carnaval

the headliners for the week

Feb. 16^th 2012

this is the malecone the day before carnival

Today is the official start of carnaval. I have heard rumors of mass amounts of people, some bad element coming into town. The stages have been set up and there are a lot of 10 by ten booths set up all along the board walk. Carnaval doesn’t officially start till eight, so I took a nap earlier today. I figure that might be my last chance to sleep for the next week.

starting to set up for carnaval on the malecone

By five o clock the wind was picking up and it was a cold wind. There were five of us planning on going to opening night carnival, but by six the temp. was in the low 60’s and the wind put the temp. with wind chill, in the low fifties. So I bailed. I can see the malicone (boardwalk) from the boat, and there just isn’t that many people mulling about. I guess it’s too cold for the locals too.

Feb. 17^th 2012

The only thing really annoying last night was the noise coming from the carnival. Not carnaval, but the carnival. The carnival is set up right across from me on the malicone. Lots of cheesy rides, the same carnival we have all seen in the states. But this one has a spook house, and they play the theme song from the x files over, and over, and over, and over on a loop, and it’s not the whole song, just the opening four measures. Over, and over, and over, and over again. That got old really fast. But it turned off about eleven, so I did sleep on my first night of carnaval.

Today we are all planning on going into town again, even though the cold temperatures are still here. Ed and Terry from s/v Sea Moore are travelling back to the states tomorrow for a couple of weeks, so tonight is their last chance to see carnaval. It was Terry, Ed John, Russ and I. We headed out around seven and walked the booths and waited for the bands to start up. It reminded me of a small town fair, not too many people, lots of games for the kids to play, the carnival etc. the only real difference is the bars. About every tenth booth was a full on bar, with any kind of drink you can imagine. Ed and Terry left around nine and I stayed out with John and Russ. We walked up and down the malicone three times. A couple of bands started playing. Girls were dancing. But it was very mellow.

pork flat steaks all piled on top of each other and roasted on a spit. very good.

We came back to our boats at around 10:30. I could not deal with the x-files again, so I turned on my radio and found a channel with white noise and turned it loud enough to block out the x-files. Ahhhhhh bliss at last.

Feb. 18^th 2012

Terry and Ed left at three for the airport. I dinghied them to shore, I am also babysitting their boat while they are away. But they emptied out their fridge and freezer before they left, so I was the recipient of lots of meat and vegetables. I called Russ and asked him to come to dinner over at my place. We had pork chops in a red wine reduction with mushrooms, rice pilaf, and poi son crue. Which is a lot like ceviche, only the vegetables are chopped thicker, and it has coconut milk in it.

After dinner we headed out to carnaval. Basically the same as last night, only I did notice more people tonight. There was one Mexican band who dressed like the Beatles and played Beatle songs, but I don’t think they spoke English because the big hit for the night was not “I wanna hold your hand” but sounded like “I momma holding a hand.” I swear that’s what they said.

There was also a Mexican rapper, and a hard screamer band. Very eclectic. I got back to the boat at midnight and the volume of the malicone has indeed picked up and is going later. So more white noise for me. (the pictures of both of these bands didnt turn out)

Tomorrow, Sunday, is the parade. It starts at four. So the plan is to go to the parade, and then back to the boat for a spaghetti dinner as I try to use up the stuff Terry gave me. I don’t have a freezer so I have to cook it fast. But john is also coming over for dinner tonight. I think John and Russ are happy Terry gave me all this extra stuff to cook.

Feb. 19^th, 2012

Today is the big day for carnival. The headliner is very famous, although I never heard of her, Diana reyes. She starts at ten, and there is a parade today at four.

The parade was pretty cool. Lots of floats and strange things to look at. Most of the floats had a group of people walking behind them all dressed the same, and they all had music blaring at crazy levels. I don’t know if I am just getting too old, or if Mexicans just don’t believe music is any good unless you can feel the music pulsating through your body. But it is always LOUD!

The parade lasted about an hour. Another different custom they have down here is the throwing of candy from the floats. In the states you grab the biggest handful you can pick up and throw it, overhand, into the unsuspecting masses, but down here, they toss one or two at a time, always making sure the person they are throwing to is ready, I also saw a lot of plastic cups, and cd’s being tossed as well.

