bloglog

I've been cruising from La Paz to Puerto Escondido - the port for Loreto, which is where i am posting from. And in that time have fallen into this daily entry kind of thing, which i don't really mean to do and shall stop. But please bear with it for now.

Seems i like to start out on the 4th of a month. We left Seattle on Oct. 4. So here i am, “back on the horse” January 4, 2010. Funny the butterflies in my stomach as i get ready to go. That may be a good sign, a sign of respect for what i am doing. Don’t want to get complacent or cocky, and don’t want more “humble pie.” Got off to a good start, beating at 6+ knots with full main and jib, yahoo! Got into a convergence where the wind died, motored thru and finished the day on a few nice tacks in smooth water into Puerto Ballena. Headin’ for Isla San Francisco, San Evaristo, ultimately to Loreto by the 14th. Where Jessica will join me for a week of cruising. Dark, overcast night – apparently a “pineapple express” passin’ by south of us is bringin’ the clouds.

1.5.10: What a beautiful day well spent! Anchored in Ensenada de la Raza on the west side of Espritu Santo…all to myself! Love this spot. Ahhhh. Woke up and sat at the transom to meditate for the sunrise. Then got started "working on the boat in an exotic place" (the definition of "cruising") – forgive me, you non sailors, might want to skip the next paragraph.

Have now created a boom crutch on the aft rail of the dodger. This replaces the broken vang strut for supporting the boom when i drop the mainsail. I only intend it to hold the boom during transitions (i.e. lowering, raising or reefing the main). Most of the time either the sail will support the boom or when the sail is down, the halyard will act as a topping lift. This makes handling the main, without an errant boom, much safer. I’m very excited about it. Can you tell? Next i repositioned the self-tailing arm on each primary winch – been wanting to do this, and it was easy. Now the headsail sheets are easier to cinch into the self-tailing cap from anywhere in the cockpit, and as the sheet feeds out it drops much more conveniently into a corner of the cockpit. Then pulled out the knotmeter paddle wheel and cleaned off the seaweed/barnacles which were stopping it from spinning. And finally for today, fed all the anchor rode out to take the twists out of the chain. This appears to be a chore to do weekly. Somehow the windlass and the chain don’t quite agree with each other and the chain builds up a twist – which can then jam at the windlass when letting the rode out. Dangerous if all the rode is needed for an emergency anchoring, thus the weekly chore. And as long as i was at it, re-marked the chain (had painted sections of links every 30 feet but the paint has mostly worn off – using the wire-tie method for now). “The list” really does never end, even out here as compared to “life in the city.”

My reward for all that work? A dive off the boat and swim. Enjoyed some porpoise passing thru. Then a fruit smoothy. Then kayaking to explore the bay, hiking ashore and scampering up the nearby rocks to take photos of Akimbo from a vantage point above her. Back aboard, prep tagliarini for dinner, with a few glasses of cab sav, a string quartet by Schubert, and finally chocolate and stargazing (they’re back out and brilliant). After which i scoped out the charts and guidebook and planned my next week with lots of stops and stays.

Odd thing – well after the sun had set, quite dark out, the pelicans started diving in earnest quite nearby. I mean, dark: eating dinner in the cockpit I could hardly see the pasta on my plate. And i mean hundreds of dives. I watched with intent (hard to see them in the dark) and didn’t see one pelican tilt his/her head back in the tell tale sign of having caught a fish. It prompted the first words from me today. (splash) “What the bloody hell do you all think you’re doing? (splash) You can’t catch a fish this time of night. (splash) It’s dark out, you idiot! (splash) You’re wasting your energy. (splash) Are you out of your mind? (splash) (splash).” Crazy birds. Now that they’ve come to their senses and gone to sleep, it’s a marvelously peaceful night. Stunning, really. Deeply appreciated.

1.6.10 Morning dew means chamois time! It’s a free wash for the boat. And this morning i found some ballbearings on deck? The slides that attach the mainsail to the mast have bearings. Sure enuf, the bottom slide had nearly departed from the mast track. So this morning, while Akimbo motored out of the anchorage, i made the necessary repair. Then raised the main, unfurled the genoa and enjoyed a long tack and a few short ones to Isla San Francisco. Was here about a month ago with Tyler, Jerry and Cheryl. This time we anchored on the southwest side. I swam ashore for a short stroll, swam back, showered off, enjoyed leftovers for dinner and listened to Yo-yo playing movie themes while the stars “came out” (are stars gay?). What a place i am in! Good night.

