As you might imagine adventure lurks somewhere close to the Jefe’ and in all that is going on aboard and around the Sailors Run. This year is no different and that’s the way I like it.
Ok, let’s go back to early November and the recommissioning of Sailors Run. I was on the hard in Guaymas, Mexico and spent 10 days in the work yard changing out thru-hulls installing the new head (toilet) and the force ten stove that has an oven. The new dinghy was commissioned, and Baha wheels installed, for those all to memorable beach landings.
Before leaving Marina Guaymas I learned that they were nearly doubling their rates so let me know if you have better options. Actually, they are still the most reasonable I can find in this unreasonable world we find ourselves in.
The sail south to La Cruz took about 4+ days and was very enjoyable. This all was partly to the new ray marine tiller pilot I hooked to my monitor wind vane that would steer the boat on course in light air or motoring. Much like having two more crew aboard. I have nick named it “OH BABY” cause it is truly a mighty fine device. With the new anchor chain, I was amazed when the chain was hauled aboard and laid out on deck to be rinsed with fresh water so there was no” Free king Rust ” all over the decks.
Once down to La Cruz I picked up my new main sail from North Sails Mike. I was shocked at how it looked at first all the luff slides were wrong, and Mike agreed this was not what we asked for, so Mike said give me a day and I will make it right, this he did!
Next day I took it to the boat and hoisted it, wow what a beautiful sail except the leech of the sail had a 12-inch roach and was jammed into my back stay. Oh! that was not all, the luff was too long, and the sail could not lift the boom off the rail that protects the solar panel on the dodger “whoops”.
Once again, I called Mike, and he brought his boat out and looked it over Hmmmm! No problem lets bag it up I will take it back to the loft and it will be ready by tomorrow evening, and you know what it was because Mike is an actual sail maker than can fix anything and I’m very happy with the new sail.
I sailed south to Barra where I have several very good friends and an amazing thing happened, I ended up getting a new head sail for a very reasonable price from my friend Armon who lives there. now he is producing sailing power for the mighty Sailors Run. “Thanks Armon”
This winter season is to be one of great adventure for El Jefe’ My son, Daniel and His Girl friend have reached out to me to help them sail their recently purchased 61 ft Privilege Catamaran, a cruise of 4,000 NM., from Spain, Gibraltar to Antigua in the Caribbean.
I will update you once the voyage is complete, as this will be quite challenging with things happening along the way.
We depart in late December and expect to spend a month at sea. “Stay tuned”.
Winter of 2022-2023 in Mexico aboard the Sailors Run.
Winter in Mexico is very much like summer in most parts of the US and it is for this reason I find it easy to skip out on my New Mexico winter. Debbie escapes the winter for at least one month and this next season she is shooting for two months. It appears we are living in very troubled times with inflation doing major damage to all Americans finances from the north pole to the south pole, and it would seem that it is not just happening to the western hemisphere. We are about one screw up from World War-3. It seems to me that a good work ethic is being frowned upon by a not so wise younger generation whom seem to be infatuated with getting everything for no effort on their part. The new generation is quick to sue with little thought of where is all this big money settlements are coming from. Perhaps if they realized they are the victims of their own actions they would not be so quick to sue. One might think about the incredibly high cost of free Medical insurance. Oh you wonder why I say that well think about how shabby that free coverage really is, things like where have all the good doctors gone and who is this person that is examining me now that I have waited 2 + months to see. Or how about the 45-minute wait in the office to see who ever this is. Have you ever noticed how government officials don’t really seem to want to help you let alone listen to your common sense logic about things. Don’t worry they just don’t get it, they are actually working for you as your taxes pay their wages and they don’t believe like the private sector that really wants your business because they know you have no choice except them as they are it and its their way or the highway. So now you possibly wonder why larger governments are needed and should be a must on your wish list. I have to apologize for those last paragraphs because as a cruiser I just have too much time to think and experience other communist cultures where this “crap hasn’t ever been good for anyone with drive and who wants to better them selves. It’s time for us to suck it up turn around and go back and make our country