25 March 2006
We departed from La Paz heading north on the final leg. Our first day we motorsailed in company with Norm a singlehander from Victoria on a Vancouver 27 called Anya. Dolphins accompanied and a lone ray leapt and flopped us out of La Paz. We anchored early that day at a lovely spot called Ensenada de la Partida. We bought a fillet of grouper from a local fisherman and had Norm over for dinner.
26 March
After a calm night we bid Norm adieu as he returned to La Paz to put Anya up on the hard. We left later that morning and actually flew our spinnaker all the way to the next anchorage at Evaristo. The fishing village of Evaristo reminds me of a mini Turtle Bay. The prevailing winds are from the NW which is the way we are headed, but today we had a light following breeze and one of the best sails ever. Another cruiser in the anchorage dropped off a fish he had caught earlier that day. So another feast of fish, this time we put our hand to making fish tacos.
Friends Rich and Annette on Came to Believe (Morgan OI 41) from Seattle met us there and came over for cocktails in the cockpit.
We have been towing the dinghy on this stretch, as all the anchorages require some transportation to land. Each tine we leave we have to hoist the outboard onto a bracket on the stern rail and Maureen and I are quite coordinated in accomplishing this in a minute or so.
27 March
Don the weather guru on the Amigo net (8122 kHz at 0715) says the wind will stay in the south so we move on. It was a rolly uncomfortable place to anchor anyway. We sail off with CTB and end up in the North arm of the bay at Agua Verde. As the name implies the water is an incredible green. All our friends who have sailed here before have said this is a place not to be missed and they were right. We stayed here for 2 days with CTB and took pictures and generally fooled around. The afternoon winds (Cozumel winds) on the first day had us uncomfortably close to another cruiser and after much whining I convinced Dick that we needed to move and in the process we sustained our first boating accident. Dick got his left hand caught in the chain gypsy of the winch. In true cruiser fashion, a number of fellow boaters were over with ice and assistance. Dick’s injury was painful but only bruised and scraped. The ice became particularly handy in the G&T required as an anesthetic.
I realized it was time to really fix the winch and so I invented a chain stripper that really works. Should have done that months ago, of course, but never really had the incentive. Now the windlass really works like it is supposed to.
March 28, 2006
Happy Bday, Florence
29 March
Left the anchorage at about 0900 and headed North. By 1030 the wind was 25 knots from the west and really nasty. At 1130 it was back down to 10 knots from the NW and we motored on to Puerto Escondido, BCS. This strange little hole in the wall is not to be confused with the port of the same name a thousand miles south. There is nothing here, but ‘big’ plans to build a marina and a huge housing tract. By the looks of the infrastructure, this plan has been in place for a lot of years as the curbs and sidewalks are all crumbling but no houses have been built and there is not even a little tienda. The ‘marina ‘ is under construction but there is only a seawall and a few mooring buoys so far. Still it is regarded as the best place to sit out a hurricane on the Baja coast, but that is not on our agenda. We met some cruiser folks at the ‘yacht club’ practicing for a band concert but don’t know how many attendees they will have. The big deal here is going to be Loreto Fest in early May, but we won’t be around for it.
Fidele is here, and they are planning to head out directly for San Carlos.
30 March
Motored on to Ballandra Bay, which is across a 10-mile channel from Loreto. Entered a beautiful quiet bay on Isla Carmen and stayed in perfect calm with CTB and a few other boats. We have now come 140 nm from La Paz and have about 120 to go to San Carlos. We get ready for an overnight passage by rolling up the dinghy on deck and getting all secured below as this is going to be heading straight north on a course of 000 degrees for 24 hours or more.
31 March
We leave early and have an escort of dozens of dolphins, obviously on a mission, no playing in our wake. The wake they leave could easily been that of a small motor boat. We motorsail most of the day with a light NW wind and manage to keep fairly close to our course. By midnight however the wind is up over 20 knots and building.
1 April
This is not fun. At 0600 it is daylight and we are near the city but we cannot find the entrance to the bay. The real charts are very small scale and notoriously inaccurate with respect to GPS positions. And the cruising guides are better but do not seem to match what we see from the water. We are tired and the wind is 25 knots from the north and all we want to do is get the anchor down and sleep. We know where we are but we do not know where the harbor entrance is. Finally we make our way in closer to shore with reference to a distinctive rock pile called Tetas de Cabra (goat teats) which we use to find a very narrow inlet to the Bahia de San Carlos. The marina here is crowded and we are told there is no slip for us and they do not know when or if there will be one. Great. We don't care. We see Frank on Chevalita anchored in the bay and so we join him and about 50 other boats on the hook. We toss out 150 feet of chain in 30 feet of water and hit the bunk at 0930. It is blowing 30 knots with higher gusts. Happy April Fool’s Day.
1400 we wake up and find Chevalita closer to us than when we went unconscious and the wind still blowing. We are dragging and 30 knots or not we have to re-anchor. Maureen is spectacular at driving Blue into the wind and spreading chain in the locker below while I raise the anchor. The new stripper is working flawlessly and makes the job much easier. We reset in a spot a little further out as it has better holding bottom. Just then CTB arrives. They have been out in this ‘interesting’ weather 6 hours longer than we have as we left Ballandra at the same time. Their IQ is changing inversely with time spent in 30 knots+. They anchor nearby and sleep for 16 hours.
2-3 April
Many little challenges as we settle in. The dinghy has a hole, which we fix, and we eventually figure out the wind patterns. It is very calm from sunset to about noon as the easterly land breeze flows against the westerly prevailing winds. It gets pretty hot as we are now in desert country on the ‘mainland’ side of the Sea of Cortez. From noon to 1800 it blows like stink starting at 15 and usually working up to a steady 30 knots and gusts to 40. Then back to nothing at sun down.
We still cannot get into the marina so we arrange to simply have Blue hauled out on Monday evening high tide. We would have very few opportunities to do this as there is only one high tide per day this month and most are at night and lots of them are already booked. So we end up in the work yard at Marina Seca and live in the yard on board as we have power and water and showers at the main building. We have much work to do to get Blue ready for summer storage in the intense heat and dryness over the next 6 months. 45 degrees and 0 relative humidity. This is really a desert. Place to be if somewhat dusty.
April 4 to 18
Happy Bday, Donna
We spend time with other cruisers as we get accustomed to sleeping with no movement and waiting for the bow to turn into the wind. Things are pretty shaky at first as we gradually get our land legs. Our main tasks are to get everything off the decks and washed and put away, and then do some touch ups on the paint. Sounds simple but we have to work hard for over a week to get done. We have taken some side trips into Guaymas which is an interesting town and also to the San Carlos commercial centre. Spending time with Duey and Nan of The Great Escape is beneficial as they have a car and teach us a great deal about the area. We have also met Joy and Buzz who have a condo here and have become good friends and also a great help.
April 8, 2006
Happy Bday, Linda and Diane
The weather is getting really hot so we find that getting up early and having a few hours work done before about 1100 is really efficient. On Wednesday April 12 the town starts to shut down for Semana Santos. We discover that this is a festival that continues to Easter Sunday and consists of thousands of young people in a contest to see how little clothing the girls can wear and how much beer the boys can drink while slowly cruising the 15km stretch from Guaymas to Marina Real. Towards dark they slow down even more and half the vehicles are parked on the roadside covered by their occupants. It seems there are about 6 per car and 8 per pickup and every other sort of vehicle from dune buggy to surf board is represented. The beer vendors at the roadside stands do a brisk trade and there is a uniform of some sort stationed every 50 m or so. The music starts about 2000 and continues to 0500. The next day it all starts over about noon.
April 13, 2006
Happy Bday, Kyle
Here is a bit of trivia: Did you know that Easter Sunday is the first Sunday following the first full moon after the Spring solstice. What a curious mix of pagan and Christian events.
We have now got all our travel arrangements made and it will take us three days and car, bus, plane and ferry to get back. It should be an interesting trip, and it seems strange that this turns out to be a very efficient way to do it, but on to the adventure. We are looking forward to seeing everyone and expect to be back about noon on the 20th, but first we have to move Blue from the work yard to the storage yard and complete the decommissioning. See you all soon.
April 17
The big day has finally arrived and we have gotten Blue moved into the storage yard. She is secured between fou 4” pipes and several jack stands and chains so that even a hurricane couldn’t move her. We have covered with tarps to try to reduce the heat and shut all the through hulls and taped them shut so bugs can’t get in. Several large pails of water are inside to try to keep the humidity up and traps set to catch stray bugs.
By 5:30 we are tired and showered. We are picked up by Buzz and Joy and have a final dinner before catching the bus in Guaymas. The bus is only an hour late and an uneventful 8 hour ride later we are in Tucson.
April 18
Tucson is hot at 7:30 in the morning and we finally get a cab to a hotel where the friendly staff give us breakfast and a room which is lovely. Shower and sleep and by 1 PM we are looking for lunch. We found a bus that goes somewhere and take the number 6 north bound to see where it goes. Tucson is a really large spread out city of about 700,000 with a lot of empty spaces between housing developments. There is some industry here and a lot of movie making activity. We get the Cook’s tour from some of the more interesting and colourful passengers on the bus and end up at a very large mall and hour later. We do a little shopping for some food and drink and take the return trip of an hour to the hotel in the airport area.
April 20
By noon we are on a really inexpensive Air Alaska flight to Seattle. Downtown Seattle is as vibrant as ever and we will return soon for a longer stay. There is a lovely old hotel on 9th street called the Camlin. It has been rebuilt by Worldmark and is now a timeshare.
April 21
The 8 AM sailing of the Victoria Clipper is a sellout and we are glad we booked tickets a couple weeks ago. Crowded or not the cat makes 33 knots on its way across the Strait of Juan de Fuca and we close the circle on our 9 month voyage while still on water. The last 2000 miles were quicker than the first 4000 by a long shot and we are glad to be home. Dick’s brother Gery and wife Barbara picked us up at the ferry terminal and brought us home and helped us start to get set up for life in the fast lane. So far we have internet, cable TV and got the car insured and running. Now that our dinghy is back in the water we can get groceries and maybe a telephone. The cruising life in the Mexican sun seems very far away and we are definitely not done with it.
Journal 10
February 14 – 26 2006,
Puerto Vallarta
The weather has been consistently hot and sunny during the day cooling off in the evenings for a good sleep. The humidity is increasing and apparently will continue to increase as the summer months heat this place up. I can’t say that I miss the snow, or the rain.
We celebrated Valentine’s having a dinner out at a local restaurant with Vision (Kerry & Jan) a New Zealand registered boat and Mopion (John & Rosie), a great meal and interesting conversation with cruisers.
During our stay at Paradise Village Marina we did a couple of day trips into Puerto Vallarta to visit Dick’s cousin Harvey and his wife Helen from Gull Lake, MB. Harvey and Helen were staying in old town PV (our personal favorite part of town) for a month. I think this was there 10th time down to PV and had a number of friends staying at the same hotel. Our visits though brief were pleasant. This was my first introduction to another one of the Dueck’s. Harvey is Hartley’s twin and wasn’t difficult for me to identify on the beach sitting under a palapa with #48 sunscreen, large brimmed hat and even though he had been in the southern climes for 2 weeks was still a brilliant shade of white (carne blanco). The physical resemblance and similarities in personal characteristics left no doubt to whose twin.
We met up with Apache II and Ole (Keith and Donna) early in our stay and spent some quality time with Ole (cocktail hour(s), and club BBQ) with these friends who ended up leaving to return to Mazatlan after only a few days in the marina.
A few days later Mopion arrived and we had recently discovered Vision at another marina while on a dingy tour of the estuary. So in cruiser fashion, at the evening cocktail party, we planned a day trip into Marina Vallarta with Seadater, Vision and Mopion. We were pleasantly surprised, though we’ve been to the marina before, this trip we discovered a couple of art shops that featured amazingly talented local artisans. Now, if there was a blank 10’ x 10’ wall available on Blue I’d have the perfect hanging, as well, I could have easily tiled the ‘galley’ with some gorgeous hand painted ceramic tiles.
A panga trip with another cruiser, Sparky, who we knew of only by reputation from PMYC in Marina del Rey, to La Cruz gave us the opportunity to meet up with our friend Larry. Larry, who had been anchored in La Cruz because of a fuel pump problem, was awaiting parts that were being transported by our friends Ruth and James from Wpg. Getting parts in Mexico can sometimes be a challenge, this was one of those times. Larry’s son in Victoria was able to get the parts then he had a courier forward them to Ruth in Wpg. she ended up bringing them down in her luggage. This was actually a rather simply solution. It’s all in the timing. Anyway, Larry had spent considerable time in La Cruz and was able to provide us with a tour of La Cruz then the three of us hopped a bus back towards PV and checked out Bucerias looking for suitable accommodations for our now mutual friends. We found a nice hotel and some great restaurants in the more Mexican part of Bucerias.
February 21, 2006
We met Ruth and James at the airport in PV, and hopped a bus back to Bucerias. A really charming town with a lot of Mexico still in it. After getting settled into their hotel, unloading their luggage of the dozens of books they brought down for us and Larry’s fuel pump parts repacked into our knapsack we headed out for a tour of the town. We grabbed some dinner from one of the little places that had been recommended. Dick and I loaded down with a month of reading material headed back to Paradise Village. A good deal for us, as we exchange a suitcase full of books for a suitcase full of our winter clothes to go back to Wpg.
February 22, 2006
The waiting for Blue’s transmission to be rebuilt and the fabrication of the drive plate is over. Dick was fortunate to find a guy ‘Tony’ the transmission magician, who specializes in Hurth transmissions do the deed. He was able to rebuild the broken parts and Dick was able to reinstall the new bits getting us out of the Marina and onto our next adventure.
February 23, 2006
The fuel pump parts exchange is made! Introductions are made and we’re off for an adventure.
Larry, Ruth and James joined us on a day trip, using the local bus service, Pacifico, up to La Penita to take in Market day and a reunion with George, Georgie and Marta at the Hotel California. While we were there we met up with a number of folks we had met earlier this year (Tim & Cathy), and some old acquaintances (Carlotta, and “Jersey”) who not only had we met the year previous so had Larry. So it truly was a reunion of sorts.
February 24, 2006
A great day for a day sail, sunny and light to moderate winds little swell. Our day sail out with Ruth on the tiller and Dick and James being deck baubles on the fore deck until the wind picked up and there was a little spray coming over the bow and diluting their beer. James was sure he had spotted a whale, and we humored him with his discovery. We had an opportunity to give the transmission a trial run as we came into dock at yet our now fourth berth in the marina. Upon our return to the marina, we did a dingy tour of the estuary spotting various birds and even a baby crocodile. Dinner at the yacht club and Ruth and James hopped the shuttle bus back to their hotel.
February 26, 2006
Sunshine, no wind, Ruth and James join us for our motor over to La Cruz. Dick on tiller, Ruth and James, deck baubles on the fore deck. No chance of spillage or diluting of the cervazas today. We’ll anchor here for a few days before we head back to Mazatlan and points north.
A dingy ride to shore, a jam session, and a serving of some really good BBQ’d ribs and chicken at one of the local watering holes. A good time is had by all we bid adieu to our friends as the head back to Bucerias and we head back to Blue, on the hook.
February 27, 2006
A bumpy night on the hook.
Plenty of sunshine and a dingy ride to shore to meet up with Ruth and James for one more visit before they head back to the great white north.
On our dingy ride to shore I spied these little brown tips sticking up in the water, as we got closer we discovered that there were half a dozen or so of these baby rays with the tips of their wings sticking out of the water. They were just slightly larger than the size of your hand, looking very much like what I remember seeing large oak leaves that had been blown into a puddle in the fall.
A tour of La Cruz includes a trip to a couple of art shops. I learn ‘tons’ about the local artisans and am grateful for having had the opportunity to spend the time touring the town.
Farewell to Ruth and James!
We meet up with some old cruiser friends; Veleda has just come up from Barra de Navidad and Tenicateta, Came to Believe (Rich and Annette), Quayak (Richard and Betsy). A brief rendezvous aboard Veleda, as we plan to head out early the following morning.
February 28, 2006-March 1, 2006
Sunshine, following seas, and we’re on our way. As we leave the anchorage we hear DaJu II on the VHF and pass in the channel as they go into LaCruz. We haven’t seen or heard from Dave and Judy, since we shared our spirit breaking passage on the outside of the Baja back in December. It was good to hear their voices as we had heard rumors that they were not going to continue their voyage.
Sea Turtles, rays, and whales join us on our 35hr. passage north. We motor sail the entire way, with very light winds and little swell. A great way to head north. Our first overnighter since heading to Isla Isabella, with buddies. I miss not only the buddy boats but also my night visitors while on my watches. There have been no birds, or dolphins/porpoises for company. Fortunately, uneventful on all fronts.
Three whales got my attention our second morning out. It was sunny and already really warm, I hadn’t bothered with my tether as the seas were flat like a pancake and we were just motor sailing along. Dick was down below catching a few much-needed zees. I was engrossed in one of my newly acquired novels when I heard and then smelled the breath of a whale, as I looked up there were two whales just about to dive, under the boat, they were sooooooo close I started hollering for Dick. All the stories I had heard about the damage that could be done to vessels and the people aboard created more than just a little concern. So, I’m hollering for Dick as they slid under the boat, my anxiety has escalated and I’m convinced that there will be some serious damage. As Dick came up and was standing on the ladder, In retrospect it would probably have wiser not to have him mid way up the ladder when what I expected was that we were going to be whacked and tossed about by one of these beauties. Anyway, by the time he got up top, and the whales surfaced, not two but three of them surfaced and went merrily on their way. We were untouched, unharmed, and no longer concerned. That was my closest encounter with whales, I could see the scar on the back of the lead whale as he slipped under the surface of the water.
We arrived at the entrance to the harbour of Marina Mazatlan just before sunset. This passage has been so gentle and there has been nothing, with the exception of the exhilaration of the whales’ appearance to spice up the trip. So now as we run out of sunlight we run out of diesel. Not a huge delay but enough to cause a little stress as we come into the familiar surroundings of the marina. We’re back on dock 7 and have moved down one slip from 3 to 2. It’s good to be home.
March 2-15, 2006
Mazatlan
Sunshine and increased humidity.
There are lots of fellow cruisers who have returned to Mazatlan, from passages south prior to heading north into the Sea of Cortez as we have. We’re all waiting for the right weather window before heading out, getting all our provisions and just enjoying the hospitality of this place.
There are all kinds of activities both in town and around the marinas. One of the more popular attractions is a local watering hole “Canucks”. Canucks is owned by yes, a Canadian formerly from Wpg. Monday nights are open mike and a good time is had by all. This particular Monday night had the usual evening of dining, dancing and libations. An evening filled with various groups, solo acts, some good and some not so good a bunch of us headed back to the marina in true Mexican style. Piling as many people into the back of a collectivo, driving at or near the speed of light in heavy traffic, while pounding out musica at just less than 10 decibels below deafening. The similarity between the collectivos in La Penita to those in Mazatlan ends at the co-operative ownership. The vehicles in Mazatlan are small red pickup trucks that have two bench seats, one down each side of the box. They have what I would call a roll cage that is covered with blue tarps across the top and down the sides part way looking like the regular cargo carrying trucks back home. The tarps provide a wind/sun break for passengers, as well; they limit your visibility with the exception of out the back end. When passengers wish to get out, you simply study where you’ve been guess where you are and bang on the window so the driver can slow down and mostly stop while you exit the vehicle he then whisks the remaining passengers off to the next destination. Everything was going splendidly and Marina Mazatlan being the last stop meant there was only the four of us, Sorcha (Carl and Linda), Dick, and myself. As the driver approached our stop he was presented with an unexpected chain barrier. He avoided damaging his vehicle by stopping quickly and abruptly. The action in the front end of the vehicle had and immediate impact in the back as I slid down the bench followed way to closely by my captain ending my trajectory by using my head to slow and ultimately stop us on the roll cage. I have been described as a hard head but it was proven no match for the roll cage. After unfolding myself from the truck and some discussion we took a trip to emergency, via Carl’s pickup, for a couple of x-rays which indicated that there was ‘no problemo’ that six stitches behind my left ear wouldn’t cure. I’m happy to report that a cauliflower ear, bruises and sore muscles was all the damage from the collectivo bite.
A day trip to the interior by bus with Marco our tour guide took us to Copala. It was a great adventure though I wasn’t so sure at the start. It started in a jewelry store (yikes!), memories/horrors of our Caribbean cruise ship adventures. After we boarded the tour bus for Copala things improved. A stop at a local bakery, using a wood fired stove, a one man tile making business, a very old church, (not cathedral as it only had one tower and was officiated by a priest not a bishop), lunch at on open air restaurant in an old mining town with a population less than 100, and visit to a local artisan, who makes the most amazing masks from various types of leather. We headed back to Mazatlan, (means: land of the deer)
March 15-17, 2006
We have a weather window to sail across to La Paz (250 nm). We left as soon as the dredge took a scheduled break from clearing the channel. After a challenging get away from the dock, low tide, wind blowing from the wrong direction into the rocks, an uncooperative prop walk (going the wrong way) and little room for maneuvering.
