25 Degrees, 46 Minutes North 113 Degrees, 44 Minutes West

First off, Ann asked me to send her love to all her family on this special anniversary.

Today was one of those days you wish you could have all the time, but conditions and time constraints usually make it impossible. The water is blue, the sky is blue and the wind is blowing from behind us at about 10 knots, making it possible to actually sail directly where we want to go. We have been sailing now for 33 hours straight. All day today, it’s been wing and wing with the big genoa out on the pole. Other than some housekeeping and running the watermaker, we really have just been soaking up the warm sun and enjoying the peace, quiet and beauty that we’re so lucky to be experiencing. At this point, we look like we might get into Bahia Santa Maria tomorrow night given that we still have some 100 or so miles to go and our speed is about 4.5 knots. In the modern age, that sounds funny to say it’s going to take more than a day to cover 100 miles. Makes you appreciate every one of them.

Our birdy friend unfortunately expired sometime in the night. I guess he was more exhausted than we thought. Elan and Danna gave him a burial at sea a little after sunrise when they checked in on him and realized he had passed away during the night sometime. I’m glad we offered up a little sanctuary and some comfort for him to rest before dying.

No fishing today. We still have lots of Mahi and we’re going to make some fried potatoes with sautéed peppers to go with it. Good thing we didn’t fish because Elan took another sun shower on the foredeck and who knows what giant sea creature THAT might have tempted this time.

By the way, some folks want to see more pictures. We’ll do our best to upload them when we’re in Cabo. These messages are sent via shortwave radio email directly to the blog where they are automatically uploaded. Nice and convenient, but not enough bandwidth to add more than just text. So for now, that’s what you’re stuck with.

Love to everyone.

26 degrees, 47 minutes North 114 degrees, 43 minutes West

OK, I’m going to have to work up to this, so bear with me. We’ll start with morning sunrise at Turtle Bay (Bahia Tortuga). Alarm went off at 0600, way too early since we’re still catching up on our sleep. But it was worth it to have our morning coffee watching a gorgeous sunrise over the bay. Fast forward a couple hours to the start at 0800. We were in full on pirate mode firing the treacherous marshmellow cannon (that my sister Sue bought us as a going away present) at any boat foolish enough to get close enough, which pretty much meant they had to be within about 30 feet. The scurvy dogs we shot at defended themselves with boat cushions and then proceeded to consume the projectiles. After all the starting frivolity things moved very slowly. Not much wind at first, so we were only making about 1 ½ knots. How fast is that? Well, if you spit in the water, the spit will almost pass you up. So, time to set the spinnaker. Up she went and we were off at a blazing 2 plus knots. Couple hours later, the wind was up to 10 knots, so Charisma was doing about 5 knots. Fast enough to get some fishing lines out. No sooner than they were out that Elan was shouting that something was on the line. The pole was jumping up and down, so I yelled; “Fish on!” (I get to say stuff like that since I’m the captain). I grabbed the pole and started reeling. It felt funny, but there was definitely something on the line. As it got close to the boat, I could see something very strange was going on. This was no fish! It was a horde of killer squid! Captain Nemo would have felt right at home preparing to fend off the angry squid. There were at least a dozen of them swooping back and forth trying to grab the lure with their tentacles. Really bizarre. We didn’t try to catch one because none of us knew how to land it or prepare it. We’ll have to work that one out for future opportunities, but in the mean time we retired that lure for a while. The other lure we choose wasn’t much better as it attracted bonito, or as I prefer to call them; “Cat food”. We caught half a dozen before we decided to pull the line for a while and get past the bonito school. A little later our line was back in the water and we caught a small yellowfin Tuna. The fishing was definitely looking up, but this guy was too small to keep, so I shook it off the line. OK, you’re waiting to hear the big news. Around 1600 two momentous events converged to create near havoc and yes… naked madness. Here’s how it went. Elan decided he would take a sun shower. So, out with the shower and off with clothes. Well, you know that once there’s a naked person, slathered with soap and water on the foredeck (with a bucket at hand for his rinse) SOMETHING momentous is going to happen. Oh, did I mention the wind had increased and we were doing about 7 knots with the spinnaker still up? So, right about this moment; “ZINNNNGGGGG”, went the fishing line…FISH ON!” (I love saying that). So, I’m on the pole, Elan’s sliding around on the foredeck on his, um, non-skid, Ann grabs the wheel and yells; “which way do I go!” while trying hard NOT to look forward where the boat’s heading. Naked. Madness. At the same time, Danna was also naked, taking a sponge bath in the head, so she was frantically looking for her clothes to come up and join the fray. Naked Madness. But that’s just the first part. We had to slow the boat down and fast, or the fish would take all the line out. The only solution? Drop the chute. Where? On the foredeck! When? Right Now!. Naked Madness!! I ran up and grabbed the spinny halyard, closed my eyes and yelled at Elan to duck. He slid down the scuppers to the lee rail while I dropped the chute on top of him all the while yelling; “pull it in, pull it in!” Poor choice of words given the moment, but we had a real urgent situation going and the fish was still waiting to get reeled in. Once I got the chute down on the deck (on down on Elan as it were) we were able to head up into the wind and slow the boat down enough to reel the mystery fish in. I ran back to the pole leaving Elan writhing underneath about 50 square yards of yellow nylon. I got ahold of the pole, Elan found his shorts. The mystery fish turned out to be a beautiful Mahi, flashing iridescent green and blue. Got the fish cleaned and filleted before sunset and had the first fish tacos of the trip. Yum! The other item of note is our new hitchhiker. A little sparrow type bird has landed on the boat and found his way under the dodger. He’s bedded down for the night. Good thing because we’re at least 20 miles offshore. He has his head tucked into his feathers and is sleeping by the mainsail cleat. We’re just trying to leave him alone so he can rest up for his flight home. I’m off watch, so going to try and get some sleep now. Elan and Danna are standing watch until 2300. We’re in Mexico. This is our adventure.

