Woohoo Fish on!

25 30.098 N, 113 02.281 W

We are continuing to sail to Bahia Santa Maria. There was a lot of activity today. We caught our first fish, a Dorado or Mahi-Mahi. We were sitting in the cockpit when we heard the zing of the line going out. Dan reeled the fish in and landed the fish. I grabbed some vodka to help stun the fish. Rich and Dan used the back deck to cut the catch into meal sizes. I fetched the supplies and stayed out of the 'blood zone'. Now that we have a fresh water hose connection on the stern of the boat, Rich was nice enough to clean up. So it looks like we will be having some fish while we are at Bahia Santa Maria.

In addition we saw humpback whales breaching about 100 yards off our port side. We had several visits from dolphins including leaps and jumps. I was able to take a short video as well of the dolphins playing off our bow. Later this afternoon we saw a marlin jumping several times not far from us. Not sure why it was jumping. One of the cruisers landed a 62 inch marlin. They have photos to prove it. They were using a lure made from a Heineken beer can.

We hope to cross the finish line early in the morning and then go into Bahia Santa Maria if the winds hold up during the night.

Maybe some more fish too.

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Slowly sailing to Bahia Santa Maria

27 01.558 N, 114 29.593 W

We are slowly sailing to Bahia Santa Maria. There was little wind when we left Turtle Bay but we gave it a fair try before we fired up the iron spinnaker (the engine). We motored from 10:51 am to 3:21 pm with the wind rarely going above 5 knots. In the late afternoon it started to pick up and now we are sailing in about 13 knots of wind from the northwest, with the main out to starboard and the yankee poled out to port.

Before we left we were hailed by Clark Straw on Arawak. They left San Diego early on Thursday and were just passing Turtle Bay on the way to Bahia Magdalena. We chatted a bit and later this morning I sent an email to Suzy back in San Diego letting her know where Clark was as they do not have an SSB to send email.

We tried fishing but were skunked again. We did see some Humboldt squid on the surface trying to grab some fish with their tentacles coming out of the water. Glad it was not a kraken! Other boaters mentioned catching some as well for calamari. We did hear of one boat landing a 46 inch Mahi Mahi.

Maybe we will have better luck tomorrow.

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Potluck on the beach

27 40.763 N, 114 53.258 W

This afternoon there was a Baja Ha-Ha potluck on the beach. Rich fixed a pasta salad for our contribution and we got a panga ride over. We will save the beach landing for Bahia Santa Maria.

On the beach were tents, tables, chairs, beach volleyball, etc. Folks who had caught fish on the way down from San Diego brought it to be barbecued. It was a great chance to socialize with some of the other crews. There was a tug of war between the women and the men which I participated in. A photographer climbed the hill behind and we all posed for a group picture. The one downside was one of the catamaran's was anchor too close to the beach and as the tide went out it went aground, despite the efforts of the captain, several pangas and sailors. We will find out in the morning if the boat is okay. Rich's knee is still sore and as we were leaving the party he was tackled accidentally by one of the ultimate frisbee players and now his foot is swollen.

Tomorrow we are off to Bahia Santa Maria, about 240 nautical miles south.

Adios

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Baseball at Turtle Bay

27 40.763 N, 114 53.258 W

We arrived early this morning at set the hook at 12:30 am. We settled the boat, Dan made margaritas and Rich zapped some tamales in the microwave. After showers we were ready for some sleep. I had set my alarm for 7:15 am so that I could report in at the morning net. When the alarm went off, I was still very sleepy so I hit the snooze button. This happened several times because I did not connect the alarm with anything much less the net. Finally I started to figure it out so I got up. I am looking forward to a more full night of sleep tonight.

Rich made us omelets this morning so we sat in the cockpit, having breakfast, watching the other boats arrive. Some 85 boats were here when we arrived last night and more have been streaming in. The weather is warm but the 15 knot wind across the harbor keeps things kool. I put the sun shade on the cockpit on one side to keep us out of the sun.

In the afternoon we got a panga ride to the old pier. It is the same pier as 10 years ago but now there is a dingy dock attached to the end of it. The stairs are still as rickety and rust covered as ever. The town has grown some. There are now a few restaurants on the beach providing cerveza and wi-fi.

We walked up to the new baseball stadium up the hill. Baseball is very big in Turtle Bay. They have 4 teams that play against other towns in Baja. The Baja Ha-Ha organized a fun game with the cruisers and the local school kids. It was a hoot to watch, not many rules and no one was keeping score. The local kids must spend a lot of time practicing since they were pretty good. One sported a Derek Jeter t-shirt. Dan joined the outfield and Rich decided to take a shot at bat. He had a good hit and made it to first. On the run to second base, something happened to his knee but he continued around the bases. I hope he did not injure it seriously.