We motored north with our buddy boat The Great Escape (Duey & Nan) towards Altata. There was no wind and little swell for our first leg, then on our own west to La Paz as The Great Escape continued north directly to San Carlos. As the sun sets there are dozens of rays leaping out of the water and leap frogging around. The moonrise is breathtaking and the full moon provides plenty of light via the moon path, lots of stars, no birds and no porpoises/dolphins. It’s lonely, as even the fishing boats tend to travel closer to shore. Our buddy boat is much faster than we are, so not even their running lights to keep you company. It is much cooler as we cross the Sea; we’re wearing long pants and fleecies.
Gorgeous sunrise, hot and sunny we maintain radio contact with The Great Escape and hear that Came to Believe has left Mazatlan and they are headed for La Paz as well.
As we prepare for our second overnighter the engine has a strong petroleum smell and Dick needs to change the fuel filter. Of course, now the seas are choppy and now is when the repair needs to be done, fortunately, its still light out and that makes it just that much easier to work on the engine.
Still no company, and there isn’t even a lot of phosphorescence in the water. It occurs to me that probably a part of the changes in our perception and realities that we’re experiencing are related to the fact that we’re heading ‘home’.
The sunrise is spectacular and the day hot and sunny. We’re nearing LaPaz and new adventures. We’ve been primarily motoring for the past 48hrs. I can hardly wait to shut the engine off.
After tying up, and checking in at Palmira Marina, we run into our old buddy, Ole (Keith) on the dock and plan to head out for dinner after he says some of his good byes as he is leaving to go back home (west of Edmonton) tomorrow.
There is a shuttle that runs into downtown LaPaz, several times a day. While waiting for the shuttle to take us to town, we met Lucy, the golden goose of the marina. She’s a Chinese goose that apparently was blown in here 14 years ago, during a hurricane and has made this her permanent residence. She reminds me of Too Loose the Chinese goose that used to hang out at Boat Harbour with Linda and Julian, maybe they’re kin.
Happy St. Paddy’s Day
March 18-25, 2006
LaPaz
Cool, windy, and Sunny, dry (low humidity)
Rested today and found out that a number of cruisers we’ve met over the past 7 months are here, Sorcha, Anya (Norm), and Shearwater X (Paul and Kristi). Shearwater has been in LaPaz as long as we were in Mazatlan. So, they have all the local haunts checked out.
Did a walking tour of LaPaz with Sorcha (Carl and Linda). We walked from one end of town, Palmira Marina, the downtown area, to the other end of town where Marina de LaPaz is located (about 3 miles). The cacti are in bloom and the erosion from last years rains are in evidence on the sides of the hills. I think LaPaz, though heavily influenced by the relatively close proximity to the US evident by the number of American based chain stores, is the cleanest and best maintained city we’ve been to yet!
It’s really dry here, being a desert and all. I’m slathering myself with cream a couple of times a day just to keep the alligator skin at bay.
Carl and Linda are putting Sorcha, a 50’ Columbia, on Dockwise and having her shipped back to the northwest. They will be driving, like maniacs, to Nanaimo to pick her up when she arrives there in 8 days. Then they’ll begin the search to find a slip for her, probably in Sydney. Where she will be, hopefully, sold and they will find themselves a slightly smaller 40-45’ vessel to continue their adventures.
We have booked into Palmira for a week, and plan, with an appropriate weather window to head up the Sea to do some exploring of the local Islands. We don’t need to do a lot of provisioning as we are still in the process of depleting our stores as we head north.
From La Paz we’ll head north into the Sea of Cortez to spend as much time playing in the sea as we can before leaving for San Carlos where the work will begin as we’ll be putting Blue on the hard for the summer. We’ll probably be in San Carlos/Gyuamas for about 2 weeks cleaning her up and getting her ready to sit out the summer in 45-degree Celsius heat (better her than me). When all the chores are done we plan to take a bus from Gyuamas to Tucson and then fly to Victoria via Seattle arriving back in Canada the first week of May.
A cross-country trip to visit family and friends is in the planning before heading back to San Carlos to continue our Mexico adventures sometime in October.
Happy Bday, Doreen!
Puerto Vallarta
The weather has been consistently hot and sunny during the day cooling off in the evenings for a good sleep. The humidity is increasing and apparently will continue to increase as the summer months heat this place up. I can’t say that I miss the snow, or the rain.
We celebrated Valentine’s having a dinner out at a local restaurant with Vision (Kerry & Jan) a New Zealand registered boat and Mopion (John & Rosie), a great meal and interesting conversation with cruisers.
During our stay at Paradise Village Marina we did a couple of day trips into Puerto Vallarta to visit Dick’s cousin Harvey and his wife Helen from Gull Lake, MB. Harvey and Helen were staying in old town PV (our personal favorite part of town) for a month. I think this was there 10th time down to PV and had a number of friends staying at the same hotel. Our visits though brief were pleasant. This was my first introduction to another one of the Dueck’s. Harvey is Hartley’s twin and wasn’t difficult for me to identify on the beach sitting under a palapa with #48 sunscreen, large brimmed hat and even though he had been in the southern climes for 2 weeks was still a brilliant shade of white (carne blanco). The physical resemblance and similarities in personal characteristics left no doubt to whose twin.
We met up with Apache II and Ole (Keith and Donna) early in our stay and spent some quality time with Ole (cocktail hour(s), and club BBQ) with these friends who ended up leaving to return to Mazatlan after only a few days in the marina.
A few days later Mopion arrived and we had recently discovered Vision at another marina while on a dingy tour of the estuary. So in cruiser fashion, at the evening cocktail party, we planned a day trip into Marina Vallarta with Seadater, Vision and Mopion. We were pleasantly surprised, though we’ve been to the marina before, this trip we discovered a couple of art shops that featured amazingly talented local artisans. Now, if there was a blank 10’ x 10’ wall available on Blue I’d have the perfect hanging, as well, I could have easily tiled the ‘galley’ with some gorgeous hand painted ceramic tiles.
A panga trip with another cruiser, Sparky, who we knew of only by reputation from PMYC in Marina del Rey, to La Cruz gave us the opportunity to meet up with our friend Larry. Larry, who had been anchored in La Cruz because of a fuel pump problem, was awaiting parts that were being transported by our friends Ruth and James from Wpg. Getting parts in Mexico can sometimes be a challenge, this was one of those times. Larry’s son in Victoria was able to get the parts then he had a courier forward them to Ruth in Wpg. she ended up bringing them down in her luggage. This was actually a rather simply solution. It’s all in the timing. Anyway, Larry had spent considerable time in La Cruz and was able to provide us with a tour of La Cruz then the three of us hopped a bus back towards PV and checked out Bucerias looking for suitable accommodations for our now mutual friends. We found a nice hotel and some great restaurants in the more Mexican part of Bucerias.
February 21, 2006
We met Ruth and James at the airport in PV, and hopped a bus back to Bucerias. A really charming town with a lot of Mexico still in it. After getting settled into their hotel, unloading their luggage of the dozens of books they brought down for us and Larry’s fuel pump parts repacked into our knapsack we headed out for a tour of the town. We grabbed some dinner from one of the little places that had been recommended. Dick and I loaded down with a month of reading material headed back to Paradise Village. A good deal for us, as we exchange a suitcase full of books for a suitcase full of our winter clothes to go back to Wpg.
February 22, 2006
The waiting for Blue’s transmission to be rebuilt and the fabrication of the drive plate is over. Dick was fortunate to find a guy ‘Tony’ the transmission magician, who specializes in Hurth transmissions do the deed. He was able to rebuild the broken parts and Dick was able to reinstall the new bits getting us out of the Marina and onto our next adventure.
February 23, 2006
The fuel pump parts exchange is made! Introductions are made and we’re off for an adventure.
Larry, Ruth and James joined us on a day trip, using the local bus service, Pacifico, up to La Penita to take in Market day and a reunion with George, Georgie and Marta at the Hotel California. While we were there we met up with a number of folks we had met earlier this year (Tim & Cathy), and some old acquaintances (Carlotta, and “Jersey”) who not only had we met the year previous so had Larry. So it truly was a reunion of sorts.
February 24, 2006
A great day for a day sail, sunny and light to moderate winds little swell. Our day sail out with Ruth on the tiller and Dick and James being deck baubles on the fore deck until the wind picked up and there was a little spray coming over the bow and diluting their beer. James was sure he had spotted a whale, and we humored him with his discovery. We had an opportunity to give the transmission a trial run as we came into dock at yet our now fourth berth in the marina. Upon our return to the marina, we did a dingy tour of the estuary spotting various birds and even a baby crocodile. Dinner at the yacht club and Ruth and James hopped the shuttle bus back to their hotel.
February 26, 2006
Sunshine, no wind, Ruth and James join us for our motor over to La Cruz. Dick on tiller, Ruth and James, deck baubles on the fore deck. No chance of spillage or diluting of the cervazas today. We’ll anchor here for a few days before we head back to Mazatlan and points north.
A dingy ride to shore, a jam session, and a serving of some really good BBQ’d ribs and chicken at one of the local watering holes. A good time is had by all we bid adieu to our friends as the head back to Bucerias and we head back to Blue, on the hook.
February 27, 2006
A bumpy night on the hook.
Plenty of sunshine and a dingy ride to shore to meet up with Ruth and James for one more visit before they head back to the great white north.
On our dingy ride to shore I spied these little brown tips sticking up in the water, as we got closer we discovered that there were half a dozen or so of these baby rays with the tips of their wings sticking out of the water. They were just slightly larger than the size of your hand, looking very much like what I remember seeing large oak leaves that had been blown into a puddle in the fall.
A tour of La Cruz includes a trip to a couple of art shops. I learn ‘tons’ about the local artisans and am grateful for having had the opportunity to spend the time touring the town.
Farewell to Ruth and James!
We meet up with some old cruiser friends; Veleda has just come up from Barra de Navidad and Tenicateta, Came to Believe (Rich and Annette), Quayak (Richard and Betsy). A brief rendezvous aboard Veleda, as we plan to head out early the following morning.
February 28, 2006-March 1, 2006
Sunshine, following seas, and we’re on our way. As we leave the anchorage we hear DaJu II on the VHF and pass in the channel as they go into LaCruz. We haven’t seen or heard from Dave and Judy, since we shared our spirit breaking passage on the outside of the Baja back in December. It was good to hear their voices as we had heard rumors that they were not going to continue their voyage.
Sea Turtles, rays, and whales join us on our 35hr. passage north. We motor sail the entire way, with very light winds and little swell. A great way to head north. Our first overnighter since heading to Isla Isabella, with buddies. I miss not only the buddy boats but also my night visitors while on my watches. There have been no birds, or dolphins/porpoises for company. Fortunately, uneventful on all fronts.
Three whales got my attention our second morning out. It was sunny and already really warm, I hadn’t bothered with my tether as the seas were flat like a pancake and we were just motor sailing along. Dick was down below catching a few much-needed zees. I was engrossed in one of my newly acquired novels when I heard and then smelled the breath of a whale, as I looked up there were two whales just about to dive, under the boat, they were sooooooo close I started hollering for Dick. All the stories I had heard about the damage that could be done to vessels and the people aboard created more than just a little concern. So, I’m hollering for Dick as they slid under the boat, my anxiety has escalated and I’m convinced that there will be some serious damage. As Dick came up and was standing on the ladder, In retrospect it would probably have wiser not to have him mid way up the ladder when what I expected was that we were going to be whacked and tossed about by one of these beauties. Anyway, by the time he got up top, and the whales surfaced, not two but three of them surfaced and went merrily on their way. We were untouched, unharmed, and no longer concerned. That was my closest encounter with whales, I could see the scar on the back of the lead whale as he slipped under the surface of the water.
We arrived at the entrance to the harbour of Marina Mazatlan just before sunset. This passage has been so gentle and there has been nothing, with the exception of the exhilaration of the whales’ appearance to spice up the trip. So now as we run out of sunlight we run out of diesel. Not a huge delay but enough to cause a little stress as we come into the familiar surroundings of the marina. We’re back on dock 7 and have moved down one slip from 3 to 2. It’s good to be home.
March 2-15, 2006
Mazatlan
Sunshine and increased humidity.
There are lots of fellow cruisers who have returned to Mazatlan, from passages south prior to heading north into the Sea of Cortez as we have. We’re all waiting for the right weather window before heading out, getting all our provisions and just enjoying the hospitality of this place.
There are all kinds of activities both in town and around the marinas. One of the more popular attractions is a local watering hole “Canucks”. Canucks is owned by yes, a Canadian formerly from Wpg. Monday nights are open mike and a good time is had by all. This particular Monday night had the usual evening of dining, dancing and libations. An evening filled with various groups, solo acts, some good and some not so good a bunch of us headed back to the marina in true Mexican style. Piling as many people into the back of a collectivo, driving at or near the speed of light in heavy traffic, while pounding out musica at just less than 10 decibels below deafening. The similarity between the collectivos in La Penita to those in Mazatlan ends at the co-operative ownership. The vehicles in Mazatlan are small red pickup trucks that have two bench seats, one down each side of the box. They have what I would call a roll cage that is covered with blue tarps across the top and down the sides part way looking like the regular cargo carrying trucks back home. The tarps provide a wind/sun break for passengers, as well; they limit your visibility with the exception of out the back end. When passengers wish to get out, you simply study where you’ve been guess where you are and bang on the window so the driver can slow down and mostly stop while you exit the vehicle he then whisks the remaining passengers off to the next destination. Everything was going splendidly and Marina Mazatlan being the last stop meant there was only the four of us, Sorcha (Carl and Linda), Dick, and myself. As the driver approached our stop he was presented with an unexpected chain barrier. He avoided damaging his vehicle by stopping quickly and abruptly. The action in the front end of the vehicle had and immediate impact in the back as I slid down the bench followed way to closely by my captain ending my trajectory by using my head to slow and ultimately stop us on the roll cage. I have been described as a hard head but it was proven no match for the roll cage. After unfolding myself from the truck and some discussion we took a trip to emergency, via Carl’s pickup, for a couple of x-rays which indicated that there was ‘no problemo’ that six stitches behind my left ear wouldn’t cure. I’m happy to report that a cauliflower ear, bruises and sore muscles was all the damage from the collectivo bite.
A day trip to the interior by bus with Marco our tour guide took us to Copala. It was a great adventure though I wasn’t so sure at the start. It started in a jewelry store (yikes!), memories/horrors of our Caribbean cruise ship adventures. After we boarded the tour bus for Copala things improved. A stop at a local bakery, using a wood fired stove, a one man tile making business, a very old church, (not cathedral as it only had one tower and was officiated by a priest not a bishop), lunch at on open air restaurant in an old mining town with a population less than 100, and visit to a local artisan, who makes the most amazing masks from various types of leather. We headed back to Mazatlan, (means: land of the deer)
March 15-17, 2006
We have a weather window to sail across to La Paz (250 nm). We left as soon as the dredge took a scheduled break from clearing the channel. After a challenging get away from the dock, low tide, wind blowing from the wrong direction into the rocks, an uncooperative prop walk (going the wrong way) and little room for maneuvering.
We motored north with our buddy boat The Great Escape (Duey & Nan) towards Altata. There was no wind and little swell for our first leg, then on our own west to La Paz as The Great Escape continued north directly to San Carlos. As the sun sets there are dozens of rays leaping out of the water and leap frogging around. The moonrise is breathtaking and the full moon provides plenty of light via the moon path, lots of stars, no birds and no porpoises/dolphins. It’s lonely, as even the fishing boats tend to travel closer to shore. Our buddy boat is much faster than we are, so not even their running lights to keep you company. It is much cooler as we cross the Sea; we’re wearing long pants and fleecies.
Gorgeous sunrise, hot and sunny we maintain radio contact with The Great Escape and hear that Came to Believe has left Mazatlan and they are headed for La Paz as well.
As we prepare for our second overnighter the engine has a strong petroleum smell and Dick needs to change the fuel filter. Of course, now the seas are choppy and now is when the repair needs to be done, fortunately, its still light out and that makes it just that much easier to work on the engine.
Still no company, and there isn’t even a lot of phosphorescence in the water. It occurs to me that probably a part of the changes in our perception and realities that we’re experiencing are related to the fact that we’re heading ‘home’.
The sunrise is spectacular and the day hot and sunny. We’re nearing LaPaz and new adventures. We’ve been primarily motoring for the past 48hrs. I can hardly wait to shut the engine off.
After tying up, and checking in at Palmira Marina, we run into our old buddy, Ole (Keith) on the dock and plan to head out for dinner after he says some of his good byes as he is leaving to go back home (west of Edmonton) tomorrow.
There is a shuttle that runs into downtown LaPaz, several times a day. While waiting for the shuttle to take us to town, we met Lucy, the golden goose of the marina. She’s a Chinese goose that apparently was blown in here 14 years ago, during a hurricane and has made this her permanent residence. She reminds me of Too Loose the Chinese goose that used to hang out at Boat Harbour with Linda and Julian, maybe they’re kin.
Happy St. Paddy’s Day
March 18-25, 2006
LaPaz
Cool, windy, and Sunny, dry (low humidity)
Rested today and found out that a number of cruisers we’ve met over the past 7 months are here, Sorcha, Anya (Norm), and Shearwater X (Paul and Kristi). Shearwater has been in LaPaz as long as we were in Mazatlan. So, they have all the local haunts checked out.
Did a walking tour of LaPaz with Sorcha (Carl and Linda). We walked from one end of town, Palmira Marina, the downtown area, to the other end of town where Marina de LaPaz is located (about 3 miles). The cacti are in bloom and the erosion from last years rains are in evidence on the sides of the hills. I think LaPaz, though heavily influenced by the relatively close proximity to the US evident by the number of American based chain stores, is the cleanest and best maintained city we’ve been to yet!
It’s really dry here, being a desert and all. I’m slathering myself with cream a couple of times a day just to keep the alligator skin at bay.
Carl and Linda are putting Sorcha, a 50’ Columbia, on Dockwise and having her shipped back to the northwest. They will be driving, like maniacs, to Nanaimo to pick her up when she arrives there in 8 days. Then they’ll begin the search to find a slip for her, probably in Sydney. Where she will be, hopefully, sold and they will find themselves a slightly smaller 40-45’ vessel to continue their adventures.
We have booked into Palmira for a week, and plan, with an appropriate weather window to head up the Sea to do some exploring of the local Islands. We don’t need to do a lot of provisioning as we are still in the process of depleting our stores as we head north.
From La Paz we’ll head north into the Sea of Cortez to spend as much time playing in the sea as we can before leaving for San Carlos where the work will begin as we’ll be putting Blue on the hard for the summer. We’ll probably be in San Carlos/Gyuamas for about 2 weeks cleaning her up and getting her ready to sit out the summer in 45-degree Celsius heat (better her than me). When all the chores are done we plan to take a bus from Gyuamas to Tucson and then fly to Victoria via Seattle arriving back in Canada the first week of May.
A cross-country trip to visit family and friends is in the planning before heading back to San Carlos to continue our Mexico adventures sometime in October.
Happy Bday, Doreen!
Journal 9
February 2, 2006
Happy Bday Liana and Gery, and Happy Ground Hog Day to all!
Leaving the safety of our new home, Marina Mazatlan, comes with a cornucopia of mixed feelings for me. When we arrived in Mazatlan 2 months ago I was emotionally and spiritually spent. The last storm on the outside of the Baja broke my spirit and I wasn’t sure that there was a chance of repair. I attribute some of my healing to Andy, who had invited Dick and I to join he and his wife, Cass and another couple we know from Scholarship (Liz and Mark) for a day sail on Fidele. Fidele is a beautiful 50’ Shannon, way too big for us but a gorgeous boat nonetheless. It was a marvelous day in the sunshine with appy’s and bevy’s in the cockpit while we sailed north to Emerald Bay. The following week Andy had entered Fidele in the local regatta and asked Dick and I, and 9 others (mostly Canadians) to crew. Considering this was the first time most of us had ever ‘raced’ and Andy was the only one with any experience with Fidele. We had a blast and I’m happy to report that we placed a solid 10th (in a field of 10). We had some pretty good excuses for our performance i.e.: Maureen on helm with no familiarity with a wheel vs the tiller we have on Blue, so I ended up more often turning in the wrong direction. There were 9 captains on board, was another excuse ready at hand. We broke something, though we really did break a cable that raised and lowered the keel, it had actually broken after we finished the race. The reality was, we took 4 or 5 shots at getting over the start line and that put us so far behind it was unlikely we could catch up. Anyway, those two experiences and the fact we were buddy boating with 3 other boats: Ole (Keith and Donna), Mopion (John and Rosemary), and Apache II (Derrick and Sario sp?) on an overnighter to Isla Isabela helped boast my courage and accept the challenge.
