June Cruiseletter
Friday, 15 June 2001
You know that old song, "Hello Mudda, Hello Faddah," the one where the kid is writing a letter home from Camp Granada about all the terrible things happening to him there? The last verse goes something like, "The sun is shining, it's stopped raining. Kids are laughing, kids are playing. Dear Mudda Faddah please disregard this letter!" Wellll, just forget everything I've said up until now!!!
01 May 2001 - Cabo San Lucas
YOTREPS is now on Winlink2000! The folks that brought e-mail via HAM radio added the capability of sucking down files from the Internet in a variety of ways. I stumbled across a new entry: http://www.bitwrangler.com/yotreps/ -- gee, I just happen to know the fellow that runs that site ;-)
Speaking of YOTREPS, while we were motoring around in the dinghy, someone waved us down in the marina. He knew Suzy from Svendsen's Boatworks, where she worked, and me from the YOTREPS site. There are YOTREPS fans everywhere!
I checked in on the Pacific Seafarers' Net just to say hello, and although propagation was poor, I could hear someone asking how I was going to continue to run the site while I was in Mexico. Fortunately, software automation is what I do, and I guess I do it pretty well, since we've been gone for more than a month and YOTREPS keeps plugging away.
02 May 2001 - Cabo San Lucas
I got e-mail from Jamie, owner of Wishful Thinking's sister ship. I'm blanking on her name at the moment, unfortunately. Jamie sent me some pictures, which I'll have to send along. If anyone would like to buy a mighty fine cruising boat, similar to ours, it is for sale.
Also today, I got e-mail from my property manager in Virginia. It seems that the washer/dryer unit in my rented out condo conked out. Ouch!
03 May 2001 - Cabo San Lucas
Got this from a YOTREPS fan:
Date: Thu, 3 May 2001 11:52:02 -0700 Subject: Thanks!!! The YOTREPS service you provide is great!!! I tracked my brother and his wife on Mirage from Galapagos to Hiva Oa--- now I'm hooked on watching all the boats that I don't even know. Very interesting information each day. My brother usually e-mail's me several times a week, however, since they have arrived Hiva Oa I have not heard from them. Do you know if there is a problem with propagation from there ---or some other reason they would not e-mail? Maybe they are just too busy having fun. Thanks for any information you might have on this and also for the great service you provide to families watching their friends and relatives sailing. My 89 year old Mother and 93 year old Dad also watched on their computer--- and it made them worry less about their son crossing the big blue ocean. Rosalie ClarkI get a question like this about once a week. But this is so nicely written, I figured I'd answer it here, too. Vessels are only listed on the Pacific Seafarers Net when they are on a passage. Once they've reached port, they take themselves off of the roll call until their next hop.
The other possibility is that they've arrived in French Polynesia without having made arrangements for a reciprocal HAM license. There, you can not legally transmit within their territorial waters without a reciprocal license, nor can you use marine sideband. So unless or until they are sailing again in international waters, you may not hear from them via radio.
06 May 2001 - Los Frailes
We're anchored in Bahia Los Frailes, about 6 miles south of Cabo Pulmo and 50 miles from Cabo. It's a nice anchorage, it's warm and we're just hangin' out. We're making water and electricity, and we picked up a case of beer in Cabo (for the outrageous price of 180 Pesos!) -- life is good. There's a nice little hotel here right on the beach, Hotel Bahia Los Frailes, they even have a web site: http://www.losfrailes.com/ . We haven't tried the food yet; the place is really small and they had a big Cinco de Mayo crowd in this weekend (reservations only); no extra food. We're going to take the dink around to the north side of the point to check out the coral reefs and maybe do some snorkeling.
What's the old saying... better a bad day diving? I feel like Chuck Tribolet now, where even bad days at the "office" are pretty good!
08 May 2001 - Los Muertos
We're in Los Muertos, moseying on up the coast to La Paz, where we'll be spending probably a week or more while we provision for the northern sea, install a new autopilot and other assorted tasks. Suzy is going to run the Sonrisa net on Mondays. I've managed to get a few laughs with my Happy Hour suffix, "Zorro, the Electric Geek" ;-) All is well, and we're having a good time, even though Suzy says that the best is yet to come!
