She's 40 Years Old !!

 

 

No, Susan is obviously older than that. What I meant is that Windward Bound is celebrating her 40th year.  Construction on Windward Bound was begun in February, 1973. While she does show a bit wear from all these years, she still is a "Plastic Classic" of the era.  We hope to do her proud this spring as we get her painted and polished, probably in Mazatlan.

Since it has been quite a while since I updated our blog (so sorry!), I'll fill you in on our travels.

After leaving Redondo Beach, CA in October, 2007, we have cruised the west coast of Mexico, and spent 4 summers in the Sea of Cortez, moving with the seasons.  Winters are mild and lovely along the west coast of mainland Mexico, with land and sea breezes typical every day. It is a time when we can relax and get rested for the rigors of summer cruising. However, mainland western Mexico is definitely NOT the place to cruise in the summer. Convection builds every afternoon in the Mexican highlands, and thunderstorms are almost a daily occurrence. Quite a few tropical storms also affect this area, so being at anchor here during the summer is not recommended.

Summers in the Sea of Cortez are HOT. There's no other way to say it. On the bright side, there are numerous wonderful anchorages with great snorkeling and the water is typically clear and enough to cool you down a bit. Fishing is a great pastime, and you can feed yourself quite well all summer.  The Sea of Cortez is a rugged but beautiful place. I would love to know more about the geology of the area. It's quite diverse and sometimes fantastical. The desert comes right to the shoreline.  Some places go years without measurable rain.

The convection that builds along the Sierra Madre can be seen from the western Sea of Cortez, over 80 miles away.  Sometimes (more often than we would like), these thunderstorm cells move west across the sea and bring devilishly high winds, lightning and the occasional rain. Constant vigilance is the price you pay. Any shade covers that you deploy during the day, to protect yourself and the boat from the intense sun, MUST be taken down every night. The convection storms, called "Chubasco's", are quick-moving and vicious. The winds can come up to 30-40 knots within 2 minutes. If you're not prepared, it'll be a hard-learned lesson. Getting a full night's sleep is a rare luxury. This is the time to learn the fine art of taking a "Siesta".

 

Of the 150 or so boats that cruise mainland Mexico, only 30 or so spend the entire summer in the northern Sea of Cortez. If you go far enough north, the hope is to minimize the possibility of experiencing a hurricane.  We have many friends in this small community of masochists, and enjoy potluck dinners and parties at many of the anchorages.

By the time October arrives, the temperatures are more manageable, and the weather pattern changes. High pressure tends to develop around the "4 Corners" area, and is common from November to March. This creates pressure-gradient winds that funnel down from the north into the Sea of Cortez. It's not unusual for these "Northers" to blow 4-5 days, often with 20-30 knots of chilly wind, making it inadvisable to leave your boat. So most boaters return to either La Paz or the mainland - Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta, or Barra de Navidad.

We have spent the last 5 Thanksgivings in Barra de Navidad. Jim's good friend from work brings his family to the luxury resort here, the Grand Bay Hotel every Thanksgiving. When we summer in the Sea, we wait until the danger of hurricanes is past, and move quickly down the coast to meet up with them.  Usually we've given them a small list of things we need from the states, but most of all we wouldn't want to miss the chance to see them.

Christmas in Barra is very special. More and more cruising boats arrive every day in December, until we have 30-40 boats, and about 60 people attend the cruisers' potluck turkey dinner and gift exchange. The food is always delicious, and a local businessman fries the turkeys for us. The gifts are usually fun and silly, and we have the swap/steal that makes it fun. It's a small way to make Christmas special away from home.

In 2012 we had decided to do something a bit different, just to keep cruising fun. We planned to take some inland trips and explore the interior of Mexico. Just getting away from the coast and up to elevation of 2000 feet or more makes a huge difference in the summer temperatures and the comfort level.

To accomplish this, we would need to learn more Spanish, as well as find a place to put Windward Bound while we traveled. We had a tentative plan in place. Friends who own a beautiful home on the canal here in Barra asked us if we would house-sit while they were away from mid-May to mid-July. We had to re-think everything and it worked out splendidly. We put the boat in the Grand Bay Marina in Barra so we could visit it (almost) daily and do some maintenance and varnish. We looked after their two boats, the young cat, their condo next door, and their lovely home.

