Monthly Archives: April 2012

Homecoming Weekend

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When do you reef? In this wind, you reef as you hoist the main.

So we’re back from Mexico, sort of. At least Mike is back, since he had to go to work the following day. I am still hunkered down, still technically on vacation, not being able to face the long, long list of things ‘to do’. I just cannot get back into the groove at all so far. The cell phone is still turned off, I’ve given email only a cursory glance. At least I got the yard mowed. When people complain about how much work it is to be on a boat, I really want them to just move in with me for a week so they can get a little perspective.

The only solution to this kind of ennui: sailing. Yesterday was a pretty much perfect sailing day for PNW waters. I started out the day in the garden, but soon realized I was going to waste a perfectly great Friday afternoon working outside when I could be meeting Mike down at the boat after work. Of course, on Friday afternoon, if I don’t leave the house by 2:30, It’s going to take me an hour to get to the boat due to simply incredible traffic. If you don’t live here, there’s no way to relate. So I packed up the crockpot dinner and a ton of bottled water and beer, put Skippy in the car, and called Mike on the way to the boat.

Me: “Hey, baby! We have strong, steady wind  and no rain.”

Him: “I’ll meet you at the boat in a couple of hours.”

Got to love a man who understands exactly what you’re saying without you having to say it. Around here, if you have steady wind and no rain, that’s all you can really afford to ask of the weather gods, and if you DON’T go out in the boat on a day such as that, you risk bad boat karma for being ungrateful. So we went. Here are some videos for your viewing pleasure.

This Island Packet 40 slowly crept up on us from behind. I didn’t begrudge them since this is such a beautiful boat, it’s bigger than us, and it has more sail power. Just a lovely vessel.

And, because this is a working port, there be tugboats!

El Pacifico

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Pangas on the the beach just south of Todos Santos

On Easter Sunday, Melissa and I drove across the Baja peninsula to the small town of Todos Santos and the nearby pacific beaches. We can now discern with some confidence the dirt roads that actually go somewhere useful and Melissa found a great beach, Punta Lobos,  just south of Todos Santos where the the fishermen launch and land their pangas on the beach.

We enjoyed seeing how the whole family came out to enjoy the fine weather as husbands and fathers were out at sea or working on boats. Other families, like us, were just out to enjoy the beach.

There is a very nice shrine near the beach to remember those who did not return from the sea and to ask the blessings and protection of the Virgin for those who venture out in boats. We have been photographing several of the shrines in the area and will be building a dedicated post for them. This is one of the more beautiful structures we have seen. It is actually like a small chapel with an alter, a large cruxifix, and beautiful artwork depicting the Virgin.

Shrine near the beach near Todos Santos

In addition to enjoying the fine weather, we got to watch and record how the fishermen here land their pangas. Clearly, they have some experience in sizing up the surf so as to be driven as far up shore as possible. The video below captures the landing. After the boat is on the beach. a modified truck is used to haul the boat further up and out of the way, ready for the next landing.

 

Aspiring to be Useless (Wasting Away in Margaritaville)

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Beautiful statue on the malecon in La Paz.

I’m sitting here with my pitcher of marguaritas thinking back over the day and realizing that it’s our third full day here and we already need to buy more tequila and mixer. Man, supplies start running low when you’re spending your days being nothing but useless to anyone. It’s great! If this is what retirement is going to be like, I’m going to be a big fan.

We got some serious lessons in the retired cruising lifestyle yesterday when we finally met up with Steve and Lulu Yoder (http://yodersafloat.wordpress.com/) and Keith and Kay Schardein (www.keithandkayunderway.blogspot.com). We ‘met’ Steve and Lulu via our respective blogs, and Keith and Kay are friends of a friend of mine who put us in touch when we were planning our La Paz trip.  Both couples are down here in La Paz enjoying life on their boats and guess what? They know each other! It is said that the cruising community is small, and I guess that must be right.

Truth be told, these couples saved us from having to drink several extra pitchers of fire-water margaritas due to the extreme stress we’ve been under since we got here. Without a doubt, there is no reason to be here without a boat. We feel literally stranded, land locked, like boats on the hard. The sea beckons, but we can only long for it. We stand on the docks and stare into the water like complete fools. We’ve walked down the malecon and seen all the pretty statues. Meh. We have been in the hot tub and in the pool. Sigh. We’ve gone to some pretty beaches up north of town. Too crowded this weekend anyhow. I’ve hung in the hammock and read my book. Yawn. There will be no dessert hiking in this desert. This is one inhospitable desert.

So you can imagine that it was with profound relief that we stepped into Keith and Kay’s dinghy today for the ride out to their boat, a Westsail 43 anchored almost directly next to the Yoder’s boat, a Westsail 28. Not only did we get to be on the water, we got to see new and exciting boats as well! We could hardly express our delight.

Mike, trying to communicate with the natives.

Mike and I first boarded Kieth and Kay’s Westsail 43, Chamisa, bearing the international currency of cruisers, beer. The wind was up in the harbor, 14 knots or so with a few whitecaps which made us feel almost like we were under sail.  Mike and I were anxious to learn as many of the finer points to retiring to this lifestyle as we could, and both couples were very generous in sharing their knowledge. Cold beer, warm wind, blue water, good conversation. Oh, and big dolphins. Did I mention those? What could be better?

When I think about the harried life we lead back in Tacoma, I am more than a little chagrined. We can go literally months between visits with our neighbors, and it always seems like they have to be arranged. There’s none of this ‘hanging out’ that seems to just happen naturally in the cruising community. We’re so busy being useful back home, we have no time to simply ‘be’ with others. Sure, we’re on vacation now, but our new friends are not on vacation. They live this way. After lives of complete and utter usefulness in the workplace and at home, after raising families, owning homes, and all of the other useful things people do, they have aspired to uselessness. I hope we are not far behind.

Knowing Steve’s penchant for good food, we followed him to this restaurant and it didn’t let us down. Fabulous burgers!