Touring Activities

The day before yesterday we made an afternoon walk from the marina to the end of the outer mole of the harbor.  Along the way we had another look at the sea lion colony (Sea lions are called "lobos de marinos", or "sea wolves".)  Toward the end of the mole we saw the area used by the enthusiastic local fishermen, then we found our way to the restaurant at the end of the mole for refreshment after our long walk. 

The Water Tower

Yesterday we boarded a bus for a visit to the shopping area along Guemes and Olavarria streets in the Stella Maris section of the city.  We were impressed with the elegance and easy pace of the area.  The stores tended to be specialized, interesting, and very up market.  There were many sidewalk cafes and restaurants.
Brenda and I chose to have lunch at what was the most elegant Subways that we had ever seen.  The premises were in one of the original two story stone houses complete with court yard.  We had our lunch seated in comfortable arm chairs at the bay window watching the pleasant street scene.

Mansion now art gallery

Dining room with flying ducks on wall

We then visited the very special water tower at the top of the Stella Maris hill.  The photos describe the tower better than my words can.  The public is allowed access up the tower in an elevator for panoramic views of the city during week days, and we plan to return.

We then walked to a museum exhibiting the works of painter Juan Carlos Castagnino and others.  Brenda and I were more interested in the setting of the museum: a 4-story mansion of the early 20th century with much of its original furnishings and decorations.

 I must say that Mar del Plata represents as gentle and attractive city to live in as I've seen anywhere in my travels, with its broad and leafy streets and solid stone houses in uncluttered settings. Some residential areas exude "old" wealth and grandeur and grace.

Cruising Log Update

A few nights ago I updeated the cruising log spreadsheet to include the departure from La Paz, Mexico and arrival at Mar del Plata, Argentina.  Forgive the poor formatting because I was forced to do a simply cut 'n paste from the spreadsheet.

At the bottom you will see the aggregate numbers which report the huge amount of time that I have spent ashore during the four years of cruising.  Nevertheless we've done more than 20,000 nautical miles of sailing.

From	To	Distance NM	Sailing Days	Stopover	Travel Days	Departure Date	Arrival date	Core Storm Season	Knots	"From" Coords
Fremantle	Albany	325	5	3	8	03-May-08	08-May-08		2.71	32S04, 115E44
Albany	Esperance	210	2	3	5	11-May-08	13-May-08		4.38	35S00, 117E57
Esperance	Port Lincoln	780	10	12	22	20-May-08	29-May-08		3.25	33S52, 121E54
Port Lincoln	Adelaide	165	2	9	11	10-Jun-08	11-Jun-08		3.44	34S40, 135E51
Adelaide	Kangaroo Isl	70	1	3	4	28-Jun-08	29-Jun-08		2.92	34S48, 138E39
Kangaroo Is	Wilson's Prom	500	5	1	6	02-Jul-08	06-Jul-08		4.17	35S47,137E47
Wilson's Prom	Eden	214	3	14	17	08-Jul-08	10-Jul-09		3.57	39S04,146E26
Eden	Opua	1207	15	43	58	24-Jul-08	07-Aug-08		3.35	37S04,149E54
Opua	Raivavae	2200	26	11	37	20-Sep-08	15-Oct-08		3.53	35S19, 174E07
Raivavae	Tahiti	390	5	26	31	21-Oct-08	27-Oct-08		3.25	23S52, 147W41
Tahiti	Hawaii (Hilo)	2260	18	7	25	22-Nov-08	10-Dec-08		5.23	17S33, 149W34
Hawaii (Hilo)	Oahu (Hon)	160	2	151	153	18-Dec-08	20-Dec-08		3.33	19N44, 155W04
Oahu (Honolulu)	Neah Bay	2275	29	127	156	22-May-09	20-Jun-09		3.27	21N17, 157W51
Neah Bay	San Francisco	770	9	73	82	24-Oct-09	02-Nov-09		3.21	48N23, 124W37
San Francisco	San Diego	500	10	21	31	13-Jan-10	23-Jan-10		2.08	37N54, 122W22
San Diego	Ensenada	60	1	3	4	13-Feb-10	14-Feb-10		2.50	32N43, 117W14
Ensenada	La Paz	685	8	609	617	17-Feb-10	25-Feb-10		3.57	31N51, 116W37
La Paz	MdP, Arg	7870	113	0	113	27-Oct-11	16-Feb-12		2.90	24N10, 110W18
MdP Arg										38S00, 57W34
Avg Speed Knots	3.3
Dist Sailed Nm		20641
Days Under Sail			264
Lay Days				1116
Days Away					1380

