Prairie SeaShell Blog

Back from Mexico

prairie_seashell@yahoo.ca — Sun, 09 May 2010 01:41:00 GMT

We've been back from Mexico for a month now and finally got time to update the website.

http://oasiscruise.comhttp://oasiscruise.com/Prairie-SeaShell/Season-4/Mazatlan-Guaymas

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Tags: Mazatlan,Guaymas

Category: Mexico

Category: Calgary

End of fourth season

prairie_seashell@yahoo.ca — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 21:08:00 GMT

Our Fourth Season is quickly coming to an end. We have enjoyed ourselves, despite the rather unseasonable weather. The snorkeling and diving were excellent this year, warmer water and better visibility, but still not quite as good as the Yucatan coast. Looking forward to another summer in Calgary with our family and friends.

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Tags: Guaymas

Category: Mexico

Back in Guaymas

prairie_seashell@yahoo.ca — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 14:34:00 GMT

Got to Guaymas yesterday after 84 hours of motor sailing with a brief 3 hour powernap stop behind a sand bar. The G3 device only got me internet 3 times along the way. I guess the little Mexican fishing villages don't have cell phones. The Internet at Marina Mazatlan was very poor.

The Marina at Guaymas is owned by the Mexican government. The wifi works. We have a haul out date set for Friday and will try to have our flight changed for the next week. Might be impossible with it being Easter but we will try.

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Tags: Guaymas

Category: Mexico

Returning North

prairie_seashell@yahoo.ca — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 02:38:00 GMT

Finally had a weather window to get out of Barra and we planned to do an overnight all the way to La Cruz. Shortly after leaving we noticed we were starting to overheat. Since the seas were kind of lumpy bumpy, we decided we had better pull into Tenacatita to change the water pump.

We stayed the night and headed off again in the morning. This time, we got as far a Chamela, once again lumpy seas, and the water pump wasn’t the problem, we are still overheating. Problem appears to be a plugged mixer elbow, but too difficult to work on it at anchor while we are rolling in the swells. Tried to soften some of the crud with a vinegar bath, seemed to be a little better. Not much else we can do until we are tied up, so we will leave just after dark in order to cross Cabo Corrientes during the morning hours when the winds are generally lighter.

The wind was in fact lighter, but we had to dodge several storm clouds that kept appearing on the radar. We did make it to port without running into a rain squall.

Unfortunately seas were lumpy the whole way, and of course the wind was in the wrong direction, so it made for a very long, slow crossing since we couldn’t power up without risking overheating. It wasn’t until we turned the corner into Banderas Bay that we finally had wind in the right direction, we were booting along with a reefed main and staysail going 7.5 knots, our theoretical hull speed.

Just when it was time to take the sails down to prepare for entering the marina, a whale breached right in front of us, not once, but three times, he was so close, he had me hollering at Don to “Stop”… as if that could happen under full sail. The whales radar works pretty well, he got out of our way every time. We were also treated to a little show by a dolphin, jumping right out of the water and twirling back down again. Quite exciting !!

I am most definitely looking forwarding to being tied up at a dock for a while…we have been at anchor for the last 7 weeks, and I know I will really appreciate a long hot shower !!!

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Tags: Chamela,Banderas Bay,La Cruz,Tenacatita

Category: Mexico

Thunder & Lightning !!!

prairie_seashell@yahoo.ca — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 20:05:00 GMT

We were anchored in Barra de Navidad lagoon again, getting laundry done, stocking up on groceries, water and fuel and then planned to head north again to Tenacatita.

Unfortunately, mother nature had other ideas. It was pouring rain in the morning when we were scheduled to leave, so we did decided to stay put… and thank heavens we did. By evening, I was in the cockpit, watching a light show. The sky went from black to white, then we watched the lightning webs jump from cloud to cloud. At this point, there was very little thunder and the light show was quite spectacular, the rain and the wind hadn’t started. Shortly afterwards another storm began, this time, lots of fork lightning and thunder and the rain was getting harder. I decided it was time to get Don up in case we should start to drag.

