Los Muertos

Kellie's comments We've sailed about 265 miles since Pete posted last. Our trip around the end of Baja involved a bit of everything that the sea could throw at us. Good wind was forecasted, so we set out, only to be becalmed and forced to motor a good way to Cabo. Rounding the point at about midnight, the lights of the hotels twinkled out at us and the stars twinkled down. The waves began to increase as we entered the Sea of Cortez, left over from a gale the day before. The risk in rounding the point is that if the gale is still blowing, we'll have wind on the nose for the next 25 miles or so. But we trudged on and entered the sea in the morning. Sure enough the gale still had life left. We had been traveling with Loon and were about 5 miles ahead. We hardly ever reduce sail area in heavy winds, but they only weigh half as much as we do, so they reef often. I radioed back to warn them. They chose to duck into shore and wait for a better time. We only had 10 more miles to go to Los Frailes so we pounded on instead of backtracking. What are the chances of 2 gales in 2 weeks, I ask myself? We went as close to shore as possible, trying for some shelter below the points of land to reduce the 10-14 foot seas, held buckets for Carter and tacked back and forth. Arriving in the anchorage to find friends was a great end to a 47 hour trip. Los Frailes offered fabulous fun and sun. The water finally reached swimming pool temperature, the air felt like summer and the nights don't require fleece jackets. Manta rays live there and played in the surf right around our feet. The kids snorkeled for the first time and saw "Dorie" (Finding Nemo). Lots of other boats that we know came in within a couple of days before or after so we had another potluck. Last time I hosted and we had 16 people. This time Homer's Odyssey hosted and we had 11. There was not a vegetable to be seen at the dinner since none of us had shopped since San Diego. We did find a nice group of Canadians who "snowbird" there in motorhomes each winter. Grocery trucks come almost every day to sell to them and the little hotel and restaurant. So we mobbed them for vegies, fruit and milk the next morning. Cruising offers for me two extremes. Seeing the amazing sights, making new friends and getting a tan in December are great. It's the opportunity of a lifetime to travel to places that don't even have any roads, eat fresh lobsters and learn more about ourselves and others. The flip side is that the everyday life is difficult and tiring. Overnight passages fatigue us all, seasickness takes it's toll, and lack of modern conveniences makes raising a family a huge challenge. The other day I washed 50 pairs of underwear in buckets. I strung up lines under the dodger to hang them all after using all my clothes pins to hang other clothes on the life lines. For 2 days we had to duck under them to get in and out of the front cabin. Pete tried to invite friends over and I stopped him, since I figure no one else wanted to duck under. Another thing for me is showering only occasionally (the kids love it). We only have hot water when we run the engine for more than an hour and only seem to do that once a week. At least now it's hot and cooler water is OK. Home-schooling is another extreme challenge. When we are at sea, no one feels like reading and writing. When at anchor we want to be off the boat sight seeing and running off pent up energy. Ellie does not like doing school and makes it 10 times worse by crying, fussing and whining. I'm trying a point chart and other incentives, but so far it's not working for anyone. Carter is usually happy go lucky and is adapting well. One thing we are considering is having crew. Our major dilemma is where they would sleep. I could use help with the kids, and or the sailing. It's a lot to make 3 meals a day, teach school, keep house, do laundry, shop and try to have a little fun. Then you throw in overnight trips etc and it's tough. We would appreciate your prayers for us. I think we've pretty much decided that we'd like help to cross to the south Pacific. Pete is still really set on crossing, so I think we have to have help. Several friends have mentioned wanting to crew, so maybe we won't have to look far. Now we have arrived in Los Muertos. Pete is crashed out after 2 more nights to get here. Only in the middle of the night do the 25 knot northerly winds die down enough to head north. Yesterday, we spent the day at a friend of a friend of Loon's. They are a retired couple who live here year round. Their house was incredible and they offered us great hospitality for the day. We left for the second night in a row at 2 a.m and finally made it here with Loon this morning. Everyone is exhausted and cranky. I've made sugar cookie dough with the last of my flour to perk everyone up, but since it doesn't seem like Christmas it's a bit strange to make reindeer shapes. Anyway, that's our news. We hope to be in La Paz by the weekend and will check our e-mail then. I'm desperate to hear the news and read what you all are up to this winter - hint, hint. Kellie