May's Log
May 1, 2003
We arrived in Acapulco and immediately recognized a red sailboat we talked to a
year ago. They told us which mooring balls were available. They also suggested
someone to help us with our electricity/alternator problem; Asabeo Almuzo. We
chatted with Asabeo and will meet him at 8:30 tomorrow. Back to the boat and
turned in early, as we have no electricity and our batteries are way down (289
amps out of 400 and the voltage was 11.25)
May 2, 2001
We joined Asabeo at 8:30 and off we ventured in his car in search of a store
that can rebuild our alternator. We went to four places and finally returned to
the first place where a locally owned family owed the shop and we did a rebuild
of a "new" Bosh alternator and part from our very expensive Balmar. We returned
to the yacht club and opened a beer and headed off to the fuel dock to fill our
external bottles. The Acapulco Yacht Club is having a boat show filled with
scantly clad women and booths selling motors, cars, power sprayer and other
stuff. The Range Rovers were driven up on logs and stone platforms and the
"ladies" were nicely exposed for the climate and the culture. Too bad the
Seattle boat show occurs in January.
May 3, 2003
This was a long day with a win and a loss. We decided to inspect our fuel tank
and we decide to empty and clean the tank. We have about 17 gallons that we
pumped out by hand and spilled liberally. We moped out the remainder and clean
and wash the tanks. There is some gunk in the bottom and it feels good to clear
it our. The last time we did this was in Grey's Harbor, Washington in 1996. So
in 6 years there was about 2 cups to gunk that had accumulated. We have been
very fastidious about filtering all of our fuel through the Baja filter. I then
mounted our "new" alternator and - no joy. No amps were being produced and I
required another beer. Again a short night with the oil lamp burning, as we
didn't have much power in the batteries for lights.
May 4, 2003
I began the day wondering about the alternator and our electricity problems.
Electricity and how to employ it I understand and enjoy the "energy" of it. The
wiring and our boats "opportunities" over the years make my guts crawl. So I
wake and try to forget the pressing problem of no alternator. I leave Liz in the
v-berth and continue to read the novel of "Nazi occupation and challenges of the
coast of France." It is a good respit from wondering why the alternator is not
producing the 60 or so amps that it should be. I reread the regulator and
alternator installation instructions and look at our present wiring. I then us
the multi-meter and find a fuse is out. Could it be the answer? I also note that
our wiring is different from the instructions. I duplicate the instructions. We
start the engine and whoa we have 60 amps. I dinghy over to another boat who is
occupied by "Sam" and tell him I got the alternator fixed and we don't have to
go to shore as he volunteered to do for us and find us electrician. Then we
visit the red boat an invite Angel and Marta for lunch.
We had a great lunch and Marta showed us where the doctor was. The doctor was
closed but we will return tomorrow at 9:30 and hope he/she is in as it will be
Cino de Mayo.
May 5, 2003
We head in and meter with the doctor and order our drugs. Liz will be giving me
injections with a big needle. We continue on and do a big provisioning run and
Internet opportunity. We are again purchasing probably more food than we can
eat. We are both sure that there is food that we will be carting off once we are
in the Northwest. We are having Marta and Angel (pronounced An - Hell) for
dinner. They have been very helpful and we will miss them once we leave. After
they arrive for dinner we have Marta check the doctor's prescription, one, it is
in Spanish and two the doctor's writing is crappie - just like in the states.
The dinner is great, Green chili stew, and we are relax in the cockpit and enjoy
the breeze. Last night there was no breeze and the mugginess was bad. Tonight
the moon is out and can be seen in spite of the lights of Acapulco.
By the way I believe that America celebrate Cinco de Mayo more that the
Mexicans. Cinco de Mayo is when the Mexicans kicked the French out of Mexico. I
was corrected as I thought it was their independence day, but the taxi driver
corrected us while we were in Acapulco. Perhaps it is just a reason for
Americans to drink Tequila
May 6, 2003
Liz gave me her first injection of Cortisone and she did it very well. About an
hour later I can feel the difference in my elbow. I head in for the last time to
fuel and return without any as the yacht club is poorly organized and everyone
is blaming each other no one know where the fuel keys are. Two powerboats are
waiting as each need over 5,000 gallons. I only need twenty-seven gallons. I
return about an hour later and fuel. Again we think this is our last day and we
head to the grocery store and the Internet. Liz has been up most the night and
is feeling shitty, no pun intended. Liz sleeps most of the day and I head over
to Angel's boat and chat for an hour. They are a very interesting couple and we
hope they will visit us someday.
