Megan's Musings, Volume 1

     I've been trying to get the kids to participate in the blog by writing their own posts. At long last, in her debut posting, here is little miss Megan, sharing about our pets aboard Kyrie. :)

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Pepino ("cucumber" in Spanish!)

my family has a dog his name is rio we also have two hermit crabs we have one bigger and one tiny one the bigger  hermit crabs name is hermes and the tiny ones name is pepino and you really need to see pepino. she is oh my gosh cute and rio well. he is also so cute! he has brown eyes and loves to play a lot! 😁😁

Hermes, who likes to pretend
she's a "Klingon."

Rio the sailing dog, our 
"Sonoran short hair"

Back to the beginning

    This has been a surreal couple of weeks. Actually, about a week ago, we dropped anchor in Caleta Partida, an area we spent a lot of time in when we first arrived in the Sea of Cortez a year ago. We spent about a day and a half there, enjoying being back for a little while. We have quite a few good memories from there. In the good ol' pre-Covid days, we spent lots of evenings in the cockpit of our boat and other people's boats, talking, laughing, and enjoying a glass of wine while our kids gathered below, eating popcorn or brownies, watching movies and playing games. One of the most fun was the evening Deerfoot II invited everyone in the anchorage over. The couple zoomed around in their dinghy, visiting all the boats and extending an invitation. That evening, there must have been twenty extra people on that 70-foot sailboat, including 10 kids! Brownies, ice cream, an upside-down Christmas tree, watching Levi talk to three kids from Mexico City, using their dad as a translator, meeting new people. Those were definitely the days... 

    This time had some highlights as well. Levi happily met a boy his age--something of a rare occasion so far on this adventure. They spent most of the time swimming off our boat and talking about video games. Our boy had a good day! Even better, this new friend is here in La Paz, so they have plans to spend some more time together while we're here. Of course, there was also kayaking, paddleboarding, and snorkeling to be enjoyed, which we did! Joe and I found King Angelfish, Reef Cornetfish, and drooled over a couple of hogfish. 

    A week ago, the weather report encouraged us to leave the islands and head for cover. Well, weather and our list of things to be fixed. Our genoa repair needed to be completed, our watermaker was (and is!) still giving us headaches with low production, and a few other items needed attention. Plus, there was the hope my birthday wouldn't be rained out this time and I could have shrimp tacos and a margarita in town. Success on that front! My birthday was dry. We enjoyed a walk on the malecon and finally managed to make it to Neveria La Fuente and try the mango ice cream my mom said we "have to get." You're right, Mom. It's delicious!

    As I said, it's surreal being back here. We thoroughly enjoyed our time here before and it's lovely to be back, but there is definitely a different feel. Walking on the Malecon is nice, but we miss that busy feeling in the evenings when all the families were out. Club Cruceros is closed, so there isn't the usual coffee and cookie mornings at the marina, or any other big gatherings. Mercado Bravo is still full of beautiful, delicious food, but the kids missed being able to go in and order their own empanadas. However, this is where we feel as though our time in Mexico really began, and at almost exactly a year later, we're thoroughly enjoying a repeat visit here.    

    Perhaps next time Joe can regale our readers with our watermaker woes and how much he has fixed or replaced on it. At that point, we will have our genoa back with a brand new sun cover and we'll be ready to cross back over to the mainland. It's getting cooler and time to go south. How far south we will get this year? Stay tuned...

We met up with our friends 
on Tulum again. It's like 
these girls never were 
apart!

I had to take a photo of 
everything that was in the
smoothie we got at Mercado
Bravo today! Delicious!

Plans may change, but the adventure goes on

    

     I'll admit it--I've been feeling bereft lately. This whole Covid thing has changed the entire face of our cruising plans, and completely altered my dream of what I thought cruising with my family was going to be like. But you know something I've started to realize and maybe finally accept? What we're doing isn't all that different from what I really wanted to do. I'll try to explain...    

    When Joe and I decided we wanted to take our family out of our normal world and go cruising, there were a few overall goals, no matter where we went. After all our time exploring Southeast Alaska, we knew we loved going to remote anchorages, being the only boat, or at least one of just a few, in some secluded little nook, enjoying whatever sights and experiences that spot had to offer. That was high on the list, naturally, but even more important, especially in terms of traveling with our children, was experiencing the different cultures and people this world has to offer. 

    I've found myself grumbling at the amount of the time we have spent at a dock during this journey so far. I love the times out at anchor, when we can jump off of Kyrie, swim around and chase the fish, explore the beaches, etc. Even though there have been good reasons we've spent dock time--a broken outdrive, a pandemic lockdown, respite from heat and humidity, and now, a damaged sail--I've still felt somehow we weren't spending our time the "right" way and were somehow missing out on something. I mean, it was a bit jealousy-inducing to see photos from friends in the Bay of Los Angeles with whale sharks and beach bonfires and hikes with other friends. 

    However, I have to stop and reel my thoughts back in. Those times we had to stay at the dock have had their moments. La Cruz was full of meeting new friends and realizing just how many cruising families there are out there. San Blas let us really to get to know another family as we created our own little bubble to survive the lockdown, as well as see how a small town could shut itself off from the rest of the world to try to keep their people safe and still be welcoming to those outsiders who were stuck there. San Carlos gave us a front-row seat as a community crawled back to life after the shutdown. We got to see how locals and ex-pats reacted to everything reopening, for better or for worse. It also gave us a bunch of chances to explore some other communities, with friends, or just ourselves. 

