Well it's happened we have let or standards slip,our ethics droop, and have allowed advertizing on our blog. Please don't be offended. You don't have to access them, but if you do; each click earns us $.20. Our crusing kitty is depleted and we are now desperate??? We fear our boat might sink. .... or worse yet, peanut butter and crackers. Our friends on Third day are living on a tight budget, cruising on $1,000 a month, but earn around $200 from thier Blog advertizing not bad for $.20 at a time.Well, needless to say we fell into the temptation as well, so if you find anything interesting don't hesitate to click on, every bit helps.
Gypsywind at the dock
Friday, April 30, 2010
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
cruising: not all a bed of seaweed
The sensation comes and goes: the love for the sea. there is something truely magical being out in a boat surrounded be nature, in a gorgeous anchorage, at the same time knowing that nature has the power to put you on the hard, or at the least give you a good scare. I've felt that we, as gypsywind, have been held in Gods' hands. That has always been my sensation sailing, just you and God, and his wind. But like the saying goes, "trust in God but tie your camel first. That more describes crusing. For every hour of enjoyment, three hours have gone into preperation The safety of the crew and boat, is a check list, that for someone as laid back (loosy goosy) as myself, it feels like a mile long. As an example you want to move the boat (Gypsywind) over to the anchorage next door, say around the point, well you better not fire up the engine till you check that one or more of your helpful crew hasn't left a line in the water that can foul your prop. A dead engine at a most inoportune time can spell disaster. Oh but lets just back up a second, you don't fire up the engine until: you have checked both the engine and transmission oil levels, not that it might be low, but to make sure it's there. Wierd things can happen for no reason on boats, and espesially mechanical things on boats. Besides, this engine has been so good to us not letting us down, it once ran for 52 hrs straight, oh yeh, it did die half way in the middle of the sea cause someone forgot to switch the fuel tank diverter to starboard tank. Now this is a deisel engine, and I was warned, back when I was 20 yrs old, never run a diesel engine out of fuel, unless you know how to bleed the fuel lines of air. It didn't happen because we have such a good engine. I baby this engine and in turn it loves me, did I tell you about all the superstitions sailors have? Maybe another blog. And you need to change oil every 100 hrs thats 500 miles in landlubber terms, so before you fire up that engine you've got to know how many hrs to the next oil change. Oh did I tell you, it takes 2 1/2 gal of oil, you should always carry 5 gal on board 2.5 for the next change and 2.5 in case something goes wrong. Did I mention the oil does not run out of the engine at the bottom, as in a car,you must own a pump and suck it out through a tube made for this.We have a nice motorised pump.
So you want to fire up the engine and move the boat around the piont. You must first secure all things on deck, tidy up the lines, ready the sails, secure all loose items below, one second lets start over. Alert the crew so that you have help to secure everything and anything that can be a projectile and hurt someone.
It may be calm now but the seas are funny , you go around a piont and you have a 5 ft sea, and a 5 ft sea with 20 kt wind on the nose can be a very unplesant thing, dangerous if it is bashing you on the beam, you best have some sail up to stop the rolling, otherwise the computer that you thought was safe is now a porjectile and can take out one of the crew, which of coarse would be two as another would have to tend to the first. this of coarse leaves you short handed to deal with a fowled sail or sheet or something. Did I tell you about a boat coming in to a slip in a marina the wife throws the dock line, I'm not clear how it happened but the rope was around her foot, she gets pulled overboard, the husband more worried about his wife in the water drifts sideways and hits the boat next door. Days later we are in thier slip and the people that got hit are leaving and ask our assistance to walk them off the dock, they had enough exitement for one week. Nothing that exciting happened to us, oh wait a minate, we are pulling into the customs dock in San Diego, technically my first dock landing ,we go down the channel so we can take it on our port, and have a look at it. We come in a tad fast but it's from the end and the dock is 150 long so in my mind we will just go down a bit till we stop. only propblem is, orders we given to the first mate that when he can, to leap onto the dock and secure the bow line to an avaliable cleat. Nikita did just that, the boat is not at a full stop, we swing to port and thump the dock,like good. Now did I tell you the boat wieghs 40,000 lb, it does not like to come to a full stop suddenly, it keeps going, or the stern did, as it tried to pass us, the ones that thought they came to a stop, we swung bringing our 6 ft bow sprit (the thing that projects off our bow) within inches of a concrete piling. we never use the bow line first, ever, allways stern or spring in case. But we have mastered the dock (meaning I haven't hit one lately) we come to a stop one ft away and tie the lines, but Kim still has anxiaty if I come in fast, she, the boat, stops on a dime when thrown in reverse, just have to make sure there is no cross wind or current, like the time in La Paz (thank god everyone else was at the baja ha ha party and we had not to many witnesses for that one ...thats another story. Man this is off topic.
So you want to move the boat, after every line, the sheets wrapped on the winches and at the ready, is in place, for you never know when an engine is going to die, a prop get fowled, and you will have only one opption and that is to set a sail to get control. This is what I mean about the 3 hrs of preperation.
So if you think your ready, your not, you haven't brought on line the GPS, the chart plotter,and the radar, all things you will need and may not have time to set up in an emergency, did I mention the depth sounder,wind direction indicator,electric compass? And have you read the charts to where you are going? usually the night before along with the cruising guides which are our bible down here, they tell of every submerged rock, and the distance to stay off shore, along with way points for the tricky stuff. So before you pull up anchor, pack a lunch, in case of bad seas, Kim usually premakes burritos, and slips them in the oven even if things aren't so great, we have a hot meal under way. Oh I forgot to mention you have to take up the ladder, we didn't once, another cruiser pionted it out as we went by, embarassing, do up the life lines, break out the harnesses and tethers, lift the dingy, secure the gas tank. You get the picture.
