May 29 – 31, 2018
Tuesday morning, I took BART to the San Francisco airport
and flew to Los Angeles. At LAX, I met
my fellow crew member, Brad, and we then flew to San Jose del Cabo. We arrived in San Jose del Cabo at 3:00 and
were met by my friend, Carlos, who drove us back to Cabo San Lucas for a late
lunch. Brad and I got our first
margarita and some tasty food.
After lunch, Carlos took us to the Aguila bus station and we
caught the 5:45 express bus to La Paz.
Brad and I arrived at the bus station in La Paz, caught a cab to the
marina, and arrived at Marina La Paz about 8:00.
We weren’t hungry after our big lunch, so we got settled on our friend Blair’s
boat, Progress One, and went to bed
early.
Progress One in Marina La Paz |
Wednesday, our only mission was to provision the boat. We originally thought we were going to leave
on Thursday morning, but later decided we would rather hang out in La Paz where
there was good internet than spend another day in San Jose del Cabo. Our friend, Greg from Scout, arranged a ride to the grocery store for us with one of his
crew members and we filled a cart with supplies. Blair hadn’t had his boat very long and had
never had a cook aboard, so we needed to purchase just about everything. We thought we had really gone overboard until
we saw that Scout had filled two carts.
It didn’t take us long to stow our groceries. Progress
One, a Tayana 37’, had ample storage space.
By early afternoon we had our chores done for the day and were able to
walk into town to Tacos Fish for some lunch.
I spent the rest of the afternoon lounging and practicing the guitar
until 19:00 when we went to Scout for
drinks. I brought a cheese platter and
Greg made gin and tonics. We sat in his
spacious cockpit and chatted with his crew until nearly 21:00. None of us were hungry enough to warrant
going out to eat again, so we had a snack and retired early again.
Progress One with Sun Shades up |
Scout had a busy
day on Thursday, getting ready to leave with us, but we were already prepared
to go, so had a relaxing day. At 9:30,
we went to Olympia’s for a lovely breakfast with Greg, Max, and John from Scout.
We spent a very lazy afternoon and I got some guitar practicing in
before the sun sank low enough for us to take the sun shades down and stow them
in anticipation of an early departure the following day.
After dark, we rendezvoused with the crew of Scou,t once again, and strolled up to the
Salad Club for dinner. It seemed like a
good plan to ingest as many vegetables as possible before setting off. By the time we had a leisurely dinner and
walked back it was bedtime for our team.
June 1, 2018
La Paz in the Rear View Mirror |
Blair, who is usually up by 5:00, slept late, so we didn’t
get up until 6:30. We still had plenty
of time to shower and be ready to check out when the office opened at
8:00. Blair got our departure paperwork
there instead of waiting until we got to San Jose del Cabo. We cast off and left the dock about 8:30.
Brad took the first watch and steered us down the La Paz Channel and out into
the Lorenzo Channel. There was very
little wind and it got hot early. We put
up the sun shade.
Blair Looking Through the Cerralvo Channel |
I took the helm at noon.
We were doing three-hour watches.
We continued through the Lorenzo channel and headed for the Ceralvo
Channel. We continued motoring because
the wind stayed light. About 14:00, we
saw a large school of dolphins and I even saw one baby. They were all around us and a few came to
play in our bow wave.
Blair took the helm at 15:00 and I took a nap on the cabin
top in the shade of the main until we gybed and I lost my shade. At that point, I had run out of excuses and
went below to catch up on my writing.
At 18:30, I started preparing arrachera fajitas and salad
for dinner. Blair barbecued the meat in
the cockpit and did a fine job. We ate
in the cockpit as the sun went down and then sat outside to enjoy the sunset
and the cool evening air.
I took the watch at 21:00 and everyone had gone below by 22:00. It was very dark until a large orange moon
startled me by appearing on the horizon.
There was a container ship just motoring out of sight when I first came
on but I didn’t see another boat all night.
June 2, 2018
Blair took the watch at midnight and then he and Brad tried
to sail for an hour or so around the 3:00 AM watch change. Every time the motor or sails changed, I woke
up. I slept most of my down time, but
not for long stretches. I was taking over again at 6:00, so got up in time to
dress and make coffee beforehand. It was
still warm enough to wear shorts and, though I put on a long-sleeved T-shirt, I
didn’t need it.
