Cabo to La Paz
December 2, 2018
Since I got quite behind on my last blog entry I decided it
might be best to get back into the habit of writing as we go and then it
wouldn’t feel like a burden to catch up.
So our last post was put up yesterday using lots of my
limited patience with very slow wifi (and slower 3G cell service) at a
restaurant in Ensenada Muertos. On one
hand it’s not quite the fiber optic speeds we had in Washington but on the
other hand we were anchored in a lovely cove with warm clear blue water and had
kayaked up to the only business for miles around and low and behold were able
to be in contact with the world. We were
able to talk with my mother with a fairly clear cell signal as long as we
followed the directions posted in the restaurant and “walked down the path and
sat under the mesquite tree”.
After we left San Juan Del Cabo where we hauled the boat to
do more stabilizer work we headed north with the goal of finding kid friendly
places to anchor and moor before our daughter’s family arrive on December 15
th. The kids love the water so we believe if we
can find a place with relatively calm water and lots to see snorkeling that
they will be happy campers. So far we
have checked out Bahia Los Frailes which is at the southern edge of a national
park that aims to protect Mexico’s only Pacific side coral reef. It was a bit bumpy but with a stern tie to
keep the bow into the swell and our handy flopper stopper it was pretty
tolerable. It has lots of white sand
beaches, a few easily accessible coral heads with lots of fish to see, a
fishing camp, hiking trails in the desert, and friendly local expats from
Washington. It remains high on our list
of places to go. We also got high
recommendations from Michelle (11 y/o) and Autumn (9 y/o) on SV Xpression (
svxpression.com)
who we had met with their dad in San Diego and then met up with them again here
in Los Frailes now with their mother an RN from Madigan hospital south of
Tacoma on board (she flies in and out while her husband Max (a fellow Evergreen
State College graduate!) home schools the girls underway).
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| Dinner on SV Xpression |
Some comments on the full-time live-aboard life:
·
Do things get broken in ways they wouldn’t in a
“dirt house” – YES! The other day we forgot to batten down one of the small
porthole windows in our bedroom. We
ended up in very snotty head seas and when Clarice ventured into our bedroom
she found sea water had soaked our settee and gotten into our DVD player and
printer/scanner (both “let the smoke out” when they were plugged in). We are in the process of replacing a $1000
(USD – not pesos) pair of binoculars that jumped off the counter during rough
weather. We have a backup pair but they
don’t serve nearly as well as the electronically stabilized ones that we have
had for 2 years so there goes another “boat unit” (boater speak for $1000).
·
Do you ever get tired of constantly being in
motion – YES! I (Norman) am (hopefully) getting past a period of minor “being
in the dumps” after weeks of travel followed by a major repair and never ending
boat movement. I am hoping this is
similar to culture shock and will dissipate in a couple of weeks when I let go
and start enjoying the adventure again.
It would be nice if life was all roses but it’s not even while living
the dream.
·
Category, questions we’ve heard that we never
realized people didn’t understand:
o
Where do you anchor when you are at sea at
night? We don’t. We take turns making
sure the boat is running correctly and that we don’t hit anything obvious (like
a cruise ship) and just keep going. As slow as we travel (6.5 knots average
(about 7 miles per hour) ) we need to keep going or we would never cover some
of the distances we need to between ports.
o
How do you get to shore when you are at anchor?
We have a rubber and aluminum 10 foot long dingy we lower into the water with a
crane or we have 2 kayaks we use to get to shore.
o
Do you worry about fresh water? Yes, it is
always a concern. We have a capacity of
about 250 gallons so if everything fails we can go a long time without access
to clean, fresh water. Our problem in
Mexico is that much of the fresh water is not “clean” to the standards are
immune systems are used to. As a result
we are now running the generator 1 -2 hours a day to not only charge batteries
but more importantly to use our reverse osmosis system to make fresh water from
sea water at a rate of 25 gallons an hour.
o
How about fuel?
We topped the tanks in San Diego where the fuel was reputed to be less
expensive than in Mexico. It has taken
us about 500 gallons of diesel to get from San Diego to here. When we get down a bit more (we carry about
1000 gallons) then we will start watching prices and try to top off before our
credit card has to take a huge hit. From Port Angelas, Washington to now we
have consumed just under 1000 gallons of diesel between the furnace (which
heats our hot water at anchor), the generator, and the main engine.
o
How much do you steer the boat? The boat is steered by computer 99.9% of the
time. The times we do hand steer we
realize that if our autopilot ever fails it will be a major problem as it is
very tiring.
o
How do you navigate? We have 3 computers with
current charts on them each connected to their own GPS. Our iphones actually have a very good
navigation program on them as an additional backup. We carry paper charts in case of electrical
failure and have done map and compass navigation in the past. (We do carry a
sextant but have yet to get a good position from it due to lack of training –
it’s on the todo list).
o
How does Jarvis tolerate the boat and where does
he pee/poop underway? Jarvis would really rather live in a house with a big
backyard but he is happy being wherever we are.
