Curare's Adventures

Two new Photo Albums

We are leaving for Mexico next week, driving back to Curare, so I figured it was about time I posted a few photos taken during our last season's sailing adventure.  A few of these were used in last year's blog postings but most of them are new, chosen at random from the more than 4000+ photos that we took. Not all of them are good, and some are silly, but it gives you an idea of what cruising is all about. The photo album is titled Second Year Sailing Trip.

I also posted some photos from Bryce Canyon in Utah, a place we visited while driving to Mexico in October 2008.

It's Cold!

At the beginning of October 2008 the crew of Curare were happily driving down to Mexico to commission Curare for another season of cruising in the Sea of Cortez and elsewhere.  But when we arrived at the boatyard temperatures were still in the 40C range which made the preparations and work difficult. So this year, when the opportunity to work into the fall arose, we thought - GREAT, we'll head back to our floating home at the end of October when Mexican temperatures are only 30C or so and be own our way.

As it turns out, fall temperatures (as in they really did fall this autumn) came unseasonably early this year.  In the morning the truck mirror thermometer shows minus 15C with a daily high of only 2C or 3C which makes keeping warm a challenge. One of the ways we do this is with thoughts of being back on Curare sailing through the azure Sea in T-shirts and shorts, or in Jessie's case -  barking at the dolphins.

Working outdoors in these temperatures has moments of difficulty but the beautiful scenery and satisfaction of a job well done make up for any discomforts.

Another friend of mine

I have a new friend, he is almost as big as I am and he's the same colour as me but his tail is very fluffy. I find it difficult to make friends because I am large and mostly black, and some people say I have a bad attitude, but Mishka and I hit it off the very first time we met.  He is a 7 month old male puppy and I think he is sort of cute, but don't get any ideas - he is way too young for me. I think of our friendship more like a  mentor and pupil. I teach him how to act around humans and he teaches me how to get into trouble - steal other dog's toys, bark at the cows - that sort of thing.  Mishka is certainly full of mischief.

On the boat I like to sleep in, but  now I am the first one out of bed because Mishka is expecting me to come outside and play. Usually it is frosty, which doesn't bother him at all in his nice furry coat, but my "family" forgot my jacket so we go racing around until I get warm. Then I have breakfast while Mishka watches and when I am finished, he grabs my dish and runs across the busy highway taking it to his house . I am always a little worried when I see him race off like that, but he seems to understand cars and how they move about better than I do, he even chases their tires!!!!. Hmmmm, another thing for him to teach me before we leave this place.

Then I go off to work. While the "family" looks at little pieces of tubular rock I doze on my bed, constantly listening and sniffing the air for bears. Some days there they are, lurking in the bushes, and I get a good workout racing around and barking at full volume, other days there is nothing of interest and I get to relax for the entire day.

On our return to the trailer Mishka is always waiting for me so we run around some more and investigate the bushes, the lake and any new people that may have arrived.  I love having a friend to play with, and I know you might find this hard to believe, but Mishka is only the second true doggy friend I have had----ever!

Practicing on the Radio

Currently the crew of Curare is working at a job site which requires daily use of the VHF radio.  Instead of using the radio to hail other boats, to acquire weather info or to call for help, we use the radio to communicate our position along a very busy logging and mining access road.

These radio controlled resource roads have their distances marked by numbered signs nailed to a tree every kilometer and the idea is to hail your location at each sign so you, and others, can react to oncoming traffic on these sometimes narrow, winding gravel roads. On most roads the kilometer marks are called out "empty" going in and "loaded" coming out, presumably because the predominant traffic doesn't have a load on going into the bush and picks up a load of logs to haul out; for instance "empty pickup at 49" means the pickup is at the 49 km marker and is headed in the "going in" direction. 

We've been doing this for years while working in the bush and it has always been a source of entertainment to listen how others call out. Worth listening to are the  freight trucks calling empty when they are going in and then saying "Heavy" or "really loaded"; for instance "empty fuel tuck at 7, really loaded", or the "loaded pickup" that's actually driving in the empty direction but forgot which way they were going (we are easily amused).

Usually the infrequent female voice calling out will attract the bored trucker who wants to chat for a while, or pass along a joke or show protective rights like "watch for the herd of deer at 4 and a half kilometer".  Even Jessie gets into the action; a few days ago the dog alarm went off over a bear sighting at a call marker which must have left oncoming traffic wondering who was actually driving the vehicle.

Over the years there have been some changes to the calling system, such as "up" or "down" to indicate the direction of the kilometer marks, or "into the bush/out of the bush" but the empty/loaded system seems to be most common - likely because it provides the most humour.

