Shamaness Ship Log May 13, 2010  Day 15

    Wow! Yesterday we had a great day sailing toward Hilo, but just before dark the wind kicked up to 20-25 knots. We were forced to turn the boat back downwind to the southwest so the autopilot could steer. All went fairly well until 12:30 A.M when we were hit with winds around 35 knots. The Shamaness started crashing through the water toward Polynesia and the autopilot blew a fuse, so we raised the double-reefed mainsail, backwinded the staysail, and rode out the night hove-to.
    The morning weather net reported that we are right in the middle,  between two high pressure areas and can expect this weather to continue another couple of days. Right now, the autopilot is steering a course for Hilo. (285 degrees TRUE, 6.0 knots, 15-18 Knots of NE wind, seas 8'.)
  Email is still difficult from our present location, so expect to not hear from us everyday until we get closer to Hawaii.
Love, Dennis and Grover
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At<5/13/2010> <1600> (utc) our position was <17 degrees 09 minutes N lat> <131 degrees 26 minutes W lon>

We jerked our tails between our legs and RAN w/ the FULL GALE out here...we lost about 90 miles of LATITUDE, but wind/ seas laying down, autopilot steering again for HILO! WAHOO! we are REALLY having fun sailing our asses off now!
Love, Dennis
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At<5/121/2010> <1730> (utc) our position was <17 degrees 26 minutes N lat> <130 degrees 16 minutes W lon>

Shamaness Ship Log May 11, 2010
    Grover, Dennis and the Shamaness are learning to become better sailors. The tradewinds are blowing HARD and the resulting big waves are putting us to "The Test"! We have improved our sailing techniques through trial and error and "got through the night" last night by flying only the staysail and setting the autopilot to steer 10 dgrees to starboard from a Dead Downwind course. We only had to go on deck and restart the autopilot a few times as it did a fine job of steering in 20 knots of wind and the confused seas. (We have ESE following swells as well as a big NW swell that makes for lots of crashing, and rollng.) Presently, we are sailing with the staysail only at 4.5 knots on the rhumbline for Hilo, Hawaii. We are now 1506 miles from Hilo.
    We expect the wind and seas to quiet down in a few days and the general trend is that the tradewinds will swing farther to the east and make it easier for us to sail faster toward Hawaii.
  We are now having alittle difficulty catching the Ham radio stations on shore during hours suitable for our  SSB radio email system to successfully transmit and receive...so we're adapting our schedule to accomodate the hours of best radio propagation. Hopefully, we won't miss too many days of "getting the word out"!
Love, Dennis and Grover
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At<5/11/2010> <1830> (utc) our position was <18 degrees 01 minutes N lat> <128 degrees 16 minutes W lon>

Shamaness Ship Log May 19, 2010  Day 12 at sea

Last Night we "RAN AWAY!" (Or BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU ASK FOR!)
    As you know, the Shamaness sailed into the North East Tradewinds a couple days ago, and now we're really cookin' with wind 24/7! Yesterday it blew 25 knots and by late afternoon we had 10-15 foot waves pounding our stern quarter every ten seconds. The autopilot couldn't steer under those conditions, so we had to forget about heading for Hawaii and turn to a course DEAD DOWNWIND to the southwest. That course put the "mean seas" right in the center of Shamaness' carved wooden rope on her transom. The autopilot was able to steer most of the time, but the boat rolled back and forth, surged and jerked as the rollers flew under our keel at 6 knots. (Shamaness 6 knots, rollers 30 knots?) All night long Dennis and Grover took turns hanging on, rushing up the companionway ladder to reset the autopilot after a really big comber knocked us sideways and caused the autopilot to shut itself down. We never really "took a wave" onboard or got "pooped" , so the Shamaness took care of us the best she could.
    Today the NE traderwind is pumping at a steady 18-20 knots, but the waves are smaller and we're now steering a course just alittle to the south of Hilo, Hawaii. We have another 1600 NM to sail, so plan to NOT MISS the Islands! We'll sail a higher course as soon as the wind and seas quiet down abit. Bye for now.
Love, Dennis and Grover
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At<5/10/2010> <1830> (utc) our position was <18 degrees 21 minutes N lat> <126 degrees 42 minutes W lon>

