temp. from Fahrenheit to Celsius to try and understand why we were so cold, she claims as true we were at one point 1 degree above freezing and she saw her breathe in the morning. It was true it was the coldest weather that Mazatlan has had in 55 years , and low and behold there we were with Margaritas and bathing suits in mind!!!
Well despite this we had some days of sunshine and that's when we headed to the beach , Mechelle eager and excited forgot to put her bathing bottoms on and when we arrived she then realized and whatever sat in panties regardless who would guess these days anyway,
so we celebrated with the Happy hours at each pool site for a few days! this is where she figured out that knitting and Margaritas are not good together.
The wind blew like snot for a few days and I was preoccupied trying to keep the boats Sun shade on. It felt like we may parachute off the dock any moment that's when i decided to climb onto the boom and rebundgy all around,the old ones were literally fraying apart very fast .Mechelle held my legs. it must have looked weird. We were boatbound!! thank god for Mechelle eager teaching techniques we survived and did lots of homeschool to free up some days when the sun would shine. Markets, and restaurant hopping, once the wind calmed down,. we still froze at Plaza Machado . I had to buy Kiya a scarf so the complaining would stop.
Sharing living and lifestyle I think Mechelles a natural although she read ADRIFT the novel (about a man lost sea for 72 days and all he went through she could not do it she said, She questioned me on all the things i have in our ditch bag, and she was so friendly with the dock folks for the last weeks on my own there were cruisers saying oh I met your sister, yeh, she was staying with you.
Had she been there for the swap meet on Saturday she would have sold Hanias holey souls for 50 pesos.
Hania and Noah had amazing bonding time and today she asks for him daily, Her fist comments come out as oh my god this is so cool! it was like a fort for her. Mechelle and Hania shared the forward bunk and had their own head. She was amazing for the 3 weeks and not once wanted to go home. She has that adventurous spirit in her. extremely curious and asks a thousand questions, I loved it! and she is only 3.
Any way Sharing and living bring out the best and other stuff in all of us , we had fun we laughed and cried and did stupid stuff just as sisters should, thank-you Gypsywind.
My opportunity came when this past month We had the honor of my sister Mechelle and Niece Hania stay aboard with us in mazatlan Elcid marina for 3 weeks and having her husband Rob join us for the last week.
It was interesting to arrive at the boat without Harvey and just us girls with all kids in tow I had my start the boat list ready and was pretty excited, breakers, water pressure, battery checks, refrigeration start up, check the dry goods on board make sure no bugs then bedding and cleaning unpack and then the Margarita! It was sure nice the first few days, Mechelle took to the VHF right away and at times was up before me with receiver in hand ready to check in, she was also busy converting temp. from Fahrenheit to Celsius to try and understand why we were so cold, she claims as true we were at one point 1 degree above freezing and she saw her breathe in the morning. It was true it was the coldest weather that Mazatlan has had in 55 years , and low and behold there we were with Margaritas and bathing suits in mind!!!
Well despite this we had some days of sunshine and that's when we headed to the beach , Mechelle eager and excited forgot to put her bathing bottoms on and when we arrived she then realized and whatever sat in panties regardless who would guess these days anyway,
so we celebrated with the Happy hours at each pool site for a few days! this is where she figured out that knitting and Margaritas are not good together.
The wind blew like snot for a few days and I was preoccupied trying to keep the boats Sun shade on. It felt like we may parachute off the dock any moment that's when i decided to climb onto the boom and rebundgy all around,the old ones were literally fraying apart very fast .Mechelle held my legs. it must have looked weird. We were boatbound!! thank god for Mechelle eager teaching techniques we survived and did lots of homeschool to free up some days when the sun would shine. Markets, and restaurant hopping, once the wind calmed down,. we still froze at Plaza Machado . I had to buy Kiya a scarf so the complaining would stop.
Had she been there for the swap meet on Saturday she would have sold Hanias holey souls for 50 pesos. Hania and Noah had amazing bonding time and today she asks for him daily, Her fist comments come out as oh my god this is so cool! it was like a fort for her. Mechelle and Hania shared the forward bunk and had their own head. She was amazing for the 3 weeks and not once wanted to go home. She has that adventurous spirit in her. extremely curious and asks a thousand questions, I loved it! and she is only 3.
