February has been pretty busy, we've been sailing, we had things to do like fix the car door handle which broke off, there were visitors on board Wings, and all sorts of things. Check out some more photos here.
At Christmas time Rene loves to have a party at her place to make tamales. She and her friends make dozens, many of which get frozen for sharing with her friends or for eating later, but if you are lucky enough to get invited to the party you get to drink some wine and eat some delicious tamales.
I got to attend along with some other guys and while all the work was going on in the kitchen we sat outside and talked sailing. But when the feast was served we joined in. Yum!
For four months Heiko and Martina were my neighbors and I watched them work and work and work on their Bliss, their Columbia 45 sailboat.
That boat needed a lot of attention and refurbishment before they could go sailing and frankly they were getting rather tired of the drudgery tied up to the dock. Bliss needed everything and Heiko and Martina were new to the whole sailing thing. I helped them where I could with electrical, electronincs, rigging and general boat stuff. We became friends.
Finally Heiko and Martina got Bliss in good enough shape to get off the dock and they moved to the anchorage when the rates at the marina went up.
Today I joined them for a sail. The stated purpose was to tune the rig but they really just wanted me for some confidence building.
They don't need that. They are sailors. New sailors without a doubt, but sailors.
We had a great time and their rig which they totally re-did by themselves (wow!) was pretty good, we hardly had to do any tuning.
I know that pretty soon they will be heading out in Bliss for more sailing adventures.
wingssail images-fredrick roswold Heiko and Martina
I will miss them.
I got through Hurricane Lidia. No problems except my shattered emotions from being alone during the storm. Nothing to see here, move along.
Today I put Wings back together (after the hurricane preps) and walked over to dock 9 to measure a boat for a sail. (my side hustle). Also rather boring. No photos, nothing to say.
But tonight, Ah, tonight.
I had a wonderful dinner. Nothing fancy, nothing gourmet, just a simple Mexican Rice, Beans, and chicken dinner. I poured some Mexican red wine and added some Habeno sauce. It was fast and good.
I’m not about cooking a fancy dinner for just myself. I’ll leave that to my niece Angie, she’s great at it but she doesn’t share it with me (LOL, she is in Iowa). As it is I’ll have left overs of my own for a couple of days.
I might put more time into it if I had a dinner guest.
Martina, my neighbor came over to see if I had any curry powder. Martina and Heiko were cooking leeks for dinner and wanted some curry powder. Since they have both had their way with my galley she already knew: I have plenty of curry powder left over from when Mike and Judy Honu left it.
So Martina browsed my curry powder stash and left with two for Heiko to choose between.
That and a nice phone call which I got (private) and some nice WhatsApp texts which came in, and I am in a good mood tonight, which is quite a change from where I was this morning and last night after weathering Hurricane Lidia alone, which I hated
My neighbors at the marina are a German/Swiss couple named Heiko and Martina. Right now they are doing work on their boat in the boat yard.
I walked over to see how they are doing. Taking off years of old bottom paint is a hard job which, to save money, they are doing themselves and in the heat of the summer it is really nasty, hard, work.
I observed their progress. It's going slowly. I didn't think they had taken a hotel room which most people do when their boat is in the yard.
"Where are you staying?" I asked.
They looked at each other and said, "That is a good question."
I know they slept on the beach one night and the mozzies ate them alive.
I said, "Why don't you crash on Wings, I have plenty of space and I have air conditioning?"
They were delighted at that idea and said they would do that and they would cook dinner for us all.
So the next night they showed up at 7:30 with a bag full of food and they cooked while I fixed drinks. Martina made a great salad and Heiko turned out to be the master chef. His Pargo fish and wonderfully seasoned and sauteed veggies were delicious. Some wine was consumed.
Pargo and Veggies-Delicious
After dinner we talked and talked and laughed and laughed. More wine was consumed.
Finally I showed them their bunks and said I was going to bed. They were tired too but they were still up and when I heard on my boat for the first time in several months the soft voice of a sleepy woman I drifted off to sleep.
I don't know if Heiko and Martina will sleep here more nights, but they are welcome.
Click here for a couple more photos.
Fred, SV Wings, La Cruz Huanacaxtle
September 3, 2023-Sailing With Salomé and Ben and Martina
Salomé has been helping me work on Wings and we went sailing a couple of weeks ago. Now her boyfriend Ben has arrived and we decided to go sailing again so he can see what it is like.
We also invited Martina, my neighbor and her boyfriend Heiko, (but he declined). And we asked Rick from Eyes of the World and Ricardo (another Rick but he went by Ricardo) and Ricardo brought Caroline, so that made seven of us all together.
wingssail images fredrick roswold FAKE photo with Salomé, Ben, Rick and Martina
Unfortunately it was a big Instragram FAIL! Nobody took any photos on this trip so my shot, above. is a FAKE. I just made it up.
But we had a great time.
The wind was nice and we traded off steering, both Ben and Martina took a turn, with Salomé coaching each of them. (Salomé is quite handy to have aeound the boat and in order for me to help the new people know what to do, I just put Salomé in charge and she is a natural).
