Author: Neil Scheuerlein

We had a late morning. Probably 7:30 before we got out of bed. (Which with the time change is still only 6:30, but that is when the sun shines and we typically go to bed some time after it goes down. Last night we watched the rest of the movie we started the other night, but had to stop when the laptop battery died. 50 First Dates. It is a pretty good movie, and one we don’t mind having seen before.

Then after breakfast and morning devotions, Jesus Calling, Jeff (my nephew) called and we talked for about 15 minutes or so. We don’t get to talk often, only when he calls, and that only works when we have cell service. It has been about 6 weeks, so we did a bit of catching up.

Today we worked on some projects around the boat. Renee’ cleaned the cockpit, and I fixed the light switch box for the engine room. Before we left on this trip we (Bob Miller and I) installed two LED lights in the engine room, and put the switches outside the engine room by the stairs out of the boat, the box was a bit bigger than was really needed, and when I bought the switches they came 5 to a pack, so I figured that it would be better to install a spare. Well, that was not really a good idea, and we actually set it up for three lights and a spare switch. Two lights were plenty, the spare switch hole got just a hair too big and the switch would not stay in place, the drill bit was a little dull and the result was just not really as good as we would like. So, I bought a new box (about $6 or so, just used the top on the new one) and new bits for the drill and just needed to find the time and patience to do it again. It is done and finished.

I then cut some of the old box top to size and replaced the latch for the washer/dryer door. Actually the latch for the door is a small piece of teak held in place with two small screws. To get the size right, I took the one out of one of the forward stateroom cupboards, and matched it. I made it just a hair bigger, as you can always cut something smaller, but you can’t cut it bigger. As it worked out, the one in the washer/dryer cabinet had been worked on before and had two different size screws in it. When I put the teak piece in it was loose, and I could not figure out what was wrong, so I took it out and put the plastic piece in and it was too long. (Remember it was just a little bigger). So, I took it out again, and got the wooden one from the front cupboard again, this is when I finally figured out the screws were different sizes. I put the wooden one in the washer/dryer cabinet, and figured out the longer screw goes in the aft hole of this piece. It works, and is tight. Then I put the plastic piece in the forward stateroom cupboard, and it works there as well. (Obviously this was not an exact science as I did not have to cut the plastic piece to make it fit in this cupboard).

By 11am, both projects complete, tools put away, cleanup done and time to write this.

We have “Deck-A-Boo” blinds on the small windows/portholes on the boat. These are two pieces of plastic with opaque vertical strips that are about 3/4” wide with the plastic clear between the stripes. If you slide the outer piece to the left he opaque stripes line up and you can see out. If you slide the outer piece to the right, all the clear stripes are covered and you have the blinds closed. They are held to the class by 5 small Velcro stickers a little smaller than a dime each. The two pieces of plastic have “rivets (or snaps)” that go through slots to allow the sliding of the outer piece. So, for each blind, there are 4 rivets (8 pieces, pretty small), 10 Velcro pieces (all use sticky stuff to attach to the window and the inner piece) and two big pieces of plastic. For each window (15 of them on this boat) there are 30 pieces to make the blinds work. We don’t have blinds on some of the windows, but have the parts. We have also bought extra pieces to repair these as needed. These blinds look good, and I have always like the way that they looked when going through boats at the shows. BUT, they are a pain, we have been on the boat for about 7 months, (since we retired) and I believe every blind that is in place has been rebuilt, about 3 times. Typically 1 or 2 blinds at a time. Renee’ really doesn’t like them, and has said, “Yeah, but I really don’t have an option” several times. I expect that something else will be what we wind up with in the future, when she figures out what will work better.

We charged the battery on the boat up to about 96% last night, and the solar is working to charge back up from the 75% we had at daybreak, but we are only at 79.7% right now. I am planning on running the generator again tonight. I checked our fuel level, and we are at 1/2 thank. Ballpark of 80 gallons of diesel used since San Diego on 10/29. We have a little further to go from here to Cabo, than we have come so far, but I don’t think we will need as much fuel. This is because we figure from here to Cabo will take us around 2 weeks, with some pretty long passages (the longest are: 180 miles, 100 miles, and 80 miles) we have had about 25 days to get here, and will have a week here in Turtle Bay we will only run the generator about 2 hours a night and top off near the end of the week, I think that the generator will not get as much use on the trip south, as we will probably only have to use it to run the water maker and use the washer, which will only happen when we are at sea. As opposed to staying in one spot for several days and having to run the generator to also top off the battery at night. If we only stay one night somewhere, we should not have to run the generator, as the engine time to get the boat into and out of port will also charge the battery.