Oh yeh, don't forget to pull up the thing thats in the water hooked onto a chain at your bow, you may need it at the next anchorage.
happy sailng
So you want to fire up the engine and move the boat around the piont. You must first secure all things on deck, tidy up the lines, ready the sails, secure all loose items below, one second lets start over. Alert the crew so that you have help to secure everything and anything that can be a projectile and hurt someone.
It may be calm now but the seas are funny , you go around a piont and you have a 5 ft sea, and a 5 ft sea with 20 kt wind on the nose can be a very unplesant thing, dangerous if it is bashing you on the beam, you best have some sail up to stop the rolling, otherwise the computer that you thought was safe is now a porjectile and can take out one of the crew, which of coarse would be two as another would have to tend to the first. this of coarse leaves you short handed to deal with a fowled sail or sheet or something. Did I tell you about a boat coming in to a slip in a marina the wife throws the dock line, I'm not clear how it happened but the rope was around her foot, she gets pulled overboard, the husband more worried about his wife in the water drifts sideways and hits the boat next door. Days later we are in thier slip and the people that got hit are leaving and ask our assistance to walk them off the dock, they had enough exitement for one week. Nothing that exciting happened to us, oh wait a minate, we are pulling into the customs dock in San Diego, technically my first dock landing ,we go down the channel so we can take it on our port, and have a look at it. We come in a tad fast but it's from the end and the dock is 150 long so in my mind we will just go down a bit till we stop. only propblem is, orders we given to the first mate that when he can, to leap onto the dock and secure the bow line to an avaliable cleat. Nikita did just that, the boat is not at a full stop, we swing to port and thump the dock,like good. Now did I tell you the boat wieghs 40,000 lb, it does not like to come to a full stop suddenly, it keeps going, or the stern did, as it tried to pass us, the ones that thought they came to a stop, we swung bringing our 6 ft bow sprit (the thing that projects off our bow) within inches of a concrete piling. we never use the bow line first, ever, allways stern or spring in case. But we have mastered the dock (meaning I haven't hit one lately) we come to a stop one ft away and tie the lines, but Kim still has anxiaty if I come in fast, she, the boat, stops on a dime when thrown in reverse, just have to make sure there is no cross wind or current, like the time in La Paz (thank god everyone else was at the baja ha ha party and we had not to many witnesses for that one ...thats another story. Man this is off topic.
So you want to move the boat, after every line, the sheets wrapped on the winches and at the ready, is in place, for you never know when an engine is going to die, a prop get fowled, and you will have only one opption and that is to set a sail to get control. This is what I mean about the 3 hrs of preperation.
So if you think your ready, your not, you haven't brought on line the GPS, the chart plotter,and the radar, all things you will need and may not have time to set up in an emergency, did I mention the depth sounder,wind direction indicator,electric compass? And have you read the charts to where you are going? usually the night before along with the cruising guides which are our bible down here, they tell of every submerged rock, and the distance to stay off shore, along with way points for the tricky stuff. So before you pull up anchor, pack a lunch, in case of bad seas, Kim usually premakes burritos, and slips them in the oven even if things aren't so great, we have a hot meal under way. Oh I forgot to mention you have to take up the ladder, we didn't once, another cruiser pionted it out as we went by, embarassing, do up the life lines, break out the harnesses and tethers, lift the dingy, secure the gas tank. You get the picture.
Oh yeh, don't forget to pull up the thing thats in the water hooked onto a chain at your bow, you may need it at the next anchorage.
happy sailng
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Trouble on the high seas
the sail to mazatlan :
The Wind was just off our nose, so we choose to sail, so we fall off 20 deg. heading toward land a bit but it's 15 miles off. Loosing ground we tack we are much worse on the starboard. we descide to fire up the engine. Something does not sound right, if you listen to the exaust it should have a wet sound every 5 seconds or so, no water!!. I run down below check the bilge, where is the water, engine is cooled by sea water, through a heat exchanger, bilge dry, hoses in tack. Kim yells, who now is on the helm, temprature is up, and then the alarm goes off, we are 200 deg, we run 165-170. Kill the engine, sail still up we have control of the boat, 2 to 2.5 sea 9 kts of wind. what now, check the strainer could be fouled. It's now getting dark. We had to clean the watermaker intake in Chamela, things were growing in the throughhull Nikita dove to clear it.We found a little slim in the strainer, but not enough to give us grief. Must be the impeller in the raw water pump, or, the raw water pump, which we changed in back in LA 6 months ago. God please don't let it be the water pump, our spare is the used one we took out. Kim informs me the swell is knocking her off course, we are headed for land. It's now dark, it goes dark within 1/2 hr of when the sun sets. We call in the mechanic "Nikita",who watched the guy up in LA change the impeller and later the whole pump. We have a new impeller.I pass wrenches Nikita takes the cover off, 6 bolts and 2 brackets, we are rolling around on the seas and its now dark but he knows this area well, one of the hoses that gave us trouble when Victor was down starts here.
Nikita says Oh my god, yep it's the impeller, it's missing 2 fins out of 8. Now if you've never taken an impeller out and did not read the maintanence manual you would never get that sucker out,2 screwdrivers with equal pressure, amazing, it's out. we grease the new one it goes in wrong,we must take it out,carefully.2 fins need to be compressed. It's in, we close up, fire up, we have water!! Kim has been trying to keep us on coarse 1 1/2 hrs. we are releaved it could have been worse,like the heat exchanger.......
