The Final Preparations are Almost Completed!

  

3 Full Dock Carts

As our Jump to the South Pacific is only a few days away, the last details on the 'To Do' list linger annoyingly.  The provisions have been bought (the shopper behind us at Costco couldn't resist and had to peek over my shoulder to see the total on the cash register's display - he let out a long, low whistle) and we drew  stares when we pushed our cart through the aisles at Mega, one of the large grocery store chains in Mexico.  What amazed all of us is that we were able to stow everything on board without resorting to having sacks of rice stacked on the settee.

We have checked and double-checked all of our systems.  I've poured over the rigging, engine, spare parts, plumbing, electrical and communications systems.  When Ian and Sean came down for Spring Break, they had their suitcases stuffed with toilet overhaul kits, flashlights, pelican hooks, books, drugs (it's wonderful to have someone in the family who is a health-care expert) and I still had to airfreight in 400' of Yacht Braid!  We have to leave now - we have no more money.  At least we can't spend it on the high seas.

Making New Spinnaker Pole Topping Lifts

 Our position as Coordinators of this year's Pacific Puddle Jump Fleet has let us meet many new people and we've made a lot of new friends.  There have been quite a few details that we've dealt with but I think the real work will start when the main portion of the fleet gets underway and I'm net controller on the single sideband radio net.  Tonight we had ten boats check in and it took over forty minutes to get through the entire list.  According to our database, there's forty-eight boats leaving from the west coast of Mexico and the US.  That's going to be some serious radio work!  On the other hand, one of the boats in our fleet has already reached the Marquesas and more should be arriving by early next week.

We'll probably be out of internet range for a while.  We'll still be able to post on our blog (at least we won't have an excuse not to post) but we won't be able to upload photos.  More importantly, we can still get emails from all of you while we're underway.  Did you hear me?  WE CAN STILL GET EMAILS FROM ALL OF YOU WHILE WE'RE UNDERWAY!

The long-range forecast looks great with a strong Pacific high building right where it's supposed to and the sub-tropical jet is reinforcing the trade winds.  The big storms marching across the North Pacific are sending down some pretty good-sized swells but they should be pretty far apart by the time they reach us.  Even though we're going to sail conservatively, we hope to make good time.

We miss all of you and hope to hear from you soon  Mauruuru roa!

The Yellow Flower Tree

La Cruz is aglow with luminous, yellow flowered trees!  As I stopped to photograph one I was surrounded by curious neighborhood kids.  I asked one of them what the name of the tree was.  This little girl, looked at me.... looked at the tree... looked at me and said, es el Arbol de Flores Amarillo.  But of course!  Can anyone else help me out with another name for this beautiful tree?

 

 

Life As Usual

So why has it taken me so long to do a blog update???  Well... it's just life as usual! 

The sun rises at 7:45 a.m. so it's hard to drag myself out of bed before 8:30!  Then there is the morning radio net to check into and listen to- otherwise you would not know who is coming and going, who has what for sale, who needs something you can provide (or vise-versa) or what is happening around town!  We then check email while sipping coffee or tea (just in case someone has written...) and recently we have been answering a slew of puddle jump email questions, updating rosters, and organizing radio nets and departure dates (one boat has already left!)!  It's then time to head up the dock to the showers which are a solid five minute walk away IF nobody stops you to talk along the way (or if you don't forget your key).  Since somebody always has some important early morning dissertation to share, it's at least an hour before you find yourself scrubbed, talked out and returning to the boat while trying to prioritize boat projects for the day!  By now it's at least 11:00 a.m.!  Life as usual!

Yesterday I left Corie and Neal to scrub the boat while I took the bus into P.V. to search out a music store for cuerdos para mi guitarra.  In my furious practicing I had broken a string and we were having a Puddle Jumpers jam session last night so off I went!  On a good day, it takes about an hour to get into Vallarta by bus from La Cruz.  Well, yesterday the bus driver had to stop for gas on the way into Vallarta which added an extra 15 minutes to the trip.  That did, however, allow a couple of musicians to hop on the bus and play a couple of guitar songs and then walk the aisle with palms out for donations.  At the next stop another guy hopped on the bus and passed out key chains with pink flamingos attached and a note that said he was deaf.  Before the following stop he passed each passenger again and either collected the flamingo or ten pesos.... what would you have done?  The ride was long but at least it was entertaining!  The only entertainment on the return bus trip later that afternoon was that the bus driver got a ticket!  I'm not really sure why, but maybe it was because he couldn't get the bus doors closed.... the passengers standing in the aisle and the little kids sitting up front on the bus dashboard console were holding on for dear life!  Life as usual!

