Sequitur

Michael & Edi have headed out on a slow, thorough exploration of the globe.

Vessel Name: Sequitur and Zonder Zorg
Vessel Make/Model: 2007 Hunter 49 and 1908 Wildschut Skûtsje
Hailing Port: Vancouver, Canada
Crew: Michael Walsh & Edi Gelin
About: For our current location click, on Map & Tracking, then on the Google Earth logo.
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13 January 2014
26 April 2013
24 April 2013
27 October 2012 | Harlingen, Friesland
29 September 2012 | Sneek, Netherlands
19 September 2012 | Hoorn, Netherlands
13 September 2012 | Aalsmeer, Netherlands
20 August 2012 | Sequitur: St Augustine, USA - Michael & Edi: Vancouver, Canada - Nieuwe Zorg: Aalsmeer, Netherlands
11 August 2012 | Sequitur: St Augustine, USA - Michael & Edi: Vancouver, Canada - Nieuwe Zorg: Aalsmeer, Netherlands
10 August 2012 | Sequitur: St Augustine, USA - Michael & Edi: Vancouver, Canada - Nieuwe Zorg: Aalsmeer, Netherlands
08 August 2012 | Nieuwe Zorg: Aalmmeer, Michael & Edi: Vancouver
28 July 2012 | Nieuwe Zorg in Aalsmeer - Michael & Edi in Vancouver
26 July 2012 | Nieuwe Zorg in Aalsmeer - Michael & Edi in Volendam
17 July 2012 | Michael & Edi in Leeuwarden, Netherlands
07 July 2012 | Edi & Michael in Vancouver, Sequitur in Saint Augustine
27 June 2012 | Saint Augustine, USA
07 June 2012 | Saint Augustine, Florida, USA
20 May 2012 | Fajardo, Puerto Rico
11 May 2012 | Terre Le Haut, Les Saintes, Guadeloupe
01 May 2012 | Carlisle Bay, Barbados
Recent Blog Posts
13 January 2014

Another New Book Released

I am delighted to announce that my new book: Carefree on the European Canals is now in print and is available on Amazon.com, Amazon.ca [...]

26 April 2013

New Book Released

The proof copy of my new book arrived by courier today. I have approved it and it is now listed on Amazon for pre-order, with a publication date of 30 April. It is a rather large book at 680 pages in an 8.5 by 11 inch format with 315,000 words illustrated by over 2400 colour photos, charts and maps. [...]

24 April 2013

One Year Out of Brazil

One year ago today we sailed Sequitur out of Brazil after enduring more than six weeks in the least-friendly country that we had experienced during our three-year voyage. In the early evening of 24 April 2012 we crossed the line on the chart dividing Brazil from French Guyana and breathed a huge sigh [...]

27 October 2012 | Harlingen, Friesland

Planing a Metamorphosis

We have added a new post to the Zonder Zorg blog at: Planing a Metamorphosis.

29 September 2012 | Sneek, Netherlands

Onward to Friesland

We have arrived in Friesland and have added a new post to the skûtsje's blog at: Onward to Friesland

19 September 2012 | Hoorn, Netherlands

North From Aalsmeer

We have moved northward from Aalsmeer and I have added two new posts: Heading North From Aalsmeer and North From Amsterdam

13 September 2012 | Aalsmeer, Netherlands

Taking Possession

We are back in the Netherlands, and I have added some new posts to the ZonderZorg blog at: Taking Possession and Settling-In and Making Plans

20 August 2012 | Sequitur: St Augustine, USA - Michael & Edi: Vancouver, Canada - Nieuwe Zorg: Aalsmeer, Netherlands

Added a New Website

We have added a new website: Skûtsje ZonderZorg. Zonder zorg in Dutch means without worry. Our intention with the site is to provide a place to share some of the history, geography and culture of the skûtsje as we discover it. We will also use this place to document [...]