May 7, 2003
Liz's second shot this morning was super as well. Maybe she should of continued
in College and became a nurse. We woke and tried to decide whether we'd go to
the doctor for Liz. She still is feeling puny and so we are going to wait a
couple of hours and make the decision to leave or head to the doctor. About 10
am Liz say let's go and we haul up the dinghy and meet a new boat from Vancouver
BC, Horizon. Bob the skipper is a single-hander (our friend Sandra thinks that
means he is sailing with only one arm) and he knows several of our friends from
BC. We try to tell him information in Acapulco and also El Salvador and Costa
Rica. We make introduction for him and Angel/Marta.
We pass around the rocks at the entrance of the bay of which Acapulco is built
on and set the autopilot. Away, either to Zihautanejo, Barra de Navidad or Cabo
San Lucus. The destination depends on the wind and sea conditions. Once we slip
off land about 15 miles the seas smooth out and away we go with the wind almost
on our nose. Obviously I am no gentleman, cuz "Gentleman never sail to
windward." At least that is what they say.
May 8, 2003
I woke from a 5 hours sleep and Liz heads down. The seas are lumpy and we are
slowed by these waves. I have the fishing lures and no bites yet. Maybe I have
fisherman's block again.
May 9, 2003
The day is uneventful, no fish, a little wind on the nose and we power ahead.
Halfway through the day we realize that the controls that turn the engine on
have no electricity. Allan goes into the engine room and reconnects wires and
makes it work. Without it we have no way to restart the engine should we need
to. We finally catch a tuna but the wrong kind, damn. Except for some new
piercing in it's lips, the fish is on it's way.
May 10, 2003
We decide to not go into Barra at night, but head into Tenacatita that is a
wider open with fewer obstructions. There is a rock called Centro Rocco and we
worry about it coming in. The rock is only about 5 feet out of the water and
only 25 feet in circumference. A year and 5 months ago we were here and that
give us some in site and experience. We both are nervous as we slowly creep in.
At 4am we are motoring in slowly with radar. There are two vessels anchored, we
make the third. We anchor at 5:30am and all is well. We nap from 7am until 2pm
then try to move the boat further in only to find the windlass is not working,
so we opt to go fishing instead. End of the day. No fish are biting and we have
a bit of swell. Slainte is rolling a little but Liz is ok with it. Slainte!
Liz finished playing doctor and gave me my final needle injection, of course the
final one hurt. Cortisone really has helped my elbow. The swelling and pain is
gone. I hope that it will stay that way even after the injections have stopped.
May 11, 2003
Hello today is my 47th birthday and the fish gods didn't provide me a present
and no fish were harvested for tonight's feast. I got back to the boat and Liz
has made pancakes and bacon - and there was some double chocolate fudge batter
left in my honor. I have been stalling playing chess so I don't have to start
working on the windlass - it my birthday for goodness sakes. I lost in chess to
several 4, 5 and 6 years old computer players. The swell is very low as of noon
because it is nearly low tide. Later in the day I hope we can go up the creek
and fish for Machetes. These are about 12 to 18 inches long fish resembling a
tarpon, and very easy to catch, or at least they were a year and 5 months ago.
Liz and I fished and stopped over to the only other boat and his name is Bill.
He tells us that he is famous. Ten years ago in northern Costa Rica he was
sailing/motoring and bathing as a single-hander and fell overboard. It took him
twelve hours to swim ashore and his sailboat hit a reef and was totally stripped
by the locals. He tells us he is 80 but doesn't look over 60 years old. He used
to work out with Jack Lane, a physical fitness person in Southern California in
the sixties and seventies.
Liz fixed a wonderful dinner and gave me a couple of presents, including a
bottle of Johnny Walker Red Label Scotch. I haven't had any scotch for quite
sometime. Ahh!