great again like what it once was the greatest country in the world that everyone wants to experience. Stop them from cancelling our culture and trying to indoctrinate us into a socialists soon to become a communist dictatorship. Now with that storm on the horizon lets see what Debbie and I are doing to prepare. First we are up grading all old sails to new, new gimbaled galley stove, anchor chain, auto pilot, Dinghy, outboard, and that’s just some of the bigger item’s off the big list. We figure best be ready for what ever comes our way and we know a few very special places where one might fair pretty well under ex stream conditions. Debbie spent a month aboard the boat and we had a blast in Mexico. Mexico still feels relatively safe and much safer than any large city you might visit in the US. Of course large cities in any country are better avoided than subjecting your self to those risks. Prices are on the rise in Mexico and it is hard to guess when they will reach the tipping point and Sailors Run will opt out. Our most recent experience in this area was Marina Mazatlan, more than doubling their rates to become the highest priced Marina in Mexico with the poorest of Facilities. We realize prices must go up but it is foolish to raise your rates 100%+ in one year, but they did it and Debbie and I although loving the crew at Mazatlan we had to go else where to leave the Sailors Run in the Hurricane season. I will return to Sailors Run late October kicking her into shape then sailing South from Guaymas to the Gold Coast of Mexico for another season. Your Amigo Jefe’
Back seat loaded to the max with new dingy etc.Trunk w/items to boatnew high test 275 ft of chain for s.r.
Debbie and I had conspired once again to jump on the Yamaha FJR 1300 and head west from Albuquerque, NM. in late July. We visited our dear sailing amigos Paul and Kathy off of the sailing vessel Tequila Rose at their home in Chino Valley Arizona. The trip started out great with sunny sky’s and warm temperatures. On this trip we left our small tent trailer at home as we would be staying with friends along the way.
Paul and Kathy were fun as always finding a near by winery with live music and we drank and danced to our heart’s content. One of the special events for me was a ride in Paul’s special addition model corvette. I must admit it is a real toss you back in the seat ride when Paul stomps on it putting those 600 pony’s and that 6-speed transmission to work.
It was a short two day stop and we were soon off to Needles, California and some fun on the Colorado River with my nephew Jerry Jr. and his family and many other people that we have become friends with. Needles has to be one of the hottest places in California, not much cooler than the Mohave desert itself.. It was 118* when we rolled into the resort on the river and would reach 122* before the day was done. When there you can only Thank God for the cool temperature of the Colorado River. The river is truly a life savor for all that venture to this smoldering peace of earth. Debbie and I spent most of our time half in the river or cruising the river with Jerry in his pontoon boat with a dozen others taking in the sights of this rugged terrain that runs along the river.
Once again two really fun filled days had slipped away from us and we were off to Phoenix, Arizona to visit another very fun sailing couple Randy and Jerry. We thought we would play it smart and depart at o-dark thirty beating the heat and get to Phoenix by noon. We were staying in an airconditioned motel six and set that alarm for 5 am and jumped up when the alarm went off. Soon I was out the door to uncover the bike in preparation to get on down the road. Stepping out the motel door I was shocked to be greeted by a 99* temperature that was not just suffocating, but way to hot way to early for this ride to the south.
Deb and I grabbed a sausage sandwich at Mc Donald’s and were off to Phoenix. Once again our phone mapping system shut down as we were close to our friends house and we needed that little blue line to find our way there. It seems that once the temperature hits 108* it is just to much for the phone. A phone call to Jerry and Randy gave us the directions we were needing to arrive at our destination.
Once again we had a good time and ended up in a swimming pool to deal with the 112* temperature at a beautiful homeowners club house, of course the inflation on all the prices makes one’s head swim at just how costly things are becoming everywhere. The next morning was a little cooler than Needles and the really good thing was our route home was at a much higher altitude with the road winding up through the mountains just 20 minutes down the road.
Debbie and I have trouble seeing why people would live where it is so freaking hot in the summer??
Sturgis Adventure Aug. 2nd. 2022.
Just two weeks later Deb and I hooked up our trailer and headed for Sturgis, South Dakota, a planned two week escape to motorcycle’s Largest motorcycle rally in the world.
