Here comes the rain again. . .
Falling on my head like a memory. Falling on my head like a new
emotion. doo, doo, doo ,do. Okay, maybe we have been listening to
Casey's 80's mix CD too much. Well, for the first time since October, it
has rained on the s.v. SohCahToa. It rained hard enough this morning
that I got out the shampoo and took a shower in the cockpit. It is
really nice to get some of the encrusted salt off of the boat. I just
woke up for my watch and am struggling to make sentences. I'll go now.
Tuna Two-Fer
For the last three days we have been really trying to catch fish. And
I mean really trying. ..we have been swapping out lures left and right,
trying different length of leaders, different weights, different colors,
etc. All to no avail. About every evening we would get either a big
strike, or almost get a fish to the boat and then they would get away.
Then tonight, just as I was sitting down to write a website post
lamenting our lack of fish, I hear zzzzzzzzzzzz, the sound of line
running off of the reel. I ran up to the cockpit where I see Casey
jumping to the pole and Matt pulling in the hand- line. We had TWO fish
on. We must have gone through a school or something. Casey's fish had
stripped off about 50 yards, so he had some work to do. Matt already had
his fish halfway in. The handline is made of nylon and is cleated to the
boat, so fish don't run with the lure. I gaffed his fish, beat the piss
out of it, threw it in the ice chest (technically just the white plastic
box since we have no ice) and ripped the gills out of it just in time
for Casey to get his up to the boat and I did the same for that one.
They were almost identical 12-15 pound Yellow Fin Tuna. Casey and I
started cleaning them on the side of boat while Matt started making
sushi rice. Within about 30 minutes of catching them we were having a
giant pile of sashimi and sushi. I then made some Thai Peanut seared Ahi
rolls and some Jambalaya for tonight's late watches. We still have about
6 pounds left.
Earl Versus the Marlin
We're officially a week into our Pacific passage today. Another 2 or
3 and we'll be in the Marquesas. Up to today the winds have been light,
the sea calm, and we haven't seen hardly any sea life. Things are
changing though. We've seen literally hundreds of flying fish just
today. Small schools have been all around us all day. A couple hours ago
Jeff called Matt and I up to witness a 6 to 7 foot marlin attacking the
rudder on our windvane. It was just swimming along a few feet behind us
and then it would swim up, slash at the rudder with its bill and then
back off again. We were able to lift the rudder up before it could do
any damage. Then we tried to lure it with our hand line but it wasn't
interested. It's probably for the best though. I don't know what the
hell we would have done if we had gotten a hook into that monster. I'd
much rather catch a dorado anyway. With all these flying fish around are
chances should be pretty good. At any rate, the wind has picked up, the
seas are building a bit, and we're making nearly six knots. Hopefully
this continues. We could use some big days.
More about the spinaker...
Well we don't have to worry about trying to learn to fly our drifter
any better for a while since we blew the thing up today. It already had
a tear that we fixed twice with sail tape. But the sailtape didn't hold.
I heard it tear and looked up to see the panel next to where the
original tear was now had a new tear. I tried to head up but as fast as
I could get the wheel over the sail went "Zippppp" from luff to foot
about 5 feet from the tack. From there it went tearing along both the
foot and luff seams at the same time and all the way along them. What 20
seconds before was a decent 3/4oz drifter that got us through really
light winds, was now a flailing mess of worthless fabric.
The death of a spinnaker
First it is a slow tearing sound that accelerates and then there is a
lot of wild flapping while the tears rip up each side of the sail up to
the head. At least that is what ours sounded like about 10 minutes ago.
So, we are back to the main and the jib. This may mean that we will have
to motor a bit more in the light wind areas, but that is no big deal.
It's 2 am, do you know where your sohcahtoa is???
It's between me and few bagillion gallons of the pacific, which seems
like a pretty good place for it to be.There is a Yellow Footed Boobie on
top of our mast at the moment. Might be the same one from the day before
that spent a night on our anchors. It looks like a tough balancing act
and not much of a rest if that is what he is hoping for. He better not
be crapping on something important.No ship sightings today. We're
pulling ahead of the Serenity a little bit each time we get their
position report on the noon SSB net. I'd expect that having 12 more feet
of boat would buy us a little extra speed. Least that's what the
brochure said. We're nearing the half way point. Well, to tell the whole
truth, the halfway point to the halfway point. 600 miles out and 2100
more to go.
They say...
They say most people die within 50 miles of the place they were born.
So I'm thinking we're pretty safe out here.
Send us some wind. Please....
It's 9:00 am Central time here. We're not quite sure which clock to
use as we started out in Central time and end up somewhere around Alaska
time. We really only use the clock for watch setting anyways. Except for
the SSB radio stuff, but that is all based on GMT, which right now is
15:00.Winds are still light. Doing about 3 knots when things are good.
So much for our good start out of PV? All we have up now is the spinaker
as the other sails are too heavy in this light air and just bang
around.Back to my watch...
Spinnakerinating
Hey there everyone, we are spinnaker flying fools for certain. Jon
Perrin and Kent Leyde should be impressed that I haven't completely
goat-roped the chute around the forestay yet. . .but the day is still
young. Matt keeps turning out banana bread as our fruit gets old. Not
sure if there is a rotten tomato bread, or smashed up onion bread, but
who knows what delights the Joy of Cooking cookbook has in store for us.
Everyone just checked in on the puddlejumper's net over the single side
band radio. We are flogging a bit compared to the other boats currently
crossing, and it sounds like there is a bit more wind south.
