Log 16 - Southbound Again (quickly) for Christmas in Zihuatanejo, Mexico

This log covers November 30th to December 31, 2003 as we head south with Christmas in Zihuatanejo in mind.  We revisit some places and also discover new spots to explore.  That's the beauty of the cruising life...you never know what will happen next. 


Southbound route to Z-town In this log, we're back on the boat and ready to begin our second cruising season aboard TIOGA.  Our plan is to get our sea legs back after 4 months ashore with a short 120 nm crossing from San Carlos on the mainland to Isla Carmen on the Baja Peninsula side of the Sea of Cortez.  From there, we'll spend the next few days stopping in the various anchorages on our way south towards Los Frailes, where we'll jump offshore again for a 3-day passage back to the Mexican mainland, with Tenacatita as our destination.   From there, it's only a couple more days to Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo, where we plan to enjoy Christmas and New Years.  Simple as that ... but a healthy 875 nm away!

Monday, December 1st, 2003 - "Wing on Wing", San Carlos to Isla Carmen

With the boat ready to go and finally a reasonable weather report we set sail for the Baja Peninsula side of the Sea of Cortez on the tail end of a "norther".  Here we're sailing only with our two headsails, both poled out on either side of the boat, like two wings.   It's a very comfortable way to sail when the wind is directly behind you.  Gerrit has also found a comfortable place to read in the shade.

Sailing Wing on Wing

When our passage is done and the sails are down as we motor into a new anchorage, it has become a ritual for the boys to head to the bow of Tioga and be our look outs.

Motoring into the anchorage. 

Wednesday, December 3rd - San Evaristo to Los Frailes

With 250nm down and 625nm to go, passage making is going well and we're settled into a routine.  For the big 3-day jump coming up, we need to listen to the weather and time that passage carefully.  So we push on to our intermediate destination, Los Frailes, on the southern end of the Baja, ready to make the jump when the weather window presents itself.   It's not high winds were concerned about ... it's lack of wind!

Relaxing in the cockpit

Sheila watching the sails in the finicky winds.

Friday, December 5th - Los Frailes - Waiting for weather

Los Frailes is a nice spot and we end up staying here for a few days.  There is very little wind, except for the late afternoon land thermals.  Good for kite flying, but only a local phenomena.  Out on the "crossing", its dead flat calm.

Flying kite at Los Frailes

Monday, December 8th - Afternoon tea in the cockpit, enroute to Tenacatita

On Sunday, we finally head out on a forecast that contains some wind and with a good dose of wishful thinking.   This next leg is 350 nm and should take about 3 days.   Once again, we're back in the Pacific Ocean and are greeted by the long ocean swells originating from some big storm systems way far away in the Pacific Northwest.   The winds are fickle and we end up motoring on and off  for long stretches.  Joel and Gerrit busy themselves in the galley and prepare this awesome afternoon snack.

Joel & Gerrit make a great snack! ;-)

12:09 am Wednesday, December 10th - Now we're travelling fast

On our third day out and as we begin to approach the Mexican mainland, the winds finally pipe up to a good reef-your-sails blow in the order of 25kts.  It's hard to give you an impression of the ride, but with the wind right behind us and a single headsail, it's like a fast but smooth sleigh ride and in the moonlight, too!

Flying down wind

Thursday, December 11th - Beautiful Tenacatita Bay

Mid-morning Wednesday, we arrive at Tenacatita Bay and are quite rested.  Last season, we visited Tenacatita and spent 3 weeks here.  It is also the furthest south we have been in our boat, last year turning north again and heading to the Sea of Cortez.  This time it will only be a few days here before moving south into new cruising territory.

Tenacatita Bay - just as beautiful 2nd time around :)

In Tenacatita, we met up with 6 other cruising families.  Sailing vessels Peregrinata and Atalanta were friends from last year while Dagmar, Quetzal, Mariposa and m/v Williwa were new to us.  All had kids of varying ages.  In addition, a number are continuing south towards Panama, so it was great to spend time together and get (re)aquatinted.  A bunch of us went up the "jungle lagoon ride" through the mangroves for an excursion.

