Cruise of the Ladybug

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Preparations for the upcoming season

For the last few months we have been working part time and getting the house ready to rent out because we are planning a longer trip on Ladybug II. We hope to make the Pacific crossing in the spring of 2012 to New Zealand via French Polynesia and assorted South Pacific islands. There - I've written it, so now we have to do it! Well - anything can happen between now and the spring, but we are planning as if we will be away for two years or more...

Perhaps the biggest project we hope to complete before the spring is to improve the charging capabilities so that we can run a refrigerator. Rani sees this as a necessity to keep veggies for more than a few days in the tropics.

Even a well insulated small 12 volt fridge will draw 20-30 amp-hours per day. And to take this little power, we will need to add insulation and gaskets to make our ice box much more efficient at retaining the cold. The number of bits and pieces this project will require is amazing, because we have to make the power initially, store it during periods when we are not using the motor or the sun does not cooperate, and then draw as little as possible. Parts include:

additional closed cell insulation sheets (5" total wall thickness)
FRP board to re-line the icebox
2 gaskets for the lid
new counter material for when we tear apart the galley
fiberglass and epoxy to hold it all together
3 to 5 new batteries (our batteries are nearly 9 years old)
a smart regulator for a high output Balmar alternator (which the previous owners generously left as a spare)
2 extra solar panels and wiring + brackets + through deck glands
... and the list goes on.

We already have an Adler Barbour compressor and plate that appear to work, but just can't keep things cold with less than 2 inches of insulation and an unsealed lid.

Carrying enough spare parts for the engine and other systems is also a concern, so in addition to the usual disposable items we are going to lay in a spare raw water pump, starter motor, shifting cable, and possibly a spare injector. We have a spare fuel lift pump and a good set of gaskets and miscellaneous bits from the previous owners.

Radar internals

We recently bid on and won the (hopefully) working guts of a Raytheon radar on eBay to replace the defunct one that did not work when we purchased the boat. Our EPIRB battery is out of service, so we need to replace the battery. The water maker has started leaking and the little parts to fix this are hundreds of dollars, so we will attempt a Mexican fix and failing this will retire it and rig up a system to collect rain water.

On a fun note - I just bought a little Singer portable sewing machine (1953 Featherweight 221) that should be very useful on the boat. We need to make new covers for hatches and repair the mainsail cover, among other stitching chores. The 'new' machines sews beautifully and is simple and well made (see picture). It has a zigzag attachment, so I may even see how it does with reinforcing our UV patch on the jib!

Singer 221 and attachments - the bed folds up and the whole things weighs < 20 lbs (11 lbs for the machine)

Much of this stuff, we have already purchased, and will have to lug to Phoenix, via the UK and Nova Scotia (visiting our parents). We will buy the rest in Phoenix and area or have it shipped to our Phoenix hotel. Then with a rental car stuffed to capacity we will drive the 7 or 8 hours south to Guaymas, returning the car a day or 2 later and busing back down.

Back at home, we need to move our stuff (again!) into storage, sell the car, arrange for someone to be a contact for our tenants, and work out the various flights and visits on our way back down to the boat. Phew - it makes me exhausted just thinking about this!

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Harry Pidgeon and "Around the World Single-Handed"

Harry Pidgeon was the second person to sail alone around the world. He did this between 1921 and 1925 on a 34 foot engineless sailboat that he built entirely with his own hands. In 1932, he set off again on the same boat (the Islander), completing his second solo trip around the world in 1937.

What strikes one is how much he enjoyed his experiences - both the adventure of ocean crossings and the people he met in the many lands he visited. I recently read a book by Louis Bernacot, the 2nd person to sail around alone by the three capes, as opposed to using the Panama canal (1936-1938). Bernacot's account is one of almost grim determination. He does not linger in many places, seeming focused on the goal more than the experience. His socializing seems limited to other ex-pats and colonial officials. In contrast, as the photos in Around the World Single-Handed show, Harry Pidgeon immersed himself in the cultures he visited, spending a great deal of time exploring ashore.

Another facet of this book that makes it stand out are the excellent photographs. Harry was a self-taught professional photographer and his pictures have both ethnographic and artistic worth. Harry Pidgeon's voyage was the first solo circumnavigation via the Panama Canal (which had not been finished when Joshua Slocum - the first solo circumnavigator - sailed around South America via the Straits of Magellan).

Here is a link to a brief biography of Harry Pidgeon.

I obtained a first edition of this book and scanned it with the intention of producing my first e-book. It took me about 6 elapsed months (maybe 100 hours total) to do this work, which involved converting the images to text using an optical character recognition program, editing the text for both conversion mistakes and formatting errors, editing and reformatting the images from high resolution scans, and assembling into various e-book formats. The work is in the public domain to the best of my knowledge (Dover did a reprint of the original in 1989), so please feel free to download a copy for reading on your ebook reader or computer (see the side bar to the right of this blog). I have tested the e-Pub format on a Kobo touch and all formats on the Calibre e-Book reader Windows application.

