BLOGGING HABIT GETS SERIOUS

I made my last provisioning run to tianguis this morning, taking along our new friends Russ and Phyllis from "Sasha" who hadn't seen this Mexican-style swap meet before. While shopping for veggies we came across a plant seller who made unique use of a derelict car blocking a perfectly good marketing space: she made it part of the display.

We stopped at Panaderia Dos Hermanos so I could stock up on polvorones, and then I filled my giant tote bag with carrots, peppers, potatoes, onions...

Phyllis caught me inquiring about peppers
at a verduras stall in the Guaymas tianguis
•••

Good news: the Mac laptop the Capt uses for navigation isn't dead after all. The shop in Hermosillo replaced the dead hard drive they had installed only last summer, and then reported the motherboard had blown out. But he got it back, fiddled with it tonight and got it running again. We're going to need it to get us where we're going, starting Saturday. No, we've never navigated with a sextant. We don't use an abacus either.

On the subject of sailing, I started a couple of new blogs, one with this host and one with Sailblogs. Sewphie the Sea Dog is about sewing for the boat, and S/V Bliss will be a sailing log which I'll update as we journey south. I chose Sailblog because it's a dedicated sailors' site. Although it's not quite as user-friendly as Blogger, it helps me track down other boats in the area where we're heading. Participating boats are listed in alpha order. I've already gotten some good news about La Cruz, one of the anchorages where I'm hoping to spend some time.

Both blogs are linked on this page and vice versa, under MY OTHER BLOGS. Check 'em out.

CROSSING THE SEA BY FERRY

The Ferry at the dock in Santa Rosalia

There are three ways to get from mainland Mexico to Baja: drive up through the States and down through San Diego/Tijuana, cross the Sea in your own boat, or take the ferry. There are ferries crossing from Santa Rosalia to Guaymas and from La Paz to Mazatlan. Our friend Garth came across on the Santa Rosalia ferry this weekend and has the following report.

We are currently about half way across the Sea of Cortez making 8.1 knots in a very light norther. The vessel is 37 meters long, 9 meters wide, and draws 3.8 meters. the ship is powered by a single 3508 caterpillar diesel of 1000 horsepoweer turning 1,300 r.p.m. The engine room is spotless.

I've toured the whole ship courtesy of Capt. Carlos Csedano Lopez and machinista (chief engineer) Julio Cota. Both reside in Guaymas, Sonora. I'm writing from the crew mess and they have been kind enough to give me a stateroom. The ship has a slight roll so about 1/3 of the passengers are seasick. That and the bureacracy at both ends are my least favorite parts of the trip.

The trip is relatively boring and long. We left the dock at about 9:30 a.m. and will not arrive in Guaymas until 7:40 p.m. My ticket cost was 400 pesos but normal fare is 550 pesos. One may purchase a ticket at 6 a.m. the day of sailing, though in busy holday seasons it is best to purchase well in advance. The ferry leaves Santa Rosalia Sunday, Wednesday and Friday. If swell is around 3 meters the vessel does not sail. The vessel is owned by Greeks.

I would not advise crossing the border into Mexico in the few days following the U.S./Mexico soccer match if Mexico loses on 6 February. If you are Canadian, no worries.

I barely cleared custom in Santa Rosalia because I am hauling several kilos of shrimp, scallop, lenguado, conch and lobster. They wanted to know how I came by so much good seafood. Fortunately I had photos of myself and Capt. Oscar from Pawley III giving me shrimp. In addition Efren Naranjos that owns the fish market in Mulege was kind enough to give me a receipt. Ah, bureaucracy. Of course I would never dive and take shellfish illegally myself!

Hopefully this will be the only time I'll have to resort to the ferry. It has been just another one of life's great adventures. Thank goodness Oscar already took my tools to Guaymas or I might well not be on this trip. I think next time I'll take the panga.

Garth

A SEA OF RICE KRISPIES

The first time I heard it, I thought "Bliss" was on fire. It was our first night in a quiet anchorage on the Baja side of the Sea of Cortez, back in 1997, and we were hearing a crackling sound all around the boat. A little like the sound of a fire, or someone crumpling a BIG pile of newspapers. Was something eating our boat?

Weeks later we met someone who had been in the Sea for years, and asked about the source of the mystery sound. He replied "It's just shrimp...and no, they are not eating your boat."

But it wasn't until this morning that I found out "the rest of the story." BajaInsider published an article about marine biologist Bill Martin's findings on this species, including a recording of their unique sound. Specifically, they're Alpheus heterochaelis, or Snapping Shrimp, and they're less than an inch long, but when a lot of them converge on a boat, they can make a considerable noise. A submarine can hide from sonar when surrounded by these noisy sea bugs.

