Marina Guaymas or Gabriel's

Boat yards are dirty...
dusty...
expensive...
they can be dangerous...
and living aboard in a boat yard is just plainly - a pain.
(Our 16 year old, Tim, remarked that living on a boat in a boat yard was as close as he had ever been to feeling like he was living a in Third World country.)

Dan and Jim: we enjoyed Dan's last evening in Guaymas aboard Rocinante. Dan knows
better than to try and leave at low tide - based on experience.

You can't use the head because you can't pump it out. That means multiple trips to the bathroom - up and down a tall aluminum ladder. And in the middle of the night? Well,let's just say that I have a new title - Chamber Maid.

The shower heads in the public bathrooms usually 'drizzle' - and sometimes even hot water.

Dishes can be done in a sink behind the bathroom. That's why most people on the hard eat out. But not for a family of 4 on a budget. We got so sick and tired of hauling dishes back and forth that we rigged up a bucket and spout in the through-hull, so now we just empty the dirty dish water daily and wash our dishes on board with city water.

Low tide in Guaymas at dusk. The travel lift has lowered Rocinante ,but Dan will wait
until the morning before he tries to leave - when he can see and when the tide is higher.

Thankfully, Jim and I got our tetanus shots last year. Yesterday, I stepped on a rusty screw on my way to the bathroom and it went through my shoe and into my foot. My reflexes are pretty good, so I was only pierced partially.

For all my complaining, however, Marina Guaymas is the cheapest boat yard we've run across in Mexico. The staff is super. You can do your own work, which is a huge plus and not many boat yards allow that anymore. They own their travel lift. And although Marina Guaymas isn't in the middle of town like Marina Singlar, the buses run regularly and cost only 5.5 pesos per person.

The tides here in Guaymas are extreme. It is important to know when they are low and when they are high. Luckily, the bottom is muckily - so if you do happen to run aground, no biggie. Just wait for the high tide to float you off.

Rocinante with her rail in the water. Oops!

As of 2012, the cost to haul is $150 each way, so $300 for in and out. That is for any size boat. For our 41' Tartan, it costs $120 per month to store here. If you are living aboard, there is a $5 per day charge. It is $50 to have your hull pressure washed.

The Plan

How do I start up again after months of silence? And why so quiet?

I can't explain the frustration of not knowing what to do or where to go. Like rusty robots on low batteries, Jim and I bumped around aimlessly every day trying to figure out what the next step was in our life... and usually we were headed in opposite directions. Where do we go and what is best for the family?? What aren't our options?

Tim & Meredith in La Paz - new owners of 'Windfall', which is now called 'The Luckiest'

With our man-child closer to manhood than the other direction, we feel we need to be in a position so that he can be on his own eventually, earn some money of his own in the meantime and have options of his own so that he can find his own path in life. This has created a huge bump in our cruising plans. More like mountain, really, than a bump. Huge. But we knew it was coming and we want to do the right thing for Tim and for everyone else.

Waking up to Puerto Escondido

Adios Ray and his beloved pressure cooker. He gave an awesome seminar!

And as Tim is growing older, he does what most male children do - he tests his power as a man, his awesome authority, his immense knowledge, his testosterone-bound leadership qualities. So, instead of just having a bossy husband to contend with I am now held captive aboard a boat with two men exerting manliness in the form of 'captain'. Sucks to be me.

You can't beat a good Mexican Trashdog!

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All our energy was put into what to do next. The anxiety was tremendous and nothing "felt" right. To make things even more disgusting, every time we formed a plan of any kind, a wrench... or two... or three... were hurled in our direction causing the type of mayhem similar to frantic chickens running around without heads, creating a bloody mess. There were many tears. At one point I thought that maybe my marriage was over. It was horrible and it lasted for months... this is after spending the worst summer ever in the boiling heat of Mazatlan. If I sound negative I assure you... it felt even worse.

Pig Roast in Puerto Excondido

There were happy times in between, though. We left Mazatlan November 1st and crossed to the Baja. We reunited with friends everywhere we went. Thanksgiving was spent in beautiful Puerto Escondido where the kids met more cruising kids and we reunited with more friends. Eventually we ended up in our all time favorite, Santa Rosalia. When we caught a weather window, we sailed across to the mainland and hauled Hotspur out in Guaymas, Mexico before Christmas. Did I mention that this time of year the northers are howling and the correct direction to sail would be south? And we were headed north?

