Treasure Hunt!

“Yare, Yare, Yare this is Hoku Pa’a on 16,” Barb’s voice sounded over the VHF radio.

“Hoku Pa’a, this is Yare, let’s go to channel 68,” we replied with terrific radio etiquette.

“68,” she said.

Once on channel 68.

“Hello Yare, this is Hoku Pa’a. We are just leaving Isla San Franscisco, we know you are headed here and we are sorry to miss you. I don’t know who is listening to the radio, but I have something to say that is only for adult ears,” Barb said.

I think, “Uh Oh, what terrible news do they have to share? Thank goodness for Barb’s sensitivity.”

“Okay Hoku Pa’a, we have only adult ears listening to the radio,” Tor replied.

“We’ve set up a Treasure Hunt for Lars and Odin on Isla San Francisco. The GPS coordinates of the start point are 24 deg 49.424N, 110 deg 34.294W. There is a note by the large boulder at the north end of the beach in a cactus skeleton and there are three more spots with GPS coordinates. Take a hand bearing compass with you,” Barb said.

How amazing is that? Barb and Bjarne are so much fun and such great people. Great friends to all four of us. We are so touched by their thoughtfulness, and delighted with their creativity and ability to have fun.

First clue, notes from the radio conversation.

Starting note found!

Treasure map

Looking for the aid to navigation light and the lonely cardon 

cactus on the top of the hill to take bearings from.

Turns out our only “hand bearing” compass is in our binoculars,
must rectify that!

Found the landmark pipe. Mama! There is a lizard living in it,
do I really have to reach my hand in there for the treasure?!?!

Nope, no need to disturb the lizard. “Walk 25 kid steps at a
compass bearing of 260 degrees to find a partly buried
red rock.” Next, “At the rock, turn and face the water.
Take 21 steps at a compass bearing of
175 degrees. Look for a mostly buried rock.”

X marks the spot?

“The treasure is buried 15 cm deep, just past the rock towards the water.”

-“Treasure Found! Hi Yares. Congratulations on your sleuthing.

 I bet you with we had a bigger jar :)”

The treasure? Delicious cookies.

It calmed down!

After a lovely 2 days in Loreto, we returned to a different Puerto Escondido. The Neverending Norte seems to have blown itself out, whew! We are heading back to Agua Verde in the morning, we can't wait! 

The Neverending Norte

Winter in the Sea of Cortez means there are short periods of strong winds of 20-30 knots from the Northwest, called Nortes, or Northers. The Nortes necessitate hiding out in an anchorage with good protection from the northwest for a few days. The wind isn’t necessarily the problem, it is the sea state, the Sea of Cortez is 600 miles long and relatively skinny, and therefore has a lot of fetch for waves to build from wind blowing over it. The waves are steep and close together and no fun to be out in. We are certainly no experts, but we’ve dealt with a few of them since we’ve been in the Sea. It blows hard for a few days, we hide out in a good anchorage, then about 24 hours after the winds calm down, the seas flatten out and we have several warm, calm days perfect for travel or to hang out in the warm sunshine on the beach.

Enter the current Norte. If hurricanes and tropical storms get names, this Norte deserves a name too, Neverending*. There is a local guy named Gary on the Sonrisa net who has been forecasting the weather in the Sea of Cortez and broadcasting it daily via ham radio for something like 25 years. He actually said on a recent broadcast that these are the strongest winds he has ever seen that aren’t associated with a hurricane. This one is a doozy. We are on day 4 and the winds aren’t supposed to calm down for another 3 or so days and the weather predictions everyday seem to push the end off yet another day, so who knows.

Fort building!

We are safely moored in a great and safe anchorage called Puerto Escondido, about 14 miles south of Loreto. Puerto Escondido is such a great harbor for storms that it is used by boaters as a hurricane hole for the summer hurricane season. The Mexican government has put mooring buoys throughout the bay and we are tied up to one at the far northwest corner behind a big hill for a little more protection from the NNW winds. We’ve been safe, but we haven’t been particularly comfortable. Highest wind gusts that we’ve heard from other boats with anemometers have been 34 knots, but it is sustained 20-25 kts for the past four days with no end in sight. Puerto Escondido is huge, and we are moored about ½ mile from the dock to get the most NNW protection. Since we only have a rowing dinghy for getting to shore, we knew when we tied to that mooring that we would be stuck on the boat, but the NNW protection seemed worth it.

A LONG way to the dock...can't even see it in this photo, it's
behind the boats that just appear as specks.

On the first day of the event, Tuesday, when the winds hadn’t even reached their peak speeds, the mooring for a boat named Allora failed. The owners weren’t aboard and it was frightening to watch the boat drift across the bay toward other boats and eventually toward the rocks. Fortunately fellow sailors were able to reach the boat and sail it, under bare poles alone, away from the rocks so a dinghy could tow it to another mooring. Amazingly, about 2 hours later, when the owners were back aboard, Allora broke free again. None of us in the harbor were feeling particularly confident in the moorings and both Tor and I had consistent knots in our stomachs. Just before dark, yet another mooring line broke on a big catamaran and only one small line was holding it to their mooring. All boats have since been re-secured and seem to be okay, 3 days later. Fortunately the broken moorings allowed us to really think about how we were tied to our mooring and we made some big changes to avoid chafe. We also used our cockpit sunshade to rig a riding sail to keep our bow pointed into the wind more consistently so we didn’t get broadside to the gusts and get rolled 25-30 degrees.  Once everything was all set with the boat, all that remained was waiting it out.