Still Sailing and Sighting the Salty Serenity, Seriously
We're still sailing along. It's almost noon here. I just woke up. I
had the 8pm to 11pm and 5am to 8am shifts last night. We've been in
visual and radio contact with the Serenity. So strange to be out here in
the middle of nowhere and see people we know.
Keeping a promise
The day after our family found out that my younger brother
Christopher was going to lose his fight with cancer, I promised him that
I would spread his ashes around the world. I have had a small box of my
brother's ashes for coming up on two years now and last night I opened
it for the first time. I had thought about what that moment would feel
like countless times since he died. It always involved standing on the
bow, casting some of his ashes, pouring a gin and tonic into the water
and talking to him for a while. How it actually ended up was something
quite different. Last night when I put a sweatshirt on, it (little did I
know) knocked off my anti-seasickness patch. I was going to sprinkle the
ashes right after my watch, which ended at 11pm. Well, I really wasn't
feeling too good when Matt took over and I went forward to the V-berth
to get the ashes. It took lots of maneuvering and BOTH hands to get the
waterproof important stuff box open and get the little box out. The boat
was really pitching and the V-berth is the worst place to be. I finally
got some ashes poured into one hand and then realized that. shit!, I
just reduced my usable limbs by one. I also noticed that I was getting
really really queasy. With only spilling a little bit and a lot of
banging around I got things put back together. I then pretty much
stumbled/ran back up into the cockpit just in time to throw the handful
of ashes into the water and start throwing up my dinner for 5 minutes. .
.not quite the original vision. So, not only did I spread my brother in
the water off the coast of Mexico, but I also gave him something to
snack on.. .cause I am sure he has been hungry hanging out in that
little box for so long. If you knew my brother, then you would know that
he is laughing his ass off somewhere right now.
Off to a good start
Some thoughts about this passage:I'll be a year older by the time I
get there. (March 27th)We will be almost doubling our sailing miles over
this passage.We will be sailing a boat across the equator and across an
ocean.It will be a while before we set foot on a continent let alone
North America.After crossing the equator we'll be living south of it for
about an entire year.First full day of sailing from Mexico to the
Marqueseas. So far we've had really good winds off the beam and small
seas. Making for a 160 nautical mile distance traveled in 24 hours. I
think I saw a whale last night. Well it was more of a huge
phosphorencense blob shaped like a whale. I passed it while I was on
watch alone. Freaked me out a bit. Thinking what if we would have hit it
or what happens if it decides to play with the boat. Nothing happened
though. Also saw a few dolphins during the night.I made up some banana
bread this afternoon since the unripe bananas that we brought along
ripened quite quickly with all the swaying around in their little
hammock and bashing into the wall every 3 seconds. The wind vane is
working great and we've plotted a great circle course for the position
130 W and 7 N. This places us in a good location to cross the ITCZ
(Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone). A area straddling the equator that is
made up of squalls, thunder storms and more annoyingly, doldrums. The
ICTZ also gets expanded near land masses, so by heading west first and
away from land we will try and cross the ICTZ at the narrowest point
that is practical. But all that is days and days away, for now we just
sleep, eat, and watch the wind vane do it's thing.
Noon here. I think I saw a whale last night near the boat. Least I
saw a huge whale shaped phosphorescence area that freaked me out for
about 10 minutes. Last thing I wanted to do was hit a sleeping whale and
get it pissed off at the boat. Also saw a few dolphins which are a good
omen. Otherwise still making good time. 7+ knots WSW.
On the high seas
We are about 100 miles west of Puerto Vallarta and are cruising along
at around 6.5 knots. We are all exhausted and it will take about 3 days
before we start sleeping well and feeling rested. There is a 6 to 8 foot
swell from the NorthWest and a 2 to 3 foot wave from the North so it is
rolling a bit, but not too bad.
Almost Gone
Matt and I just fixed the through hull for our water maker and Jeff
lashed our extra fuel and water jugs down. We're just about to pull the
hook and get the hell out of North America. This update is a test of our
new website feature allowing us to update through sailmail. If
successful, people will be able to read of our spectacular views of
water and more water for the next few weeks.
Last Minute Chores
Matt just jumped over the side to clean off the intake for the water
maker. Some of the local marine life has taken up residence there and is
clogging the hole. Will be leaving shortly.
First email website update
This is just a quick test to make sure things are working. This was
kind of thrown together at the last minute, so it might behave a little
funnily.
And away we go!
We are anchored back out at La Cruz and are pretty much hours away
from pulling up the anchor and heading across the Pacific Ocean. The
trip is roughly 3000 miles and should take us anywhere from 20 to 30
days.
The last week has been insanely busy with finishing up our projects,
buying food, putting things away, and saying good-bye to lots of great
people. We met some great people at the dock, including Amy and Kasey on
the Amalfi and Craig, Steve, and Liz on the Matador. We also said
farewell to our longtime cruising friends Mike, Laura and Nick on the
Eshamy.
We are cleared out of the country, our passports are stamped, we have
food, money, water, diesel, clean clothes, and lots and lots of candy
bars. We are as ready as we are going to get and it is time to go.
So everyone think good thoughts and monitor the website for updates
from the boat.
Marina Vallarta
It has been a while, but the s.v. SohCahToa is doing well and getting
prepared for the big hop across the Pacific. We are at Marina Vallarta,
which is just north of Puerto Vallarta and a few miles south of La Cruz
de Huanacaxtle (where we have been anchored for the last month).