Sunrise off San Jose del Cabo |
The sun finally rose above the clouds at 7:00 and soon we
were all in the cockpit, enjoying the cool air.
We were on the final approach into San Jose del Cabo. I dozed a bit and then it was time to ready
the boat for arrival. We pulled into the
dock just after 10:00 AM.
The crew of Scout and
Josh from La Gitana were on their way
to breakfast, so we quickly tied up the boat and joined them at a little
breakfast spot across the street from the marina. We had a nice breakfast, but we were all a
little bleary and eager to get back to the boat for naps. Blair checked us in and then I trekked across
the hot, dirt yard to the showers. The
showers were nice, but the women’s side wasn’t air conditioned (the men’s was.)
The Marina at San Jose del Cabo |
We exerted as little energy as possible for the rest of the
day. I slept, played with my phone, and
practiced the guitar. When it cooled off
in the late afternoon, I was able to write.
We went to Scout for cocktails
and air conditioning at 19:00.
Breakfast Across from the Marina |
We reached a consensus that we would go to George’s
Restaurant, just over the hill from the marina, for dinner.
George’s was a patio restaurant attached to a nice hotel. We were the only customers, but they had a
couple singing and playing guitar to entertain us. It was a little pricey, but the food was good
enough. I had some nice chicken
enchiladas in green sauce and a weak, overpriced margarita. We were in Cabo. Unfortunately, I missed my friend, Carlos,
whom I had been awaiting all day. He
came during the twenty-minute window when I forgot to tell him where we
were. That was disappointing. He had left by the time I thought to update
our position.
The margarita did its trick and I went straight to sleep at 22:30
when we returned to the boat.
June 3-4, 2018
We were all up early on Sunday morning. We took our last showers, returned the keys,
and left the dock at 7:35 AM. Seas were
flat and winds light. The tide was going
out and we made over six knots all the way to Cabo Falso. The seas were larger going around the cape,
but nothing unmanageable. We were around
the cape and heading north by mid-morning.
It was a lovely day and we all said that, no matter what might come,
this bash was already better than our previous experiences fighting to get
around Cabo Falso.
Leaving San Jose del Cabo |
I had the 15:00 to 18:00 watch. Things got lumpier as the afternoon
progressed, but I still managed to cook fried plantains, pork chops, and salad
for dinner, after I got off watch, without too much trouble. Scout disappeared
over the horizon by late afternoon, but La
Gitana hung a couple of miles behind us all day and night.
Cabo San Lucas |
After dinner, the seas got sloppier and we slowed below five
knots. There still wasn’t much wind, but
it began to get uncomfortable. It also
got cold. The water temperature had been
80 degrees at Cabo but had dropped to 55.
I tried to sleep from 8:00 to midnight, but it was too rough to sleep
well. My next watch was from midnight to
3:00 AM. I managed it in just warm
leggings and a hoodie, but I had to put on shoes and socks and huddle behind
the dodger. The moon came up about 1:00
AM. I couldn’t see La Gitana’s running lights once the moon came up, but it was
comforting to see her on the radar, three miles off our starboard quarter.
I made cocoa and sat with Blair for a bit after he took the
helm at 3:00 AM. Progress One was a nice boat and very functional in most ways but
the stern light was mounted on the arch supporting the solar panels and
reflected off the white solar panel backs, flooding the cockpit with white
light and destroying our night vision.
Fog rolled in during Blair’s watch. He saw a cruise ship approaching on the
AIS. Though it was no doubt lit up like
a Christmas tree, it passed unseen within half a mile of our boat. Despite the rolling, I slept well until about
8:00 when Blair invaded my cabin to use the single sideband radio mounted
there. I stayed in my bunk until the net
was over and then got up to get ready for my 9:00 AM watch. It was too rough to think about eating or
drinking coffee. I had spilled cocoa all
over the galley when I prepared some the night before.
The question of the day was whether to stop at Bahia Santa
Maria or press onward. The weather was
predicted to deteriorate on Wednesday afternoon. If we stopped in Bahia Santa Maria, we
wouldn’t have time to get across to Turtle Bay or Ascension before the winds
piped up. We could be stuck there until
Saturday. We consulted the other boats
and friends on shore who had access to the internet to try to make a
decision. La Gitana had a dog on board that really needed to get to the
beach. They were leaning towards
entering Magdalena Bay, spending the night, and continuing on in the
morning. Scout was making for Turtle Bay, already being thirty miles ahead
of us and drawing a mile further ahead each hour.