Carolyne's birthday with Stephen and Skyler on 'Ocean Blue'

We actually had a reason for going the wrong direction, but remember those wrenches I mentioned? Yes, well - more of those were hurled our way. Long story short, we spent a lovely Christmas with Jim's dad in Arizona and then took a road trip across Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. We were trying to determine where we could end up so that Tim can possibly graduate from his final year in high school and we can fill the cruising kitty, which is now barely bare-bones.

Guaymas on the sea

Carolyne

Thankfully, we have a plan - one that every single member on board is excited about!

HINT:
I will say that we are unloading things off the boat that we won't need in the next 6 months. We will use the car as a temporary storage facility. We are also getting ready to paint the hull with anti-fouling paint... which means that we are putting Hotspur back in the water very soon. (There will be a post about why we are having to re-paint the hull ourselves since we paid to have it done professionally not too long ago AND it is under "warranty".... HA!) And I will tell you that we are going the direction the wind is blowing this time.

Tequila and Guachimontones

Circular pyramid in Guachimontones

Cathedral in Tepic, Mexico

Trumpet player in Tequila, Mexico

Jim and I bit the bullet and took a two day road trip WITHOUT THE KIDS to Tequila, Mexico... home of Don Jose, Rubio, Don Kiko and many others. It's a clean town where the garbage trucks come down the cobblestone streets blaring Vivaldi's Four Seasons. Hotels are affordable at around $30 a night and the sweet/pungent odor of tequila is light and delicious in the air. We arrived too late to do a factory tour and 10am sounded way too dangerous to take one, so we bought a nice bottle of Anejo and called it good enough.

Music students posing for us in Tequila, Mexico

From darling Tequila, we boogied down to Teuchitlan where we hiked the Guachimontones ruins, 3000 years old and the only circular pyramids known. The view was incredible and the ancient civilization left behind many clues about who they were and how they lived.

One note - we paid about $60 USD on the toll road from Mazatlan. Nice road, but good grief! We took the scenic free roads all the way back. granted, it was a longer drive but we weren't eager to spend more on tolls than on gas.

BAILEY (1997 - 2011)

In memory of the best dog we have ever known.

Fall Equinox

With the late season, we were able to enjoy Olathe Sweet Corn during our Colorado visit. Unfortunately with the Rocky Ford cantaloupe scare, we didn't get any fresh cantaloupe.

Only a snippet of the colors we witnessed.

I was super sensitive this trip. I'm sure it mostly stems from my mother's 12 year anniversary of her death. She died here in Delta and we were visiting the exact same day. She had pancreatic cancer and was diagnosed 8/23/1999. A month later, she died. It was right before Carolyne was born and I will never forget it.

My mother, Carol.

Colorado's beauty and farewell to summer during the fall is unforgettable. The colors are vivid and vibrant. A leaping or jump - last call to remembrance.

I can't say that we will move there again. Too expensive and our lives have changed so much. But I am so appreciative of the time we shared there.

Kendra

Visiting Kendra was a definite plus of going to Colorado. This is Tim's half sister - long story. Kendra has been a part of my family for almost 13 years. She babysat the kids years ago and along with her brother Jeff, parents Ken and Laurie, and step-brother Nick... well let's just say, we have a very colorful dysfunctional family Christmas when we get together. Now that everyone is spread apart, those days seem like eons ago.

Carolyne, Kendra & Tim

Kendra, recently married to Jeremy, is happily living in Montrose and getting ready to move into their new house. She is beautiful and smart and we love her.

Carolyne, Kendra, Tim & Jeremy

One of my favorite spots on the drive between Delores and Telluride... minus the wires.

Arizona and Western Slope of Colorado

After not visiting my sister for over 3 years in Colorado, it was a welcome sight to drive the 11 hours from Lake Havasu City, AZ to Montrose, Delta and Cedaredge, Colorado. The colors were just beginning to change and because the season was late we were able to partake in the Olathe Sweet Corn that is famous in the small town from which my husband graduated from high school.

Sam in background, Carolyne and center, Ben.

Tim with Grandpa's toy

Gabe, Ben and Sam

Carolyne

My friend, Debbie, and her beloved project, Bella

I love Colorado. I wish we still had a home there. Visiting with my sister, her husband and their boys just made me long for the mountains even more. The golden leaves, snow peaked mountaintops and crisp air was welcome respite after a long and sweaty summer waiting it out in Mazatlan.