Teak!

We've finally started our teak work. The varnish was starting to peel up in places so we consulted a wood builder who advised us that it was much better for the wood if we let it go natural. But first we needed to strip all the varnish away, get it back to its natural state and then apply oil. We weren't sure we wanted to tackle such a big project this time, plus we didn't have all the needed tools so it was suggested that we peel up the areas that were already exposed and then oil it so it was protected until next season. But when Susana started peeling up those areas huge sheets of varnish started coming with it. We decided to go for it and borrowed a heat gun to make our lives a bit easier. We scraped and scraped and scraped....for six long days. 

 

Then the marina officials put a halt to it and advised we could not work on our wood in the marina and that if we continued we could be fined $200. Aye! So now we have a haul out date to take Jade to the work yard so we can finish the job. Then she'll be wrapped up for the summer and we'll head back to Oregon for a few months or so.  

Here's Jade getting fitted for her summer cover.

We'll be back next season for some more fun on the sea. We'll continue to post as we have a fun summer project in Oregon...a tiny home!

San Pedro, Part 2

I'm not sure if I mentioned that we purchased a new dingy, Jade Jr. She's a Porta Bote and folds up flat so she can be stored on the side of our deck. Our other dingy was fabulous, but took up a lot of space on deck and rowing it was a bitch. This one is lighter, rows pretty well and scoots along with our 2hp Honda motor.

Anyway, back to our horrible sight. We had spent another uncomfortable night rockin' and rollin' with the swells. Jade Jr. had been tied to the side of Jade, but was crashing against her with every swell. I tried giving her more line to trail back further, but she managed to work her way back to Jade so tying her to the side was a better option. However, after that long and sleepless night I had enough of the banging. I went into the cockpit to check S/V Waveglider's dingy to see how they were controlling it. To my horrible surprise I noticed that Waveglider (thankfully a catamaran) was beached and being slammed by the waves. Owner Barry was trying to release her with his dingy to no avail. We had to do something. So we pulled anchor and headed over to assist.

The plan was to attach a 50 foot line and pull Waveglider off the beach. Two things came to mind: 

1. We've never pulled or rescued another boat before.

2. 50 feet may seem like a good distance until you have to get your boat, which drafts five feet, close enough to shore to receive the line, attach it and go.

Somehow we managed to do it without beaching ourselves, without getting tangled in seaweed and without crashing into Waveglider. It's hard to see, but here we are towing her off the beach and back into the bay. She looks a lot further away than she was, trust me!

We still had to wait a few more days before the winds shifted to the right direction. And boy were we ready to get out of there. The night before we left we decided to celebrate with a camp fire on the beach. It was lovely, but while Susana was gathering wood she was attached by a jumping cholla (mean looking cactus with big ass thorns). Thankfully, Dr. Poncha was there to save the day.

Here's the aftermath.

Our campfire and beautiful sunset.

The next morning we towed Waveglider out of the bay so they could sail back to San Carlos. Once they got close enough we were able to give them another tow into the bahía.

We will never forget this adventure. We learned new skills and what our boat (and ourselves) are capable of.

San Pedro, Part 1

After our return from our trip across the sea, we contemplated a teak project. Our lovely teak has started to look a little sad and we wanted to tackle it before it became a real problem. That all changed after another boater invited us to join them in San Pedro bay about 18 miles north of San Carlos. We jumped at the chance and took off the next day. However, upon our arrival the other boater was conveniently absent, which was fine by us as we had other anchorages we wanted to check out further north. 

We spent a peaceful night in the bay and the next day we were pleased and surprised to see our buddy boat friends, S/V Waveglider, sail into the bay. They had taken us to Las Cacinas, Kino Bay and Dog Bay in March. We rushed over to say hello and discovered they had been on the sea for the last five days without any engine power. They were exhausted and happy to be anchored for a few days so they could rest. We decided to stick around in case they needed assistance getting back to San Carlos.

The following day we walked over to the next bay and had a great time hiking and exploring.

 

 

After a few days we were ready to leave San Pedro bay, but we were all waiting for winds which would help S/V Waveglider sail back to San Carlos, with us close behind for support and assistance. However, the winds did not want to cooperate and we became stranded for a few more days. At times the anchorage was extremely uncomfortable with swells that wrapped around the entire anchorage which made a rockin' and rollin' home on the sea. We felt more like we were sailing than anchored in a bay. One morning we woke to a horrible sight, but more about that in the next post.