Happy Solstice!

OK, so you think yang is a little late ... solstice was 2 days ago on your calendars. But we're on a cruizing calendar here so this is just about right.

Christmas trees with angel tops? Bah, humbug! We're betting our solstice pineapple with a tequila shot glass crown will start a new trend. Many happy wishes on the coming new year now that the days are getting longer and the sun is again moving north.


And (primarily) for my sons, just had to share this sight in Zihuatanejo.

Excuse me?

Wonder (brand) whole wheat tortillas? Something new in the stores, but I'm sorry: this doesn't strike me as quite right. yang

Days and nights

or night and day? What I want to impart are images that stick with me from the days and nights we have been at sea. Not the various towns, islands, bays but the time spent traveling the ocean or coast. So here I go in thought flow format.
I didn't know that starlight - ONLY starlight - was so mercurially magical. It was the dark of the moon sailing off the Coast of northern Costa Rica as we came in from the Galapagos that entranced me so. Middle of the night and we are sailing along gently with magic above and phosphorescent glows in the sea as Ceilidh glides thru the water. The sun set quickly in the evenings with spectacular sunsets painting the sky with colours too numerous to name. Rich and I sat on the forward deck and watched the sun go beyond the horizon on many nights. Oh! I have finally seen the "green flash" twice. A bit disappointing because I had imagined a huge explosion of emerald green (yes, I do have a healthy imagination) but it was just a small disc of a more florescent green as the sun slipped into the ocean.
Watching the sea life and wondering at their domain occupies me for hours upon end. When the sea is calm and the water clear the sunlight filters down thru the layers and creates patterns that resemble mermaids hair streaming further into the depths. That's my take on it. Rich has scientific explanations of the refraction of light and such. The sea turtle population appears to be on the upswing. We saw ever so many along our journey. While I was napping Rich took photos of a happy turtle who swam along with us (we were going ever so s l o w at the time) just between our two trailing fishing lines. So many dolphins came to play with Ceilidh, night and day. At night I first hear them breaking the surface and breathing and then see the trail of green phosphorescence as they frolic alongside.
The sailing has been very enjoyable with enough wind to keep the sails filled and the engine off but no crazy hold on to your hat icky seas and wooky wind. And now we are in Zihuatanejo and waiting for Peach and Dmitry to arrive. I am so looking forward to their visit. In the mean time we are doing the many boat tasks, getting to know Zihua again and enjoying life immensely.
Here is the photo link for the images I tried to describe plus some of our visit in Santa Elaina, Costa Rica.

http://public.fotki.com/svceilidh/costa-rica-to-mexico/

Wish we had some snaps of the crazy green parrots who live and thrive there but they were way to fast and wily for my photo capture abilities.
Love to you all
from the yin side

Slow boat to where ever

Hi, yang here.
We left Bahias de Huatulco on Thursday morning, rounded the corner and started adding some northing to our course. Mostly west down in this section of Mexico, but it felt good to be 'going north'.
But at the corner we encountered this terrific current going east. So while our knot log (which measures our speed through water) was telling us that we were going 5 and even six knots with the sails up and the engine on, our GPS was telling us that our speed over ground (progress over the bottom) was something like 2.5 knots. Began to wonder if we had enough diesel on board to make it to Zihuatanejo.
Part of the problem was the sea state. We had swell from 2 directions, wind waves from the existing wind, and wind waves left over from the Tehuantepec storms. The technical term we cruisers use to describe such a sea state is 'we're in a washing machine' (expletives deleted).
Finally we had sufficient wind and the seas calmed into a predictable pattern such that we thought we could sail. Turned off the engine, looked at the knot log (water speed) and it said 3.5 knots. Good enough. Well maybe not ... the speed over ground was less than 0.10 knots and diminishing. Finally, still doing 3.5 knots through the water, we were doing 0.00 knots. That last decimal place means that we were doing less than 60 feet per hour. But if that weren't enough, our heading (the direction the boat is pointing) was set to west ... which the compass confirmed. Unfortunately, our direction over ground (forget the pointing, which direction are you actually moving?) was east. That means while we were pointed west with water rushing past us at 3.5 knots, we were actually moving east at less that 60 feet per hour. Gawd, is this going to be a long trip to Zihua.
Does one laugh or cry? Some of the crew (me) gave a primal scream and started laughing. As the day wore on, the current diminished and we were sailing about half the time. In the afternoons the breeze is sucked from the relatively cool sea to the heated land (sea breeze) and in the early morning hours the process is reversed ... the air leaves the cooled land for the relatively warmer sea (land breeze). In between we get to motor. But we have enough diesel to make Zihua easily.
We did pull into Acapulco Bay thinking to stop for a day and night, but the designated anchoring area was chock full of boats and mooring balls. No room at the inn. A striking harbor, but we didn't think the port captain and hotels would like us dropping the hook in front of them (there are designated anchoring zones). With the hills guarding the entrance, one can see why it was the most important treasure harbor in the entire Pacific for the Spanish in the colonial days. Now it's full of expensive homes, hotels. There was going to be a regatta that day and while we were motoring around we saw a swim competition out the harbor, around a not insignificant island, and back in. We also saw a tall ship over in the navy side, probably the Mexican tall ship.
But we took off for Zihua and should be there tomorrow (the 11th) morning. On the 12th there is a holiday where all the children dress up ... little girls in the traditional white blouses with scooped neck and long colorful skirt. Little boys dress up as Pancho Villa, paste-on moustache, sombrero, and all. Hope to get some pictures.
Love from us both.

Getting ready to head out again

but it is a much shorter journey on this go round. Only 3 days from Huatulco to Zihuatanejo so a hop, skip and jump. Today is Tuesday and we plan to depart on Thursday. We are soooo glad we got thru Nicaragua and the Tehuantepec when we did. We would still be waiting for a window. Today the Tehuantepec was blowing with hurricane force winds and seas to 27 feet. Yikes! Wonder how sailors dealt with places like the Tehuantepec before the wonders of weather faxes onboard. Don't think I would have been a candidate for this lifestyle in the "good old" days.

So Rich pulled us into the slip at Marina Chahu� in perfect form, first time in a marina in 11 months! I performed an extended water ceremony and played in the over spray. We are checked into Mexico and have the Mexican flag flying again. Doing tasks and getting around the area we time for morning and late afternoon because it is HOT here. Still getting used to warm weather again. Oh, Rich fixed the outboard and has been doing boat tasks like crazy. New engine oil, replaced fuel filters, adjusted rigging.... I did two provisioning runs today so we are almost set. So looking forward to seeing Peach and Dmitry in Zihuatanejo. They arrive Dec 23 so we'll be there a week to 10 days before - perfect timing!

Do have another batch of photos to go up and a blog to write about passages. I snapped some fantastic shots of sunsets and clouds that I'd like to share. The internet connections here in Huatulco are soooo slowww I'll wait for the zippy nets in Zihua. Take care all and write when you can.

Love to all from the yin side

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