Any way Sharing and living bring out the best and other stuff in all of us , we had fun we laughed and cried and did stupid stuff just as sisters should, thank-you Gypsywind.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
all about the birds and the bees
It's funny about the crusing life, the things you learn, the things you wished you didn't have to learn.
Like someone said ,"well at least you don't have to mow the lawn" well... if you haven't cleaned the bottom of your boat in a while, it is scarry what you find growing there. If you scrap it yourself, it kind of feels like mowing the lawn in a kind of aquatic sort of way. if thats too wet for you well then you can tend to the tidying of the decks, wrapping up the sheets (ropes) kind of like the hoses off the lawn, then watering the lawn, I mean the deck to wash all the dibree and salt off the wood. and the satisfied wife after its all done, just like when the lawn is freashly cut. Pride then the cerimonial beer. Except in Mexico you probably have one going since noon.What has this all got to do with bees you ask.
I was hoping youd ask. I ssems that a small colony of bees living under the sail cover,don't like the sail cover moved when you are cleaning the decks. We have some expertise here, though techically it's with wasps and they were Canadian. These bees were, well, mexican and short honey bees 2/3 the size of there northen cousins.
All my years of experiance tought me 2 things, wait till it's dark and let someone else to pull the trigger. It does not sit too well being a pacifist, vegetarian, don't hurt the animals sort of guy, and then your seen killing bees in a masacure.There could be female bees in there with babies. So, I got Nikita to do it! He knew the old man doesn't have the stomach for it. He opened the sail cover sprayed RAID, they all died fell onto the deck end of story. Next day we are putting up the fore sail, the one we took down in May so it would not look tatered like the one in Mazatlan harbour, left out one season too long. Things go smooth as the sail reaches the top of the mast, I'm on the haulyard, the rope feels funny, thicker and waxy. About 2 feet of the halyard is in wax. I look up to the top of the mast and a swarm of bees are buzzing the topof the mast head, with the odd one diving to the deck. We all run aft and down below. What the....
Well that turns out to be my entertainment for the next few days, I go to the Halyard, a different one, the one that really makes them pissed off. now the mast is about 50 ft tall and by the time they figure out what the hell is going on, Im at the back of the boat. Then there was this one time they came after me I thought I got away as I turned around this one lone bee does a kamakazi on me and hits me right between the eyes. It hardly hurt,a 2 out of 10. just a bit itchy. next day a little puffy, next day very puffy,on the bridge of the nose. Next day my under the eyes are fat, por puffy, yet droppy just like an old man.this gave me a long time to think. We need a plan.
We will send Nikita up the mast,at night of coarse, with a garbge bag, cover the mast head, poke a hole in the bag and gas the bast...Except that he is my first born, what if they swarm, and that girl by the pool, he would never forgive me.
Plan B the mexican on the dock says they make smoke on deck with news papers vacumn up the smoke and send it up the mast briliant! though a fire on deck did sound risky. Ran this past our nieghbour (Moondance, what a nice couple) Doug says thats how they put them to sleep, the bee keepers that is, it does not kill them.
Plan C We are going to spray RAID into the vaumn and force it up the inside of the mast. but what if the spray doesn't reach the top ,50 ft you know.
Kim says something so stupid, Why don't you tape the can of Raid to the halyard. Man! Women!. the more I thought about it the more I could see it working.
Plan D tape the can to the halyard that goes into the back pully, only the bottom half of the can so the top can rise over the pully. Tape the can so that when it stops at the pully it is pointing right into the mast head, instead of flapping around. we taped on a band of duct tape over the nozzle and wraped it in the spraying position. Up went the can 3 seconds flat, acually it was only a half a can. It locked in perfectly and sprayed into the mast head for over 2 minetes . a coulpe of bees cam out and started falling. the foam built up and started dripping on us so we moved to the bow. Soon it was all over, then Nikita notices bees crawling out of the bottom of the mast ,stunned and soaked, what to do? he finishes them off with our second can of Raid next day we counted over 100 dead bees on the deck.