Nikita takes the early watch with Kim, I grab some shut eye, my watch 12 to 2 and 4 to 6, Kim will take 2 to 4 and Nikita will take 8 am. I made it to 3 am then stayed up to keep Kim company, she let me sleep till 7:30. Kiya was up by 8:30 and got to see the 40 or so dolifins that came out to greet us , some stayed swiming at the bow just under Kiyas' feet. As we approched the Mazatlan harour,with 2 cruise ships,and a hugh ferry from the Baja in dock.we ended up arriving at the same time as a cargo ship, we fell off ,so did he. A huge fishing trawler comes steaming out,cuts in front of us 200 yds and steams off. we radio in to the harbour master who requests us to stand off for 1/2 hr. pilot tugs come and guide the cargo ship in. this thing is several blocks long, the deck is high 200 ft the bridge is windows in the bow of this monster. we ask again for clearance, are given it, and follow a small ferry in. The anchorage is right inside the break water to port. Our friends "Gota Go" lay at anchor with a few other boats. Everyone is up as Kim and I crash for a power nap.We made it, crew all acounted for and vessel in tack.
Gypsywind over and out
The Wind was just off our nose, so we choose to sail, so we fall off 20 deg. heading toward land a bit but it's 15 miles off. Loosing ground we tack we are much worse on the starboard. we descide to fire up the engine. Something does not sound right, if you listen to the exaust it should have a wet sound every 5 seconds or so, no water!!. I run down below check the bilge, where is the water, engine is cooled by sea water, through a heat exchanger, bilge dry, hoses in tack. Kim yells, who now is on the helm, temprature is up, and then the alarm goes off, we are 200 deg, we run 165-170. Kill the engine, sail still up we have control of the boat, 2 to 2.5 sea 9 kts of wind. what now, check the strainer could be fouled. It's now getting dark. We had to clean the watermaker intake in Chamela, things were growing in the throughhull Nikita dove to clear it.We found a little slim in the strainer, but not enough to give us grief. Must be the impeller in the raw water pump, or, the raw water pump, which we changed in back in LA 6 months ago. God please don't let it be the water pump, our spare is the used one we took out. Kim informs me the swell is knocking her off course, we are headed for land. It's now dark, it goes dark within 1/2 hr of when the sun sets. We call in the mechanic "Nikita",who watched the guy up in LA change the impeller and later the whole pump. We have a new impeller.I pass wrenches Nikita takes the cover off, 6 bolts and 2 brackets, we are rolling around on the seas and its now dark but he knows this area well, one of the hoses that gave us trouble when Victor was down starts here.
Nikita says Oh my god, yep it's the impeller, it's missing 2 fins out of 8. Now if you've never taken an impeller out and did not read the maintanence manual you would never get that sucker out,2 screwdrivers with equal pressure, amazing, it's out. we grease the new one it goes in wrong,we must take it out,carefully.2 fins need to be compressed. It's in, we close up, fire up, we have water!! Kim has been trying to keep us on coarse 1 1/2 hrs. we are releaved it could have been worse,like the heat exchanger.......
Nikita takes the early watch with Kim, I grab some shut eye, my watch 12 to 2 and 4 to 6, Kim will take 2 to 4 and Nikita will take 8 am. I made it to 3 am then stayed up to keep Kim company, she let me sleep till 7:30. Kiya was up by 8:30 and got to see the 40 or so dolifins that came out to greet us , some stayed swiming at the bow just under Kiyas' feet. As we approched the Mazatlan harour,with 2 cruise ships,and a hugh ferry from the Baja in dock.we ended up arriving at the same time as a cargo ship, we fell off ,so did he. A huge fishing trawler comes steaming out,cuts in front of us 200 yds and steams off. we radio in to the harbour master who requests us to stand off for 1/2 hr. pilot tugs come and guide the cargo ship in. this thing is several blocks long, the deck is high 200 ft the bridge is windows in the bow of this monster. we ask again for clearance, are given it, and follow a small ferry in. The anchorage is right inside the break water to port. Our friends "Gota Go" lay at anchor with a few other boats. Everyone is up as Kim and I crash for a power nap.We made it, crew all acounted for and vessel in tack.
Gypsywind over and out
Isla Isabela and on to Mazatlan
Now for some offshore sailing
42 kt miles and the wind on the nose, which seems to be 50% of the time, but thats what the "iron sail" is for 5 kts and 8 hrs later, we arrive 5:30 and drop the anchor on the east side, nice and calm for an 16 kt wind. we join 3 other boats, Sonrisa that we shared anchorage in Chamela. Another boat pulls in after us out of the west. We anchor in 22ft over sand and rock. More rock then sand, with cracks, dubbed the "anchor eater", the water was so clear we could see our anchor set in a nice bed of sand. We are just south of 2 pinnacles rising out of the water, 250 ft called Las Monas,the mannequins.they are impressive. As we relaxed with our compadre, Dos Equis, a tradition after we drop anchor, 100s of tropical fish come to check us out. Noah and Kiya put on googles and fins and swim in the warm water, now thats cool..You know when kids are having fun when they are too busy to talk to you.The beach to the west had some soft rollers to add to the ambeiance.we haven't had this pristine feeling since the Baja.
Next day, after homework, we head to shore,we dingy in between the two pinnacles then on to the fishing village, to see the some 500 frigettes and Boobies, the blue footed kind. The entire Island is a bird sanctuary.We get on shore, in a beautiful but small bay, with an inner bay with huts lining the beach. The Island is some 20 miles off the main land and other then the part time fishermen, only a warden lives on the 1 x2 mile island.Theres a map at the head of the trail, which we get lost at the not finished concrete building. Dozens of, basking in the sun, iguanas are everywhere, some are scary big 24",same with the birds, big birds, like 50 per tree about 15 ft tall, tree that is. we cut across the Island to the west side,in between the abandoned latrines the the not so abandoned latrines,it gets a little overwelming, back in the dingy around the point for some more snorkling.After lunch, 2:30, we head out for the sail to Mazatlan 16hr it's going to be an overnighter, hoping to be in by 10 am.
