Viking II: San Carlos, Sonora, Mexico going home

Life in San Carlos is a little quiet these days ... everyone has gone home.

The Dixie chicks had a run in with the police .... well sort of. Seems they were out late at a San Carlos restaurant and could not get a cab home. They started to walk the two miles back to the condo. Wouldn't you know it but the police stopped them and asked what they were doing out there in the dark. After a short conversation, the pick up crew cab was emptied with the officers riding in back; the ladies were driven back to their condo. I protested that I had made the same, two mile, hike three times and the cops passed me by. Laura said it was because I was not wearing three inch stiletto heals ... the Dixie chicks have gone home to Canada and Georgia.

Garth (tunaholic) came by Viking II just after the net. He and Charlie had been out fishing with the young Alberto in tow. Catching tuna has been difficult because the Humboldt squid are in; every time you throw a lure in the water, the squid hit it. There was plenty of squid. Garth invited us and Decade Dance up to Evies restaurant for a squid feed. I don't like squid; it was great.

Stanley is an elderly, retired diver who still holds the record of about an eight hundred foot, bell dive. He lives on a small boat attached to a mooring ball; the boat looks like Sanford and Son's junk yard. Sidney is hard of hearing and has poor eye sight; Garth keeps an eye on him. I delivered some water to Stanley since he only rows to shore (no outboard). Today he rowed by Viking II; wow, I hope I can do that when I am “elderly.” Stanley is at home on the water.

Craig and Jo flew in from Phoenix to visit with Mia and me on the boat. This is the jet setter life; it is just piston powered ... airplane, dingy, etc. Sitting in the cockpit of Viking II talking with all of nature around us; margaritas are part of nature I think, so we had them too .... Mia cooked squid on the George Foreman grill. Life and conversation is laid back on the water. Yesterday, Mia, Craig and Jo went home.

Now the fog has rolled in to San Carlos. From the main street to the bay, it reminds me of Sacramento ... limited visibility. Fortunately Beuport is a beacon on the bay to find Viking II at night. Today I moved further away from Beuport to a mooring ball. Viking II has stayed put through 25 mile per hour winds on 200 feet of chain and anchor. The problem is that the winds can be 40 and I will be leaving San Carlos too. So now Viking II is attached to four tons of concrete. We will see if she is still there when I get back.

Erik, Viking II

Viking II: San Carlos; STILL CRUISIN'

Greetings from sunny San Carlos. Everything Erik has said is true - this setting is just this side of paradise. The landscape reminds me of the desert between Phoenix and Tucson and the seascape is equally magnificent. There are many sailboats at anchor here and there is a cooperative network that the "real world" could emulate. There is a large American population here, ex-pats who live on boats and the wealthy turistas who stay in condos and buy expensive lots to build even more expensive mansions. Everyone seems friendly and easy going - Americans and Mexicans alike, with few Canadians tossed into the mix.

Capitaine Mike's bar and cantina is a gringo hangout with excellent tortilla chips and salsa to go with the ice cold Pacifico. There may be only a few people or standing room only but the place is a fun hangout at all hours of the day or night. We had a traditional Thanksgiving dinner here last night, complete with pumpkin pie. And he has wi-fi, hence the email from down here.

Erik warned me that it was getting cold. He has truly acclimatized (is that a word?) because I find the weather rather warm and balmy after the temperature drop in Sacramento last week. The rain two nights ago was heavy but not all that chilly - and very romantic on a rocking boat!

Our friends, Craig and Jo from Phoenix will fly down for an overnight visit on Monday. We are looking forward to seeing them. Craig was part of the Baja 2006 crew. The days are simple and relaxing - a dingy ride to visit other boaters, a walk about town, a break for cerveza. The cruising life is looking very appealing... (realistically, there is a lot of work involved but for this week, it's been just fun :-) )

Love, Mia & Erik, VIKING II

Viking II San Carlos; tourista adventures

My friends on Desert Wind (aka the DEA) got stopped at the Federales drug roadblock. An hour and a half of searching the boat and they let them go without a strip search. The boat is back at Elephant Butte and Stan, Rich and William are planning their next trip from Washington to Skagway Alaska.

I encouraged Ti to bring his violin to open mic night at Captain Mikes. He plays a mixture of bluegrass; since the guitar player was only oldies, they traded sets for a while until the guitar player went home. Ti thought it was time to go also but I suggested we wait thirty minutes to see who else came and then I would tow his dingy back to where we are anchored (Ti is a real cruiser and rows everywhere). Before we timed out, Kak and John showed up; Kak sings and plays guitar; John was on the harmonica. The place was getting lively. Added visuals arrived with Cindy and Tina, cousins from Calgary and Laura, the Georgia peach; I know they were good looking ... Mike fell all over himself to serve them personally; we gave him a hard time about it. The music was good, the crowd was loud and the girls added to the ambiance. Kak and John finished for the evening; the three Dixie chicks were not done. They invited me and several of the guys staring at them from the bar to run off to Froggies.

