Category: 2025 Season 6

Up by 6 am, breakfast and bible reading then underway by 8 am and motored with the Main sail out all day. There were a bunch of pangas out fishing when we left. We saw whales, and jelly fish, and very little else.
We made reservations for when we will be in La Paz. We have 3 days March 6, 7 & 8 at Costa Baja, @$146 per night. La Paz is pretty expensive, and yes that is more than we were paying in La Cruz which was twice what we paid in Paradise Village.

We found a new marina about half way between La Paz and Cabo on the east side that looked interesting, Reneé called and investigated, $185 per night! Oh, and by the way, we would have to sit through a tour and a marketing meeting as they are selling property (several Million dollars per lot). We declined that marina.

We are planning on spending two nights here at Isla Isabela, tomorrow is our 43rd wedding anniversary! We are taking the day off!

Then it will be about 15 hours to get to Mazatlan, we are planning at least two nights there, then about 34 hours to cross to Baja. We will be at Los Muertos and spend two nights there recovering before going to La Paz.

Up at 5:30 for Reneé and 6:30 for me. Underway by 7 am (it was still darkish, but light enough to see which way to go. We motored the whole way as true wind never got above 5 knots. We found a time change so while the clock said we arrived at 4 pm, it was closer to 3 pm local time.
We saw Whales, Rays, Jelly Fish and very few other boats. Only a couple of fishing boats. We anchored in 25 feet of water about 1.25 miles off shore. This anchorage has an issue with bugs, so we like to anchor out, we also put our screens down.
We had an issue with the radar today, I usually use the screen that was set up with the map (chart) with a radar overlay. Well apparently the latest version of the firmware made that particular screen not work. So, I called tech support and was shown where the toggle was to turn that on. Supper easy!
We are thinking of spending two nights here, as the next stretch is an other long day (about 45 miles). We plan to stay there for two days as well Isla Isabella, where the blue footed boobies and the frigate birds nest. I believe we have missed that this year as it is too late in the season for them.
While we were sailing, I noticed a line swinging around up the mast, upon further investigation, we figured out that it was the topping lift for the boom. The line had parted and will have to be replaced.
If it is not one thing it is something else.

 

Up at 6:30, breakfast, the net and then I started filling the water tank, and Reneé headed off to drop off the laundry. We have to be out of the slip by noon (maybe 11 am?). our first stop will be to get fuel and then we will head out to the anchorage until the time to get the laundry. Finally this afternoon, we will head to Punta de Mita at the west end of the bay.
We got underway about 5 pm and arrived at Punta de Mita at 7 pm just as the sun was going down. On the way we saw several whales some were mom and baby teaching them to breech Reneé got some video of them. It has been a long day, and tomorrow will be as well. Our next stop is Matchén Bay, about 55 miles to the north. That should be about 10 hours of motoring, we will see.

 

Up at 6 am, breakfast and laying around for a bit. Then we hiked up to the bus stop and off to church. After church Cathy took us to her dads place (Iris and Bob) to get our stuff back to the boat, we filled her gas tank and went to lunch then got all our stuff back on the boat. We got it all back on and stowed. The guys working on the wood finished today.
After dinner we put the water toys back on the boat, tomorrow we will get underway. The boat is looking very good right now.
We invited Lisa and Byron from SV Better Together over for a game of Mexican Train. They are on the first of a two year cruise, headed to Florida and figuring things out. We had a good time and then Reneé put the paddles away (for the water toys).
Based on it being almost 10 pm, we will probably get showers in the morning before we get underway.

 

Up at about 6 am, too many days of getting up early I guess. Breakfast, the Net and bible reading. Reneé headed off to provision the boat, the guys were here to wash the boat, clean the bottom and work on the varnish. I worked on the stereo.
As you might remember, we had an issue with the voltage regulator last season and the alternator was putting out 17 volts. The only thing that died was the stereo. While we were gone this summer I had the voltage regulator replaced, and brought back the new stereo (that includes a new amplifier for the speakers on the arch) I got it all wired in before we left for Tennessee but no time to set it up. So, that was the plan for today. Here was what got done:

1. I found that the wire going to the starboard speaker on the arch has an open (meaning that somewhere there is a break in the wire).
2. Based on 1 above, I pulled the fuse for the zone 3 amplifier, and put a note inside the cabinet explaining status, and updated my list of stuff to do.
3. I set up the rest of the stereo, including
   1. Connect to the Wi-Fi
   2. Update the firmware
   3. Connect to my phone on blue tooth
   4. Connect to the RayMarine chart plotters for sound as well as control.
4. This includes setting up the chart plotters to get connected to the Wi-Fi and updating firmware
5. Getting XM to work (at least part of the time, where we are in this slip our antenna is blocked part of the time, so it depends on which way the swell is pushing the boat as to whether it works or not.
6. Getting the chart plotter app for You Tube to work and play the video on the screen and sound on the stereo
7. Look at the wires for the speakers to see if I could see what was going on. NO LUCK here.
8. I investigated what apps are available to the chart plotters to see if there was anything we wanted. They have several that look promising (mostly weather apps) and we already have NetFlix and YouTube apps installed. I did not find any that I wanted.

We are in the end days of being here in Banderas bay. Reneé made her last two trips to the stores today one in the morning for the local stuff and a last trip to Sams, the bank and Chedraui. Tomorrow we will go to church and get our stuff back that we stored at a friend’s house. The last coat of varnish will get put on the wood, and the tape will be removed. We will pay for it Monday morning, then stop at the fuel dock to top off the diesel and gas cans then head to Punta de Mita to anchor for the night.

No pictures today