Mazatlan

Nick, Ben, Kris & Baloo made it safely to Mazatlan - although it looked for a while that we were stuck on a tack that would either lead us to miss it, or put Baloo sideways to some really big seas.

We pulled into Marina El Cid, and just had time to destroy the buffet (they will never again offer "All-You-Can-Eat") before Cindi and Nat arrived.

Ben had to go home (THANKS, BEN!) but Tami and Henry came in the next day.



Nat was satisfied with the ice cream of Mazatlan.





Kris, Tami, and Henry stayed down the road a little at the Quixote Inn.

Nat selected the V-Berth (the best room in the house) as his space. He moved in all his books, toys, and animals. The only thing that got to stay was the spinnaker, which will live at the foot of his bed, as he doesn't really stick down that far.

We did some beaching, and pool-ing.

Henry and Nat.

Topolobampo - Mazatlan

We went into Topolobampo, about half way between San Carlos and Mazatlan, for fuel. As we left, the entire shrimp fleet was returning to port and signaling that we should do the same. The seas built, it rained like crazy, and we had a heck of a time getting out the entrance chanel again.





Nick and Kris. You can see here our depth, wind and speed instruments, as well as the radar / plotter that whoever is on watch can swivel to face the cockpit. The bottom hatch board is bolted in place because there are huge waves behind us.





Here's Nick lubing Flem. We do whatever Flem wants. That day, Flem wanted syringe full of 30 weight oil.





Kris, enjoying a juice box. Once the weather picked up, the eating slowed way down. In fact, the skipper even did a little reverse-eating.






Here's Flem, doing his thing.

San Carlos - Topolobampo

Here we are about to leave San Carlos, Sonora.





Our able skipper at the helm, pulling away from San Carlos.




At first the sailing was quite nice.





Here's Ben. Little did he know he was going to be the wettest crew member when the weather turned.





Tired skipper, asleep on the chart and Ham radio schedules.

Getting out of San Carlos

Nick arrived in San Carlos, after some hard travel from Maine, and immediately launched into a lot of work to get Baloo out of the desert and into the water. It was fast and furious, with no time for pictures.

The keel was stripped and faired. New barrier coat and bottom paint was applied. The hull was waxed. Two years worth of red desert dust was cleaned from every corner of the boat. The pouring rain (El Nino year) rain didn't help much, but we hit the water on time - and Nick moved the boat to a slip at Marina San Carlos.

Then Kris and Ben arrived by bus from Tucson, and continued the breakneck speed on priority projects.



Kris spent a whole day up the mast working on running rigging. This was top priority.





The windvane, Flem, was cleaned and lubed. Keeping Flem happy is high on everyone's list, as everyone hates hand-steering at night in big waves. Except Flem, who is great at it.





Here is a picture of the aft end of Kris. I'm not sure why.





Here is Baloo's cockpit. A mess.





Here we are, getting ready to take off.

Lunch

Honeymoon Cove

SWIMMING WITH THE SEA LIONS AT LOS ISLOTES

Sea of Cortez

Scuba at Cabo Pulmo


Nick, Cindi, and Ginger on Wiz


Isla Partida to La Paz

Docked at Marina de La Paz

Beer Booth at La Paz Carnival

Sean and Heather from Om Shanti

Anchored at Agua Verde


Hiking at Agua Verde

Some nice locals who gave us a ride down the beach.

We will post some more pictures when we recover them from our damaged hard drive.