The marina itself is pretty interesting. It is surrounded by very
fancy condos, restaurants, and tons of expensive souvenir shops. The
marina and the docks themselves are a bit of a different story. Our slip
has 1) No power, 2) No water, and interestingly enough 3) No dock
cleats. Yep, that is correct, no cleats to tie the boat to. Yet, right
across from us is the Sierra, a 120+ foot multi-million dollar mega
yacht. Maybe all the cleats were moved to their spot. We had to be a bit
creative with some short pieces of line.
We are doing a bunch of maintenance projects, including a rebuild of
Earl (our wind steering contraption), replacing the bearings in our wind
generator, doing a full engine checkup, and many other odds and ends. We
still have to get all the charts for the South Pacific, but that will be
remedied on Monday. A chart set of about 400 charts of the South Pacific
have been circulating through all the cruisers. They aren't so concerned
about things like copyrights down here, so here in the marina is a
photocopy store that you can copy charts for something like $2.00 a
chart.
As for me, things have been pretty crazy lately. Most of my family
came down to visit for a week at the end of February. The list included
my parents, my Aunt and Uncle, two cousins + one girlfriend, two
grandpas, and one grandma. It was fun, but exhausting. Compared to our
lifestyle down here, normal vacations are incredibly stressful. My dad
stayed a week longer than everyone else and we had a great time. It was
a chance for him to live in 'manana' time and see the cruising lifestyle
first hand. After that, I went up to Olympia for 4 days last week to
visit my girlfriend Christina, my best friend Jason, and family. I
really wanted to get back while it was still cheap and easy to get to
Seattle. Two days after I left it snowed 6 inches in Olympia.
Back in Mexico
I made it back to Mexico without incident. I successfully smuggled
some pepperoni and mozzarella in with me. Though I must admit that it
was pretty easy. I got a green light on the -search me- stoplight even
though I declared said goods. Tonight Nick from the Eshamy used these
ingredients in making the best pizza I've had in years. I'm also
overjoyed because earlier today I passed on some of my billiards
knowledge to Nick and his friend Tyee. Those who can do and those who
can't teach. It's a trade for his extensive fishing knowledge. Holy crap
it's great to be back here.
Whirlwind Tour Back Home
I've had an amazing although abbreviated visit back home. In
hindsight, I sincerely wish I had scheduled more time to spend with my
family. My time in the Seattle area couldn't have been more appropriate.
My arrival was marked by the most amazing weather experienced in the
area all winter. As I went for morning coffee with my friend Devin the
sky was clear and the view of the snow covered peaks of the Olympics and
Cascades reminded me of how I adore the Seattle area. I am forever tied
to the beauty of the Pacific Northwest. Yet, the day before I left I was
stuck in traffic and rain on 405 on the way to meet everyone from
Cypress MicroSystems. A great welcome followed by a great send-off.
Still, I must try to acknowledge all the support, tacit or not, from
all my family, friends, and co-workers (and there are overlaps). Devin
and Taryn Imamura are the most hospitable hosts a guest could ask for.
The old gang at CMS treated me like a king and it was great to see that
they are finally getting the respect they've long deserved from
corporate. It's great to get some perspective on this experience through
contrast with my former existence.
La Cruz is Awesome
We've settled pretty well in La Cruz by now. We've found the place to
get our laundry done, a full load washed, dried, and ironed for five
bucks. The anchorage is comfortable and we've got a ton of friends here.
It's everything a cruiser could ask for. I'm headed back home tomorrow.
The weather reports tell of record rainfall. I hope I can make it over
the passes to see family.
Finally a Real Beer
Lunch on the Eshamy. Tuna sashimi and seared dorado. 10 pounds of
laundry for $10, folded nicely, something I'll miss dearly back in the
real world. Dinner and the british pub. Guinness and fish and chips.
It's nice to have a good hearty meal once in a while.
Finally a Decent Pizza
Back into town for pizza at Philo's. So far the pizza in Mexico has
been disappointing at best. No sauce, strange cheese, and cardboard
crust. This was actually good pizza. Nothing like really good pizza from
back home, but definitely the best we've had. Hung out a while to listen
to the live music.
Punta Mita to La Cruz
Went for a swim in the morning to the Serenity and back. No poisonous
sea snakes sighted. Rumor is they have tiny mouths and can only bite you
between your fingers and toes. It's hard to swim while making fists.
Sailed the entire 8 miles, right into the anchorage in La Cruz. Good
winds for part and almost nothing for the rest.
Went into town with Mike and Dave from the Ishami. They had caught a
huge dorado and brought it to a little restaurant in town to have cooked
up. Probably the best meal I've had in mexico so far and cheep too. For
about $5 a person they cooked all the fish, rice, tortillas, vegetables,
sauces.
Met up with Nicholas, whom we met in San Diego. Can't remember the
name of his boat, but it's a little Triton 30 without an engine. If our
boat we're a motor-home with all it's size and amenities, he'd be riding
a bicycle.
Welcome to La Cruz
The last two days were spent sailing down from Matenchen Bay. We made
a day sail from Matenchen to Chacala the first day, anchored in Chacala
for the night and left in the morning. Then we had a similar day sailing
from Chacala to Punta Mita. We didn't go into shore in either place
since we had the motor off the Duchess and we weren't staying long.
We sailed into the anchorage at La Cruz this afternoon. It was a nice
little day sail from Punta Mita with variable winds. We anchored near
the Eshamy and swam over to their boat after we got settled. Shortly
after we got there the guys from Whisper showed up in a panga with their
parents and we had cocktails in the cockpit, a staple of the cruising
life. I'm still confused as to why Ben and Aaron are the way they are,
as their parents seemed like such nice people.
