Yup, that’s how far we’ve come since leaving SF a month ago.

Left Los Muertos at 0558 on the 15th.  Enjoyed watching the sun come up as we got outside the bay and started heading up the coast.  Got into La Paz yesterday afternoon. A pretty uneventful motor sail of 8 hours in very light winds.
Caught two small tuna and then right outside La Paz caught a nice Dorado. We have a new way to “dispatch” our catch other than bonking them on the head with a winch handle (very messy). We now spray alcohol into their gills. Kills them instantly. What kind of alcohol you ask?  Well, we’re in Mexico, so we use cheap tequila. Now the fish pass on quietly and with a smile on their face. Everyone’s happier. Made Mahi Mahi for dinner with frijoles and rice.
Going into La Paz for the day now so more later.

Still anchored in Los Meurtos.  Pretty lazy today.  OK, REALLY lazy.   I spent much of the day napping in the hammock and Geoff spent it trying to spear a fish.  The fish didn’t cooperate.  He is very frustrated.   Bloodlust has returned.  He spent at least four hours today either trolling from the dinghy or spearfishing with his snorkel gear.  No luck, nada.

We changed roles later in the day.  I went snorkeling (although I know better than to try and spearfish.  It’s not as easy as it looks) and Geoff took a snooze on the cabin top after grudgingly consumed a PB&J sandwich.

Around 1600 we dinghied into the beach to check out the Giggling Marlin.  It’s a bar above the beach.  I think it was built in the hopes that there would be a resort here.  As of now, it’s just the bar and nothing else.   Most of the cruisers were there (there are about a dozen other boats anchored in the bay with us), so we “checked in” and joined them for a Margurita.  (For Ann: Valpariso, Otter, Double Dharma, and some others you know were there and we all had a nice chat.  They said to say; “hello!”)

Used the last of the eggs today and fried some potatoes with the last of the tomatoes, avocado and peppers and a little salsa and Sirachi Sauce and made burritos for dinner.  Out of the last five eggs, we had one bad one we had to scoop out of the pan.  We learned that when working with eggs that have been stored in the bilge for four weeks, it’s wise to break them one at a time into a bowl before pouring into the pan.  Not bad though, one for a dozen over four weeks without refridgeration.

Unless we catch fish tomorrow, we’ll be breaking into some of the dried goods.  The biggest surprise is that we’re been eating fish for over three weeks now and haven’t had to break into the longer term stores. Many of the other cruisers here are quite jealous as there are many reports of no luck at all while we’re catching at least one almost every day.

Tomorrow we leave for La Paz.  Early (hopefully anchor up around 0600).  It’s 55 miles and definitely NOT recommended to enter in the dark.  It’s not too likely we can get there before dark, so our alternate plan will be to stop at a bay just to the North called Estero Balandra.  If that doesn’t look too good there are a couple other options as well.  I learned today, that it’s Sunday, so that means we plan to get into La Paz on Tuesday. We’ll spend a day or two there, then go out to Isla Espiritu Santo for a couple days and explore that island before retracing our route back around the Cape and up to San Francisco.

That’s all for today.

Position: 23degrees 59minutes North, 109degrees 46 minutes West

Yup, that’s about where I am right now.  I realized today, I don’t really know what day OR date it is.  NICE!

We left Frailes (reluctantly) at 0630 this morning.  I think we both would have gladly stayed there another couple of days, but despite not knowing what day it is, we do know we have a schedule to be back by and it doesn’t allow too much lingering if we’re going to have time to get to La Paz.  Most of the other boats that were with us stayed in the shelter of Frailes, waiting out the northerly.  We unfortunately had to go and pound through it to get to Los Muertos.  Basically 10 hours of bashing into 15-25 knot winds on the nose, with three to four foot chop. We motored the whole way.  Not fun, but got us there/here.  We averaged about four knots, which basically means if you were able to fast jog the forty miles, you might have got here before us.

On this leg we were able to “touch” 5 knots, but then would hit a series of waves that would slam the boat and slow us to 3 knots (sometimes a little less).  Charisma would dive into the wave, bury her bow and shake the water loose as she threw her head to the sky like a wild horse kicking and jumping across the plain.  As she did this, she’d throw a couple dozen gallons of water that she’d scoop up into the air and down the deck.  The result would be two sailors constantly ducking underneath the dodger (oh, that’s why they call it that!) and six inches of water in the scuppers trying to drain over the side.  A taste of things to come when we BASH back up the coast of Baja and California.  Except the wind and water here are warm.