After the parade we came back to my boat for dinner, I had started the spaghetti sauce earlier in the day and it had been simmering nicely for about three hours. I put water on to boil and made a salad, then put the noodles in the boiling water with salt and oil. I then prepared the garlic cheese bread with two kinds of cheese, parmesan and cheddar sprinkled over butter and of course fresh garlic. I did not put the cheddar on the bread until after I grilled them on my comal that is a tortilla grill down here. The bread toasted up nicely, and then I put the cheddar on top to melt. By that time the noodles were done and we were eating.

 At eight we went back out to ground zero of carnaval. Tonight there is a lot more people here than the previous nights. As usual, we started walking down the malicone people watching.

We were in a great spot to watch the headliner as ten was getting closer. The band started playing and the backup singers sounded good, there was some pyrotechnics and fog on stage as Diana came into view. The crowd went wild and she started singing. She has a powerful voice and the crowd was singing along with her to the song I had never heard before.

We watched for about ten minutes and then walked down the malicone to the end and then back. I feel like I have seen behind the curtain of carnaval in La Paz, the magic is gone. I just want my quiet anchorage back. Just three more nights.

Diana Reyes

my birthday!

Feb. `13^th,2012 la paz

I awoke to light winds and calm conditions. It’s supposed to be another sweet day.  I need to get regular gasoline for my generator today. I want to make sure I have enough on the boat that I don’t have to go get it during carnaval. I have two 2.5 gallon jugs that I use for gas. I tie a strap around them and wear them around my neck. That helps me carry them back when they are full. If my hands get tired, I can let the strap hold the weight on my neck, and when my neck gets sore, I can hold the cans a little higher and take the pressure off my neck. It works very well. The gas station is about a mile away, so having the weight on different areas of my body for the walk back makes it a lot easier.

You may be wondering what gas cost down here? Both jugs together are 5 gallons, and that costs 180 pesos to fill. There is 13 pesos to the dollar so ….$13.85 OR 2.77 per gallon. yes it is cheaper down here. The govt. of Mexico pays the additional price on gas and diesel to keep the costs down.

After that project I did some work on the boat. And just kind of took it easy.

Feb. 14^th, 2012 la paz

Happy valentines day!! Since Kris is back in the states, my goal is to stay busy today. I started by going to coffee at club cruceros this morning. Talked to a few people and just hung out. After that I walked up into town for a much needed haircut. You may wonder what a haircut costs down here, it was $3.48 U.S. yes somethings are a lot cheaper down here. I picked up my laundry and Ed from sea moore volunteered to take it back to my boat in his dinghy, because the last time I picked up my laundry, there were swells and I made it to my boat in the kayak, but when I tried to lift the bags onto the boat, I lost one and it went into the ocean. Thank goodness it was the bag with mostly Kris’s clothes in it. I was on the boat, the kayak was tied to the boat, and this bag of laundry was floating away. I got back into the kayak as fast as I could, which isn’t very fast, for fear I would fall out, and started rowing to the bag. It was about twenty feet away by the time I got to it and was starting to fill with water. I reached out to lift it and it weighed too much with all of the water in the bag, and between the wind and the waves, I was getting a lot farther from the boat then I wanted too. I lay on the kayak so it wouldn’t tip as easy, and lifted and pulled the bag of now dirty laundry onto the kayak. Then I started rowing back to the boat. It was not an easy row into the wind. I got back to the boat and then had to stand on the kayak to give myself the leverage to lift the wet laundry. I did and frankly, I’m not sure how I stayed standing, but I did. The rest of the story is I got it on board, minus some wash clothes that fell out of the top of the bag, and then got the kayak tied back up and I laid down in the cockpit to catch my breath. I had noticed two guys standing at the dock watching this whole ordeal. I looked over after I caught my breath and saw seven guys all watching from the dock. I’m glad I could entertain the locals. 

Anyway, back to valentines. Ed brought me my laundry, I took a shower and then went to sea moore for dinner. We had steaks and roasted veggies and some great local artisan bread.

I rowed back to the boat and watched a movie, then went to bed around ten.

Feb. 15^th 2012 la paz

Today is my birthday. So to celebrate, I made a French toast bake with cream and blueberry compote. I also had bought a bottle of fresh squeezed mango juice, it was delicious.