I went diving for the first time today, and guess what I saw? Yup, you guessed it, the bottom of the boat, for the most part ;-) Did a little bottom cleaning, put on a new zinc. Differences: The water is about 72F, so a 3mm shortie is just fine. The vis is +30ft; I can see the 125ft of anchor chain snaking off into the distance. I did a little snorkeling in Los Frailes, trying to spear a trigger fish - no joy. If we had to live on what we catch, we'd starve. Fortunately there're plenty of other alternatives and once the water clarity improves, we're hoping for better luck with the trolling lures. What's the name of our boat again?
10 May 2001 - Puerto Ballandra
If you've ever seen a travel brochure from La Paz, you've seen the pictures of Mushroom Rock. We came through Canal De San Lorenzo and stopped just before La Paz here in Puerto Ballandra. The water is still green but you could swim in it without a wet suit. In 2 fathoms of water, I could dive the anchor without too much effort. Even Suzy took a swim after the hot, sweaty trip from Los Muertos. That night we got our first taste of Cormuels; cool southerly winds that blow from dusk until dawn in and around La Paz. Ballandra must have a particularly good geography for venturi effect because it hooted and even in the small anchorage we had a nasty chop that bounced the boat up and down all night. Before and since then, we've heard of others who have made the same discovery first hand. We've also heard that Caleta Lobos or Pichilingue, the next anchorages south, are better with less wind.
13 May 2001 - La Paz
We're in La Paz now. It ain't too bad (although Suzy says "This is nothing!"). We'll be here for awhile until some customs paperwork on the boat is finished: You can "temporarily import" the boat for 10 years (it used to be 20, soon to be 5) instead of paying a duty on the value of the boat. The catch is that you have to fill out some paperwork promising not to sell the boat, or use it for making money ("exploitation") and obey all of the local ordinances, and customs has to come aboard the boat to "inspect" it to check serial numbers; it's a Mexico thing. Meanwhile, we eat well, try to stay cool during the day, visit friends in the early evening and go to sleep by 9!
We met some old friends of Suzy's, Bill and Barbara Steagall, aboard Inspiration. We got along so well that we spent most our time in La Paz with them. Inspiration is a somewhat famous 65 foot steel ketch.
Bill is a retired "vacuum tube circuit designer." (It's funny, have you ever seen the After Y2K comic strip on the Internet? http://www.nitrozac.com/ Bill isn't "Tubes" by any stretch but the synchronicity is intriguing.) He goes as far back as pre-Univac days. He also has a treasure trove of computer tales. If you are a nerd, like me, and you want to know the history of computing machines, as you should, then you should pay Bill a visit. It's hard to remember all that we talked about, mostly because we talked about so much. I do remember Bill describing a mercury tube/audio memory circuit design. Sound propagates through mercury very slowly, so they put a speaker on one end and a microphone on the other. Just like DRAMs, you need to refresh the bits every so often! We had to agree that although the machines today are faster and do more, software and hardware design has not changed much in 50 years. I continue to insist that freshmen engineers should have a semester of computing history along with the usual requirements like chemistry, physics and whatever else. We might make better engineers then.
Bill isn't a retired nerd, by any means, however. We got to talking because he was trying to install Linux when we arrived in La Paz. I offered to help: "Sure, no problem! I can usually install RH in a couple of hours..." an old video card, goofed up disk partition, unbootable CD, a six pack of beer and many hours later, I finally got it running. My pride was on the line and I knew I would lose my nerd merit badge if I couldn't get it done. At last report, he's got a Spanish copy of WINE running. It shouldn't be too surprising that there are a few Spanish language Linux magazines. Word is that the Mexican government is going to convert from Microsoft products to Linux -- to save on duties and I think to create a local crop of software engineers -- for at least some of their systems. I think that if I can learn enough Spanish, get an FM-3 and stay in one place long enough, I could keep the cruising kitty going and help Mexico rid itself of the Redmond tyranny at the same time. Hurray for enlightened self interest!
I'm learning Spanish, a little at a time. What's frustrating is that all those years of French are coming back at the most annoying times. I pronounce Spanish words in French, reply to "Commo esta?" with "Comme si comme ca" etc. etc.
Something that we discovered: Canned cheeses from Washington State U. Creamery
http://www.wsu.edu/creamery M-F 8:30-4:30 PST/PDT 1800 457-5442 1800 572-3289 FAXWe had some aboard Nai'a, an Amazon 37 (steel). The cheese comes in cans about 7" in diameter and 2" high. They store well in cool places like the bilge and have a nice flavor, even after 6 months. Yummy for happy hour.
