San Evaristo revisited

Sunday
Mama is a trooper. No two ways about. Here she is, 82-years-young, and we've been hauling her through rocky and rolly waves that would exhaust anyone. Did she ever complain? Not once. Instead, she greets the end of the day with a smile and a, "Thank you for the lovely trip." Michael and I smile back and imagine what she might have said. If we feel muscles in our hands and shoulders that get used only on uncomfortable passages, what must she? We marvel at this example of graciousness.
Perhaps it's her southern upbringing. And perhaps it's just that she's pleased enough with the results of being here as we drop anchor in an old favorite haunt of hers - the first she's been able to recognize from last year - and watch the pelicans vie with the gulls for dinner.
We motor-sailed into Evaristo in an escalating breeze. The night before we'd spent an unpleasant interlude in Aqua Verde, knocked about by fetch that rolled into the anchorage to hit Sea Venture's beam while she pointed into the north wind.
Most of the anchorages are packed with boats heading north to Puerto Escondido for Loreto Fest. We decided not to stay for the festivities. Mama wouldn't have enjoyed them or the crowds. I'm sorry she did not get to see Aqua Verde at its best: the water truly is green and clear - unless a northerly wind has things churning.
So it was either roll at anchor or roll at sea. The wind was supposed to be dying, the seas flattening. They didn't. There must have been something happening in the north to have caused all the wave action because we never saw winds over 15; they were usually in the 9-11 knot range. The mizzen on a preventer was the only thing that worked. We tried the staysail, but to keep it filled, we had to turn too far so the waves hit us broadside as opposed to off the stern quarter. Motoring it was.
Normally with following seas and wind we can make excellent time, but the waves were obnoxious enough to slow us. Motoring at 7.6 knots allowed us 5.6 over ground. It was a long slog to cover those 44 nautical miles.
But here we are. The water is clear, the breeze from the northwest, the residents of Evaristo enjoying their Sunday. Mama has found a perch on the deck and is soaking up sun, watching the pelicans and gulls.
Life really is good.

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Puerto Escondido

Here is a picture of Puerto Escondido at night. Don the Amigo Net weatherman from Summer Passage had suggested that the next day might have high winds, so the anchorage had filled. Then this gorgeous sunset showed up, and we rejoiced: Red sky at night, sailor's delight.

For a daytime picture:

Mama and I sailed the dinghy again, which is really the best way to view the entire harbor. The wind behaved well, allowing us to ghost at times and zip along at others. Our friend, Ken Osgood on Lovely Rita, took a couple of pictures of us using his i-Phone as we sailed past him and his dinghy.

    

Ballandra, Isla Carmen

After a rowdy 12-hour trip south from Concepcion in rather unpleasant following seas but with enough wind to push us at and above hull speed, we anchored in Ballandra on Thursday evening. On Friday, we visited Loreto for lunch and reprovisioning, returning to Ballandra with ice cream in the freezer. Mama and Michael are happy campers. M. took this picture of Sea Venture sitting happily off the shore in Loreto.

Today we are bouncing around in the wrap-around swell from the north wind that's wending its way down the Sea of Cortez. Payback, I suppose, for all those lovely, mild days we've enjoyed here. On Saturday we were the only boat in the anchorage, so Mama and I lolled around on our little sailing dinghy and had a jolly time. The little boat moves in almost no wind, which is fortuitous as there were mere whispers.

One other boat, Verdia, joined us on Sunday and brought along a friend, whose picture I will post at the end. Now there are 10 boats, all ducking out of the way of wind and waves.

Here are pictures of us sailing my little dinghy around during the last two very benign days, exploring the shallows and the rocks at the entrance to the bay. So much fun!

And now,

for a photo of the critter who tagged along behind Geoff on Verdia from the bay entrance all the way to the point Geoff dropped his hook near us. Michael and I watched it sling its tail around Verdia's chain, then slither past before meandering up among the rocks. We did not go climbing.

