Might our friends and followers be wondering what happened
to the crew of Traveler in the past month?
Did we drop off the face of the earth?
Did the leaky thru-hull fitting burst and we went blub blub blub down to
the bottom of the ocean? Or did we just
sail off into the sunset?
Since Zihuatanejo (and Paracho) we’ve been on the move,
headed north, mostly. Now we find
ourselves boat bound for a week in the windy harbor of La Paz while we assemble
the many bits and pieces that will become our new EchoTec water maker. I’ll get out the boat log and calendar and
try to summarize what’s gone down this last month since we left you in sunny
Paracho Mexico.
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| Fishing boats in Guaymas |
When we got back to Z-town from our land trip we found the
harbor vastly emptied, more than two thirds of the boats had left in the week
following Guitar Fest. Following suit we
departed early in the morning in company with the sailing vessels Lungta and
Nirvana. We had spent 16 days anchored
in Zihuatanejo, enough time for a healthy crop of algae and barnacles to grow
on the boat’s bottom. On the trip north
I kept worrying that the critters on the hull were slowing us down but I don’t
think that was the case. The first day
out, we motored, then sailed, then motored again. We had a wonderful night sailing through calm
seas with millions of stars overhead and found at dawn that Lungta had dropped
far behind us and Nirvana had disappeared over the horizon to the north. We were on our own.
About 10:00 the morning of the second day the wind died so
we hit the starter and the engine would not start. While we rolled and bobbed Connie tried to
keep us pointed into the swell and I checked the fuel system for leaks. Saw none. Then cleaned the Racor and replaced
the filter. When I went back up to try a
restart I noticed the kill pull-switch out slightly, a little bit open. I nudged it back in a quarter inch and she
started up just fine. Duh!
We passed Caleta de Campos and made it into Maruata just
after sunset for a comfortable night’s sleep (at anchor) and an early morning
departure. During the next day we had
some good sailing until the thermal winds died,
but the seas stayed active and we had a bouncy night motoring past
Cabeza Negra and finally into the lagoon at Barra de Navidad at 08:30 the next
morning; 72 hours from Zihuatanejo to
Barra with 60 hours underway and 12 at anchor.
Barra is such a fun town and we love to provision there so
we stayed two days then hit the fuel dock for diesel and water and sailed
around the corner to Tenacatita where we cleaned the hull and waited for our
weather window. Connie was able to free
dive down to the keel and the prop and I scrubbed the hull from the waterline
to the top of the keel. I got a touch of
hypothermia when I overdid it, stayed in the water too long and got
chilled.
Three days later we got a good weather forecast with light
winds from the west/north west and moved the boat north to Bahia Chamela for
the night. Approaching the anchorage under genaker Connie was pulling down the
sail when 2 guys started circling us in their dinghy taking photos. Later they
came by giving us the photos and shared their stories; nice to meet new folks. A leisurely start the next day made the timing
right to round Cabo Corrientes at midnight arriving in La Cruz at first
light. From Barra to La Cruz we had 19
hours motoring and 26 hours sailing.
Typically, boats headed north do a lot of motoring. Many crews take motoring as a given necessity
so they just hoist the main and plan on motor sailing the whole way, only
rolling out the genoa if they find a beam or broad reach wind strong enough to
move them at four knots or better. These
folks make a schedule and stick to it.
Then they stop at the fuel dock and pay the price.
On the other end of the spectrum we have friends who will
sail no matter what. Four knots is
good! But one knot will do also. And when there is no wind… it’s time for a
nap. You’ve got to have a lot of
patience for such sailing but you save lots of money in fuel and you accept the
luxury of time.
Traveler does a combination of these two methods. We try to sail whenever possible, even if the
knot meter dips below four. As long as
the boat is moving forward and the ride is tolerable we keep sailing. When the wind drops altogether and the boat
gets sideways to the swell then we start up the engine and head toward our
destination. Often times the wind dies
in the early evening but the seas stay lumpy and this is usually when we
reluctantly crank up the noisy Mr. Perkins and keep him going through the
night. We make good speed this way but
sleeping is difficult and neither of us is very happy. It is such a relief to switch off the engine
and hear nothing except the water on the hull!
We reconnected with our friends Lane and Vicky on Adesso in
La Cruz and spent a few days there. Our plans were similar and we thought it
would be fun to buddy boat up the coast.
I had also hoped to take the HAM radio exam and specifically timed our
landfall in Bandaras Bay for that event but the exam was cancelled. I’ll have to find a location in the Seattle
area to take the exam later this summer. On a day trip to Sayulita we got a
late in the day weather report and decided to dash north for Mazatlan. Catching
the next bus to La Cruz we zipped back to the dinghy dock. Adesso was not in her slip so we figured that
she had just left hours before us.
Unknown to us, Lane and Vicky had tried to leave in the morning but had
to turn back when their engine developed a critical oil seal leak. They anchored right next to us there at La
Cruz. But in our haste, we brought up
the anchor and steamed away with them all the while not 100 yards away trying
to hail us on the VHF and waving their arms like crazy.