Beer Bread
Makes 1 Loaf

3 Cups of Self-rising flour
3 Tablespoons of Sugar
1-12 oz. can of beer
----
1/2 cup of melted butter---

Preheat the oven to 375'. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, and can of beer, beating the mixture with a wooden spoon. the batter will be lumpy. Place the batter into a greased loaf pan. Pour 1/3 of the butter over the dough. Bake for 40 minutes, then pour 1/3 of the butter over the top of the bread. Continue baking for 10 minutes more. Pour the last 1/3 of the butter onto the bread and bake 10 more minunits. Remove the bread form the oven.
Allow to cool; not to much and EAT! YUM YUM!!!

 

 

Shamaness Ship's Log May 9, 2010 Day 11

Sailor's Nirvana! We're "sailing down" our westing now in the TRADES!
    We hit steady winds yesterday and have been steadily sailing in 10-15 knots all night and now the NE wind is building. We will soon be changing down to the 90% jib so we aren't overpowered and the autopilot can continue to steer. The Shamaness is behaving beautifully, but every so often she "gets frisky" and acts like an old mare headin' to the barn!
  We sailed through the 1000NM signpost yesterday (since leaving LaCruz on April 28th) so Grover cracked the rum and we had a toast last night. Still no problems with the boat, we are feeling good about our remaining diesel supply as we only need about a gallon of fuel each day to keep the refrigerator/ freezer humming, lights lighting and autopilot steering. We are out of fresh vegetables, still knawing on our last head of cabbage and hoarding three more frozen New York steaks. The frozen baggies of chicken, beef, and pork stews from Trini's Restaurante in LaCruz make dinners real tasty. The BIMBO bread will be gone today so Joy's Beer Bread probably on the Chef's list for tomorrow.
  So Dennis and Grover wishing you ALL THE BEST as we sail along the footprints of Captain Cook, the Forty Niner Gold seekers, and even JACK LONDON sailed the Snark along this very water!
Love, Dennis and Grover
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At<5/09/2010> <1700> (utc) our position was <19 degrees 15 minutes N lat> <124 degrees 34 minutes W lon>

Shamaness Ship Log May 8, 2010 Day 10 at sea    1841 NM to Hilo
    The wind kicked up to 15-20 knots yesterday afternoon and we "rolled" toward Hawaii at 6.5-7.2 knots for several hours before the swells got BIG!  Autopilot couldn't steer with big seas hitting on our starboard beam, so we started dropping sail until we were flying only the 130 percent genoa, still doing 6 knots twenty degrees below the rhumbline. The small jib was buried under the dinghy (oops!) and it was too rough for Grover and Dennis to relish the work of changing jibs in 20 knots in the dark! But gradually the wind decreased and we started motorsailing at 3 AM. We have been sailing in 15 knots of mellow seas today making 5.5-6.5 knots of boatspeed...so "Happy Campers" aboard Shamaness.
    We are sailing along  with another sailboat heading to Hilo, Hawaii.( Shamaness was 70 NM ahead of S/V Sugata
last night.) Sugata is a 38 foot Hans Christian cutter with Todd and Susan aboard. We now are talking to them every nite on our own radio sked. (Puddlejumpers Hawaii Net  at 0230 UTC on 8.213 khz USB) Several other sailboats are leaving from LaPaz any day now, so lots of "Radio Talk". We also check in on the Amigo Net every morning and give our position and say HELLO !
    The Shamaness navigation strategy is "sail down" the 19 degree latitude line until we near Hawaii, then jibe to keep a hot wind angle as we head north to the finish line in Hilo. Well, the wind seems to be dropping early this afternoon so Grover and I better go shake out a reef and keep the boatspeed up. Bye for now.
Love, Dennis and Grover
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At<5/08/2010> <2000> (utc) our position was <19 degrees 16 minutes N lat> <122 degrees 31 minutes W lon>