We set sail for Isla Isabela, a 85 nm passage, after we had been out for about an hour we were entertained by a school/pod/fleet of about 20 rays leaping out of the water. While they hovered over the water they resembled some kind of flock of prehistoric birds however the illusion of any kind of bird was erased as they belly flopped back onto the surface. We could hear the cacophony of noise created by this school well after we could no longer see them.
We sailed, yes sailed for about 12 hours before we had to enlist the services of Suzy, our iron mizzen, the sun had set and the seas were fairly rolly by midnight. It was comforting looking out and seeing the running lights of our buddy boats on either side of us and having our regular visitors, dolphins and porpoises, join us on our late night shifts. Seeing, or actually seeing the phosphorescence rolling off the backs of the dolphins as they were swimming and diving in our wake and under our bow continues to amaze me. This was Donna’s, from Ole, first overnighter.
February 3-4, 2006
As we approached the northern anchorage at Isla Isabela at sunrise we were once again thrilled by the appearance of a number whales, this time Grey’s, breaching and waving their flukes at us, we tried not to be distracted while navigating into the anchorage.
Spectacular, that’s all there is to say about Isla Isabela, after a lazy day of reading and resting and watching the hundreds, or maybe thousands of tropical fish skittering about below us in the 15’ of crystal clear water we’ve anchored in, who needs to snorkel. I saw Angel or maybe Butterfly, Clown, and a whack of other types of fish that I’m sure one day I’ll be able to identify. I’m not sure how but Mopion had the where with all to pull together a cocktail party our first night in this anchorage. As we prepare, which means we put some kind of beverage and snacks in a canvas bag, for the cocktail party on Mopion we get to meet one more cruisers Millenium Falcon (Mike and Leslie) who also left Mazatlan shortly after we did. Millenium Falcon is a 65-foot iron three masted schooner sailed around by two old crocks.
Ole and Apache II headed out for San Blas, while Mopion and Blue planned to spend the day having an adventure on the Island. When we arrived on the Island, we met a young man from a university in Mexico City who was working on his doctoral dissertation on the blue footed Boobies. These birds have an iridescent shade of blue, on their feet, rather strange. They were busy sitting on nests at various stages of gestation, some were still protecting their eggs from the ever present and threatening frigates and some were equally as busy protecting their newly hatched offspring from the dangers that lurked. This included the 2-footed kind that needed to be extremely careful to ensure they didn’t stumble onto a nest. We followed a marked trail that led us to Los Crator (Crater Lake). The lake was somewhat of a disappointment, as I had envisioned a fresh water lake that could be an invitation to swim. Well, yes it is filled with fresh water that has sat since a volcano created it. The basin filling with rainwater over the years with no means of circulating, resulting in a green film that definitely was not inviting at all! Following the same path home we discovered a number of Frigate nests filled with their offspring there was a suggestion that we would see iguanas but they were avoiding the heat or us or something, as we didn’t see any. A bumpy, wet dingy ride back to Blue, a quick cockpit shower and preparation for another evening at a hosted cocktail party this time on Millenium Falcon. A new cruiser Persistence (Dan, Thomas, and Tom) joined the festivities.
A rocky and rolly night in the anchorage made even more challenging and we were unable to let any more chain, as we were too close to a reef, and our anchor chain had fouled on a rock. Our short scope caused no end of grief to Mopion, even after John brought in about 50’ of chain, she was swinging free and still getting close enough to our bow with her stern to pass over bacon and eggs. We would have gladly received the gift however midnight was a trifle early for breakfast. As dawn broke and we were able to see the bottom we got ourselves untangled and pulled up anchor to head to San Blas.
February 5-6, 2006
Sunshine, swimsuits and gratitude to Pedro, the canvas guy, in Mazatlan for getting us our bimini made before we left Mazatlan. We didn’t think we would really need the coverage until we got into the Sea of Cortez, however, we would have been poached had we not had the escape from the rays of the sun over the past few days.
Our passage to San Blas was a gentle sail, accompanied by many whales and one huge fish (still unidentified) that made me thankful that we weren’t having a snorkel/swim at the time.
We anchored in Mantanchen Bay just east of San Blas in the recommended 20’ of water and have a vista of a lush Banana plantation and beautiful sandy beaches. The water is not as clear as Isabela but certainly as many fish, though different types those at the Isla. These little guys swim closer to the surface and burble loudly, you can even hear them when you are down below. I guess they eat insects on the surface of the water, as I was eaten alive by the no-see-ums while we were hosting the cocktail party aboard Blue. Fortunately, Mopion was the only other boat attending as we have the smallest boat in the fleet we would have had to have a dingy raft up if there had been more vessels about.
Dick and John went into town to check us in with the Capatania de Puerto and returned with the biggest prawns I’ve ever seen. BBQ’d prawns and salad for dinner. There is much to see here, as this is our old stomping grounds we’ve pretty much done all there is to be done and seen what there is to be seen here.
Our buddy Seadater (named by the former owner an anesthesiologist) crewed by Larry, son Steven and Larry’s friend Liz arrived just as the sun was going down. Seadater was having some engine trouble. They’re trying to get to Puerto Vallarta by the 10th as Steven flies home on the 11th and Liz on the 13th.
February 7, 2006
Sunshine, swimsuits and light winds as we head out for Chacala, 20 nm south of San Blas. We headed out with Seadater and leave Mopion and Millenium Falcon to do the tours of the jungle and the old fort.
We are hopeful to use the spinnaker today.
Seadater had to turn back and return to San Blas because of an ongoing engine problem but before doing so we did a transfer at sea. Another first for me! Steven had brought down mail from Victoria that Gery (Dick’s brother who is currently staying at the condo) intercepted and a new VHF as the old one, 20+ years, packed it in just before we left Mazatlan. The sea transfer went pretty well, primarily because the winds were so light it made navigating fairly straightforward.
We sailed most of the way to Chacala using our colorful spinnaker (dubbed our Gay Pride sail), hooray!
We had about a dozen dolphins joined us on our passage. They were busy fishing so weren’t terribly interested in playing with us.
Our arrival in Chacala was uneventful and we were anchored along with a few familiar boats before the sun was setting.
February 8, 2006
Sunshine, swimsuits and very light winds, now we’re motor sailing. It was an interesting 35 nm passage to La Cruz as we passed many familiar (at least from land) sites. The first of many places we were able to identify was Boca de Naranjo, only 8 nm south of Chacala. Boca is the virgin beach 7 nm north of La Penita. We have taken many of our guests to this beach while we vacationed in La Penita. We shut the engine down and sailed past by La Penita, Isla de Tortugas, Rincon de Guayabitos, Los Ayalas, San Pancho, before we entered Bahia de Banderas (Bay of Flags) at Punta de Mita we spotted a huge sea turtle swimming on the surface. I had heard other cruisers talking about turtles before but this was the first time we had seen one. When we arrived in La Cruz we found it to be very rolly and made the decision to continue on to Paradise Village Marina in Neuvo Vallarta. A VHF call to the marina, and the deed was done. A quick sail from La Cruz to get to the marina before they close another turtle swimming along side.
I have never been more grateful for a shower in my whole life. Sponge baths suck, and cockpit showers are restrictive, depending on the number of boats in the anchorage.
February 9-13????
We’ve rested our bodies, we’ve restocked our inventories (grocery, liquor, and paper product) even as we try to pare down the existing inventories to ensure we don’t have any food left before we leave for Canada at the beginning of May. We have participated in the local yacht club activities, reconnected with some of the cruiser/friends we’ve met along the way, we’ve been to town (as in Puerto Vallarta) to visit with Dick’s cousin Harvey and wife Helen and now . . . we are waiting for the transmission to be repaired. It came out of the boat after 3 hours of contortions, but now has to go into the shop for new seals and shims etc. Oh! The joys of boat building/repair on the run!
Happy Valentines Day!
Happy Bday Liana and Gery, and Happy Ground Hog Day to all!
Leaving the safety of our new home, Marina Mazatlan, comes with a cornucopia of mixed feelings for me. When we arrived in Mazatlan 2 months ago I was emotionally and spiritually spent. The last storm on the outside of the Baja broke my spirit and I wasn’t sure that there was a chance of repair. I attribute some of my healing to Andy, who had invited Dick and I to join he and his wife, Cass and another couple we know from Scholarship (Liz and Mark) for a day sail on Fidele. Fidele is a beautiful 50’ Shannon, way too big for us but a gorgeous boat nonetheless. It was a marvelous day in the sunshine with appy’s and bevy’s in the cockpit while we sailed north to Emerald Bay. The following week Andy had entered Fidele in the local regatta and asked Dick and I, and 9 others (mostly Canadians) to crew. Considering this was the first time most of us had ever ‘raced’ and Andy was the only one with any experience with Fidele. We had a blast and I’m happy to report that we placed a solid 10th (in a field of 10). We had some pretty good excuses for our performance i.e.: Maureen on helm with no familiarity with a wheel vs the tiller we have on Blue, so I ended up more often turning in the wrong direction. There were 9 captains on board, was another excuse ready at hand. We broke something, though we really did break a cable that raised and lowered the keel, it had actually broken after we finished the race. The reality was, we took 4 or 5 shots at getting over the start line and that put us so far behind it was unlikely we could catch up. Anyway, those two experiences and the fact we were buddy boating with 3 other boats: Ole (Keith and Donna), Mopion (John and Rosemary), and Apache II (Derrick and Sario sp?) on an overnighter to Isla Isabela helped boast my courage and accept the challenge.
We set sail for Isla Isabela, a 85 nm passage, after we had been out for about an hour we were entertained by a school/pod/fleet of about 20 rays leaping out of the water. While they hovered over the water they resembled some kind of flock of prehistoric birds however the illusion of any kind of bird was erased as they belly flopped back onto the surface. We could hear the cacophony of noise created by this school well after we could no longer see them.
We sailed, yes sailed for about 12 hours before we had to enlist the services of Suzy, our iron mizzen, the sun had set and the seas were fairly rolly by midnight. It was comforting looking out and seeing the running lights of our buddy boats on either side of us and having our regular visitors, dolphins and porpoises, join us on our late night shifts. Seeing, or actually seeing the phosphorescence rolling off the backs of the dolphins as they were swimming and diving in our wake and under our bow continues to amaze me. This was Donna’s, from Ole, first overnighter.
February 3-4, 2006
As we approached the northern anchorage at Isla Isabela at sunrise we were once again thrilled by the appearance of a number whales, this time Grey’s, breaching and waving their flukes at us, we tried not to be distracted while navigating into the anchorage.
Spectacular, that’s all there is to say about Isla Isabela, after a lazy day of reading and resting and watching the hundreds, or maybe thousands of tropical fish skittering about below us in the 15’ of crystal clear water we’ve anchored in, who needs to snorkel. I saw Angel or maybe Butterfly, Clown, and a whack of other types of fish that I’m sure one day I’ll be able to identify. I’m not sure how but Mopion had the where with all to pull together a cocktail party our first night in this anchorage. As we prepare, which means we put some kind of beverage and snacks in a canvas bag, for the cocktail party on Mopion we get to meet one more cruisers Millenium Falcon (Mike and Leslie) who also left Mazatlan shortly after we did. Millenium Falcon is a 65-foot iron three masted schooner sailed around by two old crocks.
Ole and Apache II headed out for San Blas, while Mopion and Blue planned to spend the day having an adventure on the Island. When we arrived on the Island, we met a young man from a university in Mexico City who was working on his doctoral dissertation on the blue footed Boobies. These birds have an iridescent shade of blue, on their feet, rather strange. They were busy sitting on nests at various stages of gestation, some were still protecting their eggs from the ever present and threatening frigates and some were equally as busy protecting their newly hatched offspring from the dangers that lurked. This included the 2-footed kind that needed to be extremely careful to ensure they didn’t stumble onto a nest. We followed a marked trail that led us to Los Crator (Crater Lake). The lake was somewhat of a disappointment, as I had envisioned a fresh water lake that could be an invitation to swim. Well, yes it is filled with fresh water that has sat since a volcano created it. The basin filling with rainwater over the years with no means of circulating, resulting in a green film that definitely was not inviting at all! Following the same path home we discovered a number of Frigate nests filled with their offspring there was a suggestion that we would see iguanas but they were avoiding the heat or us or something, as we didn’t see any. A bumpy, wet dingy ride back to Blue, a quick cockpit shower and preparation for another evening at a hosted cocktail party this time on Millenium Falcon. A new cruiser Persistence (Dan, Thomas, and Tom) joined the festivities.
A rocky and rolly night in the anchorage made even more challenging and we were unable to let any more chain, as we were too close to a reef, and our anchor chain had fouled on a rock. Our short scope caused no end of grief to Mopion, even after John brought in about 50’ of chain, she was swinging free and still getting close enough to our bow with her stern to pass over bacon and eggs. We would have gladly received the gift however midnight was a trifle early for breakfast. As dawn broke and we were able to see the bottom we got ourselves untangled and pulled up anchor to head to San Blas.
February 5-6, 2006
Sunshine, swimsuits and gratitude to Pedro, the canvas guy, in Mazatlan for getting us our bimini made before we left Mazatlan. We didn’t think we would really need the coverage until we got into the Sea of Cortez, however, we would have been poached had we not had the escape from the rays of the sun over the past few days.
Our passage to San Blas was a gentle sail, accompanied by many whales and one huge fish (still unidentified) that made me thankful that we weren’t having a snorkel/swim at the time.
We anchored in Mantanchen Bay just east of San Blas in the recommended 20’ of water and have a vista of a lush Banana plantation and beautiful sandy beaches. The water is not as clear as Isabela but certainly as many fish, though different types those at the Isla. These little guys swim closer to the surface and burble loudly, you can even hear them when you are down below. I guess they eat insects on the surface of the water, as I was eaten alive by the no-see-ums while we were hosting the cocktail party aboard Blue. Fortunately, Mopion was the only other boat attending as we have the smallest boat in the fleet we would have had to have a dingy raft up if there had been more vessels about.
Dick and John went into town to check us in with the Capatania de Puerto and returned with the biggest prawns I’ve ever seen. BBQ’d prawns and salad for dinner. There is much to see here, as this is our old stomping grounds we’ve pretty much done all there is to be done and seen what there is to be seen here.
Our buddy Seadater (named by the former owner an anesthesiologist) crewed by Larry, son Steven and Larry’s friend Liz arrived just as the sun was going down. Seadater was having some engine trouble. They’re trying to get to Puerto Vallarta by the 10th as Steven flies home on the 11th and Liz on the 13th.
February 7, 2006
Sunshine, swimsuits and light winds as we head out for Chacala, 20 nm south of San Blas. We headed out with Seadater and leave Mopion and Millenium Falcon to do the tours of the jungle and the old fort.
We are hopeful to use the spinnaker today.
Seadater had to turn back and return to San Blas because of an ongoing engine problem but before doing so we did a transfer at sea. Another first for me! Steven had brought down mail from Victoria that Gery (Dick’s brother who is currently staying at the condo) intercepted and a new VHF as the old one, 20+ years, packed it in just before we left Mazatlan. The sea transfer went pretty well, primarily because the winds were so light it made navigating fairly straightforward.
We sailed most of the way to Chacala using our colorful spinnaker (dubbed our Gay Pride sail), hooray!
We had about a dozen dolphins joined us on our passage. They were busy fishing so weren’t terribly interested in playing with us.
Our arrival in Chacala was uneventful and we were anchored along with a few familiar boats before the sun was setting.
February 8, 2006
Sunshine, swimsuits and very light winds, now we’re motor sailing. It was an interesting 35 nm passage to La Cruz as we passed many familiar (at least from land) sites. The first of many places we were able to identify was Boca de Naranjo, only 8 nm south of Chacala. Boca is the virgin beach 7 nm north of La Penita. We have taken many of our guests to this beach while we vacationed in La Penita. We shut the engine down and sailed past by La Penita, Isla de Tortugas, Rincon de Guayabitos, Los Ayalas, San Pancho, before we entered Bahia de Banderas (Bay of Flags) at Punta de Mita we spotted a huge sea turtle swimming on the surface. I had heard other cruisers talking about turtles before but this was the first time we had seen one. When we arrived in La Cruz we found it to be very rolly and made the decision to continue on to Paradise Village Marina in Neuvo Vallarta. A VHF call to the marina, and the deed was done. A quick sail from La Cruz to get to the marina before they close another turtle swimming along side.
I have never been more grateful for a shower in my whole life. Sponge baths suck, and cockpit showers are restrictive, depending on the number of boats in the anchorage.
February 9-13????
We’ve rested our bodies, we’ve restocked our inventories (grocery, liquor, and paper product) even as we try to pare down the existing inventories to ensure we don’t have any food left before we leave for Canada at the beginning of May. We have participated in the local yacht club activities, reconnected with some of the cruiser/friends we’ve met along the way, we’ve been to town (as in Puerto Vallarta) to visit with Dick’s cousin Harvey and wife Helen and now . . . we are waiting for the transmission to be repaired. It came out of the boat after 3 hours of contortions, but now has to go into the shop for new seals and shims etc. Oh! The joys of boat building/repair on the run!
Happy Valentines Day!
Journal 7 1/2
Veleda has headed out for Oxnard and then Catalina Island. Our plan is to try and catch up with them on Catalina!
After a ‘nap’ and a shower we took the electric trolley into town and picked up a few groceries and took in the sights. Some folks advised us, you know who you are, that Santa Barbara had the most beautiful women in the USA, so we were on the lookout for that attraction.
October 20-21, 2005
Awoke to brilliant sunshine and warm temperatures. We got started on a whack of chores and caught up on some rest. We were surprised to hear Nuage hail the harbour patrol for an escort in, as we were basking in the sun, they were talking about visibility less than 50 ft. and they were only 3 miles out. Sure enough, as they pulled in the fog had reduced visibility significantly and knowing they were probably really tired after rounding Pt. Conception and the challenge of getting into port with fog. We thought we would be helpful and catch them at the guest dock. As we jogged from M dock to the guest dock and waited for Nuage and the harbour patrol who had gone out to escort Nuage. We waited and only the harbour patrol showed up, they had taken them directly to their berth, and tied them up in M33 directly across from our berth M32. So much for good intentions. They were all tied up, settled in, and looking for breakfast and a shower.
We get the occasional grandbaby fix, here we had the pleasure of Jonah 3, and his little sister Gabrielle 9 mon. Cruising parents are more than happy to let grandparents in training the opportunity to spoil their babes. Jonah was a real cuddler and was happy to walk with his surrogate grampa to get ice cream.
A grey day as we departed from Santa Barbara, not only was there no sunshine; we never did find the most beautiful women in the USA. We headed for Ventura, and as we were at the waypoint, Dick decided we should continue on to Oxnard, only an additional 8 miles away, with the intent of trying to catch up with Veleda.
October 22, 2005
The entrance into Oxnard was a new experience. It had a detached breakwater protecting the harbour or as I named it the “canals of Oxnard”. This is the first manmade harbour I’ve ever seen. Everything has straight lines, beautiful, and bazaar. The homes here offer you the opportunity of having your vessel tied up right outside you door.
We really enjoyed Oxnard; you could walk for groceries, a cup of coffee at the local coffee shop and enjoy a hot cinnamon bun to boot. However, no Veleda, they had already headed out to Catalina.
A quick phone call to Adam, a fellow who owns a 34’ shadow (the same make, model, and vintage as Blue) listed for sale in Latitude 38, a San Francisco based magazine, a chat about his boat moored in Ventura turned out to be a really good excuse for the guys to get together and do a show and tell about all the modifications, passages each had made.
Ventura, as it turns out is just a short drive away and Adam picked us up and took us to see his boat. We then waited for his wife, Maru, to finish work and took them back to our boat for some more show and tell.
Happy Bday Sophie!
October 24-27, 2005
As Veleda was already gone, the weather, cloudy and damp, we decided to go back to Ventura as opposed to moving onto an anchorage at Catalina Island. We would be able to get some chores done and have the company of Adam and Maru.
Ventura’s entrance was an interesting one as we ‘surfed’ in along side a few other boats. Finding our slip as always, can be fun, as I’m directionally impaired and even though the slip numbers have a pattern, finding the right B dock with the corresponding slip # provides some cheap entertainment for any onlookers. It seems even more difficult in these manmade harbours.
After we were settled into our berth Adam invited us to dinner aboard. It was fun visiting Babe and comparing the how’s and why’s of their modifications and the following evening we invited Adam and Maru for a reciprocal dinner and evening of how’s and why’s.
Adam has been cruising around on Babe, for 14 years and Maru for a few of those years. They have spent the last couple of years moored with live aboard status with Mishka (mouse) a diminutive miniature Doberman in Ventura. They are not planning to cruise, at least not for awhile. Even though, they both talk about missing the cruising life.