Second trip up the mangroves for us - so fun.

 I don't think the Mexican's at the other end have seen so many gringo kids.  Here a grandmother prepares coconuts for some of our thirsty kids.

Coconut Lady Fresh coconut milk, anyone?

Friday, December 12th - Dinghy Raft Up

Often in Tenacatita Bay the cruisers get together and raft up with their dingy's for an evening social.  Everyone brings an appetizer and we hang out for some good food, conversation and sometimes music,  Glad we are around to experience this wonderful event.

The crew from s/v Peregrinata enjoy the raft up.

Saturday, December 13th - En route to Zihuatanejo

We leave Tenacatita with a light wind forecast so we ready our gennaker. The winds materialize and we have a beautiful sail with 10-15kts of wind over our starboard quarter.   But as the wind dies late at night we realize that we have forgotten to refuel and don't have enough diesel to motor the entire remaining trip if  wind doesn't materialize again ... oops.  The wind returns at 5am, but its right on the nose. We try to tack but progress is so limited that by 10am Sunday the motor is back on and we are powering into the wind at low RPM.  We motor through the day and evening and make plans to stop in a place where we can get fuel by jerry-can. But to our extreme delight, around 9 pm, the wind returns from the NE at 10kts and gives as a beautiful close-reach into Zihuatanejo for Monday morning.

Cruising fast with our "gennaker"

Monday, December 22nd - Hangin' out in Zihua

It's quite hard to give you a photographic impression of Zihuatanejo; it's a large bay with plenty of room to anchor, including room for large cruise ships.  Since Christmas is near and all sorts of activities are happening in town, we anchor off the municipal pier and beach.  The water is quite murky, so we don't swim here, but rather a short dinghy ride away at Ropa Beach.  Here the boys are goofing around on our flopper-stopper, a device to dampen any rolling motion of the boat while at anchor.

Hanging from the "flopper-stopper" in Zihua

Wednesday, December 24th - Christmas Eve in Zihuatanejo

On Christmas Eve, we attend an English caroling service in nearby Ixtapa.  (Ixtapa is where all the hotels are:  Zihuatanejo is where all the locals live and is more of a typical Mexican town.)  The singing is fun and on the bus ride home, our group continues to sing in beautiful harmonies much to the surprise of the locals getting on and off the bus.   We even took requests!

Christmas Service in Ixtapa

Thursday, December 25th - MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

The kids are happy to find that Santa has found us again.  Apparently, some kind sole told Santa to check our latest position report to track us down.  See our little tree tucked up against the mast?

Christmas gift opening

On Christmas Day, all sorts of things were going on in the bay and Zihuatanejo.   We were invited to join a number of other families for a potluck meal on two boats that rafted together.  It was a great time.  Everyone made their own Christmas specialties

Christmas Day dinner raft-up on Atalanta and Western Grace

8:45 am Wednesday, December 31st - Kids' Net

Every morning in "destination" anchorages, like Zihuatanejo, there is usually a morning "net" on the 2-way VHF radio.  New boats introduce themselves, departing vessels say good-bye, and those staying put check-in.  Also, there is an opportunity to exchange all sorts of information and get your questions answered.  With so many kids in the anchorage area, every morning they too had their own net, for kids only.   Here, Gerrit is net controller for the last day in 2003.

Gerrit does the kids' net

12:01 am Thursday, January 1st, 2004 - HAPPY NEW YEAR from Zihuatanejo!

Here's the view from our boat anchored off the town. Later today, we and the crew of s/v Atalanta head for Mexico City for a week's worth of discovery and adventure.  Stay tuned.

Happy New Year fireworks

Log 17 finds us in Mexico City - what a treat.

Log 11–Mid-Sea of Cortez - Loreto to San Carlos

This blog covers May and June, 2003 where we enjoy the Sea of Cortez with great friends. We explore a  salt mine, visit an old prison and see some cave paintings, make a boat shrine and get ready for RV Tioga mobile.

