Ethan, Nancy & Zada's Adventure on Eyoni

Sidewalks of Mexico - Jan. 22, 2012 (click on this title)

2012-01-22T13:05:00.000-08:00

Sidewalks of Mexico...

La Paz

Baja California Sur (BCS)

January 2012

For three years now we've been walking the streets of La Paz. La Paz is a great walking town and it is our intention on every outing, to explore a different street and venture to further places inland to see a new side of the town we've missed previously. From the moment you sail in off the Sea of Cortez and down the channel into the the large waterway a waterfront comes alive with people walking on the malecon – a large paved walkway right above the tideline which runs the length of downtown and to points further north. Like many malecon's in Mexico, it is lined with beautiful sculptures and statues, white iron benches with the Mexican flag insignia of the eagle and the snake as the back rest in which to sit and relax and people watch. There are small sandy beaches dotted with palapas and palm trees and pangas looking for visitors to take out and look for whales, sealions and whale sharks. La Paz, unlike a majority of the pueblos we've explored on the Baja side of Mexico, has numerous paved streets and large double lane roads, but equally too, it has the traditional dirt roads branching off from the main paved streets. It doesn't take much of a walk to find these dirt roads, many of which are swept neat and tidy in the mornings by the women whose homes line those dusty roads. Many use the gray water from their casas to carry out in buckets and toss across the road or drive way to cut down on the amount of dust which flies into and around their homes. It is the norm that the windows are left open as well as the main door leading off their little dirt front yards and laundry flaps in the breeze, so keeping dust to a minimum is a daily battle. It is not uncommon to find a small strip of dirt ground, seemingly not belonging to anyone, running along side a road, which has also been raked and groomed by someone, though I've yet to see a city employee of sorts, out doing that type of work, or out fixing roads and sidewalks, which is what this blog is about.

Dangers await on just about all streets you walk...

...sometimes ladders quickly end as well and numerous
rungs are simple....gone. This one leading down to the beach at
Santa Rosalia

Each of these holes is the perfect size for a kids foot and leg to fit in

Well, at least THIS hole has a board and rock over it...most are just
left open and almost impossible to see at night

Cracks, holes and shifting sidewalks....

Unfortunately, often poor sidewalks carries
over to little plaza benches in the pueblos
and you really have to give it a good once over before you take a seat

Unless you had an off-road wheelchair, you'd
pretty much be out of luck on this street

It's hard to tell in this picture, but this steep ramp, after the
big foot "rise" is long, steep and pretty wicked
and we walk by it almost daily

Just outside our marina a most horrible sidewalk hole, filled with
broken bottles and misc. garbage and rebar

A good drop off to the next street level below....

Drop off from a perfectly good sidewalk to
tree stump and dirt

Sidewalks are often turned into planters, so you have to go out
into the street to pass and if there are cars parked along the curb,
you have to take on the traffic in order to pass

Holes, debris and big warnings of "ZADA WATCH OUT!!!"

Another wicked sidewalk just dropping off to the next, without
ANY warning....at night, this one has caused some damage...

This is of the same sidewalk of the picture above,
going towards the "drop off" and you can tell it's
very hard to tell you're about to drop off 4 feet...

More breaks in the sidewalks

...and you have to be careful about trees growing out of the sidewalks
and whacking you on a dark night after you hit the local taco stand

More drop off and more trip ups await....

Fences have a tendency to lean with various amounts of
wickedness hanging from it, here old rusty wire and barbed wire too

More leg breaking holes

Who knows what this one is all about...

huge panels of broken old glass, along side the broken side walk

At least this man hole is partially covered

This type of hole, is probably the "norm"

Oh the old sewer hole.....YIKES!

When we first arrived inLa Paz Zada had just turned 4 years old. Her favorite thing was torun off at full speed while looking back over her shoulder at us. Her face would be aglow with happiness and laughter and her blondehair would be flying out from beneath her large sunhat. One of uswould be, running as fast as we could to catch up, and if it were me,I'd be trying to keep my backpack from smashing into my lower backwith one hand and my big camera in the other while I ran and yelled“LOOK WHERE YOU'RE GOING!”. Always my heart was in my mouth asthose words were screamed forth to her and instinctively my eyes weremadly searching the area just ahead where she was about to place herfast moving feet to see what dangers were about to trip her up. Oldrebar is forever sticking out from all things concrete and is a bigculprit in Mexico...sharp metal posts with jagged pieces of wire isanother. Broken glass is pretty much a given everywhere, frombeaches to sidewalks to playgrounds. Uneven walks from concrete, todirt to stone are the biggest abuser of kids as are the numerousholes that are left uncovered – from manholes to telephone accessboxes and yes, even the occasional sewer outlet drain. And thesethings did, and still do, harm her...over and over for many yearsnow. It always was, as it still is, painful to see and almostimpossible to stop and always leaves you thinking “how do theMexican children survive?”.

I think our favoritedisaster sidewalk in all of Mexico lies a short walk from themalecon. Two blocks in off the waterfront the street pulls a short,but steep hill and big trees have their old roots pushing up andcracking the sidewalks into a jumble of broken and uneven pieces. Here the going can be tough. Not only do you have to bend over tomake your way under the large ficus trees with low branches cascadingdown around your face, but you have to be looking ahead, to make surethe next step down on the sloping walk doesn't just go off into outerspace and sends you a good 6 foot fall to the next sidewalk whichcontinues below. There aren't any warnings, other than what you cansee with your eyes and God help you in the event you were doing thiswalk at night and just happened to look at the person next to you, orat the angry barking attack dog who is trying it's hardest to get outof its dilapidated fenced yard and eat you for dinner. If you didn'tsee this big void opening up below you, all bets are off how messedup you'd be when you landed a ½ story below. Just thinking about itnow makes me cringe.

Liability doesn't reallyexist in Mexico and surely not anything like it does in the States,especially the sue-happy-capital-of-them-all....California. Here youare expected to see things which might harm you and then it's yourresponsible to avoid them at all costs. If you get hurt, well, youneed to pay more attention next time. If something absolutelydreadful happens, and death occurs, you may get a few hundreddollars, but nothing more. That's just how it is here in Mexico. Sothe playgrounds are dangerous as are the streets and sidewalks and sowe are left daily to yell our warnings when our children rush offlike the wind and run singing and frolicking down a street or downthe malecon. I often wonder at what age do you stop worrying andlooking ahead for dangers? When do you stop yelling like a wildwomen at your child to slow down and for God'ssake watch out for that rusty piece of turned up fence that's aboutto grab your bare ankles? When do you justgo out for a walk and it's simple and easy and you don't think oftetanus shots and stitches or if that one bottle of spray painmedicine and Barbie band-aids you always carry will be good enough toclean up the bloody mess. There is a reason I always carry mybackpack filled with more medical gear than most EMT's and carry bigboxes of orange Tic Tac's (a Zada favorite) which is one of the bestdistractors when it comes to cleaning out wounds and putting a childback together. Oh I know I get teased about the gear I carry, butout here – albeit La Paz or some remote Baja island – you reallyneed to take care of yourself and not simply wait for help. You areresponsible for your own well-being...the liability is yours.

Daily on our walks Zadawill stop and say “now just look at this...Imean, what are you supposed to do hereif you are in a wheelchair, I mean, this iscrazy!”. And every single time I say“well, you suffer and it'd be horrible”. And it would. The sameholds true for anything that needs pushing, or carrying which onlydoubles the odds of how many things will get hurt in the event yousuccumb to a hole or drop off or some other unforeseen sidewalk flaw. Zada's scars from the La Paz flaws are small and I'm grateful forhow tiny they are when you consider how many times she's crashed andburned on them. On most walks Zada and I still hold hands, not onlybecause we still like doing that, but also because it saves us fromthose bumps and cracks and holes and having an extra hand to sturdyyourself gives you that little bit of added security that you won'tsoon be flying through the air fighting what gravity is about to doto you.

Despite the streets andsidewalks of Mexico....I will say this, we love it and even though weoften are left shaking our heads it does leave you alert, alwayslooking ahead and forever paying attention to that little child ofyours who runs like the wind and who is finally getting much betterat looking ahead and seeing the danger with her own eyes, which meansI'm not screaming nearly as much....which, believe me, is a good,good thing!

1st Day of School for Zada: Jan. 16, 2012

2012-01-18T11:06:00.000-08:00

1st Day of School.
January 16, 2012
La Paz, BCS
Mexico

Zada runs up the gangway on her way to school. She made
it another 100 meters before the back pack came off!

Approaching school and waving at me to "stop with the camera"
Ethan and Zada, hand in hand approach a new turn in our life

Zada, being greeted by Ms. Azereth, her English teacher

The school and it's logo

Going down the hallway to look into her class room
20 minutes before school started...

Oh...this is Zada's smile of accomplishment
and pride. Notice her gold star on her forehead.
End of first day. 7 hours of schooling...done.

Zada, her gold star, big smile and her homework book
about the monster under the bed....

A public Mexican school with the cotton candy selling
vendor out front, at lunchtime.

January 16, 2012

Zada's First Day of School

La Paz, BCS – Mexico

(click on title above, to go to full blog story)

After much, much, much considerationand agony (well, for me, anyhow) we have decided that for the nexttwo months, perhaps three, while we are here in La Paz, Zada will goto a little school a short distance from the marina where Eyoni iscurrently stalled. Here, for the first time in her young life shewill have a real classroom, fellow students and and a teacher otherthan myself. For these few months we hope that she socializes wellwith the 6 students she'll be joining, improves her Spanish and helpsteach English to her fellow students. I also hope she sees adifferent side to her schooling here on Eyoni – with me as teacher– and comes back with a healthier attitude about our need to sitdown and learn daily. So 8:00 o'clock this coming morning she'll beat the little school with her lunch sack and school books and I'msure, some anxiety as she's already shed many a tears over the factthat she and I will be separated for the day...the first ever, in heralmost 7 years o' life, so the change, is huge...for us both.

Her school is a small private school,an 8 minute walk from the boat and is broken into equal parts Englishand Spanish. This is how most Mexican private schools are operated. Out of the 4 schools we visited one school was on the formal side andwould have made sense if we were enrolling her for a year (investingin an ipod, school uniforms, books and dance class gear). Anotherschool which had been our first choice, a little Montessori schoolwas full and not accepting students in her grade, which wasdisappointing as the school greeter was a turtle which lived in thecourtyard and would have been a big plus, as Zada loved the idea ofto going to school with a turtle. The 4^th option was apublic school but only offered full emersion Spanish, which I thoughtwas just too extreme. As we were visiting one of the four schools itwas obvious it was a public school and not a private one (most undersome form of lock down) a young man stood at the entrance holding alarge pole which from it dangled colorful bags of pink and bluecotton candy, ready to sell to any student venturing out of theschool on break with 20 pesos in hand. It is the norm, in Mexico,for candy vendors to be at the schools selling their goods whenschool is let out, and often, at breaks. Large wooden carts arerolled all over neighborhoods filled with little bins of bulk candyand nuts, all sold by the piece or tiny bags, for 10 to 20 pesos. 10gummy worms – 10 pesos. 7 orange gumdrop slices – 10 pesos. Hand in hand with the candy vendors, vying for the kids spare money,are the chip vendors which slice open a bag of chips and pour in avarious selection of sauces which drenches the deep fried chips. Iguess this could be similar to the people who put chili on theirFrito chips in the States – chili corn chips - but here the bag isfilled with drippy gooey sauces – some spicy, some sweet and all abright red thick consistency which turns fingers and lips the samebrilliant reddish-orange color.

So Monday will be the day Zada's firstday of school. January 16, 2012. I doubt I will go far that day,concerned I guess for how long a day it will be and how out of herelement she shall find herself. She is though, a social girl and hasalways been secure to walk up and play with local children in smallpueblos or approach Mexican fishermen with friendly greetings on someremote beach, despite the language difference. On the flip side,she is experiencing her first shy and saving-face moments whensomething goes wrong and she fights hard to hold back the tears andhold strong until she is out of harms way, or out of the eye sight ofothers, and then will grab tight to my body, and cry...letting thefear or anxiety of the situation out. Despite that I know she willflourish and I know she will try hard, but I also know there will beextremely trying times when the language difference is still abarrier and she is wishing that she were back on her floating homeand not waiting for the 3:00pm bell to ring so she is released forthe day. It will be....interesting. But life is that. This sail isabout that. And so between now and Monday I will do my best to talkher calmly into seeing it that way and taking some of the fear outand replacing it with something good, fun and interesting to lookforward to. I will have to repeat over and over that “yes” Iwill be there every single day waiting for her and that “yes wewill again go sailing” and leave La Paz and that this schoolingwill be one more adventure she can be proud of and perhaps even, shecan teach ME some Spanish and become my teacher.

Update: Monday, January 16, 2011

We are about to put the finishingdetails on the end of a very, very long day here on Eyoni. Zadaleaped off the boat and ran up the gangway early this morning withher backpack on and made it almost 150 yards to the front of themarina gate before she had it off her back and said “this is justtoo heavy for my shoulders, I'll tell you” and handit off to me So carrying school bags and lunch and camera andvarious other paperwork, we made our way to Zada's little bilingualschool with only one stop at a tree so she could quickly climb it andgrab a huge 18” seed pod which she loves to shake and turn into amusical instrument. Zada showed no nervousness, in fact was excitedand as soon as she got to school she went out onto the littleplayground and soon had a classmate join her and she was....one happygirl, swinging and smiling and blonde hair flying. When it was timefor them to go to their classroom, she walked down the little hall,took one last backward glance, saw me taking pictures and waved meoff as to say “enough pictures Lady” (which is a common statementshe uses when I'm disturbing her with my ever-present camera).

7 long hours later we were back and thelook of pride and happiness on her face was delightful and pure. Shehad a gold sticker on her forehead and dirt and food and grime allover her clothes and face. It appears the first day was a successand she loved it. She got smile stickers or stars on her work andeven though most of the day was in Spanish, she did okay and sharedsome new words she learned.

Her homework was work for the entireboat. A small first grade Spanish book had me looking up words inour Spanish dictionary for an hour and still I couldn't find about1/3 of the ones I was trying to sort out. Ethan, who has a farbetter grasp of the Spanish language vs. me, did a good job ofsorting it all out and eventually after much research we workedthrough the book and got it read in Spanish and translated inEnglish. The story was about a hairy, tentacle, pimply, big yellowtoothed monster living under a kid's bed and ended with the kid'spappa being so “gigante” that he could “eat a whole chicken anddrink a liter of beer at the same time”. See, with this eating anddrinking ability and his size and hislong nose hairs protruding from his face he was able to scare awaythe monster. Nice. Now I just wonder how many elementary books inthe States would have a story about a dad with extra gross long nosehair and one who is a swillin' beer and killin' scary bed monsters inthe story line? Yes, things are done differently here.

So, the day is almost over. Tomorrowit's time to slow down, worry less, not look at my watch 38 times anhour (trying to figure out what class she is in and how she isfairing) and relax some. That sounds good, though tomorrow I'll besending her off to exercise day (Tuesday's and Thursday's) with a 2foot broom stick stuck in her pack back. It is perhaps a littledisturbing and most likely will still have me wondering how thingsare doing and it doesn't help that our friend Darrell on s/v Wizlaughed and said “well, what could go wrong Nancy, I mean theMexican's sticks are 3 feet long, and her's is 2 feet, so what's thebig deal?”. Oh ha ha. I tell you, the humor of friends,especially male, in the time of a mom getting her head around suchthings as broom sticks being used as exercise tools in the hands oframbunctious young kids is downright humbling at best. Yikes, I'mdoing it again – worrying about Zada who is in a Kung Fu phase andbelieves she is just like Poe (the panda in the movie: Kung Fu Panda)and leaps around doing his elaborate moves. I'm not sure who I'mmore worried for, the other students, Zada or the instructor...thoughZada does have a height advantage and much longer arm reach, soagain, not sure if that helps or makes the thought worse...

So, tomorrow I'll drop her off with herlittle ladybug lunch sack filled with lunch and goodies (and yes,enough to share with her friends); her Spanish book with that beerdrinking – chicken eating dad tucked safely back in the pages; andher 2 foot mop handle...and I promise that every time I hear a sirenI will not age myself with worry, stress or ridiculous means ofthought about things going terribly wrong just up the street at herlittle bitty school...

