Train to Creel?

Getting closer to our destination of Copper Canyon Mexico...we made small repairs to the bikes in the morning and left Chinipas around 10:30 to head for Temoris (N27°16.284' W108°16.329'). When we arrived, we watched the on-going rodeo as we ate lunch. We had been told that we could catch the train to Creel from here; we were all feeling the need for a break.

But of course upon arriving in Temoris, we were then told that we could travel as passengers on one train but the motorcycles would have to travel as freight on another train. As we were not willing to send the bikes without supervision, apprehensively we decided to continue by bike to Creel. Well the roads started to improve and part way there, we finally came upon a PAVED road!!! Who would have ever thought that we would be this happy to finally see a paved road...

A big kiss for smooth pavement!

Soon we came to Divisadero in Chihuahua (N27°32.042' W107°49.223'), a train stop on the rim of Copper Canyon and a short distance from Creel. Here, the indigenous Raramuri dress in brightly coloured apparel selling their exquisite hand-woven baskets set up around the area. Divisadero has one of the best panoramic views of the Canyon at an elevation of 2,230 m above sea level with a view of over 100 miles.

Copper Canyon is composed of 20 canyons that in total are 4 times larger than the Grand Canyon, and in some areas, deeper. We found out later that within a week a new tram is to open that takes visitors to the bottom of Copper Canyon.

We continued on to Creel (N27°45.037' W107°38.034') where we were encouraged by different hotel owners to stay at each of their hotels - the town seemed to be presently hurting for business. There was an English speaking tour guide in town who provided us with a lot of info. After good food and a restful sleep, we left with clean laundry and smiling faces.

Indigenous Raramuri in Creel

Where is Chinipas?

I digress. When planning the Copper Canyon motorcycle trip, Jordan would go on Google Earth and get excited about the serpentine roads he saw indicating adventurous mountainous travel - be careful what you wish for!

From Álamos, we headed back to Los Tanques where we were instructed to go to Milpillas and then to Chinipas. Upon arriving at Milpillas (N27°12.500' W108°36.030'), we were then instructed that we had to return to Los Tanques and go a different direction to Chinicas (not Milpillas) and then to Chinipas.

We came upon a donkey on the side of the road where we had stopped for a brief rest. He seemed to be a bit friendly, not like on our previous motorcycle trip where you could not get close to the donkeys. So being Jordan, he decided to see if he could sit on him, and...

...success, the donkey did not seem to mind at all!

On the way, it started to rain which of course made the roads slippery. We came to another water crossing and had to swerve to avoid a large deep pothole. The bike slipped once again and Jordan's foot went into deep water, soaking it completely.

Jordan wringing out his slopping wet sock

We followed a truck part way but needed a break for snacks as we had not eaten since early morning (carry snacks - restaurants are in short supply!) We seemed to be doing okay but couldn't find Chinipas. We decided to turn around and then found the "sign" - Chinipas was carved into a rock on the side of the road! "Road" is an overstatement. These roads were narrow, axle busting, extremely steep at times, and switchbacked with sheer drop-offs. Hey, but the scenery was starting to get spectacular.

Through the heavy rain and clouds, we spotted Chinipas (N27°23.313' W108°31.599') in the valley far below - but first we had to cross a deep fast-moving river. Where was the bridge? Two young lads were playing in the river and pointed that a bridge was "up and around, just follow the road". Oh no! Each slick muddy road (Aaron and Dee dumped a couple of times!) had numerous turn-offs. After several attempts, Jordan finally found the bridge.

Several boys on a quad led us to a motel just at dusk. We were beat and slopping wet and the bikes caked in mud. After cleaning up and drying off, we hit the restaurant where we were finally able to have a meal instead of just snacks. There had been no restaurants between Álamos and Chinipas along the route that we took.

So far, 5 motorcycle spills for us, 4 for Aaron and Dee - these mountain roads are a real mishmash of surface types.

Adventurous day

Today was a very adventurous day as Jordan and I and his son Aaron and gal Dee continued towards the Copper Canyon in Mexico. We left the bustling metropolis of Obregón Mexico heading inland on a somewhat direct but less travelled route to the Copper Canyon (rural would be an understatement).

