When we got the call to go back to the Real World for a couple months, we made a Pro and Con list to help us make the decision and one of the top things on the Con list was having to store or "put away" the boat.
Most people would think that doesn't sound like a very hard task -- people do it all the time -- just lock her up and go. But it's a whole different thing leaving a cruising boat in a foreign country for a lengthy time. Earlier this year, when other cruising friends were taking their boats to dry storage to leave them for six months, we were happy it wasn't us -- we've been there and know what a task it is since we've left boats in Fiji, Tahiti and Mexico while we went back to the States during cyclone season.
The length of time you'll be gone combined with the weather and temperature where you'll be leaving the boat are factors you take into consideration when preparing the boat.
You have to go through all your provisions and decide what's safe to keep on board and what should be given away. Almost always refrigeration will be turned off, so of course no fresh foods would be left on board. Dry foods have to be evaluated, too, because they can attract rats and bugs and in extremely hot areas even canned foods aren't real safe to leave on board.
Also, a thorough cleaning is advised -- again for the rodents and bugs and also so you can come back to a fresh smelling boat and not a moldy Petri dish. We made that mistake once -- not for lack of cleaning, but simply because we closed the boat up too tight in a hot, humid climate. There's a fine balance between closing things up tight to keep unwanted pests out, but allowing some air circulation.
Then the big work is taking apart things on the outside of the boat. If you're leaving a boat in a cyclone zone you need to strip down everything you can. Sails come off and are folded and stored below. Cushions, life rings and instruments are taken down and stowed away. You want to remove anything that can be blown away -- or taken away.
As I said earlier, the time you'll be gone and where you're leaving the boat are both factors in how much you have to do, so this is actually the easiest boat stow that we've had to do.
This is the first time we've ever left a boat for any length of time in the water, and as with everything there are pros and cons to it. On the plus side, the temperatures will stay cooler on the boat since it is surrounded by water, so a little less worry about what we can leave aboard. In a real hot environment, such as across the Sea in Guaymas/San Carlos where they store hundreds of boats each summer, temperatures on board get so extreme they recommend leaving a bucket of water inside the boat to add moisture to the air -- and we've heard tales of the buckets melting!
The downside to being in the water is it's a little more worry -- what if a thru hull fitting fails and the boat starts taking on water: sinking :( That would ruin your whole day. but we're comfortable with the staff here at the marina and know they will keep a good eye on things and for a small fee we will have them wash the boat and dive on it regularly to keep it clean from bottom to top and ensure that the zincs are good and still doing their job. (for you landlubbers, the "zincs" are sacrificial pieces of metal that will dissolve if there is electrolysis in the water -- if they dissolve the other metals -- such as the boat's prop -- will be safe)
Also, we're only leaving the Cetus for 2 or 3 months, not the usual full 6 months of cyclone season, which makes it easier for us because it just feels like with the shorter time there's less that could go wrong. And we aren't in a heavily hit area for hurricanes. Sure, they did just have one pass near here last year, but that was a rare event so we're hoping the odds are with us. It's reassuring that the boats that were here during last years event were just fine and the marina staff did everything to insure there were no problems.
So we are in the midst of all the preparations for leaving the boat and the last few days have been very busy indeed. We will travel to Loreto (by bus) on Tuesday and spend a couple nights at a hotel there before our flight out on Thursday. We thought it would be nice to break up the two travel days (3 hour bus ride and long plane flight) both for us and for Rosie, who has never traveled like this before.
Once Cetus is all closed up and "put away", Terry's next dilemma is how to squeeze his daily siestas into a work day.
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As I've said before, cruising plans are written in sand and you never know what will come with the next tide change.....
Yesterday a tsunami hit the beach, figuratively ;-)
Our plans were to come into the marina tomorrow to get Rosie her 2nd set of shots and provision for the summer up in the Bay of LA in the northern Sea of Cortez. Then yesterday morning we got a call from a good friend who was also Terry's old boss, and he asked if Terry could come out of retirement for a couple months and fly up and go to work to help him out since they have a lot of work coming up all of a sudden.
So instead of testing ourselves at Surviving the Summer in the Sea we'll fly out next week and see how we can Survive the Summer in the Real World.
Always an adventure.....
We did have an enjoyable motor back to Santa Rosalia. It was a short 2 hour trip and we saw pods of dolphin, pilot whales and lots of jumping Manta Rays!
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We're in day 35 of the test of the Cetus Crew to see if they can survive a summer in the Sea of Cortez.