Like many of the cruisers we have run into throughout out journey, Adam offered to chauffeur/tour guide us around. We were able to get a number of chores done leaving us (she says with fingers crossed) time to play more in San Diego.
I turned 50 or as I would like to say golden this year and celebrated with the most glorious sunset and fellowship with Dick and Maru. There were many well wishers who sent email messages and there were also phone calls.
We headed out of Ventura in sunshine and a light breeze. A woman friend of mine, Helen, from Victoria had mentioned that there were pig farms in this area. I was reminded of that fact as we left Ventura, as the wind had changed and was now providing us with the land breeze that gave us the opportunity to sail away, but also cleared our sinuses in the process. We actually sailed, briefly, on our way to Marina Del Rey.
October 28 – November 1
Sunshine and more sunshine and even some heat attached to it. Lots of humidity as well.
The entrance to this manmade harbour was similar to that of Oxnard, as it has a detached breakwater.
We stayed at the municipal dock the first night and discovered Nuage already tied up, invited them over for a glass of wine (some $2 buck chuck we scored from Trader Joe’s in Ventura) We discovered later that another BCA boat Seafire was tied up there as well. Seafire is a 46’ steel boat, and Mettle 50’ (not a BCA member, yet!). They are both Waterlines, Mettle is owned and crewed by the former Waterline boat builders out of Sidney. So you know there was a whole lot of steel boat, chatting going on the next morning.
Moved over to the Pacific Mariners Yacht Club (PMYC), following Nuage’s lead with assurance that there was a berth available for us. We were told that the slip would be a tight fit, as the slip was measured at 10’8” and we have a 10’ 6 beam. As we tried to squeeze into our slip it became apparent that the measurement of 118” which actually translated into 9’10” was not going to work. So with the help of the 2 engineers (John and Dave) who had made the original measurement, the residual crew from Nuage and Caretta, Frank, club members and us we sort of side tied across the alleyway. Carreta and Chavelita had been hanging out at PMYC since Margot left from LAX on the 20TH to visit her mom in Germany.
We have teased Dave and John, mercilessly since the mix of measure.
The members of the club have been extremely generous to the Canadian contingency and have included us in all the activities and celebrations that the club has had to offer. We attended their Halloween Party. Dick and I agreed to become the judges for the costume contest, with assurance that the outcome would not result in an International incident. Another opportunity to practice being grandparents presented itself as a member’s 9 month old attended the party. Dick snatched the little guy up almost as soon as he got in the door. I’ve got to keep a close eye on that guy.
We attended the Monday night football (MNF), dinner. Which had little to do with football and more to do with dinner fortunately for us as neither of us could even fake an interest. This club is totally volunteer run, with the exception of the janitorial/maintenance. The volunteer, Helene for MNF had made some incredible ribs, baked beans (to die for), an interesting salad that had blue cheese, cranberries and pinenuts, and a tasty pumpkin pie square for dessert. And, the cost $5.00. The dinner and the fellowship that followed the dinner was exceptional. We were given tips on which YC to approach for the same kind of energy/philosophy tips from cruiser who had recently entered Mexico with the new rules.
November 2-5
Sunshine, heat and a little less humidity.
As we left Marina Del Rey, we had clear skies and sunshine. The sky was covered with what looked like completed tic-tac-toe games using the jet trails as you would a pencil/pen. LAX must have a million flights coming and going out of that airport daily.
A quick trip to Newport Beach in shorts and a T-shirts, I was almost ready to complain about being hot, however as soon as the sun starts going down, its cool and time for long pants and long sleeves.
The trip had been uneventful until we approached the entrance where a ‘school’ of dolphins provided us with an escort.
We finally caught up with Veleda, and we were able to get a mooring buoy close enough to chat to one another. And, finally celebrated Alice’s belated Bday, Oct. 2,
.
Newport Beach unfortunately doesn’t have a particularly good reputation as to being cruiser friendly. Many cruisers bypass Newport because of the over ambitious nature of the harbour patrol. I’m not sure if they feel that monitoring the coming and going of the 10,000 registered vessels is overwhelming and don’t feel any need to cajole the transient vessels or what but they seem to go out of their way to ensure that all the rules are adhered to. Despite the harbour patrol we thoroughly enjoyed Newport and all its natural and manmade wonders. The people were friendly and helpful. The guy at the gas dock, who still remains nameless, and maybe even more important he didn’t know our names, went so far as to giving Dick and Jens the use of his brand new Ford pickup to haul our dingy motor to the local mechanic, two days in a row with side trips to Home Depot and West Marine. We cruised around the canals rubber necking at the houses and boats. There was one vessel moored in front of what one could only assume its owners’, no let me say that again, there was a vessel moored in front of two homes and was taller the two storey homes where it was moored. What a place!
November 6, 2005
Dana Point, sunny and warm.
Another really neat working members’ yacht club. These folks have taken over a huge failed waterfront restaurant and are actually making money with the facility while using it as a clubhouse. Unfortunately they haven’t finished remodeling so there were no showers. Another man made small boat harbour but only a few thousand boats in it. Not as pretty as Newport, more, well, manmade looking. Carreta and Chevalita showed up and we all had a great meal at the club because Sunday is their casual dining night.
November 7-8, 2005
Another uneventful motorsail with plenty of sunshine as we arrived in Oceanside, just afternoon. Two dolphins aided us in the entrance. We tied up at the guest dock at the Oceanside Yacht Club, another OYC and were invited to attend another Monday night with the NFL and enjoyed some fabulous folks, potluck chili, BBQ’d dogs and burgers, and a few libations at the bar. Guess Monday is our lucky night.
Happy 60th, Penny!
Tuesday the rear commodore took us on a tour of the Carlsbad and we ended up at the old Spanish mission of San Luis Rey where we toured 200-year-old grounds and buildings including the old church and a museum. There is a lot of history here.
There is a lot of military activity here as 30,000 marines are stationed at Camp Pendleton next door. Which explains the helicopters circling overhead as we were approaching Oceanside. They have an interesting variety of boats and airplanes including some very noisy tank carrying hovercraft. These things are HUGE and fast. They can travel fully “loaded” in excess of 40 kts.
Next stop San Diego!
I want to thank all you folks who send us your comments, questions and concerns as to what we’re up to and why you haven’t heard from us for awhile. Your words encourage us to continue writing about our adventure and hopefully you’ll continue to find some enjoyment from our notes.
Things, Internet wise, are going to be rather bleak for the next few weeks. So have patience, and pls. don’t worry about us, we’ll get a note off as soon as there is an opportunity. And, by the way, keep your messages coming as well. We love hearing your news too!
As always,
M&D
Writing from San Diego, CA.
After a ‘nap’ and a shower we took the electric trolley into town and picked up a few groceries and took in the sights. Some folks advised us, you know who you are, that Santa Barbara had the most beautiful women in the USA, so we were on the lookout for that attraction.
October 20-21, 2005
Awoke to brilliant sunshine and warm temperatures. We got started on a whack of chores and caught up on some rest. We were surprised to hear Nuage hail the harbour patrol for an escort in, as we were basking in the sun, they were talking about visibility less than 50 ft. and they were only 3 miles out. Sure enough, as they pulled in the fog had reduced visibility significantly and knowing they were probably really tired after rounding Pt. Conception and the challenge of getting into port with fog. We thought we would be helpful and catch them at the guest dock. As we jogged from M dock to the guest dock and waited for Nuage and the harbour patrol who had gone out to escort Nuage. We waited and only the harbour patrol showed up, they had taken them directly to their berth, and tied them up in M33 directly across from our berth M32. So much for good intentions. They were all tied up, settled in, and looking for breakfast and a shower.
We get the occasional grandbaby fix, here we had the pleasure of Jonah 3, and his little sister Gabrielle 9 mon. Cruising parents are more than happy to let grandparents in training the opportunity to spoil their babes. Jonah was a real cuddler and was happy to walk with his surrogate grampa to get ice cream.
A grey day as we departed from Santa Barbara, not only was there no sunshine; we never did find the most beautiful women in the USA. We headed for Ventura, and as we were at the waypoint, Dick decided we should continue on to Oxnard, only an additional 8 miles away, with the intent of trying to catch up with Veleda.
October 22, 2005
The entrance into Oxnard was a new experience. It had a detached breakwater protecting the harbour or as I named it the “canals of Oxnard”. This is the first manmade harbour I’ve ever seen. Everything has straight lines, beautiful, and bazaar. The homes here offer you the opportunity of having your vessel tied up right outside you door.
We really enjoyed Oxnard; you could walk for groceries, a cup of coffee at the local coffee shop and enjoy a hot cinnamon bun to boot. However, no Veleda, they had already headed out to Catalina.
A quick phone call to Adam, a fellow who owns a 34’ shadow (the same make, model, and vintage as Blue) listed for sale in Latitude 38, a San Francisco based magazine, a chat about his boat moored in Ventura turned out to be a really good excuse for the guys to get together and do a show and tell about all the modifications, passages each had made.
Ventura, as it turns out is just a short drive away and Adam picked us up and took us to see his boat. We then waited for his wife, Maru, to finish work and took them back to our boat for some more show and tell.
Happy Bday Sophie!
October 24-27, 2005
As Veleda was already gone, the weather, cloudy and damp, we decided to go back to Ventura as opposed to moving onto an anchorage at Catalina Island. We would be able to get some chores done and have the company of Adam and Maru.
Ventura’s entrance was an interesting one as we ‘surfed’ in along side a few other boats. Finding our slip as always, can be fun, as I’m directionally impaired and even though the slip numbers have a pattern, finding the right B dock with the corresponding slip # provides some cheap entertainment for any onlookers. It seems even more difficult in these manmade harbours.
After we were settled into our berth Adam invited us to dinner aboard. It was fun visiting Babe and comparing the how’s and why’s of their modifications and the following evening we invited Adam and Maru for a reciprocal dinner and evening of how’s and why’s.
Adam has been cruising around on Babe, for 14 years and Maru for a few of those years. They have spent the last couple of years moored with live aboard status with Mishka (mouse) a diminutive miniature Doberman in Ventura. They are not planning to cruise, at least not for awhile. Even though, they both talk about missing the cruising life.
Like many of the cruisers we have run into throughout out journey, Adam offered to chauffeur/tour guide us around. We were able to get a number of chores done leaving us (she says with fingers crossed) time to play more in San Diego.
I turned 50 or as I would like to say golden this year and celebrated with the most glorious sunset and fellowship with Dick and Maru. There were many well wishers who sent email messages and there were also phone calls.
We headed out of Ventura in sunshine and a light breeze. A woman friend of mine, Helen, from Victoria had mentioned that there were pig farms in this area. I was reminded of that fact as we left Ventura, as the wind had changed and was now providing us with the land breeze that gave us the opportunity to sail away, but also cleared our sinuses in the process. We actually sailed, briefly, on our way to Marina Del Rey.
October 28 – November 1
Sunshine and more sunshine and even some heat attached to it. Lots of humidity as well.
The entrance to this manmade harbour was similar to that of Oxnard, as it has a detached breakwater.
We stayed at the municipal dock the first night and discovered Nuage already tied up, invited them over for a glass of wine (some $2 buck chuck we scored from Trader Joe’s in Ventura) We discovered later that another BCA boat Seafire was tied up there as well. Seafire is a 46’ steel boat, and Mettle 50’ (not a BCA member, yet!). They are both Waterlines, Mettle is owned and crewed by the former Waterline boat builders out of Sidney. So you know there was a whole lot of steel boat, chatting going on the next morning.
Moved over to the Pacific Mariners Yacht Club (PMYC), following Nuage’s lead with assurance that there was a berth available for us. We were told that the slip would be a tight fit, as the slip was measured at 10’8” and we have a 10’ 6 beam. As we tried to squeeze into our slip it became apparent that the measurement of 118” which actually translated into 9’10” was not going to work. So with the help of the 2 engineers (John and Dave) who had made the original measurement, the residual crew from Nuage and Caretta, Frank, club members and us we sort of side tied across the alleyway. Carreta and Chavelita had been hanging out at PMYC since Margot left from LAX on the 20TH to visit her mom in Germany.
We have teased Dave and John, mercilessly since the mix of measure.
The members of the club have been extremely generous to the Canadian contingency and have included us in all the activities and celebrations that the club has had to offer. We attended their Halloween Party. Dick and I agreed to become the judges for the costume contest, with assurance that the outcome would not result in an International incident. Another opportunity to practice being grandparents presented itself as a member’s 9 month old attended the party. Dick snatched the little guy up almost as soon as he got in the door. I’ve got to keep a close eye on that guy.
We attended the Monday night football (MNF), dinner. Which had little to do with football and more to do with dinner fortunately for us as neither of us could even fake an interest. This club is totally volunteer run, with the exception of the janitorial/maintenance. The volunteer, Helene for MNF had made some incredible ribs, baked beans (to die for), an interesting salad that had blue cheese, cranberries and pinenuts, and a tasty pumpkin pie square for dessert. And, the cost $5.00. The dinner and the fellowship that followed the dinner was exceptional. We were given tips on which YC to approach for the same kind of energy/philosophy tips from cruiser who had recently entered Mexico with the new rules.
November 2-5
Sunshine, heat and a little less humidity.
As we left Marina Del Rey, we had clear skies and sunshine. The sky was covered with what looked like completed tic-tac-toe games using the jet trails as you would a pencil/pen. LAX must have a million flights coming and going out of that airport daily.
A quick trip to Newport Beach in shorts and a T-shirts, I was almost ready to complain about being hot, however as soon as the sun starts going down, its cool and time for long pants and long sleeves.
The trip had been uneventful until we approached the entrance where a ‘school’ of dolphins provided us with an escort.
We finally caught up with Veleda, and we were able to get a mooring buoy close enough to chat to one another. And, finally celebrated Alice’s belated Bday, Oct. 2,
.
Newport Beach unfortunately doesn’t have a particularly good reputation as to being cruiser friendly. Many cruisers bypass Newport because of the over ambitious nature of the harbour patrol. I’m not sure if they feel that monitoring the coming and going of the 10,000 registered vessels is overwhelming and don’t feel any need to cajole the transient vessels or what but they seem to go out of their way to ensure that all the rules are adhered to. Despite the harbour patrol we thoroughly enjoyed Newport and all its natural and manmade wonders. The people were friendly and helpful. The guy at the gas dock, who still remains nameless, and maybe even more important he didn’t know our names, went so far as to giving Dick and Jens the use of his brand new Ford pickup to haul our dingy motor to the local mechanic, two days in a row with side trips to Home Depot and West Marine. We cruised around the canals rubber necking at the houses and boats. There was one vessel moored in front of what one could only assume its owners’, no let me say that again, there was a vessel moored in front of two homes and was taller the two storey homes where it was moored. What a place!
November 6, 2005
Dana Point, sunny and warm.
Another really neat working members’ yacht club. These folks have taken over a huge failed waterfront restaurant and are actually making money with the facility while using it as a clubhouse. Unfortunately they haven’t finished remodeling so there were no showers. Another man made small boat harbour but only a few thousand boats in it. Not as pretty as Newport, more, well, manmade looking. Carreta and Chevalita showed up and we all had a great meal at the club because Sunday is their casual dining night.
November 7-8, 2005
Another uneventful motorsail with plenty of sunshine as we arrived in Oceanside, just afternoon. Two dolphins aided us in the entrance. We tied up at the guest dock at the Oceanside Yacht Club, another OYC and were invited to attend another Monday night with the NFL and enjoyed some fabulous folks, potluck chili, BBQ’d dogs and burgers, and a few libations at the bar. Guess Monday is our lucky night.
Happy 60th, Penny!
Tuesday the rear commodore took us on a tour of the Carlsbad and we ended up at the old Spanish mission of San Luis Rey where we toured 200-year-old grounds and buildings including the old church and a museum. There is a lot of history here.
There is a lot of military activity here as 30,000 marines are stationed at Camp Pendleton next door. Which explains the helicopters circling overhead as we were approaching Oceanside. They have an interesting variety of boats and airplanes including some very noisy tank carrying hovercraft. These things are HUGE and fast. They can travel fully “loaded” in excess of 40 kts.
Next stop San Diego!
I want to thank all you folks who send us your comments, questions and concerns as to what we’re up to and why you haven’t heard from us for awhile. Your words encourage us to continue writing about our adventure and hopefully you’ll continue to find some enjoyment from our notes.
Things, Internet wise, are going to be rather bleak for the next few weeks. So have patience, and pls. don’t worry about us, we’ll get a note off as soon as there is an opportunity. And, by the way, keep your messages coming as well. We love hearing your news too!
As always,
M&D
Writing from San Diego, CA.
Journal 8
Journal 8 s/v Blue
Nov 9, 2005
We motorsailed into San Diego accompanied by an aircraft carrier and little rubber boats escorting it with 50 mm cannons on the bow. What a sight. How do you stay 500 yards away in a half-mile wide channel with this floating airport in the middle? SD lived up to its reputation and there was no dockspace available in the entire town. We were asked to go to an anchorage at Glorietta Bay, which was 6 miles into the harbour. Lovely trip with a fabulous sunset.
Nov 10 – 15
We arrived at the police dock at 6 am in order to be first in line for a slip. The deal here is the time limit of 10 days so there are always some slips available. We were first in line and so got a slip right away. Then followed a round of trips to supply stores and BBQs and generally hanging out with other cruisers while we got our final prep done before we left for Mexico. This included a trip Old town to get our Mexican fishing licenses and visas and a great Italian lunch as a well-established restaurant.
We also spent our share of time in various marine stores and hardware places generally stocking up for stuff we felt we could not get in Mx.
We sailed some of the time in company with Veleda and Meridian Passage II. We have a sort of a handle on the HF but so far can receive fairly well but not send much at all.
Nov 15
First a final fuel up. We sailed off under spinnaker and it was quickly doused after the wind built up and almost as quickly as it built up it died as a pea soup thick fog rolled in and totally obliterated the sunshine we had been experiencing. I guess we had gotten a little complacent at the dock and so had not totally prepared the boat for what was next to greet us. Things got stowed and tied down as we went along. About midnight we were greeted by a really warm breeze off the land the fog lifted the windscreen cleared and then, the first smells of Mexico. Oh Oh. Chubasco. The wind quickly built to 20 knots from the SE with a very confused sea. Soon we were back to motoring into it and slogging along once again with spray flying. When we finally arrived in Ensenada and tied up at Cruiseport for our first taste of the new check in procedures. We had some great help from the folks at the marina doing the paperwork cha cha with immigration and customs and took the rest of the day off to do laundry and sight seeing.
Nov 17 - 20
Departed about noon after trying unsuccessfully to top up with fuel in Ensenada. Could not get anywhere near a fuel dock and so left for Bahia Tortugas (Turtle Bay). This would be our longest passage to date, a total of about 280 miles, which would take us more than 2 days. We try to time our departures so that our arrivals are in daylight. We passed inside Isla Cedros and arrived at 0900 about 33 hours later. Anchored in sand just off the town and met up again with many of the cruisers that we have encountered over the last few months. Much travel back and forth between boats, and visiting in the town. Internet and telephone generally not available, but there are restaurants, mini mercados and of course a palapa bar or two, and a panaderia (bakery).
We were invited to a 34th wedding anniversary celebration aboard Deju Too, David and Judy are the folks we met in Morro Bay.
Nov 21 – 22
We discovered that we are on Mountain Standard Time and so have had to make adjustments. This is a great anchorage and the water is warm enough to swim. We are having sunshowers in the cockpit.
Nov. 22
Rested up and bought fuel as we are motoring a lot. Fuel is delivered via panga in 60 litre jugs and siphoned through a filter into our tank. About a third less than the cost of fuel in San Diego.
A black day for us as we have just learned that our grandbaby has developed a staph infection and is in the hospital and has been for days. We feel incredibly helpless, as there is no relief. The phone system requires a specific type of phone card, which we don’t have and can’t get in Turtle Bay, Internet access is limited and we’re days away from the nearest airport. I find myself trying to be logical, saying that she is the best possible care, there is absolutely nothing we can do for Frances, and know that family and friends are there supporting mom and dad. But…. then there is the emotional side playing out the various scenarios.
We depart for Bahia Magdalena and only occasionally get to sail. This is like Juan de Fuca on a calm day. We have finally got a rhythm to our passages. We are both on during the daylight from 6 to 6 as we feel up to cooking reading and napping. Then Maureen starts the first shift and we do 3 hours on and 3 off. We find that we can usually get 4 –6 hours sleep at night and some in the day so we do not get as stupid as we used to. On the secind day Maureen saw a whale up close and a ray flying out of the water.
Nov 24
Arrived at San Carlos but decided that this was too exposed and went back to Puerto Magdalene. Here we met Gregorrio the port captain who brought us fuel as well as Antonio who ferried out 125 litres of desalinated water for our tanks. (75 pesos). Beats the price of a water maker but maybe not the convenience. This is a very poor small town here. Not much in the tienda. Even beer is rather rare. We did however dine on much lobster at Jose’s fine restaurante, Langostas are little but very tasty.