Earlier in the week, in order to distract ourselves from feeling blue over Caity and Danny leaving La Cruz (we had a very fun six days together!) we sailed Rutea to Yelapa.  Yelapa is eighteen miles across Banderas Bay (on the south side) and is accessible only by boat.  Romeo zoomed out to meet us in his panga and convinced us that he had the best moorings in Yelapa and the price also included a panga ride through pounding surf into the beach (we never would have made it in our dinghy!).  Built on the side of a steep cliff, Yelapa hangs on the hillside in a dense palm and hardwood tree forest.  Narrow cobblestone lanes traverse the hillside and while we walked up and down them, we passed others traveling via horseback or ATVs.  After hiking to the waterfall up above the town, we meandered the streets peeking through beautiful bouganvillea covered walls and courtyards out to incredible vistas of Banderas Bay.  Life as usual!

After a very rolly night on the mooring we headed to the "relative" calm of Punta de Mita where we anchored just off two of Corie's favorite surf spots- El Anclote y El Faro.  On the way over we tested our new auto pilot, practiced "heaving to" and flew our spinnaker while ooohing and ahhhing over breaching Humpback whales!  Three days of boat projects and testing all systems (again) while on the hook allowed us to check a few things off of The List and add a few new things to The List!  Corie got in a little surfing and Neal traveled to a seminar on the two perfect-weather days but one of the days was so windy that we couldn't leave the boat.

So finally tonight after a pretty quiet Sunday- well there was a pretty steady stream of people stopping by to examine the polishing job that Corie and I are doing on the stainless (yes, we are polishing the stainless on a 50 foot boat with a toothbrush...)- I find the space to update my blog and try to convey a slice of life as usual.  Or, is it?

Still Lots to Learn

Eye Splice in Double Braid

The topping lift for our mizzen boom was fraying badly and after 25 years of faithful service, needed to be retired.  However, the previous lift was spliced onto the shackle and I had never been successful splicing the double braid line.  Even though there are riggers in the area, I decided that it was time for me to learn this skill.

Whereas I have detailed instructions, they're almost impossible to follow.  My first attempt was a complete failure so on the second attempt, I had Ruthie read them out loud to me.  Between the two of us, frequently shaking our heads in disbelief, we managed a successful splice.  This morning I tried it by myself and was able to produce a relatively fair eye splice in not too long a time.

I've almost installed all of the parts that we had shipped to us from San Diego.  The new auto pilot is installed but still needs to be sea trialed.  The new computer monitor is great and slightly larger than the old one (old!  Hah! It had only been installed for six months before it failed.  I bought it because it was supposed to be designed for 'rough service'.  It's replacement was a third of the price.).  We now have a new, shiny boom vang for the main (along with  new double braid line and a not-too-bad eye splice) replacing the one that had broke during a nasty uncontrolled jibe.  I have still yet to install the new propane sniffer but that shouldn't take too long.  All in all, I'm very please with our level of preparation.  In fact, it's possible that we're getting too well prepared.

Caity and Danny are visiting this week and we're having fun with them.  Last night we played Mexican Train for the first time and, suprise!  I won.  Of course, I was accused of cheating as I was the one who kept score but I referred all accusations to my attorney.  They'll never prove a thing.

We continue our duties as Coordinators for the 2011 Puddle Jump to the South Pacific and people are being nice to us even when we let a detail or two slip through the cracks.  The first boat is leaving for the Marquesas on the first of March and could quite likely be there before we leave.  The excitement is building . . .

The Count Down Continues

Photo by Andy Turpin of Latitude 38

Used without permission

The sailing magazine, Latitude 38, hosted a Kick-Off Party for those boats jumping off to the South Pacific.  They fed us pupus and beer.  It was OK but more of a seminar than a party.  I think most of the cruisers were looking for an opportunity to cut loose and enjoy lots of their favorite beverages but it was too organized for that.  We left early and went to the grocery store instead.

But our own preparations are coming along nicely.  I had installed the auto pilot on Rutea fifteen years ago and didn't think much about it as I have a spare part for every component.  However, while sailing away from San Jose del Cabo, the compass controller failed.  Not really a big deal as I had a spare and it took only a couple of minutes to replace it.  However, now we no longer have a spare and there are none available anywhere (the manufacturer went out of business long ago).  So, I decided to replace the working auto pilot with a new one and retire the old one as a spare in the event that the new one fails - something that auto pilots are prone to do.  It's one thing to replace it while sitting comfortably at the dock, it would be altogether different if we were 2,000 miles off shore.  Many boats have made the passage without any auto pilot but it doesn't sound like fun.

Corie is getting lots of surfing in while Ruthie and I continue in our roles as coordinators for this year's fleet.  We've finally got the t-shirts figured out (only two weeks left to place your order!) and there's only a half dozen or so seminars left.  It still looks like we'll be jumping off in late March.

OK, enough goofing off!  There's work to be done!

Fair winds.

A Seminar Worth Waiting For!

