These two AYC members have gone on an extended tour of the world on their 41 foot Islander "Lovely Reta". Follow them on their 3 year (really... years, not hours!) tour through these chronicles of their journey.
That event (Refering to the Oktoberfest dinner at AYC on 12/6/2006) was immediatly followed by a "Bon Voyage" part for our good friends, John and Debbie Dye, who will soon embark on a 3-year cruising adventure on Lovely Rita, their beutiful Islander 41. With upwards of 175 people in attendance, it was quite the gala event. Please Join me in wishing John and Debbie "the Fairest of Winds and Smoothest of Seas" as they deart our shores for points south!
back to the topWe are heading for Mazatlan right now. After 5 days of big winds & a horrible looking channel we picked the right weather window to head across the Sea of Cortez. Today it is very calm with a gentle roll. It is nice & warm & the water temperature continues to creep up.
We had a fantastic Christmas in Los Frailes. We got to listen to the Chief's game with our friend Randy on MAKANA. I cooked tai food & we had a great time listening to the game thru satellite radio. Makes us think about subscribing to it.
The next day we went ashore for a great walk down the beach. We talked to several Americans who come down to Frailes for the summer in their campers. They were all decorated for Christmas using whale bones, marlin bills, shells & whatever flotsam & jetsam they found on the beach. We walked further down the beach to check out a hotel that the cruising guide talked about. The windows were boarded up due to hurricane damage. All the rooms were open, with furniture & made up beds but the thatched roofs were severally damaged & you could tell that all maintenance had gone down hill. There was running water so we filled up our collapsible water jugs & carried some water back to the boat to get some of the salt off.
The next day we went snorkeling with Randy. Kelly from QUE TAL joined us while John & John from QUE TAL went ashore to get some beer. The fish were fantastic but the bottom was a bit stirred up due to the high winds & swell in the channel.
We also lost our wind generator. A particularly high gust caught the boat just right & the man overboard pole swung into the blades of the wind generator. We now have a stump, no blades & no nose cone. Fortunately we have spare blades so when we get to a quiet anchorage, John will replace the blades & we will see if we did any further damage.
For Christmas, I made peanut brittle for QUE TAL, MAKANA & a nice Mexican family on land. We met on LOVELY RETA about 3 & I started cooking the Cornish game hens, yams, garlic bread & Waldorf salad. It all turned out great & we sent everyone home with doggie bags. Today I am boiling the carcasses to make 15 bean soup.
back to the topISLA ISABELLA
This small, out-of-the-way island was featured by both the National Geographic & Jacque Cousteau in television specials as a wonderland of unspoiled nature. There is no doubt to either one of us that they were dead on!
The first night we anchored in a spot where all of the yachties in Mazatlan told us to anchor...a spot on the East side of the island called Islotes Las Monas or the pinnacles. When we arrived there were 4 other boats there one being QUE TAL. There were whales everywhere. You could hear them spout & John even heard them talking thru the hull during the night. By morning the anchorage had become exposed to the N breeze & swell. John was ready to leave for San Blas but I asked if we could check out the S anchorage as what I was seeing was too good to be true & I was afraid that we would never return. We had been told by yachties that the S anchorage is a very dangerous, rolly, anchor-eating place & to stay away from it. It took us 10 min. to motor down to it & it was flat calm, protected & perfect. We selected our spot to drop the hook, placed a buoy on the end of the anchor to have a different way to pull it up in case it got caught in rocks & settled in. The anchorage is an old volcanic crater, eaten away by the sea on 1 side, so the scenery, as well as the wild life, is quite spectacular.
This is a sanctuary for the frigate birds & yellow & blue-footed boobies. When we went ashore for the 1st time we were both in awe. The frigates nest in low-lying trees & most of them are at eye-level. The babies are pure white & fuzzie. They are everywhere. There is a half-built large building & as we explored it we found numerous iguanas basking in the sun. They would come right up to you wanting a handout.
We took a long hike into the interior of the island & up to the North side. In the interior, there is a Crater Lake, a banana & pineapple plantation & some sugar cane. The N side becomes quite barren & rocky & this is where we discovered the boobies. They are silly looking birds. Their nests are all over the ground so you have to be quite careful where you step as you might step on an egg. They do become a bit nervous as you approach but you can get quite close. The following day we hiked to the cliff overlooking the boats & found more yellow & green footed boobie nests. Than the 4th day we hiked to the East side & found the blue footed boobies. They are quite a bit shyer than the yellow & greens. My pictures are unbelievable.
