We made it to Clear Lake, Texas!

Thank you everyone for all the help and support.  

We have completed our transportation of Splendid Isolation.  

From the Sea of Cortez, across the desert, to the Gulf of Mexico on the Texas coast.

After sailing over 2,500 miles down the Pacific from California, around Baja, up and across the Sea of Cortez.

We have transported our ship 1300 miles on land from one coast to another.

An out of the box approach to the cruising mentality.

Piña was enjoying herself at the Taylor Motel

Damn good food in Van Horn

We plan to live here on Clear Lake for a while.  Long enough to get our boat in tip-top shape.  While working dream jobs and saving money back up.

- On Thursday morning,  Darrin Goodman, came to pick us up from our motel in Van Horn.

He transports boats, cars, and trailers back and forth across the country.  Click his name and give him a call if you need something moved, near or far.  He was nice enough to come get us between loads, and only charged $1 a mile!  His diesel Ford F-350 pulled Splendid Isolation another 14 hours to Clear Lake.

- Marc and Claire were there to welcome us as we arrived!

It was quite the time-warp feeling showing up with our boat on a whole different coast.  Sad to leave our Mexican lifestyle behind, but our memories south of the border will be on our minds forever.  It was a big move for us, we are excited to be headed eastward!

flyers i left in the bathroom a few weeks ago

- Friday morning, April 4th there was some great surf in Galveston.  

I had been keeping an eye on the surf report while we were stranded in Van Horn, and it couldn't have worked out better timing!  Healthy offshore winds kept the waves clean all day, and the belly high swell was just what I needed after that drive.  We paid to have the boat sanded, apparently in this county you can't do any boat sanding unless you're a professional.  We were bummed at first, but realized that it was worth it after that long trip.  Plus we got to surf while it was being done.

probably the best smelling surf session ever.

funnel cakes, popcorn, and fried food flowing off the pier.

- First thing Saturday morning the travel lift showed up.  

In no time, we were off the trailer and back onto ground stands.  La Sancha happily backed the trailer across the yard for now.  Claire and I ran to the hardware store and got our supplies for painting the bottom.  When I helped restore the bottom of our boat April 2012, I had Pettit Trinadad Pro put on.  We've had no problems with growth.  You can even see below how pristine the bottom has stayed.  We spent the rest of the day spreading a coat on Splendid's bottom.  We raised the waterline about 4 inches.

freshly sanded hull

notice how great our bottom paint still looks after all that Pacific and Sea of Cortez mileage.

the keel left quite an impression

"F" from Freedonia.

Which Taylor had as our home-port on the stern.

Claire taping off, raising up the waterline.

I repaired a huge blister that had dried out on our rudder.

There she is with her new bottom paint.

Pettit Trinadad Pro - Blue

Next up, we will be painting the hull a new color.

Also, painting our Name and Hailing Port in a new font.

We will be cleaning her up in preparation for US Coast Guard Federal Vessel Documentation.

What Do Little Feat And Van Horn, Texas Have In Common?

April 2, 2014

When you're stranded in Texas in the parking lot of a motel that is 99 years old with your 1983 Volvo and 28 ft sailboat you might turn a few heads. You also might want to hold off telling your parents about your current situation.

Lucky for me my dad answered my mom's cell phone. Perf. 

"Hey there C" he says. "Whats happenin'?" 

So where would you have gone from there? 

"Well, I'm in Van Horn, Texas." good start. 

"Van Horn??" he says. "I know it well."

No, he has never been here but if Little Feat sings about it, he knows it well. 

My dad. Robert Royal Copeland Holmes is the coolest guy I know. I mean come on with a name like that you can rule the world.

Before I go any further. Let Little Feat set the mood. They say it best, "Texas is a world all it's own." 

Now I have heard of Little Feat from my dad but never got into their music until now. I guess you could say it's the setting. So when I was playing some music for Michael and Brian the other night I was researching and before I knew it Little Feat was leading me in all different directions. Neon Park aka Martin Muller was my first stop. 



Neon Park was an extremely unique and legendary badass artist. He spent most of his time between LA and a small town in Mexico.. somewhere I don't know. He did all the album cover's for Little Feat except for one they did themselves and other cool dudes like Dr.John, David Bowie, The Beach Boys which seems super random... and others before he got Lou Gehrig's disease. You can research more about him if you care too. I want to show you some of my favorites. Some remind me of Mexico others of my Dad and of course Texxxxxas my new found love. yeeehaw


                                     
                                   
                                       


                                     
                                 This is my favorite album cover 
                 Neon Park did for Little Feet.
                 Are you feeling the Mexico vibe? 


