Espiritu Santo

We spent a week in La Paz. Some of us spent it getting over Montezuma's Revenge. Kat and Brian explored the city and Brian sampled his share of the six peso fish tacos available on almost every corner. Steve got the boat checked in to customs, met with a canvas guy to order new covers for some of the boat's outside fixtures, and did some other mechanical fixups.



Los Islotes
It's hotter here than I remember. After a week in the heat, we left for nearby Espiritu Santo Island. The next day, Steve and Brian dove at the sea lion colony at nearby Los Islotes. Steve has trouble diving because of ear issues, but was able to go deeper than before on this dive. So they went again the next day. I ventured in a for closer look with my snorkel on and got back out quickly when a big sea lion dove underneath me. Still, Los Islotes is a special place -- wild, and alive with sea lion barking.



We stayed out a few more days, visiting anchorages on the island's less visited east side. It was hot, the beach was white, and the water was aqua. Kat went for a swim and got stung by "string of pearls." This is basically a tentacle from a man-of-war jellyfish. The water was loaded with these and we all got stung, but Kat was very sensitive and didn't fare very well. Vinegar, cortisone cream, benadryl, tequila: these work. We did a little snorkeling.



Thanksgiving
We returned from Espiritu Santo the day before Thanksgiving. After being gone five days we needed to wash the boat, replace the depleted refrigerator contents, and get Kat some medicine. Steve and I had a great turkey dinner for mucho dinero at a nice restaurant then attended a classical guitar concert at the cathedral in town. Ruben Barranco - par excellance!


Uptight
Every time I take a walk, my back hurts so I went to a chiropractor for the first time today. I got a cab at 8:00 and we eventually found the doctor across town 30 minutes later. The doctor and I conversed in Spanglish. The massage was great and two pops of my back and neck later, I was smiling again. Dr. Ramses Orozco is good and charged me 250 pesos plus tip (around $25 US). I'm going back next week for a follow up.

Roz in La Paz
Finally, someone has put together a web site for other gringos about what's happening in La Paz. RozinLaPaz.blogspot.com.

La Paz

La Paz, BCS, Mexico -
We left Cabo early Monday morning to avoid high winds rounding the cape and motored all the way to Cabo Pulmo. We anchored just off the beach and three of us swam ashore and walked the beach. There is a small community there and if you are looking to get away from it all, this would be the place. You can rent kayaks and the dive shop offers tours of the Pulmo Reef, the largest living reef in Baja.

The next day, we were chased away by reports that the area was off limits to anchoring and so we had to leave before diving the reef. Not sure if the report was correct or not, but the gendarme had been called and we didn't want to risk it.

We had a good sail to the next anchorage north, Bahia de Muertos, arriving at dusk. We put the dink in the water and went into the restaurant on the beach. The next day, Kat and I snorkeled while the guys dove the small reef. Among other fish, we saw a large school of yellowtail surgeonfish.

The next morning, we made the final push to La Paz. Getting through la ventana is best going with the tide, so we got an early start and still had a hobby horse ride the first few hours. Kat's stomach didn't like that, but as we got into the San Lorenzo Channel, we turned more westerly so we could sail in 10-15 knots of wind.

Marina de La Paz had a slip waiting for us and we introduced Kat and Brian to one of our favorite restaurants for dinner. Ah, it's good to be back in La Paz.

Kat's Awesome Gourmet Eggs


Mix:
-1 egg per person
-1 tsp sour cream per 2 eggs
-2 tsp milk per egg

Mix the following into the eggs:
1/4 tsp Herbs de Provence
1/4 tsp dry or fresh chives
1/4 tsp parsley

Pour eggs into hot buttered pan.
Add 1 tsp cream cheese per egg and let melt.
Fold over eggs when set.
Cut into servings and serve.
Can top with avocado, Swiss cheese, cheddar, etc.
Enjoy!

