Log 7: Mexico--Season 3--'01-'02

Log 7 of Albion (and other travels)






For our third season in Mexico, 2001-2002, we wanted to concentrate on seeing some of the inland portions of Mexico. From San Carlos, we sailed to Mazatlan, and then to Puerto Vallarta, our base for the inland travels. The following are the emails sent back to family and friends during our trip.


10/21/01 Subject: Back in Mexico

Yep, we are finally back in San Carlos Mexico where we left the boat last May. We left the RV in Tucson again after nearly a month heading south from Portland via Las Vegas seeing several shows. Crossing the border always seems like an adventure, but perhaps it is the anticipation of it more than anything else. One thing is certain....the lack of consistency. It seems every cruiser has a different experience. Our's was relatively uneventful and we managed to get here with all our parts and supplies. Everything looks great on the boat (in dry storage) except the boat cover we had made split over the cockpit from stern to cabin....but no problem. There were big brown water marks on the boat cover where water had pooled during the summer rainy season before evaporating. Albion is due into the work yard Monday (10/22) where it will get a good sanding and new bottom paint. Then it's back in the water where we put everything back together (sails, lines, clean up, and move aboard). It's great to be back and renew cruising acquaintances again. We had a great dinner last night with about 14 other cruisers we had not seen in a while. It seems we all tend to migrate back here about the same time. This summer was busy with family and friends. The major events were a 7 day cruise to Alaska on Norwegian Cruise Line with friends Bud & Lisa and two other couples we knew. We WILL do that AGAIN! Then we spent a week cruising in Desolation Sound on a friends' power boat where the weather, beauty, and relaxation were supreme! Another highlight was watching grand daughter Brianna practice with the Northwest Ballet Company in Seattle. We had several get togethers with Mexican cruisers, went to the Fred Meyer Challenge (and took grand son Travis one day), went to the Oregon State Fair, to the coast several times, and a nice picnic with Carrie and Emily at Willamette Park on a beautiful warm summer day. Our plans this year for Mexico are to do more inland trips. We plan to use PV as our base camp for the inland trips and stay there in luxury for four months, December through March. We plan to bus back up to San Carlos and drive the car down so we will have better transportation into Puerto Vallarta from Paradise Village. So if anybody is planning a visit this summer, you won't have to run us down, we will be up by the pool! Several have said they missed our occasional updates last year (and we didn't have any this summer either), but we felt we didn't do much other that work on the boat most of the time. We will try to remedy that this year and let friends and family know that we are still alive and living our dream!
Brent & Molly

11/5/01 Subject: San Carlos, Mexico

We have been back in Mexico a little more than two weeks now. The first week was spent in the motel as Albion was still in the yard. Guess we are not "real cruisers" as most of them are okay to live aboard while the boat is in the yard. But it is hot and dirty and very buggy there, so we treat ourselves to an air-conditioned room with a pool. It's clean and we're happy to part with $35/night for a few creature comforts. While we were waiting for space in the work yard, we were able to start the process of renewing our paperwork. The process of getting "legal" here is a lengthy one. Last year we established the FM3 (temporary residency) in Mazatlan so this year we had to change it to San Carlos. We spent several hours at the marina making copies of everything and getting letters and forms from them. Then off to Immigration, where even though we had everything in order, it still took over an hour. They are very nice and patience helps. There are many forms and in many cases they take an old one, make a copy, white out the old info, and start over. It's been years since I have seen white out! It doesn't matter if it is the case or not, but we have to submit a letter stating that I am dependent upon Brent for my support and he is responsible for all my actions! Another cruising couple submitted a letter stating that the wife had the income, and that was just not acceptable! Then it's off to the bank to pay the fees (about $100 per person), back to Immigration with the receipt, then we wait, maybe 10 days or two weeks and go back to get the official okay. Then they tried to give Brent the wrong passport....."That's not me!" he said, pointing to the picture. Next year we may just have to rethink it and maybe plan to spend less than six months. We would only need a tourist VISA if that were the case. Today, (11/5) we picked up the finalized FM3's so we are legal now and can stay a year if we want! Albion went back in the water on Friday 10/26 after getting three new coats of bottom paint. It was good to get back aboard, but then the work began. First order of business was to get the dirt off....six months worth. Then getting all the sails back up proved to be frustrating. I could make a very long story out of it, but will spare you. Just suffice to say, Brent thinks that just taping the messenger lines to the halyards is good enough; Molly thinks they should be sewn first. Molly's tongue is bloodied from biting it trying ever so hard not to say "I told you so!" Three days later, and Brent making many trips up the mast, things are finally back together again and we have sails! Men, if they would only learn!!!! We have decided to let Copper Canyon go for another year, but we are planning a day trip inland to Alamos, an old colonial mining town that is supposed to be very nice. After that, we should be ready to go. We are anxious to get going. Then we will head across the Sea of Cortez and on south. We had planned to stop in Mazatlan, but the marina there is closed, so we will by-pass there and go on to Puerto Vallarta by December 1. The weather has moderated somewhat. It was very hot when we arrived and lots of bugs. But now it has cooled down to the eighties or low nineties most of the time and there are fewer (but not gone) bugs. There is usually a breeze in the afternoon that helps. We continue to get little news from the homefront. We manage to get a USA Today occasionally and can catch CNN at some of the restaurants. The last week was pretty well dominated by the World Series since we are so close to Arizona. I guess if the TV is showing sports, that's good news as there's no urgent breaking news. We keep you all in our thoughts and hope all is well with everyone. We love hearing from you, so keep in touch! And remember, we'll be in PV most of the winter and will be open for visitors! all for now,
Molly

11/15/01 Subject: Back to Mexico AGAIN, finally

Finally the car is fixed and we are back in Mexico after traveling back to Tucson. What we thought would only be a couple of days turned into a week. Guess we bought each other new fuel injectors for our anniversary! They first tried to clean them, but that didn't work, so we had to have new ones. First they ordered them from LA and they only sent one and the rest were ordered from Texas, shipped FedEx which took an extra day because they went through Memphis, twice. The dealership rented a car for us and felt really bad that we had to stay so long. They ordered a dash mat for our car and it is being shipped home to Gresham. We will pick it up in December. We stayed with Nada and Dorsey the first two days, then our friends, who had driven their RV up from San Carlos to store and were planning to ride back with us, arrived. Of course they also had not planned to be there a week. They had only a couple days of clothes and all shorts. Nada and Dorsey also had some other company coming on Sunday. So we borrowed their small RV and camped out at the state park along with our friends. The weather was changing and it was getting cold in Tucson, so we were glad when the parts finally arrived on Wednesday. The four of us left Tucson about 5pm and arrived back at our boats about 11pm last night. It is usually not advisable to drive in Mexico after dark, but we didn't have any problems. Just one close call with cows on the highway! The weather here has gotten cooler also. It is pleasant to work on the boat during the day. Think we will wait until later to come next year. We are planning to fly home for Christmas this year to see the kids and grandkids. While there we will drive to Seattle on Saturday for Chuck Walter's retirement party, a very good friend that Brent used to work with and Best Man at our wedding. Now we are planning to leave here this weekend and sail straight through to Mazatlan (400 miles) to refuel then continue to Puerto Vallarta.

