Leg 2 - Ensenada to Puerto Vallarta
On Friday, October 24, 2003, The Abstons loaded up the car and left Fresno, their families and friends for the next 10 weeks. They drove straight through to Ensenada, and began storing their clothes and other personal items. Nick was most interested in getting his Game Cube up and running, while Katherine just wanted a quite place to read. Saturday was spent cleaning the boat, and finding a spot for all their supplies. We went into town, and shopped for hats, a knife, and just plain window shopped. Leslie found a street painter whom she gave a picture of our sailboat, and he painted it on a plate that he had already painted of the marina and the ocean coastline, all for only $10! We had dinner on the sidewalk at restaurant named Puerto Viejo, right on the main drag, and enjoyed the passing tourists and locals.
Sunday found us in San Diego, attending a cruisers meeting and party, and getting some more provisions. There were a number of fires that had been burning recently in San Diego, and the falling ash and smoke made it difficult to be outside for long. We drove back to Ensenada as soon as we could, only to find that there were a few fires in the hills there as well. We were happy to leave on Monday to get to sea and clean air.
After the marina personnel got our tourist visas from Immigration, and other exit paperwork from Customs and the Port Captain, we left harbor at 1545. There was very little wind, and we motored most of the night, during which we were visited by dozens of dolphins, and a few sea lions. We take 2-hour shifts in sailing the boat while the others pursue school, relaxation, boat maintenance, or sleep. During the next few days there was little wind, and despite the uncertainty of being able to get diesel in Bahia De Tortugas, we motored the majority of the 3 days.
The kids are having a little trouble acclimating to school life on the boat - they want to play instead, like it is a weekend. But Leslie is a great tutor, as she spends a couple of hours each day preparing for the next day's lessons, and holds the kid's attention with interesting presentations. They appear to be getting accustomed to Leslie's relentless pursuit of education - we are all lucky to have her be so dedicated.
We sighted whales, lots of dolphins, and sea lions even though we were up to 35 miles offshore. During a night shift, Nick sailed (motored) into a clump of seaweed, which clogged the propeller. Steve got up, and finally cleared the prop and backed us away The starter on the diesel wouldn't work, so we had to jump the solenoid for a couple of days each time we wanted to start it. So, there are various ups and downs with everything, even a sailing adventure.
Bahia Tortugas
On Thursday, October 30, we sailed into Bahia Tortugas (Turtle Bay), and dropped anchor. After gathering up our things, we were anxious to go ashore and see this small village. We went to a restaurant where all the other cruisers were meeting, and we got a table and ordered dinner. The waitress indicated that the wait would be 1 or 2 hours before we got our food, and we said 'okay'. But after 2 hours we asked how much longer, and was told 45 minutes. After 45 more minutes, we were famished, and told the waitress we could wait no longer, and went back to the boat for food! We played board games, and had our first uninterrupted night of sleep. On Friday the Ha-Ha Fleet had a potluck party on the beach, with lots of music and good boogie boarding waves. We had an exciting time getting our dinghy out through the waves and were soaked but happy when we returned to Wabi Sabi.
The Beach Potluck at Turtle Bay
Steve's Halloween Costume
On Saturday, November 1, we weighed anchor and set sail for Bahia Santa Maria, about 270 miles to the south. The wind was great, and we were able to make about 6 knots the entire way. During the first day, both of the kids got a little seasick playing with their Game Cube, so that curtailed that! The end broke off our spinnaker pole, so we had to jury rig an end so we could sail 'wing and wing'. At night, the seas became confused and the wind diminished, so we motored the last hour of the day.
Leslie at the helm
Steve's Catch of the Day
On November 2, the wind resumed in the very early AM, and we had another day of great sailing. Nick was again sick in the morning, and slept it off all afternoon. Unfortunately, this puts him behind in his classwork. We found that our electrical demand is too great for us to survive on our solar panels alone - the last two days of great sailing have left us with little engine time to charge the batteries. Our autopilot, watermaker, inverter, refrigerator/freezer, radar, as well as the various lights and other navigational equipment, must be monitored more closely. The day ended with steady winds from the north at 20 knots, and with 10' seas.