Our first night was spent up on Raton Pass NM. at over 8000 ft. elevation at Lake Alice, NM. The camp host was quick to warn us about the presence of Bears and that it was our responsibility to make sure all food and even tooth paste must be locked up in a bear box. Now Debbie’s hair was standing up on the back of her neck. I personally think she just lacks confidence in the actual strength of the fabric of our tent in Bear paradise. The camp ground was a very nice one and the individual sites were large and well shaded. Debbie spent most of the night listening intently for the bears that failed to arrive.
Our next leg of the journey took us up over Raton pass and down a very isolated series of highways across the eastern portion of Colorado. These two lane roads have no shoulder it goes from pavement to grass that slopes away into ditches on either side of the road. I mean if you had a flat or broke down you would need to block of one lane of this Hwy until you could make repairs or get towed.
Our next camp site was at Branch, Colorado at a municipal park. This is a downtown campground convenient to stores but not a woodsy site by any means but clean and nice all the same.
Debbie and I grabbed a super 8 motel in Hot Springs, South Dakota after a hot day crossing the western end of Nebraska. It was nice to have the air conditioning after rolling through the corn and sunflower fields of Nebraska. We were now just two hours out of Sturgis and the push north could now slack and a much more relaxed atmosphere was upon us and the real fun could begin. Debbie and I shared this motel with a dozen other cyclists and bike sightings were definitely on the rise.
Aug-5th-2022 we rolled into Sturgis and on to “Hog Heaven” where we had reserved a camp site for the 6-days we were to spend there. The day was sunny and nice, the people that checked us in were very courteous and friendly. The camp ground was very scenic with lots of trees and shade for all.
We assembled our tent once again but this time it would be up for six days and here we were at a place that was friendly and had live entertainment each night. The showers were hot and clean and plenty of them. They had out houses placed every 150 ft. along the road and they were pumped out every day and washed down. We would gladly stay here again. The only down side were the little black flies that bite like mosquitos and long pants are a must in the evening.
This first day we just kicked back at the camp site and later moseyed on down to the live music for some dancing and beers.
On our second day we went into Sturgis and braved the throngs of bikers and bikes. Never have I ever seen any thing like this. The bikes were beautiful and the people friendly. Sturgis is amazing and also pricey so we had a buffet breakfast and it was $18 dollars a breakfast. Fortunate for us we had brought plenty of food so our eating out was kept down to about once a day and we had a blast everyday we were there. Much of our time was spent biking to beautiful sites around the area on the absolutely best Highways I have ever rode on. In South Dakota they don’t do shady road work as most highways are concrete.
Of course we spent lots of time looking at different rally shirts and after a while you just have to walk away and think about it. It seems you can buy cheap shirts that might not survive the first wash cycle or 30- 50-dollars for something real nice.
Debbie and I came here not in a gang but when you ride in this area with 500K bikes you often end up in packs of 40 or more bikes and you see them going in all directions all day long and into the night. Debbie said she actually got a headache just looking at all the bikes. We rode about 400 miles in the area visiting cool places like Dead Wood City where Wild Bill Hickock was killed. The next day we visited Mount Rushmore and learned of how they blasted those faces out of the mountain. The following day we were off to the Devils Tower in Wyoming, and our last day was spent buying more T shirts and kicking back.
Time went fast and soon we were homeward bound catching two motels and the camp site at Lake Alice once again sleeping with the bears. We seen no bears but Debbie did come face to face with a very large deer in the camp ground.
We did hear that the last night of the rally two rival gangs got into a fight and two people were stabbed to death and one person shot in the neck who did survive. I think this is amazing as the population of this small town had swelled to nearly a million people all drinking, armed and out for a good time over a period of 10-days. Like think how many people died in Chicago over the same 10-day span and I can only say I will take my chances at Sturgis every time.
The one thing I don’t understand is all the people that ride with out helmets. Nine people died in bike crashes over the duration of the rally. I don’t know who had helmets and who did not but the odds are the majority of these people were not wearing helmets.
