Sailing Valparaiso

"Searching for Paradise"

10 November 2012 | La Paz, BCS, MX
08 November 2012 | La Paz, BCS, Mexico
08 October 2012 | Marina Palmira, La Paz, BCS
28 September 2012 | Portland, Oregon
17 August 2012 | OKC-PDX-LAP
19 August 2011 | Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
28 December 2010 | LaPaz
03 December 2010 | Marina Palmira, La Paz BCS
15 November 2010 | Bahia Los Muertos
05 November 2010 | Cabo San Lucas
24 October 2010 | San Diego
16 October 2010 | San Diego
25 September 2010 | Avalon Bay, Santa Catalina Island
13 September 2010 | Santa Barbara
02 September 2010 | Fortman Marina, Alameda, CA
20 August 2010 | Bodega Bay
13 August 2010 | Eureka, CA
10 August 2010 | Brookings, Oregon
04 August 2010 | Charleston, Oregon

Lord of the Flies...

10 November 2012 | La Paz, BCS, MX
Joe/Butch
Ok Chris G…attached are the photos I promised…now stop buggin’ me…as you can see above I’ve got important things to do…I take my job serious.
Now I would like to share a story that happened while out in the islands (faint of heart should not read on). Curious…well I warned you? Here we go; I may have mentioned earlier because of huge rainfalls here this fall there were tons of flies and Bobo’s as the locals call them (tiny, pesky, obnoxious flies). A couple of days after getting out there Susan noticed some black oblong pellets on the floor above the bilge access…where we keep our garbage cans. At first she thought we had a stowaway…you know a “Mickey Mouse”…I was thinking more along the lines of a “Speedy Gonzales”. Turns out they were fly eggs…I guess that’s what they call em’. These “fly eggs” turn into…yes you guessed it…maggots…dozens of maggots! Now the day before I had killed over 24 of their parents so they were out to get me…no really. Susan was freaked out…ok I was a little freaked out too. We were running the generator so I simply vacuumed them up (taped over the end…didn’t want those little unwedded parent critters escaping), double bagged the garbage sack and put it out on the poop deck…all is back to normal…no really! That night I laid down to bed, turned out the light, and as I was trying to go to sleep…I kept feeling something crawling on me. Wait, wait just a minute, don’t get ahead of the story. I kept telling Susan and she kept telling me to shut up and go to sleep. She tells me that a lot. Now the side of the bed I sleep on is right under the aft hatch…on the poop deck! After lying there for about an hour…I finally caught one of the little crawly things…it felt plump, soft and squishy, kinda’ like a bugger. You know what I’m talkin’ about, don’t you Rooney? I pinched it between my fingers and turned on the light. Holy Crap! It was a maggot! I leaped out of bed…ok, now I’m freaking out. I had 4 of the little buggers on me. How in the world did they get in my bed? I’m thinking they’re coming after me for killing their kin…no really! “Revenge of the maggots”! Ya, ok it takes me awhile to figure things out…but about an hour later I jumped out of bed, flew up the companionway, turned on the spreader lights only to find maggots all over the poop deck. At this point I’m pickin’ em’ up as fast as I can, tossin’ em’ overboard. Hey…it’s ok to touch em’ now…I mean after all…I had em’ in my arm pits! I warned ya’!!! Now one would think the story ends here…wrong! I double bagged that sack of trash and placed it on the bow as far out on the bowsprit as I could get it…if they get out now, they’re over the water and at least fifty feet from me. They next morning after a sleepless night, we weighed anchor and motored around to the next anchorage. When I went forward to drop the anchor I found that these persistent little maggots had blown all over the foredeck, open hatches everywhere…are you kidding me? Will they ever go away? At this point I actually considered throwing our garbage overboard. For the rest of the trip they found themselves now in 6 layers of garbage bags, hanging overboard…you don’t suppose that is why there were so many fish hangin’ around?
Oh well, all’s well that ends well, finally got rid of the little buggers. I love a happy ending. Wait! Oh Crap! I forgot about the ones in the vacuum! I’ll write soon…
Comments
Vessel Name: Valparaiso
Vessel Make/Model: Irwin 52 Center Cockpit Ketch (tall rig) 7' Draft
Hailing Port: Portland Oregon
Crew: Joe (Butch), Susan, JW & RC KK4FDZ
About:
In the early 70?s Susan and I purchased our first of four boats, a 24ft Clipper quarter ton sloop having never been on any form of boat in our lives. [...]
Extra:
"Valparaiso" (Veil of Paradise) Chase the dog star Over the sea Home where my true love is waiting for me Rope the south wind Canvas the stars Harness the moonlight So she can safely go Round the Cape Horn to Valparaiso Red the port light Starboard the green How will she know of the [...]

Same Ole Ship... Different Day!

Who: Joe (Butch), Susan, JW & RC KK4FDZ
Port: Portland Oregon