5/1/15
We left Santa Rosalia yesterday around 330 in the afternoon. We got to sail then motored-sailed a lot and then motored in to Caleta Amarga at 730am. We made pretty good time since we sailed around 70 miles. We were supposed to be going to Bahia San Pedro bay but for some reason Paul decided to go to this one, I was asleep. We get there and there was a lot of swell which means we are rocking all over but I figure Oliver and I can go in to the beach and Paul can sleep and we can move it in the afternoon. We are about to go and Oliver goes over the side...yes of the boat. Thankfully Paul was right there and I ran up so we pulled him right out, yes he had his lifejacket on. I believe he was trying to drop something into the dinghy and when the wave moved the boat up and down it caught him by surprise and he fell off so anyways he was fine just startled. Paul actually said he was holding on to the dinghy rope so hard he couldn't get him to let it go and he was worried it was around his neck, thankfully it wasn't. So we go to the beach and play then I hear Paul yelling from the boat he wants to go he couldn't sleep through how much the boat was rocking. Did I mention there is also a lot of seaweed here. It is everywhere (in the water, floating on top, like kelp forests some 15-20 long, and covering the beach so yeah that mucked up the dinghy engine on the way back to the boat so I had to row half way against the waves and current, I was not so happy with this place or the fact that we had to leave so soon. We get everything ready to go and head out I usually steer the boat while Paul gets the anchor up so we do that but the boat isn't responding as she normally does and it freaks us both out. We ended up having to rev it pretty high to get it to do what we wanted. We think maybe there was seaweed on the prop but as we keep going the engine is starting to overheat so Paul hurries to get the mainsail up to help us along and I try to motor down but keep it headed in the right direction. It was not that easy but then Paul took over and I tended to Oliver. We finally get out and are bashing (also miserable) to find another place more sheltered from the waves and after a few hours we do, Bahia San Pedro...yes where we were supposed to go in the first place, at least it is better than the other place. I thought I wanted to see some more beaches now I am not so sure. Our plan right now is to wait this out and hopefully get to San Carlos in a few days. Check that town out and then head to Guaymas. I just think we are both done, for once Paul was admitting it. I hope we see a really nice place over here to end on a good note because these last 12 hours were not so good.
5/2/15
Saw a lot of jelly fish today. Most were the size of a nickel and the clear ones most people think of when they think of what a jellyfish looks like. A few others were bigger and had more color and longer tentacles and then the most beautiful was a purplish blue one that was hard and a little bigger than a softball. Paul got stung up a bit, I stayed out of the water except near shore. We heard this is early for them, that the water usually needs to be warmer, but we don't know. We will leave for San Carlos in the morning. I think we are trying to end this trip with a great beach but we just need to be done. The rest of the day we spent on the beach and lounging on the boat and eating/drinking.
I found Oliver a backpack on the beach which is awesome and sad at the same time. He has been asking for one so it was a total score I just had to sew on new webbing to tighten it up.
5/3/15
We got up and were pulling up the anchor by 7am. It didn't look quite so rough out at sea but it's hard to tell when you aren't out there. Of course it was really windy and 2-4 ft seas rolling under. We had 9 miles to go and on a decent day it shouldn't take us 2 hours but because of the weather we didn't get in until almost noon. We went to Catch 22 beach I guess they filmed some of that movie here (it's also called Algodones). It is a huge bay with lots of houses and a few hotels. The sand is white and there are people jetskiing and wakeboarding all over, it is kind of like Cabo. We decided to anchor by these other boats on the South end and it was really rocking but we decided to just go on a dinghy ride and decide later if we needed to move. This is a very different side of Mexico we really haven't seen. It is all really nice houses on the water or up in the hills, boats in front of their houses and really nice paved streets (at least on this end). We aren't quite sure if people live here year round or just vacation homes, probably mostly vacation homes if I had to guess. Every country has their wealthy people. After we saw that we made our way to the Southern end where there's a big sand dune and tons of Mexicans out on the beach with their trucks and 4-wheelers. We found a spot and set up shop. It's awesome all these people together riding around and spending time with their friends and family. Makes me miss mine. We saw 2 of the boats move to this end while we were hanging out so we figured it must be worse over there. We packed up after a few hours and went back to see. It was rocking really bad so we pulled the anchor up and moved over. That makes 4 anchorings (I may have made that word up) in 3 days. I am so sick of moving the boat and anchoring! We have just not had any luck so far on the mainland side. We moved, it was easy and pretty calm but it is also the spot that all the local power boaters go to play their music and drink. Fine by me, I had plenty of those days doing that and it's a lot of fun, it is just loud and I am getting old. We were right in front of a few beach restaurants so we just dinghied to shore and got a couple drinks and appetizers, if you can't beat them join them right?! It actually turned out to be a great afternoon and I feel like we found our nice beach to end it right.