It was sloppy through the morning but flattened out as the
afternoon progressed. The fog didn’t
lift until after I got off watch at noon.
I slept from noon to three and then got up to write. We discussed the weather again and decided
that, while we probably couldn’t make Turtle Bay before it got unpleasant, we
could probably make it to Asuncion.
Asuncion was fifty miles closer.
They also had the advantage of having better fuel prices. Enrique at the fuel dock in Turtle Bay was
reported to be charging $10/gallon for diesel.
While Asuncion had no fuel dock, there was a panguero named Juan who
would make a fuel run to the Pemex station for $40 or so. If you needed much fuel, this quickly became
a bargain. It was disappointing to pass
Bahia Santa Maria by, but it would have been frustrating to be trapped there
all week. We hoped we could continue at
our current speed and outrun the winds to Asuncion or, better yet, that the
predicted high winds wouldn’t materialize.
I started dinner early so as to have it ready by the time I
came on watch at 18:00. Dinner was
chicken adobo with Spanish rice and salad.
I even made a lime vinaigrette.
We ate dinner in the cockpit as my watch began. The fog had come back in so there wasn’t any
sunset to speak of. The overcast was
higher than the night before, however, so it wasn’t as damp and felt a lot
warmer. It was lonely out there. We didn’t see a soul. We had watched La Gitana sail into the mouth of Mag Bay as we passed about
dinnertime.
We continued on past Bahia Santa Maria and then we were
committed. Seas stayed calm. I tried to go to bed at 21:00 when my watch
ended but wasn’t really tired enough to sleep.
June 5-6, 2018
I got up at 2:30 AM and boiled water so that I could have a
cup of cocoa for my watch. Seas were
still calm and the air was still pretty dry.
There was no one around. My watch
was completely uneventful.
Overcast Skies North of Mag Bay |
I went back to bed at 6:00 and managed to sleep until 11:00
AM. The sun still wasn’t out when I got
up. I boiled some eggs and used the hot
water to make myself coffee. Blair was
sleeping on the settee in front of the food lockers, so my breakfast options
were limited. I ate the last remaining
banana and dressed in time to take my watch at noon.
There was a fast ship showing on the AIS when I took over
but he was far away and passed unseen.
We motored on without change until 14:00 when fifteen knots of usable
wind blew up and we rolled out the headsails for the first time, which gave us
an extra knot. For about fifteen
minutes, we actually killed the motor and tried to sail, but the wind instantly
died and we had to turn the motor back on.
By the time Blair came on watch at 15:00, the wind direction had changed
and we had to roll up the headsails again.
I went below to write just after 15:00. I wasn’t tired enough to nap and it was too
early to start cooking. We were making
good time and were almost half way across to Asuncion. It looked like we would arrive early on
Wednesday morning before the wind really started to blow.
Dinner was hamburger patties with mashed sweet potatoes,
broccoli and salad. We tried to barbecue
the hamburgers but it was too cold and windy.
I had to bring them inside and cook them in a frying pan. I took a short nap after dinner before
reporting for my 21:00 watch.
It was a little lumpy when I came up and that had slowed us
down to about three knots. It got
windier and windier until by 22:00 we were making less than two knots. The autopilot was having a hard time steering
and no adjustment of the sail made any difference. At 22:30, Blair came up and I turned the
autopilot off and started to drive. That
helped a little, but we were still moving too slowly. By 23:00 we had decided to shift course and
head for Abreojos, which was only about twenty-five miles distant. The minute we changed course, the wind came
from off the beam and we began to charge forward at four-and-a-half knots as
our motion eased. The only trouble was
that we didn’t want to arrive at Abreojos in the dark. We eased off the engine until we judged we
wouldn’t make landfall until early morning.
On that heading, the autopilot had no trouble steering the boat and I
was able to return to the shelter of the dodger for the last hour of my watch.
Sunrise Over Abreojos |
It was still a little lumpy when I went below at midnight,
but the waves died down after an hour or so and I was able to sleep until about
5:30. When I came back up at 6:00, the
sun was rising and Abreojos was in sight.
