Mexican Showers

One of the things we particularly like about being in a marina is that it gives us the opportunity to take long, hot showers in a space that is quite a bit larger than we have on the boat. Well, that is the theory anyway. In practice, however, bathrooms south of the border often leave a bit to be desired. 

Let’s start with the showers here at Marina Palmira in La Paz. Now, mind you, I am speaking specifically about the showers in the women’s bathroom since I have no interest in checking out the ones in the men’s room. And, really, why would I? There are three showers in this restroom and I have now tried out all three. They all drain with the speed of a slug crossing a sidewalk in the NW. Thus, once you have finished your ablutions, there is a reasonable risk of immediately dropping some important piece of clothing into the pool of water at your feet and soaking it. One shower stall has no lip so the water that doesn’t drain also doesn’t stay confined to the area and, instead, covers most of the bathroom floor thereby endangering anyone coming in to use the toilet. One shower has a hot water faucet that sounds like a machine gun on full automatic the entire time it is in the on position. One shower sprays water directly into your face (it is not possible to re-position any of the nozzles) no matter which way you turn. The up side is that, so far, whenever I have gone up to take a shower there has been hot water and no line.

Marina San Carlos has two different restrooms with showers. The one closest to the docks is, of course, the most heavily used…unless there is no water, which is not an uncommon occurrence. There are two shower stalls that are quite spacious and even have a raised bench and three hooks so your clothes & towel stay dry. Again, the drainage system leaves a bit to be desired but at least these have enough of a slant built in that the majority of the water stays inside the actual shower area. One shower works surprisingly well. The second one produces only a dribble of water that runs down the wall. Thus, there is often a wait involved. In the past, hot water was pretty much a rarity in this facility but this year they installed a new water heater so, unless you are arriving at the tail end of the pre-dinner rush you aren’t likely to be shivering in your attempt to wash off the daily grime.

Fonatur (previously Singlar) Marinas (these are all built from an identical template) seem to have a somewhat twisted idea of what women want in their washrooms. NONE of the shower stalls have doors or curtains and there is a wall-to-wall mirror facing them. It is rather like stepping back in time into the days of high school gym class. You can not only observe your own (at this point in my life) less than perfect body, but can also explore that voyeuristic part of your personality that you had been previously unaware even existed. My least favorite stall choice in these facilities (and, invariably the only one available when I arrive) is the one that is in a direct line with the entrance. This provides the best view for everyone who walks in – including the occasional confused & inebriated male.

My favorite marina showers are the ones at Marina Riviera Nayarit in La Cruz. There are five stalls, each with a WOODEN door and a bench in a DRY dressing area to put your “stuff” on. There are still drainage problems but once you figure out which shower is the worst culprit it is easily avoided. These showers always have plenty of hot water and the shower room is completely separate from the toilet facilities so there is a lot less traffic.

Our shower closet!

So, while there is something to be said for having more room than a “closet” and an unlimited amount of water available, sometimes the boat is the best bet. But…I draw the line at showering on the bow!

First Passage

The Maria & Isabel on our starboard side.

Well, here we are attached to a nice dock between two extremely large yachts in La Paz. “WAIT! WAIT!” you might say. “Weren’t you going to La Cruz? What happened? Well, as usual, there is a story. And, in that story, new lessons learned and old ones re-learned. So, here is the “story”. I hope you will enjoy it.

 

At anchor - last night in San Carlos.

The day before leaving San Carlos we had to take the boat out and “do some turns” to calibrate the new auto pilot so we decided to anchor in the Bay that night and leave from there. As it turned out, there was enough of a swell to make the anchorage pretty rolly so neither of us got much sleep.

At first light we raised the anchor and headed southwest. The weather prediction (from several, usually very accurate, sources) was for NW wind of 12-15 knots and seas of 1-2 feet with both decreasing each day. Perfect sailing weather. When will we learn?

As we pulled out of the anchorage, the new auto pilot was working beautifully and in a couple hours we had enough wind to sail. The sails went up, the motor went off and the new auto pilot acquired a name of “Steady Eddie”. “He” actually seemed to LIKE sailing and we cruised along at 7 to    7-1/2 knots (8 – 8.6 mph) for several hours. The wind and seas started building just after lunch so we were now seeing waves of 3-4’. They were mostly on the starboard quarter so were helping but our speed was building to a fairly consistent 8-1/2 knots (almost 10 mph). As nighttime approached “Eddie” was becoming less & less cooperative. It was time to take in the headsail and start the engine to slow down a bit and (hopefully) make more power for “Eddie’s” voracious appetite. Steering by hand, for those who don’t know, is a LOT of work in a big boat…and the bigger the wind & seas are the harder it is. Chris & I have done plenty of hand steering in the past and, for us, it means two hour shifts are about all we can do before we are exhausted. Two hour watches also means no one gets any sleep. The cold nights exacerbate the problem. 

After we'd been motor sailing for a couple hours Chris realized we weren’t making power. Not good. We turned off everything we could (refrigerator, interior lights, radio, etc.) so all the juice would go to “Eddie” and that worked enough to make it through the night with minimal periods of hand steering.By sunrise we had decided to divert to La Paz to effect repairs. No easy task, of course. La Paz was still almost two days away and between the rougher than predicted weather and physical exhaustion we really needed to get some rest.

 

Abby wishing she was on the land.

The closest anchorage was Agua Verde but even that was still many hours away. Getting there also necessitated crossing a good sized piece of water that would mean taking the waves on the side. With seas now upward of 3-5’ when they hit the side, the boat rolls from side to side and the "stuff" starts flying onto the floor of the cabin. It gets pretty annoying listening to the noise.

 

Anchored in Agua Verde.

Before making the turn we needed to find a partially protected place to drop main sail and the lee of Isla Catalina was just quiet enough to get that accomplished. The whole process seemed to take hours since we couldn't trust "Eddie" to hold the boat in one position. After much maneuvering we got it done and three freezing, bouncy hours later we were finally tucked into the quiet cove of Agua Verde.

 

Chris checking the batteries in our "spacious" engine room.

The next morning we put the solar panels out and Chris crawled into the engine room to check the batteries. Hmmm. They were all fine. That’s odd. By the end of the day the solar panels had re-charged them about 2/3.Chris started futzing about having to replace yet another $1,000 worth of batteries but after much contemplation and borrowing a meter to double check he realized the problem was actually the alternator. Much cheaper to replace!    It was warm and calm inside the anchorage and I was feeling pretty beat up so I made the decision to stay an extra day. As Captain I can do that. It was just Heaven to finally be warm enough to wear a swimsuit – the first time this year.

 

View of the anchorage from one of the pretty little beaches.

From Agua Verde we made a one day (10 hour) passage to Isla San Francisco and had another quiet night. After that it was just two four hour days to La Paz. We could have done the last bit in one day but it was Super Bowl Sunday and the likelihood of raising someone on the radio to get a slip was pretty slim.

 

Back in the land of beautiful sunsets!

So here we are at a dock in La Paz. The alternator was replaced on Wednesday, the laundry is done, the boat is cleaned up and we are enjoying the chance to catch up with old friends and meet new. And now...we have decided this is the perfect place to have some additional work done on the boat so looks like we'll be here until the end of the month.

Oh well...cruising is all about flexibility!