Sailing north into the Sea and beyond

Pizza to go! at Puerto Escondido Marina

We have been safely and thoughtfully enjoying our time in anchorages along the Baja, as we head north toward Guaymas and our haul out sometime later this month. Life permitting, we plan to be in Portland in early June as Mike will begin teaching sailing lessons immediately upon our arrival.

Dolphin show - Candeleros

Everyone we encounter is very cautious and considerate, all wearing face masks, keeping appropriate distances and respecting people’s space. It’s a weird dance we all do, much less friendly and interactive yet we share a common concern for all our safety. As we are certainly all experiencing, a lot of communications happen non-verbally and it’s hard to know if a smile lurks behind the mask.

Dolphin cruising by

We have been blessed with good health during our time here, and I am most thankful to report that my leg pain has subsided substantially. I continue to be super careful with walking and maneuvering around. Several friends let us know that elective surgeries have begun in Oregon so you can imagine, I am on it. To follow up, I’ll call the scheduler today to chat about my position in the queue.

Pelican feeding frenzy - they get really crazy 

Pelican feeding frenzies were frequent in Candeleros Bay, south of Puerto Escondido where we stayed a few days enjoying a bit of internet and cell service on board after 20 days in Agua Verde where internet was spotty at best at the one tienda in the fishing village. We don’t usually stay in one place that long, but we had nowhere in particular to go, having been suggested by a few friends and family north of the border to stay put rather than risking the trip north when things were so crazy.

Lenticular cloud over Pura Vida - San Telmo

The large resort at Candeleros, which includes an oddly bright green golf course, is vacant except for the occasional worker. We’ve not been allowed to walk anywhere on the beach. A few days ago, a Navy boat came by with a message to “stay at home”. Photos and videos of each boat were recorded as they passed. We waved to confirm our understanding of the safety message in English, for our benefit, and Spanish.

We come north to the US with trepidation, although we hear things are opening up and life is once again, blooming, along with May flowers. Once we leave this anchorage, will be out of internet coverage as we head north into the sea. Next communications will be from the mainland side, if all goes well. 

Pelican on take off

Puerto Escondido bay and marina - nice place to hang out

Toes in the sand: Agua Verde

We are happy to report that we are safe and sound in the beautiful northern lobe of the large, protected anchorage of Agua Verde.

Just me and the chickens - they are plenty noisy!

We have not gone to the village, only to the tienda for internet (1 hour, 30 pesos = $1.75), sitting at the chicken coop, under "la ramada" which is either roofed open air structure, deluxe chicken coop or a past-its-prime Ramada Inn. Not sure, as there isn't really enough bandwidth to look up the word. I just hope this blog will post, with downsized photos. And early in our stay here, we ordered a couple of delicious take out meals from Leonor's when she was open (now closed as so many places, since we heard AMLO declared a stay at home policy across Mexico).

Hoisting the Q flag

We are taking our time getting north to Guaymas for a variety of reasons, safety being paramount. We are in self quarantine, and Mike with his sense of humor, hoisted our Quarantine flag. Here he is doing his safety drill: quarantine and tequila as disinfectant.

We don't get much news except from other boaters, a bit from the nice people who own the tienda,  on the morning net via SSB (single side band radio) when the signal is good, or from friends who write to us on our Garmin InReach account (160 character messages). News is thin and that's probably a good thing - from what we do hear...

There are a few other boats here, some coming and going north or south each day. The anchorage is protected from the winds that are blowing from all directions at this time of year. We are kayaking, meeting new friends and doing gentle hikes on the beach and surrounding hills (to protect my back / leg while we wait for the word that I can be scheduled for my spine surgery).

Leonor's restaurant, waiting for fish tacos  - yummm!

Full moon rise over the Sierra Gigante Mountains, Agua Verde

Social distancing at the tienda - 2 people allowed in the store

Small beach fire with a good wind break

Touching base!

The beach in La Paz

Loving our new paint job

First of all, thank you so much to our many friends who have reached out to inquire about our whereabouts and our silence these past 3 months. We are happy to report that we’re safe in La Paz and plan to work our way north to Guaymas via the Baja, starting March 31^st.

A lot has transpired for us in recent months and especially this last month, as I am sure it has with everyone. I’ve been reticent to say anything about my own (frankly, our) situation because I figure my story is just one more tough situation. 

Our art gallery

An MRI I had in La Paz last month identified a cyst on my spine that I need to have surgery to resolve. It’s a long story, one that’s very much still in process. In light of the current medical situation in the US, my surgery is considered ‘elective’. In my book, that’s not really the case however I don’t get to vote. And so I wait until at least the summer for notification about scheduling. It’s frightening for me, and for us, let’s just say.

Like everywhere, things are changing very rapidly so we are keeping an eye on the changes in Mexico. There are few reported cases of corona virus here, and they’d like to keep it that way. There are plenty of closures everywhere, essential businesses and some restaurants open with well-spaced tables and all staff wearing masks. The ports across Mexico have been closed to tourist boats of all kinds and as of this moment, still open for private vessels like ours. We hope it remains this way at least for a while.

Out on the town during Carnaval - up until midnight!