OK, so my sister, Sue has noted that we’re slacking on the blog front, so here’s some catch up. Sorry we can’t post many more pictures for a week or so till we get in to Cabo. There’s just no internet. This is all by shortwave, so can’t post stuff that takes a lot of bandwidth.

Going back to roll call on the morning of 10/25, there was a “telling” comment from Riichard “Lat 38” Spindler’s lifestyle. One of the Canadian boats called in their position and Richard asked what they were having for breakfast. The response; “Gourmet porridge with walnuts and dates”. Richard’s response; “What’s so gourmet about that?!” Their comeback; “We were afraid if we didn’t say ‘gourmet’, you would say; ‘yuck'”. Richard’s comeback; “What!! We’re having leftover vegetable soup with Habanero sauce…or at least I am”. OK, maybe you had to be there and be sleep deprived, but it was funny at the time 😉

We did pretty well on the first leg. I think we were the first boat in our class to get in and even better, we didn’t motor, but sailed all the way after the rolling start (despite ‘Lectronic Latitude misreporting this). We looked at the grib files (wind forecast) and saw a band of wind about 15 miles off the coast. Well, it turned out we found it and sailed all night in a perfect 15 knots of wind right down to Cedros Island, while others were reporting being becalmed all night. Nice tactic! We rode this great breeze down the coast all night complete with gorgeous stars and….both watches saw amazing shooting stars. Ann and I saw one in particular that covered at least 30 degrees of the horizon as it streaked across the sky. We both just exclaimed: “oh, oh, wowwwww!” It was that kind of event and at 0300 anything that keeps you awake is amazing. (Elan: Danna and I saw a shooting star that seemed to go straight up from the horizon.) And let it be noted that Ann clocked our fastest speed at 8.8 knots!

We were also fortunate to finish fairly early. We crossed the finish line for this leg, which is about 20 miles off the bay to ensure folks don’t get too close to the coast trying to finish, at 1752. It was getting fairly windy and choppy by then, but folks who were out all night behind us reported some “not fun” conditions akin to a “washing machine”. Glad to get in before that. Conditions for the next leg, which starts mañana at 0800, are expected to be mostly 10 knots for the next two days. A little more during the first 24 hours and a little less the next day.