Tides a Turnin' - Jan. 13, 2012 La Paz

2012-01-16T19:51:00.000-08:00

What a kid boat looks like after a play-date on Eyoni
(the floor, settees and forward berth are covered in
dress up clothes which always leaves a fine coat of glitter & sequin
debris all over the place and on our pillows - which means we'll all be walking
around for days with glitter all over our faces and hair dos)

Cooper and Zada at one of the schools we were checking out...for Zada.
They got to weigh themselves and see how tall they are.
I avoided both.

Cooper, just opening his eyes to go and find Zada.
Can YOU spot her?

Public school with cotton candy vendor out front at
lunch break, selling his 20 pesos sugary treats

Public school fence of wrought iron in the form
of children cut outs, with Cooper and Zada dangling from it

Waiting for lunch.....

After lunch, walking back to the marina and our boats

One more stop for some playing at the little clubhouse and this
is the "stew" the kids made - tossing it all in the "cig butt can" (of course)
and much to Susan and my dismay

This makes me laugh. Cooper with his Cheetoh Mexican fingers & lips (I think they put
twice the amount of dye in their chips here)...and the garbage can he just had to go over
and hang out with (and on)....

Mexican playground with the deadliest crude metal teeter
totters that make even the calmest mom (okay, not me)
slightly worried...

A good time was had by them....
you can tell that by the color of their hands!

January 13, 2012

Friday the 13^th....

Oh just when you're still feelinglonely and sad after two boats of dear friends sailed off to themainland side of Mexico-life, good things happen. A new boat DelViento pulled into the area with 2 fine girls, both around Zada's ageand we sure hope we can see more of them and have the girls enjoy sharingboats, Littlest Pet Shops and sailing stories (and dreams).

Thentoday a boat called WIZ pulled back into town with 3 fine friendsaboard we've not seen for two long years. The youngest member of Wiz,Zada's friend, is a fine young boy named Cooper who looks exactlylike he did when he was 4 years old, just slightly taller. It didn'ttake seconds before Zada and Cooper were again madly having a wildplay-date pulling out all the stops and digging through toys, dressup gear and stuffed animals turning Eyoni into a waste land oftoy-land. From bowsprit to v-berth and aft-cabin to boom the kidsraced back and forth covering as much Eyoni space as they could,scattering their goods of plastic toy animals & sea creatures andlaughing and hollering and roaring and howling (literally, likecoyotes) from the sheer fun of it all.

It was...a good, good day and Eyoni is no longer friendless.

Welcome Del Viento to the life of sailing with kids and to Wiz, welcome back, we've missed you so!

January Stall in La Paz 2012

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Zada, dressing herself in velvet and satin dress,
Zebra socks, Tevas, beret & puffy down vest from her G'ma

One last play date with Amy (s/v Third Day) on Eyoni.
Building a fort and smiling....

Another amazing sunset off the back of Eyoni

The disrespect sentences Zada had to write
(wow...makes me kind of sad to see these)

Some schooling on Cause & Effect

New neighbors from Sweden

Zada and Emily Jane who loves boat living and is thriving...

January 7, 2012

Some days being aboard are filled witha sense of newness and adventure and somedays...well, those samesenses take a hit and numb you when you again awaken and find you arestill tied up in a marina in a boat that feels as sturdy as a housewithout any watery movement under it. Days then, oftenbecome....unremarkable, leaving you to talk yourself back off thewoe-is-me pedestal especially considering we still have itgood...very good being here on a boat, in Mexico, with sunny days, agreat walking town to still fully explore and in good health. And upuntil just now, when I sat down chewing on a left-over candy canefrom our Christmas days (which I just packed up and put awayyesterday - leaving Eyoni looking bare without her little greendecorated tree o' wonder, even despite all the other messes ofclutter lying around) the idea of again not going south to Ecuadorwas sitting just fine with me...and I think it still is...butsomething doesn't feel right. Perhaps it's because for two days now,back to back days, we've had to say farewell to our best boatingpals....Third Day and Just A Minute. Having them bothsail out of La Paz, leaving us behind (and in a marina) seems kind ofweak. Eyoni – from boat to crew, doesn't like to sit still and seeothers sail off to new adventures while she/us stay put, even if itis on a rough and tumble rustic gangway in a town we do love. I knowthe reason why we're staying is important and vital for our cruisingand eventual non-revenue producing years and are most grateful forthis bit of work which was offered up to Ethan. It was too good tosay no to and didn't even have to think more than a few seconds tocome to that decision. So we're staying put for the time being andseeing if this bit o' work pans out and if we yelled out the propernumber on that madly spinning Russian Roulette wheel o' good luck. The other reason it was so hard this week...saying goodbye to friendsis never easy, especially when you really, really like them and wedo. Both boats have kids and are a hoot to be around, so there weretears on Zada's part as she said goodbye to Amy on Third Day who wasso loving and good to her these lead-up days to departure that we'llforever be grateful for such good, dear friends.

So we sit. Some of us work (which isreal work). Some of us teach (which is a lot of work). One of ussits and writes “I will stop being disrespectful” over and overon sheets of plain paper (and yes, even that is work keeping thoselines straight so you can fit more of the sentences on one 8 ½ x 11sheet of plain paper until you are told you can stop writing). Thelatter part of Eyoni's hard working crew here in La Paz, spent such agood amount of effort and energy reaching her goal of 5 stars in arow - which now equals a reward, that it appears that all those daysof hard work earning those well-received stars has warn our littleone out - as she's now dealing with backlash from all that good. Sonow she is letting out all the frustration which 6 year olds face(which she suppressed, I guess) while achieving those 5 days ofgood-attitude and hard-working stars. In her defense...I guess I toomight be having backlash of sorts if I had one single person in mylife who was: my mom; my school teacher; my craft teacher; myplaymate; my friend; my personal cook (and cleaner); my instigator ofall things silly; my reader & story teller; my shower mate; mysinger of nightly songs; my nurse and my bed-time-putter-downer. That's a lot, not only FROM one person, but FOR and TO oneperson...and I think the disrespect comes from the quickly changingof hats I wear and her trying to adjust to each as I madly fly aroundthe small boat being one person one moment, another person the next. Kind of sounds perfectly mad as I write this, so perhaps next time Ishall not have her writing that line over and over, but me rathersaying “when changing hats I will slow down and make it obvious whoI am and where I'm coming from”.

So, yes, it's hard doing work and hardnot being out exploring and being in our element of finding newthings and seeing sights we've not seen before...or simply walkingdown a long stretch of lone beach – each working their own “tideline” to see what is offered up – to gather later and share whatwe have found. Finding things in a marina environment is hard,though we did find a baby gecko the other evening and just relishedin the love of seeing something wild and new and small which onlycould be seen by someone really trying to see things out there on acracking city sidewalk...and it felt good. So we will continue tolook...and we will read our friends blogs to see what adventures theyare having and we will....I know, be back at it soon enough, so untilthen I will find comfort in that hose we have that allows us to rinseoff things whenever we want or smile (which I do) each time I stepinto the kind of funky, but amazing hot and wonderful shower theyhave here at the marina and I will work hard at being a bettermulti-hat-wearing mom. I promise.

2012-01-09T18:06:00.000-08:00

La Paz Circus January 8, 2012

Walking across the big dirt lot....to the Rolex Circus

Zada admiring all the trailers and all the fancy slogans!

One of the little vans that goes up and down the streets blaring the
announcement that the CIRCUS IS IN TOWN!!
Going along for the ride, one beautiful white tiger...

Yes, the handsome and sexy men are in the Rolex Circus
(just read the trailer and you'll know!)

Zada doing her best ROAR

Our $100 pesos (a piece) circus tickets

Tarzan flying around on a sheet

Zada standing to get a good look at the most beautiful horses

This horse, with Franccesco now riding and singing on him, while the
horse "dances" was the most beautiful I've ever seen.

The FBI dancers....and Apolo

Apolo and his tigers

Ring o' fire

This one tiger, roaring, had an attitude all night

Franccesco, as Superboy, riding high around the ring

Franccesco flying the colors of Mexico.
Viva MEXICO!

Flying act above our heads

Zada and Ethan loving the act
(tiny feet are Emily Jane's...Zada's large doll)

Finale

The tigers we posed with and Apolo

The great popcorn containers....

Wishful thinking....

Candy, drinks and all sugar

Holding our picture of us with the two tigers, we get one
last shot of a roaring beautiful tiger from the Circus Rolex

And one more of Apolo....just because!

3rd circus in 3 years.

Some of the fancier trailers and gear we've ever seen....
no "carnies" working this gig I tell you!

“I love the circus, it was reallygood...we saw white tigers and they jumped through a real fire ringand it was really cool. I got to go down into the big ring and toucha white tiger and I have to tell you, see I'm only 6 ½ years old andit took my mom, well FIFTY YEARS to touch one, and me, onlySIX YEARS, so I think that's pretty darn funny!” -Zada quote

Oh ha ha. Yes...the differences canbe staggering when I think about some of the things that Zada hasdone or experienced in her young life, many which are my firstexperiences as well, though mine are coming some 44 years behindher. I'm sure my mom and dad could have felt the same thing whenthey were raising us five children, but nothing, I can't imagine, asdifferent and perhaps extreme as what I experience with my daughter. It always leaves me wondering how things will be different for sheand her cousins, when a few short decades pass and they too havechildren. What will the differences be then? I hope I live longenough to see some of them.

So back to the circus. The RolexCircus was our third traveling circus which we've attended sincebeing in Mexico. This was the largest and most elaborate and thefirst where we didn't actually think harm could easily come to usduring the show. To be on the safe side, and before even seeinginside the big top, we chose general admission tickets which put us 6rows back from the normal front row seat we usually purchase. Afterthe last circus (Pto. Penasco, Senora) massive Clydesdale horses ranat full speed madly around a small tight ring – going one way –while zebras and camels ran the opposite way AND then a wee miniaturehorse was added to the mix and he wove his little body madly in andout of all those long legs as dust and dirt-clods were tossed up andhit us in the face. A simple bale of hay, on its side, was the onlyprotection between us and the several thousand pound animals beingwhipped around the ring as music blared and lights flashed. It wasunnerving and the fear real and I recall writing about it afterwardswhen Zada told me “oh mom, come on now, THAT was good fun!”. Itwas then that l wondered about her common sense and ability to getthrough life unscathed without me having to save her from all thingsferal.

So remembering the “big top”surprises of the past this time our seats were back enough from harmslength, unless you consider the flying trapeze acts which soaredslightly past their safety nets, just over our heads. However, I'llhappily take a lycra sequin wearing 5 foot 5 flying man over aClydesdale running full speed ahead just 3 feet from where you sit(at knee height to the animal as it was). Our seats this time werealso the first in which I didn't fear their collapse like thebleacher style boards we had at our second circus in San Blas,Nayarit. There we sat on old wooden benches which were reached afterwalking out on wobbly slats which had large opening gaps on eitherside of the narrow plank. Of course you could easily fall throughand your best bet would be for your arms, perhaps, to spread out andcatch you on the way down as you crashed through old metal braces andwooden slats before eventually hitting the hard dirt field below. The ability to really mess yourself up added to the thrill of thecircus, I guess, but I still had to fight the fear of thinking aboutcircus's in the early days which caught on fire and all hell brokeloose. My saving grace, which allowed me to sit there through allthis, was that I had a plan to escape THROUGH those big openings andout the back to safety...all of course with Zada at my side, with mybig backpack and my big camera tossed over my shoulder. I think it'sa plausible undertaking, even if you consider on any given day whatelse I'd be trying to rescue. Last night, in my lap watching the 2 ½hour show was Emily Jane, Zada's new large plastic 18” doll(American Girl inspired ala Target brand) who was taken along towatch her very first circus as well as was a stuffed Webkinz tigerwhich came to watch his fellow tigers do amazing acts. So any quickcircus exits would also have to include them or I'd be doubling backin to rescue them.

Okay, re-reading that last paragraphnow, makes me seem perfectly loony, but having an exit strategy is agood thing in life, especially when going to Mexican travelingcircus' or taking city buses where occasionally floor boards are sorusted out and you can see the pavement rushing by beneath the bus orthe big rear double doors open willy-nilly even when traveling at50mph and you're standing right beside them, holding on to a piece ofaluminum railing with one hand and your daughters hand in the other. So don't raise your eyebrows too harshly on these comments, for ifyou're a momma, I know you'd be thinking the same thing!

Okay, back to the circus. This one hadglitz and flair and good, if not terribly loud, music and most of allit had... Franccesco and Apolo. Now when you read those names it hasto be said: FRANCCESCOAND APOLO with great emphasis and even greater panacheand much ado as these are the stars of the show. Even before youenter the circus tent the stars have been well established, from thenumerous outside circus trailers all which held massive pictures ofthe two Rolex Circus superstars....Franccesco being called theSuperboy who was often seen either shirtless with a big Western stylerhinestone belt on his jeans, or clothed in a Superman's Cape allwith a young brilliant smile on his face. Apolo also did theshirtless pose with a more reserved smile or leer as well as dressingin white dress shirt and tie taking on a more mature business manattitude, complete with fancy watch. The advertisement announcedthat the Rolex Circus had the best looking men in the business andmany trailers looked as if it were an advertisement for those bad80's Chippendale strip shows women went to, taking their turn, Iassume, from all those years of Playboy & men's clubs being theonly game in town. The trailers gave more square footage ofadvertisement to their show men, all barely dressed with smooth skinarms and chests – arms crossed flexing their biceps, leering downat you in with their best sexy look vs. the white tigers with mouthswide open and snarling out in a menacing way. It came as no surprisethen when the ring was being changed for the next act that a coupleannouncers with microphones walked around the audience and took voteson who was the most handsome star of the show...again pittingFranccesco against Apolo. I got asked as well, and voted for Apolo. He was the star of the tigers and Franccesco, Zada's pick, was thestar of the horses. Zada cast her vote purely for the beautifulhorses and I cast mine as Apolo's wickedly cool super pointy cowboyboots (in an animal print) were just too hard to pass up, as well asthe black skin tight pants with numerous rhinestones done in afleur-de-lis pattern, which I'm also fond of. Oh and he's prettygood with the tigers too, I should add, especially considering he'sabout a ¼ of the size of just one of the 8 tigers he was in the ringwith.

The circus wasn't all about men inspandex and snarling animals...as there was one dance number of womendressed as FBI agents in hot pants and thigh high black stilettoboots. Ethan's comment was if all FBI agents looked like thateveryone would be into fighting crime. Um....anyhow the FBI dancemoves were rather simplistic, perhaps because of how those hot pantswere quickly becoming thong shorts as they kicked and swirled aroundApolo. Soon the dancing became a cheerleader cry for Apolo and hiswhite tiger team and one by one they peeled off and left the ring,the latter ones taking a piece of Apolo's clothes with him. Withthe exception of one female acrobat who did a beautiful aerialroutine hanging from yards of white cloth, the show belonged to themen and the animals. Miniature horses (much smaller than ponies) ofspeckled white and black came out and pranced around and acrobatswere done on running horses while all the men were dressed as Marvelcartoon characters, after-which they grabbed 3 people from theaudience to have them try their luck at riding on a fast movinghorse, which left one women terribly upset – or just ready to getsick, perhaps – after her horse sped off and she went aerial on hersafety line and then was jerked around intentionally every time shethought she was going to be placed back down on solid ground. Theother two audience members handled it with more grace and again avote was cast by the audience as to “who was the best” with thewinner getting a reward while the other two just had to sit down andlose their 10 minutes of circus fame.

After the 2 ½ hour show and seeing thewhite tigers in the ring...the house lights came on and two of thetigers came out on a big cart and for $100 pesos (approx. $7.40 US)you could stand behind the two massive animals WITH Apooooooooolo byyour side and have your picture taken. Apolo would allow you to petthe tigers back haunches (thus the opening statement from Zada) andafter a shake of Apolo's hand as well as a kind comment about theshow, you were off to await your photograph souvenir.

Lastly, I'm happy to say, and as it hasbeen gratefully so in all our circus outings, the condition of theanimals showed healthy looking animals with all their teeth and clawsand no funky repetitive mannerisms like you see at so many zoos. Allthe animal stalls were clean as were the grounds where all the fancytrailers and circus cars were parked.

Well, enjoy the pictures of our time atthe Rolex Circus and keep in mind each time you see Franccesco orApolo you should be hearing a thundering crescendo of their namesafter which you should madly applaud or at least smile...and yes,cheer! For that is what a circus is all about...

