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12/17/2005 11:15:00 AM
Offshore from Punta Abrejos
35mi outside of Punta Abrejos underway

A few days rest

After a rather smooth night we arrived at Bahia Asuncion at 9 am spending 2 wonderful days there.

Hello, it is me (Niki) again writing to you. I am sure happy Robert had sent the last reports and kept you guys informed about our travels since I was not quite capeable of writing and reading the first couple of weeks, with the boat moving around. Thanks to our seasickness medicine I never felt bad but had to be careful not to do too much and did best on deck looking around. Every day I was able to do a bit more ? stay in the galley and prepare food, tidy up a bit, play with the boys,.... by now we are all off the medicine, seem to have gotten our sealegs and I am able to sit at the nav station and write, at least when the swells aren?t too high ? Yipee! Robert and I will take turns on our reports so you will get to read from both of us,  quite two different styles I would say...

After a rather smooth night we arrived at Bahia Asuncion at 9 am spending 2 wonderful days there. Robert and I got up at midnight and after we made it through the critical entrance of Turtle Bay I went back to sleep to take over at 3 am again. The winds had picked up enough  (15-20 knots) and so Robert had fun putting up the sail and going on a broad reach gybing around a bit in the middle of the night. Since I do not feel comfortable enough yet to change the sails at night by myself we both stayed up and took watch until the winds died at around 4.30am, when Frank took over and we went back to motoring ? which gave them both a nice rest. We were welcomed by our friends Glenda and Ralph in their dinghie also standing by incase we needed help anchoring with no rear gear. After our first successfull anchoring in Turtle Bay the day before with no motor, Robert picked up the system very quickly (as usual)  which helped when the motor dyed again when idyling down. Robert being in charge of the main sail holding it out to catch the back wind, me being at the helm steering and at the main sheet, Frank teaching Sebastian how to let out the anchor we were once more successful and decicded, who needs a rear gear!? Glenda and Ralph came aboard for a hello and we made plans to go on shore together in the early afternoon. Asuncion is very unique due to a special self made ambassador by the name of Shari, who is originally from Canada, but has been married to a local Mexican for 17 years, taking upon all the cruisers who come by their bay. Shari and her husband Juan live at the tip of the cliff overlooking the coast line, so whenever a boat aproaches Shari contacts them by VHF and invites them to come ashore. We already have heard of each other through our cruising friends the Martin family, and since Glenda and Ralph had been there 2 days before us, plans were already made. She is a wonderful part to this experience helping out in any way she can, driving around sightseeing, shopping, refueling. She also offers to use their washing maschine, shower and kitschen ? what an experience, since the maschine is ?parked? outside with the view of the ocean, there is no plumbing and therefore the hose gets hung over the side running off into the cliffs ? but it works and it is all so easy, friendly and slow pace. Their pets ? 1 cat, 1 puppy, 1 dog, 1 owl (they rescured it when it was a chick and it has lived with them for 1 ½ now), 2 horses and a few chickens run around wild ? paradise for the kids! They both played a lot with the puppy, Dopi,  and were fascinated watching Shari feed Nico, the owl. In their ?backyard? the tidepool they found some interesting shells, climbed the cliffs and threw rocks, what more can kids ask for.... In the evening Glenda and Ralph came for dinner to our boat, we had homemade tortillas (by Shari, whom we helped in the afternoon) and self caught bonita fish ? not bad?!

After a well needed 11 hours of sleep we were all rested and started refreshed into a new day. We all (the four of us, Frank, Glenda and Ralph) together with Shari drove to a close by canyon to explore what was once the ocean and now has lots of petrified teeth and bones of marine animals and corrals. It was a wonderful experience for the boys and us, walking through looking up close and exlporing this extrodinary site. The boys also had fun sliding down the sandy cliffs, creating avalanches and making lots of dust ? how Iovely! Their shoes and socks were covered with dirt and I had to soak them first before bringing them below deck. We all took upon Shari?s offer to use her shower and felt fresh and clean, specially since we did not have a proper bath for a few days... We were back on Lawur in the early afternoon to finish a few projects, have an early dinner and night since we had plans to leave again at midnight. Frank spent some more time with Glenda and Ralph on their boat, and we certainly hope that our tracks will soon cross again since we enjoy their company  a lot. It seems that we have gotten used to getting up in the middle of  the night and have been under way for the last 11 hours. Unfortunately the winds are not strong enough to sail and therefore the motor has been running all the time ? something one gets used to after a while too, although there is something said for a quiet sail, one does not have to talk that loud... We hope that we will get into Bahia Santa Maria early in the morning Sunday. It is a small fishing bay that is supposed to be quite charming, about 180 miles north of Cabo San Lucas. We?ll spend a day there to rest, explore the village and get ready for another night sail. We would like to be in Cabo on December 22nd where Frank most likely will leave us and fly back to San Diego. We will try to leave immediately after fueling up and go around the tip North to La Paz (about 30 hours) hoping the winds will be calm since it has a tendency to blow around there which makes beating into the wind quite uncomfortable.

The boys seem to have adjusted well to living on the water, don?t need any medicine anymore and can stay below deck playing. When Robert asked them a few days ago how they would rate the last few weeks being out on a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being the best) Sebastian gave it a 9 and Benjamin a 10, bumping it up to a 11! Well that made us feel good, but what will we do once they don?t have to dress up in jackets and hats anymore, will be able to jump off the boat into warm water exploring the sea life, meet other families, etc. I guess we have to adjust the upper portion of the scale .... :o)

With that said we wish you all a happy day, relaxed last week before Christmas ( I have to say our Christmas time is lacking a bit this year, besides some decoration and music we have not done much, but luckily it comes around every year...) so long,

Hugs and kisses Niki and her gang

TheSchmids Family Sailing on Lawur

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