Tuesday, May 6, 2003 - Loreto

After a bit of a push to make Loreto Fest  in the first few days of May, we were finally able to slow the cruising pace back down and explore Mexico's Baja treasures in the company of the many great friends we have made cruising.  One of our first stops was the historic town of Loreto, the longest continually occupied town in Baja, having survived almost three centuries.  It is the site of the first mission church established by Father Junipero Serra in ~1743.  This beautiful hotel graced the town square.

Stunning old hotel.

A great pizza lunch in Loreto made carefully by a husband and wife team.  A far cry from Pizza Hut or Dominoes!

Husband and wife pizza team.

Sunday May 11, 2003 - Isla Carmen 

Across from Loreto is Isla Carmen, an island we circumnavigated and enjoyed thoroughly for a number of  days.  This day is Mother's Day and Sheila enjoys a cuddle with Gerrit.  

On it was an old abandoned salt mining town and dried-out salt ponds, which we explored.   

Abandoned salt mine.

Gerrit stands beside an abandoned salt water evaporation pond at Bahia Salinas, Isla Carmen.

Salt ponds

Learning to dive for and harvest "chocolatie" clams and the subsequent beach-side clam bakes are extremely memorable.

Chris helps to bake the clams.

Here Chris is proudly presenting the fish he just speared. 

Pole spear fishing offers a nice supper. 

Tuesday May 20, 2003 - Cruisers' Shrine at San Juanico

The "cruisers' shrine" is a tree and surrounding area on a beach in an anchorage called San Juanico.   For years cruisers have visited and left artistic momentous of their existences and trips, the earliest we could find dating back to 1988.  We brought along various craft items, paints, string, and pieces of wood and made our own creation.  Our sign is about 12"x16" displaying 'TIOGA” and all our names, “5-03' (May 2003). Our Canadian Flag and Calgary in the top right corner.  Joel added a miniature Tioga in the bottom corner complete with Canadian flag and Gerrit colored a shell to leave for Boomerang, our dinghy.

Our shrine to Tioga.

We chose to hang our creation deep in the tree for maximum protection from the elements.

Our Tioga shrine in the back of the tree.

Joel brought the sailboat he made along for the day and had fun while the shrines were being created.

San Juanico was also a great spot to snorkel and marvel at the abundant sea life, as well as the opportunity to practice spear fishing techniques.  A lot of time was spent with John and Nia from s/v Jovita, a great young couple who's overall knowledge of sea life far surpassed ours.  They both turned out to be great role models for Joel and Gerrit on numerous occasions.  Here, John displays his 'trigger fish' and Nia shows off her 'hog fish'.  Both tasted excellent later that day roasted by fire on the beach.

John and Nia from s/v Jovita

9:07pm - Saturday, May 24, 2003 - It's dark out!

This is a neat picture, if only to show you how we have to get around down here from time to time.  A group of us - three boats' worth in two dinghies - went out for supper at a restaurante in a nearby bay.  After supper, we all zoom home to our anchorage a bay or two south in the pitch dark. It was a nice evening out, with both water and air temperature around 85F.  And the conversation was hilarious!

Monday, May 26, 2003 - A Big Bug  on an outing to the Town of Mulege

How about this Mexican bug?  We were exploring the town of Mulege's sites when our friends' daughter, Rhianon, spotted this doozy.  It's not a cockroach, but we didn't quite get the name when we asked a local.

Now that's a bug!

Monday, May 26, 2003 - Mulege Prison

In the town of Mulege we visited a unique prison, now decommissioned, where many of the prisoners were allowed to leave the confines of their cells and go to work everyday in the town below.  At 6pm every evening a conch shell was blown to signal the inmates to return to the prison for the night.  When the prisoners were done their prison terms, many of them choose to settle in Mulege having already established lengthy roots!  This picture is of the inner section of the prison, where the hard-cases were kept.  Two solitary confinement cells are on the left.

Some beautiful color in this dismal place.

These "hard-case" prisoners managed to escape and two of them succeeded in stowing away on TIOGA.  They are now holding us hostage and are threatening to keep it that way for at least another 10 to 15 years!!

Do these look like hardened criminals? 

