Earthquake!

We were awaken from a sound sleep just after midnight last night by a lot of rumbling and shaking.  Don thought it was a really strong blast of wind, but I was ready to leave the boat and head to the office.  It only lasted about a minute or so, but it really had my heart pounding...especially since we are in the yard, on jack stands, about 12 feet up in the air.  Apparently an earthquake struck about 120 miles northwest of us in the Sea of Cortez, according to news reports this morning it was about a 6.9 on the scale.  Maybe if we were Californians we would  have slept thru it, but this was certainly another new experience for us.  Hurricanes, tropical storms, tsunami and now earthquake...what's next ?  Thankfully, all is well, we didn't fall over, and we continue to prepare Prairie SeaShell for her long summer sleep. We will be back in Calgary next week.

Underway again

Our patience in waiting for the weather has paid off.  When we left Mazatlan, we had a bit of west wind and were able to maintain 6 knots and had very minimal swell.  Early Saturday morning as were passing Altata, the engine alarm goes off.  I wake Don up, but he can’t find a problem.  Seems the alarm sensor must be faulty, so after listening to it buzz for an hour or more, he took the panel apart and disconnected it.  We had a little wind again this afternoon to help us out, and we arrived close to the entrance of Topolobampo around 10PM.  Although we have been in there before, don’t really want to tackle the channel in the dark, so since it was nice and calm, we dropped anchor a little south of the entrance in about a 35 feet of water. 


 The sea lions woke us up at about 5:30 in the morning and we should have pulled up anchor right away, but since we were in no hurry,  we made coffee and started breakfast.  But, as the sun came up, so did the north wind.  Glad we weren’t far from the entrance, because by the time we did the 4 mile stretch, we had 6ft seas and about 15 knots of wind on the nose.

Passing a tug as we are entering Topolobampo

and the load he is towing

  As soon as we started into the channel, the sand bank calmed the swells and we had no problem maneuvering the channel even as we past a tug and tow leaving  the harbour.

  When we arrived at Marina Palmira, Eduardo was on the dock to take our lines and within a few minutes Barbara from Pacific High came to say hello and welcome us back.  Washed the boat down, then went to the office to check in with Rafeal.

Following day was a holiday, so no sense going to town as everything would probably be closed.  Don did a little trouble shooting on the alarm and will have to leave it disconnected until he can get a new heat sensor.   He also discovered while he was down there that the air filter is plugged. 

Next day, we headed into Los Mochis to see if we could find a new one.  Stopped at a Bridgestone Tire store to ask if they knew where we could get an air filter.  The manager made a few phone calls for us, and gave us directions to the filter store…his directions were exactly right, and the filter store almost had the perfect filter, just a little too big to fit in the space we have.  We wandered about town a bit, past several of the many markets, one of which was selling every type of herb, leaves and tree bark you could imagine.  Seems herbal medicine is a very big thing here.  We stopped for lunch then headed back.

I had made some cookies, so took some over to Pacific High and had tea with them while Don borrowed Ralph’s vaccum to blow out the air filter. 

The pelicans have taken up residence on the end slip

When we cast off from Topolobampo, we  had some big  dolphins travelling with us for a bit, the water is so murky that we couldn’t see them until they surfaced, many times, right beside us in the cockpit, not just at the bow as usual. 

The seas were kind today, no swells and just enough wind in the right direction to get some help from the sails.  By sunset, the water was as smooth as glass, and to the east, the horizon turned a deep blue covered by a purple sky.  Even the water was blanketed in a purple glow.  There was a sliver of a moon for a little while, then the sky turned like black velvet covered with diamonds.  The only downfall came later in the night when the dew was so heavy it was raining in the cockpit.  Guess it’s time to replace the sunbrella on the bimini. 

I went off watch around 6AM, it was still cold and wet.  An hour later the sun was shining warm and the first thing a saw was a pod of dolphins playing in the distance.  It was warm enough and calm enough  today to work on my sun tan while lying out on the top of the dingy.  We arrived at our Secret Marina in Guaymas around 5PM…it seems our “secret” marina is not such a secret anymore.  There are already three boats here. 

