Isla San Fracisco, BCS

Just a short 40ish miles north of the town of La Paz, BCS sits Isla San Francisco.  It's beauty and protection from north or south winds makes it a favorite amoung the local cruising community.  The anchorage is very large and can hold many boats over a great holding sand bottom with plenty to do on shore as well.  Snorkeling and diving is excellent and there are a couple of trails that lead up the ridgeline of the rocky southeast side culminating at the top offering a stunning view of the anchorage.

The downside to the island is that large superyachts are rumored to be banned in the National Marine Park of Isla Espiritu Santo to the south and so they wander the extra 20 miles north to Isla SF making the anchorge sometimes crowded and busy, especially during the weekend in peak season.

A sunrise in the eastern anchorage.

If you find the anchorage void of the big boys, you won't be disappointed.  Here's a look from above. Enjoy.

Click on the pic to see the video. (mostly drone footage)

Until next time,

Bret and Marne

SV Liahona

Project report - new canvas on S/V Liahona.

Our bimini, deck shades and cockpit cushions were all getting long in the tooth so we made a decision last season to replace them if funds would allow after our summer work. So last spring we met with the local canvas geru Hector Escalante based in La Paz, BCS. He came aboard, talked about our projects and then measured for material purchases which we would buy in the States and bring down with us 3 months later, saving the 30% import and sales tax that would be due if Hector imported the materials directly to Mexico himself.

Work went well during the summer so we purchased the needed materials to go forward with the job once we arrived in La Paz sometime in Nov. 2016. Sunbrella, Stamoid, zippers, thread (wow, UV Tenara thread is expensive at $115 per roll. We needed 2 rolls.), grommets, twists and a few other things set us back about $2000 which included all of the materials needed less the cockpit covers and foam that we bought from a distributor here in Mexico.

Projects that we tackled were new foredeck and midship deck shades, new bimini with complete side and rear enclosures for total protection from the elements with the side and rear panels being somewhat convertible as they tie out to the side rails to provide sun protection while still allowing for air flow. Not originally planned but added in as we went along were all new cockpit cushions, including new covers and new foam. And for the finishing touches we also had Hector make all new winch and BBQ covers.

We arrived in La Paz just ahead of the Baja Ha Ha fleet in mid November and got on Hector's schedule to get the project started. We were thinking that 2-3 weeks would be sufficient but that turned out to be a bit unrealistic as the project lasted about 6 weeks in all.

 It was a windy day in La Paz when Hector came out to make his patterns for the sun shades.

 Getting around halyards, shrouds, bimini tubing and all the rest of the crap on a sailboat is quite an ordeal.  Hector is the master!

 Making patterns for the hard dodger window covers.

 Adjustments to the foredeck cover.

Installing the hard dodger covers.

 Completed aft bimini section.

Hector's help for the day.  I am not convinced how much help she was but she had a great smile!

Hector has been touted as probably the best canvas man in Mexico and a couple of cruisers said that his quality of work would be in the top 10% of work done anywhere in the States. Although I have never had any canvas work done Stateside, I will simply add that his work is near impeccable. He is very bright, extremely insightful and creative and he is definitely concerned with the fit and finish of his work. On top of all of that, he is an extremely nice guy, very positive and a joy to have onboard as he worked. The ONLY comment that I have that is not anything but positive is that he is extremely busy, which delayed finishing our project in the estimated time. However, he is busy for a reason...he is VERY GOOD.

Pictures of finished product.

 This shows the side panel propped out to the rail for shade.

 Hard dodger window shades with a view of the side bimini panel bungied to the rail.

 Detail work of window cover following the curves of the cabin top.

 Looking aft from the front of the cockpit showing side shades.  All side and rear bimini shades roll up and stow at underside of bimini making them very easy to use when needed.  In this picture, the aft shades are rolled up in place and not even noticeable.

Looking forward into the hard dodger area showing the fold away, clear center windshield stowed in the open position providing great air flow.

Hard dodger window cover...perfectly fit.

In conclusion, we are beyond satisfied with our finished project, all of them. The engineering and execution of the work done on the Liahona was nothing less than impressive and we are extremely happy with our new canvas. There is no doubt that we have added much aesthetic value and a great deal of utility to our home. As for a total cost, I won't reveal that publicly without permission from Hector but I am quite sure it is a fraction of what we would have paid in the States. I will say that labor cost was in the neighborhood of material cost to give you a general idea.

One of 7 new winch covers.

 Looking forward through the cockpit at the new cushions.

 Captain's chair and aft deck behind.

A close up look at the Phifertex material used on the cushions.  Very tough and 100% water proof. I might add that they are extremely comfortable and never show water or drying salt.  A huge improvement over our previous ocean blue Sunbrella covers.

Two enthusiastic thumbs up for Hector Escalante in La Paz, BCS for his skills in improving our home and catering to my somewhat meticulous desires as the project progressed along. If you have further interest in knowing more about our project you are welcome to place a comment below this blog post and I will do my best to respond or give you my email for contact.  Hector can be contacted directly at dinghychapsauthority@gmail.com.

 A view from above showing the foredeck cover (no midship cover) and aft biminis.

 The foredeck shades.  At a height of 6'5", I can easily walk under it without ducking.

Until next time,

SV Liahona

Bret and Marne

A visit with the whale sharks. La Paz, BCS.