Shamaness Ship'Log May 7, 2010  1994 NM to Hilo

Hello Shamaness Groupies!
    All is well out here, but the WIND DIED! We spent an hour this morning trying to sail in 3 knots of wind, tried several combinations of sail and courses but the gentle swells from the NNW collapse the spinnaker. We're now motorsailing along at 6.0 knots on the rhumbline for Hawaii. Grover is "on watch" in the cockpit and luckily THERE aren't any bugs out here as he sleeps with his mouth wide open. (I'll give him credit for doing his watch anyway!)
  We celebrated our first week underway yesterday with Tequila and steak and mashed potatoes for dinner. All the tomatoes and lettuce are now gone so salads will be jicama, cabbage, onions and carrots. I guess pasta salads will "qualify" as salad too?
    I should be waxing on about dolphins, Boobies (Tell Jeff Thomson that's the NAME of birds), gorgeous star lit nites, bluewater, other romantic thoughts of the sea?...but we are getting cloudy, overcast weather (A full sky of the Milky Way not happening yet), no dolphins, too lazy to fish for tuna, the water IS emerald blue and crystal clear, but Grover isn't very romantic (Thanks for THAT!) But, YES...we are enjoying ourselves out here! NO WORRIES!
Love, Dennis and Grover
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At<5/07/2010> <1708> (utc) our position was <18 degrees 59 minutes N lat> <119 degrees 49 minutes W lon>

Shamaness Ship Log May 06, 2010
    After one week, the Shamaness SHIP LOG SUMMARY reads as follows:
Present position: 18 degrees 33 minutes N latitude
                                118 degrees 10 minutes W longitude
Miles made good to Hilo, Hawaii: 735 NM
Ave. Velocity made good: 4.3 knots

    The last two days we've been sailing along in mostly 10-12 knots of wind from the NNE. The big jib, full main and full mizzen are all pulling us at 5-6 knots boat speed on the rhumbline for Hilo. Last night the wind dropped to 3-5 knots at 3 AM so we dropped the jib and motorsailed at low engine revs to push us at 4.5 knots and save diesel fuel.
We still have around 50 gallons of our original 100 gallons of fuel and feel like we have lots of diesel remaining because we expect to be in the tradewinds in another few days.. (We only need to run the engine 2 hours a day to keep the 600 amp-hour batteries charged.)
    We are now "buddies" with Todd and Susan aboard S/V Sugata, a Han's Christian 38 foot cutter sailing to Hilo with us. They were 70 NM away from us this morning, and we are starting a daily radio "CHAT" session on 8.213 USB at 0230 UTC for our own (very ) small Hawaii Net! Several other vessels are scheduled to follow our trail soon and were invited to join the net.
    Our plan to hoist a couple Tequilas in honor of Cinco de Mayo, Henry's birthday, and our own good fortune last evening were postponed because Chef Dennis served cold slaw, and beans with extra cabbage and the subsequent  belly aches made Tequila unattractive. WE BOUGHT three heads of cabbage so the chef believes in...WASTE naought!  Tonite we plan to eat steak, potatoes and drink Tequila to celebrate for yesterday and OUR first week under sail.
    Hope all is well back home and hope the collapse of the Greek economy doesn't effect the tradewinds or the tuna bite!
Love, Dennis & Grover
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At<5/06/2010> <1708> (utc) our position was <18 degrees 33 minutes N lat> <118 degrees 10 minutes W lon>