The water here is 77 degrees & clear. The snorkeling is great with numerous rock ledges full of colorful fish & eels. We spend our days diving, hiking, swimming, than cocktail hour in the dinghy, floating with the current off of the Island hoping that a whale will come close. We have been very close to a Mama, Papa & baby humpback. It gets a bit exciting when they are below the surface, as you don't know if they will continue on their way our come over to the dinghy to check us out. One boat in the anchorage had a whale come up right under their dinghy & slap the water with its tail. Pretty exile rating stuff.
We are now underway to Chacalal, an anchorage about 20 miles south of San Blas. I am on watch dodging the shrimp fleet, but it is warm & we have a ¾ moon but are motoring after about an hour sailing with the spinnaker.
I have heard that there are big happenings at the boatyard. The city has condemned the big building & the docks. Evidently there were some big winds that finally finished off what was left of the Sea Landing docks & it would cost too much $ to bring the building up to code. Everyone has been given 30 days notice. Again, we definitely left at the right time. I am hoping that Kari can get my car to the Wine Barrel People's warehouse but if any of you can would you check in on her at California Yachts Magazine to see if she needs help? I will call all involved as soon as I can get to the internet or find a phone. Thanks a bunch.
Well the sun is coming up so best get up on deck & greet the day. Love to you all.
back to the topHello All,
We have had a bit of engine trouble since arriving here & trying to solve the problem has been taking quite a bit of time & effort. Hence, it has been a long time since we last wrote. But, in the infamous words of Michael & LeLani Costello, "Be careful what you wish for. You were saying in your e-mails that you wanted to slow down & get to know one place for awhile." Well...here we are!
1/14/07
We left Chacala for Punta Mita. The seas were large & close together but we had no wind so we motored most of the way. The wildlife was amazing as usual. As we neared our destination, the wind came up to 20 knots so we had a nice sail into Banderas Bay. Punta Mita appears to be very touristy, with a world class golf course covering the point & numerous hotels & condo projects lining the shore. The dinghy landing is dicey at best. You land on a beach between break walls, over rocks & you have to time the breaking swells in & out of the landing. Once you walk past the tourist projects, the small town does have some charm but nothing like what we had just come from. We only spent 2 nights at Punta Mita as it was rolly & very windy. Our short trip to La Cruz included a whale show, as usual. As we rounded the point, I looked thru the binoculars & saw the high rises of Puerto Vallarta for the 1st time. I told John to turn around. Than I spied the anchorage of La Cruz, with at least 50 boats there, and told him to turn around again. Once again we had found civilization.
La Cruz is a great village. They are building a new marina. so the construction is non-stop & our boat is constantly dirty. There are a line of, what used to be, oceanfront homes, that now overlook the construction will be marina front once construction is complete. Of course, the people are very unhappy that they lost their beach. We have become locals here, as we have been anchored off of the marina for 6 weeks now. We actually run into people we know from La Cruz, in the big city of PV.
Now for the reason we have been here for so long. John decided to do some "preventative maintenance" on our engine. During the process, he somehow got the timing out & we now need a valve job on our new diesel with less than 1200 hours on it. I won't bore you with the details of what has transpired since, but we have learned not to use DHL to get parts to Mexico, do use Bruce at BASE AUTO PARTS in Pt. Hueneme to order any parts that we need, & do use Jim Dixon in San Diego to get the parts down to us. After much money, time & effort spent, we finally have the parts our possession, our mechanic is hard at work getting the parts in place & we are praying that once we get the head back on all else will be fine with the engine!
We have met some wonderful people while in this anchorage. We have 3 Islander 44's (boats like ours) here & it has been fun comparing what each boat has to offer. There are numerous ex-patriots here who are very helpful & full of information. Of course, the boating world, being so small, many of the people that we have met know other boaters that we know, so those stories all always fun to kick around.
People always say what do you do with your time. Our days are so full! Going to PV is a full day project, as we get the dinghy together, land it on the beach, walk to the bus, 30-40 minutes to PV, walk everywhere, catch 1 or 2 buses back to La Cruz, walk to the dinghy, take it back to the boat & put it away. Than there is going to 3-4 different stores looking for food. I have finally learned to wash all veggies & fruit with microdyn to illiminate the bugs that make us sick.
And than there are the whales. They are around all of the time. When close, we hop in the dinghy & try to get as close as is safe. The other day we say a birth. They are constantly sky hopping & one came up right next to our boat in the anchorage. Dolphins are a daily occurance. We have a school of fish under the boat. The figrates & boobies fish nearby and often get into squabbles.
