Allan
02/20/2009, Tenticatita

Rina, Jan and I enjoyed several days touring Barra de Navidad, attending a benefit concert for local children's shelter, and generally soaking up the atmosphere of this funky little town. (for the second time)

As we walked the sleepy streets of Barra to check in with the Port Captain, we could see where many American expats have made this their home, building small houses with high walls around them. Built on lots 50 by 100, they are little gringo oasis's (locals too, for that matter) and by all accounts inexpensive to build and maintain. The local infrastructure, however, leads a bit to be desired. Streets, electricity, water are all dicey affairs here. Rina and I often play a game of "could you live here?" in each place we visit. While this kick back town has a vibrant music scene, a nice blend of gringo and local businesses and a great marine environment, it's just a bit too rustic for Rina. We've come closer to saying yes in places like La Cruz, Mazatlan and Zijuatanejo, each for very different reasons. (Don't worry mom, it's just retirement fantasizing!) The common theme has been proximity to the water, a vibrant arts scene, rural, yet close enough to modern commerce, and oh yea, away from heavy industry that spoils many otherwise great areas of the Mexican coastline.

On Wednesday we left Barra and made the short 10 mile hop up the coast to Tenecatita Bay. While the Barra lagoon ensured quiet nights with no rocking from ocean swells, the water in the Barra lagoon is not very clear nor conducive to swimming. At Tenecatita, northwest ocean swells are mostly inhibited by the rocky point but the bay is open enough to ensure good circulation for swimming and running the watermaker. The weather has been perfect, with ocean breezes keeping the boat cool, a bright blue sky reflecting in the waters of the bay, cool nights in the low 70's and a fine-grained sandy beach for walks. An added recreational bonus is the jungle river, which winds for 2.5 miles to a nearby bay with beach palapas and small tiendas.

We met up with Justin and Dalia from Steady Beat Thursday and made the journey up the river, which at times narrowed to only 8 feet, with thick Mangrove trees beside and above. We forded the bar at the mouth of the river, with waves nearly breaking over the stern of our little dinghy. Luckily we came through unscathed and dry, thanks to our wheels, which were extended down to keep our prop off the rocks. Others before and after us got sideways and flipped over, sometimes with an out of control outboard motor at full throttle coming close to the boats former occupants.

The first part of the river had many shallows, requiring constant vigilance, but later, as the jungle canopy closed in, we were mostly concerned with the pokey roots of the mangroves reaching for our vulnerable inflatable pontoons. While there are many reports of crocodiles in the river shadows, we did not see any. Rather, we saw a wide variety of birds, colorful crabs and fish. The most exciting part (Rina would say un-nerving) was the pangas flying down the river at high speeds. Panga drivers have no concept of "slow" and can be counted on to zip by your boat in the quiet mornings at full speed, rocking you till you wake. The same held on the river, with only 1-2 feet separating us while they passed us with their boatloads of camera-toting hotel tourists. The end of the river opened into a pristine wide open lagoon that backed into the beach palapas where we had a long lunch with several other cruisers and caught up on current events with Justin and Dalia.

We plan on catching up with some boat chores Saturday before heading to Chamela Bay on Sunday. Our long list of "to-do's for the South Pacific has been getting steadily shorter, but the excitement will start when we return to La Cruz on the 27th and receive/install all the gear we have been gathering in the states. Our preparations and an update on our South Pacific itinerary will be coming in the next blog or three.

If I can keep this shaky internet connection, I'll update the gallery with more pictures of our river raft adventure.

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Allan
02/14/2009, Las Hadas/Manzanillo

Follow You arrived in Manzanillo Bay late Wednesday night, aided by Apollo 2 and Precious Metal. We were aided in that Apollo 2 had come into the bay an hour before us we had never been here. Coming into an unfamiliar anchorage at night is usually not recommended, but we knew the bay was pretty wide open and deep right up to the anchorage, which is tucked in the northwest corner of the bay. As we entered the bay Apollo 2 helped us understand the sometimes confusing lights we were seeing on shore. Bright rows of lights would look like bridges, antennas and roads, only to be re-interpreted 10 minutes later as something completely different. The experience reinforces the need to keep an open mind and constantly re-assess what you are seeing... Not the time for sticking to a stubborn interpretation of your current reality. An example was a set of bright lights against the shoreline that eventually turned into a very large freighter anchored in the middle of a channel on our way in. Apollo 2 helped us on that one.

