A little of Colorado Un poco de Colorado

Uncle Tim goes to the mountains

Getting ready to get ready

I had a hunch when I left my beloved La Vida Nueva in Port Isabel, Texas, it was going to be a long time before I could get back.  I was right.  The recession and some foolish mistakes have cost me dearly.  I am in Denver trying to fix things but the fixing isn't going fast!  Bummer!

Friend, Melquiades Ortiz, on top of treacherous Loveland Pass!

As I mentioned in prior blogs, one thing I miss in most sailing blogs are the roots.  Where did my fellow sailors come from and how is it they ended up in the sea?  You will get a good idea of where I came from if you subscribe to this blog!

This entry  is about a trip I made to Breckenridge, Colorado.  I have also been involved with the immigrants rights movement and that is taking some time, and helping me keep my thoughts off of my rotten fortune.  

The Argo Mine in Idaho Springs, Colorado.  Considering mining is

unprofitable in the U.S., the owners turned to mining tourists instead of gold these days!

Most of you know my story by now.  I started my sailing trip on Lake Dillon high in the Colorado Rockies.  I brought the boat down the snake River, thereby joining the Colorado river.  I sailed down the Colorado, along the same route as John Wesley Powell.  Better said, I mostly bounced my 37 foot Tayana through the deeps and shallows. 

Melquiades keeps the Statute of
Military hero Dan Conners company

Eventually, I was able to sail onto Lake Powell.  What a spectacular place to sail!  But the lake is way down and you have to watch the depth sounder with great care!  I left Lake Powell at Page, Arizona, and soon after passing Laughlin, Nevada, was able to find a canal deep enough to head East.  It was a hell of a trip spanning many weeks.  I daresay, it compares with the more popular great loop, but because of the Continental Divide it is one way in and one way out!  Actually, I am not sure you could get in.  Getting out is all down hill!

Mason 'd Ski.  Good folks, at least when

I was getting my snow legs 35 years ago!  It is Still around today!

Skiing became one of our big tourist attractions

after soldiers who trained at camp Hale in Colorado

 came back from the war and decided to try it just for fun!

When people spot my home port of "Breckenridge, Colorado", painted on the stern of La Vida Nueva, they smile.  Most don't believe anyone could get a blue water sailor with a six foot draft down the route I describe and they probably have good reason to doubt my claims.  It makes for a great yarn and maybe it happened that way!

My friend, Melquiades Ortiz, joined me for a drive from Denver to Breckenridge, Colorado.  Let me tell you a little known truth about the "Big D" as we call it.  Considering the harsh weather, I don't see why anyone would live there during the God forsaken winter unless they were getting high on weed and skiing every day, or they were simply trapped!  

Monument to mining 

Driving Up Loveland Pass

Melquieades pushes his Dodge Durango up the hill

Summer is very different.  Still, if it were not for the Mountains, you would have to be plain nuts to stake your claim in Denver.  Clearly, when you hear a cool mountain stream flowing by your feet, inhale gulps of crisp mountain air, and watch a cutthroat rise to a fly, the insanity of living in the "Big D" starts to make sense!  In the winter, falling into the marshmallow powder of a deep snow while skiing leaves one with the same conclusion.  The beauty and peace which nature brings to life makes the "Big D" all worth it.  The only thing close to it is El Mar.  That is Spanish for the sea!

Loveland Pass summit

Once you reach the summit of Loveland Pass there is a stairway into the sky.  After making it to the top of the stairs you feel like you are in heaven.  Needless to say, I have had a few spiritual experiences after huffing my way to the top!

Melquiades and I decided to take the old route to Brecky. That took us over Loveland Pass, long feared by truckers and flat landers during snow storms, as one of the most treacherous roads in the country. If you make it up the Colorado River one day be sure to call me and I will come meet you and give you a hearty pat on the back and a quick tour of the mountains!

Stairs into the sky!

We are going up there?  He asked with wide eyes!

Melquiades makes the summit!

I made the summit, too!  (Of course!)