Working For A Living

Finally, when summer is almost over and autumn rains have commenced, we have started on some geological work in central B.C.  We had hoped to find something earlier when the weather was drier, but with exploration work being more scarce this year we cannot complain. Both Geoff and I are working at the same project; he is the project geologist and makes sure things run smoothly and I get to look at, and describe, pieces of tubular rock (AKA drill core). Of course Jessie is with us so we have given her the job of chief bear scarer, there are lots around.

The project is located about 85 kilometers from the closest large town which would have meant a 3 hour daily commute, so we took our summer house with us and have set up the travel trailer on the shores of a scenic lake only 15 kilometers from the work site.  Much better, almost close enough to go home for a hot lunch.

We expect to be here from 4 to 6 weeks and then it is back to Mexico and the sailing part of our lives.

Feeding the Kitty

At the beginning of July the crew of Curare  returned to BC for the summer to visit our family and friends and hopefully increase, or at least augment, the cruising kitty.  During July the weather was spectacular with a few days recording temperatures exceeding those in Mexico, but now it is cooling down to normal summer temperatures (22 C) and it's beginning to feel like Fall.

After a few days of visiting and getting ourselves organized in the summer "house" we started to look for a bit of short term work. It quickly became apparent that geological exploration jobs were going to be difficult to find, unlike last summer when we both found employment almost immediately. This year companies which had work programs were completing the work themselves or they were waiting until later in the season to hire people. We had almost given up and had started making plans for a road trip when out of the blue came an email offering Geoff a short term position. He was going to fill in for a project geologist that needed a break from the rigors of managing a drill program. 

What started out as a 10 day job worked into three weeks of fun.  Fun as in feeding the local population of mosquitoes, blackflies and other carnivorous insects.  But it was also fun to be back in an area that Geoff first examined in the 1980's.  The Omineca Mountains of central BC are home to some of the largest populations of moose, elk and grizzly bear in the province and Geoff was not disappointed. Although he didn't see any of the animals up close and personal he did see tracks from moose, bear, wolf and cougar on the sand banks of the Omineca River and from the helicopter he saw a few moose and black bear roaming around.  On the other hand, Mike, on the right in the photo, seemed to have a particular attraction for the bears as he saw one or two every day.  It was good to get some exercise wandering around in the hills, especially after 6 months of sitting on a boat.

Meanwhile Linda and Jessie were trying to stay cool in the very hot summer "house"  and started to edit all of last years photos (a job that is not yet finished).

S-o-o-o the kitty is still quite hungry, but Geoff's three weeks of work will see us through a few more months of cruising this upcoming sailing season and there may be another job on the horizon. Linda is crossing her fingers and toes for that one.

Road Trip to Barranca del Cobre

At the beginning of June, after securing Curare in the storage yard in Guaymas, her crew went on a road trip to see the wonderful region of Barranca del Cobre.  Geoff drove the truck on the often treacherous roads, Linda navigated and Jessie snoozed in the back seat.

Our first stop was Basaseachi National Park where we camped for two nights, the only people in a well maintained park campsite, just like an anchorage all to ourselves.  During the day we hiked on several trails to viewpoints overlooking Basaseachi Falls, which at 285 meters is the second highest waterfall in Mexico.  From there the road twisted, turned, ascended and descended into the town of Creel located on the rail line from the coast to Chihuahua. This small town is the one most often associated with Barranca del Cobre but to my surprise it was not close to the canyon although it did have some interesting nearby rock formations.  Rather than staying in Creel we chose to camp near a lake within the indigenous Tarahumara (Raramuri) communal lands and returned to the town the following morning to tour the museums. Then it was back in the truck and onward to the most famous view of the canyon at Divisadero.  At this point the canyon is several miles wide and at the bottom the Urique River turns sharply to the east forming the Barranca del Cobre proper, but as the canyon is over a mile deep (deeper than the Grand Canyon is a phrase we often heard) we couldn't see the water.  The daily train was in the station when we arrived disgorging a teeming mass of passengers who ran across the road to take photos during the 15 minute stop.  We felt rather smug touring in the truck because we could stay as long as we wanted trying to capture the perfect photograph (we should have stayed longer).

After four nights of camping we splurged and stayed for two nights in a small cabana at Areponapuchi. During the day we hiked through the pine forests on the canyon rim passing by many isolated cabins and fields belonging to the Tarahumara, all the while gazing into the canyon depths hoping to see the bottom. Our next destination was Cerocahui to view the mission church, camping in the mountains at a beautiful spot named San Isidro.  We decided not to drive down into the Urique valley so we turned back towards Creel setting up the tent the first night in an isolated spot with a "view to die for", and the second night at Cascada Cusarare.  Usually this cascada (waterfall) is a crowded tourist spot, but because of Swine Flu and because June is the month with the lowest water levels (hence no waterfall action) we were the only visitors. 

