Merry Christmas - Happy Holidays - Season's Greetings "in spite of"!

 

Our thoughts are with family and friends this totally turned upside down holiday season - and most of 2020.  All at a distance and all of you coping with the challenges of staying safe and sane and yet finding some joy and peace in creating new traditions.

For the first time in several years, INTREPID II remains on her own in dry storage; as far as we know, the wind and rains of this past hurricane and tropical storm season did not cause any damage.  We are having a West Coast Christmas far from the sunny south.  Right on queue the Winter Solstice delivered fat flakes of moisture laden snow, which took some time, but settled over the ground and trees. This morning (22nd) the sun appeared and sparkled over the icy scene - lovely. However, when it came time to rescue our car to run a few errands, it took both of us with snow scrapers to loosen the icy covering, even with the defrosters running.  Reminders of many Alberta winters came to mind.

Winter wonderland West Coast style

It has been a treat to find all our stored decorations and tree and enjoy putting them in place.  With our much needed woodstove burning brightly, tree lights glowing and Christmas cards on the mantle, we have a cozy spot to enjoy our 'just us' social isolation.  Tomorrow is provisioning day - we have our menu and will see what is available for both Christmas Eve and Day - and leftovers of course.  We have no shortage of books, music and videos to entertain us - and expect Santa may bring a few additions.  

Our wishes for all are to continue staying healthy and safe, secure and sane. May 2021 be so much better and deliver those much needed vaccines to ensure we are not going through these same challenges next December!

The INTREPID II Crew is Home - April 14th

Hellebores (Lenten roses) still in bloom to welcome us home

Thank you to all our family and friends who kept us in their thoughts and emails and lent their virtual support as we prepped INTREPID II for dry storage in San Carlos, then headed homeward in this 'new reality'.  

We arrived safely home on Tuesday afternoon, April 14th and all is well. The stress and angst and concern about crossing borders, staying safe while in hotel rooms and en route across Sonora and through Arizona, Nevada, northern California, Oregon, Washington and into B.C. is over!  A good trip mostly, as far as the road and weather conditions and rest areas were concerned.

Faun Lilies are a delight - glad we were home in time

We are now in day 4 of our self-isolation requirement and hoping to find our physical distancing, hand washing and sanitizing regime has been successful.  We are keeping well occupied - no shortage of bins and bags and totes to unload, unpack and sort from 5 months away.  The house and yard were well taken care of by our friend and house-sitter, as always, for which we are so grateful.  It is a beautiful Spring time of year to return home from the Sonoran desert (and exchange desert allergies for west coast ones!).




Hoping to upload photos and describe out departure and trip home in more detail once we are settled and organized.  Wishing our cruising friends still in Mexico and elsewhere safe sojourns and journeys - it is a confusing and disjointed time to be staying on top of what anchorages are still open and what the directives mean for keeping isolated.  You are in our thoughts.

San Carlos & Tetakawis - awaiting our return

March & April - Sailing, Winding Down, Thinking of Home

SV INTREPID II - B dock

Finally Sailing!

Hola again at long last!  This post is a short update only to advise we, like cruisers everywhere in Mexico, have been grappling about whether to stay where are or make the journey homeward. 

After all our efforts to prepare INTREPID II for a long awaited cruising season, we now are 'undoing' and prepping for dry storage.  The extremely good news is that we sailed for 2 long hours which made for a very excited boat and crew! A peaceful evening and overnight on a mooring in the bahia added to the enjoyment, although several 'issues' that occurred and required trouble-shooting were worrisome. 

Bahia San Carlos - after 2 hours sailing

For the most part, they have been dealt with.  More details to come once we are home and have time to revisit these past weeks.

In the meantime, our plans - today - are to follow through with our planned haul out to the works yard on Monday, April 6th, followed by the move to dry storage on Wednesday, April 8th.  We should be ready to head homeward the following day.  Our route is still to be determined, but we hope to avoid those areas most active with "the virus" which has turned everyone's world upside down and inside out.

We are thankful to all our family and friends who have contacted us and sent along links to updates, travel tips, breaking news and concern for our well being.  We send along our wishes that all who read this are safe, stay safe and as healthy as possible and know we are thinking of you.

A few photos for now....it is not all hard work!

Relaxing at Rancho Nacapule - friend's home site

Sunset - Marina San Carlos view

Casey - alert for his owner's return

This has been a very Northerly few months!

And a bit rainy at times

Looks like we haul the genoa up to the parking lot to refold and repack

This should work better!

February 2020 Update - so far

Continuing on from our January catch-up posting . . . .

We continue to stop by, either during our walks or when out on errands, at "Dorado" to spend time with our amigo Lucky.  He certainly does have folks keeping an eye on his food and water bowl but we miss his company and a few treats are usually in order.  We travel with a bit of cat food just in case his bowl is empty! 

I can see the bottom of my food bowl!

