Sunny, hot and humid - perfecto!
03/04/2010, Huatulco, Mexico

What fun! While this entire cruising season in Mexico has been absolutely delightful, I would have to say that this past month has been the highlight. Precious Metal is behaving beautifully, the weather is terrific - albeit a little strange this year, and the region of Mexico between Barra de Navidad (where my last blog finished) and Huatulco is fantastico. Si!

Since my departure from Port Hardy August 2009, Precious Metal has travelled approximately 4000 nautical miles - which doesn't sound remarkable until you consider that her average speed is 6 knots! Huatulco is southernmost Mexican town on my itinerary with one marina, a fabulous golf course, lots of spectacular beaches and a rather upscale town centre relative to other Mexican communities.

My Vancouver friend Joanne joined me in Barra, and as usual our 10 days together to Zihuatenajo were terrific - visiting tiny coastal villages, fun sailing, and lots of socializing with friends/boats on route to Zihuatenajo and my special fund raising project - Sail Fest (Feb 2-7).

As you know, I'm very passionate about Sail Fest insofar as this fund raiser is the largest of its kind in Mexico, and in the past 8 year history has been responsible for building 4 schools and educating over 1100 impoverished Mexican children who would otherwise never go to school.We had an opportunity to visit the schools and (my goodness!!) witnessing the children's passion for education as well as their appreciation of our efforts was truly gratifying and heart warming.

I offered to coordinate the "cruisers" events for Sail Fest which include a sail parade, and a pursuit race/calcutta. Both events raise funds through donations of passengers that come aboard our boats. We had 18 cruising boats/friends registered for Sail Fest, and I was overwhelmed by the volunteer commitment of every member in the fleet. In addition to our activities, a host of other fun events take place during Sail Fest week, raising a total of 45,000.00US dollars! Hence, another school will be built and the lives of over 100 wonderful children and their families will change forever. It was a tremendous success and tons of fun.

Following Sail Fest, I remained at anchor in Z-town for another three weeks of winding down and play. By this time, the Sail Fest cruising fleet had become as family, and as each boat raised their anchor to head north for hurricane season the reality of my southbound adventure to Galapagos and Peru set in...they're going the wrong way!! Saying good-bye is clearly my greatest weakness of this cruising life, particularly knowing that I will likely never see many of these very special people again.

My good friend Barry from White Rock kindly joined me in Zihua (his boat is in La Cruz) and we sailed the 335nm to Huatulco without incident. We DID manage to watch Canada win the Olympic gold metal in hockey(!!) in Puerto Escondido, and also managed to avoid the tsunami by departing Acapulco and heading to sea. (After hearing the warning at 8am - my lines were untied at 8:05, and we were in 600 feet of water when the wave passed.) Acapulco will also be remembered for the marina cost of 3.50/foot plus 14 percent tax - yup...2386 pesos or approximately 238.00/night!! That's ok though as apparently I got a deal - it used to be 4.50/ft!!

I have to admit that my approximate March 15 departure for Galapagos (1000nm) and then Peru (1100nm) is with some apprehension. After 2 seasons in Mexico, I absolutely adore the culture, people and so many cruising friends that make this their home. It's very easy to get stuck here. While I recognize that new adventures and friends are on the horizon everywhere I go, a very special part of my heart will remain in Mexico.

Over the next two weeks I will be finalizing my paperwork for the countries ahead - they're both expensive and extensive. Provisioning and boat preparations will occupy my days because luxurious grocery stores and boat supply stores will be minimal going forward. I have two wonderful crew members for this passage: Dr. Jim - who crewed from Vancouver to San Diego and promises to do every ocean crossing with me, and new to the crew list is Doug who is a mechanic (yeh!) and lives in Chile during our winters and aboard his sailboat in BC during our summers. I will be in good hands and know we'll have tons of fun. ( Side comment: We'll have lots of Bimbo Mexican bread - it amazes me as it never, ever goes bad - we say that the only way to get rid of it is to step on it!!)

I.V. arrived yesterday for a week of relaxation, exploring and catch-up. Both Riley and I are looking forward to our visit having not seen him since January 5. HIs project in Port Hardy is coming together slowly but surely...

We all send ou best wishes and hugs...
Pamela I.V., and Riley

Comments [5]

Pamela...
01/26/2010, Barra de Navidad, Mexico

Single-handing Brings (More) Gray Hairs!!
Thank heavens for hair colour...I'm afraid to look, but I suspect that I've acquired a few new gray hairs since my last blog posting!! My last blog was from La Cruz where Precious Metal was moored in the lovely Marina Riviera La Cruz. I.V. was with me until January 5, when he sadly had return to the cold and rain in Port Hardy.