After swimming back to the Sohcahtoa and cleaning up, we headed in to
town with Mike and Dave from Eshamy. They had caught a monster dorado
and brought a couple of fillets in with them. We went to a restaurant
called El Rey de Bonbom for dinner. The restaurant cooked up the fillets
and brought out sauces, tortillas, rice, vegetables, beer, and a little
keg of tequila. This was hands-down the best meal I've had in Mexico,
maybe one of the best period and that's not the tequila talking.
Dinner was followed by visiting a cantina called Philo's to play
pool, listen to live music, and watch retirees dance. We met up with the
Serenity there and a guy named Nicholas that we had met in San Diego.
Nicholas sat in for a few songs with the band. The music was a
combination of songs by Philo, proprietor and lead singer of Philo's,
and classic country (Merle, Willie, Waylon, Buck Owens, and Woody
Guthrie). I was appalled when none of the band knew "Mama Tried", the
first song Nicholas did with the band, bunch of philistines. Still, I
like La Cruz already. It seems to have quite a few gueros in retiree,
cruiser, and ex-patriot form. This means there's a lot of the gringo
amenities without the obnoxious tourist crap.
Chacala to Punta Mita, Strange Vibrations
Nothing much in Chacala save RV's and a few restaurants. Also the
anchorage was a bit rolly at night. Which we could have alleviated with
a stern anchor but we decided to just head out this morning around 11.
Winds were light and eventually the sails went slack. So we dropped them
and motored for a while.
Whales, whales, whales. Tried to sail closer but the winds weren't
right. The folks on the whale watching pangas must have had an
incredible view.
After lunch either we hit something or something went amis in the
drive-train because we developed a different humm/vibration. Looked
behind us and saw some floats like we possibly hit some sort of trap.
Also upon inspection the prop shaft seems to be out of alignment some.
Jeff went swimming with a knife to see if there was any line wrapped up
on the propeller. Nothing wrapped on the prop but the vibration was
still there. Also noticed that one of the 4 bolts that hold the shaft
coupling to the transmission was missing and 2 others weren't all the
way tight. Spent some time with the telescoping magnet and found the
missing bolt/nut/washer down in the nasty bilge. Also found 2 D-cell
batteries from when someone at a yard in Seattle dumped his flashlight
contents into our bilge and didn't bother to fish things out.
Reinstalled the lost bolt and tightened up the other 3 good. Thought
that might be the reason for the vibration. After also checking the
engine mounts, we ran things for a test but there was still misalignment
in the shaft. So either we bent the shaft somehow or the engine moved or
the many miles of sailing have flexed the hull enough to put things out
of whack. Either way we need some feeler gauges to figure out if we've
bent a shaft of if the engine just needs to be moved around a bit. Can't
find the feeler gauges and seem to remember them being rather rusty and
thrown away. So we'll have to wait till Puerto Vallarta to get things
all sorted out. Things should hold together till then.
After all this the wind picked up nicely and we were doing 7+ knots
toward Punta Mita. Most likely won't make it there by dark since as I
type the winds have backed off and we're down to 5 knots. So we will
probably have another night anchoring. No sweat.
San Blas to Chacala
San Blas to Chacala, running away from the invisible terror. Slow
sail. Arrived after sunset to the small bay. Distances are deceptive at
night as when we woke up the bay was much smaller than we though before
going to sleep. Guacamole and Totopos for lunch.
Fish Recycling
Jeff caught some small fishes that we're swimming under our boat.
They have probably been feeding on our head discharge (poop) and thus
represent one of the many forms that the recycling monster can take.
Then we ate them. The fish that is. Don't be gross.
River Excursion
Hitched a ride into town in the back of a pickup. We were waiting for
a taxi, but a local offered us a ride. He went plenty fast and all I
could think about was the tailgate opening up and spilling us all over
the road. On to the river tour through the estuary. Lots of amazing
birds and a few crocs. The pictures really tell more than can be typed.
Stopped off for lunch at the end of the line and had a great carne asada
plate with all the tortillas and fixins. After lunch the restaurant
workers fed some crocs some dorado carcasses right next to where we were
eating.
Birds, Crocs, and Turtles
We went on the river jungle tour with the guys from Whisper today. It
was 100 pesos each which is steep in our book, but well worth it. The
driver stopped whenever we saw any wildlife. We saw a ton of birds and
iguanas and few turtles and crocodiles. Matt's pictures will do more
justice here than I can.
The panga (little open boat) took us a few miles up the estuary to a
crocodile farm then back down to a little restaurant and gift shop. As
we ate lunch, one of the cooks started splashing in the water next to
us, calling in three crocs and feeding them Dorado carcasses. That alone
was worth the hundred pesos to me. Finally our panga driver returned us
to the start, hauling ass through the tight path of the estuary.
After the tour, we hitched a ride into San Blas in the back of a
Toyota pickup. San Blas seemed like a nice little traditional Mexican
town, lots of little tiendas with overlapping specialties (produce, dry
goods, liquor, etc). We ran into the Serenity in town, you might have
noticed that we're unintentionally "buddy-boating" with a handful of
other boaters. We talked with Serenity for a while then picked up some
groceries and caught cabs back to the bay.
We'd beached the Duchess at a restaurant where the waiters will watch
your boat as long as you buy a beer from them on your way back. We
casually observed that we'd pulled her out of the water about 10 feet
beyond the restaurant's beach tables that were in about a foot of water.
