Varnish Stinks and Secret Recipe Revealed

I think we have been stripping teak and varnishing for 8 weeks now and we probably have another 4 or 5 weeks to go not including holidays. We've gone through a gallon of varnish which is supposed to cover 500 square feet in one coat. To say we are tired of stripping teak oil, and varnishing and sanding is an understatement. Just smelling the urethane solvent from a distance brings me down.

Here's an example of the starboard side settee after we stripped it and before we varnished it.


Now here's what it looks like after varnishing.


We usually put on about 6 or 7 coats so it will be durable and hopefully last about 100 years. Since we have to do everything in sections, we have to move things around and try to plan what can be stripped while the other area gets varnished. This makes all the spaces in the boat either under construction or buried in stuff for storage.

We did perfect a secret recipe for stripping off the teak oil:

• 1 - part "Roma" laundry soap powder. (Roma brand soap is an important ingredient!)
• 1 - part Baking Soda.
• 2 - parts White Vinegar.

We apply this as a liquid paste and don't let it dry but rather sit on the wood for 10-15 minutes. It pulls the teak oil and gunk out. We can usually strip off the old layers of oil in 2 passes. Sometimes some sanding is required, but the stripping part usually removes a large bulk of the old teak oil. Rinsing the soap out of the wood probably takes another hour or two of work, but at least the chemicals are fairly non-toxic and they work well.

Pitching the Guides

Our friends Bill and Jean from Mita Kuulu run the Rally to El Salvador and we donate a few guide books for them to raffle off. They kindly let us join in their presentations, which is rare because we are often never in the same spot at the same time. It gives us a chance to talk about the things we like in Central America and talk about our books. We had a pretty big crowd turn up for this rally which was pretty exciting.

Me babbling about Central America!

Good sized crowd

About 35 boats signed up for heading south! Here's a link to the Rally if you're interested:
http://elsalvadorrally.blogspot.com/

Fun in Sayulita

We spent our Thanksgiving week on the beach -- I know what a surprise. The fun part was getting together with friends from different parts of Mexico! Stan and MJ came all the way up from Manzanillo with a cat sitter to watch their crew. John and Linda came from the Puerto Vallarta area with a boat/cat sitter to watch their home and crew. We just drove our kitty along with us in our little RV. It is usually pretty hard to get these types of people together from such far away spots!

Our first night we drank Micheladas, and caught up on everyone's latest adventures. Then we spent lots of time on the beach, got caught in a revolution day parade, flushed a reptile down the toilet and did some hiking in the jungle.




Nice beaches:

Enjoying cold popsicles on the beach after a walk through the town's graveyard.

What comes up might go back down again

Ever wonder what kind of creatures luck in the pipes at night? Well, I tried to catch one!?!?!

Cartel Street Battle in Sayulita Using Children

The town was under siege this past Sunday. We happened to be caught in the middle of the fighting and took some shocking video of this murderous rampage. In a desperate attempt to expand drug cartel's territory they have now trained and armed children -- armies of them.

Trouble started in this normally relaxed beach resort when two rival groups encountered each other on the bridge that links two sides of the town. Shots were exchanged and the mob grew rapidly. Bigger weapons like home made cannons and machetes were everywhere. Smoke, explosions and wounded children were everywhere.

See the shocking video that proves how dangerous it really is here in Mexico.



Viva la Revolucion!!!!
Viva Mexico!!!

(Disclaimer: if you didn't get it, this is a parade for revolution day, Nov. 20th)

The Longest Summer

I feel like we've worked non-stop for the past 7 months. Four months we spent working in the Brokerage office (as volunteers) so we know Ray and Jeannette's business so well that we can step in any time. Jeannette is going to have to have another surgery next week and re-start her chemo in January because she's had several setbacks from her original operation back in April. And we've been so swamped with all the office/boat work that there hasn't been much to write about.

However the past 3 months we were overjoyed to have Ray and Jeannette hire Julie to fill in at the office which allowed us to focus on the disaster that is our boat.

On the boat we slaved over:

• Tore out 1 bulkhead, 1 wall, 3 counter tops, removed the stove and sink.
• Rebuilt the wall and bulkhead
• Re-plumbed all the tanks and sink
• Rebuilt new counter tops
• Added 2 new storage areas and 3 new access panels
• Installed new formica (GONE is the 70's YELLOW!!!)
• Rewired the electronics so they pass through the counter top neatly.
• Made a complete set of new molding so we now have proper sea-rails around the counters
• Stripped the 35 years of teak oil off the walls (ugh)
• Varnished everything and it looks great now.
• We have moved 3 times too (house sitting, to condo and this week to the RV) while doing all of this.

Here's a few photos of the job in progress with new Formica and varnish. (There is more to work on, but you can get the idea from the finished bits).