12/18/02 Subject: Inland Travels from Puerto Vallarta

We have just returned from a short vacation from the boat. We made a big circle driving south from Puerto Vallarta to Barra de Navidad and then inland to Colima, Comala, Lake Chapala and Guadalajara and then returning to Puerto Vallarta. When our friends, Tom and Sue, returned from Portland, transporting them back to their boat in Tenacatita was the perfect opportunity for us to take off for an inland trip. After a breakfast get together with several of Tom and Sue's friends, we headed off with some provisioning stops and finally were on the road headed south. After seeing the way they drive here on these hilly curvy mountain roads, one comes to have a real understanding of why there are so many roadside memorials along the way! We passed through many small villages along the way and finally picked one for a late-lunch, early-dinner stop. We stopped at a roadside palapa where a woman was BBQing chicken. She spoke no English and our Spanish is less than mediocre, but we managed to get a great meal and a couple of cervazas for very few pesos and were once again on our way. Tom and Sue graciously offered us a bunk on their boat for the evening, but since we were planning to head off early the next day, we decided we would prefer to stay some place ashore. We stopped and checked out the Blue Bay Resort there at Tenacatita. It was obvious that they don't often get asked for a rate for one night as they had to get out a book, check the computer, and ask about three different people, but finally came up with 780 pesos per person ($86 US). It's an all-inclusive resort which would include all our meals and drinks, but having already had dinner and planning to spend some time drinking beer on Seadater, also anchored in Tenacatita, we decided to pass and look for something on down the road in Melaque or Barra de Navidad. Horst on Seadater met us with his dinghy on the beach at Tenacatita . He made a couple trips getting Tom and Sue with their luggage and provisions back to X-TA-SEA. Then he came back for us and every now and then a dinghy launch through the surf goes wrong. This was one of those times and we got soaked. But after a couple of beers aboard Seadater, we were almost drip-dried and really didn't care. We had a great visit with Horst and Bea and then bid our farewells to them and Tom and Sue and decided it was time to find a place to sleep for the night. We found a place on the beach in Barra, had a shower and got into some dry clothes. It happened to be Carnival time in Barra so we walked through town to see the happenings. We spied Nancy from Sea Tern up at a second level restaurant and headed up to say hello. We found Nancy and Herm there having dinner with Barb and Monte from Reprise. We spent the rest of the evening with them touring the town and taking in the Carnival events. It's always great to catch up with other Portland cruisers and swap stories of how much rain they are getting back in Portland! The next morning we continued south around the bay at Manzanillo and on to Colima. Before Colima, however, we took a side road to some supposed caverns, but it was way off the road (about 18 miles) up a rough, steep, cobblestone hill, and the car was over heating. We turned around without making it to see the caverns....maybe next time! Colima is a colonial city and the capital of the small state of Colima. We found a nice hotel right on the town square convenient to do a walking tour of the city. There is a nice museum right across the square and several nice restaurants. Sunday evening is a big event in the Mexican town and everyone seems to show up at the town square just to be there. There was much activity. There are two volcanoes just north of the city; one is active now and had been spouting steam and ash in recent days. We drove towards the mountains through Comala and on to a small village, San Antonio, located on the lower slopes of the mountain. We couldn't see much of the mountain as it was cloudy and stormy while we were there. Back in Comala we stopped for a beer. The restaurants adjacent to the town square fill you with hors'd overs for the price of the beer. They just keep bringing food and we finally had to say "no mas." Then back to Colima and we searched out two archeological sites. One was closed for the day because no one showed up that day to sell tickets, but we spent some time touring the other site. The cloudy afternoon weather turned dark and menacing towards evening. By night time we had a good thunder, lightning and rain storm. It was a real tropical downpour. The next day, we had planned to go back to the archeological site we missed, but decided not to spend time tromping around the wet grass. So we headed north to Lake Chapala. It was still a rainy dreary day, reminding us much of Oregon. We nearly missed the turn off to Jocotepec and the lake, but finally got turned around and headed in the right direction. Jocotepec is the first town we went through on the lake, a typical Mexican town with ultra narrow streets and very few signs directing you through to the next town. Since it was still rainy and over-cast, we could not see much of the lake, Mexico's largest lake (53 x 18 miles). We opted to go on to Guadalajara and save a visit to the lake for another time. In Guadalajara we encountered heavy afternoon traffic snarled due to the rain, but finally located a hotel in the historic downtown area. We had a late lunch and since the rain had let up, went for a short walk over to the square and plaza. Even though we were on the tenth floor of the hotel, it was very noisy due to the heavy traffic on the street below. So, the next day we found another hotel close by but on a side street that should be a little quieter. It was and closer to the plaza and less expensive! We took a drive over to the town of Tonala and shopped till we dropped. Then we headed over to Tlaquepaque for lunch. We spent most of the afternoon there enjoying a great meal at a restaurant we had found when we were there last month. We made plans to take a town tour the next day. We had been on a bus tour to Guadalajara from Puerto Vallarta last month, but thought perhaps this local tour would give us a little different perspective and perhaps see some other areas. It was exactly that, we saw some of the same areas along with many new areas. Then it ended the afternoon with another visit to Tlaquepaque so we enjoyed another wonderful lunch at our favorite restaurant, Adobe Fonda! The next day it was time to complete our circle and head back to Puerto Vallarta. We considered going to Tepic which would have given us a visit to three state capitals on this trip, but we are planning a tour to the Huichol Indian village later and it will include Tepic so we headed home to the boat in Paradise Village. The distance between Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta is only about 300 miles, but because it includes the worst section of roads, it's a long day on the road. We were tired and hungry when we returned to the boat in the afternoon, but would recommend the trip to anyone. It was great to see some different country and see some of Mexico that reminded us of parts of Oregon.

3/23/02 Subject: More Inland Travels

Shortly our time here in Paradise will have come to an end and we will head north into the Sea of Cortez and on to San Carlos where we will store the boat for the summer again. We are happy with the time we have spent traveling and seeing some of the inland sights of Mexico. Two of our recent trips have been the tour to the Huichol Indian village and an overnight trip to San Sebastian. There are about 56 villages of Huichol Indians still living primitively in the Serra Madre Mountains. They are a gentle people who are clinging to the old ways of their ancestors while the world around them struggles to move forward. The trip was a tiring, but very rewarding one. We left here about 8 am and traveled for several hours past Tepic and into the mountains. The village we visited is situated on a lake formed by a hydro electric dam. We took a panga ride up the lake; then it was a short hike up a hill to the village. Although the village is a few miles from the largest hydro electric plant on the west coast of Mexico, they choose to live without electricity. There were some homes with small solar panels, however, and the high school had a satellite dish for classroom use. We were asked not to take pictures of the people. Our guide would tell us when it was okay to photograph the houses. Unfortunately there were those "ugly Americanoes" on the tour who ignored those guidelines and clicked away. The homes are very primitive, made mostly from adobe and thatched roofing. They sleep in a separate open air sleeping loft on poles to keep unwanted animals out. Many of the children in the schools come from outlying areas and are housed in the village during the school week and return to their homes in the hills on the weekends. The children are taught both their native Huichol language and Spanish. At the end of our tour of the village, there was a small market set up where we could purchase small items of their native artwork at a considerable savings from the shops in the city. We returned via boats (very rough ride since the wind came up), to the bus and then back to Tepic where we enjoyed a wonderful meal at a very nice hotel. What a contrast in lifestyles in less than an hour! We had a short time to visit the town square in Tepic as well as a Huichol Indian friend of the tour guide (and his native shop) and then it was back on the bus for the long trip home. We arrived back at Paradise Village about 11 pm. The following week we made reservations at a bed and breakfast in the community of San Sebastian about 45 miles into the mountains east of Puerto Vallarta. San Sebastian was a mining community and at one time was the capital of the state of Jalisco. During the height of the silver mining in the area, the population was about 22,000. Today it is about 400. Until sometime in the 1950's, there was only a mule trail into the community. Today the road is not much better. We chose not to drive our own car and instead rented a four-wheel drive Tracker. Good choice not to take our own car, but bad choice to have gotten an open vehicle. The road is extremely dusty and both the car and we were filthy. It is only about 45 miles from here, but the trip took about three hours. Five to ten miles an hour for the last 25 miles of the trip. We crossed steam beds several times. At one place, there is a toll.....a chain across the road and a man collects 20 pesos and allows you to continue. Apparently the funds are collected for road maintenance and improvements, or at least that's what the receipt says! We were relieved to finally arrive and find our accommodations for the evening. The bed and breakfast is run by Mike and Pauline Hussey, a couple originally from Wales, who have lived in Mexico for eight years and in San Sebastian for the past three. They have a very comfortable inn with two guest rooms, both with private baths. After the rough drive, it was nice to relax on the cool patio and have a beer and glass of wine. Mike is quite a history buff and provides guided tours of the area. Before dinner, he took us on a walk around the town showing us many of the plants that grow there and are found no place else in the world. We also visited the coffee plantation and processing plant. The coffee was delicious, but not sold anywhere but there in San Sebastian. Because the previous weekend had been very busy, the main restaurant in town was closed having to go into PV for supplies. So Pauline prepared a spaghetti meal for us at their place. San Sebastian is located at 4500 feet elevation so the evenings can get pretty cool. But it was a nice evening and we sat out on the patio for a while and watched the stars in the very dark night sky. The next day after a very filling breakfast, Mike again guided us about the area. We visited a moonshine still (actually Ricea, a 100 proof form of Tequila made from the century plant Maguey) and saw the entire process in operation including tasting. Of course, we bought some! Then we climbed up the old mule trail a ways and saw some of the remnants of the old silver mines. We were able to explore a ways into one, complete with bats. The mining in the area came to a halt during the Revolution. Any building materials or scrap metal were hauled away to Guadalajara by the caretakers that were left to watch the mines. Today, there is probably still much ore in the mines, but the price of silver does not make it economical to mine. We wished we had planned to spend two nights as there was still much to see and do, but reluctantly we had to head back down that awful road. We will be here for a few more days, at least through the Easter holiday. Lisa Merino, a long-time friend from Brent's office will be arriving in PV next week so we are looking forward to a visit with her and a chance to show her some of the town. We have truly enjoyed the visits we have had with Al Mirati, Doug Dehart and Katherine Kostow, and Tom Pansky and family when they were lucky enough to escape the northwest winter for a few days. So for now, we are busy with all those little jobs we have been putting off, but now must be done before we head north. We'll be in touch again soon with a report on the sailing trip north to San Carlos. Brent and Molly ForsbergParadise Village, Nuevo Vallarta