When we had a house and started to load the boat to take it out he made
it very obvious that he had no intention of being left behind. He loves being off leash on a new shore where
there is lots of new nose candy and he can run free. He seems to enjoy riding in the dingy and
kayak as long as he’s not getting splashed.
He tolerates peeing on an artificial turf pad we have for him but he
despises pooping underway and will put it off until he is so miserable he is
shaking. If the boat has a lot of
motion he has finally figured out how to lift his leg to pee but keep it braced
against a wall to steady himself. If
water is coming back through the deck scupper (a drain through the sidewall of
the deck) near his pad, he will make us move his pad to a new location before
using it. All and all he is a pretty happy little dog and adapts well. He is showing his age a bit now that he is
about 8 years old and has some gray hair.
o
Where does human sewage go? We divide waste water into 2 categories: Gray
water and Black water. Gray water is the
drainage from showers and sinks which goes directly overboard. We work very hard to choose soap products
that are designed to minimalize any environmental footprint for both human and
cloths washing. Our Black, toilet, water
goes into two 50 gallon tanks. Areas
with a large number of boats in limited waters tend to have pump out facilities
where we can vacuum the tanks out into the city sewers. Out at sea we join the fish and dolphins and
whales and pump our sewage into the water where natural bacteria treats it.
o
Are you afraid for your safety in Mexico?
NO! We were very concerned about theft
in San Diego where even oars had to be chained to dinghies or they would gain
legs. We have been treated kindly and
with courtesy by the Mexican folk. That said, a friend did have his very
expensive dinghy sail away on its own accord while they were in a remote
anchorage. Also see below our
experiences in La Paz.
December 10, 2018
It’s very hard to appreciate that the
Christmas season is upon us. While our
friends up north report cold and snow we complain when the air temperature
drops to the high 70s. Music seems to be
the strongest reminder for me that Christmas will come.
We had heard along the way that La Paz has
a very active cruiser community who meet every morning at 8 AM on VHF radio
channel 22. At 8 AM on Monday we tuned
in and learned the weather and tides as well as who had arrived (us!) and
departed the area and we had a chance to ask any “local assistance” questions
such as “can we catch a ride to Walmart with someone” (yes, we could). The net runs from ½ to 1 hour 6 days a week
and is followed by coffee at Club Cruceros
(Cruiser’s Club) where the local cruiser community has its home base
with a library of books and DVDs and events such as a Christmas Bazaar yesterday
providing funds for local charities. We
also realized that a LOT of boats have ended up in La Paz and never leave.
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| Club Cruceros (Cruisers' Club) |
We also decided that folks from the PNW are
heavily represented here with a number of Puget Sound and BC boats. We were on the same dock with Max, Stephanie
and their daughters on Xpression as they waved goodbye to Stephanie as she
headed back to Tacoma for two months of work before she can visit the family
again for another month. On one hand Max
points out that the month the family has together on a small island in the sea
amounts to more total time then when they try to combine school and jobs and a
“normal” household life but he agreed the months apart can be hard. In any case the girls are clearly doing very
very well with both schooling (they are home schooled on such topics as math
with celestial navigation) and social wellbeing. We also ran into Sandi and Tom and their
small boys on Korvessa who we had met in Dana Point where we learned he trained
as a Physicians’ Assistant at the same hospital where I worked in Everett. Next to us was a boat with 2 Jackhuahua’s on
it and beyond them SV Agatha from Seattle with an English / Australian couple
and their 13 year old daughter. We had a
lovely evening with Nordhavn (X2 boats!) owners from the Vancouver area, Penny
and Larry Talbot who we had met in Seattle. Across from us was our friends on
Nordhavn One Life, and the list goes on as we get to know more and more boats
by name and the folks who live on them.
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| This boat used to be named Isis and was in the same marina as us in Everett. |
|
I had read that an outcome of NAFTA was the
establishment of a middle class in Mexico.
My memories of Mexico as a child were of impoverished Tijuana and
Ensenada with beggars everywhere and everyone living in shacks. Those days are not gone but they are going in
the bigger towns we have visited so far.
