Kavenga's Wake

Huahine

2011-08-10T15:37:00.001-07:00

The breakers around Matavau Pass at Moorea looked so bad that we had a brief discussion about whether or not we should wait another day before departing for Huahine (hooah-hee-nay). Bruce and I felt that it was not possible to judge the pass from where we were anchored, that we needed to actually line up with the pass from inside the lagoon. Sure enough, once we upped anchor and motored to the inside end of the pass we could see that the breakers were not actually breaking all the way across, that there was in fact a well-defined gap.

It was less dramatic going out Matavau Pass than it had been coming in, and the ebbing current made sure we were through and out the pass in no time.

The hydraulic autopilot on Far Fetched had failed toward the end of the passage from Mexico to the Marquesas. Bruce and his previous crewmember, Jerry Moore, had had to hand-steer for three days. Jerry had brought several pieces of it back to the States for check-out and repair and I had picked them up and carried them back to Tahiti. Bruce and I had spent quite a bit of time re-installing everything and then tediously bleeding the air out of the hydaulic lines. One thing we didn't get to do was to calibrate the new electric fluxgate compass, which was the part that had failed. Still, we thought the autopilot might steer even though it might think it was on a different course than what we were actually steering. So, upon exiting Matavau Pass, we engaged it for the first time. Yahoo, it works! And yes it does think it's steering a different course. No matter, just as long as it steers a straight course we can manually compensate for it using the GPS, which tells us the course we should be steering.

Just after lunch we spotted a small pod of two to three sperm whales, which are easy to identify because when they surface and blow their spout angles distinctly forward rather than straight up. The combined sea and swell was five feet at most with about 20 knots of wind from astern, which makes the wind feel less strong. The wind kept creeping up though, so Bruce decided to put the first reef in the mainsail, which reduces its sail area and slows us down. Still, we were doing nearly six knots with just the one sail and would probably arrive at Huahine a little early.

After dinner Bruce and Steve Smith (a friend and former co-worker of Bruce's) took what was left of the first night watch from 1800 to 2100. Sherry (temporary crew to Bora Bora) followed with the 2100 to 2400. When I went up to relieve Sherry, just before midnight, a squall was approaching, plus Sherry told me she had had to continually adjust the autopilot that it seemed to want to keep heading up (steer more into the wind). After the squall passed over and cleared away I settled down into a relatively dry corner of the cockpit and picked out a bright star directly astern that I could use to monitor our course and the autopilot's performance. I had no sooner done that when I noticed the star had started to drift off to one side and the autopilot was not correcting. Sherry had not yet gone to bed so I asked her to wake Bruce. After a brief discussion, Bruce got out the AH4000, a back-up autopilot that can steer in medium to light conditions, which fortunately was what we were experiencing at the time. However, the wind continued to increase during my watch to the point that I could calculate that we were going to arrive at the pass at Huahine much too early, plus the fact that the increased boat speed would make it harder for the AH4000 to steer. So I went to the forward cabin, woke Bruce, again, told him the situation and suggested we put in the second reef. Once again, with Sherry's help, Bruce put in the reef while I took over the helm from the autopilot so that I could head up into the wind to temporarily relieve some of the strain on the mainsail, making it easier to be lowered. Our boat speed dropped to the 5 to 5.5 knot range, making our ETA at Huahine more reasonable.

We elected to enter the first of the two large western passes through the coral reef that surrounds Huahine since it was the closest to our planned first anchorage at Avea Bay near the southern tip of the island. This pass is called Avapeihi and is well-marked. We quickly lined up the range markers, putting a big white square high on a hill, on top of a white pole located at sea-level. This told us we were in the center of the pass. There were several green markers along the right-hand edge of the reef leading into the lagoon. In the US green markers and buoys are normally on your left when entering a harbor, pass or river mouth, but almost everywhere else it is the reverse. In French Polynesia, green markers are also normally on the ocean or reef side of the lagoon and red markers on the land side, a system that is easy to remember once you've become accustomed to it.

Returning to Avea Bay was another deja vu moment for me. Kay and I had anchored here 20 years earlier. Back then we'd had my friends Don Hanset and John Sommerwerck aboard for the trip from Tahiti to Bora Bora. There had been a big blow through the bay one night and a couple of boats drug their anchors, one of which collided with another boat that hadn't drug. Now, Avea Bay looked much the same although there seemed to be at least one or two more small resorts there in addition to the one that was there back in 1991. We anchored close to that one because we could see that it now had a nice dock for tying up a dinghy.

After a quick breakfast we headed ashore for a look around. We took Bruce's mountain bike in as well so I could go for I ride. I decided to circumnavigate the south island of Huahine. Huahine is really two large islands separated by a very narrow gap. The riding was pretty much all on flat-level pavement. I saw kite-boarders at a park and since it was Sunday I was fortunate to ride by a church where the locals were singing a hymn. I had to stop and listen because there is hardly any singing more pleasant than a Polynesian hymn.

Coming around the north side of the south island I entered the gorge between the two islands. It is quite spectacular, like a tropical version of the Columbia River Gorge or Hell's Canyon. A fairly deep fjord-like bay runs up to a bridge between the two islands. It so happened that a cruise ship was anchored in the gorge, making quite a picturesque view with the bridge in the foreground. The water beneath the bridge, however, is nothing more than a small, 3 to 6-foot deep river perhaps 50 wide filled with coral heads and swift-flowing tidal currents. After a long, steep climb I passed a vanilla plantation and then was soon back at the resort with the dinghy dock.

Bruce had gone to work on the autopilot while I was gone and had discovered one of the flare fittings on the copper tubing of the hydraulic system had failed and allowed a large amount of hydraulic fluid to leak out, which explained why the steering had slowly deteriorated during Sherry's watch and then finally failed altogether on mine. Bruce had made a new flare and got the system back together. Now we needed to bleed it again. For some reason, no matter how many times or how many ways we tried, we could not seem to get all the air out. Exasperated and exhausted we finally gave up for the day and decided to give it a try on another day.

Mystic joined us at Avea Bay and the next evening Randy and Jenny came over for sundowners. Bruce may not be seeing them for awhile as they plan to spend several more days exploring Huahine while our schedule dictates that we continue on towards Tahaa and Bora Bora.

Early the next morning we motored up to the north end of Huahine and anchored off the main town of Fare (fah-ray). Fare has a good supermarket so we did another provisioning run and dropped of our laundry. Once we got the provisions on board and stowed Bruce, Steve and I all circumnavigated the north island, taking turns on Bruce's bike. Sherry rented one and also rode part of the way around. There was one very steep, long climb with a 15% grade. I saw some interesting stone fish traps arranged in a narrow pass between a “lake” and a lagoon that led out to sea. The stone walls built in the water lead the fish into a maze they can't find their way out of. Then the tide goes out and traps them. Some of these traps are probably hundreds of years old.

The next morning Bruce asked me to read the instructions for bleeding the autopilot's hydraulic system while he went ashore to try to call the manufacturer for advice. In the afternoon we spent four hours on it, but every time it seemed like we were close and we'd stop to test it, we'd find there was still too much play in it. If we couldn't fix it ourselves the options were less than appealing: go to the boatyard on Raitea, or—ugh—sail to windward back to Tahiti.

I got those steadily depressin'
Low-down, mind-messin'
My-autopilot-won't-steer blues

(My apologies to Jim Croce and his fans)

Since we'd spent an extra day at Fare trying to fix the autopilot, Mystic caught up with us. Randy is an experienced refrigeration repair technician and used to dealing with pressurized copper tubing systems so we asked him to come by and see if he could find anything amiss. But before he came over Bruce accidentally grabbed the steering wheel and noticed there was now little or no play in it. Somehow, whatever had caused the excess play in it from the day before was now gone. Good gremlins had come aboard during the night and fixed it! So, we waved-off Randy, got everyone back aboard (Steve S & Sherry had gone ashore for an internet fix), and departed Huahine for the short sail across to Raitea and Tahaa. For a while there it was beginning to look like I wasn't going to make to any of the four special places that had motivated me to make this trip. Now we were on the road again.

Moorea The Hard Way

2011-08-03T12:53:00.001-07:00

MOOREA THE HARD WAY

After a quick whirlwind tour of Tahiti by rental car, it was time to get Far Fetched, a Beneteau 390 Oceanis, back out on the ocean where she belongs. Our initial plan was to head for Opunuho Bay on the west side of Moorea, only 20 or so miles away. We were chasing Captain Bruce's buddy-boat friends Randy and Jenny on Mystic, who had left a few hours ahead of us. The the winds were light and the seas relatively calm so the sailing was slow. Mystic called on VHF radio to say that they were considering pulling in at a closer pass on the southwest side of Moorea called Matavau off the village of Haapiti. Randy likes to avoid using his engine whenever possible and it was clear he wasn't going to make it around to Opunuho before sunset. So, we said, why not.

Matavau Pass turned out to be a real attention grabber. It was deep, but very narrow with huge breaking waves on either side of it, probably 12-footers. We got lined up, with Bruce steering and me crouching in the bow pulpit to keep an eye of the reefs and the surf. Then we gave it full throttle to counter the current, maintain our steerage, and get us in as quickly as possible, The water in the pass was very disturbed with eddies, rips and waves from all directions. I had to keep low and hold firmly on to the bow pulpit to keep from getting tossed overboard. The excitement was intense, but brief. We were soon inside the calmer waters of the pass heading to the right for a suggested anchorage marked on the GPS chart. We felt that spot was too close to the pass and therefore a bit rolly so we kept going further in to the right to get more into the shelter of the reef.

We were in about 80 feet of water according to the chart but out depthsounder was not giving us anything near that, in fact it was stuck on one number and flashing. We began a slow turn to avoid a marked reef to our left when the depthsounder suddenly started working. I was at the helm now, having traded jobs with Bruce. No sooner had the depthsounder started working than it began displaying rapidly decreasing depths: 30, 24, 16, 10, 8! About that time our other crew, Steve and Sherry, began reporting they could see the bottom at the bow. No kidding! We could see it at the stern as well and so I spun the wheel around and headed us back into deeper water. That was a close one. Try as we might to find something in the 30 to 35 foot range, it seemed that we were either in 80 feet or we were awfully close to very shallow water. We ultimately gave in and anchored in about 75 feet and put out lots of chain, about 220 feet to give us enough scope to have a good set on the anchor, but not so much that we could swing into danger. We were essentially anchored in a deep, narrow trench.

It was less than an hour till sunset when Mystic came through the pass (we caught and passed them a couple miles from the pass). They opted to anchor close to the pass. We saw them hobby-horsing and rolling quite a bit while we were nice and calm where we were, a fair compensation for having to anchor in deep water.

We were the only two boats anchored off Haapiti as opposed to Opunohu and Cook's Bays, where large numbers cruising boats anchor. That was our reward for having braved Matavau Pass.

The following day, Bruce loaned me his Trek mountain bike and I rode 40 miles on Moorea, including a very steep climb up to the lookout at Belvedere with its spectacular views of Opunohu and Cook's Bays. Kay and I had ridden up here on our little folding bikes twenty years ago. How we made it is beyond me. We must have walked them. But it was a great ride and wonderful to see the beautiful island of Moorea once again with its Le Dent de Requin (The Tooth of the Shark), the jagged peak made familiar if not famous in the movie version of South Pacific. It's a fair debate as to whether Moorea or Bora Bora holds the title of most beautiful island in French Polynesia.

Next it's on to Huahine and the rest of the Iles Sous Les Vent (Leeward Islands).

The Definition of Cruising

2011-06-17T14:55:00.000-07:00

For those of you that are not cruising sailors, you might be unaware that the definition of "cruising" is "doing maintenance in exotic places."

So, given that, it should come as no surprise that when I arrived in Tahiti (exotic place) there were a couple of maintenance tasks waiting for me. One was to reinstall the autopilot on Far Fetched, the Beneteau, of my friend Bruce Albert, for whom I am crewing from Tahiti (exotic place) to American Samoa (not quite so exotic). The autopilot had come down with some kind of inner ear infection and had lost its balance, so we had to give it a new gizmo so that it could literally get its bearings back. The gizmo in this case is a fluxgate compass, no, not a flux capacitor. This is a Beneteau, not a DeLorean.

Wielding a cordless drill and considerable sweat due to the humidity hearabouts, I managed to get the fluxgate installed, and a subsequent test seemed to indicate that it is...fluxing. We won't know for sure until we go to sea to see (hominyms are interesting) if it's really fluxing or just futzing.

The other maintenance item was the installation of a part for the diesel engine that normally is just a simple copper tube attached to a flange that conducts cooling salt water from the engine to the exhaust where it ultimately returns from whence it came; i.e., the sea. Typical of the engine manufacturer, Volvo, the price for this simple little piece of plumbing was outrageous--$119--for something you could make relatively easily for probably $10, not including labor. And to make matters worse we only needed half the part (long story) so we had to cut it in half. Actually, I didn't have much to do with this task other than "stupidvise". Bruce did all the work and it seems to have stemmed the leak that was the original problem we were out to eliminate.

So, here we are in Tahiti, synonymous with paradise, just now getting ready to go check it out. For me it is a stroll down memory lane, having been here with Kay in Kavenga twenty years ago. From first indications, not much has changed, but perhaps, more on that later.

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How Not to Get Plastic Explosives Through The Airport

2011-06-13T18:34:00.000-07:00

So as not to keep you in suspense and to save the anti-terrorist guys some time in having to read my blog to find out whether or not I'm serious, I'll simply say, don't try to smuggle it through TSA inside a brick of Tillamook Cheddar Cheese. Colby or Swiss w on't work either.

I'm on my way to Tahiti to help my friend Bruce sail is boat, Far Fetched, from there to Western Samoa. Bruce asked me to bring several hard to get things as well as some boat parts he needed. I decided to throw in a few things I thought might be hard to get.

So there I was, going through TSA security at SeaTac with almost nine pounds of cheese in three bricks in my backpack. In my carry-on I had cardboard box and inside it was a black box full of electronic gizmos, a fluxgate compass and another metal box with knobs and dials. You would think TSA would be interested in that stuff. They couldn't have cared less. All they wanted was to sniff the cheese. They took the cheese out of my backpack and rubbed it with some kind of pads that apparently will absorb traces of any kind of explosive. Happily the cheese turned to be...cheese. Just think, if the folks at Tillamook had been clever enough to play a little joke on me I might not be sending this from the boat.

So, the cheese made it through. But then they wanted to screen my backpack again. They asked me if it had any hidden compartments. Not that I knew of. Finally, they came up with the culprit. A 12 oz. plastic squeeze bottle of Heinz sweet pickle relish. Sorry, gonna have to take yer relish. "Enjoy the hot dogs," I said. The agent smiled and said, "Wish we could, but we can't."

So, would-be terrorists, don't try sneaking the cheese through security. Won't work. In fact I had to go through the same thing again when I got to LAX. They are not lax at LAX.

On the other hand if you have a bunch of funny looking electronic boxes, you might get those through. Oh, guys, if you're still reading, they were autopilot parts for the boat.

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Talpa de Allende by Mountain Bike

2011-04-15T16:46:00.000-07:00

Our good friends and neighbors here in Puerto Vallarta, Joe and Jan Sanders, suggested we take a biking holiday to the mountain town of Talpa de Allende, usually just referred to as Talpa. So, last Tuesday morning we loaded our four mountain bikes into a taxi van and headed for the ATM bus station in downtown PV. We had our bikes semi-disassembled and ready to load when our bus opened it's cargo doors. Joe climbed into the deep cargo bay and Steve, Kay and Jan formed a line passing him bikes, wheels, and seats. When all was loaded we boarded the red and silver bus and were on our way.

After minor stops at Las Palmas and La Estancia we passed through the town of Mascota, a relatively large farming community in a valley set among the Sierra Cacoma mountains at an elevation of around 3,800 feet. So, as you can well imagine, we had done some serious climbing since leaving PV at sea level. It was a tad bit unnerving as we were snaking our way up the switchbacks to note that our driver had his phone out and was tapping in a text message while occasionally glancing at the road ahead.

Talpa is in a valley similar to Mascota's however they are separated by another mountain ridge that rises to over 5000 feet. When we crested the ridge at the summit between Mascota and Talpa I noticed that the elderly Mexican gentleman sitting in front of us crossed himself and mumbled a prayer. Just then a small wayside chapel appeared at a viewpoint turnout on the right. These factors came quickly into focus as the bus pitched over the top and started down what we later measured by GPS as a 14 to 15% grade. A sign advised (in Spanish of course) using engine compression for braking. Half way down a red line appeared in the middle of our lane. It's purpose too became clear when we saw an emergency run-out for vehicles that have lost their brakes, similar to those in parts of my home state of Oregon. The run-out is filled with loose gravel about a foot deep to gradually slow the runaway vehicle. The red line leads to the run-out.

To our great relief our driver had finished composing and sending his text message before we began the descent and he used the compression of the big diesel engine to slow us enough that we could actually enjoy the amazing vistas.

Arriving in Talpa was the reverse of departing from PV: pull all the bikes and parts out and assemble them. Our bus had left by the time Steve discovered that he was missing the nut and spring that holds the front tire to the forks of his bike. Joe asked the bus dispatcher where the bus had gone and was told that it had gone to refuel at the Pemex station near the entrance to town. With that Joe hopped on his bike and Steve borrowed Kay's and they took off to track down the bus, but by the time they arrived at the Pemex station about a kilometer away the bus had already refueled and gone so they headed back to the station. When they arrived, Kay and Jan had good news, the bus had returned and they had found the nut and spring in the cargo bay.

Problem solved and we were all loaded up with backpacks, helmets and Camelbacks (water carriers with tubes for hydrating while riding) and headed for downtown to search for a hotel. The first one we came to was called the Hotel Diamante. It looked relatively new, the prices were reasonable (350 pesos/$32US) for a room with a double bed, and after a quick inspection we decided to look no further.

Like super-heroes we instantly changed into our bike clothes and headed out for a quick tour of Talpa, which is a major religious pilgrimage destination thanks to the appearance of a peripatetic virgin spirit that kept walking back and forth between Mascota and Talpa despite the fact that she had no feet, but nevertheless left footprints.

We were there just before the two week holiday and religious festival period called Semana Santa (Holy Week). For now the hotels were mostly empty and the locals were busy cleaning, painting and assembing the temporary open tents that one often sees at craft fairs and Saturday markets. Everywhere shops had extensive inventories of religious souvenirs, rosaries, postcard paintings of the virgin, etc.

The other big thing for which Talpa is known is its "rollos" (roy-yohs). The area is well suited for citrus and other fruit orchards, particularly guava or guayabas as they are known in Spanish. The rollo as its name suggests is a roll made of the fruit pulp, sugar and other ingredients. They are typically about a foot long and three inches in diameter. The ingredients are mixed 2-foot diameter open, spinning copper kettles mounted at a 45-degree angle. You can detect the sugary-sweet smell of the concoction almost anywhere in downtown Talpa. If you have ever smelled cooked Agave pulp from which Tequila is made you will no doubt notice a similarity. And, if you've ever sampled the popular Christmas candies, Applets & Copplets you've got a general idea of what rollos are like.

After a few pictures at the huge basilica or Catholic cathedral that is the heart of Talpa, with it's twin spires and numerous bell ports, we headed the bikes out of town for an afternoon ride. Talpa sits at the center of a long valley that trends NNW and SSE between rugged mountain ridges that in places seem nearly vertical. For our first ride we chose the SSE leg. After riding along a gravel road on the top of a river levee we discovered that it intersected a nice paved road that we had missed leaving town. There was hardly any traffic and the uphill grade was practically imperceptible. This is now the dry season and yet there are occasional fields of green alfalfa. All along the road were beef cattle and dairy farms.

As our time was limited and we weren't sure if we'd be able to replenish our liquid refreshments further up the road, we elected to choose a small wayside grocery store called Abarrotes Mascorro as our turnaround point. We met Sr. Mascorra, his son and his granddaughter who was apparently learning English in the first or second grade. Sr. Mascorra found it hilarious when we spoke to her in English and watched her shy embarrassed response--running away. He told us that he had 42 hectares of pine-covered land for sale immediately up the road. We concluded our rest on the benches beneath his gigantic shade trees and started the 10-mile cruise back to Talpa, with a strong tailwind and a bit of downgrade. It took us about one-third of the time to get back to Talpa as it did to ride out.

Unlike Puerto Vallarta there are not row upon row of restaurants begging for your business in Talpa. We actually had to search quite a while to find one, up hill and off to the right of the cathedral. It was the El Dos Caminos and we were the only guests in the roomy pleasant facility. It was a bit dim and the menu was limited but we enjoyed very reasonably priced platters of enchiladas. Afterwards we strolled through town a bit and then had cups of ice cream across the street from the central plaza and cathedral.

Wednesday was to be our only full day at Talpa and therefore our longest ride so we needed a good breakfast to stoke our fires. Based on a recommendation from a storekeeper who sold Joe a bandanna, we selected a restaurant called the Molino Rojo (Red Mill) which was immediately next door so it was easy for us to find that morning. Appearing to be nothing more than a door between two shops, the interior opened up into a beautifully decorated salon with a large red coffee grinding mill at its center. Again we were the only patrons. Kay and Jan went for the hotcakes, Joe for the Huevos Rancheros (Ranch-style Eggs) and Steve with the chilaquiles (tortilla chips cooked in red sauce). Both Joe and Steve's came with refried beans.

All carbed-up and ready to go, we headed towards the NNE end of the valley. Again, once we left the cobblestone streets of downtown Talpa we found ourselves on a nice smooth paved road. All these changes in surface conditions kept us frequently locking and unlocking the front and rear suspensions of our bikes. We soon ran out of pavement briefly where we found workers constructing a large, high bridge over a tiny trickle of a stream. We learned later that this area becomes a lake during the rainy season of August through September.

