Tom celebrated his birthday with Tracy by going to dinner in town early yesterday evening. The restaurant was small, only open a month but, the family operating it was very friendly and the food was delicious.
Tonight's celebration will be inviting the people from Berkeley over for hamburgers. Their boat's name is Popcorn and the dog's name is little dog. They spent so much time deciding on a name for the boat they were exhausted when it came time to name the dog!
Interestingly enough, there is more to this town than they had heard. They visited a museum, walked through the town square, a chapel, etc. In the museum were displays of the gold and silver mining that was done years ago. They also noticed an electric grid of wires indicating power was available throughout the town, however, every place they went, businesses were using generators; the loudest of which was outside the restaurant that they went to. It made sitting on the outside patio unbearable, but was ok inside. So apparently the electricity is not to be counted on for reliable service.
The Peso hit a 3 or 4 year low yesterday adding to Mexico's continuing financial problems. I heard the exchange rate was 8.7 pesos so, that helps Kaukoe at the bank.
Kaukoe will move the short distance back to Puerto Don Juan today, as it is a more desirable anchorage.
Today, co-captain, Thomas Joseph Pastore, is today 35 years young.
To start our contact this morning he was serenaded with Las Mañanitas (The Mexican Birthday Song) song by Nemonia and Patty. Translated it goes like this: These are the mañanitas that King David sang to (Tomás), we sing here to him. Wake up my dear, wake, see it's a new day, the birds are singing, the moon has faded. How beautiful the morning in which I greet you, we all come with joy and pleasure to be with you. The day you were born, all the flowers were born and at your baptism the nightingales sang. The day is born and the rays of sunlight shine on us. Get up! See it is already daylight.(Sounds a lot better in Spanish!)
Tom was cooking eggs and Tracy started fixing potatoes as we continued to talk. Sounds like a great breakfast to start any day with the smell of the salt water and the sun and the wind.
They are presently anchored just east of LA in an area called Puerto Don Juan. They like it there and that is the preferred mooring but they will move today to be closer to town and the shore, returning to this area tomorrow. They will make supply runs and Tracy is taking Tom out for B-day dinner this evening.
Vacation time is running out after so many adventures and meeting so many new friends. There is a report that Milagro, the dog they befriended, has found a new owner and home apparently in Puerto Escondido. So, that is a happy event. I think the new owner is a gringo, so Milagro may get to the states yet to see some part of the US of A.
Not a real exciting place. Basically it is two mounds 400' high with a saddle between that's about 100' high. Apparently, it is a good fishing spot as several boats from Bahia de Los Angeles were there yesterday. One large boat about 60' was towing several smaller boats which then left to fish. Tidal currents are quite strong around the island and overcome the winds. They were broadside to 20-25 knot winds but the boat pointed into the current.
Water is also cold there, a chilly 62*. Tom swam ashore and Tracy started to paddle until she saw something in the water. Quickly returning to Kaukoe, she asked Tom to swim over and identify it. It turned out to be a sea lion so they continued to shore which was occupied by gulls, boobies and seals. They are leaving now for the 25 mile sail to Bahia de Los Angeles which has a restaurant, ice house, and gas station.
Presently, wind is from the north but current is from the south so that will provide some push as they head west then north.
Kaukoe is preparing to leave this bay and head north to Isla Partida. You may have difficulty finding this on your map. It is just due south of Isla Angel de la Guarda. Tom and Tracy are still deciding exactly where to take Kaukoe out of the water. There are advantages to going into San Carlos and also into Puerto Penasco. I am going to talk to Mel Moon of US Trucking to get his opinion on the two yards. He will either be meeting them at either Tucson or Puerto Penasco on the 6 or 7th of July. Either way, they still plan to be home around the 15th of June.
The tragedy in Springfield, Oregon last week was the same school that Carla (Tracy's sister-in-law) attended and her father taught at (before he retired) with one of the teachers that was shot.
Tom worked Delaware yesterday and is now down to three states (Iowa, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts)!
Tom and Tracy sounded really good this morning on 40M (7213.15Khz). We spoke for 45 minutes. They arrived in this bay Saturday at sundown. Yesterday they rowed ashore and walked for 2 hours to a small villagefor a coke and some fuel. Apparently, there is little else in this area.
They're now the only boat in the bay, one that was there and a day ahead of them leaving Santa Rosalia departed yesterday for Bahia de Los Angeles. Kaukoe will leave for there tomorrow, maybe taking 2 days and spending the first night at an island in between. Distance to LA is about 50 miles which by this time has become very routine sailing for this crew. Their entertainment last evening after dinner was a luminescent light show in the water topped off with huge jellyfish floating and undulating around the dinghy. Tom jumped up and down in the dinghy to stir up the water and get the fish moving and it paid off with lots of action.
Conditions were also very good on 20 meters last night and Tom stayed up past 11PM working 4 new countries. Not sure of his total now but he'll have DXCC (100 countries worked and confirmed) soon, at this rate. Still needing four more states for the WAS (worked all states) award.
