Thursday, October 20, 2011

The work and the sweat continue

hi everyone, we are still in San Carlos, getting work done on the boat. Right now, Kerry is on a road trip to find the welder to finish the dinghy davit system.  It is all welded and here, but the welder has to come to attach it to the boat.  Thank goodness for our friend, Jesus, who is helping us and interpreting for us.  Oh well, it will get done eventually. 

It seems that our batteries are a little flat as they will not start the boat unless it is plugged in.  Not sure what that is about but we will be looking into that before we venture too far.  We went out to commission our autopilot the other day and to do a little sailing.  When we shut the engine off, it would not restart, so Kerry cleaned the battery posts and the connections, which seemed to do the trick.  We had the generator going so between the two things, we got the boat going and made it back to the marina under power.  I was able to sail for a bit while Kerry cleaned the battery posts.  Light winds, so it was a nice sail - i would have preferred different circumstances, but at least we got to sail :)

We went out fishing a couple of days ago and caught some nice Panama Graysby's.  The last ones caught were by Kerry.  He knew he had a hit, so he was reeling it in.  As it got closer to the dinghy, we realized he had caught two fish - one on each treble hook.  Unfortunately we did not have the camera, so you will just have to take our word for it that it is not a fish tale!  :)

The temperature has been in the mid 30's here and with the humidity, we are sweating constantly.   I never understood when people said the humidity made such a difference, but now I do.  I am just dripping as I sit here and type this.  Oh well,, at least we are avoiding the cold back home.

Guess I better get to work cleaning the stainless steel stanchions.
Take care and play!

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

We made it!

Hello everyone, we made it to San Carlos, Mexico on Monday, October 3, 2011.  For Kerry's birthday on the 4th, we sent strolling on the beach with the warm water lapping at our ankles and the temperature already in the high 20's at 7:00 am.  I know, boo hoo :)  Anyway, let me tell you of our adventures  far.

We left Athabasca on the 26th of September, went to visit family on the way out of Alberta and left Alberta on the 28th. We chose to go a different route this year and drove through Zion National Park in Utah.  WOW!  is all I can say.  If you ever get the chance to drive through there, it is well worth it.  pictures below.

Next we drove through Sedona, Arizona, and it is everything they say it is!  The drive from Flagstaff is interesting and drops a few thousand feet, but the energy is incredible!  We never stopped in Sedona for very long, but I could feel the energy as we entered the area.  It is very strong and very peaceful.  We will spend more time the next time we visit. 

Our plan was then to drive to the Grand Canyon, but God had other plans for us as there was several thunder storms all around us and at the Canyon.  We hope to catch it in the spring.

We traveled on to Tucson the next day and stayed with a friend we met last year.  We had a great time in Tucson seeing the sites and just having a relaxing day.  The temperatures were quite warm though. As we were heading to San Carlos, the temperature hit 107 degrees farenheit - picture below.  We definitely felt the heat.

Talking about the heat, we went for breakfast yesterday in Macdonalds in Guaymas and when we came out, it was so humid and hot that my glasses fogged up!   I have never experienced that except in the cold winter months at home when we came inside the house.  Crazy!

The last two days have been spent working on the boat, getting it ready for it's launch into the water on friday.  It is so exciting to be back down here and preparing the boat.  It is hard to wait until friday to get it in to the water!

We decided to stay at a local apartment/condo place called Gringo Pete's.  it is quite nice, reasonably priced and has an incredible view of San Francisco Bay - picture below.

My arms are tired from sanding the boat today, so that is all for now.  Hope everyone is well and happy.

Okay, that is all the pictures for today.  Download time is pretty slow.  More later :)

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Departure October 1, 2011

Hello everyone, we about to head to the sunny south once again, leaving the cold and snow behind - yea!  We will be a little more diligent about updating the blog this year as I have not been working too much and am not burned out by the computer - we are much better friends now than we were last year:)  Talk to you soon!