May 12, 2003
Liz and I headed in over the breakers and up the creek and fished. Several
panga's dodged us quite nicely but no fish. Some fish were jumping but I didn't
have any minnow imitations. We headed down the mangrove creek and stayed on the
beach and had lunch, wonderful whole fish fried with salsa and rice and some Sol
cervesas. We were again reminiscing about the last time we were here having
lunch under the same thatched roof. We were then looking at 50+ vessels and many
cruisers that have now either headed to the South Seas, crossed over to the
Atlantic or head to the Sea of Cortez or home. There are only now two boats
including Slainte. It is a little bittersweet being alone and heading home. I
fished again and again the same luck
May 13, 2003
We pull up the anchored with the handheld foot switch. We are heading to Barra
to fuel and head to Chamela. It was interesting to visit Barra as we had some
many memories during our 40 days stay on our trip down coast. We looked at the
beaches and the hotels and though of Chris that died two March's ago and our
friends on Bambalera, John and Janet. Many memories and we have changed in
experience and foresight. We fueled and vamoosed quickly as we didn't want to
check in with the port captain. We struck out to the north either expecting to
spend the night in Chamela or Careyes. We had stayed in Chamela that are two
large islands with tons of boobies and frigate birds on them. We choose Chamela
as it was further north and closer to Cabo. Each morning we have been checking
into the Amigo Net and then switching channels to talk with Sven and Sherry on
Reliance. They are nearly to Turtle Bay on the outside of the Baja.
May 14, 2003
I took off early this morning to practicing wetting my fishing lures - just
practicing mind you. The scenery was great and even more spectacular as the sun
came up and hundred of frigate birds took to the sky. The sea had a small swell
but it was very dramatic as the swell hit into some caves and spouted into fine
mist. I return and Liz and I brought up the dinghy and upped anchor and headed
to Ipala. I made a great tomatillo/cilantro/onion and hot pepper salsa, that
will taste great on fish/pork or ??. On the Amigo Net we talked with Jerry on
Mirador, we met him and his wife Arlene who are both from Tacoma traveling down
the Baja. Arlene worked at Tacoma Utilities and has return to work. We chatted
after the net and caught up with some of our mutual experiences. Always a Small
World. Perhaps that is a good name for a boat - "Small World."
May 15, 2003
I got a bit too early as we are anchored in a three-sided rock bay. I was
nervous. We left the bay at 6:15 am and the moon was extremely bright. We
motored for a while and noticed that we had wind from the east, off the coast.
We set sail and headed at 300 degrees toward Cabo. We looked off of our
starboard side and watched Cabo Corrientes fade. This cape is known for it bad
weather as Conception, Blanco, Mendocino are on the west coat of Oregon and
California are. Cabo San Lucas is about 290 miles away and 2.6 days off. We
chatted with 401-K on the VHF and they were 280 miles away just of Cabo, that is
quite the radio skip for VHF. The day went easy as each of us got a nap and of
course no fish were to be had. Dolphins were jumping clear out of the water and
the sun was hot. The warm temperatures won't last and I may finally were some
long pants and a shirt. The moon came up with much suddenness and after it was
about 30 degrees above the horizon the eclipse began. The shadow began to engulf
the full moon and in 3 hours the shadow completely blackened the moon with only
a faint glow of the full moon was visible. It was a special show as the sea went
from moonbeams sparkling to no visibility on a very black sea.
May 16, 2003
Liz starts her watch a midnight and I am writing down some of my comments. Good
morning. After a 5.5-hour nap I was still groggy and began my watch. The moon
was about to set and the sun still had about an hour to go until its rise. The
sky was light and there was no wind. About 7 am I set the fishing lures and
waited. I have been playing "Chessmaster" and enjoying the challenge. The
computer has some bugs in the programs and it would beat me more often if the
computer playing things different. Sometime it leave pieces totally unprotected.
Oh Well. Finally we caught eatible fish, two very nice yellow-fin tuna. Even in
spite of being careful the boat looks very bloody. We now have over 15 pounds of
tuna in the refrigerator. Sushi was great.