Upon returning we found the Duchess in the same place but now with a
Ford pickup parked next to her and the water was a quarter mile away. We
let out a collective sigh, ordered our requisite beers, an and ate a
couple loaves of banana bread from one of the beach vendors, hoping the
tide would come rushing back in next half hour. At least there were five
of us to drag our chubby little Duchess back to the water.
Now we're back on the Sohcahtoa, refreshed from a dip in the bay and
preparing to head to the Eshamy to celebrate the Chinese New Year. Happy
Year of the Dog everyone.
Arrived at Mantachen Bay, Outside of San Blas
Arrived tired this morning in Mantachen Bay, near the town of San
Blas. Napped, ate, read. River excursion tomorrow morning. What lies in
store?
Isla Isabella to Matenchen Bay
This was one of the easiest passages we've had. We wanted to take it
slow to arrive after sunset so we ran under double-reefed main alone.
The wind was out of the north and just strong enough to let Earl do the
bulk of the steering. The best part of the passage was the dolphins in
the phosphorescence. I'd mentioned seeing this before on the trip down
from Seattle but this time the phosphorescence was considerably more
active. You could actually tell when they would accelerate and turn.
They'd start as a dolphin-sized spot under the water; accelerate to a
20-foot long streak, which would then become a big glowing ‘j' as they
made a quick u-turn.
I'm fully aware, as I've mentioned before, that my inadequate
descriptions don't do this justice but I wanted to write about it
anyway. It seems like these accounts were getting heavily land-based,
maybe because we spent 5 weeks at dock, and I wanted to remind everyone
that we're still on a sailboat. I also wanted to remind myself and
anyone else that while passage making can be arduous, there are benefits
from sailing that you can't get from any other form of travel. Maybe
this will even convince some of you to quit your jobs and go sailing,
thereby opening up the job market for my inevitable return. Consider
yourself ulterior motivated fool. Now close your browser and get back to
work.
Attack of the Shrimp Boats
The wind picked up today. Only one other sail boat here. We're going
to go snorkeling but with all this wind it's too choppy and there is too
much swell. So we just stayed on the boat.
In the afternoon about a dozen Shrimp boats started to show to take a
break from the wind. Maybe they can't work in the wind, but it didn;t
seem to dangerous. Most of them anchored behind us but one decided that
right next to us was the place for him. He ended up about 40 feet
abreast of us and still had his outriggers out. Big welded steel poles
that could easily hurt things on our boat. After a little while of
watching him next to us we decided we should move to another part of the
cove where other sail boats had been before leaving. A little nerve
racking with boats behind us and right next to us, but nothing to
interesting happened. Decided that we'd had enough of the island and to
leave at night. So now we have wind, boats astern, rocks, and it's dark.
Got everything ready, made sure we all knew what the plan was and what
we'd do if things like the engine died or the anchor was stuck. But
again, everything worked as planned and we were on our way, sailing
downwind at night towards San Blas.
The wind generator is working good after dealing with corrosion
(sticky bearings that are only 2 months old). 10+ amps. It's a tradeoff
between free electricity and all the rest that the strong winds bring
(waves, noise, wear, poor sleep).
Attack of the Shrimpers
Day three at Isla Isabella. We were going to go snorkeling in the
west side of the bay today but wind was blowing a bit too hard when we
got up. We realized that the wind generator wasn't outputting any juice
so we instead decided to get it running and to take advantage of the
wind. After we found the source of the problem, a corroded wire, and
corrected it, Warren G was pumping out 16 amps. Our little hand
anemometer was reading 25kts sustained with gusts to 45. We could see
6-8 foot breaking waves off the west side of the island.
Jeff poked his head out about an hour later as three big shrimp boats
were dropping their anchors a couple hundred yards off our stern. Soon
there were a dozen such boats seeking refuge in the bay. One boat
decided to anchor about 100 feet from us with one of the big steel
outriggers directly in line with our mast.
Jeff tried to convey our concern over his proximity through hand
gestures. The shrimp captain's solution was to let out more anchor line.
For those non-boaters, this is not a solution as it just gives the other
boat a larger arc to swing, making it more likely that we'd collide. Our
paranoia finally got the better of us and we decided to pull the hook
and move to the other side of the bay.
Now we're on the east side of the bay away from the shrimp fleet. Our
attention is off the big steel boats. Now it's on to the grip our anchor
has on the bottom and the rocky leeward shore getting pounded by the
surf. If the anchor slips we'd have well under a minute to react before
becoming thoroughly screwed. Out of the frying pan into the wok, or
something like that. We've decided that instead of spending a sleepless
night worrying about the anchor that we'd instead just make the 40-mile
passage to San Blas. Next stop Matenchen Bay just south of the town of
San Blas.
Hiking the Bird Sanctuary
Today we hiked all over Isla Isabela. It's a kind of land that time
forgot, or where birds are they only surviving species after an immense
disaster. The island is a sanctuary for Blue Footed Boobies, Yellow
Footed Boobies, and Frigate Birds. The Frigate birds nest in the tops of
small trees and you can walk right up to them, except the birds and the
single park ranger didn't really like this. 
The Boobies
nest right on the ground. These too can be approached easily and don't
like it. Not sure about the Frigate Birds but the Boobies have anything
from good sized baby birds walking around to eggs still underneath them.