Lamp Becomes Art

2012-01-04T09:21:00.000-08:00

One side of the lamp....with brittle stars, puffer fish, seahorse, feathers and fish jaws & bones

Little sun dried sea turtle, driftwood Z with crabs, shark egg purse (sack)
and on the very far right a polka-dotted crab claw holding a pomegranate dried bloom

Drift wood with various sea urchins and crabs.
Paper nautilus to the right, which Zada found which a female octopus makes and
stores her eggs in while they develop...fragile as an egg shell and always an amazing find.

More sea horses, wee bird skulls and tiniest of sunflower stars

Large brown "devil claw", feathers, skulls & shells

Gorgonian seafan with crabs and fish vertebrae
bottom black mass is a big clump of wild horse hair (of course!)

My sweetest of pufferfish, all blown up in his final glory, which started this
project going 3 years ago as I really didn't have anywhere to place him and have him
out of the way without causing anyone harm...and the more I added onto the lamp,
the better the old lamp looked.
Also in picture, snake skin shed, smaller paper nautilus & seahorse

Large brittle star, numerous sea urchins, sea fans and bird skulls

THE LAMP....

The Eyoni Free-Style-Becomes-Art-Lamp

Years ago while wintering in a not very well insultedaluminum boat in the dead of winter at the Channel Islands off the coastline ofCalifornia, nightly we used our traditional brass oil lamp to heat the boat andallow us to crawl out of our foulies. Over many, many years and two boats, (perhaps even 3) this traditionallamp has faded and lost some of its shine but not its charm. Over the past 3 years of being inMexico waters the thought of actually lighting this lamp and adding any moreheat into the belly of Eyoni would have been seen as outrageous so the old girlhas slowly been used as a base (well, a hanging one) to store and display manya thing we’ve drug home off the beaches, out of canyons and deserts on our Seaof Cortez adventures. The lamp nowtells a story and daily I marvel at the goodness that is tucked into it.

I’ve come to know many things about this lamp. One is, either you love it and thinkit’s truly a sweet work of ever-growing art…or you take a quick step backwards,after coming down the 5 companionway steps and running face to face with it,and think “thank god that thing is not on MY boat”. Men are more apt to think like the latter, where the femalesI know seem to gravitate to it and make me feel less like I have to apologizefor the big swinging mass of Sea of Cortez goodies which occasionally grab yourhair if you lean in too close to inspect it. The only real apology I’ve ever made (in all truthfulness asI love it no matter what anyone thinks) is when it’s humid out and thesun-dried creatures take on the original smell of death that they had when wefirst picked the item up. It canget kind of “stoney” I agree, yet even with those occasional “fumes” I wouldnever, ever take it down and have half a mind to keep it all my life. Of course I’ll first have to devise away to carefully take it off Eyoni and mount it so the lamp swings like it doesnow…lantern style and perhaps find a better method of dusting, but other thanthat, this could be my finest Sea of Cortez memory and it needs to be with mealways.

Some of Zada’s personal finds “of wonder” are given primelower-front spots as she likes to look at all the seahorses, paper nautilus,brittle stars and tiniest of bird skulls (and wee feathers that become aseahorses top-knot) which she has proudly found. She and I often stand and look up at it and recall who foundwhat and where we were when we found it. It’s a great thing to share. Something so different and unique, which only has your name and memoriesattached. As I type this I keepstopping and looking over at it and will quickly name a few things that I cansee:

Owl feather; puffer-fish; baby sea turtle; tiniest ofsunflower star(fish); sea-biscuits; old fishing lures; Georgian sea-fans; snakeskin; crab claws of all sizes and colors; ray/skate teeth (grinder plates);devil’s claw pod; bracelet of puffer-fish spines; egret feather; various fishjaws; bird skulls of all varieties; shark egg case; bird nest; turtle shellurchins; dried tarantula; various sea shells; termite devoured piece of wood;needle-nose fish; dried frog/toad (given to me just for the lamp); and numerousother goodies which are tucked in or hanging off of and which swing softly withthe movement of Eyoni.

So enjoy our lamp…

Happy New Year!

Nancy & Zada

s/v Eyoni

writing from La Paz, BCS – Mexico

on a sunny day, January 4, 2012

La Paz Taco Walkabout Christmas Eve 2011

2011-12-26T15:43:00.000-08:00

Zada with good friend Amy off the s/v Third Day
exchanging gifts on Christmas Eve Day

The social mornings at Marina La Paz

Luckily lots of good animals come to the "social gatherings" at the
marinas, so Zada gets her good love sessions in. This sweet dog knows how to High-5

Jason, Zada and Amy bringing up the pack on our
Taco Outing - Christmas Eve - La Paz

Walking along the malecon...and seeing 2 boats this day that
drug anchor and went on the hard

Waiting in line for the goodness that are street tacos....

Fellow cruisers who beat us to the taco stand on this Christmas Eve

WHY we love street tacos SO MUCH!

Simon getting his "eat" on...

s/v Third Day

bringing out freshly cooked shrimp to add to the cart

Fish and shrimp are cooked inside that house and then brought out
(see above pic) and put into the serving cart. There are only 2 tables, so
everyone stands up around the stand and eats....

Mexico has great funny kid masks...

Hats for cold weather, which we actually have now!

Love the mannequin heads....

Street vendor carts selling sweets. We bought some stocking stuffer
candy and ate it all in 30 minutes....

Waiting at taco stand #2
(Zada has beaver with her now and is out of my pack)

The baby ducks she so badly wanted to buy...

THE Golden Signature Webkinz Beaver....
malecon and beachside under a palapa

Oh look at those smiles....

Zada handing out her homemade goodies to fellow cruising kids...
here she hands off decorated candy bars and gum to Jack
off the s/v Just A Minute

One of the large snowmen...a 4 pack Reeses with real sticks and real pom pom earmuffs...

Christmas Eve had us on a walk-about around the town of LaPaz with good friends as we headed off to our favorite fish/shrimp tacostand. Many of the streets of LaPaz have been turned into walking streets and have been filled with variousvendors selling everything from military camo gear (and strong, cheap tear gas)to knock off name brand clothes to dolls, bikes, plastic toys, fur lined hats,real live puppies and long press-on fake finger nails in the colors ofChristmas. We kept a good pacewalking to taco’s after finally making our way out of the busy parking lot ofthe local boat/sailing club at Marina La Paz where daily mornings are socialand it is impossible to move through without stopping to chat and say hello tosomeone. The good pace we finallymade was for two reasons: 1) thenorth winds have been kicking us hard and leaving us all wearing our coldweather gear, which for many of us, hasn’t been out of the dry lockers inseveral years; and 2) because the taco’s are just too good to chance missingand they are only served on a “until we run out” basis….and you never know whattime that will be. The taco’sare….the best. Ever. Hands down the best fish taco’s we’veever had and it is no wonder why the locals line up to get a big plate full andthen don’t mind standing around on the sidewalk to eat, holding onto theirlittle saran baggy wrapped plate and trying to eat the heavily dolled up taco’swithout them falling to the street. It is a given that we could eat here daily…if not several times a day,because it’s just that good.

After our first round of taco’s we slowly walked backthrough all the vendors, which we had sped through 30 minutes prior and did alittle looksy shopping and grabbed a few small stocking stuffer items along theway. Next stop was in the heart ofdowntown and a few of our gang were eating again at the next taco stand, tryingto do a “taco off” to see which street vendor had the best fish & shrimptaco’s. By the time we got to thesecond vendor, I called it quits, though I would have happily eaten more at thefirst taco stand. Rich off the s/vThird Day and Ethan gave the thumbs up to the first taco stand, so now we caneasily say which is the best in La Paz.

As it was Christmas Eve and things were crowded, we soon allwent our different ways and Zada, Ethan and I ended up looking at real livebaby ducks and birds…a perfect Christmas gift Zada kept repeating. For months she’s been on a “realanimal” begging kick and though I love animals, it is very tough to have themon a boat…so I keep buying time and promising that some day – perhaps soon – wecan get her a real live eat & poo and loving & petting pet. I just don’t know what that pet willbe…yet. Until then we’ll keepacquiring more and more animal Webkinz (stuffed animals) and if we get any moreSignature GOLDEN Webkinz that look so REAL, I could easily start a panic sinceher new Webkinz beaver (carried by me all day on our walk-about) keep startlingpeople as they walked by us on the crowded streets. The big beaver has been peering out of my backpack, ornestled in my arms ever since Zada received her “amazing” gift from her cousin,Allison for Christmas. OnChristmas Eve she was allowed to open one gift early…and the beaver was the oneshe chose and it has gone everywhere with us, since. The beaver blends into my backpack coloring and looks like agiant rodent sticking out of the pack, at eye level, which caused many a womento shriek and then (luckily) laugh when they realized it was fake and thatthose two big teeth weren’t really coming out for a reason (i.e., to take a bigchomp on whomever came too close to me). So, the beaver is a hit and hopefully will buy me some more time beforethe “when can I have a REAL pet, momma?” is repeated over and over and overagain until it finally breaks me down some day in sheer desperation and I buysome bird or bunny or turtle or goldfish to take sailing with us.

December 26, 2011

La Paz, BCS - Mexico

Count Down Til Christmas - La Paz Dec. 2011

2011-12-22T15:14:00.000-08:00

Digging out all the boxes of Christmas goodness aboard Eyoni

Zada with old plastic Santa we put up every year

My favorite, to date, of a Mexican ornament I purchased.
From San Blas, Nayarit, this fine, fine 20 pesos red wire toilet brush
turned into circle-frame to hold a plastic Santa head. Love it.

Decking Eyoni and ourselves in good Christmas fake garland
(covered in snow, of course)

Zada whipping the endless stings of garland around Eyoni
(and notice the boxes and mayhem in the forward berth from
digging out all the Christmas stuff. This is a big undertaking!)

Zada does get into the spirit...which I like.

So happily wearing her new warm sweatshirt from Grandma Alice,
aboard Just A Minute for a fine dinner with friends.
And yes, it gets mighty chilly at night as soon as the sun sets.

Oh Christmas tree...

Newly added and made this week old paper ring garland.
While Zada does schooling, I sit beside her and make little
knick-knacks, like all good teachers do, I'm sure.

Santa Count Down Calendar
Zada made when she was 3, at Catalina Island

Again the must have of the season (and I've had it now for 2)
the wire toilet brush Santa frame.

Zada's "Santa With Big Teeth"
2009

Decorations from 2 years ago. Black beach sand from Santa Rosalia
mixed with mini shells, vertebrae and pufferfish spines...

And some of the new 2011 ornaments I'm currently working on....
Zada and me with tinsel and mini seashells.
My brother John (currently in Afghanistan) in old fashion wreath (not done yet)
and sister Rebecca, wearing skirt from candy wrapper...and pipe cleaners (again, not done yet).
I'm sure my siblings don't mind being works of art...I think they look very charming and I can't wait to put them on the little tree! Merry Christmas all....

6 Days & Counting…

As I write, it’s actually a few hours left in 7 Days &Counting, but by the time I gather some pictures to add to this blog I’llalready be down another day or two depending on how much free time I get toactually load the pics and these words. I glanced at my blog this evening, to see where I had left off andnoticed it was from the early part of November…so a good month and a half havegone by where I didn’t add anything, but as Zada and I were off the boat and upwith family in the Pacific Northwest - sharing Thanksgiving, my 50^thand numerous other family events - I didn’t blog about it, mainly because I’mnot sure my siblings would love being on my blog and two because, well, theblog is about being ON the boat...which of course we weren’t. Ethan though, was and it is he whoneeds to give an update on the hard dodger he made (and creatively so) and Ihope he does that soon. But thisblog is about the days leading up to Santa and all that Ho Ho Ho.

This will be Zada’s 3^rd Christmas on Eyoni and sofar Santa has always found the good ship Eyoni to the amazement and delight ofour bright eyed Santa-loving girl, who currently sleeps under a canopy of mixedplastic frilly garland (green, tinted with white flecks) and colorful foil hollygarland in her aft cabin. Outwhere I sit and type (in the main saloon) is our just decorated 2 foot treewith a new topper this year, a beautiful little woven paper angel purchased atmy favorite artist store here in La Paz, a five minute walk from here (MarinaDon Jose) on the malecon. Thestore, Casa del Artesao Sud Californiano, carries various handmade artfrom elaborate to simple from artists who live here on the Baja Peninsula andis always a treat to go in and see what is displayed. The store was short on actual ornaments, so we purchasedsome mini magnets and turned them into ornaments and now our tree has some newadditions to go with the various ones from these past 3 years. Hung below more snow-flecked fakegarland (we went wild last year, Zada and I and purchased numerous meters ofthe fine, fake stuff…to her delight, I might add) are 3 fine pieces of art Zadadid when she was 3. At thatChristmas we had just departed Los Angeles and were having our last farewellsail to, and time spent at, Catalina Island and the art work she did there hasbeen safely tucked away in my ever-growing Christmas Bilge Spot and has fairedwell. One shows a big mouthy Santaand is called “Santa With Big Teeth”. I love that. The next isone so heavily covered with cotton-balls it’s hard to know where one Santastops and the next (of 3) begins. The third one hanging behind me is of a rather demented looking Santa –looking more like Mr. Potato Head – and part of his red hat (now fading) holdsa sliding ribbon of numbers which count down the days from 10 to 1 forChristmas. Tomorrow, soon afterawakening Zada will rush over and slide the numbers through until it reaches 6and that will be the official start of our day. Day Six Until Christmas.

This year, while home in the States, Zada got to visit Santaand she proudly and confidently handed over her long list of items, mostlyWebkinz stuffed animals she “needs” and wants to cram into her aft cabin. Without big lines she had time topraise him for finding her sailboat and for not being afraid of the water orlanding on a boat with a deranged cat (which we had last year as we werebabysitting one). This Santa wasgood and didn’t miss a beat, though he did look over at me and smile and raisehis real bushy eyebrows at me as if to say “is this girl telling me the truth”as Zada rattled on, nonstop about being in Mexico and not having any snow, butthat’s okay and hey did you like those treats we left you last year and WOWthose reindeer sure made a mess of our decks on Eyoni as they left carrot chipsall over the place but that was okay because we just tossed them overboard, yousee, so the fish could have some treats too. It’s no wonder Santa was looking at me and trying to pieceit altogether, but Santas’ are good at going with the flow and so he did. After she rattled off a few minutes ofnon-stop, one-sided chatter she jumped off his lap and came and over and said“and mom, I let him keep my list just so, you know, he doesn’t forget because,well, Mexico is a long way south”. The only saving grace in all of that was I took a picture of the list,just moments before piling into my sisters “big rig” with her 3 girls and droveoff to the little Santa Workshop with our girls in the dress/outfit of theirchoice (and Zada wearing her Teva’s as she refused to wear anything else on herfeet).

So, today we will do schooling and then jump into makingsome new 2011 Christmas tree ornaments and decorations to add to our collectionand I can’t wait to see what Zada comes up with. You can be assured that almost equal amount of time will bespent cleaning up all the glue, glitter and other sparkles that roll around theinside of this boat. But tis theseason of shine-glitter-and-dazzle, so it’s no big deal really and I can’t waitfor the afternoon to roll around and our learning books put away and theimagination and the madness (because all good artists have to be a littlewhacky to do what we do) and the pure thrill of creating something is setbefore us and unfolds.

Merry Christmas…

Gingerbread & Grandma's Dec. 2011

2011-12-20T15:15:00.000-08:00

Grandma Alice with Zada cutting out the People

Best label I've seen in a long time....

Placing the People on the cutting board
our expectations are still high at this point!

Starting to decorate the iced People.
Notice that one of the "sparkle" holders is a vial used
at hospitals to store, um, fluids....

Sitting in about 2 pounds of sparkles and mess, but loving it

My mom, determined to show us how it's done.
Here she does the bikini wearing Person, however,
you will notice the awfully burnt feet and hands.

Gingerbread People, Birds and Fire Victims
(oh and one fancy letter Z)

One of Zada's FINER creations

My mom's bikini wearing Gingerbread
(which in her defense did suffer some face damage as it was being hung up)

One of Zada's other "finger" Gingerbread People, minus the arms
which Zada broke off to eat.
No comment on the nude black haired mohawk wearing blue eyeshadow ornament
but something about it just adds to the beauty of the tree, the season and the spirit!

