Letter Home - January through July 2004

On April 14, we returned to our boat, Dream Caper, which had been docked in Mazatlan since January 15, when we returned early to the Bay Area because Steve needed arthroscopic surgery for a torn meniscus in his knee. After his surgery in February we went to Hawaii for a week to speed his recuperation away from the damp Bay Area winter. It worked! He was playing tennis 7 days after surgery. While at home, I played tennis like a crazy woman often playing twice a day and managing to get on the court almost daily. After spending Passover and Easter with our respective families, we flew to Mazatlan. I definitely needed a break from so much tennis as my body was talking to me in the form of aches and pains. Upon our return to Mazatlan, we happily found Dream Caper in great shape waiting for us.
A few days after our return, Art and Evelyn (Steve’s parents), and Aunt Lillian stayed with us on Dream Caper in Mazatlan for 4 days. We managed to actually sail one of those days, and frolicked in the waters off Mazatlan near Deer Island. The other days were spent sightseeing, visiting, reading, playing Mexican Train dominoes and having wonderful dinners together. Art and Evelyn then took off by bus to Copper Canyon and Lillian returned to LA. Just 8 hours later, my brother Geff and his finance Debbie arrived for a 3-day visit. We had more wonderful dinners, played Mexican Train, read and explored Mazatlan. It was wonderful having family visit us on our boat!
We sailed from Mazatlan to Baja (just south of La Paz) on April 30 and made it in 26 hours. Not bad time for the crossing, and pretty friendly seas. We then cruised the islands near La Paz for a week until we had to return to La Paz to repair a blown water pump in our port engine. Luckily we have two engines. Although the repair was done in less than a day, we spent 4 wonderful days in La Paz. Great town. We hope to return.
We left La Paz and cruised north in the Sea of Cortez to Isla Partida, Isla San Francisco, Isla Danzante, Bahia Agua Verde, Puerto Escondido, Loreto, Bahia Concepion, Mulege and then crossed from Punto Chivato (just south of Santa Rosalia) to San Carlos. We snorkeled wherever we anchored and because Steve has been so successful in spearfishing we have had plenty of grouper and snapper-type fish. I tried spearfishing but whenever I was ready to shoot the spear I just could not let it go and kill the fish. Maybe I will get braver or, if we run out of food, I will get desperate enough to shoot something. Meanwhile, Steve has been such a great provider that we have fish in the freezer. Clams were abundant in Bahia Concepcion as were scallops which we ate with relish - actually cooked in butter and garlic. At Bahia Concepcion, we were the only boat anchored in 8 feet of water off Isla Coyote for 4 days. We simply jumped off our stern to gather scallops and clams, and spear fish. It was idyllic.
While underway in the Sea of Cortez we have seen an abundance of porpoises swimming in large pods/schools; we saw one that stretched 2 miles in length. We have sighted a few whales and have seen numerous Bat Rays or Manta Rays that "jump" 4 feet out of the water and belly flop, supposedly to rid their wings of parasitic growths. It is a funny sight seeing them "flapping" as they come out of the water. The belly flopping is so loud that it often sounds like gunshots, especially when we are anchored near rock cliffs. The terrain is magnificent in a dry, rocky, and arid way. The geological striations and different colors are beautiful; deep reds, bright pinks, greens, yellows, browns and black. It is mountainous terrain, with cacti growing even on islands of only rocky outcroppings.
We went scuba diving in the islands near La Paz one day. We dove with sea lions and explored a wreck. Although the visibility was only about 15 feet, we saw lots of fish while snorkeling and scuba diving: stingrays, puffer fish, moray eels, sea snakes, and lots of colorful fish. It was just great to get into the water (but see below.) By late May the water had warmed to at least 80 degrees.