Mountain and houses Catch 22
Houses on water at Catch 22
People partying on beach
Sunday Funday
Rest and digest
5/4/15
It started up again in the beginning of the night, the wind and waves. We just can't win! I was able to sleep ok but I kept hearing Paul get up and twice Oliver got up for almost an hour and wanted to play and talk to me I tried to ignore him and tell him this is not time to play but I can't sleep if he is awake so it was not a restful night. Paul got up at one point to lower the dinghy (we keep it raised a couple feet off of the water next to the boat to deter people from trying to steal it, if you don't they can just come up and snip your line and drag it off) and then he said he saw a panga out with no lights on the boat so he was worried they were looking for dinghies (they probably were, it was like 3am). It all worked out but it was still rolling this morning so (as usual) we went to the beach.
It blows me away how so many Mexicans trash their beaches. Where everyone had been was littered with trash. I just can't imagine being like I am going to go somewhere and leave my garbage let alone a place like this but they do it all the time. So many of the places we have seen have a lot of trash lying around. Anyways we also saw some people riding horses along the beach but Oliver didn't want to try it. The water is warming up and I haven't seen any jellies here yet so I have been swimming again…stay tuned I am sure they are out there.
Later on we got a good spot on the beach in front of a restaurant we liked and some guys came up to us and said they needed a fourth for bocce ball so I volunteered to play and we won (of course). Then we sat around drinking with them, it was a lot of fun. One of the guys had drank a little too much and was kind of crude but the rest of them were great and one of the guys was the dad of another in the group and he was 93, fully functional, it was awesome to see. So we hung out on the beach with them until dark and went back for bed.
Mexican fisherman
Little river running into a lagoon on the other side, Mexican fisher just to right
5/5/15
We left around noon and were going to go to Martini Cove which is just outside of the San Carlos Cove entrance but as we passed we decided it didn't look that great and we could just dinghy there if we really felt like it. So we anchored outside of the marina around 2pm. It was a nice sail. This place must have some money because the hills coming in are lined with big, beautiful houses overlooking the cove and/or ocean. We took the dinghy in and walked around. We got ice cream at a local convenience store and Oliver tried to play with a 10 year old who was there helping his mom. Oliver always gets so much attention because of his blond hair, they all try to touch it. I try to explain to them as he runs away that he gets that everywhere he goes and is a little tired of it. I keep telling him we can cut it but he says no so what can I do. We saw our friends Jim and Jill in the marina so we went on their boat for a bit and visited with them. They are both so sweet to Oliver and always have a lot of great stories about their travels (they have been everywhere!) They will leave the boat next week to go to Arizona so Jim can renew his visa.
5/6/15
We were all up early so after cleaning up a bit we headed to downtown San Carlos. The bus was less than 50 cents and before we knew it we were there. It is just a street that has stores along the frontage roads. We went into a few but couldn't find any trucks (we owe Oliver a few for his toilet training). One of the women told us we would have to go to Guaymas so that's what we did. The bus ride took about 20 minutes and Oliver mostly sat in the back with this Mexican guy looking out the window. Oliver and I did got some groceries and trucks while Paul ran to the hardware store down the street. We all met back up and after missing the first bus we caught the second which was totally full, mostly with high school aged kids). Oliver managed to get a seat after one stop and by the end we were all sitting. They romp on it so hard and stop so fast I am surprised people aren't hurt more often (like every time they get on a bus). I had to use my arm and leg muscles just to not fall as they started and stopped. Of course the Mexican music was blasting but Oliver still managed to take a little nap.
Oliver on the bus
Sitting in the back with his 'buddy'
5/7/15
The boys went to explore some beaches so I decided to stay behind. They said it was nothing special just rocks so I was glad I didn't miss anything. We found the pool that is included when you use the marina, it is really nice! It is right on the ocean a few blocks away and has a nice shallow pool for Oliver. We stayed their for a few hours then went out for supper. Once Oliver was asleep I went in to talk to a friend on skype and have some margaritas...thank goodness for both!!
