Archived Logs

SolMate Santiago Logs

Log #68, May 2008

Thursday, 29 May, 2008

Arrivals

Flying Free is ensconced in the Ensenada marina and Stan's belly is full of Ensenada's famous fish tacos.

Don was wrong, another big wind never materialized, and except for the two-days hiding out in Bahia Santa Maria, they made excellent time. Preliminary calculations show them averaging an amazing 6.5 knots while underway. 1260 miles in ten days.

There was another momentous arrival, here, as well. Back on the 5th of May I wrote about our quick trip to Guadalajara and the easy passport renewal procedure at the US Consulate. The new passport arrived just as advertised. It actually came in two weeks ago, but I didn't believe it, cuz the nice Consolate clerk insisted it would take four to six weeks for delivery.

After only two weeks, I received a voicemail message indicating a delivery person had attempted to find the house address. I couldn't believe it would actually be my passport that early, so, after leaving my own garbled message on the deliveryman's voicemail, I let it ride for awhile, assuming they'd get back to me.

Then the time ticked by, and I started wondering, so, barely four weeks after I had turned in my paperwork, I tracked down the package online. There it was on the MultiPack site, and had been, yessir, for two weeks, with an abundant history of attempted deliveries.

There aren't street signs in this part of Santiago, and each little colonia has it's own street plan, so even though I'd drawn a map for MultiPack when I made the original delivery arrangements, they couldn't figure out the lay of the land. Oh, well, anyway, I re-arranged to pick the package up myself at their office - according to the online delivery history, the poor delivery folks must have gotten very very lost; many, many times. I gave them a break.

A forty-five minute bikeride and the passport was mine. Amazing efficiency!

Saturday, 24 May, 2008

Sailing On

A week's worth of bashing up the outside

The Flying Free crew set sail out of Bahia Santa Maria on Friday. The plan was to refuel in Turtle Bay and keep on trucking, weather permitting.

The weather may have been stinky, but the accommodations certainly aren't. Stan's sailing in luxury on a Amel Super Maramu 53-foot ketch. Look at the space in that galley!

Flying Free's galley and gourmet cook, Lisa

Crew is also being spoiled with tasty gastronomic tidbits (not your normal SolMate PBJ cruising fare). Lisa's a great cook, and does lots of it. She prepped the whole week before they set sail, and the larder was jam-packed with all sorts of goodies.

I am in email contact with the floating kitchen. Stan's latest update and position report was this morning when they were still south of Turtle Bay and expecting to arrive later this afternoon to refuel.

Dire weather predictions from Don on Summer Passage had the crew flipping a coin to see whether they'll overnight in Turtle Bay, or just keep on trucking. Don's prediction for large winds (again) coming soon means that the sooner they're back on the road, the less bad weather they'll have to face. On the other hand, fishnets and longlines have been reported just north of Turtle Bay, and they really don't want to thread their way through that kind of minefield in the dark. Soooo ... the tossing of a coin.

21 May, 2008

Picking a Weather Window

Stan joined Lisa, Steve and Steve in Barra de Navidad for intro to the boat and other preparations for their little jaunt to Ensenada. That was Friday. The crew putzed around the boat, took on fuel, and had a leisurely dinner in Barra de Navidad. The Friday weather forecast was favorable, all was calm.

Flying Free's route, Barra de Navidad to Ensenada

Suddenly, a huge, ugly weather system popped up. Forecasters thought it might bring big wind and waves to the CA coast, and MAYBE farther south. The Flying Free crew decided to get while the gettin' was good. Saturday morning, they headed out, making a b-line for Cabo San Lucas, their first refueling stop. Except for some serious lumps, the 3-day crossing was no big deal, all motoring. They refueled and quick-turned outa Cabo, preferring to conquer the cape while the weather was still favorable.

Their afternoon cape rounding was typical, significant winds and lumps. They slogged for six hours, but then had it pretty calm overnight and all the way to Bahia Santa Maria, whose quiet bay looked good, cuz the forecast was looking bad.

Flying Free is tucked in for the duration and the crew has resigned themselves to a prolonged stay in the bay while this nasty system blows itself out. So far, the forecasters don't think the big winds will reach as far south as Bahia Santa Maria, but the California coast is going to see a real gale! San Francisco is already seeing 30 knot winds and 12-foot seas ... and they're building.

Wednesday's COAMPS wave height projection for Friday
light orange = 15 feet, dark orange = 18 feet. The wind
barbs are only showing 20 knots, but it's honking farther north

16 May, 2008

What's All the Complaining About?

Patio after a concerted pick-up effort

Patio, one day later

Sure was nice having Stan home for awhile to help with the clean-up efforts. He was especially good at policing the back forty. Now that he's back on the high seas delivering Flying Free to Ensenada, I'm stuck with mango duty, again.