Friday, May 13, 2011

Back to Guaymas

Bahia Santa Teresa from the mouth of a cliff cave

From Santa Rosalia, we had intended to explore some of the more northern reaches of the Sea of Cortez that we have not yet visited. We sailed north towards Bahia San Francisquito in very light winds, making only 20-30 miles per day and stopping in somewhat exposed anchorages each night. There is a different feel to the big bays north of Santa Rosalia. The water looked greener than that further south and it teemed with tiny fish and hundreds of noisy, chattering royal terns and Heermans gulls.

Walking in the desert near our anchorage at Santa Teresa

On day 3, a forecasted northerly gale blew up before we had reached the protection of Bahia Santa Theresa. We had been motoring in a calm from around 8 am, but should have left earlier because we were caught about 10 miles south of shelter by sudden strong winds. The main was down and it would have been difficult to raise it and put in three reefs. Under engine, alone, we were unable to make more than 1 knot, so we rolled out a little bit of the jib and beat into this with the motor assisting. It was tense sailing with large choppy seas created in part by a strong current running against the wind. The gusts were so strong that, even with only 20% of our jib out, we were heeling 20-30 degrees. It was also tricky to tack because without the main up, it was difficult to bring the boat through the wind. On one tack I got the jib sheet double wrapped on the winch and the flapping of the jib tore several feet of stitching holding on the UV protection canvas before I could free up the sheet.

Playing primitive bacci ball with a golf ball we found

We anchored in the lee of Punta Santa Teresa off a mile long white sand beach and here we remained for 4 days as the gale blew. Outside the point, white 'buffaloes' galloped across the wild landscape. We managed to row our dinghy ashore and found a small community of Gringos and Mexicanos living at the far end of the beach and a mile or so north on Bahia San Francisquito. An airstrip and 75 mile dirt road provides access and on our first day there we saw a small private jet take off into the gale.

Visiting with Howard

On our first walk the next day, we met Howard who rents an off the grid palapa on the beach from a Mexican owner. He invited us over for a coffee and told us a little about the area. The airstrip and buildings here were originally part of a Club Med development (his Palapa was one of these buildings) but this was long closed. We saw some small airplanes that morning and there are a few simple buildings in which pilots and their passengers can stay. Howard also told us that this area is popular with sports fishermen, although the gale must have kept them away because we saw no other boats during our stay. Howard is a collector and his palapa deck was covered in locally gathered fossils, whale bones, and copper nuggets.

Fossilized snails on Howard's porch

Big horn sheep skull with added snail 'eyes'.

The next day we walked into the desert and hills nearby where we found a cave that was probably used for shelter by the indigenous people. It looked like the archeologists had been here by the sizable mound excavated from the cave. Howard had found artifacts including several arrow heads nearby, which he had given to visiting archeologists for display in a museum in Mexico city.

Sleeping palapas for airport visitors

When the wind finally abated we had nothing but calms for two days during which we crossed the Sea of Cortez once again (our 12th crossing). The calm waters made for excellent nature watching and we enjoyed our first sightings of sperm whales. We saw pods of up to 12 whales - cows and their calves swimming slowly or lying on the surface. One whale came right up to Ladybug as we lay becalmed, rubbing itself along our side and clicking rapidly and noisily.

Here is a video of the sperm whales including 'logging' where they float like logs, a single whale moving past us, possibly feeding, and a whale that comes alongside:

At Isla San Esteban we anchored off a sea lion rookery and went for a snorkel in the chilly waters. The sea lions were very curious, perhaps because there were so many young ones, and they swam over to see what strange creatures had invaded their domain. Whenever I dived to the bottom, they would follow me and swim quite close, spiraling and turning somersaults underwater. I felt very clumsy and slow compared to these graceful creatures. I also saw my first shark on this swim - small (< 3 feet) and blue gray, sitting on the bottom in maybe 6 feet of water. Later we saw a 4 foot hammerhead as we sailed toward Guaymas.

Sea horse found at Bahia Santa Teresa

The winds remained light and we had to use the motor a lot in order to reach San Carlos. It was so calm that night that we took down our sails and put on the anchor light while still 10 miles off shore. In San Carlos, we re-connected with Frank and Cheryl on Serendipity, whom we had last seen here more than two years ago. It was great to spend a few hours together and catch up on all that has happened in their lives.

View from the deck in Marina Seca Guaymas

Rani gathering perishable food to give away. Note folded mainsail and jib.

We had a splendid sail down to Guaymas where after two days in the Singlar marina, we hauled out Ladybug at Marina Seca Guaymas. Everything went smoothly this year despite strong winds and shallow water off the marina ways (we saw 1/2 a foot below the keel on the depth sounder at one point). Tomorrow we take the bus to Phoenix (8-10 hour ride) and fly home to BC.

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

La Paz to Santa Rosalia

It has taken about 2 weeks to sail the 220 miles between La Paz and Santa Rosalia. We visited some old familiar anchorages and a few new places, which we will share briefly through some pictures.

