Welcome back to Civilization!
La Paz, the capital of Baja California Sur, is located at the end of La Paz Bay and at the beginning of the Sea of Cortez. Marina de La Paz was our first marina since we left Ensenada. We planed a short stop to re-provision before heading up to the Sea of Cortez. We also wanted to enjoy some shopping and dining out. We did provision, and the waterline is gone again…. Being in a marina gave us free internet wireless access. Our lines of communications were open again via the Internet and the Skype phone system.
One of the first projects we did was repair the bracket from the boom vang, which had come loose. The local chandlery had the next size SS screws. The damaged threads were drilled out and re-tapped with new threads. The whole assembly was installed with Lock tide. This is how it should have been done the first time by a reputable mast recondioner in Southern California.
We had custom lycra suits made. Some of the anchorages where we snorkel have these nasty little jelly fish called String of Pearls. These suits will make snorkeling and diving more comfortable.
It was the first time we actually got to meet some cruisers since leaving Ensenada.
Most of the cruisers followed us on the Sonrisa net in the morning. They all wondered who those crazy birds were going down the outside of Baja during hurricane season.
The climate was very hot and humid. When we left Marina del Rey, Larry and Mel had this hatch A/C unit for sale. The price was reasonable and we bought it. It was stowed away in a spare sail bag in front of the mast since it is a very bulky unit. We actually forgot about it until we reached La Paz and dug it out again.
Boy, were we glad we had this unit. When we first plugged it in, it was blowing artic air over the aft cabin. In the evening Sue disappeared rather quickly to go to sleep. By the time I made it to the aft cabin, there was no Sue to be found. She was rolled in all of the comforters like a fish taco and only the tip of her nose was sticking out. The day before she was trying to figure out where to stow all of the down comforters for the rest of the summer…… It actually was too cold, so the next day we moved the unit over the main cabin hatch. It dramatically cooled the boat down and helped dry it out from the inside after the trip down the coast.
The cruisers have a musical jam session every Wednesday at a local restaurant were they meet for dinner and some music. One of them looks like a blonde Uncle Monkey! It is a great time and you get to know some cruisers. Some of the cruisers we meet there were Mike from Laotra, and Gail and Houston from Blew Moon.
One of the jammers, Craig and Debbie from Aristocat, invited us for a party on their boat. They were anchored in the bay in front of the Malecon (the city’s boardwalk) to watch the Mexican Independence Day fireworks. There we also met John and Lisa from Andiamo as well as Lynn from Wildflower. Carlos from Waterworks, one of the local marine shop owners joined the party too. It was the first time we saw a “Dogshark”. BB, their terrier has a “fin costume” and goes swimming with it. It’s hysterical.
While on Maitairoa, Jerry approaches us and admires the Peterson 44. He and his wife Cathy own a Peterson 44. Imagine our surprise when we find out they are also a “Roa”. Their boat name is Po Oino Roa. When we told him that our boat name was Maitairoa he wouldn’t stop laughing. He was following us over the net as we went down the coast and wanted to meet us.We are now known as the Roa gang.
La Paz and the Sea of Cortez saw little rain this year. One afternoon as we were about to run into town, we noticed some dark clouds on the horizon. They decided to open the flood gates and about 4.5 inches of water came down within an hour. It rained so much that all of the streets in La Paz were flooded. Unfortunately several boaters were in town and had their hatches open.
September 22nd: After 2 weeks of civilization and marina living, it was time to head north for a month’s time exploring the Sea of Cortez. We went out to Caleta Partida on the island of Espiritu Santo. We spent two days cleaning the bottom of the boat, kayaking and swimming in the warm crystal clear waters. Two local fishermen on their way home ran out of gas in their panga. They gave us 2 red snappers in exchange for a few drops of fuel and oil for their outboard.
We were following Hurricane Otis over the ham net which was developing south of Cabo San Lucas. We were deciding whether to keep going north or find refuge back in La Paz should this hurricane decide to come up the Sea of Cortez. During this night, we were hit by a “Chubbasco” carrying 30+ knots of wind and a lightning show north and south of us. Hollywood could not have done it better. It was absolutely fascinating! The anchor held well, we didn’t move an inch. The big Bruce and 3/8 chain is a good combination to anchor in sand, especially when you have enough scope out.
The weather report in the morning advised that “Otis” was headed for La Paz and suggested to seek immediate shelter. We decided to return to La Paz and stay in Marina Palmira. It is better to be safe than sorry.
While Otis turned out to be only a few sprinkles and a light breeze, there was a bigger system developing around Manzanillo. This system was stationery over the coast line and dumping a lot of rain in the area. It slowly started inching northwards at a turtles pace. Since the Sea of Cortez was the hottest spot around, it was being predicted that it would go up towards the warm waters.
Since we had to wait for the final development of this system, we decided to rent a car and make a “Costco-run” to Cabo San Lucas. Our waterline was starting to show again and we couldn’t have that happen. We found out from Kent Andersson that Barrie and Kathy were in Cabo. It was great seeing them for a beer aboard Cap’n Jake.
We took the long route going to Cabo, which is very scenic but also windy and slow. The return trip was via Todos Santos which is a lot quicker. The roads are very adventurous. The herds of cows grazing in the road are tough to spot while traveling at Mach Speed. Now we know how Sparky and Roseland had some close encounters with some wandering beef…..
As the system never materialized, it was time to hit the “Sea” again. We were getting antsy sitting in a marina. That’s not our idea of cruising. We again went to Caleta Partida, sailing the whole way up. While anchored, the same fishermen approached us. They asked us if we could drill some holes into a piece of Plexiglas. No big deal, out came the drill and the six holes were drilled. The question arose that six more holes had to be drilled into the case in the village. Alex went with the drill by panga to the village to drill the additional holes. As a thank you, they came back next morning with a huge zip lock bag of freshly filleted snapper. Fresh fish is especially delicious when someone else cleans and fillets it. No mess on Maitairoa today! There was enough fish for three meals.
The next morning we continued sailing to Punta Evaristo. It's just another beautiful day in paradise. We anchored overnight, again by ourselves and left the next morning for a straight run to Agua Verde, our final destination.
Unfortunately, the sailing gods were not on speaking terms with us this time. The wind blew on the nose for the entire trip. We didn’t even bother to raise the main sail. 9.5 hours later the anchor went down in the West Bight of Agua Verde Bay. Again, nobody was there. For 5 days we had the whole anchorage to ourselves. The kayaks hit the water, the snorkel gear came out and most of the time was spent in the water. Alex found some time to do some boat projects, like hooking up the forward looking sonar, a.k.a. fish finder….
The village, which is famous for their goat cheese, had none to offer. While there are enough goats around, it hadn’t rained in a while. The goats couldn’t produce enough milk. We will have to wait until spring when we plan to head back up into this area.
Since we had to catch a flight to L.A. on Friday, 10/21, it was time to start inching down the coast towards La Paz. Our first stop was Puerto Los Gatos. While on our way, we heard Andiamo and Wildflower on the radio. As it turned out, they were headed for Los Gatos too. A potluck was quickly organized after Andiamo landed a nice sized Dorado. As we approached the anchorage, we saw that Sarah Elisabeth with Rick and Liz aboard was already at anchor (they were our dock neighbors in Marina Palmira). They joined us for the potluck aboard Maitairoa that evening. What a wonderful dinner with many bottles of wine… Everybody had a marvelous time.
In the morning after some light kayaking, we lifted anchor. We were able to sail under spinnaker straight out of the anchorage for almost all of the 27 miles to Punta Evaristo. Although our final destination originally was Isla San Francisco, Darrel and Rita from “Overheated” convinced us not to go due to the bugs in the anchorage. We actually never met them before, but started talking on the radio during the day. We were both running under spinnaker. It’s another way of meeting other cruising boats…
Once anchored in Evaristo, nobody wanted to launch the dinghies for such a short period. It was agreed we would meet for cocktails during the next jam session in La Paz. They had to leave by 6:00 AM in order to arrive at Marina de La Paz while the office was still open.
Our anchor came up around 9:00 AM for our run to Balandra Bay, our original destination. We had all of the right Gods on our side that day. First a beautiful dorado decided to go for one of the trolling lures. Dinner was secured and plenty for the freezer.
The Wind God decided to blow from the right direction, so the chute went up for an E-ticket ride south. By the time we were half way down Espiritu Santo Island, we were surfing at 7.5 knots+. The winds were building to 20 knots+. It was time to douse the spinnaker (so it wouldn’t blow into shreds) and continue sailing with main and jib only.
All day long, the Weather God smiled upon us with perfect temps in the high 80’s under blue sky.
As we approached Balandra Bay, we saw the beach scrub was on fire. Since a smoky evening wasn’t on our agenda, we opted to go further south to the next anchorage in Caleta Lobos. We spent a nice and quite night at anchor, enjoying the fresh Dorado prepared in butter and garlic for dinner with a bottle of two buck Chuck Chardonnay.
In the morning we went back to the marina for some final preparations before heading back to the States. We had to stow all of the loose valuable stuff stored on deck to avoid it getting feet while we were out of town. So dive tanks, kayaks and other miscellaneous items went down below. Our dock neighbors, Susan and Dennis from Two Can Play, were extremely kind and gave us a ride to the airport.
On October 21 we boarded Aero California for LA. Gonzo picked us up at LAX. I think we are in for some culture shock. Our feet are already hurt from wearing shoes! See you in LA!
Sunday, October 30, 2005
Thursday, September 15, 2005
"Turtle Bay to La Paz"
Turtle Bay
Turtle Bay is a small and dusty desert town populated by fishermen and an overabundance of children. As you enter Turtle Bay you are right away greeted by Ernesto from the Gordos family. He will offer you fuel, panga rides to town or any other service you might require. A fee is charged of course, as he will very clearly let you know. A few of the locals are trying to compete with Ernesto with little success.
Because of the huge surf created by passing hurricanes south of Cabo, it was impossible to beach the dinghy. We had to use the pier and the thin ladder going up 20 feet to be able to go to town. I’ll let you guess which one of us didn’t like this arrangement too much. As you walk down the long pier towards the beach, the teenagers are running and jumping off the pier. The smaller children play on the beach next to a grounded sailboat.
On the beach is a local mom and pop palapa which sells candies and cold cervezas. This was a daily stop for us after running our errands in town. It’s amazing how delicious an ice cold beer tastes in the hot sun. You certainly can’t beat the price of $ 0.80 for a Corona or Pacifico.
In town, there is one decent market and a few smaller ones. They do have a good Internet Café. There are better places to provision.
All of the restaurants were closed for the summer (off-season). The only one open is Los Maruecos. We ate there one evening. It was very good.
We spent a few days in Turtle Bay enjoying the half way point of our Baja Trip south. One of the tours we took was to the other end of the bay to watch the local fishermen harvest Oysters. It was an impressive operation. We also walked across the landmass connecting Turtle Bay to Thurloe Bay. What a beautiful bay! Unfortunately it was open to the south and was being pounded by the swell. We knew we wouldn’t stop there on the way south. After picking shells on the beach, we noticed a dead rattle snake. It was time for Sue to head back…. Very quickly!!