Today is the day before carnaval, and they have set up a carnival next to the dock. It looks like I’m at ground zero. Sea moore invited me over for dinner. Terry is making pizza using Kris’s pizza dough recipe. They invited Russ from kashmere to come as well.

taken the night before from my boat

The pizza was awesome. They even got me a present. I sling shot, a Hand line, and some imported black licorice. Oh yea!

What do I need sling shot for, and what is a hand line you ask?

The sling shot is for birds that decide your mast is the best place to hang out. I wouldn’t mind a bird or two using my mast, if they didn’t crap all over the place. So the sling shot is to scare them away. I have not had this situation happen yet, but I have seen it, and my belief is a bird craps his body size, every hour of every day. They truly are amazing animals.

The hand line is a fishing line that is made for trolling off the back of the boat. It is made with thicker twine so you can reel it in hand over hand.

After dinner, we went to a club to hear a local band play, they were Mexican but played lots of English old time rock and roll. They were pretty good. Then Terry from sea moore wanted to go to karaoke. There is a club downtown called Sinatra Karaoke that she wanted to go to. We walked down the malicone and it was very quiet. Hardly anyone is out tonight. I think people are getting one last night of sleep before carnaval.

The karaoke club opened at nine, and we got there at nine thirty. There was one other couple in the place signing a duet as we walked in. nobody else was there. We stayed till eleven and were the only ones there by the time we left. I’m not sure if that was a coincidence or not.

But it was a great night. On the way back to the boat, I was again reminded of how quiet it is tonight. I think this will be my last good night sleep for the week. Tomorrow I will post about my first experience with carnaval.

back in La PAz

Feb. 10^th, 2012 cadeleria to la paz

This morning, i awoke at just before eight, and it was calm. I listened to the cruisers net out of la paz, which comes on every morning at eight, and they said winds would be building throughout the day, and Saturday would be worse, and Sunday, basically, would be hell. With Lots of wind and waves up to eleven feet. I could see looking out of the bay it was calm, so I hurried and left.

I didn’t get but five miles, before my engine started overheating. I turned off the engine and put up my sails. In calm, barely moving wind. I was making three knots, but at least I was going in the right direction. Plus I only had twenty two miles to go. Between the end of island espiritu santo and the mainland, I became becalmed. No wind, just drifting. I went below and looked at the engine. It was hot to the touch. I checked the oil. Fine. Checked the water pressure, fine. I opened the raw water filter, and it was plugged.  I cleaned it out and started the engine. Five minutes later, it was overheating again.

So I drifted for two hours with no wind. I kept thinking the weather report showed high winds, should be starting anytime now.

Finally a puff of wind. I got my steerage back and pointed to La Paz. As I got closer, the wind picked up. I was now doing two knots. Then three.

About two miles out of the channel to la paz, it kicked in, I was doing six knots. Outstanding.

By the time I got to the anchorage I was back down to three. But I had made it. I turned on the engine just long enough to sink the hook. Im back and it only took nine and a half hours for me to go twenty two miles. It was a day of having patience. At least I made it before the sun went down, but barely.

Feb. 11^th, 2012 La Paz

I had a hard time sleeping last night. I usually don’t sleep well the first night at anchor. I’m always afraid I’m not holding well. And La Paz has a very strong current that runs through this area, and you move a lot throughout the day. At midnight I looked out and I was ten feet from another boat that was already here when I came in. When I anchored he was 200 feet in front of me, and if everyone is anchored with the same amount of scope, or chain out, we should all move the same as the wind moves the boats, in other words, he should have still been in front of me by 200 feet, but he wasn’t, which meant I was not holding, or he did not have out the same amount of line as I did. So I pulled in ten feet of line, just to make sure we did no0t touch, and I tried to go back to sleep. At three am, I had drifted about forty feet from him and I felt easier. I was still not sure if I was holding, but I was away from everyone, and I had moved in another direction then the wind was blowing, so I felt pretty good that I was holding.

When I got up at eight, I was 200 feet away again and felt great about things. I needed to provision today and get water. This is an all day project. I take my two big 7.5 gal water jugs, and tie them to the kayak. Then paddle the half mile to the marina and fill the jugs, then paddle back. It takes three trips for me to feel like I have enough for the week. That’s forty five gallons.

Then I went to the store. That is a half a mile walk to the bus stop, then a twenty minute ride to the store, then shopping and bus back.

