Guaymas is behind us. Misty was launched in early March after another several months in Marina Guaymas. The major projects for this season were to rebuild the engine bed so that the propeller shaft could be lined up properly. Also some interior work such as new chart table and galley sofa/table to get more storage onboard. It was a big relief to set sail again and to see that the things on the boat seems to work fine.

We crossed the Sea of Cortez down to Puerto Escondido in Baja California, where we stayed for a while to continue with all the smaller projects and provisioning. It is a project just to find space and storage for 6 months of food onboard when the boat is already full of other stuff. As well have a system and be able to find it. Things can easy disappear on a boat.

At the moment we are in La Paz, the southern end of Baja California and working on the last things before the long sailing to French Polynesia. SSB radio, Pactor modem, AIS, VHF, GPS, EPIRB, Watermaker etc. All this tecnical things  have to work properly for better navigation, communication, weather information and safety. Rigging, hull and engine has been overhauled as well. The raw waterpump and the transmission had some issue and had to be taken apart.

By now we are almost out of money but ready to go cruising. The next stop from here will hopefully be Marquesas Islands, close to a 3000 nauticalmile crossing that approximately will take around 3-4 weeks if everything goes well.

Hasta luego Mexico!

This year is coming to it’s end.

A big part of the summer and fall was spent in Washington/ Oregon. For a couple of weeks I went up to Brittish Columbia, Canada to visit some friends. With Godfrey Stephens and his boat ”Chief Mungo” we sailed from Victoria to Port Townsend and joined the woodenboat festival.

In early October Ginni and I closed up the farm for the winter, loaded the pickup truck to the brim and started driving south. Down in San Diego we spent a few days getting some last parts before crossing the boarder over to Mexico. A few days later we arrived in Loreto, Baja California, Mexico. This is Ginni’s 2nd homebase. I continued by flight to my boat in Guaymas.

The first two weeks in Mexico was unbearably hot, some days up to +45 degrees Celsius. I had very difficult to sleep during the nights, but in the beginning of November it started to cool off rapidly. Now at the end of the year it can be pretty chilly, espacially at night. Traditionally Christmas Eve was spent in Marina Guaymas together with all the other boatbums.

Happy new year everyone!

The last two months I’ve spent up at Ginni’s farm in Washington State. The farm has 21 acre and it’s located on Puget Island in the Columbia River, just at the border to Oregon. Cathlamet is the nearest town and Astoria is a half hour drive away. The location is good, not too far from the Pacific coast in the west or to the mountains in the east. Though a big tsunami or earthquake could probably wash the whole Island away, which would be a bummer…

At the moment Ginni is leasing out 15 acres and a house to a family who have lots of animals, cows, horses, sheeps, goats, chickens, dogs, cats, you name it. It’s great to see all the animals around.

Ginni and I live in the ”milkroom”, a small house which is the perfect size for us. Beside the Milkroom, there is old barn which unfortunately is slowly fallen apart. In addition to that we have a big outdoor kitchen.

Here you are never unoccupied. Just to keep the grass down is lots of work. Ginni grows some vegetables and herbs, like garlic, zucchini, tomatoes, cucumbers, kale, beets, broccoli, cilantro, beans, peas, onions, carrots  etc. Lots of weeds as well. At farmers market every Friday you can also buy all kinds of local grown food.

Ginni has owned this farm for 6 years, but has only been here during summertime. The property has water access, so she also operates a kayak symphosium on the farm during a couple of weeks every year (Loco roundup) and kayak nurds gather from all over the world.

The country life fits me good, I like open space and distance between people. I don’t mind working hard as long as I have the opportunity to leave once in a while. Travel and exploring is still the most important thing.

In Port Canaveral, Florida I board ”Freedom of the seas”, one of the world largest cruiseship. This ship has a capacity for almost 6000 people and is like a floating city. It’s on the way to Caribbean. My visit was supposed to be a few weeks but turned out to be 2 month.

First week we visit Bahamas, St. Thomas and St. Martin. Next week it is Haiti, Jamaica, Cayman and Cozumel. That how it goes week after week with always a final stop in Port Canaveral, Orlando. Though I didn’t came here to play tourist. Me and my partners are here to repair some leaking pipes.

In Caribbean the climate is hot and humid. Hilly and lush islands surrounded of turquoise colored water. Around the ports everything is built up for the tourists. Souvenier shops, restaurants, arranged diving trips, charter trips and jetskis. This might be paradise for some people but it don’t take long to see how artificial the whole thing around the tourism industry is.

After 2 month my mission is over. I’m glad to walk off the ship and head for other locations.

After returning to Loreto and wiping the dust off Ginni’s pickup truck we camp at Rattlesnake beach. The truck is our mobile home for now. Most of the RV’s and campers are gone for the season, only a few mexican fishermen are staying at the beach. It’s peaceful and quiet. Though the sheltered lagoon in Puerto Escondido is crowded with boats, the Loreto fest for cruisers is going on.

Spending the days with random activities, kayaking, hiking and also some work on Ginni’s kayakfleet. Ivette from Mexico and Ginni running their kayak company in Loreto. They have an office there and 17 kayaks which occasionally need some maintenance.

Just a week later an opportunity came up for me to join a cruiseship in Caribbean. I decide to go and Ginni offered to drive me down to La Paz to catch the flight onward. On the way down and despite a broken muffler we took some smaller desert roads  for the reason to go for a swim in the Pacific ocean.

