Susan, Sequoia, and Todd go sailing

My brother Steve (Uncle Bumper to Koiya, though we liked the derivative “Uncle Bumpus” that Todd’s mom came up with!) emailed me recently and included this question: “Does that hippie Eric have a job, how long is he sailing with you guys?”

This made me realize that, while Eric and his exploits are infamous on Todd’s side of the family, my family and many of our friends are probably wondering why that shaggy guy keeps popping up in our photos. Well, if you want to learn about Eric in his own words, click here to check out his website. But if you want the scoop from a snarky blog mistress who sailed many a mile with the guy, read on! (more…)

Strong southerly winds were predicted for Friday, Nov. 30, so we got an early start from Los Frailes, bound for La Paz. It was so hard to leave Frailes, because the anchorage was teeming with sea life and I really wanted to snorkel there! At night we aimed our spotlight into the water and saw squid and brilliant turquoise trumpet fish, and heard a sea lion feeding. During the day, small manta rays leaped several feet from the water, spinning and flipping before splashing down again. As we left Frailes, we saw one do a triple flip!

Our most important source for weather info is a man named Don Anderson, who we listen to on our HAM radio. Click here to check out the schedule this guy keeps, all as a free service to cruisers. Everyone down here tunes in for his forecast, and if the atmospheric conditions are such that you can’t hear Don, you can call around to other boats and someone will repeat his predictions to you. But no good deed goes unpunished; Don has another commitment on Friday mornings, so he can’t get on the radio then. The other day some guy down here had the gall to whine to Don that “we really need the forecast on Fridays”. The guy clearly needed a tongue lashing, but Todd held the microphone over my head and, after jumping for it for a minute, I was too worn out to be indignant.

We spent about eight hours motoring north before the wind picked up from the east. We sailed along well into the night. Eric took the first night watch, and when I took over at midnight it seemed that the wind was dying. Then suddenly it swung around and began building again (I’d guess it was 25kts and gusting higher), and Todd double-reefed the main. Thinking the situation too touchy to go back to bed, Todd tried to sleep in the galley with his foulies on. We flew along, and soon felt rain drops, which was odd because the sky overhead was clear. Then I looked over to the west and realized that those rain drops were from a massive dark cloud that was coming our way! (more…)

Sometime around the end of November we left Bahia Santa Maria and decided to bypass Cabo San Lucas, as it’s expensive and touristy. It was about a two day sail to Los Frailes, on the east side of the Baja Peninsula. We were thrilled to finally be headed into the Sea of Cortez!

The ocean near the cape is incredibly alive! The water is such a rich, deep blue that in the early morning hours it almost looks purple. I was reading John Steinbeck’s Log from the Sea of Cortez
and he had remarked that this is what fishermen call “tuna water”. Sure enough, we could see yellow fins cut through the water, and Sandy on Imagine caught two of them! We also saw marlin jumping and millions of jellyfish.

It was thrilling to see the changes in the landscape and fauna as we headed further south. On our way to Santa Maria we saw our first frigate bird, a sure sign that we were headed towards the tropics. But while new sightings are exciting, nothing thrilled us more than a night-time visit from Koiya’s old friends, the common dolphins! I had just turned in for some sleep when Todd shook me awake, telling me there were dolphins on the bow. I scurried up and found Koiya on the bowsprit, pointing a flashlight down at the dolphins. They were with us for about half an hour, and returned again a little later. Though there wasn’t as much phosphorescence as we’d seen on the way to San Diego, Koiya left her flashlight off for their second visit, and got to see them glitter. (more…)

We left Asuncion on Wednesday, Nov. 21, and sailed about 190 nautical miles south to Bahia Santa Maria. That meant we were offshore on Thanksgiving, so our dinner was not elaborate. For the meat eaters, I made chicken in mushroom gravy, while I had a tin of smoked trout. I also made stuffing and three-bean salad. For dessert, the pumpkin “pie” didn’t have a crust, but the crew were surprised that it was Thanksgiving, and even more surprised to get something pumpkiny!

This passage was the first on which we got a lot of use out of our spinnaker, which has now taken us many miles! The spinnaker allows us to sail with light winds, when we would otherwise use the motor. Our average speed has decreased, but we are thankful anytime we can sail instead of motoring! Yay, spinnaker!

Our sailing friends will appreciate this: Because they had not yet figured out a good way to sail downwind, we actually beat Imagine (a Hallberg Rossy 49) to Santa Maria! It was funny because although neither boat acknowledged it at the time, we were closely monitoring each other’s progress. Poor Andy (Capitan of Imagine, and a veteran racer)! Though he claimed to be suffering from Montezuma’s Revenge, we suspect it was actually shame and disgust that kept him holed up on his boat for a few days. As he remarked, it was like the tortoise beating the hare.

Bahia Santa Maria is a big, beautiful bay, with no town. It does have a huge tidal lagoon, with a number of little fish camps on it. They seem to be populated mostly by lobstermen, but we did see one woman and a child. The men leave in their pangas early in the morning, and if the tide is out when they return, they have to get out and drag their pangas through the shallow entrance of the lagoon. We also met some who were hauling pounds and pounds of marine snails that they use as bait in the lobster traps. (more…)

On Sunday, Nov. 18, we motored/sailed just over 50 nautical miles from Turtle Bay to Bahia Asuncion. We left Turtle Bay at 5am, and by 6am were sailing on a strong NE wind. The wind picked up a bit, and Sugata charged ahead at over 7 kts. It was thrilling to feel her go! But Capn Buzzkill was worried that the wind would continue to build, and struck the jib in anticipation. Shortly thereafter, the wind died completely, and we had to start the motor. Ridiculing Todd’s misjudgment was small consolation.