We had most of our day planned out today taking care of chores as well as having two workers coming aboard to do a couple of repairs that were above my pay grade.  The first one showed up, even on time, to help sort out the issue of the alternator not charging the appropriate battery banks.  At the beginning of the season we installed a new battery isolator and I figured there was something amiss with the install but couldn't figure out what.  It wound up being an incorrect connection of wires and within a half hour or so we had the wires swapped around and charge heading to all three battery banks.  Problem solved.

The other worker was going to help with our Raymarine wind instruments.  When Hurricane Newton blew through San Carlos this summer it took my wind speed transducer on top of the mast with it as it stormed through town.  I replaced the transducer with a new one but we still are not squared away.   Our wind speed shows correctly but the wind direction does not.  I have spent plenty of time researching the internet and talking to Raymarine tech support but still have not figured it out.  Anyway, that worker had problems with his dinghy so he was unable to make it.

So, around 1pm or so Marne and I decided to take a little dinghy trip out to the Magote to see if we could find some whale sharks.  We traveled much farther than we thought and almost ran out of gas on the way back to the boat which is anchored out front of Marina La Paz.  We got home with about 2 cups of fuel in the tank.  It would have been a LONG paddle.

However, we did find a large group of 10-15 whale sharks and hung out there visiting most of them over the course of about an hour or so.  The are amazing animals.  Slowly moving along opening and closing their enormous mouth to scoop up huge amounts of plankton and krill. They are very passive, very gentle, very LARGE animals.  One of the ones we saw was easily 35+ feet long.  I hope we never take experiences like this for granted because...who gets to do that?  Right?

No bad days!

SV Liahona
Bret and Marne

Finally getting our feet wet in the Sea of Cortez!

 One of two Dorados that we caught 2 days before getting into La Paz.  The sail was amazing.  All down wind.  It doesn't get any better than that. (This photo is out of order but was a much better header than some fiberglass repair pic.  The rest of the pics are mostly in chronological order.)

Dry dock repairs update:

 Abran, Jorge and another prepping the final layers of glass.

 This was not a small project and although it took a lot of time we wated to get it done right.

 The last layers going on before final sanding, a barrier coat then the red primer coat.

Primer is on and now ready for the bottom paint.  

 Welding the stainless pole and supports for the new wind gen.  I will most likely do an entire post on our first impressions of the D400 wind generator.  (A sneak preview...we love it!) More later on this subject.

 Salvador making some last connections before more green power starts to flow into our battery banks.

Final bottom paint was done around the 26th or so of Oct.  At this point we are ready to hit the water!

 Dia de los Muertos is a big deal here in Mexico and throughout Latin America.  It is much more than our Halloween costumes and trucks loads of candy.  Here they celebrate and honor their relatives who have passed into the next realm.  We went to a seminar put on by the local college in Guaymas that gave us an overview of their beliefs and why they do what they do on these important few days.  Very interesting and so much deeper than our Halloween.

 The cathedral in Guaymas lit up in lavender for the celebration.

 Many of the skeletons had puppy skeletons along side.  Their belief is that you should be buried with a dog and he will protect you and watch after you in the afterlife.  Marne loves the thought and sentiment of this tradition.

 As we wandered the streets of Guaymas we were among thousands of Latins with nay a Gringo in sight all evening .  It was pretty awesome.  Good food, great people, wonderful traditions.

This is our buddy Brian on S/V Cat 2 Fold.  A very unique folding catamaran that he can put on a trailer.  He went out for a short day sail that afternoon to make sure everything was working ok and wound up just never turning back into San Carlos harbor crossing the Sea of Cortez overnight and landing on the Baja side somewhere near Loreto.  We look forward to spending more time with him.

 Marne on the bow enjoying one of MANY of our wonderful downwind sails as we head south toward La Paz.  The water was about 82 degrees and crystal clear.  You gotta love this place!

 We ran into several pods of dolphin who shared the waters with us.  The water clarity made it a magical experience.

 Snorkeling at one of our favorite anchorages in the Sea, Isla Danzante.  The diving was fantastic but we arrived back to the boat to find a massive swarm of bees on board.  They come looking for fresh water and I guess they found what they were looking for.  Marne went to the bow while I tried not to step on or sit on one of thousands of bees that were sharing the boat with us.  They forced us out.  We picked up anchor and headed toward Puerto Escondido.  After about 30 minutes the last of them had left and we managed to somewhat coexist receiving not a single sting.  They really are not aggressive and are just looking for water, fresh water.

 More dolphin.

 The above and below pics are of S/V Harmony.  Some of our dearest friends.  They, along with Jeff and Pamela from S/V China Cloud came over for dinner as we shared our Dorado catch with them, Marne outdoing herself whipping up Coconut Encrusted Dorado and curry cauliflower.  Before dinner we had this amazing display played out over 30 minutes or so.  Gorgeous.

And last but not least for this post is the captain lounging on the foredeck as we sail wing on wing with the genoa and the drifter quietly but swiftly toward Isla San Francisco just north of La Paz.  

We love the Sea of Cortez in the fall.  It is an amazing and magical place.  Soon the northers will start to blow more consistently stirring the waters, cooling them down and sending the cruisers seeking the warmer waters of Pacific Mexico.  We will follow them in time but will hang here as long as the conditions permit.  We are so grateful to be able to experience the joy, peace and beauties of cruising.  Leaving behind the stresses, expenses and worries of the "real world" back on the hard stuff.  There is no other place we would rather be.  

Ciao for now.

SV Liahona

Bret and Marne