Sometimes you see something and you think “we’ve just gottado that” and you smile imagining how fun it will be and how well (with gooddetermination and a creative mind) your project will turn out. Sometimes, though, when you toss thatone quick comment to your daughter, “oh of course we’ll do that, honey” you areusually in for a little bit more than you’ve originally bargained for in those2.3 seconds it took for you to quickly sign onto something that looked, um,easy. Such is the case of theGingerbread People.

First off, they can’t be Gingerbread Men. Zada pointed that out to us, furtherINTO this story, but I just have to say this NOW because of the above paragraphreferring to them as People instead of Men. “Well, I don’t see any dangle on them mom, so I mean, howcan they be men…I mean where is their penis?’. So that started the whole renaming of the Gingerbread Peopleand it quickly went down hill, but with good laughter, after that.

Backing up…Zada’s GG (Ethan’s Mother, Sandy) lives in acharming area of Charleston, South Carolina and really does the seasons upright. Her home is exquisitelydecorated with Christmas being decked in tartan bows and velvet ribbons and allthings beautiful. Each year she sends Zada a good grouping of photos of herhome…and the one Zada really loved was the miniature Gingerbread Men tree. So Zada looks at all the pictures andquickly figures out what we are capable of doing and says “can we do what GGdid Mom and decorate those little guys?” and that is when I quickly popped offthat of course we can comment. Next thing you know Zada is proudlyshowing MY mom GG’s pictures and hears the same plea of wanting to do thesebrown little spicy men. Fine. Next thing I know mom is down in her pantrypulling out molasses and waxed paper and Zada is happy watching this all cometogether. So far, so good. Next they pull out the cookie cuttersand my mom proudly offers up HER version of the Gingerbread Man and he’s, well,BIG. So they start cutting themout and placing them on the sheet and I notice that some are variousthicknesses…but what the hell, they’ll be covered with icing, so we startbaking. Well, half way throughbaking we panic and think “we’ve got to bake these longer so they don’t getsoggy on the tree” (since they are made with butter and it IS the Pacific NWand it does have, um, humidity thanks to the rain)…so we extend the cooking bydouble and then double that again. Next thing we know the kitchen is full of smoke and our People havesuffered some major setbacks in their extremities. As I pull out the charred victims we don’t panic, we justthink we’ll just mask those 2^nd and 3^rd (okay, completelycharred) feet and arms with lots of colorful sugary icing. And…it almost works.

And I say almost because of a couple reasons:

1) My Mom’s icing dyes are several years old and many hadthe wrong lid placed on the vial so our colors got all terribly mixed up whenZada went to “blend” her own colors; and

2) Zada was Head Decorator and it’s not easy decoratingcrisp and burnt big People into beautiful works of now non-edible art when youare 6.

Okay, long pause here…and I think I need to add a thirdreason.

3) My Mom’s decorating shoebox (also used to store thechicken bouillon cubes, FYI) was heavy on the Easter and Halloween “sparkle”theme and not so much on the Ho Ho Ho greens and reds and golds and silvers ofChristmas, which takes being creative one big step beyond what I was capable atthat point.

But you do what you can….right. So we set in with our off shades of icing and soon it becameapparent that our People were never going to look like GG’s People no matterhow much icing in a pale 1970s mint inspired green we put on them or how manymini marshmallows Zada added as buttons down the long stretch of bodies thesegiant people had (the marshmallow bag was open in desperation of findingsomething besides yellow chicks and orange ghosts to add to our People and bynow I was desperate for something sweet to eat as even I passed on the oddcolored icing which wasn’t very appealing and for once I didn’t keep putting myfingers in it to steal away tasty bites…and perhaps that’s the perfect way todiet…just add off-colored food coloring to items and I guarantee it, you won’teat much).

So, now my Mom is taking her 20-minute speed nap in theafternoon and Zada and I are finishing up on the People. Mom comes up and takes a look at whatwe’ve done and then, more importantly stares at the insult of People we’ve lefther to decorate. I’m exhausted andhope somehow she’ll be able to restore and bring to life something from thosehorrid burnt to a crisp cookies we have left over. So she looks again at our final People and asks, “is thatone wearing a diaper?” to which I laugh, but get a little defensive (as Zadasaid the very same thing earlier as I was decorating it) and said, “excuse me,but that would be an apron”. So mymom, highly competitive as she is (though she’d say that she isn’t) takes herhand at decorating and turns out some very amusing, opps, I mean, amazingPeople. She ups my diaper one bycreating one in a bikini, though I don’t know why she’d think hers is to beseen as that and not simple a bra and undies, when mine is certainly an apronand NOT a diaper…but such are the little dynamics between moms and theirdaughters, so I let that slide and just praise her for such an amazing work ofbrilliance. Yes, cattinesssometimes runs strong in the cookie-decorating arena I’ve learned! But you know, it’s all good…it is and aftergoing up to the computer to look at GG’s amazing little Gingerbread Tree to seewhere in the hell we went wrong, it was obvious that size DOES matter. I guess it’s the difference betweenextra petite and major-ass HUGE that did us in. In hindsight GG used the icing as accents, while we used badicing to create a complete blank canvas thus wiping all that brown spicy gingergoodness off and then had to struggle to create something good and sweet againand um, I don’t think we did that…but you look for yourselves and see what YOUthink!

As for Zada. She loved it. That is whatmakes this all good and all fun and one sweet memory. Days afterwards she could be seen moving the People aroundon the tree, giving hers the prime spots to be noticed and to be munchedon. When we left, only a fewPeople higher up in the evergreen boughs still had their crispy burnt limbs onthem, and the rest, Zada height and lower were all amputees – some missing onelimb, some 2 or 3. It seems my“diet” of ugly colored food didn’t hold true for her, and mostly I thinkbecause she put so many other-season sparkles on them that they just became agold-mine of sugar and when you’re 6 and eating things off Christmastrees…well, a little burnt cookie here or there doesn’t kill you nor does uglyicing on Gingerbread Men with the dreaded Dangle or Gingerbread People that onany average winter day would never be seen on GG’s fine, fine little signaturetree!

Thiswriting is for three fine girls (two of which, are women): My mother-in-lawSandy Dowell (GG) who inspired this whole Gingerbread Person event & makesall things look so beautiful; my mom Alice Kenney (Grandma) who taught me theways of creating homemade goodies out of next to nothing when I was young andwe were oh-so poor (and yes, even goodies that turn into disasters) and toZada, my daughter who thrives at creating, which gives me great joy that she’llpick up on the things that GG, Grandma and myself have shared with her and keepthe homemade tradition going. Ihope someday she too stands in a kitchen with her babies by her side, ankledeep with colorful sparkles and a tray of gingerbread people, and….laughs.

Heading South Along Baja Oct. 2011

2011-11-16T08:00:00.000-08:00

Zada making some fun with dishsoap

Saying goodbye to more cruising friends who are off to new adventures...

Oh the fun these girls have had...Chandler & Zada, cut from the same cloth!

Ethan repairing our dinghy chaps with our new amazing Morse sewing machine
found at a street vendor's used-item table and is a prize!!

Zada dances around as Ethan works on the sewing.

An egret we scared up on the gangway...Santa Rosalia

Heading out for our last Rico's Taco's in Santa Rosalia.
Zada in one of her princess dresses....and Keens.

Zada and the Singular Marina at Santa Rosalia

Heading out for tacos...

2 blocks to Rico's Tacos the best taco's in Baja

I love this street vendor...with the low light it looks like a cool old painting

Crossing Baja Highway One for Rico's Tacos

There is always so much smoke pouring out it is often hard to breathe...but wow, it's good!

With boys in cowboy hats and Zada in her princess dress, two families both enjoy
the amazing taco's at Rico's

My El Pastor taco's (with one missing bite)

Zada clearing her own plate

Roasting peppers

El Pastor

Zada jumpingup to grab the smoke

Zada standing over a light inside the marina

Wearing the same princess dress, the next day we're under sail and she has an apple from the Yakima Valley, WA

Our captain eating "meat snacks" and reading

10/24/2011

Leaving the Northern Sea

So our time in the northern Sea of Cortez is over andperhaps all our fun with whale sharks and orca’s and sperm whales as well. It’s been good these few yearshere in the regions of Baja and the Sea of Cortez where few boats go and it hasbeen bittersweet to keep turning around looking behind us at the Sea ofCortez. There is always a slightmelancholy feeling wondering if you’ll ever step foot on a favorite stretch ofbeach or return to a remote anchorage which held the most amazing assortment ofrocks you so badly wanted to lug home (if you had one) to make a rockgarden. I guess that is part ofthe journey here and what makes it unique though, so you take it all in and tryhard to remember everything you’ve seen and done in these remote areas. One good thing that comes with all thisadventure is that you do meet friends for life, no matter what continent theysail home to or if they hang up their dock shoes and head back to dry land and“real schooling” for their children after a season or two. It has been the exception for usto meet someone on a boat (especially out here in the Sea of Cortez in thesummer…when most people flee) that you hope you never had to share an anchoragewith them again or cringe when you hear them hailing on the radio. It has been a refreshing change afterliving so many years in the Los Angeles area and often wondering where thepeople you could relate to were. With the exception of a few basic similarities, which we all share, fromlugging heavy provisions around (which leaves us sailors with extra longchimpanzee-like arms) to hints on a good beach for seashells or fish, we trulyare a blend of different backgrounds from all over the world. Sailing and the need to fall off thegrid brings us out here for adventure - from the old single handed sailors tothe young next-generation sailors who don’t bat at eye when telling you “yeah,we play it safe, we do a head check once every hour” which leaves us“middle-aged, 360 degree head checks every 15 minute” sailors somewhatnervous. So we all are different, just like our boats and how we trim sails(alas some don’t even put their sails up…yikes), but we do sail along verysimilar lines when it comes to how we decided to live part of our life out hereon the water and toss, perhaps, comfort and security of land living and headout in a floating version of a large walk-in closet.

Nearing dark, a few sails ago and still without any wind buta belly full of pizza made on the bbq (which is mounted on our stern rail), wedecided to tuck into a small anchorage for the night after our wonderful hourspent with the sperm whales. Justas I was getting Zada down for the night and the time for my nightlymost-cherished reading session nearing, Ethan started a couple hours ofdebating “do we stay or go” as the weather reports he had just pulled down viaham radio showed “no wind in sight” for tomorrows crossing. Since he couldn’tdecide I decided to make a stand and crawled into bed with my book for oh,about 28 seconds and three sentences when he came in to report we were pullinganchor and heading south for an overnighter. So, with a boat quickly losing some valuable provisions(coffee being #1 and toilet paper being #2) we pulled anchor in an absolutepitch black night and headed out. 8 shooting stars later – nearing 0330am - it was my turn for a watch and as soon as I came up on deckthe wind picked up and we sailed until breakfast time. Over the course of the night, forseveral hours, dolphins could be seen darting around Eyoni. With only light from the stars overheadand no moon, the bioluminescence were incredible and the dolphins looked likewhite jet-propelled missiles shooting around our hull, brightly lit andstreaking fast. Occasionally they would whack their tales near the cockpit tolet me know they were still there, which I know I’ve written before, is alwaysa little startling when you are seated just a few feet away on your darkwatch. Earlier, when we were withthe sperm whales a playful dolphin kept coming up to the bow, slightly off toone side and smacking his tail against the water, completely spraying us withsalt water. Again and again he didit and we all were laughing until we turned around and saw our forward hatchwas completely open and our bedding below, sprayed as well by the large playfulbottlenose dolphin!

The two entries above were started separately and just foundon my laptop as I was trying to clear out a horrible problem with iPhoto on myMac. Seems I have overwhelmed thesystem with too many photos in the trash and now the trash won’t empty and sohas frozen up my massive external hard-drive. Urgh…I tell you, there is always something to worryabout out and since I take between 25-30,000 pictures a year (narrowing down myprized collection over tears and the occasional beer, to 20,000 pictures) itleaves me little time to sort out the proper way of using an application andsince have overwhelmed it. Okay, sonow there are TWO things totally overwhelmed and two blog updates, which aren’tconnected whatsoever…but such is life. Half the time life makes good sense while the other half often has usjust floating around free-style barely able to keep our noses up for thatvaluable thing we call air….and life.

Dias de los Muertos 2011 & Santa Rosalia

2011-11-12T08:00:00.000-08:00

Zada leaping off an old tire on Negro Playa
Black Beach, Santa Rosalia

Collecting some of the black "slag" sand from Negro Playa for future craft ideas aboard Eyoni

Pangas and the single Singular Marina gangway.
Seawalls are massive slag blocks

Day of the Dead cut out purchased in Santa Rosalia

Zada and my sugar skulls done for the ones we lost this past year.

South out of Santa Rosalia

Oct. 2011

Santa Rosalia is again coming to life. Every visit shows more fancy working ElBoleo mining trucks on the streets and old school buses from the States haulingworkers back and forth from town to the mine, which is a few miles north of theplaza. In a year it will be goingfull speed and the town will be on its second chance at bustle as it pullscopper from the hills. It’s firstmining hay day came in the 1860’s though then they used Yaqui Indians to workthe mines vs. having them sit in a prison in Guaymas (across the Sea of Cortezon the mainland side of Mexico) and ran steadily until after WWII when theprice for copper fell and finally, in 1954 the then French owned mine calledCompagnie du Boleo was shut down. The French left and a Mexican company tookuntil all the copper ran out and was again shut down in April of 1986. Luckily many of the old original miningbuildings still survive and make the village an interesting blend ofarchitecture, with big wrap around wooden porches, large sheets of corrugatedmetal upon pitched roofs and old wood slat fences holding in large shadetrees. We like this town. A lot.

We decided to leave on Halloween Day and have a Easter EggHunt done ala Trick or Treat style on the decks of Eyoni and get an extra dayunder us, as it would soon be obvious if we stayed for Halloween then we’d haveto stay the next day November 1^st for the first day of Dias de losMuertos, or Day of the Dead. Walking by the last little fruit stand on our last provision outing, thestand held a massive barrel normally used to water cattle or horses, filledwith large colorful marigolds, of which will be used in the offerings to thedeparted. Many who are notfamiliar with this day are often turned off by the gleaming, often smilingskulls, which are used creatively and in a good, happy sense to remember thedeparted. In fact, I’m surprisedthis holiday isn’t picked up and used more often, especially in the Stateswhere all things funeral and memories are big business. But perhaps it’s for the better, for itcould easily become something other than a day of remembrance and celebrationfor ones departed soul. But I dolike the fact that on this day, November 1^st the children areremembered and on November 2^nd everyone else. As I start this writing, it is November1st and today the school children will take a day off from school and go to theplazas and create shrines for the souls they lost this year and/or for Mexicanfavorites who departed years ago but who are heros and worshipped. Today though, for the children favoritetoys or kiddy blankets which have been tucked away since the child’s death willbe brought out and offered up. Candy and bottles full of milk, or a pacifier and some warm booties willbe added to the mix of confetti, colorful flowers real, and those made oftissue paper and foam with lots of color and glitter, will be scattered aboutthe marigold flower petals and a picture, if they have one, will be added aswell. At the foot of the shrine will be, if they have it, a statue of a dog,protecting the path that leads to the alters. Many alters will hold the homemade sugar skulls, which havebeen dyed various colors, then decorated in thin strips of icing with the lovedones name upon it. Tonight thecandles will be lit and the shrines will come to life in the warm candle litglow of the plazas, or cemetery’s. People will pay their respects as they stand at the alters and crosstheir bodies and kiss their finger tips. Few will cry though, for this is a celebration of life and since lifeoffers up death they will not focus on that, rather they will focus on the goodof the person lost, will celebrate and remember and help that spirit soar. That is what the Day of the Dead isabout. I like this too.

For our Day of the Dead remembrance Zada and I start the dayoff by making three skulls, one for each loved one that departed this pastyear. Two for dear, dear people,one being Zada’s great grandmother who was almost 103 years old and the thirdfor my sister’s family dog, which just may be the first dog to have its own Dayof the Dead honoring as the Mexicans really aren’t that close to theiranimals. When our art work wasdone we hung up one large crepe paper cut out with two large skulls sittingprofile on it, but the wind tried to rip it apart, so that was our signal toget down to business, the art of moving south when the wind picked up, so thatis what we did…

with all our memories of three fine well-loved souls…who wehope today soared.

Martha I. Smith

Dr. Leonard Cohen

Butchie

Halloween Under Full Sail 2011

2011-11-08T08:00:00.000-08:00

Homemade spiders my mom taught me to make, out of egg cartons...this one is our Mexican Spider

Eyoni is full of amazing Halloween decorations Zada made

10, count them TEN amazing delicious pomegranates!!!

