"She Swims" - Eyoni hits the water again: Nov. 19, 2009

Eyoni is back in the water in San Carlos, Mexico after Rick, the once category 5 hurricane that was headed our way blew himself out. Eyoni sits for final in-the-water projects before we all jump aboard and again sail the amazing Sea of Cortez, which we've missed so much these past two months. Francis, our good ship kitty, is slowly recovering from the trama of her first tropical depression and massive flooding and mud slides in San Carlos, as well as just being away from us and in her baby-sitters hands (who also was taking care of dogs during the time of Jimena). Below is part of the letter that Zada and I received yesterday, from Ethan, after days of no news from him. The letter is dated Nov. 20, 2009

"Hello Girls.

It is a fine, balmy, morning here with dramatic grey clouds, some rain
and a bit of thunder and lightning. Our mother-ship went in the water
yesterday just before noon with no incident or leaky, leaky. Backed
down the channel and wedggied into a slip (B-5, on the same gangway we
were end-tied) with 12'' to spare on each side and took to a pair of
surf-trunks and went nuts with the hose - even the underside of the
bimini was grimy. Sooo good to be back in. And to have refrigeration
-- I ate 11 of 13 days at the OXO (convenient type store) and am ready for a bit more
refinement in the culinary line.

Rob and Joe (Blue Moon), who were gracious to take my lines, have taken a slip on
A dock until we know where Rick will end up. It's Rob's B-day
tonight which should be good fun. Happily too, Rick is dissipating
quickly (a tropical storm now) which is great at it was a 180 mph
storm two days ago. Yikes.

The boat looks great. I'm waiting for Rick to re-rig her and have
plenty of other projects to do in the meantime. The refer pump needs
to be taken apart and a make-nice, our galley sink's swivel has given
up any attempts at water-tightness and my tools are still all over the
place. However, am pleased to be making progress. Started yesterday
with a hair-cut and a shave after the boat was scrubbed. Nice. Will
do laundry this morning too, along with e-mail and hit the grocery
store.

Here is my story of the BIG Winner -- so far the new low in Sonora
celebration. Well, you see, Rob, Jo and Mr. Neil wanted to go out and
celebrate her book completion so we all walked to The Palapa, a beach
bar/rest just south of Marina Seca, here in San Carlos. There was a good

bluesish band and Dad went nuts and ordered the $12 dollar t-bone steak.

We all sat around enjoying the company, food and drinks for some time when the
band struck-up Mustang Sally. So, Dad grabbed Ms Jo and we hit the
sand-patch dance floor in front of the stage and proceeded to cut it
up. Daddy was, of course, making a good show of it when he felt a
dull sort of thud on the end of hit big toe (right side). I blew it
off for the rest of song, at which point we discovered we had won the
dance contest, much to our surprise and the delight of the Pacifico
Girls, who were working each corner of the stage. So, we went up on
stage and claimed our prize -- Now For ZADA!! -- a swim with the
dolphins at the local dolphinarium! A most excellent prize and I
can't wait to watch you Swim with our finny friends when you come back
to San Carlos.

When I returned to the table I felt a sticky feeling under my right
foot and knew I had a bit of a problem. Upon closer inspection I had
taken a nickel-side chunk out of the tip of my big toe and that it was
now packed full of sand. After trying to clean it out with cups of
water from the iced-beer tub we realized that it would need to be
opened up further and scrubbed. Yuck. Needless to say I began
medicating in earnest. Jo was kind enough to provide me with a temp
bandage which was good enough for a whirl with the Pacifico girl of my
choice and then I decided to begin the half-mile trek home. I went
over-field to the highway and had made it about 1/3 of the way when
the Polecia Municipal pulled over to check out my gimpy gait and
offered me a ride to the boat. Gracias! Once aboard, I took comfort
with Francis, pulled out my swiss and split the thing down the
middle. Next it was down the ladder for my date with Barney's hose.
Full blast. Grim but successful work and happily no infection so
far. I'm still gimping a bit but can make it around without much more
than a delay.