We are planning one more outing on the bike mid September. more on that later.
Your Amigos, Jeff & Debbie.
Paul and his Hot Corvette
Debbie and Kathy in Chino Valley Arizona.
Debbie thinking about getting her own bike.
Debbie thinking about her own bike.Devils Tower Wyoming.Debbie happy to see MT. Rushmore.Sweet custom bike.A real wild west town.Time for a “Brew”.Wild Bill!Silver trike running a 427 Chevy that dynos out at 650hp.Debbie ponders what the 5th card might have been.Debs looking for something for the front yard.Pit Bull ridding atop of Bike trailer.Maybe I should get a bigger bike.Trailer pitched by bear box for food.Debbie’s biker mansion.Securing for night fall.SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURESSAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURESNice Trike.Trike looks good on either side“Where the hell” did we park ours?“Big CCs here Baby”.Good looking sound system.“Damn” finally found it.Having a beer with our founding fathers.Debbie at the municipal camp ground in Brush, Colorado.Final fuel stop Las Vegas, NM.
Yes things often fail while at sea and my radio communication with all of you went down when my sailmail modem conked out.
I’m currently back in New Mexico with Debbie planning summer bike trips and fixing what needs to be fixed or replaced aboard Sailors Run that fit with in my budget. Guess what the modem was repaired by Farallon electronics and guess what it was an internal NiCad battery that had just crapped out after 22years, Hmmmmm, not to bad after all the use it has seen.
I still have not gotten together all the info on my future record attempt the 2027 Sailors Run Global challenge to become the oldest person ever to solo circumnavigate non stop around the world unassisted via the 5-great capes. Stay tuned for an update on all of this.
It looked to be another beautiful morning as I hoisted the anchor in Santiago Bay, Mexico on Sailors Run, The winds were very light as I sailed off the anchor slowly exciting this beautiful bay on my way back to Barra De Navidade, Mexico. I had just made a course correction heading out towards the Pacific Ocean now just east of the small group of rocks that I would soon be passing on my ports side, when something caught my eye coming towards me on my port side, suddenly there was a huge blast of air when a large humpback whale prepared to sub merge now just 100 yards away, arching its back and diving deep showing off its large tail as it slipped below the surface. I looked on once again with a great appreciation for the sailing life that allows these close encounters with these huge sea creatures. I also made a false assumption that this whale had seen me before diving deep, and nearly a half hour had passed and I had actually forgotten about the whale. I have to admit that I had pondered going below and turning on the stereo and playing music to be heard by this whale or any other whale in my near proximity. This is a trick that Debbie and I used in the Hawaiian waters when sailing through hundreds of whales on passage between the islands and we never had any problems with whales. I knew I had a cd in the stereo below, a Tahitian drumming one but being sure the whale had seen me I assumed I was already on the whale’s radar.
It was over thirty minutes since I had last seen the whale and me and the Sailors Run were just ghosting along at about 2.5 kts. when suddenly much to my surprise I was startled into survival mode by a blast of air as I twisted around shocked to see the huge whale 50 feet astern of me charging along at about 5kts closing on the stern of Sailors Run. I dove below cranking on the stereo and turning the volume to full blast expecting to feel an impact at any second. I climbed back into the cock pit as the Tahitian music blasted out below decks. I looked over the stern and was amazed at what I was witnessing. The whale was twisted hard to its right and was headed deep as its tail broke the surface just missing my monitor wind vane that hangs off the stern of Sailors Run. I can only be grateful for past experience’s that enabled me to avoid this collision and feel the story could save other sailors from dangerous encounters with whales while under sail in an area that is known to have whales present.
Happy new Year to all of you out there from your Amigos Debbie and Jeff S/V Sailors run!!
First let me say the weather here in Mexico is typically “spectacular? as always. Every where I have been has seemed relatively safe. The one exception being the coved that seems to be about as common as the common cold and appears to be just slightly more dangerous. My perspective is that everyone is going to get it and some more than once but it appears to have weakened in severity and life marches on at least here in Mexico.