About the only fun things we have done are visit with Kate and Michael, celebrate Sherrell's Birthday with a surprise party and marched in the Day of the Dead parade where people chase donkey carts dispensing free beer (probably the best parade on the planet).

We are continuing to strip the teak. I just finished 7 coats on the bow section which allowed us to reload the boat with all our stuff so we can move on to the RV. The boat will probably continue to be UNLIVABLE for another several months as we work our way through the reconstruction of everything. But it's gonna look f****ing good. It's definitely the biggest single project we've ever done on the boat.

Hopefully this winter Jeannette will do well on chemo and we'll also find some time to get away from the work projects to see some more of Mexico using our little RV.

We have to use blankets already (nighttime temps are in the low 70's!!!). I think we might be running the heaters again this winter if it gets much colder. It's hard to believe I'm serious, but right now Sherrell is wrapped in a blanket and I'm jealous.

Bikes and Beer

Oh yeah. New bikes.



To go with our bikes we bought the BEST BEER IN MEXICO. Special ordered from the brewery in Gaudalajara, winner of the Gold Metal in the World Beer Cup: Minerva Pale Ale -- on par with Deschutes Mirror Pond, which seems impossibly good. In the house we are watching for the summer they have a "drink" fridge:

Quiksilver International Surf Contest

Free music and amazing surfers...what could be better? Here's some shots from today's events (we sneaked away from work for 1/2 day!)

See anyone familiar?

Trying to pull off a floater

Across the top

Rail grab!

These guys even made the small waves work for them.

Lots of famous surfers are competing here. I was jealous to see such flawless surfing, wave after wave after wave. The swell is gradually decreasing too but these guys still pull off some amazing moves.

Lots of changes

We haven't written because we've been dealing with some bad news. Almost immediately after splashing our boat back in the water, Jeannette, Ray's wife was diagnosed with colon cancer. (Ray is Sherrell's dad). So we jumped in to learn her job here in Mazatlan and we've been working for almost 8 weeks now 5.5 days a week to cover for her. We put everything on hold and are volunteering in the office until Jeannette can com back. Since we've been though a similar experience with Sherrell about 5 years ago, we know how tough this is for both of them.

On the plus side, we've been helping them research options and talk with doctors and Jeannette has recovered well from the surgery about 8 weeks ago. She's now ready to start the chemo stage of her treatment.

Anyway, that's the reason we haven't written much, done much boat work or traveled anywhere...we're office slaves again. Now I remember why I quit! Haha!

Jezebel the Boat Kitty 1991 - 2011

Jezebel's 20 year old kidneys finally gave out, and she passed from us today. She was a superb ship's cat, even though she never set "paw" on a boat until she was 12 years old. Honestly, we didn't think she would adapt to the cruising lifestyle at that late age, but she proved us wrong. In fact, she flourished and blossomed on the boat as she never did in a house, where she was often timid and hiding.

We will miss her terribly, but are glad we were able to share in her 20 years of life. Bien Viaje Jez.

Can you tell where we are?

Very few people would recognize Plaza Zaragosa, but how about the whole wheat cinnamon role? Oh yum...hot out of the oven.

I'll only give you one hint: Mazatlan. Mazatlan's Old Harbor to be exact. We anchored a few days in Punta de Mita, a few in Mantenchen Bay and now we are anchored in the Old Harbor. There really isn't a New Harbor, but it seems everyone calls it old.

We've always wanted to anchor here to see what it is like for ourselves. Opinions are all over the board: Love it, Too Sketchy, Terrible.... Typical stuff among cruisers. For us, it's nice. The harbor is calm, we can walk to downtown. The facilities are pretty run down, but there is a dinghy dock and showers. We get to watch the ships go by (very slowly) and our favorite bakery is not far. Yeah there is a sewage processing plant nearby but we haven't been bothered by it yet after two days.

They bake the best bread and pastries. Just like old times, we bought some and ate them in the Plaza. Sometimes familiarity is a good thing.

{GMST}22|11.0|N|106|25.33|W|Mazatlan Old Harbor|Water is surprisingly clean{GEND}

Sky Garden for the Birds

Sometimes the things people do with their boats can take on a surreal form. Take the case of this sailboat who was trying to keep birds off his mast. He had hoisted a huge orange plastic garden rake up his mast. They do this diligently when they leave the boat unattended. To me this big rake in the sky made a distinctive image in the marina. When I first saw it, I thought of a frustrated gardener turned sailor. I mentioned it to our friends on the boat next to them and they pointed out their broom at the top of the mast. Desperate house keepers? No, they are all desperate to keep the prolific bird piles off their boats.

It wasn't until yesterday that I saw "someone admiring the nice sky rake that I felt inspired to post a photo of it.