Back on pavement we passed a turn-off on a dirt road with a sign that said "Cuale" and Steve remarked that this might be the road we would come back on if we took an alternate loop on the return instead of coming straight back up the valley. Unlike the south valley, the north valley has several little towns along the way. The first we came to was Ocote. Shortly after passing through it Steve pointed out the beginning of the alternate loop that would take us to another valley behind the foothills and ultimately back into Talpa. We continued on the nearly flat roads, paved, cobblestone, and dirt/gravel through the towns of La Canada, Los Sauces and finally, at the end of the valley, Cabos. Each of these towns were pretty in their own way and had small plazas and churches with lots of red geranium flowers, bougainvillea and various shade trees.

In Cabos we had a nice conversation with a vaquero (cowboy) on his mule and a young man named Jorge. Joe quizzed them about a possible route from there to Mascota that would avoid both the busy highway and the steep climbs. Yes, there was indeed a dirt road to Mascota by continuing to follow the valley north, however, even though Mascota was only six miles away as the crow flies, it was more than double that just to intersect the highway beyond Mascota from which you then had to double-back to get there. We decided that was too much, even for a full day.

On the way back we decided to take, for the lack of a better name, the Cuale Loop route, but first we needed to replenish our liquids, take a short break and have a snack, so we rode beyond the turn-off for the loop back into Ocote where we stopped for a refresco (soft drink) and some cookies.

Sufficiently refreshed we headed the half-mile back up the valley to the turn-off on to a decent dirt and gravel farm road. After about a mile along the relatively flat road, Steve heard a rustling, clicking sound off to our right that sounded like locusts and we stopped to see what it was. It was a dust-devil, a hot, fair-weather, mini-tornado. The field in which it had formed was a hay field that had been left fallow and was full of chaff. The clicking locust sound was caused by the swirl of chaff circling on the ground.

As we watched, the funnel, about 100 yards off the road and slightly downhill from us, began to grow in intensity. We now could also hear the wind whistling and see the chaff being lifted higher in the air. Simultaneously as it gained strength it began to move uphill, towards us. We all sat transfixed on our bikes. "Is this thing going to go right over us?" we thought. Yes it was. By the time it reached us it was about 80 feet or more in diameter with an eye of about 8 to 10 feet. We felt the sudden rush of air in the eye wall and the momentary calm of the eye itself before it quickly crossed the road into a field of new grass that waved rhythmically to the gyrating vortex. Chaff and dust were 100 feet in the air and all around us to the extent that it was getting in our eyes.

All in all it was an amazing experience that likely will never be repeated.

We soon reached the other valley behind the foothills and the good dirt and gravel road became intermittently replaced by dry creek bed, beat into an excuse for a road by the passing of numerous farm trucks, tractors and dump trucks hauling gravel and boulders. Two miles further on we reached a junction with another apparently well-traveled dirt road. To the right somewhere was the pueblo of Cuale and supposedly, if you followed it long enough, Puerto Vallarta via the Cuale River Canyon. But such was not our quest today and so we turned left instead to begin the climb over what we will call the Cuale Ridge.

Now Steve had looked at this ridge on GoogleEarth prior to the ride and new that it had an elevation gain of at least 800 feet (250 meters) but he could not be certain how steep the grades would be. Judging by all the switchbacks he saw, he hoped for the best. As it turned out, most of it was in the 5 to 9% range, however there were brief stretches of 10 to 15% or more, and it was hot. Fortunately, with about 200 feet of vertical left to go, some clouds drifted over and gave us a break from the midday sun. Nevertheless, it was a beautiful route through pine forests dotted with occasional huge green maguey (ma-gay) plants which are members of the Agave family from which Tequila is made. Sap from the big magueys like the ones we were seeing are used to make the traditional fermented Mexican drink called pulque. The fibers of the plant were also used for weaving and rope making.

Our 800-foot ascent was rewarded with a spectacular view of Talpa and its valley. The rapid descent back down to the paved road cooled us off and made the short cruise back to the hotel an easy one.

For dinner this evening we chose the well-known El Patio, on the plaza, just to the right of the entrance to the basilica. Kay had a huge "Mexican Platter", Joe and Jan each had slight variations on beef steak, and Steve had chicken Milanesa-style. This evening, everyone but Joe was too stuffed for ice-cream. While searching for a bandanna for Kay, she and Steve met a Mexican gentleman name Juan Jorge Anaya C. who not only owned a tack shop across from the plaza, but also operated a riding school and had a large area near the entrance to town. We got a break from having to use our fractured Spanish in that Sr. Anaya spoke fluent English. He had studied English in both Arizona and San Francisco. He told us he was sending his daughter, who was there helping to staff the tack shop, to Oklahoma to study equitation under Bob Loomis, a famous American horse and rider instructor.

Thursday was get-away day and so today's ride would have to be shorter than yesterday's. Since we had a little more time than we had the first day we decided to take that same route to the south, only go further this time. Again we stopped at Abarrotes Mascorro and had a chat with Sr. Mascorro. We asked him a few more questions about his 42 hectares. He said he was asking 5 million pesos. That sounded a little steep to us.

His roadside store marks the end of the valley and the beginning of the climb out of it. We had started at roughly 3800 feet at Talpa. As we began the relatively easy curving ascent with grades of 3 to 6%, we started to come across numerous landslides, or derrumbes, caused by the heavy rains of the preceding rainy season. The cuts and fills along this route are very deep into the bright red dirt. The challenge for the road crews is keeping the cuts from being refilled.

The winding climb was gorgeous through forests of pine and deciduous trees, some of which were now bare, but others still green with leaves. Before we knew it we had exceeded the previous day's climb and were above 5,000 feet. It's a lot easier on roads that are paved and where the grades never exceed 8 or 9%. At the summit there was a viewpoint and pull-out. From there we could see a huge network of small valleys, ridges and canyons. Somewhere out there was the next town of La Cuesta, but unfortunately our time was running out.

We did manage to take a small side trip. Near the summit there is a dirt road leading into a national forest. Here we found the climbs did get steeper, sometimes into the 15% range. The views near the top were not unlike what one might see in Steve and Kay's home states of Oregon and Washington, on the east side of the Cascade Mountains, just miles and miles of evergreen forests on steeply sloped mountainsides.

The coasting ride on the paved road from the summit back to the valley was a joyful series of sweeping turns with little or no traffic, such that we could use both lanes, which was necessary to avoid the several landslides. We made one brief stop just before the valley floor at a little roadside restaurant and grocery store called El Refugio. They also had 48 hectares for sale of pine covered land. The wife of the pair was an attorney. Joe bought a Coke bottle filled with crystal clear raicilla, which is the Mexican equivalent of "moonshine" made with the same Agave plant used to make distilled Tequila.

Before we knew it we were back in Talpa, getting showered, changed and ready to head for the bus station to catch our 5pm bus back to PV. After Steve took his bike apart at the station he went back a few minutes later to move it and discovered that the front tire, which had been fully inflated when he took it off, was now completely flat. A quick inspection turned up a thorn stuck in the tread. Somewhere in the last 50 feet or so before arriving at the bus station entrance he experienced the one and only mechanical problem of all four bikes during the entire three days of riding. It's always nice to have good luck with your bad luck.

With the sun setting in the west, the views of the canyons and gorges between Talpa and La Estancia were even more spectacular than on the bus ride up. We arrived in PV at 8:45pm and thanks to Joe and Jan's cell phone our taxi van was there waiting for us.

A beautiful, fun-filled cycling adventure had reached its climax.

Afghanistan Deja Vu

2010-04-08T11:20:00.000-07:00

I have some concerns about US policy in Afghanistan. I've been hearing that the majority of the Afghan people, particularly those in rural areas, don't want us there. They don't want any occupiers in their villages and valleys whether they're American, Russian or Taliban. I've heard that fighting escalates when we move in and subsides when we move out.

I've also heard that Obama is between a rock and hard place. If he withdraws unilaterally, some military chiefs will resign and accuse him of being weak and endangering the troops and the American people. If he acquiesces to their pressure to escalate, he only increases the number of casualties on both sides with no end in sight.

This sounds very familiar. I served two tours of duty in Viet Nam as an officer in the Navy from 1969 to 1971. In retrospect I think the non-communist South Vietnamese people wanted us out of there just as much as the Afghans want us out of their country today. Like the South Vietnamese, they just want the endless wars to be over and they would prefer not to have foreign occupiers on their lands. They would rather have to deal with the opposing factions of their own countrymen than with us, who they see as supporting the power groups within the large cities, whom they trust no more than they trust us.

We need to do everything we can to prevent Al Quaeda from hitting us again like it did on 9/11. But we also need to learn how to not repeat the mistakes of Viet Nam and Iraq.

Where are we going to find the inspired leadership that will put the interests of the American and Afghan people ahead of political and military interests?

Vamos a la tienda de madera

2006-10-13T16:42:00.001-07:00

Another little slice of life in Mexico tale.

We needed about four feet of 1x2-inch wood trim to support a shelf Steve is installing under the kitchen sink.

We walked to the nearby lumber yard and found only a couple of the hired help on the premises. They didn’t have anything like 1x2 in stock but Steve pointed at piece of weathered scrap would and said in Spanish, “something like that.”

One of the workers picked up the scrap, which was about the right length, and walked to the back of the shop. He planed all four sides of it and then split it lengthwise to the width we needed.

We asked him how much? He kinda shrugged and indicated that the office was closed.

So, Steve gave him a tip and we were on our way home.

Try that at Home Depot.

Vamos a la Dentista

2006-10-13T16:42:00.000-07:00

We were both due to have our teeth cleaned at a minimum, so when we got a glowing referral from our friends Jeff and Kathi on Bold Spirit, we made an appointment with a dentist at the nearby Plaza Marina Mall. (Yes, they have malls in Mexico, as well as telephones, electricity, etc.)

We had our teeth cleaned last year by a dentist right here at the marina and we were not impressed. It was a very slapdash job and we were in and out in about 20 minutes each. Consequently, we were prepared for the same, despite the good references.

Wow! Were we shocked! First of all, the cleanings were extremely thorough and professional. Steve’s was performed by a dental hygienist (Marta), while Kay’s was performed by one of the dentists (Dr. Melisia).

During the course of our cleanings several problems were uncovered. Both of us had cavities that needed work (Kay suspected this even before her previous cleaning), and Steve needed X-rays and a periodontal exam as well.

We were all set for a bunch of appointments some time in the future but were told: Kay could get her cavities filled immediately, Steve could get his X-rays done in about ten minutes, and by the time he was done with those, the periodontist was due to arrive! Yikes, talk about not having time to fret.

Kay is very happy with her fillings. Steve was impressed with the state-of-the-art, computer-based X-ray system, and the “bedside manner” of his periodontist, with whom he will be meeting in the near future for a couple of procedures.

And the cost? Between ½ and 1/3 of US rates. A lot of that is probably due to the lower, if not nonexistent, cost of malpractice insurance down here.

Given the fact that our health insurance does not include dental care, we are very happy to have found this modern, conveniently close dental clinic here in Puerto Vallarta.

By the way, to those back home who have their panties all in a twist about the illegal immigrant problem, especially as it relates to Mexicans, we have a very simple solution! Stop hiring them! To only blame the illegals is to look at just one side of the problem. When your glass house is clean, feel free to throw stones. Meanwhile, we know American farmers and ranchers that can’t survive without them.

If all of you stop hiring them, believe it, they will stop coming. And that would be sad, because Mexicans are some of the most friendly, honest and hard-working people we have met in our travels around the world.

Sopa de Tortillas

2006-10-08T09:18:00.000-07:00

One of our favorite things to eat in Mexico is Tortilla Soup or Sopa de Tortillas. We’ve already had it two or three times since we returned to Puerto Vallarta (aka PV or Vallarta).

So, when some friends told us about a Tortilla Soup cooking class they were scheduled to attend, we were happy to jump in.

The class was taught at the Spanish Language Experience, a Spanish language school, in El Centro, the heart of downtown PV. In addition to six classrooms, they also have a full kitchen and dining room that will seat about 16 in an interior courtyard.

The instruction was all in Spanish by the two female chefs. The soup is made with tomatoes, marjoram, garlic and water. After being boiled it is garnished with strips of dry roasted strips of tortillas, slices of avocado, dollops of crème fresh, and—subject to taste—crumbled, dried chile that has been fried crisp in oil.

We always knew most of the ingredients (although we have had it in several variations), but we didn’t know the “secret” steps required to make it. We now know that part of the preparation begins a week prior to making the soup. Sorry, we can’t tell you—it’s a secret.

Once the soup was ready to serve, we all sat down in the dining room. Along with the soup we were served fried nopales (a type of prickly pear cactus) with slices of panela cheese on top—very good for you. To drink we had Jamaica (ha-my-ca) juice made from the Jamaica flowers. All in all, a very traditional Mexican meal.

We have probably had Tortilla Soup in at least 15 different restaurants in Mexico and in the States as well. In fact one of the better servings we’ve had was at a Mexican restaurant in the tiny town of Belfair, Washington. However, our favorite is still the recipe served at Ernesto’s Good Grub in the Versaille district of PV. Ernesto’s Sopa de Tortillas is so popular that the last time we were there he said he’s thinking of not re-printing his menus because it seems that’s all anyone orders!

So, now it is up to us to give it a try on our own. We don’t think Ernesto should be too concerned.

The Oat Bran Quest

2006-09-29T15:06:00.000-07:00

After failing to find oat bran (to add to our morning cereal) at any of the first three supermarkets we went to, we decided to catch a bus out to Bucerias, a town on the north side of Banderas Bay. We had been advised by a fellow boater on the morning marine radio net that there was a great tienda de semillas (seed shop) there.

We found the shop, La Abejita, easily, however, no oat bran. We learned there were two other seed shops in town. The second had none either, nor did the third. However, at the third shop we learned that salvado, which we thought meant simply bran, in fact means (at least in this area) a mixture of brans. His salvado was a mixture of wheat, oat and sunflower seed bran. We decided to give it a try. We are certain from the look of it that both horses and cows would love it.

At La Abejita we also purchased some brown rice (hard to find down here) and dried peas. The store has just about every grain you could imagine in bulk form. Just grab a scoop and a plastic bag.

For lunch we found a place just off the central plaza and near the beach called Miguel Angel’s Restaurant-Bar. The atmosphere was nice and the service good. However, the Tortilla Soup was the most uninspired recipe we have yet tried (we have had Tortilla Soup at at least 10 different places). However, the people from Chicago at the next table were raving about their seafood meals, so we won’t gong the place just because of their soup.

Partly sunny today, still very warm and humid. The pool feels great in the afternoons.

"Oh-oh Mexico....

2006-09-29T14:48:00.000-07:00

….sounds so sweet I just had to go.” (James Taylor)

Well, here we are back in Puerto Vallarta.

Our Alaska Air flight from Seattle was uneventful except for Kay’s being strip-searched because she forgot she had a tiny tub of lip gloss with a metal lid in her jeans pocket. OK, they didn’t actually strip her, but let’s just say that Steve was glad it was a woman doing the searching.

For those of you who haven’t been to Mexico, whenever you come down here by air or by road (boats get off easy) and you go through customs you pass through a special traffic light. If you get a green light you pass through without an inspection. If you get a red light….

Kay pushed the button (so it’s her fault) and got a red light for the first time in three or four border crossings. The inspection is usually pretty cursory. They didn’t check any of Kay’s bags, just Steve’s. In his biggest bag, he had a brand new marine VHF radio that he had not declared on one side, and about one-fifth of Kay’s shell collection on the other side. The customs agents found the shells first and spent a lot of time looking at them; first because they are very beautiful and second because they were a little concerned that we might be intending to sell them in Mexico. After assuring them that they were for our personal enjoyment they closed up the bag and let us go. They never looked at the other side of the bag.

The temperature and humidity were about 90-90 when we caught a cab. Our favorite security guard, Alejandro, was at the gate at Las Palmas II to welcome us back.

We found our condo unit all ready for us. The sheets were all off the furniture, the bed was made and everything was shiny clean. All we had to do was turn on the electricity and light the pilot light in the gas hot water heater. In just a little while the air conditioning had the temperature down to a comfortable 77 degrees.

Just after midnight we were treated to a slam-bam thunderstorm. The weather is about what we expected. We intentionally came down early this year so that we could experience the end of the summer wet season, and so that we could get a head start on making the condo more our own. In addition to Kay’s shells, we brought down a few other items with that in mind. We are also on the look out for a plant or two and possibly a bookshelf.

But I thought you said....

2006-06-29T19:23:00.000-07:00

Our second extended cruise is over. Let’s take a look back and make some general observations.

Before we left, friends frequently asked, “How long will you be gone this time?” Our standard answer was two weeks to seven years. (The two weeks was to cover the real possibility that we would get out off the Washington coast again and say, “This is nuts, let’s go home!”). Well we were gone a lot longer than two weeks but a lot less than seven years (which was about what we figured a globe circumnavigation would take).

Well, we were fortunate that the initial weather off the Washington coast was actually quite nice, so that scotched the two-week cruise. So what happened to the seven year circumnavigation?

Well, we never really planned a circumnavigation although we allowed that it was a distinct possibility. Steve had a desire to visit the Seychelles and Kenya, and we wanted to visit a few of the places in the South Pacific that we missed on our 1991-1993 cruise like the Cook Islands, Niue, and New Caledonia. We had also talked seriously about looking for a summer home in New Zealand, because when it is summer down there it is winter here. The idea of and “Endless Summer” was very appealing. But we really had no serious plans beyond Mexico, the Galapagos and Chile.

We think the change to our plans began in Barra de Navidad on the Mexican Riviera. We had recently completed our long trek from the Straits of Juan de Fuca to the tip of Baja, Cabo San Lucas. We opted for the longer passage down to the Riviera rather than the shorter, more common route across the Sea of Cortez to Mazatlan. We were eager to see some new anchorages and get further south where it’s warmer in the winter. Barra de Navidad met both of those goals. When we arrived there it was so pleasant in terms of the climate, the people, the beaches and the scenery in general that we found ourselves saying, “Gee, we could live here.”

We had the same feeling a few weeks later when we reached Zihuatenejo. What a cool little town! Touristy, but not over the top, nor was it too expensive. We talked to ex-pats, both Americans and Canadians who were living there and they all seemed to be having the times of their lives. We looked at a couple of condos there just for something to do and to get a feel for the costs. The views and the ambiance were hedonistic. Zihua (for short) had a lot of what we were looking for: movie theaters, American-style supermarkets, fantastic restaurants, and scenic surroundings.

It began to dawn on us that we had unconsciously expanded our summer home search area from New Zealand to include Mexico. Gradually, for a multitude of vaguely perceived reasons, the attraction of making long ocean passages to remote tropical islands was diminishing. Part of it was the pleasantness and beauty of Mexico (if you have only ever been in to one of the border towns like Tijuana, Mexicali or Nogales, you haven’t seen Mexico). And another part of it was the feeling that, concerning the South Pacific and tropical islands in general, we had “Been there, done that.” It’s true that each island or country has its own unique attractions, but it can’t compare to experiencing coral atolls and volcanic islands for the first time. There is only one first time. We knew we could never replicate that experience.

We were also finding that we REALLY like warm, sunny weather. Our original plans called for going to Chile by way of the Galapagos. It’s not always sunny and warm in Chile. Some people call Chile “Alaska without bears.” It is certainly beautiful there but we started to question whether we were up for the cold, the wind, and the rain.

Then we left Zihua and started heading north to Puerto Vallarta. Heading north was part of the original plan. Kavenga’s hull needed a blister job and an epoxy barrier coat. Mexico seemed like the best place to get that done both from the standpoint of weather (hot and dry) and labor (cheap but good quality). So we had a few more months to mull over our options before a Chile-go-no-go decision would be required.

When we returned to Puerto Vallarta (we were there in 1991 and 1994) we were quickly reminded why we like the city and region so much. It has more of everything we like about Zihuatenejo and a few things that Zihua doesn’t have (e.g. four modern hospitals). We still weren’t thinking seriously about shopping for a home in Mexico until we encountered some other like-minded people.

Two slips over from us on E Dock in Marina Vallarta in 2005 were Hugh and Vickey on Snow White. They were seriously talking about and looking at condos in the Marina area. Almost at the same time, perhaps even earlier, we received a visit from Mark Learned, one of our marina neighbors from back home in Gig Harbor. Mark and his wife Gail have a condo on the south shore of Banderas Bay and live aboard their boat, Gail Winds during the northern summer. Having a second home in Mexico started sounding less crazy and more plausible. Well the rest is history, duly recorded in our earlier blog “A New Home.”

So that, in a coco-nutshell, is how our potential seven year cruise got cut back to two years.

For our fellow sailors, or those readers with an interest in the technical aspects, here’s a summary of how the boat and its components performed.

Kavenga, a Lord Nelson 41, has always been a great blue water boat. We were often in conditions where the newer style boats with their straight sheer lines and low bows would be taking solid water over their bows and spray in their cockpits. Kavenga’s curving sheer and high bow keep her decks and the cockpit dry until things start getting really nasty.

The new 75HP Yanmar diesel engine that Steve installed in 2002 performed flawlessly and was Kay’s candidate for Most Valuable Player. We motored at least twice as much on this Mexico cruise as the last one. This not only meant faster passages but also better weather as we were able to time our passages to coincide with generally fair weather windows. Being 50% more powerful than the BMW that it replaced, meant that we could run the Yanmar at only 2/3 of full power and still maintain cruising speed. This translated to less wear and tear on the engine, and less stress for us.