One more Zada spider spooking out the boat...

As the sun sets, Zada comes out to collect the goods...

Finding the Halloween candy as Eyon sails wing and wing south down the Baja coastline

More sweets!

My Princess daughter & me

The loot & big happy smile...

Zada sharing the goods and happy with her new LPS toy

Happy Halloween!

Halloween Hunt OnEyoni

October 31, 2011

N 26 59 094

W 111 54 368

“Oh why oh WHY do you only comeonce a year you tasty little things?”

-Zada, talking to her littlebag of delicious 3 colored tiered candy corn

A couple minutes before the sun set on our evening sail intoBahia Concepcion, Zada donned a white princess dress from her dress-up bin,grabbed her last year Halloween cat candy bag and hit the moving decks of Eyonito find the goodness, which was scattered about. We were “holding” many fine treats, bought in the States andbrought south by our good friend Rich on s/v Third Day on his most recent (andsupposed last) “length of Baja road trip” back into Southern California. So the dream of having “real Halloweencandy” was greatly fulfilled in approx. 5.5 pounds of candy corn, TootsieRolls, Dots and other various sugary things. The sound of Zada shrieking when she saw the massive bagswas kind of embarrassing as we were still in the marina and since voices carryover water, I think the military actually got out from under their little tentshade to see what the issue was. I’m not joking. A fewminutes later he still stood, 200 meters away, facing our boat, so it waseither the blood-curdling shriek or the Victoria Secret undies drying on therail that had him paying attention. You decide.

So the Princess got to collecting and didn’t have to walktoo far, or worry about weather or people running out of candy, nor the man whohanded out (several Halloweens ago, while visiting my sister in Lake Stevens,WA) large cans of soda pop to all the little kids who already were loaded downwith sugary sweets, let alone adding a half of pound of mass to the bulgingbags. I recall we had 4 youngchildren, my sister and I, and we were struggling to find our way back to wherewe had parked the car in pitch blackness, no moon, with cold and tired kids andbags so heavy and I kept thinking “that man hates kids…or parents” for whatother reason is it to pass along such heavy booty, even though, I’m sure, the kidswould be thrilled to pop the can and drink up, washing all that sugary candydown with super sweet soda. Actually, I think, he was a dentist…(and of course I’m making thatassumption up, though it does make sense to me).

So our Halloween was different than most and yet again wewere pumpkin-less. In all theyears we’ve been in Baja during the fall months, we have yet to see apumpkin. Weeks leading up toHalloween Zada asked several dozen times “do you think we’ll find a pumpkinthis year?” and was again saddened as we made many treks though the village inhopes of finding one. At one pointshe picked up some large thin, curvy squash and said “hum, guess this wouldn’twork, would it?” as she put it back down. We poked our heads into every little tienda in hopesof hitting it big and at the last tienda, the one where we usually do ourstocking up while in Santa Rosalia we picked through some fruit which didn’tlook so good, only to return the next day to have it stocked with a newshipment, including…pomegranates. Now Zada and I love them and this time she ran towards the big red fruitmixed in next to cacti pads and huge bundles of cilantro and radishes. By the time I caught up, pushing a cartwhose wheels wouldn’t do anything but skid on the old cracked linoleum floor,she had them circled in her arms and was leaning her head down on them saying“oh I love you, I love you, I love you”. Yes, people stood and watched her and watched even more as we put 10 ofthem in our little shopping cart. On the walk back to Eyoni, her excited about our amazing “find”repeating over and over how the seeds look like beautiful ruby gems and how shecouldn’t wait to have some, while I counted 10 paces over and over again,trying hard to power through the walk lugging several heavy bags ofpomegranates, flour, beans, bakery goods, boxes of milk and a dozen loose eggstied up in a baggy – keeping one finger sticking out for her to grab every timewe had to run like thieves across a busy street. My arms were over extended and aching and my face, I’m sure,a big grimace as Zada finally noticed and said thoughtfully “mom, out of theten pomegranates, you can have one, okay, how’s that?”. Well…that’s not so good and I told herso in a “I’m frazzled” kind of voice, so she took a few paces and said “you’reright mom, you can have one and a half, now that’s a deal…are you happy now?”.

Yeah, thrilled…my little Halloween Princess. Thrilled you’re a princess thatreconsiders and loves me despite my now ape-like arms and bag burns on myforearms from lugging numerous kilo’s around dusty hot towns.

Days of solitude & sweeping

2011-11-06T08:00:00.000-08:00

PLEASE CLICK ON THE TITLE ABOVE TO ACCESS THE ENTIRE BLOG!

We're closing in on the last season of our 3 years spent in the Sea of Cortez and it's always a big surprise to hear that many new cruisers, now heading south in the big rally, from California, will bypass the Sea of Cortez, and instead, jump over to the mainland side (the "warm side") and then do the puddle jump to the South Pacific and never venture north into the Sea of Cortez. Often I'm greedy and I think "good, more solitude for us" but most of the time I simply think how incredibly sad it is to miss this part of the world. We've had some of the best times in our lives here in the Sea. Zada knows a lot of it more than she knows anything else, since half her life she's been here on her sailboat Eyoni in this magical place which John Steinbeck really put well into words and established it on the map back in 1951, a decade before I was born.

I've heard "are you really going back in the Sea again?" and marvel at that. I guess I could live here. It's that grand. That truly unique and that captivating. If you like sunshine and lovely water and cacti deserts rolling down to marvelous sand or cobble stone beaches and like seeing wildlife daily, well, the Sea of Cortez is the place to be. Heck, it's part of North American folks, you can drive here! No need to puddle jump and take weeks getting to palm trees and clear water and open land and sky. It's here and besides, Spanish is easy and much friendlier than French, so there's another big plus. No attitude. I like that and will miss. So we are now making our way south out of the northern regions of the Sea of Cortez and now find ourselves in the middle of the Sea. Now we will push south with the wind on our stern all the way down the Baja side into La Paz, where Eyoni will be given a new hard dodger, which Ethan has been designing and will build. We will visit with dear old friends and will surely meet some new ones who are about to round the corner into the area and rumor has it that this year there are many kid boats...so Zada should be happy about that.

Until then, here is what we do, almost daily when we are at the outer islands or along shore in Baja. We walk and find new things to see, to talk about and to play with. Every walk is different and each one I always say is over too soon, even though many are several hours long and cover a lot of hot and hard terrain. It's a good thing Zada is an amazing hiker, always has been, and so I think it's easy to say that we have covered more water and more land on this Sea of Cortez adventure then any other boat we know. So the memories are captured in 60,000 photos that I've taken and endless words and stories and still it's hard to leave. As we sail past some of our favorite anchorages it is with a lump in my heart as I stand on deck and remember the times and wonder if and when I will ever see this magical place again...this way, by the water, on a boat with sails flying in the blue clear air with a small child by my side who never fails to ask several times a day "tell me about this, will you?" as she picks something up and is fascinated by what she holds, what she sees in this place she now calls home. Oh I hope so...I hope so....I hope so.

Zada and her "find of the day" an old beat up plastic purple broom

Sweeping the beach...meter after meter after meter (and yes, this broom is still with us, see the last picture below!)

Two dolphin skulls...one with most of its tiny little teeth.
Behind Zada, about 40 meters away was another rattlesnake.
This one more orangish.

Cruisers have spirit. Here a friend dons Zada's glitter cape as he boards Eyoni, much to
Zada's delight (as she thought only her parents did this type of thing!).
Thanks Patrick - s/v Just A Minute

Reading...reading....reading and enjoying the 50 new
books we just had shipped down from the States.

Art project: Sunprints
The feather was given to Zada by a fine young boy while in the Pueblo San Ignacio

Letting the peacock feather turn into "art" via sunprints
Paper bought on our L.A. departure years ago at the Getty Museum

On-guard!
Zada finds an old plastic lid from a big 5 gallon container...complete with good handle
and convinces me to toss pumice rocks to her so she could defend herself....and Dusty,
the horse she carries in her hand, was the "toy of the hike" as Zada always takes one of her treasured horses or Polly Pockets to shore so they too can "have some enjoyment and adventure".

Last picture taken before my sailing-hiking musketeer missed a pumice rock and it
hit her in the eye socket...and yes, there was blood and then it bruised.
A parenting low point....for sure.
low...low...low
(and yes, I was tossing them underhand)

The letter "S" for my Baja Nature Alphabet

Zada turning our chart table into art. Taking 25 "twisty ties" and linking
them together to make swings for her stuffed animals.

Here you have the only TWO sailing kids in the ENTIRE northern part of the Sea of Cortez for the Summer/Fall 2011
Jack off s/v Just A Minute (14) and Zada off s/v Eyoni (6.5)
Jack charmed Zada by telling her she was his favorite girl in the Sea of Cortez this year.
I didn't have the heart to tell her she was the ONLY girl in the Sea of Cortez this year!

The broom that she now doesn't want to give away
because "mom, there's more beaches to sweep you know".
Oh yes Zada, I know. I really do.
xo

Still Life, Sea of Cortez Style - October 2011

2011-11-04T08:00:00.000-07:00

Still Life From The Sea of Cortez

PLEASE CLICK ON THE TITLE ABOVE TO ACCESS THE ENTIRE BLOG

Daily on our hikes along the numerous beaches here in Mexico we walk the various tide lines looking for goodies, from fishing rapalas wrapped up in the kelp, to tiny fragile shells that roll in only on rocky beaches to dried seahorses still clutching their dried kelp strand in their little curled up tail. You never know what you will find, often you'll find more than you could ever lug back to your boat and since storage is of a premium on most cruising boats Zada and I have been hauling things back to take still-life pictures of them after creating, as she calls them "amazing pieces from the Sea". It has been fun, but hard to take them back and drop them off again on the empty beaches, so now, about a week after these pictures were taken on the east side of Isla Angel de la Guarda, they still are held in the large plastic container we found on the beach and which allowed me to haul it down the cobbled rock beach and out to dinghy without having all the dried soft coral in a rubbled mess.

So, for a week the tray has been set inside our dinghy, which is pulled up on its arch and out of the way, but a few days ago we had to put the dinghy in the water so Ethan could do a repair on the chaps we put on the dinghy to avoid sun damage to the Hypalon. As it sat floating in the less than clear or clean water of Santa Rosalia another cruiser happened to walk by and stopped to look at the collection lying in the boat. Susan Scott is an collector too and an marine biologist who creates amazing art out of beach treasures of a different sort. A lot of her work is done with birds as a volunteer biologist for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service so she collects "trash" from the nesting sites at various Pacific island refuges. It's wonderful to see someone picking up the plastic tossed debris which so often we see on the beaches, nicer still for them to be turned into colorful art, rather have them washing along beaches being swallowed by sea birds and eventually killing many. So, until there is a time when Zada and I can have some work studio, shack or hut of sorts we'll just continue to haul dinghy loads of goodness back to Eyoni to create, laugh and admire what we each come up with as we tag-team on designs from nature.

Collecting items for our still life, at high tide line.
Punta Pulpito on Isla Angel de la Guardia - Sea of Cortez, Mexico

Found plastic containers (new white for water & black for carrying tray) with goodies for our art project on Eyoni

There is a beach....miles of which have the most amazing colorful, unique rocks. Each a gem. My mother passed along her love of rocks (mainly for rock gardens) to me and now Zada has it, so Eyoni's waterline has taken a hit on this 3 year journey, as I do "stash" a rock or two every now or then. Now that I really look at this rock, it looks like a Picasso face painting and drats, I didn't keep it.

...and more amazing rocks

Oranges, and blues, and grays and yellows and reds

A handful of lovelies...

Are these too big for charms on a rock necklace?

Zada getting the still life items all in order in the cockpit of Eyoni

Spindle Shells

Brittle Star and Cacti Drift Wood

He once flew over the Sea of Cortez...

Zada setting up her still life, soft corals & shells

Brittle Star & Soft Coral

Tiniest of skulls...little finch with one of his feathers.
Skull is less than an inch long.

Various Soft Corals

Still LIfe by Zada

Soft Corals, Shells & Turtle Beak

Frigates & Heron Bird Skulls

Star fish - top and bottoms

Oh my beautiful rocks!

Colors of the Sea on certain days

One of my favorite Sea of Cortez treats: pufferfish spines

Scallop with beautiful sea urchin (minus it's spines)

Pufferfish spines on cactus driftwood

Sea urchin and cactus drift wood

Lovely little mini kelp with bulbs

Sunflower, Sea Biscuit, Brittle Star & Star Fish

The smallest "Coral Girl" Zada Jane

The momma "Coral Girl"

Angel Shark Jaws

More little shark jaws.....

My 50th birthday gift (in advance) from
Zada....I absolutely love it. NOW to
find somewhere onboard to stash it!

Fish camp: Punta Pulpito, Isla Angel de la Guardia

Walking the spit to find goodies, Punta Pulpito

Early morning hike with little estero and mtns. of Isla Angel
de la Guardia (this estero was FILLED with rays)

Vertebrae

Dawn: Punta Pulpito on Isla Angel de la Guardia

Eyoni at anchor. Ethan and Zada hiking around lava rocks

http://www.susanscott.net/home.htm

Susan stopping by our boat to show Zada this
mosaic inspired turtle made from things she has
collected, and which Zada thought looked like a colorful cake!

Susan and her cigerette lighter & various other "debris"
you can see more of her art work at the link directly above.

Sperm Whales, Oct. 24, 2011 Northern Sea of Cortez, Baja

2011-11-01T08:00:00.000-07:00

Zada on bow of Eyoni, while Bottle-nose Dolphins play and squeak & lead the way

Searching for sperm whales
Behind her are Yellowtail "meat snacks" - a dried fish speciality Ethan makes & hangs to dry.
This OPEN hatch would soon be completely drenched with the water splashes of playful, slapping dolphins...oh my!

2 large sperm whales and incoming dolphins..that's the Baja peninsula in the background

Lying still next to the sperm whales & frolicking dolphins

The sunbeam sparkles on the sperm whales in this picture is as magical as they are...

Sperm whale, meat snacks and the Baja Peninsula
Just south of Isla Partida, Sea of Cortez

Diving sperm whales

Bottle-nose dolphin directly under our bow sprit, squeaking like mad and turning sideways to look up at us.

Old Jumpy giving us some good jumps and splashes, which resulted in a wet forward berth as the hatch
was open and several dolphins were madly slapping their tails and we & the boat got soaked.

Silver, white, blue and gray....looking west towards the Baja Peninsula

Sunset over Baja

Sperm Whales in the Sea

Oct. 24, 2011

PLEASE CLICK ON THE TITLE IN ORDER TO LOAD THE ENTIRE BLOG!

We have left the northern part of the Sea of Cortez in our flat wake, heading south on a lovely calm morning (drats, no wind) just behind our dear friends on s/v Just A Minute. We were hoping for a good wing and wing sail, if the weather prediction held, but instead we found no air and flat water, the movement of which was occasionally stirred up by the wild current lines you find in these parts of the Sea. With perfectly flat water though comes the ability to sight sea life from a good vantage point of a few feet up so I kept scanning the horizon in hopes of seeing whales or the orcas we saw almost 2 weeks previously. Each hour took us further and further away from the island we love, which is truly a gem, Isla Angel de la Guardia, and away from being able to spot Just A Minute, who soon lowered their sail and tucked into a boat-free anchorage on Isla Partida.

With Isla Partida behind us we motor-sailed down the Canal de Salsipuedes, altering course soon after I spotted a pod of whales a few miles off our starboard rail, blowing. Nothing changes the spirits of this crew when someone yells out “we’ve got whales” and soon Eyoni’s decks had feet running all about, everyone trying to spot the treat the ocean was giving up. An hour later of dogging around, going well off course was well worth it and eventually we got side to side with the big guys, Sperm Whales! Sperm whales ride low in the water that when they’re resting it’s almost impossible to see them. If you see something that looks like a big floating log, well, that’s your whale. And with an hour long breath hold, if they dive on you, it’s a lost cause to sit around and wonder where and when they’ll surface again, so you approach slowly and carefully. The first animals we came upon were a momma and her not-so-small baby, so we kept moving past, not wanting to disturb them. Soon we were near the big guys, who appeared to be motionless, hanging out side by side, while two other large whales moved out in tandem slightly ahead of the pod. Intermixed with the sperm whales were some incredibly playful bottlenose dolphin and birds squawking madly over head. At one point Eyoni had 2 sperm whales less than a boat length from us, dolphins leaping around our bow wondering where their bow wake had gone to and it was hard to figure out what to focus on. In all the back and forth action I missed the shot of the day, a dolphin coming airborne for a leap across the nose of one large whale! Zada started yelling and pointed out to an area a 1/3 of a mile off the port side and watched the most talented high-air show of any dolphins we’ve ever seen. They easily were coming out of the water a good 12-15 feet, one after the next and it looked to be a competition of who could jump up and stay airborne the longest. Then moments later, more dolphins were on the bow with one with a recent loss of the top of his dorsal fin which left both Zada and I cringing a little, but it didn’t appear to slow him down as he was one of the lead dolphins who enjoyed our bow wake again now that the sperm whales were behind us and we could pick up some speed again (um, 5.5 knots).