Martina also trimmed the Kite and everyone went forward to take it down after our fun sail.
The funniest part was after we got finished sailing and I had the beer brought up I asked Salomé to steer again, which she did, but she quickly said, "Why are we going this way, the marina is back there?"
I answered, "We're dinking beer now, we can go in later."
"OK"
We also sailed into the marina before we dropped the main and started the engine, so we followed pretty much all of my sailing rituals.
They say that having a “schedule” is the worst thing for
making sailboat trips.Our effort to get
to La Paz by early April and meet Jimmy and Robin, on their chartered boat La Marvela, proved the truth of that old
saying.
That dash to get to La Paz came to a screaming halt on April
3 when we entered the Cerralvo passage at midnight and faced a black night with
big waves and a cold north wind of 24 knots. There was no moon or stars, the
wind was freezing cold and right on the nose, we were taking spray everywhere and
we were dead tired.
“Nope, we’re not
going.” I said to Judy.We turned Wings
back toward Los Muertos, a protected bay just over 6 miles south.
Even that little trip of six miles was stressful. It took over an hour to get there and neither
the wind nor the waves gave any sign of abating. We donned life jackets and
planned how we would get the sails down and secured and get the boat anchored
in those conditions.
In the end it was easy; the wind did drop and the seas
calmed down and by 02:00 we were safely anchored among a small group of other
boats whose welcoming anchor lights guided us in. We were happy to be stopped.
We had a shot of rum and crashed into our bunks and stayed in Los Muertos for two
nights.
Judy and I had worked at a frantic pace after the finish of
the Banderas Bay Regatta to get Wings converted from race boat to cruising boat
so we could take off.Meeting Jimmy and
Robin on La Marvela in La Paz was to
be the beginning of a three-month cruise in the Sea of Cortez. Rene and Denny helped us get ready and in four
days we completed what would normally take a week or more. Then we set off on
the pursuit.
It was a joy to sheet in Wings’ sails, just the two of us,
and head out into the Pacific Ocean, the blue Pacific. The crossing from
Banderas Bay to Baja it is 340 miles, the way the crow flies. Of course we
can’t often sail the way the crow flies, direct, and the wind was against us,
so we began to tack, and it was shifty, so we found ourselves changing course
often and sailing on which ever board was favored. But it was nice sailing and
even the occasional tacks didn’t bother us. One of us on watch and lazing in
the cockpit, gazing at the ocean, and the other, likely as not, napping below. When
the wind changed whomever was on watch woke the other.
“It’s time to tack.”
And we threw off the sheets and turned the boat.
But shifty winds were not the only challenge Nature
presented. The wind was not consistent in strength either. Sometimes it was
blowing 10 knots, which was beautiful, other times 14 and we wondered if a sail
change was going to be needed. Then, unsurprisingly, the wind would drop all
together and we had to take down the sails and turn on the motor.
Later the wind would come back and we had to turn off the
motor and put the sails back up. This cycle repeated itself and it became
tiring. Pulling sails up and then down is a lot of work.
After three days we weren’t exhausted but we were tired.
Then came our encounter with the Cerralvo Channel. We took a rest.
After we resumed the charge we moved fast. We had three long
days on the water, sometimes motoring, sometimes sailing, (and the sailing was
often a heavy weather beat with lots of tacks) up the Baja coast past tall
mountains and stunning scenery which we’d love to have stopped and enjoyed, but
the time for which we just could not afford. We caught up with La Marvelain Puerto Escondido. They were impressed that
we overcame their three-day head start. We reached Puerto Escondido 4 hours after
they did.
Sitting with Jimmy and Robin at the bar at Puerto Escondido looking
down onto Wings moored peacefully in the Ellipse in I felt we’d achieved our
objective and that we could finally relax. Margaritas for everybody.
Since then, with no schedule and no particular objective, we’ve
been really cruising; going where we want, meeting new friends, finding nice
anchorages, and taking long naps.
The sailing has been terrific, not too much motoring, the
boat maintenance projects have not been too arduous, and even the bees at Isla
Carmen are not too aggravating this year.
In a few days we’ll
go into Loreto for provisions and begin planning the next leg.
We were looking forward to some peace and quiet in February. After all, the racing schedule was reduced and there was not much else on the agenda.
But the Wednesday Beer Can Races continued. We had wind, wind, and more wind. On the windiest days we had breeze into the 20’s and it didn’t seem to stop. Pushing the boat hard in that wind on those short courses was exhausting. We wore out our sail trimmers, actually experienced loss of control at times, blew out a spinnaker and, to top it off, we had engine and other boat problems.
The boat problems included broken blocks, broken battens, bent stanchions, plugged fuel lines, blown out exhaust mixing elbow, of course a totally blown spinnaker and minor issues. I was fixing things every Thursday.
As for control problems, in the strong gusts of wind the boat became unruly as the wind took over and I had to fight to keep the boat under control. Our crew had to scramble to stay on the boat and at their jobs. That included me.