The snapper shrimp has one normal-looking claw and one large one, almost as big as its entire body. They spend most of the night snapping the larger claw very rapidly, shooting off a high-speed water jet in order to stun prey, defend their territory and communicate with each other. The sound is accompanied by tiny bursts of light, called shrimpoluminescence. (Say that fast three times.)

When thousands, maybe millions of them do it in unison around your hull, you'd think you're floating in a sea full of Rice Krispies.

SOLAR BOATS, TOO!

OK, that French solar-powered roller skate is a little absurd, at $117k and not enough room to pack a hefty briefcase. But how about a ferry that runs on solar panels, which can also be raised and angled to serve as sails? There's an idea that not only works, but is already working in Sydney Harbor, and soon, perhaps, in San Francisco Bay and elsewhere.

The Solar Sailor was developed by Robert Dane, an Australian doctor and avid sailor (see? not all us sailors are lazy layabouts!) On Jan. 8 there was a news bite on CNN about the ferry that has been developed with his design, and a Solar Sailor website displays plans for several applications, including a 14-passenger houseboat. When the good doctor closed his practice to concentrate on the project, everyone thought him mad, of course. All the best ideas start off looking crazy.

But by 2020, according to CNN, the worst air pollution will come not from cars but from seagoing vessels. So it would seem to be high time to take a serious look at the doctor's mad idea. Of course various governments are looking at defense applications, wouldn't you know?

SOLAR EVERYTHING!

The French Venturi Astrolab is the first commercially-available solar hybrid commuter car, available this month, for a mere $117k. It's said to go 74 mph with a range of 68 miles. Aside from the co$t and its wierd looks, the biggest drawback is that it apparently carries only the lonely driver.
•••

Just found Gizmodo, a website? blog? whatever, with a section about new solar gadgets, some already available, some in the concept (vapor-ware) stage. The Tesla was there, of course, but also a solar-powered kayak, computer, laptop charger, media player, roof panels PRINTED with solar receptors... While the big energy guys are hemming and hawing about "solar power someday, but meanwhile we need more nuclear plants, coal, etc. etc." the smart guys are quietly going about their business, hooking up everything we need to the sun!

For laughs, the George Bush robot solar-powered roller-blading chariot.

LIONS & TIGERS & BEARS...OH, MY!

Here's a blog of nothing but animal photos, called (what else?) "The Daily Mammal." They promise to add new photos every day, and are available for free use with certain restrictions. Just think: you could post an "Awwww" email every day! Ever wonder what a guanaco looks like? Did you know some armadillos have hair? Did you know a manatee can sit up like a dog (if commanded to do so by a fish)?

Bears, too. This is just for you, Bear. Doesn't this grizzly look congenial?

VANITY VOYAGE, PART 2

It's our turn. Here are the best of the photos of our Morgan 33, S/V "Bliss," taken by our friends on "Sol Mate" yesterday in San Carlos Bay. How do we look? Does this jib make us look fat?

VANITY VOYAGE

The Capt. and our little Sea Dogs, Sofia and Chica

Connecting with people over food is as straightforward as it is pleasant for you right now, so host a dinner party or head out to a restaurant with the right people for the perfect evening's entertainment.

A perfect horoscope for today. We invited the right people: Canadians from "Sol Mate," to discuss buddy-boating south, how to make chiles rellenos and other Mexican delights. I'm feeling sociable, and I'm getting an urge to do some creative cooking.

Yesterday we did a daysail with "Sol Mate" over to Chencho, so we could show them the anchorage where we have often had very pleasant and peaceful overnights. You might call it a "vanity voyage" because we each took quite a lot of photos of the others' boat under sail. I'm sure they're waiting anxiously to see what I came up with, since they just bought their boat, and I'd love to see their shots too.

There's nothing to put me in the mood for going sailing like, well...going sailing.

Sol Mate was ahead of us most of the way, but I was able to
get this shot of their bow, with the Tetas behind them

The sun was bright and warm, and winds were light, after a week of blustery northerlies. We sprawled out on the foredeck with the dogs, the autopilot doing its thing, and let the sweet rocking over the waves lull us into a doze. We spotted dolphins along the Chencho shore, and a sea lion (seal?) followed us for a bit as we headed home.

Sol Mate had her stern to us most of the time, being a faster boat

SURFER DOG

...as seen in Barra de Navidad. The human's name is Odin, the dog's name is Perro. Is he having fun yet?