    And now, Santa Rosalia. This is the kind of town we wanted to spend some time in. It really isn't touristy, or at least not foreign-touristy. The history of this town is incredible. It is a town built by mining, started by the French. The architecture is completely different from other places we've seen in Mexico, and the ruins from the foundry and other mining paraphernalia make me think of towns in the California foothills, like Angel's Camp or Grass Valley. We've wandered around town a fair bit already, and have had a lovely time eating tacos (which we think are the best we've had in Mexico yet!) and trying to remember our Spanish so we can converse with the locals. As usual, a lot of them speak better English than we speak Spanish!

    Joe and I went out on a mini-date this afternoon to find Pan de Muerto, but also to find yet another place to eat tacos. We talked about how nice the weather was--it's finally cooled down and the norther that was blasting through here has eased--and how lovely it was to be able to leave the kids for a little while and enjoy some time just the two of us. That was when I was at last able to articulate these thoughts. I told Joe that this--wandering around a town, enjoying the scenery and the food--was one of the reasons we went on this adventure. We've been mourning the loss of something (I'm still not absolutely sure what we're mourning. Perhaps just the freedom to be able to move around as we please?) and forgetting about the rest of the experiences we're having and the memories we're making. Paul said it best, and someday we will learn this valuable lesson: "... I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances..." Cruising during this time of Covid may not be what we thought our cruising experience would be, but maybe, just maybe, we can still have an amazing time and make incredible memories.

 

An unintended hiatus

Well hello again! We never intended to be silent this whole summer, but somehow, that's what happened. Kyrie hung out at the dock in San Carlos from July 1 to October 11, and while it was a good thing because we would have gone stark raving mad from the heat, I think the entire crew is glad to be done. We got A LOT done in San Carlos, I'm grateful to say. 

Here's the list: re-galvanized all our anchor chain; had new cockpit cushions made, recovered all our dinette cushions, and got new foam for Levi's bed; had an emergency tiller made; designed and installed stainless steel braceplates for the bulkhead between the dinette and our room; fiberglass repair in the head where bulkhead tabbing cracked on the way down the coast; a full Sunbrella cover for the deck and coach roof; Sunbrella covers for the foam on the dinghy, since it was beginning to disintegrate in the sun; and Kyrie's outside was cleaned top to bottom, including stainless and rigging. Whew, I think that covers everything we had done. 

In addition, we took on a new crew member in July. In a somewhat, but not really, spur-of-the-moment decision, we adopted a former street dog in Guaymas. He had been tossed in someone's front yard and she took him to the vet because he was in rough shape--an eye infection, fleas, ticks, worms, etc. A week later, the little guy was ready for a home, just in time for us to meet and fall in love with him! Joe and I had been out running errands and brought the puppy home, much to our kids' shock and delight. We've talked about a dog ever since our old dog Bandit died, before we even bought Kyrie. Rio has been a welcome addition to the Kyrie crew, although he had a bit of a rough time on our crossing back to Baja!

Much to our delight, our friends from SV Arena arrived in San Carlos in mid-August and life got much more interesting. They have four kids--the oldest two girls are Levi's age, the next girl is Rachael's age, and their son is Megan's age, so suddenly, everyone had someone to "play" with, even the adults! It was nice, even with being cautious about distancing from others, to have another couple to visit with, to later on go to Happy Hours with, and just have fun!

Road trips! We actually took a couple of road trips during our time in San Carlos, although they weren't exactly for fun. The first one was in September, up to Hermosillo. I had been worrying the entire time we were in San Carlos because the kids' passports expired the end of September and I didn't know how we were going to get them new ones. Passport offices were just starting to reopen in the States and there was a huge backlog. The Consulate offices' websites wouldn't let you make an appointment for new passports until they expired and it became an emergency. What to do?! I finally called the embassy in Mexico City and explained our predicament--that our kids' passports would be expiring, that we weren't planning on returning to the States any time soon and were frankly afraid of getting stuck there when our boat and home was in Mexico. I was told to email the consulate in Hermosillo, telling them exactly what I had just said. I did so, and half an hour later, we had an appointment scheduled for the following week! Car rented--check. Hotel reserved--check. Rio staying with Arena--check. Off we went! It was such an easy, uneventful experience! Not only did the kids get new passports, but Joe and I were also able to renew ours at the same time. Best of all? We picked up all five new passports in Guaymas two weeks later! What a relief!

11 happy people with new
Mexican tourist visas!

Next road trip was just a couple weeks ago. The Arena crew decided to make the drive to KM 21, which is where new FMMs (tourist visas) can be obtained. Ours still had another month to go, but we were in a fairly convenient place to get new ones, whereas in a month, we didn't know where we would be. Cars rented, hotel rooms secured, pet sitter for Rio engaged--we were ready to go! The Kyrie crew ended up with a minivan and nearly all the kids (did I mention there were seven kids altogether on this trip?) enjoyed the mobile movie theater at one time or another on the trip. There were a few crazy moments, like when the car rental company gave Arena a car, instead of the van they reserved for the six of them--good thing we had the van--or when we overshot the office for our visas by about 40 kilometers, and had to turn around and retrace our steps! 945 kilometers driven in two days, all for eleven pieces of paper that made us all legal tourists in Mexico for another 180 days!

