S/V Willow
Mexico 2006
Launched in August of 2002
Built and owned by:
Bonnie Gauthier
Greg Krivonak
Design:
Jay Benford, 34’ Dory
Also called “The Badger”
Junk Rigged Schooner
Plywood and epoxy construction.
November 2006 Archives
November 27, 2006
Here is the namesake for, and constant companion while building our floating home, Willow, a very serene dog. Willow lives in Bellingham, WA with Debbie and Andrew Craig. It was in their front yard that Willow was built, thanks so much you two.
We have sailed Willow from the NW, to Hawaii, Palmyra Atoll, back to Hawaii, and then on back to Bellingham. That was the summer of 2004, sort of the shake down cruise I suppose. I will put up some pictures from that trip later, for now I want to focus on the recent past and present. Last year we cruised down the west coast of the US, eventually making our way into the Sea of Cortez and mainland Mexico. Many good friends were made and many beautiful things experienced. Then, well, we had to go back to work. Willow was hauled out and put in dry storage in the town of San Carlos, MX (about 4hrs drive due south of Tucson, AZ). A bus and two airplanes saw us back to Bellingham where we very quickly got on other airplanes headed for Alaska and our labors. But that is all in the past. We earned our dollars and pointed our noses south again.
It all began in Bellingham, WA, with our old and trustworthy car, Thor. The only car I have ever owned, it has served me well over the years. This car was my grandfather, Nelson Trenner's, and he chose very wisely when buying this car in 1977. We needed to get from Bellingham, through the mountains and deserts of the SW United States, fully loaded, cross the border and make it safely over a few hundred miles of Mexican highways. No problem. When talking to a friend, a much better mechanic than myself, about his thoughts on whether-or-not he thought the car would make. He simply replied, “sure it will make it, just keep putting gas in it.” He was right.
Here we are in Seattle with our best of friends, Jim LaGasse. His home has been the launching point for countless adventures beginning in Seattle. My new hairstyle was sculpted for the most comfort in the heat we were headed for. The drive would be about 1,800miles, ending in SanCarlos, Mexico.
We made it into Northern California before we had the first glitch, a flat tire on I-5, very unfortunate. Sort of tore the bumper off a bit while jacking it up. Old steel you know. It took a little doing, but we got the job done and fired Thor back up to continue on.
Bonnie was very excited about her purchase of some new and stylish bean bags, intended as cockpit seat for Willow. She was warranted in the excitement, as they have proven to be exceptionally comfortable. Below Bonnie models the bags and car with our friend Ryan Martin, of S/V Godspeed. We met him last winter in Mexico and kept in touch. He has been living in Seattle and spent this past summer as we did, working. He is a stouthearted traveler and proved it by climbing into Thor for the road trip south. Not a lighthearted decision to make. Thanks Ryan.
The intention was to take the quickest and least challenging route, to take the pressure off of the 30-year-old car, but it did not work out that way. We made it into the endless tract housing developments around Sacramento, CA, got stressed and turned left. Well, the left turn took us due east toward Lake Tahoe and the Sierra Nevada Mountains. So much for flat and fast. So, we went up and down, all the while I was eyeballing the temperature gauges on the dash board my grandfather installed, and I blessed him repeatedly as we motored on. We made it over the Sierra’s and were home free; just go south, no more mountains to cross…. Then we start seeing the signs for Tioga Pass, Yosemite National Park. Bonnie and Ryan had never been through there, so, up we went. I believe it is one of the highest auto passes in the US, at 10,000ft. The picture below is of the famous Half Dome, and of course Bonnie and I having a laugh. Cool….Thor proved its mettle once more.
Ryan enjoying the spot.
Just checking on things before heading down into Death Valley. We could not resist the idea of it. From one of the highest roads to the lowest in one day, who would pass that up, not us.
Death Valley has all sorts of claims to fame. Lowest , hottest, etc. and it was truly spectacular. Thor handled the challenge with style.
Eventually we did make it down to San Carlos, still under Thor power. We were all very happy to end the road trip part and get back to our homes. Willow was in fine shape. Did not take many pictures for a while there, but here is a fun one. Ryan and I are re-rigging the boats while still in the work yard.
Here are some of our good friends, other cruisers. Ben and Nikki, from S/V Tara, Bon of course, and another fun guy, Tom Aune, from S/V Scout.