Gary has been tapped to assist Denis and his club station for the annual Field Day contest held every year in June. Hams from every state assembly portable stations (usually on a mountain top and operate for 24 hours to see just how many people they can contact. Gary will probably be in charge of tower installation and antenna installation.
Dave Green jumped in his car with tickets for Indianapolis the other day. He'll have to give us a full report on his adventure. For everyone watching the government trying to meddle in the computer industry I now have a copy of Windows 98 RC-5 which is release candidate 5. This is the final version before release to the public on 25 June. It works very well and is a significant improvement over Win95. I recommend it for immediate purchase. It has a built in update wizard so you can update it anytime on the Microsoft website.
We will talk tomorrow morning again meeting on 7238Khz and then moving down around 7215.
Kaukoe left Santa Rosalia about 2AM this morning heading North. Winds and seas have been varying from north to west with choppy seas. They were under power when we talked so Tracy was unable to hear or participate.
They have a possible change in plans. They may go to Puerto Peñasco and have the boat hauled directly from there rather than go through Tucson and have the added expense of a trailer transfer. They also may go to Bahia de Los Angeles for a while.
They will be talking to Pat and Gary at 2200Z on Sunday as Denis has returned from the Ham convention held annually at Dayton, Ohio. We will talk again on Monday morning at 8AM PDST on the Baja Net.
Patty will officially receive her diploma this afternoon at Cox Arena at San Diego State University. She will graduate with a Masters of Arts and Letters in Latin American Studies. Our two daughters, Kim's husband Darren and Dianna, a longtime friend from Pasadena, will also attend the ceremony. Patty took courses for 5 years leading up to the start of her Thesis last fall, which she completed in one semester. I am this day a very proud husband of her accomplishment. She set a goal and attained it.
Kaukoe pulled into this harbor yesterday afternoon. It's not a nice harbor at all and they plan on leaving tomorrow evening for San Francisquito.
About 9 last night, they were told they could use a slip as an oil barge was entering the port and needed their space. This morning they walked ashore and are now munching on pan dulce. They certainly like the convenience of dockside facilities and being within easy walking distance of the town. They heard 4 messages from Pat and Gary and send their best to the three of them in Colorado. We will next talk on Saturday morning as they will be underway on Friday and I will be busy at 5 tonight.
*** ANOTHER GREAT WEBSITE*** My guru Pete, K6OPY, who eats, breathes, and lives computers found this site: http://www.computeresp.com, which lists over 100,000 products including software for PC's and Mac's, arranged by price. If you're thinking about buying any software or a new monitor, or whatever, this is THE place to check prices. 50,000 prices are updated daily so it's very current. It even gives you the store name, 800 number to call or you can order over the Internet. One piece of Microsoft software had a price ranging from $250 to $350.00. That was Office 97 Professional. Check it out!.
Corey! Tracy bought Tom an orange rapala lure and it caught a nice size blue fin which they made into two meals. Bad news is they broke my pole in the process so they're back to the smaller fresh water poles. Don't know what happened but it was an old pole probably out of flex.
Kaukoe is taking on water, but not the salt water type. Water for the area of Conception Bay comes via truck from Mulege which is 15 miles away. You pay 1 peso for 1 gallon of water and you provide the container. And you thought water always came out of the tap when you turned it on!
We experienced the same thing during our trip through the Copper Canyon. There the water came from a stream 50 km away and the truck held less then 500 gallons. It was pumped into a tank on a hill above our hotel and then the truck returned for more. Round trip time was nearly 2 hours. A tourist carelessly left the faucet on in their room and drained the entire tank so we had no water for over 5 hours. This happened right at dinner time after we had come back from a hike.
Back to Kaukoe. Corey and Carla left about noon but not before enjoying some wonderful snorkeling this morning. Kaukoe will depart Santispac tomorrow morning after filling up with water (which has to be rowed to the boat in Gerry cans (5 gallons each = 60 cents US).
After our very good contact I was called by LU9FHV, Jose located 300km north of Buenos Aires. We now have a personal invitation to visit him for a cup of wine. He made my day by saying I was the loudest signal on the band. That's every Ham's dream.
We'll probably talk tomorrow and I'll let you know the outcome. They're expected back in San Diego 15 June.
Requeson is at the South end of Conception Bay and is 6 miles closer to Corey and Carla's campsite. Tom rowed to Kaukoe to make our 5PM contact this afternoon. He is anchored about 60-80 yards offshore and that's about the same distance to their campsite. Weather is overcast for a change. They've had wall to wall sunshine for a long time as far as I know. They plan to sail tomorrow but just a short distance up the coast towards Santa Rosalia and eventually on to San Francisquito.
From there, they will cross to the mainland and come down to Guaymas. The boat will come out about the 5th and they plan to leave about the 10th of June.