Anchor watch track for a few hours one night. the green circle is
30 meters, so we are secure, but we sure have moved around alot!

Fortunately we aren’t alone. We have friends in the anchorage (Moon and Kialoa), and have made new friends (Inkatu). The generosity and friendliness everyone has showed us is amazing. Lisa on Moon has offered and given us rides to shore (which is no small favor…you get soaked in a dinghy when going against the wind), and I got a ride into Loreto with Scott and Tanya on Kialoa yesterday to get groceries and cash. Casey and Ineka on our closest mooring neighbor Inkatu even stopped by on their way to shore and brought several kid movies and asked us to give them a shopping list so they could get stuff for us at the mini mart ashore. Equally important is just knowing friendly voices are on the other end of the VHF for commiserating and friendly chit chatting.

Ineke on Inkatu sent the boys a note in a bottle! See the speck in the
water just ahead of our white mooring buoy? She tied it
to a long spool of fishing line so she could retrieve her water bottle!

The contents of the message in a bottle, actually getting the bottle
 to us proved challenging, so some ballast was needed.
The lime was a perfect addition to rum and cokes for Tor and me :)

The boys have done great not being off the boat for 5 days. We have been doing school, an absurd amount of Lego building, a few movies, fort building, card games, and in general lots of family time and it all has been really terrific. When Tor and I were both nervous as cats after the boats broke their moorings, and we couldn’t really focus on anything other than listening for new sounds that might indicate a problem with our mooring, Lars and Odin were amazing and just played together and kept each other entertained. We couldn’t be present as parents, and we didn’t need to. Amazing.

We did however get very tired of hearing the wind whistling in the rigging. Knowing the end of this weather is still several days off, and feeling confident in how secure our boat is now that we’ve been through the highest period of winds (we hope), we got off the boat this morning and took a taxi into Loreto. We plan to be here for 2 nights in a quiet hotel (no wind noise!) with a pool. Life is grand. Back in the land of internet, and glad for the chance to reconnect!

  

*Compliments to Scott on Kialoa for naming our storm.

Oops! Emergency Room Visit in La Paz (Everyone is okay!)

The Malecon in La Paz is a wonderful tiled sidewalk all along the bay. There are statues along the way and it is a wonderful place to gather for locals and tourists alike, it really is a social center for this city. Also along the Malecon are a playground and a delicious ice cream shop. To take advantage of all the Malecon has to offer, we planned a playdate with the crews of Riki Tiki Tavi and our other kid boat friends on Nomi (we met them way back in Morro Bay and Santa Barbara).

The kids were gleefully running ahead, as usual. Odin decided to try a trick and jump off a little curb on the side of the Malecon, but unfortunately he didn't stick the landing and came down hard, right on his chin. He split it wide open, and it was clear that we needed to go to the hospital to have it taken care of. He was scared, upset and hurt, but I think mostly sad about missing the playdate and planned ice cream with his friends. Tor and I didn't know where to go, hospitals aren't usually on our list of tourist sites. Fortunately we were close to a taxi stand, so while Sara (from Riki Tiki Tavi) and I tended to Odin (note to self: carry first aid supplies and be prepared like Sara!), Tor ran down to get us a taxi. They came to pick us up and the taxi driver whisked us off to the hospital. He parked the car and got out to escort us in and help us navigate the emergency room. The receptionist left her post and took Odin and me in hand and with perfect English she stayed with us and shepherded us through the whole process. I could have communicated and we would have been okay, but not having to think about the language and just focus on helping Odin feel less scared, was invaluable. The caring staff put in three stitches and with nary a piece of paperwork nor any charge, we were free to go. The taxi driver waited for us and dropped us back off where we started 63 minutes after he picked us up. Amazing care, amazingly fast, and we were able to get back to our play and ice cream date. The US could really take note. Odin is healing up quickly and well, and though he wasn't so sure about the beard-like bandage at first, he is starting to relish it a bit. The other great thing about it is how many people have a shared experience and have showed them their scars. Yet another way to make connections.

We are leaving La Paz today for some more time in the islands. We have spent enough money and purchased enough food to last for weeks. We will be out of internet and cell range for most of the time, but we will update our position on our Farkwar site with our Iridium Go satellite phone, so keep an eye on that.

The ice cream date happened! Thanks for all the love and support friends!

Pretty handsome with a beard, no?

We ran out of toothpaste...

...and clean underwear for the boys. Being the self-sufficient cruisers we are we could have been creative and made due with baking soda and peppermint tea for our teeth and actually hand washed our clothes, but La Paz was so tantalizingly close that we came back to civilization for a little top up on provisions and internet access.