I have been asked for our MMSI number (367467250), as a way to follow our trek. We also have a Predict Wind webpage that has our location:

https://forecast.predictwind.com/tracking/display/Make_Me_Laugh_Again

The way the MMSI number works, requires that there is a land based receiver in range of our AIS transmitter to see us and then retransmit on the internet where we are. The Predict Wind webpage updates hourly via our Satellite connection. It also shows where we have been. This track is kept for about 9 months, and then will be deleted. (We plan to take a screenshot when we park the boat next summer and post it to the webpage).

One of the great sunsets we have seen on this trip.

We got up at 6 am, a fairly quiet night, when we got up, Lost Pearl was already gone. By the time we were done with breakfast Merry Lee was also out. We got underway a little after 7, the anchor came up with a bunch of kelp and mud so it took a bit to get it back on board. About that time Jeff on the Lost Pearl about high winds and heavy seas (20-25 knots, 8-10 foot swells) so we elected to return to Cedros. Where we are presently anchored and evaluating the weather. It does look a bit better as we have since gotten more weather information from both Josh and Jeff and the internet. It appears the heavy seas were mostly at the north end of the little island south of Cedros. Which makes sense as it is a channel that is about 8 miles wide going into this huge bay between Cedros and Baja, the bay is about 70 miles across, and this is the southern inlet to it.

The distance to Turtle Bay from here is about 37 miles, which means a little more than 6 hours. We believe that there is a time change between here and there, so on the clock we will lose an hour. If we assume that we need to be anchor down by 5 pm (current time zone) we need to be underway by 9 or 9:30. We will see.

09:30 underway. We motored out and away from the island. Went through the channel between Cedros and Christmas Island, (Natividad) had swells to 10 feet, wind to about 25 knots. Not very comfortable. Finally turned south, winds dropped a bit and we put up our sails (for a while) then took them in as the wind and swells picked up some more. Ran the water maker until we at 90% for over an hour. Then dumped the holding tank. Battery is fully charge, water tank is full, holding tank is empty. Let’s see if we can last a week. I don’t think so. I am expecting to come out and run the water maker and dump the holding tank at least once.

Our compadres anchored at 1:30 (Merry Lee) and sometime earlier for Lost Pearl. We are currently an hour and change away from dropping anchor at 3:30 Pacific time. I think I heard that we change time zones here. Again we will see. I am expecting to get fuel and internet here. Also some protection from the swells.

Well, we got anchored at almost exactly sunset a bit after 5 pm Pacific Time. We are near both of the other two boats, and a bit farther from town. Probably a good thing as it will be quieter (I hope). But we are not as protected from the swells as I would like. Oh well. Next we will see if we have internet, or if we have to buy access tomorrow.

Well, no on the internet so far. Oh well.

Some comments:

I have no access to an editing program, so I can’t find errors the second time. I can’t edit in Microsoft Office (previous comments I have already made about why).

Bahia means BAY (Not beach) I don’t speak Spanish, and it shows.

The other boats are LOST PEARL with Jeff and Angie, and MERRY LEE with Josh and Cozette.

While we do have internet here, it does not support uploading pictures. So, all of my posts are text only until we get faster internet.

Actually, the internet and phones have been very interesting, occasionally I get the notifications that I have updates in News, Facebook or eMail, but of course all I see are the notifications, I can’t actually get to the posts.

It was a rough night, not all of them are, but the wind came. up and was really howling. We got up and had breakfast, did our morning devotions, then got our dinghy rigged and came ashore. One of the locals helped us get the dinghy up the beach. Renee’ and I went up the street and found an auto shop/hardware and bought a couple new locks. Checked on an alternator for Josh and Cozette. Then let them know that this shop thinks they can make this work, either a new one or rebuild one.