May 17, 2003
Today was a successful as we accomplished what we planned and made progress. We
arrived in Cabo San Lucas and the town looked the same. We hit the fuel dock at
about 8 am and fueled rapidly. We anchored, launched the dinghy with engine. Liz
and I laughed thinking about the last time here was when we were using the
"pickle dish," our old dinghy that nearly swamping with Sandy, Liz and I (in the
water). I was going to put "on board," but we were really sinking. That dinghy
shouldn't of purchased - bad choice. Anyway we found the dinghy dock and
provisioned and had lunch in the same restaurant that we had had with Peter/Laine
from Cheerios, Sandy and us had eaten at before. Food a bit expensive and
touristy - but what the heck it is a tourist town. Our first stop after landing
was the marina yard. We met the owners and he said because no one was working
Saturday he could fabricated a new staysail should replacement by Monday
afternoon. Instead he bent a piece for free, of stainless plate (from the old
mast) and I installed it once we got underway. This new arrangement is probably
stronger than the original. We were visited by another boat from Astoria and we
exchanged experiences and gave him some fresh tuna and weighed anchor at 3pm and
head north. We had 10-15 knots of winds on the nose but the seas laid down in
the afternoon.
It is 12:30 am on the 18th and we are making about 5.5 knots over ground. If we
are lucky without high winds we should be in Santa Maria Bay about 11pm tomorrow
night. The water temperature has really dropped and is at 73.8 degrees and the
air is 66.7 degrees. I don't have pants on but that is coming. Maybe I should
get the diesel heater going.
May 18, 2003
Sunday we are just motoring about 2pm the wind came up to 15 knots and the waves
would every now and then stop us cold. The prop would cavitate and amounts of
white water would be churned behind us. It is could the temps have been between
62 and 68 all day and the water is now 63 degrees. Only 2000 miles ago it was in
the 90's. Gosh it may be in the 50's tonight. We have caught 4 of the wrong kind
of tuna (Bonita's) and one barracuda. All were reasonability set free. We hope
to anchor down about 11pm in Santa Maria Bay. 401-K is there as they arrived
about noon today. We anchored at just before midnight. The winds were singing in
the rigging and we settled back and had a glass of wine. There are four other
boats waiting here in Bahia Santa Maria, 401K is one of them. We chatted about
the next steps in employment, boats and activities. We head to bed at 1:30 am
May 19, 2003
The quietness couldn't last but at least we were not out on the water
sailing/motoring. The winds have piped up to 35 knots (40 mph) and have broken
our two bridles that keep the chain off of the bobstay and bowsprit. Our good
heavy bridle/snubber has jumped ship and several days ago we looked high and low
for it. As of now I have rigged a webbing strap and our quarter inch
polypropylene line as two separate bridle/snubbers. The chain has stopped eating
our bowsprit and things have quieted down except the wind. It is 6:45 and this
opportunity has been going on since 3:30 am. The snubber hook that is made of
quarter inch stainless is not a hook any longer but a straighten piece. There is
power in them waves. I notice several of the other boats are rocking up and down
at the bow. We are now "calmly" pointed into the wind. Maybe it is the
difference between a full-keel boat and flat-bottomed boat that appears to be
pounding. Since we have half of our 300 feet of chain out we have lessened the
weight on the bow, I would of thought we'd be rocking more than we normally do.
The waves coming from the head of the bay are larger than most of the waves we
had on the ocean for the past 48 hours from Cabo San Lucas. I am sleepy and it
is almost time for a beer - no not really.
May 20, 2003
Today began with 401K giving us a call on the VHF as they were leaving Bahia
Santa Maria, it was about 7:45. We woke up and lifted the anchor and listened to
the Amigo net for weather. We were assaulted with large waves and 20 knots of
wind, of course on our nose. We altered course to stray away from the point and
hunkered down. Right now it is almost midnight and we have been bounced around.
The seas have calmed and the wind is now about 10 knots. We hope to be in
Asuncion tomorrow night around 10 pm. Asuncion is open to the south so coming in
at night should not be problem. We have been chatting with 401K throughout the
day/night. They are a two-screw powerboat and have 1.5 knot more of speed. We
used our sails are stabilizers and they have computer aided stabilizers attached
to their hull. We both are hopping to sleep tomorrow in Asuncion.
May 21, 2003
Today was a long voyage, we had lumpy seas and as we closed on Asuncion about 30
miles south the waves and wind slowed us down to less than 3 knots. We had been
averaging 5.5 knots and expected to reach Asuncion by 5 pm. At 3 knots we
anchored down at 10 pm. 401K left the lights on just like Motel 6. Liz fixed a
huge hunk of tuna covered with a mole' sauce cooked in the pressure cooker. The
dish was spicy but great. We finished off the evening with warm toddy and read
our books. The temperature was 55 degrees. These temperatures are getting us
ready for the northwest waters.