That day we hit roads that were hard-packed dirt, sandy, loose gravel, muddy, white-knuckle, and even a section of hand-laid cobblestones which was very beautiful but hard to control motorcycles on. I experienced my first ever spill. We came upon a concrete river crossing (one of many that we would cross) that was overflowing with a few inches of fast-moving river water. As we proceeded across, the slick algae surface caused the bike tires to slip out from under it. Before we knew it, we were sliding through the water.

Getting up after slipping - all wet - but saved the camera!

Very minor spill but we were both wet and Jordan pulled a muscle. A few hours later, Aaron and Dee slipped on a duplicate crossing and were then wet too!

The map indicated we were heading towards Quiriego and San Bernardo, also in Sonora. Needless to say, there was a great shortage of signs and the road was several hours longer than indicated. We appeared to be lost but the guys always figured it out with somewhat different directions from different locals in small villages. When we finally found San Bernardo (N27°24.078' W108°50.441'), we purchased some snacks as we had not come across any restaurants.

Buying gasoline was always difficult to find - once we were simply instructed to go to Rafael's house (no signs of course) where the motorcycles were filled from small plastic jugs along with great conversation. The next time, the gas pump was hidden inside a small white building!

Buying gas at Rafael's house

Throughout the day, we travelled through exceptionally lush green valleys where butterflies were everywhere and several mountain areas were covered with golden flowers.

The heat was stifling so we stopped for a breather in the shade at Tanques La Higuera (Los Tanques) (N27°12.409' W108°53.370') where Aaron discovered that his pelican bag rack (luggage rack) was falling off from all the shaking on rough roads and needed to be re-welded. The shop was closed and we had to roust the owner from his Sunday dinner to get the job done. While the guys were getting the welding done, Dee and I were entertained by the jovial locals who were enjoying a beer where we sat outside by a store.

Kindly man welding Aaron's motorcycle rack at Los Tanques

As it was getting close to sundown, it was suggested that we backtrack 26 km to Alamos (N27°01.397' W108°56.229'), where hotels were available. We didn't cover much distance but we ended up in this town that was not on our route but was a real joy to find. A very quaint, old colonial-type of town with fabulous architecture and a busy town square.

Alamos - a great find

Grand Canyon USA

Continuing our road trip from Victoria BC back to Sea Turtle in Mexico, our next stop was a day at the Grand Canyon (N36°06.523' W113°14.239') in Arizona, a first for me and Dee. We had originally wanted to walk out on the glass floor where you can look down into the Canyon for a great view, but we discovered that the glass floor was at the west end but the south rim has preferred views. Got several great shots and stayed until the sun set. Many more in the Photo Gallery (click on Copper Canyon Trip once in the Gallery). Made it to Prescott Arizona that night.

Jordan and Judy above the Grand Canyon

The multi-layers of the amazing Grand Canyon

Visited with our good friends near Palm Springs California (N33°53.122' W116°55.350') who had been storing our motorcycle for us. After some quick services, we would ride the bike to Sea Turtle with Aaron and Dee following in Aaron's truck. On the way, we drove through some sweltering temperatures. Heat rose to 42°C (108°F). Before crossing into Mexico, we stayed the night at Jordan's sister's vacation cottage in Yuma Arizona (N32°40.088' W114°36.118').

The border crossing was quick where we got a 180-day Visa. No questions asked about supplies, and we were on our way. After about 4 hours of riding, I felt like I had heatstroke or was badly dehydrated; we got a revival break in an air-conditioned restaurant with a meal and refreshing drinks.

After a one-night stay at Santa Ana (N28°23.099' W109°08.543'), we finally made it into Marina Seca at San Carlos (N27°57.230' W111°03.060') for a quick check on our boat where all appeared well. At the boat, we wasted no time. Aaron unloaded his motorcycle, left his truck at the Marina with Sea Turtle, and we continued out on both motorcycles heading for the Barranca del Cobre (Copper Canyon) in Chihuahua. We stayed at Obregón (N27°29.122' W109°56.370') about 125 km SE of San Carlos  where we thoroughly enjoyed the motel swimming pool to escape the heat and where it POURED rain unbelievably during the night, but the next morning, it was back to sizzling heat.

