Prairie SeaShell Blog

Next day, headed to San Carlos around 7:00 am. We noticed there was some dredging equipment working in the channel, hope they are going to dredge all the way into the marina so that we don’t have to plow thru the muck next year. However, it is more than likely the dredging was only done for the Cruise ship traffic.

The weather was calm & sunny until we got out of the harbour. Then the waves and swell were coming from every which direction, so we got up the sail to settle us down. There was not much wind, and even less when we ran into pea soup thick fog, but we had lots of time to get there before our scheduled haul out time, so we shut off Suzie and sailed at 2or3 knots.

When we heard Marina Seca calling other boats and getting no answer, we decided to start up the motor again and get closer, just in case one of the hauls was a no show and we could go out early. When we pulled into the bay, we called Seca, but they still say our haul is at 12:30 as scheduled. We circled the bahia, very slowly, didn’t want to drop anchor and have to clean off the muck, and as we pulled into the slip, the dock hands were ready and waiting. Just had time to take down one bike and then the truck & trailer were ready to take us to the yard.

Next day, I started the putting away process, putting the wrap on the toe rails, and Don worked at peeling away the fibreglass from the keel.

For the past several years, we have had a slight leak coming up from the keel. Don has done patches several times, but still hasn’t been able to stop the leak completely. This time he will clean the keel off all the way down to the wood, and it will have all summer to dry out. He will re-fiberglass the entire keel when we return in the fall.

Since this week is Semana Santa (Holy Week – aka Party Week) we will have to get to town for a few groceries etc before the roads are closed. Drove our bikes to the market, noticed the Porta Pottys arriving by the truck load. We walked into town on Saturday, just to see all the activity associated with Semana Santa. Basically, the roads were closed to traffic, and every block had a Tecate Beer tent, a porta-potty or two and a taco stand. There were some huge big stages set up, (we heard music all night long the previous two nights) but because it was still fairly early in the morning, it was still pretty quiet.

Did a little work on cleaning up the heat exchanger and bleached out all the drawers and cupboards. On Monday, went back into town to see if there was any chance of getting an appointment with the Dentist before we returned to Canada. When we got to the dentist office, Dr Rodriques was at the desk. Told him we would like to get an appointment to have our teeth cleaned, but we only had a few days before we had to return home. He looked at his watch and said “I can have lunch later” and he took us both right away. A very professional and thorough cleaning and polish at a very reasonable price. He was also very gentle, so gentle in fact, that Don fell asleep in the chair.

Chores all done, we are ready to catch the bus back to Phoenix. We arranged with a taxi driver to pick us up in the am to take us to the bus station. Our fifth winter in Mexico has come to an end and we are already planning the next one.

Returning from Creel

prairie_seashell@yahoo.ca — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 00:24:00 GMT

Instead of boarding the El Chepe Train in Creel, our tour guide, Maclin, told us he could take us on a few more side trips and have us to the train station in Divisadero in time to catch the 2:00pm train. This was an opportunity to take in another little side trip, and also a way to shorten the train ride. The train trip to Divisadero is about 2 hours long, by road, only about 45 minutes. When we had taken the train all the way from Los Mochis to Creel we found it a little bit of a long trip. Although the train seats are very comfortable, and the ride is quiet, you don’t hear the rattle and clank of the train on the rails, but the train does seem to sway or jerk from side to side as there are so many curves and turns. By the time we disembarked in Creel and sat down for a meal in the restaurant, we felt like we were still rocking, rather like having been on a long crossing at sea.

So off we went. First stop was at another cave dwellers home, this one a little more up-scale than the first one we saw.

Then a trip to a “farm”, with small orchard. You can see why the crops are doing so poorly, there is almost no water left until the next rainy season, almost 7 months away.

Along the route to Divisadero, we went thru El Valle Bisabirachi, translated from the native Raramuri language into English it means Valley of the Erect Penises, and you can see why it is so named. However, it has recently been renamed to Valley of the Monks to be more politically correct.

We continued on to see the most recent tourist attraction in the area – a world class cable car system, built by a swiss company.