5/8/15
We went to the pool again this morning but it was really windy so only Oliver swam.
We needed a rental car to start getting everything of off the boat so Oliver and I took the bus to downtown Guaymas and then the stupid credit card machine wasn't working so we had to sit and wait 40 minutes while she went to a different store to get their machine. It is already dark and all I can think is we are going to be taking the bus or an expensive cab ride home in the dark only to make this trip again tomorrow and that is going to suck so bad. Oliver didn't nap today so he is exhausted I feel bad for him but he had to come because Paul had to take the boat apart to fix a few things with the engine and change the oil. I cannot wait for this to be over I am hoping to be at my grandparents house in a few days.
Pool on the beach, can't beat that
5/9/15
Got the worse news...oh and yes we didn't get the rental and had to take the bus home at like 830pm...argh. Ok worse news they told us initially that we wouldn't be able to haul out in a few days because of the low tide and their wouldn't be enough water to get the trailer under the boat. I was crushed. I had got it all in my head that we were going to get this car and be done in a few days. THANKFULLY we walked to the boatyard and they said it shouldn't be a problem so we are scheduled for our haul-out on this coming Monday, yes 2 days from now. We dinghied back to the boat and got the anchor up to put it in a slip so Paul could clean the bottom and use the fresh water to rinse everything off and do whatever it is he needs to do. Well the wind was up, maybe 15 knots, so we were a little concerned about getting it in with the wind pushing but we shouldn't have been because we had other trouble. We ran aground. Yep, first time on the trip. Paul had mentioned something about the depth sounder but I was like well all these other boats are in here and a lot are bigger than ours so how can it be a problem. We get into the beginning of the marina part, I was up front so I could be ready to jump off and cleat the boat when we got close enough to the dock, and all the sudden I just hear a sound and feel it but I didn't know what it was and Paul goes Oh F we ran aground. I ran back there and see depth of ZERO and am like this can't be happening. We scraped as Paul hit the gas trying not to get stuck for good (neither of us really knew what to do I don't think) and then managed to limp into the slip which we were close to. I have heard sailors always run aground, more than once so I wasn't too worried just hope we didn't damage the bottom right before we are trying to sell it but it's too late now. Just a few minutes after we got the boat in the slip the rental car was delivered so I went to deal with all that.
The rest of the day I spent running around town. First Oliver and I dropped off the laundry because I did not feel like doing it and we had to get all the cushion covers cleaned and they needed professional help...who puts white covers on cushions anyways? Then Paul needed us to go to Guaymas to find this type of fishing line so he can put up 'dummy' halyards so that the rope ones don't deteriorate in the sun while the boat is not in use. Wow, we get to downtown Guaymas and there are people EVERYWHERE. I finally just decided to park the car and walk with Oliver because we weren't getting anywhere. I went into a few stores to ask in my broken Spanish where I could find it (thankfully Paul gave me a small piece to show people) and after walking around for a good hour or more a guy came up to me and said he had seen me walking around and asked if he could help me find something. It was so great. He walked us all over to multiple places looking for the line. At the third store we finally found it and I bought as much as they had because I couldn't remember how much Paul needed and when I called the marina from the store Paul didn't have the VHF on so I had no way to reach him. It all worked out in the end and the guy refused to take any money or let me buy him a drink. You gotta love people like that. So Oliver and I walked back to the car (we found another segundo (thrift store) on the way and headed back to pick up the laundry. It was more than I thought it would be but was still well worth it and the cushions look brand new. We got back and the wind was blowing more than it has on this whole trip-around 30 knots-which is ok but hopefully it won't be doing that when we get the boat hauled out. After that it was all work and no play. I packed up the car a lot and then we went for a little walk before bed. We have the lady who is going to sell it coming tomorrow around 11am to take pictures so we have another really long day ahead of us. I am just so glad it is almost over.
5/10/15
Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there! We woke up early and spent the day cleaning out the boat and getting it ready to be stored. It is basically like moving but with a lot of deconstruction. We had to take down the sails right away this morning just in case the wind came up again and it did, not quite as strong as yesterday but still in the 20s.
It is bittersweet knowing this is our last night. I am ready but then a part of me is always second guessing myself like maybe we should just keep going. It's sad to know this adventure is over...