We decided that cerveza was in order (well, at least it would not hurt the knee) so we walked up the hill to the Vera Cruz restaurant. It is still the same as when we stopped there 10 years ago except how they also have free wi-fi, all be it slow but free.

We walked back down the hill and caught a panga back to the boat. Time for a siesta.

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Crossed the finish line at Turtle Bay

27 53.63 N, 115 19.10 W

At 7:38 pm we crossed the finish line at Turtle Bay. We still have a little over 18 more miles from the line to go into the harbor. We are looking forward to anchoring and staying in one place for a bit.

We have been doing well sailing. Late this afternoon we had a large pod of Dahl porpoises come join us and play by our bow. I got some video but I don't think it is National Geographic quality. If any of it looks decent, I will post on the blog the next time we have internet.

Rich and I are now rigging preventer lines from the bow back to the end of the boom in addition to using a boom brake. We have not quite worked out all of the kinks but it seems to be working fairly well.

It has been a long few days so I will end this now. More later about Turtle Bay.

No worries,

Elaine, Rich and Dan

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Sailing with porpoises

29 54.464 N, 116 26.896 W

The rolling start finally ended at 7:00 am this morning. We had already stopped motoring and were sailing with the full main and the yankee out on the whisker pole. We were so tired of hearing the engine. The winds today varied from 6 knots to as high as 17 knots, with our speed over the ground from 3.0 knots to 7.0 knots. Of course the time at 7 knots was brief but we will take it.

This morning I participated in the Baja Ha-Ha net in the morning. This is where all of the boats check in and give their position, as well as asking for any medical or mechanical assistance. It was good to know that no one needed any medical assistance. But one boat got a 1 inch thick line wrapped around their prop last night and was waiting for this morning to try and dive the boat and cut away the line, while under sail. Another boat, a catamaran lost one of their engines, as they have one in each amah, their were still proceeding slowly.

This afternoon we saw a large group / school / pod / herd of porpoises. It is so fun to see these graceful creatures fly through the water as well as jumping and leaping. I had my camera ready but no luck getting a good shot. They are so camera shy.

While yesterday we had several boats around us, now it is a little lonely. There is only one AIS target broadcasting within 24 miles of us. Last night there was over 8.

One thing that was a little scary this morning is when Rich and I were preparing the pole for the yankee we saw floats marking a fishing line. We moved to starboard thinking we would be clearing the line and running parallel only to find out we were actually crossing the line like a slalom course. we cleared the line and shortly thereafter we saw the markers for the end of the line. We definitely did not want to get caught on the line.

Rich and Dan put out the fishing pole but no bites. We will try again tomorrow.

We have gone 139 miles from San Diego and we have 166 miles to go to Turtle Bay. We are looking forward to arriving.

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The Baja Ha-Ha begins

31 54.901 N, 117 08.352 W

At is 6:40 pm and I thought I would craft the position update before it became totally dark out.

We rose early this morning (read 6:45 am) and we grabbed showers before the crowds hit. Showers where you can just stand in the water, not have to worry about how much water you are using and you don't have to put in quarters either. In the near future, we will have navy showers on the boat.

We left the dock about 9:30 with the other 170 or so boats for the parade by Shelter Island, complete with the San Diego Fire boat spraying water everywhere and some other local sailboats parading as well, cheering us on. We passed a boat named "Stress Reliever" and they were definitely not relieved as boats were not as careful as they should be about the other boats in their vicinity, or should I say that not everyone was minding the rules of the road. Luckily we made it safely to the starting area for the 11:00 am start. The winds were light so they called for a rolling start, meaning everyone would motor at 6 knots or less until there was enough wind to sail and then they would start the rally. We all headed towards the Coronado Islands. At noon, 1:00 pm and 2:00 pm they continued the rolling start. Now it is after 6:00 pm and we are still rolling, motorsailing with just the main. The winds are now 5 knots from the west north west or a broad reach if we could sail. Hopefully the winds will fill in tomorrow.

We have seen whale blow and lots of Dahl porpoises, many of them jumping and leaping as they passed through the fleet in numbers over 50. Occasionally we would pass a sea lion who would lift his head to look at us and then quickly dive down under the surface.

We are all feeling well, munching on granola bars, hummus and flatbread, apples and peanut butter. Dinner was a bowl of pasta salad that Rich had made yesterday.

I am not sure how many of the 170 entries are still out on the water. One boat dropped out at the very beginning with a shaft problem. This afternoon we saw another boat heading back with their main draped around their cockpit. We suspect they lost their main halyard. Knock on wood, all systems are go on Windarra.