While we were at the dock in Santa Rosalia (referred to by cruisers as the Hot Box) we had the luxury of shore side electricity so in addition to our many fans aboard Cetus, we purchased a large oscillating fan we named Windy and she was a life saver right along with the lap pool at the marina that we could soak in to reduce our core temperature. We knew things would be better out at anchor, because not only can you swim in the beautiful swimming pool surrounding your boat, but the nice breezes that can't make it over the breakwater at the marina blow by the boat keeping temperatures much more pleasant.
The first days out here at Sweet Pea Cove were everything we'd hoped it would be -- light breezes, refreshing swimming -- much better than the hot stuffy marina. Sure, it was too hot to hike or cook in the galley, but these were minor obstacles to overcome. We enjoyed some pretty good snorkeling during the days and toward evening we'd be entertained by jumping manta rays and other fish and we could see whales blowing in the distance. Beautiful sunsets and comfortable night time temps to sit in the cockpit to watch DVD's or just look at the moon and the stars.
Then on Saturday the breezes died -- and the bees came out in full force. Our little paradise was no more. We still got out swimming -- it was the only relief from the heat, but after we'd rinse off we'd have to retreat down below to the hot cabin (it got up to 98!) because the hoards of bees searching for fresh water were buzzing around the 3 boats here in the anchorage.
We were seriously questioning our plan to spend the Summer in the Sea -- could we take heat like that day after day? Then the very next day, brisk winds picked up! We had 10 - 15+ knots of wind all day, keeping us cool (relatively speaking) all day! I was even able to do some cooking downstairs with the fresh breeze blowing through. So our enthusiasm for the challenge of the Summer in the Sea of Cortez is renewed. What a difference a day makes.
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The bees in the Sea of Cortez know that the cruising boats are a good source of fresh water and scouts regularly come by checking things out. The trick is to keep screens on the ports and hatches so they can't get below where there is a plentiful supply and to keep fresh water off the deck.
That's where it gets tricky. With the hot sun you need to swim to cool off and when you swim in the salt water you need to rinse off in fresh water, so you need to time it so that everything dries off before a scout comes by because if you get caught he'll have a swarm of friends out to your boat in a matter of minutes. Leave a swimsuit hanging out to dry and it will soon be covered with bees.
Luckily these seem to be fairly harmless bees -- they look like honeybees and they don't seem intent on stinging and are easily swatted away, but it is very disconcerting to have them swarm around your boat. We've gotten pretty good with dealing with them and they haven't been a real problem -- except for having to be so cautious with the fresh water. We also have spray and an electronic bug swatter -- both of which discourage them from setting up camp aboard Cetus.
The best news is that they only come around during the day when the sun is out, so in the evening, night and early morning we have no worries. And with the dry air, we can hang things out at night and they will be dry in the morning and bee free.
Always an adventure!
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Now that it's the HOT season here in the Sea of Cortez and we are back out at anchor, our routine has changed a bit so I thought I'd do another blog to answer the ever popular question: What do you do all day?
Our daily walks and hikes are no more. Now instead of a morning walk we go snorkeling and then we go swimming two or three more times during the day, the last dip being just as the sun goes down. We keep looking at the hills on shore saying we can't wait to hike up to the top of a couple of them, but so far we've only made it to shore once in the 6 days we've been anchored off Isla San Marcos! And that was a brief foray to the rocky beach to burn some garbage. The sun's just to intense during the day to even think about hiking, but one of these days we'll venture in early before the sun comes out from behind the hills and climb once again.
So our days revolve around swimming, with little projects and lots of reading thrown in. The temperatures are in the 90's during the day and drop to around 85 at night and the dips into the water keep you cool (well, relatively cool) for two or three hours after you get out. We've been fortunate to have afternoon breezes to help keep things comfortable, too.
The only cooking I've done in the cabin lately is toast for breakfast. Yesterday I browned ground beef for a taco salad in a pan on the BBQ and today I successfully made a pizza on the BBQ! Tomorrow I plan to boil eggs and potatoes on the Barbie to make a potato salad.
After dinner when the dishes are done we enjoy sitting in the cockpit watching the beautiful sunsets, then we'll take the DVD player outside and watch a movie under the stars where it's refreshingly cool.
And, as always, the days go surprising fast.
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As I've mentioned before, we are in the process of toilet training our new ship's cat Rosie.