Schooner, Visit to MdP City

Last week the covers were taken off the schooner at the end of our jetty.  I had a close look at it and it appeared to be in extremely good condition. The current owner used it as his home when he was practicing law in Buenos Aires, and Brenda and I both agreed that the boat would probably be cavernous and well appointed inside. Having said that, she'd be a handful to sail, a dog to weather and better suited for downwind work or motoring in calm waters.

Yesterday Brenda and I took a bus into the downtown area of Mar del Plata. The first hurdle was to master the bus system. Our fare was 5 pesos which had to be put into the machine in coins. The bus driver begrudgingly gave me peso coins for two 2-peso bills but I could see that we had to find a better way. We got off near the casino along the seafront and found our way to a tourist information office. The lady attending to us spoke very good English and was very helpful to us. Regarding the bus fares, we learned that the way to go is to purchase proximity cards. We followed her directions and soon I purchased a 50 peso card from a kiosk. We then had a stroll through the main shopping area and had lunch at a pretty good restaurant, where I was served a huge piece of chicken smothered in cheese sauce. As we were leaving the restaurant I asked the English-speaking cashier how the machine on the bus would know what to deduct from my card. The answer was that when you walk on the bus, you tell the driver how many fares you want to what destination. He then keys in the price and then it is a matter of waving the card in front of the machine and retrieving the receipt, which tells you how much money is left on the card.

We found the central city of Mar del Plata to be modern, relatively clean (in contrast to the port area), with many parks and broad leafy streets. It didn't feel crowded, congested, or noisy and would be a good place in which to live. Brenda's guide book had commented that most of the charming original homes had been demolished for modern multistory buildings but fortunately there were enough surviving homes to add charm to the city and to give us an idea of how things used to be.

Garden Calendar with Correct Date

Typical Leafy Street

We then spent over an hour in the museum of natural history then caught a bus back to the port which treated us to a tour through a charming residential area of the city.

Aground

Brenda got up at 7.15 this morning and soon came back from the galley to tell me that the boat seemed to be listing and she thought that we might be aground.  We were aground alright, the first time that Pachuca had touched bottom since we made the night entry into American River at Kangaroo Island, South Australia in 2008.  Brenda and I were treated to breakfast on a starboard tack right in the slip.  I turned on the instruments and the depth sounder was reporting 1.7 meters of water.  (Pachuca requires at least 2.3 meters.)  There was a strong offshore wind blowing which undoubtedly augmented the effect of a normal low tide.  (I've been told that in the River Plate estuary the wind can affect the water depth by up to 5 ft either way.)

Note distortion on the jetty

Pachuca showing her dirty bottom

Pachuca was straining on her starboard lines but otherwise seemed OK.  Fortunately there is insignificant surge in the inner harbor so there was no bumping on the bottom.  Four or 5 other boats were touching bottom.  I've included the photo of one whose entire hull seems to be above the surface of the water.

Dry dock for the bigger boats and very little for the smaller ones

Challenging project boats

Live music at the fishing boat harbor

Part of the all-male seal colony

I am also including some photographs that we took when we walked along the outer mole to visit the seal colony.  Unfortunately the lighting was not the best because we were photographing toward the setting sun on a cloudy day.

NOTE: When I reviewed this entry I had trouble enlarging the photos.  I finally did it by (1) Right clicking on a photo and selecting "view image" (2) using ctrl/+ and ctrl/- to enlarge and diminish the photo.

Video: Iguazu River Above Cataratas

This vido shows the serene Iguazu river above the waterfalls.

Video: Garganta Del Diablo

"The Devils's Throat"

Video: Iguazu Waterfall

This is yet another video of "The Devil's Throat".