Heading south

We left rainy Victoria and did a lot a steady driving with Jordan's son Aaron and gal Dee in Aaron's truck to head back to San Carlos (in Sonora Mexico) to take our new purchases and supplies to Sea Turtle and then do some exploring.

On the way down, we stopped at Reno Nevada (N39°39.385' W119°53.125') to watch the annual air races on Sunday. A lot of beautiful planes, first-rate races, and some great air displays too.

A "Rare Bear" plane

The Canadian Snowbirds put on an outstanding performance to the delight of the audience...

Unfortunately, there were 2 incidents: a plane crashed during the second last race where the pilot walked away with cuts and bruises but destroyed his plane, and the much awaited final race did not come to fruition as officials deemed that the wind was too strong to have a safe race. The guys were real disappointed, but safety first.

That night we stayed at a small town called Tonopah (N38°04.175' W117°14.019') about 3 hours before Las Vegas in the Clown Motel. Very weird - there were literally clowns everywhere - on each motel door, pictures in the rooms, a lobby totally filled with clowns - but the parking lot was highly lit so we felt Aaron's motorcycle in the back of the truck would be secure (ours is in Palm Springs Arizona). Tonopah has an interesting, very old, entirely wooden cemetery:

1901 - 1911

Just before Vegas, we made a small detour up to the state park on Mt. Charleston (N36°15.271' W115°38.450') where surprisingly there is a pine forest, vacation homes, and even a ski hill. After a quick drive down the Strip (Dee's first time), we headed east over Hoover Dam (N36°00.490' W114°44.350') where we saw the spectacular new arching bypass bridge that spans over the Dam and the Colorado River. Check out the amazing construction details on Google.

New bridge over the old

From there, we made it to Williams Arizona (N35°15.090' W112°11.030') on the historic Route 66, a cute little town with a western mining theme neighbourhood, the Wild West Junction, as this gentleman indicates...

Busy summer back home

It's been a long time since an update; we have been kept busy during our stay back in Victoria BC Canada...

One evening, we were lucky enough to receive free tickets to attend a concert held by ZZ Top, a great rock/bluesy band, and yes they are still sporting their long beards.

Mount Washington on Vancouver Island opened up one of their ski runs on Father's Day so Jordan, his son Aaron and gal Dee, and I drove up for the day. The 3 of them enjoyed the novelty of skiing in such warm weather with Aaron and Jordan wearing shorts and T-shirts! Me - not a skier.

Summer skiing

Nothing like a picnic by the ocean to escape from the heat (29°C/84°F!) So one day, Jordan and I packed up a lunch with champagne and headed out for a relaxing day watching the boats go by...and wishing we were on one of them!

Jordan has somehow been able to find a bit of time to get back into painting, which I personally think he is great at. His usual medium is watercolours, but his 1st attempt with acrylics for a wedding present made him want to try another, both of which turned out fab. I had copies of his paintings made into notebook covers with lined paper by www.MySkoobi.com. Cool!

A friend wanted to trade vehicles as he needed a truck for the weekend - so we got his powerful little red Mercedes Benz in exchange...a good trade I think! Speaking of cars, we went to see Tennessee William's play called A Streetcar Named Desire where the acting was superb.

We hiked at Englishman's River while staying with our friends at their cabin - what a great place to get away from it all!

Down by the river

Attended Taste: Victoria's Festival of Food & Wine, an evening of sampling scrumptious wines and tasty eats. Our favourites:

• an oven-fresh delectable quiche made by Antichi Sapori Italian Food Company of Victoria BC (www.antichisapori.ca)
• an aromatic red wine called 207 Freud's Ego with chocolate fragrance and oak taste brewed by Therapy Vineyards of Naramata BC (www.therapyvineyards.com)
• a scrumptious, velvety cheese called Romelia by Salt Spring Island Cheese Company which was heated before spreading on a cracker to melt in your mouth (www.saltspringcheese.com)

One weekend, we hopped on the motorcycle and headed to China Creek Campsite at Port Alberni for a weekend of camping in a tent. Sleeping in a tent is something that neither of us has done in years. With temperatures around 25°C (77°F), it was a great riding and camping experience. We ended it by taking a scenic zig zaggy ride up and down Mount Arrowsmith on the way back to Victoria.