En route, we were thrilled to make radio contact with our friends on Imagine. Like most boats, we monitor VHF channel 16 while sailing. In California, we mostly used it for safety reasons, listening for warnings or hailing ships on courses that might cross ours. But here in Mexico, the VHF is the cruisers’ telephone system, with boats calling each other to touch base, discuss the weather, and make arrangements for cocktail hour.

The usual procedure is to hail a boat on channel 16, then switch to another channel to have your conversation. Of course, everyone else is listening in, and switches to the new channel so they won’t miss anything. For nosy people like ourselves, it is a great improvement on cell phones. We even listen in on crews we haven’t met!

It turned out Imagine was also headed to Asuncion! Sequoia and Emma (from Imagine) have become quite the little VHF chit-chatters. It’s pretty cute to hear them talking, saying “Over” and “Clear” and “You want to go to one-seven?”. (more…)

When we got to Ensenada, Todd finally asked me the question that I’ve been waiting to hear: “Will you be the captain?” I was so proud! He must have noticed how quick I’ve become with a bowline; how keenly I read the wind and adjust the sails; and how carefully I monitor the engine’s functions. “Of course!” I replied.

My first duty as captain was to file our papers for entering Mexico. I carried out the task cheerfully, welcoming the added responsibilities of my new office.

The passage from Ensenada to Turtle Bay (Nov. 14 to Nov. 16) was our longest to date, just shy of 300 nautical miles, and taking us almost 55 hours. For one lunch, I made split pea soup and served it to everyone in the cockpit. As I was sitting down, Koiya giggled. “It’s funny,” she said, “You’re the captain and the steward!”

All of a sudden it hit me: I had been duped! Todd only made me “captain” so that I’d be the one to handle all the paperwork! I shot a glance at Capn Deception, who was smacking his lips with satisfaction. I stifled my indignation, and resolved to remember that despite outward appearances, a brain lurks behind that large forehead, a brain that is capable of formulating cunning strategies to avoid work. I also made a note to give the “Co-Capitan”, as he called himself on our entry paperwork, a little midnight wake-up call (as I’ll explain). (more…)

Woohoo! We’ve made it to Mexico! What a relief to finally be in a country with decent internet access, after all we suffered through down the coast of California! I tell ya, I don’t know how people can live in those conditions.

We had a fantastic sail from San Diego to Ensenada, although poor Eric was a bit seasick. The upside was that he could barely choke down one peanut butter sandwich, so he didn’t get hungry until after we’d docked. And Todd got the Cape Horn wind vane working, so it steered us for a good part of the trip.

Capn Gringo was a bit nervous about being in a new country where he doesn’t speak the language, but as soon as he found out he could get a meal of fish, shrimp, and steak tacos, plus a beer, for $5, I was worried he would never want to leave! Luckily, there is a strong surge in the marina where we’re docked (Baja Naval). This means the boat rocks a lot, and rubs against the fenders. But just to be sure he’d be willing to head south, I’ve been adding a few extra scuffs to the side of the boat. (more…)

San Diego is home to fantastic maritime and cultural museums, the Cabrillo National Monument, and of course, the world-famous San Diego Zoo. We didn’t see any of it! We were too busy swimming, sitting in the hot tub, and figuring out how to get the sauna to an optimum temperature.

We arrived early on Sunday, Nov 4, to discover that all the $10 slips at the police dock were full; there was a big power boat rally in town; and there is a 24-hour waiting period to get a permit to anchor out.

We called one marina-resort that would cost us $150/night and required a 3 night stay. Many calls later, we had few options. One marina was $67.50/night; the other was the Marriott Marina, at $90/night, which included the use of the lavish pools and hot tub. “Well,” said Capn Silverspoon, “If we’re gonna splurge, we might as well have a hot tub!” Koiya flew in that night, and we went for an evening swim. And the next morning we went for another swim. Doesn’t leave a lot of time for sight-seeing!

The following day we moved to the San Diego Yacht Club, which also featured a pool, hot tub and sauna. I was worried Todd would never want to leave, but luckily the internet connection died in the middle of the week!

It wasn’t all fun and games, though. We had to carefully schedule our day to get to Downwind Marine in time for their free BBQ lunch; one day we got there too late and only got donuts! We also had all sorts of errands to run: I had to get Koiya to Border’s Books to use up a gift card, and Todd went to Tijuana to get his Mexican HAM radio license. And we hit Trader Joe’s a couple times, too. (more…)

Catalina Island has a permanent population of under 4,000 people, but is visited by a million tourists a year! Since we only had a few days before we had to be in San Diego to pick up Koiya, we decided to head straight to Avalon Harbor. After hearing so much about Catalina, we were prepared to be disappointed. After all, it was certainly no Morro Bay!

We had to admit that it was beautiful, though, as the afternoon sun pierced through the fog. And Avalon, with its houses covering the hills, the boats in the bay, and its quaint streets reminded us of the Caribbean… minus about 20 degrees!

We launched the dinghy and went ashore to check out the town. “We’ll just find out where the services are, and look around a bit, and then go back to the boat for a nutritious dinner of kale and tofu,” I said. Todd grunted something that I thought was agreement.

Well, we got about 10 yards from the main pier, when Todd’s keen vision spotted a sign at El Galleon Restaurant: Happy Hour: 16 oz. margaritas $5. “Time to practice my espanol!” he cried.
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