We dropped the sail and motored slowly past the shoal and into the
anchorage, dropping the anchor in twenty feet of water just east of the church
on the beach. Pangas were speeding out
to fish. Abreojos was a bustling little
town, but there was no pier so any landing would have to be through the surf. The local pangueros had a tractor to launch and haul their pangas. It was cold and the water was only 58
degrees. Going to shore didn’t sound
very appealing. Once we got the boat
settled, I went back to sleep for a couple of hours.
Tractor Hauling Pangas in Abreojos |
It was nice to be stopped.
I got up and made bacon and French toast for breakfast. We had not had any cell service when we first
arrived, but it kicked on about 10:00 AM.
We spent the day reading and communicating with folks on shore. Josh on La
Gitana arrived about mid-afternoon and it was a relief to see that he was
alright. He immediately put his dinghy
in the water and took his dog, Sachi, to shore.
He must really have loved that dog to wade through waist high freezing
water to take her to the beach.
The Church in Abreojos |
It stayed windy all afternoon and evening, so we stayed
hunkered down in the boat. I made
chicken in green mole over rice for dinner and played a little guitar. There wasn’t much to do so we read and went
to bed by 22:00. I woke up at midnight
and noticed that the winds had calmed down.
La Gitana left for Asuncion
shortly thereafter.
June 7-8, 2018
Abreojos |
We were all awake early, having gone to sleep early the night
before. We made coffee and lounged
around the boat. The winds stayed
light. We hatched a plan to leave that
night at midnight to try to make Asuncion before the wind came up the next
afternoon.
There wasn’t much to do that day. We read and Blair puttered around the
boat. I practiced the guitar in the
morning. Mostly, we kept an eye on the
wind to see what time it would pipe up again.
Fortunately, the day was warm and we got a chance to get thoroughly dry
and warm. The wind didn’t start up again
until 15:15. That, combined with the message that Josh had made it to Asuncion
by 10:30 in the morning gave us confidence that we could cover the fifty plus
miles to the next anchorage before it got unpleasantly windy again. Our shoreside weather watchers agreed. We made ready to go.
I started dinner at 17:30 so we could eat and have time for
a nap before our departure. We had
salmon, broccoli, and potatoes for dinner.
I sautéed the salmon in butter and garlic. It was a big meal and we all got
stuffed. We tried to sleep after dinner,
but we were all antsy and didn’t rest well.
We had intended to leave at midnight but ended up leaving at 22:30
because the wind had died down and we were eager to get started.
The wind had died down, but the seas were still rough and it
was a bouncy ride. We couldn’t go as
fast as we would have liked. About the
time that Brad came on watch at 2:00 AM, the wind really started to blow. We had a steady twenty knots on the bow and
gusts to twenty-five. We slowed to about
3.5 knots and started to worry that we wouldn’t make Asuncion before the
afternoon wind came up.
Dawn on the Way to Asuncion |
An Offending Scupper |
I came on watch at 5:00 AM.
It was still very windy. I had
not slept because it was too rough and I was bouncing all over my berth. Fortunately, I had the quarter berth so I
didn’t need to worry about falling out of bed, but I still emerged feeling
rather bruised. It was very rough,
windy, and wet. Progress One had one very annoying feature. There were scuppers that directed any water
that landed on the deck into the cockpit, across the forward seats, and out the
other side. Since we tended to sit on
the forward seats to shelter behind the dodger, this was most upsetting. We had to stack cushions up high enough to
keep our rears somewhat dry.
The wind dropped ten knots at dawn and by 7:30 an offshore
had filled in enough to allow us to fly the jib for the first time since we
started north. We charged along through
the gradually shrinking seas and made up all the time we had lost earlier in
the night. It seemed like I had just
gone to sleep when Blair woke me at 10:30 AM to help with dropping the main and
anchoring in Bahia Asuncion. We anchored
in twenty-five feet of water off the beach where the pangas launch, next to La Gitana.
Sachi barked at us to let Josh know that something was approaching
the boat. She kept a good anchor watch.
Asuncion |
The Cove Where Juan Launched His Boat |
It was quite windy and we were starting to see a southerly
swell from hurricane Aleta in southern Mexico.
