Last week in Bahia Concepcion

Bahia Concepcion is filled with little islands and beaches.  Each beach has its own personality; simple structures to provide shade for RVers, more permanent palapas that touch the waters edge and custom homes for vacationers. Things are still very remote, there is no easy Internet, cell service or laundry. Forget about public restrooms, taxis or pizza.  We are happy with the simple things, especially having a place to take the trash (basura).  We used Gary's tip jar with the recommended 10 pesos for the garbage man, which apparently makes him very happy.  If you're lucky, there may be one restaurant or small tienda (store) to support each beach.  Mexico's Highway 1 provides some audio color with the background noise as the big rigs grind their way up the precarious highway, towards Mulege, the nearest town, 13 miles away.

We made friends with some landlubbers, and spent time with our friends from Tisha Baby, Sirena, and Viva. Afternoons and evenings were spent ashore at the local restaurant, Bertha's, or a picnic lunch on a deserted beach in the 85 degree water. A highlight of our stay was a generous farewell Sunday brunch hosted by Jerry, at his hillside custom home, We arrived via dinghy convoy and hiked up the rocky steps to his place.  Jerry made ramus fizzes and bloody marys and we shared fruit muffins, egg fritattas and comraderie on the balcony enjoying the breathtaking views.  There was more music as Jerry played some fun songs on his vintage piano. (The video above is of Jerry - hope it works) It was a memorable visit for all of us.

Favorite Perro named Como Tu - note the nice assortment of dinghies in the background

This small cove is lined with vacation palapas that support RVers and campers most of the year.
There was one restaurant, Bertha's that was our hang out when we wanted a dinner out

We hiked up from the anchorage at Playa Burro looking for petroglyphs, mostly around the trailhead 

Found one!

We caught a ride Mulege with Jerry who showed us around.
This is the Mission, rebuilt in 1770, overlooking the fresh water river

Beautiful green palms lining the banks of the river

Pam and Richard following our excursion to a nearby swimming beach

Another Shindig on Shindig

Jerry's cliffside rock home 

Rob had a great afternoon of clamming at Dog Beach.
We soaked them overnight and fed them cornmeal to clean and fatten us, I mean, them up

Clams steamed in garlic and wine, served on linguine with parmesan reggiano cheese

Bahia de Concepcion…Music and New Friends

(uploaded via Ham Radio, sorry, no photos possible)

We appreciate the unexpected and continue to have more adventures as we near the turn around point for our trip. Following up on a chance introductions at a local taco restaurant in Loreto last week, we walked two beach fronts looking for Tap and Anita. Many of the beachfront casas (some as simple as a lean-to, others modeling South Pacific palapas including overhangs for RVs) are now boarded up. It is the end of season, and only the hardy, year round gringos stay. Tap started a school here 40 years ago based on sailing and Outward Bound. While in his late 80's, Tap manages a quick smile, especially when the discussion turns to Mexico, shiny watches, pretty nurses and music. He plays the violin, viola, and harmonica. His wife, Anita, invited us into their home to check out the red piano. Their home, like others around it, is "off the grid". There is no electricity, telephone nor Internet. They live here most of the season and then go back to the States for the hot months. Nancy rummaged thru the piano bench, and found some American Folk Songs, with classics like When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again, and Clementine. We all enjoyed as much music as she could play and sing, with Tap humming and playing his harmonicas. That resulted in an invite for dinner the next day.

Last night we moved our sailboat over to their bay, and anchored right in front of their home. Anita had invited several other friends, including Jerry, who made extra money in college by playing piano long hours into the night in local Nevada bars, restaurants and brothels. We re-introduced ourselves to Tap, and settled in for a lively night,filled with more impromptu music, by both Nancy and Jerry (this time Nancy brought her music), a delicious dinner on the bbq, and wine.

Nancy wore another shiny watch which Tap appreciated, and we all chuckled at their stories of living on the beach and the colorful gringo and local community of Mulege, which includes these unique, beautiful playas.
Anita explained that she bought the piano 8 years ago to bring music into their home, especially for Tap's enjoyment. What a wonderful reason to bring friends together. From the stories they tell, as well as our delightful dinner get together last night, her strategy worked well. Tap turns 90 next year, and we are invited to his celebration.

Santispac

Written from the anchorage at Santispac, in the Bahia Concepcion, about 200 nautical miles north of La Paz. After visiting numerous anchorages, each one as pretty or interesting as the next, one would think there would be no more "firsts" on this part of our adventure. Today there were several, notable enough to note, maybe not to blog about. But heck, this is another way to get up to speed on the blog, and keep moving (I mean, sailing) forward.
Here are the firsts:

1) Left the anchorage without calling out goodbye to our friends on Sirena or Tisha Baby (Shindig was uncharacteristically stealth mode)

2) Encountered heavy fog, with visibility down to ¼ mile. That is not fun. Rob was down below doing his communications things, so I called him up. We used the Boat Horn, which is loud, but needed, to alert some pangas that we could see on radar but never saw with our eyes. I asked Rob to let me know each time before he pressed the button - if you haven't heard one of those horns, repeatedly, they give you a mental shock when they go off.