Both boats turned on lights, included a gazillion candlelight beam which made it easy to see where we wanted to end up. The glow from the city surrounding the bay reflected off the significant power plant emissions in the air and created enough ambient light to allow us to safely navigate into the anchorage and get our hook down.

We spent Thursday doing boat chores, continuing Jan's orientation of the boat, and finalizing our equipment purchases to be sent down to PV next week. Yesterday was spent by the pool, playing tourist, catching up with a rare Newsweek and researching our detailed float plan for the Marquesas and Tuamotos. Check out the gallery for some cool pictures of the hotel at Las Hadas, which was the set for the movie "10". Apparently the movie plays nonstop on the closed circuit TV system! Very cool architecture and great views of the bay.

Now it's on to Barra and a test of our reseated radar cable. Hopefully that fixes our intermittent signal.

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Allan
02/09/2009, Zihuatanejo

Rina and I have spent the last several days attending a variety of events associated with the Sailfest... parades, duck races, parties, seminars, etc. It's been a nice combination of relaxation and socialization. We met a world traveller named Jan who has been hitching rides on boats around the world. We offered him a ride back up to PV, which will make those night watches more relaxing for us.

We leave tomorrow for Barra, where we will get to spend more time exploring the city, then to Tenticatita, where we get to take our RUBBER dink up a jungle river to watch the crocodiles... I promise to get a picture of the look on Rina's face as the crocs glide by.

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Allan
02/05/2009, Zihuatanejo

One of the larger Zfest events is the boat parade, where locals and vacationers can purchase a ride on a sailboat. Marketing to all the local resorts in Ztown and Ixtapa, around 120 people got 4 hour rides and an easy sail back to the bay on over 30 sailboats.

We had 6 great guests aboard, who mixed easily with each other and enjoyed their time aboard. They were not all necessarily boat people but were thoroughly intrigued by the idea of live-aboard cruising. We had a great time explaining the whole idea, and reflected how far we really have come to this point. We had a great lunch aboard, with contributions from everyone, then sailed back in 7 knots of wind, nursing the helm for 3-4 knots of boat speed.

After dropping our guests, a nap for Rina was followed by dinner with Trevor, Karisa and Kiera from Lea scotia... we had so much to catch up on after parting ways back in La Paz. We thought WE had adventures, poor Lea Scotia braved a watermaker on the fritz, a real fire caused by a blower motor short and a complete rewiring of their forward navlights... Trevor and I spent many hours in the cockpit, looking out at the lights on the steep mountains behind us, looking just like Sausalito at night. We laughed and commiserated together on our trials, challenges, stupid mistakes and how we would not trade it for the world right now...

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Allan
02/03/2009, Zihuatanejo

Follow You left Barra early for a 2 day sail to Zihuatanejo. We were looking forward to catching up with our friends on Lea Scotia and participate in Zfest, the local sailing fundraiser. Catching a stiff westerly breeze, we sailed comfortably down wind all day and most of the night. The wind finally moderated at 2-3am, allowing us both to sleep well off watch. We traded 3 hour shifts, finally motoring very early to recharge the batteries and keep pace for a morning arrival the next day.

As the sun rose, the wind clocked around 180 degrees, and built into 20-25 knots on the nose, very unusual for this part of the coast unless the "Tuantapeckers" are blowing in the big bay below Acapulco, influencing all the way up the coast. We decided to head for the small anchorage of Caleta De Campos about 10 miles down the coast. If the wind continued to build, we could duck in the anchorage and wait it out. If it moderated near the coast, we could ride more comfortably down the coast, with smaller wind waves. We listened as SV Bodhisattva discussed conditions with another boater, hailing him right after and discussing how the anchorage was dealing with the easterly winds. He reported back that there was enough room for a couple of boats out of the wind and swells. We anchored just off a beach and swam to cool off as the winds abated in the late afternoon.

Because we made such good time overnight, we were still slightly ahead of schedule for a morning arrival the next day. To thank Bodhisattva for their assistance in reconnoitering the anchorage for us, we invited them over for some cheese/crackers and a beer. (the classic cruiser offering) We had much to talk about, with their experiences double-handing across the Pacific and their many Mexico cruising stories. It is just these types of impromptu meetings and relationships that really make this an incredible experience.