Some dolphins joined up with us for a while, but we were going to slow for them and we didn’t have the “dolphin whisperer” (Ann Adams), so they didn’t hang too long.  About five minutes and some jumping next to the boat.  Geoff and I are getting pretty blasé as neither of us even made a move for our cameras.  “Oh, there are some dolphins, yawn”.

No fishing today.  We were both tired and I think we’re secretly tired of fresh fish!  Had some smoked oysters with our Charisma at sunset and I made Sardine Pasta.  I’m sure the bloodlust will hit again as we leave here for La Paz.  Fresh fish is such a luxury, who could really tire of it?

A minor crises; we’re out of wine (OK major crises, but I don’t want to make too big a deal out of this).  We’ll go ashore tomorrow and see whether we can find some wine and by then we’ll be out of ice and probably close to out of beer too.

Oh.  My.  God.   We’re still at least three days out of La Paz.  What will we do???

Got in here a little before sunset (that’s two for two now.  This time we even saw the sunset after anchoring) so we haven’t explored the area yet.  From our anchorage about 100 yards off the beach, there’s not much to see. But we know there’s a Giggling Marlin (don’t ask) at the end of the cove.  Might have to check in there tomorrow.

That’s it for today.  It’s 2030 and I’m thinking some stargazing and bed are on the busy agenda for the next hour or two.

Adios.

November 11, update:

The water here at Frailes Bay is so clear I can see the anchor chain on the sand, 40 feet down.  I went for a swim/snorkel and saw a Leopard Ray (I think they are called that, big bat ray, with leopard spots and a two foot long stinger), a skate, grouper, and hundreds of schooling fish.  I even swam with a couple of the schools.  They tolerate you if you don’t move too much and you are quickly in the middle of hundreds of brightly colored 6-10 inch long fish.  The ones I was with had bright yellow tails and a yellow stripe down the side of a silver body. Lots of other tropical fish in 15 feet of water among the rocks.  Just like being in an aquarium.

The water temp is pure bathtub.  Jump in, no cold shock.  Wonderful.  We swam a good part of the day and I spent the other part in the hammock on the foredeck.

Our friends on Black Pearl showed up just before lunch.  As usual (for them) their engine wasn’t working well coming out of Cabo, so they sailed all the way here.  Took them just short of three days.  At this point, they are pretty much on a diet of Top Ramen and Mac and Cheese, so we had them over for a beer and fish tacos.  I think they each ate about four.  Gave them some ham to help perk up a future dinner and some earplugs (they mentioned that when the diesel is working, it’s REALLY LOUD.  No soundproofing).  Part of the cruiser’s economy.  You give folks what you have extra of.

That’s it for a quick add to today’s post.  It’s about sunset, so out with the cameras, then Charismas!  We were in a near rum crisis, but turns out Geoff has a “handle” of Sailor Jerry.  Crisis averted.  We’re going to try Sailor Jerry as the prime ingredient tonight.

Dinner plans are for Mahi and Tuna steaks in teriyaki/sesame/lime marinade and bbq’d yam slices with olive oil and salt.

After dinner now that the hammock is set up, I’m going to pretend to be looking at the stars and probably fall asleep in said hammock after such a tough day (he says with tongue firmly planted in cheek).

Bye for now.

Position:  23degrees 22minutes 47seconds North, 109degrees 25minutes 16seconds West.

We sailed all day yesterday and anchored in Frailes Bay right about sunset.  Yup, we finally entered someplace before dark.  We would have been here earlier, but caught two fish on the way which delayed us while we brought them in and then cleaned and filleted them.

The trip down was seemingly what Baja sailing is all about.  12 knots wind, warm temps, minimal waves and sea life everywhere.  Upon leaving Puerto Los Cabos, we saw a whale spout and dive.  It didn’t come back up, so we’re still waiting for a “quality” whale sighting.  About an hour later, half a dozen or more Manta Rays passed us, about two feet under the surface and going the other direction in perfect formation.  They looked like a flock of geese in their formation.

2PM, the clothespin on the handline went; “pop” either signaling someone bumped the lifeline as we often do, or a fish hit the lure.  Geoff checked it and found the latter.  Game on!  After about 10 minutes of pulling, we saw a flash of bright blue and then fluorescent green.  Dorado!  Gorgeous, flashing his colors at us while we gaffed him and pulled him aboard (sounds primitive-it is!).  About 40 inches or so, we’ll have Mahi Mahi for a few days.  Or more likely we will dinghy around the anchorage today and give some away to the folks who aren’t having any luck fishing (there are quite a few).  While Geoff was cleaning and filleting his catch, we sailed through a whole school of Dorado chasing flying fish.  They were leaping out of the water five and six times following their prey.  It is amazing seeing such brilliant colors all of a sudden exploding out of the deep blue water.  Equally amazing seeing a four foot plus fish flying through the water!