The morning of November 3 started off fine, but quickly got dicey. We crossed the finish line of the second leg of the rally at about 0500, and turned into the wind to lower our mainsail. We had previously furled our genoa during the night, as we were making over 8 knots in seas approaching 15', and winds gusting to 30. With Leslie at the helm, Steve went on deck to lower and secure the main, when the pounding up and down of the seas, that we were now driving directly into, was too much for Leslie's nerves. Seeing Steve flying in the air as the boat fell 15' out from beneath him as they crashed through the waves, left her giving up the helm and running below as soon as Steve was finished. There, she found that the boat was taking on water, and lots of it. She began bailing into 5 gallon buckets as the water flooded the two aft staterooms. The kids soon succumbed to seasickness as the sun finally began to rise. Steve motored into Bahia Santa Maria in the early morning, the diesel engine running at maximum just to make 2 knots into the 30+ knot winds on the nose. All the while, the stern of the boat listed about 1 foot, making it feel like we were soon to sink. Water began running down the hallways, and Katherine was called into duty manning the bilge pumps. As they finally made anchor at 0740, it appeared the worst was over, as the water was no longer rising. Steve activated the electric pumps, and within the next few hours pumped out about 500 gallons of water. The source was determined to be the shower compartment on the stern swim platform - it did not have a waterproof cover, and each following wave put a quart of water into the stern compartments. So, the next two days were spent getting saltwater out of our mattresses and other items, and drying the stuff on deck.
Nicholas at the helm
School's in session
Bahia Santa Maria
What a special little fishing village! We anchored there November 3rd and 4th along with about 100 other boats on the Baja Ha-Ha Rally. Most of the year there is no one in this beautiful bay other than the fishermen and their families, so things change a lot each year when the Ha-Ha fleet arrives. They arranged a party for us, on a little hill overlooking the beach, complete with lobster and live band. (Ok, how happy was I (Leslie) they played Santana, Bob Marley, Lynard Skynard, and more except no Jerry Garcia but oh well, you can't have everything. Even played "Play That Funky Music, White Boy" or whatever that song is called, a little weird considering they were basically the only non-white boys there.)
After the party we took the dinghy up the river along with new friends J and Jenny. The river is surrounded by mangroves which were beautiful, and every so often there was a clearing in the mangroves. In each clearing was a little cluster of 8 or so little shacks. One clearing had what looked like a store and also a mini-church which was probably a shrine of sorts. They use pangas (boats) for transportation and obviously eat a lot of fish and lobster. Looking at the little kids running around happily, we couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to grow up in a place like that.
On November 5, we set sail at 0600 on our way to Cabo San Lucas, about 170 miles to the south. The wind was light, and the seas were choppy. The kids got a little sick, but they were better by about 1000. Homework resumed as usual. Katherine seems to be acclimating well to the new classroom, but Nicholas is still fighting the bit. Towards late evening, the wind filled in well, and we sailed at 6 knots. The night was eventless (a nice break), but at 0600 the wind diminished, and we motorsailed the remainder of the day. We could have sailed more, but we were anxious to get to Cabo by the end of the day, and needed to make 6 knots consistently to achieve that. Nick became increasingly difficult to teach, and Leslie quit (hopefully only temporarily) being his teacher. We arrived, on schedule and under budget, at Cabo San Lucas at 1630, and anchored about 250 feet from the beach.