Even the statues in
Hermosillo wore their masks!

 With all our tasks completed (for now, at least) it was time to get moving again. We had cabin fever something fierce and couldn't wait to start cruising again. October 11, we pulled out of the marina and used a friend's mooring ball out in the bay. A weather window would allow us to sail across the Sea of Cortez to Isla San Marcos, as long as we left around 4:00 the next morning, and we didn't want to be leaving the marina in the dark. 

[Updated since I apparently left this hanging!] As happens so often, the weather report was not correct! We were able to sail all the way across to Isla San Marcos, but where the report called for 15-20 knot winds with a 2-3 foot sea, we experienced 20-25 knot winds, with gusts up to 30, and 6-foot seas on our beam! It made for a fast, but somewhat uncomfortable trip across. The cockpit got washed by waves multiple times--an unusual experience for a cat!--and our poor puppy had an unhappy time for his first sail. After getting sick three times, Rio was clipped to a jackline and banished to the back deck. We also experienced some damage to our genoa. All the reefing caused some flapping and unfortunately some of the stitching broke around the clew on the genoa. Thankfully (?) there was enough wind that we could completely furl the genoa and just use the main and yankee. At last, we dropped anchor at the sound end of Isla San Marcos. It was so nice to be calm and still for a while! The water was cool and felt lovely to jump into. No surprise though, that we were all tired after the early morning and crazy trip across, so it was early to bed for the Kyrie crew. The next morning, the wind had shifted to the south and was pushing up the waves into our anchorage, so it was time to move on a bit. We motored up to Sweet Pea Cove, as that would be protected from any seas still kicked up from the prior day. Once again, the water was so nice, although there were a fair bit of little jellyfish. Joe even got one down the back of his rash guard. Ouch! The snorkeling was great and Joe and Levi tried to spearfish, but no luck. Hogfish, parrotfish, Sargeant Majors, I even saw a big eel! Rachael and I challenged ourselves to dive down to the bottom to collect a couple of sand dollars. Only when we got back up to the surface did we realize the bottom was farther away than we realized and we had just free dove to about 15 or 18 feet. We were both rather proud of ourselves! Once again, the weather decided to shift on us. The wind switched to an easterly, but there were still waves coming from a different direction. The wind was going to hold us beam to the waves, and none of us liked the idea of spending a night that way. Been there, done that too many times. So Joe called the marina in Santa Rosalia to see if there was room. There was, so we got the spinnaker ready to slowly sail to Santa Rosalia!

A Look Back on our Gear After a Year of Cruising

We cut the dock lines a little over a year ago now, and are summering in San Carlos, Mexico, anxiously awaiting cooler weather.  We've had some amazing experiences, some not so amazing, but overall are thoroughly happy with the choices we have made, and wouldn't trade it for anything.  This post, however, is not about those experiences, but about what "stuff" has worked well for us.  Hopefully it helps another cruiser who is out there preparing.

Gear reviews:

Galley:

Aerobie Aeropress for coffee:  Can't be beat!  Our minor suggestions there would be to buy a Stainless re-usable filter as it really improves the flavor, and watch the youtube videos on brewing upside down using the aeropress.  Fantastic, smooth, strong coffee!

Fagor Duo 6-quart Stainless Steel Pressure Cooker:  We can't say enough about this appliance.  We use it just about every day.  If you're going cruising, buy a pressure cooker and learn how to use it.  It saves time, propane, and keeps the majority of the cooking heat and moisture out of the boat.

The Boat Galley Cookbook:  If you're cruising on a boat and don't have a copy - get one.  It is our go-to book on a boat where we really are careful about taking any books due to weight!

Technautics CoolBlue Refrigerator:  This has been an awesome piece of kit, and Richard Boren who sells them has been an amazing help when we ran into issues.  It's been running for years non-stop, and our only issue is that we need to replace the insulation in our fridge box to make it cooler - not an issue with the fridge at all, just a reality of having the cooler box installed down below waterline in the hull and sitting in 80+ degree water.

Barbecue:  For our family of 5, we had a heck of time finding a marine barbecue that had enough space to cook for everyone without having to resort to cooking in batches.  We finally found a non-marine unit, a Weber Q1200, and mounted it to the rail using a Magma T10-680 bracket.  After over two years, it still performs flawlessly, has needed nothing other than normal cleaning, and still looks nearly new.  It also heats much more evenly and doesn't blow out when anchored in the wind nearly as easily as the previous marine versions we've used.  All at less than half the price of the marine units.  Highly recommended if you're in the market for a boat grill.

Toilet:

What is it about cruisers?  Get a batch of them together and the conversation invariably goes two places:  anchors and toilets.  3 years ago we pulled out the toilet our boat came with and replaced it with a composting head.  We chose a C-Head, and are very happy with it.  The unique thing about a C-head vs. the main competitors (Air Head and Nature's head) other than being less expensive, is that it can take full time use by a family of 5, you just need to dump it a little more often.  For us, with full-time use, the solids need changing about every 4-5 days, and the liquids once a day.  Changing either is less work than cleaning a cat litter box, and frankly not even as gross - unless you let it go too long.  Best yet, there are no stinky hoses, we don't ever have to find a pump out - it goes over the side when we're far enough out to sea, or goes in our normal garbage when we're not.  And for us, the kids can't clog it - ever.  We couldn't recommend it higher.