2:30, a flying Manta Ray!  Six foot wingspan leaping completely out of the water four times.  Each time spinning into a double backflip.  Entertaining as hell.  You can’t keep your eyes off the water in expectation of some fantastic show.

3PM, ziiinngggg!  Tuna on the fishing pole.  I took this one and reeled him in, cleaned and filleted him.  The hardest part about fishing out here is actually cleaning/scrubbing the deck afterward to get the blood off before it becomes part of the nonskid.  About a 20 pounder, he contributed to sashimi once anchored.

The evening in Frailes was wonderful and relaxing.  After sashimi and Charismas, we adjourned to the cockpit for cigars, scotch and shooting stars (several of which were so bright they looked more like parachute flares hanging in the sky).  And I’ll let you in on a little secret:  If you pee over the side here, the phosphorescence in the water makes it glow (from Ann – much to Ann’s dismay, Bob refused to prove this for her).

Went to bed around midnight, but bounced back up to check on a noise.  Geoff was still awake and my words to him after our evening of scotch, beer, Charismas and a little wine; “if you hear a splash, come get me”.  Hysterics from the forepeak.

Back to this morning.  It’s 0930, I’ve just finished my coffee, cereal and this post and am getting ready for a swim.  Geoff just got back and reported that he’s already seen; a seal, angel fish, puffer fish, parrotfish, barracuda, grouper, stingray, skates, and an eel among others he’s not sure of.  So far this morning I think he’s said; “I can see why people never leave here”, about 7 times.  I agree!

That’s it for now.  We’re staying here for the day.  Maybe go further North tomorrow, but we’ll see.

Not sure of the Lat/Lon because I’m in the cockpit typing this under the stars and not near the GPS (and too damn lazy to go look), but we’re in Cabo San Jose, about 15 miles around the Cape past San Lucas (and it’s blessedly quiet and peaceful).

Took Ann to the airport today as she alas, had to depart for work and real life (or are we living real life?  An existential conundrum I’ll have to think about for the next month or so)

Had a great couple of days here exploring the town with Ann.  Gorgeous ceramics and textiles and we each bought a few things to remind us of this wonderful trip.

Ann, you will be sorely missed by both of us (me especially, but Geoff said how much he’s been enjoying your company too.  After 1000 miles on the Pacific, you’ve turned into an accomplished sailor and have earned your title as the “Salty Dog”).

Now we’re on to phase three of the voyage: The Two Bachelors.  Yup, it’s down to Geoff and me.  Here’s an example of our schedule now that we’re two (from Geoff):

• went to the beach
• took pictures
• drew pictures in the sand with local fishermen speaking random spanglish
• walked back to boat, stopped at local market, bought terrible beer
• took a nap

Yup, we’re gonna be busy.

Evening now and we just finished the dishes.  Dinner was mouldy frijoles, shriveled vegetables and leftover cheese on tortillas, drinking Charismatini’s.  Might have been the Charismatini’s, but dinner was delicious! Talked about trimming mustaches (really we talked about nosehairs, but trimming our moustaches sounds so much more manly).

We were actually a bit productive today though.  Here’re a couple examples of how we have entered into The Cruiser’s Economy (which is a corollary to “The Simple Life” as noted in the entry about Diane’s birthday):

1. One of our neighbors here at Puerto San Jose, couldn’t get his shortwave radio to work.  I mentioned I knew a little about them (practically an outright lie, but only if you are caught) and they invited me over to have a look.  Well, it was a pretty old Kenwood, which I really know nothing about, but with a little effort (and to make this story shorter) I’ll just say that I found the problem, tested the radio by calling from ours and a mystery that was unsolved for their whole trip down from Washington has now been solved.  They were so thrilled to get their radio working, they gifted us with a huge bottle of Maple Syrup.  A commodity we were out of, so willingly received!
2. Another neighbor mentioned his chagrin that he had a rope or something caught in his rudder and couldn’t seem to get it out.  Geoff to the rescue.  He dove on the rudder, looking resplendent in snorkel, mask and fins, and cut out the offending piece of rope (which looked to be part of a crab/lobster trap they must have run over).  Again mission accomplished and in this case, Geoff charged $240/hour for his services (and after the five minutes it took him, he earned twenty bucks!)

