Spring 2000

Around Mazatlán and a Trip Stateside

Thursday April 6, 2000

We arrived back in Mazatlán a week ago and Bill has already headed stateside to pick up mail.   He left yesterday morning on the bus headed to Tijuana as our mail (complete with our debit cards which expired last Feb.) should be at his mother’s in Chula Vista.  We had a nice sail for about three hours when we left Isla Isabella and then the wind quit and it was a motor-boat ride the rest of the way.  The marina here is full; even the no-power-no-water docks have few empty slips.  We managed to snag the last spot on the water-only dock but the lack of electricity is hardly a hardship as our solar panels keep up with our use.  Although the weather is pleasant during the day it is cold, 60° F, at night.   This is the coldest that we have been all winter and we have had to pull out our sweats.  Our time here has been spent cleaning and repairing.  After Bill returns from San Diego next week there are still a few more repair projects that he is bringing parts back for.

Sunday April 9, 2000

This morning I passed the Extra class written ham radio test!!  Next weekend, when the FCC rules change, dropping the 20wpm code requirement, I will upgrade to the Extra class.   Having the ham license has been very useful here in Mexico in keeping friends and family back home up dated on our whereabouts.  Bill is still off stateside and while he has been gone he has missed a Margarita party, and today a great chicken feast. 

Friday April 14, 2000

Bill returned on Tuesday afternoon and the activities here at the marina are continuing so he really missed very little.  Wednesday night was an open boat night.  Several boaters volunteered to have their boats open to raise funds for the Día de los Niños that occurs at the end of the month.  The children from two local orphanages are invited to the marina for a day of activities and when they leave we present the orphanages with gifts including food, toiletries, cleaning supplies and money.  It was a very fun and successful activity last year and this year it promises to be at least as good.  Thursday night was a potluck and soap collection.  All types of soaps from hand soap to shampoo to dish soap were gathered.  Much great food was also consumed. 

Thursday Bill and I also entertained an English class.  A group of about 10 local adult school students came to the boat for about 2 hours to practice their English and as a side benefit we got some great practice with our Spanish.  One of the students owns a restaurant in the central city.  Bill and I visited his restaurant today and enjoyed a great shrimp salad.  As we were finishing our meal, many relatives of the owner started arriving to help celebrate his daughter’s 3^rd birthday and we were invited to participate.  It was great fun watching the children and we even got a delicious piece of cake. 

Saturday April 15, 2000

Today we were off to the small town of El Quelite.  The town was founded as a company mining town in the 1500s.  It now is a farming town of about 2000 people.  Bright colors and cleanliness distinguish this town.  The tidy homes are brightly painted and are surrounded by even brighter colored flowers.  The bus from the marina left us off at the central plaza with a decorative wrought iron raised gazebo in the center and plenty of iron benches for lounging among the green trees and shrubs.  We walked next door to visit the small white church with its large wooden doors and shiny brass bells.  From there, we walked to the edge of the town to see the fighting cock ranch where they raise prize fighters from a very select breeding stock.  The roosters sell (world-wide) for up to $500 (US) and are only useful for one fight.  

Charro riding and fancy rope tricks were shown to us in the bull ring.   There was even a dancing horse that danced while the band played.  The game of Ulama was demonstrated to us at the ball field.  It is an Aztec game played with a heavy rubber ball, about 5 kg., on a field 4 meters wide by 60 meters long.  The 5 players on each team hit the ball back and forth using only their hips.  Scores are made by the opponent when the ball is hit out of bounds on one team’s side of the center line. 

We also visited two nicely restored 19^th century homes and were served a traditional meal of beef and tomato stew, beans, fresh cheese and tortillas.  

The whole tour was set up by Mario, our marina manager.  So far, groups from the marina have been the only tourist groups to visit this town.  This will probably not last long, as a tour guide for the cruise ships joined us and is interested in bringing cruise ship passengers to El Quelite.  Visiting a non-tourist town was very pleasant as there were none of the usual street vendors selling t-shirts and other trinkets.  We were also not constantly being chased by children begging for candy or money.