Ernesto gave us a big piece of blue fin tuna for a beer. One of Ernesto’s competitors came and sold us half of a huge halibut for a few bucks and a soda. Because of the bonus soda, we received 2 lobsters as a present the following day. You sure can’t beat these prices!
August 18th: It was time to lift anchor and go back on the road to continue our southbound cruise. We left Turtle Bay under Spinnaker and had a wonderful sailing day towards Bahia Asuncion. As usual, we had the ocean to ourselves. Imagine our surprise when all of a sudden (a few miles south of Isla Roque), we were hailed on the radio by an American voice. There was no boat in sight. It was Shari, a Canadian ex cruiser married to a local fisherman named Juan. She invited us to stop in Asuncion for a few homemade fish tacos. We never turn down home made fish tacos. Since we planned to stop in Asuncion, it was an easy decision to beach the dinghy and go ashore. Thanks to her instructions and contradicting the cruising guides, we had a very quiet anchorage right down from Punta Asuncion and next to the pangas. The beach landing was uneventful, since it was a protected beach. As we looked further down the coast towards downtown Asuncion, we could see the rollers coming in. Now we knew why the fishermen keep their pangas in that cove.
Shari and Juan are a very hospitable couple. Their house is situated above the point with a view from Punta Asuncion to Isla Roques. The sunsets are breathless!
We had such a wonderful evening with them that we decided to stay another day. Juan was so exited about our decision. He couldn’t wait to catch fresh fish the next morning to make us homemade ceviche. You have no idea how good this tasted. The VHF came on relatively early announcing the fresh catch for the ceviche for lunch. Shari came and picked us up at the beach in her 4x4. A tour around town including the introduction to the mayor and the replenishing of Tecates led to a great lunch. We spent the day with them including Sue going horse back riding on their horse. Very entertaining! While the girls went for a hike, the boys decided to go rabbit hunting! It was a successful mission.
They are great people. Anybody going south should make a point and stop in Asuncion. Besides these wonderful and generous people, the provisioning has a lot more to offer than the cruise books mention. It is a lot better compared to Turtle Bay.
August 20th, off we went again to Bahia San Hipolito. A few miles out of town, the fishing reels started singing. We caught several Mexican striped bonitos. We radioed Juan to let him know where the schools were.
Shari had given us the names of their relatives in San Hipolito but it was too windy to beach the dinghy. We just stayed overnight and went on the next day to Punta Abreojos.
Again, we had almost perfect conditions with 20-25 knots of wind coming from the STB quarter. It just makes for perfect sailing! As we approached Abreojos (which means “open your eyes” in Spanish) we noticed an increase in swell coming from the SW. It was the remains of hurricane Hillary hitting the Baja coast. Instead of staying right in front of town, we opted for the second anchorage further down the bay and behind a small point. It was somewhat quieter. We stayed there for a few days to ride out the effect of the hurricane. After the second sleepless night (compared to this, Paradise Cove is heaven), we decided in the afternoon to take off towards Bahia San Juanico. At dusk we dropped anchor in front of a small fishing village near Estero San Juan. This must have created a riot in town since nobody ever stops there. All of a sudden a female voice came on the radio in English inquiring if we needed help or were in trouble. We answered that all was OK. We were just stopping for the night and planed to leave in the morning. As the night progressed, the swells got bigger and bigger. Alex had enough of this. He got up, started the good old diesel, lifted the anchor and left dodge. It just wasn’t fun anymore.
We arrived in San Juanico at dawn, dropped anchor in front of the village and went to sleep. It’s a beautiful and protected bay. Again, we were the ONLY boat in it. San Juanico and Scorpion Point is widely known as a surfer hot spot. Watching them ride the long waves makes you understand why.
San Juanico is a very Americanized town. It has 3 restaurants run by American expatriates. Most of the residents and tourists are American. There are a few small stores and that’s it. On our first day the local sheriff drove us around. He dropped us off at Scorpion Bay so we could check our email, send Kent his Log article and watch our first lightning show. It was scary seeing our 50 foot mast sticking out in the middle of the bay with nothing else around.
After a few days of lounging around, drinking beers with the locals and tourists (who by the way thought it was cool to have a sailboat in the anchorage), swimming, having our laundry done and Alex getting a 3 dollar haircut, the weather window was clear to continue heading south.
On our 94 mile journey to Bahia Santa Maria, we hit a school of Yellow fin Tuna. 3 bit, 2 made it to the boat and one managed to escape. We regret not continuing to drop the lures back in. We found out later, we had some additional room in the freezer. These fish were delicious.
Bahia Santa Maria is a huge bay just outside Mag Bay. We stayed for 2 days in relatively quiet waters in front of the fishing village. The next morning we were approached by the local fishermen. For 2 small zip locked bags of candies, 4 AA batteries and 2 throw away sunglasses, we netted 8 fresh lobsters. Again, you sure can’t beat those prices…
We tried to enter into the lagoon by dinghy but opted not to enter due to the high surf. Even a beach landing didn’t look very inviting. Since we were headed for Mag Bay, we always could walk across the small strip of land separating Bahia Santa Maria and Mag Bay.
We left Bahia Santa Maria on September 1st for the 30 mile run to Man-O-War Cove. It’s a nice downwind sail to Punta Entrada, the entrance to the huge Bahia Magdalena, also known as Mag Bay. As you round the point and enter this big bay, the water flattens out rapidly. It’s about 5 miles to Puerto Magdalena aka Man-O-War Cove, a small fishing village with a Port Captain. We dropped anchor, put the dinghy in the water and went to take showers in order to properly meet the local Port Authorities. While showering, there was a knock on the hull. It was the Port Captain (aka Fuel Man) with his Log Book. Since we weren’t ready, we told him that we were going to visit him in his office within the hour.
We beached the dinghy in front of the flag post designating the Port Captain’s location. We walked up the stairs to his office/residence and sat in his living room/office to do the check in procedure which consisted of making an entry in his log book. During this very friendly conversation, Alex questioned why there was a Port captain in Puerto Magdalena, a small fishing village. Apparently it is historically based, since this used to be the base for big whaling operations. Puerto San Carlos, the big port up the bay/channel became a Port much, much later. He took our fuel order at the same time and recommended not to take “Maitairoa” to San Carlos through the channel. He suggested taking the dinghy in the morning and going straight to San Carlos. He also showed us where the entrance to the Lagoon was and when best to enter it.
After the check in was over, we went to “town”. First we looked at the church. They have a nice building but no priest to hold masses. We walked the main drag to the local tienda to check on fresh available produce. The results were meager. ???? Who knew that Roma tomatoes can mold from the inside?????? That was a first for us. The decision was made to make a run for San Carlos within the next few days.
Bright and early the following morning, we left on a mirror like surface for an “E-Ticket” ride to San Carlos. Nothing beats a flat surface with a 15 horse outboard mounted on a hard bottom dink.
A few miles prior to hitting San Carlos we saw what appeared to be a major flock of birds sitting on the surface of the water. As we got closer we realized it was Isla Los Patos, a low island in the middle of the bay. It was amazing the numerous amounts of birds. On the way back most of the low lying land was covered by water and no birds to be seen.
Puerto San Carlos is a bigger village with a few fish processing plants, a couple of relatively well stocked markets, hardware stores, Internet café’s, restaurants and bars. Beach landings are easy; however you must be careful about the slippery rocks. We were warned by the local fishermen not to leave the dinghy beached overnight, since it would certainly disappear. We provisioned, did our email, had lunch and quickly returned to our boat. The trip back was a touch rougher, since the wind had picked up a bit and created some small chop on the surface. It was still a fun trip back.
We spend a few days swimming, exploring the lagoon, walking on the beach, playing with dolphins who were riding in the wake of the dinghy and collecting shells.
On Saturday we went ashore to mingle with the local fishermen. Well, it just happened that Mexico was playing the USA this day in soccer. The next thing we know, we are all sitting in front of a TV on the beach, drinking beer and discussing soccer. Even so the US team won, we all had a great time. After many beers and a bottle of rum mixed with diet coke, we stumbled back to our dinghy for a short ride home. What a way to integrate in the local society!
On Monday our local fuel man brought us our load, we stowed everything and got ready to leave for a short ride to Punta Belcher anchorage at the entrance to the bay. Punta Belcher is the location of an old whaling company. The remains of the processing plant can still be seen. Today a few fishermen camp out during the week at this location to ice their catches.
September 7th, departure for Cabo. We left at 3:00 AM for the 150 miles trip to the cape for a scheduled rounding at sunrise. As the sun came up and the wind started to gain in strength, it was time to sail again. We did sail almost all day. We had encounters with a north bound oil freighter, a turtle and 3 marlin hook ups which all got away after short fights (at 75, 70 and 65 miles north of Cabo with water temps of 84.4 F). We had two gear failures in one day: The snap shackle on furling jib came loose which was easily fixed. The worst was that the screws for the mast bracket of the boom wang came loose. After taking the pressure off the unit, it turned out that the folks who recently refurbished the mast forgot to put Lock-Tide on the screws. All of the screws were loose and on three of them, the threads were actually stripped out of the aluminum mast. We won’t be using the wang for the next few days.
As we approached Cabo, we actually had to slow the boat down in order to see the cape at sunrise. It was worth it. What a scene! As we rounded the cape and headed towards Cabo, we noticed the increased number of fishing boats leaving Cabo’s marina. It was like driving on the 405.
We went by the arches and continued on to Los Frailes, an anchorage another 45 miles north of Cabo. Once we arrived in the north anchorage, protected from the southern swell, it was time for a cocktail and some sleeeeeeeeeeeep!
While lifting the anchor the next morning, we noticed small shells on the deck. They had grown on the chain while in Mag Bay and dried out in the chain locker on the way down. As they went by the bow roller, they fell off the chain onto the deck. They were everywhere. We headed out to Los Muertos, an anchorage 45 miles north of Los Frailes. A great sail with following seas took us quickly there. While we were approaching the anchorage, we were looking at the southern swell rolling in and decided to go on around the point through the Cerralvo channel to the anchorage at Punta Arena de la Ventana. Boy, are we glad we did it. Not only was it flat like a billiard table, all of the fishermen from Los Muertos had their pangas beached there. When in doubt, go where the fishermen leaved their pangas. They know why!
After a peaceful night and the beginning of the Sea of Cortez’s flat waters, we headed towards Canal de San Lorenzo and La Paz. A beautiful Dorado decided to bite one of the trolling lures and ended up in “Maitairoa’s” fridge. Dinner was secured.
We dropped anchor in Puerto Ballandra, a small cove north of La Paz. The end of this cove is shoal turquoise water. What a sight. No wonder most guides refer to it as a nice anchorage. Crystal clear waters, no swells and pure heaven. Water was a nice 86 F! It didn’t take long for us to hit the water over and over again.
The next morning we headed around the corner to Caleta Lobos, another beautiful anchorage situated just birth of La Paz.
