Adventures of Windarra

The Sunday Farmers' Market at La Cruz

2012-01-29T12:36:00.000-08:00

Saturday we went to the cruiser swap meet on the malecon around the marine. We did not find an new engine but I sold some flourescent light bulbs and a fixture and Rich bought 2 DVDs.

The big attraction is the farmers' market on Sundays from 10 am to 2 pm. It covers a large portion of the shore side of the marina and extends over the breakwater. You can buy a wide variety of hand crafted items such as jewelry, wood bowls, art work and clothing as well as fresh produce and other food items. There are musicians providing entertainment and the fish market is open as well with fresh tuna, lobster, prawns, red snapper, etc. We bought a fresh baguette for our lunch and some pain au chocolate for breakfast in the morning.

Here are some photos to give you an idea what it is like

Marina Riviera Nayarit office, La Cruz Yacht Club and Ikuai Restaurant

Booths lining the shore

Flowers for sale

Woman making pictures with reeds

Rockers entertain the crowd

La Cruz has quite a gringo community as well as evidenced by the musicians above (after playing the stadium circuit, then the casino rounds in the US they seem to arrive here, still playing strong. As in La Paz there is a cruiser club which helps the local community as well as the transient cruisers. The artisans are a mixture of Mexican and gringo.

The engine saga continues

2012-01-28T15:10:00.000-08:00

On Thursday and Friday we had visits from the mechanic. The injector pump will definitely need to be replaced. On Friday, Rich and mechanic extracted some of the oil so it can be tested to see if it is combined with fresh or salt water. This is part of the do dilligence.

After much discussion between Rich and the mechanic as well as with Mark, who rebuilt the engine before we left Seattle in 2001 and with Chuck, on SV Dreamcatcher, we are coming to the conclusion that we need to replace the engine. If we were to try and repair it, it will probably cost almost as much as the engine is out of production and parts will be hard to come by and at the end of the day we would still have an older, tired engine. This is a tough decision but we think it is the correct one for us especially since we plan to travel to Central and South America in 2013.

The next steps are finding out where we can get a replacement engine and how to get it here to La Cruz. Our current engine is a Yanmar 76 turbo which we will be replacing with a Yanmar 75 turbo (one less horse). The good news is we believe it has the same form factor so installing should be easier. Of course removing the existing engine will mean taking some of the interior of the boat apart such as removing the salon table and the companionway stainless steel grabrails as well as the bimini and dodger outside. We will use the boom to help lift out the old and bring in the new.

But I am getting ahead of myself. We need to get one here first.

In the meantime we always have plenty to do, friends to socialize with and La Cruz is a great place to be.

The engine saga

2012-01-24T13:06:00.000-08:00

The mechanic is saying bad things about the engine.

On Sunday the mechanic double checked some of the items that Rich was asked to check on Friday. He reached the same conclusion. The two of them worked to remove the injector pump so that it could be taken to the shop to be evaluated.

This morning the mechanic came by and gave us the news that upon examining the injector pump they found a lot of rust. This is a bad thing. It means that somewhere in the cooling system (salt water is circulated to cool the oil in the engine) the salt water is getting into the oil. Of course there is many places where this may happen. It may be as simple as a seal that needs to be replaced or the heat exchanger or something else.

We do not think the the whole engine is bad but we do need to take some of it apart to find the problem and resolve it. Today they are looking more into the injector pump to see whether it is more cost effective to replace some parts and refurbish or just get a whole new pump.

On Friday and Saturday the mechanic will be here to disassemble more of the engine in search of the leak. We are keeping our fingers crossed that it will be easily found and easily repaired.

So it appears that we will be at La Cruz for a while. We will keep you posted. Looking on the bright side, this is a great place, the weather is warm and plenty of social life. Maybe its time to learn some more Spanish.

Hasta luego

Potluck, Bocce Ball and Bonfire

2012-01-22T11:52:00.000-08:00

Yesterday afternoon we joined the beach party. It was just a short distance from our dock. Rich made a pasta salad with Mexican pepperoni and salami. Adam and Cindy as well as the crew from Moma brought their Bocce Ball sets.

The last time we played Bocce Ball was when we crossed the South Pacific 10 years ago so we were a little rusty, or at least I was. I am not very good at any game or sport involving spherical objects moving in space and this was no exception. For this game, we divided into four teams of two persons each, each team having a pair of marked wooden balls about 4 inches in diameter, one per person. The game starts with one of the eight persons throwing a smaller, white wooden ball called a pellegrino either onto the grass or the sand of the beach from a predetermined line. The object of the game is to position at least one of your team's balls as close as possible to the pellegrino. Hitting it counts as a point as well. If both of your team's balls are the closest of all then your team gets two points otherwise just one for the closest. We played until one team reached 11 points. Now in most cases my ball was either too long or too short due to my limitation mentioned above but my team member, Adam helped make sure we were not skunked. Rich and his team member, Scott had an early lead but another team won. We were all entertained.

After the rousing game we grabbed our folding chairs and enjoyed the potluck. We met Paul and Judy of SV Grace, another boat from Seattle as well as some other cruisers. There was only 20 of us but there was plenty of food. Cruisers rarely come empty handed to any potluck.

The folks at the marina had some wood and brush piled up for our bonfire on the beach. At first it was a roaring blaze which felt good against the cool night breeze. The only downside was a gringo who was walking the beach and did not approve of our bonfire and threaten to contact the local police. I am not sure what his issue was as there was nothing and no one in any danger and we had a water hose just in case it was needed. Maybe he was mad that he was not invited or maybe he was from some nanny state and felt we were breaking some rule. Needless to say we ignored him and enjoyed our bonfire.

Mexico, you gotta love it.

Marina Nayarit at La Cruz

2012-01-20T17:06:00.000-08:00

20 44.904 N, 105 22.771 W

Question: How do you get the boat from the anchorage to a marina slip without an engine and not using the sails?

We decided to stay for the day and have dinner with Adam and Cindy of SV Bravo on Thursday evening before heading out a Friday. The engine worked very well on the way over from Paradise Village to the anchorage at La Cruz but we needed to reset the autopilot. After running the rudder test and resetting the autopilot Rich wanted to check the engine. No go. The engine would not turn over. It was getting power but not firing. This is not a good thing. We went to the boatyard at the marina to see about getting a mechanic to look the engine. The boatyard suggested an American living in on a boat in the marina. Rich talked to him on the phone and got some suggestion of things to look at but he would stop by the boat on Friday. Rich tried the suggestions but no joy. So I guess we are sticking around for a while.

On Thursday evening we dingied in and met Adam and Cindy. We went to dinner at Philo's, a very popular cruiser hangout in La Cruz. It was open mike night with electric guitars. It was a lot of fun. Philo used to be a studio musician in the 1960's and the band played a lot of fun tunes.

Have you answered the question yet?

Since we will need to work the engine we decided it would be better to be at a slip at the marina. We only had to go less than the mile. So Adam and Cindy came over in their dingy with a 10 HP outboard. We tied the dingy to the starboard aft quarter and used it for propulsion and we used the Windarra to steer. It was a little tricky maneuvering since we really did not have any reverse and another sailboat decided to change slips in front of us but after we waved our arms and shouted, they moved so we could go by. Unfortunately we did hit the dock box but no damage. So now we are tied up and the engine fellow plans to come by tomorrow to do some checking and possibly remove the injector pump.

Adam and Cindy helping us move Windarra

In the meantime we will enjoy La Cruz.

At anchor again

2012-01-18T20:31:00.000-08:00

20 44.976 N, 105 21.965 W
La Cruz

This morning we had breakfast with Reg and Phoebe of SV Three Sheets before getting ready to leave. After a trip to the office to sign then a dingy trip to the Port Captain followed by a trip back to the office we took the dingy back to Windarra and put it on the davits. Rich filled the port water tank, I reran the yankee sheets, closed the hatches and portlights. Rich fired up the engine and off we went. Of course it was not a long trip, only 6 miles or so to the marina at La Cruz to fill the aft fuel tank before going out to the anchorage.

If the gribs look favorable we will head south or we will wait a day. We are hoping to meet up with Adam and Cindy of SV Bravo before we head out, perhaps tomorrow morning. It seems like other sailboats from Seattle are in the anchorage such as Panta Rhei, and Ponderosa.

It is good to be back out and about. We enjoyed our time at Paradise Village. It is certainly easy. We will be back the last week in February for the reunion and a visit by Jesse, Rae and Sarah. We have many things we want to show them.

No worries (the engine starts)

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Jungle tour and dinner with SV Three Sheets

2012-01-16T19:59:00.000-08:00

Saturday, 1/14, Rich cleaned the corrosion on the contact for the engine ground, which is located just behind the starter motor. He started the engine as he has been doing every morning and lo and behold the engine started right up. We think we have found the source of the problem. In the afternoon we rode the bus to the chandlery by Marina Vallarta only to find out that it was closed already. So we came back and that night we went to Tacos El Muelle for dinner.

On Sunday afternoon we got into the dingy and joined Reg and Phoebe of SV Three Sheets for a ride up the river. The marina at Paradise Village is located where the river enters Bahia de Banderas and on the dock there is a sign warning not to feed the crocodiles. Well, we thought we would explore up the river and just see. The river is bordered by mangroves and in the branches you can see brightly colored iguanas, some as long as 3 1/2 feet. The males have orange crests with orange stripes on their tails. We also so several varieties of herons. In places the mangrove has been cleared and there are large homes on the banks, some with docks or a ramp for launching a boat. One home had replicas of the Chinese warriors holding tiki torches on the deck, very cross-cultural. Reg and Phoebe motored their dingy over to get a closer look at an iguana and suddenly there was a loud splash coming directly at them. A crocodile! We were all too startled to see how large it was but it sure did surprise us. As we wound around the mangrove we just saw the tail on another crocodile run off a boat ramp into the water. Hmmm. We came around a bend and Rich saw yet another crocodile sunning itself on the bank. We motored by quietly but we could only see the back and the tail but not the head. That was close enough. That evening we had dinner on SV Three Sheets and recounted our adventure into the wild.

Reg and Phoebe going up the river

Rich and Elaine on our dingy, Boomerage *

Watch out for crocodiles! *

Heron takes flight *

Colorful iguana watching us carefully *

Crocodile sunning on the river bank *

Viva Mexico

* Photos from Phoebe of SV Three Sheets

Progress is being made

2012-01-13T06:19:00.000-08:00

We are still here at Paradise Village.

Rich is making progress on the engine and electrical system. He has verified that both fuel pumps work and set up an installation so if one pump is installed, he can quickly remove and replace with the spare unit. He traced and checked all of the engine sensor and alarm wiring, cleaning contacts and replacing wire where needed as well as adding to his wiring diagram. The wind generator has been completely disconnected to help isolate the problem. Yesterday Rich replaced the wiring in the solar panels that mount on the port and starboard aft quarters. This was an item on our to-do list. As part of his checkout he starts the engine every morning. The last few days the engine has been starting using just the starter battery with a residual charge. The start is not immediate so the electrical problem still exists but progress is being made.

While Rich has been working the engine, I have been doing other projects. I now have the AIS and the autopilot NMEA 0183 data being transmitted from the DMK unit to the Ipad 2 via wireless. This means that on the Ipad, using iNavX with the Navionics Gold charts, the AIS targets are overlaid on the charts, plus I may use either the internal GPS or the boat's GPS for our location and I can display the boat parameters such as wind speed, depth on the Ipad. To top it off, I loaded a diagramming app on the Ipad and now my wiring is documented. Another feature of iNavX is that gribs may be overlayed on the chart.

My other project has been cleaning stainless. I have done all of the stanchions and the Yankee track on starboard (the shady side) and the forward pulpit and anchor roller. I am taking a breather before tackling the port side. It is nice to have it shiny!

It has not been all work and no play. Our evenings are fun. We had dinner at the hotel beach restaurant with Three Sheets upon their return from Toronto on Tuesday. Keith and Susan had us over for stir fry on C'est La Vie on Wednesday.

Last night, Thursday, a group of us went to Tacos El Muelle or Tacos on the Dock. Rich and I picked up Heidi of SV Huck in our dingy and Reg and Phoebe of SV Three Sheets joined us in their dingy and we motored across from Paradise Village over to Nuevo Vallarta. We tied up to the older dock between the pangas with the banana floats and gingerly walked up the dock. The dock had seen better days and was in sore need of repair but we all made it unscathed. We were rewarded for our efforts to a delicious and very inexpensive meal with included 10 peso tacos with fresh tortillas made on the premises. The five of us split some guacamole and chips with a combination plate that included Mexican meatballs, quesadillas, sopatos (spelling?), plus we ordered flan and grilled plantains with cream for dessert. They do not serve alcohol but there is a convenience store next door where Rich and Reg bought some Dos XX, which the restaurant kept chilled for us. Excellent! We topped off the evening with the ride back in our dingies, looking at the megayachts.

This morning we dropped off the laundry and I got my haircut. It cost 300 pesos or $22 USD including washing my hair, cutting and blow drying. Much cheaper than I would have paid in the US. Rich helped Keith and Susan launch their Whaler which had been in storage. They also took us for a tour up the river. We looked for crocodiles but none were seen, instead we saw plenty of iguanas and herons of many varieties. We also motored passed some very nice homes.

We just returned from a walk with Reg and Phoebe which included a stop at a small restaurant along the river for a few beers. Now it is time for dinner and a movie.

Is this paradise or what?

Luck?

2012-01-07T19:29:00.000-08:00

This morning on the cruisers VHF net, Rich asked if anyone had a fuel pump they would trade for coconuts (you are not allowed to 'sell' items over the radio). Robert of SV I'O responded. We agreed to stop by his boat in an hour. Another boat, SV Gia, called Robert afterwards, also seeking a fuel pump. Robert pointed him to the local AutoZone store. Maybe we do have some luck.

Before leaving the boat, Rich tried to start the engine but no luck. There is definitely a problem and it may be bigger than just the fuel pump.

We got a ride to SV IO from Guillermo. Robert and Bobbie have two large, friendly dogs. A few years ago Robert replaced his engine and has lots of spares from the previous one, hence a spare fuel pump. This pump also has a pressure sensor, which the latest one that Rich installed does not. More good luck. We traded for the pump and Bobbie noticed that she had two copies of "Pacific Mexico, A Cruiser's Guidebook" by the same authors as our Sea of Cortez guidebook. Would we like a copy? Yes, more good luck.

We got a ride back, stopped by the marina office to let them know we had not left, bought a week's worth of internet access at the yacht club, got lunch at Subway and headed back to Windarra. We decided that instead of just replacing the fuel pump and seeing if that worked and head out that we should take a step back and a serious look at the electrical mysteries and try and solve them. This might take a bit of time but it is a lot easier to get parts here than at some anchorage down the coast. Besides, this is Paradise...

Rich got out his manuals and started to work up a plan.

I tried to start up the computer but the monitor would not stay on. The power connection at the monitor was melted and the fuse was blown. So we disconnected the monitor, removed if from the attachment arm and took it apart. The connector on the inside was a little melted. Rich removed the connector and put new connectors on. We put it back together and now it is up and running. This was definitely an unplanned event.

As we had the navigation station apart to fix the monitor I looked into the Simrad autopilot network connections and tried to figure out why the NMEA 0183 from the autopilot to the DMK transmitter was not working. Lo and behold there were no connections to the AT10 from the autopilot, this is what translates the NMEA 2000 to NMEA 0183. So I fixed the connections and verified that the autopilot is still working and that I am getting voltage on the NMEA 0183 output. Tomorrow I will look into connecting it to the DMK and draw out the autopilot wiring for future reference.

Rich now has a plan for working the engine, batteries and electrical. It will be a lot of work the next couple of days but we hope to get rid of some of the mysteries.

So maybe we do have some good luck after all.

Is leaving on a Friday bad luck?

2012-01-06T16:46:00.001-08:00

Today we had just a few chores to do and then we would leave Paradise Village and go over to La Cruz for fuel and then anchor out. Well, at least that was the plan.

We took off the sail cover and folded it up, a cumbersome task as it is a lot of material, and took off the covers from the dodger windows. Rich did some provisioning, while I washed some of the dust and dirt off of Windarra. Next stop was dropping off the key and a book at SV Three Sheets. We continued walking down the dockway and gave the check to Camelia of Full Sail Canvas, for the dingy chaps and repair. We saw Heidi of SV Huck across at the Vallarta Yacht Club so we said a quick goodbye. After a quick walk by the tigers, we stopped at the marina office to pay our bill and check out with the Port Captain. To do the check out we got a ride with Guillermo on the water taxi. The ride was longer than checking out with the Port Captain. Next, a quick goodbye to Susan on C'est La Vie and a swing by the grocery store for some water and vinegar then back to Windarra. We closed the hatches and portlights, disconnected the power, turned on the instrumentation. So far so good. Rich started the engine. It ran for a few minutes then stopped. Repeat the process and same result. Hmmmm.

Rich took a look at the fuel pump he just installed a few days ago. Was it getting power? Yes. Was it getting fuel? Yes. Was it outputting fuel? No. Was it making a clicking sound (the solenoid)? No. Conclusion: bad pump. This is baffling since Rich ran the engine and at high rpms after the installation to make sure it was working. So Rich removed the pump and put in our other spare. After a quick check it did start the engine. So we walked up to the 2 chandleries on the premises. No fuel pumps. We checked with the large chandlery in town, no luck either.

So we will stay here another night. Tomorrow we will take the bus into town and see if we are able to order another pump. Our departure will depend on what we find out.

So, is it bad luck to leave on a Friday? I don't know.

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Time to go exploring

2012-01-05T18:49:00.000-08:00

The last couple of days have been very social for us.

New Year's Day we had breakfast with Reg and Phoebe before they caught their plane to Toronto. Brrr! We have been looking in on Three Sheets while they have been away.

Monday was a trip to Telcel to buy another month's worth of internet time. Luckily it did not take three hours but it was about half of that. So now we will have internet if we do not have wireless and there is cell coverage. Of course we still have email over our HF radio.

Tuesday we had Heidi and Joe of SV Huck over for dinner. It was so warm inside the boat we ate in the cockpit. There was plenty of conversation and laughing. We first met Heidi and Joe as we pulled into our slip at Cabrillo Isle Marina in San Diego. They were also on the Baja Ha-Ha with us.

Wednesday, Keith and Susan of C'est La Vie were kind enough to take us to Costco. We were able to stock up on some essentials such as chocolate, chicken, paper towels, coke, etc.

Keith and Susan were also on the Baja Ha-Ha in 2001 and the Pacific Puddle Jump in 2002 with us. They now keep their boat at Paradise Village all year long and spend the winter here and the rest of the time up in the Sacramento area.

Today they drove us out to Punta de Mita and we had lunch at Si Senor, a great restaurant on the beach that is part of a small hotel and patrons of the restaurant may also use the pool. It has a great view as well as a garden entry. It was a little different being on shore as we have only anchored at Punta de Mita before. We started lunch with guacamole and salsa with chips that they made right at our table. Rich and I split an order of coconut shrimp with mango sauce while Keith and Susan had chicken tacos. Their yellow labrado, Sadie, enjoyed chasing her ball on the beach and checking out all of the wonderful smells. It was a great afternoon and we will definitely have to go there again.