So, on our last official day in the northern Sea, we were given the treat of the sperm whales, the largest toothed whale in all the waters. We were so happy to see them again after first seeing them once last year, just north of where we spotted them this year. Standing on deck, with the sun lowering over Baja, watching the whales blow in the brightness of all that silver reflections of sun meeting water, Zada happily rattled off how sperm whales have the biggest brain of any animal and 4 1/2 inches of blubber around it’s massive shape and how their hearts weigh as much as two adults, which seems a lot to me, but her 6-year old mind (which loves facts) continues “but that’s not too much really, because the BLUE WHALES heart is as large as a small car…A CAR, now those whales, wow, they’re sure something else, don’t you think, momma?!”. Yes, I tell her, with a big smile on my face, they really, really are…

The Good & The Ugly, Oct. 2011 Bahia de los Angeles

2011-10-29T08:00:00.000-07:00

Looking south across the bay

the volcano on Smith Island, just north of the main bay

at anchor, looking SE

Finally some good Hilary weather and some good clouds and sunsets

Lovely dawns each and every morning, looking west to the village of Bahia de los Angeles

Hilary didn't get us, but we did get some lovely clouds and wow, what a change from months of pure blue sky

Zada finding fun inside her boat, crawling out tiny hatches

Play time for a 6 year old...

From the Marines, looking out to our boat, at anchor

...and here she comes, our sweet little doggy friend, to which Zada stops
her game of soccer to play with her

Tripod (Zada and Ethan named her, despite my not liking the name)

Our little girl and her food...
Zada in the background trying not to get great bodily harm by the old rusted out playground

Low tide with a full moon rising

Dirt streets means great time to play soccer

And the Mexico soccer fields aren't much better than the dirt roads,
but it all works, though this goalie fence was riddled with holes and rebar all around

Soccer's over, now we play baseball

And cheer in the rickety bleachers...lined, of course, with lots of broken glass

Giving our girl lots of love...

Best of friends, pulling on a washed up palm fround

2 girls running wild

Girls, shadows....licking lips!

The Good and The Ugly

Oct. 11, 2011

Make sure you click on the title above to access the entire blog:

Disclaimer: This is long, but I simply don't have time to go back and rework it, so I'll let this one blog of a rager go as is....

******

We’ve kind of thought the Baja region as one having only one season….hot. But in reality it does have more and with a few degrees of temperature dropping now weekly we are seeing an influx of a crowd that is often referred to the “snow bird” crowd, not that I can recall when a migrating bird (other than when a huge flock of extremely noisy geese fly overhead) caused so much, um, disturbance to nature and the other creatures who live there year round. On our last few walking trips into the pueblo of Bahia de los Angeles we’ve seen the crowds moving in, coming in from the north, just like numerous species of hummingbirds we see more and more of flittering among the now blooming cacti and trees. These new species, however are far from small with little ability to blend in and add to the beautiful Baja scene, rather altering it and making it something which is exactly what they just departed from hundreds, if not thousands of miles ago as exhaust pipes scraped out of drive ways in the States and in Canada on their wintering run south to Baja (and of course, mainland Mexico too).

The village of Bahia de los Angeles is small. From a watery approach it has always been obvious that during the winter this pueblo would change after the front line of beach front homes were filled with gringo’s, unlike attitudes and a different way of living. All of which is very, very unlike their neighbors who live in little one-room concrete houses or ply-wood shacks set off the beach, of course. On our first arrival into this area a few seasons ago, we came away with the feeling the locals who worked the tiendas and who offered other services were unfriendly and rather cold. It was obvious though, from many of the items they stocked on their shelves that part of their services were totally gauged, and priced for non-Mexican’s and so the feeling became obvious that they were lackluster towards us…perhaps even tired of us. Over time though, attending local events and striking up conversations their attitudes did change and it was again refreshing to know you weren’t being viewed as a Rich American Taking Over Baja Beaches. Getting off track some, it is reported that often, when the big desert rat-race of the Baja 1000 takes place (next month – starting at the Mexcian US border and running south to La Paz) that many of the multi-thousand dollar buggy’s – and yes, some motor-cross cycles – are hit with rocks and other bits of garbage when they tear through town followed by unlimited support vehicles and gear and team sponsors of which the average Mexican could never even afford one of their high-end team hats. So without sounding totally rude, “I get it” when someone won’t make eye-contact with us, or won’t readily return a “hola” or when a jersey wearing, leather bound, snuff chewing crowd blows through town leaving a dust cloud which rises thousands of feet into the air and little else, that they get nailed every now and then with basura. So getting off the Baja desert rat crowd…in comes the beach-dwelling, trailer pulling, 4-wheel vehicles piled on top, pricey SUV and gold necklace wearin’ and cigarette puffin’ winter fishing crowd. And they, so far, aren’t anything to write home about, rather they are something to literally stand and stare at – until the moment is eventually interrupted by your 6 year old daughter’s voice saying “wow mom, they are really being rude and don’t have a lot of common sense now do they?”. She is correct.

On many mornings now, and all day long, the pleasure fishing boats are making their way out of the local garages and sheds at the beach-lined homes of gringo’s. Madly they go flying by our boat, at anchor, in an official “anchorage” without any care given to the fact that they are being rude by creating such wakes not to mention terribly unsafe if there are swimmers in the water and not giving a care to the whale shark population who prefer the waters where we all anchor – and which the mighty but unhurried whale sharks don’t have the ability to dive and get out of the way. It is obvious why every magnificent krill-eating creature we’ve seen is completely nicked and cut up and scarred terribly so. Yes, the Mexican panga fishermen go like bats-out-of-hell as well, but they have a line they follow and don’t generally pick up speed until they are further out in the depths. It is rare, extremely rare for one to cut so close to a boat at anchor, at full speed. The gringo’s arriving though, are bent on getting onto the water and tearing things up which can only be done in good-guy fashion with speed, booze, attitude and with 3 or 4 blokes on board hollering over the whine of their over-extended motor using M F’er talk every other word. It appears that it takes a witness by others (us) to make their high-speed madness around the anchorage, crossing their own big wake, hooting and hollering, to have it be officially considered“fun”. Now if this makes a first grader cringe, you can imagine what goes through her momma’s mind who wishes nothing more that someone just knock those guys down a peg or two. Or perhaps some form of boating mishap which has them stranded for a day or two out at one of the outer islands, preferably one with lots of biting bugs. So, the days have changed and that means the nights have too. Nothing is sacred, not even sleep, for what better thing to do after the sun goes down and the boats have been pulled out of the water and the fishing poles set in their holders for the night, than to stand out under a perfectly peaceful evening sky, get drunk and yell and scream and hoot and holler. Wow. Are we really considered the “evolved” species? The only progress I can see these men making is their ability to come into someone else’s back yard and be a complete and ignorant idiot. Most animals blend in, these animals drive in behind a wheel of a $50,000 SUV, towing a quad vehicle to high tail around town in for beer (and do “cookies” in the dirt parking lots) and bitch out loud that the little yellow tienda “doesn’t have shit in it”. There, in ear range working the cash register is a momma with two of her young children who work along side their mom after school and on the weekends bagging our “shit” up for tips. There stands a man, proud of his fat wallet he opens, smiling at his own rude comments made in a booming voice and proud too it appears that he’s put himself on some self-appointed superior level and is acting the part of the “bad American” in all true forms. It’s easy to see why that term was created and used. It fits. And again it’s easy to see why often the Mexicans in pueblos like this act as if we aren’t right there in front of them even when we are.

Now, I’m sure there are some good desert-loving people who are filing into small pueblos all along the two Baja coastlines. I’m sure of it, but as life shows, it’s the flashy ones, the loud ones, the ones that demand your attention that, well, get your attention and I only wish there was some “jack ass” sensor at the border which made these foul fellows rejected to the 909 or wherever they motored in from. (The 909 being the area code for many of the tribe who come in from the inland areas of the desert around Riverside, CA which is noted for their breeding ability to create a strain of their own, much removed from a normally general good population you would consider hanging out with for an hour or so). So the parking lots are now filled with Hummer’s, high end Lexus & Cadillac SUV’s and the VHF radio is heard with “handles” created by vain adults (to announce over the air, daily, for all to hear after casting all protocol to the wind) such as “Rolex Casa” which, like a personalized car license plate, pretty much tells you what this person is all about and leaves you with one big “yuck” in your mouth.

So with that….the ugly part, I will end now with the good.

There is a small military Marines outpost right on the edge of the beach, directly in from where we anchor. The base consists of two small buildings, a couple covered palapas for shade, one “lookout” (facing the dirt lot, not the bay) complete with sandbags and one man posted at all times inside the small box with a 3 round automatic across his chest and a grenade launcher under the barrel. Directly behind this outpost are several barren lots, several acres of which are extremely scorching in the summer to march over in order to get to one of 3 tiendas on the other side and which are so scattered with years of broken glass and fiddler crab bodies that the salt encrusted land seems almost useless. However at one end of the continuous dirt lots is the sports-field for the pueblo. A crude concrete basketball court with rusted hoops which lie at sick angles and an somewhat enclosed tennis court which no longer has any nets. Here many of the teenage boys play and kick soccer balls around in hopes of keeping the ball from running wild out over the open, barren land. Beside both are a few tiers of concrete bleachers as well as an old rusty metal playground with a few working old swings, a rusting slide and some “balancing” apparatus which take on a more serious nature as directly underneath and all around the kiddy zone are again endless pieces of broken, jagged glass sticking out from the dirt. Life and play is not always easy in Mexico. I pick up glass and keep a close eye on some of the climbing metal bars Zada is attempting and after one close call she has figured out to keep her body to one side to counterbalance the “metal climbing fence” as it pulls off from the ground and twists about. It wasn’t designed like that, rather sun, salt and the occasional hurricane blowing through will do that to metal. Soon it will completely fall apart and rust there on the ground. It won’t be long. After 20 minutes of this rather taxing play (on my part, more than Zada’s) I toss all the glass I’ve been picking up and put on my pack and say “we’re moving out, let’s go find our doggy” and soon Zada is bringing up the aft and rushing by to be the first to find our new sleek friend. The good of this story is she. A beautiful medium size dog with a lovely face which holds big pointy ears, a big black smiling mouth, dark eyes which sparkle and a tail she wags swiftly after she has let go of her initial impulse of submission and fear and relaxes and brings the black tipped tail forth from between her hind legs. Oh she loves attention and oh how we give it to her! With comfort comes delight and soon she rolls over on her side and stretches out her body and 3 legs, making her extra long and lean - a perfect mound in which to scratch and rub. The dog, a lovely color of caramel, lives with the Marines and another dog, who are best of friends. Together they run the beach, subsidize their food dish of old tossed out tortillas by hunting blue crabs and fish in the shallows and chase and play in the sand. A palm frond between them brings on a tug-a-war game leaving both dogs embedded with sand as their tails wag and they leap around each other. When one finally gets the palm frond free from the other’s mouth they spin and chase and do it all over again. Our girl, with only 3 legs holds her own and it is delightful to watch them play and romp around us. Numerous times they break from play and our little girl comes over to us and leans against us for more ear rubs and scratches. When she runs quickly you can’t tell she is missing a front leg, that is only evident in her slow walk where she has to lung up and forward for which, I’m sure, over time will be hard on her. But this girl is young and playful and happy and has a home and is one of the happier dogs we’ve seen in the pueblo.

After one day of dusty play at the playground, Zada walks across the dirt lot with our doggy-girl and a big bag of dog food in her hands. We approach the guard hut and a young solider is quite taken back when Zada tells him in Spanish that we have brought food for their dog. He looks at the food and again at us and since he appears to not fully grasp what Zada said Ethan repeats it and finally he says gracias. We wave and say goodbye and head back to the beach where our dinghy sits and he’s left holding his weapon across his body and a bag of dog food in his hand, staring at us. It appears this doesn’t happen much. On the ride home I feel sad…for these are the same Marines that have been seen going through piles of old, not-purchased tortillas, in hopes of finding one that wasn’t too shabby to eat. I’m sure then that store-bought dog food is something of a novelty and I wish that I had something of a treat to offer the soldiers too. Zada and I should make them some treats and take them in and I made a promise to do that before we leave the area. The thought of the conditions of much of the Mexican military makes me sad and that is why we always keep extra “goodies” aboard Eyoni in order to hand out to the military (or Mexican fishermen) when we are out and about in the outer islands, which is usually when we run into the Army or the Marines. Taking photographs of the military is often frowned upon, for their own safety, and so I can’t post any. Rather all my memories of camouflaged wearing young men holding big rifles and eating hot-pink sweet wafer cookies which we’ve just handed out are tucked away in my mind and they always makes me smile thinking about how a small sweet treat, or cold drink, can mean so much to these men. It is nice to see the soldiers here take in two dogs, when they themselves don’t always get all they’d like to eat. Nice too that they took in a sweet little special needs dog. Together they are making it work out here in the Baja and that makes me smile. Nothing like seeing the “attitude IS everything” statement working so well even when, compared to the gringo’s setting up for winter, have so little.

With that, I hope that some of these snow-bird-gringo’s who are cascading so boldly into the pueblo daily will see them and pick up on the qualities they share. There is something to be said about grace, compassion and hope to help adjust someone’s lopsided “it’s all about me – I can do what I want” attitude – especially when you are a quest in a country outside of your own. So here’s to those who care and make a difference no matter where they stray…and, oh…if you are down at the beach here in Bahia de los Angeles and see the little caramel colored 3-legged doggy running about, give her time and some kind words, then a good scratch and perhaps carry a treat or two for her and the joyful reward will be all yours.

Dolphins Vipers Oct. 14, 2011 Isla Angel de la Guardia, Mexico

2011-10-25T08:00:00.000-07:00

Anchorage at Refugio with the little "church" on the hill with full moon still in sky overhead.

Little Church on the hill.
Actually a fishermen's shrine looking out over the Refugio area on Isla Angel de la Guardia

Going to pay our respects....

Zada and I at the little church

Dolphin leading our way as we speed over the water

yes, we got wet...

Zada loved watching the dolphins zip about and splash down soaking us

What magically foiled creatures they are swimming just inches below the water and our dinghy

and oh they like to jump!

Lovely 4 inch scorpion...look at those great colors!

Whale rib bone

A good "W" for my Sea of Cortez "Nature Alphabet" I've been working on for years

Chuck-Walla skin. Lizard.

Refugio, looking west towards the Baja Peninsula

Ethan and Zada go snorkeling and looking for fish while I go for a "peaceful" walk

My favorite big rock in the Sea of Cortez....

Skull and sand and shadow

This guy was massive....first snake of my "peaceful" walk

2nd rattlesnake of my "peaceful" walk

Leaving the greens to go and "hide"

This rattlesnake could care less about going over those pokey cardon blooms, so much for the idea they won't
cross a "horse hair" rope or other pokey line you could toss around your sleeping bag.

From the greens to a better camouflage spot,
under a massive cardon

Ethan checking him out...

Yeah, he blends in well

Bird toenails...I just love them.

FINALLY we find a perfect Oyster Catcher skull...Zada found it
and her reward from a happy mom was an orange lollypop!

Lovely reflections...and these bushes are the perfect place for
more of my rattlesnake friends....

Okay, rattlesnake #3 in less than 20 minutes....
we're out of here!

After seeing rattler #3 we decide it's a day and head back to the dingy.