Although we did not take a ride on the “Teleferico” (mucho pesos), there was a really nice trail along the edge of the canyon that took you back into Divisadero. Maclen dropped us off at the head of the trail and he took our luggage to the train station where he will meet us. The views from the trails were spectacular

Copper Canyon

After our walk, we retrieved our luggage from Maclen and had lunch at the train station while we watched a lady weaving baskets and a lonely perro snoozing enjoying the mid day sun.

Back on the train to El Fuerte, couldn’t resist taking a few more pictures.

To El Fuerte

Arrived in El Fuerte around 8:30 pm and took a taxi to a hotel that was recommended by the previous taxi driver in El Fuerte. It wasn’t as reasonable as he lead us to believe, ($475 pesos per night) and there was no bargaining on the price, so we decided to follow the three other young people who had been in the taxi with us. We landed up at the El Guerro Hotel, (a Lonely Planet choice). Cheapest yet, only $250 a night, it was older, but clean, and a it did have it’s own small bathroom . The owner even offered to take us out on a boat ride in the evening, however the mosquitoes here were ferocious, so we decided to pass on the evening trip, and did the river walk the next day, in the middle of the day, Still needed long sleeves and jeans, not because it was cold, but because of the bugs. Despite the bugs, it was a beautiful day for a nature walk, and after sampling the famous Papas Asados (baked potatoes with beef, crème, salsa etc) we sat in the zocalo (town square) and watched a cultural concert of singers, musicians, deer dancers & square dancers.

A nice relaxing day to end our trip, at 8:00 am tomorrow we will board the Noreste de Sinaloa bus to return to Los Mochis where we will transfer back onto Tufesa to return to Guaymas.

River Walk in El Fuerte

Copper Canyon

prairie_seashell@yahoo.ca — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 01:36:00 GMT

For several years now, we have listened to other cruisers talk about their adventure in the Copper Canyon. This year it’s our turn. We left the boat in the Marina at Guaymas and took the bus to Los Mochis, a city of about 300,000. Spent the afternoon exploring the town and caught the early morning bus to El Fuerte where we would board El Chepe – Ferrocarril Chihuahua Pacifico – The Copper Canyon Railway. The 300 km portion of the trip that we were about to take would pass us through 86 tunnels and over 37 bridges.

Our taxi driver had us at the train station with lots of time to spare. About 10 minutes before the train was scheduled to arrive, we could hear it approaching. Thought it was a little unusual that it would be early, but since there is no one in the ticket office (you just buy your tickets from the conductor on board) I asked one of the rail workers and another local man if this was the Tourist Class (as opposed to the First Class) train. They both confirmed it was so we boarded. When the conductor finally came around for tickets, he advised this is the First Class Train. When we told him we thought this was the 2nd class train, he said “Now, what can we do” Our only choice was to get off at Temoris which is more than half the way to Creel, and wait for the next train there, which could be as much as three hours behind. We would still have to pay the first class fare to Temoris, so we opted to bite the bullet and pay the full fare for the whole trip to Creel (which is double the 2nd class fare). Since we had paid dearly for the trip, we spent most of the time in the Lounge Car where we had a booth to ourselves with a big picture window. When we passed thru Temoris, we were certainly glad we had decided to stay aboard. There was nothing in Temoris but a few, very small homes, we saw no town, no tiendas and certainly no hotel. But just in case anyone decided to get off here, there were no shortage of basket sellers.

The scenery all along the way was extreme. The landscape changed from fertile farmland, to cactus infested desert land to forested areas similar to the Okaganan Valley and then to spectacular canyons and gorges of the Sierra Tarahumara Mountains.

Our final destination was the town of Creel with a population of just over 5500 people who seemed to have no other purpose there than to serve the tourists. This year must be a tough one for them, the tourists were few and far between. Interestingly enough, of the few tourists we met there, eight of them were French Canadian. I had seen some advertising on the net promoting Quebec to the Mexican tourists. Guess there must have been some reciprocal arrangements and it appears it was working well.