4/29/02 Subject: PV to San Carlos

On 4/1, along with Dan and Cathy on Perceptions, we left Paradise Village heading for the anchorage at Punta de Mita. After four months at the dock, we thought it best to spend an evening getting our "sea legs" back before heading for Mazatlan. We headed out from there at daybreak on Tuesday. The trip was fairly uneventful with calm seas and comfortable winds. We sailed for about four hours in the afternoon, but the rest of the trip was a motor sail. We arrived at Mazatlan about mid-day the next day and had to wait for the 2:00 dredge opening to enter the channel to El Cid. We had a bit of a pot-luck reunion with other Portland boaters already in Mazatlan. Tica, Seadater and Xtasea had arrived from the south about a week earlier. Dream Weaver and Perpetua have been there a while and Moonshadow had arrived from the north getting ready to head off across the Pacific shortly. Sea Tern was in transit from PV to the Sea choosing to by-pass Mazatlan this trip. Even Reprise managed to make it by land. They had driven our car to San Carlos for us and picked up their own vehicle to return to Puerto Vallarta. Our stay in Mazatlan was short but we managed to work in a couple of our favorite restaurants and some shopping stops. It was tempting to stay longer, but the winds and seas were favorable so we opted to push on and left Mazatlan on Monday the 8th with Pat & Susan on Pertputua and Earl & Marta on Kelmar. Altata, a little known anchorage on the mainland coast was our first destination. It had been written up in Latitude 38 by other Portlanders, Ron an Linda Caywood on Spindrift. The stop there gives an alternative to the double overnight across the Sea to the Baja. We had probably the best day of sailing in our three years here in Mexico. Although we had only about ten knots of wind, the seas were flat and we moved along at about 5 and half to 6 and half knots all day long! It was wonderful! By nightfall however, the winds died and we were forced to turn to the iron sails for the rest of the trip. We arrived at the entrance buoy to Altata about 8 am. We followed GPS coordinates provided by Ron and found his information to be very accurate. After traversing the channel entrance, you make a very long trip up the lagoon. Ron had reported there would be no problem finding the darker water of the deep channel all the way up, however apparently the light was just right to make it difficult for us. We plodded along at slow bell, Albion leading the way. We did find shallow water and ran aground briefly once and nearly another time, but finally found our way to the small village of Altata. It quickly became apparent that few cruisers come this way as the locals found us something of a novelty. Many pangas made passes by the boats to have a look at the gringo sailors! There are lots of palapa restaurants along the shoreline. After a late breakfast and a nap, we went ashore and were greeted happily by Gustavo at the La Perla restaurant. He promptly produced photographs of his amigos, Ron and Linda, on Spindrift. Gustav speaks no English, but is very helpful and willing to do anything for you. He told us his son, Ceasar speaks good English, but goes to school and works in Culiacan during the week. We enjoyed cold refreshments there at La Perla and stayed for dinner. We had a bit of a problem with the language barrier and Brent and I ended up with two meals each! Oh well, can't complain, we each had garlic shrimp, shrimp ceviche, and shrimp empanadas, with drinks for about $25. It was without a doubt the best shrimp we had eaten in Mexico. Gustavo drove the guys to the Port Captains office, but he was closing for the day, so they agreed to return the next day and Gustavo will also take them to fill the jerry cans with diesel. The next morning another boat, a power boat Lady MJ, arrived and joined us in the anchorage. And word had definitely spread of our arrival. When the guys went to the Port Captains office, they were met by a news reporter and photographer from Culiacan and were interviewed for the newspaper. Gustavo had driven to Culiacan the night before and told his son about us and that he must come to see. Ceasar managed to get the day off work and made it nice for us to have someone who spoke English to help us gringos out. Ceasar and Gustavo came to tour our boats that afternoon. Then we all went to shore again and enjoyed another great meal at La Perla.....only one meal apiece for Brent and I that night! The next morning, along with Perpetua, we weighed anchor and headed across the Sea. Kelmar and Lady MJ opted to spend a couple more days in Altata. The passage across was relatively comfortable except for several hours during the night when some strong westerly winds kicked up right on our nose. We fell off the rum line a bit to get some speed and by late morning the winds and seas had calmed to make the rest of the passage comfortable again. We arrived at Isla San Francisco late in the afternoon. There we found another Portland boat, Walt and Dee on Essence. They had come down on the HaHa this season and spent the winter sailing out of LaPaz. On Sunday we went to shore and explored a bit, swam, and Brent worked at cleaning the boat bottom. On Monday the westerly winds were strong all day and made the anchorage pretty choppy, so we spend most of the day hunkered down in the cockpit catching up on our reading. Kelmar and Lady MJ were making the passage across that day and definitely did not have the comfortable passage we did. Lady MJ arrived late in the day, but Kelmar did not make it in until well after dark. The next day, Albion bid good-bye to the rest of the boats there and headed north. We had an easy day to anchor at Punta Prieta, an anchorage that did not appear to be too protected, but when the winds kicked up during the night, it was very flat and calm at anchor. In the morning, we continued north to Agua Verde, one of our favorite anchorage's from last year. There were several boats in the north and middle anchorage's, but only one in the south cove where we dropped our anchor. We went to shore the next day and found the small tienda where we restocked our fresh fruits and vegetables from the supply that had just arrived that day. That afternoon another cruiser arranged a pot luck on the beach to celebrate her husband's birthday. We met some new cruisers and reacquainted with some we had met along the way. Again the next morning it was time to move on so we continued north to Ballandra Bay on Carman Island. We explored some anchorage's along the way including Candeleros South and Honeymoon Cove near Puerto Escondido. We were the only boat at Ballandra and spent a comfortable night. Since the weather prediction was for strong northerly winds, we left early the next day for the anchorage at San Juanico. By ten o'clock, we had 20+ knots on our nose with a heavy northwest swell. We were glad we had made the headway we had, early in the morning. We made it to the anchorage about noon and were ever so happy to get our anchor down and stuck. We measured 20 to 25 knot winds in the anchorage most of the afternoon, but finally about five it started to die down. At San Juanico there is what is referred to as the "Cruiser's Shrine." It is really a tree on the beach where for several years cruisers have left some kind of memento of their passing that way. It was interesting to visit and see many of the gifts left by cruisers we have come to know along the way. Of course Albion had to leave her mark there also. We stayed another day there until the seas looked to be calming down and finally we moved on north. A pineapple express cloud-cover had been covering the Baja for several days so we had gray looking weather....with the northwest winds on our nose, except for being in shorts and tee shirts, we felt like we are back in the northwest sailing up the coast. We reached Bahia Concepcion and spend one night at anchor just inside the bay and moved on the Santa Rosalia the following morning. Santa Rosalia is unlike any other town we have seen in Mexico. It is mostly wood buildings (a rarity in Mexico) having been settled by the French as a mining town in the 1800's. Wood was imported from the northwest to build the original town. Also imported was the prefabricated steel church designed by Carl Gustav Eiffel. It apparently was originally on display with the his "Eiffel" tower at the Paris Exposition, taken apart, reassembled in Brussels, then again taken apart and reassembled here. Santa Rosalia is also famous for their hot dogs! Go figure. They certainly are different from any others we've ever had, but mmmm good! The museum was most interesting with all the historical items laid out to handle, first hand. The original French hotel was also a museum of such, and we had breakfast there one morning. There is a "French Bakery" but I think the French have been gone too long. The cruiser gathering spot at the marina, the "palapa of knowledge" is gone due to a hurricane, but the office now serves as the cruiser's hangout. Beverages are on the honor system. There is a sheet to mark down any sodas, waters, or beers you drink and you just pay up when you are ready to leave. The weather had been good and we planned to make the 75 mile crossing to San Carlos on Friday night, but Thursday night the wind kicked up and blew about 30+ knots all night and all day Friday. A large power boat left and came back, so we decided we liked it there and would spend a while longer. By midnight Friday, the marina was calm and we were bemoaning the fact we had opted to put the trip off another day, but the next day we learned that three boats at an anchorage just south of us had left about midnight and encountered heavy seas and wind and ended up turning around also. By Saturday the weather had turned around again, so we left that night, along with the three boats that had returned the night before. We had no seas and no wind and ended up motoring all the way across. It seems we sailors are never happy, it's either too much wind or not enough! But it was a most comfortable passage and we arrived at San Carlos about 8 am and managed to finagle our way into a slip. The marina has been full with a waiting list, but Brent just pulled into an empty slip, checked with the office when they opened and got the okay to stay put. It was certainly nice to find our car waiting for us. Monty and Barb on Reprise had driven it up from Puerto Vallarta earlier in the month. What a contrast San Carlos is from Santa Rosalia, just across the Sea. While gringos are the exception in Santa Rosalia, here we are the norm. In about 12 hours, we went from a community speaking hardly any English at all, to one where Spanish is rarely heard. Even when we pay with pesos here, we usually get some US dollars back in change. For today we rest, but tomorrow we start about the job of putting Albion to bed for the long hot summer ahead. She will be hauled on May 6th and if all goes right, we may even be back in Tucson in the RV that night. Then Brent will be flying back to Puerto Vallarta to deliver a boat up the coast to San Diego. We hope to be back in Oregon by early June. Looking forward to seeing everyone there!
Brent and Molly Forsberg, San Carlos, Mexico