High altitude Mount Arrowsmith lake

And on the way back, we stopped at Parksville to take in the amazing annual sand sculpture contest.

A detailed sand castle about 2.5 m (8 feet) tall

And of course, went to the annual Symphony Splash where we were fortunate enough to watch from the best location, up close in a boat. (The Symphony Splash is where the Victoria Symphony performs on a barge located in the Inner Harbour to a crowd of thousands.)

We also enjoyed getting together with many of our friends and relatives. I headed off to several areas of the Prairies to visit my family (and celebrated my Dad's 80th Birthday!) and to see my very beautiful great granddaughter for the very first time...very sad to leave. While I was away, Jordan spent time in the Penticton area for a family reunion and his parents' 65th Anniversary!

After a productive stay at home, we are driving tomorrow to head south once again with a few detours along the way. After hooking up our new toy, The Wirie, on Sea Turtle, we should have great internet service access from our boat to hopefully post our adventures more frequently than in the past.

New addition to our family

Exciting news...our great granddaughter Chiara Dawn arrived early this morning, 19" long and weighing 6 lb. 14 oz. Yes, she is great, but in this instance "great" refers to being my grandson's daughter.

Hellooo World!

And as I am sure you agree, she is a cutie...

She is only 3 days old above, looking very bright-eyed. We will definitely be stopping in for cuddles when we travel to Alberta soon. Congratulations to the proud parents as we send you our love!!

Travel daze

On May 14th, a pre-arranged taxi picked us up at the dock at 08:30 to take us to the Nuku Hiva airport on the far side of the Marquesan island to start us on our trip home to Canada. The road to the airport is approximately 18 km in a straight line, but this road is so curvy and winding that the ride took about 1.5 hours.

Our lovely taxi driver stopped at a few prime locations along the way to allow us to take a few quick photos and view the panorama. If you ever anchor at Nuku Hiva with your sailboat, we highly recommend renting a car and checking out this road with its amazing top-of-the-world sights.

Looking back to where SV Tango is still anchored

Unbelievably curving, snaking, twisting road to Nuku Hiva airport

Looks like we are about to drive off the end of the earth

Upon arrival at the airport, we were surprised to see several horses kept so nearby. They were friendly and didn't seem to mind being there. We flew from Nuku Hiva to Hiva Oa for a brief stop and then on to Pape'ete Tahiti where we had to wait several hours for our next red-eye flight to Honolulu. During our wait, a friendly couple gave us a free bottle of delicious champagne! After this late-night flight of almost 6 hours, we then had a shorter wait until our last flight to Los Angeles USA.

So after going through a few time zone changes, about 16 hours of travelling, 13 hours of waiting, and 2 bad movies, we were very tired upon arrival in LA - it had been a long 2 days of travelling from 08:30 May 14th until 16:45 May 15th.

From LA, we went to Palm Springs where we relaxed, visited with special friends, and rode on the Aerial Tramway. This tram has a rotating floor so you can see all around you, making the experience more enriching (and at the top of the tramway are great areas to hike and camp).

Aerial Tramway heading back down to the station

Next, we picked up our old KLR motorcycle at Yuma, where temperatures were reaching 38°C (100°F), and brought it to Palm Springs for storage. On our way back to Victoria BC Canada, we stopped in Old Town Sacramento where the 18th annual Pacific Rim Street Festival was on-going with many people in attendance.

The Hornblower going under the raised bridge

We will now be in Victoria until mid-September. Our current plans are to then drive to Palm Springs and go down to Copper Canyon in Mexico on the motorcycle before returning to Sea Turtle in San Carlos (not far from Copper Canyon).

We are both missing being on the boat very much and look forward to continuing our adventures aboard!

Survivor!

After Jordan and I visited Rose Corser's museum/boutique and the nearby Hotel Keikahanui of the Marquesas, we took Holly and Denis back to see these sites the next day. This museum has many one-of-a-kind items that have been donated by locals and the hotel is very beautiful. Don't forget to check out the Photo Gallery for Crewing to Marquesas pictures, including a couple of the museum and hotel.