Met a fellow from Bellingham named J Helfgott. He asked if he could sail with us from San Carlos to Mazatlan, and he did. A great musician and all around mellow human being, glad to have met him.
Lots of music played on Willow.
A very small fish…..
To warp ahead without pictures, the story works out like this. We sailed from San Carlos, across the Sea of Cortez to the Baja Peninsula. J was on board, Tara and Scout were right there with us and all went well. Spent about 5-6 days slowly working south on that side of the Sea. We had some very odd things happen to us, but I do not want to get into all of that right now.
Eventually we crossed the Sea of Cortez again, ending in Mazatlan and there we remained for about two weeks. Willow got new deck paint, bright white to cool things off, plus numerous other projects that finally got wrapped up. Connected with our other cruising partners, Scott and Liz Behrens, on “Ocean Lady.” Super fun people. The group was completed when Jason Rose pulled in after crossing the Sea of Cortez from Cabo san Lucas single-handed. We were very glad to see our good friend.
Another fine musician and mellow human being, a welcome part to our fun down here.
Almost forgot. What did we do with Thor? Well, we gave it to this couple in San Carlos. I will not go into the story of how this all came to pass, but they were truly happy to get the car. He is an awesome musician, part of a band of great musicians. Sounds like he has had a friend of his look at the car and do some work on it to get things running a bit more smoothly. Bonnie and I could not have asked for a better conclusion to our experiences with that car, although it was still a hard thing to do. It motors on and will probably continue to go for a long time to come. I give a silent thanks to my grandfather, I miss him.
Here are a few more random pictures I sort of liked.
Below is of Bonnie, Evan, and Nancy (travel companions on a trip inland to the Copper Canyon) it was a shot hard to pass up.
Here is Ryan and new crewmember Shem, a very tall Australian. Godspeed was our close companion on the sail south from Mazatlan to Punta de Mita, in Banderas Bay. We got separated from Tara sometime during the night and left behind by Ocean Lady. No problem, we were all going the same place.
Bonnie is a very clever girl. She spent a good deal of time studying up on fishing techniques. The result were these very cool fishing lures made out of wine bottle corks, shredded, colorful line and a bit of paint.
There we are, or rather, there they are. Ocean Lady is the ketch in the background, then Godspeed and Tara up front. Nice……
Today is November 27, we are still at anchor in Banderas Bay with “Tara”,
“Ocean Lady,” “Godspeed,” and recent friends Eric and Sheryl on “Sarana.” Our goal was to get down here to find some waves to surf, and find them we did. The last two days we have been in the water many hours at a time and having a blast. It feels good to be moving like that again, we are looking forward to more of the same.
Our general plan for the near future is to move from our current anchorage at Punta de Mita, further into the bay to anchor off of LaCruz. We are in need of some fresh vegetables and the like. Not to mention getting access to the internet to finally get this little travel log uploaded for all to see. Hope it works out, I cannot be called computer savvy, but think I can handle this one thanks to the help Jason Rose has given us.
Beyond that, Bonnie and I are anxious to get further south into new territory. It looks like my brother, Dan, and his girlfriend, Chris, are flying into Costa Rica mid-January, for about a 5-week stay. We would love to meet up with them, however, Costa Rica is many miles south, and much could happen between here and there. We will try.
Our e-mail address: hawkjunction@hotmail.com is still useful to get in touch with us, however, we have another one that we are trying to convert over to, the name is quite clever I would say: svwillow@svwillow.net (where do I come up with these things).
Until next time.
November 29, 2006
Cabo Corrientes tomorow
Today is the 29th of November, and Willow is ready to move further south. We may be losing the company of Ocean Lady, and perhaps Godspeed, but only for a while I suppose. Tara is chomping at the anchor chain to get into Southern Mexico and Central America, just as we are. The only glitch is the it looks like there will be some surf up here at Punta de Mita, beginning today. So, what to do?
Well, the decisions seem to work themselves out as we, so we will just have to see what happens. We just need to go into town one more time this morning to pick up a few last bits of food and the like.
It will likely be at least a week from now that we get back on line. That give you all plenty of time to send us a note to let us know what is going on in your worlds.
svwillow@svwillow.net or
hawkjunction@hotmail.com
Surely you have a few moments to say hello.....
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About November 2006
This page contains all entries posted to Log of s/v Willow in November 2006. They are listed from oldest to newest.
December 2006 is the next archive.
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