MARINA DEL REY TO LA CRUZ 2023

October 23-24, 2023

Leaving Marina del Rey

White Wind left Marina del Rey for San Diego just as the sun was beginning to set on Monday night. There was very little wind, so we motored south. It was lumpy at first and I had a hard time sleeping before my midnight watch. There was a big half moon and it was a beautiful, warm, dry night to be at sea.

I had the watch from midnight to 3:00. There seemed to be a lot of military activity. four helicopters flew very low over the boat and there was a strange, green light that was visible for ten miles that I never did identify. I went to bed shortly after 3:00 and slept well until 7:00. The seas were much calmer. At 7:00, the shore breeze came up and we were able to sail for about 90 minutes. I woke up when they turned off the engine and finally gave up on sleeping at 8:00.

Passing Point Loma

My next watch was from 9:00 to noon, but we all stayed up through the morning. There was a lot of military traffic and we had to detour around maneuvers with unmanned vessels. Hydrofoil landing craft kept screaming past us. By the time my watch was over, we had reached Point Loma. It took all of us to navigate through a field of lobster pots and into the main channel. We stopped at the fuel dock to top off the tanks and then headed to our slip at the public docks. Brad did a stellar job of backing into the slip in a stiff breeze and we tied up without incident. We spent the afternoon relaxing and then met Brad's family for dinner at Ketch Grill and Taps.

October 25-26, 2023

Looking Towards Tijuana

We lounged around the boat all day at the public docks and then left the slip at 18:00. Progress One was a couple of miles behind us. We motored out the channel and then raised the main near Point Loma. By that point, it was nearly dark. Brad was concerned about missing the Coronado Islands in the dark, so I took the watch until 21:00 and then he took the watch until midnight. By that point we were clear of the islands.

Dawn Breaking Over Cruiseport in Ensenada

I took the watch again at 3:00. It was very dark. We couldn't see Progress One's running lights, but they appeared on AIS. We slowed down a little bit and finally got a visual on Progress One. I took a nap from 6:00 to 7:00. By that time it was light and I got up to help Brad find our slip. There was a boat in our reserved space. We had barely tied up at the guest dock when a security guard appeared and arranged a new slip assignment for us. The slip next to us was empty, so we got them to move Progress One to that slip. We were only a few slips away from where Tom and I had left Dragon's Toy in July, so I was able to check on that boat, also.

Brad and Blair checked their boats into the marina and I took a shower. We met the marina employee at 10:30 to take us to the port captain's office and immigration. We waited around the port captain's office for a couple of hours until all the new arrivals to the marina had checked in with immigration and the port captain. Then we came back to the boat and lounged around for the rest of the afternoon until it was time to go out for tacos. We found a taqueria close to the marina and ate dinner there. Then we went in search of ice cream before returning to the boats.

October 27-28, 2023

We had originally planned to spend only one night in Ensenada but, after looking at the weather, we decided to stay for three nights and leave on Sunday morning. Unfortunately, this meant that we could not check into and out of Ensenada at the same time.

Cruiseport Marina

Friday was leisurely. JFK went out for a walk and picked up a few things at the grocery store. I decided to do laundry. There was only one working washing machine in the marina laundry room. It was occupied when I arrived. When the user did not appear after the cycle finished, I moved her clothes to the dryer and started my first load. There was another bag of laundry on the counter that was technically next, but with such a shortage of washers, no time could be wasted. It turned out that the owner of that bag never did appear. I met two other women and chatted with them for a few hours until we managed to get all of our laundry done by combining loads and sharing dryers. While waiting, I discovered that there would be a potluck that evening.

Back at the boat, JFK and I spent the rest of the afternoon baking brownies and making pasta salad and guacamole to take to the potluck. It turned out to be a very nice party. We met some of the new crop of cruisers that we would no doubt see later in the season.

Saturday morning began with another trip to the port captain to check out. This visit went much more quickly. Rather than wait for the marina agent to finish everyone's paperwork, we left after he was finished with ours and walked into town to find a taxi to take us to the only fuel station in town that sold diesel. We filled our jerry cans and then returned to the boat. After dropping off the fuel, we walked back into town and ate a lovely breakfast on First Street which was closed to vehicular traffic on the weekend.