The only other inhabitants on the island are Iguanas and some type of
sea bird. I lied there is also a fishing village. In all the island is
only one mile by half a mile, and is pinched at the middle, so has very
little area. It's an old volcano and has a crater lake that's supposed
to be of PH 10. I didn't have my titration equipment with me but upon
visual inspection this seems to be about .02 PH low. Anyways nothing
lives in the small lake. The birds are simply everywhere and the island
reeks of bird shit. Go figure. The feet on the Boobies, especially the
Blue ones are very interesting to see in person. Same color as a Smurfs,
which coincidentally TV Land forgot.
Made tacos and peanut butter cookies tonight.
Boobies Boobies Boobies!
Woke up this morning, had a cup of coffee, jumped in the water and
swam a couple laps around the boat. What a great way to start your day.
I did wake up a few times last night to check the anchor but we didn't
budge an inch and there were only three boats in the bay, including
Whisper and us. I'm feeling much more comfortable about the anchorage
now.
Jeff made chorizo and egg burritos for breakfast and then we launched
the Houdingy and headed for shore. The island is a bird sanctuary and
the sheer volume of birds on the island is astounding. A majority of the
birds are either frigate birds or boobies (blue, green, and yellow
footed). There are paths all around the island and the warden of the
island instructed us not to leave the path or disturb the birds. The
problem was that sometimes the birds were on the path and would start
vehemently squawking at you as you tried to get around. We also saw
quite a few iguanas and geckos on the island and some kind of red and
black snake. I highly recommend this island to any cruisers exploring
Mexico.
As I write this I'm once again relaxing in the cockpit. The sun went
down about half an hour ago but there's still a warm breeze blowing.
Jeff made some stir fry from the fish we caught yesterday and it was
damn tasty. Not sure how much longer we'll stay here. We have plenty of
provisions and it's amazingly relaxing here compared to Mazatlan. Still,
we heard San Blas has jungle with jaguars, ocelots, and crocodiles. It
just keeps getting better.
Arriving at Isla Isabela
Caught a Jack Cravelle. Some don't like the dark red meat, but we're
going to try and eat him anyway.
Saw some whales around midday. Finbacks most likely. We need to get
some sea life and bird life identification info. Most of the time we
could see them they were swimming along, showing us their backs and then
tails. Maybe a handfull of time though, they would almost fully breach
(leave the water). This is accompanied by a loud slap splash that can be
heard from quit a ways a way. Tried to take pictures of them but it's
tough because they pop up unexpectedly and do their thing pretty quick.
Still we have some evidence.
Made the anchorage here at Isla Isabela in the afternoon. 7 other
boats here so the small southern cove is pretty crowded. On each side
you can see rocks that lie just under the water so the cove looks bigger
than is actually usable. We look for clues on the water's surface to
determine where submerged rocks might lie. Usually you can see a change
in the color or surface texture of the water if something is amis below.
It's kinda hokey in the world of gps, depth sounders, and accurate
charts. Thing is down here the charts aren't all that detailed and seem
to contain errors or omissions, so it's defiantly a good thing to learn
ways to augment them.
Mazaztlan to Isla Isabella
Arrived at the south end of Isla Isabella today. The passage from
Mazatlan took just under 24 hours including a few hours of motoring. The
winds were very light but the passage was still amazing. The
phosphorescence in the water was amazingly bright, making all the
cresting waves glow greenish-white.
In the early morning we started seeing whales and continued seeing
them until a couple of hours after setting the anchor. At one point we
sailed through a feeding pod and they were breeching within 200 yards of
us. About an hour from the island we caught our biggest fish to date. It
was a jack caravel, a weird fish with some strange big bones and really
dark red meat.
Our friends on Whisper had arrived a few hours before us and radioed
advice to us on where to anchor. The bay is fairly crowded or maybe it
just seems that way to me. The wind is blowing pretty solid and other
boats were reporting poor anchor sets. There's no one behind us though
so if the wind doesn't shift, the worst that could happen is we blow out
to sea.
4:52 PM CST
Motoring along at the moment. First priority is to make water. We can
make water cheaper than we can buy it down here, the only thing is we
have to run the engine (burn diesel) at less than the cruising speed of
the boat. Faster apparently is not so good for the high pressure pump
that forces the salt water through the membrane and makes our delicious
fresh water. We make about 20 gallons an hour and have a capacity of 140
gallons. So that means about 7 hours of motoring at this reduced speed.
I'm not sure how fast we're going though, as all the growth on the
bottom and, more to the point, the speed sensor, has put our knot meter
out of commission.
Back to how much water vs. diesel costs. Water in Ensenada was about
$2.50 for 5 gallons (50 cents/ga), and diesel was about $2.00 a gallon.
Being as we make 20 gallons an hour and the engine burns around a gallon
an hour, we can make water for about 10 cents/ga. Plus we don't have to
do all the logistics with getting it down to the boat and pouring it all
in. Back home none of this is an issue as you can drink all the dock
water you want.
3:06 PM CST Leaving Mazatlan.
The time leave Mazatlan has arrived. We've been here a while. More
than a month. We've had visitors and trips back to the States so it
doesn't really seem that long but it really has. I'n some ways the trip
doesn't really seem like it's started since we're further east than we
started in Seattle and our plan is to circumnavigate going west with the
trade winds. Also we're waiting for the South Pacific weather season to
open up in early March, so it feels like we're waiting around in Mexico
for someone to say "go". Soon enough though we'll be moving quickly
through the South Pacific as we are planning to be on the west coast of
Australia by late fall. So the days of screwing around in the same town
for weeks will be over after Puerto Vallarta. Which is our next major
port, and our jump off point for the South Pacific.