Thursday, January 13, 2011

At Last

Hi Everyone,

Sorry we have not been very diligent about updating our blog.
Quite a bit has happened since our last post. We have bought a larger boat, named Heeling Touch. It is  a 40 foot O'Day sailboat. We launched on December 3rd after a few days in the work yard to get her cleaned up and it took about 3 weeks to get most of the bugs out and get  things in order.
On Dec 26 we sailed to Santa Rosalia, about 75 nautical miles west,northwest of San Carlos. It is on the Baja Peninsula.
After spending a week there, we sailed south to Bahia Concepcion for 4 nights there. The bay is about 20 miles long by 5 miles wide with some nice beaches and many anchorages.
It took us 4 more  days to sail south to Puerto Escondido, about 12 miles south of Loreto. It is a well protected harbor from the south. Used as a hurricane hole in that season. Right now it is blowing from the north about 25 knots so we are getting pushed around pretty good. Hence the early morning post.
We plan to leave for La Paz in a few more days and hopefully spend a month down there.
Weather here is great, mid 20's most days. Much nicer than what we see on the weather page back home.











Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Caleta Venecia Pictures

Here are a few photos of Caleta Venecia. There are a few more to upload









Caleta Venecia

Another incredible day!  We motored up to Caleta Venecia (Venecia Cove) - about 22 miles north of San Carlos, on friday.  There was no wind to speak of so we spent the time fishing, snorkeling, and walking the shoreline.  I caught a couple of Panama Graysby (sea bass).  They fight at first, but then quit so you think you have lost the fish when reeling it in.  Very tasty!
The water temperature is down to about 68degrees F, so a little chilly for snorkeling in my bikini.  I guess the wet suit will have to come out. :-)  Speaking of chilly, I finally had to put shoes on to keep my feet warm friday night.  I know - boo hoo.  The Mexicans think we are loco when we go to the bathroom in the mornings in a t-shirt and shorts and they have long sleeves and pants on.  For those who know us, you know we are loco, but we are trying to keep it under wraps here for a bit anyway. :-)
Kerry and I have been asking each other how to describe this place.  The pictures only give a taste of the beauty and the ruggedness.  The color in the rocks.  The cactus that grow on islands.  The bushes that have 1 1/2 inch long spikes.  Oh yeah, and the cactus that acts like velcro if you touch it.  Kerry brushed up against it and a 'ball' attached itself to his leg.  It was intense pain so at the time, he never thought to take a picture of it attached to him.  That picture would have been listed under the "what not to do" column.
Mya is doing well and avoiding the cactus.  She loves to swim in the sea as long as there are no waves rushing up on the shore.  She is also learning to not drink the water as it tastes pretty yucky.
November 6 and 7 we were witness to a spectacular sunset.  Kerry took many pictures so will post them later.
We are learning to cope with the honey bees.  they swarm you looking for fresh water.  When I say swarm there are only 10 - 20 bees if you have a wet dish cloth or frops of water in the sink.  As long as you dry the sink and put the dish cloth and towels outside to dry out, the bees do tend to leave us alone.  Definitely something to get used to id you do not like bees buzzing around or landing on you.  For the most part, they do not sting - which is a good thing as I have stepped on a few.  Kerry did get stung though as he accidently squished one under his arm.  When we got back to the marina in San Carlos yesterday, one crawled up my shorts and stung my hip.  Silly bugger.
Anyway, this place is truly incredible and well worth the journey!
Thanks to all who have been able to comment.  I miss you all too and wish you well in the frozen north. :-)

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Another week in paradise

Well, another week has passed and we are a little more tanned and getting used to the laid back lifestyle of the unemployed. Went up to Bahia San Pedro last weekend. Had to motor up but sailed back with some swell from behind us-about 4feet or so. Was interesting a few times.
Did some fishing on Thursday and today. We caught 2 the first time - a sierra(mackeral) and a sea bass. Today we caught 7. 3 leopard cabrilla, 2 finescale triggerfish and 2 sea bass.
Bought some honeydew melons from a roadside vendor for 20 pesos. Weighed one and it is 10 pounds 6 ounces! For a $1.75. Incredible. Bought a 14 ounce new york steak for 42 pesos, a dozen large eggs is 19 pesos. Bought a whole roasted chicken in the supermarket one day for 55 pesos. Gasoline is 8.6 pesos a liter.
Here are some photos of our first fish and one of the beaches near San Carlos that we go to. The RVĂ©rs just pull up to the edge of the sea and set up camp. Guess it is commonplace in this part of Mexico, as well as Baja side as well, will find out when we get there.