Gypsywind on the high seas
42 kt miles and the wind on the nose, which seems to be 50% of the time, but thats what the "iron sail" is for 5 kts and 8 hrs later, we arrive 5:30 and drop the anchor on the east side, nice and calm for an 16 kt wind. we join 3 other boats, Sonrisa that we shared anchorage in Chamela. Another boat pulls in after us out of the west. We anchor in 22ft over sand and rock. More rock then sand, with cracks, dubbed the "anchor eater", the water was so clear we could see our anchor set in a nice bed of sand. We are just south of 2 pinnacles rising out of the water, 250 ft called Las Monas,the mannequins.they are impressive. As we relaxed with our compadre, Dos Equis, a tradition after we drop anchor, 100s of tropical fish come to check us out. Noah and Kiya put on googles and fins and swim in the warm water, now thats cool..You know when kids are having fun when they are too busy to talk to you.The beach to the west had some soft rollers to add to the ambeiance.we haven't had this pristine feeling since the Baja.
Next day, after homework, we head to shore,we dingy in between the two pinnacles then on to the fishing village, to see the some 500 frigettes and Boobies, the blue footed kind. The entire Island is a bird sanctuary.We get on shore, in a beautiful but small bay, with an inner bay with huts lining the beach. The Island is some 20 miles off the main land and other then the part time fishermen, only a warden lives on the 1 x2 mile island.Theres a map at the head of the trail, which we get lost at the not finished concrete building. Dozens of, basking in the sun, iguanas are everywhere, some are scary big 24",same with the birds, big birds, like 50 per tree about 15 ft tall, tree that is. we cut across the Island to the west side,in between the abandoned latrines the the not so abandoned latrines,it gets a little overwelming, back in the dingy around the point for some more snorkling.After lunch, 2:30, we head out for the sail to Mazatlan 16hr it's going to be an overnighter, hoping to be in by 10 am.
Gypsywind on the high seas
Monday, April 19, 2010
a Blast in San Blas
We left La Cruz late, got held up by a South African boat,more like a mini ship beautiful motor boat 63 ft off to the Maquases, they got out 500 miles and had to return, alternater problems.
The sail up to Guayabitos was lovely, it was nice to shut the engine off, 10kts of wind on our port bow and we were sailing 5kts. As we reached Guaybitos, our destination, its not rated as the best anchorage in north wind, we realized by the time we entered the bay, we will not have enogh light to change our mind and sail to the next anchorage, Chacala some 8 miles north. We sailed on to Chacala, got in in time to enjoy the big orange sunset. Four other boats all with stern anchers out, so we did the same, well if the first night didn't go down as the rolliest anchorage the second night did. Next day we went ashore, walked in town, walked on the beautiful beach, had drinks then supper. Kim said this is what crusing is all about, it was a cute small town, that made you feel like you could stay forever. Then we got back on the boat, it was the southwest swell the only side not protected. We left the next day for San Blas. Looking over our shoulder for Tynamarra. Another perfect day of sailing, this is messing with my theory that there is good wind only 15% of the time. The seas were gentle 2 ft helping us along from the south west.
Our charts and guide books are not the best for San Blas, Mexican charts are natoriously in accurrate, our chart plotter is showing us on land 1 1/2 miles, we round the point a mile off shore, usually we sail two, but we have a pinicale that can't be seen 3 miles off, it makes us nervous.We finish our sail it's only 5 o clock, but the entrance to the esuary harbor is tricky, and until we punch in it's position into the chart plotter, it is easy to confuse one point for the other. one of the guides has one point missing on the drawing. we sail north a mile off shore, we have rocks in the water and breakers on every point. This is what makes sailing a little nerve racking.I should mention that four boats went aground this season, another boat was lost further up the coast on a simular type of enterance. Finally Kim spots the Break water in the Spyglass, we are within 3 miles and the correct angle of approch.We now have big rock out of the water coming up, can't tell yet what side to take, a bouy appears on our port bow,"what the hell is that" as we make our way Kim is not feeling good about this one, then the breakwaters appear, just as in the guide book, only ploblem is. there is surf in between them.Exactly what happened to the people who lost their boat.Kim suggests we phone for assistance to the port captian. After some deliberation we radio anyone in the San Blas anchorage. "this is Gypsywind, this is our first time in San Blas asking for some assistance as to how to enter the estuary. "This is Third day how can I help?" Rich and his daughter Amy come out on thier dingy over to starboard and guide us in behind the surf,all we had to do was follow their dingy.He warned us we were to cross a shoal 10 ft deep. The surf by the way is breaking with the 7th or so, being 5ft in ht.as we come in the swell lifts us, as we get to the rollers one big one lifts us and for a moment we were surfing the wave. Kim asks if I''m powered up I was 5.8 kts we were coming in. on the back side it's calm. We follow Third day up in a zig zag pattren avoiding the shoals.We get around the bend and drop the hook next to Third Day.
Rich comes over with a map of town with the 50 locations marked and a directory. Oh by the way your lucky, saturday is potluck at 6 o clock at the marina rooftop.I look at my watch it's 5:45, he informs us we are still on PV time. Kim whips together her killer thai salad we pile into the dingy join 6 other cruising boats for a evening of fun, sharing stories and advice. That was before the noseemes come out, we got eaten alive, by 8 pm the roof was empty as we stumbled down the stairs.The trip back to the boat was at full trottle , we slam the companion way shut. Thank goodness Rich warned us, Nikita, Noah and I put up screens when Kim was making the salad. Well there we were, mosquito coils smokin, screens on, hatch closed , wasn't this cosy.