May 22, 2003
The day is overcast and after listening to the Picante Net we upped anchor and
are heading to Turtle bay. I hope the winds stay light and no swell. We are
southeast of Punta San Palo that is probably stopping the swell, so in 3 hours
we will have swell for the last 40 nm to Turtle.
May 23, 2003
Today is Friday and it is nice be at anchor. Liz and I are reminiscing the times
when we met Cheerios, Maria II and Mirador. It has been a year and a half. Since
we have kept a log we can remember the changes and it is great to track our
changes. The water temperature is 59 .8 and very cloudy. We shared happy hour
with 401K and it was good to see their faces. Chuck looks much younger and I
told him so. As I was leaving he reminded me that he had NO beard.
May 24th 2003
We hung out and had a great tuna dinner using the mole' that we bought. It is a
combination of chilies, spices, chocolate, and other stuff. I purchase 180
liters of diesel and we headed into town with 401K and had a great lunch. We
found some great mole' and some vegetables. At 8pm we listened to a SSB net and
heard that the weather window maybe this coming Tuesday. Lit the diesel stove
and both of us read and hit the covers about 10pm.
May 25th 2003
We are still waiting for a weather window and we hope it will be Tuesday. The
north winds are supposed to be settling down to 15 knots and the seas should get
lower. We understand that the seas are 8-10 and that makes for a miserable ride.
Liz and I had a productive day, we dinghied around the bay and caught 5
Barracudas. We then dinghied in to the beach and we were on a hunt to fill our
diesel jugs at the Pemex station. We have paid .65 and .63 cents per liter or
$2.46 and $2.39 per gallon. The Pemex charges $1.82 per gallon. We were picked
up by a father and son both named Arturo in their truck. We got the diesel and
they took us back to the beach. We tried to pay them but they were not takers.
In the 20 gallons or 77 liters I saved over $13. I of course bought 3 six-packs
of Pacific and justified it as nearly free since my savings.
May 26th, 2003
Good morning. We are trying to leave Turtle Bay, Mexico. We have been here for
four days waiting for a weather window. We are leaving a bit early and will
probably experience heavier winds than if we left Wednesday. I would like to
reach San Diego for Liz's birthday and so we must travel fast. The problem with
the wind is that it creates waves. Since on flat seas we travel 6 knots and if
it blows 20 knots and the seas have a 5-foot chop, ---- well we travel about 3
to 4 knots and sometimes are just stopped by the seas. This is true weather we
are a 62-foot Nordhaven or a solid 38-foot sailboat. I mention the Nordhaven
because a62 footer left here and made it 25 miles and anchored to wait out the
25 knots and 10-foot seas. No one likes a roller coaster for 24 hours a day.
This town is really my first experience of Mexico, ever. When we brought "Slainte"
home from San Carlos, Mexico in July 1995 I was amazed and depressed by this
town. Nearly eight years later the town is different or is it me. There were not
any telephones and now there are two internal phones and an Internet site. That
first trip was truly an adventure and now Liz and I have accomplished a lot and
others are asking us questions.
I have visited this town 4 times now and watched it's changes. This location is
quite off the beaten track, about 60 miles from a standard bus line. A father
and son, both named Artero explained that for good schooling, the father sent
his only son to Ensenada (900 kilometers north) 540 miles by bus. Work here is
fishing, and the restricted seasons are worth the penalty, especially for
lobster and abalone. All of their illegal catches heads to the USA. A young
cruiser that we had for dinner, talked to a Mexican Fisheries/Ag enforcement
officers today. Todd said that the officers told him that catching, buying or
selling of illegal games would allow the Mexican authorities to seize your
vessel. Perhaps that is Mexican hype but still it makes me happy that I am
allergic to lobster.
We had a nice dinner and chatted with Todd who is 25 and has been cruising for
the past year in a 26-foot sailboat. By his own accord it is too small. He has 4
surfboards on boat (perhaps they are a life raft) and he is realizing that a
bigger boat would be nice. He is very adventuresome and has bicycled many miles
in the USA. We listened to weather on the Blue Water net and hopefully it will
be correct.