Sunday April 16, 2000

Today we again worked on boat repairs and were again thwarted by the wind speed instrument.  Three trips up the mast later and it is still producing nothing on the meter down below although it works fine while sitting in the cabin even with its wires connected up through the mast and back down.  Bill did succeed at tapping a hole in the main fuel tank for the second dip tube and many boards were removed from the anchor line locker in readiness to rebuild it with more chain space down low.

Sunday April 23, 2000

Another week and we can chalk up another few projects.  Several repairs have been completed and others need still another trip north for more parts.  The anchor locker is back together in its new and improved form and it is even filled with the chain and line from the two bow anchors.  Our stairs should squeak less with the new hardwood plugs for the screws to tighten into but the floor will still squeak as the screws purchased for that job were too skinny and too long.  Bill also stopped a potential water leak by rebuilding the all the dorade boxes on deck.

Bill has also spent much time organizing lists for the trip north in May.  We spent one afternoon in town getting round trip air tickets to Tijuana and checking the web for new toys (computer and associated goodies) to be picked up in the US.

This past week was also the biggest week of Semana Santa (two weeks around Easter) and Mazatlán is a major tourist destination for the city folks.  The city is full full full and the beaches are crowded.  Driving or even taking the bus into town is a slow process as the roads are jammed with the beach crowds.  The crowds are happy ones and no one seems to be in a hurry, so only the poor bus drivers seem to suffer from the confusion; everyone else seems to be enjoying the grand party.  Many small tourist business survive for the whole rest of the year on what they earn these two weeks.

Fun fundraiser activities continue here at the marina for next Saturday’s Día de Los Niños activities.  We have done everything from bake sales to Bloody Mary contests, potlucks and slide show presentations, to chili tasting.  It has all been grand fun and much money has been raised for the children.

Sunday April 30, 2000

We arrived in Tijuana yesterday and crossed into the San Diego area with little more hassle than a long wait for Saturday afternoon boarder traffic.  We checked in to our usual Motel 6 in Chula Vista and then re-boarded the trolley for the trip to the airport area and a rental car.  This is where the "fun" began as the company that we had reserved the car from was closed by the time we arrived, even though they had told Bill on the phone that they would be open until 10pm.  Stuck on the back side of the airport we walked a ways and found a friendly airport parking lot.  There we got a ride to the airport in one of their shuttle vans.  We rented a car from another company and they too had their lot on the backside of the airport, not too far from a trolley stop for our return leg of the journey. 

The last week in Mazatlán we were all busy preparing for Saturday’s day of the children and finishing up the loose ends before our trip to the US..  I helped Sandy from Sirus organize her clown costume.  She sure is a great clown and the children enjoy her.  We also received a great bundle of information about cruising the coast of Chile from Marsha on Mañana, which needed to be copied for our files. We also spent several days dealing with a Mexican insurance company to acquire health insurance for Mexico.  They have a policy that seems to fit our needs.  As well as being more usable for us, it will cost much less than our Pacific Northwest policy.   The insurance dealings have been interesting as  we seem to be one of the few gringos that they have dealt with.  When we are finished there are other cruisers interested in this policy too.

Bill and I had to leave in the middle of the Día de Los Niños activities yesterday, but were there for the arrival of the children.  The group seemed much smaller than last year.  The children were scrubbed spotless on arrival and dressed in their Sunday best.  Dinghy rides were first, followed by several piñatas, so by the time we left much of the spotlessness was already wearing off.  Everyone was having a great time.

Today Bill and I took off for a drive around the San Diego area, visiting inland areas where we had spent time in years past.  Although there is much growth and change in many areas, we found some of the roads to be as we remembered from our childhood.  It was a fun, relaxing day but when we arrived back at the hotel we received phone calls from several upset family members as we had neglected to call them upon arrival.  Oh well - the irresponsible parents strike out again.

Sunday May 7, 2000

We have made it to The Dalles.  We arrived here on Friday afternoon after spending a few days in the Portland area with Wayne and Jean Vial.  Daughter Gretchen showed up at their place in Portland with granddaughter Emily.  We got to baby sit while Gretchen attended an afternoon of classes.  Bill and I took Emily to the local MacDonalds for lunch.  She ate very little but sure enjoyed climbing in their kid-size gerbil cage.  Late in the afternoon, Jean and I took the opportunity to go shopping, pushing Emily to the nearby shopping mall in the dock cart. There Emily got a ride on the merry-go-round, a remnant left from the days when Jansen Beach was an amusement park.

