Kai's blog

Blog
Its been a while since i've done the blog, so i cant remember the details of everything. I'll start in Isla San Francisco, which is an anchorage that we had been looking forwards to. It's very protected and very large. While we were there, we got of the boat and went for a hike. We went up a mountain and had a very nice view of the ocean. We stayed there for two days and one night, and then went to La Paz. The main reason that we were going to La Paz was to pick up our friends. There names were Brian, Sussana, Sebastian, and Savannah. We stayed in the anchorage there at first, and then headed into the marina before they arrived. We did tons of boat work before they arrived, such as polishing the metals, getting rid of stains on the boat, sanding and gripping the steps, and some other things. Four people arrived at the boat, the parents and two kids. We spent the day playing with kids while the parents did the groceries. After wards we all went to a restaurant that we had gone to a couple of years before. It was very good, and I had burritos. The next day we all set of to the islands. Our first stop was Balandra. We took them there because it's a very good place for snorkeling, and it has lots of long, white beaches. The two kids had never snorckeled before, and that was the first place that Liam and I ever snorkeled at too. After the snorkeling, we went to the beach. We spent a couple of hours there, and it was very fun, however,  just as we were leaving, we saw a huge Electric Ray, right were we had been swimming. That night, we all sat in the cockpit and had our drinks as the sun set, and after wards, all the kids played a card game called Malarky. The only problem with that anchorage is that it's very unprotected, and that night, it became very very windy. I slept through it, but apparently the winds were about thirty knots.
The next morning, we sailed over to the anchorage were we are now. It started of a bit rocky, but then got better. As soon as we arrived, we all went for a swim, and then had dinner. That night the kids all watched Mr. Beans holiday and then one episode of Fawlty Towers. They were both very funny. That night, the wind came again, but there were also waves this time. Luckily the anchor didn't drag, and the clothes that we drying on deck survived the night. This morning the kids did home-schooling, and now we are going to Isla San Francisco.
Bye

Random pics from the past week - Peter

I don't know what to write - Liam

We have finaly gotten to the beaches and the little villages, which is what I call the real Mexico, mainly because of the little villages though.So the past few days have been really relaxing, I just finished my school work for the month so I got a little break for a couple days, but now I'm starting my Febuary work.We have been alone in the last couple anchorages so we have just really not done much. Except for the anchorage we are curently in, Puerto Balandra, we have been doing a lot. We went for a hike, because in our chart book it says there is a tienda and a little town across the island, so we set off at around two o'clock, at around four we checked the time and found out we had gone about a fifth of the distance we needed to, so we just headed back. Also this morning my brother and I went kyaking throughout the bay for a couple hours, then we were practicly starving to death so we went back to our boat. The last thing we did was go for another hike through the hills, the only difference is this time we actualy got where we were heading, the top of the mountain, which had a great view, then we went back to our boat and Kai made tacos/fajitas.So now I'm going to go watch my second favourite movie: Catch me if you can, with Leonardo Decaprio and Tom Hanks.

Steak - Kai

                Hello everyone.

                We left Santa Rosalia about three days ago to contiue south. I'm not sure if I liked the town much, because I spent most of the time in the bathroom. I'm not sure where it was that I got sick from, but I think that it was from a taco stand that we went to with a another couple. I thought the Tacos were very good, however, the next morning, I began to feel a bit strange, and it wasn't just me. My dad got something too, but he reacted a bit differently then me. My brother also got it, but not as bad as me. Also, the couple who we'd gone with for tacos felt sick, and the wife got very sick, just as sick as me, if not worse. So this lasted for about one week, and I even through up at one point. The wierd thing was, that during the whole thing, all that I could think about was food, eventhough I barely ate anything at all. I was craving a big steack, garlic bread, and then a huge bowl of pop corn. I was also craving dumplings and sushi.

                After a week, I finally began to feel better, so we were ready to leave Santa Rosalia. As my dad was getting the boat all ready, Liam and I went into town to get some food. We got stuff to make garlic bread, and five steaks, although we weren't sure that thats what kind of meat it actually was.

                So we left Santa Rosalia and went to Punta Chivato. I slept the whole way there. The anchorage was huge, but we were the only ones there. There didn't seem to be much there, expept a landing strip, a lot of half finished buildings, and a hotel. We got of the boat to look around, but there wasn't really anything there, except thousands of washed up shells. One night while we were there, we dicided to have the big meal. I was in charge of the garlic bread, and my dad was grilling the meat on the barbeque. It turned out amazing, and we even had some steak sauce to use. I ate two steaks, and a few peices of garlic bread. I was stuffed. We decided to eat the popcorn the next night, since we were too full.

                After about two days there, we decided to continue south, however, we wanted to try to just use the sails, no engine, even while getting the anchor up. It actually worked, and in no time, we were wizzing along with just the wind. It was pretty nice. We arrived in a large bay called Bahia Concepcion, which has about a dozen anchorages in it. The first one we stopped at was called Santis Pac, and it was pretty big, we were also pretty surprised to see a bunch of RV's on the shore. We got of the boat and looked around, but there wasnt't anything there, and we needed some fresh water. We also realized that my dad could not connect to the internet, so we decided to try another anchorage in the bay. So right now we are in Coyote Beach, and there are still many RV's. Once we arrived, a man swam up  to our boat and invited us to come eat dinner at some restaurant where they would also be showing a movie afterwards, so we went and ordered some fish and then watched the movie.  The fish was really good. Afterwards, we got a ride home with some nice people and then went to sleep.