On everyones advice, Kiya of all people kicks everyone out of bed at 7:30, and we are off for the Jungle River Tour. We catch a taxi 30 pesos $2.75 what an amazing 3 hrs, we really liked the Tennicatita tours but this was a a step up from that, the wild life, turtles, crocs, Birds (the birds were amazing) one of the stops was a fresh water spring, for swimming.we stopped for refreshments at the Crocodilaria. okay from here we took a taxi up the old Fort and church, Kiya loved this it was old and you wondered what might have taken place in the ages before us, the cannons outside the walls were at least ten feet long,
we went on to enjoy what is rumored to be the best pizza in mexico, we can atest, we've had some pretty bad pizzas. Imagine a home concrete, with the front room being the resturant, in full view of her personal kitchen and living room c/w tv and couches with the rest of the family. the pizza was fantastic, homemade dough.
we rushed home locked ourselves up with more duck tape on the screens, and hoped for the best.
well we did it all in one day so as not to subject ourselves to yet a third night of noseeme feeding. oh by the way the also come out at sunrise. The morning Amigo Net is our weather source, and who should be running the net that morning? non other than our new freind Rich on Third Day. needless to say our reception was perfect, by the way this net reaches california -southren mexico border, we were greatful to hear fair winds for our morning sail to Isla Isabela (8 hour sail ) and fair weather anchorage, Havey wanted to kiss the chart plottor because it gave him a crumb trail to follow out through the entrance.
SURFS UP.........
The sail up to Guayabitos was lovely, it was nice to shut the engine off, 10kts of wind on our port bow and we were sailing 5kts. As we reached Guaybitos, our destination, its not rated as the best anchorage in north wind, we realized by the time we entered the bay, we will not have enogh light to change our mind and sail to the next anchorage, Chacala some 8 miles north. We sailed on to Chacala, got in in time to enjoy the big orange sunset. Four other boats all with stern anchers out, so we did the same, well if the first night didn't go down as the rolliest anchorage the second night did. Next day we went ashore, walked in town, walked on the beautiful beach, had drinks then supper. Kim said this is what crusing is all about, it was a cute small town, that made you feel like you could stay forever. Then we got back on the boat, it was the southwest swell the only side not protected. We left the next day for San Blas. Looking over our shoulder for Tynamarra. Another perfect day of sailing, this is messing with my theory that there is good wind only 15% of the time. The seas were gentle 2 ft helping us along from the south west.
Our charts and guide books are not the best for San Blas, Mexican charts are natoriously in accurrate, our chart plotter is showing us on land 1 1/2 miles, we round the point a mile off shore, usually we sail two, but we have a pinicale that can't be seen 3 miles off, it makes us nervous.We finish our sail it's only 5 o clock, but the entrance to the esuary harbor is tricky, and until we punch in it's position into the chart plotter, it is easy to confuse one point for the other. one of the guides has one point missing on the drawing. we sail north a mile off shore, we have rocks in the water and breakers on every point. This is what makes sailing a little nerve racking.I should mention that four boats went aground this season, another boat was lost further up the coast on a simular type of enterance. Finally Kim spots the Break water in the Spyglass, we are within 3 miles and the correct angle of approch.We now have big rock out of the water coming up, can't tell yet what side to take, a bouy appears on our port bow,"what the hell is that" as we make our way Kim is not feeling good about this one, then the breakwaters appear, just as in the guide book, only ploblem is. there is surf in between them.Exactly what happened to the people who lost their boat.Kim suggests we phone for assistance to the port captian. After some deliberation we radio anyone in the San Blas anchorage. "this is Gypsywind, this is our first time in San Blas asking for some assistance as to how to enter the estuary. "This is Third day how can I help?" Rich and his daughter Amy come out on thier dingy over to starboard and guide us in behind the surf,all we had to do was follow their dingy.He warned us we were to cross a shoal 10 ft deep. The surf by the way is breaking with the 7th or so, being 5ft in ht.as we come in the swell lifts us, as we get to the rollers one big one lifts us and for a moment we were surfing the wave. Kim asks if I''m powered up I was 5.8 kts we were coming in. on the back side it's calm. We follow Third day up in a zig zag pattren avoiding the shoals.We get around the bend and drop the hook next to Third Day.
Rich comes over with a map of town with the 50 locations marked and a directory. Oh by the way your lucky, saturday is potluck at 6 o clock at the marina rooftop.I look at my watch it's 5:45, he informs us we are still on PV time. Kim whips together her killer thai salad we pile into the dingy join 6 other cruising boats for a evening of fun, sharing stories and advice. That was before the noseemes come out, we got eaten alive, by 8 pm the roof was empty as we stumbled down the stairs.The trip back to the boat was at full trottle , we slam the companion way shut. Thank goodness Rich warned us, Nikita, Noah and I put up screens when Kim was making the salad. Well there we were, mosquito coils smokin, screens on, hatch closed , wasn't this cosy.
