Turtle Bay to Bahia Magdalena 27*38.5 N 115*54.0 W
1620: anchor up and genoa out. Seas are rippled. Skies are clear. Winds are 5 knots from the NW. I am out on the bowsprit looking for lobster traps. A pod of dolphins show up to escort us out of the bay.
1544: sunset and the captain is down for a nap. We are motor sailing even though the winds have picked up and we could be sailing but we decided to make some water.
The monitor is back in operation with small adjustment - the repair is not perfect so David had to put an extra weight on the hinge with a zinc on a piece of rope to keep it in place. Seems to be doing the trick.
1900: reflection of Venus is so bright on the water giving me quite good visibility. This is a good thing as the moon does not rise til after midnight.
Turned off the water maker - made 3 gallons to add to the tanks. Put in a call to Pelagia and everything is good with them. There is a boat quite a ways off my stern - it is amazing that you can usually hear these guys befor you can see them.
1951: shooting star. Maintaining 4.5 knots
2013: I can just make out Orion's belt on the horizon. I was supposed to wake up David to take the next watch but I think I will let him sleep a little longer. Seas are a little rolling but relatively calm and speed is staying constant
2100: captain up to take the watch till midnight.
Monday 25-Nov-2013
0300: brought in the Genoa. It is blowing greater than 20 knots and is starting to make it difficult to maintain my course. David is up to give me a hand to bring genoa all the way in. Started the motor and altered course putting the wind on our nose.
0414: I could just make out the light on Isla San Roque. Shortly after that I could pick up the light on Punta Ascencion.
I am trying to peel an apple in the dark and trying to make one continuous peel. Managed to do it in two. This made me think of Gramps - who lived with us for most of my childhood years and started every morning with a Mackintosh apple and an orange. He would sit there and peel them with this tiny knife. I am sure he would have been very excited to know what I was doing at this moment in my life. He loved the outdoors - lost his legs due to blood clots when I was 3 - and always took pleasure knowing that I loved the outdoors too. When I was studying and working in Forestry I would come down and share my stories for the day and play crib. We would play for $20.00 a match. If I had a date the match was 3 games. If I didn't have a date then a match was 7 games. Mom always wondered why I had so much money. Well she was his banker and only brought home 20 dollar bills on pension day. And if I won I would get a twenty. And if I lost he would ask me if I had 10 bucks. So I would run upstairs and get one - I think he just wanted to be sure that I was saving my money. Then he would take the ten and give me a twenty. So even when I lost I won!
0432: the wind has eased off quite a bit. Fisherman just passed me on my port side
0537: abeam Isla San Roque
0704: sun is up and the lobster fisherman are out setting their traps
0711: we were getting ready to alter course into Asuncion. I need to sleep. The light that is indicated on the chart is not working however the towers in the town can be seen for miles
0745: after a slightly tedious night running down from Turtle Bay, we were looking forward to the anchorage at Asuncion. Working in against a 10-15 easterly wind and a west setting current, we were within a mile of the anchorage when the engine began to falter and threaten to quit altogether. We made the decision to turn and run into Bahia Santa Maria 230 miles to the south east. The winds were good for sailing and David could look into the problem when things settled down a bit.
1045: abeam Punta San Hipolito. Making 5-6 knows with a reefed main and genoa. This wind held till mid afternoon.
1400: winds were dying off so David decided to play with the engine. Bled the lines a little which seemed to do the trick along with changing the filters. I managed to keep us on course at less than 2 knots while he was doing all of this. We discussed going on to Cabo or pulling into the anchorage in Bahai de Llanis. I suggested that we stop as it would be a long run to Cabo and we needed to get some sleep. I had strained a muscle in my neck, took an Aleve and went to bed. Wind picked up and David was able to make good time and course on the main.
1741: Sunset. I was up in time to take on lobster trap watch again. We really hated to stop as the winds were good but I think the right decision was made.