The handheld and fixed GPS units took a lot of the work and uncertainty out of the navigation duties. We spent less time navigating but at the same time had a more accurate view of our position and progress towards our destination. My only regret is that people who have just started cruising in the last ten years are often doing so with only a superficial knowledge of blue-water navigation. If something were to happen to their GPS units or the satellite system itself, they would literally be lost.

We had two alternative energy systems on board: solar and wind. Neither of them gave us any problems. If we had to choose one over the other it would be solar. Solar panels are simple, reliable, silent and contribute something to the battery bank every day. The wind generator only contributes when there is enough wind, and only puts out significant quantities of power when the wind gets up to 15 knots or more. Beyond that it can put out large quantities of power, but it can also be a tad noisy, at least compared to a solar panel! But it was nice to have both systems.

We had a SSB radio (Icom 700 Pro) this time instead of a Ham radio. This was a definite improvement in our estimation—at least for users like us. The SSB is a simpler yet more rugged and more powerful (150 vs. 100 watts) radio. Unless you are a fairly hard core techy, the SSB gives you all the control and flexibility you need to talk on all the voice cruising nets and to send email via the internet gateways (Winlink and Sailmail). The Icom 700 Pro is set up so that it is easy to switch into Ham mode. Thus we were able to check into the various Ham nets (Sonrisa, Baja-Cal, etc.) as well as the SSB nets (Amigo, Southbound, etc.) When we cruised Mexico in 1990-1991 the SSB nets did not exist. Now it seems as if they handle the majority of the net traffic—at least in Mexico.

We had a complete suit of brand new Neil Pryde sails. We only wish they had gotten more use. We were so impressed with our first suit of Neil Pryde sails that we put over 30,000 miles of hard sailing on, and we are even more impressed with this suit with all of its special features for bluewater sailors. Unfortunately the winds in Mexico were such that we found ourselves motoring or motor-sailing much of the time. Our last set of sails really started earning their keep after we left Mexico and entered the tradewinds.

The new Adler-Barbour Super ColdMachine refrigerator also worked well. In addition to the standard air cooling system, it is also equipped with a water-based heat exchange option. We installed it in a slightly unconventional manner. Instead of using seawater we plumbed the water intake to one of Kavenga’s three fresh water tanks. We always use the other two tanks first so that the fridge almost always has access to cooling water. The reason for this is that using seawater adds new problems: having to strain out impurities, introducing the possibility of corrosion, etc. The cooling water option is engaged with the simple flip of a switch that brings the circulation pump online. The advice from the A-B tech reps was that water cooling is only needed if the ambient temperature in the refrigerator installation compartment reaches 90 degrees. This does happen in Mexico, but not as often as you might think, at least in our case. Our fridge is installed beneath the sink in Kavenga’s galley, a relatively cool spot. If it were installed in the engine compartment, the water option would probably be needed all the time. In either case, the system worked great.

In summary, this cruise was almost devoid of mechanical difficulties. Yes, we had some failures, but they were minor and easily and readily fixed. We had spares on board for 7 years, so if anything did break, chances were that we had whatever we needed to get it back on line quickly.

Thus far our website has over 6,000 hits. We suspect that is largely due to a very small nucleus of friends who check on us frequently. However, that view was somewhat challenged during our recent stop in Port Townsend when a couple from an Oregon boat headed north came by to tell us they had been following our travels on our website.

Well, whoever you all are, we thank you for caring enough to take the time to read our drivel and look at our photos (definitely more interesting). We’ll probably give the web log a rest for a while (the website will have more updates). Maybe we’ll have something worthwhile to say after we have returned to Mexico. So if you feel like it, check in once and a while to see if anything is new. Who knows maybe we’ll go “Political” or “Equine” or “Malacology”.

Thanks for coming along. We have refrained from publishing our email address for fear of it falling into the hands of web crawlers. But just in case you don’t know how to get in touch with us, you can probably figure this out. Kavenga at-sign ATT dot net

Fair seas and following winds,

Steve & Kay

British Columbia and Home Again

2006-06-26T13:02:00.000-07:00

The first leg of our voyage home from Nanaimo was about as short as they come. We motored out of the marina and across the bay to the anchorage between Newcastle and Protection Island. This took barely half an hour.

Once the anchor was down and set we hopped in the dinghy and motored to the park dock on Newcastle Island. It has several “super-highway” trails and we took a route that just stopped short of circling the island. We took a cross-island trail that goes past the beautiful Mallard Lake with all its snags and lilypads.

For lunch we took the dinghy over to the famous Dinghy Dock Pub on Protection Island. The restaurant is surrounded by several mooring slips and docks capable of handling much larger vessels than dinghies. We sat outdoors in sunshine and had the special of the day a Chicken Melt sandwich on garlic bread. Yum!

After a calm night at anchor it was time to start heading south. We timed our departure from the anchorage so as to arrive at Dodd Narrows at the end of the morning ebb tide. Mudge Island comes extremely close to being connected to the much larger Vancouver Island, just leaving a tiny slot, Dodd Narrows, through which gazillions of gallons of water must pass. Currents can reach 12 knots. Kavenga’s top-top speed is 8 knots. Do the math. Even in currents of 4 knots it can be difficult to maintain steerage of a small vessel due to the eddies and whirlpools caused by the mixing currents.

We could tell we must be approaching at about the right time because we found ourselves in a column of about nine boats proceeding toward the narrows including two of our Dockwise companions, the sailing vessels Chaitanya and Alaya. Sure enough, when we arrived at the narrows, the ebb current was down to about 1 knot and we passed through without incident. Fortunately there was only one boat coming in the opposite direction. Dodd Narrows IS narrow and not a good place for a lot of boats to be passing each other going in opposite directions.

Our destination for the day was Pirate’s Cove on DeCourcy Island. We arrived there in less than two hours after passing through Dodd Narrows. It was still near low tide at the time of our entrance through the very constricted pass leading into the sheltered anchorage. At one point our depthsounder read something like 2.7 feet. Our depthsounder, because of its position below the waterline will normally read 3.2 feet if we are sitting on the bottom. We were seeing a lot of seaweed rising up from the bottom and so we surmise that was causing the impossibly shallow readings. We were however, very close to going aground.

We anchored in the middle of the small cove in about 13 feet of water on short scope (minimal amount of chain let out). The cove is a very pretty place. Unfortunately, a private marina was built a few years back that cuts down on the amount of scarce anchoring space. Still, there is a very pretty marine park that surrounds most of the cove. One of the other Dockwise boats, Chaitanya, a Tayana 37, followed us in and anchored at the far end of the cove with a stern line taken to shore. Our friends Vince and Jan on Alaya were in a hurry to get down to Bainbridge Island and so continued on to Roche Harbor in the San Juan Islands on the US side of the border. We had plenty of time for a leisurely hike around the cove.

We got underway early the next morning so that we had a 5-foot higher tide going out of the shallow channel. Our destination about three hours distant was Ladysmith Harbor. Along the way we spotted a sailboat high aground on the aptly named and well-marked Danger Reef. You would think people would give such a place a wide berth. Fortunately for them the water was flat calm so little danger of being bounced on the rocks as they waited for the tide to finish going out and come back in.

The government wharf in Ladysmith Harbor was nearly full when we arrived but luckily there was one spot just big enough for us at the outer end of the middle dock. This would also make it easy for us to get out in the morning as the many fishing boats rafted together made maneuvering further in somewhat difficult.

We were kind of interested in Ladysmith because the man who built Kavenga supposedly lives there. We asked around about a Chinese man with a boatyard that built the Lord Nelson sailboats and tugs, but no one seemed to be aware of him, even when we asked at the local maritime society boatworks. Despite advice to the contrary we did in fact find a small movie theater. They only had one screen so by default we watched the latest X-Men movie. Not too bad, actually.

We had had contact via Ham radio the day before with our old friends Randy and Sharon on Blue Heron. They were also cruising in British Columbia but way up north of Vancouver Island. They had suggested that we should visit the nearby town of Chemainus. It has a very small marina that is often full to the brim so we opted to catch a Greyhound bus for the 10-mile drive.

Chemainus is a town that re-invented itself after its major employer, a sawmill, closed. They decided to take a stab at the tourism industry and hit upon the idea of having huge murals painted on the sides of the town’s buildings to depict the region’s history. It has worked. There are now all kinds of shops, cafés, restaurants, etc. catering to the many people that come to take the tour of the numbered murals. You can walk the route, take a tractor-drawn trolley, or ride in a horse carriage. We did both the walk and the trolley. We did the trolley because it comes with a guide that explains more about what you are seeing. It’s a delightful little town, one that we would recommend to anyone visiting Vancouver Island. Now we can say “Been there, done that, got the T-shirt.”

Enroute to Montague Harbor on Galliano Island the next morning we saw a familiar boat converging with us as we approached Houston Passage. A call on the VHF radio confirmed that it was our new friends Ian and Heidi on Chaitanya. They were headed for Ganges Harbor, our planned destination for the next day.

Montague Harbor is the second most popular anchorage in British Columbia behind Prideaux Haven in Desolation Sound. It is a huge anchorage and could easily accommodate over 100 boats at anchor. We anchored at the southeast end and went ashore for a brief visit to the local marina store.

Not having any of our northwest cruising guides aboard left us at a bit of a disadvantage at times, like when we first arrived at Ganges Harbor the next day. We passed by the first marina, rather a long way out of town and clearly a private marina, and entered the first government marina near Grace Point. Due to the rock breakwater we couldn’t see anything from the outside but once we got inside we could see that it was chock full and there was very little maneuvering room in deep water. The wind played havoc with our steering for a bit, but we managed to back and fill with the engine and rudder until we got Kavenga headed back out into the harbor.

We rounded Grace Point and headed for a large marina dead ahead that appeared to have lots of empty slips. As we pulled into one of them we were greeted by Ian of Chaitanya. He informed us he had been there for a day but was thinking of moving due to the expense--$1.45 per foot per day. Yikes. Hadn’t seen prices like that since Cabo San Lucas. We took Ian’s advice and moved to another government dock just across the way for the half the price. However, our moving around wasn’t quite over yet. When we went to the harbormaster’s office we learned that there was to be a Classic Workboat Show the next day and if we wanted to stay more than one night we would have to move to a different dock. So it was back down to the boat and one last quick move to another dock within the same marina. Chaitanya had moved over while we were at the office and we pulled into the space right behind them.

Ganges Harbor is another quaint island tourist town, with the obligatory gift shops, cafés and restaurants and this case bookstores—at least four of them. We checked out all of them.

We had lunch both days at the same place, the Treehouse Café near the head of the dock—a unique setting and good food. It must get interesting when it rains though because all but two of the tables are outside under a spreading tree. They had lots of table umbrellas and awnings but there must still be a lot of dripping in between when the inevitable rains come.

Before we left Ganges the next morning we took the time to check out the Saturday Farmer’s Market, which is really more of an arts and crafts market. We used this opportunity to dispose of the remainder of our Canadian currency, buying some Tiger Lillies and some great, huge cookies.

Irish Bay on Samuel Island was to be our last stop in Canadian waters. Chaitanya followed us out as we departed the Kanaka government wharf but they were bound for Bedwell Harbor on Pender Island. As we had had every day thus far, we encountered cool southeasterly winds right in our face. We could have tacked our way under sail to Irish Bay but the 60-degree air was not enticing to people who had just recently come from 95-degree weather in Mexico. So we motored to Irish Bay, arriving there a little after noon and found that we had it all to ourselves. That doesn’t happen very often these days in the more popular cruising locales.

The most memorable thing about Irish Bay, apart from being the only boat at anchor, was the eagles. It must have been a family, because at one point we saw at least seven Bald Eagles soaring together above the trees on rocky Samuel Island. They were all screeching back and forth to each other as they slowly wheeled around in the sky, hardly ever flapping their huge wings.

From Irish Bay it is a very short distance to Boundary Pass and the dividing line between US and Canadian waters. According to our GPS, Kavenga returned to the US at 9:42AM on Sunday, June 18. This day we had virtually no wind and a perfectly smooth sea as we motored toward Friday Harbor on San Juan Island.

Once again we were welcomed into port by the crew of Chaitanya. They had arrived at the US Customs dock about an hour ahead of us. We had forgotten some of the cruiser rules about going back and forth to Canada and had neglected to consume certain types of food. Consequently we had to give up some great Canadian beef and eggs. But other than that, our official clearance back into US waters went smoothly.

We found the movie theater up the hill in Friday Harbor still in operation, now with TWO screens. We opted to see The Lake House rather than the animated film, Cars. Sandra Bulloch and Keanu Reeves were good together and the movie was enjoyable as long as you resisted the temptation of thinking about the logic of it.

Our departure the next morning was once again dictated by the currents through a narrow pass, this time it was Middle Passage in San Juan channel off Cattle Point. We didn’t time this one quite as well and had to fight a 3-4 knot current for about a half an hour.

Once again we were treated to the sight of a large group of Bald Eagles, this time sitting on the beach and structures of Minor Island at the east end of the Straits of Juan de Fuca. Obviously, the Bald Eagle population has rebounded quite nicely over the last 20 or so years. They are now a common sight in Puget Sound. Keep your Chihuahuas on a short leash!

Our last two stops before our home port of Gig Harbor were two of the same ones we had stopped at on our way to California and Mexico in 2004. We again spent a night at Boathaven Marina in Port Townsend and one night at the park marina on Blake Island. Steve stocked up on used books about early US Presidents at one of the local used bookstores in Port Townsend. We enjoyed a snooze on the beach and a short hike around the island at Blake. And of course we had raccoon tracks on the boat when we got up the next morning.

At 11:40 AM Wednesday June 21, Kavenga entered her home port of Gig Harbor after the 14-mile run from Blake Island through Colvos Passage. Out on their waterfront lawn to greet us at the entrance were our friends Chris and Nancy Burnard. As usual this time of year, there were lots of boats coming and going that we had to watch out for as we went through the steps required to raise the bowsprit before entering the marina.

At 11:55 AM Kavenga was moored starboard side to slip C-8, Murphy’s Landing Marina.

Home, safe and sound.

There will be at least one more episode/epilogue about the voyage. Stay tuned.

Thanks for coming along

The Dockwise Experience - Part 2

2006-06-13T17:14:00.000-07:00

It continued to be hard to sleep in—or conversely it was easy to get going early—due to the knowledge that Kavenga was headed north 24 hours a day. Although the van appeared ready to start the 1500-mile drive to Gig Harbor, its registration had expired and we would need to take care of that in Arizona. Consequently, we weren’t all that confident that we would beat the Dockwise Express to Nanaimo. We acknowledged that we might have to store the van somewhere and fly to Nanaimo if we fell behind and needed to jump ahead.

We left the Adlai Motel well before sunrise. We were pleased to find the highway construction for the bypass around Hermosillo was virtually complete. That cut a half an hour or more off the time to Tucson. Our first stop in Tucson was J J Tam’s, the RV lot where we bought Qualie. We had them check the tires and install a new “house” battery. Patrick, the manager, took care of our expired registration for us. He gave us a temporary that was good until June 6^th—enough time for us to get to Gig Harbor. That saved us from having to go to an Arizona emissions test facility and then ADOT to get the registration reinstated. That saved us another 2-3 hours.

During the drive up we discovered that the dash air conditioning wasn’t working. Patrick recommended a place up the street near Famous Sam’s where we always seem to have lunch whenever we’re in Tucson (if you’re ever there, don’t miss it). When we went back to the garage after lunch we discovered: 1) the A/C was not yet fixed, 2) they had scratched and gouged the fiberglass running boards on the van when they ran into an engine block while moving the van. The lady who own’s the garage with her husband was very apologetic and was ready to have it fixed and repainted. We told them we were in too much of a hurry for that. So instead they gave us the A/C repair for free. It remains to be seen how we will make out on this one. They managed to get it fixed in another hour and we were on our way to the Tra-Tel RV park that we had stayed in twice before near the north end of Tucson. We got in a little after 3PM and were soon doing laps in their pool.

Once again we were on the road before sunrise. We had no desire to experience morning rush hour traffic in Phoenix so we took the 8-85-10 bypass through Gila Bend and Buckeye. It was well on the way to hitting 113F in Phoenix by the time we crossed the border into California. We were glad the A/C was back in commission.

Our next challenge was to drive by LA without getting stuck in its traffic. We managed very well by staying north of town via San Bernadino and Pasadena. Once we were clear of LA we found the Pyramid Lake RV Resort just a mile or two south of Gorman, California—very pretty spot in a box canyon.

Our next day was probably our easiest as it was practically a straight shot north on I-5. Our only concern was Sacramento traffic, but that turned out to be minimal as we passed through at mid-day. Once again, we re-visited an RV park we had stayed at before, the Friendly RV Park in Weed, California. This place has a spectacular view of both Mt. Shasta and Black Butte. The only good restaurant nearby was the Dos Amigos. We weren’t all that excited about having Mexican food in the US but the lady at the RV park assured us that it was very authentic Mexican. She was right, it was very good.

By now, we felt we were well ahead of the Dockwise ship. It was June 4^th and the ship was scheduled to arrive on the 7^th and unload on the 8^th. Consequently we felt we had time for a couple of stops. The first was in Salem to visit Steve’s Aunt Jean and his cousins Denise and Kim and their daughter Katie. We arrived in Salem about 11AM and stayed for an hour. Earlier in the day, while we were driving through Roseburg, Kay had called her friend Laurie Singer to see what they were up to. Coincidentally, they were in their RV on their way south, planning to spend the night in Oregon City. We rendezvoused with them at the Clackamette State Park and went to MacDonalds for lunch.

Then it was on to Gig Harbor. Fortunately it was Sunday and so we didn’t have to worry about rush hour traffic on the Narrows Bridge. By mid afternoon we rolled into town and made a quick stop at our storage unit to pick up some warm clothes. Then it was on to our home base, Murphy’s Landing Marina. In the parking lot we ran into many friends: Don Conaway, Marc Skea, Pete Bare and others. We spent two nights “camped out” in the van in the marina parking lot. It actually works out quite well since we have the clubhouse there with its showers, laundry, TV and kitchen.

After one day of rest from traveling it was time to head on up to Nanaimo, BC. Our friends Mark and Gail Learned from the marina (and also Puerto Vallarta) gave us a lift to the Greyhound Bus station in Tacoma. Three buses later we were on a ferry from Vancouver to Nanaimo. It was a beautiful evening for crossing the Straits of Georgia—almost flat calm and a pretty sunset. The ferry cafeteria also makes an excellent cheeseburger.

A little before 9PM we were checked into the Castaway Motel near the Greyhound Terminal. It was clean and inexpensive, and had the Mariners playing baseball on cable so we couldn’t really complain. But the nicer TraveLodge was only a block a way and so we moved there the following morning. Since we were in Nanaimo a day ahead of the unload date it gave us a chance to get oriented. We found out where the ship was going to dock—unlike in La Paz, it ties to a wharf when it unloads here in Nanaimo. We also found out where the good grocery store was and the location of some good restaurants (and a bakery with Nanaimo bars, of course).

The next morning we shared a taxi with friend Vince Moore of the sailing vessel Alaya, also staying at the TraveLodge. When we arrived at the wharf we could see the DE12 there and Kavenga’s distinct gold mast rising up in her stern. However, the gate guard at the wharf told us there was a delay having to do with Canadian Customs. Well this was only a few days after several terrorists had been arrested in Toronto so a bunch of yachts arriving on a ship from Mexico seemed to warrant a little extra scrutiny. We had our cab driver take us back into town where we could get a cup of coffee.

It wasn’t that far, so after killing an hour and a half over coffee we walked back to the wharf. Customs was still not finished and so we cooled our heels for another hour and more. Finally we got the word that we could go aboard the DE12. We all signed a release form and received our keys and vessel documentation papers in return. We were then told we could go down into the well deck of the DE12 to inspect the hulls of our vessels before they flooded the deck. Kavenga looked fine.

About an hour later, the well deck was flooded and we were allowed to make our way back to the cockpits and cabins of our respective vessels. We got a surprise when we opened up Kavenga’s companionway doors. The bilge pump warning light was on and you could hear the pump sucking air. Somehow the float switch that turns it on when the bilge water gets high enough had gotten stuck in the UP position causing the pump to run continuously. Steve quickly got the pump turned off but one look at the battery monitor display told us that we had two banks of very low batteries. Fortunately we had caught this right away and there was still time to do something. The DE12 crew lowered a heavy duty battery charger that was then man-handled across the decks of two other boats to get to Kavenga in the center (of course). We had time to put a 30-minute quick charge on one bank and to put a starting charge on it as we cranked the engine over when the DE12’s captain gave us all the word that the divers had removed all of our supports and it was safe to start our engines. Thankfully, our Yanmar diesel started immediately.

No sooner had we gotten the battery charger off the boats than it was time for us to go. Alaya and all the boats in the last row had backed out. Instead of being first out in our row (we had been last in), we followed Amistad who had backed in in La Paz and was therefore the easiest to get out. Kavenga doesn’t back up with any great degree of accuracy but we managed to clear the sides of the DE12. Just to welcome us back to the Northwest it had begun to rain. Along with several other of the boats that unloaded ahead of us we called the Nanaimo Marina with requests for berthing assignments. Very shortly we were assigned to the south side of J Dock. Less than 20 minutes after leaving the DE12 we were tied up starboard side to J Dock. We got things more or less secure and then headed ashore with Vince to find a place to have a late lunch. Our Dockwise experience was nearly over.

The only tasks left were taken care of the next day. We reinstalled the bobstay and lowered the bowsprit. We put the spray dodger back together and hoisted the staysail and yankee and roller-furled them. By early afternoon all of the tasks on our To-Do List were accomplished and Kavenga was ready to resume cruising.

