Monday was just another day in paradise. I went to the gym in the morning and spent
the afternoon at Scout, taking
advantage of Greg's absence to thoroughly dust the forward cabin. Monday night, there was a screening of the
documentary, Sonic Sea, about how
human generated noise pollution affects whales and other marine mammals that
rely on sound to find food and each other.
The screening drew a big crowd. I had never seen the amphitheater so
packed.
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| The Crowd at the Amphitheater |
According to the film, many seemingly mysterious beachings
of whales and dolphins can be traced to noises so terrifying that the animals
were trying to escape from the sound by heading for shallow water. Something like 60,000 freighters ply the seas
at any given time, generating a horrific drone that drowns out whalesong. Even more disturbing is military sonar, which
even the navy has accepted can cause whale beachings. Perhaps the most horrifying case of all is
the practice of prospecting for oil by setting off explosions at nine-second
intervals and mapping the sea bottom using data from the reflected sound. Sound can travel immense distances through
water. Using the navy’s listening
technology, whales off the coast of Ireland could be heard in Virginia.
This constant noise makes it hard for whales and dolphins to
use sonar to find food and scares away fish, resulting in as much as an 80%
decrease in their food supply. Obviously, that
isn’t sustainable. The only good news is
that sound rapidly dissipates once we stop making noise, unlike other forms of
pollution. Quieter ships are also more
efficient ships, so there is good motivation for improvement in that area. The navy is doing what they can to reduce
their impact on whales, at least while testing, although they continue to
prioritize the safety of human lives and equipment over marine life during
conflicts. Only the oil industry has yet
to make any attempt to mitigate the damage they cause. I left the screening with one more reason to
hate the oil industry and the hope that we make the shift to renewable energy as fast as
possible.
I ran early on Tuesday so that I could make a trip to Nuevo
Vallarta to check on the status of my application for Mexican residency. I had received a letter saying that they had
resolved to grant me residency, but I had not received my resident card or any
indication as to how I might receive it.
I needed to have it before I could leave the country, so felt I should
check on the process.
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| A Surreptitious Shot of the Immigration Office |
I took a combi to Mezcales and switched to another headed
for Nuevo Vallarta. It was market day in
Nuevo Vallarta and the place was crawling with tourists. It was a rainy day, so the Immigration office
was quieter than usual and I didn’t have to wait long before my number was
called. It seemed that even though I had
given them my fingerprints electronically back in Sacramento when I started the
process, they wanted a hard copy. I had
to wait some time before the form was ready for them to use, but I left with a
certificate displaying my official resident’s number. They told me that I could return the
following Monday to pick up my card. I
finally felt like I was making progress.
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| Seminar on Reading GRIB Files |
I make a quick stop at the Walmart shopping center
(otherwise known as Lago Real) for lunch and to pick up a couple of things and
barely made it back to the marina in time to attend a seminar on reading GRIB
files, the source of weather data received over satellite or single
sideband. I was tired after rushing
around all day and stayed in to write while everyone else was at the Brittania.
February 20-21, 2019
Wednesday was music circle day. We had a larger than usual group and two guys
from Texas, Jerry and Nick (I think), made a great addition. We sounded pretty great and drew a big
audience for the Poolside Deli. I took
the guitar to the boat, afterwards, and read and napped the rest of the
afternoon.
Our friends, Blair and June, were flying in that evening and
we had tentative plans to meet for a late dinner. They were only planning to spend a couple of
days in La Cruz before heading inland by car.
Blair would join us, after their return, to crew on the Banderas Bay
Regatta and possibly help Greg return Scout
to La Paz. I was resisting leaving
La Cruz before the end of the season and while the weather was still cold in La
Paz. It was the coldest year I had ever
experienced in Mexico. La Cruz had been
cold and drizzly all week and there was snow in Tucson and Southern
California. I had no desire to go north
before April at the soonest.
Blair and June arrived about 21:00 and I met them at the Red
Chairs for a taco and a quick visit.
After dinner, we walked to the plaza for an ice cream and then I headed
home.
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| Overcast Morning in La Cruz |
I ran on Thursday but it was so overcast that the dawn was a
non-event. Paul, Carol, Blair, June, and
I met for lunch at Tona’s Cocina Economica, the best deal in town for
lunch. While the place didn’t look like
much from the street, there was a nice patio in the back with tables. A complete lunch including agua fresca and
dessert cost fifty pesos. I had grilled
steak with rice and salad. “Dessert”
turned out to be a hot roll with peanut butter, which was a little odd, but
perfectly edible. We had a nice,
relaxing lunch together.