Cabo San Lucas

Cabo San Lucas - The last leg was really just an overnighter, but what a ride! We had 10-20 knots from the start and up to 25 or so most of the way. We rode the spinnaker on the pole all day and night (freaking out me) and pulled it down an hour after we crossed the finish line, 22 hours later. There's a story there. Some of the quotes go like this:
Brian-"I was airborne twice,"
Steve-"Susan, you steer."
Steve-"I should've woken up before I decided what to do."

Around Town
Anyway, we had showers, went to the fuel dock, and found that their water was "unpotable." Ugh. It's hot and our water tank has only 1/8 left. Hmmm. Time for a beer.

We anchored, got the dinghy out, loaded it with some ripe laundry, and headed into town. Cabo is quite different from the relative wilderness we've been in the past how many days? What day is this?

For another take on the Haha, see Latitude 38's (the sponsor) web site:
Leg 1
http://www.latitude38.com/lectronic/lectronicday.lasso?date=2008-10-31&dayid=188

Leg 2
http://www.latitude38.com/lectronic/lectronicday.lasso?date=2008-11-03&dayid=189

Leg 3
http://www.latitude38.com/lectronic/lectronicday.lasso?date=2008-11-07&dayid=191

Haha, Leg Dos

Cabo San Lucas, BCS, Mexico - We were warned of pretty good winds for leaving Turtle Bay (about 1/3 the way down Baja), but they were AWOL upon departure. They showed up two hours later and we sailed all day with the spinnaker, making 9-10 knots with six foot seas and blue skies. Occassionally it was Mr. Toad's wild ride with big rollers, but overall a great sail.

On day two, we needed to turn more southeast, so we took down the spinnaker and pulled out the genoa sail on port tack and had a good, if slower, sail all day. At sunset, Kat made an awesome pasta salad and we ate in the cockpit. The elusive finish line was still about three miles away and we poled out the the jib to catch all the dimishing wind we could. We still made around seven knots.

We crossed the leg 2 finish line at 7-ish and still had 15 miles or so to go to Bahia Santa Maria. We continued to sail since we were doing almost as fast under sail with just the jib as we would under power. We pulled into the bay and took down the rig and in the dark didn't see that the jib furling line had gone overboard, fouling the prop. That's what made the engine stop unexpectedly as we were looking for an anchoring spot. We were exhausted and went to bed.

Diver Down
The next morning, Brian (he's a big diver) dove under the boat and unfouled the (severed) jib line. The prop is fine and we'll deal with the furling line.

Bahia Santa Maria
Bahia Santa Maria is a huge bay with hills on the north side and a white sand beach wrapping the rest of it. There is no town, just a few hardscrabble shacks for the handful of fishermen who live here.

Lest I Forget...
...the thunderstorms coming into Turtle Bay.
...my backache; Steve's leftover soft tissue injury in his hand from Washington; Kat's fight with sea sickness; and Brian's general stiffness from being the strong-arm on the boat.
...the flying fish that flew in the galley window while I was standing there.

Cool
Baja is Usually dry, but is rather humid now. Hurricane Norbert crossed it three weeks ago and we know there's been a low pressure system west of here. The humidity is causing our refrigerator to go haywire. At first, it caused the compressor to freeze, so when we hit dryer air offshore, it started working again. Then, in Bahia Santa Maria, it stopped working again. Steve tore apart the boat and spent the day researching it and fixing it.

Election Day
Novemer 4 was party day in Bahia St. Maria. We went ashore for swimming, beach combing, and fish dinner for all "Haha-ers." That night on the boat, we listened to XM radio for the latest on the election. At 10:00, we heard Obama's acceptance speech and knew the country will soon be on the right tack again. Happy Obama Day! Yes We Can!

Baja Haha '08

We got the repaired autopilot back and Steve reinstalled it, but when we left anchor October 27, it wouldn't hold a course. It was a bad way to start the Haha and made us miss the start by a half an hour or so because Steve was on the phone to Raymarine while we were motoring toward the starting line, doing 360s trying to calibrate the thing, and needing to fill up with water. Too much tension!

