November, 2nd, Bahia Santa Maria. Tuesday.  N24 degrees 46 minutes, West 112 degrees 15 minutes

We’re set to start tomorrow, the last leg of the trip South.  We should be in Cabo in about two days.  We’ve had a delightful time here in Bahia Santa Maria hiking, swimming, watching sunrise and sunset from the cockpit with our morning coffee and evening sundowners.

After Cabo, the trip changes.  Ann, Diane and Jansen have to go back to their other life while Geoff and I will continue cruising a while up into the Sea of Cortez to La Paz and then retrace our route back up the Baja Peninsula and ultimately San Francisco by mid-December.  We’re particularly interested in seeing these stops in their more natural condition with essentially no-one around.  We’ll keep these posts up via shortwave radio (thank you so much to my friend April for managing these – I’m going to owe you when I get back), but the tone will no doubt change as one adventure and group of friends changes to another.

By the way, before I sign off, I just want to mention that while cooking huevos rancheros tonight for dinner, I managed a Benihana, spatula double flip over the shoulder, catch.  It was brilliant.  It is on film so will be immortalized once we get internet access.  Yes, it was THAT amazing.

The next two posts are crew perspective of this stop, so here goes:

North 24degrees 46minutes, West 112degrees 15minutes, November 1st (I know it’s the first, just not sure what day of the week it is!)

We tucked into Bahia Santa Maria last night about 3AM.  (Once again, the radar has really been a big help in taking some of the guesswork out of entering a strange harbor in the dark).  Had a spectacular run down from Bahia Tortuga.  Yesterday I mentioned the Dorado, but that was just the beginning.  After that we put the lines back out (two handlines and one pole-we’re running with a cedar plug, a rapala and a squid combo that has four little squid being “chased” by a large one which is where the hook is.  This latter is catching most of the fish) and had the most amazing fishing experience I’ve ever encountered.  We were running DDW at around 6 knots wing and wing, when I saw what looked like a big torpedo fly out of the water about 50 yards off the starboard bow.  Ann saw it at the same time and we both gasped.  At was a six foot  plus Tuna apparently chasing squid and it leaped at least 8 feet in the air.  That was just the beginning.  Next there were dolphins AND tuna leaping clear of the water chasing the squid and we sailed right through the chaos.  You can guess what happened next; ZIIINNNNGGGG, the reel started screaming and SNAAPPP, one of the handlines got hit. We had hit two fish at once with tuna and dolphin madness all around.  Everyone jumped to.  We had to slow the boat down RIGHT NOW as the line was already halfway off the reel and if we couldn’t stop soon, the tuna would get to the end of the line and break it.  We quickly roller furled the jib and headed the boat up, essentially heaving to.  Pulled the handline and a small tuna was on.  We had a good amount of fish and a big one still on the pole so we shook the little one off the hook for another day.  Now for the one on the pole. What a fight.  Turned out to be a 50-60 pounder and it took over an hour to get him on the boat.  Biggest fish I’ve ever encountered.  The meat takes up all of one of our iceboxes.  Geoff’s making some sushi rolls, sashimi and tuna poke for dinner as we speak and we’re going to share much of the rest at the beach party tomorrow.

A little sympathy today for a fellow sailor who got in trouble in our midst last night.  At the 0730 roll call we heard of an emergency that happening the early morning hours.  Not part of our fleet sailing to Cabo, but a single hander went on the beach a couple miles North of here last night (it was pretty windy).  The sailboat apparently is a total loss since it went through the surf and is well up on the beach, the good news is no injuries.  A group from our fleet hired a 4 wheel drive truck from Magdelena Bay just South of here and drove up the boat to dismantle and salvage what they could.

Woke up to a nice day.  Set up wind scoops on the two hatches to funnel the breeze down below.  Very comfortable.  Made huevos rancheros for breakfast which were a big hit.   Then Ann and I took a hike to the top of one of the hills surrounding the bay and enjoyed a 360 degree view from one side down into the bay where our boats are anchored and on the other side out into the Pacific.

