Whether, Weather…

To leave, or not to leave, that’s still the question.

The problem isn’t so much not knowing what the weather might bring, but the fact we have way too many opinions, forecasts, weather charts and grib files to choose between. And none of the models agree. It’s almost enough to make me long for the good ‘ol days: Back when we could pull down one weather fax—then make our own best amateur weatherman guess. For better or worse.

But know we have a deluge of information. And the best case scenario really is the best case. It’s a perfect 12 knots on the beam, rising to 20 as our overnight passage continues. The seas should be between 3-5’, probably a bit steeply spaced but comfortable enough.

But that is just one weather report. We also looked at four more… And this is where it gets confusing.

Weather is a guessing game at best and it’s amazing how many different scenarios can be extrapolated from one set of satellite pictures. One model has a full blown norther developing tonight—definitely not conditions we want to sail in. Another has the wind rising to NW 18-24 in the afternoon and NW 20-26 overnight—which might be fine, depending on the seas… But the Sea of Cortez rarely has pleasant seas—there is just too much tidal current.

So maybe we’ll wait. But waiting also has its own issues. Because the model we like best—the one that predicts a perfectly okay crossing—also predicts a norther blowing up later in the week. So maybe we’ll go…

I’m going to drink coffee, have a hot shower at the marina, and ponder…

Want to know where we get our Mexico weather?

Stan’s weather:

http://www.saildocs.com/socforecast

Geary’s weather:

http://www.solmatesantiago.com/weather/forecasts.html

COAMPS and GFS grib files from Sailmail

NOAA weather for the Southeast Pacific

http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/marine/sepacificbrief.shtml

High Seas Forecast

http://weather.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/fmtbltn.pl?file=raw/fz/fzpn03.knhc.hsf.ep2.txt

Fleet Weather

https://www.fnmoc.navy.mil/public/

Goodbye Guaymas-maybe

Our work is done. The cruising kitty is fed. The weather report looks optimistic for the 100 mile passage to San Jaunico tomorrow. So now we need to fill the fuel tanks and the pantry, do some laundry and say our goodbyes to Guaymas.

 evening on the malecon (Ceilydh is in the lower right corner)

Ah, Guaymas…

More ruined than beautiful; more loud than musical—our affection for this overlooked little coastal city caught us off guard. We’ll miss the nightly celebrations, the giggling children and the warm welcomes we receive everywhere we go. And we’ll miss the calm protected anchorage. How nice it’s been to sleep soundly on smooth seas every night. Albeit serenaded by brass bands and bad karaoke…

 We’ll also miss our dear new friends—especially Paula, Matt, Sammy and Trinidad on Endurance. We celebrated our week-iversary but swore it must have been longer that we’ve been friends. We’ve packed so much into such a short time, and now we hate the idea of leaving them behind. Paula keeps telling us the weather is terrible and we’ll have to stay. I keep telling them they don’t really need money to live on and they should just keep sailing and not go home.

 But sailboats need to sail, and seasons need to be respected. And sometimes journeys need to end.

We’ll leave when the weather window opens. And they’ll head home soon after.

 But don’t tell Paula that secretly we also hope it won’t be tomorrow…

Crossing on the Diagonal

 We waited to cross the street—first one set of green lights went, and then the next, but the don’t-walk sign stayed steady. Then a few minutes later all the cars got red lights and the pedestrians all got walk signs and we went every which way. It was quite exciting to discover we were able to avoid crossing two streets by crossing on the diagonal.

the skating rink to be...

 After 11 months in Mexico, I like to feel like I ‘get’ it. I may not speak the language—but I enjoy the culture. It’s an easy going kind of place. But it’s also just a little bit off kilter. It’s the kind of place that sets up an ice rink in the middle of the town square when the daily temp is still hovering around hot—a feat of engineering that both boggles the mind and that will cost more than a typical local can afford.

the old prison, or a museum with no exhibits...

 

It’s also the kind of place where if you show up at the ex-prison and think it’s a museum, you’ll get a museum tour, even if it’s not a museum, or maybe it is. And the sort of place where you can buy Chinese food in a fabric store and walk home in a parade.

I look at this and think, 'a nice place for lunch'

Paula and I took all the girls for an adventure today. The first stop was to be the museum (which may, or may not be a museum) but we were waylaid by the ice rink that is under construction and first had to ask about that. Paula is Chilean—so for the first time I have someone at my side who can ask all the questions I ponder on a daily basis.

In the grocery store I get her to find out what each mysterious bag contains and what to do with the contents. She also finds out when the buildings were built and what they were used for. She asks what activities are happening and how much they cost.

 But even she gets puzzled by crosswalks that sometimes go every which way, and sometimes not, and by museums that might not be museums, and by restaurants masquerading as fabric stores (or maybe fabric stores masquerading as restaurants) and by parades that come out of nowhere and disappear just as fast.

