Back in Durango

It’s hard to believe that almost two months have passed since we were last on the water. We’re writing this from our home in Durango, Colorado, a little more than 700 miles from our lil’ boat Rumiko. It’s not a bad place to be, but we do miss the water. And while neither of us tend toward attachments to stuff, we both miss Rumiko. She was more than “stuff.” She was our little home, our vehicle, and the medium by which we learned a new way of living. Yes we miss her, but feel happy knowing she is safely stowed on in a boatyard in Guaymas, and that she will be waiting there until we are ready to head off on our next sailing adventure.

We know we will return to sail again in the Sea of Cortez. That place has seeped into our psyches. Or perhaps it was always there. In 1940 the author John Steinbeck and the biologist Ed Ricketts spent time in the Sea of Cortez/Gulf of California and collaborated on book about their experiences entitled “The Log from the Sea of Cortez.” In the book Steinbeck writes:

Some quality there is in the whole Gulf that trips a trigger of recognition so that in fantastic and exotic scenery one finds oneself nodding and saying inwardly, “Yes, I know.”. . . there is always in the back of our minds the positive drive to go back again. If it were lush and rich, one could understand the pull, but it is fierce and hostile and sullen. The stone mountains pile up to the sky and there is little fresh water. But we know we must go back if we live, and we don’t know why.

Yes, John Steinbeck, we understand.

In this blog posting you can read about:

• Trip stats
• Our last month at Sea
• Critter sightings
• 82 loaves of bread
• On the hard in Guaymas
• The next adventure

Trip stats
We calculated a few statistics from our year exploring the Sea of Cortez and the Mexico coast.
• Number of days that Rumiko was in the water: 351
• Number of days that we were moving on the water (by sail, engine or a combo): 149
• Number of hours propelled by sails alone: 1,175
• Number of hours propelled by engine: 277
• Distance traveled in 149 days: 4,201 nautical miles
• Number of loaves of bread baked: 82

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Our last month in the Sea
If solitude is what a person craves, then the northern Sea of Cortez in May is the place to be. After leaving Santa Rosalia the number of sailboats dropped dramatically. During our final 26 days we saw:
• 0 boats sailing
• 1 sailboat motoring south (when we were at Sanfrancisquito)
• 1 sailboat anchored (at Alacran, south of Bahia de Los Angeles)

Our plan all along was to head to more remote, uninhabited anchorages. So we were not at all bothered by the absence of other boats.

We did very little snorkeling as the water in the northern Sea was frigid. It really was (says the Canadian girl). The cool spring temperatures, however, were perfect for hiking. We did a major hike in the rugged mountains near Animas Slot, as well as less strenuous hikes from Sanfrancisquito and Isla Tiburon.

Most of our time was spent on Isla Angel de la Guarda, a vast and wild chunk of land.We anchored at Este Ton (west side of the island), Refugio (north), and Caleta Pulpito (east), and did five amazing hikes on the island. The geology of Angel de la Guarda is quite astounding – we hiked through colorful canyons of conglomerate (green, yellow, purple, red, pink), and areas blanketed in conglomerate boulders, or geodes and crystals. We felt like kids in a wonderland. We did some very ambitious hikes through tough terrain, and on some of the hotter hikes were each drinking 3 to 3.5 litres of water and returning to the boat parched.

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Critter sightings
We had the best whale sightings of our year while sailing into the Salsipuedes Channel. This is an area where water depths suddenly increase from 400 feet to several 1,000s of feet, and there are strange currents and zones of upwelling that make for interesting sailing. These zones also appear to be nutrient-rich, based on plethora of sea-critter and bird activity. On the day that we sailed into the channel we must have seen 30-40 whales of the sperm and fin varieties. We had several fin whales come extremely close to the boat: one swam about 10 feet off of our port side, and two dove under Rumiko and emerged within 5-10 feet of us – so close we could see their blowholes. It was an awesome and slightly terrifying experience. We felt so small compared to these massive sea creatures who were at least twice the length of Rumiko (probably longer). We know they could have easily rocked or even capsized our boat, but they surfaced in such a gentle way that we had to conclude they were simply saying “hello.” We were giddy for the rest of the day.