On one hand things still don’t
work as we Yankees think they should but on the other hand the locals seem to
feel in control of their own destinies.
During a RAIN STORM (capitals for emphasis – it rained more than cats
and dogs – maybe elephants and horses) the sewers were quickly backed up, water
ran into buildings because the tile floors had been laid with an inward slope,
and cobblestone streets developed holes 2 feet deep but the next day MOST
things were cleaned up and the water swept (literally with brooms) out to
sea. On the other hand much of the
damage will likely not ever be repaired as ongoing maintenance is rare – a
project gets done and then no follow-up.
(E.G. I tried to ride in a bike lane but a man-hole had been added in
the middle of the lane 8 inches above the rest of the lane with no lid and no
sloped approach.) Our friend needed to
make a report at the nice new police station (reported to have been built with
USA funding) but the city didn’t have money for copier paper. On the other hand families are out walking in
the evening along the newly completed seaside promenade and taking time to try
to practice their English with me as they greet Jarvis with a pat on the head
(a well-trained and friendly dog seems to be very much appreciated). We’ve only seen two beggars. One man was making his way with his below the
knee amputation on a knee crutch like Clarice used with her broken foot. It was obvious that this was a long term
solution for him and that he likely wears out knee crutches on a regular
basis. We offered to give his Clarice’s
old one and he clearly fully expected to pay for it and was very very gracious
when we gave it to him as a gift. At
Walmart I saw a group of young people with uniforms that seemed to indicate
they were nursing students. When I
explained to two young men that I am an enfermero they were very excited to
have an example of an “old guy” nurse who is a male. We bought their supplies for them and wished
them Feliz Navidad! Walking with Jarvis
one evening about 8 secondary school kids came up to us to greet Jarvis and to
practice their English. I later learned
that one of the girls was celebrating her birthday was the purpose of their
party so I sang Happy Birthday with my base voice turned up so everyone in the
marina knew she was celebrating – the kids and parents clapped and the dog and
I went on our way. Perhaps the person
who gave us this piece of wisdom said it best: “If you tell a Mexican they
should do it like we do in the United States, they will point out that their
society is a couple of thousand years old while our country has only been
around for a couple hundred years.”
So today we are heading back to Ensenada
Muertos after having waited out some high winds the past few days as we head
back to San Juan Del Cabo to pick up Erin and her family on the 15th. The wind today is again from the north at
about 15 knots with short seas but they are much more tolerable from astern
than beating into them from the bow. Our
learning here is that winds predicted in the Sea of Cortez coming from the
north at greater than 10 knots need to be taken seriously as: 1) the speed
estimates tend to be low, often by 10 knots (so a 10 knot prediction yields a
20 knot wind) and 2) the bay is long and narrow so it doesn’t have swell as
such but does develop very steep sided short period waves that can be miserable
for mariners.
December 11, 2018 – “Misplaced Passports”
OR “It Takes a Community”
Just as I was finishing the last note and
Clarice and gone downstairs for a nap we had a moment of internet coverage and
we picked up an email from the marina we had departed 5 hours prior that our passports were in
their office. Hmmm, what to do: 1) turn
against the following wind and following seas and beat back to the marina to
arrive after dark or 2) call on The Community.
Here is what transpired among the group of boats travelling together:
·
“Stray Cat, Stray Cat from Salish Aire”…. (no
response)
·
“Salish Dragon, Salish Dragon from Salish Aire”
…. “Salish Dragon here”
·
“Salish Dragon do you know of anyone coming to Muertos
tomorrow who could bring our passports down?”
·
“Break, Break, this is SV Valhalla, I believe Epiphany
is coming tomorrow, I will see if I have contact information”
·
“This is Salish Dragon, I will also text my
cousin who is still in the neighboring marina to see if she can contact
Epiphany”
·
“Valhalla back to Salish Aire – I don’t have
contact information for Epiphany”
·
“Salish Dragon back to Salish Aire – my cousin
on Red Shoes says Epiphany isn’t coming south but is sure she can find someone
through the morning net or perhaps you can catch a cab from Muertos back as its
only about 45 minutes” (later it was confirmed as 2 hours over rough dirt road)
·
“Email sent to friends still in Marina Cortez
explaining our situation.”
·
“Salish Dragon back to Salish Aire, my cousin
has picked up the passports and will hand them off to Kwaai “
·
Email from the Marina Office confirming that the
passports had been picked up by Red Shoes
·
Email back from friends confirming that they
will help if our current plan doesn’t work out.
