05/20/2012, Costa Baja
As I can be.
We started the hurricane season prepping of Papillon, and while we are doing the right thing, it is feeling like a little betrayal to be stripping her of her jewelry. Sails, kayaks, dodger, solar panels, life raft, all the finery that makes her look so strong and efficient has to go. Anything that can move, has to be removed and stored.
Easy enough, you might think. And the physical act of removal really is just that, physical- but the psychological impact of this is much more. This isn't just a boat, it's our home. And it isn't just a house, it's an escape capsule. It's more than all of those things; it also has a personality, with her own little quirks and foibles, almost as if she was alive in the conventional sense. Yet she is alive in our hearts and this feels like leaving a faithful pet at a kennel for an extended time. It is tough.
Well, today we removed the main and the jib. I'll be handing those over to Snug Harbor Sails for review and renewal while we are away. Next down will be the kayaks, then the Monitor Windvane, sure don't want that to get a boat bite from anything drifting about!
So the process will inexorably continue until she stands naked before us, ready for whatever we can prepare her for. After this we move her into the back harbor of Costa Baja to hunker down, awaiting our return, when she will be buffed, waxed and shined- dressed in her finery and made ready for the next season.
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05/16/2012, back in Costa Baja
Yeah right, sticking your head in in an oven is a dry heat as well. It really is more comfortable here at 100+ degrees because of the low humidity, but honestly, hot is hot.
That doesn't mean we haven't found ways to cope- we now have a swamp cooler aboard- can you imagine? Most of the time we have struggled to remove moisture from the boat as it causes all kinds of issues. Here we are pumping water into the air for cooling, but also to keep the interior teak healthy! Go figure!
OK enough whining.
We had a great long weekend. Went to Balandra as it is a good place to anchor in the Coromuel winds that occur here on a regular basis this time of year. Those are South to Southwest winds that occur due to the unique geography of the Baja peninsula and the differences in temperature between the Sea of Cortez and the Pacific Ocean. While they work well to cool off La Paz, they don't do much for comfort at anchor in a lot of the local anchorages. As I have written before, a passage at anchor isn't the most restful way to spend the night.
Riding those same SSW winds the next day we started north. We have always wanted to check out Isla San Francisco and thought this would be a good time. About three hours in the wind died off, not unexpected, and we started motoring. The seas were calm and we had great views of the Manta rays doing their best to get airborne. Just a hoot to watch these beasts. While they are in the water they move majestically and nearly effortlessly "fly" through the water. Once they leave that realm and leap out of the water, that grace is gone and they become a flopping piece of fish flesh! They will do a great belly flop and do it again- then again- all in the effort to impress a suitable mate. Kind of sounds almost like spring break.
Isla San Francisco is a really cool island about 40 miles out of La Paz and it has a selection of anchorages that allows for a good set in various winds. We chose the northernmost one because we are tired of getting slammed by those Coromuels. Turned out to be a great choice.
Kind of a different type of anchorage, just a big open roadstead, but protected from the south by the island, 16 foot of water over a good sand bottom, crystal clear water, and a good cooling breeze. Just about the nicest anchorage we've had so far.
There was this rock to the north of us called Isla Coyote, with some rock reefs off to the side. Not having read the guide book close enough, we didn't know what we were to find as we rounded the corner.
A full on fishing village! Imagine our surprise, we were a ½ mile away for 24 hrs and had no idea this was here, no lights glowing, nothing indicating it at all. We will have to return- as good of an excuse as any!
It's really hard sometimes to find the words to describe some of these experiences. They are magic in ways that defy simple description- the sea life, the sunsets, the good and wholesome foods. Everything you can possibly imagine.
We set sail after a couple of very nice nights at anchor and started south to La paz
Welcomed back out by the Mantas, we cruised along the other islands that make up the Parque Nacional Espiritu Santo. As we worked our way down we had a couple of whale encounters and then sailed into our largest pod of Dolphin yet! Over a hundred of the bottlenose clowns were playing around us as they worked their way north. What a great way to end a great weekend.
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04/29/2012, Bahia San Gabriel and Puerto Balandra
No I don't
It's been a little while since there has been an update to our life on Papillon. Not that there hasn't been anything to say, but sometimes finding the right words to say things can be the challenge-as well as the motivation to get them down!
Kelly took a couple of weeks and went to visit her folks and I had a culture shock visit of Tijuana, San Diego, Las Vegas, Hackensack NJ and back to Vegas, back to San Diego, back to Tijuana, and back to La Paz in a weeks' time.