White Wind at Cruiseport Marina

After breakfast, we walked further into town to visit the bank and the Soriana to stock up on meat and eggs for our trip. Then we walked back to the boat to relax for a couple of hours before meeting up with Blair and Mikey for appetizers at the boat and then delicious salads at El Rey Sol, a French Restaurant on First Street. The salads were lovely, but the margaritas were weak. Still, I stuffed myself on spinach to such an extent that I didn't even want ice cream. We headed back to the boats to get a good night's sleep before leaving in the morning.

October 29-31, 2023

Progress One departing from Cruiseport

We got up in time to help Progress One depart their slip about 7:00. Then we made a pot of coffee and
had a nice egg breakfast before leaving, ourselves, at 8:30. We could see Progress One on the horizon and we inched gradually closer all day. We exited Todos Santos Bay between Punta Banda and Isla Todos Santos and then headed south. There was a moderate swell, but very little wind so we proceeded under motor power. Jolly Rodgers left right behind us and we stayed between them and Progress One all day. I saw a whale just before we left Todos Santos Bay, but couldn't tell if it was a humpback or a gray.

Sunset South of Ensenada

Full Moon on the Water

All of us spent the day in the cockpit. It was chillier than usual for late October, but not unpleasant. JFK (Jean-Francois Kalka) made chicken piccata with veggies and rice for dinner. I took the 18:00 to 21:00 watch. There was a full moon and good visibility. It was very uneventful. We gradually passed Progress One and were passed by Jolly Rodgers.

I slept pretty well and then got up, again, for the 3:00 to 6:00 watch. Jolly Rodgers crossed in front of us and then headed in towards San Quintin to wait for the Ha-Ha fleet. I stayed up with JFK to watch the dawn, but went down for a nap when it became apparent that it was too cloudy to see the sun rise. We continued south towards Isla Cedros. It was a very uneventful day. We motored along and lounged in the cockpit.

I made pork adobada tacos garnished with guacamole, onions, tomatoes, and cabbage for dinner, drank a beer, and went down to doze until my midnight watch. On my watch, we were due to pass between the Bonito Islands and Isla Cedros and Brad wanted to be sure he or I were on watch for that passage. The moon was out and visibility was good. I could already see the islands off our starboard side when Brad took the helm at 3:00.

Sailing Outside Cedros

I slept until 8:30 on Halloween and then got up to eat breakfast in the cockpit. Shortly after breakfast, the wind picked up and JFK and I rolled out the jib and started sailing. Brad poked his head up the minute we cut the engine. We had a steady fifteen knot breeze with gusts up to 21 knots. Eventually, we even had to reef the headsail because we were heeling too far for Brad to brew coffee. I had already moved the wine to the low side to avoid catastrophe. We sailed for 2.5 hours before the wind dropped and Brad fired up the engine. Progress One had gone outside the Bonitos. They had good wind and were able to sail after about 4:00, but had taken a longer course. We talked to them on the radio but couldn't see them with our eyes or AIS.

Passing between Isla Cedros and Isla Natividad I saw a humpback whale breach close to the boat. We were visited by a pod of dolphins and a somersaulting sea lion. We had been dragging a line. We saw the dorado that hit our line and made off with Brad's lure, but we didn't catch him. We took the line in, after that. We followed the shoreline of the mainland past Turtle Bay and headed for Asuncion. We had heard that Enrique in Turtle Bay wouldn't bring the fuel boat out for less than 500 liters and his prices were outrageous, anyway. We elected to anchor in Asuncion and fuel there where we could buy fuel at gas station prices.

November 1, 2023 Dia de los Muertos

We let the hook down in Asuncion at 1:30. By that time, we could see Progress One's running lights in the distance. None of us went right to sleep. Brad and JFK kept me awake, talking until at least 3:00. I had planned to sleep in, but was awakened by voices at 8:00. I was a little bleary, but it was a lovely, sunny day.

Brad took JFK, Blair and me to shore around 10:00. The surf was a little difficult for landing. The dinghy got sideways as we were disembarking and ran into me, knocking me into the water. Fortunately, all my belongings were still in the boat in a dry bag. We had some trouble getting Brad turned around and headed out through the surf because the waves were very close together. He ended up having to row through the surf line before he could get the motor down and head back to the boat. He spent the day tightening the flange connecting the transmission to the prop shaft, which had developed a small leak.