And in those moments it’s good to know that not even speaking the language will make Mexico make sense. And that I can just go back to enjoying it…

Go Ahead, Drink the Water

this was covered by flooring and we knew the area was squishy, but the amount of rot was impressive...

I’m not sure how many entries we have about our %!#&! water tanks… The saga started on our first sail after leaving the dock in July 2009. After a boisterous passage across Georgia Straight, we discovered water on the floor of the starboard hull. Initially we decided it was just a leaking hose, but as the months went on we realized that our integral tanks were rotting away.

So in May Evan ripped out the starboard tank and rebuilt it. The plan was to do the port tank as soon as the starboard one was watertight. But that happy day never came. Every time we tested the tank water would spurt, burble, or trickle out of some miniscule breach in Evan’s glass work.

So the port tank—which was rotting under our feet—remained our primary tank, despite the fact we had to filter out splinters after a particularly bumpy wind event…

After making four attempts to find and patch leaks in the starboard tank—Evan became serious about replacing the portside built-in tank with a polyethylene tank. He found a company called Ronco plastics that seems to make tanks in every conceivable shape (except, of course one that would fit in the same place that the built in tank was located…)

our new 44 gallon tank

 But we found a spot (outboard, where his tool boxes had been), ordered the tank and had it shipped to Arizona. We brought it home and got it installed, and then turned the floor tank into storage. Then he did one final fix on the starboard tank—which seemed to take.

Evan built a new plywood/epoxy floor to cover the storage area...

 So…

That project just might be done!

Shak-shak

 With music all around us (and even the promise of a Guns N’ Roses tribute concert coming to the Malecon in just a few days…) Maia needed a musical instrument of her own.

 At the Tianguis in Empalme we could have bought a flute, or a tuba, or even a set of drums—but then Paula introduced us to the Flamboyant tree. A tropical tree which is known for its vivid red flowers (June-September), the Flamboyant or Royal Poinciana also grows a giant seedpod. And this big seedpod, when dried, becomes a percussion instrument known as the shak-shak, or maraca.

 The best part of the shak-shak--which is even better than the concerts, dances and songs it helps you to produce—is that to get one you need to climb a tree.

Pearl Fever

The pearl farm on Bacochibambo Bay

I think we’ve sent every cruiser we’ve met in Guaymas to visit Perlas del Mar. And each time they come back, I check out their new beauties, and dream about owning just one more pearl for myself.

Back in the old days—when this body of water was still called the Vermillion Sea, thanks to the red algae that also signals the spawning season for the oysters—people were said to catch Pearl Fever. Legends were born; of divers who lost their lives and maidens who sold their virtue, all in the search for that one special pearl.

 So considering that Paula from Endurance hadn’t been to the pearl farm, and it’s my birthday week—we caught the Miramar bus at the Mercado and headed out to visit our friends Douglas, Manuel and Enrique at the farm.

We arrived too late for the last tour of the day (it ran at 2pm) but Douglas is a gracious host and Paula and the girls were shown the pearls and told how they are grown. This is when I also learned that I could buy pearls individually and either take them to a jeweller or have Manuel set them. So Douglas pulled out more pearls and we went to work. I learned about the different grades of pearls, what to look for and then finally selected two baroque pearls that would make up my (shockingly affordable) earrings.

choosing my own pearls

While Manuel worked to make my earrings, we chatted with Douglas— and he asked if we’d ever found nice ironwood (we asked him where to shop for carvings on our last visit and he recommended the market for its non-tourist prices). A few minutes later Douglas disappeared and then reappeared with a beautiful carving—a birthday gift.

Each day we’re in Guaymas, we get to know people a little better, and it makes the idea of leaving that much harder. But I think with Christmas approaching and my pearl fever growing more passionate we’d best get going…

Keeping Warm

no one sat in the central gazebo when last night's chilly wind blew

We’re past the ‘barefoot in the sand’ season. It’s still lovely and warm during the day—shorts weather really, but at night it’s cool enough that we need a blanket on our bed. And at night, when the northerlies are blowing, it’s cold enough that even the malecon loses its appeal. Last night we even fired up the heater.

Happily--after having our fill of outside activities all year—we don’t mind heading inside for a bit. Especially because the warmth inside comes not just from windows and doors—but from new friends.

sharing my birthday with the folks from Endurance

 

Guaymas is an interesting place to be as far as cruising friends go. It has some of the largest, safest and closest to the US boat yards found in Mexico—so cruisers here are a cross section of those who are just starting (or in one case still shopping), those who are finishing up and getting ready to sell their boats and those who are returning from a hiatus.

Being around so many people who are at different stages in their journey is both a privilege and an education. We get to share both the dreams and the memories, answer the questions and learn new lessons. It also makes us really appreciate the place we’re at—that we’re proud of what we’ve done but excited that there is still so much more to come.