Whew
So, that was a little bit much and it really has more to do with work than life on a sailboat in Mexico, but it was interesting. Fingers crossed on the seeds that were planted!
So this is what that led to us taking the weekend and running up to Bahia San Gabriel to join our friends from Puddle Pirate for some snorkeling and general fun. As we are heading that way we are able to reach them on the VHF and make the arrangements, a little after that we get a holler back from them asking if grouper is good to eat! "Grouper? Heck yeah it's good to eat- why?" "Well we caught about a 20 pounder!"
So it was a fish fry for dinner that night and everyone retired with full bellies!
The next day went great, lazing about, snorkeling in what felt like somebodies huge aquarium, doing a little fishing and just generally relaxing- good thing I got some rest.
That evening, the wind clocked a bit and started blowing into the anchorage, along with some wave action. That kept increasing to the point we were pitching and hobby-horsing with twenty knot winds and 3-4 foot rollers on the nose. I do not want to "rock and roll all night" anymore. The party every day part still sounds good though!
So after an exhausting "passage at anchor", we tuck tail and ran for Puerto Balandra, hoping to find some wind/wave protection. We found wave protection- wind, well not so much; it kicked up to the mid-twenties during the night. But at least there isn't any distance for fetch!
On the way over, it was a straight motor dead into the wind, which of course is simply the standard navigation practice of following that arrow thingy on the top of the mast that shows both the direction the wind is blowing and the direction you want to go.
We get a call from Capt. Lew- "you guys see that whale?", we hadn't but after a bit we saw the spouts of a couple of humpbacks in the distance. Then in the "not so distant" range, then in the "close enough" range, and finally in the "Holy Smokes" range of about 50 yards!
There was a couple of Humpies breaching and finning coming right at us! It was incredible- close enough that we were hearing their songs as they were chatting back and forth. They did give us some space and went under us, continuing on their way through San Lorenzo pass. It was so very cool.
I don't know what the deal is, but we seem to just have an awful time finding a relaxing weekend, weather-wise. Every time we get it going, we end up with big wind or big waves coming from an untenable direction, it seems that we get one good night in then it goes south. I think it's because we are limited a bit to weekending and not having the luxury of weekdays available.
It is nice to be building our comfort level with our ground tackle, but it seems that maybe we could catch a break now-and-then. Oh well, at least its warm! And at least that's what our problem is, not whether or not the roads are snow-covered and icy, not the worry about trying to fit in things around the raindrops, but trying to figure out which anchorage is going to be the most fun. I'll take the "party every day", thank you very much!
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04/01/2012, La Paz
The movies- Kelly and I were big moviegoers when we were in the States and that escapism is something we have missed.
The blockbuster movie environment has some interesting facets- the visuals, the surround sound experience, the group experience, etc. Can we find that here in mexico?
WOW!! Did we ever! Our friends from Puddle Pirate and us decided to give the Platino Theater a try- I am so glad we did.
We saw the Wrath of the Titans and while we expected this new theater to be nice, it is so far ahead of anything I have ever experienced in a theater before. Let me begin with the ticket purchase- when you buy a ticket, you are actually buying the seat like on an airplane. That was the first indication that this was different. Next, you go to the snack bar (not really just a snack bar though, a full restaurant) and order your food- they take your order and you go into the theater- they will bring it to your seat. Speaking of the seats, the most comfortable recliner with footrest I have sat in for a long time. You sit in pairs with glass tables that swing over the seats- have to have someplace to set the food!
Then the visual experience starts- it's kind of a thing with me, but I analyze the projection systems just out of habit from work- not one burnt pixel, not any distortion in the corners, full brightness without oversaturation- just perfect. Then the audio- again a wow- the subwoofers are built into the seats so they don't have to overdrive the sound around you, it's nice to have it crisp and clean without blasting the ears.
This being our first time in this type of theater, we made some rookie mistakes on the food front, and the seat selection- but that's ok, the overwhelming response was one of wide-eyed wonder and we are already planning the return.
Yes, it is more expensive than the regular theater- it cost all of 70 pesos. That works out to about $6 USD. That's for a first run, recent release, english language, evening showing in the best movie watching environment I have ever been in.
That was just the first part of the evening- the rest was spent wandering through the downtown area enjoying the party that kicks off the spring vacation time here. Streets blocked off, Baja Bieber singing on stage, fire dancing and the general craziness of a town just having a great time.
And just hanging with our friends as well, I can't tell you just how much fun we had. But the laughter was a great release- even the taxi drivers we had were laughing, actually with us, not at us!