On everyones advice, Kiya of all people kicks everyone out of bed at 7:30, and we are off for the Jungle River Tour. We catch a taxi 30 pesos $2.75 what an amazing 3 hrs, we really liked the Tennicatita tours but this was a a step up from that, the wild life, turtles, crocs, Birds (the birds were amazing) one of the stops was a fresh water spring, for swimming.we stopped for refreshments at the Crocodilaria. okay from here we took a taxi up the old Fort and church, Kiya loved this it was old and you wondered what might have taken place in the ages before us, the cannons outside the walls were at least ten feet long,
we went on to enjoy what is rumored to be the best pizza in mexico, we can atest, we've had some pretty bad pizzas. Imagine a home concrete, with the front room being the resturant, in full view of her personal kitchen and living room c/w tv and couches with the rest of the family. the pizza was fantastic, homemade dough.
we rushed home locked ourselves up with more duck tape on the screens, and hoped for the best.
well we did it all in one day so as not to subject ourselves to yet a third night of noseeme feeding. oh by the way the also come out at sunrise. The morning Amigo Net is our weather source, and who should be running the net that morning? non other than our new freind Rich on Third Day. needless to say our reception was perfect, by the way this net reaches california -southren mexico border, we were greatful to hear fair winds for our morning sail to Isla Isabela (8 hour sail ) and fair weather anchorage, Havey wanted to kiss the chart plottor because it gave him a crumb trail to follow out through the entrance.
SURFS UP.........
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
LA CRUZ
well, I have been thinking of this blog for a while, what is it that I want to tell you or to say so many things come to mind, yes we have travelled from chamela to Yelapa and enjoyed the small town together with Tynammarra and Stepping Stone, and i could give you all the details of this time and how wonderful it was to share the sites that we knew from our time with Victor in these parts. and how we sailed over to La cruz and finally tied up at a marina after 3 months of salty seas and rolling anchorages and dingying Noah felt the imediate freedom of dock side, and to his glory friends were across the dock "Albatros", he says " hey they know me" and i also want to mention the hot showers, there is something about hot showers it really makes you feel clean and fluffy kind of. you sleep well when you are tied up because you don't think of the saftey aspect and not to mention the rolling around and listening to all the stuff clanging around back and forth like the balsamic viniger bottle banging into the olive oil in the pantry, back and forth till someone finally gets up to shut it up. sometimes you wake in the morning to find a fork jammed into the sliding cupboard doors. , you need to turn on the inverter before the plugs work and sometimes the desk light needs to be turned on as well then the coffee starts dripping. that is if you have made enough fresh water in the tanks with the water desalinator that we installed in la paz back in december. we are able to make water for ourselves when we run the generator. we run the generator sometimes 2 times a day, for a couple of hours to keep our batteries up to charge or we may not be able to start the engine (and that not good) god forbid the computer is dead we can't do homework and check emails etc. but we probably don't have internet most days anyway unless sometimes you stand on the bow and stretch and then it will only last until you see who sent nevermind the reading. so tying up has it's wonders each for his own, Harvey loves the hot showers, noah the space to run, Kiya the ability to be away from the parents in the yacht club and shopping, me the fresh water hose, (i love to just watch it run i could wash for hours the boat me everything, Nikita he rests we find him napping alot. the other thing a dock does is alow us to work on the multitude of projects that stack up, like the leak we are finding in the Head, why does the refrigeration not work efficently, we need to hang the radar reciever oh we need to clean and patch the digny and don't forget the food provisioning is easiest at dock you can trolly the goods over, you won't get wet unless it is raining,oh my god i almost forgot the laundry,you have to walk it into town.(REMEMBER WE DON'T HAVE A CAR. you have to walk everyting home all groceries must be carried aleast 2 miles before you reach the dock so we all have to go. otherwise it;s to heavy. ......we often think of home ..... i have a washing and drying machine and a dishwasher, we have lots of space, i think when i get home i will let the taps run for a hour Because i can,the amount of water my bathtub holds would probably bath 10 cruisers, and it doesn;t even have to be warm. i will invite everyone for a sleepover because there is room, hell we can proably fit in 30 of us or so, i will lay in the grass, and look at our sky.
we have been travelling for a while now and we have stayed a long time in the south end , we are back in PV a familair marina and we are all washed up and looking forward, Our trip is slowly closing and we are wondering now if it has done what we intended it to do. we are starting the end of our trip we hope to find a place to leave our beloved GYPSYWIND will she rest in the sea? or return to PV will we pull into a dry storage or will we keep her in the water? She will be saying here in Mexico, the Baja...is it safe from Hurricanes?should we head higher like most of our friends and leave her in San Carlos outside of hurricane zone, by the end of May she had better be secure we are hoping more to the mid may.
We are heading north tommorow morning we don't lift anchor here, we untie the dock lines, and motor out of the marina we hope to leave at 8:00 am and we would like to be in Rincon de Guayabitos., its supposed to be fun there. we probably will end up in Chacala , guayabitos is a fair weather stop only we will check it out, we have not been north of here, when we crossed the sea from La Paz we came staright to PV. we missed mazatlan and all between, i think we would like to do this part and in the mean time decide where Gypsywind will be for the summer.
In La Cruz , we say goodbye to a few good friends, "Whatcha gonna do" the mitgangs , they keep a really neat blog google them if you like they are great freinds of ours, we shared a beatiful last supper together in the anchorage here in La Cruz, Noah and Harrison have really become best friends. we also say good bye to Tynamarra , these folks we have shared anchorages with and have had alot of fun with the teenagers and kids have really enjoyed each others company from fireworks to guitars to movies and exploring, not to mention so have the adults , Stepping Stone as well they have been a lot of fun and are quite youthful and they often remind us to have fun, and live a little, be risky! we are leaving just us..... and we hope to see them all along the northren path up to the sea,
in the sea we have many freinds calling asking when we will be there Qualchan, Meshach, Black Dragon, Evergreen (we missed by a day). at this time we are still unsure our time is running out and we need to find a place to leave the Boat.
well we sail off tommorow and the wind report says they will be fair and most likely to be on the nose, we look forward to peaceful anchorage in some quiet cove with not to many boats, a cool breeze and a clear sky, and hope its not to rolly at night,
...................in this marina there is fish jumping every minute, it really quite something, and the water tonight is like glass.....