You might be wondering why I’m not using my new inflatable dinghy and outboard. It’s because carnaval is next week, and we have heard that carnaval brings in some bad element. We have been instructed not to park at the town dock, which is fifty yards away, because out dinghies will be gone in less than an hour. I have also been told that some will swim out to the boat and take what they can find if it’s not locked away. The dinghy is too big for me to keep on top of the boat, so I’m waiting till after carnaval to get it out. I don’t want it stolen the first week I use it.

Ohhh and the weather? The club cuisaros web site was hacked, and the wrong weather forecast was put on their sight. The real weather is light winds through the first of next week. Nothing above five knots, and smooth seas.

Feb. 12^th, 2012

I woke up in the middle of the night again, to find myself only ten feet away again from that boat. Crap! So I pulled in another ten feet and sat and watched for an hour to make sure we were not getting any closer. We never did.  I went back to bed and woke up at eight and was again, 100 feet away from his boat. So I got the kayak down and hooked up my stern anchor and went out about fifty feet and dropped that in the water. Now it doesn’t matter how the wind blows or the current flows, I won’t move. I’m far enough away from all the other boats anchored that I won’t be a problem to any of them either. So I think I’ll sleep much better tonight.

Today I invited Russ from “kashmere” over for dinner, he is from Canada and has been down here alone for some time. He has told me his usual dinner is top ramin, so I thought he would appreciate a god meal. I had bought some short ribs yesterday at the store, so I thought I would cook those up.

Then Ed and Terry from “sea moore” wanted me to walk with them to DQ for a blizzard. I said yes of course. So we walked the three miles to DQ and had a blizzard. Very nice. I got back in time to make dinner. I braised the short ribs in white wine for four hours on slow heat. Then made a sauce out of raspberries and chipotle. I made mashed potatoes and we had grilled romaine salad on the side.

He got here at around five and we ate up top since it was such a nice day. Colleen from “sea moore” stopped by, and I fed her too. It turned into a great evening of talking, laughing, and watching the sun set.

One thing I did notice today, while all of us gringos are in shorts and t-shirts, the locals are all still in coats and sweaters. It 85 degrees and they still think it’s cold. The summers must be brutal here.

the anchorage in the background, and just one of many statue along the malicone

feb still on the islands of espiritu santo and san francisco

February 1^st, 2012 Bahia San Gabriel

Woke up at 8 and had a breakfast of oatmeal and a tortilla with butter. Remember, I already ate the last of the bread. Today is Ed’s birthday. He wanted to try spear fishing this morning, so, after breakfast, I got on my wetsuit and we headed over to a cliff face on the west side of the bay. We took the dinghy and got in the water. The visibility was good. About 40 feet. We were in 15-20 feet of water and there were lots of boulders strewn around the bottom. Ed had gotten a spear gun for his birthday and I have a spear, also called a Hawaiian sling.

There were a lot of fish swimming around, but nothing good to eat. I figured they were hiding down in the rocks. Ed swam down and came up with a nice rock fish. Lunch was secured!

I know fishermen are good at telling tales, but I swear this is the truth. I dove down and hid behind a boulder. I started to swim around the rock as quiet as I could, with my sling at the ready. I saw a nice sized grouper about eight feet away. He saw me but didn’t swim away, just got closer to the boulder. I was within four feet when I let the sling go. Wham! A direct hit right behind the eye. I saw some fish scales fly off of the grouper and then he was gone. I need to hone my spear. It didn’t penetrate.

But I was happy for Ed and I made caviche for lunch. I can’t wait to go back out there and spear fish some more.

After lunch we took a walk to the other side of the Island to a place called Bonanza. I had heard that Bonanza was miles of pristine white sand beach and usually no people around. We thought it was maybe ¾ of a mile to cross the island. Turned out it was three miles a crossed. BY the time we got there, and yes it was a great, wide beach with nobody around, and back, we were exhausted. The wind had changed again and was blowing in from the south, not hard, maybe ten knots. But after the morning of snorkeling, and then walking six miles, I was not looking forward to my kayak ride into the wind, for another half a mile. But I made it, and Terry invited me over for dinner to celebrate Ed’s birthday.

She had made lasagna and broccoli and fresh bread. It was delicious. She also sent me home with a loaf of bread since she knew I had run out. Nice!