In one strong puff I lost my grip on the deck and slid dangerously close to the edge of the boat while hanging on to the tiller! Of course, my death grip on the tiller while I fell caused the boat to round right up into the wind AND RIGHT TOWARDS THE SIDE OF ANOTHER BOAT GOING THE OPPOSITE WAY! It was a T-Bone between two boats going 6 knots in opposite directions about to happen. All I could do was pull the tiller farther which caused the boat to do a sudden tack and put us out of danger. Whew! Dodged that bullet. The crew on the winches never even noticed my pratfall; they just frantically completed the tack and wondered why I didn’t call for it ahead of time.
But we got through those tough races and afterwards thought they were fun. One thing about it: it turned out that they were good practice for the windy Banderas Bay Regatta which came later (we’ll write more on that soon.)
Also in February, spontaneous social activities kept us entertained and busy.
Beach parties were organized and we attended some of them. Dinners out, dancing in the moonlight. Yeah!
We had an opportunity to actually sail on other boats, including John and Lynn’s 54 foot EDWINA and Peter & Eileen’s APPLESEEDS, and spent time on various other boats with friends we’ve become close to in Mexico.
In all, February, instead of being quiet, was a very busy month, but a good one for the Wingers.
Today we notified the racing crew that there will be no more races this season. The Corona virus concerns have resulted in the cancellation of the remaining races, including the Banderas Bay Regatta, the big one, the one we focus on all year. We also cancelled our crew party, and that hurts because it was our chance to personally thank each crew member for a great season, but now is not the time for an afternoon of hugs and sharing of food.
I love the racing here on Banderas Bay. The sailing and racing is so excellent that every day when I look out on the bay and see the perfect conditions I wish I was out there. But the thing to remember is that we have already had a wonderful life of sailing and racing. Even if we never sail again, we must be thankful for what we have already been given, our life on the sea.
And the sea is perpetual. These winds have been here for eons and I expect there will be many more days of great wind on this beautiful bay. Some day we will lay ourselves down and never sail again, but hopefully that will not be soon. I certainly want and expect a few more years worth for us too, God willing. So...there is always next year.
I wrote this note to our crew: (the last part is for Jasmine, our Mexican jib trimmer)
Dear Friends and Crew Members,
I am sitting here on Wings listening to the wind howl and a moment ago I watched as the Mexorc racing fleet sailed past. My heart aches that we are not out there, as it always does when a beautiful sailing day goes unused.
And with the cancellation of the regatta I know we’ll have to wait for the next racing season for another chance.
You have been a good crew and you all worked very hard training with the regatta in mind. Judy and I love you all as if you were our family. We’ll miss you for the next many months.
But the experiences we had and the skills we learned were not a waste. They cannot be taken from us. And the friendships we have made will last forever.
And we are lucky that we are not experiencing the more serious effects of the corona virus that many others have around the world.
And…
There is always next year.
The party scheduled for next Sunday is also canceled.
Here is a famous quotation from Jospeh Conrad, Ah, The Sea:
Ah! The good old time—the good old time. Youth and the sea. Glamour and the sea! The good, strong sea, the salt, bitter sea, that could whisper to you and roar at you and knock your breath out of you. ” He drank again. “By all that’s wonderful, it is the sea, I believe, the sea itself—or is it youth alone? Who can tell? But you here—you all had something out of life: money, love—whatever one gets on shore—and, tell me, wasn’t that the best time, that time when we were young at sea; young and had nothing, on the sea that gives nothing, except hard knocks—and sometimes a chance to feel your strength—that only—what you all regret?” And we all nodded at him: the man of finance, the man of accounts, the man of law, we all nodded at him over the polished table that like a still sheet of brown water reflected our faces, lined, wrinkled; our faces marked by toil, by deceptions, by success, by love; our weary eyes looking still, looking always, looking anxiously for something out of life, that while it is expected is already gone—has passed unseen, in a sigh, in a flash—together with the youth, with the strength, with the romance of illusions.
PS for Yas,
Estimados amigos y miembros de la tripulación:
Estoy sentado aquí en Wings escuchando el aullido del viento y hace un momento vi cómo pasaba la flota de carreras de Mexorc. Me duele el corazón de que no estamos ahí afuera, como siempre cuando un hermoso día de navegación no se usa.
Y con la cancelación de la regata, sé que tendremos que esperar la próxima temporada de carreras para tener otra oportunidad.
Han sido un buen equipo y todos trabajaron muy duro entrenando con la regata en mente. Judy y yo los amamos a todos como si fueran nuestra familia. Te extrañaremos durante los próximos meses.
Pero las experiencias que tuvimos y las habilidades que aprendimos no fueron un desperdicio. No pueden ser quitados de nosotros. Y las amistades que hemos hecho durarán para siempre.
Y tenemos la suerte de no experimentar los efectos más graves del virus corona que muchos otros tienen en todo el mundo.
Y…
Siempre hay el año que viene.
La fiesta programada para el próximo domingo también se cancela.