Upon returning to Paradise Village, Rich and I picked up our dingy with the new chaps, covers for the tubes. Camelia and her crew did a great job. The idea is to use this cover to protect the dingy from the ultraviolet rays of the sun and extend it's life. We hope it works. It will also be a lot easier to sit on the dingy in the hot sun this summer in the Sea of Cortez with this cover.

Tomorrow we plan to say good bye to Paradise Village and head south for a while. We will be back at the end of February for the Pacific Puddle Jump reunion.

Adios

Feliz Ano Nuevo 2012

2012-01-01T11:17:00.000-08:00

We decided to spend New Year's Eve on the Malecon in Puerto Vallarta. Our friends, Reg and Phoebe on SV Three Sheets, Terry and Kellie of SV Noah, joined us. At 5:00 pm we caught the bus from Paradise Village to Puerto Vallarta and walked to the Malecon.

By the time we got there it was already a happening place. Boats were already starting to anchor to share in the festivities and to have a great view of the fireworks at midnight all along the beach. There was a large police and military presence but everyone was friendly and there did not seem to be any threatening behavior by anyone, anywhere. New Year's Eve on the Malecon as a family affair. Many families bring chairs to sit on the beach and watch the fireworks. Street vendors are selling food as well as things that having blinking LEDs such as light sabers ala Star Wars and rabbit ear things that fit on your head and flashed. All of the restaurants provide special dinners. We were lucky to find an opening at one restaurant that was on the second floor with a balcony on the Malecon. For $700 pesos a person, we had an appetizer, soup or salad, main course and a desert with champagne. Other drinks were extra. It was not bad but the dessert as not the best. The view was great and we were the only gringos. Many tables were full of families from infants to grandparents. We enjoyed the atmosphere and everyone oooh'ed and aaah'ed over the fireworks.

Police presence *

Sand Castles on beach along Malecon *

Crowd watching fireworks at midnight *

Terry and Kellie of SV Noah

Reg and Phoebe of SV Three Sheets

Phoebe and Rich

Feliz Ano Nuevo, Puerto Vallarta, 2012

Afterwards we walked through the crowds past many parties still going strong to find a way back to the marina. The ATM bus to Paradise Village had stopped at 10 pm so that was not an option. We walked to one of the large resort hotels and asked about calling a cab. No senor, no cabs. We crossed the street and tried to hail a taxi for the six of us. One taxi stopped but would not take all of us so Terry, Kellie and Reg piled in and took off. Phoebe, Rich and I tried to hail another taxi. One stopped and let off two people but there were still another two people in the cab. The woman in the backseat of the cab said no, so we started to look for another taxi. The driver got out and asked where we wanted to go and then told us to pile in, so it was the woman, Phoebe, Rich and I in the back seat and I was sitting on Rich's lap the whole way. The driver drove like he was from New York City and in a hurry. I was holding on where his seat belts attached to the frame of the car as he was not wearing them and held on for dear life. We wove in and out of cars, no signalling, hell bent. It was the fastest ride from Puerto Vallarta to Paradise Village I have ever had. The only time we slowed down was for speed bumps, which was lucky for me or I would have received a concussion from hitting the roof of the taxi at the speeds he was travelling. We arrived at the marina around 2:30 am. The taxi driver only charged us $260 pesos compared to the fare of $400 for the other taxi. What a deal. I have no idea where he was taking the two original passengers.

We walked back to Windarra and across the water there was a party at one of the large homes and it was still going strong until 6:00 am but we were so tired we slept right through it.

We want to wish all of our friends and family, Felix Ano Nuevo, Happy New Year. May 2012 be a healthy and happy new year for your all.

* Photos from Phoebe of SV Three Sheets

Life at Paradise Village

2011-12-30T15:32:00.000-08:00

We are still at Paradise Village, mixing chores, exploring, socializing and relaxing.

Chores

Of course the first thing we did was to wash the boat. It was surprising how much salt was on the deck after the passage from Puerto Los Cabos, as well as a few dried squid, one of which got excited and inked before his demise.

As we were having problems with the engine and fuel during the later part of the passage from Puerto Los Cabos, Rich installed a new fuel pump and replaced the fuel filters. Usually he replaces them after 300 hours of engine operation but he decided that while we are in Mexico we should do it after 100 hours. We have run the engine a few time since and everything seems to be a-ok. We also cleaned the oil pan under the engine and put in new 'diapers' so if there is a leak we can identify it early.

I have been working on polishing and waxing the stainless as well as compounding and waxing some of the deck as I do the stanchions. While it is rewarding to see everything nice and shiny I do realize that this is never ending and that I will be doing it again in the future. I am using a new wax which I hope will increase the time between polishing.

I am pleased to report that our mail finally arrived here at Paradise Village, on Tuesday, 12/27. After returning to Seattle it was sent on to Sarah in Portland. There was a little delay as Sarah's address was incorrect on the package but the error was corrected and it arrived shortly thereafter. We thank her for culling through the mail, removing the offending medications, packaging it back up and sending it on to us. I now have my new driver's license, ATM cards, as well as the new boat document. Of course there were a few bills but nothing major or unexpected. Rich was able to take his prescription containers over to the farmacia and get them refilled for about 2/3 of the cost in the states. Now we just have to work the paperwork with the medical insurance folks.

Exploring

We forgot to check out of La Cruz before arriving at Nuevo Vallarta on Tuesday, 12/20. We took the ATM bus from Paradise Village to the main highway, crossed the highway, dodging traffic and caught the bus to La Cruz and Punta de Mita under the overpass. At La Cruz we walked down the hill to the marina, stopping to see the crew of Convivia at the taco stand and then on to the port captain to get out check out papers. Then we reversed the process back to Paradise Village and took the water taxi from the Paradise Village Marina dock over to the Nuevo Vallarta dock to visit the port captain and have our check in paperwork stamped. All in all a simple process.

On Friday, 12/23, we took the ATM bus into Puerto Vallarta to walk to the Malecon. The Malecon is a wide walkway along the waterfront. On one side is the beach and on the other there are shops and restaurant. The walkway includes statues, planters and benches for sitting and enjoying the view and people watching. We stopped at an italian restaurant and sat on the second floor overlooking the Malecon and had great pizza. We continued our walk, checking out the shops and the statues. In the older section of town we walked along the shops where proprietors promised not to sell us time share condos but instead they had good stuff to sell us. It was an interesting marketing scheme. There are many buses going in and out of town but only the ATM buses go to Nuevo Vallarta and Paradise Village. We walked most of the length of town back past the other end of the Malecon looking for an ATM bus stop. We finally ask a woman waiting for a bus and she gave us directions, three blocks in the current direction, turn right and go two blocks, then turn left and go two blocks. We did and we arrived at the ATM terminal and got our bus.

On 12/26, we took the ATM bus to Marina Vallarta. We had spent some time here 10 years ago. There are more buildings surrounding the marina and a new golf course. We were please to find that the small restaurant that served fish and shrimp tacos was still there and the tacos are as good as ever. The marine store is now almost across the street from the marina and it a lot larger than before. We were able to purchase replacement zincs for our Maxi-prop. We walked down to the Galeria Vallarta, with some more upscale shops and a movie theater. I got Rich a new pair of sunglasses. We also checked out WalMart before heading back.

Socializing

We enjoyed sundowners and Christmas eve dinner with Heidi and Joe of SV Huck, whom we met in San Diego and also did the Baja Ha-Ha. Wednesday night we had Constance and Tim of SV Midnight Lady over for drinks and latkes. We had met Constance on the dock and struck up a conversation as they are from Victoria, BC and had spent some time in the US. This morning we met Kellie and Terry of SV Noah. They had found our website of our first trip and commented about our first check-in to Cabo San Lucas. They even sent us a new flowchart of check in at Ensenada, very funny. They are from Pt. Roberts, Washington.

Heidi and Joe of SV Huck

This afternoon our friends, Phoebe and Reg of SV Three Sheets arrived so we gave them a tour of Paradise Village and spent the afternoon with them enjoying nachos and drinks on the beach. They told us about their stay at Los Muertos in 35 knot winds and their visit to Isla Isabella.

Relaxing

On Christmas day we grabbed our beach towels and our books and found a palapa on the beach to hang out for the day. The waiters even come to your palapa and take your order. What luxury!

We are having chaps made for our dingy to help protect it from the ultraviolet rays here in Mexico. We will take the dingy to their shop next to the marina on Monday and hope to pick it up completed on Wednesday. So, our stay will be extended a bit before we leave and head south.

We want to wish everyone a Happy New Year and that 2012 will find you healthy and happy.

Feliz Ano Nuevo 2012

Mexico - extremes

2011-12-21T18:55:00.001-08:00

20 41.670 N, 105 17.665 W

We are now at Paradise Village Marina in Nuevo Vallarta. We were here 10 years ago prior to heading off on the Pacific Puddle Jump 2002. Comparing it to Bahia Santa Maria, is like night and day.

Bahia Santa Maria was a large bay with no 'civilization' other than the wooden structures of the fishing camp on the hill overlooking the bay which are not even occupied all year round.

Paradise Village is like a city in itself. There are multiple hotels, condominiums lining the beach side. There are breakwaters on both sides of the entrance to the river where the marina is located. Across from the marina are large private homes with docks as well. They offer 'jungle tours' on a pange that goes up the river. There are signs warning you not to feed the crocodiles. Crocodiles? Affronting the marina are new villas, many of which are for sale. Paradise Village includes a shopping center complete with McDonalds, Subway, Dominos Pizza, Starbucks (this is new since we were here last), a grocery store, several restaurants. shops and a courtyard for eating including a large McDonalds style play structure for kids. Beyond the shopping center is another complex than includes a hospital with emergency room, offices and a casino. In between shopping center and some of the hotels is a small zoo with birds and 3 Bengal Tigers. Two cubs were born recently and there is another large zoo with more tigers in the middle of the golf course. Half way down the marina is the Vallarta Yacht Club. They were just starting the ground preparation for this 10 years ago. The yacht club includes a restaurant, bar, swimming pool, hot tub and shower facilities.

Ten years ago we would wake up to the sound of Simba, the lion, roaring in his cage at the small zoo. One of the villa owners felt that Simba's roaring was disturbing the peace, including their dogs so Simba is gone. Katmandu was always a little intimidated by the roaring.

There are many more hotels and resorts filling in the coast of the bay. Many of the tourists we see are Mexican. Of course the Westin and St. Regis resorts at Punta de Mita are famous for recent visitors such as Charlie Sheen, Lady Gaga and Courtney Cox. The Mexican press denies that Gaddafi's son wished to relocate here from Libya.

It is all a far cry from Bahia Santa Maria.

Adios

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Anchored at La Cruz

2011-12-18T17:42:00.001-08:00

20 44.920 N, 105 22.236 W
We anchored this morning at 8:30 am just a short distance from the breakwater for the marina at La Cruz. After settling the boat, taking showers and having some breakfast we were ready for a long nap.
The best thing about passage is arriving at your destination, everything else can sometimes be distant tenth place or more. It is no fun to be sleep deprived and with the confused seas of the second day and night it was hard to sleep. We were on the same tack the entire trip which made it easier but the short choppy seas were not fun. We are getting better on stowing items so they remain in place during passage. I did not expect a piece of moulding on the port side above the settee to fall down but as it was not glued or screwed in but only on by friction I should not be surprised. We got quite a shaking. I did manage to read and finish two books. We also had many porpoises join us on the second day for over an hour. One jumped right in front of the boat over eight feet in the air. Very impressive. The first day we saw almost no signs of life.

Last night when the winds started to diminish we decided to motor a bit. Rich switched us over to the forward fuel tank. Shortly after starting the engine, it quit. We started it again and it ran for a bit, then quit. We suspect that we either got some bad fuel or some other cause. As we want to save the fuel in the aft tank which seemed to be okay for when we arrived, we unfurled the staysail to sail instead. We were only doing about 3-4 knots but that was okay since slowing down meant we would be arriving at sunrise and it would be light so we could maneuver more comfortably.

As we rounded Punta de Mita there are some rocks we need to avoid. Unfortunately the C-map charts show these in different positions than the Navionics Gold charts on the IPad. Which is correct? Not knowing we tried to avoid the rocks on both charts. We were successful and did not hit anything. Not sure if more information was better or worse.

Tomorrow we will listen to the morning net and then go into La Cruz for a reconnoiter. I need to buy more time on our Telcel Amigo Internet plan for the IPad. It expires today.

Adios
Sent from SV Windarra iPad

Almost there

2011-12-17T17:09:00.000-08:00

21 14.994 N, 106 29.538 W

We are still on our way to Punta de Mita. We have been sailing most of the day as the winds built from 5-10 knots to 18-22 knots, from close hauled to beam reach to broad reach, all on the same tack. The waves are off the aft quarter making it very rolly and lots of splashing as the waves hit the side of the boat and go straight up in the air.

We have had many porpoises visiting us today, some staying for over an hour, lots of jumping and high leaps into the air. We also saw a turtle. Not sure where he was going, maybe to French Polynesia.

Looking forward to anchoring and getting some sleep. We have about 60 some miles to go.

Adios

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Passage to Bahia de Banderas

2011-12-16T17:27:00.000-08:00

22 32.833 N, 108 45.492 W

Just past nine o'clock this morning we were on our way our of the harbor. We had just made a stop at the fuel dock to top off the aft fuel tank and the starboard water tank. So we are all 'tanked' up so to speak. Twice the engine just stopped, once as we were approaching the fuel dock and later as we were leaving. It was a little disconcerting. Rich had replaced the fuel filters while we were in La Paz which would have been our first suspicion. It is now past 5:15 pm and the motor has been running constantly since then without a hiccup so as they say in the movie, "Shakespeare in Love", "It's a mystery". We have been coming across more of these mysteries.

The winds have been light all day, anywhere from 0.0 to at maximum of 7.8 knots. We are motorsailing with the main so that helps our speed and we are putting it in the bank.

As we left Puerto Los Cabos we saw some fishing boats and we had an AIS target of a cruise ship but since 11:00 am we have seen nothing other than a boobie that flew by and a cup of noodles container. The horizon is clear. No green flash at sunset due to low lying clouds in the distance. I hope that the evening is just as uneventful.

I did manage to finish one book and have started another but had to stop when the sunset.

We have traveled 65 nautical miles and we have about 210 nautical miles to go.

Adios

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Puerto Los Cabos

2011-12-15T18:51:00.000-08:00

23 03.620 N, 109 40.345 W

We arrived back at Puerto Los Cabos on Wednesday afternoon. We are again on the long pier that does not have power but that is okay, as the rates are cheaper. In fact, if you want to stay a month, the cost is the same as for staying 10 days. There are several sailboats here but most of the cruisers are not Baja Ha-Ha folks. As they recently arrived from coming down the coast, the idea of staying here for a month is pretty appealing, especially at this reduced rate.

On of the boats here is Reunion with Dennis and Marta aboard. We met them at Scarborough Marina in Australia. They also shipped their boat back on Dockwise as we did with Windarra. They sold their original Reunion and bought a different boat and renamed it. Dennis is an excellent craftsman and the boat is gorgeous.

On the way from Los Frailles we noticed that the autopilot was making a groaning sound as it controlled the rudder. It did not skip a beat and it held the course with no problem but there was a lot of groaning. We checked the autopilot and ran the 'at dock' tests with no problem we feel a lot better about the operation of the autopilot.

Later we joined Marta and some of the other cruisers at happy hour.

Today we took at taxi to Soriana's. It is a large store similar to Walmart with a great grocery section that is on the way to the airport. We did our shopping and returned to Windarra. The dingy is now deflated and mounted on the foredeck. We bought a new outboard motor mount for the aft pulpit and Rich tried to install it but the steel tubes of the pulpit have a curve near where the previous outboard was located. The new mount is larger and will not accomodate the curve, so the new mount will not work. Rich put the old mount back on. We will have to make our own mount. The new one will become a swap meet item.

Tomorrow we will make a crossing to the mainland. We originally planned to go to Isla Isabella and then on to Bahia Banderas but based on the gribs we think a wiser course is to head straight for Bahia Banderas. We will have a chance to stop as Isla Isabella when we head north, next year on our way back into the Sea of Cortez.

I will try to write a position update along the way, depending on the sea conditions. If not, I will post when we stop to anchor in the bay.

Adios

Los Frailles

2011-12-13T17:43:00.001-08:00

23 22.725 N, 109 25.383 W

We are back at Los Frailles. It was a rolly night at Los Muertos so we hope tonight will be more relaxing. The anchorage is almost empty, just one power boat and ourselves (I won the guess as to how many boats would be here). We had a nice sail today a broad reach with all the sails out, winds were 10-14 knots, seas were rather sedate. We passed two sailboats northbound, and one container ship otherwise we had the sea to ourselves for 46 nautical miles.

The port side water tank is leaking again. This is one of the items we 'fixed' while we were at Emery Cove. Looks like the leak is in the same general area but we need to take the settee apart to look at it so perhaps at Puerto Los Cabos, our next stop.

It is time to have dinner so I will end this.

Adios.

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Rolly Los Muertos

2011-12-13T08:12:00.000-08:00

23 59.228 N, 109 49.723 W

Yesterday was a long motorsail from Caleta Lobos. For most of the way the winds were under 6 knots, but the seas were flat and we had the current our way for most of the trip so it was not bad just boring. The anchorage was rolly last night so we did not sleep very soundly. There are fewer boats than when we were here after the Baja Ha-Ha. The only boat we recognize is Deep Playa.

This morning the winds are from the west but light. We are heading to Los Frailles today.

Adios

Caleta Lobos

2011-12-11T16:54:00.000-08:00

24 17.924 N, 110 20.029 W

Saturday morning we prepared to leave the dock, pick up some fuel and head out to Caleta Lobos. As part of the preparation, Rich took a look at the engine. He noticed that there was some salt built up above the starter motor and below one of the salt water cooling hoses and a small drip of salt water. He started the engine and there was a lot more than just a drip. We could not leave in this condition. Unfortunately, curing the problem was a bit more complicated. The hose was not situated properly so Rich has to remove the starter motor just to get access to the hose, then slide it over the connections on each end and put on new hose clamps then reinstall the starter motor. So instead of our 10:30 am departure it was more like 1:45 pm. But after fuel we went to Caleta Lobos for a rest.

Today we spent reading and relaxing. Rich made some brownies (om nom nom). I am reading a book on the discovery of the source of the Nile and Rich is reading about South American history. The weather is warm and we watch the pelicans and boobies fishing in the anchorage. This evening we saw a turtle floating by. There is only one other boat in the anchorage and in fact I think it is the same boat we saw when we first anchored here.

Tomorrow we will head back to Ensenada de Los Muertos on our way south to Puerto Los Cabos.

Adios.

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The mail does not always go through

2011-12-06T16:22:00.000-08:00

Since we were going to be in La Paz for a while we thought it would be a good idea to have some of our mail sent to us. We talked to the folks in the office of the marina and they suggest using UPS. So on Nov. 16, we sent an email to our mail service in Seattle asking them to box up our mail and send it to the marina via UPS. That sounded easy enough.