Blair took us on a tour of Asuncion. We walked east as far as the motel and the gas station and then back past the hospital to the ball field. Baseball is big in Baja. Asuncion's team is the Navegantes. Their stadium wasn't as nice as the one in Turtle Bay, but was still impressive for such a small town. Being Dia de los Muertos, the town was busy setting up altars and getting ready for that evening's parade. We visited the church and the graveyard where locals were busy sprucing up gravesites. Then we headed for La Bufadora Inn to visit our friend, Shari Bondy.

Gravesite in Asuncion

Dia de los Muertos Altar

The Church in Asuncion

There are two paved roads in Asuncion and Blair led us along the wrong one, which landed us on the wrong side of the point from Shari's place. This shouldn't have been a big deal, since nothing was far apart in Asuncion and we could easily see where we needed to go. We threaded our way through neighborhoods in the direction of the other road. We picked up a pack of friendly escort dogs who took turns limping, possibly hoping this would result in dog biscuits, possibly because every dog in Mexico has been hit by a car and limps a little. Rounding a corner, our escort pack ran ahead as another group of dogs ran out of a yard to bark at us. JFK was bringing up the rear. I didn't think anything of the barking until I heard him shout, "No!" and turned to see that a large, shaggy, black and white dog had bitten him in the thigh.

JFK Being Treated in Asuncion

We decided to continue on to Shari's and get him cleaned up there. One of Shari's guests produced hydrogen peroxide and they cleaned JFK's now bloody wound. One of the dog's canines had left an impressive hole in JFK's inner thigh. It was determined that we should take him to the hospital. Unfortunately, this cut our visit with Shari short, as we had to meet up with a local named Larry who was going to help us fuel the boat. We said goodbye to Shari and walked back to the hospital where I stayed with JFK to translate and Blair went in search of Larry.

The nurse at the hospital took JFK's vitals and then ushered us into an examination room where a very young doctor cleaned and bandaged the wound. He explained that wounds such as that were best left open to heal themselves, rather than stitching them closed and running the risk of infection. He gave JFK a course of antibiotics and some anti-inflamatories, told him to clean the wound with soap and water twice a day, and sent us on our way, free of charge.

We headed back to the crossroads to buy water for JFK to take his pills and spotted Blair just as Larry arrived, towing his dinghy. We hopped in the back of his mini truck (his outboard motor was in the passenger seat) with fourteen fuel cans and headed to the gas station, detouring along the beach to avoid the parade route.

Fuel Run in Asuncion  Click on the link to see our transportation to the fuel station.

Larry had just enough fuel cans for us to purchase 114 liters for Progress One and 151 liters for White Wind. We then drove back to the scene of our disastrous landing to launch Larry's dinghy. Fortunately, Larry's dinghy was larger and had a fiberglass bottom. Laden with full fuel jugs, it was much more stable than Brad's 8' inflatable floor dinghy. Larry took all of us and Progress One's fuel in the first trip. On his return, he had to make three approaches before successfully landing the empty boat. He made a second trip to ferry White Wind's fuel to us and then hung around while we siphoned all the fuel into our tanks before heading back to shore to prepare to fuel a big motor yacht. Diesel at the gas station cost 24.89 pesos per liter and Enrique in Turtle Bay charged 42. Larry charged a 20 peso per 5 gallon jug service fee, which still left us well ahead. It always rubbed us the wrong way to patronize Enrique, whom Larry was convinced was associated with the mafia.

The Lights of Asuncion

Progress One had caught a yellow tail tuna the day before and we had them over for dinner. We had sashimi for an appetizer and then JFK sauteed the rest of the fish with lemon and garlic and served it with rice and a cucumber salad that I had made. We spent a very pleasant evening at anchor in Asuncion, just a little sorry that we were missing the Dia de los Muertos celebration, but not sorry enough to risk another dinghy landing.

November 2 - 5, 2023

Progress One  in Asuncion

We left Asuncion at 9:00 on Thursday and made for Bahia Santa Maria. We didn't intend to stop there but Progress One, with only two crew, planned to stop there to rest. We got a nice land breeze for a couple of hours in the morning, which grandually shifted to a nice beam reach. We sailed until the breeze quit at sunset. We heard that Progress One had caught a dorado and we caught a yellow tail of our own. We had sashimi for an appetizer and then JFK made a pork stir fry for dinner to break up the tuna a little bit.