3) Caught our first dorado - beautiful shape and color, but not large enough to keep. Besides, I had a special dish in mind when we anchored down…

4) Despite the online charts, our trusty "A cruiser's guide to the Sea of Cortez", we found the depths in Concepcion Bay were Way Off! Instead of an expected 50-60 feet, we got down to 12-15 quickly, had to do a sudden tack, and went 180 degrees in the other direction to find deep water. We're glad to be here, but the general approach, multiple big rocks and islands to dodge, and lack of accurate charts, made the final arrival and anchor down even more sweet.

5) I shared a dark beer with Rob as our "anchor down" beverage, 9 hours after we left this morning. The wine supply is dwindling and I've saving it for more shindigs this month as we finish up our cruising in this season.

The anchorage at this beach has only two other boats, and a very spartan beach with a few buildings. We had been advised to look for the "green restaurant", which is always exciting after cooking on board night after night. I thought we had identified the restaurant through the binoculars, only to find as we approached, that structure is actually a very nice RV camper and compound. Guess we'll continue with our original plan for dinner tonight, another first. "Curried Coconut Shrimp on Rice Stick Noodles".

Junio (June)

Happy to be June!

The month of May seemed to go on forever – contrary to the rest of the cruising months which used to fly by.  Why?  Maybe all the changes in locations from the mainland to Baja peninsula, celebrations, the trip home,  more goodbyes, reunions and making new friends, other family and friends health challenges, college semesters ending, summer plans being made, and Shindig wanting to be both snug at the La Paz marinas, as well as exploring the Sea of Cortez.  But it is June.  I am excited to have one more month on water, before the summer starts back in the States.

Today, we are about 150 miles north of La Paz, across from the town of Loreto in an anchorage called Isla Coronado.  We left La Paz 15 days ago.  Long passages are not required here, as the new destination may be 4 or 20 nautical miles away (easy day trips).  We’ve done more sailing here than we had on the mainland.  Rob has kept the spinnaker on deck and we’ve enjoyed many downwind jaunts as we head north further into the Sea.  We had winds gusting to 30 knots a few days ago and had to reef the main completely.  But usually we've enjoyed 10 to 12 knots of Southerly wind.

Pigs running free ....mmmm. Carnitas

Sunset in the Anchorage

Our activities for today include hiking to the top of the volcano,  saying goodbye to our friends on Fluenta  having games afternoon aboard Oogachaka, and perhaps a shared dinner potluck.  We will likely head north tomorrow for two more stops to reach the Bahia Concepcion –which we heard is a “don’t miss”.  One more week of exploring and then one week of leisurely heading south as we return to La Paz, our summer home for Shindig.

Most of our anchorages, and even the one "big" town, Loreto & nearby Puerto Escondido, do not offer Internet.  (Nor stores, restaurants, people)   We use the HAM radio winlink communications (see previous blog) for emergency and family updates.  When we do get a “fix” on the Internet, it’s almost comical how we spend a couple of days trying to get online.  I’ve been known to walk a mile in the very hot Mexican  with my laptop down a deserted, paved road to an RV Park and store that charged 10 pesos (less than a dollar) for super-fast Internet.   Their apple fritters were also spectacular.  Rob joined me for the walk the next morning.

We took the dinghy across the Bay to this special Loreto restaurant - the owners were gracious and the food outstanding!

My seafood salad - scallops, shrimp, octopus

Enjoying our meal with Connie and Ed (Sirena) and Patty and Ken (Oogachaka)

Each anchorage is unique, and breathtaking,  and completely silent, except for the wildlife. This morning we had dolphins surfacing among the sailboats, a large school of rays swimming in formation, and pelicans diving for their breakfast.  We try to get exercise each day, either going ashore via dinghy for a hike, exploring the waters with our paddleboards, and snorkeling and swimming.  There can be sudden, unpredictable winds at night,  but mostly we've enjoyed evenings in deep sleeps, and wake up rested. No booming club music from the Cabo dance floors to keep us up.

Entrance of Farmer's market in Arroyo of Loreto

Fresh pollo and meat tostados on the grill

The Darth Vadar boat getting fueled up for its next voyage...we heard it burns 15 gallons in one nautical mile.  Notice the fuel truck on the dock needed to fill it up.

There are Bees in some of the Anchorages....one strategy is to give them a bowl of water so they don't go down below in the cabin

Barbara and S/V Zoe before her trip north

Enjoying Freshly speared Yellowtail Tuna dinner with Sylvia and Tom on S/V Cinnabar

  

Sausalito B Dock Party- We are there in Spirit

Here's a great photo from the B Dock Party that our Sausalito friends had this weekend.  
Thanks for bringing us along via the "party paddle".  -  Miss you all!!  - Nancy and Rob

The Slow Road towards Loreto...a stop in Los Gatos

We've been in the Sea of Cortez islands for 7 days.  These photos are from just one of the stops, in an anchorage called Los Gatos (the Cats).  While it is 76 miles from La Paz, it was the 3rd or 4th stop along our slow way. One of the wonders of this area for sailors is the close proximity to a new location.  Generally we wait for the winds to build, and then venture out for 2-4 hours of sailing, before reaching the next spot. There have been many many dolphins, jumping rays, turtles, and one very big whale surfacing just beside our boat. 
Los Gatos gave us more hiking opportunities on the red windswept sandstone hills, snorkeling along the reef, another pretty horseshoe bay to admire, and offers for lobsters by a local fisherman.  Our dinner that night was spectacular.
 