A lovely sunset over the Sea of Cortez

REVISION:

Angel Island Speckled Rattlesnake…

Crotalus angelensis: crotalus comes from the Greek wordcrotalon, meaning a rattle or little bell. Angelensis is the Latinized spelling of the isla Angel de laGuarda here where I saw this massive beauty of a snake. In Spanish, rattlesnakes arecalled: La Vibora de Cascabel. This snake grows to 6-7 feet with aheavy body and massive head…so this is was the first of the 3 rattlesnakes Isaw on this hike and is known for living near the beach, in the rocky areahunting lizards and rats. The picture of this Angel Island Speckled Rattlesnake is the first picture you'll see, hanging out under the beach bushes, above:

Day of the Dolphins & Venomous Critters

Oct. 14, 2011

Just as the sky started slowly waking up and as we all slept soundly a happy Mexican man started announcing 3 minutes of non-stop, super fast, loud Spanish on the VHF radio. That was our predawn wake up call and with Zada, there is no falling back to sleep ever…no matter what her waking hour is. A little over an hour later, nearing 7:00am we were tucked into our dinghy and high tailing it west through the Puerto Refugio slot and then turned south to go look at some whale bones which we had spotted the day before, as we motor-sailed by, on a section of beach near here on the northern tip of Isla Angel de la Guardia. Coming off the exposed reef a half of mile off the slot between the two islands were a line of dolphins, quickly swimming south, the low rising sun turning their spray into little sparkling mist clouds above their heads. We recently read that the daylight hours are the time which dolphins play and socialize, leaving the hunt for food to be done in the darkness of night…and we were hoping they’d like to an early morning play session, so we quickly caught up with them. Zada was on the bow, yelling and pointing and soon we were in the midst of them with several sharing the bow wake and taking turns leaping out of the water right beside us, just slightly ahead of us and a little to the side, so that when they splashed back down from their elaborate aerial capers we wouldn’t crash into them. In our first “run with the dolphins” we were well soaked by the water that was being kicked up from these jumps and that is why I missed the best shot of the morning when two dolphins, side by side went airborne right in front of Zada a couple meters away. At that very moment I was trying to protect the camera from the buckets of salt water that was being shot our way by the several hundred pound animals doing their versions of “cannon balls” a dinghy length away. It’s very difficult to try and take photos as you hang on to the speeding dinghy and try and figure out where the dolphins will exit the water and also keep a good eye on your daughter who is leaning over the water like a beautiful figure-head, blonde hair sprinkled with salt water, laughing madly at this early play session with a pod of dolphins. Three times we turned a 180 and went back to again fall in with the next line of dolphins moving south and each time we got a remarkable treat and they got the chance to show off and compete with each other – so it was a good win-win for us all. Now that’s a fine start to new day, I figure.

After patting dry my camera we slowly motored through the rocky shore and checked out the whalebones from an old baleen whale. Most of it was broken apart with only a few big pieces remaining on the steep rocky beach, so it was hard to discern what type of whale it was. Zada though, after inspecting it said, “well, it’s hard to tell what type of whale this was with all that saw dust it’s losing”. Yes, the bones were crumbling, going back to nature and within a couple more seasons they’ll be nothing left of the big guy who lived his life in these beautiful waters. One cove down I kicked over a large piece of driftwood and a large 4” yellow scorpion went quickly running about, trying to hide in the debris, while I leaped backwards trying to put a little distance between us. Zada and Ethan came running down the beach to see the big creature and I got a good picture of him mixed in with his beach environment, wood, rocks, feathers, bones, seagrass and other floatsum, a couple meters above the high tide line.

Back to Eyoni we went for a late pancake breakfast followed by a little schooling and long reading session of Little Bear, one of our all time favorites. The 4 chapters in the book kept being disrupted by Zada flinging the book down and rushing about Eyoni, chasing after a sweet little sparrow, which kept flying into our boat and resting. He’d doze some and then would fly out to the cockpit and play in, and drink from, the water Zada put out for him. On one “book time out” she spread out paper towels in case he “wanted to dry off” and another 10 minute break had the little bird pecking from the water that dripped from her cupped hands…so her reading aloud hour took on a much longer space of time due to the little feathered friend interrupting our class room. But that’s always okay as that makes “teaching” in your walk-in-closet floating home more bearable and interesting, I figure.

After schooling and Ethan’s return from Fang Rock to dive with Just A Minute (friends who we are traveling with on this trip to the Refugio area of Isla Angel de la Guardia) we again were ready to get off the boat and go for another adventure. Zada would go diving off a boulder/cave shoreline with Ethan and I would go walk the shoreline for 30 minutes of peace and quiet. The water is cooling down now in this northern part of the Sea of Cortez, so Zada’s “water time” I knew wouldn’t last more than that. The walk though, was far from peaceful as this was the stretch of beach where last year we had seen a couple rattlesnakes and so every step forward I kept waiting for them to show themselves, and oh they did. This stretch of beach isn’t an easy one to walk, mainly steep with large round rocks, but the last section, as it curves around to the small headland it flattens out some and the rocky beach gives way to a small section of sand before that gives way to coastal shrub (about 3-4 feet tall) which then leads back to the mainly barren desert and sand. Under the very last foot of coastal bush, about 5 feet from where I walked parallel to the bushes, lay a massive rattlesnake. His head so large and placed sideways to me that at first I mistaken it for part of his body as it was so thick and big. A good bound backwards got me away from him quickly and after a minute of two of calming myself, I inched forward to see what I was really seeing as I couldn’t believe his head could be that big. But…it was, I wasn’t confusing things. Wow…he was a beauty! But his beauty was far from soothing to stand and stare at and as my body was producing every warning signal it could…from the hair on my arms and back of neck standing up to the jittery feeling as if you’ve just consumed an overdose of caffeine, instantly. After zooming in and getting a few pictures of him, and inching slowly towards him, he slowly raised up and slowly moved back into the shrub. As he continued to bring his body out of the shrubs (which previously I hadn’t been able to see) in order to do a 180 degree turn and follow his head away from me, I got to see his entire body and the main portion was thick…about 3.5 – 4” across – or as wide as a large grapefruit. I figure he as about Zada’s height, about 4 feet and I saw about a dozen rattles on him. He never once used them. After he fully disappeared into the brush I slowly moved on down the beach and slowly regained my breathing composure and soon was watching another little banded sparrow hoping around in a lovely green coastal plant we often see, much like pickle-wart (though it’s not). I had just stopped to take a picture of a seagull nest and looked back into the greens above, seeing if the little bird was still hoping along and there, curled up sleeping in the middle was the second rattlesnake of the day…it being 60 meters from the last. This one was much smaller, but still a good size snake and was more pinkish grey color where the “big daddy” had the hues of yellows and browns.

At this very time Ethan and Zada were zooming across the little bay as I stood taking pictures of the sleeping snake – totally exposed out in the greens – but apparently he doesn’t worry about anything bothering him and he didn’t seem to concerned with me, either. Soon I had Etahn and Zada by my side and we crested the beach and stood looking at the snake who continued to sleep curled up, taking in the late afternoon heat. As we slowly got closer, he uncurled himself and slowly made his way across the greens and then, surprisingly enough, across some cardon blooms completely covered with a zillion little thorns and up a steep rocky ridge to where he then curled up under a large cardon and slept. Wow. After another few photos taken of him under the cardon – blending in incredibly well to match the color of the dry dirt we got back in the dinghy to head around to the last beach of the night. Here we again walked the small rocky tide line and Zada pulled two teeth from a big male sea lion skull and a couple minutes later she found a lovely Oyster Catcher bird skull, which was a first for us, so we were happy to add to our bird skull collection. On our quick walk up and down this small cove Ethan spotted our 3^rd rattlesnake for the day, in a place where 10 minutes before I had stopped to take a picture of a cool old bird foot in the coastal shrub. He wasn’t there before (or at least I hope) but as the sun was setting, the snakes it appears, were coming out and getting ready to take in some last heat from the rocks and land.

So that was our day…from fun playful dolphins, to a brightly colored yellow scorpion to 3 amazing (and yes, kind of spooky) rattlesnakes. Now it’s bed time, the space station just flew overhead 20 minutes ago and we got a great view, even though Zada ran and hid as it scares her six year old mind - which thinks it’s going to fall out of the sky and land on us. She was scared by the snakes, but only when we snuck closer to them, but there’s something about the space station flying over in the dark night sky that just rubs her wrong even though she tells me she wants me to go with her to Mars some day as that would “be really cool, so let’s do it, okay…me and you?”. So from a good days adventure here in the Sea of Cortez to plans of an even greater one where we fly off to outer space with our supply of Red Vines safely tucked into our space cases, this is the good ship Eyoni…over and out.

Day of the Orca's

2011-10-21T13:57:00.000-07:00

Early Dawn with Full Moon Setting Over Bahia de los Angeles
Baja, Mexico

The candy cane lighthouse just off the spit of Bahia de los Angles

ORCA's!!!!!

Female and approx. 1 year old "baby"

Um....the big daddy! His dorsal fin was a good 6 feet tall

Big daddy giving us some spray as he swims along us and slowly moves out ahead

Daddy crossing over and giving us a rainbow in his spray

BUMP....this female came up under Eyoni on both sides and brushed us...

...and off the female swam after touching our hull, with Zada screaming:
"do you see any red paint on her momma?" as our bottom paint is red .

Posted via Ham Radio on Oct. 21, 2011
from Isla Angel de la Guardia in the south anchorage of Punta Pulpito on a beautiful sunny fall day. Photos will be eventually loaded to this blog posting.
Day of the Orca's
Oct. 13, 2011
Before the sun rose on this day we I was behind the helm, Ethan on the bow watching our anchor become airborne as it slid onto it's roller and off we went, full throttle ahead onto a flat Sea of Cortez. Two other boats were left behind, one being our friends on the sailing catamaran Just A Minute, who would eventually close the 30 minute gap we had on them as we both departed north for Isla Angel de la Guardia for one last hurrah at this fine island, which soon, in the strong winter northerlies that blow, will become a difficult point to reach from Bahia de los Angeles, where it seems jokingly enough, that we've taken up residence in 22 feet of water off the Marines little beach post. As we motored past several of the anchorages we've made this year: La Gringa; BahiaLas Rocas; and Isla Mitlan the wind started filling in from the north, so the hope of a faint southerly blowing behind us would not to be (though one forecaster thought it just might happen….MIGHT being a very big, often wrong and often used word when it comes to predicting weather). Current was working with us, so our game plan was working well and we only had to buck into a few big tide lines with small toughs of waves standing up and leaving us pitching and taking water over the bow. The conditions on the outside of the current lines were ideal for looking for animals and so a look out was made often in hopes of seeing some whales. As a huge pod of dolphins broke the surface a mile off our bow, I saw what I thought was a gigantic black fin that went feet into the air. By the time I got the binoculars on it, it was gone, but I kept thinking "that was NOT a dolphin" because no matter how creative they are when they're leaping and spinning about, they'll never get that straight flat angle to them. So we kept a watch and Zada and took the camera forward as we stood on the bow and tried to persuade the fast moving dolphins to alter their course and come over and play with us. It wasn't to be and so we went back into the cockpit, eyes still watching the water until moments later we again saw the big fins which was followed by the cry of "ORCA's" which we began to madly shout from the decks of Eyoni! Oh we were thrilled. 3 of them were swimming about and as we altered course we wondered how close we could get to them. Within a couple minutes we were 100 meters from them and as we cut the motor back they swam closer, coming up to the side of Eyoni and then swimming up and past her bow, where Ethan and Zada stood, holding tightly onto the rigging as the massive whales spouted and did shallow dives in the less-than clear water right below them. 2 females and one juvinile killer whale swam around Eyoni and this was a first we'll never forget. A half dozen people we've talked to over the years have seen, or heard of a pod of killer whales which live in the Sea year round, but this was our first sighting and we couldn't have been happier, nor more boastful in the ways we leaped around the decks with huge smiles on our faces. This was something never to forget. Soon though the 3 whales dove and after several minutes they didn't resurface, so we got back on course and headed north when the big daddy dorsal fin was seen a good distance away. It was massive. 2 times the height of the females and at a sharper angel, pointing straight up into the blue, blue sky. Again we altered course and went toward them and happily they didn't dive away. This pod also had 3, one male two females and they too all came close with the male swimming right beside Eyoni, his body looking like a submarine easing it's way up and through the water effortlessly. After several minutes the "big daddy" (as Zada was calling him) dove and so did the two females and we altered course again for the north, thinking we'd not see them again. We picked up the RPM's and started moving when all of a sudden one of the females came up directly beside and slightly under the starboard side of Eyoni. I was standing a few feet from her, and as I let out a yelp, she let out her breath, spraying me and the cockpit with water. Before we could react, she was under the boat and came up on the port side, again just slightly grazing Eyoni and again a big breath was released and all of us this time wore her spray across our bewildered, smiling faces. What an amazing thing…off she went, swimming slowly away from us and we got on the radio to tell our friends, who still hadn't passed us yet, that they had a good surprise waiting for them just ahead! Of course, them being from the Puget Sound area are used to seeing these beautiful black creatures swim about, but for us, it truly was a first, made more special by the fact that we saw them in this amazing place called the Sea of Cortez!
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In memory of a fine, fine lady.

2011-10-17T08:10:00.000-07:00

October 17, 2011
Posted via ham radio
Today we sit at anchor in a lovely part of the world here in the northern region of the Sea of Cortez on the 2nd largest, but most beautiful island called Guardian Angel (Isla Angel de la Guardia) where later today we will walk up to the small miniature church, which is Zada size and which, if you had one, would fit one small chair. In it hang rosaries and numerous pictures of the Virgin Mary and Jesus as well as other small offerings, which the Mexican fishermen mostly place. Today is the burial service of Ethan's grandmother, Zada's great-grandmother Martha Smith, so we climb the steep little hill and will add to the little shrine and light a candle and say our goodbyes from afar.
There are times when being away from family is difficult, times like this especially so. Not only is it hard not to be there to support your loved ones but also hard to forgo the processes and rituals which human life deal us and which we then process, which is part of life from tears and farewells at funerals to happiness and good cheer at weddings. Harder still to get your words and sentiment out when all you have is a ham radio and the hope of good propagation to carry your feelings out over thousands of miles away to those you seek to reach.
Zada carries, in her aft-cabin several small photo albums, which contain all our family members, dear friends and numerous animals she loves and has left behind in the States. They are dear to her and have come in handy whenever we talk about her cousins, or grandparents or her "pet" baby giraffe she got to feed when she was a just-turned 3-year old girl. One of my only real fears of leaving, years ago when we did, was that she would forget her young past and not be able to recall all those who have, and do and will mean so much to her in her life. So it is often that we sit and look through the pictures and remember when or why the photos were taken and so far she had not forgotten much. A few weeks ago we pulled one book out to sit and look at a dearly lost pet of her cousins, a fine yellow lab by the name of Butchie. Together we held the pictures and recalled as many fine memories of this dog as we could. Zada just adored Butchie and was so sad to hear of his death and having the pictures to sit and hold and look at helped.
Again this past week we pulled out the books and turned to the picture of her great grandmother, a fine wonderful lady who was just shy of turning 103 in December. Grandma had been having a couple difficult months, but in her true amazing form was rebounding daily. We talked often about the long life Grandma was living and almost daily she would say "it's good Grandma's is having a long life and we'll try and not be too sad, right momma, when she dies, because well, she had a really long, long life and that is good". Zada is right. I doubt I had that much common sense and composure at 6 or hell, even 26 or 36 or a few years back now at 46. So it has been good for us to sit and again look at pictures and talk about loss, and life and how life goes full circle, as well as how life changes so much in ones life time. Grandma was born in 1909 and what amazing changes happened in that long life span. She lived through changes not only for the world but for minorities, women alike. She took great pride that she put herself through college (a big deal for a women then) by working in a meal room of the university and meeting her husband, who also was putting himself through school – and eventual medical school – by also working serving the university students and cleaning up the meal messes. Together they married, crossed the U.S. in an old Model T with less than $20 in their pockets on roads that were dirt and gravel. Times were tough, but Martha was equally so and her stories - which she liked to tell - contained humor and hardship and happiness and sorrow. She buried her husband and two sons before her and found faith in her belief of God and humanity and family and friends.
Just like my great-aunt Zada (whom Zada is named after) who introduced me to the wonderful words of letters and sharing thoughts when I was very young, Martha too loved the written word. I have tucked safely away every hand-written letter she ever wrote me and someday I have promised Zada that we will get them out and read them together so she too can experience the marvelous world of Martha, her great grandmother.
So today the Smith family says goodbye to a true matriarch. A women strong as nails. A women always put together who never looked shabby. A women who raised 4 smart and gifted children. A women who taught herself to master watercolors late in life. A women who could talk politics, art and world events better than most, even when she was in her 90's. A women who was proud of being liberal, of having a voice and having the means to support the causes she loved. Today we recall all these amazing things who made Grandma so special and will say goodbye as we light a candle and offer up a trinket to the little shrine on the hill.
Grandma, you are safely tucked into our hearts and will live and thrive in them. We wish you well on this next journey of life…I'm sure you will handle it well. I have no doubt about that.