On day two, after hand-steering all night in 4-foot swells downwind with the sails rigged for wing and wing, Steve wondered if maybe something metal had been placed near the autopilot compass. Sure enough! We moved the nefarious metal objects and the autopilot kicked in. Ahhh, it's good to relax behind the wheel.

We had 10-20 knots of wind and so we sailed all day and night and didn't turn on the engine until the morning of the third day when the wind died to less than 3 knots. We had made over 250 miles under sail and had hit 10 knots on the boat speed meter. No complaints!

Brian had rigged up our rag-tag fishing gear and we caught a nice size yellow fin tuna. He and Kat are well acquainted with the San Francisco gourmet scene and Brian marinated and cedar plank smoked it while Kat prepared a scrumptuous salad and veggies.

We got into Bahia Tortuga early Thursday morning, Oct. 30, beer thirty, after motoring for half a day (no wind). Time to brush up on our Spanish and head into the little town.

The great sea makes one a great sceptic. ~Richard Jefferies

All I Want for Christmas is an Autopilot

We left Santa Barbara's charms for Santa Catalina island and had a little wind which we used to try the spinnaker. We arrived after dark in Catalina's west harbor. After hand steering all day, a nice steak dinner aboard was more than welcome. The next day, the captain stayed aboard to fool with chartplotter and toilet issues while the rest of us explored the little town of Two Harbors on Catalina and availed ourselves of the laundry, shower, and cafe. Since it was off season, we had the place practically to ourselves. It was very nice.

The next day we got an early start and found that the chartplotter had fumbled the radar heading and it was confusing to say the least in the dark. When the sun rose, the fog moved in, so we didn't see anything until the afternoon, but we'd fixed the radar heading by this time, so we could see what was ahead of us in the fog. We were in an area heavily used for military exercises and we had a cannon report across the bow which the captain managed to sleep through. Eventually the wind came up and we could practice the wing and wing rig. We needed to make some time to get to San Diego, so we didn't sail for long. We maneuvered through the military ships outside San Diego and made it to the Police Dock around 8:30.

We are leaving San Diego on October 27 with the 15th annual Baja Haha cruisers rally and there's lots to be done beforehand. We rented a car, anchored in Glorietta Bay, and found an Internet cafe since we can't connect to a network from the boat for some reason. We are anchored off lovely Coronado, home of the Hotel Del Coronado. It's a cutesy town, but a lot of our business takes us across the bridge to downtown San Diego where the marine supply business are.

The weather is warm; we have wheels; it's good to stay put for a few days.

So Cal

Santa Barbara, CA - Brian and Kat(rina) joined us Oct. 15 to crew to Mexico. We weighed anchor and went into the marina to fill up with water before leaving and noticed that the autopilot display greeted us with "No pilot." Uh oh.

Steve spent the afternoon, evening, into the wee hours of the morning trying to fix it, but it was uncooperative. So, he got on the phone with Raymarine the next morning, disconnected it, and we overnighted it to them in New Hampshire. So much for leaving as planned. We'll all get a lesson in steering for a while and leave in the morning.

We left Sausalito at 4 a.m. Oct. 17. Brian and Kat left behind their lives, belongings, and worries in San Francisco to go where little sailing boats sail half way 'round the world. They are starting their journey around the world with us and aren't planning on returning for a couple years.

The sun came out but not the wind, so we motored down the coast to Monterey and anchored for the night, taking turns hand steering. The sea was calm, so no worries. We saw sea lions, whales, and porpoises. And Steve contacted Raymarine who had received the autopilot, diagnosed the problem (an easy fix after all), and will ship it back to us in San Diego.

The next day, we left at 4:30 a.m. The sky was cloudy in the morning, and some fog obscurred the Big Sur coast, but we could make out the Bixby Bridge and Hurricane Point. The sun came out in the afternoon and since there was still no wind and the sea was calm, we decided to motor all night to reach Santa Barbara by the next afternoon.

The Wayward Dinghy

Sausalito, CA - It began the night of Sept. 9, the night before I left Denver to join Steve on the boat.