There are a lot of activities here in La Cruz in January and February but for us racing is at the top of the list. So when I stood at the trophy case of Vallarta yacht Club reading the names of the past winners of the Vallarta Cup and seeing Wings’ fourth place this year it was a bit of a shock, especially considering our first overall three times in the previous four years. We’ve been sailing hard this year and having fun doing it, and in the opening regatta of the year, as we wrote previously, we were first, dominatingly so, but this time the results weren’t there.
How do we explain that fourth place?
The truth is that we are sailing against a small group of really good sailors who all want to win as bad as we do. This year everyone has been sailing well and they deserve to win.
And this year we had some problems.
For one thing we’ve had some personnel issues. Four people are out for the year due to injuries, three shoulder injuries, a back injury, and another with arm injuries. None of these have occurred on the boat (it seems that walking around in Mexico is more dangerous than sailing on Wings) but we’ve had to find replacements nevertheless. Also we’ve had people take off to go cruising on their own boats, so we needed more replacements. And some of the replacements have not worked out. The net is that there has a lot of been crew turnover.
As for ourselves, Judy and I have remained committed to our workout regimen and think we are pretty fit, but even we have found that our old bodies are showing signs of stress. This week Judy has started treatment for a shoulder injury herself.
Our constantly rotating crew is doing their best and they are pretty good; a few are real stars but some boat handling problems have occurred which cost us time and these can be traced partially to inexperienced crew.
A complicating factor is that our tactics and helming have suffered while we try to deal with on-the-job training of the crew. It is hard to stay focused on tactics while you are trying to watch what 10 other people are doing.
Putting it all together, facing tough competition, rebuilding our crew, and less than stellar tactics…it’s not surprising that we are behind the curve this year.
Still, in competition there will always be winners and losers. The good thing is that we love to get out on the water and always try to do our best.
Despite our racing performance sailing has been good with good winds and good friends aboard and otherwise life in La Cruz has been pretty nice too as it always is this time of year. The weather is glorious, the music scene in La Cruz is booming with great new bands and live music playing somewhere every night, usually at more than one place. Sometimes we have to force ourselves to cut back and not go out every night. Local activities have also been fun. If our sailboat racing has been less than stellar, the La Cruz Kids Club has been able to put on a terrific regatta with toy boats built out of scraps and trash. wingssail images-fredrick roswold
Boat work, car work: We’ve been making progress against our project lists and keeping up with occasional mechanical problems. Keeping our old Chrysler in good shape has required some investment. A total front end rebuild has helped with the speed bump issues, and we have some other fixes completed and more upcoming. The boat, of course always provides repair opportunities. At the moment we have two water tanks out and new ones being built. The good news on both the car and the boat is that the repairs cost less here in Mexico then they have elsewhere. We’re happy that we feel that we can keep our vehicles in good nick.
With a “Blast” in December our racing season got underway.
On day one of the Banderas Bay Blast, after a pretty decent start (seen below) we sailed well on the first beat and controlled the small but competitive performance class. We rounded the windward mark first only to watch Olas Lindas sail past on a tear and extend their lead to the finish. We could do nothing to stop them, but we retained second place. It was not unforeseen; it’s happened before in this event, and as usual, it left the next two races to determine the overall score.
Day two, however, was our day; the long beat to Punta Mita is our favorite race of the year and the conditions were perfect this year, once again. The fleet set off one by one, slowest boats first. Over 30 minutes after the first boat got underway we started in pursuit of them, and, staying close to shore and out of the tide, we quickly began to overtake.
Over and over we tacked into the shore, twelve times, while our competitors stayed out. Each time, as we approached the rocks the tensions on board Wings became high. I called for the crew to be ready but I held the course steady; straight toward land. The depth gauge ticking down, 25, 20, 19…
Judy finally made the call, “Let’s get out of here, Fred!”
“TACKING.”
The boat turned suddenly, away from the shore, and we sheeted the sails in on starboard tack, heading out. The depth was 15 feet.
Other boats know this strategy too and we watched behind us to make sure none of them got inside of us, but how could they? We’d completed the tack as close as it was safe to go.
At the halfway point we were in the lead and then the big right hand wind shift began to show. Over the next half hour the wind rotated from 240 degrees to 330 degrees and it increased to over 19 knots. We were inside the shift which provided further gains.
We were being lifted towards the shore now on starboard tack and in fact we had to turn away from a couple of the rocky points. We were flying with the big genoa but becoming overpowered. It took a careful hand on the helm to stay in control but I didn’t want to lose the time it would take to change sails. I feathered up when the nearness to the shore permitted, and, nervous about the depth, closely watched the depth finder. The boat speed increased, we grew closer, and luckily we hit nothing.
We finished the 8.6 mile beat and the race at 2:35:14PM. 1 hour, 35 minutes, and 18 seconds. It was our best time ever for this race, 13 minutes better than last year, and two minutes faster than the previous best time, in 2016. And nothing on the boat was broken.
Obviously we were pleased.
Day three saw different conditions. This 12 mile downwind race started off fast with up to 25 knots of breeze and we set the spinnaker and flew at over 9 knots, pole to the headstay and barely in control.
