Log Book
June 2009
June 2009
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| June 2009 (and 1st week of July) |
Mexico
After we paid our fine on our expired FM3’s in La Paz we got an extension letter that allowed us
to stay in the country until July 16. So we decided it was time to leave La Paz and head towards
California. We provisioned and started out with a day at Bahia Balandra, to decompress from
the “busy” lifestyle in La Paz. Then we headed on towards Cabo, stopping at a small
anchorage (N 24°14.17’ W 110°08.19’) near the village of Rosario that is not in any of the
cruising guides. It was about halfway between Balandra and Los Muertos, and when we
anchored we needed to set out the stern anchor. There were no other boats there, but the
beaches were well-populated with Mexican families enjoying a weekend at the water. A few
boys swam out to our boat and invited us ashore to share some ceviche with their family, so we
rowed ashore with a big plastic jar of smoked almonds to share with them. One member of the
family had graduated from high school in Arizona and spoke excellent English. There were
about 25 members of their family enjoying the weekend together, and we had a good time
sitting and visiting on the beach with them. From there we went on to Los Muertos, anchoring
again in the swell and staying a few days. We went ashore to the restaurant (formerly The
Giggling Marlin) and enjoyed a meal out and got an internet connection to check email. Then
on to San Jose del Cabo, where we pulled in for fuel at the new marina and decided to continue
on towards Cabo since we had some wind. That’s when the fun started.
It was blowing pretty steady and building to 25 knots with gusts to 30. We reefed and continued
sailing, away from land so we could get past Cabo and tack back towards California the next
day. The seas were confused and choppy, and it was a rough sail. Suddenly we heard
something break on the front deck. Sam went forward and found the canvas sail bag that holds
our spinnaker hanging over the side dragging in the water. The rough seas had caused the
bag to tear at what was evidently rotten stitching and go overboard. We hove to (slowed down
by backwinding the jib) and he managed to get the bag and sail back on board and shoved into
the floor of the cockpit. At that point we decided to return to the marina at San Jose del Cabo
and wait for a little better weather window. We pulled in just at dark and tied up at the long dock
(which will eventually be the fuel dock) just inside for the night. The next morning Sam awoke
with symptoms similar to those he suffered in Puerto Escondido last month (amoebic dysentery)
so we got a referral to a doctor in Cabo and off we went in a taxi to seek medical treatment. He
was hospitalized and given IV fluids and antibiotics for a few hours that day, and follow-up oral
medications. It was not as bad this time as last time, thankfully. We stayed 2 nights in a slip
there at the new marina.
Then on to Cabo. We planned to pass up this noisy, expensive place, but again the seas and
winds prompted us to drop our hook off the beach in front of one of those expensive hotels.
Rough weather had knocked one of the spreader lights apart and it was dangling over the deck
by the two electrical wires. Susie hauled Sam up the mast, while the boat was rolling at Cabo,
to make a quick wrap with duct tape. Then we duct taped the fixed ports where water was
coming through into the salon. The next morning we left at dawn hoping to round Cabo Falso
and encountered 25 knot winds and decided to run back to Cabo and wait for another day. We
also had the great idea to call our friend John Paul Watts in San Francisco and ask him if he
could crew with us on the trip back to California and he generously agreed to join us. While he
planned his itinerary, a possible hurricane began to form south of Cabo (Andres) so we pulled
in to the most expensive marina in the western hemisphere (low season, only$129 per night),
get some laundry done and check our email. While waiting for John Paul and a good weather
window, Susie got a phone call notifying us that her father had unexpectedly passed away in
Phoenix. We decided she should fly from Cabo to Phoenix and then on to San Diego, while
Sam and JP returned with Catch The Wind to California. John Paul arrived on June 24 in Cabo
and we enjoyed an unseasonably cool evening in Cabo, with good news that Andres had fizzled
out and there were light winds on the western coast.
