Was Our Pacific Crossing Typical?

So, you may be wondering if our trip across the big blue was typical, or if others had a much different experience. Prior to leaving Mexico, there was A LOT of discussion and speculation about an El Nino year, and the increased possibility of storms and higher winds. Although winds were said to be higher than usual, we didn't notice any adverse affects. Our crossing from the Galapagos Islands to the Marquesas in French Polynesia was a quick trip of 23 days, and we didn't hear of any boats who had trouble finding the wind on their way across. Most boats accomplished the crossing in fewer days, although in our defense, we are smaller than most boats! Of course, those who departed directly from Mexico, had to endure the ITCZ, referred to by some as the 'doldroms', but a few hundred miles of uncertain wind seems quite normal for that route also.

A summary was published in the Latitude 38 magazine, as they do each year. I find it interesting to look at the stats for a few of the boats and see how many days they were at sea, how many fish were caught, the types and sizes of boats, and what equipment broke! You can check out the summary of this year's fleet by downloading the September 2010 issue of the magazine here. Lat 38 also publishes profiles of the crews who are planning to make the crossing each here. Our profile was in the March 2010 issue, which can also be downloaded from the Lat 38 website.

You can also view the summaries from the past years on the Pacific Puddle Jump website here.

Our first sight of land after 23 days at sea. The Marquesas Archipelago, at last!! May 1, 2010.

Cruising Guidebooks - Mexico

Without a doubt, our favorite book while cruising in Mexico was the Sea of Cortez, A Cruiser's Guidebook - by Shawn Breeding and Heather Bansmer. We loved this book for many reasons, but primarily because of the fabulous chartlets. The charts for Mexico were terrible quality, so this guidebook made a big difference for us. When we were cruising in the Sea during the 2009/10 season, we heard that Heather and Shawn were cruising the mainland doing research for a guidebook for Mainland Mexico. I'm sure that will be equally good.

Of course, we also used Charlie's Charts for this area, and found it to be excellent also. It covered the west coast of the Baja Peninsula, which wasn't included in Heather and Shawn's book, and had some different information for some areas. Very useful.

Images from the 'Slow Boat to China'

We not-so-fondly referred to ourselves as being on the 'Slow Boat to China' on our passage from Mexico to the Galapagos. Here are a few of the images that we captured along the way.

Dolphins visited us daily, and when we were moving fast enough, they liked to play in our bow wake.


I dove mid-ocean to cool off, and to check on the status of our zinc:Once John determined that I wasn't going to get eaten by a shark, he jumped in for a dip too:

This boobie isn't walking on water - he's riding on the back of a turtle. We know this because we were adrift beside him for over an hour!!


We caught this lovely tuna, and it made delicious sashimi!!

Boobies were forever trying to hitchhike a lift:
These guys also liked to travel beneath the shade of Renova:

We celebrated crossing the equator in style:

Adios Mexico!

The water tanks are full, we've provisioned the boat (multiple times), sea berths are made, cookie dough is in the ice box, the decks are clear, and we're clean. We're ready!

After many failed attempts and delays...we're finally leaving lovely La Cruz, and heading for the Galapagos Islands. A dream come true for me.

Although our stay here has been tumultuous...we've really come to enjoy La Cruz. We've been able to meet incredible new friends here, enjoyed a vist from my parents, get work done on the boat and have gotten into the groove of the cruising life. Morning yoga and afternoon swims at the beach are really easy to get used to!!

We'll be updating the blog more frequently, and our spot link on the right will show our progress. We expect the journey from here to take 2-3 weeks.

The Perfect Margarita

Well...I've learned a lot here in Mexico...but I think this lesson will stay with me for a while.

Margs, Mexican Style

In a small pot, heat up 1 cup of water and 1 cup of sugar, stir until dissolved. Store in the fridge/icebox/bilge/wherever. This is your 'sweet'.

In a shaker mix:

• 1 part sweet (from above)
• 1 part lime juice (of course, use handy dandy lime sqeezer to up the fun factor)
• 1 part tequila/damiana (I use mostly tequila with a dash of damiana)

Shake with ice and strain into the ubiquitos plastic tumbler found in every galley. On the boat, we aren't nearly sophisticated/capable/patient enough to rim the glass with salt, but we do garnish with lime.

Of course, you should adjust to your palette. More/less water to the sweet mixture, or more/less damiana with the tequila.

Put on a little Jimmy Buffet, and you're good to go!

Thanks to Liz for the recipe!!