In Caleta Partida, the anchorage between Espiritu Santo and Partida islands, we rigged the hammock given to us by Peggy and Brian Storey back in October when we were married. It fits nicely when strung between the shrouds and the roller furler and is very comfy. Thanks Peggy and Brian!

Rani tests our new hammock

At Isla San Francisco I took our dinghy, Annie, out for a sail while we waited out some strong northerly winds. Although the picture looks like it is calm, I came close to capsizing that day with winds gusting past 20 knots in the anchorage.

Sailing 'Annie' at the hook in Isla San Francisco

North of Isla San Francisco, we sailed close to Isla Coyote where a few familes live year round, fishing in the local waters. The island is a tiny rock packed with their dwellings. It is protected by reefs and lies a few miles from the mainland. The same families have lived here for generations, the children going to school by panga on the mainland.

The village at Coyote island

We anchored next at the north end of Monserrate Island after an exciting spinnaker run from Isla San Jose, where we maintained 7+ knots for a couple of hours. Here we went for a hike with Michelle and Mark off Cheers. They have recently left their positions as captain and naturalist with the National Geographic cruise ships that sail in this area as well as up to Alaska and in the Med. They are now off for a year or two to explore the world on their own vessel. We found fossils in this arroyo and the cardon cacti were in flower.

Ran with, Michelle, and Mark off sailing vessel 'Cheers'

Fossils in the boulder seen in the picture above.

Cardon cactus flowers

We then sailed to Isla Carmen, stopping at Pericho, Cobre (Copper) cove, and Painted Cliffs anchorages. The picture below shows Rani looking down on Ladybug anchored in Cobre, where we spent a morning hiking up a dry river bed (arroyo) and across a tableland. The agave flowers were an unusual sight for us, perhaps because these plants usually bloom May-July when we are back up north. The nopal cacti were also in bloom in the arroyo below.

Overlooking Cobre anchorage - note the green (oxidized copper) colour of the rock at the far side of the bay.

Agave flowers near Cobre anchorage

Close up of agave flowers

Nopal cactus flower

Buds on nopal cactus

We stopped next at San Juanico, anchoring around sunset off the rocks that protect the south end of this anchorage. The winds were very light on this passage and were to remain so until we reached Santa Rosalia, with the exception of one passage off Isla San Marcos where we had to beat into a 15 knot headwind for an hour or two.

Sunlit rocks at the south anchorage in San Juanico

The next passage saw us finally getting north of San Juanico for the first time in two years. We had a very interesting ramble through an old mine site just south of Point Concepcion. We found the foundations and walls of several buildings including what we believe to be the manager's house, worker's buildings with adobe walls, and facilities for extracting and processing manganese ore from the surrounding rock. This site has been abandoned since world war II, when it was a source of chemical grade ore.

Examining the ruins of what may have been the mine manager's house.

Offloading facilities?

Adobe walls - possibly from living quarters for workers.

Overlooking the main mine site.

Beautiful stone work in the walls of a large building.

The platform in the foreground contains a fine dried slurry.

A piece of unprocessed rock.

The beach where we landed had an elaborate panguero (fishermen) settlement with a nicely thatched shelter and a view from the hillside over the anchorage (note the deck chair).

A panguero camp at |Los Pilares

Just south east of Santa Rosalia is Isla San Marcos where there is a large gypsum mine, in operation since 1925. Some of the gypsum is shipped from here to California, where it is used in the building industry (e.g., for wall board). We arrived the day after easter Sunday and after the Semana Santa celebrations were finished. There was a small shrine outside the village and a chapel overlooking the mine pits as well as a church made of gypsum blocks in the village itself. It was a holiday, so we avoided choking on the gypsum dust, which usually drifts over the village when the mine is in operation.

On the beach at the south end of Isla San Marcos

Shrine

Small chapel overlooking the quarries

Rani poses beside balloons left over from the previous night's dance.

Gypsum church - built of large blocks of soft white rock.

Near the loading facilities where gypsum is loaded onto ships via conveyor belts.

We saw a lot of sea life on our trip north, including humpback, pilot, and fin whales. We had two close encounters with the big fin whales who seem to rest on the surface more than other whales. On one of these occasions, the whale surfaced just in front of our boat and dived immediately under us, turning on its white belly as it went. The second meeting happened a week later near Concepcion Bay when a huge fin whale surfaced just off our starboard beam and again dived immediately. It was so close that we would have collided, had it not dived.I think all three of us were equally surprised! Last night at San Marcos Island we watched a humpack mother and calf swimming together in the soft light of the setting sun. On the previous day, while sailing little Annie into the beach, a pod of dolphins came over and swam with us for a few minutes. We have some video footage and will try to post this when we have figured out how best to process it.

We will reprovision here in Santa Rosalia and then explore the northern sea for a week or 2 before we haul out in Guaymas. We are excited about seeing a new area of the Sea of Cortez and enjoying some isolated anchorages.