Haulout!

Well, we've been in contact with the haul out yard for Reisender's summer home. The yard should confirm the exact date in a few days. It's been a long time since we've had our baby out of the water and it'll be exciting to see her up on stands, also a little forlorn, but she needs the attention of a good bottom paint job and some TLC after the last 2 years. Scott and I are both looking forward to a little "land" time. Our families are expecting us late in the summer and when we return we'll start to work on the boat, but Scott agreed to splurge on a rental apartment for a month while we do the work. Living in the same space one is working on is not fun! I'm also dreaming of taking a shower everyday after we finish our work and having a nice meal without cleaning up our work first. The one request from the cats is a nice window to lounge in. I think we can try to arrange that, they have been dragged 2500 miles by sea and countless trips across country via car. The challenge of not getting accustomed to having space will be an effort, but somehow I know once we've done the work on Reisender I'll be ready to be back in my home.

The last week has been a little sad for me. We've gotten pretty close to two other boats in the marina and we've all left the marina now and gone separate ways. I know our paths will cross again, but it was a bit of a tug at my heart to see Goldenheart leave yesterday and True Blue last week. I'm happy and elated for our dear friends to be off the dock and pursuing their dreams, but at the same time I'm gonna miss my girls, the late nights of conversation, the shared challenges of projects, and the all around great company. Scott and I usually try to be away from the marina when friends leave, pretty selfish, but neither of us like "goodbyes' and choose to say, as a good friend said to us when we left, "I'll see you down the road", but this philosophy doesn't make it any easier. What does make it easier is an agreement that whenever we come into an anchorage and one of the other boats is there, the first one in makes the cocktails!

To Cynthia, Lee, Leanne, and Craig.... I raise my glass to you and the very special time we all shared!

Fair Winds My Friends!

A Few of My Favorite Things

Since arriving in Mexico I've been exposed to some wonderful new things and concepts. I thought I'd take a few minutes and review and list some of the items I really like:

Street Food
Mole
Ceviche
Friendliness of the Locals
The Locals are constantly cleaning
Platina Movie Theatres
Indio Beer
Arrachera
People going out of their way to be helpful
Full Service Laundry
In a restaurant the check isn't brought until it is asked for
No server ever rushes a guest in a restaurant
Smiles on just about everyone's face here
The Beautiful Red Sunsets
The strong sense of family that everyone has
Tajin spice on fruit
The color of the water

This is just a short list of what I'm enjoying about my time in La Paz. I can't say this list is for all of Mexico. I've only been exposed to a small portion, of what so far I find as a fascinating country.

Fair Winds My Friends

Winding Down in La Paz

Well, our time here in La Paz is winding to a close. With a few more days here at the marina it's time to get the last of the major projects finished and start stocking in provisions for the 4 to 6 weeks we plan on taking to reach our summer home of Guaymas, Sonora, MX. Lot's of reviewing of anchorages has been going on here in Marina Cortez around the docks. It's too late to go in any direction but north at this point, due to hurricane season with starts in a couple of weeks. We should be able to find good anchorages every 10 to 20 miles and once we are about 20 miles out of La Paz the risk of the Coromuels diminishes greatly.

I've been mentally reviewing our time here over a cup of tea this morning and I thought it was a good idea to list a few of the things I've learned. I've learned to either cook early in the morning, after sunset, or out on the grill (it's just to hot any other time of day). I've learned that the best way to learn a language is to use it and practice every chance I get. I've re-learned that friendships can be almost immediate and lasting. A true friend will also be walking the docks with you at midnight looking for your lost cat. Laughter is good for so many ills! and a good potluck simply means everyone left with a smile.

What I haven't learned is when will Linux and Pixel stop shedding from the heat?

Fair winds my friends!

What's Next?

It's been quite a while since my last post and much has occurred. I'll recap pretty quickly: we left Ensenada for Turtle Bay. That was the longest passage to date we'd made, 73 hours. Along our way down to the Sea of Cortez we not only stopped in Turtle Bay, but also Abreojos, Bahia Santa Maria, and Bahia Magdelina. Our time in each location was not really noteworthy. We didn't really see anything that thrilled us. There were some lovely views and lot's of sea life, but nothing really jumped out to us about our voyage on the outside of Baja. Once we broke out of the Pacific and made into the Sea of Cortez all of that changed for us. The weather turned amazing and the seas a bit warmer. The scenery began to get more welcoming to us and we started getting more excited about this adventure we are on.