5/9/02 Subject: Tucson

It has been a real windy year in San Carlos; by mid-morning every day the wind was blowing so hard it was difficult to get much done. But we had some extra days, so we managed to get it all done with some easy days at the end. Albion was scheduled to be hauled at 9 am on Monday, but when we pulled over to the ramp at 8:30, the 10 am boat was already there waiting....claimed he got confused and moved his watch ahead instead of back! The crew hauled him first....a smaller, shallower draft boat needing less water....and by the time they got to Albion, the tide had gone out too much and there wasn't enough water.....you can only imagine the words Brent had about that! They said they thought they would be able to get us out that evening about 6:00pm, but if not, then we would have to wait until Wednesday....more words from Brent! Lucky for them they did get us out that evening, so we were just one day behind and were on our way to Tucson Tuesday am. Wish I could say all went well with getting the RV going, but it took a new battery (actually two trips to get the RIGHT battery and $90 for a road service guy to tell us we had wired it wrong and had the wrong one for a starting battery), but now we are here in Tucson staying in an RV park right in town. Except the park nazi (who makes Donna at El Cid seem like Mother Theresa), it should be an okay place for me to stay while Brent heads back to PV for the delivery. All for now,
Molly

Log 6: Mexico--Season 2--'00-'01

Log 6 of Albion (and other travels)

By our second season cruising Mexico, 2000-2001 , we thought we knew our way around and decided to expand our journeys a little. The primary goal, however, was still to meet old friends and make new ones and have fun. The following is a collection of emails sent back to family and friends to let them know about our travels.

10/22/00 Subject: Back in Oregon

Had thought by now we would be sending news from Mexico, but not so. Made a fast trip down I-5 and met some of the other cruisers in Chula Vista. Had a problem with the jacks on the RV and waited five days there for the "overnight" parts delivery from Portland...then they sent the wrong part! Decided to bag the repair for now and headed for Tucson. Got there on Wednesday and got news from Portland that Brent's mother had failed rapidly after we left and later the same day got word she had indeed passed on. Although we had long ago made all the arrangements for everything, we decided that since we were still in the states it would be easier to get a flight home. We put the RV in storage, spent the night with Nada and Dorsey and caught a plane on Friday. I think Brent's sister was happy to have him back if only for the company. There will be a small memorial service at Elderplace, where she lived, on Monday and we will return to Tucson on Tuesday. Will and Joann on Tica, Monte and Barb on Reprise and Horst and Bea on Seadater were in Tucson with us and headed into Mexico on Friday. We are waiting to hear from them on their border crossing. We don't anticipate a problem, but we are not taking nearly the amount of stuff that they were. They are driving their RV's down to their boats then returning to store them in Tucson and then bus back. Sounds like an ordeal to me. Weather here is feeling very much like fall with a touch of winter in the air. There was frost on the cars last night. Will be touch again once when we are back in Mexico. Keep in touch.
Molly

12/5/00 Subject: Paradise Village, Nuevo Vallarta

Yes, we are now in Paradise again enjoying the sun and tourist activities at the Paradise Village Resort. However, it was a long time getting here. Back in Mazatlan we worked on the boat most of the time or waited for work to be done. The new survey was finally done with the approval of the new insurance broker that an underwater survey was as acceptable as a haul-out inspection. That saved both time and money. The survey did not reveal any traumatic news or requirements. The most noteworthy was that two new motor mounts had to be installed and the engine then realigned. That resulted in more searching, waiting, and frustration with the installer (American not Mexican!). There were some good times too, however, at the Thanksgiving dinner with "real turkey", dancing, drinks, friends, and fun. The cruisers welcome party in November was also a good time with a local restaurant hosting the festivities with food and drink. We had a going-away party for the marina harbormaster, Mario, who has been there for a long time. It was difficult for us to let him go and for him to be leaving the people that he's helped and gotten to know very well over the years....his family! It was nice having a car in Mazatlan. When we needed to provision, it was much easier going to the market and hauling everything back in the car rather than on the bus. It was much more efficient looking for parts by making several stops with the car, rather that waiting for another bus and another 30 pesos for just another mile or two to the next part supply store. It was also much nicer going out to dinner and taking friends along rather than waiting for the dirty old bus. We left the car in Mazatlan, covered and wrapped like a Christmas present in their protected parking lot. It will be there for us when we return in March. Some of the work that we did on the boat included trying to take care of the engine over-heating problem. We had checked several aspects of the problem and finally thought that it must be a clogged heat exchanger. We had the exchanger, the oil cooler, and the exhaust mixing neck cleaned out. We were unable to test it until we put it back together and headed for Nuevo Vallarta. It was still running at about 200 degrees, when it is supposed to run at 180. So we idled or sailed all the way, 200 miles, at 2.2 knots with stops at Chacala and La Cruz. Our friends that left with us stopped at Isla Isabela, but by the time we got there it was after dark of the second night, so we decided to keep on going to Chacala. We therefore, got into Paradise Village a day ahead of the faster boats just by keeping going and they made several more stops. Upon arrival we decided that we, although planning to be here a month, weren't leaving until the over-heating problem was fixed....even if it took all winter! What a place to be marooned!! We are doing some more diagnosis and having a diesel mechanic come by to help. We think it is a barnacle encrusted raw water intake and will find out soon. Meanwhile, it's time to cool off every afternoon up by the pool and visit with old and new friends along the dock. There are several new shops and restaurants in the mall next to the resort. Molly & I just went up to watch Monday Night Football last night at the new Jungle restaurant. There are two internet cafes now, a Domino's Pizza, McDonald's, and much more....even some Mexican restaurants. The only reason we have to leave Paradise Village now is to get away from the American prices.....no real Mexican values here. This year we are at the far end of the marina complex up in the estuary. It's an isolated area without much wind to keep us cool and a long walk to the activities. But two of our Portland boat friends are on either side of us, so that makes it a little more tolerable. We asked to be moved up (or actually down) to the more active part of the marina, but so far other boats that arrive have gotten the closer slips. The other two boats with us now say they are liking it here because it IS quieter, so we may stay here too just for the camaraderie. Things could be worse! So far the weather has been in the high 80's or low 90's. You have to work on the boat early and relax in the afternoons by the pool or boogie boarding in the surf. I guess we will just have to suffer through this fuzzy lifestyle with our margarita friends! Livin' in Paradise;
Brent & Molly

