Curare's Adventures

Recent Lack of Posts

For the past couple of weeks we have been in lovely anchorages but ones which are without available internet. Not that these locations are remote, there are lots of people enjoying the sandy beaches and surf and palapa restaurants line the shores but sadly there are no internet cafes.  Of course the large hotels have internet for their guests as do some of the smaller ones, but those wi-fi signals are encrypted and although we have asked if we can buy the code for one day, the answer is always NO.

I am not too stressed out with this lack of regular communication because right now there is nothing urgent to report, but keeping the blog site current becomes a problem. So we haven't written about how we spent Christmas, or New Years, or where we are now.

We spent Christmas anchored in front of the tiny town of Chamela and then moved to the anchorage at Tenacatita to celebrate New Years. Both days were very much like any other day, boat chores in the sunshine, but there were more Mexican families on the beaches and the music was loud. Nothing much happened on New Years Eve, most cruisers are asleep by 10 PM (known as "the cruisers midnight"), and on New Years Day we moved Curare 13 miles south to anchor in front of Melaque. This town is full of Canadian RVers, many of them from BC, and internet cafes are everywhere, much to Geoff's delight.

We have reprovisioned with food and plan to leave today, headed back to Tenacatita hoping to meet up with friends. So no posts from us for about 10 days although Jessie has told me she wants to post one in a few days time and I'm sure she'll find a way.

OMG I'm a Grey Hound

Not being as vain as a lot of my other furry friends, I don't spend much time primping in front of the mirror attaching silly ribbons in my hair.  The other day I caught a glimpse of my reflection in a store window while sniffing out some good Mexican garbage.  I was shocked!  My whole face has gone grey.  I used to only have this faint flame of grey down my muzzle but all of a sudden I'm a grey hound. 

That would explain some of those bizarre comments I get some times like "Oh, look at the old dog" or "move aside, you don't want to slow the old girl down".  What's with that - I feel great, I can still prance around like the best of them, and I have been known to show the younger pups a thing or two on my trips to town.  I guess I'm going to have to start colouring - maybe I'll go for that ever so popular blond look, LOL.

My luxurious life

This one is for all of my friends who think that I am living a luxurious life; no job, constant sunshine, sailing to and fro, not a care in the world. Certainly all of that is true but it is not luxurious as in 5 star hotel it luxurious as in camping.

Even though Curare is generally the smallest boat in the anchorage she is definitely larger than a tent. But...... we are living in her full time and that means everything we own, or may need, is stored somewhere down below. So all of a sudden the 36 foot boat, which was perfect for 2 week sailing trips when we lived in the Pacific northwest, has become a bit crowded, sort of like a tent.

Another thing which is far from luxurious is our lack of plug in electricity, something everyone takes for granted living in a house. When we are at anchor and the sun is shining we produce electricity from two 80 watt solar panels but when it is cloudy, as it has been for the past 2 1/2 weeks, we use more electricity than we make which means running the engine every other second or third day, and the iron beast is noisy. Although we try to be electricity misers there are still a surprising number of things that need electrical current to function - things I never gave much thought to before I went cruising. The electric bilge pump is a necessary item and so is refrigeration to keep the beer cold, we need an anchor light burning all night, making water with the water maker uses a lot of amps, the ham radio needs electricity to work, the propane stove uses an electric solenoid, and both of us think it is important to keep our computers and digital cameras charged. We do not have a hair dryer on board, neither do we have a freezer, a microwave, an electric coffee pot or bread machine, no TV and no washer and dryer. Of course not all cruisers live like this, people with bigger boats usually have a built in generator and/or more solar panels.

Curare has a pressurized water system which means I can turn on a tap in the kitchen or shower and not have to pump it like in the old days, but even running water uses electricity; an electric pump creates the water pressure. Unfortunately having pressurized water and having pressurized hot water are two different things. We don't often have pressurized hot water because the tank will only heat up if we are plugged into shore power or if we run the engine, and as I said before we generally do not turn on the iron beast when we are at anchor and it is sunny. I LOVE long hot showers so this lack of hot water could have been an annoying problem but luckily we have a solar shower. For those of you who have never camped a solar shower is simply a black plastic bag that you fill with water and leave lying in the sun for a few hours. The water heats up very quickly (when it is sunny) and both of us can get clean using only 2 1/2 gallons - the size of shower bag we have. I would prefer a whole lot more water so that I could stand under a steady steaming stream, but I can't have everything and it makes taking a shower ashore a real treat.