Bye

Sick in Sant Rosalia - Peter

So we crossed over the Sea of Cortez. We left late in the afternoon so that we would arrive to the other side during daylight. A night passage. In a switch, Kai got seasick and Liam didn’t. It was a windy passage, with the wind almost on the nose. Kai and Liam were suppose to be on watch until midnight, but becuae Kai was seasick he had to go below to lie down.   Liam insisted on sitting out in the cockpit, but I could not leave him alone. It was nice to have his company, but it meant a long night for me. Because of the wind we arrived early and had to sit off Isla San Marcos for an hour until the sun came up. We anchored early in the morning, but what a desolate island. I had work to do and after finding out that there was no Internet connection, we decided to head over the Santa Rosalia where we have been for the last week. Unfortunately the three of us, and half of the other cruisers on the dock we are on have been sick for most of the time we have been here. Santa Rosalia is one of the nicest towns we have been to. We’ll probably only remember that we were all sick. In any event, everything is going well and we are having a good time. We’ll be leaving here within the next day or so to some deserted anchorage. Kai is doing the dishes while Liam is curled up in my bunk watching a movie on the computer. As Liam just said, ‘this is the life’…

Resturant Drama - Liam

Since the last blog I posted, the highlight for me has been crossing the Sea of Cortez. Although my brother got sea sick so it was a completely different story for him. For me that passage was what I came to Mexico for, sitting out in the cockpit with the wind blowing in my face as Coldplay blasted through the speakers looking at the stars, I could go on about it but I’d probably bore you guys. After the passage we got up early in the morning to anchor at Isla San Marcos, but we left a couple hours later to go to Santa Rosalia, which is where we have been for the last few days. It’s a nice town, not one of my favourites but still fun to be in (mainly because of the food). There are a few other cruisers here which we have been going out for dinner with, one of the nights we got meter long pizzas at a restaurant. Because of all this unhealthy food I have been going for runs in the morning on the malacon, which is very exciting because I get to run next to the sea lions and dolphins. The other night when we were at the restaurant eating meter long pizzas, my dad went to the bathroom and was taking a long while so I began to get worried, so my brother and I went to check up on him. Through the glass door we could vaguely see him on the floor, so we just thought he had probably eaten to much or got food poisoning, so we told the other cruisers. A while later he came out and told us that he was stomach sick, but hadn’t thrown up, the main problem was that when he got in the bathroom he passed out. We then told him that there was a cut and a bump on his forehead that he wasn’t aware of, that he must have got from hitting the floor. We are still completely clueless of how it happened, but he feels better. So that’s basically it everyone, stay tuned for next time.

Liam

Being Seasick - Kai

Hello everyone
So we finally left Guaymas, and puttered over to a small marina, about forty minutes from the city. The sailors call it the "Almost free marina" since it costs about three dollars a night. We stayed there for a few nights, doing school work and boat work. We also had to hike to the top of a nearby hill to get internet.
While we were there, my brother and I decided to pump up the dinghy, and ride it around the bay. It was alot of fun, and never got boring. Besides that, there wasn't really anything to do there, as it was pretty much away from anything, except for a fish factory which was on the other side of the hill.
After a few days, we decided that we were ready to cross the sea of cortez to the other side. We also dicided that we would do it in the company of one of our new friends, a couple on a boat called Kashmira. So we left at about four thirty PM, and the seas were perfect at first, but as soon as we passed the point, the waves and the wind became stronger, and I quickly began to feel seasick. It was horrible. Been seasick is probably one of the most horrible feelings in the world. You feel tired, and you want to just sleep, but the second you take your eyes of off the horizon, you begin to feel as if your going to barf. You also lose your appitite, so you have no interest in eating, and you don't feel like talking. You just sit there shivering, with a head ache, trying to keep down your lunch. Luckily, I did not barf, but I almost did. My dad kindly let me go lie in bed for the rest of the night, instead of staying on watch till twelve. However, being in bed didn't really help much either, because even thought I did fall asleep at first, when I woke up, I felt almost as worse as before. All night long, I would go in and out of sleep. I thought I would definitly barf before the morning but I didn't.
The next morning, we arrived in Isla San Marcos, a small anchorage. Even though there was the slightest bit of waves in the anchorage, I still felt pretty seasick from the night before. My dad was unable to connect to the internet, so we dicided to just come over to Santa Rosalia, which took about two hours. On the way we saw our first dolphins, seals, manta rays, and whales of the trip. I was so happy when we arrived here because there is a beakwater, so there are absolutly no waves at all. It took a few days, but thankfully, I feel much better.
This was our first time in Santa Rosalia, and so far we really like it hear. This town was originally a mining town, and still is. It was set up by the french in the 1800's, and Gustof Eiffel (the man who designed the eiffel tower) even designed a church here. If you look around, lots of the old buildings that were used for mining are still around, but falling apart. It looks really cool. So today we spent the day being tourists, and for dinner, we went to an amazing taco place with Kashmira. It was some of the best tacos i've had all trip.A
Bye