Then Holly, Jordan, and I went for a longer hike to find the location where the Tribal Council of the 1990s Marquesan Survivor TV show was filmed (we saw the canoe that was used on the show at the museum). We came upon this gentleman of the Tribal Council:

Actually, the picture was taken of a picture inside the hotel! So we hiked up a mountain and back down over the ridge looking for the location of the Survivor Tribal Council; we don't think we followed the directions given to us correctly. The beach we found was a bit rocky and not very deserted. But we saw this old outrigger...

and this hanging skull...

Who knows...maybe we did find it. But, a little disappointed, we trekked back up and over the ridge and back to Tango where we were greeted with glasses of Sherry to enjoy on deck. Another great day after all!

Snorkelling and sightseeing

On Monday, checking Tango into the Marquesas with the Gendarmerie (French Police), who only spoke a bit of English, was not too difficult as Denis is fairly fluent in French.

A tip for sailors - we discovered that you need to have your MMSI* number with you when you check in so when Jordan and I sail here in a couple of years on our own we will remember to bring ours with us to the Gendarmerie's office.

Internet is VERY slow here so trying to book our flight home was extremely frustrating, but we managed to book a flight from Pape'ete Tahiti to Honolulu and then from Honolulu to Los Angeles USA yesterday. Could not get an "E" ticket from Nuku Hiva to Pape'ete so we went to the local Air Tahiti and booked a ticket today. The agent also reserved a taxi for us for the trip to the airport which is supposed to be a visually spectacular ride.

Jordan inquired about scuba diving but the diving boat was on the hard so Holly, Jordan, and I decided to go snorkelling. We took the dinghy out to the point and saw parrot fish, schools of teeny bright blue fish, small orange and/or yellow fish...and...a big manta ray and a long brown shark swimming right beneath us! How exciting! Later, Jordan and I went for a walk and a beer ashore for a nice break.

A common sight

Back on Tango, we discovered that a pastry man comes to your boat each weekday morning, delivering goods that you have ordered the previous morning. What a delicious treat.

Another great day in paradise!

* MMSI - Maritime Mobile Service Identity (a number assigned to maritime radios in order to make calls)

Exploring Nuku Hiva artifacts

French Polynesia is made up of many island and chains of islands. The most easterly chain is called the Marquesas. A few facts I read about the Marquesas and Nuku Hiva Island where we are anchored:

• The town that we are near has a population of around 3,000 and lies in an open volcanic crater.
• This town, called Taiohae, is the largest town of the Marquesan Islands.
• We noticed that tattoos are very popular amongst the local men and women.
• Nuku Hiva is 339 sq. km.
• The largest island in all of French Polynesia is Tahiti (Nuku Hiva being the 2nd largest, depending on your source of info).
• Famous writer Robert Louis Stevenson spent time on northern Nuku Hiva.
• Painter Paul Gauguin spent his last years in French Polynesia.
• And Moby Dick author, Herman Melville, jumped a whaling ship in 1842 at age 23 to land at the Marquesas.

After Holly and Jordan cleaned Tango's bottom of parasites, the 3 of us hiked up the side of a mountain to discover the artifacts that we had been told about. We hiked about 1.5 km along a roadway and then at least another 1.5 km up and through bush, etc. along a semi-trail.

We took a break as Jordan tried to crack open and peel off the husk of a coconut that we found. Success! The juice managed to escape but the fleshy coconut fruit was delicious. We soon ran into a local, very muscular, older man with a large knife that helped to remove more of the shell, making it easier for us to consume.

This is how you do it

As we hiked, we noticed all the pigs with piglets, roosters and chickens with chicks, horses with young colts, goats, and all the differing plant life along the way. We finally reached the site which was well worth the lengthy hike. Here, Jordan retrieved several fresh, juicy, mangoes using a long stick found propped against a tree. They were delicious and we all thoroughly enjoyed the treat as the juice ran down our chins!

Nuku Hiva site

We then took in the all the different tikis, huts, vegetation, and rocks around this magnificent sacred site. Tikis are stone and/or wooden figures in a human form. The earliest did not have eyes carved.

Jordan beside a stone tiki, and...