On Monday morning, we headed towards La Paz through the well marked channel. Just finding the beginning of it was kind of tricky. You do want to stay in that channel since it gets very shoal just outside of it in the big La Paz bay. The trip takes you past Marina Costa Baja, a new marina outside of La Paz, built by Bellport. Next comes Marina Palmira, the virtual Marina in downtown and finally Marina de La Paz, our first marina since Ensenada. Welcome back to civilization! After docking the boat, visiting the office for check in and slip fees, we went back to the boat to celebrate the end of our trip down Baja’s coast.
WOW, WE MADE IT!
Turtle Bay is a small and dusty desert town populated by fishermen and an overabundance of children. As you enter Turtle Bay you are right away greeted by Ernesto from the Gordos family. He will offer you fuel, panga rides to town or any other service you might require. A fee is charged of course, as he will very clearly let you know. A few of the locals are trying to compete with Ernesto with little success.
Because of the huge surf created by passing hurricanes south of Cabo, it was impossible to beach the dinghy. We had to use the pier and the thin ladder going up 20 feet to be able to go to town. I’ll let you guess which one of us didn’t like this arrangement too much. As you walk down the long pier towards the beach, the teenagers are running and jumping off the pier. The smaller children play on the beach next to a grounded sailboat.
On the beach is a local mom and pop palapa which sells candies and cold cervezas. This was a daily stop for us after running our errands in town. It’s amazing how delicious an ice cold beer tastes in the hot sun. You certainly can’t beat the price of $ 0.80 for a Corona or Pacifico.
In town, there is one decent market and a few smaller ones. They do have a good Internet Café. There are better places to provision.
All of the restaurants were closed for the summer (off-season). The only one open is Los Maruecos. We ate there one evening. It was very good.
We spent a few days in Turtle Bay enjoying the half way point of our Baja Trip south. One of the tours we took was to the other end of the bay to watch the local fishermen harvest Oysters. It was an impressive operation. We also walked across the landmass connecting Turtle Bay to Thurloe Bay. What a beautiful bay! Unfortunately it was open to the south and was being pounded by the swell. We knew we wouldn’t stop there on the way south. After picking shells on the beach, we noticed a dead rattle snake. It was time for Sue to head back…. Very quickly!!
Ernesto gave us a big piece of blue fin tuna for a beer. One of Ernesto’s competitors came and sold us half of a huge halibut for a few bucks and a soda. Because of the bonus soda, we received 2 lobsters as a present the following day. You sure can’t beat these prices!
August 18th: It was time to lift anchor and go back on the road to continue our southbound cruise. We left Turtle Bay under Spinnaker and had a wonderful sailing day towards Bahia Asuncion. As usual, we had the ocean to ourselves. Imagine our surprise when all of a sudden (a few miles south of Isla Roque), we were hailed on the radio by an American voice. There was no boat in sight. It was Shari, a Canadian ex cruiser married to a local fisherman named Juan. She invited us to stop in Asuncion for a few homemade fish tacos. We never turn down home made fish tacos. Since we planned to stop in Asuncion, it was an easy decision to beach the dinghy and go ashore. Thanks to her instructions and contradicting the cruising guides, we had a very quiet anchorage right down from Punta Asuncion and next to the pangas. The beach landing was uneventful, since it was a protected beach. As we looked further down the coast towards downtown Asuncion, we could see the rollers coming in. Now we knew why the fishermen keep their pangas in that cove.
Shari and Juan are a very hospitable couple. Their house is situated above the point with a view from Punta Asuncion to Isla Roques. The sunsets are breathless!
We had such a wonderful evening with them that we decided to stay another day. Juan was so exited about our decision. He couldn’t wait to catch fresh fish the next morning to make us homemade ceviche. You have no idea how good this tasted. The VHF came on relatively early announcing the fresh catch for the ceviche for lunch. Shari came and picked us up at the beach in her 4x4. A tour around town including the introduction to the mayor and the replenishing of Tecates led to a great lunch. We spent the day with them including Sue going horse back riding on their horse. Very entertaining! While the girls went for a hike, the boys decided to go rabbit hunting! It was a successful mission.
They are great people. Anybody going south should make a point and stop in Asuncion. Besides these wonderful and generous people, the provisioning has a lot more to offer than the cruise books mention. It is a lot better compared to Turtle Bay.
August 20th, off we went again to Bahia San Hipolito. A few miles out of town, the fishing reels started singing. We caught several Mexican striped bonitos. We radioed Juan to let him know where the schools were.
Shari had given us the names of their relatives in San Hipolito but it was too windy to beach the dinghy. We just stayed overnight and went on the next day to Punta Abreojos.
Again, we had almost perfect conditions with 20-25 knots of wind coming from the STB quarter. It just makes for perfect sailing! As we approached Abreojos (which means “open your eyes” in Spanish) we noticed an increase in swell coming from the SW. It was the remains of hurricane Hillary hitting the Baja coast. Instead of staying right in front of town, we opted for the second anchorage further down the bay and behind a small point. It was somewhat quieter. We stayed there for a few days to ride out the effect of the hurricane. After the second sleepless night (compared to this, Paradise Cove is heaven), we decided in the afternoon to take off towards Bahia San Juanico. At dusk we dropped anchor in front of a small fishing village near Estero San Juan. This must have created a riot in town since nobody ever stops there. All of a sudden a female voice came on the radio in English inquiring if we needed help or were in trouble. We answered that all was OK. We were just stopping for the night and planed to leave in the morning. As the night progressed, the swells got bigger and bigger. Alex had enough of this. He got up, started the good old diesel, lifted the anchor and left dodge. It just wasn’t fun anymore.
We arrived in San Juanico at dawn, dropped anchor in front of the village and went to sleep. It’s a beautiful and protected bay. Again, we were the ONLY boat in it. San Juanico and Scorpion Point is widely known as a surfer hot spot. Watching them ride the long waves makes you understand why.
San Juanico is a very Americanized town. It has 3 restaurants run by American expatriates. Most of the residents and tourists are American. There are a few small stores and that’s it. On our first day the local sheriff drove us around. He dropped us off at Scorpion Bay so we could check our email, send Kent his Log article and watch our first lightning show. It was scary seeing our 50 foot mast sticking out in the middle of the bay with nothing else around.
After a few days of lounging around, drinking beers with the locals and tourists (who by the way thought it was cool to have a sailboat in the anchorage), swimming, having our laundry done and Alex getting a 3 dollar haircut, the weather window was clear to continue heading south.
On our 94 mile journey to Bahia Santa Maria, we hit a school of Yellow fin Tuna. 3 bit, 2 made it to the boat and one managed to escape. We regret not continuing to drop the lures back in. We found out later, we had some additional room in the freezer. These fish were delicious.
Bahia Santa Maria is a huge bay just outside Mag Bay. We stayed for 2 days in relatively quiet waters in front of the fishing village. The next morning we were approached by the local fishermen. For 2 small zip locked bags of candies, 4 AA batteries and 2 throw away sunglasses, we netted 8 fresh lobsters. Again, you sure can’t beat those prices…
We tried to enter into the lagoon by dinghy but opted not to enter due to the high surf. Even a beach landing didn’t look very inviting. Since we were headed for Mag Bay, we always could walk across the small strip of land separating Bahia Santa Maria and Mag Bay.
We left Bahia Santa Maria on September 1st for the 30 mile run to Man-O-War Cove. It’s a nice downwind sail to Punta Entrada, the entrance to the huge Bahia Magdalena, also known as Mag Bay. As you round the point and enter this big bay, the water flattens out rapidly. It’s about 5 miles to Puerto Magdalena aka Man-O-War Cove, a small fishing village with a Port Captain. We dropped anchor, put the dinghy in the water and went to take showers in order to properly meet the local Port Authorities. While showering, there was a knock on the hull. It was the Port Captain (aka Fuel Man) with his Log Book. Since we weren’t ready, we told him that we were going to visit him in his office within the hour.
We beached the dinghy in front of the flag post designating the Port Captain’s location. We walked up the stairs to his office/residence and sat in his living room/office to do the check in procedure which consisted of making an entry in his log book. During this very friendly conversation, Alex questioned why there was a Port captain in Puerto Magdalena, a small fishing village. Apparently it is historically based, since this used to be the base for big whaling operations. Puerto San Carlos, the big port up the bay/channel became a Port much, much later. He took our fuel order at the same time and recommended not to take “Maitairoa” to San Carlos through the channel. He suggested taking the dinghy in the morning and going straight to San Carlos. He also showed us where the entrance to the Lagoon was and when best to enter it.
After the check in was over, we went to “town”. First we looked at the church. They have a nice building but no priest to hold masses. We walked the main drag to the local tienda to check on fresh available produce. The results were meager. ???? Who knew that Roma tomatoes can mold from the inside?????? That was a first for us. The decision was made to make a run for San Carlos within the next few days.
Bright and early the following morning, we left on a mirror like surface for an “E-Ticket” ride to San Carlos. Nothing beats a flat surface with a 15 horse outboard mounted on a hard bottom dink.
A few miles prior to hitting San Carlos we saw what appeared to be a major flock of birds sitting on the surface of the water. As we got closer we realized it was Isla Los Patos, a low island in the middle of the bay. It was amazing the numerous amounts of birds. On the way back most of the low lying land was covered by water and no birds to be seen.
Puerto San Carlos is a bigger village with a few fish processing plants, a couple of relatively well stocked markets, hardware stores, Internet café’s, restaurants and bars. Beach landings are easy; however you must be careful about the slippery rocks. We were warned by the local fishermen not to leave the dinghy beached overnight, since it would certainly disappear. We provisioned, did our email, had lunch and quickly returned to our boat. The trip back was a touch rougher, since the wind had picked up a bit and created some small chop on the surface. It was still a fun trip back.
We spend a few days swimming, exploring the lagoon, walking on the beach, playing with dolphins who were riding in the wake of the dinghy and collecting shells.
On Saturday we went ashore to mingle with the local fishermen. Well, it just happened that Mexico was playing the USA this day in soccer. The next thing we know, we are all sitting in front of a TV on the beach, drinking beer and discussing soccer. Even so the US team won, we all had a great time. After many beers and a bottle of rum mixed with diet coke, we stumbled back to our dinghy for a short ride home. What a way to integrate in the local society!
On Monday our local fuel man brought us our load, we stowed everything and got ready to leave for a short ride to Punta Belcher anchorage at the entrance to the bay. Punta Belcher is the location of an old whaling company. The remains of the processing plant can still be seen. Today a few fishermen camp out during the week at this location to ice their catches.
September 7th, departure for Cabo. We left at 3:00 AM for the 150 miles trip to the cape for a scheduled rounding at sunrise. As the sun came up and the wind started to gain in strength, it was time to sail again. We did sail almost all day. We had encounters with a north bound oil freighter, a turtle and 3 marlin hook ups which all got away after short fights (at 75, 70 and 65 miles north of Cabo with water temps of 84.4 F). We had two gear failures in one day: The snap shackle on furling jib came loose which was easily fixed. The worst was that the screws for the mast bracket of the boom wang came loose. After taking the pressure off the unit, it turned out that the folks who recently refurbished the mast forgot to put Lock-Tide on the screws. All of the screws were loose and on three of them, the threads were actually stripped out of the aluminum mast. We won’t be using the wang for the next few days.
