We got up around 8:30 (maybe), we still don’t know what time it is. We were underway about a half hour later, we had breakfast underway, followed by devotions.
As we traveled north, first we had great wind (20 knots from 90 degrees to port), then the wind was on the nose, so no sailing. Then an hour or so later we had 20 knots from 90 degrees to port for a couple of hours and got to sail. Finally we got to the north end of the island and pulled in at Refugio. At about 4:30. We nosed in slowly, it is a pretty narrow entrance from the south west.We had seen at least a dolphin and some birds on the way up.
We anchored and then realized we were almost on a rock, so up came the anchor and we moved. We are planning on being here for two nights. The S/V Kaya a trimaran is here in the next cove over, probably a mile or two away, we spoke on the radio about plans for the future. They need a very high tide to get hauled out, so they need to get to Puerto Peñasco by May 22, when there will be an especially high tide.They said they will try to get there a day or two before that.
The Iridium GO! Is acting up, when we get texts, instead of being at the bottom of the string, they are now at the top, which is a little difficult to figure out, as all of the texts have the current date and time stamp. Sort of a mess, and oh yeah many of the messages are duplicated, both to us and to the people we are texting. I have already reported some of this to the Predict Wind support people, who have passed it on to the Iridium GO! Support people. The service of Predict Wind is excellent, the hardware (the Iridium GO!) is horrible. But there really does not seem to be an option that is reasonable in cost. Predict Wind plus the Iridium GO! Service run about $250 per month. The next step up seems to be around $1,000 per month. I will be looking for cost effective alternatives.
We do have room for guests, if anyone is interested in visiting and spending a week or so with us, drop us a line and we will coordinate. What you have to do/have is you need a passport and will need to be able to get to where we are when you are going to be down. When we know what time frame you are thinking about we can let you know where we expect to be so that you can make your travel arrangements.
If you want to know where we are, click this link:
We got up around 7:30 or 8:30, we still don’t know what time it is. We were underway about a half hour later, almost that is. We picked up a garbage bag with the anchor, so, I had to do some cleaning before we really started moving. After we got moving, we had breakfast. A the couple of hours later, we got a call on the radio from Dale. He was fishing and just checking in.
There was almost no wind, and what there was came straight from where we were headed. So, we motored the whole day, part of the time with sails up, most with just the main. After lunch we did our devotions.
We arrived in Puerto Don Juan about 4 (maybe) in the afternoon. We found two boats at anchor, one power boat and the other was our friends from before, Michele, Christine on S/V Inia. After dinner, we kayaked over and spent some time talking with them. Then back to our boat, and showers and a movie.
We do have room for guests, if anyone is interested in visiting and spending a week or so with us, drop us a line and we will coordinate. What you have to do/have is you need a passport and will need to be able to get to where we are when you are going to be down. When we know what time frame you are thinking about we can let you know where we expect to be so that you can make your travel arrangements.
If you want to know where we are, click this link:
We got up early (5:30), and underway by 6 am. We had a piece of banana oatmeal carrot cake, then underway. After we were out and on course, we had breakfast and did our devotions.
As we ran north, there was some wind, then too much wind (35 knots) we got a call on the radio from Dale on S/V Oly Girl. We met him in Santa Rosalia, we may see him again this year somewhere, or next year. We will see. After having too much wind, it dropped back down and eventually went to 3 to 4 knots, then back up to 20 knots, part of the time it was right on the nose, and part of the time we actually got enough wind to help push us along. In any case we arrived at San Francisquito at about 6 pm based on the analog battery powered clock in the Salon.
We had some issues with time today. We have two iPads, and two iPhones, we also have a chart plotter, all of which have the time and all of which seem to adjust the time based on time zones. Which all did at some point at least twice (maybe three times) as we came north. Right now, the clock says it is 7:30 pm, my computer says it is 7:30, Renee’s iPhone says it is 6:30, mine says 6:30, both iPads say it is 6:30, and the chart plotter is off. We are pretty sure it took us 12 hours to go about 75 miles. About 6 knots.
Once we got settled in, with the anchor down, we opened the windows and Renee’ got dinner ready. We noted the water pump running periodically. Without having used the water. This is not good, as it means we have something leaking somewhere. We checked all the usual suspects, faucets, and toilets etc. We did not find it there, I checked the water flush for the water maker, not there either. Then after much thought I thought about the water heater. We looked and there is a puddle around it. This is not good. We will keep an eye on it, and when it is cooler, I will check the hoses to see if I can find where it is leaking. If the heater is bad, it is a huge job to change it out.
While I was publishing the post yesterday, Renee’ asked me about some loose wires in the aft head. (See the picture), these wires are under the cabinet that is above and behind the toilet.I posted the question to other IP445 boat owners, and found out that all of them have a light where we just have wires. Renee’ said, she doesn’t want a light there. So, we have wires.
We do have room for guests, if anyone is interested in visiting and spending a week or so with us, drop us a line and we will coordinate. What you have to do/have is you need a passport and will need to be able to get to where we are when you are going to be down. When we know what time frame you are thinking about we can let you know where we expect to be so that you can make your travel arrangements.