1/2/01 Subject: Merry Christmas

It was cloudy and rainy for three days here. It was quite miserable. But I did manage to clean and grease 6 of my 8 winches, clean the cushions, have the deck and cockpit waxed and polished while Molly was in Portland. The trip back was my Christmas present to her so she could spend it with the kids and grandkids. Actually it was quite lonely here on Christmas day. All of the other Portland cruising friends had family or other activities that kept them busy. Bob Fadhl on Orca (a big power boat) did come over, however, just to chat. A group of us Portland cruisers and friends did have a great Christmas Eve potluck dinner at one of the Paradise palapa's.....minus Molly of course. We would like to get down to Z-town after we leave here (another 200 miles), but I don't think we will have time to make it all the way down there and back to Mazatlan by March. So we will probably just take it easy and stay for awhile in each anchorage on the way down to Manzanillo, stay there awhile, and then head back, stopping here at Paradise again before continuing to Mazatlan. Jeanette, Terry and Travis will join us there for Spring break. After the kids leave, we will probably spend April and May in the Sea and summer the boat in San Carlos. Molly is back now and I'm happy again!!!!!!! She brought back all kinds of goodies for us and neighboring boats....just like Christmas! And she brought back the good weather. We had New Years Eve dinner with a couple we met in Mazatlan (Dan & Cathy on Perceptions) from Long Beach, CA. and watched the fireworks with them out on the beach and around the bay. I'll close now and just say Happy New Year 2001. Stay in touch.
Brent on Albion in Paradise Village

3/19/01 Subject: Mazatlan

Sorry it's been awhile since I've been in contact. We've been on the move and getting things done to the boat....and just kicking back and doing nothing when we can!!! We are presently in Mazatlan again, where we left last November. Except this time we are at the El Cid Resort and Marina rather than Marina Mazatlan. It is much nicer with two pools, hot tub, restaurant, bar and cable TV at the dock. We are staying here because Jeanette, Terry and Travis are coming down this Sunday (3/25/01) for a week. They were going to stay on the boat, but like last year we wanted to get them off the boat for a few days to spread out a bit rather than being cramped up in the V-birth forward. We are used to small places, but thought it would be more like a vacation if they had a real bed to sleep in. Well, we didn't want to get them a room here at El Cid because of the expense ($225/night; we love them a lot but let's get real!). And next door at the Playa Real, they couldn't give us a couple of nights, but they could give us a week at a very special deal ($350 plus tax FOR THE WHOLE WEEK!!) and it's a real nice resort with a much better beach and ocean view than El Cid. They can walk over since it's only a couple hundred yards. And that way they can visit all day and still have their own privacy at night. Molly, of course, wants to use the bath tub in their room. She really misses just soaking. We arrived here in Mazatlan from Puerto Vallarta just before a big storm. We heard about it on the SSB radio nets and decided to hurry up the coast making it one day shorter. And the day after we got here it blew and rained for two days. Some boats behind us, that waited another day at Isabela Island anchorage (20 miles offshore and about 90 miles south of Mazatlan), got the hell beat out of them and lines tangled in their props and then had to beat into the big swell and wind for a day and a half to get to Mazatlan. We had gone south from Puerto Vallarta to Las Hadas (or Manzanillo, about 200 miles) and spent a week there (the resort that we anchored in front of, was a set for the movie "10"), then we sailed to Barra de Navidad. We spend a week there which is a real nice old style Mexican village and anchored in an inner lagoon (a set for the movie McHales Navy). Then we traveled north, anchoring for another week in Bahia Tenacatita, where a lot of our Portland friends were. There is nothing on the beach except a French restaurant that was another set for McHales Navy. Then on to Careyes for a night (big resorts on the beach like Club Med)..... on to Chamela for several days (another very small village on the beach)..... and then an overnight beat back up to Puerto Vallarta. Back in P.V. we FINALLY got our overheating problem solved!!!!!!! We stayed at Paradise Village again, our first dock in a month. That's when we headed north to Mazatlan taking about seven days with a three day stop at a favorite anchorage called Chacala. There we met some people that were on a boat from Corvallis and who were friends with my professor of Aquatic Plants at OSU. We had dinner at a local palapa (open beach restaurant) and talked about things we had in common. Actually that is our favorite thing to do down here, meeting people and sharing experiences. We all have "boat cards" that we exchange and we keep ours in a three ring binder so we can look back at all the people we have met along the way. Some have become very good friends, and it's hard to see them leave when they either head further south and through the canal, or off to the South Pacific islands. We may never see them again. Others hang around and we reacquaint with them at different locations and different times on our own schedules and talk over the latest travels. The paper work down here is mind boggling. Every time you stop, you have to check in and out of the port and pay fees. This year they instituted another fee that costs us $42 for us (based on tonnage) every time we check in to a port with a Port Captain. That's not outrageous, but you have to go to the Port Captain with your papers (crew list, boat documentation, boat insurance, passport, etc.), then go to the bank to pay your fees, then go back to the Port Captain to show you've paid so you can get your exit papers. Without exit papers, you can't enter another port. The "paper shuffle" as it's called, can be quite time consuming if the bank and Port Captain's office are across town from each other. Then if there is an Immigration office in the port, you have to check in there too, before you check back with the Port Captain.......I think? Then you repeat this "shuffle" and fees when you leave the port.This summer, Molly and I are planning to take a "bus-man's holiday", a week-long cruise to Alaska with our friends Bud and Lisa. We are boarding the Norwegian Cruise Line in Seattle and stopping at Juneau, Skagway, Sawyer Glacier, Ketchikan, and Victoria before arriving back in Seattle. It will be a nice change to go cruising and leave the driving to THEM! We don't plan any long range traveling in the RV this summer, but rather stick around the Pacific Northwest. Brianna (Lynda's daughter) will be studying with a ballet troop in Seattle this summer and we plan to go up and see their final performance. This is a real opportunity for her. Well, we will be in touch along the way. So long for now!
Brent & Molly

4/10/01 Subject: Leaving for San Diego!

A short update just to say I'm leaving for San Diego tomorrow Wednesday April 11. No, not Albion, Sashay a Catalina 42 that I'm delivering. My crew will be a friend's son, Patrick, from another Portland boat, Perpetua. We were going to take Albion to La Paz right after Jeanette left, but I decided to stay here, rest and get healthy again for the 1000 mile bash back up the Baja. I will be coming back to Mazatlan via bus or flying back. We will then take Albion across the Sea to La Paz for awhile, cruise up the Baja islands to Santa Rosalia, and then cross back over to San Carlos where we will put Albion away for the summer on the hard. We should be back on the road by the first of June. We have been here in Mazatlan now since March 1. While the kids were here, we went to the theater to see local folk dancing, toured the old town, played all day at a water park with monster slides, and ate out at the very finest Mazatlan had to offer. We celebrated Travis' birthday at Casa Country Restaurant where we all had a great time right up front next to the show. And we still had time to lay by the pool and do some boogie boarding. We were so busy and I worked so hard playing, that I came down with a cold. All for now, just wanted to touch base with everyone to let you know we are still here and having a great time in Mexico. Will try to keep in touch a little more often as we get nearer to our departure from Mexico back to the states for the summer.
Brent