All in all, our Dockwise experience was very pleasant. We certainly had a lot less work to do at both ends to prepare Kavenga for being shipped than we would have had if we had had her trucked instead of shipped—no unstepping and stepping of the mast, and all of the rigging work that goes along with that. And while Kavenga and the DE12 were bashing to windward up the West Coast, we were having a relatively pleasant drive.

Now we have just one leg left to complete of our two-year cruise to Mexico—Nanaimo to Gig Harbor. Thanks for coming along.

The Dockwise Experience - Part 1

2006-06-02T16:26:00.000-07:00

We didn’t get much sleep the night before we were to put Kavenga aboard the Dockwise Express 12, thinking about all the last minute things to do that could only be done just prior to departure. We got up around 4 AM.

A little after 7 AM our extra crew, Bob Edmonds of the sailboat Jemaya arrived. Everyone we’ve talked to says that three is the minimum crew needed to handle all the lines and maneuvering required. At 0720 we took in our lines and departed Costa Baja Marina. We had mixed feelings about leaving—we always seem to get a little attached to every place we stay for any length of time. Especially when you make new friends, as we had.

Once we cleared the marina and headed north toward Pichelengue and Bahia Falsa we found ourselves near the head of a column of about 10 boats also headed for the rendezvous with the DE12. Half an hour later we were abeam to her. Her hull is orange and her superstructure is white. Along the hull in large letters it reads WWW.YACHT-TRANSPORT.COM. Half of her hull was submerged. Better explain that.

The DE12 has borrowed an idea from the Navy’s amphibious assault ships. The rear of the ship is a huge “tailgate”. When the ship arrives at the loading area she anchors and lowers this gate. She then begins to flood ballast tanks that allow her to partially sink. The superstructure and bridge deck are all the way forward in the bow. This all stays well above water. Aft of the superstructure is huge well deck or cargo area. After the tailgate is lowered and the ship begins ballasting, this well fills with water to a depth that will permit all of the yachts to motor in, probably 9 to 10 feet.

In total there were 23 boats milling around the DE12 to be loaded. There was only one boat to offload and it was well on its way to La Paz as we were all arriving. 22 minutes ahead of schedule at 8:08 AM the Dutch captain of the DE12 called on the VHF radio for the first boat to enter the well deck, the 100-foot motor yacht, Kelly Ann. As soon as she had cleared the tailgate the captain called, Tango, another large motor yacht to position herself at the stern of the DE12. By the time Tango was in position, the Kelly Ann was already secured with dock lines to the forward, starboard (right) side of the DE12’s well deck.

And so on it went, with mostly the large vessels entering first. We had managed earlier to make a copy of the loading diagram shown to us by the local Mexican ship’s agent, Seňor Francisco Cota. Consequently, we knew we were in the second to last row, directly on the centerline with two other sailboats to starboard and two others to port.

It went amazingly fast. Part of our sleepless night was due to our concern that we probably would miss our 2:20 flight out of La Paz. But the DE12’s skipper kept calling the boats in one right after the other, some of whom had to back in (fortunately not us). At about 9:25 the captain called for Kavenga to take position astern of the DE12. And shortly thereafter he instructed us to enter the well deck. There was only one place for us to go. Kay handled the port dock lines and Bob took care of the starboard side while Steve steered Kavenga to the space between Pegasus to starboard and Amistad to port.

Very quickly we had our four dock lines to the other boats and their lines to us. By the time we were secured most of the last row of boats were in as well. We had Wanderlust V nearly dead astern and her bow pulpit was trying to knock our outboard motor off its stern pulpit mount. That turned out to be our fault. All we needed to do was attach a short spring line to Kavenga from Pegasus and we were safely separated.

Soon the DE12 captain was calling for all the yacht captains to report to the bridge to fill out the final paper work and to hand over keys and vessel registration papers. Steve climbed across two other boats to get to a ladder to the top of the well deck. Then it was a four-deck stair climb (Steve and his Navy buddies call these ladders rather than stairs, but they’re the same thing) up to the DE12’s bridge. While standing in line with the other captains, Steve met the Dutch captain and even greeted him in the limited bit of Dutch language he knows. He also got a look at the huge bridge area (compared to his ship in the Navy). It also served as an office as well as a bridge.

Very quickly Steve was on his way back down to the well deck to tell Kay and Bob that they could secure Kavenga and join him on the port side of the well deck. We had previously left most of our luggage in a van belonging to John Hards of the sailboat Pelican. We met John at Costa Baja soon after we arrived there from Mazatlan (forgot to mention in the last blog that we went from PV to La Paz via Mazatlan, just like last time). John was acting as crew on Amistad. As soon as we were all on the well deck and ready to take the first shuttle boat back to La Paz, Steve grabbed his camera and ran back up to the bridge for some pictures. That important task out of the way, we caught the shuttle, just barely getting on it due to the 25-passenger limit. We all sat on the bow deck of the shuttle and enjoyed the breeze over the otherwise calm sea.

Incredibly, by 11 AM we were back ashore at Marina Palmira (closer to downtown). John had graciously offered to give us a ride to the La Paz airport. Our trusty crew, Bob, came along for the ride out and back to his boat at Costa Baja. So, by 11:30 AM we were at the airport with almost three hours to kill—so much for our concerns about missing our flight. We thanked John and Bob and waved good-bye as they headed on back to Marina Palmira to pick up others coming back on the second shuttle.

Now the second phase of our busy day was getting underway. We had decent tortilla soup in the airport café. It’s a nice little airport and they are going to get their first major airline coming in this Fall, Alaska. We slept and read at the gate until our flight arrived. We boarded our Saab turboprop only 5 minutes late at 2:25 PM, bound for Ciudad Obregon on the other side of the Sea of Cortez. This would be our sixth crossing of this body of water. However, an hour and 5 minutes was definitely going to be a new speed record. The coolest thing about the flight however, was that we flew over all three of the La Paz marinas, AND the DE12. Yes, we were actually able to look down and see Kavenga’s gold mast sticking up near the DE12’s stern. Way cool!

We were also treated to spectacular views of a half dozen or so of the many beautiful anchorages we had enjoyed in the islands north of La Paz. But almost as soon as it began, the flight was ending as we made the approach on Ciudad Obregon’s airport. Think Kansas. As we looked down all we could see was an endless array of square fields of grain and corn. Obregon’s airport is only slightly bigger than La Paz’, however it sports two Jetway’s and revolving baggage pick-up belt.

Grabbing our two bags, we were out the door and into a taxi-van almost before we knew we were there. It was a good 15 to 20 minute drive to the main bus terminal in downtown Cd. Obregon. We had a great driver, Federico who told us about wheat, corn, soy and cotton that is grown around Obregon. We arrived at the bus terminal and he carried our bags while we donned our backpacks and headed into the terminal. We had already planned to try to catch one of the TUFESA primera class buses north to Guaymas (nope, no flights there). Incredibly, the next TUFESA bus to Guaymas was on time and scheduled to leave in 10 minutes. We bought our tickets, thanked Federico, and with Cd. Obregon hardly a vague memory in our heads, we found ourselves on Mexico Highway 15 headed for Guaymas. The Mexican primera class buses are very nice, all have TV’s and some even have bars and attendants. This one didn’t have the latter but it did have TV and the movie for today was “Mean Girls” (in English with Spanish subtitles). We had already seen it but it helped to pass the time as the scenery was pretty boring by Mexico standards.

The Guaymas TUFESA terminal is just a tiny compound about four blocks off the main drag. Once we got our bags we started walking that way hoping to catch a local bus to San Carlos where our Chevy camper van was waiting for us. We’d only gone about a block when a taxi driver hailed us, asking if we wanted his services. One of the bus attendants had told us it was a 500 peso ($45) cab ride to San Carlos so we politely declined but he said “Mui barato” (very cheap) so we asked how much? He said 150 pesos. We got in. This would also save us time because if we’d taken a bus we would have had to call Ed and Dorothy at the storage yard to come out and pick us up on the highway. This way the taxi would take us all the way.

It was mentally difficult to process that by 6 PM we were back at our van in San Carlos on the same day that we had earlier been sailing on Kavenga in La Paz. We were just not used to traveling this fast.

The next surprise came after we took the cover off the van and turned the ignition key. It started immediately after sitting in the desert for six months! We settled up with Ed and Dorothy and drove “Quailie” the short distance to Departamentos Adlai, the small motel we stayed in a year ago while Kavenga was being worked on in the boat yard. After stowing our luggage in #8, we went out for dinner and managed to fulfill a desire that we had somehow failed to satisfy during our previous time in San Carlos—we had dinner at Rosa’s Cantina.

We got back to the Adlai and into bed by about 10:30 PM. Our very long day and the first half of our Dockwise Experience were at an end. The next episode will cover our trip north to meet Kavenga in Nanaimo, B.C. The race is on. The DE12 takes only 7 days to get there. So we have almost no time to spare.

Thanks for coming along.

A New Home

2006-05-30T14:17:00.000-07:00

Our passage to Puerto Vallarta from La Paz took us back to some waters we had not seen for 15 years. After leaving Bahia de La Paz we entered the “dreaded” Cerralvo Channel, which fortunately for us was entirely placid and benign. Before making the 300-or-so mile passage from the Baja Peninsula to Puerto Vallarta, we wanted to get a little further south. So we made two intermediate stops, the first at Bahia de Los Muertos (Bay of the Dead, however the local developers are trying to get it changed to Bahia de Sueňos—Bay of Dreams…wonder why?)

When we sailed here in 1991 from Cabo San Lucas, there was an unusual south wind blowing hard into the anchorage and all the boats anchored there were pitching violently with their sterns uncomfortably close to shore. We opted to continue around the point and anchor on the other side of the headland in what is known as Bahia de Ventanas (Bay of Windows). It was flat calm on that side. Now in 2006 it was quite calm there and we anchored amongst the half dozen or more boats already there. There’s only one little restaurant on the beach and we were on the move so we didn’t bother to launch the dinghy.

Los Frailes (The Friars) about 60 miles further south was our rest stop for the next night. It got its name from the rock formation on the headland that looks like a line of robed men climbing the steep rock face.

We were up early the next morning and on our way toward Banderas Bay and Puerto Vallarta. We couldn’t steer the direct course due to the fact that the Tres Marias Islands lie directly on the route. The largest of the Tres Marias is home to a Mexican prison and markings on our chart indicate that we are required to give the island a 20-mile berth. We know of one boat that missed that little tidbit of information and actually tried to anchor for the night off the island. They were soon visited by the prison launch and invited to a meeting with the warden. Fortunately for them they did not wind up as guests of the institution. After a reprimand and the inescapable paperwork one encounters with any Mexican agency, they were allowed to proceed on their way.

As we left Los Frailes a fair wind came up and for the first time in a long time we were able to hoist sail and secure the engine. We sailed for 17 hours straight before the wind lightened to the point the sails needed an assist to keep us on schedule for a morning arrival. It seems we are making all of our overnight passages without the benefit of a moon of any kind during this voyage around Mexico. On this particular passage it was quite dark and the seas were medium-sized at 6 to 8 feet but very confused—what we like to call “sloppy.” To add to our pleasure of trying to get some sleep on this passage, we saw several shipping contacts, a couple of them rather weird. One was a brightly lit contact ahead just off the port (left) bow. According to our radar we were on a slowly converging course. We tried hailing them on the VHF radio several times. It was so bright that we thought it must be a cruise ship, but it was going so slow. Finally, we decided to alter course to see if we could open up the CPA (closest point of approach). We had no sooner done this when it appeared that the ship also altered course and once again we were converging toward a collision or a near miss. Finally we got close enough that we could begin to distinguish individual lights through the overwhelming glare. We spotted near the top a red light above a white light. Now we had our answer. From Steve’s Navy days he still remembers the rules for navigation lights: “Red over white, fishing at night.” We were slowly overtaking either a shrimper or a trawler that had not the slightest bit of interest in us or whether or not we were going to run into them.

The second interesting contact that night came south of the Tres Marias Islands. It was on Kay’s nightwatch—all “interesting” shipping contacts happen on Kay’s night watches. She called Steve up from below to have a look. Once again the radar said we were converging and unless one of us did something we would have a very close encounter if not a collision. We were finally in range and able to see its navigation lights dead ahead. We could see the two white masthead and range lights that tell you which way the ship is pointed and the red side light that tells you you are looking at the vessel’s port (left, remember?) side. So, we were looking at a VERY big ship dead ahead. But if it was that big and broadside to us, and dead ahead, it should be moving quickly out of our way. Gradually it dawned on us that even though it had its RUNNING lights on it was in fact, dead in the water; i.e., stopped. Had we not been maintaining a visual and radar watch as some single-handed and even double-handed crews sometimes do, we would have plowed right into the side of this monster at full speed. That would be embarrassing—if one were to survive the crash to experience it. We altered course and sailed safely around the ship’s stern. Why they were just sitting there remains a mystery. Perhaps they were timing their approach to the commercial harbor at Mazatlan for sunrise.

Early that morning we picked up the flashing white light at Punta Mita welcoming us back to Banderas Bay. We were greeted by hundreds of dolphins and many spouting and cavorting whales. We saw one humpback come and lie on its back while waving one of its huge front flippers in the air and smacking the water’s surface with it. The tourist whale-watching boats were out in force and you could tell where the whales were likely to be just by looking for them. On the way in we helped a vessel in minor distress that could only make radio contact with us and no one else. We relayed their calls to other boats who were able to go out and assist them in getting into port. We were amazed at how much warmer both the air and water were on this side of the Sea of Cortez—time for shorts and T-shirts again.

Before noon we were back in our old haunt, Marina Vallarta. However, this time we would not be able to make use of our friend Gary’s slip as he had (as you may recall) sold it just as we were departing last year. The office put us on B-Dock this time, in lucky slip number 13 out near the end, which was fine with us because it means you are further from the noise at night on shore and there is less dock traffic past you as well.

Aside from getting out of the cold (if you can call 65F cold) of La Paz, the other reason we wanted to get back to Puerto Vallarta (PV) was to resume our search for a small condo unit that we might come to live in during the winters once we had sailed Kavenga back to Gig Harbor. We had looked at dozens of units last year. There was one that we really liked, right here in the marina but we were sure it would no longer be on the market a year later. Stunned we were, when we saw the For Sale (by owner) sign still hanging on the terrace rail (stroke of luck #1). We went to the condo’s administration office to enquire about it and were told that (unlike last year) the owner was here on a brief visit! (stroke of luck #2). We were told he was downtown paying the taxes but would be back later. We left a message that we would come back to see him at 7PM.

Meanwhile we went to visit two other condo complexes that we had looked at and liked last year. There were units still available, but not the same ones, and the prices had jumped dramatically. Now we were worried what we would hear about the price of our first choice.

At 7PM we went up and knocked on the door of unit #210 of Marina Las Palmas II and a small, wiry man in his 70s beckoned us inside. His name is Seňor Luis Chavez Escobar. He and his wife Luz (Lucy) Maria have owned it for 12 years. Fortunately he spoke enough English and we spoke enough Spanish that we could communicate. We told him that we had looked at his place last year along with several others and that we were definitely going to buy something this time. We asked him the scary question, was he still asking the same price as last year?

“No,” he said.

(Uh-oh, here it comes, brace yourself.)

He told us that the people in administration had told him it was worth more. (starting to feel sick) But then he said that his wife was very ill and no longer felt comfortable coming all the way from PV to Queretaro (a 10-hour drive inland). He had decided to lower the price to make a quick sale. It was difficult as he explained some of the details, because on the one hand it was a very sad story and we felt sorry for both of them. On the other hand it meant that the condo was still in our price range (it had been the most expensive of the ones we were seriously interested in).

We told him we had a couple of other units we wanted to re-visit (not true) and would let him know the next day if we were interested. The following morning we had one last “reality check” to talk over whether or not this was something we really wanted to do. It was. Next we called Seňor Germán Estrada. Last year a couple from Astoria, Oregon who live in the same condo, Girasol Sur, as our friends Mark and Gail Learned, recommended a book by Germán (Mexico Magico) that helps foreigners find their way through the legal mazes of Mexico when it comes to buying property. We had also stumbled upon his email address on the internet. It also happened that he lived on the same floor as Mark and Gail. We had met Germán the day before when we looked at some units at Girasol (prices had gone way up!). When we called him we asked him if he would act as our representative in the negotiations to purchase the condo at Marina Las Palmas. He said he would (for a fee, of course). (Stroke of luck, #3).

The next evening we went back to #210 and met again with Sr. Chavez. We told him we wanted to purchase the condo. He smiled, we shook hands and that was it—almost. We then called Germán and explained the general terms of the agreement. He suggested a counter-offer on one item, which we made and Sr. Chavez accepted. Amazingly, while we sat on the terrace drinking a tequila toast to the deal, Germán (at home) typed out an “earnest money agreement” and emailed it to us. Steve ran down to the boat, printed it off, returned to the condo, we all signed and it was a “done deal”—almost. The deal still had to hold together until we all signed the Promesa de la Venta (Promise of Sale) at the time of making a 10% down payment, and until the owner signed the new Escritura (our deed).

This process can take months sometimes, but thanks to Germán, he managed to get it done in one month. (We could write a whole blog with Germán as the sole subject.) This allowed us to take possession of the unit three weeks before it was time for us to leave Puerto Vallarta (stroke of luck, #4). Sr. Chavez had graciously permitted us to have daily access to the unit during the closing process, but we were not sleeping there until after the signing of the Escritura.

There will eventually be pictures on the website, but here’s a brief lowdown. It’s a small one-bedroom (king bed), overlooking Marina Vallarta on the third floor (it’s #210 because floors are numbered from above ground level; i.e. we are on the second floor above the ground floor.) We are on the corner and so our bedroom does not share a wall with a neighbor and we have a street view out the side in addition to the full marina view. Being on the end means we also get a great breeze on the terrace almost every day, and if we open the door to the utility room off the kitchen it blows right through it and the living room. If we leave the front door open we have to nail things down at times because the breeze is so strong—we love it! And at night when the breezes tend to die, we have air conditioning we can turn on for a while just enough to cool it down for a good night’s sleep.

It has a nice, tiled bathroom and shower, and a dining room in addition to the other rooms mentioned. There’s a walk-in closet off the bedroom. It came fully furnished and we are, at least initially, very happy with it. Seňora Chavez had a very good eye. Perhaps in time we will make changes, but for the time being it is just fine. Although it is only a 1-bedroom, the living room sofa is a hide-away double bed, so we can have visitors!

Aside from the location, size, price and furnishings, one of the things that really attracted us was the common areas. It’s like a jungle garden, with thatched palapa-style roofs and all kinds of tropical plants and palms. There are two tennis courts with covered parking underneath them. On the other side of the grounds is a very large swimming pool with two islands containing palm trees and plants. At one end of the pool is a bar with ceramic tile stools in the pool.

And finally, Kay has what she has lusted for so many years—her very own washer and dryer in her very own utility room.

We fully enjoyed our stay in PV especially the last few weeks that we were able to live in our new home. We are very pleased with our decision.

But soon it was time for us to leave PV and return to La Paz. We briefly mentioned in the last blog that we had made the decision to ship Kavenga home at the end of this cruising season. This was directly related to our plans to purchase a condo. The shipping company, Dockwise, had sent us an email telling us that the ship would arrive and be ready to load in La Paz toward the end of May. Reluctantly, we moved some belongings back aboard the boat and prepared to leave the condo for four months. We met with our “new” housekeeper, Maria Luisa (she had been serving the Chavez’ for 12 years) and made arrangements for her to care for the place in our absence.

We’d had a lot of fun during this three-month period in PV. Not all of it was taken up with buying the condo. We met many new friends and were reunited with old ones. We did the hot springs hike at La Desembocada three more times, with the crews of Lotus, Bold Spirit, and Dos Amantes/Ten Ten, respectively. We enjoyed it every single time. We also, with Joe and Laurie of Dos Amantes, rented a jeep and drove up to the mountain village of San Sebastian. Both the drive and the town were a kick. While we are anxious to get to our “old” home, Gig Harbor, we are also anxious to return to our new one in PV in the Fall.

We’re now sitting in slip G-12 at the brand new, luxurious Costa Baja marina near the entrance to La Paz Bay. Tomorrow morning (May 31) we will depart the marina and motor 3 miles north the Pichelingue to meet DE12, the ship that will carry Kavenga to Nanaimo, B.C. They are predicting they will be there in only seven days. This creates a bit of a challenge for us as we have to get back to San Carlos on the other side of the Sea of Cortez where we left our van. We then have to get it running and drive to Gig Harbor and catch a bus to Nanaimo! Yikes!

How this all works out will be the subject of our next blog. Thanks for coming along.

Baja & Sea of Cortez

2006-03-05T10:55:00.000-08:00

As it turned out, we made it across the Sea of Cortez to Santa Rosalia, just in time to avoid a really nasty Norther that blew for several days. When a high pressure system moves in from the Pacific and sits over the Four Corners area (Utah, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico), the wind blows straight down the Sea at speeds of up to 40 knots. For three days the “White Horses” or “Buffalos” were running downwind. That’s what sailors call the big white-capped seas that build up during an extended blow.

Even though Marina Santa Rosalia is old and rickety, its steel pilings were well set and we had no qualms about leaving Kavenga for trips into town for groceries, internet access, and sight seeing.

Santa Rosalia is definitely not a major tourist destination, although it is trying to change that. It is still a dusty ex-mining town whose mining operations have shut down. A French company virtually built the town many years ago when they established a copper mine and smelter here. They also built the breakwater that creates the protected harbor and anchorage that we were then enjoying. The French imported clapboard lumber and it is about the only town you’ll see in western Mexico where the buildings are constructed out of wood instead of bricks or blocks.