As we approached Cabo, we actually had to slow the boat down in order to see the cape at sunrise. It was worth it. What a scene! As we rounded the cape and headed towards Cabo, we noticed the increased number of fishing boats leaving Cabo’s marina. It was like driving on the 405.
We went by the arches and continued on to Los Frailes, an anchorage another 45 miles north of Cabo. Once we arrived in the north anchorage, protected from the southern swell, it was time for a cocktail and some sleeeeeeeeeeeep!
While lifting the anchor the next morning, we noticed small shells on the deck. They had grown on the chain while in Mag Bay and dried out in the chain locker on the way down. As they went by the bow roller, they fell off the chain onto the deck. They were everywhere. We headed out to Los Muertos, an anchorage 45 miles north of Los Frailes. A great sail with following seas took us quickly there. While we were approaching the anchorage, we were looking at the southern swell rolling in and decided to go on around the point through the Cerralvo channel to the anchorage at Punta Arena de la Ventana. Boy, are we glad we did it. Not only was it flat like a billiard table, all of the fishermen from Los Muertos had their pangas beached there. When in doubt, go where the fishermen leaved their pangas. They know why!
After a peaceful night and the beginning of the Sea of Cortez’s flat waters, we headed towards Canal de San Lorenzo and La Paz. A beautiful Dorado decided to bite one of the trolling lures and ended up in “Maitairoa’s” fridge. Dinner was secured.
We dropped anchor in Puerto Ballandra, a small cove north of La Paz. The end of this cove is shoal turquoise water. What a sight. No wonder most guides refer to it as a nice anchorage. Crystal clear waters, no swells and pure heaven. Water was a nice 86 F! It didn’t take long for us to hit the water over and over again.
The next morning we headed around the corner to Caleta Lobos, another beautiful anchorage situated just birth of La Paz.
On Monday morning, we headed towards La Paz through the well marked channel. Just finding the beginning of it was kind of tricky. You do want to stay in that channel since it gets very shoal just outside of it in the big La Paz bay. The trip takes you past Marina Costa Baja, a new marina outside of La Paz, built by Bellport. Next comes Marina Palmira, the virtual Marina in downtown and finally Marina de La Paz, our first marina since Ensenada. Welcome back to civilization! After docking the boat, visiting the office for check in and slip fees, we went back to the boat to celebrate the end of our trip down Baja’s coast.
WOW, WE MADE IT!
Monday, August 15, 2005
"Going South - Ensenada to Turtle Bay"
Going South
As we wrote to you in our last newsletter, we were invited to a weekend of fun under the sun by Lynn Sisco, President of Parrotheads Baja California in Puerto Salinas on the last weekend in July.
This marina is a brand new development about 60 miles south of San Diego. It is very close to the La Fonda Restaurant. This marina does not have a breakwater so the entrance is constantly being dredged. Boats with 4-5 feet draft don’t have a problem; anything deeper may need a guide to enter. Once inside there is enough depth for any type of boat. The marina is trying to establish itself as a center for Baja fishing tournaments to attract more customers.
Sunday morning, after recuperating from the festivities, we went to La Fonda for brunch. We both did a double take when we saw Don and Pat Coffelt sitting at the next table. It’s a small world. There are PMYC members roaming around in the world…
The next day we briefly went to San Diego to provision one last time. You know, those little things you forgot, like stock to print your boat cards (business cards), some new special hash browns we were introduced to at Silver Gate YC, candies for the little kids underway, etc... Yes, the waterline is history again, but what’s new?
Tuesday, August 02, 2005 it’s time for one last load of laundry, a visit to the port captain to get the crew list valid for all of Mexico, to load up on ice for the sundowners, to stow everything away and a great dinner at Mexico’s oldest French restaurant “El Rey Sol”. The next morning we left for Punta Colonett, some 69 miles south of Ensenada. The skies were grey and foggy at 7:00 AM.
The real adventure begins – un-chartered waters for us from now on.
When leaving Cruise Port Marina, the route takes you along the old half sunken SS Catalina. What a sad sight. There is still talk about raising and restoring her to her old beauty. Seeing the reality makes you question the sanity of this whole project. As we were trying to leave Ensenada Harbor, one of the regular cruise ships was entering the harbor. As the saying goes, “Tonnage rules”. We made a u-turn and waited for this monster to finish entering the harbor. Conti, this is what you do when the other boat is way bigger than you. You don’t play chicken with it.
All the way to Punta Banda the ocean was like a mirror. It remained flat all the way with no wind. I guess Murphy exists also in Mexico. As soon as we approached the anchorage, the wind picked to 15 knot gusts.
Punta Colonett is easy to recognize; a big mesa looking like a Milky Way bar, caramel in the middle and dark chocolate on top. Once around the corner, the anchorage is about a mile along the cliff just past the gorge (a big “V” in the wall). We anchored in about 25 feet of water with a sandy bottom. The anchorage was surprisingly calm, although it had the looks of Paradise Cove. This was our first night totally away from civilization. A deserted cove, pitch black surroundings and a sky full of stars.
As the movie title says: “A day without a Mexican”. We may be in Mexico but we miss our favorite one, the one and only “You”, I mean the one and only “Gonzo”…
All the way down the coast we had regular encounters with red tide. The phenomenon is due to a population explosion of toxic (not to humans) naturally occurring microscopic plankton. The bloom occurs when the ocean has warm surface temperatures, high nutrient content, low salinity and calm seas. It makes for a great light show at night, when you can see the fish swimming by your boat. You can see the waves breaking on the beach and if you have salt water flush in your toilets, you don’t have to turn the light on at night in your head. The light show in the bowl will illuminate the whole room.
After a very quiet and peaceful night, we departed next morning to San Quintin. As we were leaving the anchorage a nice wind came up. We hoisted the spinnaker and cruised along at 7 knots. It didn’t last long. The wind died and the iron Genny came back on. It went like this all day, even so we tried a few times to sail.
Underway we decided to have a look at the anchorage in Isla San Martin called Hassler Cove. Most guides describe it as an anchorage not suitable during N, NE and NW winds. Even so we had a northwesterly, the anchorage was nice and flat. We opted to stay for a night or two. We had to anchor twice, since our first attempt resulted in scooping up a whole farm of sea grass from the bottom. On our second attempt the anchor finally bit securely. The boat settled nicely at anchor and it was cocktail hour with melted brie and mini toasts. A bee decides to come and visit us from the island. It kept circling the boat without entering it. Somehow it must have figured out that it was persona non grata on the boat, especially given the past experiences from Carrillo Beach. It just keeps circling.
The next morning we were watching the fishermen bringing in their overnight loot of crabs. At the very end they raised a net in the cove containing a lot of fish as well as a lobster. After they emptied their loot in their icebox, they came over to our boat and offered us the lobster in exchange for a couple of beers. A few oatmeal cookies on top of it resulted in an additional half a bucket of crab legs. Not a bad deal. Dinner was secured.
The dinghy went in the water for some explorations. We went around the bend looking for the little lagoon shown on all the maps. Unfortunately it was hidden behind a big kelp field. We beach landed by the fishing camp and went to explore by foot. A short walk through some scrub and we got to the bay. It is home to some seals and a whole
Legion of Gooney birds. When they saw us approaching, they all decided to take off at the same time. It felt like a scene from “The Birds” by Hitchcock. We tried to climb to the top of the island but there was no trail. Plus the Cactus needle balls stopped us from any progress. We just wandered about the little fishing village houses (or ruins). The beach was littered with a green channel buoy, lobster hooplas, shoes, cans, etc.
We went back to the boat to prepare our seafood festival with some fine wines. A peaceful night was followed by an invasion of flies from the island in the morning. We must have a special attraction for unwanted critters. After a quick breakfast, we lifted anchor and made a beautiful spinnaker run to Cape San Quintin / Bahia Santa Maria. Originally we decided to anchor right behind the cape, but there were so many shoals. We opted to make a run for Playa Santa Maria across the bay and anchor in front of some hotels. Another cruising boat was already there. They were on their way north without an engine. A while later a steel hulled French flagged ketch pulled into the anchorage dropping anchor right next to us, even so the anchorage is huge and empty.
After a long day working on minor boat projects, it was time to sit down for cocktail hour. We barely had our first sip when out of nowhere a Mexican Military Speedboat showed up and boarded the steel ketch next to us. This must have been a planed and targeted boarding. When we looked over to the beach, we saw a Mexican Army detail standing guard parallel to the ketch. It lasted almost two hours. We assumed we were next and got ready for their boarding party. Once they finished with the ketch, they sped off and never bothered us. Afterwards the captain of the ketch informed us that they went through the whole boat. They even drilled holes into his water and fuel tanks looking for drugs. Can you imagine the screams if this had happened aboard Maitairoa? While he had been boarded before, it was always with a dog, which he actually preferred.
Punta Baja was our next stop, 28 miles down the road. We left San Quintin under spinnaker, again with the perfect conditions. Unfortunately it lasted only for four hours, the chute came down and the iron Genny came back to life. Entering the anchorage after rounding the cape, we saw some campers up on the hill. It turns out this is a famous surfers location. We anchored close to the village for what turned out to be so far, the rolliest anchorage we have been in.
The next morning we lifted the anchor and headed for Bahia San Carlos. Along the way lays Isla San Geronimo and the dangerous Sacramento reef. We plotted a course to the island and then to Punta San Carlos, inside the reef as suggested by the cruising guides. What they failed to mention was the giant kelp forest along the coast. Some of the nicest kelp we have seen in a while. This kelp was so thick that you could walk over it. So much for the short route. We went outside of the island and the reef, being it the safe way to go. We spent a peaceful night in a sandy anchorage of 25 feet of water nicely tucked in by the village. Our AM departure was set for 7:00 to Bahia Playa Maria, some 60 miles down the coast.
Several hours running a chute is a sailors dream, but the wind gods like to mess around a bit. The oil industry needs our support once in a while, so on comes the venerable Perkins.
This was also our first encounter with large schools of dolphins. They stayed and swam with us for several hours, almost until we entered the anchorage. Finding a good anchorage was difficult because we had some many to choose from. But once we saw the fishing village, we aimed straight for it and anchored in 15 feet of water over a sandy bottom.
In the morning, we launched the skiff and went ashore to go the village. We hadn’t seen anybody in the village and were somewhat curious. It turns out it was a deserted fishing village with signs dating back to early 80’s. It was obvious that some sporadic visitors used this place to party, judging from the recent trash lying around. The village location was absolutely spectacular even so somewhat spooky. Several graves scattered around the village and a little shrine with fresh flowers and candles made the whole place even more eerie. This village obviously was once a working fishing town, judging by the large amount of left behind lobster traps and pangas on the beach. All still are in relatively good condition. Strangely there were also a large amount of partially stripped cars scattered around the village. It looked like a mechanic had been working there too.
And when we saw the following writing on one of the vans, it was time to leave. It said:
I feel sorry for the fisherman
Four drowned while in their pangas
Emeraldo and Juanito were burned
A manta ray killed the other one
And a heart attack the last one
Eight in one year
Beware of the devil.