2030: challenge to come into the anchorage with all of those traps and dark to boot. We came in with the main up and the motor in idle at about 4.5 knots. As soon as I found 30 feet of water I turned the boat into the wind and David dropped the main then went forward and dropped the anchor. She grabbed really well - thank goodness. Now I could uncross my fingers. Once we got everything squared away I suggested to the captain that a scotch was in order. That was a couple of stressful hours though it all worked out under the guidance and direction of Captain Fantastic.
26-Nov-2013 Tuesday Asuncion
It was not the best anchorage as there was quite a roll from the ocean swells all night. When we finally got up and looked outside we realized that Saint Anthony was looking out for us last night. Just to port of us were about 30 lobster traps - like the first couple were only 50 feet away at the 25 foot depth and we set the anchor at 30!
Captain made coffee and I got everything organized for breakfast. We wanted to get underway early so I turned off the burners once everything was cooked and we would reheat and eat once we were out of the bay.
0730 anchor up and main raised and we sailed out of the bay. Put out the genoa with 20 knots of wind from the north east and we were up to hull speed in no time. As the Captain says - it doesn't 't get any better than this!
So I heated up my specialty - breakfast skillet - made another pot of coffee and enjoyed the morning.
Breakfast Skillet: always different but the concept is the same. I cut up some potatoes and put them in the frying pan with some water. Once they are cooked I drain off the water and add a little olive oil and cut up bacon (ham,sausage,whatever) then I throw in some onion (green or yellow or white or red). Next come the eggs which get scrambled in amongst the other stuff. Add some cheese - whatever you have and top with salsa, everything in one pan. This is David's favorite breakfast!
1000: had to roll in the genoa to about 2/3 as the winds were picking up some more.Making excellent time. As time goes on I can feel my confidence increasing as we are in small craft warning winds with the winds 25-30 knots but we are on a close hauled course and I am totally in control. The seas are not too bad we are only heeled over about 15 degrees. David is right - it doesn't 't get any better than this.
And now here come the dolphins to guide us along. You can see them quite clearly under the surface - they look like torpedoes coming at the boat!
Hint: Something to consider when you are stocking and organizing the boat. Be aware of the predominant winds. We seem to spend most of our time on a starboard tack so any cupboards that have food or dishes in them that you think you will want to access during the day should be removed ahead of time. Otherwise you may open up a cupboard and things could come flying out. Remember the bran flakes?
When we are on a port tack cooking is much easier as the fridge and the stove are on the starboard side of the boat. It is not, however, the best tack for trying to use the head!
1123: spectacular color of water - azure blue! Hat # 2 just went overboard. Too bad as I liked that hat. On the Double and Far Away left the anchorage about one hour ahead of us. We were able to pass Far Away when she slowed down to put a reef in. We had reefed our main before we left the anchorage so we were set.
1200: winds have eased so we shook out the main. Maintaining 3.5 to 4 knots
1230: we rolled in the genoa and turned on the motor to make water. I went below to make some fresh salsa. The avocados were a little to ripe so no guac today!
Electrical Update: David discovered that the Battery Select Switch when in the ALL position was not charging all four batteries equally. So now we are not sure if there is a problem with the wiring on the switch to the batteries or if the problem is with the batteries. This is a little beyond his expertise so we will get it looked at in La Paz. In the meantime the two batteries are keeping us going as long as we conserve, top them up with solar when we can and run the motor.
The problem with the motor has been rectified. We are not sure if the guys in the boatyard did not tighten the clamps enough or they just needed to be readjusted after installation and running for a while. David tightened everything, bled the air out of the lines and it is running well. Just in case he did replace the fuel filters at 2727 hours on the motor.
1408: stopped making water (3 gal in 2 hours). Sails up and maintain 4.5 knots on a beam reach.
Going down below to make something creative for dinner. How about Chicken Marsala on pasta?
1527: up to 6 knots
1739: sunset and I took over till 1900 hours. I had to bring in the genoa a bit and then had a difficult time resetting the Otto so I opted to hand steer for a bit which is always good practice. Captain took us into the next day.
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