Tags: Copper Canyon

Category: Mexico

No tsunami here !

prairie_seashell@yahoo.ca — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 17:11:00 GMT

We left our “Private” marina in Guaymas and spent the day at Bahia Algodones, we lifted anchor in the wee hours of the morning and headed over to Santa Rosalia on the Baja side of the Sea of Cortez. Around 6:30 am, we heard the Port Captain from Guaymas on the VHF radio advising that the Ports in Mexico have been closed due to a Tsunami in Japan. We certainly didn’t see any effect of it here, in fact, the crossing to Santa Rosalia was so calm, I could see the reflection of the clouds in the water! Not great for sailing, but it certainly was peaceful!

We spent a week in Santa Rosalia, exploring the town and the old copper mine, then hung out at anchor for a few more days before returning to Guaymas. As usual, we encountered a few more problems during our trip. When we tried to leave Punta Domingo, the anchor was completely stuck in the weeds. Took us over an hour to pull, rip and cut the seaweed off the chain, and of course in doing so, we damaged the anchor windlass. Another item to add to the “ToDo List” Also, we had noticed some particles in our water supply, so spent a day or two determining where the problem was. Not the water maker (thank goodness), and the jugs were clean, so decided the problem must be in the on-board tanks. When we returned to Guaymas, Don took one of them out, and discovered there was a crack in the fiberglass, The tank wasn’t leaking, but it was depositing miniscule pieces of fiberglass in the water…not good. A trip back top the Hernandez Bros machine shop, he can make us new ones, in stainless, and have them ready in a week - mas or menos.

So, while we wait, we are going to take an inland trip to the Copper Canyon, Mexico’s version of the Grand Canyon.

Carnival

prairie_seashell@yahoo.ca — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 16:50:00 GMT

Since we have been delayed here in Guaymas for so long, we decided we might as well stay a little longer and take in the Carnival events. The midway rides and the town square are right at the top of the dock, so we don’t have to go far to participate in the Carnival.

Saturday night we watched the Parade and the fireworks,The fireworks caused a lot of talk on the dock. There is an empty lot on the marina property that faces the docks and we saw the fireworks being set up there. It looked to us like the fireworks were going to be set off and shot over the boats into the bay. The winds have been so strong the past few days that this looked like it could be dangerous if the wind caught the fireworks before they got out over the bay. It looked like they could be going off on our boats. One of the cruisers on the dock did some quick thinking and went to the office and talked to them about whose insurance would be responsible if the fireworks caused damage, fire etc..the marina or the city ??? The marina immediately said, no they weren’t going to take responsibility, but also did some quick thinking and must have talked to Carnival organizers or City officials etc, because, within a few hours, the fireworks had been relocated to somewhere else along the malecon. Thanks to Vicky on JoJo, we all breathed a sign of relief!

On Sunday, decided we had had enough of Carnival and the very loud music, we headed over to the Municipal Marina. Angus of s/v Periclees had told us about this marina, and he was already over there. He called to say they were having a dock party and our friends from Airborne would be there. It takes less than a half an hour to get over there, so off we went, and we were greeted at the entrance to the bay by several dolphins.

What a pretty place, very quiet, well protected from the winds by mountains all around, no music, no traffic and our own private security guards 24/7. There are no slips, you have to side tie, but the docks are about 300 ft long,nice and wide, cement docks and have lots of cleats. We stayed there several days until the weather was right to head over to Santa Rosalia, across the Sea.

Tags: carnival,fireworks,Municipal Marina

Category: Mexico

Mexican Medical System

prairie_seashell@yahoo.ca — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 17:40:00 GMT

We have been asked many times, what would we do if we got sick in Mexico. Well, just like at home, we’d go to the Doctor. Don had been having some residual problems since he got sick in San Carlos, and thought he should go to the Doctor and have a check-up. Got the name of an English speaking doctor from Hal & Cathy (s/v Airborne) his office is only a few blocks from the Marina. Stopped in to make an appointment, no need, the doctor was there, and said he could see Don right away. He suspected there may be a problem, so wanted to run some tests. So, back to see him in the morning for the tests, had the results by 4:00 pm the same afternoon. These tests were normal, but he still seemed concerned, so wanted to do some x-rays. He sent us to the Radiology Clinic, also in walking distance of the marina, where we made an appointment for two days later. Arrived for his appointment, with maybe a 15 minute wait, had 5 x-rays done, and had to wait another 15 minutes for the results. Took the x-rays back to the doctor, no appointment necessary, again only about a 15 minute wait. Dr Sanchez confirmed there was no serious problem, gave him a prescription to take for a week, but told him the medication should solve the problem within a couple of days, and sure enough, it did. The total cost of the three doctor visits, the lab tests and the 5 x-rays was $200 Cdn, and all completed in less than a week. If only it was so easy at home !