Around 11 p.m., Steve was safely aboard the boat, enjoying his last night of solitude in Sausalito and listening to gusts of 30 knot wind outside. He heard someone yelling "help" and when he looked to see where the voice was coming from, he saw a dinghy with two people and a dead outboard drifting out to the Golden Gate. So, he hurriedly jumped into his dinghy (in his underwear) to give a hand. They got the outboard started but things were not over for the couple. Their boat had dragged in the wind and was also headed for the Gate. After all the excitement and having been outside with few clothes for 20 minutes, it seems he must not have tied our own dinghy properly.

Later, that night, he was awakened by the wind and went to check on things outside. The dinghy was gone. Steve immediately checked the tide tables, hoping that the tide had turned. Nope. With a nearly full moon there was a strong ebb out the Gate. He notified the Coast Guard at 4 a.m.

Around 9 the next morning, after much worrying and gnashing of teeth and yelling obscenities into the wind, the Park Service called, reporting a dinghy washed ashore on Ocean Beach, 3 miles south of the Cliff House on the ocean side of the S.F. peninsula. Maybe it just wanted to be free, but had second thoughts after the big, scarey ocean. It hadn't even been rolled in its eight-mile journey in 30-knot wind-whipped seas because the unsecured gasoline tanks were still aboard. But it got a little beat up in the surf when it fetched up on the beach. Steve had to find someone to take him ashore, rent a U-Haul to get the dinghy, and call me to say he might not be able to meet me at the designated place. But at least he'd recovered the dinghy. Now, to see if the outboard would fire up.

Thanks to Brian Morrison, who will be joining us aboard in a few days, Steve got the dinghy back to Sausalito, returned the truck, and met me at the BART station in downtown San Francisco. I just had to wait an hour or so where apparently the medical marijuana brigade hangs out.

We went back to Sausalito on the number 10 bus. The outboard wouldn't crank, so we moteled it that night and got a tow to the boat the next morning. Our spare outboard is now on the dinghy, which is securely tied to the boat. The other outboard has a lot of sand in various engine parts, but hopefully is salvageable. No complaints from Steve. He is very thankful that dink is not on its way to the South Pacific.

Mild and Wild

Denver, CO - As reported by Captain Steve: the trip from Coos Bay, OR to San Francisco, CA started very mild. Steve, Dave Melin, and his son, Mike, left Coos Bay Sept. 17 with light wind, so they motor-sailed the first day or so.

The wild part came as they crossed the shipping lane north of the entrance to San Francisco Bay. It was night, foggy, and the wind had increased, so they were sailing. But, as we've discovered often happens in fog, the wind picked up to 25 knots. As luck would have it, not one but two aircraft carriers were heading north in their direction. The rule is to NEVER cross in front of a freighter or other large ship due to its speed. So, they crossed behind the first one, bounced in its wake, and the second one veered its course to give them some room.

They anchored in Drake's Bay for the night, safe and sound. The next morning, Sept. 21, Litha passed under the Golden Gate Bridge and anchored off Sausalito.

Steve is enjoying the view of sunsets over San Francisco from the cockpit. He's met the couple who'll join us on the next leg of the journey to San Diego. I will be joining him Oct. 10.

Coo Coos Bay

Coos Bay, OR - Our crew had to leave, so Steve and I spent six days in Newport listening to the wind howl 20-30 knots and the sea lions bark. We left Sept. 10 for Crescent City, CA when the forecast called for 10-20 knot north winds and seas 4-7 feet.

The forecast was accurate, but that night the mainsail was sheeted in a little too tight and anyway, it ripped. We headed for Coos Bay which was closer and where there is access to services, such as a sail maker.

After nine hours rolling in the swells and tacking to and fro and basically killing time for daylight to enter the Coos Bay channel, we made it through the fog and into the marina.

We removed the sail, rented a car, and drove the sail to North Sails in Portland, OR. Since I don't want to spend another night like that one, I bought a one-way ticket to Denver. The sail was mended the next day and Steve is sailing south with a couple friends -- better sailors than me -- and we'll rendezvous somewhere in southern California next month. Good luck guys. I'm taking the princess clause.