Other than the mining museum, the main tourist attraction is the steel church that sits in the middle of town. The church was prefabricated out of steel in France and displayed at an exhibition in 1889. The owner of the Santa Rosalia copper company saw it and decided to buy and have it shipped there for reassembly. The church was designed by Carl Gustav Eiffel, the same man that designed the Eiffel Tower of Paris. That certainly gives dusty little Santa Rosalia something to be proud of. The stained glass windows were very pretty and the one picture on our website does not do it justice.

A day or so after we arrived in Santa Rosalia we were reunited with the crew of Elusive, Dick and Carol, whom we had not seen since last year in Zhuatenejo. We hadn’t really gotten to know them that well down there, and being a captive of the weather here gave us a chance to get better acquainted. They also had a crew person on board, Bobby Rohrer. We didn’t know it at the time, but we were to share many anchorages with them as we finally got a change in the weather and headed south.

Elusive left a day before us but we quickly caught up with them at the huge bay, Bahia Concepcion. Although the bay itself is open to the north, it has many smaller bays and coves within that provide good protection from the winter Northers that seem to crank up every few days during the winter months. The vast majority of cruising boats that had spent the summer hurricane season hiding out in the northern Sea of Cortez had already fled south to Banderas Bay and the Mexican Riviera to get away from the Northers that bring cooler temperatures to both the air and water. It’s amazing how rapidly it goes from being a bit too warm to a bit too cold in the Sea.

The positive for Kavenga and Elusive of being left behind and playing catch-up is that we had anchorages that were normally crowded, all to ourselves. Our first anchorage in Bahia Concepcion was at Santispac Beach. A lovely crescent of sandy beach that is packed with RVs and palapa-style vacation homes. The US and Canadian “campers” pay about $7.00 a day for the right to live on the beach in what is called the Zona Federal; i.e. government lands. The only services here were a couple of restaurants, one of which had a small grocery store attached.

We moved further south into the bay and anchored at El Burro Cove. This stop was notable for a couple of reasons. The first was that we met an American named Gary who had built the first palapa at El Burro. Now the beach was almost totally lined with them. Gary is well known to Sea of Cortez cruisers as he is also an avid ham radio operator and provides a weather report for the middle Sea every morning on the Sonrisa Net. He also has an internet wireless hub that he gladly shares with anchored boats. By anchoring directly out from his palapa, we were able to send and receive emails and access the internet from the comfort of our cabin. My, my, cruising sure has changed since we were down here in 1991.

The other reason this stop at El Burro was notable, was the hike we took. We could see a trail with a series of switchbacks going up the steep hills behind the anchorage. It looked as though we would be able to get some good photos of the anchorage, which proved to be the case, however the interesting part of the hike was the petroglyphs that we stumbled upon when we accidentally got off the main trail. They weren’t as impressive as the ones we’d seen near Capitol Reefs National Monument in Utah, however these were unique in that we found these on our own. The clearest one was of a long, striped fish, similar to a mackerel or wahoo.

We moved from El Burro to the Punta Santo Domingo anchorage near the entrance to Bahia Concepcion for one night before continuing on south. Although this anchorage offers less protection than other anchorages in the bay, it is less populated and was covered with scallop shells of all colors and many other sea shells as well.

We motored out of Santa Domingo while still dark the next morning and were treated to a spectacular sunrise. We motored at first to get north around the point, but as soon as we were able to turn south, the wind had already gathered enough strength to let us raise sail. By the time we reached our day’s destination in the afternoon, the wind was gusting to 20 knots and higher.

Punta Pulpito is a massive volcanic headland that rises from a low neck of protruding land to several hundred feet. It’s shape gives it its name, “Pulpit Point.” We appreciated its protection as we sailed in to its lee and furled our sails in relative calm. Only one other boat lay at anchor, Shadowfax, a Canadian sailboat. Soon after we had our anchor down and set, Elusive arrived and anchored between us and Shadowfax. The wind continued to blow at Force Five and the low isthmus that connects Baja to Punta Pulpito does little to protect the anchorage. It does however provide excellent shelter from sea and swell. So although the wind whistled through our rigging, and kept the wind generator cranking out the amps, Kavenga remained steady, not healing to either side.

With Dick and Carol from Elusive, we went for a hike, which consisted of scrambling up a dune-like sandy bluff and then walking a jeep track to the cove on the windward side of the point. We all found the little pieces of obsidian called Apache Tears, and Carol found, and gave to us, what appears to be the lower jaws of a dolphin.

We would have liked to hike the trail leading up to the top of Punta Pulpito, but we decided to continue on south the next morning to San Juanico. It is a more protected anchorage, with more attractions to explore, and in addition, we knew from radio contacts that our friends Robert and Virginia of the ketch Harmony were there and due to leave soon, so we wanted to catch them first.

It’s only nine miles from Pulpito to San Juanico, so the engine barely got warmed up and we didn’t bother with sails. The anchorage offers several possibilities, but during the winter season with its prevailing northerly winds, most cruising boats prefer the northern anchorages on either side of a small island known by two names: The Lump, and Prudential. We preferred the latter as when seen from entering the bay from the south, it looks like the Gibraltar logo of the insurance company of that name.

In addition to Harmony, a powerboat that we remembered from Marina Real in San Carlos was also at anchor: Claudacious. Shortly after Elusive arrived, we took their crewman, Bobby, with us on a dinghy excursion to one of the beaches to the south. It turned out to be a relatively good beach for shelling, and in addition to the ubiquitous Veined Olives, we also came up with a couple of nice Two-Banded Moon Snails and Bobby found and gave Kay a beautiful Ornate Auger in perfect condition. That shell now has special significance as we just recently (3/4/06) learned that Bobby had died in a car crash while driving his truck home to New Mexico from San Carlos.

San Juanico is one of several cruising destinations around the world like Horta in the Azores, and Musket Cove in Fiji, that has a tradition of boats recording their names for posterity. Just up from the water is a gnarled, stunted tree that has become the site of the San Juanico Cruiser’s Shrine. Boat crews come up with various clever means of leaving their names in, on or around the tree. Our friends Brian and Marilyn had left the name of Icarian spelled out in lettered scallop shells hanging from a horizontal stick wedged among the tree’s branches. Joan and Jason of Mildred Kane had found a red brick somewhere and neatly chiseled their name in it and left it at the base of the tree. Others had spelled their name in script with lengths of small rope tacked to a board, etc. We elected to follow Mildred Kane’s example and used a cold chisel to etch “Kavenga” into a piece of flat granite rock. We then filled the letters with dark red paint.

The day before we left we went on another dinghy excursion and hike to another of the beaches to the south. Behind the beach we found a mangrove lagoon and a well-worn cow path leading inland. While Kay and Carol combed the beach for shells, Steve, Bobby and Dick followed the cow-path to a small rancho with a hand-dug well with one wall slanted outward at a shallow angle so that the cows could walk down and sip the water. Although we were followed by several curious cows, we saw none of the cow hands that must come around occasionally to check up on their herd.

One of the joys of cruising is making new friends. But then sadness often follows when it comes time to sail in different directions. So it was with the crew of Elusive. They needed to return to San Carlos and we needed to keep making our way south. We wished them well as we both hoisted our anchors and departed for our separate destinations.

The winds were too light to sail until, of course, we reached our next anchorage at Isla Coronados, a large island that sits just barely off the Baja coastline, north of Loreto, one of the more significant towns along Mexican Highway 1. The anchorage on the south side of Isla Coronados is little more than an open roadstead in the lee of the island’s central peak. Nevertheless, it gave us adequate protection from the sea and swell that continued to build on the leading edge of a new Norther. We launched the fiberglass Ranger Minto dinghy rather than the Tinker inflatable because it was a relatively short distance to shore that we could row, and because the beach was very rocky and appeared unfriendly to inflatables. We also found the bottom to be littered with spiny sea urchins near the shore. A thousand boats could anchor here but we were all alone.

Although the Norther had generated winds close to 30 knots over night, we had a brief lull in the morning and figured we could make it to a more protected anchorage on Isla Carmen before they picked up again. We easily motored the 8 miles in 4 to 6 foot seas to a small cove with the lofty name, Puerto Ballandra, on the west side of the large island, Isla Carmen. Although it is small, it is relatively deep and we had to snuggle up close to the northern beach in order to get into a reasonable depth (40’) for anchoring. Once again, we had the anchorage to ourselves, which, considering the size of the cove and limited anchorage depths, was just as well. The only signs of life were a small fishing shack and a large sign proclaiming the island as an ecological park and wildlife refuge. Upon dinghying ashore we found numerous heads and other parts of small hammerhead sharks in the shallows and on the beach. Vultures were cleaning up those that were out of the water. It was quite obvious that shark fishing is big business around here—and, that the sharks are numerous.

The strong winds kept us aboard Kavenga all the following day, but the day after that the Norther had finally blown itself out and we headed for Puerto Escondido. We passed Loreto on the way, and although it is a good-sized city by Baja standards, it does not have a protected harbor for boats bigger than fishing pangas. One can stop there in calm conditions and simply anchor off the beach, but if the wind should suddenly crank up, it would necessitate a hasty departure and might involve a very wet dinghy ride getting out through the surf.

Puerto Escondido is a very large and protected anchorage. At the time we were there, except for the anchored boats, it looked a bit like a ghost town. A failed development from several years ago has left roads, canals, curbs, sidewalks and lamp posts waiting for houses that were never built. The drab, gray concrete and rusty rebar of a half completed condominium sits in the middle. However, a new company has come in and has begun the construction of a new fuel dock and marina. Much to the disappointment of local cruisers, they also filled the inner harbor with their own mooring buoys and now everyone has to pay them to anchor or moor in that area.

We chose to anchor outside in what is called The Waiting Room. Although it is almost free ($1 per day) to anchor there and it has better protection from the Northers, it is very deep, requiring the use of a lot of chain or rope to anchor. We stayed for about five days and it was very calm the whole time.

It was 15 miles back to Loreto with its grocery stores, internet cafes and restaurants. Fortunately we were befriended by two different ladies who gave us rides there in their cars. The first was Tina. She and her husband are apple farmers from Eastern Washington and started coming to Baja a few years back by van and trailer. They now have a permanent house here at Puerto Escondido. Our other ride came from Susie on the trimaran Sparta. She and her husband Jim have two boats, and Jim was currently sailing the other down to El Salvador. Susie gave us the complete tour of Loreto and we had her over for a movie.

Our last full day at Puerto Escondido was Christmas. Three of the local boats rafted together and hosted a potluck dinner for the rest of us. Kay made pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. We have to admit it doesn’t seem very “Christmassy” when it is 85 degrees and none of your friends or relatives are there.

It was still calm the next day when we left and so we motored the whole way to our next stop, Agua Verde. This is a very pretty anchorage, but without a lot of room, so we were pleased that no other boats were there when we arrived allowing us to take the prime spot. A big trimaran, Manta, and a powerboat came in later and had to anchor further out and closer to the reef.

Agua Verde has a small village, but it is far from the main highway and lacks many modern conveniences. The locals mainly exist by fishing and herding goats. They are well known for their goat cheese. Steve had a flat tire while riding the dusty dirt roads that seem to cross at all angles through the village. While he was pumping up the flat tire, a large herd of curious juvenile goats surrounded him and sniffed the bikes. We also rode the bikes to a palm oasis and deserted beach. The slough at the oasis looked perfect for crocodiles but we didn’t see any.

Not everyone is able to stop at Los Gatos, which was to be our next anchorage. It offers even less protection from northerly winds than Agua Verde. Although we had a good north breeze and 3 to 4 foot seas when we arrived, once again no one else was there and we were able to tuck way up behind the small headland and reef. Like we said earlier, being late in the season had its advantages. At Los Gatos, like much of the Baja coastline in the Sea of Cortez, the color and geologic formations are amazing, approaching the Grand Canyon in…well, grandeur. The name means “The Cats” and according to local legend, the area was once the home of a pair of mountain lions.

After we left Los Gatos we took an especially long look at the coastline between there and our next destination, Punta San Evaristo. When we were in Mexico in 1991, Evaristo was the farthest north we traveled before turning back south. We had just recently made the decision to ship Kavenga back to Puget Sound this coming Spring. Consequently, we had the feeling that this stretch of coast was the last bit of “new land” for us to “discover”. Henceforth, everything we would be seeing would be areas that we had cruised before.

The anchorage at Evaristo was much as we remembered it from 1991, but now there was a “town” on shore, whereas before there had been one loan ramada (4 poles and a thatched roof) that provided shade for the fishermen’s freezer chest (generator powered). Now they had about 20 houses, a desalinization plant, power lines, a slightly better gravel road to La Paz, and that badge of civilization, a green road sign that proudly stated “San Evaristo.” We were there on New Year’s weekend and it appeared as though the entire population must have gone to La Paz.

Isla San Francisco, undisputedly one of the most beautiful anchorages in Mexico, was also much as we remembered it with one exception. We weren’t used to the wake boarders, kayakers, hikers, snorkelers and sun bathers disgorged by the smaller excursion cruise ships that are nowadays plying the waters between Cabo San Lucas and Santa Rosalia. We were glad we had seen it in, alas, the Good Ol’ Days. On the other hand, for those of you who would like to experience cruising Baja but don’t want to do it in your own boat, the opportunity now readily exists. Sea Lion and Sea Bird were the two ships we saw the most. Their crews were quite friendly and often apologized to us for invading “our” tranquil settings.

This pattern was repeated a few more times as we revisited Isla Partida and Isla Espiritu Santo. We anchored in a couple of the same anchorages as we had in 1991, but we also had the time to check out some new ones such as El Cordenal and Puerto Ballena (another one). We had another Norther blow through while we were in these islands and anchorages, but we always managed to find a protected spot and a bottom that provided good holding for our trusty Bruce anchor.

We were starting to run out of a few supplies, cheese in particular, and so we started looking longingly toward the supermarkets of La Paz. Just north of there we stopped for one more night on the hook at a lovely little cove called Caleta Lobos.

The following morning, as we headed into La Paz harbor, we passed the industrial port of Pichilingue. We made note of Bahia Falso (False Bay) just outside the port. We will probably anchor there the night before Kavenga loads aboard the ship that will carry her to Vancouver B.C. in June.

From the water, La Paz looked much the same as it did in 1991 with the exception of the brand new Costa Baja Marina and also the relatively new Marina Palmira. We had reservations at the “old” Marina de La Paz, which is now somewhat new in that it had to be practically rebuilt from scratch after hurricane Marty. We were also a little surprised to find a restaurant and several shops built within the marina compound that had not been there a “mere” 15 years ago.

The Northers continued to blow and we had to keep the portholes and hatches closed and wear long pants. This is not our idea of Mexico. So once we had a taste of civilization and had reprovisioned, we were ready to head for the warmer waters of Banderas Bay and Puerto Vallarta on the mainland. We’ll pick up on our way there in the next edition of Kavenga’s Wake. Thanks for coming along.

Favorite Gadgets # 7 - RAM Mike

2006-01-20T15:22:00.000-08:00

RAM stands for (I think) Remote Access Microphone. When you add “Mike” to that it sounds kinda redundant, doesn’t it?

Anyhoo, this gadget is essentially an auxiliary microphone with a long cable for our marine VHF radio. What makes it special is that it has nearly all the controls on it that the base radio itself has, as well as a very good speaker. We take it out to the cockpit prior to getting underway for any trip, short or long.

On our last cruise, prior to having the RAM mike, it was often difficult or impossible to hear another vessel calling us if both of us were out in the cockpit. The base radio itself is located down in the cabin, next to the chart table. If the engine was running, or if there was a lot of wind, chances are we wouldn’t hear anyone calling us.

Having the RAM Mike in the cockpit is almost like having a second radio. Aside from it being close at hand, its speaker is quite loud and easily heard above engine or other noises. It has also enhanced our safety in that neither one of us has to go below to answer a call. We can maintain a lookout for other vessels and hazards while talking on the radio. This is especially handy if, for example, we are receiving directions from a marina or harbormaster as we are entering an unfamiliar port. We can actually look for the landmarks they are telling us about, right while they are talking to us.

It used to be that when making passages we had to leave the radio on at night for safety. If the person on watch had to make or answer a call, it would inevitably awaken the off-watch crew. Now we just turn down the volume of the base radio at night. The person on watch can then receive or make calls using the RAM mike in the cockpit without disturbing the precious sleep time of the other crewmember below in the cabin.

Our Bottom is Smooth Again

2006-01-17T13:41:00.000-08:00

We had been away from Mexico for over four months, so we were a little nervous as we approached the border, especially since the van was carrying two large boxes of materials needed for Kavenga’s epoxy barrier coat. Although we weren’t trying to hide anything, it still can be a little unsettling when you approach an international border and need to stop at Customs. We would never make good drug smugglers.

As it turned out it was practically a non-event. The Mexican Customs agent wasn’t interested in the details of what we were bringing. “Boat Parts” was good enough for him as long as we had the receipts showing what we paid for them in the States. We paid the duty (Mexican sales tax + 2% = 17%) and were on our way to Kilometer 21, the Immigration and vehicle checkpoint. That was easy too. Got our Mexican visas stamped and a vehicle import permit (which we found out later we may not have needed due our visa type), and we were on the road to San Carlos.

We rolled into Marina Seca (the boatyard in the desert), that evening with just enough daylight to go take a quick peak at Kavenga. She was right where we left her and looked pretty much the same although we could see that yard workers had cleared out all of the brush that had been growing underneath her, including the little cherry tomatoes—darn. They had also ground out all of the blisters in the fiberglass beneath the waterline. Essentially, she was ready for the barrier coat process.

We stayed inside the yard in the van for a couple of days. But we could see that living in the yard for a few weeks was not a pleasant prospect with all of the dust, noise, and lack of facilities. Our old South Pacific cruising buddies, Bob and Janet Pedersen (formerly of the sailboat, Jubilation, and now of Kelly Marie) were also at Marina Seca getting their boat ready to sell. They were living in their RV at El Mirador RV park 3 miles north of town adjacent to Marina Real, the other marina in the San Carlos area. That was enough of an incentive along with the yard conditions to get us to cough up enough pesos for a month’s stay at El Mirador.

That was probably one of the smartest things we have done recently. We loved it at El Mirador. It is not just a nice RV park, it is probably the nicest we’ve ever stayed in. Each site has its own cobble driveway and cement pad for patio furniture, etc. Cable TV was provided with all the major networks, plus HBO and a few others. We had wireless internet in the van. There are two tennis courts, a pool, rec room, Laundromat, and first class restaurant. And the views around the park are dramatic: craggy peaks, high mountains, beautiful bay with sandy beaches, the marina. An unusual benefit (some might disagree) was the nightly serenade by the local pack of coyotes that would sometimes come right through the park after dark. If you have never heard coyotes up close and personal, it is indescribable. The best we could say is it somewhere between, wolf, human and alien being.

For the first three to four weeks our routine was to go for a run in the morning, watch the morning news on TV (OK so we watched the Ellen Degeneres show, too), read our newspaper or book, have lunch and then head over to the yard to check progress on Kavenga. We were pleasantly surprised on that score. We had expected to have to stay on top of things in order to keep on schedule, but it wasn’t necessary. They moved Kavenga to the work area shortly after we arrived and began work on her immediately and essentially didn’t stop until she was done.

The barrier coat process went as follows: a) sandblast old bottom paint away, b) remove fiberglass gelcoat with special planer, c) grind out all blisters, d) fill and fair the ground out areas with epoxy mixed with silica, e) sand the hull fair, f) fill, fair and sand any remaining low areas, g) apply two coats of red epoxy primer, h) apply four coats of epoxy mixed with barrier coat additive, i) sand hull and apply three more coats of epoxy mixed with barrier coat additive, j) sand hull, k) apply two coats of anti-fouling bottom paint. Items a and b were done prior to our departure last Spring and c was done while we were gone.

Almost all of the work was performed by the same single yard worker, a young man named Jose. Some days it would be close to 90 degrees and he would be wearing full coveralls with a hood and respirator mask. But he always had a smile and an “Hola” for us whenever we showed up.

Once we could see that the project was nearing the end, we started preparing Kavenga to go back in the water. We filled her bilge with fresh water and switched the cooling water intake to the bilge instead of from the “sea”. This allowed us to start the engine while out of the water to make sure that it was ready to go. It was. The batteries seemed to have suffered no ill effects from having not been charged all summer. Contrary to what we had been led to expect, they had lost hardly any of their fluid.

Although we didn’t really plan it this way, it turned out that Kavenga was ready to launch the day before our prepaid month at El Mirador was due to expire. Thankfully, it was a nearly windless day when the tractor and trailer hauled Kavenga the mile or so up the highway to Marina San Carlos. We say that because the marina is very tight and built in a natural wind tunnel that amplifies any winds, making maneuvering very interesting.

Before we knew it we were out into the Sea of Cortez and on our way up to Marina Real, an easy 45-minute trip up the coast. We pulled into our assigned slip on Dock 12 and then Bob and Janet were kind enough to give us a ride back to Marina San Carlos to get the van.

So, we had one more night on the van before moving back aboard Kavenga. This allowed us to make sure Kavenga was ready for habitation before leaving the comforts of the van and El Mirador. Good-bye cable TV! But by comparison, the living space in Kavenga seemed like a palatial mansion compared to the van.

Once we were out of the van, we needed to basically get Kavenga cleaned up and provisioned for travel, and the van cleaned out and ready for storage. Again with Bob and Janet’s help, we drove the van out to Ranchitos, a “housing development” on the outskirts of San Carlos and parked the van in a storage compound run by an American couple.

We started listening to the weather nets on the short-wave radio again and heard that we had a good weather window for crossing the Sea of Cortez to Baja. But because of the shallow entrance to Marina Real, we had to wait until mid morning to leave our slip on the 1^st of December. So instead of heading straight across, we just went around the corner and anchored in the lovely little cove just over the hill from El Mirador, Caleta Lalo.