I monitored the tracking of the package as it went from Seattle, Washington to Louisville, Kentucky to Ontario, California, to Tijuana, Mexico, arriving there on Nov. 18. I thought, wow, this is great, we should get the package soon. The words, “Your package has experienced an exception” on the tracking email did not sound good.

Part of our mail included Rich’s medications. Even though the medications were directly from the insurance company and unopened and with the prescription information, customs in Mexico do not accept the importation of medication. Our box of mail contained a restricted commodity. After numerous calls to UPS, I finally convinced them to send the package back to Seattle.

On Nov. 25, the package was sent from Tijuana, Mexico back Louisville, Kentucky. Since the package was arriving from Mexico, it had to be processed through US Customs and specifically the Food and Drug Administration and/or department of AG PPQ (I am not sure who or what this is). More phones calls are made to UPS. So even though the package originated in the United States, and never cleared customs in Mexico, the officials were not sure they should allow this contraband to enter the United States.

On Dec. 5, UPS had obtained documentation and submitted to the Food and Drug Administration and the shipment was released. The next email indicated that the package was at Seattle but not delivered due to adverse weather conditions but later today I got confirmation that it had been delivered.

It cost over $200 to send the package to Mexico and send it back to Seattle, not including the numerous international long distance phone calls (800 numbers are not toll free when you are calling from outside the United States) and we still do not have our mail.

In Herodotus’ Histories is the following quote, referring to the courier service of the ancient Persian Empire:

It is said that as many days as there are in the whole journey, so many are the men and horses that stand along the road, each horse and man at the interval of a day’s journey; and these are stayed neither by snow nor rain nor heat nor darkness from accomplishing their appointed course with all speed. (trans. A.D. Godley 1924)

Apparently the Persians had not encountered Mexican customs officials or the United States Food and Drug Administration.

Some photos...

2011-12-06T15:19:00.000-08:00

Here are some photos for your viewing pleasure...

The best ice cream store in La Paz

Robin of The Cat's Meow at the Thanksgiving potluck

Rich on the beach at Bahia San Gabriel

The remains of a puffer fish at Bahia San Gabriel

Waiting out the Northerlies

2011-12-05T16:46:00.000-08:00

24 10.940 N, 110 18.223 W

As the northerlies built in the Sea of Cortez, we decided that hanging out in the anchorage, doing the La Paz waltz and getting soaked going back and forth in the dingy was not going to be a lot of fun. So, on Saturday, we got a slip at Marina Palmira which is farther west and a little farther from town but it was available. We have not stayed at the marina before so it is a new experience for us. It is larger than Marina de La Paz and there are a lot more mega-yachts but the facilities include a hotel with a swimming pool, which is available for the yachties to use if they buy a drink at the bar, 2 restaurants, a small store/chandlery, a laundry that uses American quarters (6 for wash, 6 for dry) and a free shuttle that goes into town 3 times a day.

Sunday before the winds picked up Rich went up the mast to check the rigging. He wears a climbing harness that we attach to two halyards. I ran one of the halyards to a powered winch in the cockpit and the other to a self-tailing winch on the mast. We use the powered winch to pull him up with the other as backup. It is a lot easier than my grinding him up by hand! Everything looks good. All of the rigging pins are in place with split pins. There are two loose rivets on the mast conduit between the first and second spreader, but not coincident. The port site primary shroud below the first spreader has a deep scratch in the staylock cylinder. We are not sure what caused this but we will keep an eye on it. We may want to order a replacement. In the afternoon I cleaned the cockpit and washed the cushions. I found lots of granola bar crumbs! With the northeries, the temperature has gone down to the low 70s during the day and in the 50’s at night so I put on jeans for the first time since leaving San Diego.

In the evening we went out for dinner with Adam and Cindy of SV Bravo. They were on E-dock with us when we were at Shilshole Bay Marina. They spent the past summer in the Sea of Cortez which we plan to do this coming summer so we want to get some of their ideas. We walked down to the “Smiling Dorado” and enjoyed fish and shrimp soup. We had a great time talking. We were the only patrons and of course we closed the place as well.

This morning Rich and I caught the shuttle and met Reg and Phoebe for breakfast at the Dock Café at Marina de La Paz. I just finished the Game of Thrones series by George R. R. Martin so I am loaning them the series to read. I finished the last book, “A Feast for Crows”, only to find out that he did not finish the series in the last book and has written a fifth book, “A Dance with Dragons”, which I will have to find somewhere. After breakfast, Rich, Phoebe and I went into town to look for an electronics store and then to the grocery store to do some provisioning. Along the way we passed through a small street market.

We also stopped by the main cathedral in La Paz. A mission was first established at the site of La Paz in 1535 by Herman Cortes and he called it Holy Cross Harbor. In 1683 the Jesuits rediscovered this port and named it Our Lady of Peace, but later it was abandon. In 1720 more Jesuits founded a permanent mission of La Paz.

We continued our walk, stopping at an Ace Hardware store and then at the Tiendas Chedraui and did our provisioning. We got a taxi back to Marina de La Paz to drop off Phoebe and then back to Marina Palmira.

Tomorrow we hope to get a diver to check the zincs and replace if necessary.

Tsunami detection system in La Paz

2011-12-05T10:30:00.000-08:00

Back at La Paz

2011-12-01T18:52:00.001-08:00

24 09.661 N, 110 19.849 W

Last night shortly before midnight, the winds shifted to the southwest and increased to 20 knots. A fetch built up in the anchorage and it was hobbyhorse time. Not the most restful. This morning we decided it was time to leave and now these winds from the southwest were on our nose all the way back to La Paz but at least they decreased over time and the seas relaxed so it was not a hard slog back.

We are back in the anchorage off of Marina de La Paz, not to far from where we were anchored before.

Sent from SV Windarra iPad

Caleta Partida

2011-11-30T16:48:00.000-08:00

24 31.924 N, 110 22.723 W

Yesterday we hopped into the dingy and went for a visit on SV Cat 2 Fold. It is a 40 ft catamaran with a cat rig on both amahs and it folds up so it is trailer able. On board is Bryan, his girlfriend Deidre and Bryan's two kids, Bao and Georgia who are just a little older than Miles and Ruby of SV Convivia. The kids are having a great time playing, jumping off the side and swimming under the trampoline. We visited for a while and then Rich and I went for a walk on the beach.

It is a long beach with sugar white sand and we have it all to ourselves, with a few birds. On the tide like we saw the remains of several puffer fish, some half inflated with the spines sticking out. We also saw the remains of a parrotfish. The shells are tiny but I picked up a few. It was great to get off the boat and take a walk. The anchorage was very peaceful last night and the sea was like glass with only a ripple from the large schools of small fish below.

This morning we left Bahia San Gabriel and headed north following the coast of Isla Espiritu Santo. We sailed a bit in the northerly and now we are at anchor at Caleta Partida, in a small bay in between Isla Espiritu Santo and Isla Partida. The bay is the remains of a volcano crater that eroded on the western and eastern sides. On the eastern side is a small fishing camp on the sand spit between the two islands. We are sharing the anchorage with 12 other boats. The sun has just set and it is quiet except for the slap of water against the hull of the dingy. Even the radio chatter has died down.

Tomorrow we return to La Paz. We hope to meet up with our friends on SV Three Sheets and SV Bravo while we are there.

Adios

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Bahia San Gabriel

2011-11-28T19:50:00.000-08:00

24 25.604 N, 110 21.831 W

It was time to get out of La Paz. We were in "La Paused" mode, to quote Tucker on SV Convivia. The northerlies were starting to ease so we decided it was time to leave, at least for a while. While it was nice to be at anchor and to have wi-fi, it was tiring having the boat kattywhompus to the winds when the tide was going the other way, hearing the continual slap, slap, slap on the stern, the dingy rocking next to the boat.

So, this morning we weighed anchor. The waves were breaking over the bar that separates the La Paz canal from the bay but as we neared the entrance to the canal the wind subsided a bit and so did the waves. We left the canal and put up the sails. We were close-hauled doing as much as 8 knots. That is until the wind shift. We were on a starboard tack and at the leyline for the anchorage on Isla Espiritu Santo. We tacked, thinking that the wind would shift and we would be able to hold a port tack right into the anchorage at Bahia San Gabriel. But no, the wind did not shift, so instead we had it on the nose and it was a bit of a bash in. Ah well, it is over now.

We arrived around 2:00 pm. SV Convivia called on the VHF and invited us over. We anchored, lowered the dingy, lowered the outboard, grabbed the cooler and motored over. We were joined by Brian and Deidre of SV Cat 2 Fold. Their 2 kids are almost the same age as Ruby and Miles so the four kids were having a great time. We enjoyed some conversation and some liquid refreshment.

We returned to Windarra to fix dinner and watch the sun go down. We could see the signs of fish just under the surface, and occasionally the water would erupt like it was boiling from their movement.

After I send this off we are going to sit on the foredeck and watch the stars.

We are out of "La Paused" mode, back into play.

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Meeting a old friend

2011-11-24T18:05:00.000-08:00

This morning we had our coffee in the cockpit and listened to the morning net. After the net, I got a call from Tucker of SV Convivia about the paperwork for getting a temporary import permit. We had to try about 5 different stations before we found one that was not already full of static or conversation. Next I got a call from Ethan of SV Eyoni. Ethan had seen our dodger while we were in the marina and he is building his own dodger and wanted to take some pictures so we said to come on over after breakfast. The next call was from Robin of MV The Cat's Meow. She asked if we were the same Windarra that was in Puerto Vallarta 10 years ago. Yes! Robin cat-sat with Katmandu while we flew to the states and left Windarra at the marina in Paradise Village. What a small world! After a quick conversation we agreed to meet up at the cruiser Thanksgiving dinner later in the afternoon.

Ethan came by and took pictures of the dodger. He and his wife, Nancy and their daughter, Zada have done some extensive cruising in the Sea of Cortez and he went through the guide book with us and made some suggestions of anchorages to stop at. It was great to hear his comments.

In the afternoon, I trimmed Rich's hair. I do need more practice but I think I did okay and he does not look too mangled. After showers we headed over to the marina to catch a cab to the cruiser dinner. One thing about cruisers, they are never late for a meal and this was no exception. So for those of us who arrived on time the only seats left were in the sun. So after a few minutes, I wanted to take another shower. The food was good and there was plenty. They cooked 25 turkeys for 250 people. So we eat our meal and talked to some of the other cruisers.

We also got a chance to catch up with Robin. Their boat is currently in Puerto Escondido and Martin, her husband, is in San Francisco doing the yearly medical thing. She asked about Jesse and Sarah and Katmandu. Her two cats, Toes and Squeaks are still doing well. We hope to catch up with them either in the Sea or on the mainland sometime during the next year.

Tomorrow we hope to get some gasoline for the outboard before heading out for a few days.

Adios.

Busy in La Paz

2011-11-23T16:54:00.000-08:00

Sunday is a day of rest so no chores. There was a cruiser swap meet where I tried to sell a flourescent light fixture, bulbs and mounts. These are the same items I tried to sell at the swap meet in San Diego. Rich bought a vise that articulates in multiple angles. I still have my light fixture and stuff until the next swap meet.

Afterwards we went to a presentation on a cruising rally to El Salvador. We are not interested in this for 2012 but maybe for 2013. We will do more investigating before we commit to this but I may be a good way to go from Mexico to Costa Rico instead going non-stop or multiple days at sea.

The rest of the day was spent reading and relaxing. Rich also took a siesta.

The package of mail we had sent from the US got stuck in Tijuana. It contained refills of some of Rich's medications. This is not allowed. So I talked to UPS and they are sending it back to Seattle and we will have it sent to Sarah to sort. No sure what we will have to do to get Rich's meds but I am sure we figure something out.

Rich was able to talk to Dave Stearns over the weekend and get some tips as well as the web sites for our hydraulics system. He checked the fittins and got more air out of the system, neought that he had to put in at least a quart of more hydraulic fluid. He also changed the oil in the engine and the water maker. I have started cleaning stainless again. It is a never ending job but at least there is a breeze in the afternoon and afterwards we may take showers here at the marina.

Tuesday morning we walked up to the Port Capitan to change our crew list from 3 when we were on the Baja Ha-Ha with Dan to only 2, just Rich and I. The walk was a lot longer than it seemed on the map but good exercise. Rich's foot and knee are doing better so we try not to push it.

This moring we had breakfast with Reg and Phoebe. They are heading out to the islands for a bit. We will try and join them on Friday. After a provisioning trip to the Mega we left the marina and headed out the channel to check the autopilot. It is working great! We were unable to check it under sail as the winds were light, less than 5 knots, but it worked fine in the other navigation modes. We still need to check the autopilot motor brushes and perhaps order spares.

We returned to the harbor and now we are anchored across from the marina. As the tide goes in and out, the current changes and we do the "La Paz waltz" as all the boats at anchor change direction, regardless of the wind, which is thankfully low at this point.

Tomorrow we will attend the cruiser Thanksgiving dinner put on by the cruiser club of La Paz. Everyone brings a dish and the cost is $20 pesos per person. Such a deal.

We would like to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!

Infrastructure

2011-11-18T18:34:00.000-08:00

Thursday morning we caught a cab with Reg of SV Three Sheets to Pichilingue, which is north of La Paz. At the Banjercito you may apply for a Temporary Import Permit (TIP). A TIP is required if you wish to leave your boat in Mexico for a period of time or you want to get boat parts from the US sent to you in Mexico. TIPs are good for 10 years and ours just expired on Nov 12, 2011 so we needed to get a new one. To get a TIP you need the original plus a copy of the following:

Boat document, this should include the hull id number

Passport of owner (copy of picture page)

Tourist visa of owner (copy of both sides)

You also need the following data:

Diesel engine make and serial number

Outboard motor make and serial number

Dingy serial number

The cost is $50 USD, payable in cash (dollars or pesos) or credit card.

The woman at the counter spoke English which was a big help. With the above information we also had to fill out a list of the equipment on the boat. This list is in Spanish. A copy similar to what we filled out is available in the appendix of Charlie’s Charts for Mexico book. If someone is interested I can scan ours and post it on the blog. There is a place on the form to add items. I added watermaker, wind generator and solar panels in Spanish as well. There is no downside that we can see for indicating you have everything on the list even if you don’t at this time. You may decide to add it later. So now we have our TIP certificate. If we wish to have parts send in from the States, we will need to bring a list to a Banjercito of the parts to have the TIP updated and we will show this to customs when the parts arrive, such as at the UPS office.

Reg tried to get his TIP as well. Unfortunately the Canadian boat document does not include hull number so without this information he was unable to get the TIP.

After our taxi ride back Rich and I walked to check out the local marine stores. Boy, do we miss marine stores in Seattle, but there are a few stores and some of the clerks speak a little English. We bought some hose for our water pressure issue. We took a long walk to the CCC – a large store similar to WalMart that includes a grocery section. It was a good chance to stock up on some fresh veggies and fruits. I bought 2 chocolate croissants or should I say that is what they were called at the bakery section. This morning we had them for breakfast and they were more like hot dog buns with some chocolate chips in them. They definitely were a disappointment! We called a taxi to haul us and our purchase back to the boat.

Rich tried running some new hose to see if that would fix the water pressure pump not holding pressure but no joy.

In the late afternoon we joined the Baja Ha-Ha party at Stella’s and we sat with Phoebe and Reg. With our entry we got two free drinks plus a meal and two raffle tickets. The entertainment included a mariachi band, another band with an accordion that played polkas later that evening and a Mexican Folkloric dance group. In between food and entertainment they would call out ticket numbers for the 60+ prizes. We anxiously listened, hoping our numbers would be called for the bottles of Tequila or gift certificates at the Dock Side Restaurant or the Lopez Marine store. No joy, our numbers were not called so we had more margaritas or beers instead. Throwing caution and rhythm out the window, us aging baby boomers dancied to the music of the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s. It was a site!

This morning, Friday, we were not moving so very fast (I wonder why). We took at taxi to the Telcel center to get 3G internet for the Ipad2. I thought I had everything but unfortunately I forgot my passport so we walked back to the marina with a few stops at marine stores looking for more hose, including fuel hose for the engine. No joy. Rich decided to stay on the boat and work the water pressure issue. I grabbed my passport and the Ipad and headed back to Telcel.

I arrived at 11:15 am. After waiting in line, I was able to work with Rene, who had a fairly good command of English (much better than I had of Spanish). With Telcel, I may get either a mini-SIM that will handle 3G internet or cellular phone service but not both it seems to my understanding. To get cellular phone service you need proof of a local address (like a bill from the marina). The phone number is local to that city. Calling to or from anywhere else in Mexico is considered long distance. If I were to buy a cell number here in La Paz, I could call up to 25 different cell numbers in the US for $5 pesos for 15 minutes, but only if I were calling from La Paz, not from Mazatlan with the same number. Another catch is you may add time online, only if you have a Mexican credit card, otherwise you need to go to any outlet that sells Telcel, of which there are many, to buy more time. So I opted to get 3G internet instead. Much to my surprise, there is a promotion of one month’s free internet (max of 3 gigabytes of data), including the mini Sim card that goes in the Ipad2. Such a deal! After they had a copy of my passport, they got a mini Sim card and we started the process of registering the Sim, getting a number, and connecting with the Ipad. During the registering process, the password I entered was changed by ‘tbd process’, so I could not login. After a trip to the supervisor, we determined that changed password and were able to correct it. The Ipad was registered but it would not let me connect to the internet. Rene started making phone calls to Mexico City. I sat down for a bit while he was making his call. I met an American from Colorado who was trying to sign up for broadband access, and he was not able to connected with internet either. By 2:15 pm, I was still at Telcel and still unable to connect to the internet. Since Rene did not know how long this would take, I decided to go back to the boat. I asked Rene to call me when I was working again. Rene said he could not call my US cell phone number. Send me a text message then? Nope. An email? No again. I finally gave him the phone number of the marina and asked him to leave a message. Telcel seems like AT&T before the break up. Having only one telephone/cell/internet company is not a good thing. Competition forces more quality.

Meanwhile back at Windarra, Rich moved the water pressure pump from above the water heater next to the accumulator in the aft head, to under the floor boards next to the shower sump pump. Running the blue tubing back to the accumulator pump was a challenge due to space limitation (it’s a boat) and not enough connectors (it’s Mexico) so he was able to make do with the tubing and plastic hose. Tomorrow we will run new electrical wires for the new placement. It just never ends.

So it has been a long day. Time to post this, and then watch a movie.

Adios.

At Marina de La Paz

2011-11-16T17:58:00.000-08:00

24 09.349 N, 110 19.573 W

This morning we called and got a slip for 5 days at the Marina de La Paz. This is where we stayed 10 years ago. The dock side cafe is still here but the docks are all new and there are even some mega-yachts tied to the outside dock. We have a berth next to Arawak, the boat that Clark Straw helped Robin, the owner, bring south. After checking in we had lunch at the Dock Cafe. Reg and Phoebe of SV Three Sheets came in shortly after us and joined us for lunch.

