Position: 18 degrees, 47 minutes North; 107 degrees, 29 minutes West

Watched the sunrise this morning and was happy to see we are in the deep blue. Definitely out of the “coastal green” zone, the blue out here is sight to behold. We spent most of the day just getting used to life at sea and adjusting our “sleep clocks” to the watch system. I had the 2200 to 0100 watch and was nodding off toward the end of my watch, so Ann gave me a five hour sleep (Yay Ann!) and didn’t wake me until 0600 when I took over in the morning light and she got her well deserved rest.

We caught a small albacore tuna, but decided it wasn’t quite big enough, so let it go. Other than that, an uneventful day just enjoying the wind, sun and sea.

Woo, Hoo, April Fools!

Position: 20 degrees, 17 minutes; North 106 degrees, 01 minutes West

Leaving La Cruz, Mexico for the Marquesas.

Storing food. Hey, wait a minute. "Ann, where's the BEER!

So, our first day out has been a great one. There’s a nice breeze and we are moving along on a close reach at about 5-6 knots. Wind is about 12 knots and the sea is 3-4 feet from our 2 o’clock (so we’re not yet riding “down” them, more like up and over-I closed the foredeck hatch just in case we catch one over the bow). Wilson (remember him? our wind vane) steered all day. We didn’t need to touch the wheel until a ship coming North, probably from the Panama Canal, crossed paths with us. I look on the radar and saw that we going to cross within a half mile of each other-way too close at sea-so for about 20 minutes hand steered to avoid him, then back to wind vane steering. I made tonight’s dinner this morning in the pressure cooker while we were still at anchor so we wouldn’t have the trauma of cooking a full dinner the first night out while we’re still trying to get our “sea legs” again. Smoked ham hock with beans simmered with onions, carrots, potatoes, etc. Yummy. All I had to do was heat it. We left anchor with style too. Didn’t turn on the engine, just hauled anchor, drifted out and once all the lines were cleared up we unfurled the jib and glided out. Very peaceful way to leave. Now we’re just sitting in the cockpit (in tee shirts and shorts at 2100). The moon is out, we have a reef in the main with the 130 jib and have the view I never tire of; the tip of the mast scribing a circle around the heavens and pointing out the stars as we go up and over waves. Charisma is very happy virtually dancing over the waves despite all the gear and food we’ve loaded her down with. As of this moment, we have 2630 miles to go! Had fun tonight listening to the evening “Puddle Jump Net”. Ann loves to hear where the other boats are. Several of our friends who left a day before us are only 60 miles away. Some we can hear from the other side of the equator. One friend who is going to the Galapagos first, called in about 400 miles North of the Galapagos. They will spend a couple weeks there and then head out to Polynesian where we will likely catch up with them at some point. It was noted on tonight’s net that there are now 23 boats spread out from here to within one day’s sail of the islands. Very exciting! Well, time for starting the watches. Someone gets to go to sleep now. May the negotiations begin! PS (From Ann) – we are still pinching ourselves – hard to believe we are really under way!

OK. Before we’re out of cell range, Ann wanted to send a picture of the “Ham Shack” on board. In this picture, I’m downloading weather info from the shortwave radio to my computer.

Sent from my iPhone

no-footer Position: 20 degrees, 45 minutes, 50 seconds North 105 degrees, 31 minutes, 01 seconds West

Well, we’re actually anchored in Punta Mita right inside the coastline of Banderas Bay. We decided that it would be a great transitional step from Marina life from the past month to a month at sea.

So…after a stressful week of provisioning, preparing and otherwise getting ready, we’re chillin’ at anchor. A nice sunset, a “Charisma” some final boat projects and we’re ready.

We checked in on the “Net” tonight. We’re now officially part of the loose group of boats leaving Mexico and heading to Polynesia. We could hear boats all the way on the shortwave radio and were told by the net control that our signal was very strong, so all the work I’ve put into “tweaking” the radio, especially the grounding system and antenna seems to be paying off.. One boat is within 90 miles of making landfall at Hivo Oa (where we’ve going), having left a month ago. That means our radio is working well, as we could hear their signal well over 2500 miles away. Ann was enjoying hearing all the boats that we have met over the past five months of cruising. We’re both excited. Now that we’re anchored and know that we are heading out first thing in the morning, it’s gotten very real (the weather is great, which is why we’ve been rushing to get out-there’s a “window” the next couple days of favorable winds to get us off the coast and into the Tradewinds). There are probably 20 boats out there right now with another dozen yet to leave from here (Banderas Bay, Puerto Vallarta). Might seem like a lot, but it’s covering thousands of miles. When I sailed to Hawaii (twice), in the Transpac race, there were 80 boats all leaving LA at the same time and heading to a finish line off Diamond Head and despite that after the first day or so you don’t see anybody.

OK, that’s it for tonight. We’re excited. Weather’s good. We’re ready. Charisma is ready (in fact, today motoring up here, she “felt” different-like she’s thrilled she’s going to do what she was designed to do. Funny, but boats are like that. They definitely have personalities and some days they are in better moods than others).