VAYA CON DIOS, ANDEE

My friend Andee in Chacala is gone. I just got the news that she had a fatal stroke on Sunday.

We were going to get together in a couple of weeks. I was so looking forward to spending some time with her, and now I'll never see her again.

On our trip south two years ago I finally got to meet Andee, a fellow blogger I'd been "introduced" to by a mutual friend back in California. I hung out with her for three days, visiting her camp on the beach, hiking up to the spa and meeting her many friends in town. She had made a comfortable campsite and decorated it with found art mobiles. A colorful collection of bandanas fluttered in the breeze and local children wandered in, always welcome to sit at her table and make drawings.

She was a gardener, an artist with a colorful humorous style, a wonderful photographer who captured so many of the faces and scenes of Chacala that I felt I knew the place before we ever got there. Her photography had improved immensely over the past year and many of her blogger friends were urging her to publish a book.

Andee had first visited Chacala soon after a hurricane had wrecked the place, and it was somewhat desolate, but she loved it anyway and made it her home. She used her computer skills to connect local bed-and-breakfast owners with travelers, which helped the economy of the whole town. Every day she got her exercise by walking the beach with a trash bag, picking up litter.

I know she was living the life she wanted.

Last year when we sailed to Chacala again I got into town late in the morning, and couldn't find her at home, she was off on one of her walkabouts. The anchorage was so rough, we decided we needed to head out the next day. I'll miss her so much.

Andee gave me this drawing she had done with colored pens, when I visited her in 2006 at her campsite on the Chacala beach.

AWWW, ISN'T IT CUUUUUTE?

The newest car in the news is also the smallest, cutest and CHEAPEST...the Tata (here go the giggles) Nano from India. It's two-cylinder, 30hp, and tiny, yet it can seat five (can't do that in a Ferrari, can you?). It's 8% smaller than the next size up, the Suzuki Maruti, but provides 21% more space inside. Now how did they do that?

You could say it's greenish, at 50 mpg. With air conditioning it'll run $4K. Distribution will be in kits which will be assembled by "entrepreneurs," so there should be lots of work for Indian mechanics. Not a peep about whether the Nano will make its way to the US, but probably there'd need to be considerable reworking to meet US air pollution standards. Next year, they're planning to introduce a Nano diesel.

PASS-THE-HAT TANGO

One of the most exciting events of my life was a tango class at a music camp deep in the Mendocino woods three years ago. I'm still infatuated with the dance, and would love to find another class. I did find a website called Tango Corazon that teaches the basics.

If I ever decide to join Second Life, my avatar will be a magnificent tango dancer with a wardrobe of filmy, silky gowns in all my favorite colors and stilletto shoes, the kind I'd never subject my physical feet to.

As for tango music, forget "Hernando's Hideaway" and "Jealousy," they've been done too much. One I really like is the oddly named "Por Una Cabeza" (For a Head?!) and another is simply called "Tango," by Cirque du Soleil, both available on iTunes. Although the fast ones are fun to watch (how does he protect the family jewels from her lightning kicks?), the slower ones are the ones that really get my pulse going.

The hottest scene in the American version of "Shall We Dance" featured Jennifer Lopez teaching Richard Gere the Tango. I also liked "Assassination Tango," with Robert Duvalier as the tango enthusiast hitman. Wonderful scenes of authentic dance, including performances by dancers of a certain age with less-than-perfect bodies. Watch how very ordinary people change when they take on the posture and movements of the tango.

Here's a video I chose from several on YouTube. There were others I enjoyed, but this one was especially light-hearted. I call it the Pass the Hat Tango, but it's listed as Tango Pasión.

Imagine visiting Buenos Aires and seeing tango every day! Wow!

A DAY FOR MEDICAL MATTERS

One of Zorra's twins, captured and altered this week. This one's the girl, I think. Now that I know their (former) genders, I should come up with names for them.

Mamacita, the matriarch of the feral family, is long gone. Here she nursed Chucho and (possibly) Mystery Cat, the second litter she had while we've been here. Her grandkittens have identical kohl-rimmed eyes
•••

A very busy day. I was up at 6:30, setting out the trap and the top-loading kennel again with tuna for bait, trying to catch the one cat in my feral feline family that has not yet been altered. Again Mama Zorra, led the way, jumping into the kennel and pigging out. Since she's already had her trip to the vet, you might say this was a waste of good tuna, but it gave my little target kitty courage, and after circling the kennel several times, he decided if he was going to get his share of tuna he'd have to enter the trap. And yes, this was the right one! Snap!