We opted to return to the boat and get it ready to leave next morning for Bahia Santa Rosalilita., some 22 miles further south. The winds coming directly from aft made for a leisurely sail downwind. Since we were in no rush, we unfurled the jib only and went smoothly at 4-5 knots downwind.
Santa Rosalilita is a small town and will be the Pacific Coast’s harbor for the planned land bridge to the Sea of Cortez. The Mexican government is planning to haul pleasure boats from this point across the Baja Peninsula to increase boating tourism. This way pleasure boaters will not have to make the long trip around Cabo San Lucas and can still take their boast to the Sea of Cortez. The problem with the whole project is that the government put a halt on it. The recently built small marina needs to be constantly dredged, since it rapidly fills up with sand. Time will tell.
As we went ashore to explore the village, we were greeted by Luiz, a small boy from the village. He was totally amazed by the dinghy. Apparently he never saw one before with wheels on. Our main mission was to see if we could get some fresh veggies, which we were able to get including some potatoes and apples. One thing we noticed right away was that every house had solar panels. Even the street lights had some. This village has no electricity, yet satellite dishes were abundant on the roofs. Everywhere we went we were greeted with a friendly smile.
The next morning we left bright and early to across the bay of Vizcaino for Cedros Island. After a great sail across the flat ocean, we arrived at the north tip of the island where a small fishing village is located. It had a beautiful anchorage tied in with an orchestra of seals. We opted to continue further south along the island since a night concert of this magnitude was not on our schedule.
The east side of Cedros in many places reminded us of Catalina Island, just with much higher elevations. The clouds rolled over the high mountain tops and combined with the setting sun made for a nice panorama. We finally settled in front of Las Palmitas atop a small shelf in 20 feet of water for the night, just north of Cedros village.
After a nice peaceful night without any barking seals nearby, we lifted anchor for Turtle Bay. Again motoring for the first few hours waiting for the wind to build, we went by Cedros Village towards Keller Channel. As we went along Isla de Navidad (Christmas Island) Sue was wondering if Santa had her Xmas present ready for pick up. She tried to raise him on the VHF but no answer. Guess he must have been out playing with the elves on the beach. Big disappointment on Sue’s side, knowing how much she likes presents….
Along the mainland coast we went again. The mixture of ocean and desert side by side is fascinating. The colors of the dry desert land meeting with the blue and green waters of the pacific is just mind boggling.
A nice downwind sail finally took us to Turtle Bay where we dropped anchor in front of the pier.
Yippee, we made it, the half way point to Cabo!
As we wrote to you in our last newsletter, we were invited to a weekend of fun under the sun by Lynn Sisco, President of Parrotheads Baja California in Puerto Salinas on the last weekend in July.
This marina is a brand new development about 60 miles south of San Diego. It is very close to the La Fonda Restaurant. This marina does not have a breakwater so the entrance is constantly being dredged. Boats with 4-5 feet draft don’t have a problem; anything deeper may need a guide to enter. Once inside there is enough depth for any type of boat. The marina is trying to establish itself as a center for Baja fishing tournaments to attract more customers.
Sunday morning, after recuperating from the festivities, we went to La Fonda for brunch. We both did a double take when we saw Don and Pat Coffelt sitting at the next table. It’s a small world. There are PMYC members roaming around in the world…
The next day we briefly went to San Diego to provision one last time. You know, those little things you forgot, like stock to print your boat cards (business cards), some new special hash browns we were introduced to at Silver Gate YC, candies for the little kids underway, etc... Yes, the waterline is history again, but what’s new?
Tuesday, August 02, 2005 it’s time for one last load of laundry, a visit to the port captain to get the crew list valid for all of Mexico, to load up on ice for the sundowners, to stow everything away and a great dinner at Mexico’s oldest French restaurant “El Rey Sol”. The next morning we left for Punta Colonett, some 69 miles south of Ensenada. The skies were grey and foggy at 7:00 AM.
The real adventure begins – un-chartered waters for us from now on.
When leaving Cruise Port Marina, the route takes you along the old half sunken SS Catalina. What a sad sight. There is still talk about raising and restoring her to her old beauty. Seeing the reality makes you question the sanity of this whole project. As we were trying to leave Ensenada Harbor, one of the regular cruise ships was entering the harbor. As the saying goes, “Tonnage rules”. We made a u-turn and waited for this monster to finish entering the harbor. Conti, this is what you do when the other boat is way bigger than you. You don’t play chicken with it.
All the way to Punta Banda the ocean was like a mirror. It remained flat all the way with no wind. I guess Murphy exists also in Mexico. As soon as we approached the anchorage, the wind picked to 15 knot gusts.
Punta Colonett is easy to recognize; a big mesa looking like a Milky Way bar, caramel in the middle and dark chocolate on top. Once around the corner, the anchorage is about a mile along the cliff just past the gorge (a big “V” in the wall). We anchored in about 25 feet of water with a sandy bottom. The anchorage was surprisingly calm, although it had the looks of Paradise Cove. This was our first night totally away from civilization. A deserted cove, pitch black surroundings and a sky full of stars.
As the movie title says: “A day without a Mexican”. We may be in Mexico but we miss our favorite one, the one and only “You”, I mean the one and only “Gonzo”…
All the way down the coast we had regular encounters with red tide. The phenomenon is due to a population explosion of toxic (not to humans) naturally occurring microscopic plankton. The bloom occurs when the ocean has warm surface temperatures, high nutrient content, low salinity and calm seas. It makes for a great light show at night, when you can see the fish swimming by your boat. You can see the waves breaking on the beach and if you have salt water flush in your toilets, you don’t have to turn the light on at night in your head. The light show in the bowl will illuminate the whole room.
After a very quiet and peaceful night, we departed next morning to San Quintin. As we were leaving the anchorage a nice wind came up. We hoisted the spinnaker and cruised along at 7 knots. It didn’t last long. The wind died and the iron Genny came back on. It went like this all day, even so we tried a few times to sail.
Underway we decided to have a look at the anchorage in Isla San Martin called Hassler Cove. Most guides describe it as an anchorage not suitable during N, NE and NW winds. Even so we had a northwesterly, the anchorage was nice and flat. We opted to stay for a night or two. We had to anchor twice, since our first attempt resulted in scooping up a whole farm of sea grass from the bottom. On our second attempt the anchor finally bit securely. The boat settled nicely at anchor and it was cocktail hour with melted brie and mini toasts. A bee decides to come and visit us from the island. It kept circling the boat without entering it. Somehow it must have figured out that it was persona non grata on the boat, especially given the past experiences from Carrillo Beach. It just keeps circling.
The next morning we were watching the fishermen bringing in their overnight loot of crabs. At the very end they raised a net in the cove containing a lot of fish as well as a lobster. After they emptied their loot in their icebox, they came over to our boat and offered us the lobster in exchange for a couple of beers. A few oatmeal cookies on top of it resulted in an additional half a bucket of crab legs. Not a bad deal. Dinner was secured.
The dinghy went in the water for some explorations. We went around the bend looking for the little lagoon shown on all the maps. Unfortunately it was hidden behind a big kelp field. We beach landed by the fishing camp and went to explore by foot. A short walk through some scrub and we got to the bay. It is home to some seals and a whole
Legion of Gooney birds. When they saw us approaching, they all decided to take off at the same time. It felt like a scene from “The Birds” by Hitchcock. We tried to climb to the top of the island but there was no trail. Plus the Cactus needle balls stopped us from any progress. We just wandered about the little fishing village houses (or ruins). The beach was littered with a green channel buoy, lobster hooplas, shoes, cans, etc.
We went back to the boat to prepare our seafood festival with some fine wines. A peaceful night was followed by an invasion of flies from the island in the morning. We must have a special attraction for unwanted critters. After a quick breakfast, we lifted anchor and made a beautiful spinnaker run to Cape San Quintin / Bahia Santa Maria. Originally we decided to anchor right behind the cape, but there were so many shoals. We opted to make a run for Playa Santa Maria across the bay and anchor in front of some hotels. Another cruising boat was already there. They were on their way north without an engine. A while later a steel hulled French flagged ketch pulled into the anchorage dropping anchor right next to us, even so the anchorage is huge and empty.
After a long day working on minor boat projects, it was time to sit down for cocktail hour. We barely had our first sip when out of nowhere a Mexican Military Speedboat showed up and boarded the steel ketch next to us. This must have been a planed and targeted boarding. When we looked over to the beach, we saw a Mexican Army detail standing guard parallel to the ketch. It lasted almost two hours. We assumed we were next and got ready for their boarding party. Once they finished with the ketch, they sped off and never bothered us. Afterwards the captain of the ketch informed us that they went through the whole boat. They even drilled holes into his water and fuel tanks looking for drugs. Can you imagine the screams if this had happened aboard Maitairoa? While he had been boarded before, it was always with a dog, which he actually preferred.
Punta Baja was our next stop, 28 miles down the road. We left San Quintin under spinnaker, again with the perfect conditions. Unfortunately it lasted only for four hours, the chute came down and the iron Genny came back to life. Entering the anchorage after rounding the cape, we saw some campers up on the hill. It turns out this is a famous surfers location. We anchored close to the village for what turned out to be so far, the rolliest anchorage we have been in.
The next morning we lifted the anchor and headed for Bahia San Carlos. Along the way lays Isla San Geronimo and the dangerous Sacramento reef. We plotted a course to the island and then to Punta San Carlos, inside the reef as suggested by the cruising guides. What they failed to mention was the giant kelp forest along the coast. Some of the nicest kelp we have seen in a while. This kelp was so thick that you could walk over it. So much for the short route. We went outside of the island and the reef, being it the safe way to go. We spent a peaceful night in a sandy anchorage of 25 feet of water nicely tucked in by the village. Our AM departure was set for 7:00 to Bahia Playa Maria, some 60 miles down the coast.
Several hours running a chute is a sailors dream, but the wind gods like to mess around a bit. The oil industry needs our support once in a while, so on comes the venerable Perkins.
This was also our first encounter with large schools of dolphins. They stayed and swam with us for several hours, almost until we entered the anchorage. Finding a good anchorage was difficult because we had some many to choose from. But once we saw the fishing village, we aimed straight for it and anchored in 15 feet of water over a sandy bottom.
In the morning, we launched the skiff and went ashore to go the village. We hadn’t seen anybody in the village and were somewhat curious. It turns out it was a deserted fishing village with signs dating back to early 80’s. It was obvious that some sporadic visitors used this place to party, judging from the recent trash lying around. The village location was absolutely spectacular even so somewhat spooky. Several graves scattered around the village and a little shrine with fresh flowers and candles made the whole place even more eerie. This village obviously was once a working fishing town, judging by the large amount of left behind lobster traps and pangas on the beach. All still are in relatively good condition. Strangely there were also a large amount of partially stripped cars scattered around the village. It looked like a mechanic had been working there too.
And when we saw the following writing on one of the vans, it was time to leave. It said:
I feel sorry for the fisherman
Four drowned while in their pangas
Emeraldo and Juanito were burned
A manta ray killed the other one
And a heart attack the last one
Eight in one year
Beware of the devil.
