Category: 2019-12 (December)

We had a VERY quiet night, no swells, no wind, not particularly cold or hot. Great sleep! We got up around 7 am, had breakfast of cereal and banana nut bread and then left at about 9am for Man of War Cove in Bahia Magdalena (Mag Bay) a short day we tried to sail, but there was still no wind. We noted that the current through the entrance to Mag Bay was very strong, like 3+ knots out. We were doing 5.5 – 6 knots through the water, and 2 knots speed over ground. We motored up to the cove, and had issues with our instruments. The autopilot/chart plotter lost the connection from the primary chart plotter (at the Nav Station) to the one at the helm, this causes it to stop following the route, as the route (apparently) relies on the primary maps. Anyway, we rebooted the autopilot and the radar a couple of times, and it might be ok. We will see tomorrow. Renee’ caught a Bonito today (tuna?) small, enough for dinner. Very tasty!

We expected to have to go ashore and check in here, but there is no port captain, so no check in. Merry Lee and Lost Pearl both went ashore to check in and let us know about the port captain. We are expecting another very quiet night. Not sure if we will stay here another night, or leave in the morning. The next trip is 200 miles. We are not looking forward to that.

We went over to visit with Ed and Katie on the Wild Blue a 1999 Island Packet 45. We spent about an hour there. Ed is a famous kayaker, he has kayaked from California to Hawaii, and took 63 days to do it. They have had an ocean kayaking school, he has kayaked most of the west coast down into South America. It was interesting to see the differences between the two boats. Our is a center cockpit, and theirs is an aft cockpit which accounts for much of the difference. Also, they have a fully battened mainsail that is not roller furling. They replaced all of their standing rigging in San Diego just before making this trip. Casey at Pacific Offshore Rigging was involved. They also replaced much of their running rigging as well. They had their mast out for this project. While their boat is about the same size as ours, they have a smaller engine, a 60 horse power Yanmar, we have a 75 hours power Yanmar. Theirs appears to a low RPM engine, 1500 to 2000 vs ours at 3200-3400. Their engine room is a bit smaller than ours, and they don’t have room for the generator in the engine room.

On the other hand, the cupboard/wine rack behind the table is deeper and wider on their boat, I think the wood has a richer/darker look on their boat.

We gave Lost Pearl water tonight, and discussed going to San Carlos on the other side of Mag Bay. It is a panga ride from here to there and back. $100 round trip for as many as fit in the panga, over in the morning head back around noon. If 8 of us went, it would be $25/boat. Another option is to use our dinghy and motor over. 9 miles or so each way. I am not crazy about that idea. If we take a sailboat over there, it requires paying for the anchorage, and a full check in with the harbor captain, etc. We are not sure how much It costs to anchor, just know that it is free here, and also most other places. I just took a look across the bay to San Carlos. It is a long way.

We will see tomorrow night we are planning to play cars with the other guys.

Ospreys in Abreojos.

We woke up as usual with the sun (actually just before, at about 6:30). Renee’ started the coffee, and went on deck to watch the sunrise, and check out the other boats in the harbor. We had breakfast and our morning devotions. At about 9 we finally went on deck and began covering the dinghy. We watched the Merry Lee and the Lost Pearl get underway, and a panga came by selling fresh lobster, so that is what we will have for lunch today! The weather today is as predicted, very little wind warm and calm. There are three boats left in the harbor, Aloha, Blind Faith and us. Blind Faith is leaving sometime today going north. Us and Aloha are headed south this afternoon. We expect to catch up with Merry Lee and Lost Pearl in Bahia Santa Maria. They sail a bit slower than us, and it is a 100 mile passage. We are leaving this afternoon to get there mid-day, I expect that they will still beat us there.

So, we are here for a couple of days. We expect some serious weather to blow through from the north, which should be ok as there is a pretty big land mass north of us. The weather is currently hot and calm. We will see what else we get. We area having Mike and Lai-Lani from the boat Aloha over this afternoon for cocktails and snacks. We have been playing tag down the coast for the last couple of weeks.

We all looked at the weather while we were ashore, and the Merry Lee and the Lost Pearl are planning on heading out Tuesday Morning, we will head out Tuesday late afternoon. We will motor/sail maintaining 6+ knots, they are a bit slower, and it is a long passage. The hope is we get there about the same time, mid day on Wednesday. We will see.

We had Mike and Leilani Costello from the S/V Aloha over for chips and salsa they brought guacamole very tasty! We talked about the boating life, they have been live aboards (retired) for 13 or 14 years. This trip is planned to go west. They are going slow and in no particular rush at all. Their boat is a Hanse 505. It is their 5th or 6th boat. We have not been aboard yet. I would love to see it.

The other boats (Merry Lee and Lost Pearl) are having their Mario Cart night tonight. So, they did not miss being involved, nor did we need to be with them again.

I texted with Dave and my Mom about my uncle Gary. She had issues with getting information on his status. So, I am going to call her in a couple hours and see what she has been able to find out today.

We are sitting at the restaurant that has good food, cold beer and OK WiFi. We have 8 of us at the table, the two new people are Scott and Michelle, they are 2 of 3 of the crew of “Blind Faith” they are returning from the Baja Ha-Ha on their way north. There is a bit of wind, but nothing to be concerned about. We are still planning on leaving tomorrow night.

Still, no pictures. I will have a post when we get to Cabo (I hope).

We went back to our various boats, I ran some fasteners over to Mike on Aloha, and chatted with them for an hour or so. Then came back to our boat. Renee’ and I put the dinghy up, but elected to wait until tomorrow to put the cover on it as the wind was really blowing by then. I checked and it was at about 25 knots with gusts to 30. Josh on Merry Lee called on the radio, as his wind turbine was finally spinning in the wind. He does not know if it is actually putting any current out, but at least it is going the correct direction.

We had dinner, Renee’ made Torta’s (Mexican sandwiches) for dinner, and we ran the generator for an hour or so to charge the battery some more. Then we took showers and played a couple of card games. We are having a pretty quiet night and will have a pretty quiet day tomorrow until late afternoon when we set sail for Bahia Santa Maria about 100 miles south.

We are sitting here in the salon, listening to the wind howl. It is probably still 25-30 knots. We are not too worried about dragging anchor, as (unlike in Turtle Bay) we are anchored quite a way off shore, and there is nobody anchored near us. This means that if we do drag our anchor, there will be plenty of time to take action before we would interact with either another boat or some land feature (like the bottom, or a rock).

I sent an update out via the Satellite to some of the relatives as to what has happened with my uncle Gary in the last two days, and I got a response from my brother Dave and (a second cousin?) Susan as well.

Life Hacks. Chris Brown on relationship

This was from a previous sermon series at North Coast. I am not going to cover it here, but know that it was a good message.

We had a seal hanging around for quiet a while last night, but he was not here this morning. Renee’ was up on deck this morning and watched a Pelican catch a fish and fly away.

It is a quiet calm day. We have checked the weather and it looks like we will be here until Tuesday night. Then have an overnight to Bahia Santa Maria.

We came ashore, at San Juanico. This is a very nice little town, it looks like a suburb of San Diego, only MUCH smaller. We found a small restaurant at the top of the point with pretty good internet, food and very cold beer. So, we are getting our internet fix, checking our mail etc.