At the mid-point of the race the wind died entirely.
The fleet stopped.
We scanned the ocean. Except for two catamarans which had gone far to the south, no one was moving.
Behind us two of our competitors coasted to a stop within yards of us. I could hear them talking.
Then I felt the slightest breath of air and somehow the sail filled. We moved ahead a little. The boats behind didn’t catch it.
More air came and we gained some speed. It seemed like only a few minutes but it must have been half an hour or more before I again looked behind us. There was nobody in sight. No one! A door had slammed shut.
The two cats were now just ahead and we worked hard to catch them, but to no avail.
We finished third, a minute or two behind the catamarans, but it was enough to win the regatta: a second place, first place and third.
Today the wind went east of south for the first time this year.
We were a little surprised as it wasn’t in the forecast, but not shocked; there were storms brewing out in the Pacific and those storms could mess up the weather without trying and, after all, the summer winds should be predominantly southerly.
We shifted our anchor closer behind the nearby headland for more protection in case the SE wind came in stronger, which it might in the next few days. We circled like a dog getting ready to lie down, just to check out the surroundings before dropping the anchor in 15 feet.
It looked safe but if a strong easterly comes in we’ll move over to the bay at La Manzanilla. I don’t worry about that eventuality, I even relish it, as we’ve wanted to see Manzanilla for a while. An easterly wind would give us a good excuse.
All of this is taking place in Tenacatita where we arrived two days ago from Barra De Navidad, and we can see ourselves staying here, weather permitting, for a week or two. It’s quiet here; no other boats are anchored here and, other than a few surfers and some hotel guests walking on the beach, we are alone. We’re thinking of setting up the dingy and going ashore ourselves. There is a restaurant here which has a good fish roll with shrimp and cheese inside, Rolla Del Mar it’s called, and cold beer. Although with our new refrigerator our beer is pretty damn cold itself. Same with the cokes; one blew up yesterday so we turned the refer down from seven to four.
We’d been in Barra de Navidad for the previous few weeks. We spent a few days in the marina, but mostly anchored out in the lagoon. We were the only boat in the lagoon. It’s been OK though, it’s really quiet there. We love the birds, the solitude, and the scenery. We have friends on their boats in the marina so we take a water taxi and go in almost every day.
The friends in the marina at the Grand Hotel are all from La Cruz, people we know well and like. It has been fun to socialize with Chris and Monica from Sea Glub, Kelly and Deborah from Simpatico, and Ted and Brenda from Firefly. We’ve had a great time with them at various restaurants in Barra and going to the hotel pool and swimming laps with Ted and Brenda. The swimming has helped our bodies recover from the sedentary life at anchor. There are five other boats from La Cruz here for the summer but the crews of all of them were gone somewhere. I won’t be surprised to see more boats in Barra in the future. The summer prices are cheaper and the facilities much better than La Cruz. For us though, the community at La Cruz will keep us going back there.
Yeah, we got a new refrigerator. The old one was acting up for a few weeks but I kept thinking it was a wiring problem or some other thing I could fix. Then, boom! It went down for good.
I was depressed at first but in the end it wasn’t bad; we ordered new parts and started living on bags of ice which, other than not so cold beer, was fine.
It took two weeks for the parts we ordered to make it through Mexican customs and while waiting we refurbished the refrigerator box. The new refrigerator was costly but refurbishment was worth it; the new setup takes less power and has more room for frozen goods.
We’ve had other boat repairs to do, but they have been less expensive. A loose wire on the alternator needed to be refastened. The impellor on the engine finally wore out and we replaced that. There have been a few other repairs we needed to do but not too many.
But then the osprey showed up.
We’ve not seen this bird around here before, but coming back to the boat on Saturday night there he was, perched on our wind instruments. Holy cow! He could break them!
The osprey flew off as we arrived and I saw his huge talons knuckled under his belly as he flew away. That was an omen. Then I noticed the wind instruments: they were broken! That bloody bird and his huge talons had crushed the windvane and there was not nothing left of it. Oh Damn! The wire probe I put up to dissuade frigate birds was apparently no issue for the osprey. He simply pushed it aside.
The whole way to Tenacatita I was thinking of how I was going to fix those instruments, but first I had to get them down and take a close look. Shortly after the anchor was down in Tenacatita Judy ran me up the mast to retrieve what was left of the wind instruments. I found that mostly they were OK but the vane, which provides wind direction, was simply missing. Gone! I looked all over the boat to see if it fell somewhere so I could repair it, but no luck. It was nowhere to be found. The bird must have knocked it off and it landed in the water and sank.
OK, I went to work. I found some aluminum in the lazerette which I could cut with tin-snips, and after making a paper template, I cut out a new wind vane. It looked a little crude but I thought it would work.
Such is cruising. Unless you are lucky something will break every day. You just go to work and find a way to fix it, or you live without it. We don’t know what will happen next, but for sure, something will.
We had ten women aboard who had never been on a sailboat and they were all lounging around on the port side deck. I got everyone’s attention and then explained to them that when Judy yelled, “Tacking” they all had to move to the other side of the boat.
