September ‘94
*Additional notes may appear in italics after my mom’s initial journal entries.
A ladybug means you should check the comments at the bottom of the page to see what Mom has chimed in on after reading these!
September 1, Thursday
We called Phyllis and Marian at Navopache. Phyllis is planning on being over here somewhere between Oct. 7 & 13th. And Marian didn’t know when they would make it. We did make contact on 7.2000 with Steve, but it was real light and noisy. We will try again Friday at 5pm. A man made a phone call to Mom in Mesa and let them know that we are all fine. It will be good when Steve gets his phone patch connected.
*I like these reminder of just how easy it is to keep in touch these days. When we were sailing, making contact with loved ones was always a big to-do. You’ll read about our mail packages which consisted of all the letters our friends and family sent to my grandmother, who then sent them collectively to whichever designated address we had given her where we would be able to scoop them up and open them like Christmas presents. My classmates would write me letters and ask questions about the boat, and of course all our family would too.
These phone patches that have been mentioned are a way of making phone calls through the ham radio. What is a ham radio? Think like a walkie talkie which can reach cities all over the planet the planet via airwaves. No internet required -in fact, the world wide web was only about a year old at this time. The only phone we had was a ‘bag phone’ and was wildly expensive, so when we could, we would do these phone patches with our friend who’s radio set up was able to connect to his phone and he would call up our friends and family for us. We would agree on times and frequencies to meet and when the signal was good, we’d be able to make the phone patch. There was always an obligatory training session with those on the phone, explaining some of the radio etiquette like having to say “over” when they are done speaking so that we wouldn’t talk over them unknowingly. I wonder how different it was for them on their end. 🤔
September 2, Friday
We sailed out to Todos Santos Island and were all anchored and set by 2pm. Everything went right the 1st time. At 5pm we made a pretty good connection with Steve. Samie even talked to Lori. John and Samie are catching lots of ‘bait’ fish. John caught a scorpion fish and an eel – yuk!
September 3, Saturday
They caught enough Calico Bass and half-moon fish for dinner tonight – good. It was cloudy and cool until 5pm and then the sun came out. I did laundry again. Talked to Steve again. Blue Ridge won the football game last night. They said it rained for the first, second and third quarters.
September 4, Sunday
The generator would not start this morning, so we came back in to Ensenada. John ‘charged’ the battery and thinks it was just a loose connection and a dirty post. Works ok tonight.
Talked to Steve on the radio and Peggy was there, too! Talked to her, but Michael had to work and when Steve tried the phone patch, he was busy and couldn’t come to the phone. Danielle had gone back to Yuma.
Brenda saw her at the game Friday night and she- Danielle- is moving again. She’s in the same dorm, but a different room.
Peg usually stays with her when she’s up, but she was already staying with her friend Tiffany.
September 5, Monday
The generator wouldn’t start again – so John bought a new battery. So far, so good.
We went to the store. I’m baking a chicken.
Steve called on the radio about 4:40, lots of noise, hard to hear. He’s gonna see if 6:00am is better.
We seem to get a better connection away from town.
The way the boat swings around on the mooring – it’s odd because the sun shines in the windows on one side of the boat when the sun sets and the same windows when the sun rises – if we have swung around.
There are these little grey birds, maybe a type of seagull, it makes this sound just like someone laughing. Sometimes if they do it long enough, it makes us laugh.
September 6, Tuesday
John is painting the blue stripes on the side of the boat. Looks nice. Danielle called from Yuma. She is sharing a room; ball practice starts soon – I think. She’s going to JC Penny’s to see when she starts work. I hate not being able to talk long enough to find out what’s what.
September 7, Wednesday
John is still painting the blue. Went into town and mailed more letters.
I sweep up more junk on this floor than I did in the house with 5 people and 2 dogs! Where in the hell does it come from?!
We swapped the gold trim and red keel for blue and blue against the brown hull stripe, which matched the sail covers.
September 8, Thursday
Went in to town to see if Neal had brought back any mail, but he is still gone.
We have not been able to make contact with Steve and Brenda since Monday night. Tony from Shelter Island Yacht Sales called, someone stole the suburban today.
*I have no idea what suburban she is referencing here, nor does she seem to when I asked her about it. I just love that she’s so nonchalant about it here. 🐞
September 9, Friday
We left the harbor at 9am and sailed out to Todos Santos.
John caught the traditional scorpion fish and this time an octopus!
September 10, Saturday
John scrubbed the outside of the boat. I laid in the sun and enjoyed a nice quiet day.
No fish – burgers were for dinner.
*One of the most frequently asked questions was what we ate and that always made me laugh a little. We were typically always close enough to some sort of market for fresh veggies, meats and dairies and whatnot. And obviously there was typically an option for fresh seafood. I remember ice was like gold, especially in the warmer months.