That's it for now.
Love US
Hello All,
We are finally underway again. After "Teapot Tony," our mechanic, got our engine running, we took a 2-day trip across Banderas Bay to Yelapa. The only way to get there is by boat. The are no roads other than foot paths & the only vehicles are quads & horses or mules. It is a very popular spot for para-sailors who jump off of the cliffs & land on the sand beach. What a lovely village. The anchorage is a bit dicey as you put your stern anchor in 10' of water & the bow anchor in 70-80'. If the weather comes up, it is a dog & pony show to get out. We were lucky, with very calm weather as was called for by Don, the Weather Man (who lives in Oxnard!) who gives us weather updates each AM on the SSB. We buddy boated with our friends on SPIRIT OF MONIQUE. The 1st day was a swim into the beach followed by a long walk along the mile long white sand shore, checking out the restaurants & talking with the tourists. We had noticed a few jelly fish as we anchored & both Mark & Angie on MONIQUE were stung on the swim back to the boats. The next day we took the hike into the village of Yelapa. After a long climb up the stairs leading to the path, we "gaulked" our way along the 8' wide cobblestone path. What views. Locals have mules that will take you up to the waterfall, about 4 miles, so we had to step over their droppings several times. Once we reached the village, we were amazed to see how it was set up. The path winds along the side of the hill with shops & houses on each side. It is easy to get lost. We hiked up to the 1st waterfall, about a mile. They had shops along the way with locals selling their wares. Once we reached the falls, we were ready for a beer but not at $2.50/bottle! We than headed down towards the shore. We found the bakery & enjoyed fresh cinnamon buns & banana/carrot cake. When we got back to the boat, the water was thick with jelly fish, so any further swimming was out. We circled the anchorage in the dinghy than got together with MONIQUE for a game of spades.
The next day we gunk-holed our way through beautiful anchorages in the Bay than headed back to La Cruz. Teapot came back out to the boat to re-torque the head bolts than we began to get serious about continuing the adventure.
First we had to pick up our MM3's, which gives us Mexican citizenship. The passports allow us to stay in the country without having to leave every 6 months to renew our visa's legally. Also, after 1 year you can own a car & get Mexican health insurance for $130/yr. We than had to begin our goodbye's (which is becoming harder to do but is all part of the cruising life) to the local friends that we had met. Russell & Lori, of Casa Lori, ex-pats who cook BBQ ribs & chicken for local functions were tops on the list. We had been working on keeping the bottom as clean as possibly by working on it a bit at a time as we took our daily showers. It is just amazing how fast things grow on the bottom down here.
On 3/17 we finally upped anchor from La Cruz & headed for Punta de Mita, approximately 10 miles West of La Cruz. Our plan was to say goodbye to more friends, work on the bottom a bit more as the water is clearer there & wait for a weather window to head North. While working on the bottom, I was stung twice by jelly fish. They must have been small as the sting was not bad enough to chase me out of the water but the itch was fairly intense for 4 days.
On 3/21 we left for Jaltempa, Rincon de Guayabitos, which is a large bay just South of Chacala. It is a popular Mexican tourist town, supporting more that 70 hotels, and one of the cleanest towns that we have seen in Mexico. There was way too much activity there for us! Constant panga traffic, jet skis, party boats & loud music echoing from the beach. There are 2 rocks just off of the anchorage that contain a now-defunk restaurant & good snorkeling spots. We met 2 new boats there: MAITAIROA from Carson City, NV & SWEET LORRAINE from Ventura. We spent 2 nights there than headed for Chacala on 3/23.
Chacala is just as wonderful as last time but seemed a bit busier. Our guess is that people are getting ready for Easter vacation or Spring Break. We ate at the B&B on the hill this time, which is written up in the cruising guides. It is owned by an American & serves a very large good breakfast. We got the tour thru the rooms & gardens. We also visited the school this time. Again, we had lots of socializing & met 2 new boats, ENDEAVOR from Seattle who are planning to go around the Horn! (NUTS!!!) and COMANCHE from Monterey, a wooden boat. Again we hooked up with MAITAIROA & copied some DVD's as we have seen all of ours 4 times & they downed loaded the last 14 issues of LATITUDES & ATTITUDES Magazine on our computers. I did learn that we do not have a DVD burner on either of the computers so I need to work on that.