Sailing around Cabo (Cape) San Lucas
Katherine's favorite place (the front of the boat)
Cabo San Lucas
That first evening, we went ashore and got some gas for the dinghy outboard, and had dinner at McDonalds (as there are no Taco Bell's in Mexico). The anchorage at Cabo is quite rolly and uncomfortable, as the boat traffic in and out of the harbor really stir up the water. But the marina costs were $45 per day, and we would rather spend our money on other things
On the morning of the 7th, Steve awoke and went to see an agent for checking us in and out of Cabo with the Port Captain, Customs, and Immigration, which ended up costing $118! We got diesel at the fuel dock using our dinghy and plastic jugs, because it is less challenging than to get our boat in and out of the busy marina unscathed. We went to an internet cafe and checked our email, and then met up with the other Ha-Ha people at a beach restaurant for food, beers, and swimming. That evening, Steve's parents Fran & Ed flew in, and met them at the dinghy dock for a ride to the boat. Upon arrival, it was discovered that another boat had anchored too close to us, and Steve went aboard their boat to let our some more anchor line. When the owner (cool braid-haired Mark from Vinden) returned, it was discussed and agreed that they relocate, lest we bump in the night.
The next morning, we somehow had run out of water, when only the day before we had 70 gallons. So, we got our jugs out, and made a few trips into the fuel dock to get water (making water uses a lot of electricity, and we like to only run the engine while underway, not at anchor). Leslie spent about 3 hours doing 2 weeks worth of our laundry, and Steve uploaded the updated web pages, and forwarded email to the kid's sponsor teacher, Thomas Sabatino of Tenaya Middle School and galaxies far away. Steve also got some boat supplies and fishing gear, and met his folks for lunch. After a trip to a local grocery store for some perishables, Katherine got her hair braided by a local woman. (It cost $35 and took 1 1/2 hours, but it looks great and now she won't have to spend so much time trying to take care of it). Leslie really enjoyed talking with the mom of the girl who did the braiding, and later gave a box of clothing donated by West Marine to the family. Later we went to the final Baja Ha-ha event - the awards presentation. Although we did not win because of our sailing speed and prowess, we did win the 'Most Surf Aboard' because of our flooding at Bahia Santa Maria, where we easily took 350 gallons more water on board than any of the other 6 boats vying for the award. They all had little "water splashed through my porthole" kinds of stories. Although Steve's folks were planning to take us to dinner after the awards, the awards didn't get done until nearly 2100, so we decided to wait until we got to the mainland. All in all, we didn't really like Cabo all that much - it was so commercialized that it was difficult to just sit back and relax. Every time we tried to relax, someone would try and sell us gum, jewelry, t-shirts, temporary tattoos, flutes, and all kind of other crap that we really didn't want. While at the beach party, we probably said "no" to 40 people peddling this junk, so it got on our nerves.
On November 9, we left the anchorage, and began sailing on to the mainland. But when we cast off, we hadn't decided where to go. Ultimately, we decided against going to Mazatlan (for no particular reason) and headed for Punta Mita, which is northwest of Puerto Vallarta. We sailed and motored for two nights, getting there the morning of the 11th. Punta Mita is a small anchorage off a small village of maybe 100 people - a nice change from Cabo. Our waiter at the beachside restaurant (Manuel) was very proud that he had been in an L.A. paper as the waiter who served the Max Factor heir who has been in the news for bad reasons - he showed us the paper and his picture. (Thank you Manuel for complimenting me (Leslie) on my Spanish!). It was so hot & humid (90/85), that we stayed under the shelter of the restaurant all afternoon until the sun began to set. It's kind of hot on the boat.
Steve & Katherine, Leslie & Nicholas at a beach restaurant in Punta Mita
La Cruz de Huanacaxtle
On November 12th we went ten miles east to La Cruz de Huanacaxtle, which is about 15 miles northwest of Puerto Vallarta. This is a larger town of about 1,000 people, but still small and not touristy. Check-in & out was pretty easy, as there is only a port captain, no customs or immigration. The 'Capitan' is nice and speaks a little English, so the process only took about a half hour each time. The people are very nice and are accustomed to having the gringo yateros at this time of year. There have been no vendors here trying to get us to buy mass-manufactured "local art." Each day there have been 3-8 boats in the anchorage. The panga dudes sell us fresh fish which they actually catch right next to our boat. They use Hammerhead shark heads or something like that to mark their lobster traps...a form of recycling, I guess. We have gone into Puerto Vallarta a couple times on the cheap and easy-to-catch bus, but that isn't the atmosphere that we are looking for.. It's so hot & humid, it's hard to do anything in the afternoon but sit in the shade, hopefully near some breeze.
