Thursday, 1/23/2014: Punta Mita

Time flies! Here we are in Punta Mita, we just returned from going to shore. We took a bus down to La Cruz to check out the marina. We'll probably go there in the morning, get fuel, pump out, and do some laundry. There's a swap meet on Sat.,then we'll go anchor out for a day or two and pick a weather window for the trip to Manzanillo.
The last week has been interesting, we were going to Isla Isabel, but changed our course, and headed for Matanchen instead.

It was our first time arriving at an anchorage in the dark. We cautiously anchored without any problems. We were going to check out the Jungle River tour that is written up in the cruisers guide,but the place just looked deserted, so we changed our minds again, and left for Chacala.
We used our watermaker while we motor sailed the 30 miles south, another first!

 Chacala is beautiful! Cobblestone streets lined with small shops and eateries, we were given a tip about Mar 3, a quaint little family restaurant, that served up a fantastic Chile Relleno, with a shrimp inside!

After exploring town, we stopped for a Cerveza on the beach, looking at our boat from a shady palapa!

We also learned a valuable lesson about using a stern anchor in swell conditions. The lesson was simple; if you don't use one, be prepared for a long rolly night.  We didn't, so, we left the next morning for Punta Mita. Motor sailing more than we'd like, but, if you have a destination planned by time, you can't always afford to depend on the wind. It was still a great day....many whale sightings, and relatively calm sailing.

We approached Punta Mita, and saw waves all over the place. It turned out to be a nice anchorage, but, challenging dinghy landings/launchings between swells.

We registered our SPOT GPS messenger, and linked it to Facebook, so our location will be posted there when we don't have internet.

So.... a couple days here....then continuing south, at our own pace.

Jan.17, 2014, Isla de los Chivos, Mazatlan

It has been nice to just relax for a few days! We met up with some of the other cruisers from our passage.

 We all left around the same time on Saturday from La Paz; 5 boats: Euphoria, Scot Free 'Eh, Tardis, Kanga, and Flyin Sideways. We started out in the middle of the group, but the winds weren't in our favor, so we relied on the diesel sail. By the second night, we were out in front, with Euphoria, and Scot Free 'Eh close behind. All was well, until everyone on watch saw the lights of Mazatlan. They thought? No one could tell if the lights were 5 or 25 miles away! So, a little confusion, and then everyone agreed....25 miles away.

As the dawn broke, we were headed south of the city to an anchorage called Stone Island. It had been closed in recent years due to outboard and dinghy theft. The local authorities have taken it back, and it is once again, a safe, beautiful anchorage.

Getting closer to the harbor entrance, traffic became a concern. Many shrimp boats, tankers, and pleasure craft were moving, in various directions and speeds. 

At last, we motored in to the bay. Long empty beach, lined with palm trees, a few restaurant/bars, looks like the place!

So, no major projects, just a little clean up, lots of dog walks for Jack, and next, we'll be leaving for Isla Isabel, deemed a World Heritage Site it is protected on an international level, it has been nicknamed the "Galapagos of Mexico". 

Jan 15, 2014; Mazatlan

Our last few days in La Paz were mainly spent cleaning up the boat, and walking Jack as much as possible before the crossing.

We met with Tom from Cruise R/O, and he gave us a few important tips on our installation of the watermaker. First off, he was impressed (yeah!), but offered to help in any way. We were trying to hook up the sea water intake, to the engine sea strainer, but thankfully couldn't find the fittings we needed, because we could have caused a vapor lock in our engine! We simply connected it to the thru hull on the heads sink drain. Done! It works perfectly; 20 gallons an hour.

We've been having a great time finding street tacos. This one had shrimp tacos with all the fixings for about $1.25 ea. They were delicious!

Speaking of shrimp; we also visited Mercado Bravo. An excellent market with everything! I couldn't resist the Baja Shrimp, so we brought some home for grilling.

On Friday, we heard from our friend Dave, on Rogue, who was anchored off the marina downtown. Had a good visit, and got lots of information about Panama, including him loaning us the Central American cruisers guide. Priceless!

On Saturday, we checked out of Marina Costa Baja, got some fuel, and began the crossing to Mazatlan, but first we stopped in Caleta Lobos to run the watermaker. We left at 3 pm, and headed out with four other boats that were making the crossing.

I'll  do another post to cover that, and add some more pictures. We'll be staying here for a swap meet on Saturday, then maybe leave on Sunday

Wed. Jan. 8, 2013: Photos on the way to La Paz

Throwing a line off the sea wall in Puerto Escondido.

Another cruiser leaving Escondido.

Hardcore off road RV'ers!

Pangas on the beach, Agua Verde.

Karin caught the evening goat migration,... through the hole in the rock!

Dale and Jo Jo had us over for New Years Eve in Timbiache. We used expired 

emergency flares for fireworks!

New Years Day; Red Sky At Dawn......

Jan 6, 2013: La Paz

It's been a while since the last post, we're in Marina Costa Baja in La Paz. We motor sailed from Punta San Ysidro on Saturday. It was uneventful, except for an unfortunate incident involving a pelican, and our fishing line.

Before we left San Ysidro, we explored the beach, and salt factory remains. We found some cool shells, and then ran into another sailor walking the beach. He had sailed all over, and spends the winters in the Sea of Cortez. He has gotten to know the family's that live on these islands, and told us some interesting stories about the place.

Now we're in La Paz for a check on the water maker, and to finish the installation. It's nice to be in a marina for a few days; the last couple of weeks were a little stressful at anchor. We are much more conscious of our anchoring situation now, so, being tied in a slip feels pretty good!

We should be here a few days, eating as many street tacos as we can!  I have to go through the photos, and also try to post some videos, before we leave for Mazatlan.

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