Land Shark!
02 July 2011 | Tucson Airport
Pamela
Well I guess being stuck at the Tucson airport is as good as time as any to update the blog, now woefully behind. We're at a restaurant, Paul's asleep on the other side of the table...our land journey's been a bit bewildering and unexpectedly expensive. Rather than dwell on the cause of these difficulties, the “system” in place at the U.S. / Mexico border, I'll move on and think happy sailboat thoughts.
About a week ago we spent several nights at the bay called Algodones. We had some really fantastic sails getting to and from there, very fun and spirited, close hauled at 30 degrees, winds at 18knots plus. It's nice to have enough time that you can go out and find the angles for sailing rather than worrying so much about getting to your anchorage with enough time before dark.
At Algodones we were able to snorkel around quite a bit and dinghy to explore nearby coves. Algodones is not exactly the quiet and remote anchorage, it's a bustling bay full of families out having fun in their powerboats and jetskis. We got a kick out of watching all the goings on, remembering times with friends and family on Paul's old powerboat, the Mighty NanoWest. The only trouble was our mast light went out. With so many power boaters and kids, we were a but worried about getting hit at night. Our knot tying skills were thrown into action, hoisting various flashlights and dinghy lights.
If you make it through the surf in your dinghy landing at Algodones, there are a few restaurants and pubs on the beach, and Paul and I did our best to patronize each. Our favorite was a place called the Cotton Club. On Sunday night they had a great band with an amazing singer. I thought maybe it was going to be Karaoke or something, as these guys seemed to kind of stumble in off the beach, board shorts, barefoot and sandy. A “kid” joined in and we thought maybe he was a friend of the band, there to shake his groove thing, or something a bit more percussive, but then he picked up the microphone and WOW! Although the wrong gender, he was Cuban AND he did an amazing Celia Cruz. And oye! Dos Gardenias like I've never heard... you get the picture...the power of music and soul....swwwwoooooon. Asucre! Asucre!
Eventually it was time to leave our happy little vacation cove and head on over to the marina for what we knew was going to a few days of “heavy lifting” literally and figuratively. Another great sail there, and then our most challenging landing yet in a slip with maybe 4 inches of space on either side. Captain Paul was cool as a cucumber, and as usual, there were some friendly local guys working on a nearby boat who jumped over to help us land safely. I have really appreciated how helpful and understanding the local guys have been in all the marinas and anchorages. We are usually able to contract with one or more for help on various boat projects, and their hard work and skill has made our boat lives a lot easier.
We spent Wednesday and Thursday in full tilt boogie, getting TugTub ready for her haul out and desert landing. The marina gave us a four page list of things to do..... All the sails were washed and put away, all the lines washed, dried and stowed, everything scrubbed and cleaned, and anything that wouldn't hold up to a steady 110 degrees aboard was thrown out. In addition to heat, we needed to remove anything that might catch wind in case of hurricanes. TugTub became bald, no bimini! The dingy motor, generator, and boat engine were all flushed and on and on, a four page list! In general, I'd say most of the tasks are good practice on an annual basis, whether getting hauled or not, but I'd prefer not doing it in the desert during summertime. ;-) We are very lucky with a Mermaid water cooled air conditioner aboard. We can take a break from outside jobs and come in where it's nice and cool. How plush can you get?
When we weren't scrubbing we enjoyed the company of nearby sailors, including a couple I had mentioned in an earlier blog post, the pair who went through 35 knot winds on their way to Bahia San Pedro. Geoff and Sue have a Freedom 40 called Blue Jacket. They are very experienced sailors, kind individuals, and they maintain a fabulous website chronicling their adventures over the past ten plus (!) years. Sue has even organized a downloadable cookbook! Thanks for your warmth and ideas, Geoff and Sue. Very inspirational in a host of ways.
Well, looks like boarding time is coming and so I'll find a quick photo and try to submit this blog. Once I'm home I'll be able to share more photos and stories. Thanks to all of you for your emails and encouragement. Some of you have written to let me know you were unable to post comments. I've writing to the Sailblogs folks to find out about what might be gumming up the works.
Adios queridos,
Pamela