Still in PV

We're still hanging in PV, finishing up our chores, before we head south. Having met so many people here, it is easy to pass the days chatting on the docks, attending puddle jump seminars and enjoying drinks and dinners with other boats. We've also had the additional fun of visiting my parents at their hotel, enjoying the perks of an all-inclusive resort!
Some of our highlights:
Our bowsprint after the storm:
A day trip to Tres Marietas with my parents:

Dinner and dancing at the Open Mic night at the Brittania - Ye Ol Irish Pub. Crews of Namaste, Saoirse and Fly Aweigh celebrating with a few Pacificos.

Puddle-Jump kick off party at Vallarta Yacht Club in Paradise Village (photo credit: Andy at Latitute 38):

Dining at Paradiso Escondido in la Cruz:
[photo to come]
Happy hour on board Renova:

And now, Jacob and Julia have arrived in La Cruz...so getting away could be even more difficult as we catch up and enjoy hanging out once again!

Stitches

Some may say this is a bit extreme to get out of dish duty for a week....I dunno. Seems worth it to me.

Weather Bomb

Weather bomb...water spout...microburst...tornado...unstable cell...
These are just some of the descriptors that were being tossed around to describe a crazy weather "event" here in Banderas Bay (Puerto Vallarta) this week. We arrived in the La Cruz Anchorage to a very unusual rain storm, and hunkered down on the boat for the day, awaiting the blue skies that were sure to return.
But the weather gods had different ideas. At 10 that evening, the wind picked up suddenly, lighting bolts could be seen all around us, the boat was rocking violently from side to side, and the noise of the wind in the rigging was so loud that we could barely hear each other talk. All of this happened within only a few minutes.
As we were putting on our lifejackets and harnesses, to get up on deck to see what was going on, we felt the boat lurch, and heard the discomforting sound of another boat grinding alongside of us. Then on the radio - we heard a Mayday call of a boat on the rocks. Our hearts are now racing as we struggle to find harnesses, headlamps and rain gear.
John is up on deck first, and yells down to me in the cabin, "Brace yourself, we going to be hit", as he turns on the engine, and tries to steer the boat into the waves. All around us, other boats have dragged their anchors and are flying through the anchorage, which is now a bowling alley. The radio is abuzz with reports of wind speed indicators showing 70+ knots (130km/hr), and reports of boats dragging and collisions.
As John went up to the bow to let out more anchor rode, I worked the helm to attempt to keep the swells on our bow. It was an incredible experience to watch the bow (and John) fly up high into the air, riding the crest of the 8-10 foot waves, and then crash into the deep trough below. Of course, aside from keeping ourselves upright, we also had to watch for other boats, and 'dodge' the loose boats that came rocketing through the anchorage, as best as we were able. This was made all the more difficult, as I had become completely disoriented. As all the power on shore had been knocked out, I couldn't tell how close we were to the shore, or if we were in the same place as earlier in the day. The lightning lit up the boats around us, but many were very different that when we set our anchor - had they moved?? Or had we??
Within 30 or so minutes, the worst of it was over, and we stayed at the helm with the engine running as we caught our breath, and watched for another possible surge of wind. After some time, boats started to pick up their anchors and move into the nearby marina for shelter. We tried to raise our anchor and follow the fleet to safety, but regardless of how much we pulled and pushed, the anchor would not budge. We resigned ourselves to a sleepness night in the Bay.
In the morning, we successfully freed and raised our now polished anchor, and made our way into the marina, where fellow cruisers caught our docklines as we eased into a safe and secure slip. All morning the docks were akin to a crisis zone, and the remaining boats in the anchorage made their way into the marina, and cruisers walked dazed on the docks, looking at each other's damage, and sharing their version of the horror of the evening before. By afternoon, the docks were silent - crews were catching a nap in an effort to recover from lost sleep and general exhaustion.
It was a valuable learning experience for us. We learned how well we work together as a team, and we were both calm and rational throughout the ordeal. Once again, Renova's captain was up to the task of taking charge of the boat, and her crew, and guiding us to safety, with minimal stress. In hindsight, we were very lucky to have just arrived at the anchorage, and had not yet settled in. We still had the boat battened down for sea travel, so we didn't have any gear loose on the deck, and our dinghy was still tied down on the cabin top. The only thing lost from the deck was my new hatch cover, which will be easy to replace.
We were lucky - many other boats have more damage than us. And many lost dinghies, surfboards, gas cans, anchors, etc. We have some damage to one side of our bowsprint (one of the anchor rollers has been ripped off), but the local carpenter has already been down to make drawings, and we expect a replacement piece within days.
At first, we were pretty shaken. Once again, we toyed with the idea of staying for the season in the relative (perceived?) safety of the Sea of Cortez, while we worked up our courage to continue. But now that we've had a few days to process the events and put everything in perspective, we've decided to continue with our original plan - Galapagos then Marquesas.
Another 'event' is being forecast for later this week, so we'll stay put for now, fix the boat, and enjoy the good life - hot showers, fish tacos, and wi-fi. We were too busy to take photos, but others have also written up their impressions of the storm:

• Just a Minute
• Latitute 38 Magazine
• Saoirse
  

Isla Isabela to PV

Tired of waiting in the rolly anchorage, we left Isabela early with our sights set on an overnight passage to Banderas Bay. The wind was too light for our spinnaker (although we tried to fly it), so we motored for about an hour, before the wind filled our sails. We had a glorious sail with plenty of wind all day pushing us along at 6 knots. Finally, at dusk, we were forced to motor once again.

This is the first passage where I grossly miscalculated our arrival time. As usual, I planned our departure time in order to arrive at our chosen anchorage by mid-morning. I SHOULD HAVE planned it so we arrived at the harbour entrance at mid-morning. Coupled with leaving early because of our impatience, we arrived at Punta Mita in the dark, left with the almost full moon to guide our way between the islands and rocks unseen. Although coming through the pass went smoothly, we used all the tools in our arsenal:
- radar
- gps
- laptop chartplotter
- night-vision binoculars
- guidebooks and charts

Most of the Mexican charts are "off" of their correct GPS positions by 1.5 - 2 miles, so relying solely on charts/gps/chartplotters can be tragic. The only reliable method is to use your eyes...and of course, daylight makes this much easier! We could have stood off until light, but the passage was well marked, and we had reliable GPS waypoints for the passage. It went smoothly, but it was somewhat discomforting that I could make such a silly error.

We were happy to drop the hook and rest at Punta Mita before covering the final distance to the anchorage at La Cruz in the morning. Now that we're in the anchorage, it's been raining here all day - only my 7th day of rain since leaving BC in August, so I'm definitely not complaining. In fact, I actually enjoyed it. I took advantage of the fresh water, and did a little boat scrubbing. The boat is looking pretty shabby these days, and we're both looking forward to spending a bit of time spitting and polishing! Hopefully the sun will be back tomorrow, as we make our way into town to track down my parents, who are in PV on holidays for a couple of weeks. We're looking forward to visiting with them!

Isla Isabela

This island, southwest of Mazatlan, is a national park, and a nesting reserve for frigatebirds and boobies. We've heard how fabulous it is from fellow cruisers, Mark and Vicki, so we had high expectations and we were not disappointed. We anchored close to the beach, and had to work hard to find a sandy patch to place our anchor inbetween the rocky bottom. I didn't sleep well here knowing that our anchor wasn't as well set as we normally like (we dive to check the anchor, now that we are usually in shallow, warm waters).
By late afternoon, we rowed ashore to the fishing village and hiked to the top of the small peak on the western edge of the island. We walked through amazing colonies of Frigatebirds, who nest at head height, in densely populated colonies. Once at the top, we were among the Boobies - both the Brown and the Blue-footed species - who next on the ground and had claimed this high territory as their turf. As the sun set, we watched their mating antics, and chatted with Holly and Grant, cruisers who had been here for almost a week and had good suggestions for hiking and swimming spots.

The following day we hiked the island with Pisces and with Chris and Rani on Ladybug (from Victoria).

Again, we were shocked a the number of nesting birds and their apparent fearlessness. We were able to walk right up to them, and in some cases, they had created their nest right on or beside the trails.
We swam and ate lunch near a research camp, where grad students studied the birds and were more than happy to answer our questions regarding the birds and their behaviour.
In the afternoon, John took a case of Tecate (think: lucky lager) to the shrimp boat and received a humongous bag of huge prawns. After delivering dinner-sized portions to every other boat in the anchorage, he cooked up a fabulous dorado and prawn stir-fry which Pisces shared with us. They were delicious, but I'm pretty sure they are caught by bottom-trawling, so until we find out for sure, we won't likely be eating too many more. We ended the evening saying our farewells to Jacob and Julia. We're now off in different directions, and not sure when we may meet again. New Zealand? Hawaii? Washington? PV? Thanks, you guys...it's been tons of fun!!

La Paz to Isabela

Staying in La Paz, we were going squirrely,
So we left for Los Muertos, bright and early.

It was flat calm, so we motored all day,
Arrived mid-afternoon to this beautiful bay.

With the hook set, we jumped right in,
Paddled and floated, and went for a swim.

Pisces arrived very soon after,
We had dinner and drinks, shared stories and laughter.