Tomorrow I plan to look around the pearl farm and see if I can find any ruins.

ancient oyster shells. on the side of the pearl farm

February 2 2012 san Gabriel and Isla san Francisco

24 degrees 49’.336 n

110 degrees 34’.347 w

This morning I took off to explore the pearl farm. This was built in the 1700’s because the oysters had been decimated by explorers looking for pearls between the 1400’s-1700’s. From what I have been able to find, the oyster beds were everywhere down here. Easy pickings’ for pearl hunters. There was big money to be had for pearls in Europe. This farm was started by a pearl farmer who understood that oysters were getting harder to find. From what I read, this family was very successful for generations, mining the pearls from this oyster farm. Then a captain in the Mexican Spanish war, who had some grievances against the family, destroyed the farm around 1860. No names and nothing else I looked up told me anything else.  Sounds like it might be a good story on its own, but it’s hard to find info on local history down here.

At eleven I headed up to Isle San Francisco, about twenty two miles north. The weather has been great the last couple of days, but I think a weather system is moving down from the north. I figured this way, if the wind does pick up, I will be heading with it and not against it.

On the way here I saw lots of whales spouting in the distance. Then one blue whale swam alongside me for about two hundred yards, he was not more than thirty yards out. Then I saw two giant turtles swim by, and quite a few manta rays jumping out of the water. That’s a great day.

I am anchored in 13 feet over sand and grass. It took three tries to set the anchor because of the grass, and frankly, I’m not too sure how stuck I am. I hope the wind doesn’t blow much tonight. Tomorrow I am scouting to find an open patch of sand and re-dropping the hook.

Feb. 3^rd, 2012 Isla San Francisco

I awoke with a headache and I’m all stuffed up. The wind did blow last night, so I was up a lot checking my anchor. It held, but I am definitely moving this morning. I took the kayak over to the north side of the anchorage. There is a large cliff face that I think will cut the wind a bit if it continues to blow. I checked it out and there is not as much grass over there. It looks flat and sandy.

 I pulled up the anchor and headed over. It is much nicer here. I can see the flags on the other boats in the anchorage blowing. But I am hardly in any wind at all. My anchor buried nicely, I am feeling much better about the boat staying put. I wish personally I felt the same. But I have a head cold. I’m going to take it easy today, no plans except to sharpen my spear and read.

Feb. 5^th, 2012 Isla San Francisco

Yesterday I was still feeling under the weather, so I didn’t do anything except read. This morning I felt much better, so I took the kayak to the shore and walked to the other side of the island. I forgot my camera so I’m sorry there are no pictures. But I saw amazing things!. Just kidding. It was another bay just like others I have found. One thing I can say about Mexico is there are lots of white beaches with no people on them. If this were the states, there would be a hotel and condos everywhere.

I did see a lot of crabs by the water. So I felt bad I did not have a camera, but I wasn’t walking back. I decided to go out and try fishing for bigger fish. I have a fish finder on board, and I wanted to use it. I went to the point of the bay and started trolling. There were lots of fish at 50 feet and deeper. But I was trolling on the surface, so once again I was only fishing, not catching.

The wind was blowing once again today. I had gusts to 30 mph last night. I was glad to be in this nice protected bay. The wind has died down now, and I am listening to the super bowl on satellite radio.

Tomorrow it looks like the wind will be laying down, so I am going to the town of san  evaristo. I hope they have internet there. I don’t mind being out here alone, but I would like to hear from friends and family.

Feb. 6^th, 2012 San Evaristo

24 degrees 54’.490 N

110 degrees 42’.369 W

Today I left San Francisco, where I didn’t see one cable car, or street reaching to the stars,(it’s a song people) and motored to San everisto. A little fishing village nine miles farther north, in an anchorage protected from north and south winds. I had heard that gps charts can be off in Mexico, but I had not found that to be true until today. To get to san everisto, I had to go around five little islands, I had plotted to go between them, with two islands about a mile off the port side and the other three about a mile on my starboard side.

I could see the two islands on one side and the three on the other, but my chartplotter showed me going right over one of the islands. It was off by about  a mile. I am glad I don’t travel these parts at night.

It was blowing about ten knots by the time I got here and slipped into the bay. Lots of dolphins came out to greet me on the way in. I like this place. The only real down side is no internet still. Ugghhh!

I went to the market and bought some much needed supplies. Coke, fig newtens, and a snickers. Yes!