Fresh Water:

When we purchased Kyrie, she came with a never-used Little Wonder LWM-200 12v watermaker.  We began using it in Alaska, and make nearly all of our own water unless tied to a dock for a long period of time.  It has worked well, and been fairly reliable for us, but there have been a few issues - largely due to installation inadequacy or misunderstanding of the operation of the system.  We installed the new, but 4ish year old membrane when we left Juneau, and always had moderately low production rates through Alaska, and down the west coast (normally around 4-5 gph, when the unit is rated for 6 gph.  After trying installing a brand-new membrane from Racor, our production went up slightly, but not much.  I spent days troubleshooting the unit, and it came down to an issue with low voltage at the watermaker pump.  The person who installed it used a small switch which was getting hot, and causing the voltage to drop from 12.6 volts down to 11.5 volts at the pump.  This decreased the water flow, and we could see production numbers as low as 2-3 gph at times.  Once I removed the offending switch from the system, and realized I could not run the watermaker in the morning before the batteries reached around 80% and the system voltage came up, we now normally produce about 5-6 gph with this unit.

The previous owner installed a below-sink cartridge filter for drinking water, and we frankly love it.  It doesn't take a fancy $300+ filter here, just a standard 10" filter housing on the cold water line to your faucet, coupled with an activated carbon filter.  We can now chlorinate dock water if we want, and the AC filter takes the chlorine back out for perfect taste, or when we're running on watermaker water (most of the time now) the non-chlorinated ultra pure water can get a bit of a taste from the tank.  This simple filter removes any off-tastes for the cost of about a $5 filter every 3 months.  Very much worth it.

Dinghy:

Shortly before departing, we purchased a brand new Porta-Bote 12' dinghy and a new Yamaha F6 outboard to power it.  We still believe it's the best choice for our type of cruising, but have learned a bit more.  First, on the outboard:

The Yamaha F6 4-stroke outboard has performed flawlessly, absolutely zero issues to date.  It planes the skiff at 12-14 knots with two adults on board, and just sips the fuel.  Our only wish is we had waited to get outside the USA to where they sell 2-stroke versions of the motor due to weight.  It isn't too bad, but needing to daily disconnect it from the dinghy and put it on the rail for safety and theft protection, that 65 pound outboard weight does get a bit old.  Shortly before leaving, we also painted the cowl and head of the outboard bright yellow and removed all factory stickers.  Everyone thinks it's an old beater motor now, so the illusion is complete.  If we had to do it again, we'd still try to get the 2-stroke version, but here we are.

The Porta-Bote has performed very well.  Our only modifications from stock was painting the seats white (which has been wonderful - they aren't hot in the Mexican sun!) and adding eye bolts at the front and rear seats to allow the boat to be hoisted on davits, along with adding a drain plug.  This has worked very well, but we did have to upgrade the eye bolts as the original ones we purchased were bending (and one broke!).  We replaced them with 316 SS 3/8 by 3 1/4" eye bolts, and they've performed perfectly since.  We originally added a Ronstan plastic drain plug to the starboard rear side of the dinghy, and it has worked flawlessly.  Our only problem is that the drain plugs sink if they fall in the water!  Be sure to carry spare drain plugs.

We have broken one seat on the porta-bote.  The rear seat cracked along the bottom where the strut attaching the tie piece to the transom attaches.  We think this is frankly a design issue with the seats, but Porta-Bote wasn't very helpful, just saying to glue it back together.  We did re-glue it, but not trusting it had a machine shop make up a aluminum angle to reinforce the rear seat.  So far, so good on that repair, 4 months later and zero issues.

The foam on the porta-bote is definitely not up to snuff for the tropical sun.  It is starting to deteriorate, and we hope to have sun cover cloths glued on this summer while we're in San Carlos.

Other than the minor issues above, frankly we've been happy with our choice.  The Porta-Bote serves us well.

Anchoring: 

Our Wasi 25 kilo stainless anchor is incredible.  We've never drug it anywhere - even in 60 knot winds and reversing currents.  It sets nearly instantly, and we sleep well.  Enough said there.

Our backup anchor - a Fortress FX-23 has performed great.  It assembles in about 5 minutes and is very light - very important on a catamaran.  So far, we've only used it as a stern anchor, and in sand or mud it holds extremely well - to the point it's been difficult to retrieve a couple times.  Our only suggestion would be to add a trip line to your anchoring system if you want to be able to raise it by hand - it digs deep, and can be hard to trip by hand.

Our windlass - a Lofrans Tigress has performed flawlessly.  A windlass is very important to us as it otherwise would be very difficult to live off anchor for a long period of time, as we prefer to do.  The only problem we've had was a little corrosion in the foot switch connected to the windlass.  A quick clean up, and it's been working great the last year straight.

Our anchor bridle is homemade from 5/16" three-strand nylon.  We originally had issues with the snatch load on the bridle in very windy conditions when anchored in shallow water (less than 10').  The boat could swing around in gusts, and you could get knocked off of your feet when the anchor chain came tight.  Our solution was to rebuild the anchor bridle - not longer as usually done as we really like to anchor in shallow water from 8-15' deep, but to add in a pair of dock-line snubbers - one per side.  This has worked beautifully, as the bridle now has about 6-10" of stretch with increasing resistance on each side, and has dramatically eased the snatch loads in windy anchoring conditions, without weakening the bridle.  I'm not sure I'd want to rely on it through a hurricane, but for normal anchoring up to around 60 knots of wind, it has been awesome.  We used a pair of Sea-Dog EPDM rubber snubbers like these https://www.fisheriessupply.com/sea-dog-line-snubber-561516.  We have since seen a handful of other cruisers using them as well.

