November 3, 2004 - San Carlos/Guaymas, Mexico

November 3, 2004 – San Carlos/Guaymas, Mexico

Dream Caper “splashed” back into the water on October 23, after being on the hard (in dry storage) in Guaymas since June. Because Dream Caper is 23 feet wide, she cannot be taken in and out by trailer as most boats are down here. We have to use the shrimp boat/commercial boat lift. All went well after a 5-day delay which is normal, yet frustrating, here in Mexico.
We had originally planned to keep Dream Caper in Mazatlan for the hurricane season (June to October) but because we lost our starboard propeller due to a cracked shaft after crossing from the Baja to San Carlos, and it would have taken at least 3 weeks for the replacement parts, we had her hauled in Guaymas. Steve and his brother, David, drove to Guaymas in July with the replacement shaft and propeller for the starboard engine, but when they began to oil the shaft and propeller on the port engine, the port propeller fell off! That was bad, but the good news was that it happened then, rather than when we put the boat back in the water after hurricane season.
In mid-October, we took our scheduled return flight to Mazatlan, but jumped ship in Phoenix and took a bus from there to Guaymas by way of Hermosillo. Because any checked luggage would have gone to Mazatlan, we FedEx’d our repaired spinnaker and two assembled replacement shafts (which we could not carry onto the flight) to our friends in Phoenix (Sean and Jenny), who picked us up at the airport, fed us breakfast and deposited us at the bus station that afternoon after our last FedEx package arrived. After a 9-hour bus ride to Guaymas with an overnight stop in Hermosillo to renew our non-resident visas (which is a whole other story, but we ultimately succeeded in the renewal a week later in Guaymas), we settled into an efficiency apartment for $100 per week. Dream Caper was on land without water or electricity and she was covered with 4 months worth of dust.
Steve put on both shafts and propellers, and installed most of the connections for our new solar panels. Portia organized the interior and supply stores, polished the stainless steel and had a semi-emergency root canal done by a Mexican endodontist. When a toothache got much worse fast, Portia started making plans to fly back to Marin to have her endodontist perform his $1500 job, but we found a seemingly very competent local specialist who did the job for $300. While he was at it, Portia also had two crowns replaced at 1/5 the normal Marin County cost. She has survived thus far and is free of pain.
We had a wonderful summer back home in Marin County. We bought a new home in San Rafael. We plan to retire from cruising in the next 9-10 years and thought it would be good to have a one-level house with a flat yard to totter around in. Although we lived on the top (street level) of Portia’s duplex, it is 3 stories (storage on the bottom floor) with the backyard 4 stories down the hill. It was getting a little annoying having to stumble up and down those stairs with sore knees. So, we happened to find an Eichler home (glass walls/atrium entry) which we loved and which backs up to open space in San Rafael. The sellers accepted our offer out of the multiple offers and it was suddenly ours after a 3-week closing. Steve sold his houses in Long Beach last year so it was a good time to buy a house. We believe that in 9-10 years we won’t be able to afford this kind of house as houses in Marin seem to double in price every 10 years. It is a stretch to make the payments and cruise but we figure it is worth it.
Besides buying the house and moving, we had to get our duplex unit ready for occupancy (the downstairs tenant of 7 years moved up to our unit) and then we had to rent and get the lower unit ready for occupancy. We also took a 12-day big ship cruise from SF to Alaska on Crystal Cruises in September with Portia’s brother and his fiancé, Debbie. What a fun trip! We wish we had that pampering cruise service on our own boat here in Mexico! Steve did not go for Portia’s suggestion that we sell our boat and, with that money and the funds involved in maintaining the boat, take big ship cruises for a few months every year and see the world! He said he would weigh 1000 pounds after just a few years of big ship cruising. We need the exercise. We decided to keep cruising on Dream Caper!
Portia’s son, Mako, and his friend, expertly moved all of our heavy furniture while we were in Alaska to the new house. Mako has also used his building skills to do texturing, painting and minor repairs on the new house. What a great help he has been and so handy! Oh, and on July 1, Portia had arthroscopic surgery on her knee but managed to play tennis 3 weeks later for her Piper Park team which went to District USTA Finals in Moraga and then Sectionals in Carmel. It was a fun but very busy summer.
We are at the dock in San Carlos waiting out strong northerlies (20-40 knots), 10 foot seas, before embarking on the 75 mile crossing to the Baja. Steve has completed installation of the solar panels. Dream Caper is full of fuel and water. We are fully provisioned and Portia’s dental work is complete. The strong northerlies are subsiding. Many other cruisers in San Carlos have been waiting for the good wind window for the crossing so we have lots of company and people to socialize with. Last week we saw the total eclipse of the moon on a very clear, calm evening and while the moon was totally eclipsed we watched the Boston Red Sox win the World Series! We then watched the light return to the moon. It was beautiful!
The cruising community is a very interesting group of people from all walks of life who have this common drive to get out on the ocean and go! Because we have so much in common and we pretty much depend on each other, we get acquainted very quickly. A few days ago a sailboat left San Carlos, and 20 miles out the top of her mast broke. After she returned to San Carlos, several cruisers joined together and, using their boats and dinghies, removed the mast while still afloat and delivered it to the yard for repair. While we were in the Sea of Cortez this past May, a power boat went aground in a remote area and despite help from the Mexican Navy and local cruisers she sank near shore. Cruisers in the area all rallied and four days later she was floated and towed to La Paz for repairs. As is common, the owners had no insurance and it was their only home. So, although we are seemingly alone out here, there is support when we need it.
We leave at 2:30 a.m. tomorrow! It should take us 11 hours to cross, arriving during daylight, which is always good for anchoring and finding our way into a new port. We are very anxious to get away from the dock. N