These frigate birds are notorious for breaking the small wind instruments on the tops of masts. As you can see in the photo this bird is happily sitting on the anemometer getting his back scratched by the rake.

Rough Ride to La Cruz

We seem to have bad timing for capes. It took us about 23 hours to get from Chamela to La Cruz against the NW winds. The wind probably didn't get much higher than 20 knots, but since it blew continuously for miles over the sea and the current was running slightly against it, the sea was rough. Larger boats probably would have had less problems, but we were struggling to do 4 knots most of the way. We dipped our bow numerous times into the sea sending spray all over the boat. It was rough and impossible to sleep well.

Nonetheless we are anchored, cleaned up and getting ready to do a little presentation tomorrow about our Central America Guide Books for the cruisers headed south.

Sherrell wants me to mention how much more she likes this anchorage now that we have a flopper-stopper that we bought in Panama.

And we're looking forward to visiting with Scott & Liz on Tues. when they arrive.

{GMST}20|44.95|N|105|22.40|W|Is this now yuppie central?|La Cruz 2{GEND}

Chamela Shamela

Probably the best part about coming up from Tenactita to Chamela is we didn't get beaten up by head winds. Now if we can just get around Cabo Corrientes with the same results. We did see 3-4 whales playing out in the sea and the anchorage is nice and calm. There are about 5 other boats here which was a bit of a surprise, but I forget just how many boats are tooling up and down the Mexican coast.

I had to wear a long sleeved jacket and pants on the way up -- THAT'S how cold it is. In fact our little kitty can attest to how bad the cold weather is even in the sun she needs her "coat":



{GMST}19|35.055|N|105|07.889|W|Chamela|Cold water{GEND}

Tenacatitia Again

I've been lacking inspiration lately, however I'll endeavor to not bore. We enjoyed meeting new people in Barra, watching boats get stuck in the soft bottom (no damage ever occurs) and seeing familiar places again. We did the basics: felt sorry for the caged spider monkey who has been there since Sherrell first visited 15 years ago, swam in the pool, exchanged books at Beer Bob's (Bob passed away while we were gone), shopped for clothes at the market, astonished ourselves at the sheer number of gringos everywhere (especially Canadians, and yes Canadians are gringos too), had some Indo beer on tap (a rare find) thanks to Stan's detective work.

And it is always hard to leave Barra. The lagoon is better than being in a marina because it is so calm yet offers plenty of privacy. We did however manage to pry our anchor up out of the muck and sail up to Tenacatita.

We've never been here during the peak of the season like this and it was interesting to see all the boats (23 or so) here. The beach landing is pretty easy compared to later in the season when the south swells pound this shore. In fact were were surprised to see everyone landing directly on the beach, something that was impossible when we were here last.

The first boat we passed in the anchorage was Harmony, a boat that we met 4 years ago in Panama. We've exchanged a few emails in the past but there's nothing like a catching up in person. We also met the father of another boating couple we last saw 6 years ago. The sailing world is pretty small at times.

Turns out Robert from Harmony is the social director around here. They call him the mayor and he likes to get people to play nice together. We were planning on stopping here for a day or two just to clean the bottom and prop before making the push around cabo corrientes. We told Robert we weren't staying long and weren't going to put the dinghy down and join the crew on the beach. He hid his disgust well and offered us a ride. While we are not big on group activities, I joined in the boat-to-beach swim, which ended up with me on the beach wandering for ten minutes wondering where everyone was because I didn't have my glasses. And apparently it wasn't a race to the beach. And then I found myself playing volleyball while Sherrell walked the beach. We went with the flow and had good time.

I guess the crowds were a bit overwhelming for us and we didn't get to talk to Robert & Virgina much, but we did briefly meet a few new people and it was fun hanging out on the beach.

The weather has been SO cold here that we have been running the diesel heater almost every morning. Thankfully it still works after 5 years of no use. We had to buy a baby tee-shirt for Jezebel to wear to stop her from shivering during the COLD COLD night (in the 50's!). We'll post a picture when we have internet access....

{GMST}19|17.936|N|104|50.251|W|Tenacatita|Cleaning the bottom{GEND}

PATA Clinic and Whales diving

Before we left Santiago, we helped the people from PATA (Personas Ayudendo Todo los Animales) do a sterilization clinic. They try to round up stray cats and dogs and also local people's animals and sterilize them for free. It was a fun to see PATA in action and help out with the animals.

We pried ourselves out of Santiago Bay and managed to motor upwind about 20 miles to Barra de Navidad. The anchorage is deep inside an estuary and the water is flat calm.

Not much has happened in the past 4 years since we were last here. A lot of the town has remained unchanged and there hasn't been a lot of growth either. There are a few changes, like the Canadian guy who calls himself "The French Baker". That guy has a his own panga now for pimping his goods to the cruisers who are anchored in the bay. His store/restaurant/bakery has had a huge upgrade too. I'm glad he's been able to make it work so well.