San Carlos to Bahia Concepcion

Easter Sunday
Maybe the Lord wanted to bless my mama. Maybe He just decided we'd had enough miserable crossings. I know not, but the day fulfilled every promise of new beginnings that came to the world through Resurrection Sunday, the celebration of new life through the atoning death of our Lord.
Michael and I rose at three in the morning to prepare for departure. By four, Sea Venture was pointed out of Bahia San Carlos and across the sea. The moon was at half-mast, bright enough to light our way out of the bay. The seas had calmed from their rowdy state of several days earlier. This was to be one of only two opportunities to cross this week. I'm glad we chose it.
I climbed back in bed. Michael, the darling, kept the first watch. By six, I'd roused enough to fix breakfast; Mama climbed from her bunk shortly thereafter. We had a leisurely crossing, motorsailing under genoa and mizzen in the light breeze that climbed steadily as we neared the center of the sea. It came from about 170 degrees. We were aiming our nose at 202 degrees. Without the engine's assistance, we would not have been able to point that high. As it was, the light-air genoa bumped our speed up to over 8 knots, 7 over ground.
About 20 miles out from the Baja side, the wildlife appeared. Whale spouts and tails graced the horizon both ahead and behind us. Then an odd thing happened, something we've not seen before. We noticed a set of breakers about a mile off shore, a mile or two from us. Puzzled, we peered through the binoculars. The waves had tails; the waves leapt. It seems that dolphins had formed a line several miles long and were herding prey, having a feeding frenzy. We'd seen them in clusters before, but never in a long line. As we neared, the line surrounded us, circling to the port and starboard. Some cavorted near the boat, leaping and dancing. Some we distracted so that they played next to us before reforming and going after dinner.
'Twas an amazing sight.
Now we are in Bahia Concepcion. Last night we anchored in Santispac; today we've moved next door because a norther should arrive by morning, and it's more protected here. We've met new friends and found old ones from San Carlos. The cruising community is like that, paths crossing again and again. We dined at Ana's Restaurant on beef and chicken tacos. Russ, the owner with his wife, Ana, put on a good feed. He helped us and our friends from Genesis last July. It seems to be his calling: helping cruisers.
We'll see what happens next, but Mama is having a grand time. She's a good sailor and a lot of fun. I told her that we're aiming to keep her young this way.

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In Guaymas and back to San Carlos

We flew in to Guaymas on the 25th with Mama in tow and spent a delightful week shopping, seeing a doctor -- love Mexican doctors! -- walking the streets, and eating at Poncho Villa's Cantina.

The first picture shows our dock guard keeping watch. We could walk almost to his side before he would lift off. In the next photograph, Mama lounges in the cockpit as we motor from Guaymas to Bahia San Carlos. Wind blew from the south as we left Marina Singlar so we imagined a nice reach north. Nope. By the time we had exited the Guaymas area, we found a windless sea filled with swells that lifted us in an ungainly fashion. We hoisted the mizzen to help cut down on the roll, but it was not a stellar moment in SV's sailing history. Still, five hours later we dropped the hook in the beautiful bay, glad to be back until we realized that the swell was to be our companion through the afternoon and evening. Finally, the next day, the wind changed direction, cutting the swell, but keeping us boat-bound as it climbed into the 30s. M. barely noticed as he kept to his bunk with a stomach virus.

Today is glorious. We launched the dinghy, whose newly-applied and much-touted paint is a disaster -- we are hoping to get another season or two our of her before we're forced to sink capital in a new one -- and headed to shore. In the great blow of yesterday, we lost two fenders.  (That's what happens when the Captain is ill and so has an understandable memory lapse. The Admiral failed to take up the slack because she didn't know there was one.) Someone else is obviously enjoying ownership of them as we could find no trace of either a bright blue Taylor-made one or the older yellowish and very hefty one that came with the boat. Losses aside, we enjoyed the ride and the scone-muffin purchases at Baracuda Bob's. Mama, of course, assuaged her hunger with mango-vanilla ice cream. La Paz and mango sorbet, here we come!

I apologize again

For all those who got spammed with 30+ emails from this account, I apologize. Again. It seems that when I went in -- with a new password -- to set up email posting so I could send things from our SSB at sea, it enabled whatever/whoever to spam post to this account. I just went in and deleted them. Again.

Facebook Update

Okay. All right. I concede. It's victory to those who pushed me to join Facebook. Even with all of the hassles, the stolen blog, the email invitations to all and sundry and my subsequent embarrassment, I now admit that I'm having fun connecting with friends I haven't heard from in years.

So, to my agent, Terry Burns, thank you. I say it publicly, you were right to spur me on to join. It's way too easy to sit back on the boat and write my stories and feel contentment because the sky is almost always blue, the sun shines ninety percent of the time, the people are friendly, and the doctors still care more about their patients than about their non-existent Mercedes. Most importantly, the Lord my God, the Almighty reigns. Always.

Sometimes, though, He wants us to slip out of our comfort zones. Joining Facebook was uncomfortable for me. Still, there I am. And I'm having fun.

