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.