Froggies is more of a tourista/local mix bar. They had a cover band that played all the trendy music with a Mexican accent. The pool table was busy; Laura took up her turn and tried to win by distracting her competitor while he shot; amazingly, Laura lost. As the night extended, the band switched to local music; by that time the rest of the gringos were gone. Locals taught the Canadian girls how to do the local dances ... finally, the bar closed.

Moonless nights are great on the bay ... except when you are trying to find your boat. I have made the trip often enough that I know the way; the problem is dark hulled boats; now I know how blind people sense things that they can not see ...

I toured the Dixie chicks along the coast. This is quite a setting with the mountains running into the sea. There are birds every where; some hang out at the fish cleaning dock; others linger behind the power boats looking for a free meal. Most are out on the small, desert islands standing on a pile of guano ... what do they think about all day? There is construction on houses and condominiums everywhere; $185,000 USD for a lot. The marina is constantly expanding and adding more high priced slips. This puts pressure to the proletariat yatistas on a budget. The counter revolution by the yatistas is to not pay for anything!!! We dock our dingies and do not pay the $3 per day fee; we borrow keys and use the showers; it is a real underground revolt ... it is not the money, it is the free access. Soon this will be like Cabo San Lucas, a get away for the rich only.

The economy is down here and has been for the last year. The taxi driver says that ninety five percent of San Carlos business is tied to tourists; he expects Guaymas to go the same route in the next ten years.

Nature continues to run its course on the bay. For no reason apparent to me, a fish started jumping out of the water near the boat ... jump, divert, jump, divert ... and down comes the pelican. The skinny pelican was not a great hunter; it took five dives before the bird had its meal ... so why didn't the fish dive? Hmmmm, maybe they don't want too much complexity in the food chain.

Erik, Viking II

Viking II: San Carlos, Sonora, MX ... Dingy operations and other trivia

Hard to believe that I arrived here in San Carlos a week ago. I am not sure if there has been a lot or very little transpiring since then.

My friends from Desert Wind hauled out to go home to New Mexico. You might just be a red neck if your boat trailer fender is held on by yellow poly cord; I helped Stan break the last weld and throw it in the back of the pickup truck. After repacking the wheel bearings in the parking lot to purge the salt water they were more or less ready to go. I will miss my crazy friends; there is nothing they could not do. Maybe now I can drink less beer and lose some weight (Stan, Rich and William were a bad influence on me:-).

I have wrestled with were and how to leave Viking II for the holidays. I have been at the same anchorage for a week; one day in a 25 mile blow I let out another fifty feet of chain because of an uncertain bite; I am a little closer to the vessel Beuport (very big) but it does not look like I have moved. Kak wants to lease her mooring ball in the bay while she goes to Puerto Vallarta for the next four months. I dingied over to survey the spot and see if there was enough room for Viking II to swing with the wind ... it may work. Kak is a world sailor who has usually crewed on high priced yachts; she has over 200 thousand miles at sea and a captain license. She now has a Morgan ketch and the freedom to go where she wants ... most of the men in the marina are chasing her wherever she goes...

Ti anchored next to me with Sundowner, Wrangle, Alaska. He grew up in Sacramento and is associated with the local Jim Boys taco chain. His father turned the business over to him and his siblings in the 70's; but Ti was not inclined to the corporate life. He set off on a boat and has spent the last many years sailing the Pacific; the last 25 with his wife. He works in port to support their boat kitty by cutting trees; he cut some trees in New Guinea for the local tribes .... not a profitable venture. He even knew where Nadzab was.

I have been working little by little on cleaning the boat (actually very little); but Mia is coming next week and so I set to washing the decks today and vacuuming the carpet. How does all that junk get on the carpet when we are never attached to land? As Deb Green had said while I pumped the holding tank, a captain's work is never done.

Garth (tuna addict radio handle) and Doug showed up at the boat this morning with fresh caught and filleted tuna. They had been out early and successful; as Doug (from KTM) drove the panga, Garth filleted and visited most of the boats in the bay. I was doubly lucky in that they stopped by and given the size of Viking II, Garth thought there were more people on board, so I got extra. An early dinner, I cooked up half of the tuna in a pan with olive oil and garlic seasoning salt. It was out of the water less than six hours before I dined ... it was great.

Club de Capitanes (Captain Mikes) is the local watering hole and restaurant. WiFi, cold beer (good Margaritas), passable food, cute waitresses and Sunday open mic. This is where I was directed when I arrived. Everyone comes to Mike's; I have spent a lot of time here ... as the evenings wear on and the drinking continues I remind the group of Natalie Wood and those dingies.
Erik, Viking II

Viking II: San Carlos, Sonora, MX ... still

It is nice to stay in one place for a while; up by eight am to catch the San Carlos cruiser net on VHF 72; emergencies... none; who is here? news? the weather report and fish sightings only (I haven't had any "real news" at all); who needs what; who has what; Trisha had cinnamon rolls, freshly baked for anyone coming by KTM that morning. Trisha and Doug had directed Desert Wind to the open slip next to them because the marina personnel were on national holiday. I showed up, as official tow dingy, and got breakfast also.

Just a clarification for those who asked, Desert Wind, a Newport 30 sailboat, did motor backwards for 26 miles (of the 230 miles) to reach San Carlos.