                                     

                                     

                                     
                                               
                                      
                                       

                                              




I was looking for some old pictures of Van Horn when I stumbled on some assholes blog that was making fun of the town for having ridiculously boring post cards.. who even cares about that shit. This dude has clearly never spent time in the lovely town that holds so many stories. I mean you have to think why would these people live out here in the middle of nowhere? I'm pretty sure its not just the fact that they like the peace and quiet. I know because I got the story. Sorry I cant share it with you. Use your imagination while you look through these pictures. If you still think its a shit hole middle of nowhere town by the end. Go there for a visit. Find Cheyne and ask him if he really robbed a train. Then continue through the town looking for all his gumball machines. They are in every store. Get a hell of an education from Ric at his Trading Post where he has the most beautiful turquoise jewelry and no hours of operation because he doesn't like to tie himself down. Bucky at his buy sale and trade store. According to Ric he is a shit monkey who knows nothing. The local mechanics who's names I don't remember. My personal favorite Papa's Pantry. Where two old Hispanic ladies feed the entire town everyday. 

 

 

 

  

This is on the menu at Papa's Pantry

The only picture I got of Brian. Seeking advice from his wife. What an awesome dude.

The Taylor Motel where we are currently living back in 1915... and its the second oldest hotel? I didn't ask about the first.

                  

                 I didn't take this but i like it
                         That's texxxxas.


    The last time Miguel and I were stranded I handed him my                     sketchbook and told him to relax. 
          This is the goodness that came from that.

"It's not a fox's fault how fast he thinks"

- Ric. A guy I met in Van Horn once.

Leaving Mexico, stranded in Van Horn Texas

March 28^th to April 1^st 

A) Guaymas, Mexico --- departure point

B) Tucson, Arizona --- change trucks

C) Van Horn, Texas --- break down

D) Clear Lake, Texas --- destination goal

Friday was our last day in Guaymas.  We cleaned up the boat, finalized everything, and took a test run around the yard.  Rafal’s Dodge 3500 Diesel pulled the boat no problem.

Claire made our last breakfast in Mexico. Chorizo scramble with biscuit cakes.

I did a last load of laundry.

5 gallon bucket.

Rafal doing a test lap.

Saturday morning at sunrise we departed the yard.  Claire, Piña, and I followed behind Rafal as he pulled Splendid Isolation.

Rafal pulling us through Mexico

Claire's road-snacks!

one of our favorite sites heading North towards the borders.

We stopped about an hour south of the border at a security checkpoint, the guards were super interested in the boat.  They searched both our vehicles, put luggage through the conveyor belt, similar to an airport check.  One of the guards shimmied up onto the boat and took a quick peak inside.

Claire following Rafal and me

About half an hour up the road from there, we stopped at the Temporary Import Permit office (TIP). And signed the boat out of Mexico.  In La Paz we had to buy a 10 year TIP for the vessel.

At the United States border, we waited in line for about an hour.  Once we got to the gate, we were asked to pull aside for an Agricultural Inspection.  Rafal had a few apples in his truck that they confiscated and we were on our way! Easy, smooth, and simple! 

waiting in line to cross the Mexico/USA border at Nogales

Rafal took us up to a Pilot truck stop just east of Tucson.  We paid him for our fuel cost and he went on his way to Phoenix.  

Claire, Piña, and I spent the night in La Sancha parked beside our vessel of a home. The boat is loaded up with gear and our dinghy so not much room inside there for sleeping right now.

Claire chose fried chicken with mashed taters and gravy for her back in the USA meal. 

sweet tea of course.

where we slept at the Pilot east of Tucson

Sunday morning, Brian, our next ride, showed up.  We met him through our ad on Craigslist.  He planned to purchase the trailer for a sailboat he was inheriting.  The trailer would be his for a discount after driving us to Clear Lake. We hitched Splendid Isolation up to his Dodge 1500 and continued east on I-10.

Brian hooking Splendid Isolation up to his truck

Flying down the freeway, everyone passing us was amazed.  Waving, taking photos, breaking their necks on double takes.  Every gas station we were bombarded with questions.  

