Slept till 1:30...woke up at the check point. Had to get off in the cold and stand in the wind while our bags were checked.
Border...got off and same deal. After being checked out by the first guard another guard was eyeing me. He came up to me and said can I see your passport sir. Do you have any other I.D. sir. Yes.......after giving him my license he asked more questions as I put my hand in my pocket. He says....sir do not put your hands in your pockets. Yikes...I must really look scrapy or barnalcully.
When I went through the baggage check at the airport....I got frisked...did anyone else get frisked? Nope...just me....what is the deal...do I look like a terrorist?
Anyway I got through and off to Tucson where I await a flight in 4 hours. Tonight I see my family.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Day 9
Suns up and I am in bed...stayed up a little late watching the mariachis. Got a call from my friend Dave who lives in Guaymas and he was heading over to San Carlos to get something and wanted to know if I wanted to hang for the day....YES!!!!
We headed over to Miramar to check it out .....very cool town. I asked if we could stop in at Coleio Americano were there is a private school that teaches in english and spanish K - 12. Dave was not too sure and with a little coaxing he and I made it through the front door. Dave propably thinks I am crazy but I am a curious one and I am always checking things out. So I am a teacher, there is a school so....hey.
Next thing I know I am in the principals office...not a shock cause I have been the the "principals office" many times. This visit was on good terms though. I asked about the school and what they offer ect...very cool school! I was just checking it out and she was asking if I wanted to work there. She took us on a tour that lasted about 45 minutes. Dave was really impressed. It would be a blast to work there. Hummmmm.
And more ministry...
Next we were off to the pearl farm...the only one in north america. Dave asked why I wanted to go there...."because it is there", I said. Turns out we had fun checking out how pearls are formed and all that and that the summer is not a good time to come because they cant show you the oysters cuase 10 seconds out of the water and they are dead.
Now Dave is in the curious mood...it is contagious ya know. He and Dave take me to a point behind their house about a 7 minute drive and woe!!!! There is a beautiful spot to overlook the cliffs and the sea...it is awesome. Turns out there is a very nice cove to anchor in....you know I will be checking that out.
Dave and Dee decided that they should take me out to dinner...how can I refuse that.
Caught the 11:30 bus out of Guayamas and 12 hours later I am in Tucson. I took the execuative bus....nice big seat, lots of room.
We headed over to Miramar to check it out .....very cool town. I asked if we could stop in at Coleio Americano were there is a private school that teaches in english and spanish K - 12. Dave was not too sure and with a little coaxing he and I made it through the front door. Dave propably thinks I am crazy but I am a curious one and I am always checking things out. So I am a teacher, there is a school so....hey.
Next thing I know I am in the principals office...not a shock cause I have been the the "principals office" many times. This visit was on good terms though. I asked about the school and what they offer ect...very cool school! I was just checking it out and she was asking if I wanted to work there. She took us on a tour that lasted about 45 minutes. Dave was really impressed. It would be a blast to work there. Hummmmm.
And more ministry...
Next we were off to the pearl farm...the only one in north america. Dave asked why I wanted to go there...."because it is there", I said. Turns out we had fun checking out how pearls are formed and all that and that the summer is not a good time to come because they cant show you the oysters cuase 10 seconds out of the water and they are dead.
Now Dave is in the curious mood...it is contagious ya know. He and Dave take me to a point behind their house about a 7 minute drive and woe!!!! There is a beautiful spot to overlook the cliffs and the sea...it is awesome. Turns out there is a very nice cove to anchor in....you know I will be checking that out.
Dave and Dee decided that they should take me out to dinner...how can I refuse that.
Caught the 11:30 bus out of Guayamas and 12 hours later I am in Tucson. I took the execuative bus....nice big seat, lots of room.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Day 8 on the big blue with video
Funny .. right now I am writing this in a little restaurant with this amazing mariachi band and one of them is a woman with an terrific voice! I wish you could hear them ... best I have ever heard .... and I have heard a few Mariachis. So as you read below just keep that little tune in your head.
Woke up to a beautiful Sunrise in the east and grabbed my stuff and headed for Esperanza. Tried to fix some electrical problems but they will have to wait till next time. Decided to do a shakedown sail to see what all needs to be done. I now have a long list.