The swell was predicted to become quite large, so we wasted no time in
calling Shari and Juan to come and get us so that we could fill our fuel jugs
before it became too rough to do so. It
was already too rough to launch a panga from the panga beach, but Juan launched
his little boat from a cove on the other side of the point and came around to
get us. We loaded four people, Sachi,
and about ten fuel jugs into Juan’s boat and zoomed around the point through
the building swell to the sheltered cove on the other side. Despite the cold wind, we had all worn shorts
and sandals so we could hop out into the water and help drag the boat ashore.
La Bufadora Inn |
Shari picked us up in her truck and drove us the short
distance to the La Bufadora Inn where she generously allowed us to take showers
in two of the rooms that hadn’t been cleaned yet. We showered and sat in the sun on her lovely,
sheltered patio, enjoying the view until all of us were clean and
presentable. Then Shari drove us into
town where we bought her lunch at Mary’s Loncheria. The food was mediocre, but cheap and
filling. I drank a beer and split a
second one with Shari in hopes that it would help me to sleep later. After lunch, Brad and I bought a few
groceries from the store across the street while the others went to the Pemex
station to fill the fuel jugs.
Mary's Loncheria in Asuncion |
The swell was continuing to build, so we wasted no time in
driving back to the beach and unloading the fuel. With all the heavy fuel jugs, we needed to
make two trips to transfer everything to the boats. Josh and Blair went first
with the jugs we had borrowed from Juan so that they could transfer the fuel to
La Gitana while Juan came back to get
us. Juan’s little boat looked very low
in the water as they headed through the swell and out of sight around the
point. Shari took Brad and me back to
the inn to wait.
The La Bufadora Inn had six rooms and catered to fishermen
and the odd tourist coming to see the whales in Laguna San Ignacio. It was a quirky place built from a variety of
materials over the years. The rooms were
comfortable and reminded me of a guest room at your grandmother’s house. Brad and I basked in the sun until we saw
Juan coming back around the point and then we headed back down to the
beach. The tide had come in which made it
easier to launch the boat. We loaded the
remainder of the fuel jugs and our groceries into the boat and then waded into
the freezing, 58-degree water until the boat was free of the land and we could
hop aboard.
Brad on the Patio at La Bufadora Inn |
We had a very wet and somewhat terrifying ride back to Progress One. I was on the windward side and took the
brunt of the spray, soaking my fleece and shorts. Huge waves towered over the rear of the
boat, threatening to swamp us, until Juan gunned the motor and we shot
forward out of their paths. It seemed to
take forever to gain the point. It was
somewhat less windy on the other side, but the swells were larger. Fortunately, they were far apart and we were
able to get the fuel jugs and ourselves back onto the boat with only a few
minor cuts and scrapes, although the boarding ladder came unlatched and might
have sent Brad into the drink if Blair hadn’t grabbed his backpack. I was completely drenched and nearly
hypothermic, so I made a beeline for my cabin to put on dry clothes and then
made a cup of hot coffee.
None of us had slept the previous night, so we all slept
through the afternoon. Everyone was
concerned about the building southerly swell because Bahia Asuncion, where we
were anchored, was open to the south. As
near as we could tell from the weather predictions, the coming night would be
no worse than the one we had just endured, so we decided to leave for Turtle
Bay that night once the wind dropped.
Once again, we were eager to be underway and we pulled up
the anchor about 22:30 and motored out into the night. The moon had not yet risen and it was pitch
dark. I knew that there were rocks and
islands off to the right, but I couldn’t see them in person or on the chart
plotter because the satellite overlay didn’t offer enough contrast from the
dark blue of the water when in night mode.
I had to trust to the course drawn in bright purple on the chart plotter
to navigate past these hazards which I found disconcerting. Eventually, we were able to raise the main
and start the autopilot. I was then able
to leave the helm to Blair and crawl back into the warmth of my bunk.
June 9-10, 2018
The Moon at Dawn |
The night continued calm.
I got up and dressed at 3:00, thinking that we had started the watches
at midnight when, in fact, we had started them at 1:00. I wasn’t about to take all my gear off again
and couldn’t crawl back into the quarter berth with it on, so I napped on
Brad’s bunk for an hour.
The seas were calm but we had about fifteen knots of wind on
the nose. I had to tack back and forth to keep the sail full. My fleece was still too wet to wear, so I was
glad that it wasn’t too cold or wet out.