Navigation Electronics:

When we re-rigged a year ago we replaced our anchor light with a LunaSea anchor/tricolor combination unit.  It has been an amazing upgrade for the last year.  It turns off and on automatically with a daylight sensor, draws next to nothing, is extremely bright, and has caused zero AIS or VHF interference (and it is inches away from our antenna).

Our primary navigation is done on an iPad in a waterproof case, with a RAM mount at the helm.  We originally ran and recommended iSailor, which was good in the USA and Canada.  However when we arrived in Mexico, the charts were absolutely terrible.  We immediately switched to Navionics, and couldn't be happier, although we do miss a few of the features in iSailor.  The charts are worlds better in Navionics though, and that's what is really important.

For a handheld VHF in the dinghy, we've carried a pair of Baofeng UV-82HP, along with a Standard Horizon HX-290.  The Standard Horizon works perfectly still, and is very durable.  We haven't been too thrilled with the battery life though.  The Baofeng units have been excellent, but aren't waterproof.  As such, one has taken a accidental dip in salt water in the dinghy and doesn't work at all.  The other one is starting to suffer from some corrosion after 3 years on board, and we think its life expectancy is decreasing by the day.  For long-life, we wouldn't recommend the Baofeng units, although they're cheap and a ton of fun to use.  Keep them dry, and you should expect at least a few years of use.

Before setting off, we added a AIS Transceiver to Kyrie, a Vesper XB-8000 and a corresponding Vesper antenna splitter unit.  It has been outstanding, works perfectly sending the data to our iPads and other devices.  The anchor watch is used every time we set the hook and it is an amazing feature.  Our only problem has been when using Vesper's own software.  It frequently freezes, and can take 5-10 minutes to get it into the anchor watch software at times.  We're not sure where the problem lies, as Vesper hasn't been much help.  Other than this annoyance, we'd recommend the unit thoroughly.  It has greatly improved our safety at sea during passages.

Other Electronics:

I'll admit, I'm a bit of a gadget guy, and love to play around with computers and electronics in my spare time.  Here are a couple gadgets we thoroughly enjoy, and a couple that are showing their age on Kyrie.

For entertainment, we have a pair of Raspberry Pi's hooked into our TV.  One is running Kodi (a port of Xbox media center) and serves up our TV and Movies flawlessly.  With a little configuration, it can also do just about everything a Roku can do.  Our shows are stored on a pair of USB hard drives, one 5 tb, one 4 tb.  The other pi is running RetroPie with a couple wireless USB controllers, is a wonderful retro gaming system.  It helps on the hot or rainy days to pass the time in a small boat.  One thing we have found though, is to carry a spare raspberry pi board.  They're cheap enough to carry a spare, and we have had one board burn out on the boat.  They're also a real pain to replace in Mexico.

We have been thrilled with the performance of our Insignia NS-24ED310NA15 TV.  It used hardly any power, and if you cut off the power brick, runs directly on 12VDC.  After 4 years of life on the boat, it was beginning to show its age, and we just replaced it - with another Insignia, but a newer model, specifically the Insignia NS-24d310mx19.  This one's 12VDC conversion wasn't quite as simple, but I opened the back of the tv exposing the circuit board, and there is a small 12V auxiliary port right on top.  A little bit of soldering onto this connector, and we again have a TV running on 12 volt natively.  For more specifics, it draws 1.8 amps with the back-light maxed out.  I also run it with a cheap 12V voltage stabilizer from Amazon for extra protection from over-voltage during charging or when the engine is running.

Our Chromebook has been performing flawlessly - an ACER Chromebook 14.  It's an older model, but has been on the boat for over 4 years now and works perfectly.  Our other laptop computers, both Dell units aren't fairing quite so well.  One's DVD drive is wearing out from the salt air, so we think its death is coming soon.  We've heard from other cruisers that laptops generally last 2-3 years on boats due to the environment, and ours have been aboard over 4 now, so they're on borrowed time.  For the future, I would continue my general recommendation to just avoid purchasing expensive PC's for boat use.  They're all going to wear out pretty quickly.

All our data is backed up twice - we carry two sets of hard drives, with a direct copy of each onto the other drive.  We've been using Seagate Backup Plus drives on board, and while they've treated us well and don't require an extra power supply, they are spinning disks on a moving boat so who knows how long they will live for.  To be prepared for their failure, each drive is copied regularly onto another drive for 100% backup, and each year or so we get an additional external drive and copy all our data again, and send it home with friends or family for safekeeping.

Camera Gear:

While we aren't avid shooters by any stretch of the imagination, we've been using the following gear with success:

Fujifilm Finepix XP130:  This has been an outstanding little unit for us.  Tough, water-resistant, and takes good pictures.  For basic point-and shoot use, highly recommended.

DJI Spark Drone:  While we frankly don't fly it terribly often as we're so afraid of losing it, it has been a great way to get otherwise impossible photos.  It has been reliable and a joy to fly when we do take it out.  The size and cost of this small unit are also very boat-friendly.