Dinner!

Brad took the 18:00 watch. It was so warm out that we all stayed up with him for most of it. I napped for an hour before taking the helm at 21:00, but was awakened when the autopilot quit and the boat turned around. Suddenly, the boat was slamming and sleeping in the forward cabin was impossible. Brad got the boat back on track and I dozed for another fifteen minutes until it was time to get up. The moon rose about 22:00. Not having slept much the night before, I was ready for bed when my watch ended at midnight.

Sunrise, November 3rd

I was back up and ready to take the helm before the sun rose. We got a little land breeze from behind and I tried to sail but there wasn't enough wind to go more than 3.8 knots, so I settled for motor sailing until even that stopped working and I rolled up the jib and hauled in the main. No one was in any hurry to relieve me at 9:00 and I was yawning when JFK finally came up after finishing his breakfast. Our watch schedule decayed from 9:00 to 18:00 when we were all mostly awake. I went below, ate some breakfast, boiled some more eggs, and slept until 12:30 when I got up to write.

Passing Bahia Santa Maria

We motored on all day and passed Bahia Santa Maria about sunset. It felt strange to be out of radio contact with Mike and Blair on Progress One, although we were still in touch via InReach. There were no more sarcastic midnight chats. I made bacon slaw and JFK made tuna medallions for dinner. I had the midnight watch. There wasn't much wind and we were headed dead downwind, a point of sail that White Wind doesn't handle well. We motored along. It was lumpy and I didn't get much sleep before my watch, but slept well afterwards.

Brad & JFK Watching Dolphins

Dolphins visited us Saturday morning.  We spent a lot of time fishing that day. We were determined to catch a dorado of our own. We hooked a real beauty, but it escaped. Then we lost our lure. We didn't have any more 150 pound test line, so decided to braid a line using 50 pound test. Something big took our last lure and the braided line almost immediately. Then, we had to give up fishing. A booby took up residence on our bow pulpit in the evening.

Makeshift Fishing Line

Spectacular Sunset

I took the first watch from 18:00 to 21:00. The sunset was spectacular.  We could see rain in the distance.  The moon rose very late and we expected it to be dark, but we could see the glow of the lights in La Paz all the way over on the Pacific side. We could see a small patch of light at Todos Santos and the glow of Cabo San Lucas in the distance. JFK had the watch from midnight to 3:00. About 2:00, it got windier and the booby decided that he would rather roost in the cockpit than on the bow. He relocated to the solar arch where we hang the dock lines and fenders. JFK tugged on his tailfeathers and the booby only squawked and glared at him, but did not leave. He was still there when I came on at 3:00 and kept me company all through my watch until it got light and he flew away.

Booby Roosting in the Cockpit

By this point, we were nearing Cabo Falso and expected 15 to 20 knot winds. Instead, the winds dropped from 15 to six or seven. The seas tossed us around a bit, but it was easier than expected. I stayed up with Brad to watch the dawn and then went below about 7:00 to take a nap.

Dawn Over the Deck of White Wind

November 5, 2023

Sailing Past Cabo San Lucas

I got up about 8:30, just as we were rounding Cabo Falso. What little wind we had dissipated once we got around the corner. The cold water of the Pacific gave way to the 82 degree water of the Gulf of California. We motored past Cabo and along the coast to San Jose del Cabo, where we stopped at the fuel dock. We had to wait quite a while for the fuel pump because a large power boat from Newport Beach was fueling ahead of us. Eventually, we filled our tanks and repaired to our nearby slip on C dock.

Dr. Mike, Rene, Brad, & JFK

Our first order of business was showers. We hung around the boat until the security guard appeared with a card key for us and then we showered. Progress One's third crew, Dr. Mike, had been waiting for them in town and decided to spend Sunday night with us aboard White Wind. We took an Uber into town so JFK could check into his hotel and drop off his luggage and then we proceeded to the giant flag in the plaza where we had agreed to meet Dr. Mike. He was right where we expected to find him and we set off to find a restaurant where Brad and I could get margaritas and some food.

