Wind And Waves

Carol enjoying a ride on the nets. Its really fun when there are dolphins to play with! Also a great place to read a book and suntan 🙂

Eric, steering for awhile. Most the time we have it on auto pilot but sometimes its just nice to steer and necessary when we were maneuvering into a specific spot.

Here I am, still grasping the concept of a Catamaran……so different than the mono hull!

Wayne and Carol, sunset off of Deer island.

We anchored around Deer island, right off of Mazatlan and spent a couple days exploring.  The snorkeling was a little murky (I’m getting so spoiled!)  So exploring the island was much more exciting for me.  I LOVE running around in my bare feet and bikini exploring an island that nobody lives on……and in fact…….since you got there by boat, and no one is around, it feels like you are the first to have discovered it.  It brings me back to a childhood fantasy of being stranded on an tropical island having to work hard and be creative in order to live.  Have you ever read  Fatu-Hiva by Thor Heyerdahl??  Thats what I’m talking about!  “Going back to nature”

A boat came in to anchor near us and lo and behold is was one of Carol and Wayne’s friends (these guys have a lot of friends!)  So it was dinner and wine on our boat for all.  Lots of good conversation and fun.  Ironically, one of our guests was the woman whom Ian is writing the novel about.  Time and Time again I am shown that it really is a small world.

We spent the following day getting ready for the next leg of our journey. This meant zooming around Mazatlan in a pulmonaria  Pulmonario is a little volkswagon looking car, that is open to the air (hence the word pulmonario…..means lungs) It feels like your in a golf cart.

We did a huge shopping trip. Spirits were high and I was enjoying getting to know my new “family.” Wayne and Carol and Eric were so relaxed during the whole shopping expedition (which sometimes can be so stressful) I would go so far as to say it was a good time! We stopped on the way home for fresh veggies at a stand. Back on the boat we ordered gallons of drinking water (brought to us in a truck) and loaded them up one by one pouring them into the water tank. This should hold us over at least for awhile!

Upon reaching Mazatlan, I knew I had to find another boat heading South because Ian was going to stick around for awhile. This process gives me a lot of anxiety. I’m still shy, no matter how hard I try to push myself out of my comfort zone with this! Making myself comfortable and thus helpful on a new boat is a process that takes some time. Not to mention, that, people change out at sea (myself included, I tend to get very quiet) Finding a safe situation and one that I can thrive in, seems like a lot to figure out in only knowing

someone for a short amount of time. I was excited to see Eric on a Catamaran named Capricorn Cat. I had seen Eric during the bajahaha (Haha ). Being in a new and strange place and seeing a familiar face is soo nice. I think that is a wonderful thing about the Haha. You make a lot of connections with people whom you see all the way down the coast of Mexico and even if you don’t recognize them (there are a TON of people who do the haha) its an automatic connection you share if you both did the haha.

Eric mentioned to Wayne and Carol (owners of Capricorn Cat) that I seem like a good crew mate. They invited me out to breakfast that morning to “see”. At the end of breakfast, they invited me aboard! And little did I know, all the adventure and fun I was in for! Omigosh!

I love sailing, if not for any other reason because I love arriving……and I Love leaving! So it was great to be leaving La Paz and off to new and different cities and villages. I jumped on Ian’s boat (below) named Blythe Spirit. His boat was filled with character. A shaman had gone over it and blessed it and painted a really neat pair of eyes on it…..which was one of the first things I noticed about the boat. Ian is currently working on a novel. He holds strange hours, with his writing….he warned me. Sure enough, at 3:30am he wakes and makes coffee and starts typing away. Ahh the life of a writer, chasing that creative spark.

Here are some photos he put together of me and Emily and a couple other women who got off in La Paz when I was hopping on. He seems to have a knack for capturing a person’s personality in a photo.

Emily, my crew mate on this journey was an incredible person! She was so humbly amazing and relaxed and skilled at just about everything she did. She was on a bike trip from Vancouver down to Cabo and met Ian and decided to crew with him for some of it! Once she gets to Mainland Mexico, she plans to send her bike home with her parents who are flying out to meet her, and then take bus’s around Mexico. It was fun arriving in Mazatlan, knowing somewhere in this strange city, people were anxiously awaiting our arrival.

Here is the boat I crewed on from Cabo to La Paz, named Marissa, a Tayana. A Beautiful boat with a teak interior. I was excited that Walter (part owner of the boat) was from Portland. On our trip we enjoyed Stumptown Coffee freshly ground in a hand grinder from (Albania….?) It became our ritual to grind the coffee each morning, for our fresh cup of coffee along with reading/writing or conversation. I so enjoyed this quality ritual each morning.