Not a botanist

While walking through the managed jungle Jessie and I spied this unusual tree. I asked a local woman what the "frutas" were called and she said they were not "frutas" they were semillas (seeds). Then I asked her the name of the tree and I have totally forgotten what she said.

The seed is hard on the outside - perhaps it is not yet ripe - and when you break it open there is a nut like object in the interior.

I remember from university days that leaves are important so I have included a close up.

Any suggestions?

My New Chariot

My boat buddies got me a new toy recently.  I was a little concerned that it may be too tippy for me but after having gone for a few rides I really like my new mode of transport.  It's not as fast or stable as the regular dinghy but we're a lot closer to the water for watching the fish.  Maybe one day I will catch one, they won't be expecting me to get them from above.

Geoff likes to take the kayak through the surf but after watching him get tossed over a few times, I don't think I'm ready to give that a try.

Road Trip

Geoff has left Curare for a few weeks and gone on a major road trip, returning our truck back to Canada. 

In October it seemed like a  reasonable idea to drive the crew of Curare to the Mexico to start this years cruise.  But in January, after a 36 hour Mexican bus ride and five days of nearly non-stop driving, that plan seemed rather silly.

However, what made it all work out was that Bob flew down to Arizona to meet up with Geoff and the two of them made a fun road trip out of the task.  Bob hadn't seen any of the classic sights of the Southwest so they made stops at the Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam and Las Vegas (yes, what happens there, stays there!)  before blasting through Utah, Idaho, Oregon and Washington states.  It  was a great way to cover the 3500 kilometres as they raced in front of a pending storm that eventually dump 3 to 5 feet of snow over the Sierras.

While Geoff's Away......

For the past two weeks Geoff has been driving to, and visiting friends in, Canada. In the meantime Linda and Jessie remain on Curare anchored in the Barra de Navidad lagoon. This is a somewhat stinky, dirty body of water with lots of mosquitoes, but itnever has any surf which means taking Jessie ashore is easy (and she does enjoy her fishing time). During the mornings the lagoon is very calm and the water resembles light brown glass but in the afternoon the wind picks up, the water becomes extremely wavy, and both Linda and Jessie get wet on their trip ashore. 

This is a favourite spot to anchor because of the French Baker who comes to your boat each morning with a whole lot of pastries and delicious bread, and because there is a water taxi service that comes and collects you from the boat so you don't have to get wet when the wind is blowing. Most days there are about 15 or 20 boats anchored around Curare but during the past two weeks there have been up to 30 boats because there have been big winds and waves in the Pacific, and no one likes that!

One afternoon a 54 foot sailboat was not anchored very well and it started dragging backwards. This is a serious situation because if a large boat slams into your boat it is just like a car crash and for sure the smaller boat is going to be damaged. To prevent potential collisions a bunch of cruisers raced their dinghies over to the sailboat and acting like tiny tug boats they nosed the dragging boat towards a path where it would not hit anyone. I was relieved because Curare was on the edge of the original path and if the wind had shifted she would have been clobbered. But there is never a dull moment in the lagoon because a few days after that a different sailboat went aground on one of the sandbars. Did I mention that getting into the lagoon is tricky? To arrive at the anchoring spot boats must follow a narrow dredged channel with sandbars on either side, but the water is so opaque you can't see the sandbars so it is not uncommon to hit one. Once again several dinghies went to the rescue and managed to pull the boat back into the deeper water before the tide dropped any further.

To keep herself somewhat out of trouble Linda has spent her time finishing a few miscellaneous boat projects, bird watching, swimming in one of the hotel pools, shopping, going for long walks, watching locals fish around the boat, and visiting friends. One good thing about being by yourself is the fact that other cruisers feel sorry for you and invite you over so I rarely have to cook.