19 May 2001 - La Paz
Dragon Lady is on her way to Hawaii. I got e-mail from Andy Kopac, mentioning that the Boblets on Dragon Lady are on their way to Hawaii. I stayed up late so I could listen to the Pacific Seafarers Net and say hi. Propagation was bad so I wasn't able to communicate more than "Hi, how are ya?"
Our new autopilot has not arrived and there's just no point in hanging around waiting for it to get here. We'll just head North and hope that the parts find us.
22 May 2001 - Caleta Partida
Wow, this place really cleared out after Race Week! We almost had the whole anchorage to ourselves.
We had a Gypsy sighting; it's a Union 38, with John & Ivy. Well, we didn't actually see them. They were coming down from Escondido after Loreto-Fest and we were in Caleta Partida. We talked to them on the Southbound net and agreed to wait for them to arrive the next day. The Cormuels blew up and they didn't make it, instead, they sailed all night and got blown pretty far north. After not hearing from them, and not seeing them, we decided to head to Ensenada Grande and as we were pulling out, heard them on the little radio (VHF). They had finally made it back to Partida and were headed straight for La Paz for some Chinese food, a shower and provisions (although not necessarily in that order).
They're headed back up north to San Diego (or maybe Ventura) so they can refill the cruising kitty, so you should see them in West Marine eventually. They're going to look for a live-aboard slip somewhere while they work. We're bummed out that we missed them. We talked to them on the Southbound net while we were on the outside, but it was just too lumpy to chit-chat.
24 May 2001 - Ensenada Grande
I've volunteered to be "Net Control" on the evening Southbound SSB Net -- I couldn't let Suzy have all the fun. The job is sort of a cross between master of ceremonies and traffic cop. It's a nice way to meet people. Eventually, you'll pull into an anchorage, see another boat, point at each other and say (in unison) "I know that boat!" Cocktails and chit chat usually follow.
31 May 2001 - Los Gatos
We're in Puerto Los Gatos, about 60 miles north of La Paz, somewhere south of Escondido. Very nice weather. Vis, however is less than 6 feet so far. We're also just north of where the Sierra Gigante range comes down to the Sea so we're out of the realm of those nasty La Paz Cormuel winds. They're nice in that they cool everything down, but bad in that they blow pretty hard some times and can make anchorages very uncomfortable. The mountains act like a barrier and a funnel for these winds, and now we're on the other side. Of course, now we have to watch out for Chubascos!
I woke up early and am watching the sun come up as I write this in the cockpit. I've been up before dawn two days in a row now. It's not a bad time to be up and writing because it is cool and quiet. On the other hand, I need a nap by 9:30 or 10:00. But that's what siestas are good for! The pelicans are dive bombing around the boat for breakfast sardines. I'm hoping that the viz will open up a bit so I can try to catch something, too.
We ran into some Berkeley friends, Steve and Suzy on Valkyrie, yesterday. They now have 2 cats on board: Sparky and Scruffy. One likes to chew on electrical cords and the other one has a broken toe and no tail. Can you guess which one is which. They are nice, friendly, boat cats all the same.
01 June 2001 - Agua Verde
We had a nice trip up to Agua Verde. We didn't take the awning down before we left, and never needed to for the whole trip. It was flat enough to leave the camera on the cabin top and take a self portrait of Suzy and I at the wheel. The water clarity is still poor; the bay should be renamed Agua Cochina (cloudy) for now. The town is pretty, with palm trees on the shore and the mountains in the background, it looks like an oasis in the desert. We met one of the locals, Julio, who needed a ride by dinghy over to a nearby rock, and we were happy to help. First, though, he took us over to the restaurant and the tienda in town. Afterwards, we hiked over the hill to the little cemetery and then around and over the rocks on the North end of the bay.
02 June 2001 - Candeleros
We're almost to Puerto Escondido. We hung around Agua Verde for a couple hours longer than planned so we could walk around some, including visiting an old cemetery. Our goodies from Downwind have "arrived". We got a call on the VHF just as we were pulling up anchor in Verde. We got a late start, so we're going to spend tonight in Bahia Candeleros, about 7nm from Escondido.
