Summer in the desert 2012

We've had such a great (albeit warm) time spending this summer with friends and family in Arizona.  On July 8th we welcomed our 12th grandchild, (Summer Sky Crespin) who made her entrance at 4:11 am.  Our daughter, Leah, did a wonderful job with her 2nd home delivery--she is able to remain amazingly calm and controlled--my hero!  What a wonderful experience to share--and so cool to see the other kids be able to witness the miracle of birth, and bond as a family immediately afterward, all safe at home!

Leah and her girls, about 10 minutes after giving birth!

Grandpa meets Summer <3

 

Daddy Rudi and his new daughter!

How Summer Sky got her middle name!

Resting in the cradle I used for her Mama and Uncles--so sweet!

After helping around the house so Leah had a few days to just be in "baby mode", we headed back to the condo to enjoy the beach, and also button things up, since we won't be back down there till October.  The weather was really pretty good, and we had fun in the ocean, in the pool, and at the Ostionera.  Yesterday we drove back to Mesa, along with our friends from S/V Siempre Sabado (Stephen and Lulu)....dropped them off at the airport for their summer trip to Oregon to see their family and friends.

Enjoying our friends at the Ostionera

Stephen and Lulu from Siempre Sabadao

Friends Kathy and Lowell

We're having fun, but I DO miss Cada Dia Mas!

Beginning Friday we will be working with  Leah's kiddos (while they are in Spokane), and also at the Group Home.  Our hope is to leave for Spokane on the 30th!!  Should be there on the 31st, and then on to the Senior Hike in BC on August 3rd--yippee!

 

Slow start to summer 2012

Just checking in to keep you up to date on our not really very exciting summer so far.  We are at home in Mesa, working with vent kiddos occasionally, and spending time with our kids and grandkids.  We are thrilled that Leah's 10 (yes ten) puppies are now all in good homes.  And we are patiently awaiting the arrival of our 12th grandchild--due any day now!!  It will be a home/water birth, so that makes it even more exciting.  We plan to spend most of July here, too--helping with Leah's kids/foster kids, and affording Leah and Rudi the opportunity to take a brief vacation from the heat (to Spokane) once the new baby is here.  Weather is hot (108 today), but the pool is perfect.  Will probably spend some time at the condo before we leave for Spokaloo at the end of July.

Waiting for "baby Crespin"

Paul and Laura Sauer's

We spent a week in Ohio visiting with relatives, and hosting my Mom's 80th birthday party!  The weather could not have been better (no humidity till the last day), and we had a great time with all the aunts, uncles, and cousins on my side of the family!  We were lucky enough to stay with my cousin, Paul, and his wife, Laura.  Their home is beautiful, and situated in a lovely rural setting--what great hosts!

I have started back on my HCG diet, and have lost 7.2 lbs. in the first 5 days......it's amazing what happens when you stop drinking beer--lol!  Anyway, my diet right now consists of alot of chicken, pico de gallo, veggies, limited fruits.....and lots of water :-)  Really it's the easiest diet I have ever been on--but I kinda let myself slip back into really bad habits over the last year--so now I am back on the straight and narrow--hoping to re-lose the 30 lbs I regained (after losing 80 lbs. 2 yrs. ago), and then lose an additional 40!  Wish me luck!

Today our plan is to celebrate our grandson Tyler's 16th birthday--can't believe he is that old already--or that we are that old either--lol!

Tyler on our fishing boat on spring break!

view from our nite in hotel in San Carlos

yummy crab tostadas at Charlie's Rock

yummy

back in Penasco, visiting with our new friends Lulu and Steve from Siempre Sabado

After two long days in the yard, covering, cleaning, pickling, and packing, we finally headed back to Penasco.  The next few days were kind of a blur as we both tried to recuperate from our really quick adventure moving the boat.  Got to spend some great beach time with our friends Lulu and Steve from S/V Siempre Sabado, which was a blast.  Also spent some time with our "renters" and friends, Jen and Ed Madrid, along with Gracie and Alissa, before heading back to Az. for awhile.

cada dia mas out of the water

This morning's haulout went off without a hitch.  Cada Dia Mas is headed to bed for the summer.  The bottom looks good and so does everything else--thank goodness!

Well yesterday got to be more interesting than we would have liked--we have NEVER had to re-anchor before--always had great holding--even for over 2 mos. in Barra de Navidad, we never moved.  However, when we got back to the boat on Wednesday afternoon, we quickly noticed that we were not where we were when we left.  As we were trying to figure that out we realized that we were swinging like crazy, so decided to re-anchor.  When I went up to pull up the chain, I noticed that the markings were not what they should be, and that we had over 200 feet of chain out---couldn't really try to figure it out at the time, but it took a long time to pull it all in.  We moved around and re-anchored in a new spot.  The wind had picked up quite a bit by then, so  we really watched to make sure that we would hold well.  The nite calmed down and it was uneventful, however, yesterday was really windy, and we ended up having to move and re-anchor 2 more times--so obviously weren't going to leave the boat at all. Later in the day, a fishing vessel came by--M/V Seahorse--he explained that he had been across the Bahia with his boatload of clients who were swimming on a beach.  They noticed that our boat had been blown into the channel, so he used his boat to pull us back into the bay, and then he climbed aboard and pulled out all the extra chain.  We are so thankful to him and his crew, and made sure to give them kudos on the local cruiser's net today!