Here’s Walter, part Captain/part owner of the boat! We had a great time exploring the striking islands outside of La Paz, together. Wandering all around like playful kids, looking at everything. And of course, the sailing was quite enjoyable as well! In the middle of the night at one point, our sails were flogging along….and had been doing so for awhile (its hard to be in a hurry sailing) and while I was at the helm (on my nigh watch) wind came out of nowhere and brought us to 6 knots. After about 30 minutes it left as soon as it had come. It was a magical moments for me to feel the wing come and go so definitively. Walter shared my enthusiasm of this precious wind window. Upon waking…….Lee (see picture below) was upset to see that we had diverted a few degrees from our course.

It’s a different experience out there for every sailor…..I’m learning. Lee was ready to get to La Paz and me? I could care less if we didn’t get there for another 2 weeks (that is, as long as we had water :-))

And here is sexy Lee, my crew mate. She is from Canada (I have been meeting so many Canadians) and spent 15 years in England. She has sold everything she owns, house,car and committed the next years of her life to traveling the world, crewing on boats. When we were in Cabo, a magazine came down to do a photo shoot of her because she is featured in their magazine.

While Walter and I hiked and snorkeled around a couple islands, she stayed back on the boat and wrote an article about travelers She had a very articulate thoughtful way of describing them. “Seekers” she wrote…….. I loved it. Her words felt like an inspiring framework for my current existence. I asked if I could have a copy for my blog. “Hell No!” was her basic reply “Its going to be published”. I was taken aback at first but then had an exciting feeling that, words, besides affirmation and inspiration can ALSO have monetary awards. 🙂

We sailed for a couple days and decided to anchor for a few days and hang out exploring. The islands off of La Paz are fairly popular, with striking beauty and lots of snorkeling, diving,kayaking to do. It was such a thrill for me exploring the islands. The terrain was so familiar….(like Moab) But so different! Huge Saguaro cactus all the way down to the most turquoise color water I have ever seen

We also snorkeled for a few hours around a reef off the island. I find that life under the ocean scares me! All the brainy,pointy things. Lee and Walter assured me nothing would get me……….but still……..what a strange world it is beneath the surface of the ocean.

Sunset from our cockpit. It is truly amazing to be outside immersed in the environment ALL the time. You are right there for every sunrise and sunset. Its like camping out 24/7 but you’ve got a nice galley (kitchen) bed and couch. I find the rocking motion of the boat to be quite comforting. THe leisure evenings and mornings of visiting and reading are dreamy. And food for me is becoming so much more of an art form. Lee, (by the way) is an AMAZING cook 🙂 yum.The

The time we spent at the islands had to come to an end.  I was bummed about having to leave……….but also, excited about seeing the infamous capital of Baja……..La Paz!!  First stop….a cold margarita.  Such a tasty treat,especially when you have live music to listen to.  The whole time I felt like I was still on the boat (it took a day for that feeling to go away

And then (after laundry and cleaning the boat) time to explore La Paz!!

Here it is, my first catch ever! With Thaddeous, showing me how to do it, I reeled this yellow tail tuna in. I won’t mention what happened after the picture was taken, to the poor tuna! In order to kill it, you pound its head with a hammer or pour alcohol in its gills and mouth….a very hard thing for me to watch. But, the tuna tasted SO GOOD!

We caught 3 Tuna and 2 Marlin and more but I lost count. Lots of Meals with fish. One of the marlin that we caught was (drum role…) 10 feet long!! But, that might be a bit of a “Fish Story” I might have actually only been about 5.5 ft – 6ft….? (Thad, was it really 10ft??) Nonetheless, We got an award for it, presented at the Bajahaha awards ceremony.

I have so much catching up to do!  Wow. I got into San Diego, had an amazing time getting to know Kay (Matt’s mom) who along with Matt, were unbelievably supporting.  I also had a chance to get to know my  boat mates (quite characters, they are……..Lunasea ll (our boat name) might just be perfect :-))  and before I knew it we were setting sail, off to Cabo San Lucas Mexico!  Here is a picture of me and Barb.   There were 4 of us aboard.

Thaddeous is Captain

Bill is owner

And we were off!

I left Moab! With tears in my eyes. I have never fallen in love with a land as deeply as I have Moab. It was heart wrenching to leave……….but at least I feel like I have a home I want to come back to. Someday! In three weeks…in Two years……who knows! I’m on my moto driving winding roads through Canyons on my way out to The boat. I can’t wait to smell the sea air and kick off my SHOES! In the meantime, traveling there has been amazing. I wish I had more time because there is so much to see and people I’d like to spend time talking with more. I met a woman yesterday who loves books as much as I do and interacts with them in a similar way. What a joy it was to talk with her….I could easily have spent three weeks talking with her!

All science, says Plato, begins with astonishment.