Diane has been enjoying being back here in Baja, having done this sail both from North to South and the other way.  She spent the day soaking up the sun and reading on the deck.

Geoff and Jansen did NOT get into any trouble today YET, (there’s a party tonight on a couple of the other boats who are rafting up for the event).  Jansen did some scrounging and scored some gas for our dinghy which was low on fuel; he’s looking to see if we can get some water as I think we’re running low and he’s found someone willing to loan he and Geoff a surfboard.  They’re planning to get up early (if Sailor Jerry doesn’t keep them up too late) and hike over the hill to the Pacific side and do some surfing.

A busy day.  I thought this cruising stuff was supposed to be relaxing.

Oh and the Tequila; once we anchored last night and were sure the hook was set, we adjourned to the main cabin for shots of Tequila to celebrate being in Baja with another fantastic leg behind us.  3AM, Tequila and the promise of a bunk that wouldn’t roll 45 degrees to either side while you’re trying to sleep and hang on at the same time.  Sweet!

You really had to be there, but Snap and Crackle (or is it Crackle and Pop, I can never remember) aka Geoff and Jansen were lured into Hugh’s lair on the Catamaran “Moontide”.  I really can’t profess to know much about the evening other than they didn’t make it back before the Pangas shut down for the night and when “Hugh” (aka Bill Lilly) brought them back on Moontide just in time to raise anchor for the next leg, both young men were wearing bunny ears and a big grin!  Seems they had been regaling the crew of Moontide all night with our heroic trip down from San Francisco and had become quite the popular pair.

Short update for now as it’s pretty windy and bouncy, therefore hard to type.  We’re a day and a half out of Bahia Tortuga and about 40 miles from Bahia Santa Maria, or about 6 or 7 hours at this speed (ETA 8 or 9PM tonight).

Beautiful night last night (I know, it’s getting boring hearing that).  The moon didn’t come up until after midnight, so the stars above and phosphorescence in the water were spectacular!  I could sail forever in these conditions.  It’s 15 to 20 knots right now and the water is deep, deep, blue with crystal clear wave tops.

The big event today was our first Dorado (also known as Mahi Mahi).  Around 1000, the line started screaming out.  Geoff grabbed it and wrestled a striking blue, green and yellow, 40 inch Dorado.  Not a really big one, but once it was filleted; it was obvious that this will be our dinner for at least the next three nights. We’re planning bbq’d fillets tonight, probably fish tacos tomorrow and then Ann and Diane are going to make fish chowder with what’s leftover.

The fishing lines are back out because a lot of the fleet are not catching fish and really appreciate the chance to try fresh Tuna or Mahi Mahi.  There’s often a beach bbq and we’ve found that our fish is very popular when someone sets up a grill on the beach.  We traded some two days ago for fresh caught oysters that we grilled and ate out of the shell right off the coals.

OK, that’s it for now, I’m hanging on down here to keep from flying across the cabin.  I’ll post more tomorrow when we’re at anchor.

Today was a “land” day.  Our last day in Bahia Tortuga at anchor and the annual beach party later in the day.

Started the day with a simple pleasure; a hot cup of coffee on deck watching the sun coming up over the water.  Great to feel the warmth of the day begin to glow while sipping a cup of java.  Good for the soul too, to start a day so gently.

After the morning radio net, we hailed a panga for a ride to town.  Today was a Huevos Rancheros day and it didn’t disappoint.  We walked up to La Palapa where Carlos and Magdalena took care of us.  Ran into Eric and Laura from Berkeley and had breakfast with them.  Since we already had our morning coffee, the other pleasure of Huevos in Baja is that we enjoyed them with our morning bottle (or two) of Pacifico.  Ah, the simple life!!  The Huevos were fantastico, the owners were simpatico and el bano out back was a new experience for Ann (aka The Salty Dog).  She’ll report on her findings below (By the way, my sister is worried that we’re picking on Ann.  Sue, she’s the rookie and of COURSE we’re picking on her and she’s loving every minute).