Gypsywind back to 22
we have been travelling for a while now and we have stayed a long time in the south end , we are back in PV a familair marina and we are all washed up and looking forward, Our trip is slowly closing and we are wondering now if it has done what we intended it to do. we are starting the end of our trip we hope to find a place to leave our beloved GYPSYWIND will she rest in the sea? or return to PV will we pull into a dry storage or will we keep her in the water? She will be saying here in Mexico, the Baja...is it safe from Hurricanes?should we head higher like most of our friends and leave her in San Carlos outside of hurricane zone, by the end of May she had better be secure we are hoping more to the mid may.
We are heading north tommorow morning we don't lift anchor here, we untie the dock lines, and motor out of the marina we hope to leave at 8:00 am and we would like to be in Rincon de Guayabitos., its supposed to be fun there. we probably will end up in Chacala , guayabitos is a fair weather stop only we will check it out, we have not been north of here, when we crossed the sea from La Paz we came staright to PV. we missed mazatlan and all between, i think we would like to do this part and in the mean time decide where Gypsywind will be for the summer.
In La Cruz , we say goodbye to a few good friends, "Whatcha gonna do" the mitgangs , they keep a really neat blog google them if you like they are great freinds of ours, we shared a beatiful last supper together in the anchorage here in La Cruz, Noah and Harrison have really become best friends. we also say good bye to Tynamarra , these folks we have shared anchorages with and have had alot of fun with the teenagers and kids have really enjoyed each others company from fireworks to guitars to movies and exploring, not to mention so have the adults , Stepping Stone as well they have been a lot of fun and are quite youthful and they often remind us to have fun, and live a little, be risky! we are leaving just us..... and we hope to see them all along the northren path up to the sea,
in the sea we have many freinds calling asking when we will be there Qualchan, Meshach, Black Dragon, Evergreen (we missed by a day). at this time we are still unsure our time is running out and we need to find a place to leave the Boat.
well we sail off tommorow and the wind report says they will be fair and most likely to be on the nose, we look forward to peaceful anchorage in some quiet cove with not to many boats, a cool breeze and a clear sky, and hope its not to rolly at night,
...................in this marina there is fish jumping every minute, it really quite something, and the water tonight is like glass.....
Gypsywind back to 22
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Friends, Birthdays, and sailing north
The lagoon in Bara has been a meeting place for all friends that we met along the way. As one by one many left north, others Stepping Stone, Tynamara, and Whatcha Gonna Do made it festive for all 6 kids on board were great friends to the three on Gypsywind. Nikita teemed uup with the Zack and Dylan for some serious male inventioning and explosions. The highlight was the trip to the waterpark with Tynamara and Stepping Stone, so much so we returned with the full contingent from Stepping Stone for a duel Birthday for Sovona (6) and Nikita (17) you know when kids are happy when they have no time to talk. Everyone sported a scrape or burn from the tubes, its' Mexico of coarse, no rules so there were more than a few triples. The evening was crowned of with a lovely dinner at Maxicana Lindos. Kim went to the baker lady that morning and ordered the most tasty cake angel with strawberries, it was so big we handed out peices to the entire resturant including the 7 lady cooks who sang a mexican song that included pot banging. We travelled home to Gypsywind that evening (all with extra cake in hand) amazed at the warmth of friends.
the next evening Kim and the Kids took me out for dinner to Ramomes and got me on the bus heading for mexico City for hopefully my last check up for a while. All went well and I returned in 2 days good but worn out from travelling 28 hrs in the last 38. Nikita , Kiya, Noah and Kim had Gypsywind stocked and ready to go. While I was away, Stepping Stone & Tynamara left for Tenacatita, and Whatcha Gonna Do came in. We lifted anchor the next morning, headed for the fuel dock, Kim gave Gypsywind a fresh water deck scrub and we headed out of the channel for the last time. Tenacatita lay just 3 hrs away. halfway up the wind came up as predicted, 18 kts on the nose slowing us down to 4.5 kts. as we rounded the point we took some jib out and picked up 2 kts. Well it.s been 2 months since we arrived and we finally took our first sail north in a long time. We were on our way back to the Sea.
the next evening Kim and the Kids took me out for dinner to Ramomes and got me on the bus heading for mexico City for hopefully my last check up for a while. All went well and I returned in 2 days good but worn out from travelling 28 hrs in the last 38. Nikita , Kiya, Noah and Kim had Gypsywind stocked and ready to go. While I was away, Stepping Stone & Tynamara left for Tenacatita, and Whatcha Gonna Do came in. We lifted anchor the next morning, headed for the fuel dock, Kim gave Gypsywind a fresh water deck scrub and we headed out of the channel for the last time. Tenacatita lay just 3 hrs away. halfway up the wind came up as predicted, 18 kts on the nose slowing us down to 4.5 kts. as we rounded the point we took some jib out and picked up 2 kts. Well it.s been 2 months since we arrived and we finally took our first sail north in a long time. We were on our way back to the Sea.
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Z town, Family and more Eyeballs
the break from cruising life, a real vacation........