Phoenix
Susie flew to Phoenix to join her family on June 25. She had planned to fly to San Diego on July
2, and even tried to change her ticket to a flight on July 5, but the tickets were non-refundable
and the fee to make a change would have cost more than the original ticket. So Susie did an
internet check-in to that 1:00 PM flight out of Phoenix, and her mom dropped her off about
noon. But when she tried to check her bag at the kiosk, she was directed to see the US Airways
agent, and she found out that the entire flight had been cancelled for maintenance. Ironic. And
all the remaining flights that day and the next were sold out, so she would have to fly standby.
She told them that with her knee the way it was, she did not want to fly under those
circumstances, and asked them to change her to the flight on July 5. They did it. Her brother-
in-law came to the airport and picked her up and brought her to his house, where Susie’s mom
dropped by as scheduled, and our friend Roger picked her up at the airport in San Diego and
allowed her to stay in his guest room until Sam arrived in San Diego.
Bash to California
While Susie was in Arizona Sam and JP started the “bash” just before midnight on the June 25.
The passage to Turtle Bay took 132 hours, 68 of them sailing. Starboard tack just went west
getting Catch The Wind no closer to Turtle Bay, but getting us out so that there was room to
sail on port tack. We could have made this leg entirely under sail alone, but Sam wanted to get
to San Diego and Susie, and sailing would have added at least a day. We topped off our fuel
(133 liters) and stayed a night in Turtle Bay. At about 0500 on Thursday, July 2, we left Turtle
Bay for Ensenada under power. Friday afternoon we saw a panga with two Mexican
pescaderos. We traded two cans of Modelo and a diet coke for a halibut. Sam says he needs
to know better how to filet a halibut because he thinks he wasted too much. As it was, Sam and
John Paul had grilled halibut, stewed halibut, and spaghetti with halibut in the vodka sauce.
Sunday morning we couldn’t motor against the wind gusting above 40 and very lumpy and
confused seas. A leak had developed in the exhaust system filling the cabin with soot and
setting off the carbon monoxide alarm. The oxygen-depleted air kept the engine to under 1000
RPM. We diverted to Puerto Santo Tomas, fairly close, and anchored for the night. Even
though there was a high mountain on the port beam, continuing to directly windward of us and
continuing to our starboard beam and directly astern, the wind still hit us at a steady 35+,
usually 40, and gusting to 46. But there was no fetch (only 100 yards) and the water was flat.
By 0500 Monday, July 6, the wind ameliorated to about 15 and we headed for Ensenada. On
Tuesday we discovered the seal in the raw water pump was leaking and one of the cooling
water hoses was lying against the exhaust pipe. The mechanic from Baja Naval thought the
soot and carbon monoxide was from the burning hose. He used an electrical tie to hold the
hose away from the exhaust pipe, and installed one of the spare raw water pumps. We also
checked out of Mexico in Ensenada. We left Ensenada that afternoon and motored all the way
to San Diego on a sea like glass, but with a cabin very sooty and full of carbon monoxide. The
hose contacting the exhaust pipe was NOT our problem. Both John Paul and Sam stayed out of
the cabin for the entire 19 hour leg! Our only stop was at Marina Coral to top off our fuel, 131
liters. We tied up at the police docks in San Diego on July 8 at 6:45 AM. Next day, “Marine
Man” came down to the boat and quickly found the leak – there was a quarter-sized hole in the
exhaust system under the fiberglass insulation wrap.
What Now?
We are getting repairs made to the exhaust system here in San Diego. The boat is safely tied
up at San Diego Yacht Club. Sam is doing a lot of work to clean up the boat and Susie is doing
a lot of laundry – curtains, bedding, cushion covers, sun shades, canvas, ropes and lines, etc.
We rented a room with microwave and small refrigerator at Loma Lodge for a week, as well as a
car. When the boat is ready, we will head up the coast towards San Francisco. We plan to
enjoy our “3 for free” reciprocal privileges at many of the yacht clubs and/or free and low-cost
anchorages along the way – Mission Bay, Oceanside, Dana Point, Newport Beach, Marina del
Rey, Santa Barbara, Morro Bay, Monterey, Half Moon Bay. Hopefully we will be in San
Francisco Bay by September 1.
| NO PHOTOS June 2009 |