Tomorrow we head back to Isla Isabella! Looking forward to seeing the babies that we took so many pics of in January as our friends ahead of us say they are now goofy juveniles.
That is it for my long winded e-mail. Love to you all and you are always in our thoughts!
John & Deb
Hi All,
We are currently in Bahia Chuenque (better known as Bahia Juncalito), just North of Puerto Escondido & just South of Loreto. We had planned on spending at least 1 night in Honeymoon Bay on Isla Danzante, as a possible day trip for Patty & Jimmy, but were driven out by bees. We spent all of 15 minutes there & the bees became overwhelming. So we quickly pulled up the anchor & I madly started looking on the chart for another anchorage. We found Bahia Chuenque, which is protected from the prevailing winds this time of year & has an Ex-American-Patriot who lives in here & socializes with the cruisers. We will check it out manana.
I lost another luher on the way to Auga Verde. I think it was a knot this time. It is definitely time to restock. Still no fish!
Auga Verde was very pretty but no-where near as spectacular as Los Gatos. The surrounding mountains were very nice, with some impressive detached rocks & good reefs (which we never saw as the water was TOO COLD!) The village was enchanting! So small! As John & I tried to find the tienda (store) all of the children from the school came out & yelled audios to us.
So Sweet! The tienda is a very small cinder block building with just the basics. They had enough to keep us happy but the town is dry, so no beer for Johnny. We did meet up with many new cruiser friends, put faces & boats with people we had heard on the SSB/HAM nets & had a great on-beach pot luck the night before we left for up here.
Again we have to say that we which you all could see what we are seeing. Try to imagine the Grand Canyon almost filled with water. Just spectacular!
We got to sail, although very slowly, to the Puerto Escondido area. The wind varied from 5-19 knots from all directions. Sailing in the Sea can be very challenging as the wind goes from gusty to none, than back to gusty as well as constantly changing direction. The norm is to power everywhere. John says that the America's Cup boys would be tearing their hair out.
The water has gotten down into the high 60's in some spots, although we still see some low 70's as the day progresses. The air temp is between 75-90 during the day but into the low 60's at night. John & I wish we had spent more time down South before heading up here. Everyone keeps telling us we will be looking back on this weather in a month wishing it was back but I want the warm water now. We have been told to head for Conception Bay where the water & air temp will be acceptable until mid-June so we just might do that so we can get into the water a bit more.
5/22-We did go ashore today & met Connie, the ex-pat that we talked about above. What a kick. She has an RV that she has built a palapa (thatched roof hut) around. Very homey, tons of hummingbird feeders & a garden. Connie came down here 8 years ago, met (down here) & married another American & they call themselves Sun Lover & Sea Lover. Connie is constantly helping the yachties out & tonight we are heading to their home for cocktail hour/potluck.
Hello from Lovely Reta,
It has been over a month since we have written so all we can say is that we have been having a blast exploring new anchorages & meeting new people. It is hard to believe that we have been gone 7 months but at the same time it seems like we have always been doing this.
Juncalito, just North of Puerto Escondido, was very scenic as well as a protected anchorage. As the winds normally blow out of the South this time of year we look for North facing anchorages. We took the dinghy into Puerto Escondido once & LR in twice. What a ghost town. There are brand new buildings, docks, a travel lift & stanchions but no one is using them except an occasional boat coming in for fuel. There are many moorings throughout the inner harbor, most vacant. The "waiting room" & the "ellipse" are where most of the boats, mainly permanent residents, are moored. The reason for the lack of boats is that the Mexican government has raised the prices so high that no one can afford them. We went in one day to use their brand new washing machines & also took showers in their very fancy, unused bathrooms. It is really too bad as Puerto Escondido is a great hurricane hole.
The town of Loreto is the quaintest area we have visited for a town. It is quite small and very clean. There are beautifully landscaped lanes that run through the center of town-fica trees cut to make bridges. We even found a Thrifty ice cream store. They have good restaurants, a farmer's market on Saturday, a gourmet store where we found coconut milk (yeah) & it is easy to get to everything.
Isla Carmen & Los Coronados islands are a quick run from Loreto. We did anchor at Loreto for several nights, but it is an open roadstead, open to the wind & swell so we would usually do a quick shopping trip in town than motor sail to once of the anchorages.
We visited Ballandra, La Lancha & V-Cove on Isla Carmen. Ballandra is by far the most protected & will hold many boats. We had a potluck & botchee ball tournament while there. La Lancha was enchanting & we had it all to ourselves. While snorkeling around the anchorage, we found the wreck of a sailboat. We asked on the morning Ham net & found that it had gotten caught in a Chabasco (big wind storms that come up quickly usually in the middle of the night) & was unable to get it anchor up. V-Cove is quite small but has some great caving.