The wind was blowing out of the southwest at 8 knots. I slid out of the marina very carefully since I was by myself ... yes mom by myself. I figured if she sinks I can float to shore with my lifevest. So I motored out to open water and opened up the jib and slid the main up to full. The wind picked up to 12 knots and I was skimming the bay at 5.5 knots.
There was a little swell and the bow would occasionally pick up some sea and throw it in my face. It was as if Esperanza was playing with me ... like a dolphin. Of course I know sailboats dont do that ... but I saw Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. I sailed out to a point off Miramar though a frenzy of pelicans .................................... feeding on fish, Then I turned back and headed for the marina after 2 hours. The wind picked up to 20 (checked my windometer) and the swell was at 4 ft .... steep and back to back. It was not a pleasure cruise now. It was like riding a bucking bronco (yes I have done that). The occasional splash turned into constant spray with every wave. My shakedown cruise gave me a long list of things to fix.
I finally came into the marina sith big spendy motorboats on either side. I tried to slow "Espy" down by running in reversve after dropping sail. Even at idle speed in reverse I was picking up speed with. I kept running the sequence in my head how I would pull into my slip and how I would slow down... and it paid off. I had everything ready and I slid in gently to J22 scared out of my mind that I would run the bow over the dock. It was awesome! Well...now it is awesome now that I am in.
I had to pull out at 3 and tucked Esperanza into Marina Seca till we meet again.
Here is a short clip with the flip.
Woke up to a beautiful Sunrise in the east and grabbed my stuff and headed for Esperanza. Tried to fix some electrical problems but they will have to wait till next time. Decided to do a shakedown sail to see what all needs to be done. I now have a long list.
The wind was blowing out of the southwest at 8 knots. I slid out of the marina very carefully since I was by myself ... yes mom by myself. I figured if she sinks I can float to shore with my lifevest. So I motored out to open water and opened up the jib and slid the main up to full. The wind picked up to 12 knots and I was skimming the bay at 5.5 knots.
There was a little swell and the bow would occasionally pick up some sea and throw it in my face. It was as if Esperanza was playing with me ... like a dolphin. Of course I know sailboats dont do that ... but I saw Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. I sailed out to a point off Miramar though a frenzy of pelicans .................................... feeding on fish, Then I turned back and headed for the marina after 2 hours. The wind picked up to 20 (checked my windometer) and the swell was at 4 ft .... steep and back to back. It was not a pleasure cruise now. It was like riding a bucking bronco (yes I have done that). The occasional splash turned into constant spray with every wave. My shakedown cruise gave me a long list of things to fix.
I finally came into the marina sith big spendy motorboats on either side. I tried to slow "Espy" down by running in reversve after dropping sail. Even at idle speed in reverse I was picking up speed with. I kept running the sequence in my head how I would pull into my slip and how I would slow down... and it paid off. I had everything ready and I slid in gently to J22 scared out of my mind that I would run the bow over the dock. It was awesome! Well...now it is awesome now that I am in.
I had to pull out at 3 and tucked Esperanza into Marina Seca till we meet again.
Here is a short clip with the flip.
Day 7 Fatima
Outskirts of Fatima colonia
house with mom and 5 kids
Dave, Rafael Maricella and a new friend Sergio
Yesterday I worked on the sailboat....a few of the electrical connections were all corroaded. It was really windy from the NW.
Dave met me at the boat and we headed for Guaymas. Our first stop was my favorite taco stand Julios.
Second stop was Fatima, a poor colonia that the Lord put on my heart last year.
The colonia is characterized by 100's of kids hanging out not going to school, malnutrition, moms being used by men and on and on it goes. While there I saw of smiling children everywhere but I also sensed the underlying pain of the community.
My pastor friend is Rafael and his wife is Marciella. They are truely wonderful people with hearts for the people. In our conversatiion Rafael talked about a woman who had just died and now her, son 8 yrs. old, has the same disease and will die soon too. Rafael an
d Maricella began to cry and Dave and I prayed for them and the boy.
When Rafael asked what I was doing there I told him that last year the Lord had put it on Alison and my heart to return to Fatima and see what else we could do to help he and Maricella with the ministry there. I told him that we would like to come to Fatima for a week and come along side of he and his wife and help them in the ministry here.
Rafael said that we are welcome anytime and that there is so much ministry to be had that we would not be bored. The people are open and hungry. Presently Maricella meets with 200 kids a week. There are small groups meeting in homes in the community and Rafael is seeing a positive change in the community.