I hope you two are well. I will have the boat ready to go by the time
you get here. Francis and I are excited to move along".

Love.

Daddy.

Excerpts from news reports on JIMENA

Below lists so many wonderful pueblos (many small fishing villages) that we have visited and which were hit hard by Jimena.  Oh how we wish we could go back now and help those people who have lost so much...we look forward to being back in Mexico in the next couple weeks, loaded with items to hand out and with hope, help out and make a difference.

"Hurricane Jimena, a Category 3 storm, made landfall September 2 at Magdalena Bay on the Pacific coast of Baja California Sur. It skirted northward and crossed the peninsula toward Mulege and Santa Rosalia, where it hovered for days over the west central Sea of Cortez. The popular surf destination San Juanico (Scorpion Bay) on the Pacific coast also has received extensive damage. Reports from Mulege, however, indicate extensive flooding. A new hospital's floors are under water. A bridge leading into Mulege is damaged.  Central Baja California suffered massive flash floods and mudslides, and Highway 1 is severed in many places. In the Pacific port city of San Carlos, five commercial fishing boats were damaged or sunk. One of the vessels that sunk was the Ensenada, with 300 tons of tuna and other fish in its hold.Flooding occurred as far east as Guaymas, Sonora.

Severe damage occurred at Isla Magdalena, Santa Maria Bay, Puerto Lopez Mateos, Puerto San Carlos, Punta Abreojos, San Ignacio Lagoon, Ciudad Constitución, Villa Insurgentes, Comondu, Loreto airport, Mulege, Santa Rosalia and San Ignacio, according to the Baja California Civil Protection agency. Highway 1 is severed in many places, and large bridges are washed out. The US State Department warned tourists not to attempt to drive down Baja California".

Part 4 of Jimena Hits San Carlos - Sept. 3, 2009

Marina San Carlos:  where Eyoni was prior to being placed in their dry storage area, the water pouring in through the gate is an amazing thing to see.  Notice the tilt to the gangways.  

Below we were thrilled to see Ms. Alma, who is babysitting Francis, our ship kitty.  Here Alma is in the first store to open in the San Carlos area, even though there wasn't any electricity.  It was in this very market that Zada would hand out lollipops to the boy and girl who work along side their momma at the till.  

Another picture of the main road, just a short distance from where Eyoni sits.  

Last two shots show the OXXO store that we went do daily, for ice cream rewards.  A before, with Zada leading the way and an after, where luckily the employees inside the store got out safely despite the huge power pole down right outside their door (and in the pitch black of night).  I just noticed that the "before" picture shows a mean rackish lean to the huge power pole prior to being hit...I wonder if that assisted in it's downfall?  

FYI, since this area of Sorona was declared a disaster area, all alcohol beverages are forbidden from being sold.  The comment I read said "we have enough to worry about now we don't need other disasters caused by too much alcohol".  Beer, I'm sure, was being sold for a premium from those who were "holding"....

Part 3 of Jimena Hits San Carlos - Sept. 3, 2009

Jimena in the midst of the downpour.  Marina Seca Dry Storage is just to the left (where the white truck is).  This picture shows the main road leading along the coast line, headed into Guaymas (under water and mud). 

 A yellow hulled sloop is on the beach, just directly behind where we had Eyoni anchored for a week a month and a half ago, before we headed into the marina for shore power as our batteries were dying and we were in need of a small a/c unit in which to live.  

The small brick building is the guards gate, which Eyoni is 120 yards from.  The guard was in this hut, with his small dog, during the night that Jimena  hit, and he reports that he didn't think he would ever see day light and his dog cried the entire time.  

To the left of the black hulled Hans Christian that is on its side, you will see Eyoni just across the river of mud.  The two main rivers ran off Eyoni's bow and Eyoni's stern, so she and her surrounding boats sure got a front row seat.  