Now I don't mean training her to use a litter box -- she had that down from the day we picked her up. Which, is a surprise because you wonder why street cats take to litter boxes right away -- and even more puzzling is that they are picky about their litter, just like the spoiled pets in the United States that learn from television ads (yes, they're watching ) that there's a million different kinds of litter to chose from and if they are finicky enough they can get their people buying several different kinds until they find one that they really like. Who knew a street cat would already be fussy? But she was. The first night we brought her home we were scrambling to get things all set on the boat for her, because when we set out to dinner that night we didn't plan on bringing home a new pet. Luckily, we had some kitty food on board from when we were helping a mother cat take care of her brood in a storage shed at the marina in La Paz. As for litter, we happened to have a multi-purpose tub that was just right for a littler box so we filled it with some sand thinking that should work just fine -- but we were wrong. Little Rosie was happy as a clam that first night on the boat, but she wouldn't use the littler box. She didn't go anywhere else, either, she just didn't go. So just like when you bring a new baby home, we didn't get much sleep that first night keeping an eye on her.
The next morning we walked down to the local vet and purchased some kitty litter. As soon as we mixed a bit of that litter in with the sand, Rosie took to it and did her business! With the first important hurtle of box training taken care of, the slow the process of toilet training began.
We've actually toilet trained a cat before,very successfully. For those of you that have read Terry's book, Adventures Aboard Rick's Place, you know Rick has a toilet trained cat aboard his boat. That cat, like all of the character's in the book is a composite, with a name taken from one source and characteristics from others. In the book, Jack is the toilet trained cat, but in reality it was our cat Cali that we moved aboard our boat Cetus with when she was a very young kitten, and we'd toilet trained her just before that move.
The first step in the process is to put the cat's litter box in the bathroom, so they get used to going into that room. Next you start slowly raising the height of the litter box, so they get used to having to jump up to use it. Then, when that all seems to be going well with no stress on the cat (and if you try to move too quickly they will be stressed and start holding it in and showing their displeasure) you actually turn the toilet into the litter box.
When we trained Cali, I used a plastic mold specially made for a toilet seat and sold in pet stores under the name of Kitty Whiz, and we've taken that idea and adapted some plastic lids we had on board to accomplish the same thing aboard Cetus. So Rosie has been using the head turned litter box for several weeks now and we've actually proceeded on to the next phase (remember you must go slowly...) cutting holes in the center of the litter box exposing the toilet below. You start with a very small hole -- about 2 inches in diameter. Then you very gradually enlarge the hole (waiting a few days to a week between changes). This makes the cat move from the center of their "box" until they are actually just perching on the toilet seat and voila the toilet is no longer a litter box but they use it just the same.
This whole process works best if you have more than one toilet, so the cat can be trained on one while the rest of the family has easy use of the other, but alas, aboard Cetus we have just one head. But we started the process at the marina where we had use of shore facilities and it really isn't too much trouble to lift the tray off the toilet if we need to use it. It's a small sacrifice for what we know to be a great reward to have a toilet trained cat with no litter box needed aboard a small boat.
| Blog Posts: Street Cat Rosie |
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After 44 days at the dock we were relieved to untie the lines and get back out into the Sea!
As I've said before, dock life has it's benefits, like laundry, electricity, fresh water and easy access to shopping, but a week or maybe two of that is all you really need. Due to our excursions back to the States we ended up being at the dock much longer than we really wanted to be and going the short distance over to Isla San Marcos has been a real treat. The weather's much more comfortable -- you just don't feel the breeze in the marina and swimming in the beautiful water around the boat is much more enjoyable than going up to cool off in the lap pool at the marina.
We plan to hang out in this area for 2 - 3 weeks, then go back in to Santa Rosalia for some last provisioning (and Rosie's shots) then head further north for the duration of the long hot summer in the Sea of Cortez.
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The picture is of the truck where Rosie used to hang out before Terry rescued her from the mean streets of Santa Rosalia.
She was a tiny little thing, but was actually older than she appeared due to the lack of proper nutrition. She looked to us to be about 6 - 9 weeks old, but the vet guessed closer to 3 months. Apparently the only thing growing at the proper rate where her ears!
When we took her in to the vet for her 2nd appointment a few days ago, she'd doubled her weight going from 2 lbs to 4 in a mere 17 days. And it looks like she's already grown since then!
She's a good cat. All the boats we run into that have rescued animals aboard find they make the very best pets -- they seem to remember what it was like living on the streets and know that they won the lottery when they got picked up and taken care of.