After arriving in The Dalles, we spent the rest of Friday afternoon with our daughter and Emily before heading over to Bill and Linda’s for a quick chat and to pick up a years worth of mail and the new computer.  Linda does a wonderful job of handling our mail so there were few pressing issues that we had to deal with, but we still had a large bag to sort through, including many Christmas cards. 

Last evening we enjoyed barbequed hamburgers at Craig and Mary Crichton’s and did a marathon slide show presentation of the many Europe photos stored on our computer.

Today Bill returned to the Crichton’s.  While I spent the day with Gretchen and Emily at my sisters.  Bill and Craig played with computers.  I visited with both of my sisters that live here and other family members as well.  Judy had a crowd at her place and we enjoyed fresh caught salmon cooked on the barbeque for lunch.  After eating and visiting some, Linda and I escaped back to the quiet of her place only two blocks away. 

Tuesday May 9, 2000

Another trip into Portland was made today.  The weather was Portland’s usual: rainy.  I went shopping with Jean Vial at Jansen Beach mall while Bill took brother-in-law Bill Trautz out computer shopping.  After checking out the many computers at Fry's, they acquired a nice modern fast computer for the Linda and Bill.  We all returned to The Dalles to set up the new machine and have great barbequed chicken at the their house.

Yesterday Bill finally took the time to start the set up and to play with his new computer while I had great fun with Emily and Gretchen.  In the late afternoon Emily went to visit with her other grandmother and we took the opportunity to take Gretchen out for a nice quiet dinner.

Sunday May 14, 2000

Our time in The Dalles is almost over and the list still has a few “need to get done” items that we will accomplish today.  The last few days have been relaxed, as the flu went through the Lovell household (where we are staying) and Bill and I took our turn with it.  Last Thursday, since Emily wasn’t feeling well, I sat with her much of the day while her mom went to Portland for school.  Friday, in spite of illnesses, we got a turkey cooked but no one ate any until last night, when everyone enjoyed the cold turkey with hot stuffing, gravy, salad and even cranberry relish. 

Today being Mother’s day, we plan to go the yacht club for their annual brunch and see many of our friends.  This time we have missed seeing most of the church crowd but there is only so much time and Emily and Gretchen take precedence.

Later:

We did go to The Dalles Yacht Club brunch and enjoyed visiting with many friends.  John and Lana Maine have plans to move onboard and eventually cruise the Puget Sound up in Washington and on into British Columbia.  We got a tour of the Roth’s new-to-them boat.  It is somewhat larger and more comfortable than their last one and they hope to do more Columbia River cruising on it.   We also met several of the new members who are just getting their feet wet in boating. 

Wednesday May 17, 2000

Monday morning early we left The Dalles and flew on to visit Doreen’s parents in Bozeman, Montana.  Everyone here has a late winter cold, so Bill arriving with his (a gift from Emily) made us fit right in with coughing and sneezing.   Mom and I took off on a shopping spree the next day but since the stores had restocked for summer the few items that I was looking for were unavailable.  We did find some cute outfits for Emily to wrap up for next Christmas.  I try to get my Christmas shopping done while on our annual stateside visit.   

Saturday May 20, 2000

Mornings this past week have been spent helping my folks with projects around the house, with afternoons spent running around town to various shops and stores.  I have managed to acquire Christmas gifts and even shipped them off to both of our girl’s families with instructions to open next December.  Of course Emily got the largest pile of gifts but it is fun to shop for little girl things. 

Tomorrow we leave in the early AM to head back to San Diego.  A little over a week there and it is back to Mazatlán and home.

Tuesday May 23, 2000

We arrived back in San Diego early Sunday afternoon after uneventful but full flights.  After renting a car, we spent some time watching the Sunday boaters on the bay and then checked into our favorite Motel 6 in Chula Vista. 