Meanwhile, after breakfast a walk over to the Mercado for some fresh (?) vegetables for the next leg and then back to the boat for some clean-up before the beach party.  Since we start tomorrow at 0800, it’s best to get everything ready now so when our bleary eyed crew head for the start all we need to do is hoist the sails and not worry whether someone’s underwear is still drying on the jib sheet or something.

The beach party was fun.  It was pot luck, so we brought the rest of our tuna and a small roast we bought in San Diego and the guys bbq’d them over some charcoal on the beach.  Jansen and Geoff quickly become very popular once people realized that we were sharing.  (Not very many boats caught fish on this leg).  Another boat brought oysters that they acquired from one of the panga drivers and shared some oysters bbq’d over “our” coals.  Yum!  The panga drivers are all fishermen most of the time.  One guy who drove us to the party had his filet knife on the seat and fresh fish and calamari he had caught in various stages of preparation in the boat as he drove us to the beach.  Very fun day, then back to the boat and more clean-up.  We’re just chillin’ now∑.Diane and Ann are reading, I just finished plotting the route for our next two days at sea heading to Bahia Santa Maria and the boys are in town partying (I can hear the partiers from the boat if I step out on deck)

OK, here’s Ann’s take on el bano and other important issues at Bahia Tortuga:

“The fake flowers on the back of the toilet were a nice touch to the bano with no door handle – don’t close it too hard or you’ll never get out  – until someone misses you and comes looking.  And being the child of a lightbulb salesman I particularly appreciated the back up light bulb stored on the window sill next to the toilet”

Bob forgot to mention the fabulous hike up and the hill overlooking the bay and the party.  What a sight!

Not yet mentioned here in Bahia Tortuga are our morning visits from our dolphin friends and the ever-entertaining dive bombing pelicans.  They just make me laugh!

I hope you are all enjoying this even 10% as much as we are being here!  Love to all!
Ann

Yep, Ann is now baptized into the sailing life.  She drove the boat a good deal of the time yesterday as we were making our way back inshore from about 40 miles out off of Baja.  Spinnaker up, cruising along at 5 knots, with 7 knots apparent wind, Ann was in charge.  As the moon came up later in the evening, she continued channeling her new persona by locking her keen eyes on the horizon and practically channeling Melville himself, when she exclaimed: “I see something over there!  It looks like a blown-out spinnaker”.  Well, I have to tell you, it got my attention that Ann even knew what a blown-out spinnaker was!  Unfortunately for the “Salty Dog”, as we now call her, Diane quickly set her straight; “Ann, that’s the moon rising”.  So the trip continues.

In fact, the moon rising (or blown out spinnaker, if you’re Ann “The Salty Dog” Adams) was just the beginning of a most beautiful night as we headed toward the finish of the first leg.  The stars just surrounded us in all directions down to the horizon and were just stunning in their beauty.  Geoff and Jansen said to add that we were; “escorted by Dolphins, shooting stars and a warm breeze as we make our way past Cedros Island toward Bahia Tortuga”.

We arrived in Bahia Tortuga at 0330 last night.  Always a thrill entering an unfamiliar harbor in the dark.  Very cool to have the radar to help guide us to a good spot to anchor given that there were already dozens of other boats here that we had to avoid in the dark.  Dropped the hook, set it into the sand and hit our bunks with exhaustion.  Back up at 0800 for coffee, and boat clean up, then headed into town for a look around. The community here is very poor by North American standards, but the people are so nice!  We had a delicious lunch at Hotel Veracruz (top of the hill-used to be the whore house, but Diane who’s been here before, wanted me to assure everyone it is now a respectable establishment) and then back to the boat for a much anticipated treat; spending the afternoon in the hammock (in Ann’s case, it was lounging on the spinnaker up on the bowsprit and Diane was laid out on the foredeck reading a book and soaking up the sun). Then we took a sun-shower at around 1600 and cocktails at 1730.  Of course I made our patented drink, “The Charisma”.  One of those and you’ll think everyone loves you. We’re now all very happy.