We opted to return to the boat and get it ready to leave next morning for Bahia Santa Rosalilita., some 22 miles further south. The winds coming directly from aft made for a leisurely sail downwind. Since we were in no rush, we unfurled the jib only and went smoothly at 4-5 knots downwind.
Santa Rosalilita is a small town and will be the Pacific Coast’s harbor for the planned land bridge to the Sea of Cortez. The Mexican government is planning to haul pleasure boats from this point across the Baja Peninsula to increase boating tourism. This way pleasure boaters will not have to make the long trip around Cabo San Lucas and can still take their boast to the Sea of Cortez. The problem with the whole project is that the government put a halt on it. The recently built small marina needs to be constantly dredged, since it rapidly fills up with sand. Time will tell.
As we went ashore to explore the village, we were greeted by Luiz, a small boy from the village. He was totally amazed by the dinghy. Apparently he never saw one before with wheels on. Our main mission was to see if we could get some fresh veggies, which we were able to get including some potatoes and apples. One thing we noticed right away was that every house had solar panels. Even the street lights had some. This village has no electricity, yet satellite dishes were abundant on the roofs. Everywhere we went we were greeted with a friendly smile.
The next morning we left bright and early to across the bay of Vizcaino for Cedros Island. After a great sail across the flat ocean, we arrived at the north tip of the island where a small fishing village is located. It had a beautiful anchorage tied in with an orchestra of seals. We opted to continue further south along the island since a night concert of this magnitude was not on our schedule.
The east side of Cedros in many places reminded us of Catalina Island, just with much higher elevations. The clouds rolled over the high mountain tops and combined with the setting sun made for a nice panorama. We finally settled in front of Las Palmitas atop a small shelf in 20 feet of water for the night, just north of Cedros village.
After a nice peaceful night without any barking seals nearby, we lifted anchor for Turtle Bay. Again motoring for the first few hours waiting for the wind to build, we went by Cedros Village towards Keller Channel. As we went along Isla de Navidad (Christmas Island) Sue was wondering if Santa had her Xmas present ready for pick up. She tried to raise him on the VHF but no answer. Guess he must have been out playing with the elves on the beach. Big disappointment on Sue’s side, knowing how much she likes presents….
Along the mainland coast we went again. The mixture of ocean and desert side by side is fascinating. The colors of the dry desert land meeting with the blue and green waters of the pacific is just mind boggling.
A nice downwind sail finally took us to Turtle Bay where we dropped anchor in front of the pier.
Yippee, we made it, the half way point to Cabo!
Tuesday, August 2, 2005
New Mexican Check-in Procedures
New check in procedures are in effect now. There is a new building next to the Port Captains office across the street from Agencia Arjona. It is called Centro Integral de Servicios.
It contains all of the necessary offices in one room.
It contains all of the necessary offices in one room.
As you walk in, there is a placard explaining the check-in sequence and procedures.
The 5 windows are:
Immigration, Port Captain. Customs, Fishing License and Payment Center
They are open 7 days a week. Monday thru Friday from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM and Saturday, Sunday and Holidays from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM.
You start with immigration by filling out the Tourist Cards furnished by the officer. Once you returned them filled out, go to the payment window and pay for them. Back to immigration where the officer will hand you the tourist cards (ask for 180 days validity) and the stamped crew lists.
With the crew lists, copy of your documentation, your liability insurance policy and copy of your passports, go to the port captain. You can pay his fees right at his window. He will sign your crew lists and return them to you. Return to immigration to leave a signed copy of the crew list with the officer.
Now you go to customs to get your import permit for your boat. The agent will want to see copy of your boat registration. He will fill out the form and ask you questions regarding the boat like what type of engines, models, etc... Once he gathered all of this information, he will print it out for you and sign it. Again, go pay for his services at the pay window.
Last stop is fishing permits. Get a permit for the boat and one for each crew member, valid for one year. You will need your passports and boat documentation. Once he fills out the papers, go pay for the services and get the permits. If you have crew for the time of the delivery south only, get fishing permit only for that period, not for a year.
Voila, you just finished checking in to Mexico. It’s that easy.
The staff is very helpful and cordial. The whole process takes more or less about an hour to an hour and a half, depending upon how many people are ahead of you. It is best to go early in the morning, since at about 11:00 AM the ship agents for the different marinas show up to do the bulk processing for all new arrivals.
If you plan to cruise in Mexico, you will need to check out of Ensenada. All you have to do is fill out a new crew list with destination Puerto Madero, Chiapas. On the sentence where it says: “ con escala en los siguientes Puertos:” fill in only “intermedios”. Pay your port fees at the port captain’s office, leave a copy with immigration and off you go.This will let you cruise all over Mexico for as long as you want. Every time you arrive at a new port, all you have to do is either call the Port Captain on CH. 16 and announce your arrival or use the log in the marina you are staying in. Same procedure with leaving the harbor.
Documents needed for entry:
Crew list and 5 copies
Copy of boat documentation
Copy of boat documentation
Copy of passport of every crewmember
Mexican liability insurance
Credit Card (Visa or MasterCard)
Documents needed for exit:
New Crew List and 5 copies
Your arrival crew list
Ship papers and passports.
Make extra copies of your crew list and boat documentation, because in many ports, they want a copy of them for their files. In most cases all you do is sign a log book and voila, that’s it.
Keep in mind that rules do change. These rules were in effect in August 2005
Monday, August 1, 2005
"The adventure begins - Marina del Rey to Ensenada"
Life outside the PMYC Fishbowl
After living more than 2 months in front of PMYC’s fishbowl, it was time to cut the lines and go cruising. Although we miss the knocks on the window, the rating scales, the cheering and booing department, helpful comments about our “hillbilly front deck” and even the occasional cell phone calls during visual on-deck projects, we LOVE sitting here at Cat Harbor enjoying the view with only the stars twinkling on us.
As we had been threatening to leave for a while, we randomly picked June 10th as our final departure date. We did not realize that June 11th was PMYC’s birthday party, aka “Casino Night”. Thankfully Sue recently returned from Vegas.
After a famous steak dinner with the Jeffries’ gang at “Petrelli’s”, we arrived back at the boat to find it nicely “TP’d” from top to bottom. It wasn’t difficult to figure out who the main instigator and associates were. An unknown to us go-away party was underway at PMYC, while we were at dinner. Thanks for the going away gifts, especially Fred and Ellen’s giant bottle of Grey Goose. It will be cherished.
Friday June 10th we wake up bright and early to run final errands, wash the boat down one more time with fresh water and fill up the water tanks. Friends started to gather early at PMYC to send us off. After a few last minute cocktails at the club, it was time to cut the lines. While the tunes of Unkle Monkey played, (thanks Steve for the music and the monkey) Frankie kept cutting and re-cutting the same dock line.
Off we went amidst a cheering crowd on PMYC’s guest dock to our next destination…., Randy’s fuel dock. We filled up our tanks, said good bye to Randy and headed out to sea as Mike and Candy waved goodbye from their main channel balcony.
Our first destination was Cat Harbor where we arrived after a leisurely sail past the West End of Catalina. We settled in the anchorage against the wall between the two sea bass fish pens, relaxed and toasted to the beginning of a new chapter in our life.
Saturday we watched the MDR sail boaters cross the finish line in Cat Harbor and BBQ’d with friends at Del Rey YC (Don Currie, Leslie Bond, Jaime Cantu, John South, Marty Fliegel, among others). Afterwards we hooked up with fellow cruisers, the “Mayor of Ballona Creek”, Hans Etter, Eddie, Kat & Rob. We learned not to drink bluish drinks. made by Bacardi (Zombie). It looked more like watered down anti freeze. We’d rather stick to our pinkish looking Grenades.
After a few days of “boat cleaning”, we took a road trip to Avalon with Al and Karen. We played tourists while Karen was at the dentist. Actually, we ended up at JL’s Locker for a few cocktails with Al while we waited for Karen. When we arrived back to the Isthmus at Al & Karen’s house, we turned on the news to learn about the possible tsunami attack. “Suddenly Tsunami” was in full force.
We spent a few more days in Cat Harbor and motor sailed around to meet the gang in Avalon for Father’s Day. A good time was had by all. Everyone departed on Sunday as we ventured north up the coast to White’s Landing for the evening. It was so beautiful and peaceful that we stayed a few extra days. It also helps to know the Harbor Patrol for runs to Avalon and ice. Thanks Bruce.
It was time to return to civilization for a few days. We had a marvelous sail to our new temporary home at the guest dock at Cabrillo Beach Yacht Club in San Pedro. It is a wonderful facility with generous, friendly members. We rented a car and headed north to run errands. The two weeks of relaxation was gone the minute we hit the 405. All we wanted was to return to the boat and get back out to the tranquility of the ocean. When we returned to the boat the next day, we had several visitors. Bees. The sun was about to set and the bees went away. The next morning the bees were back in full force swarming the boat. Not just the galley as the day before, but all around the boat. Sue threatened to end cruising then. Alex went down below and killed several of the bees. Sue agreed to return to the boat. She remained in the galleys spraying Clorox all over the galley and at new bees. The fly swatter is a very effective tool.
That evening we were able to attend the “Lobster Feast” dinner at CBYC. They fed 280 people with Maine lobsters flown in early in the morning, a bag of clams, corn on the cob coleslaw and bottles of wine on every table. We were having such a terrific time, we made arrangements to stay another day. The conversation turned to our bee’s drama. A few members were shocked and told us of a similar story in Long Beach. A swarm of bees took over a lifeguard stand and a hardware store. It was still to be determined if they were African bees. Thankfully our bees left when the Clorox was sprayed. We’ll never know.
On a sad note, Sue’s grandmother passed away at this time. She will be missed.
It was time to work on the boat so we headed back to the island. Again we had another marvelous sail. With the 4th approaching, we were having difficulty finding a slip on the mainland. You guessed it. We stayed in White’s Landing. On one of our daily trips to the hardware store in Avalon, we bumped into Bob Smith. We were able to join him, Helene and some of their friends for a few cocktails at J.L.’s. We also saw “Oasis” and stopped by to visit with Bob and Carol. They invited us aboard “Oasis” with their family on the 4th to watch the fireworks. We couldn’t have asked for better company, burgers or a view. Thanks Bob and Carol!
With the anchorage to ourselves again, it was time to relax. We enjoyed a few more days in White’s and decided it was time to return to our cruising schedule.
With the 4th of July festivities behind us, we headed for Dana Point on Wednesday. We dropped anchor opposite of Dana Point Yacht Club. Thursday night we were able to use their guest dock, as 3 reserved boats turned out to be no-shows. The DPYC Thursday night prime rib dinner is still incredible as ever. It’s highly recommended. While approaching Dana Point Harbor we were greeted by a red tide, which continued all the way down to Point Loma.
Friday morning we left for Oceanside, where we took a municipal slip over night. Oceanside Yacht Club had their docks full of boats for a charity regatta to be held this specific weekend. They tried to encourage us to stay for the weekend, but we opted to continue on to Mission Bay. We anchored for 2 nights in Mission Bay in as always flat waters.