At sunset we headed back out for another night at sea, this time in flat conditions, motoring to get a good battery charge before spending many days in the bay at Ztown. A warm evening made for a peaceful and uneventful crossing. We arrived just after sun up and anchored in the scenic bay just as the fleet woke up. After cleaning the boat up we announced our arrival to the fleet in the morning VHF net, quickly identifying other friends who chimed in at roll call. We later got signed up for Zfest, which is a benefit put on by the cruising community every year to raise money for the local indigenous peoples schools, which are somewhat ignored by the Mexican government. Over the years, the benefit has raised enough money to build an entire set of school rooms and provide much needed supplies and tutoring. They have also started a scholarship program to put 8-10 of the brightest kids on the college track, which is a largely unattainable goal without these additional resources. More information here: http://www.losninos.us/

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Allan
02/01/2009, Barra de Navidad

This gives a great perspective on how big (small) Barra really is...The far side is the bay open to the pacific and on the near side is the lagoon leading to the anchorage in the prior shot. A great kick back vibe permeates this town and plays host to both local and gringo tourists. It has a low tech, slow paced old time mexico feel rather than condo or megahotel based tourism. After time in Z-Town we'll spend much more time here.

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Allan
02/01/2009, Barra de Navidad

Rina and I took these shots from the top floor of the Grand Bay Hotel, showing the lagoon where most boats anchored. It's very shallow in most places, but a 30 foot wide channel takes you back to the anchoring area. Completely peaceful at night and early morning, with the local panga fishermen casting nets between the boats adding local flavor. The Marina is priced for sportfishing boats, with only a few sailboats paying the steep premium.

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Allan
01/31/2009, Barra De Navidad

We spent the morning today on boat projects, of which we have many more now that we are heading to the South Pacific. Rina spent the day sewing a shade cover for our stern, which is mandatory as you head towards the tropics. I spent the day organizing our expanding chart library. While in PV, a local sailor made available his entire library of charts for copying at no charge... Only cost was our time and about a buck a copy at the local Office Depot. We got over 150 charts of the South Pacific and all the island groups we potentially will visit. All this has to be done in the next 4-6 weeks.

To dissuage those that think that cruising life is all fun and games, Rina and I have been extremely busy preparing for our passage to the South Pacific. Here are just a few of the examples from our "do list"

1. Purchase and import a 6 man liferaft. Make sure to give the right officials a little propina to make sure the raft gets here without being deployed by curious customs agent. Once here, install it just in front of the companionway without breaking anything else (fat chance)

2. Design and build a rain catcher for south pacific squalls... yippee more sewing time for Rina! The rain catcher will help ease the load on the onboard watermaker.

3. Spare starter and solenoid. We originally decided against a spare given our coastal itinerary, but is mandatory given our new plans and ahem, our recent experiences.

4. Import and install 2 solar panels above the bimini. This will give us about 110 amphours a day, which will largely take care of the power needs of the fridge and freezer, resulting in few and shorter genset runs to recharge the 675amphours of batteries.

5. Install 2 new halyards - one by replacing the existing toppinglift with a full halyard that can be used as a replacement main halyard. The other is a spectra halyard that can be used as and emergency shroud or forestay if necessary.

6. Order and import South Pacific CMAP NT+ charts for the chartplotter

7. Order and import a whisker pole for more comfortable downwind sailing.

8. Order an extra handheld GPS for redundancy and a low power usage anchor alarm

9. Install spool with 600 ft of poly line on the stern for tying off to palm trees in the South Pacific. Much easier than deploying a stern anchor when appropriate.

10. Order additional 2 micron yanmar fuel filters at 60 bucks a pop. Hard to find in the south pacific and there is no workaround.

11. Reseal mast base to fix a mystery leak

12. Check engine alignment - has not been done in 5 years and the hard rubber mounts settle over time. Middle of the ocean is no time to have your engine come off its mounts.

13. Explore additional bilge storage under starboard cabin floorboards. We will need 60 days of food aboard for the crossing

14. Order commanders weather routing service for the crossing. 70 bucks is a bargain for optimizing your route over 3000 miles

15. Make a yellow quarantine flag and courtesy flag for French Polynesia.

16. Get a riding sail - When deployed on end of the boom ensures that the boat does not wander around the anchorage as much as it does today.