I met my friend Alma the Dogsitter at the new Keops coffeehouse for a double espresso, knowing I'd need all the buzz I could get. At 9:30 I ran the kitten over to the vet, and then followed Alma into Guaymas. I had an appointment with Dr. O, and she had agreed to be my interpreter.

We sat in Dr. O's tiny waiting room for a while, talking with other patients, and then Alma had to go, so she passed me on to a gentleman named Arturo, who also has good English and an interest in Mexican music besides. We talked favorite songs and Spanish for at least an hour. He told me that the Spanish in Sonora is the most contaminated in all of Mexico, because of words from Indians, norteamericanos (yes, that's the word they use), spanglish, etc. I suggested instead the Spanish in Sonora could be regarded the richest, with all those influences. Eventually Arturo had to go, and he passed me on to a very garrulous Mexican from Canada named Davíd.

Dr. O finally saw me after ninety minutes in his waiting room (I didn't really mind as I wasn't in a hurry, guess I'm starting to get the rhythm of Mexican life). He listened to my lungs, asked about my symptoms and prescribed Prednisone, Singulair and Spiriva again. Muy caro! Ninety dollars for the three, even as generics, but they would have been more, I'm sure, in the States. Fortunately, the Singulair is only for three weeks as it's the most expensive. Apparently the cold air brings on the symptoms...coughing, breathlessness when walking uphill, pain in deep breathing. So I can expect every winter will bring them on again, at least until we find a place to live where winter doesn't bring cold air. It's a pity because I actually enjoy cold air.

Davíd told me about a remedio casero (home remedy) that got his mother-in-law back to work and smiling after she was almost dead, but I'm a bit dubious.

Home again, the cat's reunited with his family, a pot of stew's on the slow cooker which will be frozen and carried out to the boat when we're ready to sail.

FOOTNOTE: My sister tells me that the spay/neuter program is so powerful in Boulder, Colorado, that they actually have a shortage of adoptable stray cats and dogs.

CAN'T WE ALL GET ALONG (like this)?

This is a video of one of the Homeless in Santa Barbara and his pets. The animals, as you can see, are pretty well fed. They are a family. The man who owns them rigged a harness up for his cat so she wouldn't have to walk so much (like the dog and himself). At some juncture the rat came along, and as no one wanted to eat anyone else, the rat started riding with the cat and, often, on the cat! The dog will stand all day and let you talk to him and admire his altruistic, we-are-one personality for a few chin
scratches. The Mayor of Santa Barbara filmed this clip.

HERDING CATS...don't let anybody tell you it's easy

My absolute favorite commercial

Early this morning I was pondering strategies for capturing one...JUST one...of the feral feline family so I could get him (her?) to the vet for alterations. Zorra's twins are at that age already. If I had left them as is and blithely taken off on a three-month cruise, I could have found TWO litters of babies here when I got back. And as much as I love kittens, we have reached critical mass with our cat family.

So how do you cull one very shy kitten out of a herd of six cats? There's no question of scooping it up and putting it in a cage, they are much too wily and quick for that. But I had phenomenal luck on Tuesday and managed to catch one of the twins in our big canvas kennel. It has a zippered door on the front (which I left closed) and a zippered hatch on the top (left open). A bowl of tuna sat enticingly waiting inside. Uncle Felipe obliged by jumping in, and Twin #1 trustingly followed. I quickly zipped up the hatch, figuring if necessary Felipe could go along for the ride to the vet and I'd release him later. But clever Felipe figured out how to unzip the hatch (!) and slithered out, leaving the target kitten cowering and crying but well-fed, in the kennel. And it was good that I caught that one, it was definitely female.

This morning I set out not only the kennel but a trap, loaded with kibble seasoned with sardines. If I had to, I was willing to catch the whole family and sort it out later. I watched through the window as Mama Zorra and her brother Felipe got themselves caught, first in the kennel and then in the trap. Each time I had to go out and release them. Kitten #2 was lurking but hadn't gotten close, and I was getting discouraged. There was still food in the trap, so I righted the bowl, re-set it and resolved to give it one last try.

Zorra and Kitten #2 came around again. Would Zorra be so dumb as to get herself caught twice in one morning? No! She hung back while the kitten got closer and closer to the door, and finally crept into the trap. Slam! Now she (he?) sits frightened but well-fed, waiting for her (his) turn at the vet.

Or not. I took the rest of the bait kibble out to the feeding station and took a closer look at the twin that was eating with the rest of them. No notch on the ear! This means...I hurried back to the trap. Oh, no! I've caught the same one I trapped Monday! Back to Square One.

