May 23rd – Marina El Cid, Mazatlan – Jim’s Blog #46

We dusted the bird shit from our sandals and made tracks from Isla Isabela just after the last blog. The first thing we did was get out of the wind blowing off the island, turn all the fans on in the boat, and expunge all birdlike aromas from the environment. We had a great day of sailing with the wind just off our nose, making 5 knots to the northwest in 10 knots of wind on a fairly calm sea. The difficult passages usually result when the wind has been blowing awhile and the swells have kicked up to 4-6’ in size and we are forced to plow through them. Every time the boat dips over a swell and into the next one, there is spray blown over the bow of the boat and the boat shudders a bit as it recovers from the impact to the wave. In this case we had very small swells; so the sailing was very enjoyable.

We had to sail overnight and were contacted by another sailboat, Harmony, close behind us with Virginia and Robert onboard. We had a bit of discussion in the wee hours of the night or morning with “Ginn” and learned that they were coming north from Ecuador to Mazatlan, and then on to San Carlos to put up their boat for a 6-month visit to the U.S. During the night they passed us, since we were reefed down to a staysail and a very short mainsail for safety at night. We were also planning to arrive after dawn and just about the time the marina would be open. We ended up tying up at the fuel dock at Marina El Cid at about 8AM and waiting until 9AM when the marina and the fuel dock opened for business. There was the sailing vessel, Harmony, at the dock, waiting since 7AM for the fuel dock to open. We had a chance to meet Rob and Ginn and talk a bit before we both got fueled, at which point they sailed off the same day for San Carlos, a two-day trip farther north from Mazatlan.

We welcomed the opportunity to rest a few days at Marina El Cid, with access to several swimming pools, bars (with seats in the swimming pool), fresh water, electricity, and cable TV once again. We’ve been busy while we’ve been here, cleaning up the boat, servicing the winches, and relaxing – yes, it takes effort to relax when you’ve been involved in raising a family for 30+ years and still haven’t got the hang of the leisure life. One could argue that it’s not possible to appreciate relaxation unless you have experienced the opposite – similar to the philosophical thought that one can’t appreciate “good” if there is no “evil” to compare it to. In that respect we certainly appreciate the relaxation we have, although we both can’t sit very long without thinking of something that needs fixing or cleaning.

As part of the cleaning process this week we washed the boat, cleaned all the windows (called port lights on the side of the cabin and hatches on the top), cleaned out the bilge, and did a gigantic load of wash. We also got out to Wal-Mart and purchased a replacement for our widescreen TV that was acting up. We now have a 20” screen instead of the old 15” screen, and are enjoying the movies and news for a short time yet. We will be playing our movies on the new screen, so it will be of value even without the cable hookup.

We also spent three afternoons breaking down our seven winches (two on the first day, two large ones on the second day, and three smaller ones on the third day), cleaning them thoroughly, greasing them up again, and putting them back together without having extra pieces left over. The winches are supposed to be cleaned and serviced every couple of years, and it looked as if ours had never been serviced in the 11 years they’ve been in use. We had to use tools to scrape off the old dried grease, tooth by tooth on the main gear, and each of two nested sets of gears, in each winch. We did this using a pan of diesel fuel to wash off all the parts, and then we greased everything up by hand. We worked in the cockpit with the gears and bearings set out in the order in which we removed them, and used steel brushes, tooth brushes, screwdrivers, rags and paper towels to clean everything up.

We both detest rubber gloves; so we had to live with diesel-smelling hands for a couple of days, although we washed and showered after each day of work. The winches took about two hours apiece to complete, and we timed the work each day to start at 4PM in the afternoon to take advantage of the bimini shades on the boat and the cooling breezes. The mornings would have been cooler, but the slant of the sun under the bimini would have made it a lot warmer. That also allowed us to shower and relax at dinner. It certainly feels good to have the winches serviced, and we are both impressed with the precise machining of the parts that we’ve been working on.

