1/31
Was of course my Mother’s birthday.
2/1
The Brits (Pat and Kirsty on “Tigress”) held a cook out down at El Mero, to say farewell to their friend John who had flown from London to help them sail to Panama. Unfortunately, as we are constantly reminded in the sailing community that plans are never kept, motor problems have left them here with us for now.
2/2
Our friends Tom and Leila from “Brizo“have made it back to the yard with Leila’s brother Jo and his girlfriend Rita.
2/4
As you may know, La Sancha is up on blocks. Basically what we thought was worn brake pads and a chewed rotor ended up being just the tip of the iceberg. We’ll go into depth with that on a separate posting. Picked up all our parts from AutoZone. Went in town with “Brizo” to get some dinner and play pool at “Friends”.
2/5 Woke up to horrible news.
I lost one of my closest childhood friends. Living far away has it’s downsides when you can not be where you should be at times.
Fair well Joe, I know I will always be able to see you at sea, and God bless the Ward family.
Had to get out of the yard so I went into town with George. Picked up our freshly turned rotor and a few necessities to work on the car.
2/6 & 7
Spent as a grease monkey on the Volvo, George being my Master Yoda. Got the upper strut mount loose by means of problem solving, due to the fact that we don’t have a box of Swedish wrenches about. I changed the oil and oil filter, fresh spark plugs, new A/C and Power Steering belts, straightened the belt up for no squeal. Went to the Night Market with Pepper and George. Claire scored a new teapot and some local honey. Enjoyed some Oaxaca style tacos.
2/8
Spent the day completely baffled, trying to wrap our heads around the fact that we can go anywhere we want on the trailer. Now our eyes set on Florida have widened to many more options. Went down to El Mero and hung out on Tigress. It’s nice to get down to the water and be on a big wooden sailboat full of Brits. Back to the boat yard, and George came over with a bag of “scallops”. Not being convinced at all that they were true bay scallops, I decided to cook them with bacon, seared brussels sprouts, cream, over white rice with parsley. I figured that way they’d be delicious no matter what, but for not being bay scallops they were quite delicious.
2/9
Headed to Empalme, the town south of here, for the Market. We had the luxury of riding down in Allan’s MotorHome (MoHo) with George. The market was massive. Everything you can imagine from fresh produce, street food of all kinds, thrift store type items, tools/hardware, local crafts, household goods, etc. After the market we made a lap around downtown, had a few tacos, and hopped in the MoHo. Allan was told about a pretty nice beach south of Empalme, so we headed out to the desert highway. It’s nice to find local beaches and avoid the gringo beaches. After trying a few offroad cactus runs down some sketchy arroyos and through some rugged fish camp towns, Allan realized we were on empty. So to save ourselves from a horror story plot we headed back into town to fill up. Whipped out his Ipad GPS and found an easier way to a different beach. Mission accomplished though, we scouted out the southern beaches for a BoatYard camping trip.
2/10
Washed all our beach combing treasures. We found quite the shell beach. Our Argentinean friends Gaston and Valentina came down to the boatyard from San Carlos. Caught up with them in our little palapa area. They bought an Ingrid 38 Ketch last year and have been getting their sea legs, just like us, never been on a sailboat before. Rumor has it, they scored their circumnavigation worthy, bluewater Ketch for about $5k US last year. Put a year of their own labor into it, and are now happily anchored off San Carlos, preparing to sail south.
Shocked by the Guaymas sky, day and night.
local dudes hand tying fish nets
Star Wars sky
John and Pat
Kirsty, Pepper, and her father Gordon
6 months on the boat + 6 months in one of these?
hmmm we can probably work something out.
home made strawberry sorbet
old Sonora train
our first attempt of getting to the beach brought us to this mud prairie, clamming village. they were very excited to see us.
Old cobblestone road in the middle of the desert. Could barely make it out but there’s definitely a very old stone building back there.
sea slug defense activated
Perro learning to swim
Great sunset, the whole sky shifted above.
Rotating through all the colors on the spectrum ending with every star in your face.
Looking West (of course)
Looking East
Claire’s organizing our weeks out so we can be ready for when Marc and Colleen arrive!
refilling our fresh water tank under the V-berth
a huge convoy of about 40-50 brand new Silverado Mexican army brigade came through with some heavy artillery
who’s that?
Penne Bolognese. Sonora style
Seeing Mike and Nia off to La Paz on Azul, their Islander 30.
Their two fresh shipcats Romeo and Bruno
Tigress awaiting engine repairs before her sail to Columbia!
Claire made sliders and guacamole for lunch
Piña has gotten sick of staying on the boat. She now hops onto the cement wall and walks to other boats, and is starting to brave the ladder and the dirt ground. We must keep a close eye on her though, many shipcats have lost lives and limbs in this yard.
Hand wash dishes, reuse everything.
hand washed laundry, clothesline dried
she’s waiting and watching for birds flying down the fence line.
shrimp tacos with George
Brizo going in
Adios Amigos!
Our friends on Brizo are off to sail Baja and the Sea of Cortez for a couple of months, before heading back to Oregon.
old pool hall
Giant block of ice about $3. lasts over a week.
mise en place for a braise I made with Rollo Norteño and tomatillos
fresh churros at the night market
Oaxacan tacos at the market. unbelievable.
brussels sprouts, bacon, “scallops”, and cream
(we’re guessing its another local species, possibly a one sided shell. similar to a bay scallop but not as tender.
papas locas.
baked potato, cream, cheese, corn, mild peppers, and carne asada.
we hit the jackpot for beachcombing!
someone’s getting a dremel soon
a few lost pictures from when we had guests
Was a tough week, we missed you from this end too!
I cannot believe you guys were rolling around dirt roads in that camper– total Breaking Bad style!!
I'm pretty much obsessed with that flat, dark brown scallop shell <3 those light pink clam shells are super pretty too! Your pics always make me hungry and now I want churros. Also, that last pic I totally thought you were shirtless with some crazy new tribal tattoos across your chest.