If you want to know where we are, click this link:
Ok, in the last week, we have gotten pretty lazy, getting up by no later than 9 am. Except on days when Renee’ walks to the store. On those days, she gets up at 6:30, and I sleep in another hour or so. When we get up, we have breakfast and do our devotions. Then eventually start in to a project. So far, we have cleaned from the front of the boat to the aft lazarette, everything out of every cupboard, closet, drawer, and nook and cranny, all the holes into the bilge opened, and everything out. Then vacuumed and wiped down. Good news! Absolutely no sign of any bugs!
We have done laundry and run the water maker every 5 days (just done today) using the water off the dock. I don’t trust the Mexican water, so we run it through the water maker, the output is about 1 ppm total dissolved solids. That compares to city water in the US at less than 500 ppm TDS.
We have gone out to eat a couple of times, always takeout. It is abit depressing to see how little business there is going on. When we go to the stores, we are frequently the only ones inside, especially in the restaurants. What really makes it bad, is that there are no reported cases of the virus in this area. We are in the state of Baja California Sur population: 763,929. Covid-19 cases today: May 12th.
Municipality
Confirmed
Deaths
Recovered
Comondú
7
0
2
La Paz
90
19
48
Los Cabos
126
5
90
Loreto
0
0
0
Mulegé
9
1
2
Total of 399 cases, Those are the Confirmed+Deaths+Recovered.
Covid-19 May 12
This says that 0.05% of the population in Baja California Sur has, had or died from the virus, and less than 0.02% have died from this virus here.
Today we are finishing laundry, filling the water tank, and getting diesel. We are leaving here tomorrow and headed to Puerto Peñasco. It will take us about a week to get there. We have been in touch with Salvador the guy who runs the boat yard there. It appears we will be able to get hauled out and start the process of getting work done on the boat. We are expecting some period of quarantine, even though we are coming from an area without the virus. Oh well.
While we have been here, we have seen some wildlife (the fledgling osprey took its first flight) there are lots of fish in the harbor, and plenty of other birds as well.
We took the boat over to the fuel dock and got diesel. 88.7 gallons, cost was $309 US, or $3.48 US/gallon, including a 12% docking fee. We could have done the Jerry can transfer and saved the 12% fee, and since we have 2 jerry cans, it would have been about 9 trips, or an all day event. While recording fuel usage, I noted that it is time to change the oil in the generator. Bummer. That will take a couple of hours today to get that done. Ok, now it is done. Renee’ took the used oil up to the garbage. That is what the security officer here said to do. Not quite what I am used to.
So, at this point the only area we did not clean was the aft lazarette. That needs to be done in the morning some day, as it can be rather hot in there. We will need to run the generator so we can use the vacuum to clean it. We will probably do it when we get Puerto Peñasco. Either once we get in to the yard, or while we are waiting to go in. It will probably take a couple of hours to do, as we have been in and out quite a bit, and it is fairly well organized, and not as dirty as some of the other areas.
Renee’ went to the office to check out and found out that they did not charge us for the last 5 days electrical or water use. But in any case, we are checked out, the fuel is full, the water is full, the generator oil is changed, the engine oil has about 130 hours to go to the next oil change. Most of the boat is clean, and all of it is organized, and sorted as to what is staying on the boat and what is going to storage, or tossed. I think we are ready to go.
We do have room for guests, if anyone is interested in visiting and spending a week or so with us, drop us a line and we will coordinate. What you have to do/have is you need a passport and will need to be able to get to where we are when you are going to be down. When we know what time frame you are thinking about we can let you know where we expect to be so that you can make your travel arrangements.
If you want to know where we are, click this link:
We have been self isolating/quarantining here. With the restrictions on travel and going out in public, we have not done much of interest. Which is why I have not published a daily report. This post will have the high lights of what we have done and experienced while here in Santa Rosalia.
We are in a Fonatur Marina, the price is very reasonable ($250 US/month). Amenities include water/power/pool/showers/laundry and a place to walk. There is room for about 16 boats, and when we pulled in there was about 10. Over the time we have been here 3 of them have gotten appointments at San Carlos to haul out. As they get a scheduled date for haul out, they check with the marina and the port captain and get permission to leave. We are waiting on permission to get hauled out in Puerto Penasco.
One of the first conversations we had when we got here with some of the other cruisers was that the alcohol sales were going to be cut off the next day. So, we made a beer run to the local little store and stocked up on beer. As it actually turned out, the limits on purchasing alcohol is no sales on Friday, Saturday or Sunday. As we later found out, it was not available on Monday May 4th or Cinco de Mayo (May 5th). Which still does not seem too bad, but include the issue of distribution, they have stopped most of the distribution of alcohol around the state. So, even if they will sell the beer, they don’t have it in the stores.
