S/V INTREPID II - Cape Dory Intrepid 40

My photo
Intrepid II is a Cape Dory Intrepid 40 sailboat, hull #2, designed by Chuck Paine and discovered by the Captain in Blue Hill Maine in 2006. The crew are Kelly (Captain) and Carol (Admiral and Blogger). In 2009 INTREPID II embarked on her West Coast journey from Victoria to San Francisco, the Baja Sur Peninsula and into the Sea of Cortez. In 2010/2011, we sailed from Guaymas, south to Bahia Banderas and back. In 2011/2012 we left Guaymas, headed south to La Paz, spent three weeks at anchor on our northward journey and rested on the hard in San Carlos. Her 4th, 5th and 6th seasons were Boat Projects related. Season 7 - an incredible amount of boat work - but no cruising. Season 8 - Tropical Storm Sergio toppled Intrepid II in San Carlos dry storage. A disappointing season of serious and costly repairs. Season 9 - continuing those repairs and still hopeful for cruising.

March 19, 2012

Benito Juarez, Spring Equinox and other things


Hola!  Where to start this sunny Monday?  We finished our final  Spanish class last Friday and will return at the end of this week to receive our diplomas.  It's been a rewarding accomplishment if we do say so ourselves.  Although 11 classes of 2 hours each is only a start, we received a very good grounding in grammar.  Lots of 'verbos' in the present tense, with a few tricks about how to indicate something 'will happen' in the future.  We have more confidence in initiating conversations in complete sentences, sometimes.  The next step is to become much more proficient in deciphering what is being said to us; the journey into a different language continues.  Our instructors, Marco and Alexsa, are excellent teachers and we highly recommend them.

Dock 4 has become quite the busy place as boats have returned from some time in the islands and others have left for anchorages both north and south.  Our neighbour Lance is busy getting his O'Day 40 ready to go on the hard, while other folks are busy with their specific projects.  The canvas work we've commissioned from Danny has been delayed a few days (hmm...but we still see him here and there on the other docks....time for another chat about business practices; when you are so in demand it is hard to say 'no' to folks).  The cushions for our cockpit may not happen.  Hector has dropped off a sample of the sunbrella, but we've seen no sign of the foam samples we asked for.  Our attempts to catch a ride to the wholesale supply store to see the various options for foam and upholstery fabric have yet to be successful, so this may be a 'next year' project.

The SV Shannon crew - Sophie, Cathy and C.J. - arrived back in the marina for a quick provisioning run and we enjoyed a great 'catch-up' chat in our cockpit.  We last connected by radio  February 16th as we were heading south from Isla San Jose and they were heading north from Isla San Francisco. Before that, it was back home at a BCA meeting when they were busily preparing to depart on their own big adventure.
The SV Shannon crew 

Mamacita -a sweet cat who survives near the marina restaurant
Last Thursday the winds shifted to the south and blew strongly all night, Friday and into the evening.  We kept our fingers crossed for all those folks out in the open anchorages on the islands; exeriency very rocky-rolly nights.  Sunday was calmer, hot and quite still until early evening.  A good day for quiet chores, including laundry, visiting with "Mamacita cat" and making up lists of supplies we still need to tackle projects.  Kelly found the acetone at the small marina chandlery; it comes and goes and you need to buy items when you see them.  His initial work on the first portlight indicates it will be a challenge to remove the gasket and clean all the rubber residue, before inserting the new one.  But it is a boat project; of course it will be a challenge!

Benito Juarez
Today is the official bank holiday to acknowledge Benito Juarez (whose birthday is March 21st). He lived from 1806 to 1872.  We could not discover any actual events to attend over the weekend, but on our visit to the Cultural Museum a few weeks ago, we saw how well-revered and respected this first indigenous President of Mexico remains.   Although we didn't wander down the malecon yesterday, we heard music, voices and activity.  On the cruisers' net this morning, we learned that the fisherman took out their pangas in a procession behind a statue of their patron saint, St. Jose, around the harbour.  Tied into that celebration, as well as the coming Spring Equinox, several cruisers spotted a children's parade, where the little ones were dressed as flowers and butterflies to celebrate the seasonal transition.  There are flowers blooming all through the city, but we assume these are the winter blossoms and only a small example of what is to come.

We had a great time at the Mark Mulligan concert at La Concha restaurant downtown.  His beach music is relaxed, fun for dancing and often is based on 'true stories' of gringo life in Mexico.  A significant amount of pesos were raised for a local charity with the restaurant owner topping up the final amount.  We enjoyed sharing the table with Linda and Bill of SV Tanque de Tiburon and meeting several of their amigos.
Kelly, Linda and Bill at La Costa - waiting for the music to begin











Mark Mulligan - onstage at La Costa
         Enjoying the evening

On Thursday we took the marina shuttle in to the daily coffee hour at Club Cruceros.  There we met up with BCA cruisers Kira and Rick of SV Nyon, who were going to be hosting Barb and Bjorne from 'back home'.  If all goes well, we might have a mini BCA 'burp' (Bluewater unofficial rendezvous party) on the horizon.
Enjoying a laugh at The Shack
Next stop was the radio repair shop, where we were told our newest VHF radio needed to be returned to the distributor to be repaired. That will wait until our next visit to West Marine.  A walk east of Abasolo, we located "The Shack", the latest incarnation of an outdoor venue we last visited as "The Roadhouse".  The owner had suffered a serious fall from the roof the night before when trying to hang old sails across the open area.  Only a table and chair 'cushioned' him from landing directly on the concrete floor.  Just before we left, he came slowly into the restaurant with help from a walker; obviously in pain, but determined to keep things running.  His wife was doing a commendable job of opening up the restaurant, with help from a few friends.  We met some regulars there who offered new information about where to shop for good steaks and ground beef, among other things.

Excellent carniceria on Revolution
After an enormous serving of an excellent hamburger - which we split - we were guided to the carniceria around the corner to purchase ground beef and a very thick steak.  We enjoyed the steak Saturday evening and expect the quality of the rest of the meat will be as good.  Next stop was to Snug Harbor Sails, where we were introduced to Doug, the long-time owner for a quick chat.  Thanks to Paul of SV Coppertop for showing us around on Thursday.

Visiting Snug Harbor Sails - a very busy sail loft
A new week....we will see what unfolds.   Happy Spring Equinox.

PS:  To those 'in the know' - our furry Sebastian turns 11 tomorrow - Feliz Cumpleaños to our very special gato.  There is a rumour that Rod and Lois have a special treat in store for you.

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