PV is about 200 miles south of Mazatlan, which is only a 2 days
travel, but there are a few interesting places to see along the way.
First stop will be Isla Isabela, 85 miles to the south. This island is a
bird sanctuary for Yellow Footed Boobies and Frigate birds. Also there
is a crater lake on the 1 x 0.5 mile island. So there looks to be some
interesting nature exploring in our near future. The 65 miles will take
17 hours at our average 5 knot pace, which puts us there in the morning
after it gets light. it's almost like we plan these things.
So farewell Mazatlan. Your market has great tacos, and you were the
first place I stood atop a surf board, however briefly.
Leaving Mazatlan.
The days have been flying by here in Mazatlan. This is the longest
stretch on a dock we've had since Seattle. There are a ton of benefits
to docking in a marina opposed to anchoring out. There's no worry about
dragging anchor and hitting another boat or the shore when the wind
picks up. The showers are free with unlimited water. Plugging in to
shore power means you can use all the electricity you want without
draining the batteries, really nice for geeks like us. You can leave the
boat whenever you want without worrying about where to park the dinghy
and hoping it doesn't get stolen. Here at Marina Mazatlan there are some
extra benefits as well. There's a min-mart a hundred yards from the
boat. They have a laundry service where you just drop off your dirty
clothes and they bring them back washed and folded. There's free
high-speed Internet access although it has gone down several times while
we've been here.
All those things are nice but they also have there down sides. When
we're at anchor the boat seems to have a more natural motion that's
really pleasant. Most of the anchorages we've been in have nice clean
water you can jump in whenever you want, I wouldn't jump in the water
here if you paid me. Without access to the Internet and unlimited power,
I'm more likely to read, fish, snorkel, or get off my lazy ass. Dropping
the hook is free and it's a lot harder to go through money when there
isn't a tourist destination nearby. Finally, it's quite at anchor.
They've been erecting steel buildings nonstop and it's loud as hell.
We've settled in here pretty well but I think we're all getting the itch
to move on.
Our current plan is to head out tomorrow for Isla Isabella, roughly
90 miles south of here. That's about as far as we've planned. If it's
nice there we may hang out for a couple weeks before heading south.
We're pretty flexible in case we haven't made that abundantly clear yet.
We have lots of visitors meeting us Puerto Vallarta next month and I'm
flying back to Seattle from there on the 9th so we do have to get to PV
eventually. It would also be nice to watch our amazing Sea-chickens play
in their first Superbowl but I might be able to trade that for a quite
anchorage with good spearfishing.
Mopediteers.
In another episode of Small World, I heard that there were two fellow
mopeders riding around Mexico. By chance they just happened to be in
Mazatlan when we were. I took a taxi too the other side of town and met
up with Graham and Lee at their hotel. This is where I first learned of
their true plans... to ride from San Francisco to Tierra del Fuego...
and back... on mopeds. Good luck Lee and Graham.
A Little Bit of Everything
Normally one day wouldn't warrant a post here but yesterday was
pretty chalked full of awesomeness. My only real agenda for the day was
to walk to the top of the lighthouse here in Mazatalan. It's the highest
manned lighthouse in the world and I really haven't done much tourist
stuff here.
Before we could even get headed to the lighthouse, we happened upon
the marina swapmeet. As with any swapmeet or yardsale, there were a few
atolls of value in a sea of crap. I passed on what appeared to be the
world's first solar panel and instead picked up a set of fins. Jeff had
to break a three-way tie between half a can of epoxy, a box of 8-track
tapes, and the eventual winner, a new spear gun.
With our new booty stowed, Jeff, Matt, Aaron and I made for the
lighthouse. The El Faro lighthouse sits atop a 515ft hill at the
southern most end of Mazatlan. It's the second highest lighthouse in the
world, Gibraltar being the first. I can't really say much about it that
Matt and Jeff's pictures don't describe better. The pictures do miss the
amazing olfactory sensation of Mazatlan's sewage treatment plant,
located conveniently at the bottom of the hill. The view from the top
was astounding and certainly worth the short hike and two shots from a
defibrillator that it took me to get there.
From the top of the hill we spotted the Pacifico Cervaceria so, we
decided to go take the tour. We walked around the brewery once before
asking to take the tour at the information window. The guy at the window
responded by giving me a slip of paper with some names and a phone
number on it and telling us to come back on Monday wearing shoes and
pants. We're still not sure if we're taking a tour on Monday or starting
our first day of work. Cue "Laverne and Shirley" theme played by a
mariachi band.
We hoofed it from the brewery to the back to the market in old
Mazatlan where we caught the bus home after our customary lunch at the
taco kiosks and perusing the bootleg DVDs.
We were back to the boat about 20 minutes before a couple of Matt's
moped brothers arrived. Many of you already know that Matt is a member
of Seattle's Mosquito Fleet chapter of the national Moped Army. This put him in
contact with two of San Francisco's Creatures of the Loin
gang, Lee and Graham. This pair of hardcores are mopeding from San
Francisco to Tierra del Fuego on the southern tip of South America. They
had just arrived in Mazatlan the night before. We gave them a tour of
the boat then shared beers and stories of our respective adventures
while we watched video footage recapping their journey. My favorite
anecdote was how they turned off their engines and pedaled through the
tollbooths to save the six-dollar fee. We wish them the best of luck on
their adventure and are excited to see the end result of all their
camera work.