Los Coronados, are again an old volcanic crater. Good snorkeling can be found everywhere, but while we were there the water was green. We also had bee problems, but the worst were the squid. It seems that this time of year is mating season for squid, & once they have done their thing, the males die & wash up onto shore. The smell is horrible! Needless to say, that we would leave when it got too stinky.
Jimmy & Patty, our sister & brother-in-law, came to visit. They stayed at the Inn at Loreto Bay, which had a great anchorage (Nopolo) just off of the hotel. For a week, we had the anchorage all to ourselves with complete access to the hotel. Jimmy hired a panga for a day and the 2 of us went fishing. I caught my 1st dorado! Jimmy caught three. We had the hotel BBQ the some of the steaks that night & John & I put several in our freezer. Than J & P rented a car. We took a very bumpy ride to San Javier Mission in the mountains, the oldest, all original, mission in Baja, built in the mid 1600's. It was hard to imagine how they got all of the building materials to the location as it is very far from the water (32 kilometers) over incredibly rough terrain. The next day we drove to Mulege, which is located in Conception Bay. It gave us a bird's-eye view, from the road, of where we are headed.
We are now headed for Conception Bay for the 4th of July. We have not had Internet for several weeks so hopefully we will be able to make contact somewhere in the Bay.
We hope you are all well. Remember that we think of you often and we wish that you all could see what we are seeing!
Love!!!!
John & Deb
Hello from Lovely Reta,
As I am writing this we are stuck in the mud out in front of the Guaymas Municipal Pier. We came in here this afternoon to check out the town & John wanted to take me out to a nice dinner, which was wonderful. When we got to town, there was a carnival complete with rides, several bands & the streets were blocked off. We discovered that they were celebrating the 100th Birthday for the city of Guaymas. We had a lovely time in town than headed out to the boat for a water view of the festivities. During the night we got up & the boat was on a heel, not moving, very disorienting. The water is very shallow throughout the Guaymas Harbor so I guess we anchored in the wrong spot, as we had enough water under the keel when we dropped the hook. Oh well...no worries.It is finally time to begin to talk about the heat...we have been spending almost as much time in the water as out, but with little relief. The air temp has been 95-100 & the water temp 85-94. We do not have enough water toys. Luckily some people that we met in Conception Bay had extra noodles (those long Styrofoam tubes) so we now have 2 of our own instead of borrowing SWEET LORRAINE'S every time we have a noodle party. We have enough fans...just! We just purchased a squirt bottle to squirt ourselves down with cool water which evaporates within seconds. But we are surviving & slowly climatizing.
Our 1st stop out of Lorerto was the Coronados (6/22-6-26). We spent some quality time with SWEET LORRAINE, IMAGINE, V'GER, & REFLECTIONS. Botchy Ball is the beach game down here so we have "international tournaments" during happy hour. After 3 days, the dead squid (evidentially the males die after mating & wash ashore) moved in so it was time to escape the smell.
Next stop was La Ramada (6/26-6/28). We actually got to sail!!!!!!!!! This bay was so small that we almost missed it. Fortunately NIKIA saw us going by & gave us a call on the VHF radio. We are so glad that we stopped there as we met up with several old friends & we had the best diving that we have had since La Partida. We saw a large variety of fish & rays as well as plucked enough scallops for dinner. We had 2 firsts...a noodle party (no not noodle dishes but because the water is warm & the air hot, we meet in the water around someone's boat floating on pool noodles & have happy hour) & we got to watch the International Space Station orbit overhead. We hated to leave this anchorage but were trying to get to Conception for the 4th so Northward we headed..
We spent 1 night in San Antonio (6/29) anchorage. We had a nice rolly sail. Nothing special except we had Bill from ROCKY & BREW over for a rib dinner & really enjoyed his company.
The next day we headed for Conception Bay. We made a lunch stop at Pilares but it was too rolly to spend the night. We upped anchor & headed for Santo Domingo the 1st anchorage in Conception Bay. We saw 26 knots pf wind for a few miles near the point but once we made Santo Domingo we had a nice gentle breeze & flat calm water. This is where it really began to get hot. We had noodle parties everyday & we were constantly in the water either swimming around the boat or cleaning the bottom. Other boats began to arrive for the 4th but we all stayed out in Santo Domingo until the day before as the air & water temp just increase the further into Conception you go. We did some snorkeling here & found a whale vertebrae. We were so proud, cleaned it up & put it on the bow of the boat only to find that it is very stinky & that it is illegal to take them. We ended up leaving it with Geary who had the 4th of July Party who placed it in a memorial garden he has for a friend.
