Friday, 27 May 2016

To Guaymas to haul Kialoa


We departed from Punta Chivato at 3pm on April 15th, the weather was fine for the 70 nautical mile overnight crossing from the Baja to mainland Mexico.  Since we only average around 4-5 nautical miles per hour our expected crossing time is minimum 14 hours with a dawn arrival in Guaymas.
It was mainly a motor across, I did try some sailing as we left Punta Chivato, but when boat speed was reaching 1.2 nm per hour the crew got restless and the motor was started!  I guess two and half days to get to Guaymas is a little long!  We had a nice uneventful night and were greeted with a lovely sunrise and a fresh breeze as we approached the mainland coast.  Sails went up and we had a delightful broad reach sail for the last two hours of the trip.  The dolphin greeting committee just outside of Guaymas harbour was icing on the very lovely cake!
Once we arrived in Guaymas it was time to get to work.  Decommissioning the boat for 6 months of storage is a lot of work.  All the canvas and running rigging must be washed, dried and put away.  Anything that might have gotten salty needs cleaning.....you can not imagine how many things might get salty on a boat......Food needs clearing out, cupboards cleaned, clothes sorted, teak oiled, engine serviced and the list goes on.
We were soon joined by our friends on Searover II and Greybeard who had also decided to make a switch from the dirt yard where we all hauled out last summer to the government run Fonatur yard in Guaymas.  The pricing was equivalent, charged in Pesos not USD, and the Fonatur has a cement yard. It is also close to downtown Guaymas and all the wonderful street food as well as many hardware and marine supply stores.  It is common practice in the marina industry in Mexico to bill in USD.  Works for the Americans but can be less wonderful for us Canadians when conversion rates are not so favorable.

One other reason we liked the Fonatur, it had a pool!  We had lots of  happy hour
get togethers after a hard day of boat work, cooling off and relaxing with the
crews of Searover II and Greybeard.  What a special treat!

This guy was out fishing all the time on his homemade craft.
His paddle was a couple of bucket lids nailed to a board.
Hard work! I think the fender tied to the side is for a little
extra stability.






















Guaymas has some beautiful old stately buildings, in need of repairs.  This one
is for sale if you are interested in restoration work!
Where have all the Woolworths gone?  Apparantly to Mexico!






















Kialoa being parked in her spot.

On the morning of April 26th we said goodbye and piled into the car, along with Karina from Searover II, and departed Guaymas.  We dropped Karina off at the airport in Hermosillo in a reverse of our trip down and proceded to Phoenix Arizona.

Tuesday, 24 May 2016

More fun

As I write this, I am sitting at my computer in BC, with the heater right beside me, wool socks and a sweater on.  Hmmmmmm, it is May.  So we have come on home, but due to irregular internet connections on the Baja coast I am kind of behind on the blog.
Anyways here are some pictures from March and April, I hope they make you all feel warmer!
Isla Coronados, we reconnected with one of the boats that
were a part of our Umbrella Dumpers group coming down
the pacific coast.  We had not seen the folks from Adagio since
San Jose del Cabo two years ago!




















Did some hiking
Were entertained by rays in the hundreds

















Spotted a lizard

Added our shell to the cruisers shrine at San Jaunico
















Had a 70th birthday celebration!  Happy Bday Mark!

Played bocce ball on the beach





















Enjoyed the views



Saw a whale shark!  It was just a little one!


Went geocaching with new friends Jim and Mary














Bill found it first!

Jim and Mary hosted all us cruisers for dinners and campfires
with enough chairs tucked away in their RV for all.






















Saw  a few shells at Punta Chivato.


Next stop is Guaymas, where we prepare the the boat for hauling and storage.

Friday, 6 May 2016

Agua Verde to Bahia Candeleros

There was a forecast for a bit of blow coming so we headed for Agua Verde, one of our favourite places, along with Greybeard, to shelter from the storm.  Searover II continued on further north to explore another anchorage.
We arrived early in the day and got settled in.  There were three other boats there as well, one of them Adios, another BCA member boat.
During the night we had strong winds that clocked around from nearly every direction!  It was a good thing that there were not too many boats in this small anchorage, as it was there was some unexpected boat movement in the night however once that one got reanchored all was well and we just had to put up with a lot of noise!  Being on a boat in a strong wind is very noisy and does make sleeping difficult even when you are not worried about dragging your anchor!
Once that event was over we had a week to enjoy the area, hiking, snorkeling and kayaking were all on the agenda.

Not too many green fields for these guys
















The cemetary has been a little neglected and things are
falling apart.



A little oasis in the midst of desert
















Ancient hand prints in a cave, Agua Verde has been populated
for a long time


Kayaking and snorkeling was awesome














The anchorage filled up after the wind passed


Outside the tienda in Agua Verde, we chatted with a couple
of guys that came in the 40 km dirt road on their cruising bikes.

We had a weather forecast for light winds that would last for days so we decided to leave Agua Verde and check out some new anchorages.  We headed to the north end of Monseratt because with the predicted winds we had a chance to check out some of the normally impossible to be at places.
A blue whale sighting in the flat calm water was quickly followed by a huge dolphin pod that passed nearby.  Such an exciting day!  The anchorage at Monseratt was still kind of rolly so we decided not to stay the night there and headed to Candeleros.  This bay is open to the north so normally is not a good place to be however the big sandy beach has always looked appealing.  There is a large all inclusive resort in the bay.


A beautiful resort sunset








The resort lobby

The resorts signature golf hole
















And the requesite evening entertainment!
We thoroughly enjoyed our stay at Bahia Candeleros, we got visitor passes to the resort and were able to avail ourselves to the first class facilities there.  We were joined by Searover II after a few days and celebrated Scotts birthday on the beach and later had a lovely dinner at the resort restaurant. 
Mexico can provide some very stark contrasts, in Agua Verde they have to truck in ice over 40 km of dirt road to keep the food cold at the tienda, and a very short distance away we are sipping icy margaritas poolside.

Tuesday, 3 May 2016

Meeting up with friends

Bill from Greybeard and Gary & Karina of Searover II




In early March our friends on Searover II and Greybeard caught up with us at Isla San Fransisco.  They had been enjoying La Paz and the nearby islands for January and February.
Exploring the mangroves at Amortajada
We then all started the slow, usually into the winds, trip north.  The goal was to be in the Loreto area in time for both the other boats to pick up guests and also we were all starting the journey back to Guaymas in order to store the boats for the summer.  It is not all that far but giving ourselves lots of time ensures that the trip is fun!

Kialoa in the early morning light.

















More cool rocks












Beautiful crabs!  :)
An early morning departure for Searover II heading north



Sunday, 1 May 2016

It's a wonderful life



After our break from boat life in Loreto it was back to Kialoa.  We had no real solid plans so we ended up wandering for the next month.  We slowly headed back south and spent time in places we had missed on our push to get north.  It was a wonderful time of revisiting favorites and exploring new places at a lovely relaxed pace.

It is always such a thrill to have a visit from dolphins!  Each time they come
to play with the boat is just as exciting as the first time they did.  Here we are
motoring, as you can see there is no wind.......

At Punta San Telmo we enjoyed the beautiful rock formations
At Balandra we explored a huge sea cave



And on Isla San Jose I went hiking with some lovely people!
This is Barb and Bjarne of Hoku Pa'a.



















I made a new friend!



Scott and I went hiking on Isla San Fransisco.  It is another
spectacular spot.

And from further up with Dennis of Ultegra