We spent a very lovely ten days or so cruising Isla Ispiritu Santo and Isla Partida with our friends on Riki Tiki Tavi. We all had such a wonderful time with Sara, Pete, Liam and Neli. What a terrific family to spend 10 days bumming around those spectacular islands with. Much swimming, hiking, sea cave exploration, playmobil playing, meal sharing, card gaming, beach combing and playing, and even swimming with sea lions was done. After a brief stop in La Paz our families will have to part ways, we will head back north into the Sea of Cortez and Riki Tiki Tavi will be heading over to the mainland. It's tough to know our buddy boating is coming to an end for now, but I know we will catch up with each other in the future, our families have bonded.

The view through the portlight, it's amazing how fun a bucket
of water can be for two five year olds!

A hike with our friends from Riki Tiki Tavi as well as
Hoku Pa'a from Playa Bonanza on Isla Ispiritu Santo.
Check out that cactus man!

Swimming at Caleta Partida

Kid contingent making brownies aboard Yare

A different beach at Caleta Partida

Making faces in the pancake batter bowl

Group photo from a group hike at Ensenada Grande on Isla Partida

Buddies!

Heading out to swim with the sea lions at Los Islotes. Only
Odin made it in the water, but the intrepid crew
of Riki Tiki Tavi all made it in to swim with them.

Grandparents in La Paz

Grandma Cheryl and Grandpa Ralph came to visit us in La Paz for a week, and it was the most fun! They rented a house that all 6 of us could stay in, so we parked the boat at a marina and made the most of life on land. The house even had a pool. What could be better for Lars and Odin, Grandparents and a pool? Perfection.

We walked all over town sightseeing, ate copious amounts of delicious seafood, had a couple of social events with our sailing friends, took a day trip out on the boat, rented a van to drive to another town on the Pacific Side of the Baja Peninsula (Todos Santos) and in general just enjoyed our time together. It couldn't have been more fun.

Thank you for coming Mom and Ralph, you made our time here in La Paz magnificent!

Strolling on the Malecon in La Paz

Ice Cream at La Fuente, a must if in La Paz!

Checking out the Nativity Scene at Bravo Street Market

La Paz Zocalo fountain, checking out the model of the
Mushroom Rock (El Hongo) from Balandra Bay.  We
took Mom and Ralph to see the real one in Balandra
Bay on our boat and were able to show them a bit
of our cruising lifestyle.

Lars and Odin were great hosts and made sure Grandma
and Grandpa had all the toys to play with on our day trip to
Balandra Bay. They worked hard to inflate the SUP!

Ralph was a happy guy to use the SUP!

Odin and Lars graciously offered to help Tor recoil our stern line.
They hopped in the dingy and gleefully let it drift back across
Balandra Bay. 

Pulling the dinghy and our children back in. Grandpa Ralph
paddled out to keep them company.

Shore excursion with Grandma!

Grandma in the cockpit of Yare (it was so great to show them a
little of our cruising life!)

Headed back to La Paz, Balandra Bay was great!

Happy hour at the rental house with our sailing friends from
Konami, Anjuli and Hoku Pa'a

Pool Party! with the crew of Riki Tiki Tavi.

It was a little chilly, the adults mostly stayed out of the water,
but it didn't deter the kids. They were in the water for close
to two hours!

A little post swimming screen time

Happy hour on the roof top patio

Driving to Todos Santos, it's been awhile since we've been in a car!

Gorgeous Pacific Beach near Todos Santos

La Paz Fun

We've been having a terrific time in La Paz, but our time here is coming to a close. At least for now. Tuesday we are going to head out into the islands nearby for the next week or so with our friends on Riki Tiki Tavi. From there we don't know our plans, but we will figure them out as we go!

Here are some of our favorite pictures from our time in La Paz.

Liam took Odin sailing in their sailing dinghy. They had great
fun together, but the wind piped up and things got quite wet
and exciting. They call it the gale riding day and joke about
that being the "sailor's life." 

We had a weather day at anchor when it was just too windy to row
to shore. We made the best of it and had a fun weather day, here the
boys are making playdough. We also watched Willy Wonka and the
Chocolate Factory and popped popcorn. Perfect day (except
that the rocking boat made Tor feel slightly sea sick all day...).

Legos are always a hit. The boys and Tor made a garden for me,
including an International truck with a dump bed holding a
load of compost. Surprisingly, it made me feel quite homesick.

A Boat kid excursion on the Malecon. The youngest crew of
three different boats.

Beautiful Sunset

Using a borrowed spinnaker pole from Riki Tiki Tavi to set up a
swing on our foredeck.

Speaking of swinging, Odin can propel himself by pumping,
no more pushing needed!

Liam's 10th birthday party! After the stick broke into
3 pieces, the kids went after the pinata with bare hands.
Great birthday party!

Birthday boy opening his gifts.

Lars really wants pesos, particularly in bill form. He and Odin
came up with a plan to make art to sell to earn money (where
did they get the entrepreneurial spirit?). Odin wants to sell
it to the public, Lars just wants to sell it to Mama and Papa,
for large numbers of pesos!