17. Misc spare blocks, lines, bolts, fuses, water filters, 2 stroke oil, etc.... death by a million little tiny items that all seem critical

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Allan
01/31/2009, Barra De Navidad

After a 25 hour sail down the coast from Banderas Bay, we arrived in Barra De Navidad around 9am Friday. This experience was MUCH nicer than the last. We sailed all day, mostly on a starboard broad reach with medium swells on the stern quarter, making for a comfortable ride. As expected, the wind died around 8-9pm and we motorsailed under main only until 2am when the last breath of the days winds passed us by. We motored at 3-4 knots to ensure a daylight approach to Barra. This also conserved fuel and made for a comfortable ride for sleeping. Rina and I traded watches every 3 hours and we both enjoyed the clear warm starry night.

I also put a bunch of additional Barra pictures in the gallery to your right.

We came into the lagoon behind the Town of Barra with no drama, even though the tide was on its way down. We anchored just in time for the morning net, introduced ourselves, and found out that our friends Mike and Julie from Slacker, who we met on Dock 6 in Mazatlan, were down here on a road trip. We slept for a couple of hours, then went into town to explore, have some lunch and then hung out at the cruiser friendly Sands Hotel Pool and caught up with Mike and Julie.

We will absolutely spend more time here, although on this trip it will be until only Monday. We want to head down to Z-town in time for the Puddle Jump meeting and cruiser sail regatta. We plan on taking our time coming back up the coast in February to enjoy Barra, Tenicatita and many other small points of interest on the Gold Coast.

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Allan and Rina
01/27/2009, South of Banderas Bay

Warning: Long story ahead... almost one of those Mexican Novellas, without the sex, of course

We left Banderas Bay on Saturday around mid day for Ipala, which is just south of the entrance to the bay. We had a nice sail, and lots of sea life around us. Ipala is a little cove with a couple of Marisco restaurants and room for about 3 boats. We spent a somewhat rolly night at the anchorage and got up early for our 47 mile journey to Chamela Bay.

About half way there, we came across a pod of whales not 30 yards from the boat on a parallel course. I cut the engine and we coasted as the whales flopped around, slapping the water with their flippers. It was the closest we had been to the whales and totally enchanting. Rina and I looked at each other and it registered immediately... one of those moments we would not forget.

How true that statement turned out to be, but not for the reasons we expected.

I went to start the engine, turned the key and pressed the start button... Nothing. Hmmmm. Tried it again to no avail. About a week ago, the same thing happened but the second try worked.

We checked out the weather and our position. We were about 4 miles offshore and fighting a 2 knot current going up the coast on our way down. We had about 10 knots of wind on our beam so we set our sails and kept heading down the coast as I began troubleshooting. We were making about 3 knots true at this point... 5 knots through the water but only 3 knots across the bottom, given the 2 knot current against us. Our GPS unit lets us know what our true speed is.

I spent the next 3 hours methodically troubleshooting the engine with the help of Nigel Calders "Marine Diesel Engines" book. Ignition, no problem, starter button, swapped out, no problem, jumped the solenoid using the old screw driver across the contacts trick and sure enough, starter started, but engine did not. Researching further, newer starters have a solenoid that engages the starter before firing. Rather than throwing the starter gear into the fly wheel, the solenoid pivots a lever, engaging a gear, THEN starts. Easier on the flywheel and starter, but... and here's the kicker: You MUST have a working solenoid to start the engine. The old school solenoids, like on many cars, can be jumped and start the motor, but not this one. My conclusion was a bad solenoid, of which I did not have a spare. I specifically recall discussing with Rina the need for a starter and solenoid. Our conclusion was that for coastal cruising we would not need one. Guess what's on our spares list now that we are headed west!

Ok, so now what to do. Our options were to head 14 miles to Chamela Bay in dying winds against a 2 knot current and try to anchor in an unfamiliar anchorage, keep sailing south to Manzanillo where they have boat repair facilities against the same current and uncertain winds... 70 miles away. Our third option was to return to Banderas Bay with the current, where we knew they had parts, and friends who could lend a hand if we got stuck with no wind. An oh yea, BuoyWeather predicted decreasing winds over the coming days.

We decided to turn around and head back to Banderas Bay.

We sailed close hauled at 5 knots through the water, 7 knots over the bottom for a couple of hours... things were looking good. We took this opportunity to head further out to sea in case the wind died. Worst case we would ride the current north. Sure enough, the wind died after dark. We spent the next 10 hours ghosting up the coast. Rina was freaked by the fact we could not keep the boat pointing towards our destination. We would see between 2-4 knots of wind and keep the sails up to see what we could do, only to have them flap against the shrouds and rattle the deck hardware so we were guaranteed to not sleep off watch.

