in between time. Not on a boat. Not working. Not partying. Just hanging out in Puddletown.
Archive for December, 2006
Turtle Bay.
Finally, the Mexico I had heard about. Small towns with dirt roads and more dogs than people. Friendly people, no vegetables but incredible fresh fish.
Beer, dust and drunk, unshaven gringos.
As we approached, a motorboat raced out to meet us. He took our order for fuel, then sped off to make preparations.
This is the fuel dock - loaded with our 100 gallons of diesel.
The man in the panga control the flow by plugging and unplugging a cord on a small pump while the crew watches the flow on board.
The fuel looked pretty clean, and the process was actually easier than with the fuel dock in Cabo, which has super high pressure hoses made for fueling mega-yatchs.
Someone “donated” some women’s cloths to the fuel panga, and Ernesto found some treasures. It was a lot of good cloths, so I am thinking a instant divorce was the cause of the bounty.
Bahia Tortuga is surrounded by a complex desert. I would like to spend some time exploring around here.
The little town - with it’s most prominent feature being the church.
There are a dozen or so boats anchored in the bay. Good friendly folks, mostly inebriated.
King’s Quest at anchor
Richard driving the dinghy.
The skipper anxious for football headed in with us.
This “shrine” is a taxi stand.
The main drag in Bahia Tortuga.
I noticed our captain had a tendency of distrust which meant he did the opposite of all advice on shore.
The view from the restaurant. Not bad. Had a marlin “en papayote” a la maria. Very tastey — even with the very odd square of velvita cheese placed on the top.
So the last update was made from the boat, but I can’t post picture via SSB radio - so here’s some photos from the past few days.
We stopped in Cabo for fuel. Didn’t get off the fuel dock, but looks like a nice place.
Some introductions are in order. Here is Captain Arnstein, our football crazed leader.
Here’s Richard - a reformed hippie, Wine Spectator photographer and sailing instructor.
After one bumpy night, it’s been pretty nice. Warm weather, calm breezes.
Here I am on watch.
Under his staid Icelandic exterior - Arnstein is a pretty goofy guy.
Sailed near a pod of dolphins on the way to Bahia Tortuga. It was a medium sized pod - about 100 or so. The picture above doesn’t do it justice - each white cap is a dolphin, but it’s hard to see.
Like friendly dogs, dozens came at the boat as soon as they saw us.
For about a half an hour a dozen or so dolphins played in our bow wake.
Panga’s — these are the local fishing boats. We saw one 50 miles offshore. No radio, one engine. They were pretty friendly, and we gave them some beer.
24 45.940 North 112 15.289 West
Last night was a bit exciting. I was roused out of my bunk by a great crash. The captain also awoke, and stood in an inch of water. After a quick check of the boat, it seems that the water in the bilge had sloshed into his cabin, so there was no hole in the boat. But he asked me to use the manual bilge pump to clear the bilge, as he determined that water was entering into it from the lazarette. After a half hour of pumping, the pump became clogged. We decided to leave off until daylight.
In the morning the winds had died down and it was warm and calm. We came to anchor in Bahia Santa Maria, cleaned the pumps, did some general housekeeping and take a nap. It is quite nice here. Quiet, protected from the winds. The stars are shining clearly, but there is no moon, so it is very dark. We shall sail after dinner to take advantage of the night land breeze.
The capitan of the port in La Paz has closed the port due to bad weather. We are stuck here until tomorrow.
I spent the day walking on the beach and siesta-ing. It was a nice lazy day, but I am ready to leave.
We are stuck in a too rich part of everything and money’s a little tight. However, walking the beach was nice. I was blown away by the amount of shells. Thousands of intake shells, hundreds of varieties. Some 8 inches in diameter. I bet it would be awsome to dive here.
Maybe next time.
It has been quite pleasant here in La Paz, but now we must go. We have spent a couple of days prepping the boat. A complete survey revealed only a few, but critical issues, and now all is repaired and we are provisioned. Should be in San Diego around the 13th, and in San Francisco on the 18th or 19th.
The boat is the S/V King’s Quest. She’s a pretty fine boat. Very comfy. I hope she handles the bashing up wind well. We will see in a few days. Tomorrow we head south so the winds are with us. After we leave the Sea of Cortez, things should get interesting.
After a bit of work this morning, I was free to wander around town.
Seems like a good place to be 22 with a group of buddies. I found some good food on the street, the best of which was this mollusk, which I don’t know what it is. It has several textures and flavors inside. From oyster to gooey duck and something like dried tomatoes.
Very yummy.
Wish I had taken a picture of Seattle Yesterday morning for comparison. But anyway…I woke up to sleet in Seattle and went to sleep to the gentle sea breaze (ok 25 knots) in La Paz Mexico. Long trip, very tired last night, but it’s great to be here. Today we prepare the boat for it’s cruise and provision. Weather may keep us here ’till Monday.