Yesterday, along with all the fun of the beisbol and seeing Bahia Tortuga again (I really like the people here) we had a very special and unusual thing happen. Ann and I were walking around town looking for the beisbol stadium and we asked a couple young girls; “Donde esta el beisbol?” (OK, our Spanish is a little basic). The girls, about 14 years old and coming home from school in their uniforms, pointed up one of the streets and said; “alli!”. So, Ann and I continued on our way. A minute later a beater Toyota pickup (half the roof was rusted through) pulled up and the two girls (again, about 14 years old at most) were in the cab and pointed for us to jump in the bed of the truck; with a huge fishing net and some other stuff. We jumped in, crossed our fingers and off we went. We both looked at each other and I’d swear I saw Ann make the sign of the cross. I just said; “hang on!!” Turned out the little girls were credible drivers and drove us slowly and carefully right up to the baseball field. What a delightful experience!

To my sister Sue: A quick note: We just put together the marshmallow guns you gave us as a going away present. We’re going to use them tomorrow at the start to blast the other boats. We inadvertently tested it inside the boat just now (there’s no safety on these things) and Ann accidently blasted Elan. He took three to the chest and fell backward in surprise. Of course I was worried about cockroaches coming on board looking for the wayward marshmallows so my comment (after confirming Elan wasn’t actually mortally wounded) was: “find them”. We collected some but could only find two, until Elan admitted; “I ate one”.

OK, so today was the Beach Party! What a fun day. We took a panga in to the beach about 1230. Then the festivities began. Pot Luck food; Ann made a huge batch of chocolate chip cookies last night as our part and there were tons of pasta dishes, ceviche from those who caught fish, the usual chili dishes, some BBQ and the locals set up a beer bar. All on a beach that is miles and miles long and deserted the other 364 days a year. There was a volleyball game (who knew Ann was such a great player!), Tug of War (the women won for the 18th year in a row, I think it’s a set up) and one of the catamarans that anchored too close to the beach went aground, got caught in the surf and was in some peril. A number of HaHa’ers pitched in (about 30 folks) and spent at least an hour pushing, shoving, pulling and otherwise straining to get the boat back off the beach. It was ultimately a success and seemed no damage was done. Ann, Elan and I took a panga back and had a Charisma with which to watch the sunset and then Ann’s request for dinner: “Huevos Boberos”. Elan and Danna went into town to catch the World Series (which we now know St Louis won) and Elan is now back on board. He traded with the panga drivers for his trip back. Instead of the usual two bucks for the ride, he gave them his Captain Hook hat. Score one for Elan. Danna is still ashore, undoubtedly complaining about Texas’ loss with other Ranger’s fans.

Lastly, a special call out to Geoff, Diane and Jansen who came with us last year. We were thinking fondly about you all today and our last year trip as we’re having new and fun experiences this year. Hope you all are doing well.

Early this morning we arrived in Bahia Tortuga (actually about midnight last night). I spent the last sailing leg of this trip thinking about what fun it is to be “camping” on a boat. We are on the water version of a road trip. I always wanted to take a cross country road trip and this is better!

Obviously showers are limited as is sleep time because we are doing 4 hour shifts. But there are many ways that we adapt and I wanted to share a few of these with you.

A gourmet meal can be made in a single bowl! And more impressively for those of you that know me, I made a spectacular gourmet dinner last night in a single pot. It was a chicken pasta primavera and contained not only chicken, but leftover pasta, broccoli, sun dried tomatoes, red peppers and the last of the mushrooms that were threatening to spoil. That’s how we plan our meals – what is about to spoil – that’s for dinner. But I do have to brag about what a yummy meal it was. Even my son, Andy (the chef) would be proud of me. And in fact, Bob and I had leftovers tonight while Danna and Elan went into town for dinner and to watch the World Series game.

I also wanted to share some other adaptations that make life on a boat special. Candlelight meals become meals lit by the red light of our head lamps – great ambiance.

And for my cycling/YMCA friends let me share my exercise adaptations. Sitting on a rocking sailboat is a constant “ab” workout. We are constantly using stomach muscles to keep our balance. But I’ve taken it a step farther (surprise!)

The rail from the cockpit to the scuppers has become my “step aerobics” machine. As long as I am harnessed in I can hold on to the dodger and the lifelines and have a special little step routine. Enough to get my heart rate up. And then thanks to my friend, Joanne, and my sister, Joan, I have exercise bands. I have found ways to use the stanchions and the rails to enhance my exercise routine. And let me tell you about sit-ups on the foredeck. Ouch. Nothing more needs to be said.