My timing was a little tardy, by the time Don got to the cockpit, the wind had clocked around 180 degrees and the wind was blowing stink. We were dragging down on a little boat, got our dingy tangled on his anchor chain, and before we got more scope out, he was now hooked on our anchor chain. It was raining so hard, we couldn’t even see him right beside us and we were heeling over big time. Once again, we must have had a sea angel watching over us, because the wind died down and no damage done. Except to my nerves … which may never recover !!

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Tags: Barra de Navidad,Tenacatita

Category: Mexico

Finally – scuba diving !!!

prairie_seashell@yahoo.ca — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 23:46:00 GMT

We have been in the Manzanillo/Las Hadas area for the past week or so. The water has been warm, and the visibility has been best we have ever seen on this side of Mexico. There are a few more spots we want to dive on before we head north again.

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Tags: Manzanillo,Las Hadas

Category: Mexico

Christmas all season !!

prairie_seashell@yahoo.ca — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 00:23:00 GMT

We have decided that we like our solar powered christmas snowball lights, not just because they are festive, but now we can find our boat in the lagoon at night. There are in the neighbourhood of 25 boats anchored here, in the dark, they all look pretty much the same … except ours !!

Each bulb changes colour independantly from red to green to blue and back again.

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Tags: Christmas

Category: Mexico

Tenacatita & Barra de Navidad

prairie_seashell@yahoo.ca — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 23:12:00 GMT

Christmas Day dinner on the beach and a pinata party for the kids. Really nice surf landing today, hardly got my feet wet.

New Years Eve, heading to Barra de Navidad had an awesome sight. A humpback whale surfaced beside us with a loud explosion, then played around for about 15 minutes or so. Breaching, fin slapping What a wonderous sight !!!

Next stop Santiago and Manzanillo

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Tags: Christmas,Barra de Navidad,whale,Tenacatita

Category: Mexico

La Cruz de Huanacaxtle

prairie_seashell@yahoo.ca — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 19:32:00 GMT

We have been tied up at the dock here in La Cruz for about 10 days now, and it’s time to head south again. Very nice marina here in what is still a quaint little town.

We had supper last two nights out on the street, and I do mean on the street. The tables and chairs are set up at the curb and the grill sits on the edge of the sidewalk.

I have a feeling that this big marina here will start to change the flavour of the town and turn it into it’s neighbour – Puerto Vallarta.

We spent one day at the Botanical Gardens just outside of Puerto Vallarta.

We are now heading south again, will probably spend Christmas at Tenacatita and New Years near Manzanillo.

Best Wishes of the Season to One and All

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Tags: La Cruz,Puerto Vallarta,Botanical Gardens

Category: Mexico

San Blas & Matanchen Bay

prairie_seashell@yahoo.ca — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 02:09:00 GMT

We left Mazatlan with sunny skies and no wind. Radioed Merry & BJ as we were leaving and we caught up with them as they were leaving Stone Island, where they had hung out for a few days. The day went well, but by night time we started to get rain…and lots of it. Again, this is something we have never before encountered here, if fact, we had no idea what a rain squall looked like on the radar … but now we have seen enough for a long long time.

The sun tried to come out as we entered the anchorage at Matanchen Bay, but it was short lived. We were “house bound” the entire next day.

Things improved the following day, and we went to San Blas, toured the Fort and the town square, checked out the new marina there, and had lunch at McDonalds. We had enchilladas con mole and chilli verde, chilli rellenos, and cerveza. All of course for much less than the cost of a meal at the Golden Arches.

Next stop, Punta Mita and LaCruz.