We have also taken some time to relax at one of the swimming pools most days, although our experience a couple of days ago was unique. I went out early to find a place to relax, but was unable to find chaise lounges in the shade immediately around the pool. Then I noticed some lounges in the grass under a set of trees and grabbed two of them. A little while later Sheilagh came tripping over the grass toward me and suddenly stopped short, startled and shuddering. Then I noticed that there were some five very ugly 3’ long iguanas stationed on the grass around the lounges I had selected, and there was no way Sheilagh was going to run that gauntlet. I drove them off using a couple of sandals smacked together, and they stayed away long enough for Sheilagh to get settled. After that they stayed about five feet away and dozed in the sun. Of course, Sheilagh kept checking under her chaise lounge to make sure that none of the iguanas was setting up housekeeping there. Since then we have lounged with the lizards and they have become far less fearful. Nevertheless Sheilagh is not interested in adopting one as a pet on the boat to take care of insects – I can’t see why not.

It's a truism about cruising that there's always something else to repair or fix. The water pump that supplies pressure to all our fresh water faucets started acting up a couple of days ago. It kept running longer than the normal time it took to pressurize the accumulator, and it was quite loud. Since Sheilagh is the designated plumber in the family, she took it upon herself to troubleshoot the problem for several hours. Of course that meant taking all the pots and pans out from beneath the sink, removing a drawer and a cupboard door, and taking up the floor over the components in the back berth. She checked out everything and found no reason for it not to work. We contacted a boat mechanic in the marina, who took a look at it and suggested that it had served its time over the past 11 years. He didn’t have any replacement pumps, but suggested a dealer in La Paz who can help us replace the pump in the next few days.

We also ran into a problem with getting ballots in the mail in a timely fashion. We missed the primary because our ballots didn’t get to us in time, and now only Sheilagh received a ballot for the local election in early June. Apparently I had missed a previous election due to travel, and now I have to reapply for permanent mail-in ballot status. It appears the world isn’t really set up for folks who don’t want to hang around the hearth and home. I certainly don’t want to pass up my chance to vote in the U.S. despite my being away.

Today we walked a few blocks from the hotel to Henderson’s, which is the only place in town recommended for providing aged meat that is similar to what we can get in the States. It’s an out-of-the-way place, tucked into an alcove in a small strip mall, and it has a sign that simply says “Henderson’s.” As we walked in we found four or five large deep freezers with sliding glass lids and signs on the walls detailing the costs of the various cuts of meat. The salesgirl knew right where certain cuts of beef or pork chops were buried under other meat in the various freezers. We started out with six filet mignons, four pork chops, two large packs of aracerra, and several other cuts of meat. As the salesgirl was ringing up the order, we checked to make sure that she took a credit card (tarjeta de credito) and found that she didn’t. We pulled out our cash and realized we had only brought the equivalent of $100 with us and found out there was no ATM nearby. As we prepared ourselves to put some of the meat back, we were presented with a bill of 570 pesos ($57). We were astounded, but paid the money and got out quickly before the total could change. Now our freezer is full of meat and there's no place to make ice cubes - always a trade-off.

Our next stop was a package store for a case of beer and one of diet coke, which we strapped to our collapsible lift truck – the whole shopping trip costing less than $100. We must have been accosted by a dozen taxi drivers or pulmonia drivers to take us the four blocks back to the hotel/marina. “Pulmonias are open-air taxis, similar to large golf carts with two sets of seats, front and back, and a small space for packages in back. We had used one to bring our new TV and other food purchases from Wal-Mart a couple of days before. We declined all offers and simply wheeled the load back on the lift truck. The lift truck was one of the items we brought back from the States in April. It folds flat and small, with the wheels swiveled sideways during the collapsing process. We got it at West Marine and it’s great for toting groceries, fuel cans, etc.

Tomorrow we set off for La Paz, first sailing overnight directly to Los Muertos on the Baja peninsula, resting there a night and then on to La Paz the following day. The winds are predicted to be ideal for the trip and we are looking forward to it. We will be delayed a bit to get our propane tank topped off, something which takes place on Saturday here at Marina El Cid. We left our tank with the office Friday night and are expecting it back at noon on Saturday. Then we’ll set out on the 30-hour trip to Los Muertos. We’ll report again from La Paz. More later . . .