Adventure Boating in Baja....ha ha ha ha

The beginning....a beautful boat ride!

I long for more campfires, but the wood supply on the beach is sparse.  We know there is wood on the island beaches in the bay and today the water is flat!  No wind!  Nada.  Calm.  Time to launch the porta-bote.  A true family outing, with both dogs along, our engine just back from Fernando the outboard mechanic in town...we zoom off!  Life is good.  Oh, so much to check on...are the blue footed boobies still around? (yes)  Comorants?(yes)  Brown boobies? (yes, a few)  Heron nests occupied? (yes)  Osprey? (yes)  Fish? (not so much) Sting rays? (nada!)

 Full ahead we zoom toward the biggest island and firewood...until we're not.  What's this?  Engine slowing down?  Out of gas?  Maybe.  But a quick refill, and frest start off...I look behind us and gasp, "We're smoking!"  As Steve raches for the kill switch, the engine quits.  As in...stops...freezes?  It appears the oil has run out, all of the oil.  Not so good.  Actually, terrible.

So now, it's the oars.  After all, that's what oars are for.  I row us to the beach on Coyote Island and we collect firewood.  But it's bothersome to think...ahhh...just how long will it take us to row all the way back?

It's good exercise....

Beachcombers in search of firewood

Not so much wood....time to get back!

A quick stop for a little wood, beach in the boat and off we go.  Steve at the oars this time.  A small dinghy powers by us and warns of big waves forming just on the other side of the island.  "It's going to get rough!"   Gulp.  Does he come by to tell us that because we have such a seaworthy looking vessel?

It's a long trip.  Rowing a Porta-bote could never be described as "swiftly skimming over the surface of the sea".  I suggest tandem rowing, "I'll push, you pull, we'll have twice the power to the stroke!"  No, Steve doesn't trust the oar locks.  As he says this, "SNAP"...one breaks.  We gaze at the rigs parked on our beach, so far away.  We gaze at the broken oar lock.

 Ok, now it's canoe paddle style...on we go.

Capt. Steve and new crew

La playa....

But wait!  Is that Pedro we see, launching his inflatable?  He is motoring toward us!  I am waving an oar!  He arrives and tosses us a line....which turns out to be like a water ski towline.  But what will he tie to in his boat?

Oh!  Why not tie to Pedro?

"What could possibly go wrong???"

Skipper is easily bored by the whole event.  Sparky is on watch to see what is next in this game?

When are we gonna get there?

How to keep all these sheep together?

Not exactly like water skis...but...

Away we go...in the right direction...

We arrive with a florish of trumpet blasts...Pedro has remembered to bring along his horn!  Should we expect less?

"Toot-T-TOOT!

Another day, another surprise....life on the playa, in Mexico, on the Sea of Cortez, in the Bay of Comception...

Well, it WAS a new engine....

Lots of free consulting offered

So, that's the end of the motor boating for now.  It's back to Fernando in Mulege to see what he thinks.  Steve thinks that if it can be fixed anywhere, this is probably the place.  At home, there would be a grave look and a "Here's the price list and order sheet for a new engine."  It seems to us that in Baja, there's an attitude of "figuring out how to make do with what you have and get it working again"...more than, junk it and get a new one.  A concept: "fix" not "replace."?  Maybe!

Feliz Cumpleanos a Mi!!!

Oh my!  January 17th dawns and I am now, officially 66 years young.  How did this happen?  And, more importantly, how to celebrate?  My eyes open, about the usual time of 0720....water calm, sky light, birds on feeder perch....oh...and Happy Birthday signs up all over the RV!!?

I arrive home from art class and Steve has a few birthday treats set out!  We have friend Glena's special Mexican vegetable soupa for lunch...made with vegetables from the valley.  Yum!

And yes, a few Mimosas are ready to go!

Mimosas with local fresh squeezed OJ from the purified water store

Sounds like a good idea to me!

Here's the rest of the idea.  You take a walk down the beach, stopping at each campsite...."Buenos Dias!  It's my birthday!  Care for a Mimosa...fresh squeezed OJ or add a little Baja champagne to it!?"  You know what?  It seems you're never turned down and you make some new friends!  (and enjoy old ones)

Nan, Glenna and Wayne - near Cowichan Bay, B.C. 

Chris, Nan and Besse - New York and San Francisco

Nan and Debbie - Cobble Hill near Victoria, B.C.

Nan, Pedro and Janet - Inverness, British Columbia

Nan and Paul - Idaho

Barb, Jim, Nan and Karan - Washington and Idaho

Keep on treking down the beach, Nan

New Mexico couple and dog Solo

Olaf, Nan and Lee - Vancouver Island, B.C.

Nan and Lynn...but where is Doug? - California folks

Pedro blows the birthday conch horn.....of course!

End of the line...we stop and talk awhile with Dorie and Bill

What happened to the photos of the Swiss couple? Or, Canada Bob, Raven Gary, John or Kay and Bob?  Lost in digital land I guess.  Oh, and then there were some friends MIA as Norm and Jerri and Janelle and Gary were traveling to the Copper Canyon on the mainland.  You travel....you lose!  Well, on some things.  At any rate, we visit every campsite and if we find anyone home....we ask them to join in the celebation!