Adios Mazatlan

Our plan is to cross over the Sea of Cortez to do a little diving and spend some time in LaPaz.  The weather however seems to have other ideas,  so while we wait for a weather window,  went to the International Craft Market and the ferreterias  with Marta from Reunion, walked the malecon with Scrimshaw & Oso Negro, and went to dinner at Christy’s with Willow.  We also had a few nice visits with Brian & Juliet s/v SeaWings, a young couple heading to Australia as soon as their boat repairs are completed.  And another return visit  with Vicki and Brad from JoJo who we had spent most of last season with in Guaymas.  

We visited with Steve & Sheila from s/v Guiding Light who  took their boat back home last year and have purchased a condo right on the beach…Wow, what a view!  They hosted a pot luck dinner complete with a live band. 

Went to Parque Bonafil one day with Willow to see about getting them some fabric tarps similar to what we have to cover the boat when we leave her on the hard in San Carlos.  We found a shop that will sell the fabric to custom sizes, finished with grommets.  BJ returned there with his measurements and got a nice shade cloth made. 

 We bought some of the fabric by the meter just to add to our existing tarps.  While we were down there, found the Accessorios Maritimos store who can import many boat parts into Mexico within a week or two.   In most places, imported products are more than double the American prices, however because they have their own international trucking company and custom broker,  their prices are not too outrageous.   They can bring in the paint we want, so we will have them order it for us when we return next season.

We spent an evening at the Angela Perraulta Theater with Stewart & Sallyanne of s/v Jekamanzi, s/v Mopion, and s/v Sonrisa. We watched a salsa dancing performance that was a cross between a spanish Salsa Dance and a Celtic River Dance.  Have a look !

 We also had an impromptu dock party the night before s/v Gallavanter left for a month or so.  They had to clean out their freezer,  so the snacks were with their compliments. 

Still waiting for the right weather, we spent a day or two sewing up the tarps and went over to SeaWings to see if Don could get their Winlink airmail working.  On the day we finally did check out, when we came out of the office…another surprise.  John & Elaine, Chinook Boatbuilder members,  formerly of Goolka were visiting in Mazatlan and had brought us a few pictures from 2007.  They took their boat home and have finally sold it. 

And that wraps up another visit to Mazatlan…next stop Topolobampo, then Guaymas and lastly San Carlos. 

Carnaval

 Once again the Salvation Army Orphanage kick off the Carnaval with their dance performance.  Not as many children as in other years, but still an excellent show for us and a great fund raiser for them.

Saturday we headed downtown with Willow and Doug & Lynne s/v Miramar to watch the Combate Naval (fireworks show) from the top of the Freeman Hotel.   We had supper at the Cava de Leon, then sat on the Malecon and did a little people watching until it was time for the show.  It’s quite amazing to watch the girls stroll along the very uneven streets and sidewalks in their stiletto shoes.

Cotton Candy a la Carnaval

How many pounds of candy apples on a stick ?

We watched the show from the 12^th floor of the hotel, a very impressive show, right over our heads, but unfortunately it was a very cold and windy night, and we were glad to get off the roof and back to the boat to warm up. 

On Sunday,we had bought tickets to watch the parade from bleacher seats set up in front of the Aquamarina Hotel.  The ticket price included a scrumptious buffet dinner and we could have gone for a dip in the pool, but again it was too cold.  We had front row seats, and both the major of Mazatlan and the Govenor of the State were kissing baby’s and shaking hands right in front of us.  When we returned from the fireworks the previous night, we had no problem getting a taxi…tonight, we were’nt so lucky.  There were 10 of us, Prairie Seashell, Willow, Jekamanzi and company and WindToy, so we needed a camionetta.  We tried for over an hour for a truck or a few taxi’s, but no luck, traffic was so congested that  even the busses couldn’t get through.  We returned to the Hotel for drinks, and an hour or so later there was no problem, we even had our waiter escort us to the best corner to catch a cab. 

Guanajuato Road Trip

Every year, we like to do some inland traveling.  This year, in the company of Merry & BJ, we headed for Guanajuato.  Vic from s/v Charisma drove us to the bus station bright and early on a Monday morning.  Our first stop was in Tonola, a suburb of Guadalajara where there is a huge artisan market.  We checked  in at the Hacienda del  Sol, a hotel that I’d found on the net offering rooms for $340 per night (about $30)

It didn't look much like a hotel, you had to walk thru the Tequilla Factory to get to the front desk, then walk thru the garage to get to the rooms, but once there, the small rooms were very nice, clean and newly renovated and decorated with the local art.  

