The Crossing.

20.8N 105.5W. Bahia de Banderas, Nayarit, Mexico.

We begin our passage on New Year’s Day. The Sea is in chaos – roiling with wind waves and chop from a near week of northerlies. We leave the anchorage under power but are able to shut down the iron genny and enjoy being under sail for as long as it lasts. Unfortunately, favorable sailing conditions last for only a few short hours. The wind fades by late morning and Gitano gets slapped around smartly. We decide to suck-it-up and keep moving on, expecting the seas to smooth out over the next few days.

Morning turns to afternoon…turns to night watches…to morning…to afternoon…to night…and, come sunrise, days later, our eyes are greeted with much-appreciated glassy seas. The sea is pocked with turtles slow in awakening to the sounds of our passing. Signs of a groundswell grow as we approach land and we glass the shoreline looking for surf. By mid-morning, we are at anchor at the point of Punta de Mita.

Happy New Year!

Christmas Morning.

23.5N 109.5W Ensenada de Los Muertos, BCS, Mexico.

We are free. Free of dock lines, free of the several-times-daily-made-stations-of-the-cross-type-walk (marina version), free of the much-too-enjoyed high-speed internet, free of shore power, free of endless hot water, free of easy access to land and stores.

Gitano slips out into the Sea with a sprightly step. The air smells fresher. We feel younger. The sun rises and we are underway, once again.

We shut down the engine and hoist our new main, testing her out in the light Northwest winds.

We enter the Ceralvo Channel under dolphin escort...lovely!

We set anchor by early afternoon with the expectation that we will spend some time at anchor here as Northerlies are predicted to commence soon and last for most of a week.

Feliz la pura vida!

Still Life in La Paz.

24.15N 110.3W. Marina Palmira, La Paz, BCS, Mexico.


It has been interesting hearing all of your news from up north -- e.g. freezing temperatures, snow, canceled trips, and rapidly diminishing supplies of firewood... to name a few. By contrast, it is1100 as I write this and the sky is clear, the air is still and the temperature is in the mid-70s.

We are getting ready to shove off tomorrow morning -- Christmas Day! Steve is putting the car in storage and I am doing some last minute business on the internet.

We are heading across the Sea to mainland Mexico. At this point, we are not certain if we will do so in one long passage or break it up. It all comes down to the weather. There are Northers predicted. Some sources say there will be relatively strong Northers commencing in just a few days...while other sources say the winds will be a bit less and a bit more tardy. quien sabe?

So for now, it is fair winds and following seas....and, of course, feliz navidad!

The City of La Paz.

24.15N 110.3W La Paz, BCS, Mexico.

For the past three seasons, we have staged out of La Paz. La Paz is a real Mexican city. It is charming and busy and rich in history. On Sunday, we had some time to go out for a nice breakfast and take a stroll before the crowds hit the main square.

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Dec2008 La Paz

Surf Trip.

Pedrito Trailer Park.

We took a little road trip to Pedrito to catch a bit of surf. It is just an hour and a half from La Paz...with thirty minutes of that time just getting out of the La Paz sprawl. Up early and on the road at sun up and Steve was surfing by nine. We stayed the night and then headed back to the boat after another morning surf.

Here are a few more photographs of our day trip.

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Dec2008 Road to Pedrito

Old Mainsail.

24.15N 110.3W.

We needed a new mainsail when we purchased Gitano in 2002. In spite of that fact, our old mainsail drove us through six full seasons. She drove us through several Tehuantepec-kers of Mexico’s Hurricane Alley though we swore we would only sail through one. She drove us through the worse winds we ever faced -- being the Papagayos -- herself suffering some significant tears in the old fabric.

She is a large old style sail. She can make you proud when she is set right and full. She humbles you when you don’t quite know what you are doing and are getting overpowered and drug across wind waves rather than cutting gracefully through them.

I have learned to sail under her. I have sat under her shade while cruising through the day in the company of dolphins. In my many irrational moments while under sail, I have begged for wind to fill her up so that we could continue to sail without the engine. There were other moments when I have begged for the wind not to fill her up too much requiring us to turn to and reef her in. Always when underway, we were aware of her presence...under her tutelage. Her instruction was on occasion demanding...but more often subtle and forgiving.