Alright, already!  Enough of these Safety at Sea, All About Rigging, How to Survive a Sinking seminars!  Let’s get down to the real basics of cruising or What To Have For Dinner!  And since our passage to the Marquesas will be about three weeks, the question is: What to Have For Dinner for the next Three Weeks!  And quite possibly because typical provisions in the south pacific are not necessarily what we call comfort food OR because we don’t want to empty out the stores of the supply boats that visit south pacific islands once a month, the question becomes: What to Have For Dinner between Banderas Bay and New Zealand (about seven months worth of meals)!  Provisioning Seminar?  Count me in!  FYI- I sat front and center!

There are as many approaches to provisioning for blue water passages as there are people that provision!  The seminar panel ranged from people who precook and freeze meals (that would be twenty meals!) for the passage from Mexico to the Marquesas to people who take bulk beans and rice and count on catching fish along the way!  They would be the people that don’t even have refrigeration. However, all panelists agreed that if you wrap limes in foil, they will last three times longer than if not wrapped.  Common wisdom here is that any item that you buy un-refrigerated can remain un-refrigerated after opening if you don’t contaminate it (like mayo, relish and other condiments).  Eggs that have not been refrigerated can be kept in the pantry and turned once a week (just make sure they are in breathable containers so they don’t mold).  Whatever you do, do not take any cardboard on board the boat because it holds cockroach eggs, dip all stocks of bananas in sea water before loading (to flush out any roaches) and check behind all labels on cans for cockroach eggs as you are loading them ONE AT A TIME on to the boat…..

As well as provisioning for the voyage, each boat also (according to maritime law) must have a waste management plan for dealing with food scraps and regular trash.  I trust you have heard about the floating island of plastic in the Pacific which is the size of the state of Texas.  Well we don’t want to contribute to making it the size of Texas and Alaska so  we get rid of as much packaging at the dock as possible.  This means decanting all products possible into reusable containers or ziplock bags.  We also want to make everything as small as possible since storage is… well…limited!  Once out at sea (in very deep water) compost may be thrown overboard after being cut up in very tiny pieces, glass may be thrown overboard after cutting off the bottom and cans may also go overboard with both ends open.  Plastic can never go overboard so it has to be washed and cut up very small so it can be stored until it can be properly disposed.  I can’t imagine that many south Pacific islands have good ways of dealing with plastic….. so we will see.  It’s kind of interesting to think about keeping your trash as clean as possible while living in this small space!

Anyway, this is the part of cruising and planning for a voyage that I love!  Making lists, organizing… checking things off of the list!  In the meantime, we continue to enjoy the wonderful markets and cuisine of Mexico from tacos on the street corner to wonderful stews in rich sauces and of course, a wonderful, never ending supply of pan dulce!

Buen Provecho

Ruthie

La Cruz de Huanacaxtle

Now this is Fun!

Photo by Wendy Beattie

The watermaker on Rutea makes delicious water from sea water and we have come to like it so much that we no longer fill our tanks with water from the municipality, even if it's known to be potable.  Since we only hold 240 gallons, about once a week we need to leave the dock for a day to replenish our tanks.  Experts say we could make water here at the dock but it looks so gross that we never would.  Besides, it keeps our skills sharpened to cast off the dock lines, hoist the sails and explore other parts of Banderas Bay.

Earlier this week we motor-sailed up to Punta de Mita and dropped the anchor close to the surf line.  Corie grabbed her board and jumped in for a 2-hour surfing session.  Once she was back on board, we took off downwind and practiced sailing with a spinnaker pole holding out the genoa.  Rutea's downwind poles are massive and we anticipate using them extensively on our trip to and through the South Pacific so we need to come up with methods to handle them safely on a pitching foredeck.

Wendaway on a broad reach

Mark and Wendy also came out on Wendaway to do much the same thing.  As it turns out, Banderas Bay is almost an ideal place to sail - the winds are very light in the morning and then build in the afternoon.  In the late afternoon they die again.  The bay has very little swell, is almost 15 miles across and has very little traffic on it.  This was day sailing at it's best!

One of the other things that has happened, which may or may not turn out to be a lot of fun, is that we have volunteered to be the coordinators for the 2011 Pacific Puddle Jump.  The person who had originally signed up has rigging issues on their boat and can't leave La Paz.  They were looking for someone in Banderas Bay to take over and me, being not very b-r-i-t-e, volunteered.  At first we thought it was going to be easy but after delving into it for a little bit we're realizing that there's going to be a ton of work to do.  The PPJ organization arranges for bond exemptions in French Polynesia and that hasn't been done yet and, more importantly, the t-shirts haven't been designed or ordered.  Plus a list of other tasks.  O, well, what the hell . . . 

Mark and Wendy leave today for points south and even though they plan on returning before we leave, we'll miss having them next to us.  On the other hand, we're meeting lots of other cruisers and have made many new friends, though those at home will always be fondly remembered.

Please write us as we love to hear from you.