In order to make landfall at Santa Rosalia on the other side of the Sea early the following day, we left about midnight after getting about four hours sleep. It was a moonless night, but the compensation is a sky filled with more stars than you will ever see in light-polluted North America. And between the two of us, we saw ten shooting stars or meteors that night. We managed to sail for part of the trip and before the sun came up we received a dolphin escort leaving luminous tunnels of fluorescence in the water.

The winds that were predicted to come up in the early morning and make our arrival at Marina Santa Rosalia challenging, never arrived. We ghosted into our slip without any swearing or shouting from shore or from us to mark our arrival to the boats already there. Once secured, it was time for a shower and then a nap to catch up on the sleep we missed during the overnight passage.

In the next episode, we’ll head on down the inside of the Baja peninsula, an area considered by many to be the best cruising grounds in Mexico

Favorite Gadget # 6 - GPS Alarm

2006-01-16T12:11:00.000-08:00

There always comes a time when cruising sailors find themselves in somewhat dicey anchorages. The cause could be poor holding (rocky or oozy bottoms come to mind), high winds, or nearby dangers (rocks, reefs, coral heads, etc.).

When these situations occur it can be hard to get a good night’s sleep. In the past (1990-1993 cruise) we tried using the anchor alarm on our depth sounder, which would go off if the water depth changed by a preset amount. But that only worked if we were anchored on a sloping bottom where the depth changed rapidly. In an anchorage with a flat bottom but with dangers nearby, it wasn’t much of a help. The only other solution was to set an “anchor watch” which meant that one of us either got up periodically to check our position or stayed up for a period of time and alternated watches with the other crew person. Neither of these options was very popular aboard Kavenga, although we did it when we had to.

Now, in the age of sophisticated GPS units (Global Positioning Systems), relief has arrived. Once we arrive at a new anchorage, we leave our GPS on and after a half hour or so the boat has settled into its initial anchored position. Using the GPS alarm feature, we can set it to go off at increments of 60 feet. In other words, at the lowest setting, if the boat moves 60 feet from where we initially anchored, the GPS beeps to inform us of that fact. Sometimes, conditions are such that the winds are variable and the boat is naturally shifting around. We typically have out anywhere from 100 to 200 feet of anchor chain. So our “swinging circle” can be as much as 200 to 400 feet in diameter respectively. If the boat is moving around a lot, but not dragging its anchor, we might set the alarm for 120 feet or even 180 feet if there are no reefs or rocks astern of us.

In addition to the alarm, the tracking feature of the GPS tells us what’s going on. As the boat moves, it leaves electronic “bread crumbs” in its path, little blips on the screen. As the boat naturally swings from side to side and pulls on the anchor, it eventually leaves an arc of bread crumbs, which we have dubbed the “smiley face”. This arc is in fact a electronic image of part of our swinging circle. As long as Kavenga stays somewhere on that arc, we know we aren’t dragging anchor, we are just moving around the anchor. However, if the bread crumb trail starts to resemble the pattern of a falling maple leaf that gets farther and farther from its initial arc, we know something is going on. This happened to us recently in an anchorage called El Cardenal on Isla Partida, north of La Paz. We were anchored close to the rocky, high cliff shore. We moved to the center of the cove and re-anchored with the wind still blowing 25 to 30 knots and had no problems thereafter. We subsequently reasoned that the bottom closer to the cliffs and rocky shore, probably had less sand over the rocks that had fallen from the cliffs over the years, making for an irregular and less penetrable bottom. The GPS bread crumb pattern alerted us to what was going on even before the alarm when off.

So, score another one for modern technology.

Surfing The Cold Wave

2005-12-20T13:57:00.000-08:00

It seems that we resume moving south whenever it becomes necessary to turn on the heat or switch from shorts to jeans, hence the title of this blog.

We are getting so far behind on our website and blogs that we'll try to speed things up a bit.

It was quite cold indeed at Lassen Volcanic National Park so we made a beeline for the California Delta with just one stop at a beautiful RV park on the banks of the Sacramento River near the town of Los Molinos, California. Once again, our destination in the Delta was Bethel Island, near Antioch. We stopped at Fairfield on the way for a tour of the famous Jellybelly factory. We are still enjoying our 49 flavors.

This time we arrived at our friend Jerry Kimble's place on Piper Slough by land instead of water. Jerry wasn't around so we went ahead and got the van situated, put the awning out and enjoyed the warm Delta sun. Jerry soon arrived and once again welcomed us and told us to make ourselves at home. We were way ahead of him.

It was September 17. Kavenga wasn't due to be ready for the application of her epoxy barrier coat until after October 1. Thanks to Jerry, the Delta was the ideal place for us to kill some time before heading on down to San Carlos. You might be saying, "It's warm in Mexico, why not just go down and wait in San Carlos?" Well, until about October 15, it is more than warm there. It is oppressively hot and humid, a fact confirmed by several of our friends who spent the summer there. So being the pansies we are, we try to stay in the "Comfort Zone," less than 100F during the day and more than 65F at night. It should be noted however, that we observed many Puget Sounders complaining when the temperature rose above 85F this summer, so it would appear that our scale has been modified by our time in Mexico.

We stayed at Jerry's place until October 8. We ran on the levies in the mornings, rode our bikes into Bethel Island (for newspapers, groceries & lunches), drove in to Antioch for double feature movies every few days, and generally "vegged out" reading and watching TV. We had guests on one occasion, Joan and Jason of the sailing vessel Mildred Kane, whom we met in the lagoon at Barra de Navidad and nearly wound up in the hooskow with them in Lazaro Cardenas. They shipped Mildred Kane home to San Francisco Bay and have subsequently gone back to work (they are youngsters).

One constructive thing accomplished while we were there was to help Jerry get started on a facelift for his Cape Dory 36, Audrey. She has bronze winches and lots of bronze fittings on deck. We got a good start on getting them all polished up and coated with DuraTuff, which will maintain the shine for a year or more. Soon Jerry would be ready to start prepping the teak for varnish. Oops, time to leave. (Also, night time temperatures were starting to drop below 60.)

Our next major destination was Redondo Beach. One memorable stop along the way was Pinnacles National Monument. This park south of San Jose is home to half of an extinct volcano that was cut in half by the San Andreas fault. The other half is 195 miles to the south where the original eruptions took place. Fairly graphic evidence that something is going on here.

We stayed at RV parks in Paso Robles and Ojai before continuing on the Redondo Beach. We called ahead to our friends Hugh and Vickey of the sailing vessel, Snow White. Like Joan and Jason, they have returned to California and gone back to work (they are youngsters too), however they sailed Snow White back up, doing the infamous Baja Bash, and indeed getting bashed for a day or two. We had checked out a nice RV park right on the beach near LAX airport, but Hugh and Vickey insisted that we stay aboard Snow White at the Long Beach Marina. They were now living ashore, so after dinner we followed them to the Long Beach Marina and after showing us the ropes on Snow White, bid us good night and gave us the keys.

This proved to be such a good deal and such a beautiful spot that we decided to stay one extra day. We went for a run early the next morning and saw the parking lot full of movie trailers and equipment. On our way back, Steve spotted a red-headed man in a black suit standing in front of cameras beside a police car that said "Miami-Dade" on the side. "That's David Caruso," said Steve. It was indeed and they were filming an episode of CSI Miami. We also later saw Caruso's two male co-stars in the CSI Hummer. If you are a CSI fan, this was the episode where one of the CSI team is shot in the eye with a nail gun. Ouch. About four weeks later we saw that episode while staying at the El Mirador RV park in San Carlos.

We had one brief stop to make before our next major stop in San Diego. Turns out Steve has a third cousin he had never met in Rainbow, California. Dick and Peggy Van Slyke have a unique and beautiful home there with two pinball machines, a jukebox and two large scale model trains running around the ceiling of their downstairs family room. We had a very enjoyable conversation and lunch with them at a Mexican restaurant in nearby Fallbrook.

Our hard-luck story continues in San Diego--Imperial Beach actually--where we were given the use of our friends Bill and Marilyn Owel's 3-story condo, about two blocks from the beach. As in their house in Gig Harbor (that we house sat for them this summer), we felt overwhelmed by the amount of living space, having been accustomed to life in the boat and the van. We spent October 13th through the 18th here, and enjoyed running south along the beach homes to the dead end at the Tijuana Slough Wildlife Refuge. Tijuana itself is visible in the distance.

You are wondering, October 13? Didn't we say Kavenga would be ready for her barrier coat work in early October? Just before we left the Delta, we gave Jesus at the Marina Seca boatyard a call. He said the moisture readings showed that Kavenga needed to dry for another two weeks. That made our target date for arriving back in San Carlos October 21. Our last few days at Imperial Beach were overcast with daytime high temperatures in the upper 60s. Time to move further south.

Steve's Aunt Mary (his mother's sister), whom he hadn't seen for a couple of years, lives in Yuma, Arizona. As luck would have it, she was home when we called after getting on the road for Tucson from Imperial Beach. We found her place easily and had a nice visit before getting back on the road.

About 25 miles beyond Yuma, we pulled in to the M&M RV park in Wellton, AZ. This was not the best park we have stayed in but the price was good and we met some nice folks in a van similar to ours, but with a huge satellite internet dish on its roof. They let us use a wireless connection to access the internet from our van. We sent email to our friends Ron and Diane of the sailing vessel Batwing, who were also headed south, to let them know that we would be at the Tra-Tel RV Park in Tucson tomorrow night if they happened to be in the area.

Sure enough, they rolled in about 6PM the next night and we had a nice long visit. They are headed on across the border to Guaymas tomorrow. We needed to stay one extra day to pick up our mail and get the van insured for Mexico. With that taken care of the following afternoon, we headed south out of Tucson but stopped short of the border and spent the night at DeAnza Trails RV Park. It's a huge park and very nice, having been converted from a former greyhound race track.

In the next blog we'll pick up with our trip south across the border and back to San Carlos.

Hasta luego.

Favorite Gadget #5 - Skype

2005-11-28T12:29:00.000-08:00

Last year on our way down the Pacific side of the Baja Peninsula, while anchored in Magdalena Bay, we heard another boat on marine radio touting the latest gimmick on the internet. It had the unusual name, Skype. According to the testimonial, one could make free telephone calls over the internet. We wrongly assumed that this was some kind of “techy fever”, probably for computer geeks only and forgot about it.

But later in our cruise we began to have a need to make phone calls back to the states, and while it is possible to make phone calls using phone cards from pay phones in Mexico, we thought it would be much easier, not to mention much less expensive if this Skype thing really worked.

Well, in short, it does. At least most of the time. It is affected by the quality and speed of your connection. So at times when we are using wireless connections at less then full strength, the people we call may have a hard time hearing every word we say, and sometimes there is a delay between the end of a spoken sentence and when it starts to be heard at the other end.

Skype is currently a free download from the internet. Calls between Skype users are free. Skype users can call non-Skype contacts (using ordinary phone numbers) for 2 cents a minute. Until recently it has not been possible for a non-Skype contact to call a Skype user from a regular phone or cell phone. This would of course require that a Skype user have a regular phone number somewhere. Skype is just now beta-testing this capability and we haven’t yet signed up. It will cost about $40 per year to establish a US-based phone number.

To use Skype after we have successfully downloaded it is very simple. As soon as we have established an internet connection we can look at the Skype window and it will tell us if any of our regular Skype contacts are also online. It will also notify us if one of them signs on to the internet while we are online. If one of them is online, we simply click on their name and Skype places the call. Our laptop rings like a phone. Unless you have a built in microphone, you will also need a computer headset. These are pretty cheap Radio Shack, CompUSA, etc. They have two plugs, one for the microphone and one for the headphones. We often just plug the mike in and use the computer’s speakers so both of us can hear what is being said.

We can only talk to other Skype users if they are also online. However, we can call anyone with a regular (or cell) phone number. We just set them up as what is called a Skype-Out contact, click on their name and once again the computer dials the number.

When we got to San Carlos last spring, we needed to make a lot of phone calls and Skype made it a lot easier. So, if you’d like to call us for free, or any of your friends around the world for 2 cents a minute, give Skype a try. Over 211 million people have downloaded it to date. Just click here, www.skype.com

Our Skype name is: svkavenga

On the Road Again

2005-11-15T16:33:00.000-08:00

We didn’t have to drive too far the day we left Gig Harbor on our way back to Mexico. We decided to visit Mt. St. Helens as we hadn’t been there for more than ten years and thought it would be interested to see what had changed. The Weyerhaeuser forest recovery museum was the first new thing we noticed and then the new visitor’s center at Johnston Ridge. It was interesting that there is no monument or tribute to Mr. Johnston who lost his life as the geologist that first reported via radio that the mountain was erupting. His parents were concerned that his name might be used for commercial purposes if they permitted any kind of public monument. Nevertheless, the ridge and the visitor’s center bears his name and you can see why he chose the spot for his “stakeout.”

We were fortunate to arrive during an active dome-building period and even witnessed a very large steam plume that went up when a bunch of rocks fell due to uplifting of one of the three domes that are now growing within the crater. We were surprised to see that a small glacier had formed in the crater right beside the growing domes—fire and ice side by side.

Next was a quick stop in Salem to visit Steve’s Aunt Jean. Salem is really sprawling out in all directions and seems to grow more in Hispanic flavor every time we visit. The RV park there near the gravel quarry and the freeway was very nice. Having noticed that many of the RV parks offer cable TV, our willpower broke down and we bought a 15” Sylvania LCD flat screen TV for the van. It is so light and compact that it is great for the van. We move it all over the place depending on what we’re doing.

From Salem we decided to head over to the coast. We spend a couple of nights at the South Beach Marina and RV Park in Newport. Our motivation for this stop was the Marionberry French Toast breakfast at the Fish Tails Café. Not to be missed if you are passing through Newport.

Then it was on down to Bandon, a port that we had originally hoped to call on when we sailed down on Kavenga, but the weather had other ideas and we had to keep going. The RV Park in Bandon was cramped and aesthetically challenged but we had a nice time checking out the harbor, shops, and the cheese factory. Steve managed to catch part of one more Mariner’s baseball game on TV here, and he also got hooked on watching the John Roberts, Supreme Court nominee hearings.

From Bandon we headed back inland passing through Coquille and Myrtle Point. We noted in our guide book that there was a Passport America (discount club) RV Park in Glendale, Oregon and decided to give it a try. Meadow Wood RV park is a little bit off the beaten track, requiring a circuitous route from the freeway but we managed to find it, and although it was nearly deserted it was in a lovely spot. Although the cable channels were limited, Steve managed to catch up with the Supreme Court nominee hearings.

When we left the following morning, we should have gotten gas when we stopped in Medford for groceries. When we finally stopped in Yreka, California we paid over $3.00 ($3.15) for the first time. Back in Oregon we had seen it as low as $2.65. Fortunately, we were now getting much better gas mileage now since having gotten the van tuned up in Bremerton. Apparently a bad O2 sensor can really hurt your mileage, because the van’s mileage improved over 30% after having a new one put in and the tune-up as well.

We stayed in a very nice park, the Friendly RV Park in Weed, California right in the shadow of Mount Shasta—quite impressive. From here we decided to take a side trip up to Lassen Volcanic National Park. We stayed at the Manzanita Campground near Manzanita Lake. We still had time the day we arrived to tour the Loomis Museum which gave us the history of the volcano so that we were well prepared for what we would see the next day.

Sadly, Lassen seems a little like an aging Hollywood starlet whose time has passed her by. After St. Helens erupted she lost her claim to being the most recently erupted volcano in the lower 48. Nevertheless, she is still quite impressive and we enjoyed the interpretive hike through the “decimated area” that explains the sequence of events of the eruption and the distribution of rock-types that resulted. Unlike St. Helens, it is possible for anyone with the strength and energy to climb the well maintained trail to the top of Lassen from the gift shop/café parking lot. Unfortunately, Steve was a little under the weather that day and so we gave the 2500-foot vertical hike a pass.

We’ll pick up with the next blog on our time in the California Delta and Southern California.

Kavenga's Wake - Email from Jesus

2005-09-19T14:43:00.000-07:00

Yes, Jesus is on the net. Of course he is; how can one expect to do business these days without an email address and a website?

Actually, we have traded emails with Jesus (hay-soos) at the boatyard in San Carlos, Mexico throughout the summer, keeping tabs on how Kavenga is coming along with her drying out process—no, she’s not going through rehab, she just has a slight water retention problem. The moisture readings Jesus has sent us tell us she still has a ways to go before being ready for her epoxy barrier coats.

Nevertheless, we have elected to head in that general direction. This edition of Kavenga’s Wake is being composed while on the road back to Mexico. It started at a picnic table next to our shaded campsite at the Mt. St. Helens RV Park. And is being concluded from a chair in the shade of the van’s awning at Bethel Island in the California Delta.

As of our last blog, I believe we were just ready to haul Kavenga out of the water. That was quite an experience. The yard uses a huge boat trailer with hydraulic arms which rise up to grasp the boat once it is in position on the trailer. Before we knew it we were going about 25 miles an hour backwards down the freeway, about a mile to Marina Seca, the boatyard.

They initially put us in the sandblast pit where they sandblasted the old anti-fouling paint off the hull. They then used a special planer to remove the fiberglass gelcoat, exposing the blisters that need to be ground out, filled and faired. But before that, the hull needs to dry out for three or four months. We were subsequently moved into the storage yard to commence the dry-out phase.

We hung around until this point to make sure things got done correctly and on schedule. Since it was not realistic to live aboard Kavenga in the yard, we stayed at a small motel called Departamientos Adlai. We loved this place. We had a big room with two double beads, huge bathroom with shower, a kitchenette with microwave, fridge, and stove—and air conditioning—very important. All this for $25 per night. Kay enjoyed her morning jogs, counting her sightings of jackrabbits, cottontails, and roadrunners.

When it was time to leave, we lucked out and caught a ride up to Tucson with our friends Ron and Diane of Batwing. We spent four days in Tucson searching for and buying a 1993 Chevy Coachman 19-foot camper van. It has almost everything Kavenga has, just in a much smaller space.

Initially we had thoughts of driving all the way to the East Coast to visit Steve’s relatives, but we soon realized with the van’s low gas mileage, that would be an expensive trip. In retrospect, maybe gas at $2.19 a gallon wasn’t so bad. At any rate we made the decision to head north and west instead.

In the course of about three weeks we visited the following national and state parks:
Montezuma’s Castle, N.M. – incredible pueblo in the side of a cliff

Grand Canyon, N.P. – what can you say about 1.6 million years of visible history

Lee’s Ferry, S.P. – 104 degrees; where the Grand Canyon raft trips begin, great hike

Zion Canyon, N.P. – bottom-up perspective vs. top down like G.C. & Bryce

Bryce Canyon, N.P. – perhaps the prettiest of the canyon parks

Capitol Reefs, N.M. – incredible gorges, less crowded

Kodachrome Basin, S.P. – amazing pillars or chimney rocks, dangerous hike

Escalante Petrified Forest, S.P. – smaller version of the national monument

Goblin Valley, S.P. – featured in the movie Galaxy Quest, totally bizarre rock formations

Yellowstone, N.P. – lucked into seeing several irregular geysers, abundant wildlife

We had originally thought we would keep going north to the Glacier and Banff parks, but after the foregoing, we were kinda overdosed on beautiful scenery. So, instead, we hung a left at Yellowstone and headed for Gig Harbor.

We had hardly arrived in Gig Harbor and got a space at the Gig Harbor RV Park, when we were approached by our friends Bill and Marilyn Owel about house-sitting for them. It turned out they needed to be out of Gig Harbor almost the same amount of time we wanted to be in. So after a little more than a week at the RV park we moved into their beautiful home in the Spinnaker Ridge planned development. Aside from caring for the house, our primary responsibility was caring for their two cats, Pooh Bear and Poco Rojo. They were taking their black lab, Petey, with them. We also had the responsibility for caring for their boat, a 36-foot Nordic Tug.

Steve went back to work part-time for West Marine, to have something to do and to regain employee discounts for materials we’d need for Kavenga’s barrier coat project. In addition to working at his original store in Bremerton, he also had the opportunity to work at the new store in Gig Harbor, just a short downhill walk from Spinnaker Ridge.

Kay got back into her old routine of heading over to LWM Stables every afternoon. From Owel’s place it was an easy bike ride or walk. In exchange for barn chores, Kay was given the opportunity to ride and exercise a 7-year-old Arabian mare named Annie.

It was two days prior to Bill and Marilyn’s return that our morning routine was disturbed by a very loud boom! Steve was reading the morning paper and muttered that he hoped whoever was responsible had a permit. But Kay, who was upstairs at the time, noticed a huge tower of smoke rising from the harbor down the hill. We turned on the radio and immediately heard that one of the downtown marinas was on fire. Yikes!! Please don’t let it be Bill and Marilyn’s Pleasurecraft Marina.

We hurriedly threw on our clothes and walked briskly down the hill. We were relieved to find that it was Harborview Marina, the marina next to Pleasurecraft. However, the flames and smoke were licking out towards Bill and Marilyn’s tug, Lady Bump, and burning boats were coming adrift and only being kept away from the Pleasurecraft boats by the streams of water coming from the firehoses of firemen down on the Pleasurecraft docks.

Later that day, when the fire was nearly out, and before security tightened up, we managed to get down to Lady Bump for a quick inspection. We found that she had not escaped unscathed. Her Inflatable dinghy had it’s tubes partially melted and deflated. One of the rear windows in the cabin was shattered and two more were cracked (this from the explosions). And the beautiful varnish job on the rear cabin door was freckled with heat blisters. All things considered, it could have been a lot worse. Had not the owners of a sailboat at Pleasurecraft managed to douse the flame that leaped over to their wooden mast, it is quite possible that Pleasurecraft could have suffered the same fate as Harborview—total destruction including almost 50 boats.