We returned to the boat for some internet time and then off to walk the malecon. The broad sidewalk on the water side of the malecon has been extended almost to the marina. It includes nice iron work benches and statues. We stopped at the bank ATM for some pesos and and the bus station to find out the bus schedule to Pichilingue to get our temporary import permit. Walking down the malecon we saw some familiar places and some surprising new ones. We saw our favorite ice cream store, La Fuentas, with the tree that have polka dots painted on the trunk. Of course we stopped for some fresh coconut ice cream. We also saw the Hotel Los Arcos, where we had a chateaubriand dinner with Tony and Libby of Silkie C when we were here last. Unfortunately the hotel looks a little sad and we are not sure if it is even open or not. Much to our surprise we saw an Applebee's on the malecon. Who would have thought? Down the street was a Burger King and a Subway. All of these are new since we were here last.

Tomorrow we will try to get our temporary import permit. There is also another Baja Ha-Ha party in the afternoon.

Adios

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Caleta Lobos

2011-11-15T20:09:00.000-08:00

24 17.918 N, 110 19.980 W

This morning we raised anchor and left Ensenada de Los Muertos and headed towards La Paz. The wind was light and on the nose most of the way but we did do a little sailing. We got through the pass at San Lorenzo canal before the ferry from La Paz to Mazatlan entered. We are in a small, protected and quiet anchorage with only four other boats. The autopilot worked well most of the way until we went through the canal. So it is better but not working completely 100%.

We had a little excitement just after we anchored. Down below it smelled of diesel. Rich looked into the engine compartment and saw that there was diesel all over the starboard side. So we spent some time cleaning that us and trying to find where it was coming from. Rich discovered that a hose from the fuel filter to the engine injector pump was leaking. So I dug through the storage compartment beneath the settee in the aft stateroom and found the spare engine hoses. Then I went under the lower pullman buck for small hose clamps and Rich replaced the hose. Hoping this did the trick.

We invited Phoebe and Reg of SV Three Sheets over for dinner. They are from Sarnia, Ontario and we had met them in Ventura as we came down the coast. We had a fun evening talking and laughing.

The sunset behind SV Three Sheets at Caleta Lobos

Tomorrow, La Paz.

Los Muertos Yacht Club - Nov, 17, 2001

2011-11-14T16:24:00.000-08:00

On Nov. 17, 2001 we met on the beach at Ensenada de Los Muertos for a potluck and snorkeling with our new cruising friends. Here are pictures, then and now.

Sarah, Pete, Alyce, Sue, Marie, Lucie, Elaine and Rich behind the Los Muertos Yacht Club symbol

The hillside in the background has no development at all

Elaine and Rich holding our faded LMYC burgee

See the pangas, boat ramp and restaurant in the background at Los Muertos today, 11-13-2011. There is also a golf course, a resort and several private homes here at well

Meeting friends in Los Muertos

2011-11-13T18:38:00.001-08:00

We decided to stay today at Los Muertos. The winds calmed down and the boat stopped rocking. Many of the boats left last night, calling the anchorage, untenable but us diehards stuck it out.

We got out our snorkel gear and headed for the beach. We met up with Reg and Phoebe of Three Sheets. They were headed to the 1555 Restaurant at the end of the beach so we decided to join them. There we also saw Tucker, Victoria, Ruby and Miles of Convivia as well as some other cruisers. We sat down for cervesas and nachos while Reg and Phoebe enjoyed their lunch.

The restaurant was once the Giggling Marlin of Cabo San Lucas fame. The 1555 is part of the Los Suenos development including a golf course. Apparently the development has bought a large part of the bay property and would like to rename the bay to Los Suenos which means dreams and put in a retirement community. The bay's current name of Bay of the Dead is not the name the marketers would like to use for a retirement community. We will see if the name gets changed in the future or not.

After lunch, we went snorkeling in the bay. There did not seem to be as many fish as I remember from 10 years ago but still the water was pleasant. Rich was on shore standing by our dingy and talking to Tucker when a gentlemen walked up to him and asked if he was one of the boaters. Rich said yes and then the gentleman asked if he knew the 'Windarrians'. Rich thought a moment and then replied that yes he was from the sailboat Windarra. Dave Larkman then introduced himself. Dave and I once worked together at Commercial Avionics Systems at Boeing. He and his wife, Jean, live at La Ventana just around the point from Los Muertos for part of the year. We had been in touch via email but we did not expect to have them walk up to us at the beach. We chatted for a bit and we will get together once we get to La Paz.

You never know who is going to walk up to us on a remote beach somewhere.

Depending on the weather and our moods we may continue on towards La Paz. We are in no hurry

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Ensenada de Los Muertos

2011-11-12T16:52:00.001-08:00

23 59.098 N, 109 49.724 W

Today we got up early and left Los Frailles. The winds were light so we motored. Unfortunately the autopilot was acting up and we are getting a rudder response error. It got more frequent as the day went on to the point that we were hand steering most of the way. So we were glad the winds were light and so were the seas. After we anchored, Rich took a look at the hydraulics in the lazarette and in the binnacle. There has always been a small leak in the lazarette and he did not see any other leaks or more than usual output. The binnacle was topped off as well. We are theorizing that there were some air in the lines which was causing the problem so Rich would turn the wheel from over hard on port to over hard on starboard with the plug loose in the binnacle to let our any air. After doing this, the movement of the wheel seems more uniform but we will not know until we are moving and not at anchor.

About two hours after we anchored the winds picked up and so did the seas so we are hobby-horsing in the anchorage which is not fun. As a resulted we have decided to wait dinner for a while, hoping it will settle down. The gribs seem to give that indication, we hope they are correct.

Ten years ago we anchored in Ensenada de Los Muertos with some new friends we had met on the Baja Ha-Ha in 2001. The boats were Windarra, Kiapa, Saperlipopette, Aristos, Silkie C, The Great Escape and Siesta. We gathered on the beach for a potluck and snorkeling. Pete of Kiapa fashioned a flag of sorts out of sticks found on the beach. We called ourselves the Los Muertos Yacht club. Later Sue of Aristos made burgees of bright purple cloth with the image of the sticks in silver. We met later in La Paz and even had a cabbage salad contest. The title of commodore went to the person lucky enough to be given the purple sash. The only rule was that if a member of the yacht club caught you in port not flying your burgee, you had to buy them a drink. We still have our burgee but it is looking awfully faded.

We continue to hope that the seas will calm down and that we may go snorkeling tomorrow, just as we did ten years ago.

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Still here

2011-11-11T18:33:00.000-08:00

23 22.678 N, 109 25.505 W
Los Frailles

One of the nice things about cruising is that you can change your mind and your plan. Originally we had planned to continue on to Ensenada des Los Muertos today but instead we stayed here at Los Frailles. Several boats left but others stayed like us and even more arrived as the day went on.

The winds did switch to the southeast (it was supposed to be yesterday) so it was a bit breezy and rolly in the anchorage. Rich and I read and did a few little chores. I made a set of straps to use for lifting the dingy. Rich check the hydraulic fluid for the steering. We had planned to go for a walk on the beach but due to the white caps in the anchorage we decided to pass.

Tomorrow we will see if the weather is conducive to heading north.

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Going uphill

2011-11-10T19:40:00.000-08:00

23 22.678 N, 109 25.505 W
Los Frailles

This morning we listened to the weather report on the Amigo net. The reception was poor but it seemed to indicate it would be backing off today and the winds would be changing to an easterly.

So we followed the crowd and left the marina at Puerto Los Cabos behind. At first is was a nice beam reach, winds were from 8-15 knots, not too bad. When we turned the corner northward, the winds were on our nose. To make it worse, the seas were short and choppy and we were bashing into them and of course the winds built to almost 25 knots as the day progressed. This was not in the report, this was not supposed to be the plan, harrumpf. The foredeck as a wash and several times I watched the water run up the deck and splash into the dodger. To make matters a little more tricky, the autopilot was not happy. We suspect that this was another 'feature' of having the software in the autopilot updated in San Diego before we left.

We anchored at Los Frailles around 2:30 pm. Ken and Carole of SV Nautimoments came by on their dingy for a chat. As we were talking in the cockpit I looked back and saw their dingy floating away. As we quickly started to launch our dingy off the davits, another boat, Boboleta, motored by, grabbed the dingy and brought it by Windarra. The wandering dingy was returned.

There is a full moon out tonight over the anchorage filled with about 30 boats from the Baja Ha-Ha. In the morning we will listen to the weather again and see if we will stay or proceed on.

Adios

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Waiting for a weather window

2011-11-09T14:45:00.000-08:00

23 03.617 N, 109 40.348 W

It is Wednesday and we are still here at Puerto Los Cabos, waiting for a weather window so we may head north towards Los Frailles.

On Monday we went to the fuel dock to fill up with diesel then returned to our place along the long dock. The marina staff brought over some long hoses and we may attach them to outlets for the garden sprinklers. We then attach our hose to it and now we are able to wash some of the dirt, grime and salt that has accumulated since leaving San Diego. Unfortunately Rich twisted his knee trying to favor his injured foot. He limped painfully down below. I continued to wash, enjoying the cool water on the hot deck. After a good scrubbing and rinse, and a change of clothes, Rich drove us over to the marina office with our load of laundry. The harbormaster’s sister-in-law does laundry for a fee, about $2 US per kilo. After returning I caught a taxi into San Jose dos Capos with Ken and Carole of Nautimoments, Doreen of August Moon and Sandy of I Yam What I Yam. We first went to the Walmart, where I was able to get some fresh veggies and fruits and some pesos out of the Bancamex ATM. We then caught a taxi to the Tropicana Hotel in downtown. After walking around the block we came to the Riviera French Restaurant and Bakery, it was time for a snack and we were all hungry. Doreen and I split a ham and cheese crepe and a dessert crepe with Grand Marnier and coconut ice cream. Om nom nom. I bought two croissants at the bakery for our breakfast the next morning. Happily satiated we rode the taxi back to the marina. In my absence Rich as able to repair our pressurized water system using a replacement pump and replacing some of the old hose with the plastic tubing. The replacement pump is noisier but it works which is most important.

Tuesday the weather is still not cooperating. Several boats left the morning be turned around and returned as the seas were big, the winds were strong and they were not making much progress against both. The weather report from the Amigo net indicates that Thursday it will be more promising. Rich went over to the marina office with Carole to sign up for another night. Carole and Doreen thought it would be a good idea to have a small potluck on the dock but first it was happy hour. Carole, Ken, Doreen, Russ, Sandy, Rich and I walked over to one of the cantinas near the dock for happy hour. The Pina Coladas tasted great. After one drink we all walked to the next cantina where they were serving 2 for 1 margaritas, we could not pass up especially since that included free chips and salsa fresca. By now it was time to get ready for the potluck. Sandy will be leaving for Vancouver shortly and wanted to cook up the wahoo they had caught during the Baja Ha-Ha. We brought some fruit salad. Doreen had asked the harbormaster if they had a table we could use to set up the potluck on the dock. He did not have one but instead he went out and bought a table and well as donating a pumpkin pie, chocolate chip cookies, a bag full of rolls and also brought down a cooler full of ice. What a deal! Unbeknownst to Doreen and Carole, word had spread like wildfire among the cruisers about the potluck. The little group swelled and covered the dock. Everyone brought something to share. We got a chance to meet some of the other Baja Ha-Ha’ers including the folks on Tabu who operate the sailboat Alaskan Eagle. We chatted with them about Chile and Peru as they have been at least 7 times on Alaskan Eagle. A fun time was had by all.

Today, Wednesday, is a lazy day. We will put the dingy on the davits for our passage up to La Paz. With it off of the foredeck, we reinstalled the dorade cowlings so we can get more air flow through the boat. With this warmer weather we need as much air movement as we can get. Later we will put the dingy on the davits, wash off the cockpit cushions and fill the water tank. The water is not potable for drinking but fine for showers and okay if it is boiled such as for coffee. Rich sent an email off to the watermaker folks but no reply as of yet. The watermaker works but the salinity is much higher than we were getting while we were in California.

Hopefully we will be leaving Thursday morning.

Puerto Los Cabos

2011-11-06T17:20:00.001-08:00

23 03.617 N, 109 40.348 W

This morning we left Cabo San Lucas and the jet skis and pangas and cruise ships and headed toward the Sea of Cortez. Our first passage was a short one, only about 16 miles to Puerto Los Cabos, just on the other side of San Jose Los Cabos. We are at a marina on the transient dock. No electricity or water is available at the transient dock but the price is only $45 a night for Windarra. If we wanted power and water it would cost $110. So tomorrow we will go to the fuel dock to take on fuel and water instead.

The port also has some large pens with dolphins so tourists may swim with the dolphins. The dolphins could jump over the rim of the enclosure if they wanted to to escape but apparently they are well fed and don't see the need to escape. The area is very clean and pristine and we watched a few tourist go for a swim. The dolphins jumped and whistled and waved their tails.

Several Ha-Ha'ers are here as well. I suspect we are all making the journey towards La Paz.

We called Jesse and wished him happy birthday on his 26th birthday. We remember celebrating his 16th birthday at Turtle bay when we did the Baja Ha-Ha in 2001.

Rich is fixing dinner so I will keep this short.

Adios from Puerto Los Cabos

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Baja Ha-Ha award night

2011-11-05T21:56:00.000-07:00

Today we stayed on Windarra doing some chores. Rich cleaned the watermaker but we are concerned that it needs to run a long time before the water is not salty. So Monday he will call them to see what to do next. Also our pressurized water system (pump and accumulator) has stopped working as well. We have had this system running for over 10 years so I guess it is tired. Rich tried replacing the pump but it is still not working right .I did a little cleaning and put a chafe guard on the boom brake. The line is being chafed by the wire for the boom vang. We may have to change how the boom brake is mounted.

This evening was the Baja Ha-Ha awards presentation. There is first, second and third places in each division and everyone gets an award so there are several third places! Surprisingly, we got first place in our division, mainly because we sailed the whole first leg after the rolling start. Other boats sailed the whole second leg but it was shorter. I think all of the boats in our division motored at least part of the way on the last leg. Our prize includes a t-shirt for first place, a painted wooden fish with a first place ribbon, a button with the map of the Baja Ha-Ha and a copy of Latitude 38. We also got certificates for each crew member that states: Baha Ha-Ha Survivor, by order of the Grand Poobah: This certificate acknowledges to all the world that the bearer (insert your name here) successfully completed the Baha Ha-Ha Cruisers' Rally from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas in the year 2011. It is definitely suitable for framing. Dan -- we will mail your certificate to you!

Other awards were handed out as well: Most Chatty on the radio which went to I Yam What I Yam, Nautimoments was second. The youngest sailor was Miles on SV Convivia (4 years old), the oldest sailor - 83 years old. Other awards were for best boat bite, aka boat related injury, which went to someone who had their toenail tore off, the first to sail naked, the most fish and to the person who came the farthest to sail in the rally - a tie between a man from Sweden, another man from Copenhagen and a woman from Switzerland. There were other award but I can not remember maybe because they also had free beer at the event.

Tomorrow we leave for Puerto Los Cabos for two nights in the marina. It will be a chance to do laundry and wash the boat. The boat is filthy and definitely needs a wash. After that we will make our way to La Paz.

Adios.

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Arrive at Cabo San Lucas

2011-11-03T20:13:00.000-07:00

22 53.485 N, 109 53.660 W

It was a long evening with many boats around us to watch for. This morning we had to be on the look out for fishing floats with lines between them. We almost were caught by one. It is scary wondering how many we might have passed in the night, not seeing them at all.

We were escorted by a very large group of porpoises. Were they showing us the way? We also saw groups of flying fish scatter across the surface as we go by.

We crossed the finish line at 11:38 am and continued motoring around Cabo Falso and then Cabo San Lucas. There are many more homes, hotels and condominiums than there were 10 years ago. We anchored along the beach right behind the Walt Disney cruise ship with the jet skis, parasailing, hobie cats, etc zipping around. The beach is more narrow and drops off steeply due to the hurricane that hit this area some years ago. Lots of hotels but very few people on the beach and almost no palapas selling cerviche.

After anchoring and securing the boat we took well deserved showers, then a rest. Later in the afternoon we caught a panga into the marina area for dinner at the Baja Cantina. The food was good and we got a chance to watch some of the activity around the marina. After dinner we walked around the marina which is now surrounded by a series of restaurants and high end shops. It was a little more difficult trying to get a panga back to the boat. We finally asked marina security to get a panga / water taxi for us. It was a little hunting in the dark on the way back since we forgot to turn on the anchor light before we left.

So we are here for a few days but Dan leaves tomorrow. He is now a blue water sailor and he will be missed.

Adios

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The Big One that got away...... thank god!

2011-11-02T19:02:00.001-07:00

24 00.862 N, 111 43.711 W
Part way to Cabo San Lucas

This morning we got up at 5:30 am to prepare for a 7:00 am start. Many boats wanted to start early so they would be only spending one night on passage. The winds were light but there were promises that it would build. It did for a while and we sailed until around 3:00 pm when the winds went down to under 5 knots. So we started the iron spinnaker.

As we crossed the Tropic of Cancer we christened Dan on the aft deck with a small bucket of water as it was his first time crossing it while at sea. We have the pictures to prove it.

At 4:20 pm the line from the fishing pole went ZING! Fish on! Rich quickly went to the reel to set the drag. The reel was burning hot and the fish was leaping multiple times out of the water. A MARLIN!!! and it was HUGE! Rich switch the reel to stop. and ZING, the line broke, the fish was gone. The reel was still very hot and the line was a knotted mess. There was still drag on the line as Rich slowly pulled it in and I wound it around an empty sunscreen bottle that Dan had used up. We wound and wound and pulled in all of the mono filament line but the leader was gone and so was the wahoo bomb, a lure that Rich had bought in San Diego. While we were sad we did not get a picture, we were secretly glad that it got away. The idea of trying to land a marlin much less cut it up on deck was a little concerning. But we now have quite a tail to tell.

Next stop, Cabo San Lucas

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Beach Party at Bahia Santa Maria

2011-11-01T20:04:00.000-07:00

24 46.051 N, 112 15.107 W

This morning was leisurely. We sat in the cockpit listening to the morning net and getting all of the details about the check in, slip space in Cabo San Lucas and the beach party.

Typically with the Baja Ha-Ha you check in at Cabo San Lucas. If you do it yourself this is a several hour process visiting the port capitan, immigration and the bank in between each. Another option is to have an agent run the paperwork for you for a fee. This year, Bob Hoyt of Mag Bay Outfitters coordinated with the officials at Puerto Magdalena to do the check in here at Bahia Santa Maria at the beach party. Before we left San Diego, I sent in scanned copies of our boat paperwork, passports and crew lists. When we arrived at the party we stood in line to fill out more paperwork for the port capitan and pay our boat fee which is based on gross tonnage, for us it was $25. The official from immigration provided our tourist visas with a fee of $25 each. We also paid an agent fee to Bob Hoyt for coordinating, which was $40. Luckily we got our tourist visas since they ran out after us. Not sure if they will provide this service in the future for the Baja Ha-Ha but it worked well for us.