We’re getting rich I tell you.

Tomorrow, we’re leaving early for Los Frailes about 40 miles up the coast on the Sea of Cortez.  We’ll start out bearing around 080 degrees and then about halfway up, we’ll finally start heading almost North.   I hope to be able to have a positive report on the fishing.  I also hope to report that we anchored somewhere during daylight.  Would be a nice change.  So far every harbor and anchorage we’ve entered on this trip has been at night. Even with radar to help, it’s not so fun when you’ve never been there before and don’t have a clue what the area actually looks like.

We won first place in our division in the Baja HaHa race from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas!  Charisma really performed. More to follow. Just wanted to let everyone know. Now that the awards party is done, we’ll be heading up the Sea of Cortez tomorrow so new adventures beckon.

22degrees53minutes North, 109degress54minutes West,  November 5th

Bunnies and Bats.  Who would have thought.  This may take a bit to explain, but first let me mention a couple other things.

We’re in Cabo San Lucas now.  Got in late yesterday.  We were hoping for a change to arrive in the daylight, but didn’t quite make it.  Entered the harbor in the dark.  In this case, we found Cabo to be a shock, as it’s crowded and noisy.  On the way in, pangas were weaving in and out without any lights on (someone later said one of the pangas was using an iPhone as a light).  I just crossed my fingers and held my breath.  Got inside the harbor and found our berth and I was able to breathe a sigh of relief.  Another leg completed safely and in this case the final leg of the rally.  We’re now 1594 mile from the start of our journey in San Francisco.   From here most of the crew fly back to the States and Geoff and I are on our own to meander a bit up the Sea of Cortez to La Paz and then retrace our route all the way back to San Francisco, hopefully by mid December.

The last five hours getting here were a little wild.  Some of the participants have described it as gale winds (the dreaded Baja Easterlies).  We saw solid wind of 26 gusting to 28.  Definitely breezy and a number of boats ducked into other harbors up North to wait it out.  We pressed on.  This kind of wind is what Charisma was made for and she showed she was a happy boat.

So, what do Green Tomatoes have to do with this?  Well, our good friend Terry Lippert (from our cycling adventures) gifted us with green tomatoes from her garden back on the 15th of October and said; “store these, they’ll turn red and be great”.  I was dubious, but Ann was adamant.  So store them we did, and we’ve been enjoying them along the cruise since then.  Today, 21 days after leaving we found the last two in the storage locker.  They were absolutely perfect and we had them with lunch.  They were delicious!

And Bats in our Belfry?  Well, you would never believe this if you didn’t see it, but about 15 miles out of Cabo and off the coast, a bat showed up flittering around the boat!  We were all ducking our heads as it ducked and weaved about the boat.  We were astounded and a little, well, cautious.  I mean a bat!  On the ocean! Amazingly it finally settled down, upside down of course, on the mast right below the gooseneck (for you lubbers, it’s where the boom connects to the mast).  We didn’t have the heart to disturb the little guy since it was so far from land and seemed very tired.  Little did we know it was a sign of the impending gale.  In retrospect, I think it was probably blown downwind on the gale and found itself too far offshore and exhausted to get back.  Anyway, we gave it a ride back and it finally flew away when we had to put in a second reef about three miles offshore due to the increasing wind.

OK, The Bunnies are coming, but first let me explain the Simple Pleasures.  Day before yesterday was Diane’s birthday.  Now you all know what birthdays entail on land.  But on sea, there are fewer options.  So we followed the Simple Pleasures rule.  Make due with what you have and really enjoy it.

Here’s the recipe for Diane’s birthday.  It was really nice:  It started by us calling the fleet on the radio and telling everyone it was Diane’s birthday, then we turned up the radio really loud and over a dozen boats responded with everything from; “Happy Birthday Diane” to impromptu, made up birthday songs just for Diane.  I think I saw a tear in her eye as we were listening to the well wishes over a twenty minute period.

Second; an email from John (via the shortwave, which is performing magnificently) wishing her a happy birthday.

Next:  Give Diane the entire Sun Shower to bathe and wash her hair.  If you haven’t sailed a long distance, you might not appreciate that water is at a premium.  You can’t waste it.  But since it was Diane’s special day, she got the whole shower allocation for that.  A new definition of opulence, and she even left enough for the rest of us to have a rinse.

Next, Ann baked muffins with raisins which was what we had on board, that had some resemblance to a birthday cake.