At the conclusion of our inspection and the taking of digital photos, we called Bill and Marilyn and gave them the news. Fortunately, they were due to return the next day. Ironically, Lady Bump had technically been sold and was only waiting for the buyer’s old boat to be sold to remove the final contingency. We are still waiting to hear how that plays out as Lady Bump goes to the yard for repairs.

When Bill and Marilyn returned we were all set to move out. We spent the Labor Day weekend camping out in the parking lot at our marina, Murphy’s Landing. Once the Holiday was over and traffic was back to normal, we hit the road.

It was a great summer. We managed to snag the best summer weather the Northwest has to offer and had the opportunity to see and spend time with many old friends and catch up on their lives. Perhaps we will have a similar opportunity next summer, or maybe we will finally do Steve’s Magical History Tour back east. Who knows? We only know what we’re likely to be doing for the next month. Beyond that it gets fuzzy.

The next edition of Kavenga’s Wake will take us from Gig Harbor back to San Carlos.

Favorite Gadgets - #4 - Oil Change Pump

2005-07-22T09:40:00.000-07:00

We repowered Kavenga with a 75 HP Yanmar two years prior to the start of this cruise. During the two months that the boat was engineless we took the opportunity to spruce up the engine room and make a few equipment upgrades and additions. One of the additions was a bulkhead mounted pump to facilitate changing oil. Those of you taking the time to read this blog probably know what an aggravating job it is to change engine oil on a boat.

The pump we installed is a reversible Jabsco pump designed for this task. As luck would have it, Yanmar puts plugs on both sides of the bottom of the oil pan to allow the dipstick tube to be moved from one side to the other. Whichever plug is not being used can be removed and be replaced by a fitting to attach a hose for pumping out the oil. Having done that and installing the pump on the bulkhead nearby (prior to the new engine being installed), all that remained to be done was hook up the wiring.

The engine’s owner’s manual required an oil change at 50 hours, but being conservative on such matters and wanting to test the pump, we changed oil at 10 hours. In the past it had taken at least 20 minutes to manually pump out the two gallons of oil. With the electric Jabsco pump it took less than a minute, was much less messy, and no pumping.

Then I thought, why not use it for changing the transmission oil which is on the same maintenance schedule as the engine oil. However, it seemed that installing another hose on the bottom of the transmission would be difficult. Instead, I made a suction probe out of a short piece of copper tube and a flare fitting. With this setup we can now suck out the 1.5 liters of transmission fluid in a few seconds without losing a drop into the bilge.

One more epiphany: if the pump can pump oil and transmission fluid it should also be good for pumping diesel fuel. Could we use the pump to transfer fuel between tanks? But why would we need to do that? Aha! In a year or even less, various kinds of impurities (crud) begin to accumulate on the bottoms of the tanks in sufficient mass to create problems when the fuel gets agitated (sailboats do tend to roll, pitch and yaw despite their sails and keel). When this happens the suspended impurities can clog a fuel filter in a hurry. Using the oil change pump, we could transfer fuel between tanks and filter it in the process—while safely at the dock. To facilitate this process I made another copper tube probe, this one about three feet long to facilitate vacuuming the crud from the bottom of the fuel tanks.

So, a pump that was originally installed for one purpose, now serves three.

Talking to Jesus

2005-06-10T08:54:00.000-07:00

Just before leaving Puerto Vallarta we called Jesus on the phone. Jesus is the yard manager at Marina Seca in San Carlos and pronounces his name the Spanish way—Hay-soos. We told him that we accepted the quote he had emailed us for doing an epoxy barrier coat for Kavenga’s bottom, and asked him when he’d like us to arrive. We were thinking 1^st of June, giving us three weeks to get there. He said he’d prefer to get us out of the water and ready to dry by the 1^st. That meant we needed to get there in little more than a week.

So we dropped our plans for a crossing of the Sea of Cortez and doing some leisurely harbor-hopping north. We needed to make a beeline for San Carlos. We skipped the usual northbound stops out of PV like Chacala, San Blas and Isla Isabella (we’d been to all those places on our last cruise) and instead went directly to Mazatlan, motorsailing through the night and arriving there the following morning.

We needn’t have hurried—or we should have hurried just a little bit more—because a small dredge was working the channel leading in to El Cid Marina and Marina Mazatlan. Fortunately, there was a decent anchorage nearby in the lee of Isla Pajaros (Birds Island). When the dredge quit for the day in the early afternoon we were able to head for the channel, which has a bit of a bar as we were to find out. A decent sized wave built and broke ahead of us. We had no desire to surf into the narrow channel, risking a broach (uncontrolled violent turn) and driving into one of the rock jetties.

Fortunately we had a good pause between breakers and made it quickly inside. Our friends Bob and Dianna on White Swan were at the fuel dock waiting to help us tie up, which is far from routine due to the strong surge coming in the channel. It took all four of us plus one of the fuel dock boys to get Kavenga secured. We had originally planned to go further in to the less expensive Marina Mazatlan, but since Bob and Dianna were at the El Cid, we decided to stay there as well, and after refueling moved into our assigned slip. Even there the surge was amazing and we had to adjust our mooring lines several times in order to keep Kavenga from lunging all over the slip.

We had an enjoyable, but brief stay in Mazatlan, managing a dinner downtown, some pool time at the El Cid Hotel’s great pool with its waterfalls and caves to swim through, and even some condo shopping with Vickey of Snow White, when she and Hugh arrived a day after us. All of us left the El Cid Marina the same morning, but while Snow White and White Swan headed across the Sea of Cortez for La Paz, we reluctantly parted company and sailed north, planning to go direct to San Carlos, a planned voyage of three days and nights.

We’ve had very few opportunities to sail without the engine running on this cruise, and this particular passage was no different. We suppose we shouldn’t complain as it often blows out of the north in this area, and we had light southerlies or calms instead of headwinds. We set a new record for motorsailing. We turned the engine on in Mazatlan and didn’t shut it down again until we anchored in Martini Cove, just outside of San Carlos Bay, sixty-one hours later. We wound up arriving about an hour after sunset, so it took us only two nights instead of the planned three. But it was pitch dark, with only the tiniest sliver of a crescent moon that was too low on the horizon to help. We had to feel our way into the small anchorage with radar and the depthsounder. Once we were anchored we could hear waves crashing on rocks. We got out our spotlight for the first time and found some exposed rocks not far from our stern. One of the great things about having an electric anchor windlass is that you hardly give it a second thought when the situation seems to call for re-anchoring. So we hauled our 44-lb Bruce in and set it more in the center of the cove.

The next morning we awoke to find ourselves in a beautiful cove surrounded by high red cliffs, including a big pillar-shaped island. We launched the dinghy and went for a ride out around Punta Doble (double point) where we found two caves cut into the rock by wave action. The cactus growing on the hillside at the back of the cave was some of the most colorful and vibrant that we’ve seen. There were lots of organ pipes, barrels, and something that looked like agave but more yellow-green than blue.

We stayed in the cove one more night before moving into San Carlos Bay. It’s very close in size to Gig Harbor, Washington, our home port, and almost as well protected. In fact it is considered a hurricane hole. We went ashore and rode our bikes to Marina Seca to meet with Jesus. We made an appointment to haul Kavenga out of the water two days later, giving us time to find a place to live while we prepared the boat to withstand the summer in the Sonoran Desert. We’ll talk about that in the next installment of Kavenga’s Wake. Until then, take care, and as Jesus would say, “Vaya con Dios.”

Puerto Vallarta, The Rest of the Story

2005-05-10T15:28:00.000-07:00

One of the things that cruisers do to entertain themselves in Mexico*s resort towns is figure out how to get free use of the swimming pools and other facilities of the big, posh resorts. The Marriott? Easy, all you need is a white towel, and the attendants who make most of their money earning tips are happy to see you. Oh, you do have to sneak past Reception via the side entrance from the adjoining Japanese restaurant.

Velas Vallarta? Not so easy. Here you need a Towel Card, which they issue to (paying) guests when they check in. So the trick here is to know or meet a guest who is willing to give you their towel card. But it is worth it because the Velas has a great pool--but then so does the Marriott.

Fortunately for us, fellow cruisers and marina neighbors, Hugh and Vickey of Redondo Beach, Ca. just happen to have scored four Velas Vallarta towel cards. With those, we just walk in like we own the place, find some chaise lounges and wait for the boys to bring the beer, Margaritas and snacks as we settle in to read, swim and indulge.

We had a surprise visit from another marina neighbor, but this one was from our home marina in Gig Harbor. Mark Learned, a retired airline pilot and his wife, Gail, own a condo in Puerto Vallarta (PV). But this time Mark was down by himself to help a friend sail his boat from PV to La Paz, across the Sea of Cortez. Mark knew from our website that we were in Marina Vallarta.

Aside from just having a nice chat with Mark, he told us about their condo on the south shore of Banderas Bay, the large bay that PV sits in. It sounded like a nice place, so a few days after Mark left, with nothing better to do, we caught the Mismaloya bus and got off at the Girasol Sur condos. To make a long story shorter (I don*t do short stories), we were so impressed by the place that we started looking at other condos. Over the course of the month that followed we must have visited and toured over 20 condo apartments. They ran the gamut from ones that looked like typical block apartments in South Tacoma to places like Girasol and the Bayview Grand with their incredible views of Banderas Bay.

Since spending over a month in Zihuatenejo, it has occurred to us that living in Mexico during the cold, wet winter months of the Pacific Northwest, is not a bad thing. Hmmm. Not something we could do right now, but something to file away for the future. In the meantime, condo shopping was a fun thing to do, especially since our friends Hugh and Vickey were of the same minds. We went together on at least half of our tours.

Another thing that cruisers do in towns like PV is dine out--a lot. The food is so good and so reasonably priced down here that it is hard to resist the temptation every night. For example, there is a new restaurant at Marina Vallarta called La Coleguita that serves a shrimp combination with shrimp cooked three different ways. It is way too much for one person to eat, the oval platter is just heaped with shrimp. So we order it to share and they even serve it on two separate plates. But then with your beer you get two cold shrimp as well. It comes with soup. It comes with a complimentary bottle of tequila placed on your table--drink as much as you can stand. It comes with fried banana dessert and a kaluha apertif. All this for 99 pesos ($9 USD). That*s a dinner for $4.50 plus drinks. This is just one example. We could list several more.

Our friends Bob and Diana on White Swan caught up with us and arrived in Marina Vallarta just in time to join us, along with Hugh and Vickey, on a hike to a natural hot spring. We caught a bus (7 pesos) to the little town of La Disembocada, a few minutes inland from PV. Using the directions given to us by Anne on Sunseeker, we followed a horse trail that crossed the Rio Mascota River three times. We found the hot springs and had the all to ourselves. Someone had built a series of three stair-stepped pools into the rock river bank using stone and cement. The pools were quite hot and it was refreshing to go back and forth between the cool river and the hot pools. And the scenery was unspoiled and beautiful. Upstream a ways we spotted a deep hole with a Tarzan rope suspended from a tree leaning out over the river. An item to file away for our next visit.

We hiked back to La Disembocada, had a great lunch with loud American rock music from a juke box in an open air restaurant. Before catching the bus back to PV we discovered the hacienda next door that gives tequila distillery tours so naturally we took the tour and forced ourselves to test the product. We even bought some--mainly for Steve. Before leaving Kay was treated to sight of a Mexican cowboy training a horse how to do the piaffe, a fancy high-stepping dressage gait.

Another cruiser favorite is Mexican Train dominoes, a really wild, free-for-all way to play dominoes with a lot of people and a lot of rules. We*ve played a couple of times now.

There are currently three commercial movie theaters in PV and we took advantage of that fact by seeing at least one movie a week including Robots, Sideways, Garden State, Hitch, Ray and Million Dollar Baby--and dare we admit it, Miss Congeniality 2--Armed and Fabulous. All but the latter are worthwhile.

Having had such a good time on the hot springs hike we decided to try another one of Sunseeker Anne*s recommendations. This time it was to a waterfall. Bob and Diana accompanied us on this one. It was a much longer hike and slightly less rewarding than the hot springs hike but still the scenery was great and the fall was very pretty. It was upriver from a horseback riding establishment called Rancho Capomo, near the town of Las Palmas, further inland from La Disembocada. The seven suspension bridges on the trail just before reaching the falls would give an OSHA inspector apoplexy. They ran from tree to tree and bank to bank about 50 feet above the river. If you ever saw the movie Romancing the Stone, the suspension bridges we crossed were similar to the one in that film.

And for Puerto Vallarta, that is the rest of the story, on the QT and very hush hush.

Favorite Gadgets #3 - The All-in-One Printer

2005-04-17T12:25:00.000-07:00

We needed a new printer for our laptops before we left. Virtually by accident (not via careful research) we wound up with an HP All-in-One printer/scanner/copier.

The model we chose also has slots for reading digital memory cards like the ones used in the majority of digital cameras. We had just recently made that plunge as well with the purchase of Fuji Finepix cameras for each of us (different models).

So, what was originally sought to simply replace our old black and white printer, is now performing these additional functions:
a) A high speed card reader that easily transmits our photos from our cameras to our computer (with no battery drain on the cameras batteries)
b)A copier that has been very useful for making extra copies of our port clearance papers (you need 5-6); copies of charts and guides borrowed from other cruisers.
c)A scanner for making archival, back-up copies of important documents and certificates
d)A color printer that can print color photos and business/boat cards, etc. as well as normal black and white pages

This may well be old had to many of you, but perhaps not to everyone, especially those of us who live on boats. And boaters, because of space limitations, love gadgets that can perform multiple useful functions. This HP printer/scanner/copier is one of those kinds of gadgets. And thanks to competition, it cost the same or less than our old black and white Canon printer that could do nothing else. It is about the size of a bread box and cost about $140.

Puerto Vallarta So Far

2005-04-03T15:18:00.000-07:00

First let us say that it is not our fault if our blogs have appeared out of chronological order. For some reason, one of them went off into the far reaches of the internet and didn*t arrive at the blog site until several days later.

We have been enjoying the heck out of Puerto Vallarta. This is our third time here (1991 & 1994).

We went on our first horseback ride since Kay broke her leg on a ride in Eureka six months ago. No spills, no broken bones this time, which is not as easy as it sounds because it was in some ways a rather technical ride as we crossed a small river 15 times with slippery round stones. There were also places with gaps so narrow between large boulders that the horses had to carefully thread their way through one hoof at a time. It was a beautiful ride up a mountain canyon. Kay rode the same mare, Kaluha, that she rode 11 years ago.

Our next adventure was a two-day trip to Guadalajara, a city of 8 million people. By bus or car it is about a 5-hour drive inland and up hill. Guadalajara, like Denver, is about a mile high. We stopped at the town of Tequila for lunch and then toured the Herradura distillery, one of the better Tequila brands. We got to see how the 8-year old agave plants are harvested and cut down to just their buds, which are then roasted and smashed to separate the sweet, starchy juice from the fibers. They use the fibers to make rope and beautiful lace table cloths.

We drank (yes, WE) *virgin* tequila right from the vat before it is diluted or aged. At that point it is 57% alcohol--yikes, what a throat-burner! We then tasted the various ages and colors of tequila such as blanco, repesado and anejo. All tequilas are manufactured in Jalisco state, although not all of the distilleries are in the town of Tequila. The fields of agave plant are everywhere and a beautiful shade of blue.

We arrived in Guadalajara just in time to check into the Hotel Cervantes and get ready for dinner. The place recommended by our guide, Alfreda, La Fonda de San Miguel, was great--an old nun*s convent that had been converted. The central courtyard had been roofed over giving the place a very high ceiling. The food was excellent and we were entertained by singers and dancers performing traditional Mexican songs and dances.

The next day we toured some beautiful cathedrals and stopped at one of the Jalisco state capital buildings. We were already quite impressed with our tour guide, Alfreda, a Canadian ex-pat. She knew all about tequila, cathedrals, and facts and figures about Mexico and Guadalajara. But where she really impressed us was at the state congress building. While we sat in the balcony, she used the murals on the ceiling to give us 45-minute condensed history lesson from the Spanish conquest all the way to the political machinations of the current 3-party system. The names Hidalgo, Juarez, Maximillion, Villa and Fox (just to cite a few) are no longer just names to us.

We closed out our second day with a short side trip to the suburb of Tlaquepaque (tla-kay-pa-kay). A large part of the business section of this town is an artists colony made up of two long crossing streets with art shops side by side. Besides shopping, we had a great lunch at a restaurant called The Patio, and were entertained by a contemporary singing group as well as a traditional Mariachi band--except that it was an all-female Mariachi band, and of course they played the song that Maximillion requested before he was executed by Benito Juarez (just showing off our history lesson).

We took a slightly different route back to Puerto Vallarta and the scenery from the bus was fantastic. Many passengers, including us, were trying to take pictures through the windows.

A few days after we returned from Guadalajara, we were ready for another adventure--a jungle canopy tour. These tours originated in Costa Rica and have been adopted here. We took a Mercedes troop transport (no kidding) up into the flanks of the Sierra Madre mountains to the jungle canopy tour headquarters. The basic idea is that you go 70 to 90 feet up into a tree and then go from tree to tree on zip lines. Zip lines are vinyl-coated, high-strength ropes. Each person on the tour is in a crotch-cramping harness with a bunch of climbing rigging attached, including a double-pulley arrangement that allows you to ZIP from one tree to another. To brake, if needed, your gloved hand on the zip-line does the trick--usually. At one point our send-off guide said we wouldn*t need to break on this particular span because it was a relatively shallow angle. So Kay didn*t brake. The receiving guide at the other end was distracted helping another guest. Kay came in fast, hit the fail-safe shock absorber and bounced about 15 feet back up the line. She had to pull herself hand over hand to get back to the platform.

The scariest part of the canopy tour was not riding the zip lines it was the two places where we had to cross these narrow, wobbly suspension bridges made out of one-foot wide plastic grates. Our safety lines were clipped on to another safety line running parallel to the bridge but it was too low to hang on to for balance so you just had to walk across--about 20 feet in one case--while you were swaying 70 feet above the ground. Not surprisingly, they have to lower people down to the ground every day who find out that they can*t do it once they get up there.

Despite Kay*s initial fears, and Steve*s developing mid-tour fears, we both made it and had a blast. By the way, the reason our guide was distracted when Kay bounced off the tree may have had something to do with the fact that the rest our group was made up of high-school cheerleaders from Michigan.

In between these adventures we have been keeping busy with a few boat projects, going into town for movies (Robots, Hitch, etc.), and just plain goofing off. More to follow.

Favorite Gadgets #2 - The Outboard Davit

2005-03-23T11:57:00.000-08:00

On our 1990-1993 cruise we did not make any arrangements for carrying or stowing our dinghy outboard on Kavenga. It was just one of those items on the project list that never got addressed. Consequently, the outboard wound up being stowed in the cockpit well (where one would normally put one*s feet when sitting in the cockpit).

When we wanted to use the outboard one of us had to lift it out of the cockpit well, horse it over to the side of the boat and hand it down to the other person standing in the dinghy. This was all well and good when we were in a smooth anchorage. But as was often the case, if there were any kind of chop or wakes running through the anchorage, it was a real test of balance, strength and timing to get the outboard into the dinghy and over the transom without losing it or wrenching a back muscle in the process. And we were 14 years younger back then.

So for this cruise we did two things to improve the dinghy storage and loading situation. First we made a custom mounting bracket for the stern pulpit so that the outboard could be clamped in a vertical position on the back railing of the boat. This also lessened the possibility that salt water in the cooling system could backflow into the cylinder and cause corrosion.

Second we installed an outboard davit on the stainless tower pole that supports the wind generator. This davit is in essence a small crane or hoist which uses a multi-part block and tackle system to increase the mechanical advantage. It is made of stainless steel and includes a cam-cleat which is a device that automatically holds the rope for you when you let go of it. It has a stainless snap-hook at the end of the rope, which clips on to a harness around the power head of the outboard.

Loading and unloading the outboard has gone from a major pain to a relatively easy task. One of us gets in the dinghy and positions it under the outboard. The other uses the davit to lift the outboard off its rail mount and slowly lower it down. Even in choppy water it is a relatively easy and controlled task, with little chance of dunking or dropping the outboard. Another nice thing is that the tasks are interchangeable, meaning either of us can do either task because there is no heavy lifting or toting involved.

The davit was purchased from a small company in California named Garhauer. They are well known for making high quality, reasonably priced stainless steel rigging equipment for sailboats.

On Our Way Back up the Riviera

2005-03-18T19:58:00.000-08:00

As it turned out we did return to Zihuatenejo for a few days to sit out the strong northwesterly winds that arrived per forecast. Despite delaying our departure a few positives resulted.

We might not have stopped at Isla Grande if we had received a favorable forecast for sailing up the Riviera coast. Isla Grande proved to be a pleasant stop. With our friends Joan and Jason on the sailboat Mildred Kane, we hiked the island and went on two snorkeling expeditions. We observed several species of tropical fish that we had never seen, even in all of our South Pacific travels. One of the most striking was a Zebra Moray eel--quite beautiful actually.

We anchored back in Zihua very near our old spot. We had another opportunity to have shrimp tacos at one of our favorite restaurants, La Braserros. And as it turned out Kay was able to get her Academy Awards fix right on the boat. We heard from friends that the awards show was going to be broadcast on the local Mexican TV channel, whose signal was so strong we didnt even need to hook up the rabbit ears antenna. The only difficulty was hearing what the actors were saying beneath the simultaneous Spanish translation, which was of course, louder. But we pretty much got it all and enjoyed the humor of host Chris Rock.

