November 2015 to April 2016
Well, it’s now April 2016, Deb is officially on Medicare, we’re
still in Mexico (Mazatlan currently), and the Brainwaves blog is coming out of
dormancy. Yes, yes, I am the lamest blogger ever. So, I’m going to play catch
up by giving a synopsis of the last few months of our life on or near the
waters of Mexico.
After leaving charming San Jose del Cabo (only a few miles
from Cabo San Lucas, but light years away from that obnoxious place), in
mid-November, we crossed after 2 nights of nice sailing to Punta de Mita,
anchored there overnight, and then headed into Bahia Banderas and Nuevo
Vallarta. Deb flew out of there to San Antonio for the wedding of her
much-loved nephew Brian to the lovely Laura. Great to see so many friends and
family, but ready to get back to Brainwaves. We tired quickly of the resort
atmosphere of Paradise Village Marina, longing for more Mexican culture and
food. A short sail took us to Marina Riviera Nayarit in La Cruz de Huanacaxtle,
our new fave place on the west coast of Mexico. The marina is situated right in
this wonderful little town, much interplay with the locals. It is an amazingly
friendly place, with lots of great eateries (and drinkeries), a fantastic fish
market every day, a terrific market
every Sunday, and an astonishing number of music venues. Music every night,
ranging from Mexican folk to country to blues to rock and roll. All within an
easy walk of the boat. Even after 4 months there, we were still finding new (to
us) great places to eat or listen to music. The cruising community there is very very
social, there are lots of boat-schooled kids to keep things hopping, and the
marina puts on so many talks, movies, bbqs, and parties that we were rapidly
sucked into that place and ended up staying in that area until March. Jimbo did
lots of beer can races on other boats and on Brainwaves. We also did the 3-day
Banderas Bay Blast, which was—well—a blast, although racing your home is a bit
like racing a Winnebago. There were many many Ha Ha folks in and out of there,
plus fun year-rounders, and locals. Lots of opportunities to get to know a lot
of terrific folks. Got to hear Eugenie Russell tell the story of the sinking of
her J boat during a previous Ha Ha when a whale’s tail took out her rudder
post. Also heard Dani’s story of crewing on a Pac Cup with a blind captain,
then having to abandon the boat to a reef (with the blind captain in tow) in
Hawai’i. So many stories from so many adventurers--- And so many connections to
so many folks (many from Colorado.)
And speaking of Coloradans, we had a fun day successfully
flying the repaired spinnaker of s/v Honu, a very comfy Island Packet, with
Mike and Judy, originally from Grand Junction. Judy is my hero as she makes her
OWN tonic concentrate and then just adds it to sparkling water (and gin, of
course.) It is muy deliciosa and especially welcome in a country that sells
only tonic sweetened with nasty nasty sucralose.
Bob, Kristen, Tyler and Riley came out for 9 days after
Christmas. There was sailing, fishing, swimming, snorkeling, horseback riding
with Riley, pickup soccer on the beach, and a little racing. Bob, Kristen,
Tyler and Jim did a beer can race, and there were whales in the race course. Luckily
they stayed out of the way so the crew didn’t have to diverge from the lay line,
anathema to those competitive Brainard boys. One of the highlights for Tyler
was going out with a group of kids, the oldest 12, to buy fireworks without any
adults along. Yep, this is Mexico. The adults DID participate in the actual lighting
of the explosives. Anyway, it was sooooo wonderful to have them aboard again---
While we did some a lot of dolphins and humpbacks early in
the winter, the el Nino-induced record warm water, 2 degrees warmer than
already warm water, drove those playful mammals farther north. It also changed
the fishing profile for Banderas Bay, driving the big game fish farther north
(as in California.) The warm waters did make for some nice swimming off the
beach by the marina.
Another gorgeous day on Banderas Bay with Baja Besties Grant
and David s/v Jean Butler
In early February, we ventured out of Banderas Bay, made a
left at Cabo Corrientes, and sailed down to Bahia Chamela and the anchorage at
Perula. Though our plans were not set, we arrived within 5 minutes of our Baja
Besties, David and Grant of s/v Jean Butler. We headed out to a tiny anchorage
between 2 uninhabited islands where we anchored in gorgeous blue water where we
could see features on the bottom in 30
feet of water. YES, PLEASE. Really fine snorkeling with all the usual reef
critters, and a fun sundowner party
stuffed onto a small dinghy with Grand, David, and lots of snacks and bebidas.
Aaah, I’ll take more of that.
The one ugly snag in an otherwise fine few months in La Cruz
was Deb’s bout with a recalcitrant intestinal troll. Antibiotics did not work.
Next was a trip to the doctor who proclaimed the bad guy was protozoal, but
anti-worm meds did not work. Sooo, Deb found a doc who specialized in such
issues and had worked with WHO on problematic parasites, did the full spate of
tests, and found, as he suspected, that the annoying beastie was Homocystis
hominis, which is in the algae family, is very tiny (i.e., goes through many
filters), and spends much of its complex life cycle in a bomb-proof cyst form.