We hung out in the front of a restaurant that has limited WiFi. When the others showed up we went back to the auto shop and then to the port captain and checked in. Now everyone is going their separate ways, Renee’ is trying to get a real internet signal as she has some banking and postal stuff that has to be taken care of. Josh and Cozette when back to get the alternator off their boat to see if they can get it replaced. Jeff and Angie are going to get their dogs and take them for a walk. I am sitting in a restaurant with limited WiFi, writing my notes, drinking coffee, and enjoying the lack of movement.

Ok we all got checked in with the Port Captain. Josh and Cozette have a working alternator, turned out to be the external voltage regulator. So the cost was much less than a new alternator.

Renee’ and I had lunch in the little restaurant, then did some grocery shopping, and then back to the boat. We agreed to meet for dinner in town at 5 pm. Some of us napped, some cleaned their boats up and we went back to the same restaurant for dinner. We talked about our plans for getting to Cabo. We are all planning to spend a week in Turtle Bay, for Thanksgiving, then expect it to take about 2 weeks from there to Cabo. No one is looking forward to the last leg of that trip 180 miles with no stops.

The Merry Lee (Josh and Cozette)

Merry Lee is the sloop in the distance, Lost Pearl is the Ketch in the foreground. (Jeff and Angie)

At first light, Merry Lee announced that they were heading to Cedros (the city), and had their anchor up and were moving by about 6:15 or so. We decided that we too would leave by 7 am, and Lost Pearl thought that they would follow along to much later.

Lost Pearl got underway first, then we were along behind at about 7:15. The wind is directly on the nose, at about 20 knots, so we are not even putting a sail up. We are only going about 15 miles, to the city of Cedros. So, we are meandering at a leisurely 3 to 4 knots, fairly close to the island but in 300 feet of water. This lets us have a pretty good view of the island with out having to worry about rocks or changing course much.

This island is very rugged, the mountains, they may not be 1000s of feet tall, but they are very steep and raw. Apparently there were trees here at one time, but they are gone now. The name of the island comes from the Spanish who first visited and thought the trees were cedars (actually pine). There is a salt mine at the south end, and a fishing village at the north (where we were anchored) it is very small, and we did not get a picture, but Renee’ counted 5 buildings. Unlike most of the villages we have seen this one had a generator and several lights were on last night.

We had our breakfast on deck this morning, Banana & Beer pancakes and sausage. Followed by our morning devotions. This morning we used the book Jesus Calling. As we still have no internet.

We do have Sirius XM radio, this is a great product, yes it costs a bit but no commercials, just what we want to listen to. We have been listening to country, but Renee’ also wants to listen to the news periodically, today we are listening to the message, Christian music. A nice change of pace.

So, we found out why Merry Lee was ready to go at first light. They had a rough night. Their anchor alarm was going off all night, neither of them got much sleep. Cozette was ready to up anchor and move at midnight. They waited until 6 am to go. We all got safely to Cedros, and anchored in about 35 feet of water. Just north of the breakwater. We tried to check in, as it is required in this particular location (it is a port of entry), but today is a holiday celebrating the revolution.

We tried to take our dinghy ashore, we had decided to have lunch on board, the other two boats were ready for someone else’s cooking, so they went ashore to a restaurant. We were supposed to meet them in an hour or so. But, the lock on our outboard was stuck, and we could not get it off. So, after about an hour, we gave up and took the kayak ashore. Found them in a restaurant and went looking for the port captain, when we ran into the Port Captain as he was coming down to the party on the beach, we asked about checking in and he asked us to all check in at 8:30 tomorrow. This is Ok, as we had already decided to stay at least two days here. We managed to explain our problem with the lock, and I commented that one thing I had intended to buy was a set of bolt cutters. Joshua said they sell a set next door. I looked and they were the small size (18”) suitable for a regular lock or something small, but the lock I needed to cut was a Kryptonite brand heavy duty lock. Jeff said I have some that are a bit bigger, and since we had bought some beer he said he would bring them over later, along with our beer (much easier to take it in a dinghy than a kayak).