LIFE ON A MEXICAN SHRIMPBOAT

Our friend Garth, a dedicated fisherman, has been across the Sea in Mulege since early December, with his adopted Mexican family. Recently he worked on a shrimp boat, just for the experience, and shared with us a day-in-the-life...or, rather NIGHT-in-the-life description of their work. Shrimpers are everywhere in the Sea of Cortez, we see them regularly and make a point of staying out of their way, not knowing the extent and depth of their nets, and wondering a little what it's like to be on one. Now we know.

Captain Oscar Manneras and two of his brothers come every year to Mulege to harvest shrimp with their rusty but well-maintained shrimpers. Unlike some of the more fly-by-night operators, Capt. Manneras has a crew that has been with him for many years. Everyone works on shares and they make very good money for the season which lasts from September thru March. I've encountered other poorly maintained shrimpers with a captain, an engineer and then a bunch of young kids getting paid next to nothing. They work their asses off and I highly respect their work ethic.

The captain is the youngest brother (61 years old) and has the largest boat, 73 feet powered by a huge single screw caterpiller diesel. A shrimper burns about 700 litres of diesel in 24 hours. His tankage is 28,000 litres. Most of the boats run around 60 feet. He has worked at sea his whole life, as a deckhand, chief engineer for ten years, and finally the captain of his own shrimper. His boat is worth approximately 120k u.s. They arrived here 3 January and will return to Guaymas in about a month for a quick turnaround.

Their day starts at 5 p.m. and ends at around 10 in the morning. They work every night that it is calm enough, which means winds less than about 20 knots. It gets quite dicey in anything over about 12 knots when one brings the large net aboard. One can catch about 2 hours sleep when the nets are down, followed by about an hour and a half of intense activity.
A small trawl is retrieved about every half hour to determine the probable quantity and quality of the catch with adjustments made accordingly. The captain runs the boat and one crew is on watch all the time to make sure the trawl does not snag on a rock. We worked all night in 19 to 20 fathoms though this boat has the capability to work 40 fathoms.

The basic procedure is as follows. First one large net is swung over the port and another over starboard sides of the vessel and trails aft. The front part of this net or chango, is attached to two large metal grates which drag along the bottom and direct shrimp, halibut, sand shark, and, unfortunately, a fair amount of bycatch into the nets. Most of the bycatch consists of small croaker and the occasional moray eel. There is actually less bycatch than had been represented to me by sea huggers. There is certainly damage to the (sea) bottom but the work is done in mostly sandy or pebbly areas so there was not any sportfish or even bottom fish associated with structure in the nets. i.e. no yellowtail, cabrilla, grouper, snapper. Not a single one. The bycatch is shoveled to one side until morning when all of it is dumped over the side in shallow water.

After about three hours the metal tables are lifted and then the large nets swung aboard. This is the most dangerous part of the operation. If a cable or line breaks someone could easily be decapitated. The equipment on this boat was very well-maintained and I saw no meathooks on the cables or chafe on the large 1.5 to 2 inch lines. I still stayed on the bridge behind the stack during this operation. Once on deck the nets are opened and the entire catch dumped in large piles. This pile is sorted with small wooden rakes. Every piece must be scrutinized and care must be taken not to grab something poisonous or a sting ray tail, etc.

It is also pretty easy to miss a small shrimp, the crew doesn't, but I did. The captain politely pointed a few out to me that I missed. I'm sure on a gringo boat I would have been yelled at. One of the things I really like about this captain, and most of the good ones, he doesn't need to yell. He is also definitely in charge. The shrimp are then beheaded, all by hand which requires a definite technique. I finally got the hang of it, but I did one shrimp while each crew member did about 8. They thought this pretty funny. They also relegated me to beheading only small shrimp. I was so tired on the last troll that I went on the ham nets instead of helping. I will be 65 years old 19 January and I would certainly not want to do this night after night.

Each troll netted about 35 kilos of shrimp, over half of them large (over 7 inches). The small and medium shrimp are for the domestic market, ALL the large are destined for the orient. I was lucky enough to be given a kilo plus of large. They are not for sale in mexico. The small stuff, small being a relative term, is wholesaled out for 8 to 10 dollars a kilo. For those of you who buy their shrimp from Tony in San Carlos (highly recommended) these are actually mediums. Large gets 30 u.s. a kilo. The really large blues, which are quite rare, run 4 to 6 to the pound. In addition to this, the halibut and other edible fish are filleted and frozen. My cost above what I have been given and traded for (playboys,etc.) is 6 bucks a kilo. We took 138 kilos the night I was aboard. This was more than double normal. The captain insists I brought them luck. Now the other brothers are after me to go out all night with them. I will go again, but I think I will stick with Oscar. I have made friends with the crew and the chief engineer, Manuel. The machinista is equal to the captain in the engine room and he has full responsibility for the motor, generator, freezer, etc. One of the crew is a fellow AA member and has invited me to his group in Guaymas; I will go, of course.

