March 21, 2019
With our overnight passage behind us it was time to tie up and enjoy dock life as we put Strikhedonia to bed for a few weeks. No need for much space on boring things like cleaning and fueling up Strikhedonia. But swimming at El Cid with Three Quarter Time? Or hiking up to El Faro (lighthouse)? Or drinking beer at…
March 12, 2019
We managed to slow down a bit, after our two days in Yelapa we headed across the bay to La Cruz. Joe was at the helm when he spotted whales so we buzzed over there and were treated to a private show. A nice way to break up the short trip. For the past two years I have been emailing…
February 22, 2019
Always a bummer but inevitably friends have to head for home and today was Bill’s departure day. We enjoyed breakfast at Casa Abuela, where Bill embraced Mexico by having crepes, followed up by a chocolate croissant from the French Bakery for the plane ride home. After a bit of leisure time it was off to the taxi stand. Next challenge…
February 14, 2019
Sailing into the Barra area I see what looks like a Seawind so out comes the binoculars. Sure enough it is! Hmm who could it be, as they get closer I can see the SkyPond logo. Carl and I have been exchanging emails for a couple years and we just keep missing each other by a day or two. Looks…
January 27, 2019
After drama the day before when the travellift operator accidentally scratched Strikhedonia I was ready to hit the seas and hopefully a chance to unwind. But not before a bit more work. To start the day, filling the jerry cans and waiting for Rick to come finish the non-skid installation on the swim step. The night before I had noticed…
December 31, 2018
It was a good year (queue the broken record), getting further south into Mexico brought some wonderful new experiences, including having fireworks shot at us (St. Patrick’s day festival) and doing some inland travel (Durango). The beauty and kindness of the Mexican people continues to amaze. This year set a few records; most miles in a year and most crew…
December 4, 2018
We knew the waves and wind would make for a fun passage from Isla San Francisco to Playa Bonanza, so there wasn’t much of surprise as we got out of the wind shadow and into the full force of the boisterous conditions. I’d call it 6-8 foot tightly packed seas but hey at least they were somewhat following. We were…
December 3, 2018
I love when a plan comes together…Puerto Escondido will let you tie up to the dock for an hour or two if you are renting a mooring ball (nice chance to wash the boat when needed). It made picking up Jean really easy, from getting out of the taxi to being off the dock was less than 15 minutes. Which…
November 30, 2018
Last summer I noticed salt residue near the autopilot ram and below on the water muffler. It confused me as I couldn’t tell where it came from but I cleaned it up and put it on the watch list. A month into the fall season I realized the source, the air vent for the Vetus Anti-Siphon Valve for the exhaust/sea…
November 29, 2018
After a morning playing in the kayak and in the water, it was time to get to work but first Julia had an important task, her final exam. She had been doing a great job handling Strikhedonia so for her final exam it was up to her to get us from Ballandra to Puerto Escondido. I would be her first…
October 20, 2018
Start of the fall sailing season! Excitement had been building for a few weeks, as had the pile of boat parts. This year rather than the 11 hour bus ride I opted to meet my crew member Mike in San Diego, where we would use the CBX border crossing to the Tijuana airport for a flight to Hermosillo. I had…
June 5, 2018
During my normal engine checks I noticed rust below the starboard Yanmar exhaust elbow. This can be a huge deal because if the inner tube has a rust hole, the raw cooling water can be pushed into the cylinders and hydrolock the engine. So for a week we limited the starboard engine to anchoring until a new exhaust elbow could…