Well, we'll spend a little time here before moving on. It is so quiet and peaceful. Even the level of cruisers are down this year. Normally it is packed but there are only about 18-20 boats in here now, which is tolerable.

On our way from Santiago we shot some video of three whales doing their thing.



{GMST}19|11.5|N|104|40.2|W|Sooo calm|Barra{GEND}

Santiago Bay Shadow Dance

I've always wanted to catch some video of Jordan's sun worship dance on top of the dodger and I finally was in the right place at the right time...oh yeah bump bump.

Whales and Dolphins and Gunk

Here's some video footage shot during our various legs from Zihautanejo to Manzanillo where we stopped in the commercial port of Lazaro Cardenas (fantastic anchorage by the way) and Caleta de Campos.

Our new camera has been really nice for getting closeup photos, but shooting video on a boat is proving to be really really hard. I think the dolphin footage came out ok (it was pretty calm) and the whales were good because they were so close, but the sea was starting to build up and it was tough keeping the image stable.

Anyway here it is for you to enjoy without all the sleepless passages and crappy headwinds.


{GMST}19|06.078|N|104|20.621|W|Nice Anchorage|Las Hadas{GEND}

No Lefts for Me

The swell was up. We left our super calm yet pungent anchorage in Lazaro Cardenas for surf! Caleta de Campos is supposed to have a nice left break that peels. Since it was only about 35 miles away it seemed like a good roadstead anchorage to try for a couple of nights.

Our trip up was very calm, unusually calm. In fact I even wrote a java program while on the way up here. How geeky is THAT?

We did get to see turtles, dolphins and a strange sludge/slime barrier that we drove happily through. I'll post a video of the adventure when we get internet access again.

Stoked to see a ripping peeling left wave as we worked our way into the bight all I could see were close-outs. That bites.

So we are out of here in the morning. It is a beautiful little spot with a cool beach, but the surf is closing out everywhere. If we wanted to get to shore we'd have to swim it. I know this was a hot "secret" spot for waves, but it isn't working for this swell direction now. Bummer.

{GMST}18|04.375|N|102|44.97|W|Rolly|Caleta de Campos{GEND}

Lazaro Cardenas and the Whale Backstroke

In a typical fit of indecisiveness we changed our plans. We stopped at Isla Grande just outside of Zihuatanejo to clean the bottom of the boat. The idea was to depart again in the evening. However the wind was a headwind and we both felt like resting instead. So we settled in and had a beer. Not more than 5 minutes later the wind shifted favorably offshore and stayed there all night. Figures. We didn't feel like changing our plans again and going.

So we got up early in the morning and the offshore breeze was still blowing. We set sail and sailed along at 3 to 4 knots until it died at around 9am. Instead of doing the long passage, we decided to go somewhere new and unusual -- a commercial port.

Lazaro Cardenas pumps tons of products in and out of Mexico, including lots of oil. There is an old abandoned basin just inside the entrance surrounded by mangroves and out of the ocean swell.

We mananged to squeeze in between a procession of ships and anchor for the night. It's very calm an quiet with a nice odor of oil, yum.

We did see a large pod of spinner dolphins and got some video (no spins caught on film) and also there was a giant mama humpback and her baby doing tricks: breaking, fin slaps, spy hops and sounding. At one point it looked the momma whale was doing the back stroke with both fins rotating around and around! The calf of course kept trying to imitate her...sadly not much of that duo was captured on video either.

{GMST}17|55.875|N|102|09.814|W|Breathe that freshly oiled air|Lazaro Cardenas{GEND}

In Zihuatanejo guided by spinner dolphins

We finally had a nice calm night passage. It took us about 26 hours to get from Acapulco's Bahia Marques to Zihuatanejo ("zee-WAT-en-ay-ho"). Before we left we took some photos from around the town and then on our passage I tried to take some video of some of the things we typically see.

Fish balls are a common occurrence in healthy marine zones. The water froths, fish leap and birds swoop. Often you'll spot a large predator in the water which usually is the cause for all the turmoil. There was a large fish ball off our starboard side so I got a short shot of it.

Also I got really lucky and caught two spinner dolphins leaping out of the water and spinning. The film is really jerky due to the boat's motion, but I put the clip at 1/3 speed and you can clearly see them leaping and spinning. A rare sight for land lubbers.



So now we are in Zihuatanejo! There are only 8 other boats here and 3 of them are leaving today. In the glory days of the '90s there would be almost 100 boats here for Christmas as this was the place to be. The town has great food and lots of artists and we look forward to going ashore and seeing how things have changed in the past 3 years.

{GMST}17|38.157|N|101|33.228|W|Great sopes, yum.|Zihuatanejo Again{GEND}