We reach La paz just after dark and the next morning I take the flight to Florida.

All to the end of April I spend the time in the boatyard. Ginni also come over from Baja California to enjoy the boatwork.This year it was not so much major projects but lots of smaller things that take long time as well. Lots of time was also spend on grinding, sanding and painting.

At the end of the month we were finished with most of the things we wanted to get done with Misty before launch. Though I needed to adjust the engine so it accurately lines up with the propeller shaft. That’s very important to avoid damage to bearings and transmission.

After a proper check I realized that the engine is extremely out of position. So much that it must be lift out and the engine bed has to be changed. No wonder why the two last cutless bearings wore out in so short time…

I start to lift the engine with a come-along and I cut the aluminium oil pan under it in pieces just to get it out so I can reach the engine bed. I temporarily adjust the engine in right position with help of shim plates so I can figure a way to rebuild the engine bed. It will work but it will be another ”two weeks” project.

At this point we are tired of boatwork. We’ve been here longtime, the days are hot and in the night time the mosquitos are a pain. Ginni also only got a couple of weeks left of her vacation and we rather spend them doing something more fun than boatwork.

It’s time for a change and we decide to leave Misty and the boatyard for the summer and go back to Baja California.

Over a month have passed since i returned from Baja California to the boatyard in Guaymas. Lots of work have been done with Misty. Some new custom made things are: Anchorwinch mount, kayakracks, bench and wood on aftplatfrom, ladder, bomgallow etc. Beside that, some changings, maintenace and repairings. The biggest labor right now is to grind and epoxypaint the deck and it takes longer time than you can image.

Though I’m not the only one here that battle with boats. This yard is like a small community, all kind of people from all over the world. Different kind of boats and all with their own problems. Some people have been here for many years. The thing we all have in common is that one day hopefully launch the boat and set sail for new destinations. A classic comment in the yard is ”I only got two more weeks”…

The paradox is, what suppose to be your ticket to the freedom can easy be your anchor. But for me I rather see people live this alternative lifestyle and keep believe in their dream, instead of rot in front of a TV in a terraced house.

Not to forget many of the people in this yard are experienced sailors with lots of stories to tell.

Just before new year I went to visit my girlfriend Ginni Callahan in Baja California. I took a flight from Guaymas to Loreto. Ginni have her camp at Rattlesnake beach south of Puerto Escondido, which is about 25km south of Loreto.
For 14 years she’s been coaching kayaking and doing guided trips from this beach during the winter seasons. The remaining 6 month of the year she is doing the same thing up in Washington/Oregon or other places in the world.

For this season Ginni also brought down a kayak for me as will go with Misty further on. I will pick it up when I return to Loreto in March with my boat. Not that i’m a kayaknurd but it’s a great way to explore along a shoreline in shallow waters. Faster and more quiet than a rowing dingy.
Last year Ginni start using sail for her kayak and I now get a chance to try it as well. The sail it’s not big but it sure helps in windy conditions, especially downwind. I trying to convince her to get a real sailingcanoe instead but she disagree…
At new year eve we paddle out to Isla Danzante and camp for the night on the southeast end of the island. It’s pitch black at 7pm and i’m well asleep at midnight. Next morning it’s sunny but a little chilly. The northerly wind picks up fast and we having a rough paddle back against wind and waves.

A couple of days later we are a few people who doing the scenic hike up the canyon west of Rattlesnake beach. It been dry for a long period so it’s only water in the upper part of the canyon. Well up there after 2 hours hiking we jumping in to the pool of ice cold water. The hike down goes faster.
On my last day at the beach I helping Ginni to put her camp down. Next morning she’s leaving for Australia for 6 weeks. I’ll see her again in March.

This is a summary of the boatwork Misty undergone during the first part of 2010. Also some pix from the sailing in Sea of Cortez.

The division of the year was not fair, five parts boatwork and one part sailing. Hope it will be opposite next year 2011. Misty are in good shape now.

First of all the old bowsprit and bomkin (aftplatform) made of stainless was chopped off. To old and fragile. New bowsprit, aftplatform and railing was built bigger and made of galvanized steelpipes. Stronger and cheaper than stainless, also easier to find in Mexico. Above the aftdeck i built a rack for the solarpanels, radar and windgenerator. A hatch was made in the cockpit to be able to reach the space beneath the aftdeck. Before, that space was empty.

New winchmount and cleat was made for the genoasheet. In the bilge steelplates was welded in on the top of the concrete ballast, that to avoid saltwater from getting down inside of the keel. In addition to this, many hours was spent chipping, grinding and repairing steel from rust, and not to forget painting. Rust never sleeps…

When finally Misty touched the water again, most of it seemed to work great. During a month in Sea of Cortez i got time to try everything out.

A few days ago I arrived in Guaymas. I’m back at my boat in Marina seca.

Misty had been alone for several month during the HOT summer but seems to have survived  pretty good. No big damage though a thick layer of dust everywhere. The tarp I put up over the cockpit before leaving is hanging in pieces.

Many of the other boatbums in the yard is back as well. A few lives here year around but most people leave their boat during the brutal summer. Besides chance of hurricanes and heavy rains the temperature summertime can be more than +50 degrees Celsius (120 f). Now it’s a suitable temperature around +25 C daytime. Night time can be a little chilly.

It’s taking a couple of days just to settle in. Clean up, fill up water and food and talk to people. I allow myself to take it a little easy before starting up any of the boatproject for this season.

It’s good to be back home.