Thank You, Lord, for EARPLUGS

 

We're surviving Carnival thanks to earplugs. With these in, a pillow over my head, the Hella fan on high, and all the hatches and windows closed, we find we can sleep through the worst of it. Though last nigh, Michael (who eschews the pillow over his head routine) woke to what he said was quality music. Too bad it was at 1 AM. He finally took his earplugs out at 1:30 so that he could listen, and then stayed up for an hour. I'm not at all sorry to have missed the program, thank you very much. 

Today, it's back to the dermatologist for a mole removal in a sensitive spot. Oh, well, this too shall pass.

Carnival in Guaymas

Today is the beginning of Carnival. As a prelude, the carnival with rides arrived just after we did. I must say, as I watched the folk going up in the needle and then dropping rapidly to base, my heart stopped. We watched them set up the things; you couldn't have paid me enough to ride on it.

The loud music is supposed to begin tonight. Ah, me. A fan as white noise? A pillow over my head? Hmmmm.... I may get a lot of work finished instead of a lot of sleep.

The picture above was taken a couple of evenings ago. That's from our deck, about 100 yards from the carnival excitement. Tuesday a cruise ship came to port, so the fine restaurants put on a shrimp festival just up the Malecon from the carnival. For 25 pesos per ticket ($1.92) I could get a plate of shrimp fixed by one of these restaurants. Michael, my non-shrimp-eating husband, bought me four tickets. I found shrimp ceviche (incredible), and three other dishes, most of which I brought back to the boat (para llevar--to go--pronounced para yeebar) for lunch and then dinner. Wonderful.

Today I went for my final flouride treatment and Michael had a cavity filled. Let's see, that was $13 for three treatments, $38.46 for each of us to have our teeth cleaned, and another $38.46 for Michael's filling. We both saw the opthalmologist on Saturday for $30.76 each. I love Mexico. The oncology specialist in La Paz last year cost $47.60 for 1.5 hours of consultation along with an ultrasound. Living on Social Security also? Join us for your medical needs. The treatment is first rate. The doctors have time to talk to you. They smile and tell jokes -- usually. And if they don't speak English, they muddle through or have someone in the office who is bilingual. Thank you, Lord, for the blessings of Mexico.

Spam Postings

I want to apologize to any of you who received spam postings from this blog. I recently signed up with Facebook on the advice of my literary agent. Somehow, they got hold of my entire email address book AND this blog. and sent invitations to everyone I'd ever written or done business with -- much to my chagrin.

I logged on here and found that I was now advertising watches. As the friend who notified me of this mess said, if they only gave us all their profit, that might work.

I'm not quite sure how to fix all of this, but I'm trying. Please be patient if it continues. Just let me know and then delete the email. I hate having to register and start all over again.

Blessings to everyone,
Normandie

In Guaymas Again

Leaving Bahia San Carlos.

Kaisen, an 85', 90 ton, steel converted Army work boat owned by Hugh and Victoria, is in the foreground.

Heading to Guaymas into the rising sun.

We may regret this move to Guaymas. Granted, it lets me walk with friend Diane from Daydreamer. And we're closer to shops. And Michael can work on the dinghy while we're here -- the rubberized paint he wants to slather on that ancient PVC dinghy takes 7 days to cure, which we could not manage at anchor.

But, we forgot that Carnival is almost upon us. They are setting up roller coasters RIGHT NEXT to Sea Venture, who is on the end tie with a perfect view and perfect sound. I foresee earplugs in my future.

Oh, well. It should be an interesting experience. Mexico doesn't sleep during Carnival, which may mean we won't either. Diane said that if she and John are still here, they'll drive to the States for the duration. If only we'd set up our trip home for these days!

Tomorrow It's Back to Guaymas

We said good-bye to folks in San Carlos Marina and here in the bahia today. Tomorrow morning we leave for Guaymas, where we'll go back to the Singlar Marina to ready for our trip to the States. We've dinghy projects and woodwork to finish, because when we return after taxes and visits home, we'll have Mama in tow again with plans to cross back to Baja.

Our friend Ken Osgood, on Lovely Rita, left the marina to head across to the Baja. Michael took this picture as he and his friend Eric were leaving.

Friends took this picture of us at anchor here in Bahia San Carlos. Can you see why we're still here? Of course, this afternoon it's supposed to blow with a norther coming down the sea, but we'll just stay tucked in, doing an anchor watch at night with our GPS set to wake us if we go walkabout.

We've been having fun with all sorts of new friends, most of whom have recently bought boats here and are getting them set up for cruising south in the next few weeks. Ken on Lovely Rita, a Westsail 32, has proved delightful company as well as extremely generous with his automobile. Ken has sailed for years in the Caribbean, but is like a kid in a candy store with his beautiful little boat as he fixes it and dresses it for cruising. We stopped by to return his car key the other evening and found him listening to classical music, his small diesel heater toasting the cabin, a smile on his face of the purest enjoyment. We'll get pics when we can.