Took a day trip via Gregorrio’s panga to San Carlos and did a little shopping in preparation for our next passage and found phone cards, and an Internet café. Happily intercepted an email saying Frances was home, and recovering. The news was heard throughout this sleepy town as it was yelled out to everyone in proximity and beyond.
Nov 27
After resting and visiting for three with more of our cruising friends, we finally left Mag Bay heading for Puerto Vallarta. The first afternoon was fabulous sailing with 15 knots out of the NW and very little swell. If it was always going to be this kind of a sleigh ride for the next four days then Adam was right; you could do it in your dinghy.
Such however was not to be. By nightfall the wind started to strengthen. By 3 am we are hove to in 40 – 45 knots and 15-foot waves with a cross swell from the Mexican coast. This is no fun. By 1800 on the 28th the wind is down enough to get under weigh. By 2400 we are motoring again in calm seas and looking for an anchorage at Cabo San Lucas. Saw a large pod of dolphins in the calm seas on our way in. We anchored at 0900 on the 29th and slept for a while until we were hailed by Morova and invited for beer and shower. Al and I have a great deal in common going back to boat building days in Gumdale, Queensland in the mid 70’s. We enjoyed a day in Cabo but it hasn’t improved from the last time we were there so we were in hurry to leave.
Nov 30
Left with Morova for a long slog to windward to Los Frailes. Our destination has now changed to La Paz. It was a tough 50 miles upwind, up swells, and up current. So far the Sea of Cortez has not been kind to us. We took a wave over the bow that ended up travelling down the companionway and stopped in the middle of our computer. Oh well, so much for electronic charts. We arrived at 9 PM and anchored in the dark with much assistance from Adam. He left in the middle of the night headed to La Paz so we never actually got to see him.
Dec 1
Tried to go out to head north again but the wind is still form the NE at 20 so we went back to the anchorage and read.
Dec 2
Tried again, winds down a little but still coming from where we want to go. After 2 hours of this, a little voice said to me ‘If you’ve got lemons, make lemonade’ (Thank you Peter Hammond) So we altered course 100 degrees and sailed east to Mazatlan. Now the seas were on the quarter, the spray was no longer over the dodger, the wind was at our backs and the only problem was that we had not been able to get fuel since Mag Bay and were we going to be able to sail enough that we could make it all the way. Fortunately we had some very good sailing; it was all sunshine and 5 knots, with cockpit showers and pina coladas. Only 180 miles so we would arrive at sunset. We almost made it, too. Sunset is at 5:45 p.m. and it is dark at 6:01 p.m. We were moving east so getting to the eastern side of the time zone meant that sunset was getting earlier. Add to that all our navigation was now dead reckoning and GPS as the faithful old Toshiba had received a salt water douche on the way to Los Frills so we had no electronic chart. Back to the good old days of paper and parallel rules. It really is like riding a bike.
Dec 3
About 20 miles out our friend Jens on Veleda advised us that the downtown harbour where we had planned to anchor is a cesspool and there wasn’t much in the town there, so we all headed for Marina Mazatlan. Going through this entrance in the dark was a real test of navigational skill and patience. While the landmasses on the chart haven’t moved all that much, the data from which they are derived is between 60 and 200 years old. This means it does not match up exactly with GPS positions. Also, the lights shown on the chart frequently do not exist or have been moved or are so dim you can’t tell them from the shore lights. So we felt our way in with the depth sounder and eventually got to a slip where the night security was fabulous in helping us get tied up and oriented.
We love Mazatlan.
Dec 4
We have sailed 1042 miles since San Diego in about 11 days and three of those were really ugly. It is time to rest and recuperate and get the boat back in shape. Making arrangements to spend Christmas in La Penita and then decide what to do next. Some things we are trying to accomplish is to take Spanish lessons and get a HAM license so that I can make the SSB radio work, as in transmit not just receive.
Dec 5
Met up with Larry and son Stephen from Victoria. He has a truck here and he has offered his truck and knowledge of Mazatlan for various expeditions. The one where I went into a ferreteria y plumeria to get fittings to rig up a sediment filter in the hose to fill the water tanks was quite entertaining. Talking to the senora that owned the place and her lovely young assistant about male and female fittings and thread types and sizes using my impeccable Spanish and their non existent English meant that they had to occasionally go out back to get help because they were laughing so hard. Anyway I sweet talked my way behind the counter and had my way with their inventory bins under their watchful eye. Amazingly I came out with exactly the parts I needed and it works like a charm.
Larry has been cruising for a number of years so knows how difficult it is to get ‘chores’ done without a vehicle or knowledge of a new community so his generous offer of being tour guide/chauffeur has made our lives certainly a lot more relaxed.
Larry is also very familiar with La Penita and surrounding area, as he has traveled in the interior and has a 5th wheel in a trailer park in Los de Marcos, which is very close to La Penita.
Nov 9, 2005
We motorsailed into San Diego accompanied by an aircraft carrier and little rubber boats escorting it with 50 mm cannons on the bow. What a sight. How do you stay 500 yards away in a half-mile wide channel with this floating airport in the middle? SD lived up to its reputation and there was no dockspace available in the entire town. We were asked to go to an anchorage at Glorietta Bay, which was 6 miles into the harbour. Lovely trip with a fabulous sunset.
Nov 10 – 15
We arrived at the police dock at 6 am in order to be first in line for a slip. The deal here is the time limit of 10 days so there are always some slips available. We were first in line and so got a slip right away. Then followed a round of trips to supply stores and BBQs and generally hanging out with other cruisers while we got our final prep done before we left for Mexico. This included a trip Old town to get our Mexican fishing licenses and visas and a great Italian lunch as a well-established restaurant.
We also spent our share of time in various marine stores and hardware places generally stocking up for stuff we felt we could not get in Mx.
We sailed some of the time in company with Veleda and Meridian Passage II. We have a sort of a handle on the HF but so far can receive fairly well but not send much at all.
Nov 15
First a final fuel up. We sailed off under spinnaker and it was quickly doused after the wind built up and almost as quickly as it built up it died as a pea soup thick fog rolled in and totally obliterated the sunshine we had been experiencing. I guess we had gotten a little complacent at the dock and so had not totally prepared the boat for what was next to greet us. Things got stowed and tied down as we went along. About midnight we were greeted by a really warm breeze off the land the fog lifted the windscreen cleared and then, the first smells of Mexico. Oh Oh. Chubasco. The wind quickly built to 20 knots from the SE with a very confused sea. Soon we were back to motoring into it and slogging along once again with spray flying. When we finally arrived in Ensenada and tied up at Cruiseport for our first taste of the new check in procedures. We had some great help from the folks at the marina doing the paperwork cha cha with immigration and customs and took the rest of the day off to do laundry and sight seeing.
Nov 17 - 20
Departed about noon after trying unsuccessfully to top up with fuel in Ensenada. Could not get anywhere near a fuel dock and so left for Bahia Tortugas (Turtle Bay). This would be our longest passage to date, a total of about 280 miles, which would take us more than 2 days. We try to time our departures so that our arrivals are in daylight. We passed inside Isla Cedros and arrived at 0900 about 33 hours later. Anchored in sand just off the town and met up again with many of the cruisers that we have encountered over the last few months. Much travel back and forth between boats, and visiting in the town. Internet and telephone generally not available, but there are restaurants, mini mercados and of course a palapa bar or two, and a panaderia (bakery).
We were invited to a 34th wedding anniversary celebration aboard Deju Too, David and Judy are the folks we met in Morro Bay.
Nov 21 – 22
We discovered that we are on Mountain Standard Time and so have had to make adjustments. This is a great anchorage and the water is warm enough to swim. We are having sunshowers in the cockpit.
Nov. 22
Rested up and bought fuel as we are motoring a lot. Fuel is delivered via panga in 60 litre jugs and siphoned through a filter into our tank. About a third less than the cost of fuel in San Diego.
A black day for us as we have just learned that our grandbaby has developed a staph infection and is in the hospital and has been for days. We feel incredibly helpless, as there is no relief. The phone system requires a specific type of phone card, which we don’t have and can’t get in Turtle Bay, Internet access is limited and we’re days away from the nearest airport. I find myself trying to be logical, saying that she is the best possible care, there is absolutely nothing we can do for Frances, and know that family and friends are there supporting mom and dad. But…. then there is the emotional side playing out the various scenarios.
We depart for Bahia Magdalena and only occasionally get to sail. This is like Juan de Fuca on a calm day. We have finally got a rhythm to our passages. We are both on during the daylight from 6 to 6 as we feel up to cooking reading and napping. Then Maureen starts the first shift and we do 3 hours on and 3 off. We find that we can usually get 4 –6 hours sleep at night and some in the day so we do not get as stupid as we used to. On the secind day Maureen saw a whale up close and a ray flying out of the water.
Nov 24
Arrived at San Carlos but decided that this was too exposed and went back to Puerto Magdalene. Here we met Gregorrio the port captain who brought us fuel as well as Antonio who ferried out 125 litres of desalinated water for our tanks. (75 pesos). Beats the price of a water maker but maybe not the convenience. This is a very poor small town here. Not much in the tienda. Even beer is rather rare. We did however dine on much lobster at Jose’s fine restaurante, Langostas are little but very tasty.
Took a day trip via Gregorrio’s panga to San Carlos and did a little shopping in preparation for our next passage and found phone cards, and an Internet café. Happily intercepted an email saying Frances was home, and recovering. The news was heard throughout this sleepy town as it was yelled out to everyone in proximity and beyond.
Nov 27
After resting and visiting for three with more of our cruising friends, we finally left Mag Bay heading for Puerto Vallarta. The first afternoon was fabulous sailing with 15 knots out of the NW and very little swell. If it was always going to be this kind of a sleigh ride for the next four days then Adam was right; you could do it in your dinghy.
Such however was not to be. By nightfall the wind started to strengthen. By 3 am we are hove to in 40 – 45 knots and 15-foot waves with a cross swell from the Mexican coast. This is no fun. By 1800 on the 28th the wind is down enough to get under weigh. By 2400 we are motoring again in calm seas and looking for an anchorage at Cabo San Lucas. Saw a large pod of dolphins in the calm seas on our way in. We anchored at 0900 on the 29th and slept for a while until we were hailed by Morova and invited for beer and shower. Al and I have a great deal in common going back to boat building days in Gumdale, Queensland in the mid 70’s. We enjoyed a day in Cabo but it hasn’t improved from the last time we were there so we were in hurry to leave.
Nov 30
Left with Morova for a long slog to windward to Los Frailes. Our destination has now changed to La Paz. It was a tough 50 miles upwind, up swells, and up current. So far the Sea of Cortez has not been kind to us. We took a wave over the bow that ended up travelling down the companionway and stopped in the middle of our computer. Oh well, so much for electronic charts. We arrived at 9 PM and anchored in the dark with much assistance from Adam. He left in the middle of the night headed to La Paz so we never actually got to see him.
Dec 1
Tried to go out to head north again but the wind is still form the NE at 20 so we went back to the anchorage and read.
Dec 2
Tried again, winds down a little but still coming from where we want to go. After 2 hours of this, a little voice said to me ‘If you’ve got lemons, make lemonade’ (Thank you Peter Hammond) So we altered course 100 degrees and sailed east to Mazatlan. Now the seas were on the quarter, the spray was no longer over the dodger, the wind was at our backs and the only problem was that we had not been able to get fuel since Mag Bay and were we going to be able to sail enough that we could make it all the way. Fortunately we had some very good sailing; it was all sunshine and 5 knots, with cockpit showers and pina coladas. Only 180 miles so we would arrive at sunset. We almost made it, too. Sunset is at 5:45 p.m. and it is dark at 6:01 p.m. We were moving east so getting to the eastern side of the time zone meant that sunset was getting earlier. Add to that all our navigation was now dead reckoning and GPS as the faithful old Toshiba had received a salt water douche on the way to Los Frills so we had no electronic chart. Back to the good old days of paper and parallel rules. It really is like riding a bike.
Dec 3
About 20 miles out our friend Jens on Veleda advised us that the downtown harbour where we had planned to anchor is a cesspool and there wasn’t much in the town there, so we all headed for Marina Mazatlan. Going through this entrance in the dark was a real test of navigational skill and patience. While the landmasses on the chart haven’t moved all that much, the data from which they are derived is between 60 and 200 years old. This means it does not match up exactly with GPS positions. Also, the lights shown on the chart frequently do not exist or have been moved or are so dim you can’t tell them from the shore lights. So we felt our way in with the depth sounder and eventually got to a slip where the night security was fabulous in helping us get tied up and oriented.
We love Mazatlan.
Dec 4
We have sailed 1042 miles since San Diego in about 11 days and three of those were really ugly. It is time to rest and recuperate and get the boat back in shape. Making arrangements to spend Christmas in La Penita and then decide what to do next. Some things we are trying to accomplish is to take Spanish lessons and get a HAM license so that I can make the SSB radio work, as in transmit not just receive.
Dec 5
Met up with Larry and son Stephen from Victoria. He has a truck here and he has offered his truck and knowledge of Mazatlan for various expeditions. The one where I went into a ferreteria y plumeria to get fittings to rig up a sediment filter in the hose to fill the water tanks was quite entertaining. Talking to the senora that owned the place and her lovely young assistant about male and female fittings and thread types and sizes using my impeccable Spanish and their non existent English meant that they had to occasionally go out back to get help because they were laughing so hard. Anyway I sweet talked my way behind the counter and had my way with their inventory bins under their watchful eye. Amazingly I came out with exactly the parts I needed and it works like a charm.
Larry has been cruising for a number of years so knows how difficult it is to get ‘chores’ done without a vehicle or knowledge of a new community so his generous offer of being tour guide/chauffeur has made our lives certainly a lot more relaxed.
Larry is also very familiar with La Penita and surrounding area, as he has traveled in the interior and has a 5th wheel in a trailer park in Los de Marcos, which is very close to La Penita.
Journal 7
October 6-8, 2005
Sunny and Cool, two Bluewater Cruiser (BCA) members, Caretta crewed by John and Margo and Chavelita skippered by Frank arrived in Half Moon bay last evening and had anchored out, upon seeing “Blue” stopped to say hello. We had met them earlier this year at the May BCA rendezvous on Saturna Island.
Maverick Beach holds the dubious reputation as a surfing mecca, and here we are only moments away from it. Each day we pass by there are a number of surfer dudes/dudettes demonstrating their skills and possibly practicing for an upcoming event that Maverick beach holds.
Half Moon Bay has a Pumpkin Festival next weekend, and this little community of 12,500 will explode to accommodate ~120,000 visitors. Every store, farmyard and most of the homes are decorated with pumpkins, scarecrows, bails of hay, and corn mazes for the occasion. The influx of all this traffic leaves this wee town in gridlock, and local cab drivers ‘closed’ for the weekend.
October 9, 2005
Sunny, and cool as we leave the comfort of Pillar Point Marina and our friend Dennis who has continued to chauffeur/tour guide us around, and just hang out with his “Canadian friends”. We’re continuing our journey south to Santa Cruz. A lumpy start for the day that required us to motor sail most of the day.
We arrived in Santa Cruz to the sounds of thrill seekers enjoying their day at the beach and fair grounds.
We anchored within a few hundred feet from the historic roller coaster and as the sun set the grounds were artificially lit up. The sound of the surf on the beach had its usual comforting sound as it rhythmically rocked us in the safety of our cradle. It also had a discomforting quality knowing the you are that close to shore and only held to your position by a length of chain and a chunk of metal at its end.
October 10, 2005
A sunny and cool day as we head out for a short trip across Monterey Bay. This was the second time I was “close” to Pebble Beach. The first time about 10 years ago, I had the ability to sneak in the club and use the “facilities” and this time I got a good look at the hole at the end of Black Point, one I’ve seen numerous times on TV. Ah well, I guess that’s as close to a game of golf as I’ll come anytime soon.
When we arrived in Monterey, a short 20 miles later, it was down right hot. We secured a berth in the municipal harbour with little difficulty. Though the fingers are narrow ~11ft. and not particularly long we fit snuggly in our berth, with no room for fenders with our 10.6 beam. The surge that was present in the harbour required some creative thought to tying up so not to be rubbing Blue’s topsides on the pier.
We discovered Caretta docked across the alley from us and they were planning their departure, after having spent the past 3 days in Monterey. They were planning to head south in a few hours with their buddy boat Chavelita. As Caretta pulled out another BCA member, Nuage, pulled in crewed by Dave and Carol.
October 11-12
Sunny and cool, for our daily adventures in the city. We hopped on the local transit and checked out the neighboring communities. Seaside is similar to “Langford”, as that is where all the big box stores are located. Certainly the cost of housing is less than Monterey, similar to Victoria, but there wasn’t the concern or dedication to the landscaping/beautification requirements in Langford.
Monterey has a Farmers Market every Tuesday from 3-8:00 p.m. year round. They close a 6-8 block section right smack dab in the centre of town. The market has an interesting mix of goods and services available as well as the local foodstuffs and art/crafts. Some of the restaurants on the street provide samplers from their regular menu for customers to try as they cruise through the market.
October 13, 2005
Rick drove from Redwood City to join us for breakfast prior to our leaving Monterey. It was great to see him again. Dennis was going to join him as well, however, Dennis found a boat of his own the day before and was busy getting her in shape for his live aboard status in Pillar Point.
We prepared for an overnighter to Morro Bay. The day had started out sunny and warm, and within an hour we headed directly into a fog bank. I didn’t even get another peak at Pebble Beach.
I continue to be ever so grateful for radar to navigate around the obstructions that lay in wait. The fog lifted ever so slightly to let us know that night would soon be upon us.
We had big following seas and some light winds. We were actually able to sail for about a third of the time, a third of the time motor sailed, and the rest of the time we got to listen to the drone of the engine.
No birdies on this overnighter and I did miss them as it was a starless and thick night. However, I did have the company of a couple of dolphins or maybe they are porpoises leaping into the following seas. The first one scared the bejesus out of me as he exhaled as he popped out of the water. Dick had the pleasure of the companionship of a dolphin on his shift. He couldn’t see ‘him’ as they are very dark in color but he could see the phosphorescence streaming off his back as he dove under the boat and did U-turns, and generally just entertained him.
The sky cleared and my final night shift rewarded me with a beautiful sunrise. The seas had calmed and Dick was able to make coffee, what a wonderful treat, as he took over for his next shift.
As we approached Morro Bay, we saw a couple of humpback whales playing within a mile from shore. This is the first time we’ve sighted any whales. I’m surprized that they come so close into shore, I had always thought they would be a lot farther out.
We made arrangements with the Morro Bay Yacht club for a mooring buoy and slept for the rest of the day and night.
October 14-16, 2005
Sunny and warm
We were invited to the club’s Friday night meet and greet. We met some more Canadians, Dave and Judy from Daju Too. They are from Vancouver and are heading to Mexico in their brand new cat that Dave had built. I’m sure we’ll have them talked into joining Bluewater Cruisers by the time we leave Morro Bay.
We continue to meet the most amazing people. Neil and Judi on Twilight are another couple that has been an interesting find. They deliver boats up and down the coast, laugh lots, play cards and do improv. They invited us for a car ride to get a different perspective of Morro Bay, the bar and the town.
Headed into town to the local Internet café and met up with the crew from Nuage. They arrived the night before and had missed the meet and greet, as they needed the rest from their overnighter.
We, as well as a number of other folks are waiting for “the” weather window to go around Pt. Conception. And, just as a reminder of how important ensuring you’ve got that weather is, the wind picked up and howled up to 30+ kts. this afternoon in this quiet well protected harbour, folks including us, were busy securing, retying, and ensuring we would not be coming off their moorings or doing any damage to themselves or anyone else. The weather broadcast had the winds 45+ around the Pt. a good day to be in the harbour.
October 17, 2005
Sunny and warm as we prepare to leave for our journey around Pt. Conception (billed as the Cape Horn of North America). We spent the early part of the day shopping for supplies and enjoying a cultural event in the town centre (belly dancing).
Deju Too, another Canadian boat crewed by David and Judy are planning to head out as well. Their brand new catamaran was built by David and is on her maiden voyage. We left at the beginning of slack tide and headed out about 4 miles when the winds out of the south started howling directly up our nose at ~25 kts. that combined with the 7-9 ft. in 8 second swells from the northwest encouraged us to return to port and wait for another weather window. Deju Too returned to port about a half-hour after us as well.
October 18, 2005
Sunny and warm as we head out from Morro Bay. Calm seas and mild winds predicted for this leg of our journey. A friend of ours, Peter Hammond, a marine engineer and who has spent a great deal of time on the ocean in both huge container ships and small sailing vessels, had told me it was OK to be afraid when I’m out there. As he explained it heightened your senses and ensured you didn’t miss any potential problems. Well, I’ve heard Pete’s words repeated in my head many times on this journey and preparing for Pt. Conception and its notoriously bad reputation I was “heightened”. Fortunately, the fear I was anticipating was wasted as I wore sheet sleeves, took pictures, and generally “waited” as we made our way around the dreaded Point. I’m still not that excited about doing overnighters, but at least this leg was merely a tiring and chilly experience as we look forward to entering Santa Barbara.