Happy Birthday Henry!!!
Cinco de Mayo 2010

Shamaness Ship Log  Day 7  2203 NM to Hilo, Hawaii

    The morning weather Report from Don Anderson aboard S/V Summer Passage was real easy....No Wind today, No wind tonight, No Wind anywhere! So the Shamaness, Dennis and Grover are real lucky...we have 5 knots of breeze from the north and are sailing for Hawaii at 4.5 knots under FULL CANVAS, including the big red and white spinnaker. We are dozing under the bimini in the cockpit enjoying a soft, cushy ride while autopilot steers the boat. A big pot of beans is cooking on the stove and Grover is contemplating a few TEQUILAS to celebrate Cinco de Mayo (and Henry Davalos' birthday) 600 miles at sea.
    We have talked on the radio to two other sail boats sailing along w/in 75 and 150 miles of us. (So every morning now we all compare positions and revisit navigation strategy...to see who's ahead in the 3000 mile race to Hawaii!)
Basically, no one "ADMITS" to racing, but the old addage:..."every since two cavemen climbed on a raft, hoisted an animal skin sail in the air and spotted another raft...the sailors are racing!" But right now the Shamaness is possibly slightly ahead of Sugata (to windward of us but behind in longitude) and 150 miles ahead of Descartes. Stay tuned ...IT'S a very long race to HILO! We don't have any boat types, design info yet, so not sure what we're up against!
  Well, the autopiloto is still calmly moaning as it keeps us sailing on the wind, the sea is trickling along the hull, and the Shamaness is creaking and slowly rocking as we are now only 2202 NM from Hilo.
Have a shot for Henry and the Shamaness!
Love, Dennis & Grover
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At<5/05/2010> <1634> (utc) our position was <18.63 degrees N lat> <116.12degrees W lon>

Shamaness Ship Log May 4, 2010
    The autopilot has worked perfectly now for 24 hours (Small setting change yesterday seemed to do the trick.)
We are presently motorsailing away from Clarion Island after cruising close to shore for a photo session and to survey the turtle egg laying area. In the process, we encountered a Mexican Navy ship at anchor and were called on the VHF radio. So, we think theNavy Officer is happy with our answers to his questions, but 4 sailors jumped in an inflatable and are motoring to shore...we were asked to "stand-by" on channel 16. We are "standing-by" at 6 knots on a course of 269 degrees for Hilo, Hawaii!
    Yesterday we enjoyed great sailiing as mother nature provided 10-15 knots of wind on our beam with calm seas, swells 10-20 seconds apart. (Nice easy cruising at 5-6.5 knots) So far today, the wind has left us, but maybe an afternoon breeze will kick up after we're a few miles away from this island. We just added another 50 liters of diesel fuel from a deck tank and still have enough diesel to motorsail if we are becalmed.
    We are listening to a morning radio net every day now and are "checking-in" with our position. Another sailboat is sailing to Hawaii with us and are presently 2-3 days behind our wake...nice to talk to other boats out here.
P.S. Is Jerry Foster ready to do a  single-sideband radio QSO and/or phone patch?
Love, Dennis and Grover
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At<5/04/2010> <1730> (utc) our position was <18.22 degrees w lat> <114.41degrees N lon>

Ship's Log May 3, 2010  Day 5  2390 Nautical Miles to Hilo, Hawaii

      We are sailing straight for Hawaii today after a wonderful 24 hours of 10-15 knots of wind on the beam. (Much better for sailing than going UPWIND!) Everything is great today as we've "got our sealegs", no more seasickness. The weather is clear and warm with 8-12 knots of wind from the North Northeast. The swells are 6-8 feet but 15 seconds apart so the Lady Shamaness is sailing nice and easy at 5 knots. We are considering hoisting the spinnaker but THEN Grover and Dennis might have to relieve the autopilot and steer!
        A couple hours ago the autopilot decided to quit working but Captain Dennis played mechanico and "fixed it". (The 12 volt hydraulic pump motor seems to be pulling too many amps and may need to change the motor...we have a spare onboard.)
    We checked in our boat name and current position with the Amigo Net (8.122 USB SSB radio 1400 zulu) this morning so fun to talk with other sailors on voyages with us. I am getting ready to check the weather GRIB files so we keep sailing toward the tradewinds. Bye for now.
Love, Dennis and Grover
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At<5/03/2010> <1930> (utc) our position was <18.26 degrees w lat> <112.53 degrees N lon>