  Although it wasn’t market day, there were many little shops and stalls set up displaying their wares…pottery, copper wall hangings, furniture, vases etc, many of the artisans working on site  creating new works of art. 

Anyone interested in bathroom reno "Mexican style"

S

"These boots were made for walking"....very carefully

After breakfast, we took another bus to Leon….the Leather Capital.  Many hotels around the bus station and market.  The first one we cam eo was Hotel Italy, only $300 per night.  We had a look and decided to stay the night.  Headed out on our shopping trip to the building that we thought was the Mercado de Peil (Leather Market)  Turned out to be just a fancy shopping center with Americano prices.  Went the other direction and found all the stalls and tiendas with much better pricing.  Bought a couple of purses, belts, shoes & boots. 

A sea of purses in every color of the rainbow

  The City of Guanajuato, founded in the mid 1500’s ,is an old silver and gold mining town that is now a Usesco World Heritage site .  Brightly painted homes, colonial buildings and landscaped plazas are all crammed onto the slopes of the ravine. 

We were met at the bus station by one of the local tour guides who arranged a hotel for us, $570 per night which included a Mexican style breakfast.  He also arranged a city tour for us, but it wasn’t so great…no English speaking guides, and they just wouldn’t speak slowly enough for me to understand.  The tour was very scripted, no time for questions etc, and they took us to some very phoney or Disney type museums and a candy store where we got to sample some local candy and flavoured liquors.  We did however get to drive thru the maze of tunnels under the city.   The first of the underground tunnels was along the dried up Rio Guanajuato riverbed.  The river was diverted when it flooded in 1905 and now eight additional roadway tunnels have been constructed and most of the vehicular traffic uses the route.
  

We did our own walking tour of Guanajuato.  We started by taking the Funicular (incline railway) up to the El Pipila monument  which overlooks the city.

 I felt like we were looking down on a Legoland City with all the colored block houses tucked neatly into the mountain side.  We also noticed an absence of grafitti,  billboards and signage in general in this immaculately painted and maintained city.

Our plan was to continue on to San Miguel de Allende to tour the botanical gardens there, but the weather has turned cold and rainy, so it wouldn’t be a very enjoyable tour of the garden.  So, we decided to return to Guadalajara where we checked into the Posada Regis Hotel where we have stayed a few years ago.   The price had gone up considerably,  I guess due to some renovations they have done, but I don’t think they are finished yet, we still got rained on while sitting on the toilet !  Following day, it was still too wet to walk about town, so took a taxi to Telaquepaque to try to find the Tequilla del Senor Distillery.  Guess my guide book must be out of date, as no one, including the taxi drivers seemed to .  know where it was.  So, back on the bus to return to Mazatlan, the Tequilla factory and San Miguel will have to wait until another year.

Photo Gallery

Recycling has arrived in Tonola

Bus stop vendor selling healthy snacks

One of the many callejons (alleys) in Guanajuato

Beautifully painted picket fences

A Plaza in Guanajuato

Back in Mazatlan

We washed down the boat and had a relaxing morning.  In the afternoon went into town for Dawn to do a little souvenir/birthday shopping.  Her granddaughter Maggie’s  16^th birthday was coming up and she found  her a beautiful silver dolphin pendant with blue opal .  Off to Fat Fish for supper, their speciality,  2 huge plates of ribs with salad, baked potato, garlic toast etc only $160 pesos, less than $15.00 for the two meals.  And 2 for 1 strawberry margaritas as well.  The place is packed…mostly Canadians…we know a good deal when we see one…Tony Romas stand aside!

Sunday found us at the Juarez Market, a 12 square block street market where you can find fresh produce, tools, household goods, clothes, food and just about anything you can imagine. 

  In the afternoon Dawn’s sister Cathy and company who were vacationing at the El Cid Resort close by, came down to the marina to see the boat, and to look at pictures of our trip to Isabella.  Then we all took a camioneta (little red truck with seats in the back) to Playa Bruja.  Had an excellent supper, good music and dancing and a free sample of their own Coffee Tequila. 