So there is more to this cruising thing than boat chores, which makes me remember there are a few to get to- later, after a siesta!
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03/26/2012, Marina Costa Baja
It seems like this last week was the time everyone decided to get to La Paz.
Our dock here at Costa Baja went from just us as the only active sailboat on C dock to eight cruisers here and more have berthed up in the back harbor as well.
Both Kelly and I are enjoying the company, particularly the company of the crew from Puddle Pirate. We made good friendships with them while in Marina El Cid and we were very happy to see them sail in.
It is interesting to see how different people relate to the folks here as they arrive. We have made it a point to reach out to our hosts here in La Paz and Costa Baja to find some kind of common ground upon which to base a relationship, and it is gratifying that most of our fellow travelers do the same.
Note that I say "most". Not everyone that arrives does so with the grace that one would hope for.
But I guess this is to be expected- every society, even ours as cruisers, has good and bad. The best way to address this aberration is to lead by example, and that is what we will be doing in the days ahead as our new community forms.
We are really looking forward to getting to know some of our fellow travelers better and hearing their "stories". That is one of the greatest things about our community- the very interesting people that cast off the lines and set sail.
More of that as we meet and greet!
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03/19/2012, Caleto Lobos BCS
The Ugly
So we decide to check out Caleto Lobos and join up with Tom and Jeanne from SV Eagle. Our plans were to drop anchor there and then bop up to Bahia San Gabriel and check that place out.
Well, as so many people have written about "plans", things change. We initially went there to check cell signal, it would be nice to be able to work up in Lobos a couple of days per week.
This leads to "The Bad"- nope it seems that Mr. Slim (Owner of practically all telecom here in Mexico)doesn't much like Verizon subscribers and the cell signal out there is only for Telcel customers- oh well- more than one way to skin a cat, and I'll figure that out later.
So we crash out at anchor in Caleto Lobos, not ready for socializing quite that day and are invited aboard Eagle for some incredibly good Kahlua French toast. While the food was great the company was even better. Tom and Jeanne both are really nice people.
They also had John Spicher of the SV Time Piece aboard and we reacquainted after both being part of the 2011 Baja Ha-ha.
Well, Eagle pulled anchor and headed north for further adventures, and we might have followed them to Bahia San Gabriel, but we were lazy and besides, the weather did seem to be changing a bit. It changed all right.
It changed big time to southerly, which very few anchorages here are protected from.
This leads to "The Ugly" a rolly anchorage would have been an improvement- we got our asses handed to us and we weren't even shopping for asses. It felt like a very difficult passage more than any type of relaxation.
And more "Ugly"- bugs. What the heck are these little annoying flies? Locally known as "Bo-bos", they are very, very, very annoying. Had a bit of an issue with these little pests.
More "Ugly" - just a note- don't attempt to use the boarding ladder to lever the kayaks away from the boat. You just might fall in. The nice thing about this- the water is reasonably warm, unfortunately I only got wet from the waist down as I landed upside-down across the bow of the kayak, using my lower back and hip to break my fall. Yes- it hurt.
OK, on to "The Good"
This part of Baja has some of the most spectacular sunsets I have ever seen.
The water is so very clear
We have a really good anchor
We met a new friend
We met up with old friends
We were not cold
On Friday night we invited John aboard for what ended up being a great visit with a new good friend. One thing led to another and it turned into dinner aboard (Shrimp and Poblano Cream Stew).
Saturday AM - it was over to visit John on his home- Time Piece, a custom Coast 34. This is a really nice boat! There aren't a lot of vessels that make my heart beat just a little faster, but this is one. The care with which it was built and the love with which it is maintained is obvious. As with a lot of boat visits, this was centered on food and we had a great brunch (Puff Pancakes and homemade Coffee Cake)
Now this particular Saturday happened to have been St Patricks Day, which leads to an excuse for another get together, this time hosted on Papillon. John had some Guiness saved and along with some Pacifico he built up some Black and Tans and I made a Shepherds Pie with just a little hint of Jalapeno to honor our host country- it was a hit!
An evening of good food, and good friends made up for any uncomfortable time we may have had at anchor and that is what the weekend was really about. No matter the issues- the trimaran whose anchor dragged in the night missing us -but close, no matter the Bobo's landing in my eyes and ears, no matter the rough anchorage and restless sleep from that, no matter the tumble onto the kayak, all of those Bad and Ugly things will fade in memory, but the Good things will be remembered forever.
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Hahahaha LMAO.
Good one