Alarm Bells are Ringing !!!

prairie_seashell@yahoo.ca — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 17:21:00 GMT

Middle of the night, and the low battery alarm is sounding. When Don checked in the morning, found a loose connection on one bank, but alas, the other bank has a bad cell in each of the batteries. We won’t be replacing them with the Mexican LTH batteries!

Did a little reseach on line, and found that it may be possible to get AC Delco batteries here. Tried a few places the next day, only to find out that although AC Delco batteries are available, the golf cart 6Volt type that we need are not available anywhere in Guaymas. One again, Jerry came to our rescue, he will be returning to Nevada next week, then back to Guaymas by the end of March, he could bring us some new Trojan batteries. In the meantime, we hooked up the one good set and they seem to be working OK for now, but we won’t be going to far away, Don doesn’t hold out a lot of hope for these batteries to keep working.

The good news is that the glow plugs that Jerry’s friend brought from Vancouver are now installed and working properly!

Another cruiser coming to our rescue, Beary & Nelsine s/v Wind Swan have just found out that they will have to make a quick trip to Tucson. They have offered to bring some new batteries back with them if we can find a supplier that has them in stock in Tucson. Back to the internet cafe (the internet at the marina is still not working – almost a week now) and we are in luck, there is a wholesaler in Tucson who has two in stock and he will keep them for us. Beary & Nelsine will pick them up on Friday and be back here by Sunday or Monday. Maybe we will be able to leave the dock this season after all !

Tags: batteries,repairs

Category: Mexico

Great Blue Heron

prairie_seashell@yahoo.ca — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 00:43:00 GMT

While we have been sitting at the dock here in Guaymas, we have kept ourselves busy with boat chores, doctors appts, getting T-Shirts embroidered, visiting with friends and of course a little shopping. One morning we watched the fishermen and the pelicans battle it out for the catch, another day watched a seagull enjoying his catch and one afternoon, we had some new company on the dock, a Great Blue Heron. Fishing must have been good, he seemed very selective as to what he was going to have for lunch, and then once chosen, he picked and poked at it for quite some time before he swallowed it whole.

Great Blue Heron

Feathered Friends

Pearl Farm

prairie_seashell@yahoo.ca — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 00:30:00 GMT

While we were waiting for Jerry to return with our Glow Plugs, we took a break from boat chores and went to visit the Granja de Perlas del Mar de Cortez. It’s right here in Guaymas, just a short bus ride and a little walk away. It is attached to the University of Monterrey campus, it was started in 1993 and is still being run by the same four young men.

The pearls are unique, in colors ranging from silver greys, pinks and blues, and are only grown here in Guaymas in the Sea of Cortez. It was a beautiful day, a gorgeous location overlooking the bay and we had a very informative private tour by Douglas, one of the founders. And to make it all even more special, Don treated me to an early anniversary present, a single, pear shaped pendant on an 18 kt gold clasp!!!

On our way down to the cleaning station, we could see the hundreds of black markers that are holding the approximately 300,000 oysters under cultivation. The oysters have to be collected and cleaned every two months in order to keep them free of barnacles and other crustaceans that would hinder their growth. The oysters tend to grow together, and have to be separated so that each of them can grow to approximately the same size.

They are kept in different size baskets, from spat size, to juvenile, adolescent and adult. At two years of age, they undergo a quick surgical procedure to implant a mother of pearl, over which they produce the silver grey cultured pearl, which takes another two years. For a more in-depth description of the process involved, check out their website at www.perlas.com.mx

Tags: pearl farm,Guaymas

Category: Mexico

Glow Plugs, Glow Plugs !!!

prairie_seashell@yahoo.ca — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 03:06:00 GMT

After the wild goose chase around Guaymas and Empalme for Glow Plugs, decided to try the internet. Spent better part of the morning searching, but did find suppliers in different states of Mexico and also e-mailed (in Spanish) an Isuzu dealer in Hermosillo, about 1 1/2 hour drive away. He replied that he did not have the plugs available, but gave us the name of someone in Nogales who might be able to help.