5/16/01 Subject: San Carlos

Hello everybody, we've been away from cyber cafes for some time and haven't sent or received any e-mail. So this is for catch up. The last e-mail sent was about my pending 1000 mile delivery to San Diego. All went well, except I know now way they call it the "Baja Bash". We did have some good days, but were held up for three nights, two days at a little remote island waiting for favorable weather to cross a major depression in the Baja Peninsula. The favorable weather never came so we went anyway. The trip took thirteen days and a day to bus back to Mazatlan. After returning, the weather turned sour again for crossing back AGAIN to the Baja side and Molly then came down with a cold. So we waited several days and were finally getting tired of Mazatlan so we decided to go for it. Some friends, on another Portland boat Tica, were leaving to go back to Portland. They drove our car from Mazatlan to San Carlos so it would be here when we arrived, then they bused to Tucson to their motor home. The crossing was long, 45 hours. The diver never showed up to clean my bottom so I cleaned some of the parts I could reach and slowly took off. It was a fairly smooth crossing and we did a minor bit of sailing, but mostly motor-sailed. Our first stop was into La Paz to top off with fuel because we had used so much pushing that dirty bottom 220 miles. At the gas dock we saw Monte & Barb, Reprise, and renewed some acquaintances with some other friends. Then we went out to Isla Partida and anchored all by ourselves in a small isolated inlet. It was beautiful and quiet. I spent several hours cleaning the bottom. We joined Reprise at Ensenada Grande on Isla Partida the next day.Next day we motored to San Evaristo on the peninsula. We were the fourth boat in the small cove, but by night fall there were thirteen boats with us and the wind blew swinging us around during the night. We were off early the next morning to make a longer day and get up the Baja a little faster. We had a lot of places we wanted to stop, but the more we thought about it, the faster we wanted to get to San Carlos, put the boat to bed, and hit the road home. So we put in about 40 miles up to Bahia Agua Verde, another beautiful anchorage, and met up with another of our Portland boating friends on Seadater. They were on a slow track and we were on the fast track so next morning we went our separate ways. We went on to Puerto Escondido, a very large enclosed anchorage with lots of boats. There again we saw two more Portland boating friends that we had not seen for quite awhile (Jasmine Isle and La Zarder), so they came over to Albion and we talked until 11:00pm. Molly and I had gone into the settlement earlier in the day and picked up some minor provisions and had dinner at the trailer park. Our next stop was only a short 14 miles away so we sailed. The wind picked up to 20 - 25 knots so we reefed all sails and had a great sail. The anchorage was Puerto Ballandra on Isla Carmen a very protected "U" shaped cove. At just about each anchorage, I've been going ashore and climbing a nearby hill to take a picture. Molly and I went snorkeling here and saw lots of fish. From here we motored to San Juanico Cove and since we have been having southerly winds at night, we went around the corner to the southerly protected anchorage of La Ramada Cove with only one other boat in it. We had told a friend in San Carlos that we would probably be there in a week, but tonight we had informed him that we would be there day after tomorrow. That way they (Richard and Anita on Moonshadow) would still be there before putting their boat on the hard and taking off to Portland. The next day was another long one, bypassing several more wana-stops, and ending up at Los Pilares on Punta Concepcion. There we prepared the boat for the crossing to San Carlos by putting the dinghy away and topping off the fuel tank. We left at 8:00pm expecting to get to San Carlos by mid-next-day. But we caught good wind and a following current and were flying at over seven knots. We were going to be getting to San Carlos just past dawn.......except a boat radioed they had lost their engine and needed a tow into San Carlos. They were eight miles out, so it took us another three hours to tow them into the harbor and we didn't get in until 11:00am. We checked in, got a slip, and started working down our storage checklist. We should be ready for our haul-out by this Saturday (May 19) and probably on the road to Tucson by Sunday if everything goes according to plan. We will be heading to Las Vegas in the RV from there to renew vehicle stuff and then head for home in Portland (actually our home RV park in Salem!!!).
Brent & Molly

Log 5: Rocky Mountain RVing--Aug-Sept '00

Log 5 of Albion (and other travels)




This is another collection of selected e-mails during our RV trip through the Rocky Mountain States during the summer of 2000. These were sent via our cell phone hooked up to the computer. Again, these have not been completely edited for sentence structure or grammar, but merely relayed here for the convenience of our friends.


7/12/00 Subject: On the Road Again--Wyoming

We've been traveling now for about a week and a half, but it's time to take a bit of a break and keep in touch. Thought we'd never actually get on our way, but finally did get out of town on July 2nd. We stayed long enough to join some of our cruising friends help some other cruisers, Bub and Faye (Okoke Chak Chak), celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary...and what a great party it was! Made it all the way to Hood River the first day where we met my brother and wife for dinner and a nice catch-up visit. Then it was time to get serious and get some miles under us. We headed east to Idaho and then on to Yellowstone. Many years ago we made the trip from Portland to Yellowstone overnight...we took a little longer this time spending a couple of days in Idaho along the way. Then, three days seeing Yellowstone along with all the other hoards of tourists. Once we left Yellowstone, the pace seemed much more relaxed. We spent several days at an RV resort below Jackson Hole (Thayne). We even had time to dust off the golf clubs and play a round at the park we were staying in.... ugh!! Are we ever rusty... actually we both did manage a few good shots, but never put enough together on any one hole...so our scores will remain our secret. We went for a delightful raft trip on the Snake River. It was just us, a river guide and a family from Holland. The three little girls were so much fun...they didn't speak a word of English, but conveyed their excitement and enjoyment of the trip perfectly. Then we headed further south and east into Wyoming, dodging some thunder and lighting storms and exploring areas along the way like, Fossil Butte National Monument. We enjoyed a full day in the Flaming Gorge area of the Green River. I think we really enjoyed it much more than Yellowstone due to the lack of people and the diversity of the geologic areas. We have followed much of the Oregon Trail (going the wrong way, I guess) and have crossed the Continental Divide so many times we have lost track. Today, we spent some time seeing South Pass City where most of the pioneers passed through the Rockies on their way to the Oregon country, the California gold fields, or Utah and the great salt lake. We are still in southeastern Wyoming (Rawlins), but plan to head into Colorado probably tomorrow. There is so much there we want to see and then on to Utah and some of the national parks we got snowed out of last spring. Sure hope the gas prices hurry up and drop a little!!! Well, that's what we are up to, would love to hear from all of you to know what's happening with you. Keep in touch!
Molly

7/22/00 Subject: Colorado Springs

We are in Colorado, right now in Colorado Springs. Had planned to spend about four days here, but have already extended our stay to eight and may stay even longer. We really like it here. It is a beautiful country and lots to do and see. We spent a night in Fort Collins and had dinner with friends from Portland who Brent used to work with, then three days in the Denver area seeing Rocky Mt. National Park. We visited with some cruisers we had met in Puerto Vallarta who have an RV park near the park. Also toured the US Mint...no free samples. Couldn't pass up the Molly Brown House and also the Coors Brewery...free samples there! Here in Colorado Springs, we have been to Garden of the Gods, top of Pikes Peak via the COG Railway, Air Force Academy and had a chuck wagon dinner at Flying W Ranch. We may take in the Renaissance Festival today. Still on our list to see is Cripple Creek, some fossil beds, Seven Falls, Will Roger Memorial, Olympic Center, World Figure Skating Hall of Fame, Cave of the Winds, Manitou Cliff Dwellings, etc, etc, etc, also need to find time to kick back and relax. After we leave here, we will spend a while longer in other areas of Colorado, and then move on to Utah. Weather has been warm...although every afternoon there is a thunder and lightning storm. Had a real good one in Denver. Rained like I have never seen it rain in Oregon. We were in a Wal-Mart lot and it quickly became a lake. There were flash flood warnings everywhere. We were quite happy to be snug in the RV and did not venture out into the storm. We have had storms here every day also, but so far nothing like the one in Denver. There are updates on the TV as to where the severe conditions are, and we grab the map to determine what county we are in. We have so far managed the whole trip in Wal-Mart parking lots, or Coast to Coast parks. We are in a real nice C2C camp now just a few minutes north of Colorado. Springs. It's called Colorado Heights Campground Resort and is an undulating forested park with open areas, swimming pool and hot tub, trout pond, miniature golf, and movies every night at the clubhouse. If you're ever in the area make sure you stay here. So far everything's working great. That's about all the news from here. Keep in touch.
Molly

8/3/00 Subject: Still in Colorado--Montrose

Still in Colorado, spent over a week in Colorado Springs. Really liked it there. Lots of things to do and see... and a beautiful area. We are at least back on the west side of the Rockies now, but not yet out of the every afternoon thunder and lightning storms. Little wonder that the whole western US is mostly ablaze. We get very little rain except up in the mountains, but you can count on a good lightning show every day. It's been hot also. Can't remember a day under 90 degrees. Heading south tomorrow as the fire is finally out in Mesa Verde N.P. and it will be reopening. That was one of our must sees this trip. Not sure what we will get to see in Utah as there are lots of fires there also. Played golf today. Argh!!! Perhaps it was the altitude, but I really don't think that was the problem. Looks like there has been some good weather back in Oregon. I'm feeling the need to get back and get to the coast...there's just not a lot of water here. Spent a couple of nights along the Arkansas River at Texas Creek and that was nice. While staying there we went back into Canon City and took a train up the Royal Gorge along the Arkansas River. Later we went up to the top of the canyon and Brent took an aerial tram across the Gorge, I walked across the bridge! From here we drove up the backbone of the Rockies through Leadville (Molly Brown's stomping grounds) and down through Vale to Glenwood Springs. We made a day trip up to Aspen from there with the car and had lunch. Next day we drove the RV to Grand Junction where we were going to spend the night, but decided to go on south to Montrose. Another car day trip was up Gunnison River to visit the Black Canyon of the Gunnison N. P. (just recently named by Clinton). We also made a car trip over the hill to Silverton (an old gold mining town) and really enjoyed it.Guess that should catch your up on us. Keep in touch. Love,
Molly