(From the “Command Module” on Charisma, anchored at Bahia Tortuga.  This photo refuses to rotate, so apologies for forcing you to turn your head sideways to view.)

For those following Geoff and Jansen, they spent the day ashore catching up with friends, came back to the boat and made fish tacos from our tuna of yesterday, jumped in the water for a swim and then left for a night of who knows what.  (well maybe not so much of “what” since they both still smell like dead tuna!)

Blood was dripping down the porthole by my cabin while I was on the morning radio net trying to give our position report.  My only option was to run into the cabin and get the book.  I rushed topside with it and handed it to Diane who rapidly read it to Geoff, who was wielding the knife with wild abandon in his eyes. Diane: “First you cut a ‘vee’ into its head exposing the brain”  Yep, we caught a fish and once we had it aboard all we could say was; “whoa, now what?”

So fast forward to sunset.  (caution; run-on sentence ahead!)  Ann and Diane are up on the bowsprit reading, everyone’s in shorts and tees, the spinnaker is pulling us along at 4 knots, sun’s shining, the dolphins have been dancing past the boat, there’s not a cloud in the sky, fresh sushi for lunch and now Geoff and Jansen are blackening peppers and searing fresh Yellowfin Tuna for fish taco dinner, while I’m sitting here writing email while sailing essentially in the middle of nowhere.  Yup, we’re all getting used to this.

The aforementioned former tuna blessed us with his presence just minutes after sunrise.  Geoff and Jansen were on watch and put the line out as the sun came up and were just taking a few pictures when the reel started screaming out.  All hands were alerted; “Fish on!”  After about 15 minutes of fight, Geoff brought it alongside and I gaffed it aboard.  What a gorgeous fish!  About 30 inches and 30ish pounds.  A hectic start to the day since I was just getting ready for the morning radio call and Diane and Ann were just waking up to go on watch.  This event got everyone going.  Soon coffee was made, breakfast was ready and the day was starting out to be a real Baja Day.  Finally.

(An aside: I just got handed a salt-rimmed glass with Tecate, a salted rim and fresh squeezed lime.  My main problem now is not spilling it into the computer as the boat rolls while I’m typing this blog).

Last evening’s ride was pretty lively.  10 foot seas and 20 knot gusting to 25 knot wind. There was some carnage in the fleet, but we reefed down and had a fairly uneventful, if exciting ride.  As to the fleet; one boat lost its mainsail and gooseneck, several others had some damage and put in to San Quintin for repairs and unfortunately one crew on one of the boats suffered a dislocated hip (fortunately there was an EMT on another boat who lent help and when we last heard had stabilized the individual.  They are heading to Bahia Tortuga for assistance).

The quote of the day heard over the Net this morning between the Net manager, “Profligate” and one of the boats in the fleet, “Mosuli” who ran over a 10 foot long dead shark.

Mosuli:  “Last night we T-Boned a dead shark”
Profligate:  “Oh my goodness, what kind of shark was it”
Mosuli:  “I don’t know. It was a dead one.  They all look alike when they’re dead”

I’ll leave you with that thought as we’re 20 miles from the finish of the first leg and the tacos are ready.

But not by the Giants.  My head.  In the last 24 hours I’ve managed to bonk it pretty hard three times. Two drew blood, but not a lot.  Just flesh wounds.  First one was last night on the foredeck getting the spinnaker ready.  Stupid.  Got clocked by the staysail boom.  Second was below deck.  I was getting something in a cabinet and the boat is rolling so hard in the 10 foot seas, I zigged when I should have zagged and clunk, number two (more blood).  Third was banging into the preventer while checking lines in the dark. Ouch, ouch, and OUCH!

Gorgeous sunrise today.  I can’t remember seeing so many colors.  Pink, Rose, Lavender, Orange, Red, Cerulean (ha, look that one up!) and of course the new day’s sky blue.