I had to make do with two long underwear shirts and my foulie
jacket. The sun began to rise by 5:00 AM
and cleared the mountains by about 6:00.
Its warmth was very welcome. We
made very good time, averaging over five knots all night.
Blair took the helm at 7:00 and I went below. I had slept so well the night before that I
had no desire to go back to sleep. I
made myself a cup of coffee, wrapped myself in my sleeping bag, and sat down to
write. Before I had even had a chance to
bring my blog current with the past day’s activities, Blair was calling me on
deck to prepare for arrival in Turtle Bay.
We had made it from Asuncion in ten hours, arriving in Turtle Bay at
8:30 AM.
Arriving in Turtle Bay |
We had nothing to do and time to spare, so relaxed until
about 15:30 when we went ashore to get some dinner. We walked up the hill past the Pemex station
to Restaurant Tortugas. They appeared to
be closed when we arrived but the owner opened the door for us. She looked a little alarmed when we told her
there were five more people on the way, but we were undemanding and happy to
receive whatever she could give us and so she eventually relaxed. When everyone had arrived, we had the crews
of Scout and Progress One plus Victor from Dark
Star and Josh and his dog Sachi from La
Gitana.
The Former Fuel Pier in Turtle Bay |
Alicia, the owner, was low on provisions but she had beef
and chicken and managed to feed all of us a basic dinner. There was good internet and we were in no
hurry, so we spent a leisurely afternoon there, leaving well before dark. A hurricane had demolished the floating fuel dock where we used to purchase fuel in Turtle Bay. The proprietor, Enrique, now delivered fuel directly to the boats. The former fuel pier had locked the gate when we
returned and we couldn’t get to our dinghy.
We had to wait while the fellow came back to open the gate for us. He was very nice about it. The ride back to the boat was only slightly
wet. Brad and I had had a couple of
beers and it was all we could do to stay awake until a reasonable bed time.
Sachi Visiting Progress One |
We all slept peacefully and awoke early. Sunday was a repeat of Saturday. We lounged all day until 15:30 when we all
went to Scout for mezcal margaritas provided
by Josh from La Gitana. After our drinks, we went ashore for
dinner again. This time, we tied the
dinghy up to the ladder on the landward side of the gate. Restaurant Tortuga was closed so we had to go
to Maroco, the only place in town that was open. They were a little bit apprehensive about
letting Sachi in, but she was so well behaved that soon they liked her as well
as everyone else did. Sachi had
definitely become the mascot of our entire gaggle of boats.
The wind had kicked up and the ride back to the boat was a
bit wet, but I had worn nylon shorts and my foulie jacket, so didn’t get
anything wet that I would need to keep me warm on the next passage. Once again, we were sleepy after dinner and
struggled to stay awake. I worked on my
blog. We planned to get up very early
the next morning to start the (hopefully) last leg of our passage, so didn’t
have to stay up very late.
June 11-13, 2018
We got up at 3:30 AM on Monday morning, hoping to leave
while the winds were light. It was
howling outside. We had all gone to bed
very early, so weren’t sleepy enough to go back to bed. We made coffee and sat around, talking and
playing with our phones, until 7:00 when we decided it wasn’t going to get any
better so we might as well go. We hauled
up the anchor and I took the first watch as we motored out of the bay and
headed for the Keller Channel. La Gitana preceded us and Scout and Dark Star were close behind.
Leaving Turtle Bay |
The wind abated somewhat after we left the bay, but seas
were lumpy all day and it was tough to stay on course. Scout soon
passed us and La Gitana elected to
pass inside of Isla Cedros but Dark Star stayed
with us as we crossed the Keller Channel and continued up the west side of
Cedros. I came back on watch at 16:00
when we were about half way up Isla Cedros.
My watch was uneventful. We
stayed in radio contact with Victor on Dark
Star. Scout was already north of
Cedros.
Dark Star off Isla Cedros |
When my watch ended at 19:00, I cooked up some hamburger and
made fusilli with meat sauce for dinner.