No worries,

Elaine, Rich and Dan

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Getting ready for the Baja Ha-Ha

The last couple of days have been hectic. You would think that with all of the boat projects we have been doing we would be all done and ready. Well, almost.

On Tuesday and Wednesday we did some chores around the boat such as cleaning all of the water strainers, going through our mail, bills, filing, etc. On Wednesday night we had dinner with Clark and Suzy Straw of SV Final Straw. The last time we saw them was in Australia before we returned to the US. We were joined by Robin Ryder, a friend of Clark’s, Robin is also preparing to sail to Mexico but not with the Baja Ha-Ha. His boat is a Mason 63 ketch, named Arawak. Clark will be joining him. We had great discussion at dinner about cruising and comparing some of the places we went to and catching up on other cruisers. Clark and Suzy were kind enough to loan us their Prius so we could run errands before we left. This was a life saver and we thank them very much for this assistance.

Thursday we did the big provisioning trip to Costco, Von’s and Trader Joe’s. Fitting it all in the car was one thing, finding a place to store it all on the boat was another. The larder is full!

Saturday we did a few boat chores. Rich put wheels on the dingy to assist with beach landings in the surf. I connected up the backup IPad navigation system. I am using iNavX app ($49) on the IPad with Navionics Gold charts for Mexico, Central and South America ($55). In addition to the software, I bought a DMK Yacht Instruments (www.dmkyachts.com) model 11A ($399) with the DMK app (free). The DMK box takes Raymarine SeaTalk, NMEA 0183 and NMEA 2000 inputs and transmits them via wi-fi as UDP packets. These packets are received by the apps on the IPad. Our current installation is for the Furuno AIS, FA-50. The AIS information is transmitted to the IPad and read in by the iNavX app and displayed on the charts, similar to the charter/plotter. At some point I will connect the other instrumentation. I will check this out more during our trip down to Cabo San Lucas.

Sunday we did last minute chores. Rich changed the oil and flushed the watermaker. He went to the skipper’s meeting while I stayed on the boat and did a little bit of cleaning. In the afternoon we attended the Baja Ha-Ha Halloween party in the West Marine parking lot. Many cruisers came dressed for the occasion. We saw Tinkerbell in drag, Peter Pan, Tick-Tock the crocodile, some pirates, parrots and other fictional characters. Later that afternoon Clark and Suzy stopped by to visit on Windarra and pick up the Prius. We got a chance to see picture of their newest grandchild, Charlie, who is their son Kevin’s son.

Later we went to the airport to meet Dan Sego, our crew member for the Baja Ha-Ha.

Now it is time for bed. It will be a long day tomorrow.

Back in San Diego

On Monday, 10/17, we returned from our trip up north. Rich and I flew to Portland to visit with Jesse, Rae and Sarah. It was fun to hear them talk about their jobs. Jesse is busy doing software integration at Thetus. Sarah is a lab technician at Revolt Technologies where they are developing zinc air batteries for cars. Rae is working at a lab at OSHU doing research with flies. We are very proud of them. Jesse tried a new recipe involving a hollowed out pumpkin, bread and gruyere cheese. It was very tasty.

We also took the opportunity while we were there to do some shopping. I picked up 6 containers of the coffee I like that they sell at Costco in Portland but not in California. Rich got some shorts at the Columbia Sportswear outlet store. We looked at inflatable kayaks but decided we were not ready to buy yet.

We also splurged and bought an IPad 2. We have been thinking of getting one for a while especially after seeing how Tucker and Victoria Bradford of SV Convivia are using it for their navigation.  They are using the IPad app, iNavX, with a Brookhouse imux that takes NMEA 0183 data and transmits it wirelessly to the IPad. Navionics Gold charts are available for a lot less than on other systems. iNavX also overlays gribs and AIS data. We purchased a wireless transmitter from DMK Yachts Instruments which supports NMEA 0183 and 2000. When I get it running, I will write more about it.

We also drove up to Tacoma to visit with my mother, Leah. She was not feeling well so we stopped by another day to check on her. She does not remember us but on the second visit she was pleasant and in a good mood even though our conversations a one sided for the most part, I talk and she sometimes asks a simple question.

In Seattle we made the rounds picking up our mail, dropping off and picking up stuff at the storage unit, shopping at the marine stores, and visiting with friends, etc. We also had doctors’ appointments for annual exams and shots. Poor Rich suffered an allergic reaction to his pneumonia shot which gave him the chills and shakes. He is glad you only have to have the shot once.

There is still no word on the Subaru. We rented a car to drive up to Seattle with and Sarah took the train up to Seattle to meet us. She attended a Steampunk convention in Bellevue. We exchanged the rental car to her so she would have a vehicle until they find the Subaru or not. Rich and I took the train back to Portland and a visit before our return to San Diego.

