Update, Saturday 28 Dec. 2013

It has been an eventful week! I haven't posted for a while, and have some catching up to do!
Wednesday 12 /18/ 2013:
Roy came over again, and we installed the radome bracket. We had a challenge; running the cable in the mast, without conduit. This could be a problem, as the cable would bang around in the mast, but Roy had a novel solution; use zip ties about every 8 inches and create a buffer from the clanging.

Thursday; Dec. 19th 2013: Another trip up the mast, and the radome is mounted!

Time for a celebration! Roy drove us to Loreto to do some shopping, and check out Augies Bar. We shared a delicious plate of Nachos con Carne, had some laughs, and made our way back to the boat. We were sitting on deck watching some divers set a new mooring, and we realized we were moving! Our anchor had fouled itself, and we had broken free. A moment of Oh shit!, then we smoothly set about starting the motor, recovering the anchor, and resetting. O.k........whew! If we were in the cabin, or away from the boat, we would have hit the seawall on the other side of the channel, 150' away.

That night, we had another windstorm. Boats were swinging all over the place, and sometimes, very close to us. We made it through the night, with the anchor alarm beeping way too frequently.

Friday, Dec 20, 2013;  At first light, we could see that we had moved, so, we reset again, and still dragged. We hauled anchor and went to the Ellipse; a nearly enclosed part of the port, and re anchored.

By now were pretty nervous about being anchored so close to so many boats. We kept checking our position through the day.

In the meantime I made the final connections, and powered up the radar. Success!

Saturday, Dec. 21, 2013:

We were very happy for Roy's assistance with the radar! Of course, we still have the watermaker to deal with; and Roy jumped right in, and helped layout the installation.

Sunday, Dec. 22, 2013:

I began installing components of the watermaker, then we came up to the marina for a pizza, and Jack jumped off of the dinghy, before we tied up! He's going to kill himself one of these days. We're trying to train him to stay put, but it seems impossible.

The next few days were all work; Roy glassed in a shelf for the high pressure pump, I kept putting in components; the control panel, some plumbing connections, and electrical wiring. 

Christmas eve, we watched Karin's favorite; It's a wonderful life". We've had a few Clarence's help us along, and, it is a wonderful life!

Christmas day: still working on the installation, got the High Pressure pump bolted down, and Karin rewarded me with a restaurant quality chicken Cordon Bleu!

Dec. 26th 2013: Watermaker comissioning. After a few minor start up issues, we were making fresh water!

Friday Dec. 27, 2013; Day off!

Roy is getting rady to go explore Baja on his motorcycle, so he wanted to take a drive up into the mountains, to Mission San Javier. It was a fantastic drive, on a pretty nice road. We arrived at the mission, and were amazed at the construction from 1699. The mission was beautiful. It also boasted the first glass windows in California.

We stopped in at the Palapa for a beer, then made our way back to boat. 

We have one more thing to take care of before heading out, it's called a stuffing box; basically, ours is leaking.... just a little, but we need to fix it. Roy has been watching out for us, and offering us good advice. If all go's well, we intend to head further south tomorrow.

12/17/2013, Wednesday, Puerto Escondido

Shortly after our arrival yesterday, we came into the marina, for more internet. As we were coming in, we looked for Minx, our friend Roy's boat. We didn't see it, and as we walked up to the resturant, Karin said, " I was really hoping to see Roy here..." at that moment I looked inside, and said, there he is! Right where we left him. We met and had some good laughs, and caught up with each others travels. He asked where we were heading and how long we'd be here? Turns out, all our plans changed. Roy said he could help with installing the Radar!, So, we  decided to stay here a few more days.

  Later in the afternoon, we were surprised to see a National Geographic boat come in. A few minutes after they tied up, they held a fire drill, all we could here after the alarms, was laughter! A bunch of crazy scientists I guess.

So... our run to La Paz is put off. It sounds like the Northerlies will be getting stronger in the next few days anyway,.... and.... we  found Roy! He's a boat builder with 30 years experience, a positive attitude and a very fun guy. We feel lucky to have met so many helpful friends along the way!

Thursday morning, Roy came over and let me use his 4 to 1 to haul myself up the mast, and begin the installation of the radome bracket. We completed that around noon, and Roy gave us a ride to Loreto. We went to Augie's, a fisheman/sailor bar. We had Nachos con carne that were awesome!

I'm a little impatient, waiting for photo's to upload. It's taking a very long time... like 20 minutes, and two pictures still have not loaded! Sorry, no pics on this post, I'll try again tomorrow

12/17 2013 Tueday, Puerto Escondido

We  had a nice overnight trip from Bahia Concepcion; We'll overnight here in Puerto Escondido and keep heading for La Paz tomorrow, So....... internet in a few days, and updates from the last week.

Lots of photo's! Digital makes it so easy. We'll check in soon.

12/12/13

Departure for Bahia Concepcion at 7 am. Karin is making breakfast, and I'll be starting the engine in a few minutes. Hopefully the wind and swells will be in our favor!

Tercos and their amazing humboldt squid dip and roasted chicken

 The amazing Humboldt squid dip from Tercos

 The amazing roasted chicken with mushroom gravy mashed potatoes and raisin coleslaw.

 No more Squid dip.

 School Kids....when they passed us the little girl said her best "Hello"

 This is the current photo of the Biblioteca (library)

This was taken of the same building back in June.  This town is really prospering.  I Love this Place!

Karins' blog about Jack and Santa Rosalia

Karin wrote:

I started reading blogs in order to research about sailing with dogs.  I learned alot and we started training Jack and Gypsy to pee on a green mat a year before we even started looking at boats.  They did awesome once we bought the boat, neither one of them flinched at doing their business on the green mat.  Even at times when seas were rough and they had to go in the cockpit.  Sadly Gypsy did not make it back to the boat.  Her Tumors had grown into her spine and we had to put her down.  She lived to the ripe old age of 14, but I miss her so much, words cannot explain.  That said Jack is the perfect boat dog.  Here he is reading The Log from the Sea of Cortez by John Steinbeck.  This book is amazing and we all recommend it.

12/6/2013, Friday, Santa Rosalia

Once again.... early morning departure from Santa Teresa, 70 miles to Santa Rosalia; hopefully before dark.
As we left the anchorage, we were escorted by a pod of dolphins (always a good feeling!), The sea conditions had improved, but not much wind, it looks like another motor sail. The rest of the day was uneventful (always a good feeling!), and it looked like we wouldn't make it to the marina before sunset.

We were right. It was dark when we came into the marina, with a light NW wind. There was no one at the docks to lend a hand, so we made ready to handle it on our own. I turned into the slip just a little too far from the dock, and the wind just pushed us across the slip, all of a sudden we were diagonal in the slip! My worst docking to date. Luckily, no one saw it! We tied her up and we're here, safe and protected from the approaching 3 day wind storm! A few days of cleaning, provisioning, and of course internet.

I've tried to catch up the blog as much as possible before we leave tomorrow, Karin is going to add some photos from Santa Rosalia. It really is a beautiful little town, great restaurants, taco stands, and nice people.