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Tags: Matanchen Bay,San Blas,McDonalds

Category: Mexico

Hasta Luego Mazatlan

prairie_seashell@yahoo.ca — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 02:45:00 GMT

Have spent about 10 days here in beautiful Mazatlan, the boat is clean, the laundry is done, the stores are replenished, and we are well rested. Time to head south again, first stop, SanBlas/Mantachen Bay. We are going to try to buddy boat with our friends Merry & BJ on s/v Willow. Most everyone else we have tried to buddy with go way faster than us … bigger engines, roller furling sails and lighter boats. Willow is a 32’ sail boat, maybe we’ll be able to keep up with her.

Probably no more blogs for a while as we will likely not have internet connections for the next few weeks. Although, we have just recently heard about a USB type adapter available here thru TelCel that will pick up cell phone internet connections all the way down the coast, and apparently even in the Sea of Cortez. It’s got Don’s interest … we’ll keep you posted.

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Tags: Mazatlan

Category: Mexico

Mazatlan

prairie_seashell@yahoo.ca — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 01:58:00 GMT

We have spent a few days here in Mazatlan and have met up with some old friends. Went for our traditional Sunday morning bike to Bruja Beach for Breakfast. The restaurant which was almost by itself when we were here last is now surrounded by new hotels, shops and a trailer park.

Business must be good for them, Sunday morning, the place was packed and we had free entertainment. A few of the dance troupes from Ballet Folklorico performed for us.

During the one number, the girls danced with a glass of water (or perhaps Tequilla) on their heads and never spilled a drop.

On the way back from the restaurant, we took a different route with some condo folks. Went through a low lying area behind a new golf course where we saw lots of birds (mostly giant egrets) and lots of flowering plants and trees.

We also toured a new area where there is a huge big convention center. Things really can move quickly in Mexico … there was nothing but swamp there when we were here two years ago.

Lots of new hotels along the beach and many new condo projects being built. Don’t think the recession has affected this area.

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Tags: Mazatlan,Bruja Beach,Ballet Folklorico

Category: Mexico

Water Temperature Rising

prairie_seashell@yahoo.ca — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 02:00:00 GMT

Made a couple of stops on the way to Mazatlan, first Los Muertos, but arrived in the dark, so too late for a swim, next Los Frailes where the water temperature was almost 83°F.

Spent the day there, went for a swim and saw lots and lots of fish. We are just around the corner from one of the only places in the Sea of Cortez where there is any hard coral.

Huge schools of fish that didn’t scatter when you got near, a few really big parrot fish, and Don found a turtle to follow for a few minutes.

I got one of my best underwater photos yet … a Moorish idol.

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Tags: Los Muertos,Los Frailes,Sea of Cortez,fish

Category: Mexico

Away Again !!!

prairie_seashell@yahoo.ca — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 01:34:00 GMT

We have had a productive week here at Marina Singular in La Paz. Most important task was to get the Win-Link operational, found it was just a loose wire, but had to take the whole navigation station apart to get to it. That done, we also replaced the broken the spreader light and changed the drawer slides on my pots and pans drawer to make it much more functional

Stopped in to see the local cruisers net computer guy and he had a new (English) keyboard for us to replace the one that burned out. We are finding our way around on the busses quite easily, we found a huge big Sears store today, add that to the Ley’s (Safeway) CCC (IGA) Home Depot, and Walmart and Sterens (if you didn’t know better, you’d think you were in a Radio Shack) Time to get out of here…it’s starting to feel a little like home except that Calgary’s weather can’t compete with what we have here.

Mazatlan here we come !

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Tags: Marina Singular,La Paz,Win-Link,Sears,Walmart,Home Depot

Category: Mexico

Cast Off !!

prairie_seashell@yahoo.ca — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 03:37:00 GMT

Finally got away from Guaymas and headed for La Paz. Seas were very rough when we first left, short, choppy, square waves. The captain decided instead of fighting the waves, we would go with them, so we altered course and headed towards Topolobombo. Much more comfortable, and by afternoon, winds had shifted and we were able to get back on course towards La Paz. In fact, we had our best sailing ever, 18 hours, no motor, just reefed main and big jib.

