Life without internet. Life without phone

The last week or so the WiFi at the marina has been up then down, up then down, then non-existent.  Those of you who were hoping for an email response from us didn't get any. While this disturbs some of the residents it does free up the day to do more interesting things besides checking for email and paying bills online and researching boat gear.

And at the same time my new (used) cell phone went kaput. So I was out of phone until Keith could come deliver me a new cell phone.  Have to have a quad band, unlocked phone to work in Mexico and the states. 

Keith is now here visiting and we're doing all sorts of boat chores but doing fun stuff too. We find that in the middle of the day we can split a big Ballena of Pacifico and it tastes so nice.....

He has been busy ripping the old life raft supports off the deck and patching the holes in the coach roof.  To do so, he had to go below and rip out the ceiling.  Then he went up top and squeezed some 5200 sealant into the holes while I went below to stop the stuff from dripping to the floor below.  I replaced an autopilot cable and then we horsed around with the roller furler for a while.  Once we got that working Connie looked up and noticed the the whole thing was wrapped up backwards with the white sail cloth exposed and the protective Sunbrella fabric tucked away inside. So we had to unfurl, lower the sail, rewind the drum and try it again.  Duh!

Then we took the boat out into 25 knots of wind and huge rollers that almost swept the dinghy off the davits.  What a wild ride!  That didn't last too long as we had the good sense to retreat back into the safety of the harbor.

We've been sewing on the headsail for days, repairing the protective cover.  This started as work with the sewing machine then proceeded on to hand (palm) sewing where you take this huge needle and stiff thread and use a heavy leather palm thing to push the needle through the seven layers of sail cloth. Exhausting work no doubt.  Afterwards we had to take a nice long lunch break eating our favorite taco carnitas (pork) and drinking another Ballena of Pacifico.

On Friday Keith and I drove off and found a place to galvanize the anchor.  The road was not marked but we found it using a Google map that Luis at the marina store printed out for us.  We met with Roberto at the Galvanizor who told us "no problem, it will be ready in a week, no.. maybe two weeks, depends."  When I asked if he wanted to give us a receipt or put my name on the anchor somehow he said it was not necessary and I can just check back in a week or two and pick it up.  Simple.

Keith and Connie at the Emeve Winery

As a reward for a week of working hard, and we are working hard (Lisa), we decided to go to the wine country just north of Ensenada. We drove up the Ruta del Vino, route of the vines, to a series of dry valleys chock full of grapes hanging on the vines.  We sampled at two different wineries and had a nice little time spending too much money on wine but making up for it by having lunch of home made tamales a nice lady was selling on the side of the road.  Lunch for three: 60 Pesos.  Wine tasting for three 300 Pesos.  We enjoyed the tamales as much as the vino. 

And then there is the trip to the fish market where they have tons and tons of fresh fish and shrimp.  This guy had a way of holding the shrimp by the head and making it look like it was twitching, still alive. 

Those big bad shrimp are wild caught locally and are selling for 200 pesos a kilogram. That's about 80 pesos a pound or 7 dollars.  The normal sized ones go for 150 pesos per kilogram or about 5 bucks.  We usually get about a third of a kg and eat shrimp till we pass out.

Cruiseport Marina facilities, sans WiFi

It's been great having Keith here.  He takes really good pictures and we are relying on him to document our affairs this week.   A storm is coming up the coast, hurricane Paul is off the southern Baja coast and we're expecting some weather from that system this week.  We're a little worried about our friends Baptiste and Chris who left a week ago.  They are probably at an anchorage with rain dumping down as that entire region is getting soaked.  Tomorrow we hope to go kayak the estuary then on Thursday I'll be taking Connie and Keith to San Diego where she takes an early flight and Keith takes a later flight north. Connie will be doing some work in California for a little while and Keith has many customers waiting for his magic touch in their gardens and yards.  I'll be staying on in Ensenada alone.  Just me and all those lonely Ballenas.

Corinna Embarcation

Chris Pinko and Baptiste Mandon on Corinna heading out of the marina for points south.

Correction

In the last blog I reported a collision at sea in the Newport to Ensenada yacht race.  That accident actually happened in April and the boat was found to have collided with an island, not a ship.  The race we had here in Ensenada this weekend was the San Diego to Ensenada race and all went well with that race except some people would have prefered to have had more wind.  But they still celebrated and had all night drunken parties.