11 August 2012 | Sequitur: St Augustine, USA - Michael & Edi: Vancouver, Canada - Nieuwe Zorg: Aalsmeer, Netherlands

Still More Skûtsje History

We continued to attempt to track-down Douwe Albert Visser, who was the owner of Nieuwe Zorg in 1941 when she was re-registered. One of the problems we repeatedly encountered in our online searches was the effect of currently having Albert Visser and two Douwe Vissers as very competitive skûtsje racers, [...]

10 August 2012 | Sequitur: St Augustine, USA - Michael & Edi: Vancouver, Canada - Nieuwe Zorg: Aalsmeer, Netherlands

Some More Skûtsje History

While I was researching the history of Nieuwe Zorg, I finally found her first registration details obscured by an apparent typographical error in a transcribed online spreadsheet. She was listed as having been built in 1901 instead of 1908. I emailed the webmaster of the [...]

Southward From Banderas Bay

17 March 2010 | Bahia Chamila
Michael
On Monday the 15th of March, with Sequitur's fridges, freezers and pantry now fully restocked, we were ready to continue south. I walked up to the marina office, timing my arrival for 0920, allowing ample time for the office staff to have arrived after their 0900 scheduled opening. The office was not yet open, though the sign on the door said 0900, so I went back to the boat to continue preparing her for sea.

I finished topping-off the water tanks, puttered for a while and then shortly after 1000, I went back to the office to pay our mooring bill and to return the gate key. The office was still closed. Back at G float I met Izequiel, one of the marina's security attendants, and asked him about the office being closed. He told me, "Is closed for holiday". "What holiday?" I asked. "Holiday of 15 March", he replied.

Great! So here we were stuck in Puerto Vallarta for another day. Or not! I had left Sequitur's credit card details with the office manager, Adrianna when I checked-in, so I asked Izequiel if I could leave our key with him and give him a note for Adriana. He handed me his book and I wrote in it a detailed note to the marina authorizing them to charge us up to Monday morning. I then gave Izequiel the key and we were ready to go.

At 1053 we slipped and headed out of the marina and passed through the harbour entrance at 1112. In a hazy overcast, a light fog and still airs, we motored west southwesterly at 7.5 knots to clear Banderas Bay. The sky continued overcast and the visibility remained at 2 to 3 miles in thin fog as we rounded Punta Chimo and bent our course southwest at 1400. An hour later as we rounded Cabo Corrientes and turned south, the haze cleared, but the overcast remained, as did the near calm airs.


At 1715 we came to 30 metres on the Rocna in 10 metres of water off the beach in Bahia Ipala. Other than the fishing pangas moored along the beach, we were the only boat in the bay. It was not the calmest of anchorages. Even although there was land protecting us from everything but the south, the westerly swell refracted around the point and, I think also reflected off the rocks to our east. We rolled and pitched, not uncomfortably, but rather annoyingly.


For dinner I sauteed basa fillets in butter with crimini mushrooms and garlic and served them with basmati rice and fine green beans almandine with a garnish of Roma tomatoes and basil. We continued our celebration of freedom with Champagne Veuve Clicquot.

The village of Ipala is reported to have seventeen families and three restaurants for the boating tourists. For some reason, the idea of going ashore here did not appeal to us, so at 0930 on Tuesday morning, we weighed and proceeded southward. The skies were clear overhead and to the west and north, while the other two sectors carried the remnants of the passing system. There was just sufficient breeze to occasionally ripple the surface of the 1.5 to 2 metre swell, so we again motored.

At 1646 we came to 35 metres on the Rocna in 11.5 metres of water in Bahia Chamila. With us in the glassy waters of the anchorage were seven other sailboats and a cruising trawler. We relaxed to the rhythm of the slow swell and in the evening had a wonderful omelette of ham, criminis, white onions, garlic, pablanos, red and yellow peppers and Chihuahua cheese served with butter-grilled yellow potato rounds.