We saw a number of juvenile sea lions out in small groups. Twice we saw them swimming as if they were dolphins – hurling themselves repeatedly out of the water. On one occasion they were doing this while swimming with a pod of dolphins, as if they were showing the dolphins how to propel themselves. We thought it was quite hilarious (but you probably had to be there).

Click on the video link below to view some footage we shot of fin whales in the Salsipuedes Channel.


And on our last day of sailing we finally saw a shark in the water. This time it was a live one (not just the heads). This occurred just three hours before we arrived in Guaymas. The seas were quite large that day, but thankfully the waves were coming from behind us. Some of the fishing vessels heading north were bashing their way through, and we actually saw several turn and head back into Guaymas because of the rough conditions. But there amidst the white water were the telltale dorsal and tail fins sticking out of the water. We watched it skim the surface for a few seconds – not enough time to grab the camera and click, but enough time to ooh and ahh and grin from ear-to-ear.

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About those 82 loaves
Prior to our life on Rumiko, the only loaf of bread Lisa had baked turned out like a little brick. In preparation for living on a boat, and knowing that there might be times when we would not have access to store-bought bread, Lisa decided to try to learn how to bake bread. She bought a book called “Artisan Bread in 5-minutes-a-day,” and was thrilled to discover a seemingly bomb-proof bread recipe (bomb-proof meaning that it’s not possible to ruin a loaf of bread – not that the loaves are so hard that bombs cannot destroy them). The book is filled with many yummy recipes for breads of all types – whole wheat loaves, baguettes, pita bread, focaccia, bagels, pizza, etc. During our year on the Sea Lisa had great fun testing out various recipes – baking the equivalent of 82 loaves of bread (one loaf = 4 pitas or bagels, etc.). And Dan had great fun eating her creations.

Lisa introduced a number of fellow boaters to the book – and it has taken the Sea of Cortez sailing community by storm. It’s the perfect recipe for people living on a boat. You don’t have to knead the dough, so it’s not a lengthy, messy process. If you have refrigeration you can store the dough for up to a couple of weeks. If you don’t have refrigeration, you can halve the recipe and bake a couple of loaves at the same time.

The bread is delicious, and the crust has a crunchy, firm texture. And really, when it comes right down to it, would you rather eat this or this?
In the interest of full disclosure, we did eat our fair share of BIMBO bread during our first two months in Mexico while we were making Rumiko seaworthy. BIMBO is Mexico’s answer to Wonderbread. Its name was supposedly chosen because the company thought it competed well with the competition in the Mexican market: BAMBI and DUMBO brands.

And yes, occasionally during our year on the boat we bought the wholewheat/flax BIMBO variety for sandwiches. But most of year was spent eating:

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On the hard in Guaymas
Rumiko is safely up on stilts or “on the hard” in Marina Seca in Guaymas, which is not a bad place, as far as boatyards go. The staff are very hardworking, helpful and professional. The bathrooms have hot showers. And the place has an airy feel to it, with breezes from Guaymas harbor cooling things down a bit.

Even with cooling breezes, however, daytime temperatures were 90-100º F while we were there. Sailboats are not meant to be out of the water. They don’t like it, and get a little hot-under-the-collar about it. Without the cool water surrounding her hull, Rumiko on land heated up like a sauna. We used fans and awnings, and were able to survive the heat. But I wouldn’t want to be on the hard in July or August.

We left Rumiko on May 20 and headed north with a small pop-up trailer in tow. We bought the trailer from a fellow cruiser so that we’d have a place to live while demolishing and rebuilding our Durango house.

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Our next adventure
While Rumiko bakes in the Mexican sun, we are here in Durango rebuilding our house. Actually, at the present time we're demolishing half of the house (the part that is an old mobile home). Soon we’ll start rebuilding a much smaller house (840 sq. ft). Living on a boat has made us really appreciate life in small spaces. While this may not be the wisest decision from the point of re-sale, we decided that we have to follow our hearts on this one. (Not to mention our pocketbooks).

We’ll likely keep this blog active to document some of our demolition and reconstruction efforts. So if you’re interested in our progress, check back from time to time.

It’s going to be a different type of adventure, that’s for sure.

(We've been a bit busy, but hope to post photos from our final month in Mexico on our fotki photo site - soon-ish).