It was fairly rough while I was cooking and Blair joked that we should
start a reality show called Extreme
Galley. It felt good to get some hot
food in us. I tried to sleep after
dinner, but it was too rough. I had
napped for maybe an hour during the afternoon but was dragging when I came back
on at 1:00 AM. I had to drink a diet
coke to stay awake during that cold and lonely watch. A freighter passed us going south and we
could see Dark Star as a small blip
on the radar off our port quarter, about three miles back.
I went to sleep after I got off watch, having been awake for
25 hours, but only managed to sleep until about 8:30 because it continued to be
rough. I wanted to sleep more, but it
was hopeless. I got up and boiled some
eggs. We were starting to consider which
foods we needed to eat before customs in San Diego made us throw them away.
I had a pleasant watch from 10:00 to 13:00. The sun came out and it was almost warm. Dark
Star was still close by but was now off our starboard bow. We were now north of Isla Cedros, crossing
Bahia Vizcaino. Despite predictions of
lessening wind, it remained very rough.
I cooked up some hamburger patties for lunch and then tried to sleep. I was exhausted and the continued rough seas
were starting to get to me. I needed to
rest.
Sunset Crossing Bahia Vizcaino |
I got up at 18:00 and made arrachera tostadas and mango and
jicama salad for dinner before I went back on watch at 19:00. I still didn’t have much of an appetite, so
just ate a couple of bowls of salad for dinner.
It was surprisingly warm during my watch.
I had to take my jacket off.
Still, I was glad when my watch ended at 22:00 and I could crawl into my
bunk for an actual night of sleep.
Brad woke me a few minutes before my 4:00 watch and I had to
scramble to get ready in time. I seldom
overslept but had been quite exhausted.
The seas had abated somewhat and I was sleeping quite peacefully. My watch was uneventful. There wasn’t a soul around. Victor on Dark
Star had headed for Ensenada as fast as he could go, being a single
hander. We continued to slog straight
for San Diego.
The clouds were resting
on the water, obscuring the land as we passed San Quintin. We could see the glow of lights and got cell
service, which was welcome. Days were
running together and the grey skies and lumpy water seemed our whole
world. The passage seemed endless. Blair got up and made we cocoa at 6:30 and we
watched a large pod of dolphins leaping all around the boat.
When my watch ended at 7:00, I shed my foul weather gear and
pulled out my computer to write while I finished my cocoa. It was the first time in three days that it
was calm enough to write without risking sea sickness. After writing, I took advantage of the calm
weather and made bacon and eggs. Then I
lounged until my next watch at 13:00.
The sun was out in the afternoon and it was very pleasant as
we made our way up the coast. After my
watch, I made chicken thighs and potatoes for dinner, which we were able to eat
sitting at the table without risk of our food flying across the salon. We motored slowly north, gradually ticking
off landmarks on the chart.
We were passing Ensenada when I came on watch at 22:00. After a week of barely seeing a soul we
didn’t know, there was suddenly a lot of traffic. The U.S. navy was conducting an exercise off
southern California and we could hear them hailing each other on Channel
16. Warship 49 seemed to be coordinating
operations. There was a sailboat inshore
of us, paralleling our course, whose AIS signal came and went all night. The water temperature was ten degrees warmer
than it had been further south, which resulted in warmer air temperatures as
well. It was a pleasant, if very dark,
night.
June 14, 2018
Arriving in San Diego in the Fog |
I had gone to sleep after my watch at 4:00, only to be
summoned about 7:30 because we were arriving in San Diego. Warships were chattering on the radio and we
could see them all around us. A Canadian
ship passed us on the way down the channel.
There were two boats ahead of us at the customs dock. They had already called the customs officers
who were on their way. I finished
packing while I awaited our turn to clear in.
Canadian Warship |
Blair had to call customs and give them our passport
information over the phone so that they could do background checks before the
officers processed us. We waited for the
other boats, but the process went pretty quickly once they got to us. Apparently, there is some sticker that you
need to have to enter the USA. It costs
$28.24. It is best if you buy it online
because, if you don’t have it, you will have to come up with exactly $28.24 or
make a trip downtown to the customs office.
Paying the $28.24 to the customs officials will not get you a sticker,
but it will get you into the country. If
you want an actual sticker, you will have to pay another $28.24 to buy one
online. This is only necessary if you
plan to exit and enter the country more than once per year. Stickers are only good until the end of the
calendar year, so Blair opted to wait until 2019 before purchasing a sticker. That this system was completely ridiculous
was lost on the customs officers whose only response was, “It’s the
government.”