The next day was mellow - we read our books,
But near to the shore, we were drawn to have a look,

Earl, in his dinghy, caught three big fish,
He dropped one on our boat, as if he knew our wish.

Happy hour was hosted by Earl and Louise,
Then dinner was served aboard Pisces.

We rose early to see gray whales breach in the bay,
Weighed anchor, pointed east and set the sails for the day.

The wind came and it left, we went with the flow,
We took turns at the helm and resting below.

We saw rays and turtles, on the surface they lie,
Boobies hitched a ride, by perching up high.

We were at sea for three days and two nights,
The moon was so full, behold, what a sight!

Isla Isabela welcomed us with a pod of whales,
We anchored at the south and pulled down our sails.

Looking forward to exploring the rest of the Isle,
But first we must rest - for just a little while.

Back in La Paz

The weather window that we had hoped for did not materialize, so we are back in La Paz. We'll make use of our time here to continue to provision in anticipation of our crossing to the Galapagos. And...we've already had a great dinner out at Rancho Viejo with Pieces!!

Today we are boat-bound, as the wind is 25-30 in the anchorage!! This afternoon, our dinghy has tried to make an escape for the beach, but two fabulous fellow cruisers saved us with her rescue! It would be a long swim to shore! We'll try to leave again in a few days, when the swells calm down a bit.

Waiting for weather

We left La Paz on Sunday the 17th, almost a week ago. And we're still waiting for the weather to offer us some ideal conditions for the crossing from the Baja coast to mainland Mexico. As we sit in Puerto Balandra, the winds are blowing through here enough to temp us to set up our windsurf gear. And outside, in the La Paz bay, we hear boats reporting 30-35 knots of wind. Not terrible, but we'd rather wait for somewhat calmer conditions.

It seems like a big storm on the Pacific coast of the US has caused some repercussions for unusual weather down here. But we're not suffering too badly as we wait. We've been island hopping, as we wait for the weather to turn around. Most of our days are spent snorkeling, John is learning to spear fish (score so far - John-2; fish-8+), we've done lots of walking on beautiful white beaches, and exploring in the dinghy. We've even had some productive moments - I touched up the brightwork, we scrubbed the ecosystem off our hull and keel, and generally cleaning up and organizing the boat. Mind you, we're also spending a lot of time being very unproductive - reading and general laziness.

This mushroom rock at Balandra Bay eventually eroded and toppled over. But not to fear - these clever Mexicans are on the case. Nothing a little rebar and cement won't fix!

Here's the view of the bay from the hilltops above:

It's possible that we may have an opportunity to cross to the mainland tomorrow. We may choose a shorter route to Mazatlan, as the weather is somewhat unstable still. Our fresh veggies are getting slim, so we're already diving into our canned goods. Oh well...lots of places to shop on the mainland.

Books, Books and more Books...

Some time ago, I mentioned that I was reading Shantaram, by Gregory David Roberts. I'm now finished it, and it was fabulous!! I think this has to be my favorite book that I recall reading in a very long time. Although...to be truthful, for the past couple years, I haven't read anything that isn't to do with how to sail, why to sail, when to sail, where to sail, and so on. This book was a real treat - thanks to Sooh for passing it on to me. It has made me add "Explore India" to my list of life's goals.

I also just finished reading An Embarrassment of Mangoes by Ann Vanderhoof. Betsy passed this book to us in Sausalito, and we both enjoyed this easy-to-read account of a couple's 2 year sailing interlude in the Carribean.

Now, I'm reading Lord of the Rings. Shocking, I know. I've never been tempted by fantasy fiction-witches, wizards, goblins have not caught my interest. But Steve from Narama gave this to us, and since I've not actually read any fantasy before, I thought I should at least give it a go. And since I've seen the movie...at least I have a bit of a head start. I'll let you know how it goes.

Fish Speared!!

SUCCESS. Yesterday, John shot his first fish. It has been a while in coming. He first used a pneumatic spear gun, but wasn't able to find any love. Then, in La Paz, he bought a used band spear gun (with Eric's help), and on his first day out, the handle broke right off the shaft. Hmpf. So after a day of being as sad as a young boy who has just lost his puppy dog, he was finally able to put it back together with a wooden dowel, lots of epoxy, and sheer determination.

This afternoon, he tried it again, and he arrived back at the boat with two small fish, one with a big hole in the mid-section, and a broken fishing rod! We were also gifted with a good size fish, shot by Bruce on Far-Fetched. We ate like kings.