The beach party was up on the bluff overlooking the northwest corner of the bay. This is the site of a small fishing camp. We got the dingy off the foredeck and braved the surf. The trick is to watch where the pangas go and take the same route. Once you commit to go, go as fast as you can. We installed new wheels for the dingy in San Diego and they helped a lot with the beach landing.

The band traveled over 120 kilometers including 40 kilometers of dirt road and a ferry to provide the entertainment. I thought they played well, they were certainly loud enough. The food was $15 a plate and it included rice, mashed potatoes, salsa fresca, grilled mahi-mahi, and delicious shrimp. In addition you could get beer, margaritas, water and 7-up. The cruisers were having a great time. Dan also took a swim and said that the water was warm.

Tomorrow morning we will be up early for a 7:00 am start to head to Cabo San Lucas. We hope to be there some time on Thursday.

Adios

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At Bahia Santa Maria

2011-11-01T08:29:00.000-07:00

24 46.053 N, 112 15.106 W

We crossed the 'finish line' for Bahia Santa Maria at 4:56 am. and by 7:15 am we were anchored in the bay along with most of the fleet. The weather is warm with a cooling breeze of 14 knots and the water temperature is 24 degrees C or for you yanks, 75.2 degrees F.

After showers and breakfast we crashed for a while. In the afternoon we did a few chores such as reroute the downhaul to go inside the shrouds and Rich checked the hydraulic fluid for the steering. When we were in San Diego we had the software in the autopilot updated and when we reinstalled it the sail to the wind feature was not working correctly. I changed a few settings and now it should be ready to test on the last leg to Cabo San Lucas.

I forgot to mention in last night's position update that we saw the green flash at sunset. This morning we were treated with a colorful sunrise and we saw our first frigate bird. The bay is quite large but there is not a tree in sight. Tomorrow there is a beach party so we will go exploring then. Right now we are recovering.

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Woohoo Fish on!

2011-10-30T19:14:00.001-07:00

25 30.098 N, 113 02.281 W

We are continuing to sail to Bahia Santa Maria. There was a lot of activity today. We caught our first fish, a Dorado or Mahi-Mahi. We were sitting in the cockpit when we heard the zing of the line going out. Dan reeled the fish in and landed the fish. I grabbed some vodka to help stun the fish. Rich and Dan used the back deck to cut the catch into meal sizes. I fetched the supplies and stayed out of the 'blood zone'. Now that we have a fresh water hose connection on the stern of the boat, Rich was nice enough to clean up. So it looks like we will be having some fish while we are at Bahia Santa Maria.

In addition we saw humpback whales breaching about 100 yards off our port side. We had several visits from dolphins including leaps and jumps. I was able to take a short video as well of the dolphins playing off our bow. Later this afternoon we saw a marlin jumping several times not far from us. Not sure why it was jumping. One of the cruisers landed a 62 inch marlin. They have photos to prove it. They were using a lure made from a Heineken beer can.

We hope to cross the finish line early in the morning and then go into Bahia Santa Maria if the winds hold up during the night.

Maybe some more fish too.

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Slowly sailing to Bahia Santa Maria

2011-10-29T18:52:00.001-07:00

27 01.558 N, 114 29.593 W

We are slowly sailing to Bahia Santa Maria. There was little wind when we left Turtle Bay but we gave it a fair try before we fired up the iron spinnaker (the engine). We motored from 10:51 am to 3:21 pm with the wind rarely going above 5 knots. In the late afternoon it started to pick up and now we are sailing in about 13 knots of wind from the northwest, with the main out to starboard and the yankee poled out to port.

Before we left we were hailed by Clark Straw on Arawak. They left San Diego early on Thursday and were just passing Turtle Bay on the way to Bahia Magdalena. We chatted a bit and later this morning I sent an email to Suzy back in San Diego letting her know where Clark was as they do not have an SSB to send email.

We tried fishing but were skunked again. We did see some Humboldt squid on the surface trying to grab some fish with their tentacles coming out of the water. Glad it was not a kraken! Other boaters mentioned catching some as well for calamari. We did hear of one boat landing a 46 inch Mahi Mahi.

Maybe we will have better luck tomorrow.

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Potluck on the beach

2011-10-29T10:24:00.001-07:00

27 40.763 N, 114 53.258 W

This afternoon there was a Baja Ha-Ha potluck on the beach. Rich fixed a pasta salad for our contribution and we got a panga ride over. We will save the beach landing for Bahia Santa Maria.

On the beach were tents, tables, chairs, beach volleyball, etc. Folks who had caught fish on the way down from San Diego brought it to be barbecued. It was a great chance to socialize with some of the other crews. There was a tug of war between the women and the men which I participated in. A photographer climbed the hill behind and we all posed for a group picture. The one downside was one of the catamaran's was anchor too close to the beach and as the tide went out it went aground, despite the efforts of the captain, several pangas and sailors. We will find out in the morning if the boat is okay. Rich's knee is still sore and as we were leaving the party he was tackled accidentally by one of the ultimate frisbee players and now his foot is swollen.

Tomorrow we are off to Bahia Santa Maria, about 240 nautical miles south.

Adios

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Baseball at Turtle Bay

2011-10-27T21:26:00.000-07:00

27 40.763 N, 114 53.258 W

We arrived early this morning at set the hook at 12:30 am. We settled the boat, Dan made margaritas and Rich zapped some tamales in the microwave. After showers we were ready for some sleep. I had set my alarm for 7:15 am so that I could report in at the morning net. When the alarm went off, I was still very sleepy so I hit the snooze button. This happened several times because I did not connect the alarm with anything much less the net. Finally I started to figure it out so I got up. I am looking forward to a more full night of sleep tonight.

Rich made us omelets this morning so we sat in the cockpit, having breakfast, watching the other boats arrive. Some 85 boats were here when we arrived last night and more have been streaming in. The weather is warm but the 15 knot wind across the harbor keeps things kool. I put the sun shade on the cockpit on one side to keep us out of the sun.

In the afternoon we got a panga ride to the old pier. It is the same pier as 10 years ago but now there is a dingy dock attached to the end of it. The stairs are still as rickety and rust covered as ever. The town has grown some. There are now a few restaurants on the beach providing cerveza and wi-fi.

We walked up to the new baseball stadium up the hill. Baseball is very big in Turtle Bay. They have 4 teams that play against other towns in Baja. The Baja Ha-Ha organized a fun game with the cruisers and the local school kids. It was a hoot to watch, not many rules and no one was keeping score. The local kids must spend a lot of time practicing since they were pretty good. One sported a Derek Jeter t-shirt. Dan joined the outfield and Rich decided to take a shot at bat. He had a good hit and made it to first. On the run to second base, something happened to his knee but he continued around the bases. I hope he did not injure it seriously.

We decided that cerveza was in order (well, at least it would not hurt the knee) so we walked up the hill to the Vera Cruz restaurant. It is still the same as when we stopped there 10 years ago except how they also have free wi-fi, all be it slow but free.

We walked back down the hill and caught a panga back to the boat. Time for a siesta.

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Crossed the finish line at Turtle Bay

2011-10-26T20:02:00.000-07:00

27 53.63 N, 115 19.10 W

At 7:38 pm we crossed the finish line at Turtle Bay. We still have a little over 18 more miles from the line to go into the harbor. We are looking forward to anchoring and staying in one place for a bit.

We have been doing well sailing. Late this afternoon we had a large pod of Dahl porpoises come join us and play by our bow. I got some video but I don't think it is National Geographic quality. If any of it looks decent, I will post on the blog the next time we have internet.

Rich and I are now rigging preventer lines from the bow back to the end of the boom in addition to using a boom brake. We have not quite worked out all of the kinks but it seems to be working fairly well.

It has been a long few days so I will end this now. More later about Turtle Bay.

No worries,

Elaine, Rich and Dan

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Sailing with porpoises

2011-10-25T18:17:00.000-07:00

29 54.464 N, 116 26.896 W

The rolling start finally ended at 7:00 am this morning. We had already stopped motoring and were sailing with the full main and the yankee out on the whisker pole. We were so tired of hearing the engine. The winds today varied from 6 knots to as high as 17 knots, with our speed over the ground from 3.0 knots to 7.0 knots. Of course the time at 7 knots was brief but we will take it.

This morning I participated in the Baja Ha-Ha net in the morning. This is where all of the boats check in and give their position, as well as asking for any medical or mechanical assistance. It was good to know that no one needed any medical assistance. But one boat got a 1 inch thick line wrapped around their prop last night and was waiting for this morning to try and dive the boat and cut away the line, while under sail. Another boat, a catamaran lost one of their engines, as they have one in each amah, their were still proceeding slowly.

This afternoon we saw a large group / school / pod / herd of porpoises. It is so fun to see these graceful creatures fly through the water as well as jumping and leaping. I had my camera ready but no luck getting a good shot. They are so camera shy.

While yesterday we had several boats around us, now it is a little lonely. There is only one AIS target broadcasting within 24 miles of us. Last night there was over 8.

One thing that was a little scary this morning is when Rich and I were preparing the pole for the yankee we saw floats marking a fishing line. We moved to starboard thinking we would be clearing the line and running parallel only to find out we were actually crossing the line like a slalom course. we cleared the line and shortly thereafter we saw the markers for the end of the line. We definitely did not want to get caught on the line.

Rich and Dan put out the fishing pole but no bites. We will try again tomorrow.

We have gone 139 miles from San Diego and we have 166 miles to go to Turtle Bay. We are looking forward to arriving.

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The Baja Ha-Ha begins

2011-10-24T19:06:00.000-07:00

31 54.901 N, 117 08.352 W

At is 6:40 pm and I thought I would craft the position update before it became totally dark out.

We rose early this morning (read 6:45 am) and we grabbed showers before the crowds hit. Showers where you can just stand in the water, not have to worry about how much water you are using and you don't have to put in quarters either. In the near future, we will have navy showers on the boat.

We left the dock about 9:30 with the other 170 or so boats for the parade by Shelter Island, complete with the San Diego Fire boat spraying water everywhere and some other local sailboats parading as well, cheering us on. We passed a boat named "Stress Reliever" and they were definitely not relieved as boats were not as careful as they should be about the other boats in their vicinity, or should I say that not everyone was minding the rules of the road. Luckily we made it safely to the starting area for the 11:00 am start. The winds were light so they called for a rolling start, meaning everyone would motor at 6 knots or less until there was enough wind to sail and then they would start the rally. We all headed towards the Coronado Islands. At noon, 1:00 pm and 2:00 pm they continued the rolling start. Now it is after 6:00 pm and we are still rolling, motorsailing with just the main. The winds are now 5 knots from the west north west or a broad reach if we could sail. Hopefully the winds will fill in tomorrow.

We have seen whale blow and lots of Dahl porpoises, many of them jumping and leaping as they passed through the fleet in numbers over 50. Occasionally we would pass a sea lion who would lift his head to look at us and then quickly dive down under the surface.

We are all feeling well, munching on granola bars, hummus and flatbread, apples and peanut butter. Dinner was a bowl of pasta salad that Rich had made yesterday.

I am not sure how many of the 170 entries are still out on the water. One boat dropped out at the very beginning with a shaft problem. This afternoon we saw another boat heading back with their main draped around their cockpit. We suspect they lost their main halyard. Knock on wood, all systems are go on Windarra.

No worries,

Elaine, Rich and Dan

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Getting ready for the Baja Ha-Ha

2011-10-23T22:26:00.000-07:00

The last couple of days have been hectic. You would think that with all of the boat projects we have been doing we would be all done and ready. Well, almost.

On Tuesday and Wednesday we did some chores around the boat such as cleaning all of the water strainers, going through our mail, bills, filing, etc. On Wednesday night we had dinner with Clark and Suzy Straw of SV Final Straw. The last time we saw them was in Australia before we returned to the US. We were joined by Robin Ryder, a friend of Clark’s, Robin is also preparing to sail to Mexico but not with the Baja Ha-Ha. His boat is a Mason 63 ketch, named Arawak. Clark will be joining him. We had great discussion at dinner about cruising and comparing some of the places we went to and catching up on other cruisers. Clark and Suzy were kind enough to loan us their Prius so we could run errands before we left. This was a life saver and we thank them very much for this assistance.

Thursday we did the big provisioning trip to Costco, Von’s and Trader Joe’s. Fitting it all in the car was one thing, finding a place to store it all on the boat was another. The larder is full!

Saturday we did a few boat chores. Rich put wheels on the dingy to assist with beach landings in the surf. I connected up the backup IPad navigation system. I am using iNavX app ($49) on the IPad with Navionics Gold charts for Mexico, Central and South America ($55). In addition to the software, I bought a DMK Yacht Instruments (www.dmkyachts.com) model 11A ($399) with the DMK app (free). The DMK box takes Raymarine SeaTalk, NMEA 0183 and NMEA 2000 inputs and transmits them via wi-fi as UDP packets. These packets are received by the apps on the IPad. Our current installation is for the Furuno AIS, FA-50. The AIS information is transmitted to the IPad and read in by the iNavX app and displayed on the charts, similar to the charter/plotter. At some point I will connect the other instrumentation. I will check this out more during our trip down to Cabo San Lucas.

Sunday we did last minute chores. Rich changed the oil and flushed the watermaker. He went to the skipper’s meeting while I stayed on the boat and did a little bit of cleaning. In the afternoon we attended the Baja Ha-Ha Halloween party in the West Marine parking lot. Many cruisers came dressed for the occasion. We saw Tinkerbell in drag, Peter Pan, Tick-Tock the crocodile, some pirates, parrots and other fictional characters. Later that afternoon Clark and Suzy stopped by to visit on Windarra and pick up the Prius. We got a chance to see picture of their newest grandchild, Charlie, who is their son Kevin’s son.

Later we went to the airport to meet Dan Sego, our crew member for the Baja Ha-Ha.

Now it is time for bed. It will be a long day tomorrow.

Back in San Diego

2011-10-19T09:24:00.000-07:00

On Monday, 10/17, we returned from our trip up north. Rich and I flew to Portland to visit with Jesse, Rae and Sarah. It was fun to hear them talk about their jobs. Jesse is busy doing software integration at Thetus. Sarah is a lab technician at Revolt Technologies where they are developing zinc air batteries for cars. Rae is working at a lab at OSHU doing research with flies. We are very proud of them. Jesse tried a new recipe involving a hollowed out pumpkin, bread and gruyere cheese. It was very tasty.

We also took the opportunity while we were there to do some shopping. I picked up 6 containers of the coffee I like that they sell at Costco in Portland but not in California. Rich got some shorts at the Columbia Sportswear outlet store. We looked at inflatable kayaks but decided we were not ready to buy yet.

We also splurged and bought an IPad 2. We have been thinking of getting one for a while especially after seeing how Tucker and Victoria Bradford of SV Convivia are using it for their navigation. They are using the IPad app, iNavX, with a Brookhouse imux that takes NMEA 0183 data and transmits it wirelessly to the IPad. Navionics Gold charts are available for a lot less than on other systems. iNavX also overlays gribs and AIS data. We purchased a wireless transmitter from DMK Yachts Instruments which supports NMEA 0183 and 2000. When I get it running, I will write more about it.

We also drove up to Tacoma to visit with my mother, Leah. She was not feeling well so we stopped by another day to check on her. She does not remember us but on the second visit she was pleasant and in a good mood even though our conversations a one sided for the most part, I talk and she sometimes asks a simple question.

In Seattle we made the rounds picking up our mail, dropping off and picking up stuff at the storage unit, shopping at the marine stores, and visiting with friends, etc. We also had doctors’ appointments for annual exams and shots. Poor Rich suffered an allergic reaction to his pneumonia shot which gave him the chills and shakes. He is glad you only have to have the shot once.

There is still no word on the Subaru. We rented a car to drive up to Seattle with and Sarah took the train up to Seattle to meet us. She attended a Steampunk convention in Bellevue. We exchanged the rental car to her so she would have a vehicle until they find the Subaru or not. Rich and I took the train back to Portland and a visit before our return to San Diego.

Now we are back and it is time to get the boat and ourselves ready for the Baja Ha-Ha rally which leaves on Monday, October 24.

San Diego at last

2011-10-04T17:44:00.000-07:00

32 43.617 N, 117 11.998 W

Cabrillo Isle Marina

We left Oceanside Yacht Club at 8:00 am, along with several other Baja Ha-Ha boats. We had light winds most of the way so we motorsailed. And as typical of most of our trip, the winds picked up to about 15 knots as we were entering the harbor.

The trip was relatively uneventful. We saw 2 groups of dolphins and a small group of pilot whales. On the VHF we could hear notices about naval activity in the area with warnings to stay at least 3 nautical miles away from the live fire exercises. They were far enough away from our course we did not have to worry about it but we did see a lot of hovercraft and helicopter activity (cue Ride of the Valkyries).

We are now at Cabrillo Isle Marina on Harbor Island. It is not too far from the airport. Not only can we see the places but we hear them as well. Today we walked over to the Von's and Trader Joe's to check them out for provisioning before we leave for Mexico. I also purchase our fishing licenses for Mexico online. At first I was concerned about the price of $493.17 for a 1 year permit. As this is Mexican pesos, it translates to only $35.42 in US dollars which is quite reasonable.

We met a couple, Joe and Heidi on a Shannon ketch, called Huck. They are from New Orleans and will also be joining the Baja Ha-Ha. They were kind enough to help us find our slip yesterday when we pulled in. The numbers at the end of the slips were way too small for our aging eyes.

Rich and I are planning on buying 2 inflatable kayaks to take with us. If anyone has suggestions as to which kind, please send them. So far we are looking at the Advanced Element, Advance Frame Sport.

More later

Oceanside Yacht Club

2011-10-01T15:27:00.000-07:00

33 12.625 N, 117 23.839 W

Currently we are at Oceanside Yacht Club. They are sponsoring a Baja Ha-Ha get together which included moorage and a free dinner so here we are. We arrived on Friday afternoon.

Wednesday morning we left the Newport Harbor Yacht Club where we had a great stay on one of their mooring buoys and sailed south for Dana Point. At the west end of the harbor is a small anchorage inside the breakwater and next to the Ocean Institute.

Thursday, Rich and I decided it was a good time to work the autopilot / HF radio interference issue. If we were sailing or motoring with the autopilot and then tried to send an email via the HF radio, the autopilot would give an alarm about no communication with the autopilot computer and then disengage. This is not something we would like to have happen during passage. I had sent some emails to the autopilot folks and they cautioned that if there was a drop in voltage, this problem could occur. We had the power for the autopilot communication bus separate from the computer and hydraulics power so we tried putting them on the same breaker to see if that fixed the problem. No joy. Since changing these connections required taking most of the navigation station apart, we looked at other wiring that might be causing the problem. Lo and behold the communication wiring between the autopilot computer next to the aft stateroom bed and the navigation station as well as the wiring between the autopilot control panel at the helm and the navigation station were routed near the cable between the HF radio and the tuner in the lazarette. This was not good and could be the source of the problem. So we temporarily pulled the wiring out and just ran it direct from the navigation station to the aft stateroom through the aft head and also to the binnacle. Success! So we rerouted the wiring to go through the engine compartment and then into the navigation station which required a new hole in the cabinet since the wire was not quite long enough. We also switched the communication bus power back to the breaker it was on previously. After testing sending emails with the autopilot on and the engine running and not running with no drop out by the autopilot computer we believe we have solved the problem. Hooray.