So now my reporting reputation is ruined.  I am in disgrace. Some suggest I should retire. So retire I shall.  I'll keep writing but under the caveat that nothing, absolutely nothing I say, holds a shred of truth.  I'm just a grumpy old man now, telling lies and spitting into the wind.

sv

Grumpy old men and the sea

 For some reason as some men get older they think they have earned the right to be grumpy.  Earned the right to insult people and jettison normal polite behaviors.  Here at Cruiseport Marina there are some guys who have been without female (and possibly human) companionship for so long they have lost their social mores.  Now most people on the docks are friendly but a couple old grumpy guys here are downright obnoxious and one in particular actually stinks!

Last night two of those foulies got together here in the internet room at the marina and they started talking louder and louder and cursing more and more until Connie and I could not concentrate on our business and we started to get pretty pissed off at having to listen to a negative, foul, evil, repugnant conversation.  Finally it ended with Connie putting them in their place and Scott shoving them both out the door and shutting it behind them.

and while I'm at it....   gripe... gripe...

The San Diego to Ensenada yacht race came in last night with the first boats arriving at about 01:00 in the morning.  Just one dock over one of the winning boats came in and at about 2:00 in the morning they started drinking.  By 03:00 they were loud.  By 04:00 they were extremely loud.  Our peaceful little marina had been taken over by brutes!

But on a more positive note, we tackled the genoa repair job today.  Dragged the big old bag out to land and set up the sewing machine in the little palapa ((a Spanish word of Mayan origin, meaning "pulpous leaf") is an open-sided dwelling with a thatched roof made of dried palm leaves) next to the marina office.  That sail is huge!  Well, Connie set upon the job with enthusiasm and by day's end we were halfway done repairing the UV degraded Sunbrella strip on the leech and foot of the sail.
 

I'm putting in the GIANT battery charger tomorrow , the Xantrex TrueCharge2 60 Amp.  And soon we'll get a little Honda portable generator that can power up that big boy when we are on the hook (anchored) without shore power on a cloudy day.  Our friends Patrick Dayshaw and Kirsten Rohrbach on Silhouette in the South Pacific recommended having a way to charge the batteries if the sun failed to do the job while at anchor so we are taking their advice and adding another power source.  Here at the dock the solar panels are just keeping up with the electrical load but it has been rather sunny every day.

We took aboard a couch surfer named Baptiste Mandon for a few days and he helped us out on the boat sanding and scraping the old varnish off of the teak.  Wow, what a good worker he is!  And now the teak looks great and Baptiste has found a ride south on Chris Pinko's big Porpose ketch going to Cabo and LaPaz.  I tell you, these docks are full of big beautiful boats with crewing opportunities.

Here is Baptiste with Chris on Corinna, a 51 ft Bill Garden design ketch built in 1970.

Good sailing all!

Pulling the stick

Ten days here and we're in the tick of a refit.  Sanding the teak, changing out a cable, grinding a rusty anchor, trying out LED lights and most of all, replacing the standing rigging.  We've had two trips to San Diego to the rigger and took two batches of wire rigging to the rigger for replacement.  We're about halfway done with the rigging working our way up the mast. 

Trouble has arrived, though.  The big stays (forestay, backstay, and upper shrouds) terminate at the mast head.  It looks like to access those connections we'll have to remove the mast cap and this is a difficult thing to do when hoisted 50 ft off the deck and when the very thing that is hoisting you is the thing you are removing.  Add a dose of salt water corrosion and yes we have a problem.

When I consulted with Ed, the San Diego rigger, he gave me this sad look then reluctantly said, " I hate to say this but you are gonna have to pull the stick."  That means the mast has to come off the boat.

In a way it is a relief because I'd certainly rather be on the ground trying to get that mast cap off then up in the air, but what's not good is the hit to the schedule.  I just checked with Baja Naval here in town ( the boatyard who can pull the mast out for me) and they are pretty well booked for the month of October.  This month is the busy month here as everyone is doing last minute repairs before heading south on November 1st when hurricane season ends. 

With every challenge comes an opportunity.  If we pull the stick then we can clean it up and get everything connected with the mast working properly:

Fix steaming light
Lubricate squeeking sheaves
Install new mast collar at deck level
Seal the mast to deck fitting which leaks now
Renovate the roller furler
Fix the wind speed and direction indicator
Replace bulbs with LEDs


I swear we will not get stuck here as happens to many people.  We WILL go south this winter.

