Christmas dinner at Cedros
Seaweed at Isla San Martin
12/28/2010
Turtle Bay is not quite as we remembered it. Last time we were here was during the Baha Haha in which 150 or more sailboats descend on this sleepy little fishing village. No paved roads, but here as well, it seems everyone has a car.
It was a busy place and we scoured every little market for fresh vegetables or “greenies” as our friend Joanne called them. Businesses were booming and the 3 (that I know of) restaurants are hopping. I believe the fish tacos were $2.50 with a plate of beans.
This time it is a sleepy little town again, and there is only one restaurant open. I ask for a menu, and the least expensive thing on it is 65 pesos, which is almost $6.50 YIKES This is Mexico? Where are the $2.50 fish tacos? Apparently gone with the Haha.
I was also under the impression that showers could be had for $2. I was really needing a shower by now and the quoted price of $3.50 felt high, but oh well. Then we realized we had forgotten our towels, oh, “no problema”. So our total shower cost was $8. , because towels are extra. Well, lessons learned, but it was really nice to be clean.
We have been using a lot of water and I have been puzzled because I thought I was conserving. We have a foot pump in the galley and in the head (bathroom) and we THOUGHT they were plumbed to bring water from outside the boat (sea water) for our first wash/rinse of dishes and such. I started making sure I used the foot pump a lot, to save water. Finally realized that the foot pumps actually pump water from the tank. It helps to know why I keep running so low on water, but now we have to buy jugs of water and dinghy them to our boat before we head out again.
Good news! We are making new cruiser friends all over the place, and the dinghy and outboard work great. Remind me to tell you the story of the outboard purchase from Joe soon!
The learning curve is steep, but we ARE learning!
12/27/2010
It has been a rough few days. Drug anchor twice in San Martin, big winds, high tide and a grass bottom when we thought it was sand. It was scary, but we were awake both times, and never were in any real danger, just stressful to pull up and reset our Bruce anchor in high winds. Our friend Randall had a CQR and it never moved an inch. Different bottoms require different anchoring techniques.
We both left around 8am to head for an overnighter to Cedros, hoping to arrive around 11am or so. Even though Randall’s boat is a 31 foot Mariner ketch, we should be faster than him, but he has a bigger engine, and since we are motoring much more than sailing, he quickly moves ahead of us.
We had a few challenges we had to deal with underway that put us off course, and behind our original schedule, so we did not arrive at Cedros until after dark. Not advisable to enter the anchorages, or town on Cedros in the dark, so when we arrived around 2 or 3 am the second night at sea, we “hove too” off shore. Kind of like putting the boat in idle. It just kind of drifts. I stayed up to be certain we didn’t drift too close to shore or some other hazard. That consisted of standing and sleeping occasionally waking up with a surge of water to check our surroundings. That was my Christmas eve.
The next day we motored in, set an anchor off the beach, and slept until about 11am. We were exhausted.
We are now in Cedros a very tiny pueblo, and it is Christmas Day. We are in need of fuel to continue on to Turtle Bay where we can easily fuel, and get groceries if needed. Diesel fuel is not readily available on Cedros, and it is Christmas Day. Prospects are not looking good, and tomorrow is Sunday, yikes!
Everyone says no, no Diesel, so we head over to the internet café to at least email our family. We meet Juan, who is about to close the café and reopen later, but we must look pitiful cause he allows us to go online. He and Marcus have a nice conversation between Juan’s limited English, and Marcus’s growing Spanish abilities. We explain we need fuel, and he says he will check for us, come back at 6pm. It gets dark here at 5ish, and we are not comfortable using the dinghy after dark quite yet. So starts working on it for us. He has a 125 motorcycle and he takes off, and comes back, checking out options. We are about to give up Juan’s brother Arturo and his wife show up in a car. Out comes the cell phone, here in Cedros, cell phones, and everyone has satellite TV too, and cars, seems everyone has cars and drives everywhere.
SUCCESS!!! A lady has some and Arturo will take our jerry can and go and get it. Arturo and his wife return, and we are thrilled at our Christmas miracle!
If you are ever in Cedros, make sure you go to Juan’s store/internet café. He is a wonderful guy!