Friday morning as we prepared to leave we got a call from Sarah. The Subaru was stolen from the parking lot outside her apartment. She checked to make sure it was not towed away even though she has a parking sticker for the apartment complex. Rich called the police to report the vehicle stolen and then called the insurance company. The police visited Sarah to take her statement and give her a case number. According to the police officer that Rich talked to, Honda Accords are becoming scare and now they are stealing Subarus for the air bags, which are expensive to replace. So Sarah is without a car, again. As the vehicle was registered in our name, she will have to wait until we arrive in Portland next week and rent a car for her to use until the Subaru is recovered or declared gone. What is it about Portland? First the Honda was stolen and not recovered, now the Subaru. We have never had a car stolen before and now twice in three months. Now she will have to look for a good, cheap used car, as we don't have any more!

After the call we sailed to Oceanside. Friday evening we attended the Italian buffet at the yacht club. We sat with Russ and Doreen of SV August Moon whom we met at Marina del Rey and some friends of theirs, Ken and Carole of SV Nauti Moments. Both boats are Canadian and will be joining the Baja Ha-Ha. I am sure that tonight we will be meeting some more cruisers.

By the way, we have travelled over 3000 nautical miles since leaving Seattle in June 2010.

Out for a sail at Newport Harbor

2011-09-26T17:17:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, we took Peter, Lenora, Kate and Jenny Wannier out for a sail. We now are at a mooring buoy with the Newport Harbor Yacht Club and were able to tie up to their guest dock making it easier for everyone to get aboard. We gave the typical short tour of Windarra (it does not take long so there are no long tours), had some coffee and bagels to give everyone a chance to settle in. We motored around the harbor for a tour before heading out and raising the sails. The seas were calm and the winds were light. We put of the main and just the yankee. We saw a large group of dolphins pass by. Kate did great, helping with lines, learning about the bowline knot, walking on deck. Around 3:00 pm we returned to the mooring for light meal. Two at a time Rich ferried our guests to the dock. We had a nice relaxing time.

Peter, Rae's father

Jenny, Rae's twin and Lenora, Rae's stepmom

Kate, Rae's half sister

Now we just need to find a way to get Greg Wannier, Rae's other brother out for a sail.

Today, Monday, Rich and I walked along the harbor shore and caught the car ferry over to Balboa Island. The ferry only takes about 3 cars at a time. It is very different from the ferries in Puget Sound. We walked the island and then took a bus up to Trader Joe's and a stop at Minney's Yacht Surplus. It is very similar to Second Wave in Seattle but I would be hard pressed to say which one was bigger. We took a bus back to the yacht club.

Tonight we plan to take the dingy and go to one of the restaurants along the harbor. It should be another adventure.

p.s. We have seen many sea lions camped on aft decks and even on / in some boats here in the harbor. Many boat owners put plastic lawn chairs, kayaks, plastic snow fences and other items on their aft decks to discourage these marauders.

Rake?

2011-09-25T18:09:00.000-07:00

Do you like the rake of this mast? There is a garden rake on the top of many masts we have seen in California. I assume it is to discourage birds.

Newport Beach

2011-09-23T21:49:00.000-07:00

Newport Beach
33 36.541 N, 117 54.400 W

This morning we raised the anchor at 10:45 am and said goodbye to Hen Rock Cove after 4 days at anchor. It was nice and relaxing. Very few boats were there and it was quiet except for the giggles and shouts of kids in kayaks during the day, especially when the sea lions came by to check them out. We did some reading and a few chores. It looks like Rich has fixed out engine start problems. As we were going over to Catalina, we noticed that the oil pressure gauge for the engine was not working correctly, and more erratically when we increased engine RPM. On Tuesday, Rich found that there was a loose connection on the oil pressure sensor and a loose terminal strip in the binnacle there the engine start connections were attached. He corrected both issues and the engine has been starting immediately, hot or cold. Hooray!

After anchor up we motored by Avalon, just to see what it was like. The harbor was not jammed packed with boats but all day we saw boats going over. We assume it will be crowded this weekend. After we passed we headed over to Newport Beach. At first we we having a great sail but then the winds petered out and it was a motorsail the rest of the way.

Now we are anchored near Lido Island. There a just a few other boats in the anchorage. While it was still light we saw small sailing dingies making there way around a course that went right by Windarra. There were also paddleboarders, crew shells, small electric boats and some larger sailboats going up and down the channel. This evening the party boats are plying their way, as many as 5. Could any one of them be for Flosten Paradise?

Tomorrow we will look for slip space for a few nights and do some exploring.

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Hen Rock Cove, Catalina Island

2011-09-19T17:54:00.000-07:00

Hen Rock Cove, Catalina Island
33 23.784 N, 118 22.006 W
We left Marina del Rey at 10:45 am after a quick run to the store for ice, then showers and topping off the water tanks. In the fog we crossed to Catalina Island. We had planning to stay at Goat Harbor again but with the winds from the WNW we chose Hen Rock Cove instead. We are anchored outside of the mooring field as of 5:30pm . A three masted schooner named American Pride, with a home port of Long Beach, CA, just anchored near us. It looks like a group of sea scouts on board,

http://www.americanpride.org/

I'm not sure I want to ride way up front on this boat.

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Day sailing at Marina del Rey

2011-09-18T18:14:00.000-07:00

Many of our friends want to know what it is like sailing on Windarra. This past weekend we took some friends for some day sails.

On Saturday, Amanda Mazzoni and Mike Ryder joined us. Amanda had some boat handling experience from her days fishing with her dad on the New Jersey coast. We had both of them grinding winches and handling lines. They had joined us for dinner on Windarra last week but going sailing is a different experience.

Today, we took Timothy Wannier and his girlfriend, Kelly Roberts, for a day sail. Timothy is Rae’s oldest brother. He had some previous sailing experience and both of them were gung ho to learn some more, again grinding winches and handling lines. We had heard on the VHF that there were blue whale sightings in the bay so we kept looking but no luck. Timothy had spent some time in Australia so we had a chance to compare notes on the land down under.

It was fun for us to take folks out for day sails. We are not worried about trying to get somewhere and we are able to enjoy the sailing more, especially when we are taking others out for a new experience.

We also met another couple who are planning to do the Baja Ha-Ha, Russ and Doreen on August Moon from Vancouver B.C. We might see them at Catalina as well.

I also met another couple today who were looking at Windarra from the shore. They called out and asked what type of boat she is. I walked over and replied, “a Stevens 47”. The gentleman told his wife, “I told you so”. After some conversation I learned that they were from Mississippi and that they had a Stevens 47 as well but that it was damaged by Katrina, a total loss, the side caved in and the mast torn off. Recently someone from California had bought it and trucked the boat west and was in the process of restoring it. I am afraid that I did not catch their names. Hopefully their boat will sail again.

Tomorrow we plan to head back to Catalina Island and enjoy some other anchorages. We may not be in touch as cell phone was spotty on the island. Next weekend we plan to go to Newport Beach.

Anchoring out at Catalina

2011-09-12T17:59:00.001-07:00

Goat Harbor, Catalina Island

33 25.041 N, 118 23.755 W

Marina del Rey
33 58.841 N, 118 26.798

Saturday we left the mooring ball and traveled along the coast of Catalina Island, looking for a place to anchor. We went as far as Hen Rock Cove but decided to turn around and drop the hook at Goat Harbor. It is not really a harbor and we did not see any goats but it was protected from southerlies and secure. There was a campsite on shore and at one end a few dive boats would stop for a few hours during the day.

One family with 4 boys and a large dog on a 20 foot Trophy boat stopped, unloaded all of their gear, started to make camp when two couples arrived in a dingy and 2 jetskis. Apparently the family was at the wrong campground (you need to reserve) and the two couples had the site. So the family loaded their gear back on the boat and went around the corner. I assume to another campground.

Sunday we had the place to ourselves more or less as we were the only boat that anchored overnight. The watermaker is working well. There still seems to be an issue with the engine starting / electrical. It's a mystery.

Today, Monday we lifted the anchor at 8:30 am and made our way back across to Marina del Rey. We had a great sail, the full main, yankee and staysail, doing 5.9 knots SOG in 9.5 knots of wind, close hauled. It was great.

Now we are back at the marina for a few days.

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The mooring ball

2011-09-09T20:06:00.000-07:00

Isthmus Cove, Catalina Island

33 26.661 N, 118 29.874 W

In a past entry, I wrote about the anchor dance, when boat try to anchor in a harbor. Yesterday and today, we witnessed the mooring ball, a new dance for us.

The moorings at Catalina Island are a little different. Instead of just attaching a bow line to a mooring ball as we have done at other harbors, you grab a pennant which leads to a line with a loop you put on your bow cleat, then follow to the other end of the line which has another loop that you attach to your stern cleat. This hold the boat in one position with no swing and enables the placement of many more moorings. Isthmus Cove alone has 257 moorings.

We were able to grab the pennant and secure the bow loop easily enough but the stern line and maneuvering Windarra, a known harbor pig, was a little more difficult but with a lot of pulling on my part and Rich's we were secured. For others, it was not so easy. This morning a motor vessel was all set to go fishing, rods aplenty in the holders, waving in the breeze, the bow loop released, the stern loop released but no departure. Urgently a call came over the VHF, asking for a diver to assist, the line between the loops was caught on the prop. After an hour, the diver came out and freed the boat and away went the fishermen. Later in the day a powerboat tried to thread its way between two other powerboats already on moorings and became entangled. Harbor patrol came swiftly to disentangle. Another boat left their mooring but took the pennant (a float with a long stick) with them.

The mooring ball it like the anchor dance as a square dance is like the foxtrot. Both have certain steps that everyone must make but the former is much more precise.

Today Rich started up our new watermaker for the first time. After getting the air bubbles out of the system we were able to make water and top off our starboard tank. Hooray!

Tomorrow we will look for another anchorage.

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Isthmus Cove, Catalina Island

2011-09-07T21:15:00.000-07:00

Isthmus Cove, Catalina Island
33 26.648 N, 118 29.506 W

Last night after we arrived at Marina del Rey, Rich's cousin's daughter, Amanda Mazzoni and her boyfriend Mike Ryder came down to Windarra and joined us for dinner. Amanda is attending Southwestern Law School here in Los Angeles. We last saw them at Jesse's wedding in June. It was the first time that they had been to the boat. We had a great visit.

This morning we paid for our moorage and walked to Ralph's to do a little provisioning. On the way out of the harbor we stopped to top off our aft fuel tank. Yesterday, I mentioned that one of the sailboats in the harbor had a mizzen mast that was larger than Windarra's main mast of 65 feet. The sailboat is called Zenji and it is owned by Larry Ellison. Apparently boat problems occur on very expensive boats as well. They are having problems with the hydraulics that raise and lower the sails, a serious problem for a sailboat. I am glad we do not have that problem.

The first half of our trip to Catalina Island was simply motoring in very light airs. We did see two whales which we think were grey whales. After we crossed the shipping channel the wind piped up to 13-16 knots and we sailed close to the wind at hull speed. We even saw some porpoises jumping out of the water as they raced in front of us hunting fish. We took this as a good sign. As we neared the island, the wind climbed to 17-19 knots.

We are anchored in Isthmus Cove in Two Harbors, Catalina Island. Tomorrow we hope to pick up a mooring as the winds are predicted to be strong tomorrow night.

It is great to be at anchor.

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Amanda and Mike

2011-09-07T18:13:00.001-07:00

Amanda Mazzoni and Mike Ryder visit Windarra at Marina del Rey

At Marina Del Rey

2011-09-06T18:50:00.000-07:00

Marina Del Rey

33 58.881 N, 118 26.752 W

Yesterday we had a visit from Louise, Michael and Ruth. Louise is Rae's mother, Michael is Louise's husband and Ruth is Louise's mother. They came down to Windarra. First we went on a motor around the harbor to make sure everyone felt comfortable and then we went out the breakwater and did some sailing. It was great fun. Ruth was not sure at first but she was a trooper and had fun. Louise and Michael helped with some of the sheets as well. Afterwards we came back to the slip and Rich fixed dinner and there was plenty of conversation.

Ruth

Michael and Elaine

Rich

This morning we checked out of the marina bound for Marina Del Rey. The weather was warm and the winds light and variable, seas 1-3 foot swell, 1 foot chop and we watched the scenery go by. Marina Del Rey is a large complex, with several marinas, yacht clubs and slip space for 6000 boats. Many of the smaller slips are empty. We are getting a reduced rate since we are one of the Baja Ha-Ha'ers, but this is definitely not the cheap seats!. We passed one sailboat on the way in that has a mizzen mast taller than Windarra's mast!

Tomorrow we plan to head for Catalina Island

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Adventuring in Ventura

2011-09-01T10:57:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday we met a couple from Canada, near Lake Huron. They recently bought a boat in San Diego and are checking out the systems cruising in Southern California. Reg and Phoebe will also be in the Baja Ha-Ha on Three Sheets.

It was also wash day. Rich washing the boat and I did the laundry. It is good to get some of the salt off the boat but I do see more stainless that needs to be cleaned. A never ending project.

Tuesday evening we had dinner with Dan Krenitsky and his wife, Christy, at a small restaurant here in Ventura. It was a great dinner in a small house that had been converted into an intimate dining establishment. We had fun catching up.

Wednesday we decided to walk to the nearest full grocery store. It looks close on the map but it was really 1.8 miles one way. We met Reg and Phoebe at the Starbucks next to the grocery store and we all decided that after doing our shopping we would split a taxi ride back. Not a bad deal.

We will stay here through the weekend, waiting for our mail from Seattle, doing a few chores and exploring.

New Venturas

2011-08-29T17:48:00.001-07:00

Ventura Isle Marina
34 14.660 N, 119 15.780 W

This morning we walked into downtown Santa Barbara and had a coffee and croissant. It was good to get some exercise and to see some of the sights. Upon returning to the boat we put on water, took off trash and headed out. Before we left we met a fellow on a power boat from Victoria who is making his way north. He reported that a gale was forming near Morro Bay so he was not sure when he would be leaving. We are glad we are going south!

A wise admiral once said, "The marine layer can last for weeks." Well it is true. Soon after we left the harbor, with a lot less activity than our arrival, we hit the fog. Light winds, 2-4 knots, was the order of the day. Until, of course, we were nearing the harbor, in which case, it piped up to 14-15 knots. Go figure.

We tied to the harbor master's dock and call the various marinas and the Ventura Yacht Club looking for a berth. Finally we go ahold of the Ventura Isle Marina, and since we will be join the Baja Ha-Ha in San Diego in October, they gave us a discount. Instead of $70 for a 50 foot slip we are paying $30 a night. This is a much better price.

We are waiting for Dan Krenitsky, a good friend of ours to stop by and join us for dinner. Dan did the Baja Ha-Ha with us in 2001. We tried but he is unable to join us for the 10 year anniversary race.

Renewing friendships.

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Palm Trees and Blue Water

2011-08-28T20:49:00.001-07:00

Santa Barbara
34 24.397 N, 119 41.402 W

This morning we left Cojo Anchorage. Two sailboats had joined us. One was SV Fannie B of Seattle. They were on E dock as Shilshole Bay Marina when we were there. We tried to call them on the VHF but no answer. We hope to see them down the way.

The winds were light, the opposite of Point Conception, only 4-6 knots all day so it was a long motor but the water is now blue instead of the dark gray. Periodically, groups of Dahl porpoises would swim over and join us, swimming around the bow. A few times you would see them jump out of the water. They really seem to be having fun.

The entry to Santa Barbara requires almost a 180 degree turn and a narrow entry. As we come around the turn, there is a beach on one side with people swimming, sailboats going in and out, most of them sailing including ones 36 to 40 feet long tacking across the slipway, kayakers, paddleboaters, water taxis, fishing boats, power boats, party boats, dingies and us on Windarra, trying to thread our way through this confusion and not run over anything or anyone. It was like the boating scene from the movie, "Caddyshack". Luckily we made it and now we are tied up. You can see the palm trees lining the street along the marina. We walked up to one of the restaurants for dinner.

Now we are ready to get some sleep with a little less rocking that the previous nights.

Tomorrow we are on to Ventura.

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Around Pt Conception

2011-08-27T16:32:00.000-07:00

Cojo Anchorage
34 26.927 N, 120 26.435 W

Point Conception is often referred to as the 'Cape Horn of the Pacific'. We give this stretch of water a lot of respect.

We left Port San Luis at midnight, Friday night, with what we anticipated as easing winds. The winds were 13-15 knots from the NW. To make a long story short, the seas built to 6 foot swells with 2 foot chop on top and the winds built to 35-39 knots. Mr Toad's wild ride.

As the sun came up this morning, we had increased visibility and the winds slackened back to 20-23 knots. At 9:15 am we dropped anchor at Cojo Anchorage, just east of the point with calmer water and decreased winds. As I write this at 4:00 pm the winds are 14-18 knots here in the anchorage.

The plan is to get up early tomorrow morning and head for Santa Barbara.

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Port San Luis

2011-08-25T21:31:00.000-07:00

Port San Luis
35 09.542 N, 120 44.897 W

This morning we took a tour of Morro Bay in the dingy. There used to be a second fuel dock farther in so we went to look. It appears that it is no longer in use. We went by the fuel dock near the entrance. It is a rather high pier and a bit difficult to tie up to but diesel was only $4.07 a gallon.

We returned to Windarra and went about hoisting the dingy onto the foredeck, deflating and securing it. We went to the Morro Bay Yacht Club dock to refill our water tanks. By the way, the mooring buoy cost $20 a night for boats 40-50 feet. Not a bad price, as it includes access to showers and a laundry.

We had planned to take on fuel but due to the current we decided to forego and motored out into the fog at 1:00 pm. We motor sailed with a reefed main and staysail. The winds were 12-15 knots initially but the seas were very sloppy and we rolled around a bit. As we continued the seas became more uniform but the winds continued to build to 25-29 knots so we added another reef to the main.

At 5:00 pm we were tied up to a mooring buoy in Port San Luis. This evening would not be a good time to go around Point Conception. Better to wait for better conditions. The mooring buoy is just in the entry to the harbor so it is a bit rolly. The breakwater enclosing part of the harbor is a haven for birds and sea lions that are barking away.

Tomorrow we will check the gribs and see when we should leave.

Until then we will relax here.

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Visit to Hearst Castle, San Simeon

2011-08-24T15:20:00.000-07:00

When I was young, my family would take summer trips driving to southern California to visit some of my father’s family. I remember one year when I was five or so, we had planned to stop and visit Hearst Castle. I was an inquisitive child, asking lots of questions about who lived there, etc. I think my parents were a little exasperated with the questions or preoccupied but they gave me a flippant answer, “God”. I sat quietly in the backseat, pondering this. God lives at this place where we were going to stop? We arrived at the visitor center but all of the tours for the day were booked, so my parents decided we would forego the visit until another time and continued to drive on. I was devastated, how could this be? My parents were denying me the opportunity to visit God. I cried and sobbed. My parents tried to explain that we could not visit today but that sometime in the future we would stop. When you are five, events are either immediate or forever. I was never going to visit God at his house. Being five, I was also easily distracted, and something else came up, I don’t remember what but I calmed down and forgot about the aborted visit to the Supreme Being.