The Crew of Progress One at the Customs Dock in San Diego |
As soon as we were cleared, I said goodbye to Brad and Blair
and we carried my bags up the ramp and down to the next dock where Scout had spent the night. Two of Scout’s
crew had left as soon as they arrived in San Diego and I had agreed to help
sail the boat to Marina del Rey.
My Cabin on Scout |
Scout, a Jeanneau
52.2 was a far cry from Progress
One. I was assigned my own cabin
with en suite head. We left almost
immediately because the skipper, Greg, hoped to get to Avalon before dark. Having been denied a much needed shower on
shore, I showered aboard Scout as
soon as we cleared the San Diego Channel.
It was grey and gloomy when we left.
Warships were looming out of the mist all around us. Some of them looked very stealthy. The radio chatter was continuous. They seemed to have lost a target and
civilian boats kept calling in its location as vessels encountered it adrift. It was probably not as lost as it
appeared.
Greg at the Helm of Scout Leaving San Diego |
The sky cleared somewhat as the day progressed and the wind,
which was forecast to be ten to twelve knots in the area, rose to twenty with
gusts to twenty-five. We put up the
sails and cut the motor, sailing at least half of the way to the island. It was still very hazy out and we couldn’t
see Catalina until we were about ten miles away. Even then, it was indistinct.
It was nearly dark when we dropped the sails and hailed a
harbor patrol boat to get a mooring assignment.
Being Thursday night, we were able to get a mooring very close to the
shore in Avalon. The moorings were very
close together and Scout was very
large but, between Greg’s skill and the bow thrusters, we managed to squeeze
between two other boats and pick up the mooring without incident. Moorings at Catalina are well designed. A float with a long wand is attaching to the
bow hawser, making it easy to pluck out of the water. Following that line will eventually bring you
to the stern hawser, although the arrangement of Scout’s forward fairlead and cleat took up so much of the line that
we were never able to get to the stern loop.
We tied the line off on the stern cleat where we could and relaxed.
It was nearly 21:00 and we didn’t think we’d be able to find
an open restaurant if we went ashore, so we stayed on the boat and I made penne
with meat sauce for dinner. We were all
hungry after a long day. By the time
dinner was prepared and consumed and the galley put to rights, it was nearly
23:00 and we were all ready to hit the hay.
June 15, 2018
Avalon Harbor |
We rose early and called the shore boat to take us to shore
for breakfast at the Pancake Cottage.
The waiter very kindly offered me the senior breakfast which, with a
large pancake, two pieces of bacon, and a couple of eggs, was still more than I
could eat. The restaurant was on the
waterfront and we enjoyed the view as we absorbed coffee and calories.
After breakfast, Greg went back to the boat
to secure a slip reservation in Marina del Rey while Wally and I strolled
around Avalon and out to the casino. We
couldn’t go inside but enjoyed the impressive murals in the entry.
Mural Outside the Casino |
Avalon |
We pulled out of the harbor before 10:00 and headed for the mainland. The wind just was not cooperating, so we had to motor all the way. It was Father’s Day weekend and there was a steady stream of boats heading to the island from Long Beach and Marina del Rey. Seeing so much traffic seemed very foreign after a thousand miles of empty water.
We crossed over to Point Firman and then entered Santa
Monica Bay. We passed a large pod of dolphins on the way. We were still a couple of
hours away from the marina, but it seemed like we were home as we passed
familiar landmarks. Finally, we slipped
into the southern entrance to the breakwater and headed for the fuel dock. We dropped the main at the entrance to A
Basin and then circled in front of the fuel dock until space opened. After filling the tanks (The attendant was
surprised to hear a sailboat ask for a hundred gallons of fuel.) we motored
slowly down B Basin looking for our slip assignment of 1717.
Scout at Burton Chace Park |
The slip was the second one in from the seawall and barely
wide enough to accommodate Scout. We had to squeeze the fenders between the
boat and dock. It was a masterful
parking job on Greg’s part.
Unfortunately, when Greg reported to the office to check in, the
Assistant Dock Master refused to honor the reservation made by the Dock Master
and we were forced to move across the main channel to the public docks at
Burton Chace Park. We finally parked the
boat at 17:30.