Tuesday May 27, 2003 - Cave painting tour

The crews of s/v's Jovita, Atalanta and Tioga jump in Salvador the guide's van for a day tour to the site of cave paintings by the Cochimi Indians dated 3500 BC.  Along the way into the desert along washboard roads bound for the Trinidad Ranch, Salvador stops and shows us various plants, trees, and cacti of the desert, including how to identify them and their various purposes.  Some cacti hold the key to life - water -  while a single drip of sap from another tree could kill you in the refuge of its shade!  As is with all things in life, be careful of your choices!!

Great time on this van guided tour. 

Upon arrival, we hike a short distance though the arroyos and canyons to the cave paintings site. Three different Indian groups painted on the walls over time, some on top of the existing paintings. Pictured were fish, deer, hunters, frogs and even hand prints. The Indians showed the missionaries the whereabouts of the cave paintings, who documented their existence and location. Tragically, the majority of the Indians where wiped out by disease introduced by the Europeans.

Cave paintings.

Sunday, June 1, 2003 - A relaxed day on the move ... 11:10am - whales!

Today we planned to make it to the town of Santa Rosalia, not far away but with plenty to see and do along the way.  We had heard via VHF radio that morning that whales were in the area and as we traveled north paralleling Isla San Marcos, we found ourselves surrounded.  We are told that this one is probably a blue whale due to the amount of its body that shows out of the water when it surfaces.   We stop the boat and shut everything down and just drift in order to watch these amazing animals and listen to them blow when they surface.  At one point, this whale surfaces right next to Tioga (within 10m)!

There she blows....whales about.

1:33pm ... Swimming at the Rock Arch with crew from S/V Atlanta

We had heard of a neat spot to swim, and the day's plan was to stop and find it.  The spot  is unique as it is surrounded by cliffs except for a small entrance - a rock arch - that we have to take the dinghy through and under, ducking our heads to pass clearly!  Once inside, there is a nice rock beach to relax on plus small rocks for the kids to jump off of and swim.  Excellent spot.

Private secluded beach all to ourselves.

Just outside the entrance, we see some locals jumping into the water from about 30 feet up! Chris and Michael (from s/v Atlanta) decide to attempt it….brave or what?

This was higher than it looks..

6:23pm - Santa Rosalia 

Finally, we arrive at the little marina in Santa Rosalia.

Such a quaint little marina.

And no sooner do we get our lines tied when we are boarded by the Mexican Navy doing a random inspection.  They were very friendly despite the size of the guns they were packing!  Apparently, only the sergeant gets ammunition as the Navy can't afford to give it out to the juniors (the kids).  Well, it was a busy day, but it's not over yet. Off we go into town to find out about Santa Rosalia's famous hot dogs!

Santa Rosalia welcoming party.

Monday, June 9, 2003 - Graduation and Book Burning Ceremony at Bahia San Pedro

Gerrit and Joel have a ball burning their school books from the past year.  'The best day of my life!' Gerrit jokingly proclaims.

Ritual of burning school books at year end.

The evening came complete with graduation certificates for our guys and the girls from s/v Atlanta to officially end our school year.

Another school year done!  

Saturday, June 28, 2003 - Marina Real, San Carlos

The last two weeks has been a ton of work getting Tioga ready to sit out the hurricane season, She has been thoroughly cleaned inside and out and striped of everything from flag and sails to running rigging for protection against the sun's harsh rays and summer's strong winds.

Joel helps take the Canadian flag down for the season.

Tioga floats peacefully in her resting spot for the next four months.

We hope she sits peacefully till our return. 

Chris has also been to and returned from Tucson, Arizona with a motor home for our next excellent adventure.  Here we host some fellow cruisers in Tioga II...how many kids can fit in the top bunk?

Last night with some fellow cruising kids

3:37 pm - Saturday, June 28, 2003 - TIOGA II is mobile!

With everything loaded, we are ready to roll.  It has been a while since we have traveled via wheels.  We start out at 5 m.p.h. and joke about that being the speed we came down the coast at.   Once underway on the highway, we find 55 m.p.h. real fast!!   We are all very excited for this next leg of our adventure.  Stay tuned...

Tioga II ready to roll. 