The next day our destination was the the historic mining town of Batopilas, located in Batopilas canyon 1830 meters below the rim.   Driving there was an adventure of a different kind and people with vertigo should stay at home. The single lane road switchbacks along the canyon wall with many blind corners and precipitous drop offs. If two vehicles meet there is no room to squeeze past, instead there is what we have named the "Mexican standoff": both drivers glare at each other until one of them backs up. Finally we made it to the bottom and entered Batopilas where it was 40 C, 15 C hotter than it was at the top.  With the increase in heat came  torrential afternoon thunderstorms with high winds, driving rain, lightening and booming crashes. Rain was not something our wimpy tent could handle so once again we found indoor accommodations, this time in a questionable guesthouse across from the main plaza. In the morning we were greeted by the sight of numerous Tarahumara men and women dressed in their brightly coloured, traditional clothing wandering the streets of town and lining up to get registered (for what we don't know).

From Batopilas, we decided to attempt a road that we had heard about but which did not appear anywhere on any of the four maps we had with us.  This road was to magically take us back to the coast via the town of El Fuerte so that we did not have to backtrack and re-visit places we had just seen.  After a few wrong turns, three river fords, several  misleading tracks, and doubting we were even on a road at times we arrived at the Urique River.  Al we had to do was ford the Urique and we'd be on the road the town of El Fuerte.  However the day was hot, the river looked inviting and there was a beautiful camping spot in the shade of some large trees so we decided  to stop.  That night the most incredible rain storm came lashing down on us for about 2 hours with bolts of lightening, deafening thunder and high winds.  As expected the tent leaked horribly and we got soaked, but it was so hot it didn't matter - Jessie slept through it all. Fortunately the river's water level did not rise much, so after drying everything out the next morning we forded the river and arrived in El Fuerte that evening.

The whole trip was wonderful and we saw some amazing places in Mexico that are seldom visited by tourists. The truck made it easy for us to travel to some out of the way spots but even visiting this area on the train would be a fantastic journey and should be on everyone's bucket list.

On the Hard Again

On Wednesday afternoon Curare was hauled out of the water to spend her summer on the hard in a dry and dusty Guaymas boat yard. The crew have spent the previous two weeks tied to a dock completing as many chores as possible but there is still about 3 or 4 days of stuff to do before we can leave. Away from the water it gets much hotter during the day (38 C) and working below decks is like a sauna. Despite the work involved the once per year haul out gives us an opportunity to thoroughly clean and check things, and discover any items in need of maintenance or replacement.

This is the same boat yard where Curare spent last summer and she is almost in the same location. It is sad to see that many of the boats that were here when we left the yard in November 2008 are still here, their crews did not return for the winter.  We wonder if it is the end of a cruising dream or is it just a year break from sailing?  It will be interesting to see which boats remain when we return this autumn.

Jessie Goes Fishing

Whoever said you can't teach an older dog something new was wrong! 

After months of chasing lizards around on the hot sand Jessie discovered little fish in the shallow water by the beach.  Now she can have fun chasing things while staying cool and refreshed.  The fishing excursions progressed to swimming lessons and before long our big black dog was swimming over her head chasing after sting rays - far better than wading in the shallows and standing on the ones hidden in the sand. We're so proud of her and if she could only catch one of those fish for dinner we'd all be happy.

Click on the photo to download a 7 Mbyte movie (1:49 minutes in length) showing Jessie practicing her new fishing skills.

Malecon de Guaymas

When we were in Guaymas one year ago it was just a fishing port, very few people ventured to the waterfront because there was nothing to see and no place to walk - unless you wanted to look at the rusty tuna fleet while negotiating uneven sidewalks. Most other Mexican seaports that we have visited have a walking path (malecon) adjacent to the ocean, which in the evenings is often crowded with family groups, lovers, children and tourists.

One year later and Guaymas now has the place for an evening stroll, a broad walkway adorned with statues. But this is not a large cosmopolitan city, it is still a somewhat poor fishing town, so instead of the usual cast bronze statuary the ones here are cast from concrete, painted and decorated with tile work and iron.

During the early morning when we take Jessie for her walk the malecon is quiet and empty, but at night it is crowded with strollers, entertainers and music.  It's been enjoyable watching this work progress transforming Guaymas into a Mexican tourist town.