Monday afternoon we arrived at South Western Yacht Club on Shelter Island. We were greeted by several club members. One of them, Frank Slatter, offered to drive us around for our shopping needs, which we gladly accepted. He did it for several days. Another member, Carlos (actually a former PMYC member and Port Captain under Lucas Willemse) offered us the use of his computer for email purposes. We spent some time with Carlos and his wife updating them on the doings at PMYC.
After 3 days it was time for another great venture across to Silver Gate Yacht Club. There we were actually assigned a slip belonging to one of their cruising members. Again, an incredible hospitality, very similar to PMYC’s.
Yes folks, the water maker is finally installed and working properly. After having to trouble shoot a mysterious fault for 3 full days (it would start and stop after 2 minutes), a missing magnet in the Clark pump was determined to be the culprit. With the help from Spectra and the local Spectra dealer, Daily Marine on Shelter Island, the magnet was installed at its proper location. Voila, it ran and ran and ran finally producing 15 gallons of water an hour.
While getting some last minutes spares at Downwind Marine, we ran into George from Presidio Yacht Club in SF. George had spent 3 days at PMYC around April with his 33 foot electro motor powered sailboat. Big hellos followed a long lunch and some beers, where he thanked us again for PMYC’s hospitality during his stay. George is spending the summer in SD after having gone as far south as Turtle Bay in spring.
One more stop at Costco, Trader Joe’s for a couple of cases of 2 Buck Chuck, Smart and Final, Vons, West Marine, Downwind Marine and the fuel dock, the waterline is gone again. In true PMYC fashion the members of Silver Gate Yacht Club treated us to several rounds of drinks at their bar before letting us depart in the afternoon. We headed for La Playa anchorage for some dinner and a brief Siesta, before our evening departure to Ensenada, some 65 miles to the South.
We departed SD around 9 PM, Sunday, July 24th, under twinkling stars and a half moon. We sailed outside of the Coronados until about 1:00 AM, when the wind decided to take a rest. It was motoring from there on all the way to Ensenada’s Cruiseport Marina, where we arrived Monday morning, July 25th around 8:00 AM. And the winner of the secret pool is……….??????????. We haven’t heard it officially yet, just thru the grapevine that a certain “Butte” won the overall pool. Is that Bob, Carol or the dog? We would love to hear an official confirmation.
Also, it took us a month and half to go from Marina del Rey to Ensenada. We managed to beat Paradise aka Turtle Express’ (Sid and Manuela) elapsed record.
After checking in with the marina and a long shower, we headed to town to file our paperwork with the Mexican authorities. What a fantastic system they now have in force in Ensenada. One building will get everything taken care of. We will write a several article about it for the next issue of The Log.
Cruise Port Marina is located in downtown Ensenada, next to the Cruise ship docks. There is no surge whatsoever and the town is only a 10 minute walk away. No need for taxis. Everything is within walking distance. We spoke to several other boaters. All of them had actually been before at Coral’s and decided to move to Cruiseport for the better location.
Now the real cruising life is starting, 80 cents fish tacos and a cold beer for lunch at the local street taco stand is pure heaven.
We went to the new La Vendimia Yacht Club in Ensenada last Thursday. They have once a week from 4 to 7 PM Happy Hour for it’s members with 2 for 1 drinks, free appetizers (BBQ ribs, potato salad, Mexican pizzas, asparagus, marinated hot dogs, etc..) Bob, what do you think? I’m sure you would have a huge crowd at PMYC. They have a very unique and entertaining crowd at this YC. PMYC’s burgee is hanging on the wall and we encourage every member to stop in.
This weekend we will be by car at Puerto Salinas Marina, where a fishing tournament is underway. Lynn Sisco, the local Parrothead President invited us for a day of fun under the sun. Lynn’s hospitality and friendship is well known.
Well folks, it’s time for you guys to start new bets. We are planning to leave beginning of next week for points south. More to follow soon ………. as time progresses…….
After living more than 2 months in front of PMYC’s fishbowl, it was time to cut the lines and go cruising. Although we miss the knocks on the window, the rating scales, the cheering and booing department, helpful comments about our “hillbilly front deck” and even the occasional cell phone calls during visual on-deck projects, we LOVE sitting here at Cat Harbor enjoying the view with only the stars twinkling on us.
As we had been threatening to leave for a while, we randomly picked June 10th as our final departure date. We did not realize that June 11th was PMYC’s birthday party, aka “Casino Night”. Thankfully Sue recently returned from Vegas.
After a famous steak dinner with the Jeffries’ gang at “Petrelli’s”, we arrived back at the boat to find it nicely “TP’d” from top to bottom. It wasn’t difficult to figure out who the main instigator and associates were. An unknown to us go-away party was underway at PMYC, while we were at dinner. Thanks for the going away gifts, especially Fred and Ellen’s giant bottle of Grey Goose. It will be cherished.
Friday June 10th we wake up bright and early to run final errands, wash the boat down one more time with fresh water and fill up the water tanks. Friends started to gather early at PMYC to send us off. After a few last minute cocktails at the club, it was time to cut the lines. While the tunes of Unkle Monkey played, (thanks Steve for the music and the monkey) Frankie kept cutting and re-cutting the same dock line.
Off we went amidst a cheering crowd on PMYC’s guest dock to our next destination…., Randy’s fuel dock. We filled up our tanks, said good bye to Randy and headed out to sea as Mike and Candy waved goodbye from their main channel balcony.
Our first destination was Cat Harbor where we arrived after a leisurely sail past the West End of Catalina. We settled in the anchorage against the wall between the two sea bass fish pens, relaxed and toasted to the beginning of a new chapter in our life.
Saturday we watched the MDR sail boaters cross the finish line in Cat Harbor and BBQ’d with friends at Del Rey YC (Don Currie, Leslie Bond, Jaime Cantu, John South, Marty Fliegel, among others). Afterwards we hooked up with fellow cruisers, the “Mayor of Ballona Creek”, Hans Etter, Eddie, Kat & Rob. We learned not to drink bluish drinks. made by Bacardi (Zombie). It looked more like watered down anti freeze. We’d rather stick to our pinkish looking Grenades.
After a few days of “boat cleaning”, we took a road trip to Avalon with Al and Karen. We played tourists while Karen was at the dentist. Actually, we ended up at JL’s Locker for a few cocktails with Al while we waited for Karen. When we arrived back to the Isthmus at Al & Karen’s house, we turned on the news to learn about the possible tsunami attack. “Suddenly Tsunami” was in full force.
We spent a few more days in Cat Harbor and motor sailed around to meet the gang in Avalon for Father’s Day. A good time was had by all. Everyone departed on Sunday as we ventured north up the coast to White’s Landing for the evening. It was so beautiful and peaceful that we stayed a few extra days. It also helps to know the Harbor Patrol for runs to Avalon and ice. Thanks Bruce.
It was time to return to civilization for a few days. We had a marvelous sail to our new temporary home at the guest dock at Cabrillo Beach Yacht Club in San Pedro. It is a wonderful facility with generous, friendly members. We rented a car and headed north to run errands. The two weeks of relaxation was gone the minute we hit the 405. All we wanted was to return to the boat and get back out to the tranquility of the ocean. When we returned to the boat the next day, we had several visitors. Bees. The sun was about to set and the bees went away. The next morning the bees were back in full force swarming the boat. Not just the galley as the day before, but all around the boat. Sue threatened to end cruising then. Alex went down below and killed several of the bees. Sue agreed to return to the boat. She remained in the galleys spraying Clorox all over the galley and at new bees. The fly swatter is a very effective tool.
That evening we were able to attend the “Lobster Feast” dinner at CBYC. They fed 280 people with Maine lobsters flown in early in the morning, a bag of clams, corn on the cob coleslaw and bottles of wine on every table. We were having such a terrific time, we made arrangements to stay another day. The conversation turned to our bee’s drama. A few members were shocked and told us of a similar story in Long Beach. A swarm of bees took over a lifeguard stand and a hardware store. It was still to be determined if they were African bees. Thankfully our bees left when the Clorox was sprayed. We’ll never know.
On a sad note, Sue’s grandmother passed away at this time. She will be missed.
It was time to work on the boat so we headed back to the island. Again we had another marvelous sail. With the 4th approaching, we were having difficulty finding a slip on the mainland. You guessed it. We stayed in White’s Landing. On one of our daily trips to the hardware store in Avalon, we bumped into Bob Smith. We were able to join him, Helene and some of their friends for a few cocktails at J.L.’s. We also saw “Oasis” and stopped by to visit with Bob and Carol. They invited us aboard “Oasis” with their family on the 4th to watch the fireworks. We couldn’t have asked for better company, burgers or a view. Thanks Bob and Carol!
With the anchorage to ourselves again, it was time to relax. We enjoyed a few more days in White’s and decided it was time to return to our cruising schedule.
With the 4th of July festivities behind us, we headed for Dana Point on Wednesday. We dropped anchor opposite of Dana Point Yacht Club. Thursday night we were able to use their guest dock, as 3 reserved boats turned out to be no-shows. The DPYC Thursday night prime rib dinner is still incredible as ever. It’s highly recommended. While approaching Dana Point Harbor we were greeted by a red tide, which continued all the way down to Point Loma.
Friday morning we left for Oceanside, where we took a municipal slip over night. Oceanside Yacht Club had their docks full of boats for a charity regatta to be held this specific weekend. They tried to encourage us to stay for the weekend, but we opted to continue on to Mission Bay. We anchored for 2 nights in Mission Bay in as always flat waters.
Monday afternoon we arrived at South Western Yacht Club on Shelter Island. We were greeted by several club members. One of them, Frank Slatter, offered to drive us around for our shopping needs, which we gladly accepted. He did it for several days. Another member, Carlos (actually a former PMYC member and Port Captain under Lucas Willemse) offered us the use of his computer for email purposes. We spent some time with Carlos and his wife updating them on the doings at PMYC.
After 3 days it was time for another great venture across to Silver Gate Yacht Club. There we were actually assigned a slip belonging to one of their cruising members. Again, an incredible hospitality, very similar to PMYC’s.
Yes folks, the water maker is finally installed and working properly. After having to trouble shoot a mysterious fault for 3 full days (it would start and stop after 2 minutes), a missing magnet in the Clark pump was determined to be the culprit. With the help from Spectra and the local Spectra dealer, Daily Marine on Shelter Island, the magnet was installed at its proper location. Voila, it ran and ran and ran finally producing 15 gallons of water an hour.
While getting some last minutes spares at Downwind Marine, we ran into George from Presidio Yacht Club in SF. George had spent 3 days at PMYC around April with his 33 foot electro motor powered sailboat. Big hellos followed a long lunch and some beers, where he thanked us again for PMYC’s hospitality during his stay. George is spending the summer in SD after having gone as far south as Turtle Bay in spring.
One more stop at Costco, Trader Joe’s for a couple of cases of 2 Buck Chuck, Smart and Final, Vons, West Marine, Downwind Marine and the fuel dock, the waterline is gone again. In true PMYC fashion the members of Silver Gate Yacht Club treated us to several rounds of drinks at their bar before letting us depart in the afternoon. We headed for La Playa anchorage for some dinner and a brief Siesta, before our evening departure to Ensenada, some 65 miles to the South.