Evening found is at Punta de Mita but we didn’t find Adesso
there. Darn, they must have headed north
without us! On the run north from Banderas
Bay to Mazatlan we kept thinking that we’d find Adesso anchored somewhere along
the way when all along they were back in La Cruz dealing with a leaky
seal. They eventually decided to
repower, replacing their engine with a brand new one. As I write they are at the dock in Opequimar
with Adesso floating high because she has no engine. How plans change!
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| Pangas at Guaymas harbor near Marina Seca |
Chasing the phantom Adesso up the coast we rounded Punta de
Mita and headed north. Seeing fishermen
in pangas, we tossed out a couple of lines and boom! Connie caught a beautiful
Sierra. While she was cleaning the
Sierra I let the lure out again and boom! I caught a big Dorado! What a treat.
We motored along with a big swell on the beam making it difficult to gut
and clean both fish. In an hour we had
the fish in the freezer and all the blood and guts washed off the deck. We collapsed into the cockpit in exhaustion
as the sun rose high in the sky and the temperature soared.
Chacala was a welcome sight and the anchorage
there is nice if you anchor bow and stern, which we did, and later watched the
other boats swaying largely, beam on to the southwest swell. Hmm, maybe we ARE learning some things out
here.
From Chacala we sailed and motored towards Isla Isabela but
because we didn’t keep up the required four knots per hour we could not make
the island before nightfall. On the way
I saw a panga directly ahead with their crew waving their arms. I motored over to them and they motioned for
us to follow. We did so and soon they
stopped and pulled down a net so that we could cross over their long line. Big smiles and waves and we were on our way
without getting line wrapped around the propeller. We passed Isla Isabella about ten miles on
our port side and set the course for Mazatlan arriving there the next morning
logging twenty nine hours of motoring (Ugh!) from Bandaras Bay.
Looking at the calendar I see that we took three months to lollygag
our way south from Mazatlan to Zihuatanejo and it took us only two weeks to
make the “express” return trip back.
Needless to say, the lollygag way is our preference.
Marina Fonatur had an open slip for us so we docked there
for a few weeks alongside our friends Chris and Heather on Legacy and Doug and
Lynn on Miramar. Next door at Marina
Mazatlan we found Hal and Nina on Luna Sea, also good friends of Adesso, who
finally told us their sad tale of engine woe back in La Cruz. There were many familiar faces there in the
harbor and we recognized many boat names on the VHF radio. Mazatlan is a hub of activity and many
boaters spend time there provisioning and getting work done. Some cruisers make Mazatlan their stopping
point for the season and fly or drive back to the States or Canada for the
summer.
We ran into our old buddy Bernie Maas who was just coming
aboard a new boat as crew.
Bernie has an
interesting lifestyle for an old retired guy.
An experienced sailor and one familiar with the Mexico coast, he chooses
to sign on as crew hopping from port to port. In this manner he takes watches
during passages, helps navigate, and troubleshoots mechanical problems
aboard. For this he usually gets his way
paid in room and board for the extent of the trip. Bernie goes up and down the coast from
California to Acapulco with runs out to Hawaii on occasion. This guy does an amazing amount of traveling
with short stints ashore as he looks for the next crew position heading for who-knows-where. The last we saw of Bernie he was headed to
British Columbia via Hawaii on a boat delivery gig. Am I envious?
No. But if I wasn’t so lucky
to have Connie and S/V Traveler and a
402K then I’d be doing what Bernie is doing.. in a heartbeat.
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| Bernie and Scott |
Connie and I headed over to the Marina Mazatlan parking lot
to find our little Toyota Dolphin RV.
She was there, intact, air in the tires, with a heavy layer of grit and
a little note on the windshield advertising a car wash special. After connecting the battery she cranked
right up! Toyota = Reliable. Now we had wheels. Connie vacuumed the grit and the dead ants
out of La Dolfina’s carpet and scrubbed down the interior and we closed up
Traveler and hopped aboard our land yacht and drove north to San Carlos where
we stayed the night then continued on to the border at Nogales the next
day. We always get searched by US
Customs, always. They found and
confiscated two apple cores and four fresh eggs.
We parked overnight in the parking lot of the Nogales
Walmart. Let me say that we NEVER shop
at Walmart. Their labor practices are
the worst, their product quality is cheap, and they don’t buy anything locally.
Plus they tend to drive out local, mom and pop style business. Having said that, we do use their parking lot
for the RV and we do use their restrooms.
We are trying to start a movement.
If everyone will just park overnight in the Walmart parking lot then
their real customers won’t have a place to park! And all those folks coming and going to and
from the bathrooms will clog the entrance way and clog the plumbing eventually
driving the evil Waltons out of business.