The last picture is of Zada, unprovoked, kissing Eyoni as we said our last goodbyes and headed off to the States.  

We are so grateful that she (and so many of the other 600 boats) and dozens of people who work at the marina, are safe.  Unfortunately many struggled for days for food, water and power.

Part 2 of Jimena Hits San Carlos - Sept. 3, 2009

Marina Seca Dry Storage - San Carlos, Mexico

First picture shows the guard gate leading back to the work yard, where Eyoni was stored.  

Eyoni can be seen in this first picture (with cars and dogs) in the middle of the 2 big sailboats (right in the middle of the frame)

..in the next photo you will see Eyoni, second from the left, with her small blue tarp still left in tact, so wind wasn't an issue....just lots and lots of rain and mud.  

The next picture shows the sailboat Barnacle on her side as the mud coming out of the northeast knocked her off her stands and luckily for all those inside of her, she buckled towards the mudslide, sparing us all a topple-over-reaction of boats.  Eyoni  is the 3rd sailboat inwards of Barnacle (standing to the left of Neptune).  

The last two pictures show a different boat yard, photos taken on the day we left her, a few weeks prior to Jimena's arrival.  The bottom picture is of the beloved cacti that Zada loved, which were planted so beautifully around the security wall of the marina.  These cacti are no doubt buried in mud, or floating somewhere out in the Sea of Cortez.

Part 1 of Jimena Hits San Carlos - Sept. 3, 2009

After dedicated foot work in San Carlo and Guaymas, for finding the right place to store Eyoni (so we could head north for 1.5 months to avoid the heat indexes of 114 degrees (plus) days), we hauled our beloved Eyoni into Marina Seca Dry Storage...a mile from the Sea of Cortez.

Here we would store her and then do necessary boat work at the end of September before relaunching and continuing our Sea of Cortez sailing.  

Here are pictures of Zada getting a much needed shoulder ride on one hot day as we walk the road (just off the main highway) that leads into Marina Seca Dry Storage.  Little did we know that a few weeks later, Jimena, a catagory 2 hurricane which would wipe out numerous small pueblos that we have visited since the first of the year, would turn into a tropical depression and lay over 27 inches of rain in a 24 hour period on this area (shattering all previously held records for heaviest rain in this area).  This road would become a river, floating out smaller boats, totalling this road, walls and anything in its path as it rushed from the hills you see in the distance and push a wall of mud, often 4' deep, through this very area.   

By the blue San Carlos church sign, Zada and Ethan stand, showing you the main road that leads into Guaymas and which Marina Seca Dry Storage is off of.  This 4 lane asphalt road would take a beating and would require major repairs.   

The next picture (taken off pictures on the web) show the river of mud that came down, wiping out the surrounding wall and causing many boats to have 4 feet of mud squished under them (with debris from cacti, bushes and trees).  

The next picture shows the massive wall that held the Marina Seca Dry Storage sign,  which was at the intersection off the main road, leading back to the dry storage area which holds approx. 600 boats...Eyoni being one.

August 4, 2009 Overnight Bus Trip into Phoenix, AZ

At 11:00pm, on a humid night (the "fog" from that first picture is the humidity resting on my camera lens) we board our bus for an all-nighter into Phoenix, AZ.  The trip will take about 7-9 hours, give or take 4....as you never know how long you will be stopped at drug-checks and at the U.S. Border.  One hour into our trip, a little after midnight, a huge brick is thrown at our bus and knocks a huge hole in the front window....We then have to change buses at the next town, getting a less fancy bus, and continue on.  Ethan and Zada sleep for most of the night, including the 2.5 hour wait at the drug checks.  I do not.  At the border, we change buses again, this time getting a nicer bus, for the remainder of the trip into Phoenix, AZ.  Below pictures of the border fence; one of the "fancy glitter gold bus" and Zada at our hotel lobby, downtown Phoenix.