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| Tona's Cocina Economica |
I spent the afternoon at the boat, practicing and
reading. We all planned to meet at the
amphitheater, later, to watch the latest Mission
Impossible movie. There was a pretty
sunset and all the buildings in Nuevo Vallarta were glowing orange as the sun
set. There was a good crowd for the
movie and Paul and Carol brought popcorn.
It was a little chilly, but not drastically so. I had never gotten so much wear out of my
long pants in Mexico. It seemed I needed
them every day.
February 22-24, 2019
Friday marked the beginning of the San Pancho Music
Festival. I went with my friends, Marc
and Karen. Karen was kind enough to
drive and bring camp chairs for us.
While the festival had provided mountains of plastic chairs in the past,
they had not done so after 2017 and we had to bring our own. We left La Cruz about 16:15 and headed up
Highway 200 past Sayulita. Huge swaths
of forest on both sides of the road and been cut down and the trees lay
scattered in the mud. The land looked
devastated and we wondered what lay behind the deforestation. It was terribly sad to see what was once
verdant jungle looking so dead and bedraggled.
The festival organizers had invited the Indians from twenty-five
Huichol villages to sell their wares at the festival. Vendor tables outlined the plaza, squeezing
the attendees into a smaller space and adding to the crowding. The festival grew larger each year but it was threatening to rain on Friday, which
kept the crowd to a manageable size.
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| Huichol Musicians |
The first group was a Huichol band playing traditional Mexican
music on traditional instruments. They
were unremarkable except for their fabulous, embroidered outfits. Werther Ellerbrock played some nice
fingerstyle guitar arrangements while the main stage switched acts. The next act on the main stage was two women (Karen
Bently Pollick and Oana Rusu Tomai) playing violin and piano duets transcribed
from operatic arias, Gershwin, and Romanian folk songs. It rained during their set and stage hands rushed
to cover the musicians and instruments with beach umbrellas. We almost had to run for the truck but the
rain tapered off just in time.
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| Karen and Oana Playing in the Rain |
One of my favorite things about the San Pancho Music
Festival was the shrimp tamales. One
made a meal and they were a very reasonable twenty-five pesos, making them one
of the cheapest dishes available. The
strawberry margarita I ordered was an expensive disappointment, but the tamale
made up for it. Later in the evening, I
enjoyed a piece of cheese flan. I can’t
say I could taste the cheese, but it was good flan.
Craig Caffal played some solo blues while the Dave Fisher
Quartet was setting up. It was the day
that Peter Tork of the Monkeys died and Craig led us in a bittersweet singalong
of Daydream Believer. On the one hand, it seemed like we had
appropriated the plaza to celebrate American culture, but then I recalled
Mexicans playing a tribute to Chuck Berry in the Chihuahua plaza on the day he
died and realized that they liked American music, too. Music respects no boundaries.
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| The Dave Fisher Quartet |
Dave Fisher seemed pretty low energy. A young man that I think was his son played
lead guitar and they also had a really good steel guitar player that I really
enjoyed. They got off to a slow start,
but they warmed up and ended up being enjoyable.
The following act was a very commercial jazz group fronted
by Gabriel Mark Hasselbach. Jazz isn’t
my thing and I was irritated by his constant self-promotion. The previous act on the second stage had been
jazz, too, and I was bored.
I woke up when PUG came on the second stage. They were a young Mexican group playing
original music. They were loud and went
a little overboard with their distortion, but they had potential. If they could straighten out their sound,
they would bear watching.
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| The Crowd Dancing to Cheko Ruiz' Band |
The festival was behind schedule when Cheko Ruiz and his
band finally came on about 22:40.
Between the late hour and the intermittent rain, the crowd had thinned
considerably. The diehards were rewarded
with a great show. Everyone was up and
dancing. They played a long set. It was nearly midnight when the tired
organizers finally convinced them to stop playing. I didn’t get to bed until well after 1:00 on
Saturday morning.
Having been up so late the night before, I did not get up to
run on Saturday morning. I stayed in and
did laundry and concocted some coconut lemon meltaways that I had been
threatening to make for weeks. By the
time I finished those two projects, I barely had time to check on the boat
before it was time to report to Agave Azul to meet Karen.