Join us in Log 12 as we make our way home to Canada. Yeah!

Log 10 - Mexico's Sea of Cortez from La Paz to Puerto Escondido

This blog covers our travels over the month of April 2003 in the Sea of Cortez from La Paz to Puerto Escondido. The weather is warm and winds fantastic for sailing.  We are enjoying our pirate life.

Our cruise of the Sea of Cortez - April 3rd to June 30th, 2003

We crossed from Mazatlan on the Mexican mainland to the Baja Peninsula in early April and thus began our 3 month cruise of the lower and middle sections of the Sea of Cortez, also known as the Gulf of California.

The lower and mid Sea of Cortez

Monday, April 7th 2003 - Welcome to La Paz ("The Peace")

After a long day working ourselves against wind and current, we finally arrived in La Paz, a popular destination for vessels cruising Mexico's Sea of Cortez.  It has a huge anchorage area and a choice of several modern marinas.  It is also great for provisions and has many attractions in its pleasant and convenient downtown.  The malecon along the waterfront shown here was a daily walk or scooter for our family.

Front street in beautiful La Paz

Tuesday, April 8th - Contemporary Ballet at Teatro de la Ciudad

We met up with our friends from s/v Swallow at Marina La Paz, where we ultimately ended up staying for 2 weeks.  At the local theatre, there was a performance for kids that they planned to attend.  It turns out to be really weird with a man doing contemporary ballet.  To us, it looked like he basically wrapped himself in newspaper, pretended to cry via shredded newspaper pieces to the sound of alarm clocks going off….odd. The boys laughed but also kept saying, "There must be more to come?" There wasn't! We joked the whole way back.

Contemporary ballet ala s/v Swallow and Tioga

Wednesday, April 9th - New Battery Arrives

Arrival in La Paz also had us finally catch up to a replacement battery for our battery bank.  One of our batteries had developed a dead short necessitating a new one under warranty.  As Rolls/Surrette doesn't deliver to Mexico, friends Scott and Sonja and their kids aboard s/v Perrigrinata transported it for us all the way from San Diego and left it here in La Paz.  We got it and Chris began the task of the big switch. The batteries weigh 125 lbs. each so it's a big job to extract the old (2nd from the back) and install the new.

The heart of our boat's electrical system

Friday, April 11, 2003 - Feed the Kids Program

While marinas are relatively expensive to stay in, they do have the advantage of letting you meet a lot of great people in a compressed time.  One of the people we met was Tom, a very friendly guy who's been at Marina de La Paz for 5 years.  This morning we awoke early in order to meet Tom at 6:30am, our ride to the "feed-the-kids" program he's involved with. He has an old Dodge van and waves to people everywhere he drives. The road we are on takes us through town and past the cathedral we saw yesterday.  Tom points out the last house with electricity on the now bumpy road out of La Paz.  Beyond that lies colonia Marquez de Leon, and many more dusty, poor neighborhoods.

Dusty street of Mexican pueblo

We arrive at the village and help to prepare breakfast before kids start arriving at around 7:30 am.

Kids arriving at school and lining up for breakfast

 Prior to eating, the kids line up and get their hands washed.  Since this village has no electricity or running water, and most of the kids' homes have dirt floors, this is often the one time of day their hands are washed and is often the largest meal eaten in a day.   Here Sheila pours fresh water over the kids hands as they roll a bar of soap through their fingers and then head in to eat.

Sheila helps get the kids cleaned up

 It is a great program that continues to require outside funding and organization.  However, the program is in place and now the mothers of the children alternate the food preparation and serving which allows us some time to spend with younger siblings of the school kids.

Joel plays his flute for a little boy

Thursday, April 17th - Dentist!

Another item on our La Paz to-do list was a dental checkup and cleaning for all.  We asked around and heard great reviews about a local dentista.  After a bit of a struggle finding the place, we found the husband and wife dental practice set up in the front of their home.  There was only one dental chair so we all waited our turn.  We were amazed to have all the work done by an actual dentist. It cost about a 1/3 of similar services back in Canada.