This morning we are still in the same place, and the winds are quite light, so we have ventured in to Baracuda Bob's for laundry, the internet, and to reconfirm our haul out for tomorrow morning.  Luckily, we were able to make a trip to our favorite beachside bar--Soggy Peso, on Wednesday.  So beautiful, and the crab tostadas were just as good as ever!   AAAH!

Soggy Peso, with kite surfers entertaining the crowd

Left Tuesday morning, 05/29/12 for San Carlos.  Seas were flat and calm again with minimal winds during the day.  We did spot many whales around us, but none close enough to get pictures.  Also saw a couple sharks, so that was cool--and some fishing boats headed north.  We were paralleling S/V Que Linda, also headed to San Carlos.  Around dusk the winds began to pick up so we raised the main and mizzen and picked up about a knot and a half on almost a beam reach.  Bill managed to stay awake till well past 4 am, when we were already in site of the mainland and San Carlos.  He took a brief nap and then we were into the Bahia and anchored by 8 am--just in time for the cruisers net.  It is so great to be back in San Carlos.  Now readying everything so we can put the old girl to bed for the summer.  Managed to get the genoa and mizzen down this morning.  Now securing supplies, and heading to a nap--Billy Bob is fading fast!

fishing boat headed north

Island that resembled a lizard

Sunrise over Teta de Cabra

Capt. catching a nap

A daylight view of the mountain as we entered the Bahia

Spent Sunday relaxing in LA Bay and enjoying the ability to let everyone know we made it to civilization!  Met an interesting character, Herman Hill--been in the Baja for over 30 yrs.--does gold prospecting among other things.  We bought his book, and enjoyed some great food at Guillermo's. Headed out Monday morning for Bahia SanFrancisquito, where we ended up anchored in Cala Mujeres for the nite.  Sea was as calm as glass the whole way........nice but no wind!

Herman Hill, Bill, and Herman's book

Approaching Cala Mujeres in Bahia San Francisquito

View at anchor of beautiful sand beach

our dinghy in Pt Refugio

Cada Dia Mas and Voyager in Refugio

Day 2 began with the anchorage calm as glass, but the breeze began to pick up and we decided to leave around 9 am and head to Bahia de Los Angeles.  We proceeded thru the channel and could see the waves were building, and there were white caps in the Sea.  By the time we rounded Sail Rock, we were going right into the wind, with 6-8 foot seas.  The wind was gusting to 35, and we were not able to make any marketable forward progress, between sails and engine, plus we were taking water over the bow and everything below was rattling like crazy!  After about an hour we both decided this was ridiculous, so we came about, and suddenly we were going 9-9.5--it was great fun, but not the way we wanted/needed to go.  We made it back to the anchorage by noon, and spent the rest of the week hunkered down in Pt. Refugio.  Winds continued to blow consistently 10-15 in the anchorage, and we had gusts up to 40...especially at nite!  We met the crew of M/V Voyager, who were also waiting it out, along with the fishing boat Tony Reyes from San Felipe, and a couple other free divers.  Finally set sail again on Saturday morning (Day 6), heading south to LA Bay.  Had a wonderful day, with north swells, the wind at our back, and no chop!  Anchored in LA Bay around 6 pm....aah!

Guillermo's in LA Bay

CadaDiaMas at anchor

Day 1--05/21/12  Somewhat sad to leave Penasco after 18 months in the marina--especially since we finally met some sailors who landed here Sat. morning--Lulu and Stephen from S/V Siempre Sabado--originally from Wa. state--lots of fun, and so much in common with us--we really enjoyed giving them a brief tour around Penasco, sharing dinner, and then sharing beers on Sunday nite!  Lulu also turned me on to crocheting coozies for beer cans--fun stuff!  And we will especially miss Oscar and Craig--thanks to Oscar's mom for the cornbread she made for our trip.

Corn Bread from Oscar's Mom!

Anyway, we left around noon--not tons of wind but enough to pick up a couple knots of speed.  Temps were high (mid-90's) so we didn't waste time with many clothes--lol.  Did find time to make some bread, some pico de gallo, and work on some crocheting projects.  The nite passed quickly and uneventfully, and we actually had to slow down and drift/doze so we didn't get to Refugio in the dark.  We were anchored and sleeping by 10 am.  Another boat anchored by us late in the afternoon--M/V No Worries from Scottsdale--they were on their way to Penasco from San Carlos.

Nice quiet nite in the anchorage, but flat calm and really WARM!!

Capitan Bill

Bread stuffed with garlic, onion, chipotles, and cilantro

Pico de Gallo

Seas pretty flat

Dolphins!!

Approaching Refugio

View at anchor on Day 2

Here are just a few pictures from our past week of preparation........thanks so much to Bill's sister, Pat, and her hubby, Bob, for all the help and advice.  Have a great summer on your boat on Lake Erie!

So i will be the first one to admit that we have not "blogged" for a long time.  Cada Dia Mas spent a few years in San Carlos (mostly on the hard) and then the past 18 mos. in Puerto Penasco, where she got new electronics, new varnish, a fix for her solar panels, and lots of other "tweaks".  In the meantime, we went through  Isaiah's kidney transplant, Bill's shoulder surgery, a couple granchildren's births, and (most recently) DVT in Bill's leg.  All is well now, and we are finally setting sail--if only to San Carlos for summer storage.  Plan is to leave Sunday, 05/20/12 to head south and spend a little bit of time in La Bay.  Will post updates from there.  Wish us luck, fair winds, following seas, and all that good stuff!