Turtle Bay is not quite as we remembered it. Last time we were here was during the Baha Haha in which 150 or more sailboats descend on this sleepy little fishing village. No paved roads, but here as well, it seems everyone has a car.
It was a busy place and we scoured every little market for fresh vegetables or “greenies” as our friend Joanne called them. Businesses were booming and the 3 (that I know of) restaurants are hopping. I believe the fish tacos were $2.50 with a plate of beans.
This time it is a sleepy little town again, and there is only one restaurant open. I ask for a menu, and the least expensive thing on it is 65 pesos, which is almost $6.50 YIKES This is Mexico? Where are the $2.50 fish tacos? Apparently gone with the Haha.
I was also under the impression that showers could be had for $2. I was really needing a shower by now and the quoted price of $3.50 felt high, but oh well. Then we realized we had forgotten our towels, oh, “no problema”. So our total shower cost was $8. , because towels are extra. Well, lessons learned, but it was really nice to be clean.
We have been using a lot of water and I have been puzzled because I thought I was conserving. We have a foot pump in the galley and in the head (bathroom) and we THOUGHT they were plumbed to bring water from outside the boat (sea water) for our first wash/rinse of dishes and such. I started making sure I used the foot pump a lot, to save water. Finally realized that the foot pumps actually pump water from the tank. It helps to know why I keep running so low on water, but now we have to buy jugs of water and dinghy them to our boat before we head out again.
Good news! We are making new cruiser friends all over the place, and the dinghy and outboard work great. Remind me to tell you the story of the outboard purchase from Joe soon!
The learning curve is steep, but we ARE learning!
12/27/2010
It has been a rough few days. Drug anchor twice in San Martin, big winds, high tide and a grass bottom when we thought it was sand. It was scary, but we were awake both times, and never were in any real danger, just stressful to pull up and reset our Bruce anchor in high winds. Our friend Randall had a CQR and it never moved an inch. Different bottoms require different anchoring techniques.
We both left around 8am to head for an overnighter to Cedros, hoping to arrive around 11am or so. Even though Randall’s boat is a 31 foot Mariner ketch, we should be faster than him, but he has a bigger engine, and since we are motoring much more than sailing, he quickly moves ahead of us.
We had a few challenges we had to deal with underway that put us off course, and behind our original schedule, so we did not arrive at Cedros until after dark. Not advisable to enter the anchorages, or town on Cedros in the dark, so when we arrived around 2 or 3 am the second night at sea, we “hove too” off shore. Kind of like putting the boat in idle. It just kind of drifts. I stayed up to be certain we didn’t drift too close to shore or some other hazard. That consisted of standing and sleeping occasionally waking up with a surge of water to check our surroundings. That was my Christmas eve.
The next day we motored in, set an anchor off the beach, and slept until about 11am. We were exhausted.
We are now in Cedros a very tiny pueblo, and it is Christmas Day. We are in need of fuel to continue on to Turtle Bay where we can easily fuel, and get groceries if needed. Diesel fuel is not readily available on Cedros, and it is Christmas Day. Prospects are not looking good, and tomorrow is Sunday, yikes!
Everyone says no, no Diesel, so we head over to the internet café to at least email our family. We meet Juan, who is about to close the café and reopen later, but we must look pitiful cause he allows us to go online. He and Marcus have a nice conversation between Juan’s limited English, and Marcus’s growing Spanish abilities. We explain we need fuel, and he says he will check for us, come back at 6pm. It gets dark here at 5ish, and we are not comfortable using the dinghy after dark quite yet. So starts working on it for us. He has a 125 motorcycle and he takes off, and comes back, checking out options. We are about to give up Juan’s brother Arturo and his wife show up in a car. Out comes the cell phone, here in Cedros, cell phones, and everyone has satellite TV too, and cars, seems everyone has cars and drives everywhere.
SUCCESS!!! A lady has some and Arturo will take our jerry can and go and get it. Arturo and his wife return, and we are thrilled at our Christmas miracle!
If you are ever in Cedros, make sure you go to Juan’s store/internet café. He is a wonderful guy!
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