Action Camera:  A couple years ago we bought a cheap SooCoo C30 camera, a cheap Chinese copy of a GoPro.  While nowhere near as good as a real GoPro, it has been wonderful to not really care about the unit, and just thrash it around.  We've used it snorkeling and scuba diving a number of times now, and it just works.  For the money, we'd recommend one.  

Thoughts from under the air conditioner

     This will be a little less of the "what we've been up to," and more of a "what's going on in Kristen's head" post. We arrived in San Carlos on June 26, I think. Our reservation in the marina wasn't until July 1, so we had to drop anchor in the bahia for a few days. Those few days reinforced in my mind that we made the right decision. It was hot, with very little air movement, and the water temperature has risen enough that jumping in simply isn't enough for refreshment. 

      I can't remember now who told me this, but I thought it excellent advice. She said that she has figured out that for her own sanity (and that of whoever else is on the boat with her!), she needs a few days to a week in a marina every month. Normally, we try to avoid marinas, even if for no other reason than to extend our cruising funds! However, I know how Joe and I react to the heat. We lived in the central valley of California for the first six years of our marriage and tempers rose as the mercury climbed. Knowing we would be in Mexico this summer, without any easy way to get back to the states and potentially cooler environs, a decision had to be made--do we stay out in places to anchor, where we can self-isolate much more easily, explore a little bit, and potentially turn Kyrie into a powder keg with five roasting people, who will then say we can't take it anymore and end our cruising time? Or do we bite the bullet, fork over the money, don the masks, and plug in that air conditioner, considering it all an acceptable price to hopefully continue our cruising journey? 

        The wanderlust has not been satiated. The desire to travel is still strong. Therefore, for our sanity, we have made the decision to tie up here for the summer. It's not ideal, I have to admit. San Carlos is very quiet. The marina has lots of empty slips and most of the boats that are here are unoccupied. It does make this time of socially distancing easier--less people to avoid!--but it makes for long days. The whole crew usually spends time at the table simply because that's where the best air flow from the air conditioner is. Can you guess where I'm sitting right now to type this?

          The hope, of course, is that somehow, Covid-19 will slow down and life can assume some semblance of normalcy. Will that mean we can continue to explore? Will other countries be open to us arriving, visiting for a while, and then moving on? Right now, we hope to work our way south, starting in the fall, and being in Panama by May, in order to transit the canal and move on to the Caribbean. Will that happen? This time, more than ever, is a time to not make big plans far off. I've never before experienced so much living my life day-to-day, but that's what has happened. Restrictions alter, places open and close with remarkable rapidity and just when I think I've adjusted to whatever is going on, the rules change and I have to learn them anew.

          I miss people. I am not an introvert. While I like having time to myself when I need to get thoughts down on paper, I tend to recharge by spending time with friends. My batteries are rather low lately. I love my family, but it's hard to constantly be in this bubble. However, this is where I am right now, and I'm learning to revise my expectations. 

A month out of touch

      After nearly a month in one spot, it was time to move on again. Besides, it's been getting hotter and us poor Alaskans are melting! We've seen temperatures in the 90s during the day, only dropping down to the low 80s at night if the high dryer-type wind doesn't blow up off the land late at night and roast us in our beds. We made the decision that on the next southerly, it was time to head across the sea to our reserved slip in San Carlos for the summer. We still have the air conditioner we bought in San Blas, so once we plug into power, we can be comfortably cool again. To be honest, I think we're all looking forward to being at a slip again for a couple of months. But, I'm getting ahead of myself.

Levi's Loquaciousness, Vol. 2

    The past month has been fun. We've been hanging out on and around Isla Carmen for the past month or so and have been just having a blast. I mean, how can you go wrong with an island that looks like a giant came along with a big can of paint and splashed the whole island with it? One of the anchorages is even called Painted Cliffs--how much more obvious can you get? There's also plenty of sea caves to explore all over the island, but most of them are on the western side of the island. We are currently in Puerto Escondido taking care of some visa stuff and hope to get out of here by Tuesday, then we plan to start making the trek up to San Carlos where we hope to spend the summer.

   On a different note, it's not as boring as you might think. The marina is letting us come in for more than just the stuff we really need. No, they are letting us use the pool, - yes there is is a pool - go into Loreto when we need to, - hence why we're here - and best of all, we have some friends here as well, Tulum V and Xpression. Oh yes almost forgot, I've now got a few things checked off my to do list: 1) I have now seen mobula rays almost land in our dinghy; 2) I've seen dolphins jumping ten feet out of the water while doing a flip (not kidding!); 3) I've swam with a whale shark. Wow they are big fish! Well I should wrap this up. Mom is asking for the computer and most likely shouldn't keep her waiting. 

                                           This is Levi signing for now, so long!

  

A taste of our wild life

Inside a sea cave on Isla Carmen.