I also bought a snapper from a local fisherman when he came into town on his boat. So at least I have dinner for tonight.

Feb. 7^th, 2012 san everisto

woke up at 2:20 am to the sound of my bilge pump going off. That in itself is no big deal. For those of you not boat savvy, the bilge is in the lowest part of the boat and all water runs to it. So if I take a shower, or do dishes, the water runs to the bilge. When it gets a couple of inches full, the pump kicks on and spits it out the side of the boat. The bilge goes off once or twice a day. This time, however, it went off again 15 minutes later, then fifteen minutes after that. Now I knew I had a problem. Boats!  

I got up and started searching around. I could see water on the floor in the bathroom, so I figured I had a bolt loose on the toilet and it was dripping salt water into the boat. Then it was running to the drain and feeling up the bilge. I put some towels down by the toilet and figured the towels would soak up the small leak and stop the bilge from pumping and I could go back to sleep and tighten it up the morning. So I tried to go back to sleep. Nope. That was not the answer. The bilge continued to go off and I also noticed a not to pleasant smell along with it.

Up again, its three thirty now and I’m relatively awake. I go back into the bathroom and notice that the water is dripping from near the shower area and not the toilet area. I decided to turn the bilge on manually and see what happens. When I did, the bilge water came out the wall and ran down into the floor of the bathroom. Now I know what the smell was. Bilge water is not exactly fresh and clean.

I got out a bucket and a sponge and cleaned out the bilge of all water so the pump would not go on, then dumped that over the side. Now it’s 4:30, I’m going to bed and figure out what to do about it in the morning. 

At eight, I started unscrewing everything I could on the wall by the shower. I removed a two inch piece of wood molding and there was a joint. I knew where the water was coming in now. I also knew this was where the bilge pumped to the outside. Now I got to thinking, that back in December, I was tied up to a dock when this power boat came flying into the same area. He threw up quite a wake and the side of the boat bashed against the dock, and it did snap off a small piece of plastic that was attached to the bilge hose. I didn’t think anything of it, because the bilge still worked fine, but now I know that piece of plastic was what kept the hose in place, and it had finally come loose.  Sure enough, after I got the panel removed from the wall, I could see the hose just sitting there. So I got another fitting and put it back in place. I’m glad I had an extra fitting.

Ed and I walked over to the salt mines on the other side of san everisto this afternoon, it was a nice walk, and I did remember my camera.

Feb. 8^th, 2012 san everisto

Woke up early to thunder and lighting. Then the rain began to fall. That was west of us. To the east was a full moon and a cloudless sky over the ocean, with hundreds, and I mean maybe even more, dolphins swimming just outside the bay. I love it out here.  Then the rain came and I could not see anything else as the clouds rolled up the sky and doused the moon. I went back to bed, and awoke at 8 with light rain falling.

We had plans to eat lunch today at the pilapa in town. By we, I mean the boats at anchor here. There were ten of us total who had made arrangements the day before to eat lunch on shore. This is how it works in most of these small villages. You find out who has the restaurant or who has the space, and the inclination, and they tell you what time to show up the next day. We were told to be at the pilapa at 11:30 for lunch. We didn’t know what we were having, there is usually no menu, just whatever they have to fix.

But at ten we were all told, by monitoring the radio, that because of the rain, most of the fishing fleet had not gone out, so there was no fresh fish in town, so lunch maybe cancelled. We all waited around on our boats, as the rain slowed and the clouds started to part. At 11:15 a panga came roaring in and we were told, again by radio, that lunch would still be at 11:30. I could see the fisherman from the panga taking two big fresh fish from his boat and walking them to the pilapa.

