February, 2010

As Far as We Go for As Long As We Go


Little did we know that this journey from Mazatlan back to LaPaz would be our last together. The seams of the relationship were straining and Biagio and I decided to part company and individually look for more compatible sailing partners. As a sailing friend of mine said, ‘Life happens’. We shared a wonderful journey down the West Coast and into the Sea of Cortez and ‘si Dios quiere’ or God willing, there will be many more wonderful journeys to come for both of us.

January, 2010

Surfers in LaVentana

LaVentana is a known wind & kite surfing area about 1 ½ hrs. outside of LaPaz.  If there is wind, it’s usually very good conditions here for kite surfing.  We rented a car and drove the distance to watch the show.  It seemed like there was at least 100 of them flying.  It was mesmerizing.  I expected to see mostly young men in their 20’s and 30’s but surprisingly, many of them looked much older than me.  So this is where many older surfer dudes go!  And there were even a few younger surfer dudettes.

January 2, 2010

Happy New Year!

The beach and marina at El Cid in Mazatlan.  We are just around the corner from the hotel in the photo below.  Swimming pools and jacuzzi...life is good.  Below that is a panorama view of the area beaches from the light house.  It was a 30 minute walk up a path and stairs to arrive.

So many great friends we have spent time with over the holidays.  It feels like we have become family and a little sad to move on.  We always hope that we'll see them farther down the line or another year.

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Christmas Time in Mazatlan

Marina El Cid in Mazatlan. Notice the marlin fish hanging by the tail. The catch and release program isn't as popular here as it is in Cabo San Lucas.

Final preparations for a children's Christmas performance raising funds for their 'home away from home'. Their performances provide money for their group home where they receive an education, dental care, food, clothing, and more options for their future. Many of them live in shanty houses. They are dropped off to their parent(s) in the late evening.  

Below, the market with all the Christmas Pinatas ready to be filled with candy.

 

This Christmas tree in one of the main plazas is made with coke bottles filled with colored water. We would watch people admire it from a distance and then come up to inspect the bottles.  It was impressive.

Feliz Navidad Y Ano Nuevo a todos!

 

 

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Bahia de Los Muertos

 A three day stop on the way to Mazatlan to Bahia de los Muertos. It's peaceful, serene, and it even has a small, private resort with a swimming pool and great food.

Back in the cactus again. We feel very small next to these 500 year old giants.

Getting into the mood with Christmas decorations and lots of Christmas music.

The surroundings of the small 14 room resort are so beautiful, it seems surreal. We can dinghy in or walk around from on the sandy beach for a margarita or lunch.

The train bar and game room. Entertainment and food.

Aaaahhhhhh................

December 08, 2009

Back to the Boat

Biagio came back to Gem in November.  While we were gone, hurricane Jimena visited Guaymas dumping over 40 inches of rain within a 24 hr. time period.  Our sun screens from the outside windows where they well tied down but missing.  The overall sun covers were all taken off by the marina staff expecting to save them from being shredded.  Other than that, nothing was damaged.

Biagio sailed from Guaymas on the land side back down to LaPaz on the Baja California peninsula side. I flew in to Cabo with 4 suitcases mostly full of things for the boat...sail tape, motors, parts, sunbrella fabric, fishing lures, and an Xbox.     

  Did you know it takes an Xbox to sail???!!??? That's what Biagio told me. It took up a whole smaller suitcase.    I was fortunate to get picked up in a REAL CAR at the airport. Liz and Michael drove down with their car from Seattle so Michael and Biagio drove the 3 1/2 hr. one way trip to pick me up. So nice....  

As far as being back on the boat, it was like I had never been on the boat before...only seen a lot of photos of it. It was VERY surreal. And I didn't have any sea legs at all. (Six months off the boat.) I felt like every time I would get in or out of the dinghy I was likely to fall in. Couldn't remember how to drive the dinghy or start it at all, I'm still looking for switches to turn things on and off, etc. So strange..... But I'm getting used to it and staying dry.  

Photos of Christmas time in Seattle before leaving for LaPaz.

 

 

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Back In the Saddle Again

After bottom painting and lots of work, Gem slides back into the water in Guaymas (Western land side of Mexico). Then it's a 1 1/2 day motor/sail to LaPaz (Southern Baja California) with fishing stops in between to meet up with friends before heading south and destinations unknown.

June, July, August, Sepember, October...uh oh...

....it's getting cold here
in the Northwest.
Enough of this house fixing and promoting condos. Time to head south.

New Faces

Proud Grandpa with Kai in Victoria. Parents Jesse and Tia are surely not far away.

Location - Clarification

Just wanted to let everyone know why we ended up in Guaymas. (Location is about a 10 hr. bus ride north of Mazatlan if you know where that is.)

These were the ingredients for the outcome:

1. The cruising area of the Baja Penninsula is so beautiful in the Sea of Cortez side and it takes about 3 months to see it all. (Feb-June)

2. The boat needed bottom paint and Mexico is a good place to do that.

3. The boat needs to be out of the water for about a month in the desert while the blisters dry out.

4. The boat needs work which Biagio will do once the summer isn't so hot...probably in mid October when the temps go down from 140 degrees!

5. Once the water gets to about 80 degrees, hurricane season starts. Therefore the boat needs to stay at the lattitude of about Guaymas or further north to avoid damage.

For all these reason, Guaymas is as far as the boat went. It was all perfect.

Mexico Has Changed in the Last 8 Years

These are some of the changes we noticed in Mexico since the last 8 years we've been here...Newer cars in general for everyone if they have cars, Tricked out bicycles, i.e. extra spending money...Local police on Segways...(gosh, we don't even have Segways for the police in North America last I was there)... and prices that are more expensive than in the past. Good for the Mexicans. They are living better. Worse for our value in the marinas and on the economy. One thing you can always count on is change.

UPDATE: We heard from an economist in Mexico City that the rest of Mexico is probably not doing as well as these cities that we have visited. A guide book of ours hinted at the same conclusion.

Barranca del Cobre or Copper Canyon

This is my third time visiting here. Needless to say, I like it here.

The Copper Canyon is really magnificent. It’s four times larger than the Grand Canyon and one and a half times deeper. The views are spectacular from the train ‘El Chepe’ and there’s hiking throughout the canyon with waterfalls, missions, and museums. The native Tarahumara Indians live throughout the area apart from the Mexican people in their own villages and have an interesting culture of their own.

Our route to get to the canyon from the sailboat included buses from Guaymas to El Fuerte which was a total of 7 hrs riding. The attraction here was that El Fuerte is a quaint riverside colonial town founded in 1563 with 11,000 people. It was built to ward off attacks by native American Indians who the Spanish constantly harassed. Later it was a trading post for silver and gold seekers. El Fuerte (The Fort) - We had a lesson in politics from this entrepreneurial woman who gave us a tour of her house. The revolution of 1910 saw re-appropriation of lands and property. As a result, this used to be one house which is now divided into three houses. This woman bought this section of the original house but had no money to repair the decaying roof and upper floors. She has a tourist shop in the front, lives behind that and raises pigs behind the house.

The next day we rode the train to Creel at 8,000 feet. This was also farthest stop north. Here we learned more about the local Tarahumara Indians, rode bikes and enjoyed the local scenery. Notice the typical Tarahum cave home and and adobe home in the same photo below.

From Creel, we returned a couple of hours south by bus and stayed at a hotel/ranch. Renting horses we ventured into the canyon for a day's ride. It was spectacular.

Horses go much slower than people think. Our 15 year old guide easily beat us to the next look out point via foot power and taking short cuts.