Darcy and Isabelle, Canadians from Victoria, bought Ideal I, a gorgeous Hans Christina, a modern-rigged Hans Christian. They sent pics of the Christmas brunch on their boat. They sailed out yesterday for points of call on the Baja.

Isabelle is the lovely lady with the huge smile in the red vest. Alan and Marisa (in Santa hats) have businesses here in San Carlos, he as a surveyor, she in boat sales. They also have a house and a large fishing boat. Cheryl and Peter, the other couple on board, hail from Australia and are old hands at cruising, having spent years on their former boat plying the waters of the Indian Ocean. Now they own Stolen Kiss, a lovely Hylas, for which we will eventually find photos. We've developed a rather symbiotic relationship with them as well: Michael has the tools and an occasional winch, they have a car loaned to them by Marisa. Good folk all. Cheryl will also get a note if my next Beaufort book sells as she allowed me to interview her about abused children, with whom she worked in Australia. Founts of knowledge found in fun places...

The Lighted Boat Parade

Christmas Eve in Bahia San Carlos included a parade of lighted boats that went out of the bay and around the corner. We had a front-row seat and then went back into the warm boat to eat yummy food with our guests.

 

Feeding frenzy

The birds have cottoned to us on Sea Venture. They figured out it's not only the pangas that drop goodies off their stern, but also this big old boat. Here are three Heerman's Gulls fighting for a morsel Michael tossed into the air.

More gulls.

 

Look at those eyes. These guys are intent on catching that dried bread!

Lunch time!

We were sitting out in the cockpit, enjoying a leisurely lunch today when suddenly the motor boats/ fishing fleet decided to return en masse. Just before he dashed down to fetch his camera, Michael counted eleven boats entering the channel at the same time. The only other time we've seen such a group effort was in Santa Rosalia when all 150-plus pangas came blasting back into the harbor in one steady stream of loud motors as a chubasco (thunderstorm) approached.

This time, we figure these guys didn't have enough food or beverage on board. But all at once? We're just sorry we didn't have the camera on hand to record the start of the race.

Cockpit captain's chair and table

Some folks on www.force50.org were interested in the captain's chair we installed after our boisterous trip south, so we're including one picture here and a link to all the others at the right. The line attached to the seat front is for our PFD tether that keeps us on board in the cockpit in bouncy seas. We have jacklines running the length of the boat, because the last thing either of us wants is to try to fetch the other from the sea.

The table is mounted using a pedestal seat flange that we bought at West Marine. It is offset so that it can be turned to provide easier access to the lazarettes. The pedestal base block is made of laminated Douglas fir planks, which gives a solid base, and it is through-bolted to the deck. Makes for a much more secure ride than sitting on the cockpit cushions.



You can see pictures of Mama and us taking turns sitting in it on the link showing her summer trip to visit Sea Venture.

The table is just temporary, made out of an old tray table we had on hand. As soon as Michael finds the proper wood and has the time, he'll make a prettier one. But with lots of other projects taking precedence, this may be a while in coming.

No hurry, eh, mates?

Bahia San Carlos

With a view like that and with weather that gives us warmish days and cool nights, with a bay that's clean enough that we can make RO water when the tide's incoming, with work aplenty to keep both of us busy, how can we leave?

A number of boats filling the anchorage have taken off toward the south. Frankly, after the sweltering summer months, we're glad of a reprieve. We'll miss family for Thanksgiving, but we've friends who have invited us to sup with them, so it will still be a day of blessing.

As we look around us, we can't help but consider our entire life so full of God's glory that we daily give thanks and praise. How can we help it?

The best thing would be if one of you would like to come share some of this with us.

Sleepy Creek in flood

Sleepy Creek is behaving oddly. The tide has been higher than normal during most of September, but now all the docks are under water and we have a new pond behind the house! We haven't had much rain for more than a week, but we do have depth, finally.

This is the backyard pond extending from the end of the harbor. It is normally marshland.

Here is Furnifold, Mama's rowboat, with her bowline tied at least a foot above the normal dock level. If you click on the picture to enlarge it, you'll see what I mean.

These show the dock in front of the old house, which is normally quite a bit above water, and the top of the steps leading down to the water on its other side.

A Link to San Carlos Clean-up

The following link will take you to Kiki Grossman's blog to see some great pictures of how well the folk there are doing in the post-Jimena clean-up. Michael has been hugely impressed.
http://www.marinasancarlos.com/blog/