As we all headed to shore in our separate small dinghies, I could smell the fresh made tortillas, and see the smoke from the open fire next to the pilapa. The lunch consisted of fresh made tortillas, fresh Pico de gaillo, an interesting pasta salad with corn, and rice and beans. It was delicious, and I got to meet some other boaters cruising in the area. I was told, by one of the locals, that sometimes you could get a signal for internet at the” cactus telephone booth.” I asked where that was and she pointed to the highest cactus on the hill overlooking the bay. She said there were two boulders painted white, and if you stood on those, you could sometimes get a signal. After lunch I grabbed my laptop and headed up the hill. It was steep but there was a good trail to follow that lead right to the cactus and the two painted boulders. What a view, and once again no camera. I got to get better at bringing that. The bad news is no internet. So I still can’t talk to anyone back home. We are really spoiled. I know even when I was a kid, it would have never occurred to me to call home if I was in the mountains or somewhere rural. That was not an option. But in today’s world, I feel so out of touch. I would be perfectly fine out here if I could just make sure everyone in the family is ok. I trust everyone is, but I need to know that they are. SO tomorrow I am heading back to La Paz, or at least to los lobos, where I can get a signal. It should take about twelve hours to get back, so “sea Moore” and my boat “liahona” will head out at seven in the morning.  Colleen, from sea Moore, is hoping to hear about a job she applied for in Mazatlan, so she is anxious for internet as well. Currently the wind is blowing from the north and I see lightning off in the distance. Perhaps we will get another shower tonight. I hope the wind continues from the north, because that will mean wind at our backs tomorrow, which is always a good thing on a sail boat.

Feb.9^th, 2012 ensenada del candelero

24 degrees 30’.410 N

110 degrees 23’.370 W

What a day. Sometimes things just don’t work out like you want them to. Today is one of those days.

I left San Everisto at seven this morning. Headed for La Paz, hopefully, or Lobos, if the weather was rough. But the idea was to get within internet range.

By nine am I was in 30 knot winds and waves were at six feet and six seconds. By ten, it was blowing almost 40 knots, and the waves were nine to ten feet at three seconds. That is no fun. I had only a reefed jib up and was doing six to seven knots. I turned towards Isla Espiritu Santo, and took shelter at candelero.  Now it’s blowing 6 knots and gusting to ten, and I’m in lake conditions. It’s amazing how protected this little bay is. Hopefully tomorrow the wind will lay down and I can make it to la paz.

ok. we got a little complacent. but im hopefully figuring it out now

Blog for January 17^th to the 29^th 2012

Well we got lazy about the blog for January. Doesn’t mean we were not busy or having fun, we just didn’t blog too much. I guess the biggest change is this is Neil writing the blog. Kris and I had said we would switch off every three months. So now it’s my turn. Lol

Also, it just worked out that Kris has gone back to the states to visit grandkids and family as well.

She left on Wednesday, of last week, January 25^th. So now I am living in Mexico alone. It seems a little surreal, but I feel safe and I am still enjoying this adventure. There is some money issues Kris is working out so we can stay out here longer, that has to do with the sale of our businesses, so she will be gone a couple of months.

So you’re stuck with me. Lol There has been a lot that we have seen and done this month. I will recap a little just so I can show you some of the pictures.

The coolest thing we saw was a circus act that came to town. Not really a full circus, but a couple from France who are also cruising, who happen to be high wire acrobats. They put on a show on their boat. Climbing and swinging from the rigging. It was truly awesome.

Also, our DINGHY is here. Thanks to my sister Joyce and her husband Mark for doing the legwork and getting it shipped down here.  

January 29^th 2012

So I am going to try and stay up on the blog a little better then we did for most of January. As of now, I am anchored at Caleta Lobos. I needed to clean the bottom of the boat again, and I like this bay because there is not much current, and it’s well protected from wind swells.

I put my wetsuit on and dove down. The first thing I noticed is that the water was not nearly as clear as the last time I was here. I scrubbed the bottom, and with the sediment coming off of the boat, it was soon so murky I could not tell what I was doing. I got out of the water and was literally covered in sea lice. Yuck! I took a quick shower on the back of my boat, I didn’t want the little critters getting down below, and now I am writing this, and itching phantom bugs in my hair. Lol

I hope that I do not find all the bays here filled with lice.

I was invited over to cook dinner on “seamoore” tonight/ I know that sounds funny to hear I was invited to cook, byt Terry from Seamoore had some chicken leg and thighs and didn’t know what to do with them. I told her I would be happy to come and help when she wanted to cook them. Tonight is the night.       

Terry baked some vegetables while I bbq’d the chicken. I had made a chutney out of some fresh mangoes. I had done this before we left La Paz, in the hopes we would catch some fish, but no luck today. Chicken was the fall back. Lol

January 30^th, 2012

Today I am still at caleta lobos. It’s so incredible here. Every time I go down below and come back up, I’m surprised at the beauty of this place. The water this morning was glass. No wind. I was determined to fish from my kayak and catch dinner. So I got my fishing stuff out. I have a new pole I picked up in San Diego that I wanted to try, but I could only find the bottom half of the pole?? Now this is a big industrial pole, I don’t know how I could misplace the top of the pole??? Anyway, I took off the reel and put it on a nother pole and headed out.