Dick has suggested that we must have earned our karma points on past passages and that this leg was our bonus round.
The California coastline appears different to me from the coastline of Oregon. The hills somehow look softer and the outcroppings, though just as dangerous don’t have the same menacing look. It just doesn’t look as rugged. There is also a lot of kelp growing, 3-5 miles out, and in water that isn’t even being registered on the depth sounder. So, we know that it has to be over 400 ft. deep. The harbour seals and the sea otters make what I would describe as a kind of nest out of the kelp and they lay on it, resting between fishing expeditions!
There are oil platforms out here as well; they have a ugly/beautiful kind of presence. It’s curious, they are huge and are very well lit so they are easily navigable but it’s so foreign out here.
Happy 24th Bday Lane!
October 19, 2005
We arrived in Santa Barbara, to the sweet sounds of being hailed by our buddy boat Veleda. They were moored in Santa Barbara for the past 6 days and were heading out the morning we arrived. After we fueled up and set Blue into her berth we had a quick chat and coffee trying to catch up on the events of the past month with Jens and Alice.
Sunny and Cool, two Bluewater Cruiser (BCA) members, Caretta crewed by John and Margo and Chavelita skippered by Frank arrived in Half Moon bay last evening and had anchored out, upon seeing “Blue” stopped to say hello. We had met them earlier this year at the May BCA rendezvous on Saturna Island.
Maverick Beach holds the dubious reputation as a surfing mecca, and here we are only moments away from it. Each day we pass by there are a number of surfer dudes/dudettes demonstrating their skills and possibly practicing for an upcoming event that Maverick beach holds.
Half Moon Bay has a Pumpkin Festival next weekend, and this little community of 12,500 will explode to accommodate ~120,000 visitors. Every store, farmyard and most of the homes are decorated with pumpkins, scarecrows, bails of hay, and corn mazes for the occasion. The influx of all this traffic leaves this wee town in gridlock, and local cab drivers ‘closed’ for the weekend.
October 9, 2005
Sunny, and cool as we leave the comfort of Pillar Point Marina and our friend Dennis who has continued to chauffeur/tour guide us around, and just hang out with his “Canadian friends”. We’re continuing our journey south to Santa Cruz. A lumpy start for the day that required us to motor sail most of the day.
We arrived in Santa Cruz to the sounds of thrill seekers enjoying their day at the beach and fair grounds.
We anchored within a few hundred feet from the historic roller coaster and as the sun set the grounds were artificially lit up. The sound of the surf on the beach had its usual comforting sound as it rhythmically rocked us in the safety of our cradle. It also had a discomforting quality knowing the you are that close to shore and only held to your position by a length of chain and a chunk of metal at its end.
October 10, 2005
A sunny and cool day as we head out for a short trip across Monterey Bay. This was the second time I was “close” to Pebble Beach. The first time about 10 years ago, I had the ability to sneak in the club and use the “facilities” and this time I got a good look at the hole at the end of Black Point, one I’ve seen numerous times on TV. Ah well, I guess that’s as close to a game of golf as I’ll come anytime soon.
When we arrived in Monterey, a short 20 miles later, it was down right hot. We secured a berth in the municipal harbour with little difficulty. Though the fingers are narrow ~11ft. and not particularly long we fit snuggly in our berth, with no room for fenders with our 10.6 beam. The surge that was present in the harbour required some creative thought to tying up so not to be rubbing Blue’s topsides on the pier.
We discovered Caretta docked across the alley from us and they were planning their departure, after having spent the past 3 days in Monterey. They were planning to head south in a few hours with their buddy boat Chavelita. As Caretta pulled out another BCA member, Nuage, pulled in crewed by Dave and Carol.
October 11-12
Sunny and cool, for our daily adventures in the city. We hopped on the local transit and checked out the neighboring communities. Seaside is similar to “Langford”, as that is where all the big box stores are located. Certainly the cost of housing is less than Monterey, similar to Victoria, but there wasn’t the concern or dedication to the landscaping/beautification requirements in Langford.
Monterey has a Farmers Market every Tuesday from 3-8:00 p.m. year round. They close a 6-8 block section right smack dab in the centre of town. The market has an interesting mix of goods and services available as well as the local foodstuffs and art/crafts. Some of the restaurants on the street provide samplers from their regular menu for customers to try as they cruise through the market.
October 13, 2005
Rick drove from Redwood City to join us for breakfast prior to our leaving Monterey. It was great to see him again. Dennis was going to join him as well, however, Dennis found a boat of his own the day before and was busy getting her in shape for his live aboard status in Pillar Point.
We prepared for an overnighter to Morro Bay. The day had started out sunny and warm, and within an hour we headed directly into a fog bank. I didn’t even get another peak at Pebble Beach.
I continue to be ever so grateful for radar to navigate around the obstructions that lay in wait. The fog lifted ever so slightly to let us know that night would soon be upon us.
We had big following seas and some light winds. We were actually able to sail for about a third of the time, a third of the time motor sailed, and the rest of the time we got to listen to the drone of the engine.
No birdies on this overnighter and I did miss them as it was a starless and thick night. However, I did have the company of a couple of dolphins or maybe they are porpoises leaping into the following seas. The first one scared the bejesus out of me as he exhaled as he popped out of the water. Dick had the pleasure of the companionship of a dolphin on his shift. He couldn’t see ‘him’ as they are very dark in color but he could see the phosphorescence streaming off his back as he dove under the boat and did U-turns, and generally just entertained him.
The sky cleared and my final night shift rewarded me with a beautiful sunrise. The seas had calmed and Dick was able to make coffee, what a wonderful treat, as he took over for his next shift.
As we approached Morro Bay, we saw a couple of humpback whales playing within a mile from shore. This is the first time we’ve sighted any whales. I’m surprized that they come so close into shore, I had always thought they would be a lot farther out.
We made arrangements with the Morro Bay Yacht club for a mooring buoy and slept for the rest of the day and night.
October 14-16, 2005
Sunny and warm
We were invited to the club’s Friday night meet and greet. We met some more Canadians, Dave and Judy from Daju Too. They are from Vancouver and are heading to Mexico in their brand new cat that Dave had built. I’m sure we’ll have them talked into joining Bluewater Cruisers by the time we leave Morro Bay.
We continue to meet the most amazing people. Neil and Judi on Twilight are another couple that has been an interesting find. They deliver boats up and down the coast, laugh lots, play cards and do improv. They invited us for a car ride to get a different perspective of Morro Bay, the bar and the town.
Headed into town to the local Internet café and met up with the crew from Nuage. They arrived the night before and had missed the meet and greet, as they needed the rest from their overnighter.
We, as well as a number of other folks are waiting for “the” weather window to go around Pt. Conception. And, just as a reminder of how important ensuring you’ve got that weather is, the wind picked up and howled up to 30+ kts. this afternoon in this quiet well protected harbour, folks including us, were busy securing, retying, and ensuring we would not be coming off their moorings or doing any damage to themselves or anyone else. The weather broadcast had the winds 45+ around the Pt. a good day to be in the harbour.
October 17, 2005
Sunny and warm as we prepare to leave for our journey around Pt. Conception (billed as the Cape Horn of North America). We spent the early part of the day shopping for supplies and enjoying a cultural event in the town centre (belly dancing).
Deju Too, another Canadian boat crewed by David and Judy are planning to head out as well. Their brand new catamaran was built by David and is on her maiden voyage. We left at the beginning of slack tide and headed out about 4 miles when the winds out of the south started howling directly up our nose at ~25 kts. that combined with the 7-9 ft. in 8 second swells from the northwest encouraged us to return to port and wait for another weather window. Deju Too returned to port about a half-hour after us as well.
October 18, 2005
Sunny and warm as we head out from Morro Bay. Calm seas and mild winds predicted for this leg of our journey. A friend of ours, Peter Hammond, a marine engineer and who has spent a great deal of time on the ocean in both huge container ships and small sailing vessels, had told me it was OK to be afraid when I’m out there. As he explained it heightened your senses and ensured you didn’t miss any potential problems. Well, I’ve heard Pete’s words repeated in my head many times on this journey and preparing for Pt. Conception and its notoriously bad reputation I was “heightened”. Fortunately, the fear I was anticipating was wasted as I wore sheet sleeves, took pictures, and generally “waited” as we made our way around the dreaded Point. I’m still not that excited about doing overnighters, but at least this leg was merely a tiring and chilly experience as we look forward to entering Santa Barbara.
Dick has suggested that we must have earned our karma points on past passages and that this leg was our bonus round.
The California coastline appears different to me from the coastline of Oregon. The hills somehow look softer and the outcroppings, though just as dangerous don’t have the same menacing look. It just doesn’t look as rugged. There is also a lot of kelp growing, 3-5 miles out, and in water that isn’t even being registered on the depth sounder. So, we know that it has to be over 400 ft. deep. The harbour seals and the sea otters make what I would describe as a kind of nest out of the kelp and they lay on it, resting between fishing expeditions!
There are oil platforms out here as well; they have a ugly/beautiful kind of presence. It’s curious, they are huge and are very well lit so they are easily navigable but it’s so foreign out here.
Happy 24th Bday Lane!
October 19, 2005
We arrived in Santa Barbara, to the sweet sounds of being hailed by our buddy boat Veleda. They were moored in Santa Barbara for the past 6 days and were heading out the morning we arrived. After we fueled up and set Blue into her berth we had a quick chat and coffee trying to catch up on the events of the past month with Jens and Alice.
Journal 6
September 12-16, 2005 Hot and sunny!
This car trip was reminiscent to one a few years earlier, where 4 adults (Dick, Hartley, Eva, and I) had piled into the Honda Civic and traveled to Port Townsend to see the Wooden Boat Festival and other points of interest in the area. There was the debate over the appropriate temperature in the vehicle, where to stop, and who is navigating anyway! Same discussions, different scenery, and there was an extra body with one more point of view on our trip to Vegas.
At the break of dawn 5 adults piled into a rental car, a Nissan, this is a midsize vehicle? After taking what could only be described as one of Maureen’s shortcuts, we made a relatively straightforward trip into a sightseeing trip that extended our time in the car by an extra few hours. Despite the additional challenge of the middle seat in the back, which became know as the hump seat, a good time was had by all. The good thing about having hump rotation was you got to call when it was break time.
We arrived in Los Vegas after dark and the lights of the city invited us from over 20 miles away. The unit we stayed in was perfect for the 5 of us. There were 2 full bathrooms and a kitchen with a dishwasher and microwave, a dining area, 2 TVs with DVD/VCR, and in suite laundry. Luxuries we haven’t seen and really appreciated while on our vacation. We had access to 2 great swimming areas; one called the lazy river in which you could take an inner tube and float around the course of the pool or give yourself an exercise routine by swimming against the current. I choose the inner tube, a book, and a cold beverage for my turn around the pool. The other, a regular pool that was “adult only”. There was a hot tub, my personal favorite, games room, access to the internet, and a shuttle to town on the hour every hour from 10:00 a.m. till 1:15 a.m. for a return trip. You could also use the shuttle to get to the grocery store and the factory outlet mall. There was also another shuttle that would drop airline passengers off at the site.
Vegas, has always been one of those places on my list of places to see! Well, I’ve seen it and I can now strike it off the list. As neither Dick nor I are gamblers, (some would suggest otherwise based on our current adventure) we didn’t spend any time or money in the casinos. We did enjoy walking through the different theme hotels and participated in the venues. The monorail that linked a number of the hotels was an interesting way to get around town and see the less visible parts of the city when you’re at street level. The most memorable Vegas adventure, was when we discovered that the MGM Grand was having a boxing match and not just any match but a fight that had one of Brendan’s favorite fighters. The event was scheduled for the Saturday after our Friday departure, however we were able to pick up a souvenir T-shirt from the promotional vendors on Thursday afternoon.
Our day trip to Hoover Dam was a definite highlight; amazing engineering marvel. It is huge, and the complexity of not only the dam but the infrastructure that was and is still required to maintain this facility is mind numbing.
The trip back was less difficult, as we passed through the Mojave Desert earlier in the day and the temperature in the vehicle was more comfortable. No shortcuts, reducing the time in a too small car for 5 adults. The hump seat however, remained as uncomfortable as it had been on the way down.
We arrived back in time to enjoy Oakland Yacht club’s Friday night BBQ with Shearwater and Falcon VII to spend some time with their crew before they head up the Delta tomorrow.
September 17-22, 2005 not as hot as Nevada, nevertheless hot and sunny!
We’re back in the comfort of our berth. We’re way too comfortable here, the thought of going back out is starting to make me loose my nerve!
We had the rental car for one more day so we were able to pick up some extra inventory (read wood), and provisions that are awkward or too heavy to carry, for the next leg of our journey.
We did a day trip to San Francisco, (referred to as “the City” by locals). I think we used every mode of transportation know to man, with the exception of air, touring the City. It was a wonderful day travelling up and down the streets via the cable car. We ended up at the end of the line and spent time at Fisherman’s Wharf. We toured the Maritime museum where Dick would have the job of his dreams, building/renovating old wooden boats in a shop totally outfitted with every imaginable tool and all the wood any one person could want or imagine. This is a state-operated facility, and the nice young man, Jason, and 2 other guys actually had “the job”. After our day in the City and a bite to eat we hoped on another cable care before we grabbed a cab for . . . wait for it . . . Dick to attend a barbershop chorus practice. It was a special night as the Sweet Adeline’s were having a joint practice. Nice bunch of guys at the Cable Car Chorus, and provided special treats as it was a joint practice!
September 23, 2005
Adios! to OYC and on to our new adventure. Our plan is to spend a couple of weeks or 10 days in the Delta exploring the fresh water sloughs and rivers 100 miles inland. This will be Blue’s first passage in fresh water.
Leaving the sanctuary of the Oakland estuary, with sunshine and a light breeze that rapidly grew into a stiff breeze (30kts.), as we passed under the Bay Bridge. The wind waves and surge coming out of the west added to the less than friendly seas that lasted until we got into the lee of Angel Island where things calmed and we were sailing comfortably. Nice sail from Angel Island, across Suisan Bay with Blue seeing 8kts. and into Vallejo and the club there for dinner and fellowship.
September 24, 2005
Hot and sunny as we leave Vallejo Yacht Club and head out to our next destination, Antioch. We followed the easily navigable channel and arrived to the music of the local festival.
We tied up next to Pakele (Hawaiian for escape), a 33ft Ranger skippered by Rick Sweeney and crew Dennis Fisher. Pakele had taken Rick on a passage to Hawaii and back to San Francisco in ’99.
We spent an enjoyable evening with the crew of Pakele dancing and carrying on with the locals at the festival. We have decided to buddy boat with them up the Sacramento River.
September 25, 2005
Hot and sunny, and as we were preparing to leave Antioch, just as Shearwater was tying up next to us. They had spent the past 4 days in the Delta, Potato Slough, having to return to Antioch for Kristi to stay aboard and visit with friends, and Paul heads back to Canada for a few days to look after some family related challenges.
Our plan is to meet up with our new boat buddy Pakele in Oxbow.
We traveled down Fisherman’s Cut, a 2-mile long channel between tracts of farmland. Each side has levees that have been created by dredging the slough and creating access to and protection for the fertile farmland of the delta, which is actually just at sea level. On the banks there are the occasional float home, or homestead, or junkpile of derelict boats, barges, and stuff. The narrow channel also offers water-skiers a protected haven to practice their newest tricks and bathers a quiet spot to cool off from the heat of the day.
The Georgiana Slough, our next channel is getting to be a little more civilized as there are fine homes with docks and big powerboats a few sailboats moored at their doorstep (how decadent). Dennis from Pakele was there at the dock to take our lines at Oxbow Marina as I practice landing Blue into a slip.
September 26, 2005
Hot and sunny as we leave Oxbow Marina on the picturesque Georgiana Slough. We had a wonderful day drifting down the slough and into the Sacramento River.
Pakele and Blue, stopped in a small town called Locke, that has remained to its historical roots. The Chinese in the 1800’s were given the opportunity to develop this tract of land and continues to house a number of Chinese owned and operated businesses. We ate lunch in the local pub “Al the Wops”, as politically incorrect as that sounds it has had that name since the town’s inception. I had the best chicken salad ever.
Later that afternoon we watched a thunderstorm travel across the river as we headed towards Sacramento. We were the benefactors of some rain (don’t believe it never rains in California, cause man it pours) that helped to cool us down. We were entertained most of the evening with a lightening show. Being on the periphery of the storm gave us the advantage of the spectacular lightning show to the east and an incredible sunset in the west with the added bonus of staying dry and enjoying the outdoors. It reminded me of prairie thunderstorms I had experienced as a kid.
This night we just pulled over to the side of the river and anchored in 20 feet of water.
September 27, 2005
We woke to the most gorgeous sunrise this a.m. Our anchorage on the Sacramento River was totally uneventful. A couple of small motor boats passed by during the night. Dick had decided to sleep out in the cockpit, trying out our cushions for future hot nights in the south.
Hot and sunny as we drifted down the river. We are both surprised as to how similar the Sacramento River and the Red River in Wpg. are especially around Lockport. Of course there are differences as well, like the height of the levees. There are even Paddlewheel boats travelling up and down the river, like they did around Wpg. We arrived in Old Sacramento, or Old Sac, as the locals refer to this very interesting city after having yet one more bridge opened for us! Ah the power you wield with a 50 ft. mast, or at least how vulnerable and dependent you are to others with the power of the gate.
The first few blocks in Old Sac have been maintained to hold that historic and old town Gold Rush era of the 1800’s the buildings with wooden sidewalks, the train museum, and Wells Fargo still has a schedule. A statue of one of the Pony Express “couriers” sits in the middle of town. However, take a short walk through a concourse and you arrive at a 21st century shopping mall of downtown Sacramento where you’ll find all the trendiest of shops.
We had a BBQ with Pakele’s crew while tied up in the civic dock. The dock was disappointing after having been spoiled, there are no amenities (shower, restrooms, or grocery store within walking distance) and it was pretty costly, we did have electrical and water on the dock.
September 28, 2005
We’re heading back down the River today with about 2kts of current with us we’ll be able to cover a lot of ground. Our plan is to moor in Rio Vista.
Hot and sunny once again, and in desperate desire/need of a shower. There are lots of flies around I think they’re attracted to us. We took the opportunity to explore another slough, Steamboat, and it gave us the chance to take a sun shower and feel refreshed at least temporarily as the temperatures soared ~87 with not a whiff of a breeze. With no breeze Pakele’s crew was able to use the patio umbrella we lent them. They were particularly grateful as up to then they have had no refuge from the sun (no dodger). We are fortunate to have our dodger it has not only sheltered us from some pretty ugly/cold winds, on the coast it has also given us shade from the sun on this trip down the river.
We are especially pleased to discover that Blue stays reasonable cool down below I think the addition of the dodger is in part responsible for that.
Rio Vista Marina also has a RV park and as do most RV parks down here, there was a computer available however, the Internet was not connecting. Alas, we are still unable to get our next broadcast out, or pick up email.
September 29-30, 2005 hot and sunny
Another glorious day on the River and we’re headed for Benecia.
When we arrived in Benecia where the Farmers market was offering up all kinds of local treats. Dennis and I picked up a couple of savory rotisserie chickens and roasted potatoes that had been basted with the juices of the chicken as the turned on the spit.
Our plan had been to go back to Vallejo Yacht Club because they were a fun bunch of people, but they had a flotilla in from Stockton so there was no room. Our backup was to anchor at Angel Island, but discovered there was a Catalina Yachts rendezvous there so there would be no space there either. So we spent another day in beautiful Benecia and toured the old capital of California when it was first under American ownership. The grounds around the capital building had a grapefruit, lemon, and peppercorn tree, all heavy with produce.
October 1-4, 2005
We left really early and motored and sailed across the San Pedro Bay to Angel Island and then hit a fog bank that created some additional excitement as Blue’s engine died and of course we just happened to be in the shipping lane, with a freighter approaching. Some quick maneuvering and Dick had the engine running and we motored out of the fog into brilliant sunshine. We sailed the rest of the way to Brisbane.
The distances here are deceiving. Our trip up the Delta was over 200 miles and we only saw a small fraction of it. The trip across the bay today was 45 miles and we are almost back in Oakland but in a different climate. Our new friends Rick and Dennis and Rick’s wife Mailie, joined us tonight and we headed out to one of their favorite Mexican restaurants.