But, hey... gotta go.  It is time for lunch, then some little projects, then fish on the grill.  It's all good!

Be carefull what you set out to do... It might just happen.

After months, years, days, innumerable sleepless nights, we're finally facing the repercussions of this crazy plan we hatched oh so long ago.

We are in Ensenada now, living on Traveler full time. No turning back.  The little Honda trucked all that gear and personal belongings all the way from Seattle to the Cruiseport Marina in Ensenada Mexico.  And now the little Honda sits, all dusty from the trip.  And all that stuff is stowed on board.  We've been here a few days, pretty busy days, but we're finally starting to acclimatize to the pace of life here.  Of course the weather is lovely.

Yesterday I removed the four lower main mast stays and today we spent the day traveling back across the border to San Diego to take them to rigger ED at Downwind Marine.  It was his birthday.  Happy birthday Ed.  Now we are arranging for various visits from friends and relatives and we might have a couch surfer or two joining us here.  My ulterior motive is to find someone to climb up the mast and help me remove that rigging.  We can only do so much at a time or the stick will fall over. 

So drop us a line and we will commiserate with you and send good cheers your way. We are on gmail.com with a user name of swvoltz  or cbunyer.

Love you...

Marina Del Ray

Punching out the miles, pushing the little Honda south following the I-5 Corridor through the northern California hills then down to the endless hot plain of the Central Valley (the nation's salad bowl) and finally popping out into the LA basin.  We're in the Marina Del Ray area now staying tonight at Marco and Naida's house.  The cool breeze is wafting through the house and I'm catching up on the internet duties while Connie stretches on the cool wood floor. 

That little guy you see sitting in the cabinet helping us drink the ballena (translates as "whale") of Pacifico is our dear friend Monkey. He's been a fixture in our house since we've been together and was with Connie many years before that. Wise, crafty, and very loving, Monkey encouraged us to jump off this cliff and head to Mexican waters.  Right now he is our car mascot.  Soon to be our boat mascot. Expect to see more of him in the future.  

Breath in... breath out

Drink in, breath out.

 Tomorrow we drive to then through San Diego then down to San Ysidro and across the border into Tijuana.  Then south about an hour to Ensenada and we'll be reunited with our beloved Traveler.

She will be covered in grit, stuffy inside, with splintering decks, and faded canvas.  Oh Traveler, we'll not be neglecting you further.

Fare thee well

It's started. It's done. Saturday night Ocho Pies played their last gig and today, the first day of fall, the equinox,(how appropriate) we are gone from Seattle.  We're writing this at the kitchen table with Nancy and Debbie in Ashland Oregon.  Almost in California. Not wanting to stay in hotels on the road trip from Seattle to Ensenada we opted to couch surf our way down the coast.  See:  Couch Surfing

But we're getting ahead of ourselves.

Saturday night the group of musicians that Connie has been performing with for the last 18 years, Ocho Pies, had their last gig.  It was a bitter sweet occasion.  We were at Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park in Seattle.  Many of our Seattle friends showed up for the show.  Paul, Michael, and Steven drove up from Olympia bringing guitar, drums, and bass.  Connie had her accordion, melodica, and various percussion instruments.  Good energy but there was some sadness as they had played together for so long and had so many good memories.  A great show and memorable.

There were tears.

Then the next Monday was Scott's last day at work. Can you believe, giving up a perfectly good job to go gallivanting off to Mexico?  With help from our good friends Lindor and Daneen we emptied our little apartment with trips to Salvation Army.  And everyone cleaned and packed.  By Wednesday we were out of the apartment and Jeremy gave us our deposit back ( Thank you!) and we went to the Dekker's for the night.  Good times there with a rest day on Thursday then early Friday, today, the first day of fall, we are finally on the road.  Goodbye Seattle.

1341 Miles later we'll be in Ensenada trying to figure out where to put all that crap we brought in the car.  All those books we could not leave behind, all those clothes we won't need, and all those tools that will eventually rust and be tossed overboard.

Saturday night we're in the Bay area, crashing with generous (ex) relatives, then Sunday at Marco and Naida's in Santa Monica and then it's across the border to Tijuana and on to Ensenada. Heading south, getting warm, finding the sun.  When we left Seattle it was 58 degrees and misting rain.... appropriate.

Thank you, thank you, to everyone who helped us get this far by giving us encouragement, supporting our decision to bug out, buying all our junk, and contributing to this adventure. We hope to pay back the favor when friends come down to visit us in warm, blue waters.