In Phoenix we visited with Diane, Tom, and the kids and had
a whirlwind four days of provisioning, picking up parts, dry goods, tools, an
air compressor, and our new water maker just arrived from EchoTec. The culture shock was extreme. Traffic, rude drivers, big cars, mean
people. We’d say hello to someone on the
sidewalk and they would avert their eyes.
We’d say hola to the Mexican pruning the palm tree and he’d smile and
buenos tardes us right back.
After the
obligatory overnight in the Nogales parking lot supporting our Anti-Walmart
crusade, we crossed back into our beloved Mexico and made our way south through
the desert to Guaymas, arriving just before sundown. We visited Marina Seca, a dirt lot dry
storage yard and talked to some fellow boaters there. I believe we will be bring Traveler to
Guaymas in early summer and she will spend the summer there on the hard. The benefit of the yard in Guaymas is that it
is cheaper than storage options in San Carlos, and they have fewer rules. In Marina Seca we can bring the RV into the
yard and park it right next to the boat while we ready her for the summer. We
can also do our own painting, scrubbing, and maintenance on the boat.
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| The big lift next door to Marina Seca |
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| Ariel IV there on the far right |
At sundown we drove just over the hill south of the boat
basin to find a small dock and boat ramp where we hoped to be able to bandit
camp the Dolphin for the night. There we
found a place to park and a few finger docks with a couple of sailboats
moored. Walking down the dock we spied
our friends Birgitta and Eric on S/V Ariel IV. What a surprise! Big hugs all around and before we knew it we
were firmly planted in their cockpit having dinner and drinking wine. We rounded out the night with Eric on guitar
and Connie on the uke and Birgitta and I singing along. This lasted till midnight and then there were
more big hugs all around. Morning found
us on the long dry road to Mazatlan where we arrived at sundown without
incident at the Fonatur Marina and our dear Traveler.
A few days to clean the boat and do some provisioning and we
welcomed aboard some friends I’d met online.
Bob and Pam had just bought a Slocum 43, a sister boat to Traveler and
Bob had been following our blog for a while reading about the boat and our
adventures. When he pushed the donate
button on our home page and bought us $10 worth of beer I got the notification
and emailed him a thank you. “Do I know
you?” “Nope.” What followed was a series of email messages
about the Slocum / Passport series and how best to update and modify them for
Mexico cruising. This led to that and I
invited them down to Mazatlan, sight unseen, to help us with the crossing over
to La Paz.
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| Bob, Pam, Scott, Connie |
Bob and Pam generously provisioned Traveler and we headed west
across the Sea of Cortez for an easy 48 hour crossing arriving in Los Muertos
in the early morning. Pam cooked her way
across the sea providing us with fantastic meals. Bob trimmed sails and stood
watch. Connie started the trip a little
sea sick but rallied the second day. I
slept most of the way. Don’t you just
love having crew?
At Los Muertos we did some more hull cleaning and Pam swam
to shore and back. Then we headed north
the next morning, sailing to Bahia San Gabriel at Isla Espiritu Santo. After we anchored I reminisced that the last
time we stayed at San Gabriel was in 2010 on the sailing vessel Sea Scrape and
we got our butts kicked by strong coromel winds. Well, duh!
Later that night the coromuel winds cranked up and kept us up all night.
The islands near and north of La Paz are tricky because high winds and rough
seas are common. At night, when the land
on the Baja side cools, the winds funnel down the mountains to the Sea of
Cortez, gathering momentum as the air drops to the warm waters. We experienced 30 knots of wind with 4 foot
seas at San Gabriel, the boat tossing us about.
Pam in the vee berth was often airborne. Bob sought refuge in the salon
but had to hang on tight to stay on the bunk.
Connie and I held onto Monkey and waited for dawn to arrive. In the morning we sailed around the other
side to the protected anchorage at Playa la Bonanza where we had a pleasant day
and a good night’s sleep.
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| Men at work sealing the deck prism on the foredeck |
After the calm waters of Playa la Bonanza we sailed around
the corner towards La Paz. We tried all
sorts of sail combinations until the wind finally petered out and Bob
negotiated the dog-leg entrance to the harbor.
We found moorage at Marina La Paz and put a tearful Bob and Pam into the
taxi early the next morning. What
followed was chores, cleaning the boat, laundry and provisioning before we left
the marina and found anchorage in the bay.
We sit this May Day, the sounds of a parade in the distance and Banda
music wafting its way across the water from the malecon. We are four days into the water maker
installation with a couple more to go then we’ll do a provision, sneak some
showers at the marina, and head north into the Sea of Cortez reaching territory
where we have not been before. Up there
provisioning stops will be smaller and further apart and our internet options
will be limited. But the water will be
crystal clear, the seascapes breathtaking, and the cerveza cold in the cooler.
Anyone wishing to visit can send us an email and you can
jump aboard in Loreto.
And to our friends making their way north as well, we’ll
listen for you on the VHF and SSB radio nets and look forward to running into
you in what the gringos call the Gulf of California but most sensible people
call the Sea of Cortez.
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