An older woman on the edge of the colonia that has a large piece of property has offered a part of it to Rafael to set up something (building, tent, hut...anything) to feed the children of Fatima. We went to the site (shown above) ...it would be awesome. I told Rafael that I didnt have very much money but the Father does and we will pray and see what the Lord does.
In the photos you can see a black little shed....a mother with 5 children lives there.
We delivered some formula for her new baby. Rafael and Maricella scooped up the kids and hugged them. Dave tickled the boys and they latched onto him like glue.
So now we pray and see what the Lord has.
After leaving Fatima and feeling I felt a longing to help the people of Fatima and point them to the hope of Christ. I pictured a group of Americans swinging hammers and digging and laughing as they ministered to the people. I waved to the kids good bye in hopes of a soon return.
Went went to Daves house on the other side of Guaymas and Dee, Daves wife, had made dinner and we sat on their porch overlooking Guaymas.
What a cool day!!! Miss my family but I hope that this spy mission turns out to be really fruitful.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Day 6
Some damage but she floats. Here is Esperanza in a slip ready to sail...or will be ready shortly. Hoping to go out this evening after meeting my friend Dave who lives in Guaymas. The weather is perfect....not too hot and not too cold. Water is cold though...not like the Oregon coast!!!
The wind is running about 12-18 knots. Enough to really scoot across the bay.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Day 5
Arrived in Guaymas at about 8:30 and my friend Dave picked me up. (Dave is my friend who is a missionary in Guaymas). Dave took me to a house that a friend of mine owns in San Carlos about 20 mins away. The house sits on a hill overlooking the sea. Debra, the owner, graciously has allowed me to stay there
Dave and I hung out for a while and talked about....I cant remember what we talked about because I was exhausted!
After Dave left I decided to run down the hill to get some food. It was 10:30 and I poked my head into a little restaurant to ask if it was too lat to get any food. The cooked mad up some tacos to go.
Went to bed late last night because I could pull myself away from looking at the big big blue. It was midnight when I went to sleep.
Today I woke up and surveyed the damage to Debras house from the hurricane. Termites have not stopped nibbling away at her wood beams. But all in all it looked pretty good.
Then I walked down to a local cafe for coffee and to send Alison a note on the internet. (Remeber I have no wheels).
Next it was down to the marina seca to survey the damage of Esperanza. She has a little hull damage and the rudder is cracked. I will do the repairs this summer. The boat was covered in dirt from the wind and the hurricane. Sounds like she was in the middle of a river during the hurricane. Guaymas had 29 inches of rain in 24 hours back in September.
I scrubbed and scrubbed and checked out the outboard and fittings...you know, man stuff. After inspecting every inch of her I thought she would probably float...so I scheduled the lift to drop her in the water.
Walked a half mile back to the marina and had lunch and waited around till 3:00 p.m. to have the boat lifted. It was windy and I was a little nervous about putting her a slip with no help.
Got her in a slip a little clumsily,as it had been 6 months since I had set foot on a sailboat. But, I had her tied down nice and tight I worked on her till about 6 and headed up the hill to watch the sun set, read and hang out.
I was really tired and it didn't take long to crash out.
Dave and I hung out for a while and talked about....I cant remember what we talked about because I was exhausted!
After Dave left I decided to run down the hill to get some food. It was 10:30 and I poked my head into a little restaurant to ask if it was too lat to get any food. The cooked mad up some tacos to go.
Went to bed late last night because I could pull myself away from looking at the big big blue. It was midnight when I went to sleep.
Today I woke up and surveyed the damage to Debras house from the hurricane. Termites have not stopped nibbling away at her wood beams. But all in all it looked pretty good.
Then I walked down to a local cafe for coffee and to send Alison a note on the internet. (Remeber I have no wheels).
Next it was down to the marina seca to survey the damage of Esperanza. She has a little hull damage and the rudder is cracked. I will do the repairs this summer. The boat was covered in dirt from the wind and the hurricane. Sounds like she was in the middle of a river during the hurricane. Guaymas had 29 inches of rain in 24 hours back in September.
I scrubbed and scrubbed and checked out the outboard and fittings...you know, man stuff. After inspecting every inch of her I thought she would probably float...so I scheduled the lift to drop her in the water.