After we froze our nuts off in the wind as it ripped through our clothes, we trekked down to the road, hopped back into the Durango, and started the descent from the mountain peak.  The scenery is breath taking, the cold mountain air stops you in your tracks, and the trip was a total blast!

Once we made it down the steep grades of Loveland Pass we came to spectacular Lake Dillon.  As beautiful as the Lake is, a boat the size of mine is a lot happier splashing in the waves of the Gulf of Mexico!

'

Lake Dillion Cut Disappears into the snow!  The ice will clear in a few weeks!

Today, the last day of ski season, Lake Dillon disappears into the mountain fog and snow.  The Lake takes a sharp turn and runs down the valley towards Dillion.

If you get your boat up the Colorado river to Lake Dillion, be sure to look me up!  It is well worth a side trip up this way! 

Yacht taking on water, pumps keeping pace, captain stays calm

La Vida Nueva taking on water; captain concerned but not frantic; pumps activated

We were working on the shower sump pump last night. I was surprised to hear the sump pump running again today. I call the pump ‘little blue’ after the blue base West Marine used when then made her. Last night’s efforts revealed a clogged line. Little Blue, which was installed in the bilge at mid-ships, put out a heck of a blast. We just could not get the water through the line. Our efforts with a dock hose at full blast failed to clear the line. Since it was late, we left the pump on the high and dry. No use running a pump that wasn’t connected to a hose.

"Taking on lots of water never happens to me. Right?"

Ask me if I was surprised to hear my little pumper humming this afternoon. There had to be a lot of water in the bilge in order for her to go off. I was not overly concerned about it because taking on lots of water never happens to me. Right?

I was in for a surprise! What set little blue off is what sets off most pumps. The float valve. When I pulled up the floor board I was concerned when I saw water. My Tayana 37 never gets water that high. What could be the cause?

I turned on my super blaster pump and after an eternity the water was pumped out. I did not see a torrent coming back in so I decided to check her a little later on. Sad to say, four hours later, I had a bilge full of water half as high as it had been earlier. This is way too much water to come into my boat in so short a time.  How to keep a yacht from sinking

"At low tide, La Vida Nueva sits on the bottom"

Who panics when taking on water? If the water is coming in this fast now, will it come in faster as time goes by? I finally found comfort in a shallow harbor. At low tide, La Vida Nueva sits on the bottom. At high tide I was in for a heck of a bath but the boat would be savable. What is there to worry about?

Well, there were a lot of things I should have been worried about.  First, my primary automatic bilge pump is not working.  That requires me to manually pump the bilge when it gets full.  Need to get on that right away.  How to design an adequate bilge pump system

After searching the boat, examining sea cocks, speculating about the potantial emergency, and then reflecting, I think I finally found the source of my problem.

The water hose. We left it in the shower. I think it was leaking and filling up my bilge.

It is 3:00 a.m. The bilge seems fairly dry. It is time to turn in and let the god’s decide my fate. If I am on the bottom by the time I wake up it will be another adventure to write about. If not, well I will keep you posted on that, too!

Abbey Sunderland race around the world is it your dream?

15 year old Abbey Sunderland to be

youngest to circumnavigate

In the news, of late, is the adventure of 16 year old Abby Sunderlad of Marina del Rey, who plans to be the youngest person to sail around the world alone. She follows her brother, Zac Sunderland who made a similar voyage. As I sit in Port Isabel Texas waiting for my turn to be ‘out there’ it is fun to watch others live their life’s dream.


The mechanic who I thought was doing such a great job at putting La Vida Nueva back onto her feet after suffering damage at the hands of Hurricane Dolly is not faring well. I found items which belonged to me in his possession, including personal medications. I am finding lots of errors in his work. A significant part of our ‘progress’ needs to be redone. Not only is it not progress, it is a step backwards when re-doing a prior bad job. Before, we needed to fix things. Now, we have to un-fix and re-fix. Hence, it is a welcome relief watching others live their dreams. Go Abbey!

"I can clearly see significant differences in Abbey's dream and my own"

What about Abby? I wish her the best of luck, as I am sure we all do. However, I can clearly see significant differences in Abby’s dream and my own. You can read news about Abbey here.