It's currently hooting 20 kts from the south but we've got good protection and are quite comfortable. Tomorrow morning we'll get up early and head into Escondido where there's a weekly brunch at Hidden Port Yacht Club (Escondido means "Hidden"), and meet with some radio friends, some for the first time face to face. My Spanish is improving, but the viz is still Braille.
03 June 2001 - Puerto Escondido
We pulled into Escondido with just enough time to drop the hook, make a cheesecake and head over to Hidden Port Yacht Club for their weekly Sunday pot luck brunch. We got to meet a lot of people face to face that we've only heard on the radio before. We also got to meet some old friends, both from Suzy's past years here and our time in Alameda. Monday was "port day," when I check-in (and out) with immigration and the port captain. The folks in Loreto are relaxed, much nicer and easier than La Paz, which made the whole process as pleasant as can be expected. The city of Loreto is also very nice. I think it is prettier than La Paz in some respects. Of course, while in port, we stopped at the local markets for provisions and at the local restaurant for lunch! On Tuesday, we got on the local VHF net and located the 3.5" hole saw needed to install the replacement autopilot. By Wednesday everything was installed and passing the first power-up tests. We have to go out and sail around a bit before the thing is tuned, but the hard part is definitely over.
About the heat, it is certainly warming up and I've been "briefed" on the following necessities for life in Sea of Cortez during the summer: Sex consists of touching elbows, or pinkies, briefly. I'm not exactly sure what they're talking about ;-) The answer of course is fans; lots and lots of fans. At last count we had 17. Fans are one of the many regular topics of conversation around here which also include refrigeration, awnings and fishing.
Escondido is a sizeable bay that's 40' deep everywhere except at the entrance where it's barely 6' at low tide. We're anchored by the north "window" (la ventana norte) where there is both a view and a breeze. Even nicer yet is that this time of year we get a spectacular view as the full moon rises in the small "V" created by the part of the east "window".
09 June 2001 - Juncalito
There's a nice little anchorage just north of Escondido. Most people pass it by because it is so close, but there's a nice breeze that blows through there and good southerly protection. We did have a little bit of excitement on the way in here. When we started the engine after a very nice sail, the starter solenoid stuck part way, enough to close the contacts, but not enough to disengage the pinion gear. There was a nasty grinding noise and the only way to stop it was to turn off the power at the battery switch (conveniently located in the cockpit lazarrette). Then we anchored under sail. Fortunately the anchorage is big and empty, so we had plenty of room, and the whole process looked like we planned it! It only took a couple hours of grunting and sweating to fix the solenoid.
12 June 2001 - Marquer (pronounced Mark-hare)
I've had my lesson in hunting clams, "Chocolates." Suzy and I have been trying to find these little morsels, but since we didn't know what to look for, we kept passing them by, or looking at the wrong part of the beach. I call it thinking like a clam (or a scallop or a lobster or a... those that we can already gather quite nicely, thank you). When you can think like them, you can catch them. And when you catch them, you've got dinner! Fish, however, are still eluding us and most everyone else. The water clarity and temperature are still not conducive to catching fish while underway. It's the die-off of the winter vegetation before the warm water summer vegetation takes hold. Also, there's a lot of kelp that fouls the lures.
14 June 2001 - Marquer
Today is our 48th month-versery (4th anniversary). It's hard to believe that Suzy and I have been together that long. We had a spur-of-the-moment beach barbecue last night with almost everyone in the anchorage. I dropped Suzy off ashore to gather wood and build a fire pit (she wanted to, really) while I took the dink around to each boat to make a personal invitation. We popped a bottle of Perrier Jouet and everyone got a thimble-full.
Oh, and the water has finally cleared up:
15 June 2001 - Marquer
We caught 3 lunch sized cabrillas today, just trolling behind the dink on our way to and from a reef a couple of miles north of the anchorage. Suzy made fish tacos, yummy!
Just around the Loreto area are some really great anchorages and beautiful reefs to dive on, even if you don't catch anything to eat! The water is mid to upper 70s now and people are complaining that it's too cold! I haven't used my scuba gear, either. Everything is within freedive range. And there's so much pretty stuff to see, that you forget that you're holding your breath! Sailing distances are 7-15 miles. And the stars are just outstanding. I could wear out the ! key, but you get the idea.
Copyright © 2000 Ken Mayer