We have been invited to their home for a traditional Hawaiian meal. A couple of their neighbors came over and we had a feast followed by a Ukulele (sp?) extravaganza, even Dick got in on the action. Earl, one of the neighbors brought with him exquisite orchid lei and placed it around my neck. It had just arrived from Hawaii, I was overwhelmed. Back home we would have a Hawaiian theme night dinner that would include plastic grass skirts and leis, an occasional coconut bra, and flower shirts.
Earl has an amazing voice and Dick was trying to recruit him to sing Barbershop to sing tenor.
What great people we have met along the way. Rick would say at the beginning of each day, “this is the best day ever” and he meant it!
October 5
Finally we cast off and head back out under the Golden Gate to Half Moon Bay. Being back at sea after 5 weeks in protected waters was a real challenge for us. The swells were big but not too steep until late afternoon when the wind built up to 25 knots. At least there are no bars to cross, but the entrances are a bit tricky to navigate. Thank goodness for Cmap (computer navigation program.) This is a great little town and we are only 45 minutes over the hill from Redwood City in the Bay area. We should be able to get caught up with email and internet here and leave for Monterey in a couple days. Weather is back to coastal style, foggy cool and wet.
This car trip was reminiscent to one a few years earlier, where 4 adults (Dick, Hartley, Eva, and I) had piled into the Honda Civic and traveled to Port Townsend to see the Wooden Boat Festival and other points of interest in the area. There was the debate over the appropriate temperature in the vehicle, where to stop, and who is navigating anyway! Same discussions, different scenery, and there was an extra body with one more point of view on our trip to Vegas.
At the break of dawn 5 adults piled into a rental car, a Nissan, this is a midsize vehicle? After taking what could only be described as one of Maureen’s shortcuts, we made a relatively straightforward trip into a sightseeing trip that extended our time in the car by an extra few hours. Despite the additional challenge of the middle seat in the back, which became know as the hump seat, a good time was had by all. The good thing about having hump rotation was you got to call when it was break time.
We arrived in Los Vegas after dark and the lights of the city invited us from over 20 miles away. The unit we stayed in was perfect for the 5 of us. There were 2 full bathrooms and a kitchen with a dishwasher and microwave, a dining area, 2 TVs with DVD/VCR, and in suite laundry. Luxuries we haven’t seen and really appreciated while on our vacation. We had access to 2 great swimming areas; one called the lazy river in which you could take an inner tube and float around the course of the pool or give yourself an exercise routine by swimming against the current. I choose the inner tube, a book, and a cold beverage for my turn around the pool. The other, a regular pool that was “adult only”. There was a hot tub, my personal favorite, games room, access to the internet, and a shuttle to town on the hour every hour from 10:00 a.m. till 1:15 a.m. for a return trip. You could also use the shuttle to get to the grocery store and the factory outlet mall. There was also another shuttle that would drop airline passengers off at the site.
Vegas, has always been one of those places on my list of places to see! Well, I’ve seen it and I can now strike it off the list. As neither Dick nor I are gamblers, (some would suggest otherwise based on our current adventure) we didn’t spend any time or money in the casinos. We did enjoy walking through the different theme hotels and participated in the venues. The monorail that linked a number of the hotels was an interesting way to get around town and see the less visible parts of the city when you’re at street level. The most memorable Vegas adventure, was when we discovered that the MGM Grand was having a boxing match and not just any match but a fight that had one of Brendan’s favorite fighters. The event was scheduled for the Saturday after our Friday departure, however we were able to pick up a souvenir T-shirt from the promotional vendors on Thursday afternoon.
Our day trip to Hoover Dam was a definite highlight; amazing engineering marvel. It is huge, and the complexity of not only the dam but the infrastructure that was and is still required to maintain this facility is mind numbing.
The trip back was less difficult, as we passed through the Mojave Desert earlier in the day and the temperature in the vehicle was more comfortable. No shortcuts, reducing the time in a too small car for 5 adults. The hump seat however, remained as uncomfortable as it had been on the way down.
We arrived back in time to enjoy Oakland Yacht club’s Friday night BBQ with Shearwater and Falcon VII to spend some time with their crew before they head up the Delta tomorrow.
September 17-22, 2005 not as hot as Nevada, nevertheless hot and sunny!
We’re back in the comfort of our berth. We’re way too comfortable here, the thought of going back out is starting to make me loose my nerve!
We had the rental car for one more day so we were able to pick up some extra inventory (read wood), and provisions that are awkward or too heavy to carry, for the next leg of our journey.
We did a day trip to San Francisco, (referred to as “the City” by locals). I think we used every mode of transportation know to man, with the exception of air, touring the City. It was a wonderful day travelling up and down the streets via the cable car. We ended up at the end of the line and spent time at Fisherman’s Wharf. We toured the Maritime museum where Dick would have the job of his dreams, building/renovating old wooden boats in a shop totally outfitted with every imaginable tool and all the wood any one person could want or imagine. This is a state-operated facility, and the nice young man, Jason, and 2 other guys actually had “the job”. After our day in the City and a bite to eat we hoped on another cable care before we grabbed a cab for . . . wait for it . . . Dick to attend a barbershop chorus practice. It was a special night as the Sweet Adeline’s were having a joint practice. Nice bunch of guys at the Cable Car Chorus, and provided special treats as it was a joint practice!
September 23, 2005
Adios! to OYC and on to our new adventure. Our plan is to spend a couple of weeks or 10 days in the Delta exploring the fresh water sloughs and rivers 100 miles inland. This will be Blue’s first passage in fresh water.
Leaving the sanctuary of the Oakland estuary, with sunshine and a light breeze that rapidly grew into a stiff breeze (30kts.), as we passed under the Bay Bridge. The wind waves and surge coming out of the west added to the less than friendly seas that lasted until we got into the lee of Angel Island where things calmed and we were sailing comfortably. Nice sail from Angel Island, across Suisan Bay with Blue seeing 8kts. and into Vallejo and the club there for dinner and fellowship.
September 24, 2005
Hot and sunny as we leave Vallejo Yacht Club and head out to our next destination, Antioch. We followed the easily navigable channel and arrived to the music of the local festival.
We tied up next to Pakele (Hawaiian for escape), a 33ft Ranger skippered by Rick Sweeney and crew Dennis Fisher. Pakele had taken Rick on a passage to Hawaii and back to San Francisco in ’99.
We spent an enjoyable evening with the crew of Pakele dancing and carrying on with the locals at the festival. We have decided to buddy boat with them up the Sacramento River.
September 25, 2005
Hot and sunny, and as we were preparing to leave Antioch, just as Shearwater was tying up next to us. They had spent the past 4 days in the Delta, Potato Slough, having to return to Antioch for Kristi to stay aboard and visit with friends, and Paul heads back to Canada for a few days to look after some family related challenges.
Our plan is to meet up with our new boat buddy Pakele in Oxbow.
We traveled down Fisherman’s Cut, a 2-mile long channel between tracts of farmland. Each side has levees that have been created by dredging the slough and creating access to and protection for the fertile farmland of the delta, which is actually just at sea level. On the banks there are the occasional float home, or homestead, or junkpile of derelict boats, barges, and stuff. The narrow channel also offers water-skiers a protected haven to practice their newest tricks and bathers a quiet spot to cool off from the heat of the day.
The Georgiana Slough, our next channel is getting to be a little more civilized as there are fine homes with docks and big powerboats a few sailboats moored at their doorstep (how decadent). Dennis from Pakele was there at the dock to take our lines at Oxbow Marina as I practice landing Blue into a slip.
September 26, 2005
Hot and sunny as we leave Oxbow Marina on the picturesque Georgiana Slough. We had a wonderful day drifting down the slough and into the Sacramento River.
Pakele and Blue, stopped in a small town called Locke, that has remained to its historical roots. The Chinese in the 1800’s were given the opportunity to develop this tract of land and continues to house a number of Chinese owned and operated businesses. We ate lunch in the local pub “Al the Wops”, as politically incorrect as that sounds it has had that name since the town’s inception. I had the best chicken salad ever.
Later that afternoon we watched a thunderstorm travel across the river as we headed towards Sacramento. We were the benefactors of some rain (don’t believe it never rains in California, cause man it pours) that helped to cool us down. We were entertained most of the evening with a lightening show. Being on the periphery of the storm gave us the advantage of the spectacular lightning show to the east and an incredible sunset in the west with the added bonus of staying dry and enjoying the outdoors. It reminded me of prairie thunderstorms I had experienced as a kid.
This night we just pulled over to the side of the river and anchored in 20 feet of water.
September 27, 2005
We woke to the most gorgeous sunrise this a.m. Our anchorage on the Sacramento River was totally uneventful. A couple of small motor boats passed by during the night. Dick had decided to sleep out in the cockpit, trying out our cushions for future hot nights in the south.
Hot and sunny as we drifted down the river. We are both surprised as to how similar the Sacramento River and the Red River in Wpg. are especially around Lockport. Of course there are differences as well, like the height of the levees. There are even Paddlewheel boats travelling up and down the river, like they did around Wpg. We arrived in Old Sacramento, or Old Sac, as the locals refer to this very interesting city after having yet one more bridge opened for us! Ah the power you wield with a 50 ft. mast, or at least how vulnerable and dependent you are to others with the power of the gate.
The first few blocks in Old Sac have been maintained to hold that historic and old town Gold Rush era of the 1800’s the buildings with wooden sidewalks, the train museum, and Wells Fargo still has a schedule. A statue of one of the Pony Express “couriers” sits in the middle of town. However, take a short walk through a concourse and you arrive at a 21st century shopping mall of downtown Sacramento where you’ll find all the trendiest of shops.
We had a BBQ with Pakele’s crew while tied up in the civic dock. The dock was disappointing after having been spoiled, there are no amenities (shower, restrooms, or grocery store within walking distance) and it was pretty costly, we did have electrical and water on the dock.
September 28, 2005
We’re heading back down the River today with about 2kts of current with us we’ll be able to cover a lot of ground. Our plan is to moor in Rio Vista.
Hot and sunny once again, and in desperate desire/need of a shower. There are lots of flies around I think they’re attracted to us. We took the opportunity to explore another slough, Steamboat, and it gave us the chance to take a sun shower and feel refreshed at least temporarily as the temperatures soared ~87 with not a whiff of a breeze. With no breeze Pakele’s crew was able to use the patio umbrella we lent them. They were particularly grateful as up to then they have had no refuge from the sun (no dodger). We are fortunate to have our dodger it has not only sheltered us from some pretty ugly/cold winds, on the coast it has also given us shade from the sun on this trip down the river.
We are especially pleased to discover that Blue stays reasonable cool down below I think the addition of the dodger is in part responsible for that.
Rio Vista Marina also has a RV park and as do most RV parks down here, there was a computer available however, the Internet was not connecting. Alas, we are still unable to get our next broadcast out, or pick up email.
September 29-30, 2005 hot and sunny
Another glorious day on the River and we’re headed for Benecia.
When we arrived in Benecia where the Farmers market was offering up all kinds of local treats. Dennis and I picked up a couple of savory rotisserie chickens and roasted potatoes that had been basted with the juices of the chicken as the turned on the spit.
Our plan had been to go back to Vallejo Yacht Club because they were a fun bunch of people, but they had a flotilla in from Stockton so there was no room. Our backup was to anchor at Angel Island, but discovered there was a Catalina Yachts rendezvous there so there would be no space there either. So we spent another day in beautiful Benecia and toured the old capital of California when it was first under American ownership. The grounds around the capital building had a grapefruit, lemon, and peppercorn tree, all heavy with produce.
October 1-4, 2005
We left really early and motored and sailed across the San Pedro Bay to Angel Island and then hit a fog bank that created some additional excitement as Blue’s engine died and of course we just happened to be in the shipping lane, with a freighter approaching. Some quick maneuvering and Dick had the engine running and we motored out of the fog into brilliant sunshine. We sailed the rest of the way to Brisbane.
The distances here are deceiving. Our trip up the Delta was over 200 miles and we only saw a small fraction of it. The trip across the bay today was 45 miles and we are almost back in Oakland but in a different climate. Our new friends Rick and Dennis and Rick’s wife Mailie, joined us tonight and we headed out to one of their favorite Mexican restaurants.
We have been invited to their home for a traditional Hawaiian meal. A couple of their neighbors came over and we had a feast followed by a Ukulele (sp?) extravaganza, even Dick got in on the action. Earl, one of the neighbors brought with him exquisite orchid lei and placed it around my neck. It had just arrived from Hawaii, I was overwhelmed. Back home we would have a Hawaiian theme night dinner that would include plastic grass skirts and leis, an occasional coconut bra, and flower shirts.
Earl has an amazing voice and Dick was trying to recruit him to sing Barbershop to sing tenor.
What great people we have met along the way. Rick would say at the beginning of each day, “this is the best day ever” and he meant it!
October 5
Finally we cast off and head back out under the Golden Gate to Half Moon Bay. Being back at sea after 5 weeks in protected waters was a real challenge for us. The swells were big but not too steep until late afternoon when the wind built up to 25 knots. At least there are no bars to cross, but the entrances are a bit tricky to navigate. Thank goodness for Cmap (computer navigation program.) This is a great little town and we are only 45 minutes over the hill from Redwood City in the Bay area. We should be able to get caught up with email and internet here and leave for Monterey in a couple days. Weather is back to coastal style, foggy cool and wet.
Journal 5
August 29, ‘05
Sunshine! Took the bus, it runs once a day, from Bodega Bay into Santa Rosa. A 45 min. trip into town that left the Spud Point Marina and traveled inland through some beautiful agricultural areas. The gravenstein apples were ripe and ready for the picking. A lot of the orchards reminded me of Pete and Jane Hammond’s place out in Metchosin. Lots of organic fruits and vegetables, as well as some really great wines are available in the Sonoma Valley. It would be great to have access to a vehicle so to stop and pick up some of the local produce. Unfortunately, the bus has a schedule and it doesn’t include any stops at the farm gate markets.
It was hot in the city, we found summer! We also found a great little café that had great coffee and allowed us to access the internet. I’m surprised how difficult gaining access to wireless remote has been since we have entered California.
August 30, ‘05
More sunshine, day 2 of summer. We hung around the marina today making phone calls and second guessing ourselves about having stayed. However, when they say small craft advisory SCA we stay put, we don’t need any extra drama in our lives. It’s plenty exciting without encouraging the wrath of the sea gods.
Its 3 weeks since I gave myself a hair cut. I would like to say it was more successful than the first time I cut my hair. I was 6 the first time I explored my career option as a hair stylist, the day before the grade 1 school picture. I’ve even been practicing on Dick over that past few months. His cuts seem to have worked out ok! Yes, maybe a little less of a challenge than doing a full head of hair, but nonetheless I thought looking into that polished stainless ‘mirror’ in the minimally fluorescent lit marina washroom, my head held high over the sink draped with toilet paper I was looking pretty professional. I proceed, I mimic the moves I’ve watched may hair stylist, Michelle, make a hundred times over the past 4 years and convince myself that yes I can do this. I have evidence that my skill level hasn’t improved all that much since that first try! Time heals and hair grows, I think its long enough now to get someone who knows what they are doing to ‘fix’ it!
We had a BBQ and then the crew from Veleda came over with a copy of Harry Potter 1 on DVD. There’s nothing like having friends over for a movie and popcorn.
August 31, ‘05
Day 3 of summer and we’re out of here! Winds are down, and the swells were only 9ft. in 9 seconds making a pretty comfortable trip around Pt. Reyes. It was a short day but a really pleasant day of motoring.
We’re anchored in Drakes Bay, about 25 miles from San Francisco.
Tomorrow we’re planning to sail under the Golden Gate. The weather is supposed to be ideal.
Happy Bday Brendan!
September 1, ‘05
A pewter start after spending an uncomfortable night anchored in Drakes Bay, the wind was light but the swell or maybe current or whatever was making anchoring bumpy and noisy. Dick didn’t sleep a wink, which is unusual for him. He can usually settle down after a bit. We had been rafted up to Veleda till about 2:00 a.m. when we decided it might be better to have her anchor on her own. During the unrafting Alice got her hand got between the dinghy kicker (outboard motor) and our top rails. She didn’t break it, just squashed it and gave herself an ugly bruise.
Coming into San Francisco, was exhilarating I have never seen so many boats, mostly commercial and sport fishing vessels. It was like watching two lines of ants, there was barely a break between vessels just a steady flow. I don’t know where they went or where they came from as we neared the bar there was just Blue and Veleda going into the Bonita channel. I was asked in an email what "crossing the bar was a non event” meant. So for my nonsailing buddies I hope this clears the mystery up, for those of you that do sail. Crossing a bar, according to Maureen, can be a real challenge as this huge mass of ocean water is either being squished into or out of a bay depending on the tide. As the water gets squished it carries along with it a pile of sand. The sand is then dumped into the narrowing and the channel becomes very shallow. Now the wind and the current and the tides have an opportunity to add their level of challenge. The wind can create wind waves and/or add to the already existing swell. Mostly wind waves just make you wet, but the swell can carry ugly rogue waves that can lift you up and throw you around like a paper boat in a fountain and they don’t discriminate they toss loaded freighters around just as easily as they do a 34’ steel sloop, or they can land on you and your deck, hard. Then the current and tide (depending on your timing) can have you almost standing still or even going backwards as you rev your engine to no avail. So when I tell you that we crossed the bar uneventfully, it means we timed our crossing so the tide was working for us, and that there was a manageable swell. We’ve crossed bars that we almost as flat as glass and some, well not so much. We timed our entry of the bar to San Francisco, on a flood tide, 3ft. swell, light fog and . . . was about 30’ deep.. . . For this momentous occasion as we passed under the Golden Gate bridge we popped the cork off a bottle of bubbly (unfortunately we had run out of the favourite KP Plonk Blonk) and watched as the fog lifted off the tops of the bridge and the sun came out and we motored in Sausalito. We checked into the Clipper Yacht Marina, made a quick trip to town. When we returned we had decided we needed a nap and at 4:00 p.m. passed out the next time we were conscious it was 6:00 a.m.
TECHNICAL ADDENDUM: BAR CROSSINGS by dick.com
Most of the harbors large and small along the American west coast occur where rivers empty into the ocean. This covers large entrances like the Columbia River and San Francisco Bay as well as small ones like Noyo River or Bodega Bay. As these rivers flow out they dump sand and silt at the delta to form sand bars. The US Army Corps of Engineers has built breakwaters on either side of these deltas. There is also a large and continuous westerly swell from the open Pacific which runs anywhere from 3 to 12 feet and larger in storms. Usually it is in the middle of the range. When these swells cross the sand bar they form breaking waves as the water shallows from 200 to 30 feet or less. If the tide is flowing out with the river current (ebbing) the waves are always steep and severe because the outgoing water is opposing the incoming swell. If the tide is flooding then the incoming tide overwhelms the river outflow and the current actually runs with the swell. The swells then become just big smooth hills and are easily negotiated.
When you add the prevailing westerly wind to this mix it simply adds wind waves to the height of the swell and makes crossing the bar that much more interesting.
The US Coast Guard is a phenomenal organization that provides incredible services to boaters. There is a USCG station at every harbour and they respond immediately on VHF ch 16. They will give you bar reports, current conditions, and weather reports, escort you in or even tow a vessel in peril. Some of our fellow boaters have used the escort, many have used the bar condition report. They monitor the bars and even close them to traffic if conditions are severe or close them to, say, boats under 25 feet.
Our first crossing at Gray’s Harbor was so benign we missed it altogether and did not realize we had crossed until we entered the marina. Our second was the notorious Columbia River and that was also a non event. This time we were more aware as we watched the depth sounder until we were through. Our fifth crossing we were so confidant that we even tried it at the beginning of an ebb tide. This was a mistake. The swells were big steep and ugly and it was all I could do to hand steer all the way in, Never again. In 19 crossings that was our only bad experience and now we only cross on the flood.
September 2, ‘05
Pewter till noon and then glorious sunshine. We spent the day in search of a kicker. As from here on down the coast we’ll be using the dingy a lot while we’re anchoring or tied to mooring balls. We found a Honda dealer in San Rafael and hopped on the local transit bus to go and check it out. San Rafael is about 10 times the size of Sausalito and there is at least 10 times the number of vehicles. We bought a 5hp Honda, and the owner of the shop offered us a lift back to Sausalito. I was wondering how we would get the motor back on the bus! Another day of successful hunting and gathering.
September 3, 05
Pewter till noon and more sunshine! Really warm if you can get out of the wind and just hang out in the sunshine. We’re anchored in the bay, across from town. Now that we have the dingy available to transport us to shore we don’t need to pay marina fees. The Sausalito channel is very busy channel; there is a constant parade of boats of every description. Sausalito seems to be rather expensive and I think the cost of housing is pretty high. There are lots of float homes here, some of them are huge! I saw one that I think is a triplex.
We went to the Sausalito Art Festival, there were over 250 artists displaying their goods. Apparently this is the largest show in the US, so anybody who is anybody is here. I know that my artist and art savvy friends would have thoroughly enjoyed this show. There were some truly unique pieces of artwork available. The prices on the items were way up there, but people were walking out with packages under their arms.