...a wooden tiki (photo courtesy of SV Tango)

When the sun was starting to go down, we discovered an easier route to return and started on our way back. Growing in trees along the roadside, we found several star fruit which we tasted. They were sooo delicious - tasted just like orange pop.

Then near the bottom of our trail, a local woman pleaded with us to take several of her pamplemousse (very thick skinned grapefruit). So by the time we returned to Tango, we had fresh hand-picked mangoes, starfruit, and pamplemousse for a delicious breakfast the next morning. Store-bought produce has never tasted this good. What a great day!

Crewing to Marquesas

On our way...left La Paz as crew aboard SV Tango with Holly and Denis on April 14th to head for San Jose del Cabo (N23°03.37' W109°40.21'). After all final details and last minute provisioning were completed, we headed for the Marquesas (Isles Marquises) on April 18th at 08:00. A couple of dolphins appeared to wish us good luck on our journey. A waypoint of N05° W130° was set. Land disappeared totally at 14:30! A summary of the voyage:

• Spotted a total of 6 boats throughout the trip (3 freighters, 2 fishing boats, and 1 oceanography vessel).
• Whales, dolphins, flying fish, and blue-footed booby birds visited us. Air horn was used to dissuade landing of these messy and destructive, but cute, birds.
• Tiny Clarion Island was spotted off in the distance on April 21st - last chance to jump ship!
• Lots of cloud cover, we were expecting more sun.
• Lots of confused seas, we were expecting calmer seas.
• One mechanical failure - generator would not keep running - but was an easy fix.
• Pretty sunsets and sunrises out in the middle of the ocean, but not as spectacular as seen on land. Well, this sunrise was pretty awesome...

• Changed course on April 27th to head south towards the equator - in the doldrums the next day.
• Holly, Jordan, and I got in the ocean to check out prop zincs and have a warm swim at N03°25.860' W125°43.345' as Denis kept his eye on us. I was very surprised to feel so nervous and worried about letting go of the boat!! Temperature of the water was 28°C (82°F). Water below us was well over a kilometre deep and was a beautiful vivid purple blue. We all re-boarded safely.
• Crossed equator early in the morning at 01:14 on May 3rd!! The southern trade winds were kicking in and cloud cover was finally disappearing.
• Gazed at the countless stars, distinct Milky Way, the Southern Cross, and bright falling stars from our stateroom hatch on many evenings.
• 3 large fish got away - but finally this 34 kg (75 lb) Marlin (Shortbill Spearfish) was landed by ecstatic Jordan on May 4th!

• Change of plans - going to the Marquesan Island called Nuku Hiva instead of the Marquesan Island called Hiva Oa as Nuku Hiva has more anchorages available and calmer anchorages.
• Constant kathunks, crashes, and loud banging noises, rigging humming, winds whooshing - catamarans are MUCH louder than we expected. Restless nights.
• Land ho at 08:00 on Saturday, May 8th, after 20 days at sea! Jordan spotted a dolphin off our port side.
• Total distance travelled was 2,797 nautical miles from San Jose del Cabo to Nuku Hiva.
• Greatest distance in 1 day was 172 nautical miles.
• Average speed was 5.8 knots, motored for 4 days.
• Length of voyage was from April 18/10 at 08:00 till May 8/10 at 12:00 noon Pacific Daylight Saving Time for a total of 20 days + 4 hours.

Anchored at Baie de Taiohae (Hakapehi) (S08°54.969' W140°06.038') on Nuka Hiva at 09:30 local time, which is 2.5 hours earlier than Pacific Daylight Saving Time. This is a large, busy anchorage with lots of boats coming and going (counted 50 cruising boats at anchor one day).

Yellow points in the following picture are Tango's positions every 12 hours (at 12 noon and at 12 midnight approximately). Jordan's son Aaron plotted the position reports on Google Earth and emailed this to us at the completion of our crewing adventure. (Click on it to blow up)

One of two official entry ports (Hiva Oa being the other), Nuka Hiva is a very laid back place. Almost everything is closed on Saturdays and Sundays and most places close for a 2 to 2.5 hour lunch break. Many businesses also close early in the day. Lots of exploring to do before our flight home...