A huge highlight of my stay was New Years Eve day when my son Sam, and wonderful daughter-in-law Lizz called from London, England to announce my first grandchild will be arriving July 16! Yeah, I'm finally going to be a grandma!

I hated leaving La Cruz after 5 glorious weeks of wonderful people and cruising friends, great restaurants, sunrise kayaking, salsa dancing lessons, poker nights, dock parties, and lots of repairs and maintenance. La Cruz is likely my last dock for a long, long time so I took advantage of the trades people and dock power to finish many projects on Precious Metal; most importantly eliminating rust, and more rust - rust never sleeps on a steel boat, and happily this three month project is finally completed.

On one of my last nights in La Cruz, I awoke at 5-ish am to pouring rain and the sound of a huge storm outside. I closed my hatches and was just returning to bed when I heard, "Precious Metal this is Eagle - are you awake?" on the VHF radio ("I am now!"). Why would my single-handing friend Barry be calling me at this time? Answering his call - his anchor was dragging outside in the anchorage and he needed help. Instantly, I jumped in my dinghy and zoomed out to assist - in howelling winds, huge seas, complete darkness, and pouring rain.

I just got outside of the marina when my engine suddenly seized. Now I was also in trouble! Quickly floating towards a crashing lee shore I called for help but the winds and seas were too loud for anyone to hear. Stupidly, in the panic to rescue Barry, I didn't take my hand-held radio; nor did I grab my life vest (note to self...always collect yourself before heading on a rescue mission). Now TWO of us were in trouble. I scrambled to re-start my engine and discovered a fishing net was caught in the propeller. With my life at stake and quickly heading for the rocky shoreline I managed to release the net just in time and thankfully get the engine in gear...phew! By the time I arrived at Eagle she was pitching in the swells like a bucking bronco, but we managed to eventually bring up her anchor and go into the marina safely.

I only just settled back to bed at sunrise when I heard another call on the VHF radio, "several water spouts (tornado-like) are forming in the Bay - prepare your boats for hurricane conditions!" Holy ^*#@!! You can't imagine how I scrambled to secure my lines, securely tie down my kayak, air conditioner, stuff everywhere on deck and in the dinghy...Once secure, Riley and I walked to the breakwater and witnessed the most amazing natural sight - a perfectly formed waterspout from the horizon to the sky 5 miles away, and quickly approaching. It fizzled before reaching the marina, but what an incredible sight.

Knowing that other boat/friends are close by and following a similar route south as me, I sadly departed La Cruz solo last Sunday for Yalapa (a palapa in Yalapa is finer than a condo in Rodondo) on the south side of Bandaras Bay...The challenge was to round Cabo Corientes the following day which is notorious for huge winds and confused seas. In fact, I had a great 60 mile sail the following day to Chamela (Pamela in Chamela), and Cabo Corientes was very kind to me. After a good sleep, I took advantage of benign weather conditions, and hopped another 20 miles south to a cruiser's paradise - Tenacitita - just north of Barra de Navidad, and my next exciting adventure...

The "plan" was to depart at sunrise the next day with another boat/friends (Mike and Renee) on Ahea Kali. Winds are generally calm early morning and pick up by midday. As I began to bring up my anchor, the screw that secures the arm that directs the chain into the anchor well sheared off. Suddenly, my windlass wasn't working, and after attempting to pull up the chain and anchor by hand, I realized this was nuts - I needed help. This failure couldn't have happened in a better place, as Phil on Maradon is a shipwright and has all the tools and talent to properly repair the problem - but it took several hours, and by then the wind was rising.

No problem I thought as it's such a short hop to my next anchorage. I sailed out of Tenacitita Bay at midday and had a terrific sail. Once out of the Bay I was instantly in a storm that had never been forcasted for that day. I reefed (shortened) the sails once, then twice, and as I was frantically working to keep the sails under control, I could hear things in the cabin crashing around - doors flying open, bang(!), crash(!)...normally I would secure everything better but this weather wasn't expected.Green water was crashing over Precious Metal and I was soaked...And when I see Riley's eyes bulge I know I need to re-group. I decided to turn around and go back to Tenacitita.

By the time I returned, the winds had also picked up in the anchorage (20-plus knots). I was tidying up the lines on deck and noticed a catamaran (also single-hander) was dragging anchor. Instantly, it was travelling a great speed towards a rock bluff across the bay.

The owner and everyone else in the bay was on shore playing botchie ball. I grabbed my VHF "this is an emergency, (the catamaran) is drifting across the bay quickly I need assistance immediately," and quickly prepared my dinghy for her second rescue in one week. I and two others managed to bring the boat to safety, but my adrenalin had been spent for that day.

It's amazing how different this year is over last due to El Nino. Last year the weather along this coast was non-existent; this year the storms are frequent and severe. Typical of sailors; we complain of either too much wind or never enough...