Us humans can be so crule, and thats why I don't eat bees
GYPSYWIND on standby just waiting for something else to happen
a good sailor is always prepared
Like someone said ,"well at least you don't have to mow the lawn" well... if you haven't cleaned the bottom of your boat in a while, it is scarry what you find growing there. If you scrap it yourself, it kind of feels like mowing the lawn in a kind of aquatic sort of way. if thats too wet for you well then you can tend to the tidying of the decks, wrapping up the sheets (ropes) kind of like the hoses off the lawn, then watering the lawn, I mean the deck to wash all the dibree and salt off the wood. and the satisfied wife after its all done, just like when the lawn is freashly cut. Pride then the cerimonial beer. Except in Mexico you probably have one going since noon.What has this all got to do with bees you ask.
I was hoping youd ask. I ssems that a small colony of bees living under the sail cover,don't like the sail cover moved when you are cleaning the decks. We have some expertise here, though techically it's with wasps and they were Canadian. These bees were, well, mexican and short honey bees 2/3 the size of there northen cousins.
All my years of experiance tought me 2 things, wait till it's dark and let someone else to pull the trigger. It does not sit too well being a pacifist, vegetarian, don't hurt the animals sort of guy, and then your seen killing bees in a masacure.There could be female bees in there with babies. So, I got Nikita to do it! He knew the old man doesn't have the stomach for it. He opened the sail cover sprayed RAID, they all died fell onto the deck end of story. Next day we are putting up the fore sail, the one we took down in May so it would not look tatered like the one in Mazatlan harbour, left out one season too long. Things go smooth as the sail reaches the top of the mast, I'm on the haulyard, the rope feels funny, thicker and waxy. About 2 feet of the halyard is in wax. I look up to the top of the mast and a swarm of bees are buzzing the topof the mast head, with the odd one diving to the deck. We all run aft and down below. What the....
Well that turns out to be my entertainment for the next few days, I go to the Halyard, a different one, the one that really makes them pissed off. now the mast is about 50 ft tall and by the time they figure out what the hell is going on, Im at the back of the boat. Then there was this one time they came after me I thought I got away as I turned around this one lone bee does a kamakazi on me and hits me right between the eyes. It hardly hurt,a 2 out of 10. just a bit itchy. next day a little puffy, next day very puffy,on the bridge of the nose. Next day my under the eyes are fat, por puffy, yet droppy just like an old man.this gave me a long time to think. We need a plan.
We will send Nikita up the mast,at night of coarse, with a garbge bag, cover the mast head, poke a hole in the bag and gas the bast...Except that he is my first born, what if they swarm, and that girl by the pool, he would never forgive me.
Plan B the mexican on the dock says they make smoke on deck with news papers vacumn up the smoke and send it up the mast briliant! though a fire on deck did sound risky. Ran this past our nieghbour (Moondance, what a nice couple) Doug says thats how they put them to sleep, the bee keepers that is, it does not kill them.
Plan C We are going to spray RAID into the vaumn and force it up the inside of the mast. but what if the spray doesn't reach the top ,50 ft you know.
Kim says something so stupid, Why don't you tape the can of Raid to the halyard. Man! Women!. the more I thought about it the more I could see it working.
Plan D tape the can to the halyard that goes into the back pully, only the bottom half of the can so the top can rise over the pully. Tape the can so that when it stops at the pully it is pointing right into the mast head, instead of flapping around. we taped on a band of duct tape over the nozzle and wraped it in the spraying position. Up went the can 3 seconds flat, acually it was only a half a can. It locked in perfectly and sprayed into the mast head for over 2 minetes . a coulpe of bees cam out and started falling. the foam built up and started dripping on us so we moved to the bow. Soon it was all over, then Nikita notices bees crawling out of the bottom of the mast ,stunned and soaked, what to do? he finishes them off with our second can of Raid next day we counted over 100 dead bees on the deck.
Us humans can be so crule, and thats why I don't eat bees
GYPSYWIND on standby just waiting for something else to happen
a good sailor is always prepared
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