After spending the weekend in Zihua we got an improving forecast for the next couple of days, so once again we headed out in company with Mildred Kane, a Valiant 32. Joan and Jason knew that we had stopped at Lazaro Cardenas on the way down and they thought it would be good to stop there on the way back up the coast to avoid having to do an overnighter to the next anchorage further north, Caleta de Campos.

Lazaro Cardenas is not a popular stop for cruisers, other than to spend the night in a calm anchorage, because it is totally devoted to large commercial ships which come to unload ore for the steel mill, or deliver grain and petroleum products. We knew that a few yachts had been coming in late and leaving early to avoid having to clear in and out with the Port Captain. It had worked for us on our way down. There is an undeveloped section of the cross-shaped harbor that is somewhat hidden from view of the rest of the harbor. We spent a wonderfully restful night there on our way down, leaving at sunrise the following morning. We were hoping for the same on the run back up.

About ten miles out from Lazaro, the wind started to pipe up, coming directly from the direction we were wanting to go. It continued to increase on our approach, reaching 20 knots apparent (the sum of boat and wind speed). We really did not want to bash into that all night so the flat calm of Lazaro Cardenas was especially appealing as we approached the harbor entrance.

Unlike our arrival here on the way down, when we saw no boats or ships going in or coming out, this time we had to race to get ahead of a large ship that was picking up its pilot just as we arrived at the harbor entrance. There were also two huge tugs waiting for the ship near the tips of the jetties. So, we were not unobserved this time.

Undeterred we continued on into the same anchorage area as before, also known as the Hurricane Anchorage. Both Mildred Kane and Kavenga had their anchors down well before sunset. After dinner, Steve rowed down to taxi Joan and Jason back to Kavenga for a movie. He had no more than got underway when we both noticed a gray panga (large, open fiberglass launch) alongside Mildred Kane. Steve correctly surmised that the two men on board were representatives of the Mexican Navy. This was not cause for concern because other boats that had stopped here reported being visited by the Navy and merely being subjected to a brief and friendly safety inspection and filling out a questionnaire. And that was exactly what was transpiring at Mildred Kane when Steve arrived. Steve asked the senior naval representative if they would mind transporting Joan and Jason to Kavenga when they came to inspect us. They happily agreed to his request.

Steve had no more than arrived back at Kavenga when Kay reported that another official-looking panga was headed our way. This one was cause for concern. Along the side of the panga was the familiar logo of the Capitania de Puertos de Mexico--representatives of the Port Captain. Joan and Jason arrived in the Navy Panga shortly after the arrival of the Port Captain panga at Kavenga. The senior representative told us that we could not anchor where we were, that we would have to move to the anchorage between the Port Captains office and the Navy base. Steve asked if it would be possible to stay where we were and leave very early the following morning. No. At Joans prompting he then asked if it would be possible to leave right then (although none of us really wanted to do that). It was immaterial because the immediate response was, no. In fact we were told we would need to come into the Port Captains office the next morning to have our papers, endorsed, which he had already taken from us.

By the time we finished with the Navy inspection it was well after sunset by now and getting dark and so Steve asked if the Port Captain representatives would guide us to the anchorage. They readily agreed and so both crews hoisted anchors and began following the panga in from one branch of the cross-shaped harbor and up another. The panga had a light on it but either it was non-functional or they didnt think to turn it on and several times we lost sight of them and they had to come back for us, waving for us to hurry up. The only charts we had showed water depths in this area of less than six feet, just about Kavengas draft, so you can understand why we were reluctant to charge ahead without our guide in sight. Apparently, this channel has been thoroughly dredged since our charts were printed and all of the depths we saw were over twenty feet.

Finally, at nearly 8PM, we arrived at the designated anchorage and dropped anchor again. The Naval base here is quite large with several destroyer-escort sized ships rafted to piers across the river from where we were, just off the compound of the Capitania de Puerto. Although a movie was now out of the question, we rowed over to Mildred Kane for a chat about our mutual predicament. We figured our best case scenario was that we would be required to clear in and out and pay the associated fees. The worst case was that we would also have to pay overtime fees (for the panga visit) and get a lecture about anchoring in a prohibited area (we were not aware that it was) and failing to clear in, although we had arrived after office hours.

Nevertheless, it was a very calm anchorage, except when the fishing pangas headed out at full speed in the morning rocking us with their wakes. Wanting to make a good impression, we all got dressed up and rowed ashore in time to be at the port captains office a little after it opened at 9AM.

We were shown into the office of an older, uniformed official we at first thought was the port captain, but was instead, Chief of Navigation. Through an interpreter we were asked a number of questions about our being in Lazaro Cardenas, the most important of which was, why we had stopped there. Rather than fib about engine problems or some other excuse, Steve said that we had encountered contrary winds and had simply come in to rest for the night. The interpreter said, so it was for your safety that you stopped? Steve said, right.

We were in the office for the better part of two hours, answering questions while some kind of documents were apparently being drawn up. Finally, we were asked to sign one of the documents that explained timing and purpose of our stop, and our clearance papers were endorsed. We were then told we would not have to pay any fees and were free to continue on our way.

By 11:45AM both vessels were headed out of Lazaro Cardenas. We all waited to breathe our sighs of relief until we had cleared the jetties and were on our way to the northwest.

With hindsight, the only negatives our visit to Lazaro Cardenas was the after-dark re-anchoring drill, and the four to five hour later departure than we had planned, which as it turned out had no negative consequences.

Assuming we will be headed south again next season, if we stop at Lazaro Cardenas, we know where to anchor and we will check in and probably stay a night or two to check out the town, which is not far from the Port Captains office.

We will not be attempting to anchor in the hurricane anchorage again--unless there is a hurricane!

PS: The apostrophe and quotes key is not working on this, the old IBM computer, so please forgive the missing punctuation.

Lucky wind, lucky break.

2005-03-15T10:52:00.000-08:00

Winds from the south are uncommon along the Mexican mainland during the winter, but with a combination of luck and attention to the weather forecasts, we managed to catch a two-day southerly as we left Tenacatita for Puerto Vallarta.

We weren*t the only ones. Somewhere between 8 and 15 other boats at Tenacatita and Chamela took advantage of this fair weather window and sprinted north as well. By sheer happenstance, we happened to be leading the pack with the others strung out behind us.

If one dared complain about the weather, the only issues would be that there wasnt quite enough wind to sail and it was coming from dead astern (an unpopular point of sail for us). Nevertheless, we did manage to shut the engine off for three hours and enjoy the relative silence of pure sailing.

Cabo Corrientes, the cape at the southern end of Banderas Bay (in which sits Puerto Vallarta), has a reputation somewhat like Capes Mendocino and Blanco in the US. Cabo Corrientes (Cape Currents) tends to accentuate whatever wind flows past it. It is the source of some hand-wringing and weather-worrying amongst the cruising sailors down here. We would be passing it just after midnight with no moon, so that added a little to the pucker factor.

As it turned out, the light southerly winds continued without augmentation and we rounded the black cape with its lighthouse blinking reassuringly. Now we just had a straight shot to Puerto Vallarta (PV) across Banderas Bay.

The lights of PV and all of its hotels made a pretty sight as we approached. We had expected the possibility of heavy boat traffic in the bay, but there was none at all until we arrived at the harbor entrance. But just prior to that arrival we were treated to a beautiful sunrise over the Sierra Madre Mountains which rise precipitously behind the town.

Arriving in PV harbor at 0830 is not the best time. All of the tour boats and charter fishing boats are getting underway about then. The narrow channel from the cruise ship harbor to the marina was as clogged as a Russian toilet. Kay was steering while Steve conned from above and behind her. We had to slow to a crawl and drift in neutral as we threaded our way through a Tijuana traffic situation.

Once through that obstacle course we had to find the slip we were to use. Now here comes another amazing story....well, its amazing to us. Just before we left Zihuatenejo we went ashore one last time to check our land-based email. We received a message from old friend and former co-worker, Gary Crowell. We had forgotten that Gary owns a condo moorage slip at Marina Vallarta. Gary had recently visited our website and noted that we were heading in that direction. He informed us that his slip would be vacant soon and that we were welcomed to use it as long as we were in PV!! Yahoo! Boy did that make our day, especially Kay*s, as she has been looking forward to some marina time.

So, with many thanks to Gary, we were looking for his slip, E-27. We vaguely remembered where it was from our air visit here in 1994, when his boat, Galore, was still here. We had to go around an enormous power yacht (Silver Lining) moored at the end of E-dock, and then we breathed a sigh of relief and joy as we saw that E-27 was empty and waiting for us.

Once Kavenga was tied up and we both had quick showers, we collapsed for long naps as we had had only two to three hours of sleep during the overnight passage from Tenacatita. Later we checked in with the marina office and an agent who will take care of clearing us in to Puerto Vallarta (pronounced vy-yarta).

We have a long list of boat projects and fun projects to accomplish while we are here. Thanks to Gary and his slip, we will be able to make a big dent in both. By the way, I think Gary might be willing to sell his slip, so if anyone needs a great place to park there boat in Mexico, let us know and we will put you in contact with him.

* The darn quote/apostrophe key still isn*t working.

Favorite Gadgets #1 - The Shower Mixer

2005-03-12T17:16:00.000-08:00

This is the first in a series of hopefully short blogs about gadgets that we have added to Kavenga since our last cruise that are making the cruising life more enjoyable.

The honor of being the first gadget featured is our shower mixer.

Prior to this cruise we had an ordinary household-style shower mixer; i.e. a hot tap and a cold tap that you turned on and adjusted until you got the water to a comfortable level for your shower.

There were several problems. First, both sources of heat, our diesel engine and our diesel furnace made water much hotter than a normal household water heater; e.g. 165 degrees or even hotter. Consequently, you could only just barely turn on the hot water tap or it overwhelmed the cold water tap, especially down here in the tropics where the ambient temperature never drops below 70F.

Second, due to the small capacity of the heat exchanger tank, the temperature of the hot water would rapidly decline while you were taking a shower. The net result was that it took a lot of fiddling to get the temperature set initially, and then midway through your shower you had to readjust it. This was not only inconvenient, it also wasted water.

Thanks to our Mattison shower mixer all those problems and frustrations are gone. This shower mixer has a thermostatically controlled valve in it much like a cars radiator. It adjusts the mix of hot and cold water in order to maintain a comfortable, preset temperature. In fact it has a notched position for a standard comfortable shower temperature. Just set it there and its good forever. If you want a hotter or cooler shower though, you can change the position.

So now, no matter how hot the hot water is, or how much it changes over the course of a shower, we always get a constant temperature all the way through.

Any cruising sailor will tell you that fresh water showers are one of lifes best simple luxuries. On this, our second blue-water cruise, life is just a little sweeter thanks to our smart shower mixer.

Send any questions about this to kavenga at-sign att dot net (spelled out to foil spammers)

Roaring Dragon, Raging Winds

2005-03-09T17:15:00.000-08:00

From Lazaro Cardenas we sailed overnight to Caleta Carrizal, the same unspoiled little cove that we had stopped for one night on our way south(east). Once again it was a pleasant and only slightly rolly anchorage. We were told by our friends on Gia, who were leaving there just as we came in, that they had heard a dragon roar the previous night. As they were sailing away, there was no time to get an explanation.

We did not hear the dragon roar until we were leaving the following morning. As we motored out of the cove, close to the west shore, virtually a rock wall, a swell sent a surge of water into a narrow cave and a blast of air roared out. So now, we too had heard the dragon roar.

It was an easy motorboat trip from Carrizal to Barra de Navidad, a place we fell in love with on the way down. It is very scenic, not overly touristy, and has a great, calm anchorage.

It can be a bit tricky navigating into the shallow lagoon. However, we had used our handheld GPS and portable depthsounder in the inflatable dinghy during our last visit to sound the lagoon and establish the boundaries of the entrance channel and area of the lagoon deep enough for anchoring.

A planned short stay of 3-4 days in the lagoon stretched into six days due to unusually strong northwest winds, which we would have had to punch straight into if we continued up the coast.

The winds finally let up this morning and we made the short jump up to Tenacatita, a favorite anchorage of Mexico cruisers, and a place we had stayed for awhile when Steves dad was with us in 1991. We would love to spend some time here but we also want to high-tail it to Puerto Vallarta and possibly do some kind of inland excursion before it is time to head further north.

Leaving Zihuatenejo, almost

2005-02-24T10:44:00.000-08:00

Isla Grande

When you've stayed in one place as long as we have--a month and a half--it takes a while to get ready for sea again. Kay made several reprovisioning runs to the Commercial, the Safeway-like supermarket. We had a local man clean Kavenga's rather severely fouled bottom--lots of soft marine growth as well as a pretty good case of barnacles. When he came up and got in our dinghy, dozens of tiny crabs, baby lobsters and little fish fell out of his dive gear and into the bottom of the dink. We basically had our own aquarium.

Steve did all the usual engine checks and maintenance. We took our papers to the Port Captain's office and cleared out for Puerto Vallarta. While Kay did one last load of laundry, Steve got on the internet one more time to check our land-based email and to get the latest news on the Seattle Mariners.

So, yesterday morning we were all set to leave. Rather than take off on a longer run up the coast we decided to just go seven miles north to Isla Grande, a tourist island just off of the resort town of Ixtapa. Our first evening there we listened to the weather forecast and learned that a trough of low pressure would be moving down the coast as we went north, which meant that we would likely run into strong headwinds before we could reach the next port of any size--Manzanillo.

We talked it over and decided that we'd just as soon not bash into headwinds and seas, and that if we were going to get stuck someplace before Manzanillo, the best place to be stuck would be Zihuatenejo.

So, unless things change dramatically overnight, we will be heading back down to Zihua tomorrow to wait for this trough to slide south. We'll have to go see the Port Captain and hope that he won't make us clear back in and out again ($32 and a bit of a bureaucratic hassle).

Things could be worse. Now Kay is thinking that if she isn't able to watch the Academy Awards this coming Sunday, she'll at least be able to check out the results on the internet the next day.

Movies & Music

2005-02-20T14:32:00.000-08:00

We recently finished watching "Destinos", a 52-episode Spanish telenovela about a Mexican American attorney and private investigator named Raquel Rodriguez who is commissioned to find the lost heirs of a well-to-do Spaniard now living in Mexico. Raquel travels to Spain, Argentina, Puerto Rico and finally Mexico in her successful effort to reunite the man with grandchildren previously unknown to him.

You're wondering how we learned enough Spanish to watch a Spanish telenovela? Well, actually, it's a programmed learning system and you learn Spanish while following the events of the investigation. We're certainly not fluent yet, nor even comfortable with the language, but we did learn a lot and we enjoyed the story and its characters. We especially liked the fact that Raquel winds up engaged to marry the psychiatrist she meets in Argentina.

In other news, we were surprised to hear that the movie, The Aviator, was coming to town. We went to see it a couple nights ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. With the exception of movies targeted at children, virtually all (English-language) movies are shown here in English with Spanish subtitles; i.e., they are not dubbed in Spanish. The Spanish subtitles are another way to learn a little more Spanish as you hear the spoken English and see the written Spanish below. In fact, when watching our own DVDs, we sometimes turn on the Spanish subtitles for that very reason.

One of the things we like about Zihuatenejo is its two theaters and the ease of getting our movie fix. A few days ago we did a double-feature: "Wimbledon" and "A Series of Unfortunate Events". We enjoyed both of them and at less than $3 for a double-feature, it's quite a bargain.

Lately, we've been getting back to playing music again, not just Steve, but Kay as well. Ever since the guitar jam session back at Barra de Navidad, Steve has been getting out his guitar every now and then to practice a few tunes. And since we've been in Zihuatenejo, Kay has gotten out her Omnichord (electronic harpsichord). In addition to practicing with just the two of us, we recently had Kevin and Kathy of Tau Min (Bainbridge Is, WA) on board with their guitar and synthesized keyboard respectively. Then just yesterday, the four of us got together with the crews of three other boats; Pegasus, Tumbleweed and Effie; for a jam session and singalong on the beach in the shade of some palm trees. We did a little of everything: Eagles, CCR, Stones, Bobby Darin, Johnny Horton, etc. Kay debated for quite awhile before we left whether to bring her Omnichord since she had played it so little back home. Now, she's glad she brought it.

Thanks to Steve's accident, we've been in Zihuatenejo a bit longer than planned. But now it's time for us to attend to the chores necessary to prepare us for the voyage back north, primarily reprovisioning, refueling and the like.

Zihua Sailfest

2005-02-07T09:14:00.000-08:00

Zihua Sailfest started on Wednesday, the 2nd of February. We attended all three of the cruiser seminars. Jim Corenman, the man who developed Airmail and Sailmail, the onboard email system that we use, gave a presentation. We picked up a few tidbits of how we could use the capabilities in new ways.

We then attended a seminar for Northbound Cruisers, those planning to spend the summer in the Sea of Cortez. They made it sound like an endurance test because of the heat, the bugs, and the volatile weather systems that sometimes include hurricanes. We do plan to head north for the Sea of Cortez, but we will likely haul Kavenga out of the water during the high hurricane months.

The third seminar was for Southbound Cruisers, those planning to head south for Central America and the Panama Canal. We're not planning to do that at the moment, but it was interesting nonetheless. The islands of Panama, in particular, sounded enticing.

Capping off the long first day of Sailfest, we attended the kick-off party and auction. They had two humorous auctioneers, one American and one Mexican. They auctioned off many donated items and services, including jewelry, paintings, dinners, jungle-cave excursions, etc.

The next evening we watched the Flare Shoot-out. Numerous hand-held and aerial flares were set off in the middle of the bay from the Port Captain's boat. It was announced on marine VHF radio the brand and type of flare being fired, so it was a good opportunity to see which flares were the most effective. The Pains-Wessex SOLAS flares, both the hand-helds and the parachute flares were the brightest and lasted the longest. All of the flares fired were beyond their expiration dates and there were a high number of "duds", particularly the small Sky Blazers. Conversely, few of the Pains-Wessex failed to fire even when several years out of date.

The next day we participated in a "Dinghy Poker Chase". We were given clues to locations or other boats scattered around the bay. Using the clues we found each of the locations where we picked one card at random from a deck until we had a complete hand. Unfortunately, it was not good enough to win either the prize for best hand or worst hand (A,Q,10,2,3).

The same afternoon there was a chili cook-off and bake sale. Kay made her delicious lemon bars for the bake sale. Steve bought tickets for the chili cook-off and sampled 10 of the 13 entrants. We also sampled most of what was offered at the bake sale. So much for lunch and dinner.

We didn't participate in the Sail Parade from Zihua to Ixtapa because Steve still isn't 100% since his fall. We did however attend the festival's wrap-up barbeque on La Madera Beach at M.J Ritchie's beach restaurant. Four other restaurants also had tables and your ticket allowed you to pick a meal from any one of the five. Kay went for a cheeseburger with potato salad, while Steve went for a total carb-out pasta meal of spaghetti, lasagne and shell pasta salad.

This was also the occasion of awards presentation and the final raffles. Kay had earlier won a bead earing, necklace and bracelet set that she gave to another cruiser for her daughter's birthday. On this day we also won a Z-What! T-shirt.

All the proceeds of Sailfest go to support and improve the local schools, particularly those for the indigenous children, many of whom only speak Nihuatl and need to learn Spanish. This year they almost doubled the results of last year and took in around 430,000 pesos or about $40,000.

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Ooops! Man Down!

2005-02-05T09:43:00.000-08:00

Two weeks ago today, we were part of a sailor work party helping to repaint the classrooms of a local Zihuatenejo school for indigenous Nihuatl children. We were part of "Trim Team 2". Our job was to paint the edges of all the walls and windows ahead of "Roller Crew 2".

We were within 15 minutes of finishing when Steve went up his ladder one last time to cut in the high part of the peaked ceiling. The ladder was an aluminum extension type that was a little too tall for the room so it set at shallow angle to the floor.

Steve no more than reached the top and was about to load his brush when the ladder suddenly slipped out from under him and went crashing to the cement floor. Steve did a "chest-flop" on the ladder. It knocked the breath out of him for half a minute and he was in intense pain.

The ride down the steep bumpy roads in a Chevy Blazer was almost as bad as the fall. Steve could only take tiny gasps of air.

He didn't leave the boat for nearly a week. One of the side benefits was that Kay finally got a chance to take a refresher course on dinghy outboard operation. She would go ashore and beach the dinghy on her own to get groceries and newspapers for Steve.

Very slowly, Steve is regaining his mobility. Apparently he didn't break any bones. However, he did quite a bit of damage to the soft tissues (muscle, cartilage and tendons) in his upper right chest and side. Sometimes those can take longer to heal than bones.

He's been well enough to enjoy some of the Zihuatenejo Sailfest events, the subject of the next blog entry.

To Blog, or Not to Blog

2005-01-31T15:35:00.000-08:00

Well, here's our first attempt at using a new feature for our website: a link to a "blog" site, namely blogger.com.

Blog is shore for web log and it's like a public journal. Some people might use it primarily for political commentary, others for reviewing movies, and still others for just telling the world what they are doing or thinking. I guess we fall into the latter group.

So here it is, our first attempt to email a blog entry from the boat. If this works reasonably easy we will add a link to the blog site from our website: http://kavenga.home.att.net
If you're reading this that must mean we've already done it. This like thinking too much about the movie "Back to the Future".

Welcome to Kagenga´s Web Log

2005-01-18T13:45:00.000-08:00

Hi,
This is John from NAKIA (http://svnakia.blogspot.com). I´ve set up this blog for Steve and Kay. Stay tuned for updates from them as they move through Mexico and the world.