Play

the bus to Empalme

Evan has been head down in our bilge—turning the ex-water tank into storage, while I’ve been sending off stories and drumming up new work. Maia’s been content—working on writing a biography about an explorer who got lost and sorting through her toy cupboard for things to donate. But I can’t say that any of us have been having fun per se…

We treat the dock days in our cruising life as work days. If we’re going to spend money for the convenience of being in a marina we try to get as much done as we possibly can-which means that unless there are other kids on the dock, Maia doesn’t get much play time.

 But not only are we off the dock now, but a new boat with two little girls arrived. We had heard about Endurance from our friends on Savannah—and when we saw a new boat enter the anchorage on Thanksgiving morning, I think Maia may have decided her Thanksgiving dreams had come true.

Maia, Trinidad and Sammy perform Pippi Longstocking

 Three kids manage to find fun without any help from adults and after getting to know each other over a shared bottle of whipped cream at the potluck—they planned a week’s worth of activity. There would be a theatre production, a sleepover, a visit to the midway that has taken up residence on shore, some exploring and a whole lot of just plain play.

Those old metal slides get hot in the sun--but the old playgrounds still have plenty of merit

Giggles are contagious. 

And happily the three cheery little girls didn’t think three big playmates would spoil their adventurous fun. So for a few days we put down the tools, ignored the to-do lists, averted our eyes from any messes and played.

And played.

Adopted Sea Turtle

Ana Luisa being released in October

Today is my birthday—always a popular celebration in our family. And Maia made this year’s birthday even more special by choosing a gift for me that brought tears to my eyes.

She adopted a Sea of Cortez black turtle in my name through www.seaturtle.org. Maia and Evan went to a conservation lecture a week ago and learned what is being done in the Sea. They learned that there are a lot of people working very hard, with little or no money, to study and save the creatures and places we fell in love with this summer.

One effort that is happening is an effort to track and monitor both sea turtles and whale sharks. Maia chose me a black sea turtle called “Ana Luisa” who was named for the woman who gave the lecture they attended.

I can track Ana Luisa-and maybe even wave when we sail past

Ana Luisa was captured as part of the turtle monitoring of the Reserva Biosfera Isla San Pedro Martír (RBISPM). Fishermen from Bahía de Kino captured her last month and after having her vitals checked by an onboard monitoring team she was released a few hours later with a satellite transmitter to better understand how juvenile black turtles use the Sea. This project is supported by CONANP, COBI, GTC, Prescott College, NOAA Fisheries and Alliance, WWF and Telcel.

Doubly Thankful

 Boat ovens (especially our boat oven) aren’t very big. This became very apparent yesterday as Evan and I negotiated baking time and oven space allotments. If we both had our dishes prepared in advance and didn’t wait until the very last minute to make the pie pastry for example (and discover then that flour needed replacing because it was a little more organic looking than is acceptable …) it probably would have come together just fine. But as it happened—the time for the giant Thanksgiving potluck arrived and we were still cooking. So I began fretting.

 As Canadians, we celebrated our Thanksgiving over a month ago. It’s a holiday I really love: slowing down to savour a meal and the year—and just spend the day being grateful. What we missed in our little celebration six weeks ago were our family and close friends. For so many of our Thanksgivings we’ve been surrounded by the people who mean the most to us—our family by birth and choice.

I got to ponder this as our food cooked slowly and the 50 plus people I was to share several turkeys and hams with gathered on shore. For the most part we’ve only known these folks for a short time—a few weeks, and in some cases a few hours. I wondered if this would make the Thanksgiving ritual a little hollow (especially because as I mentioned before, only a handful of us are actually American…) And I worried I’d have no one to talk to and would simply eat too much, while thinking too much about the people I’d rather be with.

this is a special life for kids--especially because there is always someone there to help fill a plate with dessert

 But then we arrived and space was made for us in this circle of people. Names were learned and stories were shared. I discovered who was ending their cruise and who was just beginning; who were planning to travel great distances and who plans to stay in Mexico.

kids don't need any help in figuring out how to make the most of a new friendship

And I was reminded again of one of the magical elements of cruising—that despite our differences in age, nationality, beliefs and experiences we share a commonality that makes for a special camaraderie. Maybe some of the people we’ve met in our weeks here will be folded into the fabric of our lives rather than left behind and forgotten. And maybe not—but as I watched Maia and the other kids seize the moments of friendship offered and shared, I stopped holding back.

 Being grateful isn’t about perfectly prepared food or gathering just the right crowd—it’s about grabbing every moment with both hands and our entire heart.

So thanks to Phil Perkins on Mannasea and Sharon on Castaway who organized the event and all those who attended yesterday’s lovely meal.

And Happy Thanksgiving.