Now safely anchored in Barra de Navidad, my girlfriend Joanne has arrived and sailing aboard to Zihuatenajo where our big fund raiser Sail Fest takes place early February. I'm organizing the cruiser activities and hope to raise a lot of money for schools again this year so I will be busy, but having fun.

The moral of this story is that single-handing is quite different from having an extra set of hands aboard. It's incredibly satisfying when everything is running smoothly, but when things go wrong it can be dangerous and scary.

I'm also aware of personal safety as a single female. Each night I install custom-made steel security bars in my door and upper hatches. Beside my bed is an arsonal of bear spray, knife, horn, VHF radio. And just inside my door is a hidden 200.00US to throw at any unwanted theif who boards at night - petty theft is often their motive. One cruiser was killed recently in Thailand when a local panga driver who needed gas for his engine boarded at night - and the altercation resulted in death!

Despite the extra excitement of late, I'm having a terrific time, and loving every minute of this voyage...Love to all.
Pamela and Riley

Comments [3]

Sunny, Hot, as Usual
12/24/2009, La Cruz, Mexico

Merry, Merry Christmas!!

Since my last posting I had (in one week) - a wedding (in Mazatlan), a funeral (in Toronto), and 200 nm ocean crossing (La Paz to Mazatlan), and re-uniting with I.V...does this qualify for a movie??

We're on the eve of Christmas and while we're amongst many special friends here; it's times such as this when we miss our Canadian family, friends and northern Christmas.

Since our arrival in La Paz and passage down to La Cruz (just outside of Puerto Vallarta), we've re-united with so many fellow cruisers from last year who will be continuing down the coast with Precious Metal. This cruising "family" is what makes this lifestyle so enjoyable...among many obvious other highlights.

Our Christmas dinner will be at Philo's Bar - which (Philo) is notorious for philanthropic work in the community, and tomorrow night Santa will be giving gifts to over 400 local children who would otherwise receive nothing.

Sadly, I.V. is only able to stay for a short while as he has to return to his development project shortly after New Year; hence, I will be taking Precious Metal south mid-January to Zihuatenajo - where I'm again organizing a special fund raiser for education (Sail Fest), and anxiously able to visit the new school that we built from Sail Fest last season. I have books aboard for the new school( from the BC Department of Education), and I believe we'll have an even larger contingent of boats this year.

Precious Metal's plans for 2010 are unfolding nicely - with a minor change insofar as we'll be heading to the Galapagos from Mexico on March 15(1000nm), and after exploring these Islands we'll head directly to Peru rather then Ecuador(1100nm). Peru appears to be more cruiser friendly these days and VISA permits to stay there are far more easily attainable. Peru is also more accesible to the areas in South America that are appealing. I have 2 or maybe 3 great crew aboard for this voyage - including Jim Grace who sailed aboard from Vancouver to San Diego. Jim promises to do every ocean passage with me around the world.

On behalf of I.V. and Riley, I'd like to wish everyone a very happy holiday season, and best wishes for 2010...please, please stay in touch.

Feliz Navidad mi amigos!!
Pamela

Comments [7]

Sunny, hot and beautiful
11/13/2009, Puerto Escondido, Baja, Mexico

Greetings from the most magnificent Sea of Cortez!! What a spectacular playground of beauty, wonderful snorkeling Mother Nature at her very best...

Our planned two weeks in Mazatlan turned into just over a month for a number of reasons: more substantial boat repairs and upgrades (new batteries and battery boxes, major rust removal and treatment, new engine exhaust pipe installation, major sanding and repainting of bottom, etc.), Hurricane Rick - who arrived mid month and meant that I couldn't put the boat together until he passed, and well, everything on boats takes longer than one expects. My wonderful new Mazatlan friends actually had bets that I wouldn't depart as scheduled on October 31 (they obviously don't know me well enough), and gave us a grand farewell early morning as I untied the lines and set off for the Sea of Cortez. Mazatlan is otherwise known as "Hotel California" because people can get stuck there forever...and many cruisers do!
A week prior to my departure the engine was almost completely apart, and I was working flat out 12 hour days, but I'm so happy to say that our "precious" baby is running well and happy to be cruising again.
I was fortunate to have a wonderful couple - Mic and Tracy from Britain - cross with me to Baja so the 200 mile passage was both delightful and easy. They remained on board after arriving in La Paz, where I spent four nights - after all the Marina Palmira charges $95.00 for one night and $172.00 for an entire week!?!
While I've only managed to venture 120 miles north into the Sea, it's because every place is too wonderful to leave. One of the greatest highlights was Isla Islotes which is a marine reserve and sea lion rookery, and people can actually swim with the sea lions!! It was so amazing to be snorkeling along and have these magnificent giant and baby sea lions swim right beside me while they played in the water. I've also done a lot of hiking onto the many ridges surrounding each anchorage, and even managed to find great winds for sailing - such a special treat to tun the engine off!! I've been cruising with several great boats and friends - most notably Pantera from Victoria the entire way making single-handing an easy and pleasurable experience. I.V. is now promising to arrive at the end of November, and is working tirelessly on his development property which appears to be coming along well - slowly but surely.
My only true sadness has been the passing of a wonderful friend and business hero Brian Steck who was the CEO of Nesbitt Burns and whose stewardship of the company has allowed me the opportunity to fulfill this dream of mine. I will likely be flying to Toronto at the end of November for his memorial service.
One major breakdown is my Blackberry - which is no long working so please write to "mybentley@yahoo.ca" until further notice.
I'm heading south tomorrow to La Paz and likely arriving Monday or Tuesday. Please, please send me updates on your lives at home to the mybentley address as I will be in Internet contact again.
My very best wishes to all,
Pamela and Riley