After Lee and Graham left, we headed to the Eshamy for dinner. This
was one of the biggest and best dinner parties I've attended on this
trip. Our friends on the Eshamy really know how to entertain. Along with
Mike, Laura, Nick and Dave of Eshamy there were Aaron and Ben of
Whisper, Dylan and Kim of Blackbeard II, and all us Sohcahtoans. I can't
remember the last time I laughed that hard telling stories and joking
around with each other. Kim provided unlimited fodder with the untopable
story of growing up the child of professional circus performers. Her
dad's first words to her mother were, "Hi, my name is Mr. Meatball, can
I have my pants back?" Such is life aboard a sailboat in Mexico.
Sssshhh, There's a Whisper Next to us.
Our friends Ben and Aaron aboard Whisper actually showed up a while
back. We met Ben in San Diego and tore up one of the Point Loma bars
with him. Jeff had been corresponding with Ben via e-mail since then and
finally met up with them here in Mazatlan. They're both from Seattle and
have roughly the same plan with a longer schedule. They're also the only
cruisers we've met that are really close to our age and background. That
means that get our silly pop-culture references and laugh at the same
immature jokes. It's great!
Aaron's birthday was yesterday so I went surfing with them up at
Playa Bruja. Ben gave me some great tips and I actually stood on the
board a couple of times. Ben's board was way easier to ride than the one
I rented previously. After surfing and the customary siesta, a bunch us
went bowling. The bowling alley here is pretty nice and it's the first
building on the way into town so it's amazingly convenient. Of course,
then we had to wrap up the night by watching The Big Lebowski.
The Daily Grind.
We've been in Mazatlan a month now and we have it pretty well figured
out. Mazatlan is a popular tourist destination and I know a lot of
people who've been here on vacation, thanks for all the tips btw, but
our experience is a little different from the average vacationer. It
mostly has to do with the fact that we're down here for a long time on a
fixed income as opposed to coming down for a week with a bunch of money
to spend. We end up checking out the different grocery stores, getting
blocks of ice for the boxes, going to the beach, or just hanging out on
the boat. While my affinity for tacos is great, we have sampled some of
the non-Mexican restaurants. Man cannot live on tacos alone. We've been
to a bad sushi place, a decent Chinese place, and have yet to find good
pizza several attempts.
Don't get me wrong here. I'm enjoying every day. I don't have any
commute or schedule that's slipping. I haven't seen rain since San
Diego. I'm learning to surf and meeting all kinds interesting people.
It's just that life down here may be a little more mundane than people
think. Extrapolating a weeks vacation doesn't really work. Just an
observation for you folks watching at home.
Happy New Year from the SohCahToa.
We are still alive and well here at Marina Mazatlan in (you guessed
it) Mazatlan, Mexico. We hope that everyone had a festive and relaxing
holiday season. Nothing too extraordinary to report here. My girlfriend,
Christina, came down for Christmas and just left on the 31st. The
holding tank is filled to the brim and is letting us know in it's usual
aromatic way. Tacos are still $0.70 and beers are cheap too. I will be
heading back up to the frozen north of Seattle on the 7th of January for
a little over a week. Other than that, Marina Mazatlan is a great marina
and would highly recommend it to the other boaters we have met on this
trip.
Holidays in Mexico.
Christmas down here was really surreal for me. I'm accustomed to the
days getting shorter and the barrage of Christmas music in every store
you enter after Thanksgiving. Here the only thing I was barraged with
was beautiful sunny weather. I'm also used to driving over the pass to
the snow-covered Okanogan Valley and spending time with my family as
opposed to walking around in shorts and sandals wishing all the other
boaters a merry Christmas. This turned out to be a great Christmas even
though I do miss my family dearly.
We celebrated Christmas here in Mazatlan by attending a cruiser
dinner at a restaurant called Munchkins after opening gifts from
Christina and Jeff's parents on the boat. It was an excellent dinner
with turkey, ham, potatoes, stuffing, yams and cranberry sauce. Much
better than the McDonald's we had to celebrate Thanksgiving in Ensenada.
Dinner was accompanied by the largest and strongest margarita I've ever
had in my life.
After dinner, conversation turned to kookiness of the average
cruiser. We'd already observed several instances of this in the past few
months but the 50-60 cruisers attending the dinner provided an amazing
display of wackiness. The scale ranged from A Little Bit Off to When Was
The Last Time Reality Knocked On Your Door? It helped to have a normal
person, Christina, there to provide some perspective. Jim from Serenity
pointed out that we are all members in this mob of lunacy by no means
exempt from insanity. Hopefully I'll return to living on dirt before any
permanent damage is done though my desire to do so is diminishing every
day.
We had a few more drinks at Munchkins and decided to go bowling with
Serenity. We spread Christmas cheer and gutter balls through the bowling
alley for a few games before retiring to the Sohcahtoa to watch March of
the Penguins. An exciting and unorthodox Christmas.
New Years was a bit less exciting. On the 30th, Matt and I discovered
the bootleg DVD stand in Old Mazatlan. We returned to the boat to test
the quality of our black-market booty. The test environment required us
to drink rum and cokes and consume conspicuous amounts of popcorn. Our
discoveries were threefold: 1) Movies available on DVD were decent
quality while movies still in theaters were marginal. 2) It was 9:30 in
the morning of the 31st. 3) we were drunk. When I finally woke up at
five in the evening, I lost a brief argument with my liver and decided
to ring in the New Year as a vegetable on the settee. My remaining
motivation was used to poke my head out of a hatch to view some midnight
fireworks going off nearby. Happy New Year everyone!
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Casey McNeese, Jeff Stewart and Matt Smith. All Rights Reserved.