What a great afternoon!  And yes, it takes most of the afternoon.  That leaves just enough time for the first campfire of the winter season.  FINALLY, the wind drops and it's perfect for enjoying time around the fire with a little chocolate birthday cake...baked perfectly in the convection oven!

"Rise up oh flame...by thy light glowing...give to us beauty...vision and joy"....old Camp Birchwood song...might be the right words?

Hum...a vision for year #66...maybe beauty and joy!


 But what about dinner?  Oh, that waits for Saturday night in town at Las Casitas!  It was great!

Margaritas on the garden patio....dinner of ribs inside!  Four of us at this table have January birthdays!

Hum...a 5 star rating!  *****

It is a great day and a great celebration.  But wait...there's more...tomorrow a boating trip turns into an adventure, complete with rescue!

Birthday confetti...."everywhere"....

The Schedule is Demanding

On Wednesday it's yoga!  Thursday it's art class....and Friday it's time for Spanish class!  Oh the grueling schedule at Playa el Coyote.

Teacher Ruth

 Teacher Ruth drives out to the beach from Mulege and like magic, yoga class appears on the beach.  Some days we use the palapa for a wind screen, other days...the sea laps gently near our mats.  This Wednesday Pedro gives yoga a try for the first time!  From ring master to yoga student...quite a transformation!

A first for Pedro...and a first for yoga probably!

Debbi and Steve on the far side!

Class fee is by donation and 10% goes to the local animal rescue group.  We will miss Ruth as she soon returns to California for a few weeks.

If it's Thursday, it's Art Class over at Posada Conception beach.  Lynn, a retired art teacher, brings her passion for using gourds, seagrasses, pine needles, beads, and beach "finds"...and provides weekly classes to create incredible decorative art.  Our second project this year is a gourd container....from start to finish...

Scrub the gourd clean

First to scrub the gourd clean in a bucket of water using a rough scrubber.

Let it dry...then cut it open and clean the inside

Now it's time to use a saw and cut the gourd in half.  Now, clean out the inside by scraping out all the seeds leaving a smooth surface.

Then, dye the outside (I choose blue ink dye).  Now, simply (ha!) weave a collar out of sea grass strands adding a few rounds of colorful raffia in the middle until the collar turns outward!

You are almost done!  Just decorate with available beads!

So much for Thursdays!  But what about Friday?!  Verines en Espanol means Spanish lesson day!
Our teacher, Audreanna, sets up school under a palapa and we gather around our chairs.  From a teacher's point of view...she does a great job...with only a few big Spanish / English dictionaries and a white board.

Proof....learning has no age boundries!?

Nan???!!  Did you do your homework??

 Audreanna was born here and her mother's family grew up on this beach.  She got to two years of college and wanted to be a teacher of English, but she couldn't afford the rest of the schooling.  She's 32 years old and she is making her dream of being a teacher come true in this way.  She charges 50 pesos (about $4.50) for a two hour lesson.  Seems to me an end of season bonus is due here!!

Job #3 for Audreanna....she is my teacher, and also a waitress at two restaurants!

Oh, the demaning schedules we create for ourselves.  But, that's only three days...what about the other four?  I think they are all recess!

The Birthay Week Begins....with...

My birthday week is great with 66 hours of celebration to accomplish, I must begin early each day and work late!  But what to do?  How about a fine mini trip to Loreto?  This quaint Baja town now claims our #1 Taco Pescado (fish taco) lunch!  WOW!

Restaurant Loreto town square

Voted #1 fish taco in all of Baja....by N & S

How about a bottle of Pacifico poured into an iced glass mug and a little plate of fresh cut limes to squeeze into it?

Cerveza a Mexico!

It's very windy this day and we think better to spend it re-exploring Loreto than on the beach.

No wind gauge...but I'm just sayin'..... 

Not bad for a photo op with a garbage can!

The progress in fixing up the town is slow, but we see evidence of completed work (2 blocks) on the malecon by the tiny marina and along the shopping street.  The one thing that is missing is any sign of tourists.  We see only four other obvious visitors so that makes a total of 6!  I ask the waiter, where are all the tourists?  He shrugs and says, "Oh, very very quiet...maybe next month?"  I ask about the cruise ships we have seen in past years.  He says, "Oh, the construction on the waterfront has made that not possible...sadly."

Scarves, purses, lotions...vanilla!

Blouses, bags, banners

Sombreros!

A quick stop for a ...yes, latte...(well, it was with boxed milk and I'm not sure about the coffee)...

Sorta like latte...well, a coffee drink..

Sunshine....and down jackets

We stick by our rule of not drivng after dark, so a quick stop at the American Deli (yikes, English Breakfast tea...$6.00 a box!)...and it's back on the road.  This trip we find a herd of wild goats and another group of five donkeys roaming the highway and running off into the brush.  Much MUCH harder to see at night!

Goats headed...somewhere?

Donkeys....admiring us?

Adios to Loreto....for now...back to Playa el Coyote!

Mission in Loreto