Comments [3]

Pamela - Very (very!) Hot and humid
10/04/2009, Mazatlan

She looked even better then I had remembered her as Riley and I reunited with Precious Metal in Mazatlan after our 6 day, relatively uneventful drive from our home in Port Hardy. Tony, our boat manager and wife greeted us with some cold Cervesas, and had Precious Metal sparkling clean and ready for our first night aboard since May. Despite wishing I.V. could be with us for our celebration, it was a tremendous feeling to be reunited with our "precious" Precious Metal.
My glory was quickly shattered though as I immediately began filling the water tanks in anticipation of a lingering bath and relaxation after the long and somewhat stressful drive on Mexican highways...A water pipe burst under the aft sink, and within an hour of being aboard I was on my hands and knees mopping up water, tools out, and trying to sort out the problem! Welcome back to boating, "oh, ya - now I remember!!" And my desire for the bath was also short-lived as I discovered the most humongous cockroach crawling through the cockpit boards that were stowed in the bathtub. HE and the broken pipe would have to wait out the night, and I closed off the aft head with towels tightly lined under the head doorway - as cockroaches have a unique characteristic of being able to crawl through the tiniest cracks...I managed to fix the pipe and eject the cockroach early the following morning, followed by my first immediate chore which was installing our new (much-needed!) air conditioner. HE has been the only summer visitor I've detected so far...(phew!).
Having brought down 5(!!) years of boat-specific supplies and parts in the van, the follow days were spent finding stowage locations in all the nooks and crannies, documenting each location, and beginning the huge task of putting Precious Metal back together after miraculously enduring the summer of extensive wind, rain, lightening, humidity and heat...
As previously scheduled, I took Precious Metal to the boat yard two days after my arrival and she's now on the hard receiving a brand new bottom - which is due after ten years of paint layered on paint. Once again - welcome to boating as I've already surpassed my budget for the year!!
I write this from a tiny, modest, and safe little room near the boat yard, and Precious Metal should be back in the water by Wednesday (Mexican
time).
As I watch my only English TV channel (CNN) and witness the devastation around the world (earthquakes, tsanamis, hurricanes, landslides, flooding) - I'm aware of many fellow cruisers and people/communities who have faced enormous and tragic challenges this week. A story on our Cruisers NET from a sailor in Samoa was particularly descriptive and heart-wrenching. While I can't possibly fully imagine the horrific circumstances in Samoa, his message was clear; live your dreams, and each day as if it's your last...That's good advice, and I'm so very grateful to be living my dream.
Best wishes to all!

Comments [4]

Rainy, windy...winter setting in...
09/18/2009, Port Hardy, BC Canada

Precious Metal here we come!!
After a terrific Port Hardy summer of fun and great sunshine, it's time to return to our "precious" Precious Metal. On Monday morning Riley and I will begin our 3500km journey down the highway to Mazatlan (Precious Metal) in our loaded (very!) van full of parts, supplies and "stuff." If all goes well we expect our trip will take about 5 days.
I.V. continues to be consumed by his property development which we're pleased to say is spectacular; however, his work will take him through the winter and he'll therefore be joining us as often as possible throughout the season.
This sailing season takes us to the Sea of Cortez for the month of November - which is reportedly the "jewel" of Mexican cruising. Then on to Puerto Vallarta and Barra de Navidad during the Christmas season. Apparently, we'll be painting a school in Barra over Christmas with some fellow cruisers. Then on to Sail Fest in Zihuatenajo early February where we've committed to volunteering once again to this important educational fund raising event. We then head south to Huatulco in March when I.V. returns home and crew come aboard to help me sail to Ecuador, South America.
It's an exciting, fun filled season ahead and we hope that you'll be following us, and sending us your updates and comments. The toughest aspect of this wonderful cruising adventure is leaving behind our great friends in Canada, so please, please stay in touch.

Comments [3]