8/10/00 Subject: Moab, Utah

Finally made it out of Colorado...the "must see" Mesa Verde became a "won't see" at least not this year. The park reopened briefly last Friday. We drove down to the area on Friday...only to notice a big plume of smoke over the park. We drove up to the entrance gate to check it out. The woman there assured us there was nothing to worry about as that fire was outside the park boundary and did not pose a hazard. If anything did happen, she said there would be at least a 24-hour notice to evacuate. She noted there were huge traffic jams as it was the first day they were re-opened and there were no entrance fees. That didn't appeal to us so we opted not to go into the park that day and decided to wait a few days while seeing other things in the area. Fire, it seems, knows no boundaries as that fire did indeed invade the park and they had to evacuate that afternoon. One can only imagine the frustration the firefighters must have had with the roads jammed packed with tourists. We were quite happy not to have been part of the chaos! The park is now closed again until further notice. While there in Durango, however, we decided to take the Durango to Silverton narrow gauge steam train up through the gorge and back. So we got to see Silverton again and a beautiful (albeit sooty) train ride through the San Juan Mountains. We spent the night at an Indian casino RV park and entered Utah the next day with a stop at Four Corners. I got to put my foot on the corner of four states at one time! Utah is much different than we found it last year when it was snowing. We are in Moab right now. This year, it is HOT! We spent a night in Blanding and saw Natural Bridges...no snow this year. We spent the last two days seeing Canyonlands N.P....WOW! So far, this is our favorite place. Every bit as impressive as Grand Canyon, but without the hoards of tourists. From here we will go further west to Capitol Reef, Escalante, Bryce and Zion N.P.'s. Sure have appreciated the geology courses we have taken to have just a tad bit of understanding how this all came to be. Guess we are getting ready to hit the road again. Am told I need to practice driving a bit more and learn to hook up the toad! Gotta go!
Molly

9/5/00 Subject: We're back!

We are finally back in Oregon...spent about a month in Colorado and then another month in Utah and Nevada. We are official residents of Nevada now...hopefully to save some $$$$. Saw most of the national parks we wanted to, except Mesa Verde. It was still on fire. It was probably the one we were most looking forward to seeing, but will have to wait for another trip. We really like Colorado and are looking forward to going back again. Next year, though, I think we may go to Alaska while my niece is still there. Brent has a boat delivery this next week from Bodega Bay to Astoria. He is planning to leave on Thursday AM to drive down and leave there maybe Friday evening. Then it should take three to four days to get back.
Molly

Log 4: Mexico--Season 1--'99-'00

Log 4 of Albion (and other travels)

These are the selected e-mails sent back to family and friends from our sail down the Coast of Baja California and into Mexico. It was our first trip into a third world country by boat and the anxiety ran high.

11/18/99 -- 12/13/99 Subject: Chula Vista to Cabo San Lucas

We're off! Five boats headed out for our adventure down the Baja coast into Mexico. After topping off our fuel tanks and crossing the San Diego bar, we got a call from Jasmine Isle, who left early because of their slower speed. They had engine problems and were going to have to turn back. Since there wasn't any wind, they were just rolling around and couldn't make it back in. So Albion, being the faster cruising boat, took them into tow and would catch up with the rest that night in the Coronado Islands. Jasmine Isle could not get a slip at the police dock, so we had to tow them halfway up the bay to another anchorage. It was determined then, that we would not be able to make it back out to the Coronado's that night and decided to spend another night in San Diego, and catch the rest of the boats in Ensenada the next day. In Ensenada, we all met up again and checked into Mexico. To our surprise, Kim and Chris on Jasmine Isle drove down to Ensenada with another Portland couple. We all had a great reunion and enjoyed the best fish tacos in Mexico. Since Reprise and Seadater had gotten to Ensenada early and checked in, they decided to head south. Tica and Albion had to wait until Monday to check in and then leave. Our first anchorage that night was below Punta Colnett, a very rolly anchorage. The next was after a day trip down to the Bahia San Quintin anchorage. There Molly and I anchored and were waiting for Tica. But they got a lobster pot line in their prop, and we had to go out and tow them into the anchorage. We spent the next day (Thanksgiving) anchored and relaxing and had a great dinner on Albion with Tica. We met another boat (Cyrene) that joined us for the rest of the trip down the Baja. The next anchorages were down to Punta Baja and then an overnight to Turtle Bay. We spent two days in Turtle Bay refueling, eating local foods, and meeting new friends. Then it was off to Punta Asuncion, Bahia San Hipolito, Bahia Abreojos and then another overnighter to Bahia Santa Maria. We spent two nights in Santa Maria, exploring up the lagoon and snorkeling. The next stop was just around the corner into Puerto Magdalena Bay and Man-of-War Cove. There we topped off with fuel again from the Port Captain and chartered several pongas with him to take a bunch of us cruisers up the bay to San Carlos......a real town with phones and ice cream. And we ate more local cuisine (lobsters again!) and had several boat parties with new cruisers. From Mag. Bay, it was another overnighter to the real culture change of Cabo San Lucas; para-sailers, mega-yachts, cruise ships, and big hotels. We took a buoy off the Hacienda Hotel for $10/night and had a great view of the beach and short dinghy ride into the harbor to town. We checked in here, went through immigration, and got our 10 year boat import permit. During that last leg to Cabo, our battery was loosing charge even with the engine running. We concluded, with Jan & Alan's help on Cyrene's , that it was the alternator regulator. We ordered another one from Downwind Marine in San Diego and Jasmine Isle's parents would stop on their way down and pick it up. We would just have to rent a car and drive halfway to La Paz to get it......just another adventure.

12/31/99 Subject: New Years in Cabo!!

Well, we didn't make the weather window in time to head to Mazatlan and we were comfortable here where we knew where things were.....so we decided to have a quiet dinner with friends, go back to the boat, open a bottle of Champagne, and toast the new year in watching the fireworks on the beach from our cockpit. The new alternator regulator is in and working, but the Link10 meter (that reads what is going on with the batteries) has not come up to full charge yet??? And now our engine temperature gage is reading hot??? I've checked all the logical possibilities (good water in, good water out, engine is actually not hot, so we're thinking it's just the gage (we hope). We will know when we start off to Mazatlan!!! Maybe it will be a short trip and we will be back here in Cabo for a little longer. The cruiser personnel are changing around here. That's an indication that we've been here too long (almost three weeks now). Some of the friends that we've made down the Baja coast and camped out here with, have left for other ports and new ones have come in and taken their place, but it's hard to replace "originals". Our typical day here starts with the morning Canadian/Baja SSB net at 7:00am. We listen for weather and check in ourselves...."still here in Cabo". One of the net controllers is another good friend here that we met in Mag. Bay. Then it's breakfast, do the dishes, get the dinghy in the water, and put the motor on the dinghy. By then it's so rocky and rolly because of fishing boats leaving, jet skis buzzing, and ship tenders running past, that we have to head to town to relax. We generally head to the internet cafe to check e-mail and then go to lunch. It's a nice challenge to pick a new place each time, trying something new. We may wander around town looking into shops...not buying of course, no room! We have taken little side trips like driving to Los Brillos for the new alternator regulator, bus trip to San Jose del Cabo, or a day snorkeling at Lovers Beach. But mostly we then head over to the pool at the hotel, lay around reading, swimming or taking a shower in the poolside outside shower. We may have a margarita or two, and then it's about happy hour, so we get dressed, and head for the hotel cocktail lounge where a lot of the cruisers meet just to un-wind and tell of the days activities. After a few more margaritas and chip & salsa, we all head out for dinner....again trying to fine a new place. Then it's late enough that we head back to the boat, take the motor off, lift the dinghy back on the deck, and check in to the evening "Portland" SSB net at 8:00pm. Sometimes (not very often) we get back in time to check in on another frequency at 6:45pm to see if we can reach Summer Rose back at Tomahawk Bay Marina and see how things are going. We have used that avenue to get messages back to the kids on occasion. Well, it's time to head to town.....a new cruise ship has just arrived and we have to get some things at the grocery store for the Sea of Cortez crossing, and of course get this sent! We wish you all a very Happy New Year for 2000!! We will try to keep in touch with our adventures and trials and tribulations (which aren't many), and you try to do the same. When we have access to e-mail, we love hearing from all of you.
Brent & Mollyf rom Cabo Internet Café