My last Scone day

Today, as usual, I took the bus to work, walked from downtown Seattle up to Harborview Medical Center and, because it was Thursday, I went directly to the hospital cafeteria to get a scone.  Every Thursday morning they cook up scones fresh and hot.  My usual habit for the last almost three years is to stop in and get a fresh scone and take it back to my desk three blocks away.

The last scone.

And so this morning I found myself retracing those steps. Into the ER entrance then around the corner to the stairs to the basement, down the hospital hall and around the corner into the subterranean main cafeteria for the hospital.  Met a few people along the way and we said hello. Got the scone and the jam and paid my $2.24 to the cashier who I'm on first name basis with. Most places I go in the hospital are places I've worked, putting in a workstation or printer or helping out somebody or another.  I helped connect the menu screens near the food line in the cafeteria and set up all the registers for the cashiers.  Been there dozens and dozens of times and know almost everyone.

Walked through the tunnel and the automatic doors and used my card swipe to gain access to the hallway outside of the Maleng building surgery where I could glimpse briefly the electronic schedule board full of operations lined up for the day.  People in blue everywhere. Gurneys in the hallway and the small of antiseptic.  Elevator up to floor one and then exit through a back hallway that dumped me out on 10th st.  Walked the few blocks to my building, passing people walking their dogs or hurrying to work. Past the mental health folks loitering on the sidewalks, smoking and staring at the ground.  Then into my building and swiping the card again to access the fourth floor.  Walking into my office, saying hello to the gang I work with then settling down to open email and eat that still warm scone.  What a nice life.

I'm gonna miss that place, for sure.  And I'll miss the people I work with and work for.

Today at noon we went to a farewell lunch and stuffed ourselves with Mexican food.  As normal, the manager at Tacos Guaymas brought around a plate of fried jalapeno peppers and Jonathan, Bill, David, Francine, Kevin, and Brett displayed their machismo by sweating their way through the devil fruit. As we walked up Broadway I'm thinking this is the last time I'll have the chili colorado wet burrito there and the last time I'll walk up Broadway with those set of friends.

Moving forward, moving on, sometimes means moving south

 It was refreshing watching the Democratic national convention this week. It gave me some hope that things might some day get a little easier for those of us who are not rich.

In the meantime, many folks are counting their limited funds and discovering that they can live a much nicer life by heading south of the border.  Top retirement countries are now Panama, Costa Rica, Belize, Uruguay, Nicaragua, and our favorite... Mexico. These countries have excellent medical plans, much cheaper than in the U.S. and the cost of living so very reasonable.  For Connie and I, we could almost, but not quite, retire in the U.S. And with that, we'd be living in a very small, cheap apartment pinching pennies to get by. Forget about having health insurance.  COBRA health insurance would cost us $1,056.69 a month! 

We know of some folks who are either heading south now or planning on it in the near future.

View from Leslie's house under construction.

Leslie is moving to Mexico with her husband Graham. They sold their property here in Seattle and are building a small waterfront home on Isla Mujeres on the Mexican Caribbean. No these are not 80 year old retirees but mid age normal people who are ready to step off the treadmill and lead a relaxed life.

Keith and Lisa plan to move to Costa Rica where they can live at half the price as in Seattle. They have been visiting Costa Rica during our winter for a few years now, trying to narrow down where they'd like to settle. Moving south can sometime make the difference between being able to stop work and not. 

Another friend who lives on a small fixed income is barely making it here in Seattle but in Mexico, she can be comfortable, less stressed, and get better health care.  She's headed south too.

So when people ask us, "How can you afford to sail away?" I just tell them that we don't really have much money so we're going to a place where we don't need much money.  These last few months feel really good as we divest ourselves of our belongings.  Along with belongings we are ridding ourselves of debt and monthly payments. Imagine no mortgage or rent, no utility bills, no cell phone charges, no car insurance, no netfilx, no magazine subscriptions, no gasoline for the gas guzzler.  Give up all that stuff and suddenly your meager funds swell to proportions capable of sustaining an active, healthy lifestyle.  At least that's the plan.....  Stan

Just slip out the back, Jack, make a new plan, Stan
Don't need to be coy, Roy, just listen to me
Hop on the bus, Gus, don't need to discuss much
Just drop off the key, Lee, and get yourself free 

Two weeks and counting and we'll be headed south.