Made two sleep stops, one at Aqua Verde, the other at Isla San Francisco. Both were comfortable anchorages, and the water was warm enough in both places to go for a swim. Isla San Francisco however was home to thousands of no-see-ums, and even though we have screens on all our portholes and hatches, and I covered myself with insect repellent, I got chewed up pretty bad.

We are now in La Paz, and will stay here for a week until we get our Win-Link working (that’s our on-board e-mail system that works thru the HAM radio) and finish a few other chores. Then it will be south to Mazatlan.

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Tags: Guaymas,La Paz,Topolobombo,Aqua Verde,Isla San Francisco

Category: Mexico

Still stuck at the dock !!!

prairie_seashell@yahoo.ca — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 02:54:00 GMT

We did get the antenna wire all in place, but unfortunately did not get the computer back as scheduled. Parts didn’t arrived on time, then had trouble trying to save the info on our hard drive. Had to re-format the drive and start again but now our navigation program won’t work the way it used to.

Don spent several hours at the computer shop, I thought maybe he was applying for a new job.

I got all our provisioning done in preparation for leaving on Saturday morning, however, Friday morning I came down with a fever and was not feeling well at all for two days. We will stay here for another day or two to make sure I’m completely well, and hopefully Don doesn’t catch whatever it was that I had.

This really is a nice place to be stuck at the dock.

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Tags: computer

Category: Mexico

Up, Up &… Way Up !!!

prairie_seashell@yahoo.ca — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 02:42:54 GMT

Had a busy day today, put Don up the mast twice. Once to change the anchor/mast head lights to LED lights that take way less power, and a second time to install the mount for our new antenna. Didn’t quite finish before it got too windy and had to bring him back down. Will try to finish tomorrow morning, and with any luck tomorrow afternoon we will pick up a new motherboard, CPU etc for our on board computer

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Back in the water again !!!

prairie_seashell@yahoo.ca — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 02:48:00 GMT

Cutlass bearing changed, new shaft seals, another alignment and we are ready for another splash down. Wasn’t sure there was going to be room on the dock for us, it is getting very busy here, but once again, Horacio came thru. He said we could have a slip on the other side of the dock where he says at low tide there is still 7.2 ft. We took our new hand held depth sounder down to the dock and sure enough there was 7.8ft, so we’ll take it. Problem is, the dock is only 30ft long, we are almost 38ft long, could be tricky, but the only other option is anchoring out in the bay, and since we have already paid for two weeks on the dock, I’d rather be on the dock.

We had to get off the boat while they crew got Prairie SeaShell in the slings and hanging over the water. When her deck was level with the dock, Horacio stopped her for a moment while we hopped on over the transom.Then we booted it over to the dock, had the engine up to 1800 RPM’s and still nice and smooth, no racket from below. Yahoo !!!

Wind co-operated with us again, and we are now tied up at B7 presently in 7.1 ft of water. Here we will stay until November 6th, and hopefully by then we will have a new computer on board as well as a re-conditioned alternator, and maybe even new rims for our bicycles.

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Tags: repairs

Category: Mexico

Haul Out…again !!

prairie_seashell@yahoo.ca — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 03:59:00 GMT

The morning wasn’t shaping up too well. Don checked with Horacio to see if we would be hauled out today and it didn’t look promising. Then while checking on our e-mails, the tower computer on board burned out. It seems the fan didn’t come on, and it’s fail safe feature of not allowing the computer to start didn’t work. Not only have we burned out the CPU, but the fancy new high range antenna was plugged into the USB port, and it appears to be dead as well.

But things did get better, by early afternoon Horacio had a spot for us in the yard, and the haul out went well. We have never hauled out in this fashion before, so it was a new experience for us. There were lots of hands on the dock, and we managed to sail into the slip on only the second try. The wind was not exactly co-operating with us, or I think we would have made it first shot.