Once the last troll is cleaned and everything weighed and stored below in the freezer room another round of work begins. All the fish are filleted, bagged and sent to the freezer. The whole boat is washed down. By this time two or more pangas have come alongside to collect the shrimp heads from the last troll. I usually come out twice a week in my panga and collect 2 five gallon buckets of the large heads. They save these for me, giving the smaller heads to others. There is a significant amount of meat left in the heads. Also a significant amount of yuck. I give these heads to the poorer folks in my family and I also clean and eat them myself. The reason they are not cleaned by the shrimpers is too much time and not marketable. I personally like them fried like amaebi sushi. They do look sort of like large fried cockroaches so one must get past that. They also make great bait for bottom fishing.

By the time all this is done it is around 10 a.m. a rather full day and nights work in anyone's book.

HOW TO CUT YOUR TO-DO LIST IN HALF

San Carlos anchorage, where our boat is moored

As Capt Ron said, pointing out to sea, "If anything's going to happen, it's gonna happen out there." So, with plans for a long voyage in mind, we took the Morgan 33 out yesterday for a shakedown daysail around the bay.

A big granddaddy dolphin escorted us out of the anchorage, riding beneath our bow and then surfacing to give us a good look at him. At one point, he turned over on his side so he could get a good look at us too. Best dolphin sighting we've had in months. Sorry, I didn't have my camera.

We motored out of the anchorage, put up the headsail and main and cruised around the bay for a couple of hours, checking out the sail trim on the jib (on which the Capt had performed major surgery), listening for disagreeable motor noises and keeping a weather eye on...um...the weather.

And there's definitely weather out there. A wall of fog closed in, shutting off the world and giving us a chance to check our radar and get a taste of sailing down the coast with no visibility. Coming back toward the anchorage, a strong wind pushed our speed up to more than 5 knots and heeled us over quite a bit. Everything worked fine, and with strategic panels of the new cockpit enclosure in place we didn't freeze in the brisk, icy breezes.

The Capt pronounced the boat ready to go, so now all we have to do is get ourselves ready, too. Provisioning, advance bill-paying, customer contact...all those loose ends that can't be left undealt-with for four months. I had a full to-do list this morning, but while I was out getting provisions, Chica found it and chewed the bottom half off. So now I only have half as many things to do! If you, too, would like to reduce your to-do list, ask about my special Chica rental rates.

TIANGUS AND TROPICS

My friend L and I hit the Empalme tianguis this morning, so she could see the excellent fruit and vegetable selection. And, while I was at it, maybe find some fancy flipflops for special occasions. I could hear the Capt calling me Imelda when I got home with TWO pairs of sandals, one Birkenstocks and the other, thongs encrusted in pearls and gaudy stones with a leather footbed, in all my favorite colors. Six bucks for both pairs. Nope, no photo yet. A pedicure is in order first.

Why I love Tianguis: At a stand where I purchased a patchwork shirt, the vendor had a few sprigs of basil rooting in a jar of water on the counter. Basil's one of my favorite herbs and very hard to find in Sonora, so I asked if she was selling it. "No," she shook her head. So I paid for my shirt and then she pulled out a sprig and gave it to me.

Lugging our purchases back to the car, we passed a woman who had spread out her merchandise beneath a blossoming tree, and I pulled out my camera for a shot of the blooms. She quickly moved several hangers of clothing off the lower branches so I'd get a better shot. So polite.

This afternoon, the Capt and I had a lunch date at La Palapa on the beach, where local singing star Mark Mulligan was performing. Several other 'boat people' we know (including another couple heading south this week) filled a nearby table, and a couple of musician friends stopped to wish us bon voyage. La Palapa is a Greek restaurant and I took the opportunity to have spanikopita, which was done very well. Now where in the world do they get filo around here?

A very warm and friendly performer, Mulligan was signing CDs and meeting his doting fans, and then he took to the stage and roused the crowd with "La Bamba," with everyone singing along, and then did a segue into "Twist and Shout." He has a sound setup that allows him to perform alone and yet have a band sound (he calls it his "invisible band"). He pre-recorded his songs, many of which he wrote himself, with full band backup in a studio and now has the option of singing with all the instruments, or solo on guitar. His speaker is a narrow black tower about eight feet tall. He looks and sounds more like Jimmy Buffett than Jimmy Buffett does.