A laid back day for Dawn & Frank’s last day here.  Walked over to the Isla and checked out some of the real estate…most of it abandonded then stopped at the palapa for a juice.  Went out for supper with Merry & BJ from Willow to La Traymoya right at the top of our dock.  The following morning, Dawn & Frank caught a taxi to the airport, and by afternoon the wind really howled and the temperature dropped, but nothing like what they would experience on their return to Calgary.

We spend the next two weeks doing boat chores…installed a battery charger switch and scraped off some of the peeling paint on the side decks.  By the time we got the new paint on, we realized it was all for naught….the dew rolled in about 5pm that evening, and before we could get it covered with plastic, we could already see the paint washing off.  This is the second time in the six years that we have been here that we have tried to do a paint touch up…without much success.  Will have to try some other kind of paint next time. 

We’ve had a couple of swap meets since we have been here, and we’ve been quite successful in lightening our load.  Sold off some extra scuba equipment and tanks that we had on board for Shannon, and a Android tablet that Don could not get to run our navigation program.  Had hoped to find a new anchor, but so far no luck. 

We have been successful though in finding new glasses for both Don and I, and I made a quick trip to a Dermatologist to cure a case of exzema that seems to have appeared on my head.  So easy to see a doctor here, went in to the office one afternoon, doctor met us at the door, unfortunately she was just on her way to the hospital.  She gave me an appointment for first thing the following morning, and not only diagnosed the problem, gave me the prescription and had the special shampoo on hand for me to take with me.  Problem solved….quick and easy !

In between our chores and shopping etc, we have biked to Bruja Beach several times for Sunday morning brunch, celebrated a birthday for Rita on s/v Overheaded, had dinner on Willow with John & Barb some other Calgarians who live in the Mission district.  Stewart & Sallyanne, also from Calgary (Edgemont) invited us over to their boat in El Cid Marina where we enjoyed a dip in the pool and a delicious dinner on board their beautiful s/v Jekamanzi

We have also attended two cooking classes this year held by an association called Sonrisa.  The cost of the classes are all put towards offering scholarships and schooling for some the families that Sonrisa sponsors. 

Roasting tomatoes on a Comal

Chocolate tamales !

Roasting peppers on open flame

Chili in Nogada Sauce

Isla Isabella

Leaving Mazatlan

We departed Marina Mazatlan around 9:30 am when the dredge shuts down for a while to let the tour boats depart.  By ll:30 we had the sails up and by early afternoon we had seen 8.2 kn of speed….better than hull speed.  Yahoo !! we are really sailing now !  Our first wildlife sighting was a turtle, then rays,  then a school of spotted dolphins played under our bow while Dawn & I were sitting out forward. 

We continued to sail at break neck speeds, so just before dark, we reefed the main to slow us down some so that we wouldn’t arrive at Isabella in the dark.  By 3:00AM, we even dropped the jib.  Because we had so much wind all day, it had been an exhausting trip, but at least we did have a full moon.  We arrived at Isla Isabella around 6:30 am and were greeted by our first whale sighting.  A mom and calf, really close !!

(Note:  Since I am writing this blog many weeks after our visit, I have added a  link to whale rescue off Isla Isabella, that we believe could well be the same mom and calf that we saw on our arrival)  http://inoneday.ca/?p=1965#more-1965
and another whale rescue also at Isla Isabella
http://www.logofdelviento.blogspot.com/2012/01/heartbreaking-decision-part-i-by.html

There were four boats at anchor at Las Monas, so we went around the corner and there was no one there, so we were able to anchor very close to where the fisherman had lead us in 4 years ago.  We made some breakfast, then rowed the dingy to shore .  Two young ladies greeted us as we arrived  and asked us to register.  Assuming they were part of the university student camp, we asked them if they were studying the frigates or the boobys on the island.  They replied “Neither, we are studying the tourists”  I’m hoping that they are just thinking of charging a fee to visit the island, not that they will ban visitors.  This really is a spectacular place to visit, one of natures many wonders.

We hiked up to the light house, a very steep climb, but well worth it for the view of the island, and to get up close and personal with the booby’s.  Unfortunately, there are others hazards , not just the  the steep climb…with hundreds of booby’s soaring overhead, there is a really good chance of getting “pooped”, and I was the lucky one this time !