On the 3rd, we motored into El Burro Cove where the festivities were to be held. Of course, we jumped in the water right away, which was 91! We had a noodle party until it was time to go ashore for the first night's gathering at Bertha's, the local restaurant, to meet those we did not know & talk about what was to come. On the 4th, we swam all morning, did a few boat projects, made a cake for the party than went ashore about 1:00 PM to begin the party. Geary, who lives in El Burro, puts on the party & cooks hot dogs all day. The Corona distributor sets up a tent, with $1 beers & soft drinks (of course you can bring your own). The food was great as well as the entertainment. One yachtie brought a Karaoke Machine which took a while to get people fired up for, but as the beer flowed & the afternoon wore on, the entertainment got better & better. Myself, Melinda off of SOUTHERN BELL & Kelly off of SWEET LORRAINE became known as the Cruisettes, with Dave off of SWEET LORRAINE as our agent. We would dance & sing backup for whomever was singing a song that we knew. (I guess you had to be there but it was really fun!) IT WAS ALSO REALLY HOT!!!!!!!!! I went out to the boat for a break from the heat...the cabin temp was 101 & the water was 94. Little relief. Geary had fireworks & they were fantastic! John, of course, placed us right next to the action & at one point I jumped up & ran as several of the fireworks caught fire & all went off at once. There always has to be some excitement with fireworks, especially in Mexico. The next morning, John went ashore to help load up the tables & chairs & clean up the party area, while I did chores on the boat...& went swimming.
Wade & Cathy, on SOUTHERN CROSS in Oxnard, had told some people from the next cove over from El Burro to look for us. We met them at the party & the next day took a dinghy ride over to their house on the hill in Coyote Cove. What great people, with an incredible history. We visited with them for 3 hours than headed back to get ready to head out early the next day.
When it is so hot, you find yourself spending hours on the bow watching the stars. It is a great way to keep cool & talk about what a great day you have had. Very special times!
From El Burro, we headed North (7/6). We checked out a couple of anchorages along the way but they were too rolly, so we ended up at the NE end of Isla San Marcos. We finally met up with HOLLIGAN who we had met in January at Pt. De Mita in Banderas Bay & got to spend some quality time with them. The anchorage was great with many caves & coves to explore. We left San Marcos 7/8 for Santa Rosalia. When we left San Marcos we dropped all 300' of chain over the side when we got in deep water to unravel the kinks in the chain. The water towards Santa Rosalia was horrible. John called it the "Green Splooge." It got worse the closer to Rosalia we got. We dropped anchor just off of the old marina, went ashore to visit with friends & check in with the marina manager. This marina is run on the honor system. So Kewl! You get a key to the office, they have a freezer & very cold refer, showers, washer/dryers & a large book exchange. As you use things, you put it on a sheet that you fill out when you arrive than pay up when you leave. The town is famous for their "deep-fried-bacon wrapped hot dogs that are a heart attack waiting to happen" but oh, so good! The squid fleet was very active with about 300 pangas leaving at dark, all at flank speed, & returning continually during the night, only to turn around & head back out. It made sleeping very hard. The squid smell was heavy in the air. After 2 days we were more than ready to head out.
On 7/11, we made the night crossing to Guaymas. We got some good sailing in as well as a lot of motoring & made it to Bahia Catalina. This is a great 3-lobe cove with good protection & strong NW winds in the afternoon to keep us cool...or cooler if there is a cool in Baja right now.
So...back to the first paragraph of this e-mail. We came to Guaymas to check out the haul-out facilities. Price wise, Guaymas is our best option. $120/month, $400 haul in & out, we can work on the boat with no charge. We will have a new bottom with Mexican bottom paint & will be good to go for another year or 2. We are currently stripping the boat of sails, lines, deck gear, etc. to haul out for 2 months & head home. We need to sell my car, visit family & friends, get several things that we seem to be unable to live without & just check in with the real world. We have been taking our time as the travel lift at the boatyard is broken, but we hope to be hauled tomorrow, 7/16 & be on a bus to Phoenix by 7/19.
We will keep you all posted as to our adventures in the States & you can always meet us here.
Love to you all,
John & Debby