Other than that, thank God for arm exercises – made steering in strong winds so much easier. So to all of our fans, don’t worry. We are getting exercise! In fact, we played in a softball game with some local children today. I can’t remember the last time I played softball. And thank goodness the first basemen dropped the ball every time I hit it! (And by the way, Bob cheats when he plays first base!)

More tomorrow (hopefully including some pictures) but for now, sleep! We’re in Bahia Tortuga. Got in last night about Midnight. Came in IFR (i.e. using the radar to find our way). Three days from San Diego to Bahia Tortuga, with not a lot of sleep. So one more night of good sleep at anchor and I’ll add some photos and thoughts to the blog tomorrow at the Bahia Tortuga Internet Café. In the mean time, please enjoy the following blog from Ann.

29 degrees, 47 minutes North 116 degrees, 09 minutes West

Finally, a gorgeous day. Sun, wind, waves. We ended the rolling start at 0700 this morning just before roll call. Engine off, sails up. Had to hand steer most of the day as the wind was still on the light side, but starting around 1400, we hooked up Wilson (the Monitor Wind Vane) and it’s been a downhill slide with three foot waves and 10-15 knots true wind. Nice. We’re running with 130 jib and full main, wing on wing and doing about 6-7 knots. Elan and Danna have been awesome! Last night they had two watches; 1900 to 2300 and the dreaded 0300 to 0700 watch. Both times they bounced out of their bunks (OK, “almost” bounced) and had smiles on their faces as they came up the hatch with their hot tea in hand. Turns out Danna is a very accurate helmsman and Elan is all that plus a solid navigator, so I slept very well knowing we were in good hands. We are 130 miles from Turtle Bay, so will likely get in sometime late Wednesday/Early Thursday morning. Most likely same as last year, which was around 0200. Forecast is for stars and a nice breeze tonight. Here’s hoping. Funny thing about how on a relatively small boat you can still lose stuff. I haven’t been able to find my headlamp since Redondo Beach. I know I had it on as we came in there in the morning, but can’t for the life of me find it now. Maybe because the headband is camo elastic I just can’t see it 😉 Oh well, good thing I have a spare because that’s what we use at night. The headlamps have a red light so we don’t ruin our night vision while making coffee, getting ready for sleep, etc. When out on deck, usually there’s enough starlight for most tasks. OK, dinner’s over and Ann and I are off watch, so sleep is in order right now until 2300.

31 degrees, 54 minues North 116 degrees, 19 minutes West Lat/Lon 2300 on 10/24/11. Came up from sleeping since 1900 (just after dinner) to a beautiful starry night after a start earlier in the day that continued into cloudy skies with a little drizzle. A welcome change to the clouds/fog that we’ve been in fotr at least the last week or so. The begining of the rally this morning was fun. Many TV cameras were there for the parade of boats out of the harbor. There was a ceremonial “parade start” off Shelter Island that used the shotgun that is actually used to start the America’s Cup. They shipped it down from San Francisco just for this event.

Many of the boats we started near yelled; “nice costumes yesterday, but where’s Tinkerbell?”, so I guess I was successfully dsiguised with my wig!

The real start was at 1100 off Pt Loma. The only problem was no wind. So we do what’s called a “rolling start”. In other words, we’ve been motoring at no more than six knots, until such time that the wind comes in and the committee boat (that’s sailing with us) calls on the radio and announces that we turn off engines and sail. There’s a decent breeze forecast for tomorrow, so I’m guessing we’ll start some time after the radio check in (roll call), which is at 0730. In the mean time, the engine’s on and we’re motoring down the penninsula about 15 miles offshore.

We’ve already passed through several pods of hundreds of dolphins each, all jumping in unison as they swim along. Always a delight to see them and of course to see Ann’s face light up as she heads to the bow to watch them swim on our bow wave, passing just inches from the boat. Several whale sightings were announced on the radio net, but we haven’t seen any yet on Charisma.

Dinner was a success. I actually made it yesterday in the pressure cooker and left it on the stove with the top on. Letting it heat and then cool down with the pressure cooker locked, seals it so it doesn’t need refrigeration right away. That way we don’t have to cook the first night out and suffer possible seasickness while struggling with food prep in the first hours of getting used to the boat’s motion again. Split pea, barley, beans, potatoes and some penne pasta. Good stuff!

We’ll start fishing in the morning, so who knows, maybe Tuna or Mahi for dinner tomorrow (if not, there’s always SPAM.