January 1, 2000 Subject: Mazatlan

On January 1, 2000, the first day of the new millennium, a beautiful sunrise came up over the Cabo San Lucas arches. It was also the first day of our new adventure across the Sea of Cortez to Mazatlan, 200 miles. We weighed anchor with Tica and headed East. The motor started running hot, so we slowed down, tried to find out what the matter was, but eventually shut the motor off and sailed with good wind all the way to Mazatlan arriving the next day about 5:30pm. On the way over, we were in contact with Richard and Anita on Moonshadow. They told us that our marina was about 8 miles north of the old harbor, which we were then heading for. As we arrived outside the entrance to the harbor, several dinghies full of Portland cruising friends were there to greet us and show us the way in. Upon docking, it was a welcomed reunion and party! It was like Tomahawk Bay Marina, G-Dock, all over again because 5 of us were all on the same dock again, except Albion which was right behind them all on the next dock.Mazatlan is a great city. It is easy to get around by a very inexpensive bus system, you can find almost any part you need for the boat or they can make it, there are many fine restaurants for dining, and there is a very exotic old town with the Central Market, Cathedral, theater, and many many shops. Another Portland cruising friend knew a doctor here, and every year he has a big BBQ. This year we were all invited out to his place for the pig roast and dancing. The cruisers at Marina Mazatlan also are busy arranging many parties, activities, and trips. One trip we signed up for was a bus trip to El Quelite, a small old town up in the hills behind Mazatlan. They are known for their cheese making and cock farms. While there we also took a house tour with the Mayor, had a great lunch, and watched an ancient Aztec ball game and rodeo. We stayed in Mazatlan until February 16th, then headed South another 200 miles to Puerto Vallarta. As we were making final preparations to leave, a friend of a friend (Miriam) needed a ride down coast to Chacala to help out on a Homes-for-Humanity project so we gave her a lift. Our first destination, however, was a small off shore island called Isla Isabela that is a bird sanctuary with a small scientific crew camped out on it. After an over-night trip, in company with Wes and Karen on Caprice, we anchored off the island and went ashore to explore and take pictures. After spending two days there exploring, snorkeling, and relaxing, we headed back to the mainland to anchor in Bahia Matachen. The next day we went around the corner into the San Blas estuary and anchored. We went ashore, checked in, and met Captain Norm and his wife Jan. They helped us with options for check-in since Miriam was not on our crew list when we left Mazatlan.....no problem!San Blas was one of the first shipping towns in old Mexico and the object of the poem about "The Bells of San Blas". They also have a great Jungle Trip up the estuary. It was one of the best trips we've every taken. Our 4-hour trip lasted 6 hours after the guide found out Molly and I were birders. We added many birds to our life list and the guide even caught a small Crocodile for us to take pictures. At the end of the trip, he came out to our boat. Molly gave him a Spanish Translator, since he was enamored by it during the trip, and he gave Wes and I a Crocodile tooth necklace. We also went on another trip while here to a coffee plantation. San Blas is also well known, however, for their bugs......the "No Seeums" but you can! They are horrible and the bites itch, swell, and last for weeks. Karen really got bit, and we all decided that 4 days was all we could stand. We then headed for Chacala, another small beach village where we were taking Miriam. We anchored there one night and then on to La Cruz in Banderas Bay. While underway, I discovered a leak in a return fuel line. Caprice was several miles ahead of us, but came back to stand by while we made a temporary fix.

February 29, 2000 Subject: Paradise Village Resort

Banderas Bay is a very large bay with several resort communities located around it, including Puerto Vallarta. We were heading for Paradise Village Marina and Resort in Nuevo Vallarta, about 8 miles North of Puerto Vallarta. Paradise Village is, in our opinion, one of the nicest resorts in Mexico for Cruisers. We have access to pools, showers, tennis courts, restaurants, zoo, cable TV at the dock, and a shopping mall. A great place to spend several months! Jeanette, Terry and Travis flew down to spend a week with us and enjoy the Mexican sun after leaving the cold rainy Oregon winter. We went on a tour vessel snorkel trip out of P.V. to Los Arcos and enjoyed watching the boat parade for the Banderas Bay Regatta. They brought several boat parts down from the states, including a new return fuel line. Only a few of the Portland Cruisers came down to P.V.; Moonshadow and Reprise, and of course there was Caprice who we met back in Chula Vista and became very close friends. Two of the great activities at Paradise are Tequila tasting parties on other's boats, and dock potluck parties every Wednesday night. This is great living!!! One of the most notable Tequila parties was on Caprice when about 14 of us cruisers jammed in this small rounded cockpit of their 31 foot boat. There were so many aboard, the bow was out of the water. We made an inland bus trip with Wes and Karen to the town of Tequila where they in fact make Tequila from the Blue Agave. We stopped at an ancient Aztec ruin, a lava field, and toured the Sousa Tequila plantation and distillery. Our friend, Al Mirati an ODFW co-worker, came down to visit us in Paradise. We had a great time showing him around Puerto Vallarta, then he helped us take Albion back up the coast to Mazatlan and flew home from there. We spent almost 6 weeks in Paradise Village and then hopped up the coast returning to La Cruz (had dinner with Portland cruisers Nancy & Herman from Sea Tern), to Chacala (had shrimp & lobster dinner with Monte & Barb from Reprise), to Isla Isabela, and then the over-night sail back to Mazatlan.

April 21, 2000 Subject: Back in Mazatlan

After a few more parties, introducing Al to some more of our cruising friends, he was off to Portland again. During our stay, we took another marina sponsored bus trip to Copala, another small village in the Sierra Madras' behind Mazatlan. We toured the town and all had to sample their famous banana cream pie for lunch. The rest of the time in Mazatlan was spent getting Albion ready for the hot summer storage in the marina. We contracted with another cruiser that lives in the marina and watches boats for the summer. She will wash it, make sure the bottom is cleaned, anti-cockroach stuff is fresh, check the batteries, and disconnect the power if an electrical storm comes through. We also leave extra mooring lines available for an emergency. After a week of preparation, we flew back to Phoenix and picked up our car that Tom and Sue had left for us at the airport and headed for Tucson to visit Nada and Dorsey. Then it was off to Mazatlan again, this time with the car, to bring a bunch of our stuff back to the RV.

5/11/00 Subject: On the Road Again!

Here we are, back in long pants and sweatshirts! Was warm (hot) in Arizona, but now we are in Chula Vista and it's on the cool side. We had a nice visit last night with Portland cruisers Tom and Sue, Earl and Donna, Brian and Laurie, and Fred and Kathy. Also, a couple we cruised the Baja with, Cyrene, are back here now having left their boat in LaPaz for a couple of years while they earn another cruising kitty. Have to go to the fabric place here and get some material for the RV windows and some more for the boat. Then we plan to head up the freeway and spend a few days in Thousand Oaks with Lynda and family. Looks like it is still raining in Portland. Guess we won't be able to avoid that. Driving to Mazatlan and back was no problem. The road is really good..four lanes all the way. We were even understanding most of the road signs by the time we got to Mazatlan. There are several inspection stops along the way for agriculture and drugs....we discovered that as soon as we rolled down the window and found ourselves staring at an army guy holding a semi-automatic weapon, every word of Spanish we ever knew was suddenly erased from our brain! Actually, once they determined we were gringos and couldn't communicate with them, they would wave us on through! The border crossing and customs was not a problem once we finally figured out what we needed to do and where to do it. We had to turn in our car permit and visas, and also we had the Mexican customs officer sign our list of equipment that we were taking off the boat to be returned again this fall. Nancy and Herman told us about that so we would not have a problem next fall and have to pay import tax on any of it. We had a very short visit with Nada and Dorsey as they were in a rush to head back to Portland also. We were loading the RV as they were loading the u-haul with golf cart and stuff. Will be seeing them back at the coast this summer, we hope. We don't know what our plans are yet. Have to check in with the taxman and get that done. It's good to be back in the RV...feels like home. Doing my own laundry will take some getting used to, but I will adjust! All for now,
Molly