Detour

Newport, OR - The weather determines everything in sailing. We left Anacortes when the weather forecast called for northwest winds 10-15 knots for the next three days. We motored into the Strait of Juan de Fuca and sailed across in the afternoon when the wind picked up. We got in to Neah Bay at the tip of Cape Flattery at 9pm and had a calm night.

The next morning, the forecast called for light and variable winds in the morning, so we left at a leisurely 9 am and motored around the cape and until 3pm when the wind picked up and we could sail. We were visited by humpback whales breaching and spouting. One came right next to the boat. The seas were so calm we grilled chicken on the stern of the boat and ate in the cockpit. The swells picked up at night and we had rolly night filled the sound of the sails flapping and the boom banging around.

The next morning, Wednesday, the wind picked up to 15-20 and kept going. The swells were coming from northwest and southwest, creating a washing machine effect. We started looking at possible harbors for going ashore, especially when we heard the forecast was now calling for 20-30 knots with gusts higher.

No one felt much like eating that night. It was a rocky, rolly night and the guys put two reefs in the main and pulled in the jib and we were still going 8 knots. We headed toward Newport and saw the outter channel buoy just after dawn. Ah, the protection of the north jetty. Safe harbor. That was a bad night.

The forecast calls for 25-30 knots from the north for the next few days. We're staying put. We have some repairs to make and Richard and Bruce had to leave to get back to work. The adventure continues.

Heading South

Anacortes, WA - We arrived in Anacortes on Aug. 24 in the rain, after checking into the U.S. at Friday Harbor on San Juan Island the day before. The plan is to sail to Mexico this fall where it's warmer and cheaper. The U.S. dollar is at par with the Canadian dollar for the first time in a long time (ever?) and that makes Canada expensive for us.

The first leg of our trip south will be from here to San Francisco. We have found two sailors to help us make that trip and after their arrival on Aug. 31, we will leave out of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. If necessary, we'll wait at Cape Flattery for a weather window before turning south and heading down the coast. The trip should take 7-10 days.

While we were in Anacortes, BMW/Oracle's next America's Cup entry was launched.

The weather has turned cold suddenly and it's time to get outta here!

Ocean: A body of water occupying two-thirds of a world made for man - who has no gills. ~Ambrose Bierce

Back in the Saddle Again

LUND - Steve and I rendezvoued in Vancouver on Tuesday, August 5, and arrived back in Lund two days later. Our adventures while we were in the states consisted of: forgotten passports, speeding ticket, stolen laptop computer, recovered laptop computer, filing a police report and fraud alert, cutting the grass, renting a U-Haul truck and storage locker and moving stuff from one place to another, attending my nephew's (gorgeous, romantic) wedding, visiting with family at their new houses, seeing my new 6 month old great nephew, but that's not what this blog is about. So, on to bigger and better tales....

Steve brought back a shiny new windlass which he has installed and it is now working properly. We'll be heading south for Nanaimo today to pick up a package of boat stuff, then to Anacortes, WA for more stuff. Then to points further south. Stay tuned!

Intermission

LUND - We are leaving the boat in Lund a few weeks while Steve drives the truck home after dispensing with stuff in the storage locker in Sidney. He'll leave the truck in Denver and fly back.

I have family matters in Atlanta: a nephew's wedding to attend and another new nephew to meet. We'll rendezvous in about three weeks here and ... to be continued....

There is nothing so desperately monotonous as the sea, and I no longer wonder at the cruelty of pirates. ~James Russell Lowell

North by Northwest

LUND, BC - We spent ten days anchored at Rebecca Spit Marine Park on Quadra Island.


We had big campfires at night in the picnic area and walked the forested paths. Steve repainted a boat detail and started varnishing the toerail. This boat had little brightwork and Steve would like to change that. "It makes it pop," a designer would say. It sure looks a lot better than it did nine months ago. I caught a fish that looked like a baby shark. It got away, thankfully.