We chatted with several cruisers heading south and we remember only 1.5 years
ago that we were in awe. Now we look at weather and expectation more
realistically and are more comfortable. We have about 2,000 nautical miles to go
to reach Seattle and we have adverse current and winds to work with. We are
planning to take 1.5 months working up the coast and using the weather to our
advantage.
We are looking to seeing green evergreens and whales/Orcas for the northwest. We
don't have moorage yet and would like to moor Slainte close to Ballard/Seattle.
We will be living in several of our friend's houses until October when we move
back into our home in Ballard.
May 27th 2003
We left Turtle Bay and after about 2 hours the seas were extremely lumpy and we
were down below 3 knots. I decided to head behind Cedros Island and we took a
right turn. After about 10 nm we slipped between two islands and behind Cedros,
immediately the seas were calmer and we were over 5 knots. After 3 hours we
began to sail out behind Cedros's wind curtain and the sea were terrible. There
is a small bight at the north tip of Cedros so we headed for that and anchored
on a small shelf. In the next 3 hours there were 5 vessels seeking the
protection from the wind, but the anchorage was full of very noise sea lion.
Some rubbed on our boat bottom and made bubbles underwater that we could here.
The night was great respite. We listen to the SSB and another vessel, 62 foot
Nordhaven was getting beat up. We were quite happy to listen to the sea lions in
love.
May 28, 2003
We upped anchor at 6:30 AM and headed north. Southbound a single hander left the
anchorage at the same time. We are just bobbing a way; except for a small period
off of the tip of Cedros the seas were very reasonable. We are under 200 nm to
San Diego and I hope we can celebrate Liz's Birthday at a real restaurant.
May 29, 2003
Liz gave me a 4.5-hour nap and I woke at 4:30am and there was no wind and the
visibility was going to be short as we are enclosed in fog. The water is an oily
appearance and we are moving at 6.5 knots. I check into both the Picante and
Amigo net giving our position and weather. I heard several boats that we have
know in the past year check in as they haven't left the Sea of Cortez. Since we
need to eat some of our stores we had grapefruit from the Galapagos Islands,
eggs from Acapulco and bacon. About noon after each of us have had a nap and we
put 40 gallons into the tank.
That will get us to San Diego. The seas are still flat with the occasional
swell. We just went by a 5-foot shark. Tonight dolphins should visit us. Right
now Liz and I are have a celebratory beer and listening to Tina. YA!
May 30, 2003
We had about 14 miles to go to San Diego and we took our time. We were early and
needed to slow down. Not only early but we were an hour off. We thought it was 7
am and really it was 6am. We motored down the channel and were past by Royal
Polaris. This is a vessel that Oregon State University uses in their whale
research. I tried to reach them on the VHF but no answer. Sandy our special
friend went down the Mexican coast to see the whales several years ago.
We tied to the San Diego police dock and called Customs. In two hours we were
entered back into the USA. We had left with Slainte on November 2001. It was an
interesting feeling to be back in our own country. We had to give up our onions,
eggs, and several vegetables. We need to send $25 to get our US Customs sticker
and that was it. So much less complicated than the other countries we have been
to.
Walt and Cathie our friends from college will be arriving here around 1:30 this
afternoon. We need to do a food run, walk around a Costco, Trader Joe's and fix
our alternators and do some boat shopping. We are slowly getting back into the
American Way. Unfortunately we are without jobs and income so we will be careful
with the expenditures. Liz's birthday is in 3 days and I am going to get her an
alternator - boy she'll be surprised. I will let her pick her amperage. Both of
us need to get some sleep, as we are rummy.
After the nap we called Walt and Cathie and we headed to the showers. They
showed up and we hung out in the cockpit and drank wine (of course) and had hors
d'oeuvre. Liz and I are noticing that things move a lot faster. The many boat
sliding past our stern are really moving well above 5 knots, or perhaps we are
in a time warp. Later we went in a real car to a Greek restaurant and had lamb.
Ahhhhh!
May 31, 2003
We just hung out with Cathie and Walt. We got run around town for boat parts and
were amazed that we could be going that fast. We are used to 5 knots and not 65
mph. Hugs and we hope to be traveling north most of the month of June. We are
enjoying being tied to a dock with tons of water and power. Life's simple
pleasures.