1.7.10 Sailed the short distance to San Evaristo in three tacks. Full main and genoa, but the wind built and it was pretty overpowering at the last. Nice anchorage. Paddled ashore and walked the beach front of the town, which boasts a store but wasn’t worth boasting about. Nopolo tomorrow (7 miles north) or maybe stay at anchor. Definitely planning on less sail area if this wind pattern keeps up this week. A boater here with a water temp gauge said the water has dropped from 71 to 68 in two weeks. “Refreshing.”

1.8.10 A day at anchor. “Amazing the damn thing floats.” Said to me by a boatbuilder in Marblehead in 1971 as the boat he built was launched. Today seemed like that. I kicked on the generator to charge things up while i went for a swim (with speargun), didn’t want to listen to it but wanted to charge up the batts and cool the fridge. But when i got back i saw the generator had quit – my mistake, forgot to switch the fuel manifold to it. Opened up the generator shield in case i would have to bleed its fuel system…and noticed water in the bottom of its box? Hmmm. That can’t be good. Sure enuf, the raw water pump was leaking, splashing salt water about, causing corossion. Luckily i had bought the (expensive) spare parts kit for the generator and it included a new raw water pump. So, that done, i went to grab the rag that i use to mop up the bilge, so i could mop out the generator box…and noticed the bilge water. Switched on the bilge pump, which ran but didn’t appear to pump? Worked on that next, got it going, but still not satisfied with it. Sometimes i turn a light on that has always come on, and it doesn’t. Turn it off. Turn it on, and it does. Corrosion to chase down somewhere in its system. I never know if something is going to work or not – and most of it NEEDS to work. Sometimes i let it frustrate me, sometimes i take it in stride. “Duct tape, bubble gum and string.” Amazing the damn thing floats.

1.9.10 Dark day in my journal. Wonder why. Everything felt hollow, empty. What changed? Tried putting chants on the stereo this morning.

Triple reefed the main and strung the jib at anchor to prep for beating north to Puerto los Gatos. Had a strike on the fishing line, saw a good size fish jump, by the time i started reeling in it was gone. Looked at the lure and found the hook bent. Put on a bigger lure, but no bites. Pulled the line in at the end of the day and found i had forgot to put a hook on it. Not sure if i’m trying to catch fish or entertain them. Hope they enjoyed it. Or am i here to weed out the species by catching the dumb ones, or to protect the little ones?...

I fell for the mid-day wind drop again. Had switched to full main and genoa, and even had to roll up the genoa and motor for an hour thru the calm. Then the wind came back. Restrung the jib but refused to reef the main and was overpowered by the end of the day again, heeled hard over and lots of spray. Came charging into the anchorage near sunset, hard to see past the reflection on the water, watching the depth grow shallower, rounded up and dropped everything, not my usual graceful self. Per the guidebook we were where i wanted to be (between the reefs guarding the entrance), per the electronic charts i had clipped the south end of an island. An island that doesn’t exist, so we were okay. Dropped the anchor in 15’ and put the sails properly away. Akimbo is covered in salt.



1.10.10 Manuel showed up in his panga. Had heard to not trust him. Chatted for a while, he showed me some muslin and pillows his wife had embroidered. I admired them but didn’t buy any. After he left i took my ring off for the first time i can remember – felt conscious of flashing gold past people who have so little. Wrestled a few things on the boat into submission (failed at the usb-serial adapter to the modem that hooks into the ssb radio – glad i’ve asked Jessica to bring a new one with her), paddled ashore and explored the sensuous sandstone formations. Nice beach. Puerto los Gatos? Saw no cats.


1.11.10 A better day. Don’t know why or how. But held better focus. Felt more centered. Which was good what with a few reefs to navigate around. Nice upwind sail on full main and jib to Bahia Agua Verde – guessing it is the place that the restaurant in Seattle takes its name from? Great little anchorage. Nicely situated village in front of a valley into the mountains and with a beach and bay. Found a small grocery and bought a few staples, passed on the only restaurant. Some of the stucco houses have fewer square feet in them than Akimbo has. Took a photo of the school (saw no kids), police department and basketball/soccer court – all in one photo. Looking around it looks like the town has room to grow…but i doubt that it ever will. Still, this is probably how every city started.