“Through here” I said, motioning under the boom. There didn’t seem to be any questioning looks so I nodded to Judy.
“Ready About?” she shouted.
“Ready,” answered Kelly and I, manning the winches.
“Tacking!” and she turned the boat.
That’s when it got real for the 10 passengers. Suddenly they realized that the sails were flapping, the winches were spinning, the boat was turning, and the side deck they were on was tipping way over towards the ocean. Like the flock of startled pigeons, they shrieked and flew through under the boom to the other side, laughing, scrambling, and giggling the whole way.
“Well done,” I said, “now next time who wants to help work the boat instead of just being along for the ride.” A few doubtful glances to each other than about 4 hands went up. And we started training.
I don’t know where the idea came from that we should take Norma and the women who run our gym out sailing on Wings but it just occurred to me one day and I mentioned it to Judy.
“That would be fun” she said so the next day I presented Norma with an invitation for a day on the water. I said it was for the whole crowd; Norma, her co-workers, her sisters, and their families, all of whom we know from seeing them at the gym three days a week. Norma quickly accepted but I have to say I don’t think she knew what she was getting into. It would be their first time on a sailboat.
That is how it came to be a week later that 10 gorgeous and excited women trouped down the dock and climbed aboard Wings for what they expected would a fun day lounging around on Wings’ decks in the sunshine with cold beverages in their hands and munching snacks and plates of ceviche (which they brought). Little did they know.
But Wings is not really a pleasure cruiser and anyhow, Judy and I had in mind a different type of sail, the kind we typically do when we have a boat full of guests: full sails, lots of tacking, spinnaker flying, and plenty of action. We brought Kelly and Deborah to help out.
After that first tack our new crew started to pay more attention. Kelly and I assigned jobs, Deborah translated, and we got everyone into their positions and we had some fun. Up the Punta Mita shoreline we tacked and then we turned down wind. Kelly said, “We need to put up the spinnaker!”
“OK, I’m game,” and up it went and down came the jib with some new forward hands pulling it in.
I showed Ana how to trim the spinnaker and I put myself on the winch to grind it. She soon got into the swing of things, letting it out until it folded and then yelling, “Frederico!” at me to grind. Boy, they all thought that was hilarious too.
We even jibed the spinnaker and that went smoothly too. Norma was interested in everything and did everything as you would expect of a woman who drives a Jeep, rides a Harley, drinks whiskey, and owns a gym. Ana, too, was everywhere. Alize and Adela pitched in, Ariadna and Carolina steered. I think I’ll keep this bunch. We handed out beverages. Well, some of the teenagers, I guess like a lot of teenagers, got bored. Never mind, we all had fun.
Deborah and Kelly invited us to their house for the Super Bowl and everyone pitched in to make Tamales. Well, then Kelly had to go to the USA so he missed it, but never mind we had fun making tamales and eating them at half time, plus, the Super Bowl was fun, even without Kelly.
We always like going to Deborah and Kelly's place, it is almost like being outdoors, the kitchen is open to the outside patio and the colorful walls inside makes everyone as happy as Deborah always is. Maybe her house makes her happy. Plus Kelly always has plenty of good stuff to drink and he even left it for us when he couldn't be there.
But that tamale making! That is a project. Judy and Elinore and Janet and Lynne and Deborah all worked on it making ingredients the day before and then putting them all together on Super Bowl day. We had four kinds of filling but once the tamale is wrapped in the corn husk you can't tell what's inside, so they tied the tamales with different numbers of knots. The we couldn't remember if three was chicken or veggie, well you know, there was some tequila going around.
But it was all good and with two big screens to watch the game on we all had good seats.
I said I would never drive to this place again. Road is too bumpy for my car. But John and Elinore said they were going, would we be interested? OK, I'll give it a go. We'll stay overnight so we can have dinner there. The hotel is very inexpensive. Off we went up the hill.
A couple of hours later (with time out to try a great Mexican breakfast joint on the way, Casuelas), we pulled into San Sebastian del Oeste, booked into our rustic hotel (Los Arcos de Sol) and set off the see if anything had changed since our last visit. Not much had, but the sidewalk café was still pleasant and the beer was still cold, and we found our favorite silver jeweler.
Then we meandered down to the Jardin Nebulosa to try some of their craft beers. They were good, and afterwards we needed a nap to prepare for dinner.
Everywhere we went I was on the lookout for photo opps. This trip was all about friends, food, and photos.
Dinner was fantastic, and the Raicilla cocktails were fun and entertaining. I am sure Elinore's Facebook page has a review of the restaurant, buT damned if I can make FB cough up the link to it. Good Luck if you try to find it. I hate FB.
The next day, more photographs, and then the drive down, which was better, and once we got to the black top we swept through the curves with eyes on the road and a foot on the brake peddle, on the lookout for pot holes.
We loved the trip with John and Elinore, but now I am sure I'm never going to drive that road again, until next time.
February is the middle of winter in Puerto Vallarta. The picture above even looks cold but actually the weather is great in February; we get cool nights and warm days. Rain is rare this time of year and fog is rarer still. Mostly the days are great.