I find my self pretty much marching in place surveying the battle field for the next big “2027” adventure, once again around the world solo aboard the old war-horse Sailors Run. Can we do it as we will both be 10-years older me at 81 and Sailors Run a mere 47-years of age.
I had recently sailed south to Santiago bay several weeks ago and upon my return to Barra while lifting the dowsed main off the deck to tie it on the boom I was alarmed to hear the sound of tearing sail cloth. A closer look at the sail revealed two 10-inch rips in the sail. I had anticipated in sailing in this years “Flamingo Regatta” during sail fest here in Barra, but the hour spent patching the main convinced me otherwise. yes its time to replace the sails on Sailors Run. I have been reluctant to do it because I don’t want to get them to far in advance of the “Global Challenge 2027”. Oh yes and then there is this new enemy called inflation that is trying to steal my dream of being the oldest person in the world to have sailed solo non-stop unassisted around the world. Well fear not because behind the mighty Sailors Run stands thousands of my fellow sailors that I’m sure will want to help make this happen and as usual the Jefe’ has an idea.
I was going to wait until summer to put this out there but I just can’t keep my thoughts to myself, “dam it”. There are details to be worked out and if you were and early contributor to help make this one last great dream come true “fear not” as you will be credited and counted in.
OK here is the “Deal” Debbie and I are going to raffle off the Sailors Run. The way it works is each 100 dollars that you contribute to the Sailors Run 2027 Global Challenge you will receive a raffle ticket. There will be 2000 tickets max available. You might ask are there risks and I can assure you there are and I take the biggest ones. Your risk is the boat never returns and is lost at sea along the way, pretty much ending the raffle. I plan to return as I have made a similar voyage before and know what needs to be done to the Sailors Run to be ready. This will take about 50,000 dollars just to hit the starting line on the Straits of Juan De Fuca. Of course for me I could loose my life and there is the possibility that I don’t sell but half the tickets meaning that I virtually give away the Sailors Run. The raffle will happen within 3-days of my return and there will be a new owner of Sailors Run. Yes this will be a very emotional time for me as it should be, but know body sails forever and I have lived my dreams and it will be best I quit a winner at 82- years of age.
Now as you can well imagine I need to consult a lawyer to make sure all things are in order and this can actually happen as I have dreamed it can.
Debbie and I have had an amazing summer traveling 4500 miles on our Yamaha FJR with a trailer in tow. Now if we did not show up at your house this year just know your not safe as next year might be the one. Debbie pretty much took over the planning on the trip and when she was done the trip was going to take three months, Whoops!! So we had to pass on some stops as there were just way to many but you can be assure all of you were thought about and talked about if you reside in the USA.
Check out our blog at www.sailorsrun.com as we have posted some pictures of our trip. We are happy to report we only went down twice and no one was injured.
As for now I’m preparing Sailors Run for the next great adventure. You might say “what” well don’t even think about it as it will happen. I’m currently 5 years out from being grown up enough to set the worlds record for the oldest person “Ever” to circumnavigate the world solo, non stop unassisted via the 5-“great capes”. So guess what I’m trying to get the Sailors Run back in top condition to do such a thing, and it looks like a long haul to accomplish all that must be done. As you all know I have tones of testosterone and not nearly the money that is needed. One of the problems is just trying to be recognized by the British that seem to control these records.
Just a thought please share my two books with family and friends at Christmas as that is truly away to help keep the adventures coming.
Well just be assured I will do it and the boat will be ready. The plan is to sail out of Mexico in the spring of 2027 and arrive in Port Townsend Washington where I plan to haul the boat and do final preparations for the voyage. I will depart October of 2027 at ge 81 and hopefully return at age 82 back to Washington State, with the new record.
Right now I’m working on the boat in all ports a long the Mexican gold coast and enjoying warm times in Mexico. All appears to be well here and I just installed 800 dollars worth of batteries to keep the house bank fired up and they are doing well.
I could really use some sponsorship for sails, auto pilot and at least a rebuild on my Monitor wind vane, but rest assured this adventure will happen if Debbie and I have to cash in our “Beer Cans” and you are all invited to ride along.