My dream started when I was 12 years old and read about Robin Lee Graham and the Dove. What attracted me to Robin’s story went far beyond the sailing adventure. It was the chance to know other cultures, to meet wonderful people, to see places most of us never get to see. It was the coming of age, of meeting one’s life companion that intrigued me. It was the experiences of a 15 year old in over his head, a kid who did not have a lot of money but did it anyway, a person who obviously fought depression, an experience which was under reported. I admired Robin for finishing the job even though he really did not want to. My hero, Robin Lee Graham.  Most of these factors are missing from the Abbey Sunderland adventure. 

One day I want to be 15. After starting this dream at 12 years of age, I soon gained the requisite 15 years of age, only to find my parents unwilling to put up the $90,000 someone put up for Abbey. Nor were my parents willing to allow a 15 year old to chuck school, college, a job, a career, a future all for a sailboat ride around the world. Looking back I can say they were probably right. Abbey is not willing to do that either. She plans to be back within 5 months.

What is so romantic about 5 months racing around the world? It will make for a great adventure story, maybe a book or movie, and certainly life changing experiences for Abbey. Jessica Watson is ahead of Abbey, another aspiring sailor who will miss allof those people, places and things.  Abbey vs. jessica Watson, what lessons are we teaching?

What is missing from the Abbey and Zac Sunderland and Jessica Watson adventure is…well all of the adventures. All of those people to meet, places to visit, new cultures to learn about. For me, sailing is more than sailing. It is the people.

"What kind of hopes do we inspire in children whose parents are poor"

 What kind of hopes do we inspire in children whose parents are poor and cannot afford a simple $5,000 bay cruiser, much less an expensive racer? When do we teach others about the meeting people part of sailing?  The future of sailing belongs to our youth.

As for Abbey, that is not her thing, at least not right now. As I said, I wish her swift passage and a safe return. As for me, when I finally make age 15, I am 52 right now, I hope I can do it the Robin Lee Graham way.  While the dove is now history, the trip is a legend for generations of young people, and old ones, to follow.

The Dove's finals days

I will keep you posted on the progress of La Vida Nueva, and the lessons and adventures of a stranded dreamer waiting his turn.

Dios te bendiga

Uncle Tim

Gulf coast sail to beliz and caribbean - stopped by hurricane dolly

La Vida Nueva

Sailing adventure to the caribbean

Join me in fulfillng my life time dream of sailing off into the horizon, of living the sailing lifestyle, of meeting new people, learning about new cultures, and of bringing what I can to those who may be in need, and in the process of growing.

La Vida Nueva, the new life, is the name of my boat.  She is a Tayana 37, a Perry design, I didn't know when I bought her, but she is perfect for one...or two. 

Pehaps that second person will be in my life...as it used be for 26 years before my other half passed to the other side.  It will be fun to find out!

There is something magic in sailing, something I cannot tell you, because it is something powers far greater than I control.  My Tayana 36 is a heavy boat, yet she brushes the ocean waves aside using nothing more than a sail and a jib, kept on line by keel and steered by rudder.  No motor, no gas, no fumes, just this magic thing that happens when one matches sail with wind and stands aside for those great powers to go to work.

Then there is the prospect for adventure.  I have had a lot of adventures in my life.  Unfortunately, most of them happened in the city, in a bank, fixing a house, driving a car.  Very few of them happened in nature, man with nature, and sometimes man against nature.  They will now.  Sailing is, at it's roots, man and nature, and one's wits, and one's foolish pride and lots of trouble at times and lots of fun.  When it is all over and it is time to sell my beloved boat, I am sure I will say, but it was well woth the sacrifices.

Come along, share the adventure, if you are out there then let's become the best of friends and if you are not, then live it from the arm chair until it is your time.  Please email me, tell me what yout think, be part of this wonderful adventure called life.

Life dream halted, sailboat damaged hurricane dolly, murphys law on south padre island

dramatic pics, la vida nueva and murphys law meet     dramatic photos my sailboat collides hurricane dolly