San Carlos boat storage

At Guaymas (N27°55.358' W110°53.164'), we had Sea Turtle loaded onto a trailer and delivered to Marina Seca San Carlos (N27°57.23' W111°03.06'). It was a very odd feeling to watch our boat being pushed, yes pushed - not pulled, down the highway by a loader down the streets of Mexico.

New journey for Sea Turtle

First time we have ever had to prep our boat for a long-term storage of 4 to 5 months on the hard. Don't ever want to have to do that again! Especially for the extremely hot climate.

All items above deck that would be sensitive to sun had to be either removed or covered, such as sails, lines, blocks, etc. Before we stored sails and most lines, we washed, rinsed, and dried. We mostly covered our solar panels (to allow some minor trickle charge). The outboard had to be prepped before storage and the dinghy had to be deflated, cleaned, and folded down and stowed inside. We removed the blades from the wind generator and secured it from swinging. All fuels needed treatment and chlorine was added to our water tanks. As well as prepping for the harsh temperatures, preparation for possible hurricane winds is needed.

Inside, we removed the engine impeller, shut all through hulls off except cockpit drains, and covered all windows with windshield foil sheets to keep the scorching sun out. And dorades were covered with fine cloth mesh to keep pesky bugs out that could crawl through the screens already there.

Food - what to leave on board and what to remove?? We hemmed and hawed about what could withstand the blazing heat. Then we donated some to an orphanage and discarded some. The rest we were fortunate enough to be able to take with us to SV Tango for our upcoming voyage. We have been told that the interior of a boat can get as high as 60°C (140°F) when on the hard!

Tomorrow we fly to La Paz to start our crewing adventure aboard SV Tango...

Detour

We were presented with such an incredible offer that we couldn't refuse - we will be acting as Crew and heading to the South Pacific islands of the Marquesas on our friend's Perry 43 Catamaran, SV Tango. This is a non-stop voyage of approximately 3 weeks on a Cat.

So we hurried north up the Sea of Cortez, leaving La Paz March 31st. First stop was once again Ballendra and then El Cardonel where we met up with SV Whiteshell II. Strong north winds were blowing so we stayed for 2 nights.

Next stop, we anchored by the "hook" of Isla San Francisco (N24°49.195' W110°34.231'). If you look at a chart or Google Earth, you will see the hook is a comma-shaped piece of land. Left early in the morning for Agua Verde (N25°30.958' W111°3.732'), which means turquoise water. The sea was a very beautiful turquoise and the sand was coral coloured. We went ashore to the tiny village and bought some fresh produce.

Next, we headed to San Juanico. We had a great voyage, seeing rays, dolphins, and several whales close up such as this pilot whale...

We anchored at San Juanico (N26°22.044' W111°25.871') where we were holed up waiting for strong winds to die so we hiked and explored the land. We found Apache Tears, shiny volcanic black glass, on the hill. The next day, we discovered beautiful veins of crystalline deposits running deep down the sides of the hills on the opposite beach...

We also discovered a tree growing on the beach where cruisers have left behind a memento declaring their boat name, their names, and the date of their visit. What a mishmash of items - the good, the bad, and the ugly! Such as painted and/or inscribed pieces of wood, rocks, shells, sneakers, burgees, metal, and even a scrub brush! We saw several from boaters that we know, including China Girl, Dark Star, Keetya I, Intrepid II, Salish Sea, and Whiteshell II. We quickly hung a large shell but are hoping to replace it with something more permanent later in the year when we return.

Finally when the wind let up, we left at 18:45 on April 8th for an overnighter to Guaymas. We sailed into the north wind on a close reach at 5 knots until 02:45 when we had to turn on the engine and continued to motor-sail.

We will next put Sea Turtle up on the hard at San Carlos, as Guaymas is all booked up, and then fly out of Guaymas on April 14th to meet up with SV Tango at La Paz to start our great journey to the South Pacific!

Unusual sites

We've been doing tourist things with our friends, Ross and Linda from Victoria, who travelled to La Paz in their trailer last weekend and again this weekend (they've been touring around Mexico on a holiday). We viewed the Panteon, the whale museum, the museum of anthropology, and many other interesting sites and sculptures.

The Panteon...