She's content and healthy and we're in the process of toilet training -- which is going well and I'll tell you all about that in my next blog. Right now we're getting ready to cast off the dock lines and head out to the islands to enjoy the cruising life once again!
| Blog Posts: Street Cat Rosie |
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07/15/2010, at the dock in Santa Rosalia
Since my return to Cetus one week ago the temperature has been steadily rising and now it is officially HOT.
Daytime activity has been reduced to soaking in the lap pool or anything that can be done in front of a fan -- thank goodness for "Windy"!
We've been going out every evening gathering groceries and provisions so we can head out to the anchorages on Isla San Marcos at the end of the week. We'd originally planned to go straight up to the Bay of LA when I got back, but we need to come back in to Santa Rosalia to take Rosie to the vet for her second set of shots at the end of the month.
We're anxious to get out to the anchorages again! There we'll catch the breezes better than here at the marina, plus we can go swimming in the Sea to cool off during the day. The pool here at the marina is a real life saver, but just not as enjoyable as swimming and snorkeling.
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07/10/2010
I flew home with one bag to check and one carry on -- and both of those were lightly packed. In fact, inside the duffel that I checked I had two more duffel bags in anticipation of all the "stuff" I would be bringing back down to Mexico.
Other cruisers understand what a trip to the States means as far as picking up lots of items that are either not readily found in Mexico or if it's here its at an exorbitant price. So for the last few months before this trip north we've been making lists and ordering things that I could bring back down with me.
So what is all that "stuff", you ask? It's a real hodge podge of mostly small items ranging from food and clothing to boat parts, painting and craft supplies.
Much of it was "stuff" we already owned and I just had to get from our storage locker. That included some insulation material "Refectix" that we used in our refrigerator rebuild and we think may be nice for window coverings when it gets hotter down here, some painting supplies (pans, rollers, tape, masks and gloves) for when we do the bottom painting next October. Some small portable speakers for our portable DVD player, some craft supplies for beading and water colors, a couple kitchen items (my good bread knife and a cheese slicer). I also picked up a few things I'd left for safe keeping at my friend Liz's house: a folder of Jimmy Buffett CD's and several copies of Terry's book Rick's Place.
Then there were the things I'd ordered from West Marine. A long list with more bottom painting supplies (we'd picked up the bottom paint on our trip to San Diego last month), other small maintenance items like a head (toilet) rebuild kit, sandpaper, some stainless steel bolts, bioside for the water maker and a spare prop for the ourboard to name a few. We also picked up a few new items: a new battery monitor, another portable fan (the one Rosie is using in the picture ;-), a WiFi antenna to have greater reach when we are in a marina, a case of deck caulking that Terry wanted to repair our teak decks as needed, new shorts for Terry and a second water float for relaxing in the Sea -- we bought the 1st one in San Diego to try it out in the pool here at the marina -- looked like a perfect way to cool down on a hot day so now we each have one.
I also had ordered some new tank tops from Lands End and a case of Soda Mixes from Soda Stream (we picked up the CO2 cartridges in San Diego last month). I also tracked down a new electronic fly swatter since one of ours that we'd purchased in French Polynesia broke when it hit the stairs instead of a fly a few months ago. I also bought a new cordless hair cutter as ours is starting to have a problem holding a good charge.
Then there was some other "fun stuff". Some great gifts from our daughter Carly: a French Coffee press for me and a DVD set of the first two seasons of Seinfeld for Terry and a cute set of salt and pepper shakers adorned with starfish that she bought for us at a Tiffany Glass factory on her trip to Europe last month. Terry's favorite treat was the chocolate Easter Bunny that Carly sent down with me. And my friend Liz also added to the happy treats list with some great dried fruit. I also purchased several reduced price DVD's to add to our collection (we tend to watch a lot of DVD's since we don't have TV to entertain us).
I saved my CostCo run for last so I'd have an idea of how much room I'd have, and unfortunately it wasn't much so I only purchased a handful of items on my long "wish list". I had to settle for the vitamins and bags of walnuts, dried blueberries and bacon bits.
So there was even more "stuff" than I've mentioned here, but that will give you an idea of the odd assortment that I had packaged in my 3 heavy bags and why I was glad to not have to try to explain it all to the customs guys when I flew in.
I've been home for one full day and have just about found homes for everything I brought down. Though we're anxious to get back out to the anchorages, we'll stay here at the dock for another week to keep an eye on our friends boat (they are back in the States, as well) and to hopefully complete the toilet training process for Rosie -- more on that in another blog.