Candy vendor - don't your teeth hurt just looking at this stuff?

Carnaval from the tram

Sunset from the tram 

We've been having a great time and enjoyed our time in La Paz. Great fun during Carnaval in February, great music, festivities and we did the aerial tram along the malecon to enjoy the sunset.

Absolutely no dog popping

We hope all of you are doing well and staying safe!

From our slice of heaven to yours!

Our festive cockpit loaded with projects

Holiday shopping displays

On this winter equinox, the days are short even at the 27^th parallel and we look forward to longer days ahead. The sun shines bright then it’s quite cool in the evenings, wind blowing through the dirt yard here in Guaymas. And for those who wonder, we are working toward our splash before the end of the year.

Painting and cleaning

Fun with hoses and clamps

Generator, without cover to fit through the engine room door 

Progress

We undertook an unplanned, but required, project of replacing the engine room insulation. The black dust residue from the failed insulation welcomed us as we peered into that important real estate on board, where the brains of the operation live (except for the brain of Captain Mike). Start to finish took more than three weeks. The filthy and lengthy removal process, cleaning, prep and installation of all new insulation, spraying and painting. Then Mike had to redo all the fixtures, fittings, hoses, cables and more so things actually work again.

3 guys installing in a small space,
sitting on top of our engine

Installation complete. Now starts the next phase of work.

Once completed, that paved the way for installation of our new Fischer Panda Generator. Hauling the awkward 350+ pound beast through a very precarious route was completed successfully by four of our work guys in the yard. Special shout out to Alejandro, Alejandro David, Aldo and Moises. Fist pumps and very cold beers were shared post-project, to everyone’s delight.

In between those big projects, we've been doing a ton of smaller scale updates.

Judy's first drill press project

New v-berth cushions rock!

I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick!

The screw and bolt guy. Great local resource.

Christmas glitz on a boat? Nope, a
through hull waiting it's new home

We are thankful to be on board our own little slice of heaven, no matter where she is and where she takes us once we are floating. And from our happy home to yours, we send our best wishes for a Merry Christmas and blessed New Year!

Merry Christmas! 

Hillsides are very green after heavy rains late November

After a rain storm, car wash guy filling his buckets. Actually they totally
detailed our Ford Escape inside and out for $13.00 -with clean water

Ann's apple was too much excitement for this butterfly who fluttered
around her until she set it down. It was a big meal for that little guy.

Guaymas and beyond

Dia de los muertos
display at the grocery store

It’s been a month since we left Portland and began our journey to new adventures. We stopped along the way to visit family and friends and finally made our way to Pura Vida after a long, enjoyable trek.

The keel needed some repair and new fiberglass

Overall, things looked good on the boat, which is always a concern after several months of the super-hot summer sun drenching the boat daily. Even with our custom-made cover, we worry about our boat on the hard. We did have two small piles of termite shavings which we’ll deal with – first time for that. Two other boats nearby experienced the same. We need to be careful as our entire boat is teak inside except for vinyl ceiling panels which have teak slats – walls, floor, hatches, cupboards, shelving. And, the teak is 43 years old so needs love.

Giant Yaqui statue welcomes
you to Ciudad Obregon

Our first trip out of the bustling city of Guaymas was to Empalme for the Sunday market. We bought shrimp, flounder and a pair of shoes that I can wear walking miles in the dirt yard so I don't wear out another pair of Chacos. Empalme is getting sketchy with the gang/cartel activity (sad to report), but we went during the morning hours and the market is very busy.

We then made a trip to Ciudad Obregon to get a PET scan for dental work Mike will have done, so we rented a car - as Obregon is beyond the 'free zone' for US cars. 

As I write this, we are in Nogales, Arizona to pick up parts – our charger / inverter died after just 18 months so we needed a replacement. Local repair shop tried but to no avail. We did our shopping excursion, also picking up items for several other boaters while in the US. Tropical storm Raymond toned down to a tropical depression which brought rain and wind so it’s been a wet and chilly trip (comparatively speaking).

Alejandro (the tall), Alejandro David,
Aldo & Edmundo helping Mike

The head was out of order in the "old bathroom" so you need to walk
another few hundred steps to the "new bathroom" at Marina Seca

We’ve got a new generator to install so we can run our cherished watermaker, and Mike will install our wind generator on the mizzen mast as an additional power source. 

Engine room fun - the glamour
of the sailing life!

We also decided to remove and replace all of the engine room insulation – a long overdue project and one that wasn’t on this year’s list but really needed to be done. We are sharing the joys of that project, tag teaming on hanging out in the engine compartment. NBF = nothing but fun.

Coctel Campechana - yummm!

Mike with our many boxes
at the hotel in Nogales

We’ve been enjoying outings and catching up with our many friends here, going to some of our favorite taco stands and local eateries. It's great to buy some of the local treats we love, see our favorite family at their fish market, Jorge and Elvie at the hardware store, Lupita at her laundry ("ahh, Pura Vida. ¡No Suavitel!" - she knows we don't like the fabric softener and it's part of our persona with her). 

We are blessed every day with the experiences of life in Mexico.