Martha Smith
Dec. 10, 1909 – Oct. 11, 2011
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Late Summer New Friends - Oct. 3, 2011

2011-10-12T08:00:00.000-07:00

What at treat to be around a young child again...Zada seems to b-i-g these days.
This is Huon, from Tasmania and he's just the cutest 2 year old...

Zada and Huon aboard Eyoni for a playdate

Our pet the dragon fly

My beach combing girl finds a new plastic beach bottle hat...now THAT's recycling!

Love the reflections...the Baja offers so much up daily, it's amazing

Zada and friends at our beach outing and bonfire

Benjamin getting good air

And Zada follows suit...

Friends with Mexican marshmellows on their twigs

A good toasted one

Mel and her boys, and Ethan, at the beach fire

OMG...to watch these boys sucking out the Vegemite was something to ponder....WOW!

Cruising by Sonrisa to say our farewells...

Oct. 3, 2011

Late Season New Friends

Sea of Cortez

Well it’s been a long hot, dusty childless summer this year in the Sea of Cortez. There are times when you’d love nothing more than a few little rug ruts to come over and once again turn your boat into a childlike playpen, pulling every toy, stuffy and dress-up items out of their bins and leaving an upheaval which takes much time and an equal amount of patience to put away. So it was with great ado that we met, very late, but wonderfully so, new friends for Zada and us. Since the meeting was recent (last week) and the days short-lived until now, it was with sad hearts that today we said our farewells to our new friends from Tasmania on their boat Sonrisa (means “Smile” in Spanish). They are now headed across the sea to mainland Mexico where they will leave their boat for 5 months to return to their island home just in time to harvest the deep black cherry’s in their orchard which slopes down and looks out onto the sound where they surf when they aren’t out in the yard. For us, it was again back to the village of Bahia de los Angeles to sit in a large sweeping bay in hopes of finally being able to soon pull the hook, toss off wifi demands and head out to the island where we spent so much time last year and whereas this year we’ve yet to set the hook there, although we do see the mighty island from where we sit and so imagine the good times ahead. Sometimes the best you can do is to sit, and look, and wait and pay your dues.

Well, now it’s days later since I started writing this blog, which gets done, for the record, like all of them do, piecemealed together with my 3 minutes here and 2.7 minutes found there. There is no time to proof, or edit, but rather little pieces of time to let fingers fly and hopefully capture life aboard a boat with these updates. Since the first paragraph was written we took on the illness, which we caught at the last “gringo cruising potluck” and suffered greatly. Sonrisa had suffered some of the same woes before we met them, so perhaps, since they had recently returned from the States (which makes all of us sick these days – which tells you we can now tolerate the bugs that fly around Mexico, but ones from the States that travel south get us every time) our new friends passed that along to us as well as their new friendship. Zada recovered nicely in 24 hours, but left me sleepless over a long all-night throw-up session with me watching closely in hopes of preventing a mess which is downright a lot of hard work when you are washing things by hand with the water your boat turns from salt water to potable water. After she was well I was the next to get it and it took me well over 36 hours to shake it. 36 painful hours to wonder if my joints and muscles would recover from the extreme hit they were taking and 36 long hours to wonder if Zada would simple continue to watch non-stop all day videos out in the main saloon within earshot of me who cringed every time a pain rang out or a new video went on. So I’m not sure what cured me, time, or the desire to get up and shut that video player off and remove my girl from watching video #2,874.

Given how fun it was to see Zada run down a beach with friends her age, laughing and screaming with delight, it was worth it…all this sickness. Of course she had her own screaming moments with the boys which had me cringing, but watching them around the little beach fire we made on our last night together, sticks in the fire burning pink and white Mexican marshmallows over the flames was a treat. After they were full of sweet burned sugar they took to dragging in goodies from the high tide line to toss into the fading fire to rejuvenate it. Bird feathers, dried sea-grass, dolphin vertebras and the works, half of which ended up in the fire, the other half on the edge of the fire as their “tossing” skills aren’t nearly as good as their diving skills are. Bedtime neared and had us both backing it back to our boats where we got to read some more of the lovely books Sonrisa gave us, many based on Australian folklore of wombats and Tasmania Devils. After reading the lovely books I cringed to think of Mel over on Sonrisa perhaps reading one of the books they received from our give-away bag in the “book exchange” – specifically a number of Scooby-Doo books, which I am most grateful to not have to read again as they’re not very interesting, (but which 5-year old Benjamin was so happy to receive), but wow, sorry Mel…they are a struggle! I do hope though, that they started in reading the classic The Wind In The Willows, even though that mighty Mr. Toad really is a handful and a boastful one at that! Luckily we had two copies, complete with lovely drawings, so it is a good chapter book to work through and some lessons to be learned along the way about greed and being vane. Which reminds me that Zada and I need to check on our own toad, whom we brought down on the bus from the oasis of San Ignacio. Our toad was found dead and nearly dried up in the dusty streets of the small pueblo and instantly we had to give him a home as it was sad seeing the little dried up creature just lying in the dust. “I mean, what kind of life is that?” Zada asked, which is a good way of asking the benefits of death. As soon as one elderly gentleman walked by us, laughing as he saw us bent over looking at our new friend, I scooped him up and wrapped him securely with paper towels and stuck into my backpack. The rest of the day our minds became creative in how we’d handle our Mr. Toad and since we had recently worked through both versions of the long story we decided, with great happiness and squeals of delight (from both of us, of course) to dress him up with bonnet and dress just like Mr. Toad does in order to escape the confines of jail. Since his arrival on Eyoni, he’s been drying out completely in our small little planter of 3 cacti, before he’s allowed to come downstairs to get fitted and all dolled up. I guess he’s one more addition to Eyoni that marvels the young and dismays the adults, but which keeps us smiling and knowing that this adventure is worth it, no matter what.

So from new friends…actual real life friends who play and jump and laugh and scream to friends who lie stiff and let the imagination roll, I will admit, it is one interesting and wild ride…

***Pictures will, of course, be forthcoming on this dried toad project as soon as, well as soon as we can be assured that Mr. Toad won’t be emitting any foul smells below deck nor wiggling around too much at his dress and bonnet fittings***

Careening Eyoni Sept. 30, 2011 Punta Don Juan, BCS

2011-10-08T09:55:00.001-07:00

Eyoni....on the "soft" to do some prop work - Punta Don Juan

Zada running across the mud flats to Eyoni

Looking NW towards the main anchorage of Don Juan

The Captain hard at work under Eyoni, working on the Kiwi prop

A well used and well tracked coyote trail

New blooms arrive daily...the desert is waking up

Don Juan and Bahia de los Angeles behind it

Amazing tall and Dr. Seuss images from a desert hike

Eyoni with visitors checking out Eyoni

Zada runs with new friends!!! Oh the end of a long dry run without friends!

Benjamin, Zada and little Huon playing with the dinghy

September 30, 2011

Eyoni Update

Pto. Don Juan

Baja Mexico

The biggest tide swing of the month coincided with the last “official” cruiser potluck beach gathering at Pto. Don Juan (listed as Bahia Don Juan, incorrectly in my last 2 blog postings) which is a short distance from Bahia de los Angeles, where we have been spending way too much time this late summer, due to internet demands. Currently we are motoring out of Don Juan and headed back to the village of de los Angeles in hopes of sending and receiving Ethan’s work emails and then we hope to turn around in a couple hours after grabbing some fresh fruit and Bimbo bread and head back out for a long weekend, before yet another return the first of the week for more wifi needs. That is the downside when you are trying to get out to your favorite, remote island and anchorages and yet have “responsibilities” that keep you close to shore. It can make the days drag…and feels like work.

So this little visit into the large hurricane hole of Don Juan, luckily wasn’t made in order to avoid Hurricane Hilary, who decided not to visit the Sea of Cortez as she pushed up the Pacific this week, turning west instead of east. Rather this trip was for the careening of Eyoni to replace her Kiwi prop blades, adjust the pitch and to attend the beach gathering with friends before a good chunk of them tear out Oct. 1^st for points south.

Careening is described by putting a boat on her side, but with the design of Eyoni our Ovni 36, a flat bottom hard-chined sailboat (retractable centerboard & rudder), we sit perfectly flat and level, so there isn’t any discomfort, nor worries about how she’ll fair when the tide goes out and you are left on the mudflats. We have done this a handful of times now, and each time it is a quick and easy way to work on the bottom of the boat without having to haul her at some marina. It also gives friends and fellow cruisers an eyeful to see a mono-hull sailboat on the beach without the drama that is normally associated with that scenario. This time too, (though I don’t have any pictures, drats!), it would provide a large pack of coyotes some well-appointed shade and a fine new discovery for them to check out. The morning Eyoni turned into a boat-on-stilts-shade-haven for the healthy looking coyotes, I was out hiking the large wash behind the beach with my camera, in hopes of coming upon the large pack back in the small slot canyons. Ethan and Zada deciding to check out the mudflats instead of walking into the rising hot sun with me and went an opposite direction and as we departed the boat in all directions, in came the coyotes in the opposite direction to rest and hang out under Eyoni and around our dinghy, which was also on the hard. So my “silent” walk I took, in order to perhaps sneak up and see their den, or see them all curled up for a morning snooze didn’t pay off, even though I did follow their well worn trails for a while and saw where they dig numerous shallow dirt holes in which to lie down and find some coolness in the dirt below all that hot surface sand. It would only be on my return to Eyoni when friends told of seeing all the coyote action around Eyoni. Oh how I’d have given anything to sit on a rock, beachside and watch them narrow in on her and then rest in the shade on the cool wet sand under her red painted belly.

During our careen, we got the chance to meet a wonderful couple, with 2 small boys, from Tasmania (s/v Sonrisa) and instantly it became a big play-date with lots of running around the low tide mudflats, playing in dinghy’s and skiffs and chasing fish, hermit crabs and yelping at coyotes. It has been a long-hot kid-less summer this year in the Sea, so having Benjamin (who just turned 5 the day before we met him) and his brother Huon (2 years old) running around with Zada was just a delight. Zada was so thrilled to see kids and so happy to see how small Huon was that she yelled “oh mom, can I dress him up in my Build-A-Bear outfits?” to which I told him, “no, he’s a little boy, not a bear” even though he sure is as cute as one! Zada, for the first day kept forgetting Benjamin’s name and did her infamous,“hey, what’s your name again?” or, because he has longer blonde hair than she “um, are you really a boy because you kind of look like a girl to me” Finally, on day two of playing she conquered both (his name, and sex) so I could stop cringing every time she kept referring to him as a girl or asking him his name. Boys at this age are easy though, and have been very good friends for Zada in the Sea for these last 3 years. Perhaps they’re easy because boys seem to be happy to follow suit and not put up too much of a fight to be “first” or care too much what they’re playing, as long as they’re playing.

So new friends have been made and Eyoni has since floated again and we’ve picked up some more boat speed with the new prop pitch, but I never did get a second chance at the “coyotes under Eyoni’s hull” picture that I so badly wish I had…but the days are slowly getting cooler and we stripped two of our main salon windows of their Stryafoam we place in them in the hot months of summer to keep the heat from pouring in. How incredible it is to actually see outside when you’re down below! Living “cooped up” is hard and even though it was slightly early to yank them I got to a point where living in a closet you couldn’t see out of just became too much, month after hot month. So October draws near and our curtains are open and so are our books for reading and doing research on going south to Central and South America. Luckily so far no one has ripped out any sections of books, or charts that we might need. It seems that today, in a moment of downtime Ethan finished up a book he’s been reading for the past week or more. As he turned the last page he realized then that the last few pages were GONE…and so, he read the entire book and now won’t ever know how it ends! That’s wicked…but kind of funny too and we’re kind of amazed that someone would bring it to a “book swap” if they knew the pages were gone….unless, well, unless it was someone with a wicked sense o’ humor. So we put the book “down” and as hard as it was, to see a book in the garbage bag, that is where it ended up, tossed in with all the banana peels and egg shells from today’s bread that Zada and I made as we moved from one anchorage, to the next.

Mel and her baby, Huon, from Tasmania...what a treat to meet another family with kids!

Benjamin and Zada bailing on a perfectly good boat!

And Zada's entry into the shallows...and the fun continues.

Zada and a "just turned" 5 year old Aussie....Benjamin

Ethan's squid cakes with fresh limon

The beach gathering and presenting Benjamin with a Happy Birthday song and gifts

Zada hanging out and feeding her fish, rice, in the shallows

Oh the "smiles" of a 2 year old...Zada is charmed

Benjamin took his dinghy driving seriously and for a just turned 5 year old, was really, really good.

Mexican Independence....201 years now. Sept. 16, 2011

2011-10-07T08:00:00.000-07:00

Bahia de los Angeles

Baja California Sur

Mexico

*201 years celebration of their Independence*

Parade down the only paved street in the pueblo and later a dance and celebration in the

tiny pueblo plaza. We attended last years event here in Bahia de los Angeles as well, and this

year it was smaller and we didn't have the "run away horse" incident...but still enjoyed the

amazing good food, jumpy tent and great school kids dancing.

I was charmed by the ties the boys are wearing:
one a little too short - one way too long

Right before this picture was taken, they all were looking at Zada as they marched by waving their flags.
Then the leader stopped and each girl slammed into the girl in front of her and it was a precious sight!

The only two horses in the little parade - Ethan and Zada go out to say hello as the parade is "stalled"

Zada watching the parade go by and later said "well, mom, when does the real parade start?

Later in the pueblo plaza the kids get ready to dance

Loved the boy who did the entire "song and dance" with his pom poms on his head!

Beautiful handmade charming flowers the girls were wearing.

The older classes danced too, and eventually they did some serious coupling dances which I'm
sure would never be taught (or encouraged) in the States

My favorite dancers of the night....

This girl stole the show with her amazing dancing skills ( here she's airborne!)

After watching many older dances during our time in Mexico, this young girl is gifted
in her ability to swing that skirt and twirl around. Most beautiful and graceful and a wee little thing she was.

Zada with some "big girls" who were cheering on the school students.

What A Six Year Old Does to Avoid the Heat - Summer 2011

2011-10-03T08:00:00.000-07:00

Well all Zada's cousins are back in school this year and are, I suppose, writing "what they did all summer" so this is a quick version of some of the things Zada does, daily, here on her sailboat in the Sea of Cortez...

Catch beautiful moths and wear them as rings!

Fish off the deck of Eyoni

Help design new mermaid outfits for all your Barbies...

Bring up things from the depths. This is a big sea sponge.

Make solar systems, complete with...

the asteroid belt!

Make a lovely little jewelry box for your momma
out of a scallop shell (and give her her birthday earrings
early as you just "can't stand to wait until November)

Make an informative mural of the ocean

Try on new dresses your momma found stashed away in the bilge after 2 1/2 years
(and which she totally forgot and 3 large bags of wonderful clothes are all too small, except
a few pretty dresses, like this one...but some little girl in Mexico will be extremely happy & very well dressed!)

Chase pelicans and see how close you can get to them...

We made real fish Japanese fish prints....but learned you don't
push down really hard, as um, the "innards" come squishing out!

Bake goodies and add lots of sprinkles

Do a full series of birds...

and more birds

add a frigate or two

and a pilated woodpecker for her Grandma Alice's "favorite" bird

and a Magnificent Hummingbird

and don't forget the glitter fashion dresses you can design

okay, then after high fashions you can do more birds o' prey

Then for fun you can get pulled behind Eyoni to travel 1/4 mile
in the dinghy, with umbrella to protect against the sun

Eat Cheetos

Watch birds as they come to hang out on your boat

feed the birds...right from your knee

(okay, one more of the bird)

Become a mermaid with a glittery gold skirt & sequined tail
and win a prize (& wear lots of tattoos!)

Dive below your boat to see what is living there...
and yes, these were put right back!