The restaurant where Brad wanted to go was closed on Sundays, so we found an open, rooftop restaurant overlooking the plaza called the Garage. We shared shrimp nachos and JFK got boneless chicken wings. The margaritas were good. Brad and I shared a second one. Then we started failing fast. We said goodbye to JFK and took another Uber back to the marina. Not having specified that we were actually on the far side of the marina (quite a distance by car,) we had to walk all the way around the marina to our dock. It was a pleasant walk, but we were so tired that Brad and I had both passed out by 20:30, not very exciting company for Dr. Mike.

Marina Puerto Los Cabos at Dusk

November 6, 2023

We had originally planned to leave San Jose del Cabo as soon as Progress One arrived and topped up their tanks. However, Progress One managed to get a slip and we all decided that a day of rest in San Jose del Cabo was a good idea. We had to move to a different slip, but managed to acquire a spot for a second night. We had breakfast across the street at Cafe El Puerto and then relaxed and did boat chores. I practiced the guitar and wrote. In the evening, Blair, the Mikes, and I went for a stroll around La Playita, the neighborhood surrounding our side of the marina. Then we all went for dinner at George's, a nice restaurant in the La Marina Hotel. I was disappointed to miss the tacos chinos at El Marinero Borracho, but they were closed on Mondays.

November 7 - 9, 2023

Brad Sailing out of San Jose del Cabo

We were in no hurry to leave on Tuesday morning. We had another nice breakfast at Cafe El Puerto and finally left the slip at 11:30. Dr. Mike had abandoned White Wind to crew on Progress One, since Blair and Mike had been double handing and were tired. Something was amiss with White Wind's septic system and we couldn't pump our holding tank overboard. We didn't know if it was a blocked vent line or a clogged hose, but the pump seemed to be trying to work. It wasn't yet at a critical stage, so we were able to continue. We stopped at the fuel dock to pump out, but the nozzle that would have been inserted into our black water tank was missing. No one knew where it had gone, so we had to do without pumping out. We set off about noon.

Progress One Underway

It took us an hour or so to catch up to Progress One, which had slipped past us while we were attempting to pump out. We tried sailing for a short while, but the wind soon quit. We made a beeline for La Cruz, keeping Progress One in sight, although we slowly drew away from them.

I took the first watch from 16:00 to 20:00. There was a pretty sunset. The sky was overcast and threatening to rain and it was very warm. I sat out all night in shorts and a tank top. We had so many leftovers from the meals that JFK had repaired that no one needed to cook dinner. We grazed as we got hungry.

Cloudy Sunset

Brad was on from 20:00 to midnight. There was no wind and the seas were hitting us on the beam, causing us to roll enough that I couldn't really sleep. I came back on at midnight. A crescent moon rose sometime after 2:00, obscured by clouds, at first. I thought I saw a boat approaching, but it was just a planet rising over the horizon. The moon often shocked and confused us when it suddenly rose. It always took us a minute to realize the identity of that big, orange thing that had appeared out of nowhere.

Still Morning

I slept hard from 4:00 to 8:00 and woke refreshed. It was very still and Progress One had disappeared from sight. We could still hear them on the radio, however, and we checked in once a watch or so. We motored on from 8:00 to noon before changing watches and continuing on through the afternoon. There wasn't much wind and it kept changing direction as we passed through small cells of rain. Eventually, we couldn't even hear Progress One on the radio and it seemed a bit lonely.

Finally Sailing

I took the 16:00 to 20:00 watch. We continued grazing on leftovers. Brad was on from 20:00 to midnight. I got an hour's nap before taking the watch at midnight. The moon rose about 3:00 and the wind started picking up about 3:30 as we passed the Marias Islands. When Brad came on deck at 3:45, we decided to sail. At times we had 14 knots of wind and were scooting along at 7 to 8 knots. At times, we were overpowered. When it got light, we could see Progress One as a tiny, white triangle on the horizon. We checked in with them on the radio and found they were also sailing, although they had slightly less wind.

Soon we sighted Punta de Mita. It seemed close, but it took us most of the 8:00 to noon watch to finally round it. The wind died once we got deeper into the bay and we finally motored into our slip in the La Cruz marina at 12:30. Brad impressed the dock neighbors by backing smoothly into our space. it was good to be back. Within a couple of hours, I had packed my belonging, cleaned my cabin, done the dishes, and walked home. I returned for my luggage after a well-deserved nap.