So, I am sad today as we replace her with a new-to-us sail. Life in the tropics simply took its final toll on her fabric leaving it too easy to rip and tear. The re-cut sail looks like it will work well…but it will never be the same as our old (and we think original mainsail for the boat).

I will miss her...

Marina Life.

24.15N 110.3W. Marina Palmira, La Paz, BCS, Mexico.

We will be tied up here on the dock at slip #329 for the next two or more weeks for anyone passing through…

Clean Lines and Bottom.

24.15N 110.3W. Marina Atalanta Astilleros, La Paz, BCS, Mexico.

She's a beauty.

Back On The Hard.

24.15N 110.3W. Marina Atalanta Astilleros, La Paz, BCS, Mexico.

We arrived to La Paz late Wednesday, 19 November 2008, after an extra twelve hour layover at the LA Airport this day….following our aborted attempts to fly anywhere out of the Redding Airport throughout the day on Monday. All delays due to mechanical problems….requiring replacement planes to fly in to our airport from some other airport after long delays. In spite of the lengthy delays, it still beat a long multiple day road trip from the Northern California to Southern BCS.

So…here we are. Our first night back on Gitano – in spite of the fact of being on the hard – was very restful and peaceful. zzzzzzzzz

We have just a few projects before launching back in the water. The worst is a bottom job. The job entails sanding the most superficial of the old paint and growth off, scrubbing off a bit more and then painting the bottom with the most toxic, fowl bottom paint we can still find on the market. (The best paint has been outlawed and mariners in this part of the world now find themselves in a constant search for something that works better than the almost better-than-nothing bottom paint that we often find on the bottom of our boats…hosting the masses of barnacles and sea grass that we had been hoping to kill off instead.)

Our work is done in three days and we prepare to launch back to the water.

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Nov2008 La Paz

Hasta La Vista.

41.95N 124.1W. Azalea Avenue, McKinleyville, California, USA.

It is hard to remember when we last lingered so long here. Fall is upon us in full with its shadows stretching beyond imaginable lengths...cool, crisp temperatures graced ever so briefly with a glimmer of sun. We awake in the middle of the night enticed by the light of the full moon to creep outside in wonder. Abundance is everywhere…apples, wild mushrooms, the last harvests from our summer garden. enchanting.

However...we are beckoned to elsewhere and it is time to move on. Our bags – including a new-to-us mainsail and refurbished prop -- are packed. Almost two hundred pounds of it! I cringe at the thought of running the airport and customs gauntlets. groan.

Come Monday...

UPDATE: ...ummmm...better make that Wednesday...

Hello from the lovely Redding Airport. Our plane "broke." After numerous and various "updates" regarding the "simple" problem with the nose strut, the various estimates for the mechanic's arrival, the hoped for soon departure, the hoped for not-so-soon departure...it came down to please leave security to stand in the long and very slow line at the counter and work out other arrangements for getting to wherever it is that you got up at 0330 this morning to get to. Our's was the worst case for all passengers as our LA to La Paz flight is scheduled for only a few days a week...and it came down to flying to LA via a trip back through Arcata, then on to Guadalajara via a red eye flight arriving in the early morning hours to depart around 0500 for a flight to La Paz....or simply fly back to Arcata later this afternoon and try again on Wednesday. So La Paz will have to wait for another day.

C'est la vie

Mmooooo.

Camozzi Family Reunion Weekend.

Casa Camozzi-Ekberg, Tukwila, Washington, USA.

The Camozzi family dropped in on the Ekbergs once again for the annual Camozzi weekend in early August. Hanging out catching up on family news and events. Big breakfasts to start our day. Preseason Seahawk football scrimmage. Mariners baseball games (they even won one!). The Sunday New York Times crossword puzzle. And even more good food. I am sorry that I didn't get any great photographs...so am left with a placeholder of some diehard Seahawk fans who appeared to be almost as eager as the Camozzis for the upcoming season to start.

Something a Little Different.

Along the way...