Even though it was hot and humid, we never used the AC, since the house is oriented properly to take full advantage of the prevailing winds. We did use several fans, and the breeze was great. We cooked and baked and were even able to enjoy a thunderstorm - finally, after so many years of living on the sail boat. Typically, our mast is the tallest thing around, and metal to boot! Lightning striking even near the boat can ruin all of our expensive electronic equipment. The Grand Bay Hotel sits below the crest of a large hill, and looms high over the marina, with an impressive array of lightning rods. We felt well protected from the strikes.

My brother visited us in early June, and we rented a car and drove for several days, bird watching and checking out the scenery. Western Mexico is home to over 300 bird species found nowhere else, and he logged over 30 new birds for his 'life list'.

The homeowners returned in July and let us stay in their condo. How nice is that? We left Barra at the end of July to help our friend deliver his sailboat from Mazatlan to San Diego. Jim had agreed to do this some time ago. I wasn't sure if I wanted to ever do the "Baja Bash" - so-named because you are traveling against the prevailing wind and currents. In the end, I decided that having 3 people on the boat was a better situation than just two. The watch shifts would be shorter, everyone would get more rest, and if someone was injured or ill, there would still be 2 people to run the boat. It turned out to be one of the easiest "Bashes" ever. We took 3 weeks to go from Mazatlan to San Diego, a distance of almost 1000 nautical miles.

The afternoon winds were always against us and stronger than the night and morning winds, so we adjusted our schedule to arrive at our next anchorage by early afternoon. We traveled short distances (40-50 miles) almost every day, and it was a very pleasant passage. We said good-bye to our friend in San Diego, and were sorry to hear that he didn't get any help on the rest of his journey to Oregon. He had to go another 1000 miles single-handed.

We arrived in San Diego in time to celebrate my brother's birthday as well as my own. We had a blast - cooking, making ice cream, and just catching up. After taking care of our errands in San Diego, and a quick trip to Mammoth, we flew back to Mexico.

We still had one month of "summer rates" at the marina, so we took a 4-week trip, by bus, to several towns in the interior of Mexico. Jim has a card that gets him 1/2 price on the long-range busses, so it was quite economical, as well as being an excellent adventure. The long -range busses are very nice. You get more room than a typical airline seat, a snack, and movies and music. Quite civilized!  If you want to look up the places we went, here's the list:

Jalisco State

·         Tapalpa

·         Ajijic

·         Mazamitla

Morelia State

·         Uruapan

·         Patzcuaro

Queretaro

Guanajuato State

·         San Miguel de Allende

·         Dolores Hidalgo

·         Guanajuato

Needless to say, it was a very interesting trip with a lot of beautiful scenery, lovely historic colonial towns, and great experiences. We spent a week in Guanajuato in a small apartment just to see if we would enjoy a longer stay. Our thoughts for future travel include Central and South America and perhaps renting an apartment for a month or longer, moving occasionally to another town. Our Spanish would certainly improve then!

Well, now we're back cruising the mainland coast of western Mexico. Since we didn't cruise very far this year, except for our trip up the Baja, we decided to head 200 miles south to Zihuatenejo. We hadn't gone further south than Manzanillo in years past, and I'm glad we did. This is a beautiful area, and we hope to be here for a couple of weeks before returning to Barra. We might even be tempted to stay for Guitar-Fest, a week of music that brings in talent from all over the world.

It has been far too long since I last posted on this blog, and for that, I apologize. I hope that this extended update wasn't too long-winded for you, but now you're up to date. I plan to post some more photos and will probably go back and narrate some of our earlier experiences in detail, just to fill in the gaps. Though it has been a long time, I do hope we haven't lost our audience entirely, and that you enjoy some of our tales from our time here in Mexico. Part of this, in truth, is a selfish endeavor. Someday, I know that Jim and I will want to read this blog just to bring back great memories of our adventures.

So long for now. 

Susan & Jim

p.s. When I get a better Internet connection, I will post more photos.