During January we were racing at least twice a week, but in February it slows to once a week and that leaves time for other activities. One of those activities is whale watching. This year, after some reduction in recent years, the whales are back in numbers. Maybe it is the cold water; this year the bay is cooler than it has been. Everybody is seeing whales. We’ve taken friends out a few times to watch them, but whale watching is tricky; when you are trying to find whales they seem to keep their distance. On two trips we only got brief sightings; that was enough to call the day a success but not enough to give us the spectacular photo ops we were looking for. So we had nice days on the water with good friends but they were not much for whale watching.
On the other hand when we go out for a race the whales seem to frolic around us.
Mike Danielson organized a “Shake it Out” day on the water where anybody could go out sailing and Mike would give them trimming and tuning tips from his Cal 20. I had to pick up Phyllis at the airport so we didn’t take Wings, but Judy went aboard Nakamal. That day the whales put on a display that none of the “Shake it Out” participants will soon forget. The whales were everywhere and they were close.
There were plenty of back and tail displays but also several breaches, one just yards away from Nakamal. Moments later a whale surfaced just feet from away. Judy, from her perch on the stern of Nakamal, thought she could have touched the whale. Elinore was steering and was a bit nervous about these large creatures swimming right alongside her boat but they didn’t really cause anyone much alarm and Judy was just totally excited. They were all still talking about it when the boats got back to the dock.
Of course the crews were busy sailing their boats and nobody had a camera ready. Can you believe it, no photos!
I watched from the beach and I had my camera and a long lens but I was looking the other way and missed the best shots, and besides the distance was too great.
We have also had some cloudy days and some with stronger winds. Three times during the Wednesday Night Beer Can races we’ve been tested by bigger winds than are usual in Banderas Bay. We’ve had 25 knots across the deck which is perfect Wings sailing weather but it gives the crew some new challenges. One of those challenges is spinnaker work. We’re pretty good in the normal 10-15 knots we get on most days but I can tell you that when we were beating to weather with the boat heeled over, in bigger waves, and with the spray flying, the forward hands were nervous as they rigged the 1.5 oz. kite. I could see some anxiety in their eyes. Nobody would have complained if I had decided against the set. But we needed to get some more practice in these breezes and when we turned down wind I immediately called for the hoist. I won’t say it all went completely smoothly the first time but we got through it, and now, as Paul, the bowman put it, “We’ve looked death in the eye and we survived.” Well that may be a bit dramatic but jibing a full size symmetrical spinnaker in 25 knots of wind is a bit scary. And the next time we were better.
Now I know, we all know, that we can do it, and if we get heavy air in the next races we’ll be better prepared and confident.
Some of our competitors have been skipping these Weds races. But we treat these races as practices and these practices may help us in the future, and that’s the idea behind practicing, isn’t it?
We’re feeling good about the remaining races of the season, which is over in early March.
So February passes along, we are sailing a lot, our lives are full and everything is pretty good.
We hope you are enjoying the snow where you are, we haven’t seen any.
It was another one of those wonderful sailing afternoons in Bandaras Bay which we see on most clear days: light breeze out of the west starting about 11:00 AM, building to around 20 knots by mid-afternoon, then shifting to the NW and tapering off before dark. We've started to hear from people who live here year 'round that the wind changes in the summer. The afternoon thermal winds we see every day will go away when the rainy season starts.
This could be one of the last great sailing days of the year.
So we grabbed a couple of neighbors, Leslie and Ian from the yacht Fandango, and we just went out and set sail. We sailed to windward for a couple of hours, did a couple of tacks. Then turned back and set the chute. The sailing was excellent.
We sat on deck and had some cold drinks and talked about life and sailing and whatever else came up.
Three wonderful hours on the water; pretty simple.
OK, we dropped the spinnaker into the water on the takedown, and had trouble with the jib takedown too, but nothing major (I guess we need more practice).
When we got to the dock the cold beers came out and we all sat around in the afterglow of a good sail.
Strangely, it might seem, one of the most satisfying times for me other than the eight knot broad reach we had coming home under spinnaker was the clean up. The two hours we spend putting the boat away after we get back are part of the deal, a good part from my way of thinking.
Ian and Leslie wanted to help and offered repeatedly, but Judy I and like to keep this part for ourselves. It is a ritual for us; we do it do it slowly, together, just plugging away at our own pace, coiling sheets, folding sails, and generally tidying up. It is a ritual which we've done together for many years and we wouldn't miss it for anything. Besides, we didn't invite Ian and Leslie on board to put them to work. So we declined their offers, tipped up the last of our beers, and got up to tackle the job.
By the time all the lines were hanging on their hooks below, and the sails were folded and in the forepeak and I had finished hosing off the boat the air conditioner was purring and the cool cabin was inviting. I looked over the boat with its white deck glistening and clean in the late afternoon light and I felt a joyous exhaustion. I knew that I'd done something which was important today, and that included the clean up as well as the sailing. It felt really good.