September 11, Sunday
Married 1 year today, lobster was for dinner.
Made contact with Steve, although not real clear.
September 12, Monday
John is always cleaning and polishing on the boat. The water tank is full, full.
We all hiked to the top of the island, you can see forever.
A kelp boat needed to anchor in the cove so we had to leave. We didn’t even put up the sails. There was 15 to 18 knots of wind and maybe 4 foot swells. We got to Ensenada at 5:30.
Still no Neal, hopefully he will have mail tomorrow.
*Especially as I get older, I have such a growing appreciation of my father and all his hard work on the boat. I always attributed it to his time as a Marine, and maybe just boredom. While those both definitely contributed, I understand now that he’s just really smart and also very dedicated to the things he loves. The better you take care of something, the longer it will last. He learned something new every time something broke and logged all the details into the ‘ole noggin and he would make notes of whatever type of maintenance would help prevent breakage or reduce wear and tear. With an engineer’s mind, he could fix damn near anything, and that which left him dumbfounded would surely be answered by a fellow cruiser! The cruising community is always willing to help each other out and it is something I will never forget - being backed by sometimes complete strangers who understand and maybe have had the same predicament. I know Dad was also always happy to help others and that it was greatly appreciated, as we were absolutely never shy of help in any way. Even with a helpful community, I know that there were some things people did which went to extra lengths to help us out and I attribute that to Dad’s friendly, helpful and cheerful self and his positive affect on fellow cruisers. I’ve been able to understand that more as I’ve gotten older.
September 13, Sunday
Neal came back, but still no mail.
Steve stayed home sick today and we made a really good connection on the ham radio. Talked maybe 45 minutes. He made phone patches to Michelle, Michael and Phyllis. It was 8:30am, so Peggy was in school.
‘Chelle & Faron can’t come down at Christmas. Faron is out of vacation – so we will see if all the kids can come the first week of January.
The wind in the harbor was blowing 20 knots – must be really whoop’en it up out in the open.
We could not even make any contact on the radio with Steve tonight.
*Weather has a big effect on the ham radio signals.
September 14, Wednesday
We walked about 3 miles to the Big Gigante Store and McDonald’s (nice treat) and another 3 or 4 miles back – long walk.
*I remember this trip! Well, I remember Mickey D’s and seeing those golden arches was like a mirage in the desert and I was over the moon about my Happy Meal toy score which was a Magic School Bus with story cards inside.
September 15, Thursday
John waxed on the boat. Forgot what else ‘cuz I got behind with this.
September 16, Friday
We went in to the parade – today is Mexico’s Independence Day. Then we walked for a while, got an ice cream cone and came back to the boat. We went back in tonight, called John R. to tell him not to mail the documentation yet – Donna J. did get the original back and had mailed it to him. Talked to Peggy for a minute.
*Pretty sure this is where I took my second photo ever; there was a real pretty lady on a horse in the parade.
September 17, Saturday
We went out to Todos Santos, but could not anchor; there were two boats already in the cove. So we slowly sailed around for 3 hours and got the water tank almost full. Got back to the harbor at 3:30pm.
September 18, Sunday
We left the harbor at 7:15 am to get out far enough away to be able to get Steve on the radio, which we couldn’t hear him too well at all. He was at his dad’s in Tempe.
While we were out there a spring broke on the governor of the generator – so we could not make any water to finish filling the tank.
We came back in to the harbor at 5:00 pm. We pulled up next to Bandito’s dock so that we could have power to chill the fridge way down.
George and Lisa from the boat Candide came over and we visited until 10:30 pm. They are heading down to Cabo now.
We finally got mail – 1 from Peg, 2 from Mom, Colleen, what a treat!
September 19, Monday
They lifted the boat out of the water, the process started at 8:30 am, by 10:00 am we were sprayed off and sitting up on blocks. They will have to sand it all the way down before putting on the new paint.
They also took off the rudder, which is under our bed. This means taking apart and putting it together again every day as they work.
The dust from the sanding on all the boats here in this yard is worse than living on a dirt road in Lakeside, Arizona in August!!
Neal, from the boat Carousel came over for dinner. He gave us some ideas on planning our trip. He says don’t go to Mazatlan, there is too much crime and filth; try a place called Zihuatanejo, which is where most of the cruisers spend Christmas. John remembers that Don B. goes there.
We called John and Alice R, they may fly down to Cabo if we are there by November 11 – the plane tickets are only $100 -round trip- wow!
*I remember this day and being in awe of seeing the whole boat out of the water, it was wild!
September 20, Tuesday
Samie took her first school test and missed only 1 question having to do with vowel sounds. Now we mail it in to the advisory teacher for Calvert Schools.
The guys came to look at the rudder and what needs to be done is a bracket build and more or less some major work costing around $2,000 -wow! We were not expecting that. We knew the paint job would be around $1,000, but this other is a big surprise!