Following day, we rowed back to shore to hike the other side of the island.  We stopped and chatted with some men on shore who appeared to be building something that looked like giant bee hives.  Turned out they were artificial reefs, made from sand and cement then covered in a layer of sea shells.  I hope they don’t drop them right in the middle of the anchorage.

First part of the trail on this side has a few stairs built from cement, but the other part is a little steep.  Both Frank & Dawn took a little tumble.  Glad it wasn’t on the hike yesterday, as it was much steeper.  Had a picnic lunch with a booby family.  The mum and dad were both feeding a new little one.  One of the students told us that it was about a month old.  The next researcher we met spoke perfect English and told us lots more about the boobys.  The University Autonimo de Mexico, DF has been studying the booby on Isla Isabella since the mid 90’s, and they have one booby that they believe to be about 27 years old, but the average age is 15 or 16 years. 

He told us that the boobys mate for life and both Mom and Dad sit the nest are care for the young.  When they mate, they generally nest within 20 meters of where they were born.  The couple lay from 1-3 eggs, each about 4 or 5 days apart.  Often the younger ones are tormented by the older ones, and there is only about a 50% chance of them all surviving. 

Their mating rituals are a site to behold.  The boobys are very proud of their pretty blue feet, and pick them up and show them off to a prospective mate.

  It’s hard to tell the male blue footed booby’s from the female, in any case,  they also pick up twigs and give them back and forth to each other.   Guess they are deciding who should begin the nest building… which generally happens to be smack in the middle of the trail.  Getting around them is a little tricky, cause they are not going to move for you.  The males will hiss  as you go by, but it’s the females that really squak !!!

We returned to PSS, and Don and I went for a swim and checked on our anchor.  No big rocks to get tangled up on, but lots of rock all over the bottom, and lots of anchors too!  Isla Isabella is reported to be an anchor biting location although we have never had a problem on this side of the anchorage.  However, since we want to leave in the middle of the night, thought it best we move over to the “sandy” anchorage at Las Monas where it will be easier to get out in the dark.

It was still quite deep (40ft) where the first boats was anchored, so we continued in a little further.  It shallowed quickly and we dropped anchor in about 16 feet.  Seemed to set OK, we had a light supper so we could have an early night.  Unfortunately, about 7:30,the wind died completely and we swung a little and the chain rattled big time over the rocks.  Not possible to sleep with all the racket, so we tried to pick up anchor and move back a little.  No Way !  Anchor is stick solid…quess we won’t be leaving at 2AM.  After listening to the rattling for an hour or so, Don had an idea to let out all the chain down to the rode (rope) and that got rid of the noise.  We stayed out in the cock pit for a while to make sure we weren’t too close to our neighbour. Beautiful warm night under the stars, but still no sleep as we stewed about how to retrieve the anchor. 

In the morning, a bowl of hot oatmeal before Don makes a cold dip in the water.  The good news was that when we checked the water temp, it was a “balmy” 26degrees.  Both the air temp and the water temp were considerably warmer here than in Mazatlan, even though we were only 100 miles away. 

Don used the stern anchor over the side to hold us in place, then he dove on the anchor and had it freed in about 3 or 4 breaths.  Free diving to 20 feet…amazing !!!

Finally on our way, warm, sunny, and no wind…yet!  We put up the reefed main for some stability, but had to motor into the swells, and they just kept getting bigger and bigger as the day wore on and the wind picked up as well…from the wrong direction.  By night fall, we were barely able to maintain 2-3 knots.  It was a long trip home, but by daybreak at least we did have a few more whale sightings.  

The seas only settled down when we were in the shadow of Wolf Island…almost home !  We Radioed to anyone at El Cid to see if the dredge war working…it’s not, so we can got right on in.  Saw a few more dolphins , then arrived at Marina Maz about ll:30am and the guards were on the dock to takes our lines.

Home at last…27 hours to go less than 100 miles!!

Photo Gallery of Isla Isabella

One of Las Monas

Dingy ride to shore at Isla Isabella

Dawn seems rather glad to have her feet on solid ground

And here's Frank on top of the world !



First came the frigates




Male frigate showing off



Six frigates sitting in a tree



Looks like this one lost his balance and took a tumble to the ground



and another little one that didn't stay in the nest



Lunch time for baby booby






Pelicans keeping watch




Booby everywhere!






Moma with her chicks




showing off the blue !





Yellow footed booby