Walked a half mile back to the marina and had lunch and waited around till 3:00 p.m. to have the boat lifted. It was windy and I was a little nervous about putting her a slip with no help.
Got her in a slip a little clumsily,as it had been 6 months since I had set foot on a sailboat. But, I had her tied down nice and tight I worked on her till about 6 and headed up the hill to watch the sun set, read and hang out.
I was really tired and it didn't take long to crash out.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Day 4
Up at 5 a.m......the same time that Bob and Irene (my inlaws) arrived with two more cousins...Rachel and Bethany. At 5:30 we were out the door to LAX. Good thing we arrived early because it was totally packed. The line to get into the building was about 40 yards long. At one point going through the baggage search area, one of the security guys yells "threat!" 100's of us were ordered to back away from the xray machine and it was totally quiet for 2 minutes. I knew it must have been me. Couldn't figure out what I did so I just stood there with my hands up. Then someone yelled all clear!" After that I was confronted about the bottle of hand sanitizer I had with me. This guard looked at me with this condesending stare. I shrugged my sholders and said "throw it away" and I smiled.
Out of LAX at 8 arrive in PHX at 930 off to TUC at 10 and arrive at 1045 and now its off to the Tufesa, the bus line, where my comfort ends and the real adventure begins.
Arrived at a little bus station and waited for about an hour and off I go on the bus. An hour later I was at the border. I am now a foriegner and I can only speak enough spanish to get me in trouble. Mexico law says that you must have a tourist visa for visits longer that 72 hours...the bus driver would not let me get a vias at the border and insisted that I didn't need one. Oh well...I will see what happens.
It was an 7 or 8 hour ride. Not bad. I gotta say...that these bus drivers are really good. At one point 5 inches seperated the bus and a double semi truck. The left side had a generous 12 inches of blacktop next to the the 6 inch shoulder. Needless to say I prayed alot.
Out of LAX at 8 arrive in PHX at 930 off to TUC at 10 and arrive at 1045 and now its off to the Tufesa, the bus line, where my comfort ends and the real adventure begins.
Arrived at a little bus station and waited for about an hour and off I go on the bus. An hour later I was at the border. I am now a foriegner and I can only speak enough spanish to get me in trouble. Mexico law says that you must have a tourist visa for visits longer that 72 hours...the bus driver would not let me get a vias at the border and insisted that I didn't need one. Oh well...I will see what happens.
It was an 7 or 8 hour ride. Not bad. I gotta say...that these bus drivers are really good. At one point 5 inches seperated the bus and a double semi truck. The left side had a generous 12 inches of blacktop next to the the 6 inch shoulder. Needless to say I prayed alot.
Day 2 - 3
In Southern CA. After 15 hours we rolled into Huntington
Beach to grandmas house. How wonderful to see grandma!!! We lounged around and talked all day recovering from the all nighter...you know...rest stop trying to sleep in a car seat in an L shape.
Sunday we woke up and ran down to Newport beach where we met cousin Tiffany and her two beautiful daughters were runnng in a race. So our kids got together with the cousins and hung out. Ami is with us too, Mikkis bestest buddy. After going to Fashion Island, the hot spot of shopping in Newport beach we headed for our favorite shopping place a resell place in Newport beach. The kids had fun shopping for cool closthes that we could never afford.
Sunday night it was BBQ at grandmas house. I made some tri tip and stuff. Very cool time with grandma...then later on it was time to get ready to go to Mexico.
Beach to grandmas house. How wonderful to see grandma!!! We lounged around and talked all day recovering from the all nighter...you know...rest stop trying to sleep in a car seat in an L shape.
Sunday we woke up and ran down to Newport beach where we met cousin Tiffany and her two beautiful daughters were runnng in a race. So our kids got together with the cousins and hung out. Ami is with us too, Mikkis bestest buddy. After going to Fashion Island, the hot spot of shopping in Newport beach we headed for our favorite shopping place a resell place in Newport beach. The kids had fun shopping for cool closthes that we could never afford.
Sunday night it was BBQ at grandmas house. I made some tri tip and stuff. Very cool time with grandma...then later on it was time to get ready to go to Mexico.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Day 1
Tonight my family and I leave for Huntington Beach. On Monday I fly out of L.A. to Tucson to catch a bus to Guaymas Mexico. Stay tuned!
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