April 16, 2024-Hiking to the Caves

This story is mostly photos, click HERE to go directly to all the photos. 

wingssail images-fredrick roswold
Agua Verde West

Sarah and I started our hike to the Painted Caves at Aqua Verde's west anchorage. We had our destination tucked into Google Maps, our cameras, and some water. We walked but the batch of tourists on the beach just got back from a mule ride but they did not go to the caves, not possible on a mule. 

Now this hike is not the same as Monkey Mountain, it's pretty flat with just a few steep hills, but it's just as ardous. Walking on soft or drfting sand for several kilometers, then scrambling but a very steep hillside which is all gravel and loose rocks is plenty of work. 

After several kilometers of walking we sighted the cave on a steep hillside above and scrambled up to the entrances.

wingssail images-fredrick roswold
The Cave

There are supposed to be cave paintings inside but we didn't find any. 

  But we did find some bats. 

  wingssail images-sarah luce
Bats in the cave

Then came the long walk back, and when we got to our beach and then out to the boat we were ready for a swim and a beer. 

 Click here for lots more images. 

 Fredrick Roswold, SV Wings

April 7, 2024-Moving on in March

wingssail images-fredrick roswold Anchored in La Paz

La Paz, anchored in front of Abaroa’s Don Jose Marina with a dead motor. No working starter so no motor. The starter burned out on the way here from La Cruz when a crack developed on the engine’s water system and salt water drenched the starter. Got out the spare. Oh No! the spare starter needs repair. I was going to do that last year but when Judy went into the hospital and then passed away, my mind went blank and a lot of things got away, like fixing the starter. So here we (Rene and I) were in Baja with no motor. Still had 67 miles to go to La Paz though, so we had no choice but to set sail without a motor.

Those 67 mile were rough. Lots of wind and waves and tacking, and spray and sail changes, (I got drenched at least three times) but we sailed fast and we got to La Paz and anchored in front of Abaroa’s. Now I had to fix the starter and a lot of other things, like the crack oin the cooling system, like the water maker, and a few others, but I got to work and by now Wings is in good nick. 

But what else has been going on? 

Wings in Boat Yard

In March we hauled out Wings for a bottom job and new propeller shaft. That was some but it went well. The new bottom was fast. 

Wings Crew

We also sailed in the Banderas Bay Regatta and got second place, but not without a lot of drama. The worst was a serious collision we had with another boat, it was their fault! They tacked onto port right in from of us and I had about 5 seconds to avoid them but a seco0nd move on their part, another wrong move, made avoidance impossible. BOOM! Fiberglass flying everywhere and bent metal on the bow. The other boat was badly damaged and they had to retire from the race. I decided Wings was OK to continue and we wound up finishing in second place for the regatta. There was a protest meeting and Wings was completely exonerated. 

 

It was fun at the awards party but the damage on Wings put a pall over it all for me. 

Temporary Repairs

But life goes on, 

  Fred & Rene Sailibg

I still had my plan to sail to the Sea of Cortez for three months, each month with a new crew member on board to help me. The first leg was to La Paz with Rene but we had a lot of work to do to get ready and only four days to do it. Many of my wonderful race crew helped and by March 28 we were ready. 

Rene in Colors

So then there was the sail to La Paz which I mentioned above. On April 5 Rene flew back to La Cruz and the next day Sarah joined. She is great too and I’ll write more about our trip together later.

Meanwhile I am getting on with life. Not always as I wanted it to but we have no choice, do we? 

Sarah

Click here for LOTS MORE PHOTOS AND VIDEOS 

Frederico, SV Wings, La Paz