On Wednesday morning we arose late and had a leisurely breakfast in the cockpit. The trawler and three of the sailboats had weighed and departed, so we were now five sailboats in the anchorage. The wind had come up overnight, and the glassy surface of the slow 1.5 to 2 metre swell had been replaced by a choppy short-period wind wave on top of the swell, and the surf was more seriously breaking on the beaches to our north.

Late morning I launched Non Sequitur, and we headed in toward the beach. As we were crossing under the stern of a sloop from Seattle, we were hailed by a lady in its cockpit. We went alongside and she told us her husband was quite ill with stomach problems. She appeared herself to be quite frail and in a depleted condition from some recent illness. She asked if we could go to the farmacia and buy some medicine for him, and possibly, if we could find it, a bottle of Gatorade on our way. She wrote down the name of the medicine and gave us 400 pesos and off we went.

We landed through the surf without much difficulty, other than a wave catching Edi and getting the seat of her pants wet. We walked a couple of blocks away from the beach along unpaved streets to a paved road that paralleled the coast. There in a small tienda, we asked for directions to the farmacia and were told seven blocks along and on the left. In a diving shop in the next block we asked again for directions, and got the same story; we long ago learned to ask more than one source.

The farmacia was where it was supposed to be and it had the required medicine in stock, both patented and generic. At one-third of the price, we took the generic. Finding Gatorade should be easy; in Mexico, from huge supermarket down to tiny tienda, we have seen a larger variety and stock of sugar-water in the stores than we have seen anywhere else on the planet. This country seems totally hypnotized by the marketing of the big sugar-water manufacturers. We walked into a small tienda, and there in the cooler was Gatorade in many flavours and two different sizes.


On our way to and from the farmacia we passed many colourfully decorated small businesses and homes. Some rather ramshackle places, like this curiosity shop, were well disguised with a profusion of blooming trees, shrubs and potted plants.


Back at Non Sequitur on the beach, we watched the surf, trying to find a pattern in it. As we were analysing the waves, a young boy was out for a ride in his make-shift carriage. In the sand, the dolly's balloon tires were much more practical than would be regular pram wheels.


We finally figured that we had sorted-out a pattern in the waves, and we launched Non Sequitur out into the tail-end of a train of breakers and I started rowing into water deep enough to drop the motor and scoot out. We were almost clear when the port-side oarlock popped out and the pin disappeared into the water. In our scramble to convert from rowing to paddling, the next train of breakers arrived, and we got caught-up in it.


Back on the beach, I popped the drain plug to let out the forty or fifty litres of water that the breakers had deposited in the dinghy. Fortunately, I had had the foresight to put my wallet, camera and the medicine in one of the dinghy's watertight lockers before we launched. I also remembered to replace the drain plug after the dinghy had finished draining. We reorganized, reanalyzed and headed out again. This time we made it.

We dropped-off the medicine and Gatorade at the Seattle sloop on our way back to Sequitur. Back onboard, we showered and Edi prepared some delicious chicken quesadillas, which we enjoyed as we relaxed in cockpit in the cooling breeze. The wind was now south-southwest about 16 to 18 knots, and would have been marvellous for our last two days' passages. Yesterday it would have given us a broad reach at 8 knots and better for almost the entire route. Today it simply complicated our dinghy ride ashore.


On Wednesday evening we enjoyed jumbo scallops sauteed in butter with criminis, garlic, white onion, poblanos and red and yellow peppers. This was served with basmati rice, Roma tomatoes with basil and fresh asparagus with mayonnaise, and it was accompanied by a Concha y Torro Sauvignon Blanc from Chile. It was a wonderful dinner.

With the nice sailing wind, we decided that we would continue southward in the morning, thinking of stopping at Careyes if the protection looked good. But with the swell now around from the southwest, the small anchorage would probably be a bit rough, and if so, we would carry on to Tenacatita Bay. There we could find better protection, as well as our friends Tolling and Kay from Lasqueti Island.
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