Monday we joined Bill’s brother Rick for breakfast.  He had brought with him the small pile of things that we had been storing at his place.  Two of the large items, thankfully, we will be leaving with PJ in Orange county.  The rest managed to find holes in our packs.  After picking up a few parts at local electronics stores we headed off to Downwind Marine to gather up to pile of repair parts that they had been gathering for us.  Almost all of those parts managed to get squeezed into our packs.  The packs are quite full and heavy now and we still have the box waiting for us at PJ’s that we shipped south from Oregon. 

Monday night we met up with some long lost friends, Ken and Lynn Popp.  We had had great times camping with them years ago when we lived in San Diego and were all working at UCSD.  They took us to dinner at a great fish restaurant and then spent the rest of the evening looking at photos and telling tales.  It was sure great fun to visit with old friends again.

Today we head up to the Mission Viejo area and will be staying with PJ and Loretta while we do some more shopping and visit with Bill’s friends from Unisys, where he worked for many years.

Sunday May 28, 2000

We are back in Chula Vista again after spending the last few days in the Dana Point area with our friends PJ and Loretta.  While there Bill visited with his old work friends and even spent part of an afternoon at the Unisys plant.   We enjoyed one day shopping first at Bill’s favorite bookstore and then at various boat stores in Newport Beach.  That evening we dined with Doug, Margaret and Lindy Tolbert while we caught up on the last year’s tales. 

Friday evening we visited the Dana Point Yacht Club, enjoying of their Friday feast.  Yesterday PJ and I put lots of effort into getting him up on PSK31, a new digital ham radio mode, but not quite succeeding yet. 

Tomorrow is our last day in the states and we both are looking forward to being back in Mazatlán, but not quite looking forward to the trip south with our very very full packs.

Wednesday  May 31, 2000

We made it back to the boat in Mazatlán with everything!  Our packs were some of the heaviest that we have traveled with and several times while carrying them I was not sure how much further I could go before falling down. 

Our last day in San Diego was Memorial Day and a holiday and everything was closed, so Bill and I took the opportunity to drive up into the mountains.  We returned to Chula Vista in plenty of time to take Bill’s mother out to dinner at Marie Calendars.  We enjoyed a nice dinner with her and a great visit as she was in a talkative rational mood.  All and all a great evening. 

Tuesday morning we were up with the sun.  A quick run through McDonalds for coffee and we were off.  Bill left me at the San Ysidro bus station with all the luggage.  I sat on the luggage reading and watching other travelers come and go while he returned the rental car and returned 1-½ hours later on the trolley.  Since we had just missed a bus, we waited together for the next bus south.  We were told it would leave about 15 minutes before our flight.  We waited anyhow and caught the next bus, which actually left only 45 minutes later, with more than plenty of time to catch our airplane.  The bus took us across the border and dropped us off near the airport.   We then had to lug the many pieces of luggage to the departing passenger gate and through customs one last time, before we could leave the heaviest pieces as checked luggage.  The arrival in Mazatlán was uneventful and the luggage pick-up was near to the cabs where we got a ride all the way to our dock at the marina.

Sunday June 4, 2000

Bill’s cold has returned, so he has spent much time since our return resting and hoping that the cough etc. will finally leave him for good.   The weather has been good here, warm, actually hot in the afternoons but the afternoon breeze keeps it comfortable.  The humidity was not too bad until the last two days, when a storm off of Acapulco spun clouds our way. Since we have moved to a dock with power, the large 110V fan keeps it comfortable down below. 

Saturday June 10, 2000

We just returned to our slip from the fuel dock where we topped off the fuel tanks and filled the gasoline jug for the dinghy.  This past week Bill has slowly been conquering his cold bug and we have accomplished a few more of the “before we leave “ projects.  It is now getting too hot and humid to accomplish much in the afternoons.  We even become drippy with the morning projects.  On Thursday, Ray and Pauline from Sundancer II, took us in the van to Sam’s Club where we stocked up the pantry, and filled the freezer.  Earlier in the week we picked up the paperwork for our Mexican health insurance policies.  We both have also ordered new eye glasses which should be ready for pick up tonight.  Our old pairs had gotten so bad that reading was becoming difficult.  After picking up our new glasses and another grocery run, we will be ready to unplug and make the crossing to the Baja side of the Sea of Cortez and spend the heat of the summer at anchor in the Sea of Cortez, where we can swim from the boat to keep cool.