Not too common to see some kids hitchhiking a 28 foot sailboat from Mexico to the Texas Gulf!

checking the fluids and cooling the engines

Flying down the freeway, everyone passing us was amazed.  Waving, taking photos, breaking their necks on double takes.  Every gas station we were bombarded with questions.

heading east down I-10

Not too common to see some kids hitchhiking a 28 foot sailboat from Mexico to the Texas Gulf!

Claire hopped in Brian’s Dodge and kept him company while Piña and I followed behind in La Sancha.  Brian used to live on a 44’ sailboat that he acquired in New York.  Him and his wife sailed down the east coast to the Caribbean, where they lived and worked for a few years.  Island hopping produced their son James.  Not long after his arrival they decided it was best to sell their boat and move back to the states. 

After about 6 or 7 hours land yachting east on I-10 we started smelling some burnt scents from his truck.  We thought they were his brakes at first.  A few pull overs off the highway and we determined that we should slow down, play it safe, and stop for the night in Van Horn.  About 20 miles out side of Van Horn, Brian’s big blue truck started billowing smoke. La Sancha’s window was covered in a rain of hot grease.  We pulled over immediately.  Sitting on the side of the highway we thoroughly inspected both his vehicle and the trailer.  Still thinking it was his brakes over heating, we were confused.  Checking the trailers brakes we found that the bolts holding the calipers on had wiggled loose and fell off! NOT SAFE!

I climbed up into the boat on the side of the highway.  I have a ton of spare nuts and bolts onboard and was hoping to find a match.  No luck. Brian and I being like minded with jerry rigging, we decided zip ties were our only option! Very risky.  We took it slow the next 15 miles and hobbled into Van Horn.   Getting a room at the Taylor Motel, where we stayed before, coming west with La Sancha and the empty trailer.

Monday morning Brian took his truck to the shop to diagnose the smoky situation.  He blew out his diferensial! We were pushing his Dodge 1500 a little too hard up those desert hills… Splendid Isolation being about the max towing capacity for his vehicle.  All of us, extremely bummed out, knew we needed to strategize.

 A semi carrying elephants broke down and was at the shop with Brian's truck!  

This cool dude would open and close the door when you asked him what's up!?

Brian convinced that he should not tow the boat he would be inheriting, decided maybe that purchasing our trailer is not an option for him right now.  

We spent the day walking the streets of Van Horn.  Making a full circle around town, we met EVERYONE! Asking every truck owner we saw for a lift.  No luck.  We met a load of cool locals.  We really do enjoy this town, too bad there’s no water to put our boat in!

Main road down Van Horn.  

Before the super freeway of I-10 was put in, this was the road everyone drove down to get across the country.  Crazy that putting in a huge freeway 200 yards to the North, building chain restaurants and gas stations, has put a huge damper on this towns economy.

Brian and myself representing our Texas adventures together

Claire giving quarters to a friend we made.  He gave Claire a hat and told us he owns all the gumball machines in town.  She thought it'd be nice to pay him for the hat through his machines.

decrepit motels, abandoned because of the new highway and franchised motels 

how many eras of vehicles have parked here and stayed the night!?

if only...

motorbike, satellite, A/C, surfboards, dinghy, etc...

T-shirt I found in town.

Tuesday Brian received his truck back from the shop, fixed. We also found bolts for the trailer calipers and fixed those back up. We all agreed that it was not worth it for him to continue pulling us.  Risking another breakdown, not cool.  Brian decided to cut his loses and head back home to his family and job.  We are honored to have met him.  He was extremely helpful and kind to us.  A great new friend that we will definitely keep in touch with.

Brian found this pin outside our motel room and left it with us!

So now we sit.  Claire, Piña, and I at the Taylor Motel in Van Horn Texas.  With La Sancha and Splendid Isolation parked out front.  Riddling this giant Rubic’s Cube of a situation in our minds.  Weighing out our options to get our home the next 650 miles to Clear Lake, Texas.

If you would enjoy helping us out...

We weigh about 8000 lbs. We could really use a 3/4 ton truck to take us the rest of the way.  Feel free to email me at michaelcalvino@gmail.com if you have any input.

We've rattled our brains and been down many many paths of options to get our home the rest of the 650 miles to Clear Lake.

Check back soon for updates as we figure out this delema...