Meanwhile, we decided to try the Auto Zone store here in Guaymas. They don’t really deal in diesel engines, but thought they might be able to order them for us if we gave them the phone numbers of the various places we had found on the internet. One of the fellows there spoke a little english, and was trying to be very helpful and did make a few phone calls for us. However, this was Sunday, and most places were closed, and since Monday was a holiday in Mexico, he suggested we return on Tuesday and he would try again. OK … next we tried a local mechanic shop, he also told us to return on Tuesday and he would see if he could find them.

So, we are at a standstill now, so on to other projects like repairing a tear on the bimini cover and re-stitching a seam on one of the batten pockets on our main sail. Brad from JoJo came over to tell us that he has friends going towards Tuscon on the weekend, and if we can find glow plugs in the vicinity of his travels, we will pick them up for us.

Back to the internet, found a Napa Dealer who says he will try to find them for us. Called him the next day, says he can get them, but they have to come from California, he will try to have them there by Friday. Since that sounds a little doubtful, thought we would keep trying.

Went back to Auto Zone on Tuesday, now they are too busy and don’t want to even talk to us, let alone make phone calls for us. Tried the local mechanic again, he now says he has a son coming to visit on the weekend from the LA area, and if he can find them, he will bring them down to us.

Although I gave Ramon (the mechanic) the telephone number at the Marina and told him to leave a message if he found the plugs, he showed up at the boat the next morning. The good news was, he said his son found plugs, but the cost was going to be $165 US dollars for three plugs … yikes … the Napa Dealer only wanted $57 for a box of four. Think we’ll take our chances with the Napa Dealer.

Next option that opened up to us was a friend of Jerry’s was coming to Alamos next week and he was leaving from Vancouver. Our diesel engine dealer is in the Vancouver, and we could have the plugs sent to Jerry’s friend’s house, and he would bring them down for us. This would take a little longer, but at least it seemed like a sure bet. Called Klassen Diesel and got the order placed, we could cancel if the Napa guy came thru, but when we called him again, it seemed even less likely that he would have them in time. Sure enough, we called Napa again on Saturday morning, and they hadn’t arrived … so now we just have to wait … but I’m certain we can find enough projects to keep us busy.

For example, next day, Don spent some time trying to re-design the companion way stairs. He has another battery switch that has to be installed under there, and he has never been happy with the design, so now if the time to deal with a change. Went for a walk to the local lumber yard (maderario) to see if there would be some oak plywood available there. He did have a good selection, but all big 4 x 8 sheets, and we only need less than a half sheet. He suggested we try a local carpenter shop (Carpinteria Lopez), but during the thinking process, Don came up with a way to re-design, using the same lumber. Just had to make the front panel of the second stair removable, not a perfect solution, but better.

Next, while Don went to help Jerry with an electrical problem, I went for a walk with Vicky and Brad from JoJo.

There was a cruise ship in town today, and there was entertainment etc set up on the the malecon. Cruise ships pulliing into Guaymas is a relatively new happening, so lots of local out to take in the sights.

Next day, visited with Ted & Charlene from s/v Pelican who just returned from a visit with their friends in Tuscon. They were also waiting for a parcel to be sent by UPS and it never arrived either.

In the afternoon went to the new Sam’s Club with Jerry (our private chaufer ) and stocked up on pop, coffee etc. Then I made dinner for all of us, mole chicken and baked apples. Finally found a mole sauce that I can make that has no bread crumbs in it, so Don can have it.

And finally to finish off the week, Don got to installing the new battery switch, I did some laundry and washed port holes, and had a quick visit from a sea lion who surfaced right between the boat and the dock … scared me half to death … don’t usually see them right in the marina.

And that was just a typical week of life in a marina in Mexico !