Several weeks ago, a young male kitten was "dropped off" nearby and he spent days crying and hiding behind a padlocked metal gate.  He apparently could squeeze out to check what was in Lucky's bowls and for some companionship and guests left water and food nearby.  We were concerned as well and made some attempts to see if a foster home was available, however, unlikely.  Happy ending so far - the owner of the rental condos provided a collar and arranged for neutering at the upcoming spay and neuter volunteer clinic and posted online to find "Dorado" a home.  We wish him a happy, safe, indoor life.

Lucky and his gatito amigo Dorado

Boat Projects:

Mountings from cutting board material for instruments

Perhaps the Captain will eventually find time to describe his efforts.  In the meantime, here are photos of the instrument mountings he designed and made out of cutting boards.  Another hole saw was needed and hand sawing to correct size, then mounting the pieces to the pedestal guard.  Then installing the wind and boat depth/speed instruments and connecting them, as well as the gps chartplotter, which is above the compass binnacle.  Voila - we now have navigation information at the helm again.

Instruments inserted and ready to go

Filling v-berth water tank requires taking bedding and cushions and all sorts of stuff off the berth to access the water storage below.  Our starboard water tank developed a leak we have been unable to locate, so it has been drained and that project is for another day!

V-berth location of forward water tank 

There are some compensations for all this effort!  We followed a nearby cruiser out towards Nacapule Canyon to the site of an in progress development on a large ranch, as he had offered to lend us a tool to help the Captain with yet another project.  It was a treat to take a break and explore a bit of the Sonoran desert environment, even if we were driving.

Following towards the home site location

The View - The Silence

Work in progress towards a home in the Sonoran desert

 We must find time to explore this spectacular environment.

At Long Last - another post - February 20th

Just a few wires and cables to sort through

Where did January and much of February 2020 go??  Oh - boat projects of course!!

We have made several attempts to upload and edit photos and find a good internet connection to sit down to craft a few postings.  However boat projects and issues take priority with a focus on getting INTREPID II repaired and renewed and ready for cruising. So this post will be a summary of the past weeks with photos - we have not even used our proper cameras for weeks, so the phone pics unfortunately do not have as much clarity.

January 2020:  It was a treat to continue our stay at "Dorado" over Christmas and the New Year - 2020 - another benchmark!  Although a hit to our budget, with rental of a small condo and the marina slip, we could leave our tasks as is at the end of a boat project day and still have a comfortable abode to relax, cook and sleep. Another bonus - we continued to have the company of the 'condo cat' Lucky and he appreciated the attention and warm, dry spot to sleep when the weather was wet and cold.

Our Amigo Lucky - showing us the proper napping technique

However, once Christmas celebrations and decorations were tucked away, we focused on readying INTREPID II to live aboard, even though boat projects would continue.  Finding spots to sleep and cook were our goal, and on Friday, January 3rd we spent our first night onboard on dock B.  It had been quite some time!  Our slip is only 5 spots down from the ramp, so not too long a hike when carrying bags or bins. INTREPID II  is stern-to the dock to keep the Northers from blowing in to the cockpit and lets us see the comings and goings of neighbours - altogether more friendly.

Unfortunately, the "San Carlos crud" struck a few days later and the Admiral had several days and nights of misery and weeks of coughing.  The Captain had his share but fought off the worst of the incessant coughing.  (Now, in mid February, it seems another version is making its' rounds - fingers crossed.)  What a waste of time and energy!  Thankfully we know who to see and where to find the farmacia.  Mid January was no picnic for family in friends in Alberta and B.C.  - a deep freeze set in and snow fell at the estate.  We so appreciate our attentive house-sitter friend!  Although it is winter here, we are thankful for the milder temperatures and inspiring skies.

Sunset over Posada beach from El Mar

Tetakawis as backdrop to a San Carlos evening

Night sky from Palapa Griega 

Boat wise, the fridge and freezer were not staying cold or frozen as they should.  Days later, after calling in the "refrigerators only" Jesus and his assistant, we had a new thermostat and a circulating fan and all was mostly well.  Then it was time for the two 8D gel-cell batteries to protest.  The Captain removed the one which gave up the ghost from the mix. We borrowed a load tester from a neighbour and are hoping the remaining one, along with our solar panels, will be sufficient for this season's cruising.  The battery selection here is limited for marine purposes.

With the demise of our Furuno radar after the knock-down, new compatible instruments were required along with a new radar.  Kelly anticipated challenges during the installation process and he was not disappointed.  We now have an NMEA 2000 network which links wind, boat depth and speed and a gps chartplotter.  There are now fewer older wires and cables running through the boat and we anticipate a more streamlined system.   Days of crawling on the cabin sole, looking at the webs of cabling, sorting out the must keep ones and feeding through new cables and connectors is a tale best left for the Captain to tell.  Of course we needed items which were not anticipated when planning out the initial network.  Garmin came through; Fedex fell down somewhat at the delivery end, but we tracked down our cables at last.

And suddenly it was February - another post will follow. 

Gorgeous blooms to brighten the day - in January!

 And we are so pleased Betty Lou and David continue to keep Claire atop their bow pulpit - a fun and cheery addition to B Dock. (with permission)

Claire of Dock B