Cruising Adventures of the Red Witch

October 24, 2024    On our first day of being back in the water we did not travel far.   We motored for about an hour to a nearby anchorage, and as soon as we dropped anchor and turned off the motor we lowered our swim platform and jumped into the warm water.   It was our first time swimming in Mexico this year.   Ahhh, it sure felt nice.   The water was just cool enough to be refreshing, but very lovely and warm.   Falcon came down onto the swim grid and after we were in the water it was his turn.   We weren’t sure what his reaction would be or how happy he would be to come into the water, but he was as happy as could be.   He jumped right into my arms and kicked his feet splashing and laughing with the biggest smile on his face.   He did not want to get out of the water, and for a very long time he just wanted to keep jumping in off of the swim grid.   I sure got my workout treading water with him as he laughed and giggled with gl...

Finally, on October 23, 2024, just over three weeks after we had arrived in Mexico, we were ready to launch.   Two of our friends from the boatyard came down to see us off and it was very exciting to be sitting on board while being lowered into the water once again.   After checking all of our thru hulls, our shaft seal, and rudderpost, we started the engine.   Then, after letting her run for a bit and checking that everything was good, we said goodbye to the dry land marina and motored out.   Let the fun and adventures begin!

On Monday, October 7th, we moved onto the Red Witch, and since we were feeling better we were finally able to make progress and feel good about things.   Staying on board allowed us to get a lot more work done as we could get to work when we woke up to take advantage of the cool of the morning, and similarly we could work until dark and take advantage of the cool of the evening.   Midday was the time to be inside with the air conditioner on doing our engine service, cleaning our heat exchanger, cleaning out our diesel tanks, and the many other inside jobs that were on the list.   Before coming down to Mexico we wondered if we would have to replace our batteries.   Well sure enough, after testing them, we decided that they had to be replaced, and after a lot of research we managed to find a place that would deliver them right to the marina.     On the day that our new batteries arrived Jason had to carry six old batteries out of our engine room, into the coc...

After our positive day on Monday, September 30th, with getting the boat moved into the work yard, Jason ended up getting sick on Tuesday.   Then Falcon and I followed on Wednesday, and although we did go to the boat on and off to do a few things, it was not until the following Monday, October 7th, that we were all feeling better.   While we were sick, the heat and humidity were hard to deal with, and it was frustrating trying to get some stuff done on the boat while also trying to get better.   We had booked an Air BNB for the first five days of our time in Mexico with the idea that we would get enough done on the boat in that time that we would be happy to move on board.   With us being sick, we did not get nearly as much done as we had hoped for, so we extended our time in an Air BNB by three nights.   Although we were not able to book the same place, we were lucky enough to be able to simply move to another place in the same building, so that when we checked ...

September 30, 2024 was a big day.   After a good night's rest we headed to Marina Guaymas, and after visiting with the office staff, whom we knew from before, we got access into the dry-storage yard and got to see our girl once again; 1.5 years after we left her in 2023.   She sure was dusty, but all of the protection that we had done, tin foil wrapping, and other coverings, had lasted surprisingly well, and things looked undamaged.   Our tender had been left deflated and upside down on our deck under the old tender cover and two more UV-resistant car covers, which had sure taken a beating.   It would not have been long before the tender itself would have been exposed to the elements.   We spent the morning working on the boat, and then at 1pm the marina lift came and moved us into the work yard where we remained until we were ready to launch.   In the work yard we had access to power and water so we were able to give our boat a good wash-down, and she bega...

On September 28th, almost one month after leaving Ocean Falls, we flew out of Halifax airport and travelled south.   We had a layover in Philadelphia, and then flew onward to Phoenix, Arizona.   We lucked out, as our second flight had many empty seats, so we were able to move and have a whole row of seats to ourselves, which gave Falcon plenty of room to move around and play.   He had a great time while on board, pointing out the window at all of the airplanes as we pulled back from the gate.   He also seemed to quite enjoy take-off and landing, and did not mind the time in the air.     In Phoenix it was very hot; 47 degrees when we landed.   We took a taxi to the bus depot where we unfortunately had to wait for a couple of hours for our bus, which left at 11pm.   As soon as we were on the bus Falcon fell fast asleep and he slept well.   We had to get off of the bus twice, once at the border crossing, and once at a town for them to fill up wi...

The month of September we spent travelling.   We left Ocean Falls on September 2 nd on the BC ferries' Northern Sea Wolf ferry.   We had to change ferries in Bella Bella and had a four-hour wait for the next boat.   Luckily it was a beautiful, sunny day and we enjoyed the beach that is right beside the ferry terminal, and also explored up the stream and watched the salmon that were waiting to go up to spawn. After leaving Ocean Falls at 11am on the Monday, we arrived into Port Hardy at midnight and drove down Vancouver Island to my parents' place in Victoria, arriving there at around 7am on the Tuesday.   Unfortunately my parents were not at home for our time in Victoria, so we did not get to see them, but we did get to enjoy picking fresh fruit from their fruit trees.   We travelled over to Vancouver, and had a good visit with our friends from over five years ago when we lived in North Vancouver on our sailboat. Falcon got to see his first real train up clos...