UGH! The treatment was 3 weeks of some nastiness—iodine compound 3 times a day and
powerful anti-parasite meds, plus lots
of probiotics to build the good guys back up. It was yucky but I could function
just fine, and it cured me of that nasty beastie. The worst part was no margaritas for a month
(not from the tequila, but from the limes and the acid environment they
produce.)
The boat troubles haven’t been too bad, considering that
Brainwaves is, well, a boat. The biggest pain in the butt was diagnosing and
fixing the wind speed indicator, which had been a chronic problem for months,
with the attendant trips up the mast. Done.
Fixing the propane-powered outboard required a mule to bring parts from
the US. Done. There was a scare from a rust-encrusted fitting at the top of the
forestay, which is definitely not a part that you want to fail, which turned
out to be cosmetic only, but required taking down the forestay to diagnose and
remedy. Otherwise, it’s the usual body contortions to fix problems in tight,
inconvenient spaces.
A too-short trip to CO at the end of February took us home to
play with the neighbors and other friends, check out the enormous ponderosa the
blew down onto the driveway (the driveway- blocking top of the tree and several
huge branches that got knocked off other trees were dispatched by our super
neighbors; the rest of the tree will
require the services of a pro this summer), and ski at Eldora with Kristen,
Riley, and the friends they were visiting in CO. And then there’s the life
administration stuff—Deb signing up for Medicare, taxes, mail, Christmas cards
to read. It was great to be home—dishwasher, counter space, a stationary bed,
snow, refrigeration! We are loving the cruising life, but do miss the mountains
and the wonderful folks there.
In March, we said hasta la vista to friends doing the
Pacific Puddle Jump (many thousands of miles of ocean from La Cruz to the South
Seas.) It was hard for them to find a good time to leave as El Nino has played
such havoc with the weather, and the trades had been so far west that it was
going to take a lot of fuel (needed to get across the doldrums) to get to the
wind. Maybe the new normal.
Despite only being in La Cruz for a few months, it was
incredibly hard to say goodbye to that ultra-friendly and accommodating place
and the marvelous folks there. However, near the end of March, we had a
relatively good weather window and so headed out of Bahia Banderas, moving
north on a VERY nice reach to Chacala, a small, beautiful bay, normally a
sleepy little place. However, it was Semana Santa, when all of Mexico goes on
spring break, so this village was inundated with thousands of people living out
of hundreds of tents. Three bands, all of which we heard very clearly, played
on the beach from afternoon until almost sunrise. We only stayed overnight, but hope to return
next season at a less noisy, crowded time. Our next stop after another
exhilarating reach was Matanchen Bay, home to hundreds of ultra-cute bat rays
and billions of jejenes (no see ums.) While we were prepared with netting and
various bug sprays, we still ended up with hundreds of itchy, slow-healing bites. A few of the nasty critters managed to
stowaway and get a ride far from home to Mazatlan so they could continue to
enjoy their meals at our expense. The locals in San Blas burn coconut husks to
smoke them away, but that would probably not work too well on a sailboat.
BEER. Hopless beer. Getting used to it. Occasionally find a
craft beer with hop tastiness. Colimita makes a good pale ale. Just ask for
pah-lay ah-lay---
Matanchen Bay to Mazatlan went from a very nice reach to a
beat, and just about doubled the distance we had to travel. We got in just
after dark to Mazatlan’s VERY VERY narrow harbor entrance with a big swell
running, so we stood off for almost 10 hours until sunrise to go in. As it was,
we surfed a big wave at the entrance, with waves breaking on the sea wall a few
yards away, then just scooted past the dredge that takes up half the already
narrow channel. Good thing we stood off all night. We’re at El Cid Marina, part
of a big resort, and so have access to pools, bars, nice showers. It’s not very pretentious,
and there are good eateries within walking distance. We bought shrimp from the
shrimp ladies of Mazatlan, quite an experience there, an entire street with
giant vats of icy water and shrimp. You can take your purchase to one of the
eateries nearby, and they’ll prepare them for you—diablo yumminess. Also took
in the Mercado Municipal, an enormous building housing vendors of an
astonishing variety of stuff. There are whole pig heads, entire cows being cut
up, every chicken part imaginable (or unimaginable), and the most delicious
roasted coconut confections on earth. The first few days here had the city
hosting the annual motorcycle rally—50,000 motos and 4-wheelers, noisy but fun.
Lots of friends have come into Mazatlan, especially happy to
play with David and Grant from Jean Butler, Helen and Tom and sweet Daisy from Catatude,
Steve and Lynn from Bella Luna, John and
Donna and little Lucy from Carmanah, the Wild Rumpus family and new friends,
too. We’re looking at a weather window to cross to La Paz, about 250 miles,
probably tomorrow 4/8, buddy boating with s/v Jean Butler. Tonight is a
birthday celebration at Deb’s fave restaurant Topolo (so lovely, so delicious,
and killer tamarind margaritas) with good friends because we’ll be somewhere
between Mazatlan and La Paz on her 65th.