Summer 2021 major bike trip with “Debbie” towing our new “camping trailer”.
I returned back to Albuquerque, NM. in mid-April for my summer season back with Debbie, this being our normal arrangement of time together for the next few years. Like normal there were many things that had to be accomplished, such as planting garden, new gutters on the front of the house and a pretty much tossed together irrigation system to keep most things watered on the property. The things that the irrigation system didn’t get we were fortunate enough to have a good neighbor who watered the rest and that turned out to be no small task as we were to be gone on this road trip on our FJR Yamaha 1300 for 6-weeks.
We had planned to buy a new pop up camping trailer for the bike. Once we began looking into the purchase of such a thing it became obvious that availability was very limited and most manufactures couldn’t guarantee a delivery time as they couldn’t find people that wanted to work in the good old USA. It seems everyone is happy to stay at home when they get paid more for doing that than working, Hmmm, can’t say as I blame them.
It didn’t take Debbie long to solve the trailer problem as she located a used one within one hour from where we live and it turned out to suit our needs and was just 1600-dollars rather than the 3500-4500 that a new one costs. The Mini Mite trailer we bought was 20 years old but had been stored in a garage and had seen very little use, just what we needed to be able to both travel the good old USA.
It turns out that purchasing a trailer towing package for the FJR was not easy for the same reason of not much help and a large demand on manufactured items. It took a full two months to get one and that required a lot of “hound dogging” to make it “happen”. The cost was 400 dollars for the towing package but it was easy to install and would serve us well over the duration of our travels.
Debbie and I are very different in what we think a road trip should be. My idea is to ride the back roads, soak up the scenery and camp in remote out of the way places with nature, just the two of us. Debbie on the other hand wanted to visit many of our old cruising friends along the way and stay with them several days at each location. Deb compiled her list of people and placed it in front of me. I in turn added up the days it would take to stop at all our friends and it was looking like our trip was going to take three months. Lucky for me there were some large mileage days between friends locations where we would be forced to camp, and actually use the trailer we were going to be dragging around the USA “Hmmmmmm”.
We decided three months was just too long to be away from home with the garden and all so we sadly had to shorten the list of people to visit not to mention that we had hoped to go to the “Sturgis Bike Rally” in South Dakota but that was going to have to wait for another year. After much planning the trip was cut to 6-weeks, and we would visit 10-states along the way, they being Arizona, Nevada, California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah and Colorado.
Our estimated cost for fuel, food and lodging was approximately 2000-dollars a bargain at today’s prices and this only being made possible by our many great friends and relatives we stayed with along the way not to mention having an RV that gets 43mpg. Yes, the powerful Yamaha FJR even totally loaded down with two people, three full luggage compartments and pulling a trailer and this all happens on 86 octane fuel. The FJR with just me aboard and no luggage or trailer will get 52-55mpg at 75-80mph.
This road trip was a truly a memorable adventure and we traveled some 4700 miles and avoided any serious injuries. There were a couple of embarrassing moments like the time we pulled into Mc Donald’s to get a breakfast burger and while trying to spot a good place to park the bike and trailer where we could easily get back out of the parking lot I over looked a curb that was protruding out and when the tire on the trailer came up hard against it, simultaneously dumping Debbie and I over on our side in the parking lot. Thank God, I had installed those crash bars as they kept us from getting caught under the bike and no damage occurred to passengers or bike. The embarrassing thing was that we had to get help to get the bike back up right with all of the weight we were hauling. I’m sure if we had to Debbie and I could have gotten it up if we would have had no help, but that still remains to be seen. Now, you must understand that we don’t do this often but there was that one other time on The Port Townsend ferry when we were pulling into the ferry dock on Whidbey Island that I got on the bike and thinking that we were secured to the landing ramp I proceeded to lift the bike up of the kick stand and the ferry lurched sideways from the landing and I just continued on over and went down with the bike. Luckily I missed the car next to me and the deck hand on the ferry was a huge guy and with his help we were soon righted and on our way to my sister and brother-in-law’s place on Whidbey Island.