I am obviously not the most disciplined and technically proficient photographer. While I put some effort towards improvement, I find that I enjoy my flawed efforts almost as much as my successes and look forward to the accidents of low light, moving camera, et al. Here is just one of my most recent accidents.

Dale Family Homestead.

Tannersville and the City, New York, USA.

We flew out to New York for a very short week at the Dale Family Homestead in Tannersville, New York in mid-July. The old house still stands proud and was filled with the sounds and motions of Dales both young and old. Morning runs for rolls and the paper. Short hikes on some of the local trails. A round or two of golf -- long story short, Dales get to play for free. A day at Saratoga for the horse races. Family poker games after dinner. And lots of family stories. Our visit ended way too soon.

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NewYork 2008

Camping Along the Rogue.

A Not-So-Secret-Spot along the Rogue River, Oregon, USA.

In mid July, we returned to one of several of our favourite campsites -- this one along the Rogue River. The river crashes through this incredible volcanic rock in whitewater rapids. Steve's daughter, Kathleen joined us along with Jim and the "mighty Peanut" (her miniature daschund). Beautiful setting, lots of great food...an enjoyable time for all, though, I think, Peanut had the most fun of any of us.

Welcome Home!

41.95N 124.1W. Azalea Avenue, McKinleyville, California, USA.

Whitey was a month old in early June when he spent his first day out in the pasture. We got him at a very young two days and kept him in the "calf nursery" shed for a month. The dairy man told us he was a "lively" one and Whitey lived up to his reputation. He bucked. He dug in his heels. He got away. He tried to get back in the shed. In short, he made Steve work the whole thirty yards of distance from the shed to the pasture. Once he was finally in the pasture, he bucked, ran laps and skidded on his knees a few times as he tested out his relatively new legs. Rambunctious little fella.

News Flash.

41.95N 124.1W. Azalea Avenue, McKinleyville, California, USA.

It is cold and raining here...predicted to last most of the week. Beautiful.

Back On Land.

41.95N 124.1W. Azalea Avenue, McKinleyville, California, USA.

We arrived in Humboldt County to several days of beautiful “warm” sunny weather. A great welcome back! Now the weather has returned to the cold and rain. This Sunday morning we woke to frozen hail on the ground making the dash to the hot tub a bit risky…but we endured!

We are adjusting to being off the boat. Believe it or not, I still find myself feeling the motion of the boat underfoot at the oddest of times. We still awake at night, confused as to where we are…missing the motion of the boat in our unconscious.

Steve has already mowed the lawn four times. We are busy getting the garden and pasture ready. A fire has been going in the fireplace since we arrived. There have been endless hours in the hot tub.

It is nice to be here…

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Apr 2008 Humboldt

End Of Season.

24.1N 110.1W. La Paz, BCS, Mexico.

We are tied up in Marina Palmira in La Paz, BCS....washing the boat down, doing (lots of) laundry, changing the oil, hauling down the sails, packing up the dinghy, etc., etc., etc...

Just another season "shot to hell"...

In spite of the fact that we are looking are forward to meeting up with family and friends, there is a sense of loss that comes with all of this...

We will haul out to the dry yard tomorrow morning...and then fly out the next day.

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Marina Life.

24.1N 110.1W. La Paz, BCS, Mexico.

Our season is coming to a close and we find ourselves once again tied up in a marina. The endless source of fresh water and electricity is addictive...but we both find ourselves deeply disdisoriented late in the nights wondering where we are...it is way too still.

We find ourselves in an interesting location here. One wouldn't normally think of a marina as a "hunter and gatherer" type environment but...Lucy the Goose has set up a nest on the boat next to ours...and from what we hear, she is laying eggs on a relatively regular basis. The dock workers and a few others on the dock, routinely check the nest to see if there is an egg. Alerted to this potential bounty...the race is on....and Steve keeps watch...and finally after a couple of days, Lucy leaves her nest and....Steve scores the egg! OK?... I was not really sure about the goose egg...but I am always open to new foods....and so the next morning, we had one goose egg between the two of us with our beans and tortillas. Excellent!

p.s. The Perkins Blue highlight on Lucy's wing feathers...is thanks to Steve...of course!

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Apr 2008 La Paz