La Palapa is probably the only place of its kind on the San Carlos beach, a big concrete platform with a palm-thatched roof, bamboo shades screening the back and a little protection around the kitchen, surrounded by acres of sand dotted with thatched cabanas. It reminds me of a tropical stage set. You half-expect to hear the Beach Boys singing "Kokomo." On the outside walls facing the beach are vivid murals that resemble ancient Greek art.

It's a setting much more common in the tropical states of Mexico, from Mazatlan on down to Zihuatanejo, where dozens of palapas line the shore. Not Greek ones, though. In the distance sailboats wandered the bay, and as we watched, one vessel anchored in the bay. In a couple of weeks, that'll be us, dropping the hook for the night in Chacala, Tenacatita or Barra de Navidad. And then, Zihuatanejo.

I AM MY OWN FAIRY GODMOTHER

Jinx and Maddog Schwartz set up a book-signing station at the Swap Meet today

After a string of chilly days, this one was perfect, the kind of day you go to Mexico for. And here I am already!

At the crack of dawn pickups and RVs started to arrive with stuff for the Swap Meet, and by opening time the parking lot was just about full. Jinx Schwartz, our famous local author, brought books to sign and sell, and apparently did very well. I've read all her books, including her exciting (and FUNNY!) series of mysteries about a couple on a boat in the Sea of Cortez. She gifted me with a signed copy of her latest, "Just Add Trouble," and now I've got something to look forward to when I crawl into bed tonight. Well, I mean, something ELSE, Capt.

I met my first Mexican Hairless...not a bald señor, but a dog that looked as though she was upholstered in fine dark brown suede instead of hair. Amazing! She was named Blondie for the a few strands of blond hair on her forehead and a little tuft on her tail. Mexican Hairless is an ancient Aztec breed, according to Juan Carlos, her owner. She was only one of dozens of dogs that showed up today. This time I set up a "land mine station" with a big sign and a long roll of plastic bags for the dog owners. Don't know if people used it, but I only saw one land mine.

Life is so liberating when you decide to be your own fairy godmother. Today was also perfect for granting myself another of my New Year wishes, "Every day, try to do something I'm afraid to do." So I took my camera out on my kayak and took photos of the birds that hang out around the marina. The fear part was taking my precious digital out kayaking in the anchorage, where it would be too easy to get it ruined. But I bought a bright yellow, like-new waterproof pouch (inflatable, so it'll float!) at the swap meet for about $5, and felt much braver with the camera tucked into it while I paddled. When I saw a bird I liked, I'd stop, pull out the camera and get a few pictures before the current carried me away. Saw a magnificent white egret fishing along the rocks, a flock of grebes with their startling orange eyes, and the "usual suspects," a lineup of pelicans on the breakwater. No startling rare finds, but some of my favorites.

DAYSAIL ON A DREAMBOAT

Among sailors, there are those who favor monohulls like ours (the majority) and others who swear by multihulls, i.e. catamarans and trimarans. Some multihull sailors say the only monohull partisans are the ones who haven't been out on a cat or a tri. The first time I ever sailed in tumultuous San Francisco Bay was on a trimaran, and I definitely appreciated one of its most-touted advantages: there's very little if any heeling on these wide boats, and the ride is still comfortable when monohulls are leaning wayyyy over.

So I was happy to be invited by J and L for a daysail on the aptly-named "Yachtsman's Dream" today. This 43-foot catamaran was built in France, shipped to Vancouver then to Seattle, where they spent another year outfitting it for long-distance cruising. I took oodles of photos, hoping to find some ideas we can adapt to the Morgan 43 we're rebuilding.

The main cabin, referred to as a "saloon," comprised of galley and dinette, of a typical multihull, is built over the two almas (the cat's twin hulls) so there's more exposure to daylight than the typical monohull's main living quarters, which are belowdecks. YD's cabin has wraparound tinted acrylic windows which brighten the space considerably. Lucy, the local seamstress, created snap-on shadecloth covers for the windows for use during the summer.

I like the U-shaped galley with its rounded lines and spacious refrigeration. L said her one objection is that she has to sit on the floor to retrieve items from the fridge. But then, maybe it keeps her more limber, like a form of sailor's yoga! She also has a top-loading freezer that allows for a considerable amount of provisioning.