·
8:30 PM - Text message that we should expect the
passports between 5:30 and 6 AM today and to listen for Kwaai on channel 6
·
5:50 AM, “Salish Aire from Kwaai – we can’t tell
which boat you are in the dark”
·
“Salish Aire back to Kwaai we will turn on our
deck lights”
·
5:55 AM a trailer launched panga (small
fiberglass fishing boat ubiquitous to Mexico and Central America) pulls up next
to our boat with a 2 Canadians and a Mexican boat operator – hand us the
passports and then zip off into the dark to go fishing
(Spanish lesson: Bahia = Bay; Ensenada = Cove; Cabo =Cape;
Muertos = Dead; Frailes = Friars)
December 29, 2018
Sometimes it’s hard to believe how full our days are even
though we are doing “nothing”. Today was
forecast to be “extremely cold and windy” (its 65 Fahrenheit) so I put on long
pants, shoes, and a long sleeve shirt and planned to get my blogging caught up. We saw a Mexican night watchman wearing quilted pants, a heavy coat, a neck scarf, a stocking cap, and heavy gloves.
On arrival back in San Jose Del Cabo the dock attendant
immediately recognized the boat and directed us into a slip after having left
Bahia Frailes about 5 AM so we would have plenty of time to get organized
before Erin’s flight from Ontario arrived followed an hour later by Paul’s
flight from Seattle where he is on contract with MicroSoft for a year. We were irritated that the local cabs were
charging about $50 USD from the airport to the Marina so we set about finding a
better solution. In the end we learned
of a local car rental company who would provide an 8 seat van at a reasonable
price but I needed to pick it up at the airport. I jumped on my electric assist bicycle and
headed out. Picking up the van was a
no-hassle event as Cactus Car Rentals apparently is very focused on getting
repeat customers as was obvious by how they greeted (and were greeted) by folks
who had clearly rented from them several times and considered the customer (manager)
to be a personal friend. I waited in their comfy waiting room a short time and
they recommended that Erin and family jump in their courtesy van from the
baggage area where they had gotten through customs with no issues.
We used the van to tour town a bit and to make a run to Cabo
San Lucas Costco and Walmart for provisions.
The kids tried out their new snorkel sets in a protected beach at the
marina and all was almost well (two of the kids had very short lived belly illnesses
most likely from a previously obtained bug and/or extreme fatigue and over
stimulation).
After a day to acclimate in town we headed out early in the
morning back to Bahia Frailes before the kids were awake so they didn’t have to
endure much of the 5 hour ride. On the
other hand I had prepared reward forms where they could get pesos for observing
sea life. Valerie was on the front deck
as soon as she was awake with her list in hand and soon spotted a gray whale.
About a half hour
after our guests left for the airport we slipped our lines and headed north for
a 19 hour run back to La Paz so we would arrive in a place where we felt we would
have a community to join in for Christmas celebrations. The run north started with the usual
headwinds coming from Arizona down the Sea of Cortez and making for an
uncomfortable bounce. Between wind and
currents and using our paravanes we were slowed to 4.5 knots (AKA “really slow”)
and all we could do was hope that we had read the weather charts correctly and
all would change in the evening. Sure
enough at about 9 PM the near full moon came out, the wind and waves dies out,
and we had smooth sailing which brought us into La Paz about 10 AM.
We confirmed on the morning radio net what time the
Christmas Eve Club Cruceros potluck would be and then settled in for a much
needed nap (with A/C running on December 24th!). We enjoyed the evening meal with Max and his girls at our table and then
attended a lessons and carols type service in the marina parking lot. The next day Clarice and I walked up to the
local Catholic cathedral and joined in the Christmas service. While the service was in Spanish the message
was clear in meaning. We did find in
surprising that the church nativity scene was a snow scene with a campfire for
the Christ child. The photos don’t
include the Baby Jesus because he was being greeted at the front of the church
by each of the congregants one at a time after waiting in line.
So with a very unusual (for us) Christmas past we are trying
to get the boat cleaned after having housed 7 people for a week (Clarice’s
present was to have a local man wax and polish the boat). The motor oil has been changed and so Salish
Aire is mechanically ready to take us out whenever we are ready to go which for
the next month will be in the La Paz area as we have secured a slip in La Paz
for a month.
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| The boat waxing team at work |
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| Boats lit up for Christmas |
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| The Nativity scene in the cathedral |
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| The shirt says it all! |