September 4, 05
Sunshine and we were able to get a mooring buoy in front of the Sausalito Yacht Club. As members of the Blue Water Cruising Association we are able to get reciprocal privileges. It is a rather rolly mooring but it’s secure and we’re really close to town. The folks at the club are very accommodating. They are accustomed to having BCA tied up here. Meridian Passage and crew just left a few days ago after spending a week. They have provided us with access to their wireless connection. The club has a shower, dinning room, and bar. What more could you ask for?
Last night was the first night that was so clear and warm you could actually spend time outside and drink in the view of San Francisco with all her lights twinkling I especially liked the way the lights were strung along the top of the bridge that spans from San Francisco to Oakland, outlining the bridge against the darkness and reflected in the water It was spectacular.
September 5, 05
Sunshine, and more summer. Took the dingy to town and picked up a few groceries. This is a really uncomfortable mooring. There is a lot of surge, and most of the boaters traveling either up or down the channel don’t abide by the 5kts. posted this close to the end of the channel. We’ve seen vessels actually boarded by the coast guard and fined for speeding a little closer in, but for some reason not here. We’ve talked about staying another day however, when you can’t even have something sitting on the table without flying off its just no fun!
September 6, 05
We’re out of here, it’s just too bumpy! Sunshine and we’re sailing to Richmond. We were able to sale off the mooring ball and straight down Raccoon channel between Tiburon and Angel Island. It was a great sail and we attempted to moor at Pt. Richmond, however, they’re under major renovations and couldn’t accommodate us, probably just as well as we ended up meeting Meridian Passage, Veleda and crews moored at Richmond Marine Harbour, the staff at the municipal harbour were extremely helpful and found us a slip. The first slip we were assigned was occupied, and after my 3rd docking for the day in a surge and hollowing wind, wasn’t looking forward to negotiating with another slip. I guess 4 times lucky, as we slipped into a 12ft. wide berth with 20kts of crosswind without even a bump on the dock. I think I’m getting a handle on this parking stuff! Dick has been bragging about my accomplishments.
Spent a couple of hours with Paul and Julia, talking about there passage down to SF. They went out 150 miles and tacked back in to arrive at SF 6 days later. They could have been here in 5 but needed to time the crossing of the SF bar. So they slowed down (an interesting concept for a sailboat) in order to arrive on a flood. Meridian Passage had 6 on board so were able to turn shifts around fairly comfortably. Paul and Julia, their 2 kids Erin 22 and Michael 18, Erin’s boyfriend Jordie 22, and a nephew! Only twice did Paul have to go up and discourage the ‘boys’ from trying to achieve 9kts. in 30-35 kts winds. Gratefully, they had a pretty uneventful passage!
September 7, 05
Pewter to start turning to a glorious afternoon full of sunshine. Jens and Alice from Veleda and the crew from Blue hopped aboard the local bus, and then onto the BART (rapid transit) and headed to Berkley. What a great adventure! The local bus drive talked about her travels to “all over the world”, except Alaska, Denmark and a few other places! Then negotiating the BART! It’s relatively inexpensive to use the local transportation. Groceries are about the same as in Victoria, only American dollars and housing is out of this world! I can’t figure out how people can afford to live here! Minimum wage, depending on the county is from $6-$12/hr. and an apartment is upwards to $1700. /mon.
Happy Bday Hartley!
September 8, 05
Pewter, as we leave Richmond and head to Alameda (an Island), to moor for 10 days at the Oakland Yacht Club. The channel is bustling with activity, we watched huge freighters loaded and unloaded of all their wares, jockeyed for position with a number of tugs pushing and pulling enormous loads, the local harbour patrol on his rounds, and a few other power and sailboats headed for points unknown.
Arriving at OYC, was a bit of a challenge. The slips are 30ft. long and 12ft. wide with a narrow alley way ~50ft. between the docks with many of the vessels hanging out a good long ways. We are 34’ and 11’ wide, so makes for an interesting event. This very nice young man, Chris thought he would be able to ‘catch’ Blue as we came into our slip. I think he was rather surprised that she wasn’t as easy as some of the boats he’s caught before. Most of the boats in this club are racers and are really light! After a brief wrestle and a slip of the transmission into reverse we were in without embarrassing ourselves or throwing poor Chris in the drink. Not the kind of impression you want to make on the members, throwing them in the drink!
September 9, 05
Sunshine. Really lazy day. Hair appointment, naps and reading. No luck trying to get a new computer on line. Dick spent about 5 hrs. trying to decipher Dell’s online catalogue. Oh! Well I guess we’ll continue to struggle along with this puppy until something else comes along.
Dinner at the yacht club and it was a real event visiting guests were honored and as Bluewater Cruiser members (Veleda & Blue) were introduced Dick made a really nice and yes brief speech thanking the club for embracing us and providing us with all the privileges of regular members. They have provided us with 5 days of free moorage and then it will be $5. /day after that. We also received access to their wireless internet gratis! that usually has a $5. /day fee attached. They have a TV room that includes a library that we have access to, as well as the most wonderful showers. There’s even an ice machine for those little afternoon cocktails we on occasion have imbibed. We had an extra BCA burgee and presented it in a reciprocal exchange for an OYC burgee.
September 10, 05
First day of real sun and heat. Quite encouraging. Went to a flea market at another yacht club right next door. What a lot of junk/inventory/boat jewelry they had for sale, we couldn’t find anything to buy. Just like Boater’s Exchange in Sidney, only more of it...
Took a dingy ride to the boat show at Jack London Square, a life long dream of Dick’s and while we were there, oh my we fell in love with a boat that is way beyond our reach. A gorgeous Island Packet 37’, what a beauty too bad she’s not steel. Oh well, back to our sweet Blue whom everyone admires and so much. BBQ pork loin with the crew of Veleda. And off to bed.
Meridian Passage arrived today and is moored at the club next door.
Sept 11, 05
More summer, hot and sunny! While having brunch at the club Paul and Kristi from Shearwater arrived. They have had quite a trip. We spent the day visiting and doing some long overdue boat jobs.
The people here have set a new standard for friendliness. Honestly offering any thing we might need from charts, to their own personal vehicles to get the longer distance chores done, just anything and everything. An incredible find!
We’re off to Vegas tomorrow with the crew from Veleda. A repeat visit for the Veleda crew but Dick and I, well it’s our first time! Maybe we’ll hit it lucky and bring home the dough for the Island Packet! That would be lovely but not likely as neither one of us particularly likes/knows how to gamble. Ah! I’m sure from what I’ve heard the shows will be where we spend our time.
All is well in Alameda! Hope all is well from where you hail!
Take care
m&d
svblue
Sunshine! Took the bus, it runs once a day, from Bodega Bay into Santa Rosa. A 45 min. trip into town that left the Spud Point Marina and traveled inland through some beautiful agricultural areas. The gravenstein apples were ripe and ready for the picking. A lot of the orchards reminded me of Pete and Jane Hammond’s place out in Metchosin. Lots of organic fruits and vegetables, as well as some really great wines are available in the Sonoma Valley. It would be great to have access to a vehicle so to stop and pick up some of the local produce. Unfortunately, the bus has a schedule and it doesn’t include any stops at the farm gate markets.
It was hot in the city, we found summer! We also found a great little café that had great coffee and allowed us to access the internet. I’m surprised how difficult gaining access to wireless remote has been since we have entered California.
August 30, ‘05
More sunshine, day 2 of summer. We hung around the marina today making phone calls and second guessing ourselves about having stayed. However, when they say small craft advisory SCA we stay put, we don’t need any extra drama in our lives. It’s plenty exciting without encouraging the wrath of the sea gods.
Its 3 weeks since I gave myself a hair cut. I would like to say it was more successful than the first time I cut my hair. I was 6 the first time I explored my career option as a hair stylist, the day before the grade 1 school picture. I’ve even been practicing on Dick over that past few months. His cuts seem to have worked out ok! Yes, maybe a little less of a challenge than doing a full head of hair, but nonetheless I thought looking into that polished stainless ‘mirror’ in the minimally fluorescent lit marina washroom, my head held high over the sink draped with toilet paper I was looking pretty professional. I proceed, I mimic the moves I’ve watched may hair stylist, Michelle, make a hundred times over the past 4 years and convince myself that yes I can do this. I have evidence that my skill level hasn’t improved all that much since that first try! Time heals and hair grows, I think its long enough now to get someone who knows what they are doing to ‘fix’ it!
We had a BBQ and then the crew from Veleda came over with a copy of Harry Potter 1 on DVD. There’s nothing like having friends over for a movie and popcorn.
August 31, ‘05
Day 3 of summer and we’re out of here! Winds are down, and the swells were only 9ft. in 9 seconds making a pretty comfortable trip around Pt. Reyes. It was a short day but a really pleasant day of motoring.
We’re anchored in Drakes Bay, about 25 miles from San Francisco.
Tomorrow we’re planning to sail under the Golden Gate. The weather is supposed to be ideal.
Happy Bday Brendan!
September 1, ‘05
A pewter start after spending an uncomfortable night anchored in Drakes Bay, the wind was light but the swell or maybe current or whatever was making anchoring bumpy and noisy. Dick didn’t sleep a wink, which is unusual for him. He can usually settle down after a bit. We had been rafted up to Veleda till about 2:00 a.m. when we decided it might be better to have her anchor on her own. During the unrafting Alice got her hand got between the dinghy kicker (outboard motor) and our top rails. She didn’t break it, just squashed it and gave herself an ugly bruise.
Coming into San Francisco, was exhilarating I have never seen so many boats, mostly commercial and sport fishing vessels. It was like watching two lines of ants, there was barely a break between vessels just a steady flow. I don’t know where they went or where they came from as we neared the bar there was just Blue and Veleda going into the Bonita channel. I was asked in an email what "crossing the bar was a non event” meant. So for my nonsailing buddies I hope this clears the mystery up, for those of you that do sail. Crossing a bar, according to Maureen, can be a real challenge as this huge mass of ocean water is either being squished into or out of a bay depending on the tide. As the water gets squished it carries along with it a pile of sand. The sand is then dumped into the narrowing and the channel becomes very shallow. Now the wind and the current and the tides have an opportunity to add their level of challenge. The wind can create wind waves and/or add to the already existing swell. Mostly wind waves just make you wet, but the swell can carry ugly rogue waves that can lift you up and throw you around like a paper boat in a fountain and they don’t discriminate they toss loaded freighters around just as easily as they do a 34’ steel sloop, or they can land on you and your deck, hard. Then the current and tide (depending on your timing) can have you almost standing still or even going backwards as you rev your engine to no avail. So when I tell you that we crossed the bar uneventfully, it means we timed our crossing so the tide was working for us, and that there was a manageable swell. We’ve crossed bars that we almost as flat as glass and some, well not so much. We timed our entry of the bar to San Francisco, on a flood tide, 3ft. swell, light fog and . . . was about 30’ deep.. . . For this momentous occasion as we passed under the Golden Gate bridge we popped the cork off a bottle of bubbly (unfortunately we had run out of the favourite KP Plonk Blonk) and watched as the fog lifted off the tops of the bridge and the sun came out and we motored in Sausalito. We checked into the Clipper Yacht Marina, made a quick trip to town. When we returned we had decided we needed a nap and at 4:00 p.m. passed out the next time we were conscious it was 6:00 a.m.
TECHNICAL ADDENDUM: BAR CROSSINGS by dick.com
Most of the harbors large and small along the American west coast occur where rivers empty into the ocean. This covers large entrances like the Columbia River and San Francisco Bay as well as small ones like Noyo River or Bodega Bay. As these rivers flow out they dump sand and silt at the delta to form sand bars. The US Army Corps of Engineers has built breakwaters on either side of these deltas. There is also a large and continuous westerly swell from the open Pacific which runs anywhere from 3 to 12 feet and larger in storms. Usually it is in the middle of the range. When these swells cross the sand bar they form breaking waves as the water shallows from 200 to 30 feet or less. If the tide is flowing out with the river current (ebbing) the waves are always steep and severe because the outgoing water is opposing the incoming swell. If the tide is flooding then the incoming tide overwhelms the river outflow and the current actually runs with the swell. The swells then become just big smooth hills and are easily negotiated.
When you add the prevailing westerly wind to this mix it simply adds wind waves to the height of the swell and makes crossing the bar that much more interesting.
The US Coast Guard is a phenomenal organization that provides incredible services to boaters. There is a USCG station at every harbour and they respond immediately on VHF ch 16. They will give you bar reports, current conditions, and weather reports, escort you in or even tow a vessel in peril. Some of our fellow boaters have used the escort, many have used the bar condition report. They monitor the bars and even close them to traffic if conditions are severe or close them to, say, boats under 25 feet.
Our first crossing at Gray’s Harbor was so benign we missed it altogether and did not realize we had crossed until we entered the marina. Our second was the notorious Columbia River and that was also a non event. This time we were more aware as we watched the depth sounder until we were through. Our fifth crossing we were so confidant that we even tried it at the beginning of an ebb tide. This was a mistake. The swells were big steep and ugly and it was all I could do to hand steer all the way in, Never again. In 19 crossings that was our only bad experience and now we only cross on the flood.
September 2, ‘05
Pewter till noon and then glorious sunshine. We spent the day in search of a kicker. As from here on down the coast we’ll be using the dingy a lot while we’re anchoring or tied to mooring balls. We found a Honda dealer in San Rafael and hopped on the local transit bus to go and check it out. San Rafael is about 10 times the size of Sausalito and there is at least 10 times the number of vehicles. We bought a 5hp Honda, and the owner of the shop offered us a lift back to Sausalito. I was wondering how we would get the motor back on the bus! Another day of successful hunting and gathering.
September 3, 05
Pewter till noon and more sunshine! Really warm if you can get out of the wind and just hang out in the sunshine. We’re anchored in the bay, across from town. Now that we have the dingy available to transport us to shore we don’t need to pay marina fees. The Sausalito channel is very busy channel; there is a constant parade of boats of every description. Sausalito seems to be rather expensive and I think the cost of housing is pretty high. There are lots of float homes here, some of them are huge! I saw one that I think is a triplex.
We went to the Sausalito Art Festival, there were over 250 artists displaying their goods. Apparently this is the largest show in the US, so anybody who is anybody is here. I know that my artist and art savvy friends would have thoroughly enjoyed this show. There were some truly unique pieces of artwork available. The prices on the items were way up there, but people were walking out with packages under their arms.
September 4, 05
Sunshine and we were able to get a mooring buoy in front of the Sausalito Yacht Club. As members of the Blue Water Cruising Association we are able to get reciprocal privileges. It is a rather rolly mooring but it’s secure and we’re really close to town. The folks at the club are very accommodating. They are accustomed to having BCA tied up here. Meridian Passage and crew just left a few days ago after spending a week. They have provided us with access to their wireless connection. The club has a shower, dinning room, and bar. What more could you ask for?
Last night was the first night that was so clear and warm you could actually spend time outside and drink in the view of San Francisco with all her lights twinkling I especially liked the way the lights were strung along the top of the bridge that spans from San Francisco to Oakland, outlining the bridge against the darkness and reflected in the water It was spectacular.
September 5, 05
Sunshine, and more summer. Took the dingy to town and picked up a few groceries. This is a really uncomfortable mooring. There is a lot of surge, and most of the boaters traveling either up or down the channel don’t abide by the 5kts. posted this close to the end of the channel. We’ve seen vessels actually boarded by the coast guard and fined for speeding a little closer in, but for some reason not here. We’ve talked about staying another day however, when you can’t even have something sitting on the table without flying off its just no fun!
September 6, 05
We’re out of here, it’s just too bumpy! Sunshine and we’re sailing to Richmond. We were able to sale off the mooring ball and straight down Raccoon channel between Tiburon and Angel Island. It was a great sail and we attempted to moor at Pt. Richmond, however, they’re under major renovations and couldn’t accommodate us, probably just as well as we ended up meeting Meridian Passage, Veleda and crews moored at Richmond Marine Harbour, the staff at the municipal harbour were extremely helpful and found us a slip. The first slip we were assigned was occupied, and after my 3rd docking for the day in a surge and hollowing wind, wasn’t looking forward to negotiating with another slip. I guess 4 times lucky, as we slipped into a 12ft. wide berth with 20kts of crosswind without even a bump on the dock. I think I’m getting a handle on this parking stuff! Dick has been bragging about my accomplishments.
Spent a couple of hours with Paul and Julia, talking about there passage down to SF. They went out 150 miles and tacked back in to arrive at SF 6 days later. They could have been here in 5 but needed to time the crossing of the SF bar. So they slowed down (an interesting concept for a sailboat) in order to arrive on a flood. Meridian Passage had 6 on board so were able to turn shifts around fairly comfortably. Paul and Julia, their 2 kids Erin 22 and Michael 18, Erin’s boyfriend Jordie 22, and a nephew! Only twice did Paul have to go up and discourage the ‘boys’ from trying to achieve 9kts. in 30-35 kts winds. Gratefully, they had a pretty uneventful passage!
September 7, 05
Pewter to start turning to a glorious afternoon full of sunshine. Jens and Alice from Veleda and the crew from Blue hopped aboard the local bus, and then onto the BART (rapid transit) and headed to Berkley. What a great adventure! The local bus drive talked about her travels to “all over the world”, except Alaska, Denmark and a few other places! Then negotiating the BART! It’s relatively inexpensive to use the local transportation. Groceries are about the same as in Victoria, only American dollars and housing is out of this world! I can’t figure out how people can afford to live here! Minimum wage, depending on the county is from $6-$12/hr. and an apartment is upwards to $1700. /mon.
Happy Bday Hartley!
September 8, 05
Pewter, as we leave Richmond and head to Alameda (an Island), to moor for 10 days at the Oakland Yacht Club. The channel is bustling with activity, we watched huge freighters loaded and unloaded of all their wares, jockeyed for position with a number of tugs pushing and pulling enormous loads, the local harbour patrol on his rounds, and a few other power and sailboats headed for points unknown.
Arriving at OYC, was a bit of a challenge. The slips are 30ft. long and 12ft. wide with a narrow alley way ~50ft. between the docks with many of the vessels hanging out a good long ways. We are 34’ and 11’ wide, so makes for an interesting event. This very nice young man, Chris thought he would be able to ‘catch’ Blue as we came into our slip. I think he was rather surprised that she wasn’t as easy as some of the boats he’s caught before. Most of the boats in this club are racers and are really light! After a brief wrestle and a slip of the transmission into reverse we were in without embarrassing ourselves or throwing poor Chris in the drink. Not the kind of impression you want to make on the members, throwing them in the drink!
September 9, 05
Sunshine. Really lazy day. Hair appointment, naps and reading. No luck trying to get a new computer on line. Dick spent about 5 hrs. trying to decipher Dell’s online catalogue. Oh! Well I guess we’ll continue to struggle along with this puppy until something else comes along.
Dinner at the yacht club and it was a real event visiting guests were honored and as Bluewater Cruiser members (Veleda & Blue) were introduced Dick made a really nice and yes brief speech thanking the club for embracing us and providing us with all the privileges of regular members. They have provided us with 5 days of free moorage and then it will be $5. /day after that. We also received access to their wireless internet gratis! that usually has a $5. /day fee attached. They have a TV room that includes a library that we have access to, as well as the most wonderful showers. There’s even an ice machine for those little afternoon cocktails we on occasion have imbibed. We had an extra BCA burgee and presented it in a reciprocal exchange for an OYC burgee.
September 10, 05
First day of real sun and heat. Quite encouraging. Went to a flea market at another yacht club right next door. What a lot of junk/inventory/boat jewelry they had for sale, we couldn’t find anything to buy. Just like Boater’s Exchange in Sidney, only more of it...
Took a dingy ride to the boat show at Jack London Square, a life long dream of Dick’s and while we were there, oh my we fell in love with a boat that is way beyond our reach. A gorgeous Island Packet 37’, what a beauty too bad she’s not steel. Oh well, back to our sweet Blue whom everyone admires and so much. BBQ pork loin with the crew of Veleda. And off to bed.
Meridian Passage arrived today and is moored at the club next door.
Sept 11, 05
More summer, hot and sunny! While having brunch at the club Paul and Kristi from Shearwater arrived. They have had quite a trip. We spent the day visiting and doing some long overdue boat jobs.
The people here have set a new standard for friendliness. Honestly offering any thing we might need from charts, to their own personal vehicles to get the longer distance chores done, just anything and everything. An incredible find!
We’re off to Vegas tomorrow with the crew from Veleda. A repeat visit for the Veleda crew but Dick and I, well it’s our first time! Maybe we’ll hit it lucky and bring home the dough for the Island Packet! That would be lovely but not likely as neither one of us particularly likes/knows how to gamble. Ah! I’m sure from what I’ve heard the shows will be where we spend our time.
All is well in Alameda! Hope all is well from where you hail!
Take care
m&d
svblue
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