Shamaness Ship Log May 2, 2010    Anchored in Naval Cove, Isla Secorro
    After 3 days and nights of close reaching and beating into the North Northwesterly winds, the Shamaness is anchored in a wonderfully calm cove on the south end of Isla Secorro. We called the Mexican Navy early this (SUNDAY!) morning and have been helped by the Mexican Navy! (One of our back up oil containers sprung a leak and the Shamaness diesel engine seems to be drinking too much engine oil.) So now we are re-stocked with lots of engine oil, have eaten a big breakfast , cooked a lentil-ham stew for dinner and are contemplating a solar shower in the cockpit. Grover says:" it's so nice to actually have the boat sitting upright, not continuously rocking and rolling!" So, we have filled out the proper papers with the Mexican Navy, cooked a plate of brownies for the Mexican ninas and ninos and are soon to hoist anchor and sail on our way towards Hilo, Hawaii. All is going well.
Love, Dennis and Grover
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At<5/02/2010> <1730> (utc) our position was <18.43 degrees w lat> <110.56 degrees N lon>

Shamaness Ship Log Day 3  May 1, 2010

2564 NM to Hawaii
    The sun is shining and we're sailing southwest at 5 knots. Last night was pretty ugly as a 15-20 knot northwest blew with big swells and confused seas, so we felt like the boat was skateboarding on cobblestones and falling into three foot foxholes every 30 seconds. We are almost out to the longitude of Cabo San Lucas (Now around 50 miles East of the Soccorro Islands) and heard about a big ( low pressure?) front moving into San Francisco...so expecting more northerly winds soon. The boat is working well, other than the usual water leaks dripping onto Dennis' bunk. The only other news is that we watched a boobie bird perched on our windward lifelines all night long...spray flying, salt encrusting everything while the intrepid boobie kept his head tucked under his starboard wing and loved the ride.
Love, Dennis and Grover
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At<5/01/2010> <1730> (utc) our position was <18.58 degrees w lat> <109.42 degrees N lon>

Shamaness Ship's Log Day 2    April 30, 2020

    Weather is very nice, although the wind is blowing from the direction we want to go, so we're "beating" upwind to Hawaii by the southern route right now! We covered 130 miles yesterday (100 miles toward Hawaii).
  All boat systems working fine and the weather report indicates that the wind direction will start shifting around behind us in 3-4 more days.
Hope all is well back home.
Love, Dennis & Grover
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At<4/30/2010> <2000> (utc) our position was <19.38 degrees w lat> <107.35 degrees N lon>

Day 1 Ship's Log    2759 NM to Hilo

Dear Shamaness "Groupies"!
    The Shamaness cruised through the LaCruz Marina this morning taking photos and waving good-byes and headed out into Banderas Bay. We motorsailed on the rhumbline for Hilo until the wind/ waves (On our nose!) made that course too unconfortable, so now we're sailing along, heading southwest to reach the tradewind belt.
    The autopilot, batteries, refrigeration, etc, etc, all seem to be working perfectly. We just enjoyed pork and vegetable stew and are tackling Winlink email and Grib Files (Weather report) via the SSB radio. All's well aboard so far.
Bye for now. Love, Dennis and Grover.
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At<4/29/2010> <2000> (utc) our position was <20.34 degrees w lat> <105.58 degrees N lon>

April 28, 2010

Dear Friends, Family and ALL!
   Thanks for all your support and love. We just completed paperwork and received our Zarpe (Sailing papers). The Shamaness, Dennis and Grover are ABSOLUTELY headed for the TRADEWINDS and sailing 3000 miles to Hilo, Hawaii manana! WAHOO!

 

Four days 'til we sail..                              Sunday, April 25, 2010

        Captain Dennis is resting today (afternoon Siesta), but the Shamaness is ready to load provisions in la manana! The "seatrial" went great yesterday as the watermaker passed all tests, making (6) gallons of water per hour as we beam reached at 6 knots across a warm and beautiful Banderas Bay. The overall condition of Shamaness seems excellent. (Extra fuel, spare autopilots, spare halyards, sheets, sails, alternators, radios, gps, etc., etc!!!)
        The "Hawaii" sailing rig is hanked on and the prevailing North X Northwesterlies appear strong enough to help the Shamaness and crew (Captain Dennis Clifton and First Mate Grover Jeane) sail across the first 600 miles to reach the glorious downwind sailing of the TRADEWINDS! Our first landfall, Hilo, Hawaii, is 2770 nautical miles from our current location and we plan to increase that distance slightly by heading 200 miles or so south of the rhumbline (direct course) to pickup more wind along the 1015 (atmosheric pressure line) isobar. We hope to make this voyage in three weeks but wind , weather, and good sailing conditions are controlled by Mother Nature. Captain Dennis is studying the grocery list and buying extra rice and beans to keep hunger at bay in the event of an unfortunate lengthening of our time at sea.
      From the anchorage in LaCruz de Huanacaxtle, Nayarit, Mexico, Bye for now.
Love, Dennis & Grover (Joining the Shamaness manana)
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At<4/25/2010> <2000> (utc) our position was 20°00.00'N 105°00.00'W