     When I first started this blog almost five years ago, I admit I had rosy visions, colored greatly by other blogs I had seen. I was going to be this great regular poster, with beautiful photos of the places we visited, enhanced by my picturesque descriptions. People would leave comments, ask questions, and somehow all kinds of people would know who we were and what we were doing.... **And cue hysterical laughter and eye-rolling at my own naivete.**

Isla Carmen

Kyrie and our buddy boat SaareLill arrived at the Painted Cliffs on the east side of Isla Carmen the morning of the 26th. I have to say, this is an amazing place. We've had dolphins 10' off the bow of the boat 3 mornings in a row. It is reasonably protected from most weather, but open to NE. Beautiful, crystal clear water for snorkeling as well (and there's noone else here!). This is the baja we've been waiting to see - Personally, I'd place it a considerable notch above the islands above La Paz - similar, but better anchorages, better beaches, and even clearer water. Water varies from 72 to 74, so very swimmable, but a little chilly. Air temp is a bit warm, getting up in the high 80's, but fairly dry humidity.

We're likely headed to the mecca of Balandra tomorrow for a few days to use the Loreto provisioning service, but likely will be in the general area for a month or so.

For those of you wondering about our current status with relation to COVID, like everyone else, we're still reeling with all the implications. We had thankfully decided to do a second season in Mexico quite a while ago, so those plans are unaffected, but COVID has severely restricted movement of recreational vessels within Mexico. Basically, standard pleasure boating is out, but boats are allowed to move when they are in transit to another port, or moving to self-isolate.

We are actually doing both at the moment. We need to get Kyrie above latitude 27 prior to June for hurricane season safety, and we're using that time in transit to self-isolate as much as possible. Our current plan is to dock the boat in San Carlos beginning 7/1, and wait out the hottest 2-3 months at the dock there. Thankfully, we're in a perfect bug-out vehicle, making our own water and power using solar, so we don't have to make port or take on supplies for about 2-3 months at a stretch.

We're hoping the world settles down a bit, to let us continue traveling much further south next year. (Panama Posse - woohoo!)

Wishing you health and happiness-

the Kyrie Crew

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A reason to celebrate

     "We've got cabin fever! We've got cabin fever!" Yes, you know I'm going a little nuts when I start quoting Muppet Treasure Island. The Kyrie crew is hanging in there, but we are definitely feeling the pinch of this crazy shelter-at-home, quarantine situation. San Blas continues to be a decent place to be stuck. We are in a marina, with access to showers, water, electricity so we can use our A/C, a decent WiFi signal, and relatively easy access to town to get supplies. It's a little more daunting now since Joe and I are limiting ourselves to a maximum of twice a week and only one of us going to limit our exposure outside the boat, but I know I don't have any real cause to complain. The whole crew is healthy, we're in relatively good spirits, and we're in a place in which the kids can get off the boat easily and run around, without feeling as though they are unduly exposing themselves or others to sickness.
       Today, however, is a double reason to celebrate around here. Not only is it Easter, a day to celebrate life overcoming death, love overcoming fear, and the Resurrection of Jesus, but it is also--drumroll please--Levi's 13th birthday! Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Kyrie officially has a teenager on board. Will someone please tell me when on earth this happened? Our boy has grown so much in the past year--heck, just since we left Juneau. He has his ups and downs, just like everyone else, but all in all, Joe and I are very proud of our young man. I think we'll keep him!

And here he is, eight--almost nine--years later, clearly
showing what he thinks of taking a picture with his mom!

     

Levi's 4-year-old photo from preschool!
(Thank you Nana for sending this little gem!)

Just for a height comparison, look at how big
these kiddos all are!

Levi's Loquaciousness, Vol. 1

 (Because there was apparently a little confusion, I--Kristen--thought I ought to preface this first kid posting. Hopefully, the older two will start to have their own posts from time to time. Not only is it a good chance for them to practice their typing, but it also gives them an opportunity to voice their opinions on this crazy life we have embarked on, even if said opinion differs from Mom's or Dad's! Because I like alliteration and because apparently I had time to think about things like these, each kid's post will have a title like this. Levi's posts will be "Levi's Loquaciousness, Vol. X," depending whatever number of post he is on. Rachael's will be "Rachael's Ramblings" and perhaps someday, we will all be treated to "Megan's Musings." Hopefully this clears up any and all confusion, and hopefully this is just the beginning of the kids' contributions to this blog! Without further ado, I give you volume one of Levi's Loquaciousness.)

  Man! I love this life, all the things you get to see, the places you get to go. For instance, an anchorage we went to a few months ago is called Caleta Partida and is by far, my favorite anchorage--so far. I have to admit, I was quite nervous about this when we started this life and still am a bit, but going down the west coast and, spending a lot of time in Mexico, especially in Mexico, has helped with that. I mean, hello! We get to swim in the ocean--and you can't do that up in Alaska, eat REAL Mexican food, heck, I got to eat a smoked marlin burrito not a week ago, and even got to see some Mexican folk dancing. This was the real thing with a Mariachi band, the ladies had enormous skirts and the men were dressed in traditional clothing.
   You wouldn't believe all the kid boats we've met so far, I mean, we're only nine months into our adventure and I think we've met over 30 kid boats. Though some of them were seniors in high school they still count as kid boats don't they? I still miss my friends back up north, but we keep in touch by video chat when we have internet, and E-mail by our single side-band when we don't.
   We've been stuck in San Blas for about two weeks now, things have been pretty slow because of the corona virus and we've been trying to keep our distance from people to keep from getting sick, though I've already gotten sick once and my Dad is sick- I think it was the corona I got if it was it's no big deal-. I personally don't like getting cooped up in the boat all the time, but hey! What can we do? At least there is another kid boat here to hang out with. Please pray that we get a weather window to head back up to the sea before the government seals the port. Hasta manana amigos!