So, visiting Hearst Castle became an item on my bucket list. On, Tuesday, 8/23/11, we rode the local bus to the Hearst Castle Visitor Center, picked up our tickets (they suggest you make reservations and you may purchase online) and rode a tour bus up to the castle. I know that God does not live here. William Randolph Hearst did have a lot of money and power, which made him feel god-like but not what I imagined when I was five.

We took the Grand Tour which goes through the large rooms on the first floor of the main house, including the reception or assembly room, dining hall, billiard room and the theatre. Other tours go through the bedrooms, the cottages and the kitchens. The place is beautiful, the best that money can buy and a lot of money was spent. From the tapestries and sterling silver Tiffany lamps to the statues and tile work, everything is first class. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and gave a very positive spin on Mr. Hearst. After our tour we walked around the grounds, including the Neptune pool with inlaid tile, surrounded by Greek columns and statues, as well as an indoor pool with tile pictures of mermaids at the bottom. The grounds and landscaping is well kept and maintained and you can almost imagine Charlie Chaplin, a frequent guest, coming around the corner. We saw a 45 minute movie about the building of Hearst Castle which briefly mentioned that Mr. Hearst was involved in the newspaper business.

Dining Hall in Casa Grande

The Neptune Pool

Rich on one of the many terraces

Now I may cross this off the list.

For more information, visit http://www.hearstcastle.org/.

Morro Bay - The Big Rock

2011-08-22T21:32:00.001-07:00

Morro Bay
35 21.723 N, 120 51.190 W

We left Monterey Bay at noon, motorsailing south. Winds were light and variable, 2.3 to 7.0 knots most of the time, reaching 12 knots during the evening. We had a 2-3 ft swell with a cross swell of 1-2 ft under high overcast skies. Late in the afternoon on Sunday we saw a whale surface and then go down but did not see him/her again. We had some Dalh porpoises joins us for a while, as many as 5. Five sailboats passed us, all north bound and a few fishing boats.

This morning we saw the big rock marking the entrance to Morro Bay. It is quite distinctive. By 7:30 am we were in the harbor and tied to one of the mooring buoy of the Morro Bay Yacht Club. We settled the boat, took showers, had something to eat and then took a nap for a few hours. We did have time to rest during the passage, as we did 3 hours shifts, but it is just not the same as sleeping when the boat is tied up.

In the afternoon we untied the dingy from the foredeck, pumped it up, launched it and used our new outboard to get us over to the yacht club to sign in. Then off to explore the town. We found the chandlery, up on Market St, so Rich could buy some marine tinned wire. He is connecting the solar panel positive to the battery side of the isolator, to reduce the potential across the isolator. We believe this was the problem with the starter battery. We need the additional wire to do the same thing for the windlass battery and for connecting the wind generator. In the afternoon when we returned to the boat we started the engine without the problem we had before since Rich had made this change for the starter battery.

Tomorrow we plan to take the bus to Hearst Castle and take a tour.

Around Monterey

2011-08-20T18:41:00.000-07:00

The engine started this morning with no problem so we are feeling better about this situation. We chatted with our boat neighbors and he had a suggestion that Rich incorporated this afternoon. We will verify operation in the morning before we leave.

So we took the opportunity to walk about Monterey a bit. This included going to Cannery Row and buying a pelican charm to signify Monterey on the 'boat necklace'. We also looked at some of the automobiles that will be up for auction this weekend.

Stellar Seal and pup on the dock

Elaine and seagull looking out at Monterey Bay

Rich and one of the cars up for auction

Tomorrow we plan to head for Morro Bay. This will be an overnight trip of 135 miles, so there may not be a post until we arrive.

Sea lion on the dock

2011-08-20T17:40:00.001-07:00

Chores at Monterey

2011-08-19T21:42:00.000-07:00

Today was chore day. I did laundry, washed the boat, put on water and did some updates to the blog (more on this later). This morning the heater system for the hot water (main part of the boat heater) decided to stop working so Rich replaced the fuel filter and put on the replacement heater head and it is back working. He also spent some time troubleshooting and diagraming the electrical system especially the grounding for the batteries and the alternator looking for the reason why we have been having problems with the starter battery and starting the engine. He believes he has things wired correctly and that there is an issue with the ACR or how it is implemented. Anyway we will turn off the charger tonight and see if we are able to start the engine in the morning.

I made changes to the Contact Us page on the blog. It has new information on how to contact us, locating us via AIS and Yotreps as well as some other cruiser websites. Please take a look if you get a chance.

Tomorrow we hope to wander Monterey a bit, perhaps see some of the cars that are on auction.

At Monterey with the sea lions

2011-08-19T08:45:00.001-07:00

Monterey Bay
36 36.244 N, 121 53.440 W

Yesterday we left early in the morning, around 6:30 am to head south to Monterey. There was a little hiccup starting the engine (we now suspect a grounding issue) but overcame it and continued on. It was foggy most of the way with visibility of 1-2 miles. Initially the seas were reasonably flat but later in the day they built to 1-3 ft swells with 1-2 ft chop on top most from the WNW with the wind which helped. We saw very little traffic, mainly fishing boats when we were within 10 miles of Monterey. At one point I wondered if the AIS was still working as I saw no vessel traffic. Since my Iphone was getting connection, I checked the marine traffic website, http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/, and entered Windarra, and it found us. It's that amazing.

We are at the Monterey Marina tucked into a slip. Windarra is 47 foot with a 14.6 foot beam. Our slip is 50 foot with a 15.5 foot beam, so we are wedged in with a fender or two on each side. Jumping onto the dock as we came in was a little problematic. There are a LOT of sea lions here in Monterey. They are on buoys, on docks, on boats, on the beach, etc. To keep them off of the finger piers folks have built plywood barriers. They seem to work well to keep off the sea lions but they also make it difficult for someone like me, who does not jump or leap well to get off the boat and onto the dock to tie a line before we careen into the dock. Luckily the boat resident sharing our finger pier was on the dock and she provided assistance.

Later in the evening Rich and I walked down the dock to go out to dinner. We saw one of the 'resident' sea lions on a finger pier several slips down. He was a very large fellow. We were both glad that he was asleep as we would not have wanted to challenge him without a cattle prod.

Today we have some chores to do. Over head we hear the sound of Lear jets landing at the nearby airport. Apparently there is a famous collector automobile auction here this weekend.

No worries,

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Half Moon Bay

2011-08-17T21:21:00.001-07:00

37 29.845 N, 122 29.348 W

This morning well left the fog shrouded San Francisco bay. We crossed under the bridge and across the traffic lanes and head west and then south. We sailed a beam reach in winds 5-13 knots under the marine layer as we ghosted along the coast. Our only company was a few fishing boats. We are hearing a few new noises on the boat. Rich an I spent some time trying to find the origin, We think that some of the noise if from the hydraulic pumps when the autopilot is steering to the wind. The other noise was a creaking sound and I still have not figured out where it comes from.

We are anchored in Half Moon Bay, about 30 miles south of San Francisco. Gia, a boat we met in Clipper Cove and again in Sausalito is here as well. It is quiet now with only a fog horn at the harbor entrance.

Tomorrow morning we will get up early and continue south to Monterey Bay.

It is good to be back on the water again.

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One last stop before leaving

2011-08-16T21:18:00.000-07:00

Horseshoe Bay
37 49.975 N, 122 28.500 W

After the tide came in and provided enough depth for us to safely leave we went to Horseshoe Bay, near the north side of the Golden Gate Bridge. It is also the site of one of the Coast Guard emplacements and the Presidio Yacht Club. It is a small bay but we were able to anchor and not impede the comings/goings of the Coast Guard including towing in a 15 foot runabout that lost power beneath the bridge in the shipping lanes (ie traffic central).

Rich and I moved the dingy from the davits to the foredeck, deflated it and secured it on deck for passage. We still had time to read and relax as we listed to Vessel Traffic Control.

Tomorrow morning we plan to get up early before the ebb and head out under the bridge bound for Half Moon Bay. We can hear the fog horns on the bridge but we hope it will be clear in the morning.

Anchors away.

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Windarra has power again

2011-08-15T21:06:00.001-07:00

Richardson Bay, Sausalito
37 51.791 N, 122 28.791 W

This morning we walked to Arc Battery and purchased a new Lifeline starter battery and an Odyssey battery for the windlass, plus a Pulsetech battery pulser. We walked back to the boat after a brief stop at the grocery store, Mollie Stones'.

Rich removed the existing starter and windlass batteries. Al, of Arc Battery delivered the new batteries and took away the old ones, for a modest fee. Rich installed the new batteries and put the pulser on the windlass battery as we already have a pulser for the house batteries. Once they were installed he started up the engine with no problem. We disconnected the power and tried it a few more times, each with success. It was time to leave the dock.

We are now anchored in Richardson Bay, just off of Sausalito across from the Taj Mahal which I mentioned earlier. I will post a picture when I get a chance. This evening we have a gorgeous view of San Francisco and the Bay Bridge.

It is a little shallow here so we might touch bottom at low tide at 7:00 am in the morning.

Our plan is to head for Horseshoe Bay, closer to the north end of the Golden Gate Bridge. We will soon be bidding farewell to San Francisco.

Less worries

Won't hold a charge

2011-08-14T21:13:00.001-07:00

Schoonermaker Point Marina

Yesterday, Rich equalized the batteries. All of the batteries looked good except the windlass battery. They were holding a charge last night. This morning we decided to leave the dock and exercise the new alternator then we would anchor out and tomorrow get a replacement battery.

Well, that was the plan. This morning after we checked out of the marina, we tried to start the engine. No joy. The engine would not start, similar to when we were in Petaluma. Rich confirmed that the starter battery, while it had a charge on Saturday evening, had drained during the night and was no longer holding a charge. We tried a jumper to the adjacent battery, still no joy. Finally we turned on the charger, as we were still on short power and the engine started. We decided to continue on the plan to exercise the alternator but to return to the dock afterward.

Now we need to replace two batteries, the starter and the windlass. These were not in the plan and not on the budget. Sigh. So tomorrow morning will be busy procuring new batteries, installing and then heading out to the anchorage.

Boats, you gotta love'em.

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Sausalito for lunch

2011-08-13T19:05:00.001-07:00

Schoonermaker Point Marina

This morning Rich was doing some setup with the Outback system so I washed some of the salt off the boat.

We walked into 'downtown Sausalito' for lunch. Rich bought some new batteries for our water tester. We strolled along watching some of the tourists and trying to stay out of the way of the 'Blazing Saddles'. No, these are not horses but instead, tourists on bicycles. Take some folks who are obviously new and don't know where they are to begin with, then put them on a bicycle. You get the picture. As we walked along, we saw some gorgeous, well maintained classic sailboats. We also saw an unique houseboat, built to look like the Taj Mahal at the end of one dock. Very impressive.

When we returned, Rich worked on 'equalizing' the batteries. (I have no idea what this means but he does). I did some computer work and loaded some high resolution satellite photos of California onto the charter/plotter.

Right now, Rich is trying to decide which of the over 400 DVDs we have, that he would like to watch tonight. And the choice is.................... Star Wars: The Phantom Menace

Signing off to watch....

Chores and exercise in Sausalito

2011-08-12T19:02:00.001-07:00

Sausalito, Aug 12, 2011
Schoonermaker Point Marina

This morning Rich removed the alternator and installed the new replacement we had bought before leaving Emery Cove. We are not seeing the performance of the batteries that we expect and we felt that replacing the alternator and having the old one rebuilt would be a good move.

Many folks ask how we get exercise on the boat. Well, today was a prime example. We loaded the 18 pound alternator into a backpack and walked the mile or so to Fed Ex to have it sent to Ballard Electric for refurbishment. Next stop was another few blocks to the UPS Store to have our Affidavit of Lost Title notarize. Since the Honda was stolen we need to provide the title to the insurance company so we can get reimbursed for the loss. Next stop, another few blocks, to the post office to mail the affidavit plus a few other items. On to West Marine, just a short block away for a look-see and some new bungee cords. A few more blocks away was a boat yard where we stopped to see if they had any starter motor relays but no such luck. On to the grocery store. We made a mistake here and used a shopping cart instead of a basket. Now we filled both backpacks and two shopping bags will groceries, like a pound of rice. Now as beasts of burden we walked back the mile or so to the boat to put away the groceries. Usually the walk back seems shorter but in this case it seems to get longer and longer.

This is one way to get exercise on a boat, having errands to run and no car.

Now it is time to take a rest.

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Sausalito

2011-08-11T22:27:00.001-07:00

Sausalito, Aug. 11, 2011
37 51.826 N, 122 29.244 W

This morning we left Clipper Cove and headed over to Sausalito. The vakas had already left by the time we got up. They are headed for Monterey. We are now at the Schoonermaker Point Marina. Rich has some work to do replacing the alternator tomorrow and we wanted to be at a marina to do this. We took the opportunity to do some laundry at the laundromat up the street next to the 7-11.

We ran into the couple from Gia, the junk rigged boat we saw in Clipper Cove when we first left Emery Cove. They are planning on heading south as well and have spent some time in Costa Rica and Ecuador, where we plan to go in the future. Hopefully we can learn more about the are from them.

So tomorrow is boat chores and we are reviewing the gribs in preparation for leaving the bay and heading south.

By the way I have added some photos and a video to some of my previous posts. Take a look if you get a chance.

No worries.

Clipper Cove again

2011-08-09T21:44:00.000-07:00

Clipper Cove, Aug. 9, 2011
37 48.928 N, 122 21.930 W

This morning we went over to Emery Cove to top off our fuel tanks, empty the holding tank and wash down the boat to get some of the salt off.
While we were there we saw our friend, Bill, of MV Carillion. We were in the slip next to Bill at Emery Cove. It was good to catch up.

Today we also did a few chores plus some time to read and relax.

No worries

Back at Clipper Cove

2011-08-08T22:25:00.001-07:00

Clipper Cove, Aug 8, 2011
37 48.957 N, 122 21.925 W

This morning we got up early to make our appointment with Dan, the D Street Bridge tender and a long ride back down the Petaluma River. The scenery is beautiful and the ride pleasant. The wind picked up after we got back into the San Francisco bay proper and of course on the nose. We originally planned to stop at Emery Cove to top off our fuel but at the wind had piped up to 23+ knots we decided to head directly to Clipper Cove and delay these tasks until tomorrow morning.

Sorry that some of the blog entries are out of order. I will repair once we have internet access again, tbd.

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Checking out the town

2011-08-07T21:10:00.001-07:00

Sunday, August 07, 2011 Petaluma

This morning we got up early so help Greg and Melissa leave. We decided to stay another day and explore more of Petaluma. Rich went to start Windarra but there was only a click and no starting of the engine. Hmmm, this is not good. We untied Windarra and with their help we pulled her forward and tied directly to the dock so that Pura Vida could depart. We waved goodbye as the passed through the open bridge then Rich went down to troubleshoot.

After checking wire connections, verifying that the starter battery was charged and providing power, wiggling the starter relay, the engine started. Rich replaced the relay with our spare and now the engine started reliably again. Not sure what is wrong with the relay but we will get another spare just in case.

It was time to explore but first some lunch was in order. We stopped at the Petaluma Yacht Club but the door was locked. We met the commodore in the parking lot and she said that the yacht club was only open on Fridays and Saturdays. Off to the Applebox for lunch. I needed some beads for our boat necklace. Google revealed 2 bead stores in walking distance, so walk we did only to find that both were not open but we did get to see some of the town including a rare seed store.

Tomorrow we will return to San Francisco Bay

Petaluma Music Festival

2011-08-06T21:10:00.000-07:00

Saturday, August 6, 2011 - Petaluma

This morning after breakfast, the four of us, Matey stayed to guard the boats, walked to the fairgrounds to attend the Petaluma Music Festival, http://www.petalumamusicfestival.org/. It is a one day affair to raised funds for the music programs at the Petaluma public schools. There were 3 outdoor stages with plenty of booths selling all sorts of food and drink. We enjoyed Sambada, a Brazilian/African band. A group a performers did mock combat, ala handstands and cartwheel type moves.

There was also a band from New Orleans that was quite good. Next to the stage an artist painted on canvas sometimes to the rhythm of the music, including a portrait of Frank Zappa, a guitar and a rooster head. To enjoy the music we spread out a blanket and sat on our new cockpit chairs - just a seat and a back, in the warm sun. We were covered in plenty of sunscreen but we did get a might toasty. Other bands included Cornmeal, The Devil Makes Three, The Mother Hips, Big Sam's Funky Nation, Stompy Jones, Smokehouse Gamblers Red Meat, Hillside Fire and Skylark.

Melissa and Greg of Pura Vida and Rich enjoying the music

Late in the afternoon we left Greg and Melissa at the festival and went back to Windarra for dinner and to cool down.

What a fun experience!

Up the river to Petaluma

2011-08-05T21:10:00.000-07:00

Friday, August 5, 2011 - Petaluma, 38 14.132 N, 122 38.253 W
In the morning we left for some sailing around the bay as we waited to rendezvous with Greg and Melissa Davids on SV Pura Vida. Their boat is a Hylas 47, a sistership, so to speak of Windarra, a Stevens 47. It was built in the same boatyard in Taiwan but it is a little newer. We followed SV Pura Vida as they have been up the Petaluma River before. The trip up the river included 2 railroad bridges, always open, a freeway bridge 70 feet above waterline, (our mast is 65 feet tall not including the VHF antenna), passing vineyards and wineries, small shanties along the river, and finally the D street bridge which we waited to open before the turning basin where we tied alongside Pura Vida on the long dock.

Windarra

Pura Vida

Going up the river

After enjoying some sundowners (rum and coke was the drink de jour) we walked into downtown and had a great dinner at Sugo's, an Italian restaurant, then to bed. It was a long day.

KKMI

2011-08-04T21:10:00.000-07:00

Thursday, August 4, 2011 - KKMI
After a rolly night at Paradise Cove we decided to move. But first we went over to Point Richmond and stopped at KKMI to pick up some wire so we could connect the alternator to the shunt of the flexnet (monitor for the Outback system). We tied up and went to the chandlery and then started our chores.
The first order of business was to get our new outboard motor operational. The Yamaha 4HP, 4-stroke we had bought in 2001 was on its last legs so we took it to a consignment store in Alameda and ordered new Mercury 8HP, 4-stroke from Cabela's. It weighs more but with the new motor lift we installed on the aft deck it is manageable. We launched the dingy, put the motor on, put in some oil, connected the auxiliary fuel tank and voila, our new 'car' is operational.
The next task Rich took on was the alternator connection. I assisted by doing other projects like washing the salt off the boat and helping run wire around the engine compartment and into the navigation station. Now we can monitor the input of the wind generator, solar panels and alternator. We were also able to get the last fittings needed to connect the watermaker to the input thruhull. We will not turn it on until we get farther south.