Sun’s been out all day.  We’re not quite in the topical zone, but it’s a lot warmer.  Geoff and Jansen have gone to just shorts.  Ann, Diane and I are still fully clothed, but we’re thinking tomorrow is likely to bring out the shorts for us.  Deep blue sea, 20 gusting to 25 knot wind and 10 foot following seas make for a mesmerizing time.  You just can’t take your eyes off the water and the never ending train of waves coming up behind you.

Some of the waves are pretty big.  Geoff and Jansen took a wave (or at least part of one), over the stern sometime earlier today.

Jansen: “We got dumped on by a wave”
Geoff: “Spray”
Jansen: ” Well, it was really a LOT of spray”

So I’m working on my story for this seemingly harrowing experience.  I tested something like this: “Jansen, knocked out of the boat by the rogue wave was hanging on for dear life, halfway through the lifelines.”, when Geoff corrected me to the following; “Jansen, snoozing on the foredeck, hoisting a Tecate took a few drops of spray on his sunglasses.”

It’s the little things.  Speaking of which, our highlight today was a boat crossing.  Another HaHa boat came within 100 yards or so and it turned out to be the 52 foot Ketch that was right next to us on the starting line yesterday.  A day and a half later, they come out of nowhere (on the radio they said they went 60 miles out last night and they were coming back toward land) and cross right in front of us.  There’s little else to do, so an event like this is almost like going out to dinner or a show; “Look a boat, quick we should get dressed up or something”.  Ah, but as soon as they cross we’re back to our lazy selves.

Getting ready to cook now.  Dinner tonight is Risotto with Spinach and a salad.  More importantly it’s not yet fish.  We have two lines out and no action.  Hoping for a lot better.  We have at least a hundred tortillas stored on the boat for all the fish tacos we’re hoping to make.

Signing off with this morning’s radio call sightings (i.e. from other boats reporting): Great White Shark, Dolphins (we also have seen dozens, many of which swam around the boat, leaping out of the water for a great show), whales (one boat reported being “surrounded” by whales), first Tuna caught and an aircraft carrier.

That’s it for now.

Hey I’m just getting ready for Baja!

It’s been a “chill” day and I’m celebrating that I’m in San Diego.  Kind of cool to be here in my home. Down below, it seems like I’m in Berkeley, but when I stick my head out the hatch, I’m in San Diego!  Kind of a poor man’s time travel.

Speaking of poor, this place isn’t.  I had forgotten how affluent this part of San Diego is.  Ridiculous amounts of money are being spent here to “one-up” the competition.  I saw a yacht with a full size helicopter on it.  Crazy, gratuitous, spending.

Speaking of gratuitous spending,  I walked over to West Marine.  The SD store has to be the closest thing to Disneyland for boaters that there is.  I spent a crazy, gratuitous amount of money on new fishing lures for the trip.  I’ll show these nutty zillionaires who’s who when we catch some serious Tuna and Dorado with Charisma’s new lures!  Helicopters indeed!  I now have a Boone Bird and a Triple Squid Trolling Jig with a big feather thingamajig on the end.  Ha!  Practically guaranteed to slay Tuna and Dorado.

Ann’s coming in tomorrow and we’ll spend the better part of the day provisioning (I.e. Go to Costco, buy lots of food). Diane’s also flying in, and Geoff and Jansen should be back from their surfing expedition, so our crew will all be here.  Also my Daughter Christine is driving down from Long Beach for dinner.  I’ll check in with my other Daughter Kelly in Santa Barbara on the way home in late November or so.

(Hmmm, I’m getting used to this Tequila..wonder if they have the good stuff at Costco?)

Left Catalina at 1600 and made it to San Diego at 0745 this morning, completing Part One of the trip. We stop here for a few days before leaving for Baja on Monday.  The most challenging part of this leg was getting a slip in San Diego. The whole of San Diego is booked and it looked like we were going to have to anchor out.   Fun to do when we’re in Baja and actually want to be “off the grid”, but a real pain when we need to provision the boat for the trip, recharge the batteries, get water, fuel, do laundry, etc, etc to get ready for being in Mexico for over a month.