We have been exploring the town, and have spent a lot of time in Philo's, a cruiser hangout that has a bar, restaurant, showers, internet, pool (both kinds), and an open environment that is friendly enough for our kids to do their schoolwork there. They have bands that play at night, and serve a pretty good barbecue dinner for 65 pesos ($6.00). A local construction crew dug 15' deep by 10' wide holes in various locations in the street - I think they were planning on making some sewer tie-ins - but since they do not use barricades, a pickup drove into a hole last night, and was a total loss.
On the 14th, Steve got the bicycle off the boat, and rigged a couple of folding carts to make a trailer, and put diesel tanks on it to take a couple of miles to the local gas station. Upon arrival, he discovered the station was not yet open for business, and the next station was about 5 miles away. Well, the trailer wasn't really made for cross country travel, so Steve hired a local to take the jugs in his truck. We went to Bucerias, a medium-sized town about 10 miles southeast, bought a couple of ammeters for the boat, and books from "Gringos Books and Coffee." Parts of this town were really nice - it's too bad they don't have an anchorage for us to stay at. Steve, Nick, Ed and Fran went to a pawn shop, but found little to speak of - not of the caliber of American pawn shops. (FYI from Leslie - Steve and Nick are very serious about this pawn shop stuff. Trips to pawn shops in unusual towns have been the highlights of our vacations for them.) That night, we barbequed fish on the boat, and read some '5 Minute Mysteries' before calling it a night.
Taking the bus to Puerto Vallarta
Dinner at Philo's in La Cruz de Huanacaxtle
On the 15th, Leslie, Nick & Katie took the bus to a city north of Banderas Bay that is called Sayulita. It is a beautiful little town that just pops out of the jungle unannounced, with a white sandy beach and great surf. Ed & Fran went to Puerto Vallarta, and Steve sailed offshore to dump the holding tanks and check the charging system. He found the battery isolator worked intermittently, only allowing charging to occur about 1/3 of the time - and went to PV to get a new one. After installing it, it was defective also. Also, the starter solenoid is not always activating the motor, but we think we can fix that with a quick overhaul. We are all getting used to shopping at the tiendas that are so numerous here. You have to pick up a little bit here and a little bit there, and you never really know what you will find.
Grandma & Grandpa have been having a fairly good time, but I think they expected more of a vacation atmosphere, rather than one where school takes up almost half the day, and we spend a lot of time taking care of the boat and keeping our provisions up. It takes a long time to do anything when you don't have a car, and most places don't have what you want. They ask "What are we going to do today?", and the answers are the kind that you would give any relative visiting you in Fresno for a week while your kids are going to school and you are going to work. The heat is also much greater than they expected and can deal with - they spend a lot of time looking for shade.
Grandma & Grandpa (Ed & Fran Regier)
How we get ashore, but sometimes waves get us!
On November 16th, Steve installed the new battery isolator, but it was defective. Ed & Fran packed-up, and we all went to Philo's where they were having a benefit brunch to raise fund to clean up the town. While there we updated the web page and checked our email. Everyone caught the bus into Puerto Vallarta where Ed & Fran will spend the next two days, staying at the NH Krystal Hotel until their plane leaves. Steve exchanged the isolator, and the kids played in the hotel pool. Steve & Leslie walked a couple of miles to and from Wal-Mart to pick up mostly food. (Worth the walk when you are having Wal-Mart withdrawal symptoms.) Ed & Fran treated us to a nice dinner at Las Velas, a restaurant at their hotel, which is on the beach & beautiful. It was very nice to have them with us, just too bad it was so hot and humid while they were here. It's hard to think that we won't see anyone we know for the next 7 weeks, and it was nice having family around to share at least a part of our adventure. After saying goodbye, we bussed back to the boat, and Steve burned the midnight oil installing the new isolator.
On the 17th, we set sail for Bahia de Tenacatita, ending the 2nd leg of our adventure.