Now we are back and it is time to get the boat and ourselves ready for the Baja Ha-Ha rally which leaves on Monday, October 24.

San Diego at last

32 43.617 N, 117 11.998 W

Cabrillo Isle Marina

We left Oceanside Yacht Club at 8:00 am, along with several other Baja Ha-Ha boats. We had light winds most of the way so we motorsailed. And as typical of most of our trip, the winds picked up to about 15 knots as we were entering the harbor.

The trip was relatively uneventful. We saw 2 groups of dolphins and a small group of pilot whales. On the VHF we could hear notices about naval activity in the area with warnings to stay at least 3 nautical miles away from the live fire exercises. They were far enough away from our course we did not have to worry about it but we did see a lot of hovercraft and helicopter activity (cue Ride of the Valkyries).

We are now at Cabrillo Isle Marina on Harbor Island. It is not too far from the airport. Not only can we see the places but we hear them as well. Today we walked over to the Von's and Trader Joe's to check them out for provisioning before we leave for Mexico. I also purchase our fishing licenses for Mexico online. At first I was concerned about the price of $493.17 for a 1 year permit. As this is Mexican pesos, it translates to only $35.42 in US dollars which is quite reasonable.

We met a couple, Joe and Heidi on a Shannon ketch, called Huck. They are from New Orleans and will also be joining the Baja Ha-Ha. They were kind enough to help us find our slip yesterday when we pulled in. The numbers at the end of the slips were way too small for our aging eyes.

Rich and I are planning on buying 2 inflatable kayaks to take with us. If anyone has suggestions as to which kind, please send them. So far we are looking at the Advanced Element, Advance Frame Sport.

More later

Oceanside Yacht Club

33 12.625 N, 117 23.839 W

Currently we are at Oceanside Yacht Club. They are sponsoring a Baja Ha-Ha get together which included moorage and a free dinner so here we are. We arrived on Friday afternoon.

Wednesday morning we left the Newport Harbor Yacht Club where we had a great stay on one of their mooring buoys and sailed south for Dana Point. At the west end of the harbor is a small anchorage inside the breakwater and next to the Ocean Institute.

Thursday, Rich and I decided it was a good time to work the autopilot / HF radio interference issue. If we were sailing or motoring with the autopilot and then tried to send an email via the HF radio, the autopilot would give an alarm about no communication with the autopilot computer and then disengage. This is not something we would like to have happen during passage. I had sent some emails to the autopilot folks and they cautioned that if there was a drop in voltage, this problem could occur. We had the power for the autopilot communication bus separate from the computer and hydraulics power so we tried putting them on the same breaker to see if that fixed the problem. No joy. Since changing these connections required taking most of the navigation station apart, we looked at other wiring that might be causing the problem. Lo and behold the communication wiring between the autopilot computer next to the aft stateroom bed and the navigation station as well as the wiring between the autopilot control panel at the helm and the navigation station were routed near the cable between the HF radio and the tuner in the lazarette. This was not good and could be the source of the problem. So we temporarily pulled the wiring out and just ran it direct from the navigation station to the aft stateroom through the aft head and also to the binnacle. Success! So we rerouted the wiring to go through the engine compartment and then into the navigation station which required a new hole in the cabinet since the wire was not quite long enough. We also switched the communication bus power back to the breaker it was on previously. After testing sending emails with the autopilot on and the engine running and not running with no drop out by the autopilot computer we believe we have solved the problem. Hooray.

Friday morning as we prepared to leave we got a call from Sarah. The Subaru was stolen from the parking lot outside her apartment. She checked to make sure it was not towed away even though she has a parking sticker for the apartment complex. Rich called the police to report the vehicle stolen and then called the insurance company. The police visited Sarah to take her statement and give her a case number. According to the police officer that Rich talked to, Honda Accords are becoming scare and now they are stealing Subarus for the air bags, which are expensive to replace. So Sarah is without a car, again. As the vehicle was registered in our name, she will have to wait until we arrive in Portland next week and rent a car for her to use until the Subaru is recovered or declared gone. What is it about Portland? First the Honda was stolen and not recovered, now the Subaru. We have never had a car stolen before and now twice in three months. Now she will have to look for a good, cheap used car, as we don't have any more!

After the call we sailed to Oceanside. Friday evening we attended the Italian buffet at the yacht club. We sat with Russ and Doreen of SV August Moon whom we met at Marina del Rey and some friends of theirs, Ken and Carole of SV Nauti Moments. Both boats are Canadian and will be joining the Baja Ha-Ha. I am sure that tonight we will be meeting some more cruisers.

By the way, we have travelled over 3000 nautical miles since leaving Seattle in June 2010.