Today I felt that I had procrastinated long enough on hull cleaning; you would not believe the muck that collects in 1800 miles. All of these tasks are sort of new, since there is no dock, water hose, etc. I am at anchor out in the bay ... the cheap seats (actually free :-). So I tied the dingy bow and stern to the life lines and started scrubbing with sea water. A couple from a house on the hill paddled up in their kayak to admire Viking II up close (they had been looking from afar with their view of the whole bay). They suggested I should not pass the whole day working on the boat but "smell the roses." I took their advice and planned to go to lunch with William (I did finish all 130 feet of hull first; I need a smaller boat). The work day ends early ....

Today is a record. A hot shower two days in a row ... I won't say how many showers there have been in the last month; California probably has a law about that. When cruising, adjustments must be made. So ... I forgot to take my pills this morning; geazers take pills .... geazers forget to take their pills. Here that is not a problem; double the Pacifico and there is no hypertension, no pain ...

Erik, Viking II

Viking II: San Carlos, Sonora, Mexico (Sea of Cortez)

I had wanted to go to Mulege which I last visited in the Mooney ten years ago. The landing strip is poor ... gravel, with a bump in the middle and a river at the end when you run out of runway. Anchoring is worse; there is no shelter from the north winds; the book recommends an anchor watch be left on the boat; Lowrance does well at watching the anchor but is poor at starting the engine and pushing off shore; I skipped Mulege. It was sixty miles to Santa Rosalia and eighty three to San Carlos across the Sea of Cortez ... off to San Carlos ... a long day. I set the anchor in the bay at 1400. By 1500 I had the dingy out and was rowing ashore. Doug, on a sloop I passed, recommended Captain Mikes for fish and low price; Garth and his wife gave me a tow most of the way into the marina. I found my way there; the beer was cold; the garlic grilled fish was great; it was open mic night and the musicians were enthusiastic if not on key. The row back to the boat was long; tomorrow I get out the outboard.

So with the food, rowing and of course the beer, it was an early evening; when the sun goes down, so do I. Awake at three am it seemed best to skip the work list on the boat and sleep in. Woke up at 8:15am missing half the morning net. Each yatista location has a "net" where they talk on VHF about arrivals, departures, parties, mail, etc. So it is time to clean up the boat from four weeks of high waves and lasagna. Suddenly there are wistles blowing and men Yelling ... "Viking II prepare to be boarded." It's the Desert Wind (Stan, Rich and William) circling .... backwards! After I left them in La Paz, they decided it would be faster to sail to San Carlos than drive their trailer down Baja to pull the boat. They sailed and motored backwards for four days to try an beat me to San
Carlos. And I was begining to think that I was crazy ....

Erik, Viking II

Viking II: San Juanico, Baja California, Mexico (Sea of Cortez)

I set out from Puerto Escondido at dawn this morning with the idea of spending a day in Loreto. Puerto Escondido is twelve miles from Loreto; why take a bus when you can drive a boat ... answer ... there is no where to park a boat. I read Captain Rains description of the panga breakwater “only for pangas” and thought, well, I don't have to follow those rules. As I approached Loreto, the depth kept decreasing. At the panga breakwater, the depth was eleven feet (we know that Viking II grounds at 5.6; who says old dogs can't learn new tricks). Then I looked into the breakwater; there were over fifty pangas and only enough room to turn one of them around. I backed out and set Lowrance for a run up the coast to the north. As we approached Isla ............. I was concerned about the water depth. Approaching, I could see the wind driven breakers on the other side. I decided to follow the deep water to the east of the island.

I arrived at San Juanico early afternoon. Good thing, since my GPS trail showed me running right through one of the several islands. I picked a spot near the guide books rock and set an anchor in 17.4 feet of water; the rest of the afternoon, I watched the wind blow and the tide drop to ~15.
1530 is dinner time. Start the generator so that the microwave does not pull down the inverter too much. Mmmmmm red kidney beans, white wine, and Bonnie Raite on the stereo. I am a little cautious still about what I am eating since Montezuma took his revenge a few days ago.

Sunset is my favorite time (maybe it is the wine); the view is spectacular; the colors are muted; the birds are diving for their last meal of the day. The fish behind me are coming up to look at the bright computer screen. So it occurs to me that with the wind howling and a lot of tension on the anchor chain, who is going to drive the boat while I lift the anchor? I could be permanently anchored here forever.... At about midnight the wind stopped; I pulled up anchor and headed north.

Erik, Viking II

Viking II: Puerto Escondido, Baja California, Mexico (Sea of Cortez)

Montezuma took his revenge today. Some where between the oatmeal, canned peaches and snickers bar, nothing would stay with me. My training in food production told me that the peaches were unlikely since they were high acid and botulism could not grow; still I looked for the signs... lack of feeling in limbs ... oh well, my neck has caused tingling etc in my arms for weeks. I guess I will live.

Puerto Escondido is definitely hard to find; thank the government for GPS (who says everything they do is worthless). The bay is beautiful; tied off to a mooring ball for the night. Skipped the $10 a night fee since no one came out to the boat.

Erik, Viking II