We left Rebecca Spit July 1, set the prawn trap, and anchored back at Savary to get some crabs. A tall ship was also anchored there. It turned out to be a "sail and life training" ship for young people.

A Bad Day
Our second night at Savary, the wind came up about midnight. I heard a noise, looked out and saw that the tall ship was close to us and was retrieving its anchor. We went out to look and they yelled over that they were moving to "avoid collision." Our anchor had dragged and we were adrift. Steve went to pull up the anchor and the windlass breaker tripped -- no windlass. It would lower the chain, but not pull it up. We motored to another spot (the wind had stopped and the sea was calm), dropped more chain, and kept a close eye on the depth gage and GPS.

We made it through the night, rigged a way to hoist the chain with a winch, then with the electric winch, and got the heck outta there. We couldn't find our float for the prawn trap, so there goes about $300. It was a bad day. But we made it to Lund and are docked in a protected spot in this small, crowded, and busy marina. The windlass motor will have to be removed and taken to a shop for assessment and mending.

Boat Widow

Steve has now gone to fetch the truck in Nanaimo and left me alone on the boat for 4-5 days where I can become an expert at assisting boats who want to raft alongside us. Lund is a busy place because it is the only harbor and market for miles around; it is close to Desolation Sound, destination for many boaters from Vancouver; and this is high season on the water. I also get to visit with my new friend, Fran, eat lots of goodies from Nancy's Bakery, and watch basset hound videos on YouTube since there is a good Internet connection here.

"The sea pronounces something, over and over, in a hoarse whisper; I cannot quite make it out." ~Annie Dillard

Eating Close to Home

Lund, BC - Lund is home to commercial shrimpers whose season is May and June, so they are harvesting fast and furiously now. They leave every morning about 6:00 to set and check their prawn traps that we've seen all around. Local shrimpers here say the Japanese set the price of prawns since they have the highest demand for BC prawns. Right now, the price is $12/pound (only $4/pound goes to the shrimpers some of whom may catch 30,000 pounds this season).

So far we've caught five crabs and only 11 (delicious, sweet) prawns. We got a new prawn trap which will hopefully increase the haul. Steve says, "Picking crab and swilling beer is why I'm here." When we got tired of plain crab, I made crabcakes, and my are they tasty.


Surf and Turf
The little grocery store in Lund carries a good selection of food and supplies, but here at the end of the earth, the prices are exhorbitant: celery $4, cereal $7.50. We're just glad to be able to get what we need. Thankfully, coffee is reasonably priced.

Seafood
I've just spent a couple hours with a hook in the water and no fish to show for it. We sailed to Drew Harbor, near the town of Campbell River, about 15 miles by sea from Lund, on Saturday June 21. There is a nice walking path on the strip of land here known as Rebecca Spit. The view of the jagged peaks to the east is beautiful and thankfully we've had sunny weather to see them. And what'd'ya know -- a wifi Internet connection on the boat.


Litha 2008
June 21 was the summer solstice, celebrated by ancient Celtics as the midsummer in a festival called Litha. We didn't do anything special to celebrate, but it was a sunny day at a beautiful anchorage and we had a nice sail. Daylight happens around 4 a.m. and lasts until around 10:30 p.m. up north here.

Sailing and Fixing

We left the cold, soggy Nanaimo anchorage on June 11 and had a good sail across the Georgia Strait to Garden Bay in Pender Harbor north of Vancouver. The sun came out at 4:00. We left going north the next morning and sailed all day to Savary Island, about 25 miles; good sail, good wind speed and direction. This boat will sail at 5 knots with the mainsail only. We pulled out the jib and the genoa headsails as per the wind and dropped the mainsail manually. It falls in a second of its' own weight: a godsend compared to the roller furling on Beltane (in my opinion). We like the dual headsails too. There are so many things to get used to on this boat. But when a wave hits it, it just stands there, unlike our former, smaller boat, Beltane that would have been knocked about.