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07/09/2010, flying in to Loreto
Despite the nasty cold I came down with a few days ago, my trip back home to Cetus in Santa Rosalia went very smoothly.
I had 3 large duffel bags full of "stuff" in addition to my 2 carry ons and I was a bit concerned first of all, how I was going to manage schlepping them from place to place, but most of all how I would get through customs without any problems.
I had a 6 am departure scheduled from SeaTac and my original plan was to be dropped off at the Inn at Gig Harbor where I would catch the Airport Shuttle, but my wonderful friend Liz bought me a trip to the airport in a town car -- she really saved the day! He was able to drop me -- and my heavy, awkward bags -- off right in front of the terminal where I could get a cart to push them in, where if I'd taken the shuttle, they let you off down in the bottom floor of the parking garage and it would have been a much bigger struggle to get them to the check in counter.
Check in went well, too. I was afraid a couple of my bags would be over the weight limit, but the heaviest weighed in at 49.5 so I was good to go and by the time I got through security and walked down to my gate, the plane had begun boarding so I walked right in without having to wait. Perfect!
I had a brief lay over in LA for my flight to Loreto then we were off. Once we touched down in Loreto the next major hurtle would be getting through customs because I did have a few "boat parts" with me. They did ask me about what was in the big bag after it went through xray and I said I had a couple things for the boat but that I had a list (friends had told me that having one might help if there were questions) and when I pulled out the list that was with my 10 year temporary import certificate that we got when we entered Mexico, he said that's all he needed to see. But I still had to push the famous Red Light/ Green Light button.
That's Mexico's system for determining who's luggage gets searched (though they will look if there's something odd looking on the xray) and it's always a bit nerve wracking -- for even though I'm not taking anything illigal into Mexico, it's still a very time consuming orderal and who knows what they might find suspicious and want some examination on. But luck was with me and I got the green!
Then it was off to the bus station. I had no idea when the next bus to Santa Rosalia would be leaving and figured I'd probably have a three or four hour wait in the small station, but once again things went smoothly and as I was purchasing my ticket, the bus pulled into the station! I bought a bottle of water and made a trip to the bano (bathroom) and I was on the road again.
Three hours after boarding the bus, and 14 hours after leaving Liz's house, we pulled into the terminal in Santa Rosalia and Terry and I lugged the bags the short distance (maybe about a block all the way to the boat) and we began unloading all the "stuff" -- it was like Christmas in July!
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07/03/2010, Gig Harbor, Washington
I haven't been doing any blog updates since I flew up to Washington over a week ago. I have a wedding to attend this weekend and have been enjoying visiting with family and friends while I'm here for two weeks.
As enjoyable as it has been, I'm anxious to get back down to Cetus with Terry and Rosie next Thursday and get back to the simple cruising life and the beautiful Sea of Cortez.
I'm ready and excited for the challenge of surviving a Summer in the Sea!
| Blog Posts: Travels |
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06/26/2010
While we were in Hawaii on our first cruising boat, Cassiopeia, a tall French woman from another cruising boat passed on the warning: "The water it ess too warm -- ess 'uricane weather!"
A couple weeks later Hurricane Iniki paid a visit to the islands and we were luckily one of the boats that survived her wrath. We watched from shore as 8 of the 16 boats anchored off the Mala wharf on Maui were destroyed by the huge hurricane generated swell.
Well, now it is hurricane season in the north Pacific (it actually began May 15th) so we are keeping a close eye on the weather. Chances of one coming up as far as Santa Rosalia are slim -- especially this early in the season, but with Mother Nature you never know....
So we get alerts from the National Weather Service and know when the tropical "waves" turn in to tropical depressions, then on to Tropical Storms where they get a name instead of just a number and finally become a hurricane. So far 4 depressions have become named storms this year and two have graduated to hurricane status: Celia and Darby.
Both these hurricanes have headed west and haven't been a threat to land, and they loose power as they reach cooler waters and then die out. As the water warms they will be able to track further north, so we, too, will head even further north in the sea to stay out of the danger zone.
I've placed a link to the right on Hurricane Updates if you'd like to check out the hurricane information page we like to look at in addition to the email alerts we receive. Or click on the link to the National Weather Service to set up to receive your own email alerts.
| Blog Posts: Weather |
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06/21/2010
We rescued this little sweetheart from the streets of Santa Rosalia, so named her Rosie.
| Blog Posts: Street Cat Rosie |
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