Make Me Laugh Again

(posted 12/25/22)

Up at 0700. The coffee was ready, and the boat is COLD! We have limited shore power (only one 30 amp supply) and when our second AC unit starts up it draws about 40 amps, so we lose shore power. I have some ideas about how to deal with this to try out later today. In the meantime, we are wearing jackets inside the boat. Outside air temp at 0800 is 50 degrees.

After breakfast and devotions (and we hope it has warmed up) we have a bunch of work to do to prep the boat for haul out. The list is 5 pages long, but many of the items that are listed are details associated with the bigger picture, like take down the sails and lines is spelled out for the details (3 sails, 3 lines for the Jib, and 4 for the staysail, and the 6 for the mainsail, etc). Reneé found a hotel for Sunday and Monday nights. We plan to be off the boat by Sunday afternoon, then move it to the yard on Monday, finish whatever has to be done and leave on Tuesday (unless they won’t take our boat until Tuesday).

No pictures today

(posted 12/25/22)

We continued from yesterday, with the full moon to light our route, and very little traffic on the water. As we approached Puerto Peñasco we saw several fishing/shrimping boats and on one occasion we had to change course to avoid them. We had planned to get to Puerto Peñasco by midday to arrive with the high tide, but conditions had been very favorable and we reduced speed at about 0130 to 4 knots so that we could anchor at day break where we had spent a couple of weeks in May 2020 doing our isolation for covid prior to going to the dock.

After dropping the anchor, we went back to bed and got some naps.

We got up at 9, had breakfast and did our devotions. Then called the marina by radio (no answer on the phone, and no cell service for the internet). We arranged a slip and went in and tied up.

We took a walk down to the Embarcadero then back to the chicken place across the way from the VIP gas station for lunch. Finally back to the boat and a relaxing rest day. Reneé and I had some calls to make and I spent a couple of hours working with AT&T (our cell provider) to get the data working. After dinner and showers, we watched a movie: The kid who would be King. A pretty good movie, then bed.

(posted 12/25/22)

Up at 6:30 and underway by 7:15 headed north. We had breakfast and did our devotions underway. We have been checking the weather all the way up on this trip and there is a rather strong Northerly coming our way Thursday and Friday, so the plan is to get as far north each day as possible to minimize the impact of the weather.

We had some interesting weather as we headed north past Isla Angel de La Guardia off the Bahia de Los Angeles. Wind speed was about 20 knots from the port side (the Baja peninsula) and fairly steady. We put up the Main and the Jib sails and managed to sail for about a half hour with the motor off, boat speed was as high as 8 knots. This was good, but not to last. As quickly as the wind came up it went away and we were down to wind speed of 0.4 knots. So, the motor was restarted and we continued our motoring.

(posted 12/25/22)

Once again we are impressed by how calm the water is here in Don Juan! After lunch and our devotions, I am going to get a shower and go to bed for a nap.

After the nap, and showers we discovered the forward shower doesn’t always pump down. This will have to be addressed when we return to the boat. It is on the LIST.

Dinner, a sermon (?) and bed.

Tomorrow we plan to get underway at first light. We have about 148 miles to go, with a desire to arrive at high tide, which is about mid day. Since we only go about 5 – 7 knots that means about 30 hours of travel (+/-). This confirms our plan to leave at first light.

(posted 12/25/22)

Up at 3 and underway promptly. We have elected to go NORTH. This is a VERY long haul on the order of 200 miles, but the later we wait the worse the weather gets, so we go. The water was fairly calm overnight, but by mid morning the wind started to come up some and then the waves. At 5 to 7 knots it takes all day to get anywhere. Tuesday morning, we were hailed by Dennis Kelly on SV Ankyrios they are headed to San Juanico and saw us on the AIS. We were the first cruisers they have seen since they left Puerto Peñasco. They are back to cruising after a year off to get their oldest settled in school and for Dennis to work on his masters degree. We met them in Puerto Peñasco when we hauled out there in 2020.