Tracy is still planning on her trip starting the 15th but it will be close. With the Transceiver working well, Tom has gotten several more states and now is within 4 of working all states. Still remaining are the ever-rare Delaware and Rhode Island as well as Iowa and Maine. This morning he contacted Taiwan and Indonesia for the first time.
We talked for 40 minutes, beginning at 5PM or on near 14.280. Thanks again to Lou (ND6W) for the repair work. A job well done!
Most important: Pat and Gary arrived safely home after a 10 hour bus trip from Loreto to Cabo. Welcome home. I bet Ptarmigan really missed the TLC she's become used to in Colorado. We'll try to talk tomorrow but they could be ashore at 5PM. If so, we'll try again Tuesday at 5PM on 14.274-14.280 Mhz.
It's vere quiet aboard Kaukoe tonight. Pat and Gary said goodbye last evening after the six of them had a farewell dinner aboard Kaukoe, celebrating Corey's birthday. Pat and Gary then were driven to a Hotel nearby to Corey and Carla's campsite. This morning they left at 8AM for Loreto to catch the bus to La Paz and then on to Cabo where they will fly back to Grand Junction, CO.
Once again, Santispac is 5 miles North of the campsite so it is not easy to stay in touch all day every day. Tom and Tracy ran into some other boater, Jerry and Nola (K6TPX) whom they had met in another port.
Thanks to Bob Floyd from SPAWAR Kaukoe may have a new berth this summer. There is a vacancy at Half Moon Anchorage which guarantees you a front row seat for all Humphrey's concerts this summer. Question is will they wait til docking on 7 July? Probably not, but I'll call tomorrow and ask.
Tracy and Tom are working on their house plans. They want to add a second story to the Forward Street house this summer. Pat and Gary have volunteered to supervise the construction (for a small fee of course!). Tom is just finishing a book in Spanish and hopes to start another soon.
The Yaseu transceiver is performing flawless (so far!). Tom had a chance to talk live to Joe and Dick Egan, his two uncles on Monday. They were over for dinner. Dick was here from Riverside to help me with some construction projects around the house. We finished everything we set out to do Wednesday afternoon 3PM.
Just talked to Tom in an unusual way; since he has no transmitter, he has been coming aboard various vessels to use their radios for our contacts. Most recently, this has been aboard Ann Marie. Captain is Jim, who sold his business and everything in Santa Monica and set sail for wherever. He's aboard a 26' sailboat, eventually heading for New Zealand. As the saying goes, with a big boat, you can be a lousy skipper, with a small boat, you'd better be a damn good skipper. Jim must (or soon will be) a good skipper. Anyway, he got hold of Tom on the VHF radio they use in the harbor to keep in touch with each other. He turned up the volume and held the mike near and Tom and I talked back and forth just like we were directly connected.
Tracy is in La Paz after a long bus ride on Friday and is now heading back with her parents, Pat and Gary. Tom has moved Kaukoe to be closer to Corey and Carla's campsite. He has only a five minute row to the shore near their site. They have a good site and are enjoying their vacation in Mexico. We might contact tomorrow evening at 5PM PDST. If not, definitely Monday at the same time.
Thanks to Dr. Denis Campbell, we (Pat and Gary) made contact with Tracy and Tom in Conception Bay, Baja Mexico on Friday, May 1st at 4:00PM MDT. Kaukoe is anchored off shore in the Northern part of the bay near Playa Santispac (a campground for tent campers and motorhomes). This is near kilometer marker 113 on Highway 1.
Contacts with the Kaukoe have been few and far between this week as Tom sent the Kaukoe's Ham radio to San Diego for repair. We do know that the radio was delivered to Tom C. and taken to the repair person. Not sure of the current status or how the radio will be returned to Baja.
Tracy and Tom have been using other boats' ham radios to make a few contacts with Tom C. On Friday they were using a radio located on the beach, I believe an ICON 725 with a good anntenae. Tom said that they have made lots of social contacts in their efforts to find a ham radio to use.
They walked for about eight hours yesterday looking for a good campsite for Corey and Carla and are still looking for that special spot. Corey and Carla will arrive in Loreto on May 6th and will rent a car and drive to the Conception Bay area. We will fly into San Jose Del Cabo on the 6th, take a van to Cabo San Lucas and spend a couple of days there. Tracy will meet us there and the three of us will ride the bus back to Conception Bay on the 9th to join Tom, Corey and Carla.
Tom and Tracy sound great and we can hardly wait to see them and celebrate Mothers' Day, Corey's Birthday and Tom's Birthday while we are there. We will fly home on the 15th and Carla and Corey will fly back to Oregon on the 19th. Tracy and Tom will then start the last leg of their trip, working their way North to the area of Santa Rosalia and then east across the Gulf of California to San Carlos where they will leave the boat until it is trucked back to San Diego.
The 45, 35, and 15 SPF sun screen is packed and we are ready to head south for some fun in the sun with Tracy and Tom, and Carla and Corey. Ptarm has her blanket and kibbles packed for her retreat at doggie-camp while Pat and Gary are away. Hasta, Pat and Gary
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