We departed SD around 9 PM, Sunday, July 24th, under twinkling stars and a half moon. We sailed outside of the Coronados until about 1:00 AM, when the wind decided to take a rest. It was motoring from there on all the way to Ensenada’s Cruiseport Marina, where we arrived Monday morning, July 25th around 8:00 AM. And the winner of the secret pool is……….??????????. We haven’t heard it officially yet, just thru the grapevine that a certain “Butte” won the overall pool. Is that Bob, Carol or the dog? We would love to hear an official confirmation.
Also, it took us a month and half to go from Marina del Rey to Ensenada. We managed to beat Paradise aka Turtle Express’ (Sid and Manuela) elapsed record.
After checking in with the marina and a long shower, we headed to town to file our paperwork with the Mexican authorities. What a fantastic system they now have in force in Ensenada. One building will get everything taken care of. We will write a several article about it for the next issue of The Log.
Cruise Port Marina is located in downtown Ensenada, next to the Cruise ship docks. There is no surge whatsoever and the town is only a 10 minute walk away. No need for taxis. Everything is within walking distance. We spoke to several other boaters. All of them had actually been before at Coral’s and decided to move to Cruiseport for the better location.
Now the real cruising life is starting, 80 cents fish tacos and a cold beer for lunch at the local street taco stand is pure heaven.
We went to the new La Vendimia Yacht Club in Ensenada last Thursday. They have once a week from 4 to 7 PM Happy Hour for it’s members with 2 for 1 drinks, free appetizers (BBQ ribs, potato salad, Mexican pizzas, asparagus, marinated hot dogs, etc..) Bob, what do you think? I’m sure you would have a huge crowd at PMYC. They have a very unique and entertaining crowd at this YC. PMYC’s burgee is hanging on the wall and we encourage every member to stop in.
This weekend we will be by car at Puerto Salinas Marina, where a fishing tournament is underway. Lynn Sisco, the local Parrothead President invited us for a day of fun under the sun. Lynn’s hospitality and friendship is well known.
Well folks, it’s time for you guys to start new bets. We are planning to leave beginning of next week for points south. More to follow soon ………. as time progresses…….
Thursday, June 9, 2005
"Getting ready and saying Goodbye to friends"
The last six months of preparations were kind of hectic.
Our original departure date was set for December 31, 2004. Well, things have a tendency to change when you’re cruising.
Alex and Sue gave both their employers several months notice that their last days of work would be the end of December. Sue’s replacement, Lois, was hired right away. It was more difficult finding a replacement for Alex as this person would have to be fluent in English as well as German. They found Dietmar. Alex agreed to train him through the end of February.
We got married November 26, 2004 in Vegas at “The little Chapel of the West”. Greg (best man) and Penny from Long Tall Sally as well as David and JL (standing up for Sue) went along for the festivities. This would allow Sue enough time to process the paperwork on various documents showing her married name as well as give her one more shot at the Vegas tables before embarking on her perpetual honeymoon. The paperwork at that time for the passport name change alone was 6 weeks. Credit cards and Social Security data had to be changed also. We also made several trips to Carson City, Nevada, our new “home” to get new driver licenses.
As the Holiday Season approaches, the packing of the apartment and the moving onto the boat went slow with all the festivities.
While Alex was working, Sue would make piles in the apartment for storage, boat or garage sale. She was amazed at the amounts of wine and other beverages stashed away in different locations, all acquired during past business trips in and out of the country as well as trips to Napa Valley. Combining three bars (Alex’s house bar, Sue’s bar and the existing boat bar created also another accumulation of alcohol, some of which could be combined. Each day a load was taken down to the boat, organized and put away. The rains came mid January leaving the Boat pile in the apartment to grow.
The antiques and photos are all in a storage vault in California. All of the kitchen stuff as well as stereo, TV’s and desktop computers, fax machines, etc was sold. No sense hanging on to equipment which would be outdated in a short time. All of the regular furniture was also scheduled for sale. The movers came in and loaded two storage containers in record time. The containers are inventoried and weighed. Should we ever decide to settle down somewhere, we just call the company and our crates will be delivered to us.
A Garage Sale was held in the apartment for a weekend. People were in and out all day. The mailman received a lot of nice goodies. A fond memory will always be held of the young girl who was about to get married. It would be her and her fiancé’s first home. Among the dishes, TV’s, stereos, plants etc., she asked about our stainless steel trash cans. No problem, but we need to use them until the 28th. She was so happy.
After several extensions on our lease, we needed to be out of the apartment the end of February. Keep in mind February only has 28 days. On the 27th, panic swept over us. We raced to Home Depot and bought storage containers and filled them. We hired our maid and her son to help us move onto the boat. Maitairoa looked like a container ship that evening.
The next few weeks were spent trying to put things away in our slip we were subletting from Barrie. The new tenants would be moving into this slip the end of March, so we moved across the fairway onto PMYC’s guest dock. For those of you who have not visited PMYC, the clubhouse is on the 2nd floor with a glass wall overlooking the 100’ guest dock. This is where life in the fishbowl began.
We hung up our full size awning which includes side panels, blocking viewing from the club, to establish some sort of privacy. As soon as the shades were up, a phone call was placed from the bar complaining about the side panels of the awning since they couldn’t see what we are working on now.
So our final preparations began. The old 15 gallon water heater was replaced with a smaller 5 gallon unit in order to fit the new genset in. The spectators were in for a treat that day as the side panels were removed. The boom was used to lower the genset in through the port lazerrette. The club members had score cards made up for the event. We received low marks at first, because THEY didn’t know what we were doing. A perfect 10 was the final result. In case we wouldn’t look up at them as they knocked on the glass, they would call our cell phones and ask us to look up.
The guest dock was also a great measuring device while marking our new barrel of 400’ 3/8 BBB anchor chain. Every 50’ was painted red, white or blue accordingly. A yellow nylon rope was interwoven each 50’ for when the paint would wear off.
Installing the new custom made Garhauer anchor bow roller to hold our 66 lb Bruce anchor and Lofrans windlass was another adventure for the Club Members. Again the members filled the bar stools and rated our performance. With the help of Greg on “Long Tall Sally”, everything went smoothly and another perfect “10” was scored.
The Members were also all interested in our departure date. On January 1st, PMYC’s afternoon cocktail hour gang created a “Secret Pool.” For .25 a square, you could bet on which day during the year Maitairoa would cut the dock lines. Because it was a “secret”, it was actually which day we would arrive in Mexico. To instigate a bit we bought several squares ourselves on various dates which really created a lot of confusion.
We finally cut the dock lines June 10, 2005 and arrived in Ensenada July 22, 2005 with “Uncle” Bob Buttee being the Grand Prize winner.
Rumor is there is still another pool about when one of us or both will return. Some things never change
Our original departure date was set for December 31, 2004. Well, things have a tendency to change when you’re cruising.
Alex and Sue gave both their employers several months notice that their last days of work would be the end of December. Sue’s replacement, Lois, was hired right away. It was more difficult finding a replacement for Alex as this person would have to be fluent in English as well as German. They found Dietmar. Alex agreed to train him through the end of February.
We got married November 26, 2004 in Vegas at “The little Chapel of the West”. Greg (best man) and Penny from Long Tall Sally as well as David and JL (standing up for Sue) went along for the festivities. This would allow Sue enough time to process the paperwork on various documents showing her married name as well as give her one more shot at the Vegas tables before embarking on her perpetual honeymoon. The paperwork at that time for the passport name change alone was 6 weeks. Credit cards and Social Security data had to be changed also. We also made several trips to Carson City, Nevada, our new “home” to get new driver licenses.
As the Holiday Season approaches, the packing of the apartment and the moving onto the boat went slow with all the festivities.
While Alex was working, Sue would make piles in the apartment for storage, boat or garage sale. She was amazed at the amounts of wine and other beverages stashed away in different locations, all acquired during past business trips in and out of the country as well as trips to Napa Valley. Combining three bars (Alex’s house bar, Sue’s bar and the existing boat bar created also another accumulation of alcohol, some of which could be combined. Each day a load was taken down to the boat, organized and put away. The rains came mid January leaving the Boat pile in the apartment to grow.
The antiques and photos are all in a storage vault in California. All of the kitchen stuff as well as stereo, TV’s and desktop computers, fax machines, etc was sold. No sense hanging on to equipment which would be outdated in a short time. All of the regular furniture was also scheduled for sale. The movers came in and loaded two storage containers in record time. The containers are inventoried and weighed. Should we ever decide to settle down somewhere, we just call the company and our crates will be delivered to us.
A Garage Sale was held in the apartment for a weekend. People were in and out all day. The mailman received a lot of nice goodies. A fond memory will always be held of the young girl who was about to get married. It would be her and her fiancé’s first home. Among the dishes, TV’s, stereos, plants etc., she asked about our stainless steel trash cans. No problem, but we need to use them until the 28th. She was so happy.
After several extensions on our lease, we needed to be out of the apartment the end of February. Keep in mind February only has 28 days. On the 27th, panic swept over us. We raced to Home Depot and bought storage containers and filled them. We hired our maid and her son to help us move onto the boat. Maitairoa looked like a container ship that evening.
The next few weeks were spent trying to put things away in our slip we were subletting from Barrie. The new tenants would be moving into this slip the end of March, so we moved across the fairway onto PMYC’s guest dock. For those of you who have not visited PMYC, the clubhouse is on the 2nd floor with a glass wall overlooking the 100’ guest dock. This is where life in the fishbowl began.
We hung up our full size awning which includes side panels, blocking viewing from the club, to establish some sort of privacy. As soon as the shades were up, a phone call was placed from the bar complaining about the side panels of the awning since they couldn’t see what we are working on now.
So our final preparations began. The old 15 gallon water heater was replaced with a smaller 5 gallon unit in order to fit the new genset in. The spectators were in for a treat that day as the side panels were removed. The boom was used to lower the genset in through the port lazerrette. The club members had score cards made up for the event. We received low marks at first, because THEY didn’t know what we were doing. A perfect 10 was the final result. In case we wouldn’t look up at them as they knocked on the glass, they would call our cell phones and ask us to look up.
The guest dock was also a great measuring device while marking our new barrel of 400’ 3/8 BBB anchor chain. Every 50’ was painted red, white or blue accordingly. A yellow nylon rope was interwoven each 50’ for when the paint would wear off.
Installing the new custom made Garhauer anchor bow roller to hold our 66 lb Bruce anchor and Lofrans windlass was another adventure for the Club Members. Again the members filled the bar stools and rated our performance. With the help of Greg on “Long Tall Sally”, everything went smoothly and another perfect “10” was scored.
The Members were also all interested in our departure date. On January 1st, PMYC’s afternoon cocktail hour gang created a “Secret Pool.” For .25 a square, you could bet on which day during the year Maitairoa would cut the dock lines. Because it was a “secret”, it was actually which day we would arrive in Mexico. To instigate a bit we bought several squares ourselves on various dates which really created a lot of confusion.
We finally cut the dock lines June 10, 2005 and arrived in Ensenada July 22, 2005 with “Uncle” Bob Buttee being the Grand Prize winner.
Rumor is there is still another pool about when one of us or both will return. Some things never change
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