I use gloves to pick through the fallen. Unlike the iguanas that can survive a tree-top bailout, most of the fruit splits and squashes on impact, yucky to handle. The trees are much too tall for my pole-and-hook method of harvesting, so most end up on the corner garbage heap.

Stan's been raking in two bags a day. They're small. Almost too small to mess with. Once they ripen, each fruit yields only a couple of slices. Takes five or ten to concoct a smoothy (my favorite: yogurt, banana, mango, chocolate syrup and pecans).

Many, many more waiting to drop

It takes a bunch of tiny
ripe mangoes to fill a measuring cup

Kathy on Airborn came up with the perfect solution for using our prodigious harvest: green mango chutney. Green mangoes are easier to gather ... right off the tree before they can SPLAT! and they're easier to cut up ... crispy, not slimey.

Katy's recipe calls for pickling in brine overnight, and then cooking in vinegar for only 45 minutes with tasty spices like chili, cumin and cinnamon. No muss, no fuss, and tasty with stew, curry and stir fry.

8 May, 2008

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! to our nephew Jeff ¡FELIZ CUMPLEAÑOS!

Stan's Arduous Crew Duty - NOT

Departing Manzanillo at 1:00 in the afternoon, Stan began a 900-mile/26-hour bus trek to Guaymas. He changed buses in Guadalajara, then rode all night and all the next day, to arrive in the north country at dinner time, with a chilly evening breeze. He was ready for action after three movies and a dozen naps.

In the Guaymas boatyard, Stan found Shea La Vie in pieces. She'd just been painted and her deck hardware had been removed, plus she'd spent two years on the hard, so she had been dismantled: hurricane prep, without the hurricane. Stan grabbed a socket set and jumped in to help Capt. Ron put her back together, again. The cool weather was conducive, and deck work progressed swimmingly.

Stan standing watch on Shea La Vie

Another helping hand was added by Zack, a character Ron picked up on the road, hitching his way south. A 20-something, free-spirited Canadian, Zack was riding the rails and his skateboard, on his way to South America after completing a tour of the upper Americas. He'd already been on the road a couple of years, and apparently had no plans to stop. His boat knowledge wasn't as instinctual as Stan's or Ron's, but with a little direction, he was a great help.

A few days of concerted boat effort, punctuated by forays into town for food and parts, and the boys had Shea La Vie ready to float. Zack, however, didn't sail away with Ron and Stan. He stayed on the mainland to continue working his way south via roads and rails. When Shea La Vie drove out to sea, Zack hoofed it on down the road.

Ron and Stan on another day, another watch

Shea La Vie splashed with only a couple days' grace period between departure and airport arrivals. Ron was due to pick up Jane, Marina and Marina's friend, Kelsey, at the Cabo airport on the Baja. They made it to La Paz' Marina Costa Baja with minutes to spare, after a forty-hour, fairly uneventful, crossing. Ron rented a car and was at the airport in plenty of time to pick up the girls.

Once Jane arrived, with 13-year-old giggly girls in tow, it was time for fun and water games. Stan stayed on to crew while Shea La Vie cruised the islands, visiting old SolMate haunts from years past. He even visited SolMate - she was at the dock in La Paz, so he stopped by to say hey to Mark and Wendy, her new owners.

A short week and it was time for Jane, Marina and Kelsey to return to Seattle schools. It was time for Stan to leave the boat, too. He was ready to come home to warm weather and mangoes, to stash his jacket, to rinse off the salt and to get busy with his rake and trash bags. He had a blast on Shea La Vie, but was looking forward to returning to his tropical home.

Guadalajara, US Consulate

5 May, 2008

Guadalajara cow statue

If the Mexican immigration office was easy, the US Consulate was even more so.

The Consulate's website was explicit in passport renewal requirements; it provided forms to fill out and an on-line appointment. A week before my appointment, they sent an email appointment reminder, then a day before, they sent another little nudge.

From Ajijic, where we were staying with friends, the thirty-five-mile drive to the center of Guadalajara during the morning crush consumed the highside of an hour; the streets were easily navigated, but parking was a bit squished. After a ten-minute neighborhood tour, we found underground parking (MX $50/all day) within two blocks, and across the street from the consulate we found breakfast.

Security at the consulate was tighter than an airport - the website warned visitors to show up fifteen minutes early for screening. I dutifully arrived at the electronic gate at the appointed hour minus fifteen, but was back at the breakfast table before Stan could drop his pesos in the waiter's hand.

Not only was the paperwork part easy, but the finished product will be delivered into my grubby little fist, at my own front door, for the cost of shipping (MX $120). If all proceeds as advertised, I'll have a new passport by June. No muss, no fuss.