So where does that leave us? Currently in La Paz, Baja Sur, MX. We should be here another 2 weeks or so and start up further into the Sea for the summer. The next question I need to answer is why I haven't blogged sooner? I've been pondering this for quite some time. I could say "we are having such a great time I haven't had time", or "I really don't want to make people envious of our life", but the truth of it is after nearly 7 years of refitting the boat and finally achieving our goal we aren't really sure what is next for us. Our life has been consumed with getting Reisender and ourselves ready for this and it actually feels like someone let the air out of a balloon. It simply deflated with out a bang or a bust. I've found myself sleeping in and excited about cooking again. I've spent my days exploring the streets, markets, and restaurants, but mostly just letting go. I attend Spanish lessons 4 mornings a week, walk to the grocery store, help Scott with projects, and organize social activities here on our dock. That's what I do. Scott spends his time with projects, helping neighbors with their projects, reading, studying the cruising guides of the Sea and decompressing. Yes, we are having a wonderful time, but we really are just looking around and asking each other what's next? We've taken on the world and while the world won a couple of battles that took the wind out of us, we feel like we won the war and we are enjoying that win. We know we will spend the summer within about 400 miles of where we are and that's a lot of space with a long time window to enjoy it. So for now we are just simple enjoying the fruits of our labor. Some times life is just that simple.

Fair Winds My Friends!

Diversity

One of the pleasures for us is our ability to stay put and get to know a place, weather permitting. Ensenada has been a great introduction to Mexico for us. It's the people who really make it interesting. First impressions it's run down, dirty, and loud. Second impression it's a tourist and shipping city with a decent economy, but it's more that these things. It's the diversity of the people that has started to fascinate me these last few days. So full of life and vitality. Eager to help, eager to please. It's a city where strangers will stop on the street and help when it's obvious we are lost and don't speak Spanish. Somehow it works out. Willing to offer directions, or another option, or where to get the best...(fill in the blank). It's a city of proud people. Pride in their food, history, culture, wine, and even their fish. They boast with pride that Ceviche was started here or that Ensenada is the home of the Margarita. They are a conservative people. Men still being gentlemen. Women still being ladies. There are churches abound here, and every denomination. Yesterday on the Malecon there was a group of several hundred Amish singing hymns to the Lord in Spanish. Even within that group there was diversity. Northern European, African, Spanish, Indian and Mestizo. There is also the seedy side of the city. Prostitutes and strippers are all through the tourist section. We've been offered their wares on several occasions (The grocery store I go to passes through that part of town and I move through it as quick as possible). There are the ladies at the food stalls near the fish market claiming each to have the best fish tacos and belittling the tacos of the next stall over. It's a friendly competition and very interesting to watch. The fish mongers themselves do not compete in this way, but are quietly proud of their fish and it's quality and are happy to show you the latest and freshest assortment. Then on Tuesday and Saturday the cruise ships arrive. That's when the chaos ensues. We try not to go out on these days, but it never fails to need some item or another from the market. I'm embarrassed at the way so many Americans behave when they are a guest in another country. Some of the young girls are dressed no better than the prostitutes and many are dressed worse. The young men wearing only shorts and if we are lucky they will have a t-shirt on, but the locals just accept them for their ignorance and know they will be gone in a few hours. They take the time to sell all sorts of Mexican made items to these boisterous holiday makers. Then there are is the cruising community. A mixture of sailing and power boats spread over three marinas. Some passing through (like us), some getting work done on their boats at the yard, and some using this as a base for retirement. They come together in a true spirit of community. We help each other out, and offer information about the place. After even a few weeks we start getting proud of Ensenada. I know several retirees here who couldn't imagine going back to the US or Canada. They also are part of what makes this city to fascinating to me. Our time to move on is coming up quickly, but I now I will miss this diverse and interesting city. I will take a part of it with me and be grateful for even the short glimpse into these wonderful generous, tolerant, pious, and welcoming people.

Fair Winds My Friends!

Broken Gear, a way of life?

