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.