Of the 42 days we were on the road we did get to actually camp with our trailer 11-nights of our trip just enough time to know the trailer works for us and towing it is no problem for our Yamaha-FJR.
Once again in late October I will return to Sailors Run in sunny Mexico and resume my life as a sailor once again, with plans for Debbie to join me for part of that time down there.
Your Amigos Jeff & Debbie
Deb & I chilling on Colorado river beach.
We made it to Vegas.
John & I in Vegas.
Bike & Trailer ready for trip.
Anita & Debbie in Vegas
Deb & John in the pool at John an Anita’s home in Nevada
My brother Larry and I at camp site in Anaheim Calif.
Enjoying time with Lani & Richard in Newport Beach, Calif.
Lani below decks aboard their 86 ft. schooner Astor.
Debbie hanging out onboard “Astor” anchored off Catalina Island California
Richard and Lani at the helm of their beloved “Astor”.
Me doing a little reading at our camp site along a river in N. Calif.
My Daughter Ginger and her two daughters Mandy on the left and Carisa on the right in Washington St.
Deb & I with my sister Bonnie and brother in law Jim and Candice, Des and Desi in Washington State.
Me with nephew Jerry’s pontoon boat on Colorado river.
I had been enjoying a fun filled winter season in Mexico and after nearly 5-months I had Sailors Run pretty much kicked back into shape. Little did I know that I was soon to come face to face with the Covid-19 and with my 75th birthday just two weeks away, I suddenly was somewhat skeptical whether I would make it.
I had been hearing that the Covid-19 was raising “hell” in Mexico, yet I had yet to meet anyone that I knew that had gotten it. It would seem that most of a sailor’s life is spent out on the sea either at anchor or making passages in lots of fresh clean air.
My encounter occurred when I went out to lunch with another boating couple in La Cruz and I followed that up with a visit to their boat the next day where my friend downloaded some charts on my computer that I very much needed and appreciated having. Later that evening I found myself “munching” on some chips and exploring the charts and dreaming of far off places.
The next morning I was shocked to get a call from my friends and they informed me that they started feeling very ill after I had left. The day before they were tested for the Covid-19, and discovered that they were both infected and my friend recommended that I wipe my computer down with alcohol before getting on it because he had been all over it. I took his advice all the while knowing it was most likely too late.
I had asked them how they think they got Covid-19 and they believed it happened when they and two other couples all went together on a provisioning trip in one car and one of the couples had just attended a concert two days before the shopping trip. I was shocked that in the La Cruz anchorage there were now three boats that were infected and I was rapidly becoming the 4th one. After just three days I was showing the first signs- a cough and it felt like I had something wrapped around my chest making it difficult to suck in a full breath. On about the 4th day I was running a slight fever and had chills as my cough grew worse and by the 5th day I was losing my senses of taste and smell. My friends were concerned and checked on me daily after all I was out in an anchorage by myself and might need help. Several other friends were alerted to my condition and offered to get me whatever I needed as I was basically self-quarantined to my boat.
I heard encouraging news from my friends that just after 7-days they had been retested and were found to no longer be able to spread the covid-19 even though they were still coughing having headaches and no sense of taste or smell.
I had not been tested nor did I want to be as I planned to check out of la Cruz and sail for Mazatlán, where I had a flight back to the US on the 20th of April some three weeks after contacting the Covid-19 and knew I would have to pass the covid-19 test in order to be on my flight home and of course this concerned me and my wife Debbie.
After a little over a week I checked out of La Cruz with the Port Captain and did a 19-hr overnight passage to Mantachin bay, Mexico. I have to admit I was still very sick coughing and feeling weak at this point and thinking I was starting to become very congested in my lungs and sinuses. I had absolutely no taste or smell and eating a can of tuna fish was like eating “Cardboard chips” from a can! I was so exhausted upon arrival at Mantachin bay that once the hook was down I just collapsed into my bunk and slept for 16 hours. When at last I woke up I decided it was time to start taking antibiotics for the infections that were secondary from the covid-19. Ampicillin was my choice of drugs and somehow gave me the confidence to tackle the last leg of my voyage to Mazatlán, a 31hr. leg that seemed monstrous when you are weak and sick with no safe secure anchorage to stop at along the way. Making the trip more difficult, the electronic auto pilot is out and the winds are typically very light along this route making the wind vane little help and me being at the helm for the full duration of the passage.