Imagine this: The boat is dead stopped in the water. GPS says we are doing 2 knots, sometimes only 1.5, but that is just the current heading up the coast. A sailboat needs water crossing the keel and rudder to steer. No movement, no steering. We try to steer, but turn the wheel lock to lock with no effect. The boat slowly turns, and keeps turning. and turning, and turning... we do 360 degrees, not once, but 3 times over the next couple of hours. The 3rd time we were being overtaken by 4 other boats motoring up the coast. We can only imagine what they were thinking as our navigation lights showed red, then green, then white as we spun around. Trying to maintain steerage and monitor the sails takes lots of concentration. We could not use the auto pilot, as it uses a compass and knot meter to decide how to steer. No speed registering on the knotmeter? 360 degree turns? The autopilot is smart, but not that smart... We turned it off and lashed the wheel hard over. At one point we were able to keep the main sail pointed into 3-4 knots of wind for a couple of hours, losing it now and then for no apparent reason. The log shows several hours with no progress at all through the water, and only 1-2 miles per hour based on lat/long changes registered via GPS. We changed the watch every 2 hours, but sleep was difficult with the racket of the boat in the 2-3 foot swell. At one point it sounded like I was inside a maraca, with every cabinet's contents rattling back and forth at different frequencies.

Around 5am an inversion-based wind picked up to a consistent 5-6 knots from onshore. The warmer air over the sea rises, drawing air from the colder air over land. Unfortunately this only lasted for a couple hours until the sun equalized the temperatures. By this time we were about 12 miles from Cabo Corientas, the southern point of Banderas Bay. Cell service is pretty scarce in these parts, but Rina got 1 bar, so we called Dietmar on Carinthia after the morning VHF net, which we could barely hear, and asked if he could stand by, given the winds were forecast to stay light. He was already planning to head to Yelapa, so we had help if needed.

The winds remained light through the morning so I decided to rig the dinghy on the stern to get us further up the coast. On the way down the winds at Cabo Corientas were strong, so we were hoping to catch a ride north into the bay. I rigged a bridle using the davit blocks and tackles, a dock line from the bow of the dinghy between two low stern grab rails and two dock lines from the stern of the dinghy to the port and starboard cleats on the stern of the boat. That held everything steady, along with my weight, as our little 9.9HP mariner pushed us forward at 2 knots. With the 2 knots from the current, we were doing 4 knots for about 3 hours, good for 12 valuable miles. This used about 2 gallons of fuel. I left the last half gallon to help us maneuver later on if needed. It was the smoothest ride in the last 10 hours and the smooth drone of the outboard lulled me to sleep for an hour.

When the wind did not build, we hailed Carinthia and arranged a tow back to La Cruz. The trusty autopilot told us that it would take 30 hours from Cabo Corientas under sail and 4 hours with a tow. Pretty easy decision. We continued to ride the current at 2 knots until Carinthia arrived, by which time we were about 6 miles into the bay. We rigged dual bridles using a 200 foot line from our two bow cleats and a 100 foot line off Carinthia's stern. 4 Hours later, under cover of darkness Carinthia uncleated the bridle in the La Cruz Marina fairway, Rina hauled in the heavy 7/8" lines and I again pushed with the dink into a slip at the marina in La Cruz. The crew of Carinthia was there to help us dock, but by that time it was a non-issue. Carinthia invited us over for a much desired cocktail, and while we were exhausted and ready to crash, it would be seriously ungracious to decline. A couple of drinks and a wonderful dinner later, we fell into bed and slept for a good 11 hours. We can't thank Dietmar, Suzanne and Kurt enough for their assistance.

It's funny how sea stories work. While it is happening, you deal with it, much of it sucking hard, but, similar to child birth, it improves during the retelling, even just a few hours later.

*Very* long story short(er) the solenoid was NOT defective, and instead we have a short across one of the Yanmar wiring harnesses that was corrected by pulling it apart, cleaning with contact cleaner and scoring. In later versions of this engine a relay was added to keep the voltage and current up at the solenoid even when it deteriorates between the starter switch and the solenoid through the connector. I spent the last day riding a chicken bus back and forth to PV for solenoid parts only to have "Teapot Tony" the diesel guru, show up late in the afternoon to provide the pivotal insight that fixed the problem. Tomorrow we will install the relay to address the problem long term.

We will take Wednesday to ready the boat for a dash down the coast to Barre Navidad to see Corey's brother and some other friends. Talk about live and learn....humbling experience indeed but extremely valuable for us both.

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