No, those are NOT houses. Panteon means cemetery in Spanish, and all those cement structures are built over burial sites. Early in the morning every Sunday, a very large flea market is held across the street. Very different.

One very large whale, from the back...

and the front...

We also saw a whole lot of skulls (not real!) commemorating the death of Christ...

We had an enjoyable and interesting day spent with our friends from back home.

Sharks, mermaids & shells

We went in our dinghy around the tip of the Magote (a narrow strip of land across from our anchorage in front of Marina de La Paz) to search for rare "paper" Nautilus shells and whale sharks reported to be in the area. Nautilus shells are described as being paper thin and this type can be quite large. Unfortunately, our hunt was unsuccessful, but Jordan did find this lovely mermaid on the beach.

Sexy!

While trolling around in the dinghy, we spotted a few kayakers and headed off towards them - where we saw a large whale shark approximately 7 to 8 m (25 feet) long. Whale sharks are very docile creatures and their diet consists of eating plankton that they scoop up near the surface of the water as they swim with their mouths wide open.

Jordan immediately got into the water and swam alongside it and then dove underneath it. When he returned to the dinghy, he exclaimed Just like National Graphic! I bypassed the opportunity as I felt that I couldn't swim fast enough to keep up and the water was still very chilly.

Distant rendezvous

Good friends from Victoria, Linda and Ross, arrived in La Paz yesterday in their trailer. After a nice long visit, we discovered that they are heading to Todos Santos today to also see the Hotel California, and will be back in La Paz next weekend for some more touring and another visit with us. We had a few chilly cervezas sitting around the pool at their RV park.

Linda and Ross adamantly turned down swimming with the whale sharks with us, which we are looking forward to doing in a day or two!

As we sit here writing this, we are listening to the fish as they make very distinctive continuous loud slaps against the hull of our boat as they knock the krill off to eat. Quite a different sound than that of the tiny shrimp as they make an orchestra of popping sounds feeding at a minuscule scale.

Hotel California

On Wednesday, Jordan played his fiddle with a couple of other musicians for a very green St. Paddy's day and everyone's enjoyment. Then today, we drove to Todos Santos, about 50 miles SW of La Paz, with Beth and Sam of SV Dark Star to check out the famous Hotel California. As we entered the hotel, a band was playing the song of the same name that was originally released in late 1976 by the Eagles! Jordan was lucky enough to hear the Eagles play this song live long, long ago.

Go to www.hotelcaliforniabaja.com and click on Gallery for a slideshow that shows the fabulous, brightly coloured hotel and surrounding area.

That's fowl/foul

How did the birds know we were gone?? Somehow they figured it out, took up roost, and pooped everywhere!! As Jordan's mom says, It is the Poop deck after all. (The name originates from the French word for stern, la poupe.)

Pelicans relaxing on an anchored derelict boat

Then we discovered that tiny fish had taken up residence in the inlet for our toilet and then got sucked up and died. The little dead fish ended up in the rim of the toilet and the odour was nauseating. Jordan had to dismantle the toilet, take it to the dock, remove the dead fish, and deodorize with bleach to put everything back to normal. Now everything is scrubbed clean and smells great again.

Back in Victoria...

Jordan and I flew back to Victoria BC on February 23rd and were there for awhile taking care of business and visiting family and friends. We spent time pulling weeds and scrubbing the moss off the fence at our house, taking care of taxes, and running all sorts of errands.

First few days, it rained continually. Of course everyone said it had been sunny continually before we arrived! Temperature was good for Victoria but we were missing the 26°C to 32°C (80°F to 90°F) we had been experiencing back in La Paz.

I also flew to Calgary to visit my family and surprise my mom in Drumheller on her birthday - she was definitely surprised and not expecting me at all! Thanks go out to all our relatives for letting us move in with them and for transporting me back and forth from Calgary.

Was a sad day to leave...lots of love to all...but don't forget we will be back for the summer (May till September) as we could not complete everything during our time home. So now our plans are to sail north up the Sea of Cortez on March 30th until sometime in May and then put Sea Turtle up on the hard - probably in San Carlos or Guaymas.

As you've probably noticed by now from our previous posts, plans always seem to change once you start sailing!