Move done, it was too late to start work, had to let bottom dry, so we decided to head into town to see what the possibilities were of getting new computer parts. Found two different computer shops, both of whom seem to understand what we want (computer lingo is universal) and should be able to get for us within a day or two.

Still checking on prices, will check back with them when we get the cutlass bearing and bottom work done. Although this yard is very clean, cement pads compared to red dust/muck at San Carlos, still don’t want to stay in the yard for too long Their ladders here are home made from some hardwood, and the steps were designed for very tall gringos. It is quite a chore to get up and down.

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Tags: haul out,repairs

Category: Mexico

Guaymas…and the work continues

prairie_seashell@yahoo.ca — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 02:57:00 GMT

Horacio, the yard supervisor, says he should have space in the work yard on Tuesday or Wednesday, so we will get hauled out here, change the cutlass bearing, seals, and anything else we can think of, whether it needs it or not. We had brought new fuel injectors down with us as we had not been able to get new ones back in March.

We took the old fuel injectors to the Laboratorio Diesel on Carretera International No 15 to be cleaned and serviced. Horacio told us they do good work and at good prices. He was certainly right, dropped them off Friday after lunch, they were ready for us Saturday after lunch, and the charge was about $35.00 for all three injectors. (It would have been close to $100 at home).

Tomorrow he is taking us to a place to service the alternator. Lets hope we have just as good success there.

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Tags: Guaymas,repairs,haul out

Category: Mexico

Rick died

prairie_seashell@yahoo.ca — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 01:42:00 GMT

That is Hurricane Rick, It turned inland near Mazatlan, about 400 miles south of Guaymas. So we decided to put PSS into the water and get over to Guaymas

Tags: Hurricane,Guaymas

Category: Mexico

97% humidity

prairie_seashell@yahoo.ca — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 14:06:00 GMT

Watching the progress of hurricane Rick. Category 5 and heading our way. Little progress done on PSS . We will decide when to go into the water when we are sure Rick is going elsewhere.
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Tags: Hurricane

Category: Mexico

San Carlos Work Yard

prairie_seashell@yahoo.ca — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 01:04:00 GMT

Few more little jobs done today, could be ready to go in the water on Tuesday, however, we now see there is another storm coming this way. Not sure if we will try to reach Guaymas before the storm which is forecast for Thursday or Friday. Might just leave PSS here, and take the bus to Los Mochis to do Copper Canyon Tour
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Tags: San Carlos,Los Mochis,Copper Canyon

Category: Mexico

PSS moving day

prairie_seashell@yahoo.ca — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 02:58:00 GMT

Got moved back into the work yard this afternoon. Will try to finish keel/rudder repairs as quickly as possible. Would like to be in the water by early next week.

Tags: repairs,Marina Seca

Category: Mexico

Happy Thanksgiving !!!

prairie_seashell@yahoo.ca — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 21:11:00 GMT

Turkey is done, said good bye to all, returned to PSS. Left Calgary after a one hour delay for de-icing the plane etc. Spent the afternoon in Phoenix with friends Jim & Judy, they dropped us off at the Tufessa Bus Depot in the evening. Took the executivo bus this time, well worth the extra money. Very comfy reclining seats, was able to sleep most of the way, except that the air conditioning was way too cold ... will bring blanket next trip.

Arrived Guaymas at 6:00 am, PSS not in yard yet, they say it will be tomorrow afternoon before they have room. Much busier than it was two weeks ago, many more people have returned to check on their boats. Back to Departmentos Adlai for a day or two. Don says has cooled down considerably compared to when he left here on October 2nd.

a few photos showing work yard and constuction of road leading into Marina Seca.

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Tags: Thanksgiving,Tufessa,Guaymas,Departmentos Adlai,Marina Seca

Category: Mexico

Category: Calgary