In any case, Jeff came over with our beer, the bolt cutters and got some water. We managed to cut the lock, but it took both of us with his bigger cutters to get through it. Renee’ and I decided to stay in tonight, run the generator charge the battery on the laptop (so we can watch a movie later) and run a load of clothes, to get rid of some oil stains. Here we are, we have cell service for voice and text, but no internet on the boat. We could go ashore and have slow internet with a connection that is on par with our satellite but not limited to just a few apps, so we elected to just skip it. We will go ashore in the morning, check in and buy some groceries.

The three boats at Cedros village on Cedros island.

That was a rough night. The wind came up at about 3, and our anchor drug about 50 feet. Then reset. I watched where we were for about a half hour and went back to sleep. At 5:30, I was up again and checked we had drug some more but back in the direction we had come from. Again it looks like the anchor reset, so I don’t want to move it right now. Renee’ is going to get up at 6 and I believe we will be resetting the anchor. We didn’t reset the anchor, I checked the weather and when the other boats checked in, I suggested they come over and look at themselves. Kind of ugly, so we are going to hightail it for the north end of Cedros, about 50 miles away. To get some protection form the wind. We plan to go to the city the tomorrow, and then turtle bay the day after.

So, we had breakfast and got underway by 8:40, with Merry Lee and Lost Pearl following shortly thereafter.

On a side note, last night while downloading the weather, I did not check that the iPad was fully, securely plugged in. As a result it shut down when the battery was drained. No big deal, just turn it back on. Except that I typically take notes in either Excel or Word. Both Microsoft products. The only way to use them on my iPad is to log into Office 365. Which means I have to have access to a server, as in internet, as in something we have not had since last Wednesday. So, I am back to Apple Notes. If I did not have 20 years worth of notes in Microsoft office…..

We are ~45 miles out from Cedros, all the sails are up, the engine is running at 3000 RPM, we have about 4 knots of true wind from about 90 degrees to our stbd. We are doing about 8 knots through the water, about 6 knots speed over ground. The generator is running, the water maker is making water, the washer is running, the A/C units are running to bring the humidity down inside the boat (hopefully the clothes will dry a little faster). Oh, and we just sighted Cedros island. It is that clear. The water is almost flat with a light swell. We have about 80 % in our water tank, so we don’t really need to make water, except we need to wash clothes to get ahead of them, and we wont be able to make water tomorrow (going to Cedros – the city) or the next day (relatively short day to Bahia Tortuga) or for the days we are in there.

Around noon, the wind speed jumped up to about 20 knots. We first took in the Jib, then the Stay Sail, then reefed the Main. When we got done we were about a half mile off course, and as we got back on course we saw some whales! They were jumping out of the water, this went on for a few minutes, we told Lost Pearl.

We also told them about the wind. At 1245 I got the call from Merry Lee, they had reefed when I suggested, and had just gotten done when the wind hit. They were pretty happy to have had the heads up. They are doing 6 knots under a reefed main, and a storm jib. The Lost Pearl is doing 5.5 knots with everything they have, of course their main is torn, so it is always reefed.

Anchorage on Cedros recommended as recently as 2017. We attempted to locate this and were about 1000 ft offshore, small bay, both sides were about 1000 feet away, and we still had 200 feet of water under our keel. Not nearly big enough for three boats.

28 20’21” N

115 11’ 66”W

2nd indent down from village 1.5 NM from light house

45 ft deep for anchorage.

So, we went back to the village and as soon as we had 45 feet of water put down our anchor. This was to leave the maximum room for the other two boats. When They arrived, Lost Pearl anchored in 35 feet of water about 400 feet from us, and then Merry Lee anchored 400 feet from them in 45 feet of water. It will be interesting to see what it looks like in the morning with day light rather than the use of radar for ranging.

It is a calm anchorage, very minor swells, and almost no wind (at least right now). We are about 15 miles north of the city of Cedros on this island. The plan is to go there in the morning, and check in, Perhaps go ashore and see if they have an “Autozone” for the Merry Lee’s alternator issue. Stay there tomorrow night then off to Turtle Bay.

While dropping the anchor, I saw a flying fish! We also heard a bunch of seals on the island.

About an hour after we dropped anchor the Lost Pearl and Merry Lee arrived and got their anchors down. The anchorage is small and we had to share it with anchored/moored Panga’s. Okay, so really Merry Lee wound up with the Pangas. As they were at that end of the anchorage. It was a rather rolly night, with lots of movement.