The skipper's work is aided by self-tailing winches, a fully-battened mainsail and a pair of 19 hp diesel engines. Plenty of flat space to move around on deck, and a sunken storage locker on the foredeck with plenty of space for fenders, lines and anchors. His navigation setup is very up-to-date and compact, and the big screens are mounted overhead so they can be viewed easily from the nav station below or from the wheel in the cockpit. One system even notifies him of any wind shifts!

Over the helm and cockpit is a sturdy vinyl dodger that can be fully enclosed like ours, with snap-on panels.

J and L plan to sail to Panama, the Caribbean and up the Eastern Seaboard, and they seem to have a reliable and comfortable vessel to get them there. Multi-hulls do have a few disadvantages: for one, they're so wide they often won't fit into the standard marina slip. The almas on smaller multi-hulls can be so narrow and lacking in headroom that they can't really be used for living space, though the ones on YD are as spacious as some monohulls I've seen.

WOULDN'T IT BE LUBBERLY?

Yesterday I fulfilled two of my 12 New Year wishes, not bad for this world-class procrastinator. Tomorrow I get a shot at another one.

I'll elucidate. One wish near the top of the list was to find new friends to make music with. So imagine my delight when some people we'd never met contacted us on the VHF to invite us to a jam at the Captain's Club! D, M and J perform professionally back home, so they have quite a repertoire...most of which, unfortunately, we don't know. They specialize in folk, we do jazz. At one point J started on the Rolling Stones' "Dead Flowers" and I was able to do the chorus with him, which is always my favorite way to sing anyway, in harmony with another voice. And maybe it was my imagination but it seemed to me that when the Capt and I did "Fever" the rowdy crowd that was developing in the Club seemed to hush. A little, anyway.

At around five the tables were filled and people were beginning to conduct their conversations in shouts, which was when we decided to leave them to it. If we were a rock band with full complement of Volkswagen-size speakers and drums we could drown out the roar, but then there isn't room for all that inside the CC anyway. Mike, the owner, is willing to host jams earlier in the day, when the house isn't so full, so we might get together there again. With advance info I could learn some of D and M's songs.

Another wish was that I'd get outdoors for a bike ride or walk or kayaking every day. So I rode around on the bike posting maps to our house for the Swap Meet coming up Saturday, and then took Chica for her first walk on the beach. New smells, new sights! She kept her little nose to the ground the whole time. Not interested in getting her feet wet, though. She was very careful to get out of the way of the waves. It was spectacularly warm and sunny and after a series of overcast, chilly days it made me almost giddy with pleasure to be walking along with her, sipping a lemonade from La Palapa, and collecting a shell here and there.

Tomorrow, we're crewing on "Yachtsman's Dream," a catamaran, for a daysail. The new owners invited us along, glad to have the Capt's expertise. We had planned to crew with "Arigato! Jack" on their first shakedown, but they cancelled when the weather report indicated overcast. Maybe next week...

Be it ever so humble, our house looks awfully good after
three months on a 33-foot boat

One of my wishes is to become a better sailor, and when I sail on other boats I always learn something I might apply on our own boat.

Anyway, I need to get out on the water. I'm getting addicted to the attractions of the lubber's life. In a house with its space and amenities, I forget what it's like to be stingy with water and electricity, to cook in confined spaces, wash clothes in buckets, shower in the cockpit and walk on surfaces that heave as though in a perpetual earthquake.

I take for granted the unlimited Internet access, our king-size bed, walks with and without dogs, Spanish classes, flush toilets and other luxuries we leave behind when we let loose the mooring and head out to sea. As an antidote, I keep visualizing the thrills of seeing whales and dolphins, landing on favorite beaches like Chacala, discovering new places, and meeting new people. Getting lost in strange towns, shopping in unfamiliar mercados and wandering unexplored beaches. And knowing I can always go back home.

Oh, and about those heaving surfaces: yesterday we bought a set of flopper stoppers, handmade by another boater, which when suspended from the sides of the boat at anchor are supposed to help reduce movement from surge. Rather than the bulky cone-shaped flopper stoppers, these are flat and will stow easily. Can't wait to see if they work.

ONE ANSWER TO 'SON, WHY CAN'T YOU FIND A JOB?'

More egregious excess.

My cousin Gene, an abundant source of zaniness, sent me this in an email titled "I will never complain about my kids again." Reminds me of that Christmas light display, except you can take down a light display and look normal again.

If horror movies don't scare you anymore, take a look at the blog where these originated, guaranteed to make you scream (especially if you have kids).

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And no, my wishlist does not include even a teeny, tiny tattoo. Pierced ears are radical enough for me.