The antibiotics started kicking in towards the end of the passage and the winds were up better than normal allowing the wind vane to steer at times taking some load off the old man and making turning 75 a real possibility.
My arrival at Mazatlán Marina was such a welcome relief, that once I had slipped into my slip and gotten some temporary lines on the boat securing it to the dock I dove below and had a good 6hrs sleep.
The day for my flight came fast and yes, I passed the covid-19 test trying not to cough all the time I was being tested. I did celebrate my 75 birthday on the 17th of April and after another 5-weeks recuperating under Debbie’s diligent care at home I now feel fine and Debbie and I are planning a 6,000 mile trip on the motorcycle this summer. We plan to pull a small trailer behind the bike that is a pop up tent that will be our home when needed along the way.
Wishing you all a great summer out there -Your Amigos, Jeff& Debbie. 6/23/2021
SAILORS RUN and CREW want to Thank all of the Amigo’s that stepped up and donated for school supplies here in Barra De Navidad. Your donations and some extremely generous help make this years Cruise in Week the greatest success ever.
Just a little bit about what happened down here. This was to be the fourth year of this event where donations for the schools were a way for the cruising community to try and help out a struggling education system. Normally, what the cruisers do is take local people out on their boats for rides around the bay and receive donations from many sources for doing this.
Just a brief history of the event two years ago was the most successful event raising the most money. Last year the event could not happen because everything was shut down because of the Covid by the government. This year looked to have the same problems then someone come up with the idea of a sailboat regatta where people sponsored different boats in the race. The Port Captain said he would allow this as long as it was done with only necessary crew members on board the boats, meaning they had to be regular crew or family members. We cruisers got around this with “sisters and brothers of another mother.” Also many cruisers donated time and labor painting parts of the school, class rooms etc.
It was obvious to me that the Sailors Run needed extra crew for the race and since I have many friends here in Barra I figured that not to be a problem and signed up to race. I soon discovered that my potential crew members had all been scarfed up by my friend Armen as he was part owner in a boat he wanted to race and we would sort out this crew thing at the Super Bowl Game.
I arrived early and had a few beers before Armen arrived and had contrived this diabolical plan for my crew. Upon Armen’s arrival I explained since he had scarfed up all the good sailing talent in the area he left me with but little choice to take his and his crews wives and we would “Kick Their Ass” out on the race course, and the women cheered and the challenge excepted.
The outcome there was Sailors Run first across the finish line in very light air 7-10 knots,”Yea for my crew”. Armen and crew on Confete actually thought he should have been winner as he had gained on us from where he was when the starting gun went off, but I explained that is not how they determine the winner and you need a good start for that to work. The other thing to know here the first start was for cruising boats as they are heavily laden with cruising equipment and the Confeti is a striped down Islander 30 footer with no cruising gear.
The race was fun and we gave Armen and crew on the Confete a good broad side with about 30-biodegradable water balloons. My crew ended up being four women and one other guy. We were second around the turning mark in the race of 11-boats. The course being short just an out and back race. We didn’t fly a spinnaker due to the lack of crew’s experience. Our over all finish was probably third as one of the boats that just got by us at the end had a spinnaker. The Sailors Run used our 115% Genoa, Main and Mizzen and the latter two sails have over 40,000 miles on them.
Over all I was totally pleased with our performance and we were even able to hold off another Baba 40 cutter rig until after rounding the turning mark. I screwed up by trying to sail over the top of another boat having to pinch up and the other Baba dropped off on a beam reach and got under us while I was screwing around with this other guy with a spinnaker. Oh Well! it was all fun.
Thanks again to all of you out their as you made Sailors Run the top boat for donations, and a tearful, Heart Felt Love goes out to all mine and Debbie’s Amigos