So after getting turned away from the harbormaster who claimed “no slips”, I charged down the waterfront stopping at each Marina, rather aggressively requesting a space for a few days (I think I scared a few Marina Managers. After thunderstorms, lightning, rain and not much sleep I’m guessing as I think about it, I might have appeared, well…a little scary. The beard, wet clothes, sea boots and crazed, stressed look might have contributed to this clear misunderstanding). One place I called said yes, they had some space. After racing over there to get it before it got taken by some of the other boats that I saw pulling in, I was told, well, they actually made a mistake and had no vacancies for at least a month.

I. Was. Not. Happy!!

As noted I think I scared someone, because the manager at that marina personally drove me in his own car to the next Marina on my list.  Chain smoking the whole way and making nervous chit chat.  I think I detected a distinct facial tick as well.

As luck would have it though I scored the last spot in a great marina right in the middle of Shelter Island, which is where all the stuff I need is available and at a discount no less (possible serial killer discount?). It also comes with access to the hotel amenities behind the marina; hot tub, pool, gym, laundry, etc.

Sometimes the adventure of cruising isn’t out at sea at all.

Definitely the case on this leg. Left Catalina to a pretty sunset and other than some more rain on the way, the on-water part of this leg was pretty uneventful.  There wasn’t even much wind, so we motored most of the way.  I even slowed the boat down a bit halfway in, to make sure we wouldn’t arrive to an unfamiliar area in the dark.

So, hopefully the next few days will be boring and I won’t have much to write about.

Stay tuned though as we leave Monday morning and will no doubt have more adventure to share.

In the mean time all you folks in the Bay Area will be enjoying the wet weather we’ve had the last couple days as I see it’s heading North.  Have fun!  We’re going South.

After such an eventful arrival yesterday morning in the driving rain dodging thunderstorms and lightning bolts, today’s departure is positively peaceful.  It’s very calm, still cloudy, but no rain.  We’re motoring to San Diego with an expected arrival time of around 0700.  We’ll check in at Shelter Island, but I called them yesterday and it’s not likely we’ll get a slip.  We’ll likely have to anchor out.  Not a problem, but makes it a lot more hassle to provision for the trip into Baja using the inflatable.

Two Harbors was a nice spot, but next time I take a shower there I’m wearing shoes, but I’ll get to that in a minute.  Coming ashore is nice.  You just call the Harbor Taxi and for three bucks, they come out and pick you up in a small launch.  Nice!  I organized my gear; laundry, soap, shaving kit, grocery bag, garbage to dump, all accounted for.  Then a call on VHF channel 09 and the launch arrives.

Went up to the laundry, got the clothes started, then went to the shower and that’s when the problem started. Got in one of the stalls and the coin machine was broken.  OK, moved to another stall…coin machine, good…took off my clothes, opened the curtain and YIPES the local wildlife started scurrying around. Cockroaches, crickets and earwigs daring me to turn on the water.  Well, I’ll tell you-they won round one. Clothes back on, went down to the handicapped stall, CHECKED the shower first.  Immaculate (well, no wildlife anyway).  Took off clothes, set up my soap, put the money in the meter and…it was broken.  Put on clothes, moved to another shower, it was muddy, but worked and only one cockroach on the curtain.  That was easy, I just flicked him into one of the other stalls!  That’s taking a shower in the cruising life (oh, did I mention I forgot my towel and had to use my jacket to dry off?).  Oh and the shoes?  That’s to stomp on the cockroaches so I can use the first shower in the future.

A final thought: The crew asked me to mention that while stealthily stalking Island Buffalo, Geoff stepped in some Buffalo poop, let out a kind of shriek, then fell and slipped down the hill after which Jansen was laughing so hard, he also stepped in it.  Alcohol might have been involved.  As Amanda noted; “Boys will be boys”.

(this photo courtesy of Geoff – more at GeoffreyByrne.com)