And now a word from Ann: It was really exciting listening to the net tonight and hearing Bob check us in (right after the “other Charisma” checked in! We never heard of another Charisma until the Jump! Thank goodness they are a nice young couple with a kid, not a cranky pirate! This is now very real! I was able to do a little checking in with folks before we left La Cruz and it was wonderful! It has been an exhausting pace for the last week and truly, Charisma could not fit anything more! (Yes I took pictures of the water line!) Oh, except for the standup paddle board we bought today! And it’s official, I am tired of shopping, washing, repacking and stowing stuff. I finished the coffee (thanks Andy Knight -we found a place to get it ground and we bought another 20 lbs!) repacking (vacuum sealing) after we dropped anchor at Punta Mita! Nothing left to do! Yay! Our departure was bittersweet. We loved La Cruz and were treated to the music group Tataware at lunch and then got back to the boat, showered and shoved off! Many of the other “jumpers” (Like Blue Rodeo, Bright Angel and The Rose) were there to help us leave the dock! Even Free Spirit Dave made it back to La Cruz to see us off! So we rest well tonight and start sailing tomorrow. Bob says he doesn’t want to run the engine at all for the next 2500 miles! Remember to have fun putting the latitude and longitude that Bob lists on the blog each night into Google Earth and see where we are!

no-footer Position: 20 degrees, 45 minutes, 50 seconds North 105 degrees, 31 minutes, 01 seconds West

Well, we’re actually anchored in Punta Mita right inside the coastline of Banderas Bay. We decided that it would be a great transitional step from Marina life from the past month to a month at sea.

So…after a stressful week of provisioning, preparing and otherwise getting ready, we’re chillin’ at anchor. A nice sunset, a “Charisma” some final boat projects and we’re ready.

We checked in on the “Net” tonight. We’re now officially part of the loose group of boats leaving Mexico and heading to Polynesia. We could hear boats all the way on the shortwave radio and were told by the net control that our signal was very strong, so all the work I’ve put into “tweaking” the radio, especially the grounding system and antenna seems to be paying off.. One boat is within 90 miles of making landfall at Hivo Oa (where we’ve going), having left a month ago. That means our radio is working well, as we could hear their signal well over 2500 miles away. Ann was enjoying hearing all the boats that we have met over the past five months of cruising. We’re both excited. Now that we’re anchored and know that we are heading out first thing in the morning, it’s gotten very real (the weather is great, which is why we’ve been rushing to get out-there’s a “window” the next couple days of favorable winds to get us off the coast and into the Tradewinds). There are probably 20 boats out there right now with another dozen yet to leave from here (Banderas Bay, Puerto Vallarta). Might seem like a lot, but it’s covering thousands of miles. When I sailed to Hawaii (twice), in the Transpac race, there were 80 boats all leaving LA at the same time and heading to a finish line off Diamond Head and despite that after the first day or so you don’t see anybody.

OK, that’s it for tonight. We’re excited. Weather’s good. We’re ready. Charisma is ready (in fact, today motoring up here, she “felt” different-like she’s thrilled she’s going to do what she was designed to do. Funny, but boats are like that. They definitely have personalities and some days they are in better moods than others).

And now a word from Ann: It was really exciting listening to the net tonight and hearing Bob check us in (right after the “other Charisma” checked in! We never heard of another Charisma until the Jump! Thank goodness they are a nice young couple with a kid, not a cranky pirate! This is now very real! I was able to do a little checking in with folks before we left La Cruz and it was wonderful! It has been an exhausting pace for the last week and truly, Charisma could not fit anything more! (Yes I took pictures of the water line!) Oh, except for the standup paddle board we bought today! And it’s official, I am tired of shopping, washing, repacking and stowing stuff. I finished the coffee (thanks Andy Knight -we found a place to get it ground and we bought another 20 lbs!) repacking (vacuum sealing) after we dropped anchor at Punta Mita! Nothing left to do! Yay! Our departure was bittersweet. We loved La Cruz and were treated to the music group Tataware at lunch and then got back to the boat, showered and shoved off! Many of the other “jumpers” (Like Blue Rodeo, Bright Angel and The Rose) were there to help us leave the dock! Even Free Spirit Dave made it back to La Cruz to see us off! So we rest well tonight and start sailing tomorrow. Bob says he doesn’t want to run the engine at all for the next 2500 miles! Remember to have fun putting the latitude and longitude that Bob lists on the blog each night into Google Earth and see where we are!

Hmmm, some very creative (some might even say “sick”) answers out there. But as you can see these are excellent and fine looking light holders so folks coming back to their boats at night after one two many Kava–Kava’s don’t mistake Charisma for just a big shadow they have to motor through. Extra points for Rich’s answer which was very topical! I might need to get one of them man-dress things to complete my wardrobe.

Hmmm, in looking at this fine device, I might try and fit an upside down bottle of rum with a cork and hose. Would be just the thing for making cocktails on the high seas. The bottle wouldn’t slide all over the place as the boat rolls about.

So, once again, many thanks to the fine folks on Kanga (Jim and Jeanne) for providing this excellent piece of equipment.

Sent from my iPhone