As the post title says, broken gear is a way of life. It's part of boating. One hopes for as little broken as possible, but one should always prepare for the worst, or at least the worst one can imagine. When boaters get together the subject usually turns to "remember that night when we lost....." I'm not really sure why we talk about it, perhaps it's the badge of honor to say we'd survived a problem at sea. We've all had them. Some are simply little mishaps, others are giant "Oh Shit" moments. Scott's first was on a dear friends boat coming down the coast in 2007, the boom sheared off. For my dear friends who don't know, that's really bad! My first was our Astoria to Newport leg coming down the coast and we were in fog so thick we couldn't see 50 feet from the boat for hours. We wouldn't leave the next port until we had a radar. I took several slugs of rum upon our arrival safely at the dock that time. Problems at sea are a way of life for boaters. I think part of the reason we talk about them is to help other boaters realize they aren't alone.

Over the years we've been boating I've heard all sorts of "emergencies" at sea. Our friends who's windlass decided to fry on the way coming down the coast starting a small fire aboard. Then our friends who timed the bar crossing at Astoria and were off by quite a bit. The following seas were pushing them and they had a rather uncomfortable, to say the least, crossing. That trip had two of the most skilled sailors I've known, with countless bar crossings. I've been taking mental notes recently of the issues friends, new and old, have had coming down to Mexico. One set of friends had all sorts of issues with the boat itself: rotting wood, de-lamination, just to name two. We've recently met a couple here in Ensenada who made it 300 miles south of us only to have trouble with the transmission and need to be towed back. Then there are the little problems, fowled prop, dirty fuel, and silly mistakes from being tired that almost every boat at sometime or another experiences. We ourselves have had all of those at one time or another.

So why do we do it? I can't really say. It's different for everyone, but it's the accomplishment that keeps me going and the promise of the next port. The next port, new, unseen by us, full of some kind of wonder or another. I can't answer for the others, but for me, it's to continue to see what's out here. A spirit of adventure that is part of some humans make up. "To Boldly go" for those of us geeks. That's why when these "emergencies" at sea happen, we come into port, regroup, take a slug of rum, and then bugger on. The rewards outweigh what we might consider any inconveniences. Looking back, I usually find the situation wasn't as bad as I thought it was at the time. I now feel foolish about some of the times I've panicked. I've grown from those situations and while now I see them for what they were, I'm better for the experiences. Maybe that's the reason we sailors talk about them. There's a growth to us everyday out here. It's true, you never are to old to learn.

Fair Winds My Friends!

The Why!

I've been asked "why" we've taken so long to get here. It's actually a pretty simple answer: We needed to be able to sail. Up until our journey from Avalon to Ensenada, we'd never fully sailed with main and jib. Our entire journey down the coast had been one of motor-sailing, mostly motoring. The boat wasn't ready to move under sail alone. We were, but she wasn't. Not only did we not have her rigged, the ability to store our things was quite limited. The bunk was usually covered with gear and items we didn't want flying about the cabin, the sink was stuffed with kitchenware, and I'm not even sure where we hid the grill as it's not mounted. These have all been addressed and we and the boat are much more ready for he task of navigating the Baja Coast. We might have attempted this earlier, but we are limited on fuel and needed the ability to actually sail to conserve. She is after all a sailboat and there was no need to take her out of the US waters until she lived up to that definition.

Our other concern became apparent shortly into our trip down the coast from Oregon. We needed some sort of self steering. We now have about 1500 miles of hand steering under our belts, but to make this more enjoyable and for us not to come into port drop dead dog tired we needed a self steering system. We'd traded for one in Portland, but never had the chance to mount her. Thirteen months in Newport Beach solved that. He is now proudly mounted and added another 2 feet to our length. We named him Baron VonSteuren, as a reference to the German themed names we have given our boat and dinks (Reisender-Traveler, Komen-Coming, Gehen-Going). Steuren is the German word for Steering. We though it was pretty clever. We'll we christened him and he did a great job. During our 27 hour passage we only had to hand steer for about 8 or 9 hours of it. During the day we could just sit and read in the cockpit and look around every few minutes. Our course took us far enough off shore that we were pretty much alone and in deep enough waters we didn't need to worry about crab pots. It was a relief coming into port a little bit more rested. Our usual routine was check into the marina and sleep. Now we check into the marina, eat, and then sleep. A little better I think!

Fair Winds My Friends!