We arrived in San Carlos on May 27 after a 12-hour crossing that was very bumpy, with 4 to 5 foot confused swells (the swells in the Sea of Cortez are always choppy and close together, unlike the nice wide rolling ones in the open ocean) with 14 to 20 knot winds. This was quite a change from the previous three weeks, where we had flat seas with no wind, and had to motor almost everywhere we went. We got jostled around a bit and were happy to reach San Carlos Marina. We were in for a surprise, though, when we attempted to pull up to the gas dock in 20 knot winds. Although our starboard engine was running just fine, we seemed to get no power out of it. Even with Steve being such a great boat handler (Portia's words, not mine), we just managed to get to the dock, fuel up and get out without hitting anything, though people on a number of boats near us were ready to fend us off as we were pushed by the wind towards their boats. After motoring for some 45 minutes to Marina Real, north of San Carlos, Steve again expertly (again, not my words) maneuvered the boat stern first into a double slip. Steve jumped in the water to investigate the problem. Our 8-month old propeller was GONE. It had totally fallen off and the drive's shaft was broken. We must have lost it somewhere between Baja and the San Carlos fuel dock. We guessed that the diver who removed our props in Mazatlan in order to install new zincs did not adequately secure the starboard propeller to the drive shaft and it must have worked loose.
Steve spent the next day jury rigging our spare prop (old one) so that we could get power from the starboard engine. With the help of a fellow cruiser who was familiar with the San Carlos area and who had a car, we were able to get the necessary parts and provisions in time for our 3 guests from Scottsdale who arrived on May 29. For the next week we cruised north of San Carlos with our friends, dropping anchor at little coves along the way. The company was great, the weather was wonderful, the anchorages beautiful, the moon was full, the fish were plentiful, and we even saw a green flash one sunset. It would have been a great week if not for hydroids.
These hydroids are cobweb-type strings with small beads here and there that sting like jellyfish. They float just below the surface of the water and are mostly undetectable until they've got you. They were in most of the coves where we anchored, and were very bad in some of them. Apparently, they mysteriously show up a few times a year and then disappear. I made the mistake of trying to wash them off my diving skin and hood with fresh water right after snorkeling. Apparently the fresh water activates them to sting. They stung me right through my diving skin and on my hands when I removed my gloves! Most people who get stung apply lime juice, vinegar or Windex to the stings and they simply disappear after a few hours. Unfortunately, my stings from jellyfish and these hydroids all swell up with resultant intense itchiness for 3 to 4 days. Anti-histamine is my only relief, which means I was constantly drowsy for days. I counted the stings: 180 hydroid stings and one bee sting (as a final insult I stepped on a bee that was lounging in our carpet near the door).
After our friends left, we spent a few days arranging to take the boat out of the water to repair the drive shaft and replace the propeller. We thought we could order the parts, have them shipped to Tucson and pick them up there (everyone assures us it is futile to try to ship anything to Mexico) and get the boat repaired quickly, but it didn't work out that way. Instead we will leave the boat on the hard in Guaymus for the hurricane season. We had planned to sail back to Mazatlan and leave the boat there for the summer.
We returned to Corte Madera in mid June. Next week I'll (please note a change in pronoun use - as it is now me writing rather than Portia) make a quick road trip back to the boat to do the engine repairs, and a few other upgrades so the boat will be ready when we return to it in October and head South. We're planning on covering Mexico and Central America by the spring of next year and then possibly cross to the South Pacific, but if we find places we especially like, we may take it a lot slower and wait for next year to do the crossing. And we have bought a supply of a new product which is supposed to simulate the slime on Clown Fish and keep jellyfish from stinging.
Once we got home, Portia naturally hit the tennis courts hard , play two or three times a day until she re-injured her knee. She was obviously jealous of the sympathy I received when I had surgery in February (or maybe she just wanted to go back to Hawaii.) At any rate, she had arthroscopy on her right knee on July 1st. She has made a quick recovery (despite not getting another trip to Hawaii), but her doctor won't allow her on the tennis court yet. We did go out yesterday just to hit the ball a little, but we're not counting that.
We have occupied ourselves with other endeavors. We happened to see an open house while driving to our friend's on the Fourth of July. We liked what we saw, but when we checked into making an offer on the house it had already sold. Well, no one does that to us. We immediately went out and found a similar house for a lot more money and bought it! That'll show 'em. Its true, we are buying a new home. Built in 1961, it is an Eichler, a developer who built open, very modern style houses for the masses (though you would never guess by the current prices.) Its located about eight miles from where we are now in the Terra Linda section of San Rafael. So will soon have a new address. And that about brings us up to date.