Lastly, “The Boys” made a fabulous dinner that Diane’s been talking about ever since; Sesame crusted Mahi Mahi with rice and a pineapple ginger reduction sauce along with a salad of our last avocado, cucumber, zucchini and lettuce (again, thanks to Terry, our lettuce has stayed good for several weeks based on her great advice to use Green Bags for storage!)

Diane’s comment on her birthday: “I’d like to celebrate every birthday like this!”

OK, we’re covered Bats, Simple Pleasures and Green Tomatoes, that only leaves Bunny Madness to explain.  Oh, wait a minute; how about The Dolphin Whisperer and Flying Manta Rays?

Dolphin Whisperer.  Turns out Ann (“The Salty Dog”) has an affinity for dolphins and vice-a- versa.  We sailed through a pod the other day and Ann was up in the bowsprit when they decided to swim over to the boat and play under the bow.  WELL, I have to tell you; Ann literally SQUEALED in delight when she saw them, and the more she squealed, the more excited the dolphins got.  They came under the bow, turned sideways (I’d swear they were winking at Ann) and then they leapt out of the water, turning a corkscrew and plunging back into the water.  Amazing!

Flying Manta Rays.  During the last couple hours of sailing into Cabo, at the very tip of Baja, we were treated with another show.  Manta Rays, leaping out of the water.  Again, I’m afraid I can’t do the sight justice.  You just have to imagine that you’re looking out at water as far as you can see, when suddenly the horizon is broken by a huge bat-shaped creature leaping clear out of the water.  Very humbling.  As Ann put it today; “I’m never swimming out there!”

OK, if you’ve made it this far you get to find out about Bunny Madness.  You no doubt know about our young gentlemen’s predilections for the crew of the Bunny Boat (aka MoonTide).  Well, there must be a magnetic energy or something going on there, because on the last night going into to Cabo at about 0300 we saw a green light abeam (F Scott Fitzgerald, eat your heart out).  I looked through the binoculars and determined it was very close and closing so we altered course to our left to sail behind them (since we were on Port tack and they had right of way).  Someone on their boat then panicked and turned 90 degrees, directly toward us.  That in turned resulted in PANIC on both boats as they were now heading RIGHT AT US and I envisioned slicing their boat in half (they are a catamaran).  I grabbed the helm, put it hard over and crossed my fingers.  We both passed about 20 yards apart with our spinnakers flogging when I heard someone on their boat ask: “what tack are you on?”  My response; “Port tack and I was trying to pass behind you”, when I also heard; “Oops, my bad”.  Then they asked; “What boat are you” and I responded; “Charisma”.  They came back; “OOOH, where are the boys??!!”  That’s when Diane, Ann and I realized that these were not really Bunnies, but Cougars in Bunny clothing and they were really after our young gentlemen!! (We think the hunters have become the hunted!)

(From Ann) So yes, we made it to Cabo!  Here’s a memory to share that is priceless.  As a group of five we started this journey with a little knowledge of each other.  After 11 full days on a 37 foot boat together we sat in the cockpit approaching the cape of Cabo San Lucas laughing and sharing.  Other boats in the fleet have actually had crew members jump ship and entirely abandon the trip.  Not here.  Tight quarters with little down time and little privacy did not bring us down.  I have always heard that company is like fish – after 3 days they smell and it’s time to go.  I was concerned that after 11 days we’d be a little unhappy – not so.  Supreme Captain Sir (as Bob became fondly called) rallied us and encouraged us all and we laughed our way into Cabo. What a fabulous adventure.  Thank you, Captain Sir.

24degrees 19minutes North, 111degress 45minutes West and heading south at 5 knots boatspeed and 6.2 knots apparent wind, with the asym up.

We’re on the final leg of the rally.  Left this morning at 0700 and expect to make Cabo sometime tomorrow afternoon or early evening.

Pretty gentle sailing, not much to report as of now (1530).  Mostly just wanted to check in.

Fish tacos for breakfast.  Not even an hour after the start, Geoff broke out the grill and cooked up a bunch of the Mahi Mahi we caught a couple days ago, and grilled some veggies and tortillas.  I wasn’t really hungry, but one taste and I went for three!  I honestly have never had such awesome fish.  I think this fresh fish thing is spoiling all of us.  We have to eat it too, as there’s a ton still in the ice box.  With fish every day, it won’t be long (I think) before we’re yearning for a box of Macaroni and Cheese.  Well, maybe not.

So that’s about all the excitement for now.  Time for a nap.