A bit too shallow

2011-08-03T21:46:00.000-07:00

Paradise Cove
N 37 53.861, W 122 27.451

This morning we left Clipper Cove. After we pulled up anchor, I was steering and following the course that we had taken entering the cove. Unfortunately the tide was a little lower and we ran aground in the soft mud. A little maneuvering and a slightly different course, closer to the pier and we were able to exit the cove. This place reminds me a little of Australia but that is a different story.

We are now at Paradise Cove, north of Angel Island. The anchorage is a bit rolly but it is settling down now that the winds have decreased.

More exploring of San Francisco bay.

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Six Vaka from Fakarava

2011-08-02T22:29:00.000-07:00

Clipper Cove
37 48.922 N, 122 21.911 W

Yesterday afternoon a kayaker from the junk rigged sailboat, Gia, paddled by and told us about some Polynesian boats that would be arriving from Hawaii and would be stopping in Clipper Cove today. So we decided to stay and find out.

We learned more from the website, http://www.pacificvoyagers.org/. Six vaka or traditional ocean going sailboats of the Polynesians had left from New Zealand, Fakarava to be exact and sailed to Hawaii to attend a conference on the oceans. From there they sailed to San Francisco, a journey of about 30 days. Vaka are a type of catamaran, 70 feet long and 18 feet wide. It has two sails mounted fore and aft with a long oar for a tiller. They are very impressive and we got a chance to watch them enter the cove and beach on the shore. Some members of the local Polynesian, specifically Maori culture, performed a Haka or traditional chant to welcome them. You might have seen an example of a Haka in the movie, 'Invictus', where the New Zealand All-Blacks rugby team does the Haka before a game against South African Springboks. It is very impressive.

The voyage is intended to draw attention to the oceans and to help revive the Polynesian culture and teaching. It is amazing the traveling the Polynesians did across the Pacific ocean without sextants, GPS, radar, radios, etc.

The vaka were quite a sight. We waved and clapped to welcome them and to cheer their arrival. You never know who will be arriving in an anchorage.

Tena koutou i tenei ahiahi (good evening in Maori)

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Windarra has left the dock

2011-08-01T21:46:00.000-07:00

Clipper Cove
37 48.922 N, 122 21.911 W

Yesterday morning we cast off our dock lines and left Emery Cove Yacht Harbor. We motored over to Clipper Cove on Treasure Island to check out the anchorage. We decided it would be a good place to spend the night but before setting the anchor we turned around and went for a sail in the bay. As the winds were 15-18 knots as opposed to the predicted 5-10 knots we were able to put up the main, and fly the yankee and staysails. The boat performed well even though we were a little rusty. It is great to be out on the water again. After a few hours of sailing we headed back to Clipper Cove to anchor. I got out my book and Rich enjoyed a nap. When the clouds lift we can see the Golden Gate Bridge.

We listened to the VHF traffic on channel 16. Vessel assist had a busy day. The most embarrassing call was from USA 76, an 85 foot America's Cup boat, that got their 14 foot keel stuck in the mud in the Richmond Channel and needed help getting unstuck. No, they did not have a Vessel Assist membership but I think they do now.

Optis and the new Bay Bridge

2011-08-01T10:53:00.001-07:00

Rollercoasters and Portland

2011-07-23T09:44:00.000-07:00

On Monday, July 18th, Rich, Sarah and I went to Six Flags Discovery Kingom in Vallejo. It is full of rollercoasters. Rich and Sarah rode on all of the major ones, including Medusa, Kong and the traditional wooden rollercoaster, Roar. I wonder who thinks of these names. I am not the sit down ride around fast, inverted, twisting, etc type so I watched, stomach intact, taking pictures. I did go on SkyScreamer which was like a set of swings that go around a center column and raise up in the air so you get a good view. The park has a bit of a zoo and an aquarium as well.

Tuesday, Sarah and I drove the Subaru north and stayed in Medford, Oregon the first night. The next day we continued with a stop in Eugene to visit one of Sarah's college friends before arriving at Portland. We stayed at Jesse and Rae's apartment.

Thursday was apartment hunting day. Sarah had researched a few places both downtown and near her new job towards Gresham. One of the apartments downtown was really a studio with a kitchenette. This mini kitchen had a half size stove/oven, a sink with drainboard and a bar fridge in a closet with a few shelves. In fact it was so small it was smaller than the galley on Windarra. Needless to say, it was not the first choice. Sarah did find a great one bedroom apartment which is about a mile from her new job, full size kitchen and bath with a living room, dining area with two window seats, one in the bedroom and the other in the dining area. If all goes well and we expect it will, she will be able to move in at the end of the month.

Thursday evening after dinner, Jesse and Rae showed us pictures from their honeymoon. They flew from Los Angeles to Basel, Switzerland for a few nights before taking the train to Venice, Florence, Cinque Terre and back to Basel. The photos were fun especially of the hikes between the towns in Cinque Terre.

Friday Sarah dropped off her application for the apartment, made a quick stop at Costco and they dropped me off at the airport for my flight back to Oakland. With relative ease, I was able to give off the plane, take the shuttle from the airport to the BART station, ride BART to MacArthur station, take the Emery-Go-Round bus to Powell Street and met Rich for a short walk back to Windarra. We are now without a car. Soon we will be off the dock.

Catching up on current events

2011-07-08T21:00:00.000-07:00

On Monday, July 4th, we (Rich, Sarah and I), stayed on Windarra in the marina. For the past two weeks there have been signs posted about no fireworks or alcohol in Emeryville on July 4th along our street, zero tolerance, no parking and the road will be closed from 5pm to 11pm. So we decided to just stay put. Instead we watched the movie, “Independence Day”, ate hamburgers and then when the movie was over we walked out to see the fireworks over downtown San Francisco and out by the Berkeley pier. It was a very low key holiday celebration.

The next day we washed the boat as it was a bit dusty and dirty. We drove Sarah to the airport so she could catch a flight to Portland, OR for a job interview. In the evening, we had Jenny Wannier and Alec Turnbull over for dinner. Jenny is Rae’s sister and of course you know that if you have been following the blog. Jenny is living in Boulder, Colorado and attending the University of Colorado. Alec was one of Jesse’s groomsmen and he visited us in Australia in 2003 and while we were in French Polynesia as well. Alec is currently living here in San Francisco doing contract work in web site design. Both have done some extensive travelling so we had lots to talk about. We are always on the lookout for potential crew…

Friday, July 8th, we drove into San Francisco for an appointment. On the way we got a call from Sarah that she had a job offer. HOORAY! Now she is looking for an apartment in Portland. A few hours later we got another call from Sarah. Someone had stolen the Honda, our car that she had been using. Boo-Hiss! After we returned to the boat we helped coordinate a police report and notification to the insurance company. Both the police and the insurance person said that often the car is found abandon a few days later and that whoever stole the car was just interested in a joyride. Well, we will see.

Quemores visit Windarra, 6/20-23

2011-07-05T11:21:00.000-07:00

After dropping Jesse and Rae at the LA airport, Rich, Sarah and I drove back to Emeryville and Windarra. At the same time, Chris and Kathy Quemore were riding the Coast Starlight north to the Bay Area. At 10:30pm we met them at the train station in Emeryville and brought them home to Windarra.

Tuesday morning we drove up to Napa. Summer had arrived and it was plenty hot. We made a stop at the grocery store for items to fill our picnic basket then on to Castello di Amorosa for a tour and hopefully a chance to get out of the sun and to cool down. After some tasting in the chilled environment of the wine cellar we departed and went to enjoy our picnic. We chose the same spot we had from our previous visit to show Chris and Kathy the view of the valley. A bottle of cool chardonnay from Rutherford Hill topped off the picnic. That evening we watched the movie ‘Bottle Shock’ with Alan Rickman. It brings it home when you have just visited the same location.

Wednesday we took a trip to Sausalito. It was cooler and sitting in the sun was pleasant. After lunch we walked around the town, checking out the shops and the views of San Francisco.

Thursday morning we were up early to catch our tour boat to Alcatraz and Angel Island. Luckily we had booked this on Tuesday as it fills up fast. On the trip over, we caught sight of Oracle’s training catamarans. This sailboat is only 45 feet long. The boats they will race for the America’s Cup will be 72 feet. The black sails are distinctive and the boats are definitely fast.

None of us had been to Alcatraz before so it was fun to walk around. As part of the tour you get an individual audio system which tells you more about the prison, the inmates and what life was like. It must have been hard seeing the city just a short distance away. We boarded a powered catamaran for our trip to Angel Island. The catamaran has solar panels on the roof as well as wind generators to augment the diesel engines. It even has variable frequency generators, similar to the new 787s. Angel Island once served as the Ellis Island on the west coast for immigrants from Asia as well as being a military base. Now it is protected and folks may visit and picnic on the island. There is a nice anchorage with mooring buoys that we hope to visit later in July. We rode a tram around the island for a 1 hour tour. The road around the island afforded some spectacular views of San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge. We were lucky that it was clear and fog free, which is not typical for this time of year. After the ride back we dropped Chris and Kathy at their hotel near the San Francisco airport so they may catch an early flight back to Tennessee.

We have been looking forward to their visit for a long time and we were glad to have this opportunity.

Photos from the Planet

2011-06-29T16:05:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from Planet Wedding:

The rehearsal at the Rose Garden in Descanso Gardens

One of the tables at the rehearsal dinner at the Athenaeum (clockwise from bottom: Mark Saffman, Nadine Saffman, Gregory Wannier, Nancy Hansmann, Doug Hansmann, Peter Wannier, Kate Wannier, Lenora Wannier, Rich)

Charles Perrin, Rae's cousin, checking out the zip line over the pool

Dinner at the California Pizza Kitchen - Left side of table: Brian, Megan Sego, Nancy Hansmann, Elaine, Madeline Sego, Kathy Quemore, Right side of table: Dan Sego, Chris Quemore, Rich, Doug Hansmann. Lauren Sego is taking the picture.

Jennifer Hawkins, Sarah, Rae, Jenny Wannier, Polly Petkova

Morgan Harris, Alec Turnbull, Jesse, Ryan Bemrose, Michael De Angelo

Jesse escorting Rae to the dance floor, mind the dress

Rich sharing a dance with Sarah

Planet Wedding - There and Back again, June 16-20, 2011

2011-06-28T18:01:00.000-07:00

Planet Wedding, June 16-20, 2011

On Thursday, June 16, Rich, Sarah and I drove to Pasadena, California and checked into the Westin, our base on the planet. In the evening we joined the buffet at Louise Wannier (Rae's mother) and Michael Burns (Rae's stepfather) house, almost across the street from Cal Tech. We were joined by Rich's cousin Alyce, her husband Michael Mazzoni and their daughter Amanda's boyfriend, Michael Ryder (no, not the Boston Bruin hockey player) as well as my cousin Bari and her husband Bob Stanley (no, not of the Stanley cup). Others attending included Peter and Lenore Wannier (Rae's father and stepmother), their daughter Kate (Rae's half-sister), Jenny Wannier, Gregory Wannier, Timothy Wannier, Kelly Roberts (Rae's twin sister, older brother, oldest brother and girlfriend respectively), Ruth Saffman (Rae's grandmother, Louise's mother), plus …… It was a fun opportunity to catch-up and meet some of Rae's family we had not met before.

Friday morning we joined Chris and Kathy Quemore for a walk around the old section of downtown Pasadena with a stop for lunch. In the afternoon Rich and I stopped by Flintridge Bookstore and Coffee House (www.flintridgebooks.com), owned and operated by Peter and Lenore. Rich and I always love browsing through bookstores and this was no exception. The bookstore also has an Espresso Book Machine that prints, collates, covers and binds a single book in a few minutes. The machine allows readers to obtain any book title, even books that are out of print or print from a PDF file, then prints, binds and trims the reader's selection as a paperback book. We missed watching it operate but we did some examples and we are considering having the website from our previous cruising printed in paperback form.

The next activity for Friday was the rehearsal at the Rose Garden in Descanso Gardens (www.descansogardens.org), a short distance from the bookstore. The property where the gardens are located were once claimed for the King of Spain in 1769. The Rose Garden is the site for Jesse and Rae's wedding and the reception will be at the Rose Pavilion adjoining. This is a very popular place and we had to wait for a previous wedding to finish before we could do our rehearsal. We had a chance to practice walking to our places and walking out.

In the evening, Rich and I hosted the rehearsal dinner in the Card Room at the Athenaeum (http://athenaeum.caltech.edu/ ) on the Cal Tech campus. The Athenaeum was built in 1930 and the first formal dinner was held in February 1931 and Albert Einstein was one of the guests of honor. It definitely has a wonderful atmosphere. Our 32 guests included the bridal party (4 bridesmaids, 3 of 4 groomsmen, bride and groom, 3 sets of parents of the bride and groom, 2 flower girls) and immediate family, grandmother and a few out of town relatives and guests. The maître de played a chime signaling for everyone to sit down and dinner was served shortly. We were spread across 3 tables, the bride and groom circulated and shared 1 course of the dinner with each table. The food was excellent and everyone seemed to have a good time.

Saturday we all converged at Peter and Lenore's house for brunch from 10:30am to 3:00pm. They have a swimming pool in the backyard with a zip line going across it. Since many of the groomsmen and bridesmaids and their significant others as well as Jesse and Rae were staying here, the pool was a busy place. Us 'old folks' watched and enjoyed conversation. The bride and bridesmaids took time out to get manicures.

In the evening there was lots of activity. The bachelorette party was a mystery dinner. The bachelor party included a Korean barbeque and other activities I don't want to think about. A group of us had dinner at the California Pizza Kitchen. This included the Segos (Dan, Madeline, Lauren, Megan and Brian), the Hansmanns and the Quemores. After dinner we adjourned to Living Room (aka Westin Hotel bar). We were joined by my cousins Bari and Bob Stanley, Pam Ratner and Joy Johnson. Joy started us on drinking Manhattans and you can imagine where it went from there.

Sunday was the big day. Rich dropped me off at Louise's house where the bride had stayed the night and she was joined by the bridesmaids. They were taking turns getting their hair done and then their makeup. Nadine, Rae's cousin, who is training to be a skin specialist in Copenhagen (yes she is fluent in English and Danish) was nice enough to do my makeup as well. Sarah and Nadine did my hair. Rich picked me up around 1pm, then we picked up Timothy (Rae's oldest brother) along with Morgan Harris (Jesse's friend since he was 3 years old), and Alec Turnbull (Morgan, Alec and Jesse were in middle school together). After dressing Rich dropped me off at Descanso gardens so I could help the bride and bridesmaids get ready. There were only two minor crises – the veil was left at Louise's house and had to be retrieved (no problem, plenty of time), the guest books were misplaced and substitutes were obtained.

Once everyone was dressed and assembled it was time for pictures with the bride and her family. I volunteered to help organize getting the right folks in each picture with a lot of help from Gregory. Amazingly enough we got through all fifteen permutations. The bride was in good spirits even though she was briefly entangled in a low tree branch and was quickly rescued by her trusty bridesmaids. The bride was hustled off so she would not be seen by the groom. After combination of photographs of the groom, family and groomsmen there was time to relax before the guests arrived.

At 5:45pm, the guests were seated, the harpist was playing and the ceremony began. The bride was radiant as she was escorted by her father up the aisle. Jesse looked calm and cool in his tuxedo as he stepped down to meet them. Doug Hansmann did a great job officiating. Rae and Jesse repeated their vows. A few of us were getting a little teary eyed.

After the ceremony there were more photographs with the bride, groom, bridal party and families.

And then… the reception! The harpist was replaced by a jazz quartet. The dance floor opened and the party began. Unbeknownst to Rich and me, Rae and Jesse had taken dance lessons in Portland a few weeks prior. Jesse was the king of the dance floor putting many to shame. Everyone remarked on it. At one point, the band struck up Hava Nagilla, Rae and Jesse were hoisted up on chairs and we danced circles around them. Both of them clung to their chairs hoping to survive without being dumped on the floor. But survive they did and we all had a good time.

After the cake cutting, bouquet tossing (caught by a flower girl) and garter tossing (caught by Jeryl), it was time for the happy couple to depart. Peter has a vintage Model T which he used to drive the newlyweds to their hotel. Rae and Jesse sat in the rumple seat complete with a 'Just Married' sign on the back. As the Model T did not have dashboard lights, Peter had to use a flashlight to see the speedometer. Upon arriving at the hotel and extricating the pair, Peter was approached by a woman in front of the hotel asking if he would drive her son and his future bride for their wedding in September. Peter graciously declined.

Monday morning we picked up Sarah and then the newlyweds. After a quick stop to drop off the wedding dress at Louise's we drove to LAX and dropped Jesse and Rae at the airport.

Rich, Sarah and I departed Planet Wedding and drove back to Windarra at Emeryville. It was a weekend to remember and we want to thank everyone who was able to attend for helping us celebrate.

By the way, Jesse and Rae have a website on the wedding. Check this in the future for more photos from the wedding (https://sites.google.com/site/wannierjablonskiwedding2011/).

Sarah Graduates!

2011-05-25T15:54:00.001-07:00

On Friday, May 20, 2011, Rich and I left Emeryville and drove up to Portland, Oregon via an overnight stop at Medford. On Sunday, we spent some time with Jesse walking about downtown Portland.

Sunday evening, Doug and Nancy Hansmann joined Rich, Jesse, Sarah and I at Papa Hadyn's for a celebratory dinner. Rae was flying back from Montreal for a Bar Mitzvah so she missed the laughter and jocularity that always accompanies a meal when we get together with Doug and Nancy. The meal was excellent and the desserts afterwards were sinful but we all enjoyed every minute and morsel of it.

Monday was Graduation day. We gathered for breakfast at Gray's center. Jesse and Rae joined us and we got our seats for the ceremony. As this was the 97^th commencement of Reed College they are practiced with Pacific Northwest weather and all of the ceremony was under a large white tent so everyone was shielded from the intermittent rain. Colin Diver, the president of Reed College, gave the introduction and Pamela M.J. Cox '75, vice president of the World Bank for the Latin America and Caribbean region, gave the address. Following the speeches, the graduates received their diplomas, according to department. Sarah received a Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry from the department of Mathematics and Natual Sciences.

Several students present Colin Diver with a memento when receiving their diploma. One student gave him a mounted deer's head. We are still not sure what this was signifying. Others presented him with posters, leis, a bottle of vodka, etc. There are two assistants at the graduation that are there just to collect these items. When Sarah received her acceptance letter to Reed in December, 2005, the envelope was contained not only the letter but was filled with confetti. She saved that confetti and when she accepted her diploma, she asked Mr Diver to bend over and she sprinkled a handful of this same confetti over his head. Below is a video clip that Doug took of this event.

After all of the graduates received their diplomas and to the standing ovation of the parents and friends, the recessional proceeded out the tent and the sun began to shine, at least briefly. The faculty lined the pathway and clapped as the graduates walked by. We were able to get a few pictures of Sarah before she went off to congratulate friends and we adjourned to the nibbles and champagne tent.

We are proud of Sarah and her accomplishment. She is not sure where her next path will take her but we are looking forward to her joining us on Windarra for at least part of the summer.