Rob on morning hike

Beach and Sandstone formations

Shrimp on the BBQ

4 Lobster Tails

Buen Provecho!

Panoramic View of Los Gatos

Nancy on the cliffs above Los Gatos

Little fish on the reef

Shindig Communications

This blog post is for the boat geeks out there.  Nancy says this is boring but  I think some of you may be interested in how we keep in touch.  I think we have a good mix of communications that work well for us in Mexico.

In fact, we have everything needed to be a remote hi-tech office or a communications hub during an emergency.

Here is a run down of the gear we have onboard and how we use it.

VHF Radio - Standard Horizon GX2150.  This radio is used every day.  It has a range of 20 miles (25 watts) or so and is used by all the other boaters and some land based restaurants, stores and marinas.  Here in LaPaz there is a morning "net" where boaters can get local information, find long lost boating friends and buy or sell stuff. 

Here is an example of the morning VHF net in LaPaz:   La Paz Cruiser Net

We also have two handheld VHF radios that we use when we are away from the boat.   I have also gotten into the habit of leaving he handheld radio on channel 22A at night.  If there is an emergency in the anchorage we'll hear it and because the handheld has limited range we won't be awakened by far away transimissions.
 
WiFi - most marinas, restaurants and hotels have WiFi available.  We are still junkies for our internet and use it to keep up with the news, email family and friends, read friends sailing blogs, write our blog, skype calls, share photos and download movies.

I have become an expert in tapping into wifi signals and the social engineering of wifi passwords.
Shindig has a Bitstorm wifi extender and hotspot onboard.   The extender is mounted on the masthead and allows us to pull in signals that your laptop or iPad can't.  The hotspot then allows any device onboard to tap in and have internet access.   The WiFi extender can pull in a signal from over a mile away if there is a high powered hotspot.  In my experience I can usually get a usable signal when anchored out 1/4 mile.

Cellular Data - Banda Ancha.  When traditional WiFi is not available we use cellular phone technology to keep connected.  After we arrived in Cabo last year we picked up our Banda Ancha at the Telcel store.  You can buy chunks of data and depending what plan you have, they last 30, 60 or 90 days before you need to "reload" it with more pesos.

We only use this when we don't have WiFi and it only works with one computer at a time. (the one you plug it into).  Honestly we haven't needed used it too much but it only cost $40 and then you pay as you go.

Cellular Voice - Our Mexican cell phone is a cheapo from Telcel. We use it infrequently to call home to the States and contact local services.  It is not something we carry with us all the time like we would back home but it is usually turned on and ready for action.  We think of it as an emergency contact phone too.  We have a "pay as you go" plan for the phone and load  on about 400 pesos ($33USD) every couple of months.
Most of our calls are outgoing - no one except Bryan has figured out how to call us down here.  If anyone wants to try, send us an email, and we'll give you our phone number.  :0

International dialing on the cell phone is easy and straight forward.  Dialing local numbers Mexico is a little funky.  For example, in Banderas Bay you have to know if you are calling a cell number or a landline and put the appropriate prefix in front of the number.  It seems like these rules vary from one area to another.

Ham Radio/ Single Side Band (SSB) -  Shindig has an ICOM IC-M710 SSB radio onboard that has been modified for use on amateur radio (HAM) bands as well.  It is an old radio that many regard highly for its simplicity and high power (150 watts).  It is a little clunky to use for ham radio but I have some software that helps make it easier to use.

We can talk anywhere in the world with this radio.   The radio's practical range depends on what frequency you use and propogation quality which is impacted by solar radiation in the atmosphere.  That sounds confusing, and it is a little but once you get some experience with it you get a feel for when you can make a long distance contact and when you can't.

In Mexico there are several SSB/HAM nets that are usually in the morning.    Each one has a different "personality" but usually give regional Mexican weather and allow boaters to keep in contact from a long distance.

This year we also listened in on the Pacific Puddle Jumpers net.  Here is an outtake of our friends on Wizard checking in:  Pacific Puddle Jump Net - Wizard Check-in
Wizard was about 1500 miles from our location when this was recorded.

Pactor Modem and Winlink -  We are able to use our ICOM radio with a Pactor modem to get email and weather.   I use the amateur radio's network of stations(winlink) to connect and get email.  This method is only used for text email and small weather model files.  The connection speeds I experience are from 100 baud to 2400 baud.   For those non-techies out there = That is really, really, really, slow.   For example, at 100 baud, a full page text email would take 2 minutes to download.  On your average internet connection this same download would take about 2 or 3 seconds.

Slow Pactor connections are what we use when we are on passage.
Here is what it sounds like to make a pactor modem connection over the ham radio: Pactor Modem Connection .
In addition to email we use it to get weather reports and maps and there is a crude interface to pull down the text from a web page.  We use this to get blog updates from friends.