 Open wide, por favor

Super Burro --  our favorite eatery

This was our favorite eatery while in La Paz.  We couldn't get enough of these masterpieces or the friendly people.  Their specialties where pastor (spit-grilled pork), aracherro (marinated beef ), and carne asada ( BBQ'd beef ) on a wheat tortilla.  We'd then garnish them with spicy salsas, pickled onions, guacamole, diced tomatoes, cabbage, and grilled peppers to name just a few.   They didn't keep beer on hand, but every time we walked in, one of the gals would run over to the store down the street and bring us back a few ice-cold cervezas!

Our favorite spot to eat in La Paz

Sunday, April 20, 2003 - Easter Dinner

...roast chicken with potatoes and gravy, cranberries, couscous salad and fresh bread.  One of many fine meals prepared on Tioga.  We thought this may be of interest to those of you who envision us eating canned beans every day  heated over a one burner camp stove!

Sheila prepares Easter dinner in the galley

Tuesday, April 22, 2003 - Stanley Cup Playoffs

We had planned to leave La Paz today, but decided to hang around one last night to watch Game 7 of the Vancouver/St Louis hockey series with some cruising friends.  Vancouver won 4-1 to the delight of our compatriots.  The boys were more interested in shooting pool and playing darts.   We left La Paz first thing the next morning heading north further into the Sea.

Red ball, corner pocket

Wednesday, April 23rd, 2003 - Isla San Francisco

We arrive in Isla San Francisco on a glorious afternoon. The boys love to be out front of the bow on arrival to a new harbor.

Bow watch

This is a great little island to explore and do some snorkeling.  We all really enjoy the colorful fish and waters.  We will have to buy the boys special gloves for diving as they love to touch everything!

Joel swims up to the underwater camera.

After a great day exploring we enjoy Tioga's cockpit and listen to Chris sing some tunes.

Mother, Mother Ocean...I have heard you call...

Saturday, April 26, 2003 - Happy 7th Birthday Gerrit

We celebrate Gerrit's 7th birthday on Isla San Francisco.  After serving him breakfast in bed, we head out on another excellent adventure day.

7th birthday breakfast in bed for Gerrit

Prior to leaving La Paz, Sheila found ingredients for lasagna so we enjoyed Gerrit's favorite meal before sharing chocolate brownies with some friendly cruisers in the anchorage.  Notice Gerrit's birthday helicopter hovering in the background of this photo. (P.S. Chris just turned 40 the other day, too!).

Happy 7th Birthday Gerrit

Sunday, April 27, 2003 - Nopolo

Our friends on s/v Atalanta had emailed us about the wonderful time they had had at a place called Nopolo on the Baja coast. We decided to check it out for a night and anchored in the southerly of three anchorages, which provided more protection from the southerly component winds we have been enjoying, and went ashore. We came upon a young women, very pregnant, who invited us up to her house. Our Spanish was stretched to the max as we tried to talk with her and her Grandmother. Very proud of their family, the photo albums came out as did the stories.

Friendly family

Monday, April 28, 2003 - Lobsters in Los Gatos

Manual the fisherman says "燉angosta mi amigo?" (Lobster my friend?).  Chris says "︾or supuesto! 澧uanto cuesta?" (Of course! How much?).  The negotiations begin and end quickly.  Chris knows the going rate and gets six for $100 pesos or about $14 CAD for all.

Manual the fisherman selling his catch

Grilled lobster in garlic butter, fresh salsa, cheese chili reanos, and a tasty Shiraz.

Oh, how we suffer... The Meal

Puerto Escondido Thursday, May 1, 2003 

We've whizzed by some pretty awesome cruising grounds in the 8 days since we left La Paz. Too fast for us, but we had made commitments to meet up with a number of friends in Puerto Escondido for the four-day 8th Annual Loreto Festival, which starts this evening. We don’t even have our anchor down and the crew from s/v Atlanta speeds over excited for more adventures together.

s/v Atalanta crew 

We moved quickly to get here but we'll be retracing our wake in November, the start of the next cruising season, so we'll get to travel slower and see all those places we've short-changed. Was it worth it? Come and view our LOG-10A MINI-TOUR of Loreto Fest 2003!