Since we are sitting here not going anywhere soon, we have decided to take on some projects, nothing too big, but something that needs to be done. The first thing we have done is to clean everything. We have cleaned the forward stateroom, the forward head and all the storage behind both settees (couches in the salon). The method we are using is that we empty all “things” out of the space, then vacuum, and wipe down with cleaner and sort and re-stow everything again. As we sort, we decide if we want to keep the item, keep it on the boat or take it off and store it in Kansas or dispose of it. While you might think that it should only take an hour or two for one of these areas, the shortest time was about 4 hours for the forward head. At this point we still have the following areas to get done: Salon, Navigation station, galley, aft stateroom, aft head, and aft lazarette.We also washed the outside of the boat.
We asked for and received permission from the port captain to go out and dump the holding tank. Requirements we had were to go out and come back in the same day, not use the radio unless it was an emergency and no recreational sailing. So, we went out 3 miles, dumped the holding tank and came back in. Renee’ tried to catch a fish, with no luck.
We have been using water on our boat for washing dishes and flushing toilets and that sort of thing. We have a requirement with our water maker to flush it every 5 days to keep it fresh. Since we are limited in our ability to go out of the port, we are running the water maker with the water from the hose on the dock. We still don’t trust the water here in Mexico. So, I run the water from dock through a 25 micron filter on the hose, then into our system, the water then goes through a plankton strainer (recently cleaned) which is a wire mesh, from there it goes through a 5 micron filter, then a 5 micron carbon block (this is to remove any chlorine (I have been told only one port in the Sea of Cortez adds chlorine and that is La Paz) from there it goes into the high pressure pump and the Reverse Osmosis Membrane then past the meter and into the tank. With sea water, we have been getting 20 gallons per hour at 800 psi, with about 75 ppm total dissolved solids (TDS). With the marina water, we are getting 20 gallons per hour at 200 psi, with about 1 ppm TDS. I have been doing this about every 5 days.
We have played a couple of games with some of the people here in the marina. One day was a game day up at the pool, another was done down here on our boat. We play games or watch a movie, or read our books at the end of the day after dinner with just Renee’ and I.
While here in the marina we have seen quite a bit of wild life, there are seagulls, pelicans, pigeons, ospreys and vultures. One day as I was coming back to the boat as I approached the ramp, an osprey (I think) swooped down from one of the flag poles and got a pigeon. Then few away, at no more than 2 feet off the concrete and around the corner to eat. The osprey next has a fledgling in it, and we have seen it practicing (not flying yet, but standing up with wings extended on the nest. We have also seen a bunch of fish. This harbor has a large population of fish, in the evincing we see them jumping out of the water with a space of 10 feet or more between exit and entry. We have seen the fish near the dock dozens at a time, unto about 2 feet long. We are not supposed to fish off the dock.
Regarding boat maintenance, we had an issue with shore power. When we were getting ready to go out and dump the holding tank, while unplugging the shore power cables, I found that the one for the second bus (Air Conditioning, water maker and washer dryer) was burnt, both the end that plugs into the boat and the socket. So, when we got back in, I took a walk to see if I could get parts. The first auto parts store directed me to the second one which directed me to the electricians shop up the street. So, I walked up there with the bad shore power cable in the wagon, it might have been about a half mile from the boat, so all told I probably walked about a mile total. I am glad we have a wagon for carrying things like the shore power cable (about 20 lbs each, and I was planning on buying a new one). In any case, the electricians don’t sell parts but they were available to come look at it. They gave me a ride back to the boat and looked at the situation. While they did not have the exact parts I needed they were able to repair our cable and the socket and get the air conditioning back on. It took two days, and the total cost was about $70 parts and labor. While I plan to redo what they did, I was very happy to have the A/C back on!. We also got the bottom of the boat cleaned, 1200 pesos (about $60 based on what we paid for the pesos).
One day last week, we had some very interesting weather. There was a fog bank about a 100 yards to the east (towards the Sea Of Cortez). It is interesting, in that it is pretty warm today probably 80 degrees or so. Very humid.
Renee’ has done some baking, made an apple pie. She said the crust was too sweat. Some things are hard to find here in Mexico, like brown sugar, she made some cookies with brown sugar (this was a couple of weeks ago) they did hold together very well and tasted a bit different, she figured out the “brown sugar” was graham cracker crumbs.
We just walked up to the office and checked, the earliest we can leave is Thursday afternoon, which is not a good option for us, as it is 70 miles to our next stop Puerto San Francisquito, which is a long day of motor/sailing, so I want to leave at about 5 am or so. Which means we will be planning on leaving on Friday morning.
We do have room for guests, if anyone is interested in visiting and spending a week or so with us, drop us a line and we will coordinate. What you have to do/have is you need a passport and will need to be able to get to where we are when you are going to be down. When we know what time frame you are thinking about we can let you know where we expect to be so that you can make your travel arrangements.
If you want to know where we are, click this link:
The dock with the boatsThe north end of the harbor.These are the boats in the marinaThe fogThe fogOne of the birdsAnother one of the birdsOne of the birds nestsSome of the fish here in the marinaRenee’ in the poolThis is the second shore power connection and it’s breaker. Note it is a bit burntOur second shore power cable that is burntJust another sunsetEven the fish are wearing masks!