We also got another chance at the kiteboarders at the Fiesta Del Viento in Bucerias. It was a big deal, well over 100 boards out for the Long Distance Race. We shot the start but there was no way for us to keep up with them and see the finish, even with our dingy going flat out.
Somewhere East of Bakersfield in the Mojave Desert lies China Lake Naval Air Station and there we slid our Chrysler to a stop in front of a red stucco apartment where our granddaughter Candace answered the door and offered us an orange flavored craft beer. More importantly she gave us each a big hug and as we sat down to chat we were delighted to find that in the previous four years she has turned from a sharp navy boot to a confident and composed 29-year old woman.
This has been the story of our 7500 mile loop in America; at each stop we have found that our family and friends have grown up, matured, and changed from the wonderful people we remembered into delightful people even more wonderful than we could have ever imagined. And our timing was good, for family events and tourism too. We got to Seattle just in time for the birth of our newest granddaughter, Helena Anne, we made it to Oregon for Jenny and Gabe’s wedding, we were in San Diego in time to be with the Waldrups as they celebrated the life of Aunt Levis. We even hit Sturgis South Dakota for the great motorcycle rally.
So, so far, the trip it has been a success; we’ve spent quality time with my brother and sister, son and daughter, and all of their families. We’ve been together with most of Judy’s family, and we’ve reconnected with many of our friends, particularly ones we missed last time we were in the US. The car is running well, and we completed all of our shopping and bought everything on the boat list. Even the weather has been great. From Oregon south we’ve barely had a cloud in the sky, but it’s been hot; in San Diego it was over 100, and in Indio, California we had temperatures over 112. Never mind that, in the low humidity of the southwest desert, it didn’t seem too bad.
Now we’re back in Mexico. We drove through the Sonora Desert and it was stunning. We visited Mazatlan and boy has it changed; the marina area has been totally built up and then been run down. Now there is a tacky air about the marina which might cause us to reconsider whether we will bring the boat there. We’ll see.
We stopped in small towns like Tecuala, and in old cities like Cuidad Obregon, Morelia, which was historic and gorgeous, and Oaxaca. We had great meals in outdoor restaurants on centuries-old plazas. We dropped into the Valley of Mexico and struggled through Mexico City traffic for hours. We had been in Mexico City before and could have by-passed it but we wanted to experience the size of hemisphere’s largest city by driving through it and we did. Whew! Big!
Yesterday was the toughest drive. After the hours of Mexico City we finally broke free of the gridlock and climbed from the city’s 7500 ft altitude up into higher Sierra Nevada on a four lane freeway with sweeping curves and traffic moving faster than we were comfortable with, but you have to go with the flow, right? Then down the other side into Puebla with more curves and even higher speeds. The driving was tense and definitely tended to focus the mind. But too, it was exciting.
Because of the traffic jams in the Valley of Mexico we were behind schedule and to get to Cordoba where we had reserved a room we had to drive into the night. In the last set of mountains we had fog, rain, road construction everywhere, poorly marked lanes, and darkness. It was exhausting, but we arrived safely in Codoba. Today we had another exciting day in the mountains with more stunning scenery and arrived in Oaxaca this afternoon.
I am a sailor, born of a nautical tradition passed to me by my father and my Grandfather Alfred. I’ve spent most of life on my passion which is the sea and the vessels which go upon them. I have had many such vessels and now I live on and sail on the sloop WINGS.
which I acquired in 1986 with my wife Judy
who shared my passion. For ten years we lived on Wings in Seattle and sailed, including racing. Then we left the Pacific Northwest and voyaged across the world, across the seven seas, to faraway places, and made them our own.
For thirty-eight years I have lived and loved this life. I still live on Wings, in Mexico, and sail and race often. Judy passed away in June, 2023 and I miss her but you can still join us and sail the seas as we did for all those glorious years. Fred Roswold, SV Wings, Mexico
First look at new Genoa
Fred takes a look
Marilyn navigates in the Beer Can Races
Dinner Party about to begin
Heiko and Martina on Wings
Pargo and Veggies-Delicious
FAKE photo with Salomé, Ben, Rick and Martina
Sailing Into Caleta Partida
Wings Moored in Ellipse at Puerto Escondido
Jimmy and Robin
Judy Handles the Halyard as Fred Works Aloft
Wings Anchored in Ballandra, Isla Carmen
Wings and Jazzy II
Beach Party
Greg & Gloria in the Kithchen
Wings in Racing Trim
Judy in the Dr's Office
Judy and Kelly on the roof-top bar
Water Tanks
Starting on Port Tack
Party on Wings
Friends in Barra
Ted & Brenda at the pool
Judy winches me up
New wind instrument
Wings in Barra
Going Sailing
Five on the foredeck
Making Tamales
San Sebastian del Oeste
Artisanal Silver
Flowers
Winter Fog
Wow, That was Close!
Practicing Alone with the Heavy Kite
Nice Sailing Day
Free Style
Somewhere East of Bakersfield
Family in Twin Peaks
Gabe & Jenny's Wedding
Oaxaca
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