An hour later, I had caught two puffer fish (not good eats) and some kind of bass that I could not identify. The problem with that was size. It was only four inches long. Lol I apparently have a lot to learn about fishing.

So dinner will be tacos with all the fixings, just no meat. Maybe tomorrow I will catch something edible. The wind is picking up and it’s getting dark. Going to watch a movie and then crash. Tomorrow I head to Bahia San Gabriel.

January 31, 2012 Bahia san Gabriel

24 degrees 25’ 607 N

110 degrees 21’.048 w

For those that want to check where I am on Google earth.

I awoke early this morning to an alarm going off. It was 3:30 am and my anchor alarm was screaming. My first thought was “mom, I don’t want to take out the garbage.” Lol Not really. My first thought was “Ohhh crap!”

I ran up top but my eyes were out of focus and I couldn’t see anything. It was pitch dark. I turned off the alarm and kept blinking to get the sleep out of my eyes.

All I could see was the anchor lights from the other two boats in the anchorage, and lots of stars. I didn’t think I had drifted, but how could I really tell? I went back to my alarm and looked it over. I had set it incorrectly. It was on the lowest possible setting which is sixty feet. I had 100 feet of rode out. Which meant my anchor was fine. I had just drifted into a new position farther then 60 feet from when I set the anchor alarm. Duh!

So back to bed, but sleep was not coming. So I finally got up, did some sit-ups and had a breakfast of eggs and toast, with the last of the homemade bread, and waited for the sun to rise. Nice morning.

At noon Liahona and seamoore left for san Gabriel. We arrived shortly after one and the wind was blowing south. So I pulled in as far to shore as I could and then turned into the wind and set the hook. San Gabriel is a place I recently read about in a local history book. There is a pearl farm that was destroyed in the 1860’s that you can still see. Also I read about some cave paintings and dwelling sights from local Indian tribes that are still around here somewhere.

As we settled in, I got in the kayak and paddled over to the pearl farm. Amazing. Lots of rocks to ford up the water, all put there, by hand, in the 1700’s. There was also lots of frigate birds nesting close by. I felt like I was in a national geographic special. 

frigget birds are named after pirate ships of the 1600's. they survive by stealing fish from other birds. they are the pirates of the bird world

But then I noticed the wind was starting to come from the north. I paddled back to the boat and dove down to look at my anchor. Remember, I had anchored south. Sure enough, the anchor had come undone. Luckily the wind was not blowing really hard so I was not drifting. I swam down (I am in 12 feet of water) and turned the anchor over and stuck it as well as I could. Then I started up the engine and backed down on it to set the anchor all the way. North winds are better actually because now I am not in a lee shore, which means the wind is coming off of the shore, so the waves do not have a chance to build before they hit the boat. That makes for a more peaceful evening.

Tomorrow the plan is to walk on ancient trails, (if we can find them) and go to the other side of the island, to a place called Bonanza. Bonanza supposedly has miles of pristine white beach and is a great place to hang out for a day. I’m looking forward to it. Dinner tonight is roasted chicken. Salad, And corn.

Bonanza, on the other side of the island

Ohhh before we left lobos around  noon, I was jonesing for some French fries. Lol so I cut up a potato and made fries. I know most of you have probably done this at home and noticed that fries made from a raw potato, at home, never tastes like the ones at a fast food place. That is because the ones at McDonalds have been parboiled. So this is what you do. First, throw your julienned potatoes into boiling, salted water. Just long enough to get the starch out, but not long enough that they will fall apart when you take them out. About five minutes. Place on a  towel to dry. Then heat up fry oil in a heavy skillet. Heat to 375. If you don’t have a thermometer, wait till the oil shimmers and a piece of bread will bubble and brown. Throw in your potatoes and fry for five minutes. Then take out. I know they are not done! And yes they are still white. Set aside for a couple of minutes. This will give the water inside as well as more starch to dissipate. Then throw potatoes back in oil. Watch closely they will start to brown in a couple of minutes. Take out of oil and toss in season salt on paper towels to soak up grease. Now you’ve got great French fries. Try it.