Before the crazy set in...

      I've been silent too long, obviously. This will require a couple of posts to catch up--one to share the cool sights the Kyrie crew has seen in the last month; and one to share our thoughts and frustrations about the current state of the world, and how that state is affecting us.
      The last time I posted, Kyrie was out of the water, getting her repaired out drive back on at last. Since that time, she returned to the water, we left the marina to anchor out at long last, and then finally departed Banderas Bay. While it was difficult to leave such a lovely place, the crew's desire to return to our nomadic life had returned. We had been in one place for far too long!
      We made our plans. Kyrie had, by necessity of that darn busted out drive, blasted across to the mainland, never stopping anywhere along the way to check out the sights. This time would be different. We were going to stop and play along our way back to the Sea of Cortez. You know something? We actually have. The stop at Punta Mita was a wonderful bit of unwinding. A long afternoon and evening at anchor, a chance to paddleboard for me and play in the water for the kids, a cocktail in the cockpit in the evening... It was lovely. On to Chacala the next day, which, in spite of being a rather rolly anchorage, we enjoyed. Joe managed, after several tries, to get our stern anchor set satisfactorily and we gently bobbed as the waves rolled in. Our friends on Tulum V showed up to our great surprise and delight, although we didn't get to visit with them until much later. After a discussion over the radios, both crews decided one night in Chacala was enough, and a move to Matanchen Bay was determined upon.
       Matanchen Bay, in spite of being extremely buggy, is gorgeous! The first afternoon there, the Kyrie crew dinghied ashore and enjoyed dinner in one of the palapa restaurants. The bugs were awful, but thankfully, one of the staff brought a huge metal bucket full of smouldering coconut husks. The bugs soon departed, much to our relief. The jejenes--what I've always known as noseeums--are the worst. They can get in the smallest bug screens and cracks and of course, you don't know they are on you until they bite! Apparently, their favorite part of me is my feet...

        The highlight of the stop in Matanchen Bay, bar none, was the jungle tour to La Tovara. The crews of three boats--Kyrie, Tulum V, and SaareLill, which meant six adults and seven kids--packed into a panga and let our guide drive us off into the jungle. What a day! At first, the mangroves created a tunnel over the river. We spotted multiple crocodiles--small ones, thank goodness!--and huge termite nests off in the trees. Once the mangroves retreated and the river widened, the birds came out. One tree held about twenty snowy egrets! Our guide spotted numerous birds hidden in the trees and slowed down so we could see them, patiently pointing them out, despite his limited English and our limited Spanish!  One of the stops on the tour was the crocodile refuge, which is a place I have mixed feelings about. On the one hand, it was rather sad to see the jaguars and lynx in small cages. On the other, I felt rather glad there was a large fence between me and some of those enormous crocodiles! A coatimundi escaped from its pen while we were there and played with our friend Chad's shoes and two of the big crocodiles were observed engaged in rather, um, amorous activities. A short stop, but I'm glad we had that opportunity. The better stop, however, was next. Up a side stream is La Tovara itself. There is a restaurant and a freshwater spring, complete with a metal fence, hopefully barricading any intruders to the pool. We had all come prepared with swimsuits, so everyone had a chance to take a dip in the springs. It was heavenly! The kids all flung themselves off the trapeze multiple times, lunch was delicious, and when it was time to leave, everyone agreed it had been a great, memorable day.

The crews of Kyrie, SaareLill, and
Tulum V--ready to explore the jungle!

This was the first wild crocodile we saw
on our trip. It wouldn't be the last!

Turtles were everywhere, sunning
themselves on logs along the side
of the river. One even had a scar from
a crocodile bite!

Yes, there really was just that distance
between me and this enormous
crocodile! 

Here's the cluster of snowy egrets.
Most of them flew off right after I
got this photo.

Anyone know what kind of
bird this is?

             Another high point in our stop was our visit to the old fort and cathedral in San Blas. Kyrie and SaareLill both decided to brave the reports of bugs and come in to San Blas proper to try to get a spot in the marina. San Blas's marina is very small--only about 20 slips or so--but both boats managed to secure a slip. (Now we're rather glad we did, but more of that in the next post.) The town is charming, with an incredible history. Joe read Wikipedia's page on San Blas to us and we were astonished to learn of San Blas's connection to some places we've been to already, such as Friendly Cove and Nootka Sound on Vancouver Island! The cemetery was nearby, so we stopped there as well. I've never felt that cemeteries were creepy, and this one was no exception. After seeing the movie Coco so many times, the kids didn't seem bothered by the graves either, and wandered around, respectfully reading the markers and exclaiming over the amount of flowers.

Just like on George Island near
Elfin Cove, we had to get a "family on
the cannon" shot!

Levi seemed to enjoy reading the
markers on the graves.

By my best translation, this
reads, "She did not die. She
lives in our hearts and in our
daily prayers." A beautiful
remembrance!

        We wanted to spend some more exploring San Blas, but the world got crazy rather quickly. We're still here, but not going anywhere right now. Reports on how we're handling this time of self-quarantine in our next post.

The cloud is lifting!

     Obviously, there has been silence from the Kyrie crew for quite a while. I don't really have an excuse, except to say there's been a bit of a cloud over us for--how long has it been since the outdrive decided to crap out? A little more than two months?