If you look closely, you can see the spear hole

This is the guy that broke the fishing rod:
Today, we went snorkeling around the caves on other side of the islands. Again, there were tons of fish, big and small, of all colors and varieties, but none found themselves victim to the spear. We still have fish in the fridge from yesterday, so we're not working too hard at it. I did spot a few scallops, and used Eric's advice to quickly cut the muscle before they had a chance to close up. They are attached to the rocks with their two shells opening up, not like the swimming scallops that we have at home. We brought home a few to sample and enjoyed them with a superb seafood pasta dinner - yummy. (BTW - the recipe was from the new PBS cookbook, for all you Nanaimo-ites).

Leaving La Paz

Although the weather won't be ideal from crossing to the mainland for a few days, we're leaving La Paz with plans to explore the islands again, and then cross to mainland Mexico. We took off this morning, after saying good bye to our new fabulous friends, Eric and Merry, on Sorceress. What a great time we've had with them, and we're hopeful that we'll catch up with them again in the next few days, or in Colorado!

We're now anchored in San Gabriel, with plans to explore the sea caves on the other side of the bay.

Hot Diggity Dog

Since we've been in La Paz, Jacob and Julia on Pisces have been working hard to convince us that hot dogs are in an entirely different realm here in Mexico. So together, we decided to make it our business to find out more. Last night, we decided to do a crawl of a few of the hot dog stands that line the streets of downtown La Paz.I know, some of you are thinking that this sounds like absolute craziness. After all, how can one assume the food safety of these delightful morsels, when the vendors have no running water, or means of cleaning hands or implements, let along food. But hey...we're in Mexico, after all. And our stomachs have proved themselves to be mostly tough to the local conditions.

So after a couple of happy hour beverages at the local cruising club, Club Cruseros, we set off across town in search of the best hot dog in La Paz. For your reading pleasure, Pisces has documented our evening, hot-dog-stand by hot-dog-stand...all 5 of them. Plus of course, the corn stand that we threw in for good measure.

We agree with their rating, that our final tasting at the stand on the Malecon was by far the best. How could it not be? It was an exquisite culinary feat with hot dog, bacon, grilled ham, melted cheese, carnitos (shredded pork), lettuce, tomato, avocado, onion, mayo, ketchup, mustard...oh la la. Hot dog heaven, I tell you.

But, since this was the last dog of the evening, it was a bit more difficult to get down:

We did differ slightly from Pisces in our opinion of the number 2 rated dog. We vote for the "Radio Shack" dog. Not the especiale dog, but tasty delicious, all the same. Eric recommended this stand to us, and he was right. The best normale in town. Hard to compete against the especiale, though.

Here we are eating the "Radio Shack" dog - it was our first stand of the night, and we're obviously still very happy about this idea:
In any case, check out Pisces' blog to read their detailed account of the evening's (mis)adventures.

La Paz Living

La Paz continues to enchant us. John's spirits are high - with both a new (to him) spear gun, and a refurbished outboard motor. I am stocking our shelves with enough supplies to take us into the next phase of this adventure. And, we're enjoying sharing the company of the other cruisers down here. Here are a few images from the last week or so.

The La Paz malecon - or main drag - is a wonderful tiled walkway along the waterfront, complete with ice cream, kettle corn, and a variety of street vendors. And at this time of year, families flock to the malecon to test out their new Christmas prezzies - skateboards, bicycles, and roller blades!

Bronze statues are common along the malecon

This radar tower in front of the navy is dressed up all pretty...

Everyday involves shopping for provisions for the next leg of this adventure. This requires me to take inventory of what we currently have in Renova's stores. Here is a photo of the re-provisioning process, as a tribute to the similar photos that SV Pisces loves to share.

Isla Espiritu Santos...Boobies!

Yes, the title is a blatent attempt at gleening more visitors via keyword searches. I'll let you know how it goes.

But it isn't completely unmerited. We spent the weekend at two islands near La Paz, Isla Espiritu Santo and Isla Partida. These are now a national park site, and are a wildlife mecca. We saw Brown Boobies, Magnificant Frigatebirds, brown pelicans, turtles and many others. At the north end of Partida you can swim with a tame group of sea lions, but we decided to save that for another day.
At the islands we hiked on shore amid cacti and gecko to explore the beaches and fishing camps. John was ever hopeful with a fishing line off the stern of the boat...and even a small line off the dinghy as we went to shore. We swam in glorious, torquoise waters (and scrubbed the hull, while we were there). We devoured a fabulous fresh-caught snapper meal on board Wandering Star, along with the crews of Magenta, and Jesse's Girl.After this quick 2-day escape, we're now back in La Paz. We wanted to try to get a spear fishing gun for John, have someone look at our non-starting 1972 outboard engine, and stock up on a few odds and ends and provisions, once again. And...perhaps one more lunch at the ever-delightful Mercado Bravo.