We bought a crab trap and license and plan to catch some good Savary Island crabs that we remember from years past. We've seen a boat or two from Mexico and that's interesting. Guess we aren't the only ones with this idea.

Sun and Wind

Savary Island is oriented east and west and the wind came up out of the north early Friday morning, June 13. We were anchored on the north side and had to get out fast because waves were building and it was suddenly quite rolly. We left behind the crab trap; we'll go back for it. The sun came out and it was a bright, windy, warm day for a change. We stopped in at Lund, further up the mainland coast, because the windlass misbehaved. We'll spend the next few days in this area, including the depressingly-named, but beautiful (when the sun is out) Desolation Sound, which is about 100 miles north of Vancouver.

Many thanks to Fran, the nice Lund harbor office lady, for putting more dimes in the meter where our truck is parked in Nanaimo on her trip there. (It's a real hassle having a vehicle in another town when you're out on your boat.)

The Fix List While in Nanaimo, so far:

• 220 inverter fixed
• antenna farm
• changed generator oil, replaced impeller
• cockpit table hinges
• connected TV to PC cable
• freezer compressor remounted and fixed
• GPS installed
• TV, pictures hung
• install shelf in bilge
• install outboard engine hoist
• propane regulator replaced
• radar mounted and connected in cockpit
• relocated VHF radio
• rewire 220 connection box
• seawater pump fixed
• sticking drawers fixed
• water maker checked out
• wind gauge
• XM radio mounted in nav. station

My but captain has been busy.

All Our New Stuff

Lots of motoring and a little sailing so far. We motored from Sidney to Bellingham via Friday Harbor in the San Juan islands. In Bellingham, the electrician installed a new battery charger/inverter and a 110 socket. Since the boat was originally commissioned in Europe, it is wired with 220. The inverter will allow us to use our electric drill, toaster, etc.

Cap'n Steve replaced the 12 volt socket so it works now and installed a new XM satellite radio antenna and a new Wi-fi antenna to boost the signal when we're at anchor and there's wi-fi nearby.

We left Bellingham on May 10 and motored to Sucia Island. We put the dinghy in the water (it came with the boat and is bigger than our old one) and were glad when our outboard fired up.


We went ashore at Stuart Island in the San Juans, and hiked to Turn Point (where freighters turn east to go to Vancouver, northwestern most corner of U.S.) for a picnic lunch. It gets interesting when pleasure boats cross there while freighters pass about the same time.


The electric winch on the mainsail works great, but getting used to some new lines that go with it and with two new lines for the additional headsail make line management an issue. When the wind cooperates, the boat sails very nicely.


The new bimini dodger kept us dry on the way to Salt Spring Island and the heater has been turned on every day. The new range in the galley is great (no need to light it every time) and it baked a batch of birthday cupcakes for Steve.


We've worked our way north to Nanaimo and having learned the boat's fuel mileage and diesel cost in Canada ($1.40Canadian/litre) we probably won't be going to Alaska. But there's plenty to do and see in BC and the weather is supposed to turn warm this weekend.

What's a Litha?
Litha is our new boat, a 1996 Hallberg-Rassy 46. Litha is also the old pagan summer solstice festival that follows Beltane, the old May day festival. Since our other boat was named Beltane, we thought it fitting to call the next one Litha. So, read our blog to keep up with us and be with Litha.





Where are we and where are we going?


Litha is in the marina in Sidney, BC for the month of April. We will be going to Bellingham, WA, for some electrical work, then to Nanaimo, BC, on Vancouver Island to anchor for the month of May. We spent a lot of time in Nanaimo on Beltane and love it there. Why? We can hike in the forest on Newcastle Island and watch eagles and ferries, eat fresh seafood, enjoy the nice small town and waterfront, have access to most everything we'll need, the protected anchorage is close to town, and there is no charge to anchor. After Nanaimo, it's anybody's guess how far north we'll go, but it's safe to say no farther than Glacier Bay, Alaska, where Steve went single-handedly in 2004 on Beltane.