I don’t like being on dry dock! I’m sick from the lack of motion, besides, it feels like we’re in an elevator waiting to “hit” the bottom floor.
Monday I was close to puk’en and had a terrible headache. Today we all just feel like we are at an odd angle.
Found out later the rudder might be only $800 – hope so.
*I can remember this feeling, thinking about it!
🐞
September 21, Wednesday
We left Ensenada with Neal at 7:00 am headed for San Diego, by car. We got to Tony’s office on Shelter Island at 9:20 am, not a bad ride. Tony let us use his truck to go to the bank, Target and to Marina Cortez to see how all the boaters are doing there and when they are heading this way.
We also went to say hi to Steven and checked the mail at Downwind Marine. Samie had a package from Sam and Rane and I, a letter from Jo.
We caught the trolly to Tijuana – about an hour, walked across the border, caught a bus back to Ensenada; in about 2 hours’ time we walked from the station to the boat. The trolly was $1.75 each, the bus $5.00 each.
The bottom of the boat was blue when we got here – at 8:00 pm. Looks great.
September 22, Thursday
John waxed the boat, the guys are still working on the rudder. Samie and I wrote letters all day.
September 23, Friday
They finished up on the rudder and we were back in the water at 1:00 pm. We fueled the tanks – now to clean up all the filth – dust everywhere.
The paint job, rudder and fuel totaled $1,800. Better than we thought!
September 24, Saturday
John and Steve tried to find the dinghy, but no luck. When Neal got back, they went to get it, but it won’t be ready until Monday pm.
Steve and Sheri from the Valiant Lady came over for dinner.
Pretty sunset tonight.
September 25, Sunday
We bug-bombed the boat so we had to spend the morning in town.
Saturday Danielle and Michael called from Steve and Brenda’s – could not get through on the ham.
September 26, Mondy
Sherry from Valiant Lady took me to a REAL laundry mat today. Man was that a nice treat. I think it was about $10 to wash 3 loads and dry, but you have to split it up to dry, so there were 5 loads to dry.
John helped her husband Steve with some jobs on the boat.
John got our fuel tanks all the way full. We figured 85 gallons is what we’ve used since we left San Diego – August 14th.
September 27, Tuesday
We got our dinghy back with the side covers – nice $130. We left the harbor at 1:30 for Todos Santos, no wind, warm sunshine. 45 minutes out and we have 20 knots of wind -another 30 minutes and we have 30 knots with gusts to 35. This is the most wind we have been in. Had a fish on the line, splashes coming up over the bow and the dodger and Danielle calls on the phone. * We made it in to the cove and were anchored by 4:00pm. The wind is from the West, straight behind us (that’s good), but it’s still blowing 10 to 15 knots over the top of us and it’s causing a lot of surge in the cove.
We left the harbor with Valiant Lady, but they had some problems and went back to the harbor. Luckily, they got everything fixed and were out here and anchored by 6:30pm.
We ate the bonita we caught on the way out.
*”It’s a helluva day at sea, Sir!”
-Name that movie!
🐞
Dad and I putsin’ around the bay in Ensenada; we would do this regularly. You can see the new canvas cover here, which was a real treat for us to keep from burning ourselves on the hot rubber as well as protecting the rubber from the sun. Like I said, Dad’s a smart man! My dinghy rides with Dad are some of my favorite memories - we would wander around new anchorages and see what its shores held in store for us. Things were especially fun once we got the 10HP Mariner; we’d go fast over the white-caps on a windy day, he taught me to drive it (this was basically my first car), and we would also go fishing. As is pretty typical in the family dynamic, Mom was the rule-maker and Dad was more likely the rule-breaker. 🙃 While I wouldn’t say we broke too many rules, we’ve always fun given’ it some gas and “opening her up” on the open road/ocean. Our more recent rides have been in the hot-rod he built; a 1927 Ford model T two-door roadster passenger. I’m telling you, the man can do anything!
September 28, Wednesday
I was awake until 11:30 pm last night. It’s hard for me to sleep the first night at anchor, which is ok since we have TV here.
Sunrise was beautiful this morning.
I did a small batch of laundry. John, Samie and Steve hiked on the mountain. Sherry and I laid in the sun.
We made around 120 gallons of water today- it ran for 8.5 hours.
September 29, Thursday
A very relaxing day. John, Samie and Steve hiked up the mountain. Sherry and I were lazy and laid in the sun. Steve and Sherry came over for dinner.
John had to clean the connections on the fresh water pressure pump, it was not working.
Made faint contact with Steve P. in Lakeside, Az.
September 30, Friday
Another lazy morning, we left the anchorage around 11:00 am and were back in the harbor around 1:00 pm. Had pizza out with Steve and Sherry.