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| Diego Chavez and Band |
Julio Cabrera kicked off the festival on Saturday with
delightful Latin music. Then Diego
Chavez took the second stage. He played
original rock songs in Spanish and he really grabbed my attention. I was disappointed that he was not selling
CDs, as I would have liked the opportunity to hear more of his music.
Caravane is always a crowd pleaser and this year was no
exception. They took us on a journey through different musical styles from
around the world. Alfredo Muro played
some very nice Spanish guitar on the second stage, but failed to capture the
attention of the crowd who were still arriving, setting up chairs, and
procuring food and drink.
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| Caravane |
Beto, the MC, had heavily promoted Mariachi Tradicional the
preceding night. They had received a UNESCO designation, but we found them
somewhat painful to listen to. They
played traditional instruments, but the violins were out of tune and I could
barely stand to listen. The situation
improved when the vocalist started singing.
He was good and served to drown out the tuneless scratching of the
violins.
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| Mariachi Tradicional |
Joe Hadlock, who produced the Lumineers, brought his band,
Joe’s Garage Entourage, to the second stage.
They had a very talented Russian violinist who immediately attracted the
attention of Geo from Luna Rumba, who had been sitting with us, went dashing off to listen to her more
closely. They played an interesting
blend of musical styles including Middle Eastern. I couldn’t get close enough to see them, but
I did enjoy listening.
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| Jeff Oster on the Main Stage |
The trumpeter Jeff Oster was next on the main stage. He came out in a black jacket completely
covered in what looked like Swarovski crystals that was worthy of Liberace or
Elton John. He was good, as always. I am not a jazz fan, but I couldn’t resist a
good trumpet. Things went downhill after
that. Juan-Ted played the same tired set
of oldies that they have played every year.
We weren’t impressed with the Rob Cavazzini Project and packed up to
leave after two songs. An excellent
keyboard player joined them, directing their style from country to blues, as we
were walking to the car. We probably would have stayed if that had happened
earlier, but we were tired and already half way to the car. It was nice to leave before the main crush of
traffic left town.
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| Latcho & Andrea at the Market |
I had no intention of going to the Sunday market, but Latcho
and Andrea were playing, so I stopped by on the way to Scout. I got there shortly
before they took a break, but stayed long enough to purchase a copy of Los Ambienteros, the CD they had made in
2014 with Geo from Luna Rumba.
I was looking forward to seeing Soul Trip who were supposed
to kick off the festival on Sunday, but they never arrived. The organizers cobbled together a group to
play for a few minutes before Norm Strauss and Tony Kovacic (the steel
guitarist) came on the second stage at 17:45.
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| Ojo de Agua |
The next band on the main stage was Ojo de Agua and they
were enjoyable, as always. They played a
fusion of traditional Mexican and Cuban rhythms and had everybody dancing. I bought a copy of their CD.
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| The Jokers |
Steve O’Connor played jazz on the second stage while the
Jokers were setting up on the main stage.
The Jokers were a Mexican band that played straight up rockabilly. It seemed a bit incongruous, but everyone
enjoyed them. They were certainly
energetic and it was fun to watch their stand-up bass player dancing with his
bass. Werther Ellerbrock was back for
another set of fingerstyle guitar tunes while Tatewari was setting up on the
main stage.
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| Tatewari |
Tatewari is always great and they seemed very relaxed that
night. The crowd enjoyed them, although
the Jokers were so energetic that they were a hard act to follow. Charlie Pena, who had been playing with Tatewari
all season, was playing with Ojo de Agua and the Orchestra San Francisco and
did not appear with Tatewari, which made them sound a bit subdued.
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| Lobo and Jaguar |
The surprise hit of the evening was Lobo and Jaguar (Esau of
Tatewari) playing flamenco on the second stage.
They didn’t come on until 21:30, so the remaining crowd was mostly young
and many of them had never heard real flamenco before. They clustered around the stage and listened
with rapt attention. Lobo was thrilled
and Esau soaked up the admiration, tossing his long, loose hair. It was emotional for me to see how the crowd loved them. They played encore after encore until the organizers began to get concerned that the last group would never get to take the stage.
The evening ended with the Orchestra San Francisco on the
main stage playing Cuban style music that got everyone dancing. It was another late night and I was relieved
that the festival was finally over and I could finally slow down a bit. I was happy to return to La Cruz.
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| The Orchestra San Francisco |
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