Man this place was a resort,designed and built by developers from Surry BC for themselves untill they got there latest idea, another house up the way. Top floor 4 bedrooms with ensuite each, main floor gourmet kitchen with the works island all counters in granite, oh a sitting room off the kitchen, 10 person dining room , high living area with big screen tv, the entry was well thought out, including a powder room with a full on shower. Lower floor had the pool area, infiniti, like the drop off was some 25 ft,oh yea the kids lost 1 ball a float tube and a pair of googles, kim lost those.The thing was l shaped with a swim up bar and a jacuzzi on one end a ledge that you could swim over or under to accsess the lounge area, could have fit another 15 people. maid quarters, a shop and covered parking with land scaping done by design.The best part was the roof, huge palapa compete with couches tables and a couple of hammocks, did I mention stereo, now if you thought the views were spectacular on every other level the one up here would knock your socks off. You must realize we are way up a hillside, house kind of hangs off the edge, the lights of the bay were something else, it made the whole place magical. We did have an insident the next morning, the propane ran out mid day, during Harvey making beakfast , phoned the maintainace guy, owner drops by with $3000 pasos because its sunday the propane can't get filled till monday. $270 bucks for dinner. We all go down to La Ropa beach have a nice dinner.. The music by the elderly gentlemen was exceptional and Howard thought so as well!!
upon reading three Iskra's that Howard so generously brought for Harvey, Harvey started noticing a shadow appearing agian in his newly repaired eye, We made the desision for Harvey to go back up to Mexico city to check it, he boarded the Bus at 11:30 at night after the most amazing dinner (adults only) at the Italian resturant on the cliff. An odd feeling to drop off your husband in a bus station in Zihatanajo for Mexico City that late in the night, hoping he'll be back within a day or two. Little did I know the next time I would see him it would be in Barra, Harvey needed a RE-SURGERY there was still something pulling on the retina and another detachment was starting. we crossed our fingers and hoped while we lounged at the poolside enjoying the family with a bit of a dampened feeling, Harvey came through good, and needed to stay in the city for 5 days or so to make sure. this recovery was slower and alot rougher. It was hard not to be there.
We proceeded with the vacation from the boat with the family clan and sceduled a beach visit to las Gatos we dicided to hike in , to be adventours well we were mobed by the palapa owners selling us there best seats and finally we settled down only to find out they were out of most things and thier shower was salt water and not to mention the Margaritas were 6 toes and a whole leg. We had fun anyway except nikita stepped on a sea urchin some of us lost our shoes on the way back, we all agreeded the pool was where its at. and decided not to move, We did partake in The international guitar festvial one night , it was the highlight for me, and i think Nikita as well one of the musicians took to him Eric Mcfadden, let him strum a few on his personal guitar and a chat together at the end , here i must mention Howard and lorraine had the best seats in the house and i think Nina and Grant ended up at the musicians table all night.
It was so peaceful and relaxing I think it was a real vacation for us and we have the Vancouver contigent to thank that for. MUCHO GRASSSY ASS!!!
Man this place was a resort,designed and built by developers from Surry BC for themselves untill they got there latest idea, another house up the way. Top floor 4 bedrooms with ensuite each, main floor gourmet kitchen with the works island all counters in granite, oh a sitting room off the kitchen, 10 person dining room , high living area with big screen tv, the entry was well thought out, including a powder room with a full on shower. Lower floor had the pool area, infiniti, like the drop off was some 25 ft,oh yea the kids lost 1 ball a float tube and a pair of googles, kim lost those.The thing was l shaped with a swim up bar and a jacuzzi on one end a ledge that you could swim over or under to accsess the lounge area, could have fit another 15 people. maid quarters, a shop and covered parking with land scaping done by design.The best part was the roof, huge palapa compete with couches tables and a couple of hammocks, did I mention stereo, now if you thought the views were spectacular on every other level the one up here would knock your socks off. You must realize we are way up a hillside, house kind of hangs off the edge, the lights of the bay were something else, it made the whole place magical. We did have an insident the next morning, the propane ran out mid day, during Harvey making beakfast , phoned the maintainace guy, owner drops by with $3000 pasos because its sunday the propane can't get filled till monday. $270 bucks for dinner. We all go down to La Ropa beach have a nice dinner.. The music by the elderly gentlemen was exceptional and Howard thought so as well!!
upon reading three Iskra's that Howard so generously brought for Harvey, Harvey started noticing a shadow appearing agian in his newly repaired eye, We made the desision for Harvey to go back up to Mexico city to check it, he boarded the Bus at 11:30 at night after the most amazing dinner (adults only) at the Italian resturant on the cliff. An odd feeling to drop off your husband in a bus station in Zihatanajo for Mexico City that late in the night, hoping he'll be back within a day or two. Little did I know the next time I would see him it would be in Barra, Harvey needed a RE-SURGERY there was still something pulling on the retina and another detachment was starting. we crossed our fingers and hoped while we lounged at the poolside enjoying the family with a bit of a dampened feeling, Harvey came through good, and needed to stay in the city for 5 days or so to make sure. this recovery was slower and alot rougher. It was hard not to be there.
We proceeded with the vacation from the boat with the family clan and sceduled a beach visit to las Gatos we dicided to hike in , to be adventours well we were mobed by the palapa owners selling us there best seats and finally we settled down only to find out they were out of most things and thier shower was salt water and not to mention the Margaritas were 6 toes and a whole leg. We had fun anyway except nikita stepped on a sea urchin some of us lost our shoes on the way back, we all agreeded the pool was where its at. and decided not to move, We did partake in The international guitar festvial one night , it was the highlight for me, and i think Nikita as well one of the musicians took to him Eric Mcfadden, let him strum a few on his personal guitar and a chat together at the end , here i must mention Howard and lorraine had the best seats in the house and i think Nina and Grant ended up at the musicians table all night.
It was so peaceful and relaxing I think it was a real vacation for us and we have the Vancouver contigent to thank that for. MUCHO GRASSSY ASS!!!
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