Shamaness Ship's Log    Thursday, April 8, 2010
Hanging on the anchor in LaCruz, Banderas Bay, Puerto Vallarta

      Today Matt Lessin and Baltazar invited me aboard their panga, Gabriella, for a short fishing trip to seatrial the recently overhauled outboards. We bought 20 live baits for 300 pesos and started trolling slowly shortly after daylight. Several big fish sawed off the leaders in the rocks near the Tres Marietas Islands, but after the "dealin" was done, we boated a half dozen bonita (for baits for BIGGER fish and for sushi tonite!), caught and released one 25 lb jack crevalle, and landed and released a couple rooster fish. BUT the real news is that Baltazar hooked a Grande Roosterfish and eventually hauled it aboard...a handsome fight won by the "old Man " of the sea THIS TIME. We estimate the fish at 85 lbs and suspect that the world record rooster wasn't much bigger. (I'll send a photo via regular email;.)
    We're scheduled at a "coming of age" (Spanish ?quensierra) party tomorrow, Dennis is taking photographs at the party, Douglas Clifton is motorcycling into LaCruz Saturday...so all going well here. We hope to venture 40+ miles out to the banks and fish for yellowfin tuna with the Shamaness and the Gabriella next week after Douglas gets rested up. Now it's time to cook sushi rice and go eat bonita sushi...
Love, Dennis

Ship's Log 2/2/2010

Raining in LaPaz!

The Shamaness announced on the morning Cruiser Radio Net that she was departing on the afternoon tide, but ALAS, the warm, cloudy skies became rain clouds...so Manana? The Captain is simmering a big pot of beans and also some Mexican Spanish rice with fresh camarones is happening in the galley. Doug Clifton flew home to more rain yesterday, BEFORE the cook put rice and beans on the menu. Doug was able to obtain ( A FREE?) visa at the airport after struggling (and failing miserably!) to BUY one for 852 pesos here in LaPaz.
The Dennis' State of LaPaz report reads that LaPaz is still a real cool Mexican City. The beautiful malecon or seaside tiled walkway with statues, strolling young couples, park benches, kids on roller skates and playing football or soccer in the sand (at low tide) continues as a wonderful place to walk anytime day or night. The people here are very helpful and friendly. The marinas are full and lots of cruising boats anchored in the LaPaz River.
Construction seems to be happening as the Costa Baja marina and condominium project is massive with several blocks of concrete multi-story condos awaiting completion.. Unlike many of these huge developments, this one seems to be solvent and showing no obvious signs of bankruptcy prior to completion.
Captain Dennis solicited crew for the next leg of Shamaness' Cruise to Puerto Vallarta, but will be sailing solo. Just so you don't think this vessel is a wallflower...ONE able seaman applied for the crew position but wasn't quite worthy. As all of you know, the Lady Shamaness has a long list of former crew that WORKED the vessel AND paid their share. This candidate was a little too close to Sterling Haydn's idea of a ideal cruiser.: DEAD BROKE! to earn the crew position (He wanted to EAT for FREE!) But if ANY of Shamaness' friends want to crew...you won't have to WORK or PAY! But remember the joke about the LADY hitch hiking a ride with the hippie car owner? Quanto pesos por favor? …..well, honey, the payment can be gas, grass, or ASS...nobody RIDES for free!

So bye for now from the Mogote in LaPaz.
Love, Dennis