Cruise of the Confidence 30-Dec-2013 to 04-Jan-2014

Entrance into 0900 left 504 slip and went for fuel. Topped up the tanks -first time since San 

Diego. Put 200 liters or 50 US gallons or 40 something imperial gallons. Fuel consumption seems to be pretty good for the number of miles we have travelled.

Paid the fuel and moorage. 3% surcharge on the fuel if you use a credit card so we paid cash.

Very warm already. No wind to speak of. Sunny and a few scattered clouds.

1125: took a little detour into the bay at Punta de Lorenzo. This looked like a beautiful anchorage.

Decision made today to spend a lot less time at marinas. Not only the costs but we just are not marina people. And I want to be able to jump off of the boat and go swimming. Now we could not help that we were sick for most of this stay but from now on we will go into marinas to provision , do laundry and get fuel and water and then find more of these little gems to play around in.

1308: we have passed through Canal De San Lorenzo. We passed the ferry coming from Mazatlan.

David is testing the water maker. He added a 5 micron inline filter to filter the salt water to a higher degree before it gets to the water maker membrane. So now we are testing it out. This should extend the life of the membrane now that we are using it more and the salt content of the ocean has gone up. But I have to say - we make better water than the water that comes out of the taps in Victoria, Vancouver or Sault Ste. Marie. Which is a good thing as it keeps us hydrated - I especially like it with the juice of a lime. And when I am being very ambitious I make lemonada natural:

1 cup of water and half a cup of sugar.

Boil till dissolved.

2/3 cup of fresh lime juice

2/3 cup of sugar water

2 2/3 cup water

Great for drinking as is or for making margarita's.

I try to have a jug in the fridge at all times. The small key limes are very plentiful and cheap and juicy. If you can find the yellow ones, they are even juicier.

I am on fishing gear alert.

1337: abeam Punta Coyote.

1604: abeam Punta Gorda

Spanish lesson: in case you have not figured it out on your own

Punta: point

Bahia:  bay

Isla:      Island

Cabo:   Point

San or Santa: saint

1820: abeam Punta Arena de la Ventana

2005: anchor down in Bahia de Los Muortes

Left over Paella was heating up in the oven. Griradelli  brownies for desert. Silly me did not think of the stove being on gimble so one side of the brownies are more like a cookie and the other side is more like a cake. Looks a bit ridiculous - I think I did a better job baking in an Easy Bake Oven. Oh well - they taste good. Always something to add to the comic relief! But I don't care if you are on a boat or just looking for a treat - these are deadly. Sometimes it just isn't worth the hassle of making something from scratch when the mix turns out results like this. Add water, oil and an egg, mix, pour in the pan and bake! Ghirardelli Cholo ate Supreme Brownie Mix. I also bought the turtle brownie mix - will have to wait for a special occasion to make those. Make sure you have tea made or a big glass of milk poured. You will need it.

Monday, 30-Dec-2013

Donna and Dal are driving down to finally share our turkey dinner with us. It is quite windy in the bay so putting the dinghy in the water was a bit of a challenge but everything went fine. We enjoyed a lovely, though belated Christmas dinner. I have to say that it was not up to my normal culinary

 standards we but all in all not too bad. While the turkey was cooking I also cooked some back beans in my pressure cooker so I could add them to the soup. After dinner I took all of the bones and roasted them for a couple of hours. Then I removed any left over meat, covered the bones with water and simmered for a couple of hours. Everything was strained and then I had a good base for the soup.

So after Donna and Dal left I added the turkey, couple of cups of beans, couple of cups of canned corn, two tins of diced canned tomatoes and some cumin and chili spice. Now we have dinner for tomorrow and lunches for our crossing.

Happy New Year to All and all the Best in 2014

Last year we  add a toast to our new life ahead admitting that it was pretty exciting to know that we had no idea where we would be spending this New Year's. Well BAHIA DE LOS MUORTES was a pretty good place. I made corn bread and we had our soup. No prime rib at this dinner table. We played some crib and then early to bed. In the morning we went to shore and met some of the other people who were anchored in the bay. We walked to the other resort and had a wonderful breakfast. Then came back to the dinghy and stopped to watch some fisherman cleaning some sharks. After we got back to the boat I went for a swim and then had a nice shower on deck. Then the dinghy was hauled on deck, anchor raised and off we went.

1450: left the bay on a course of 120 with the winds from the NW at 8 knots with just the genoa out. Maintaining 4.4 knots and heading for Mazatlan.

1700: altered our course to 070. Wind is a little bit more to the beam and we are cruising at a comfortable 5.8 knots. Otto is doing his job and the captain had laid down for some shut Eye.

The seas are around 4 feet and coming at us on the port side but we are still maintaining a pretty balanced ride without too much rolling.  If this keeps up all the way across then we will be happy sailors. Like we're not"

Sun is setting. Pretty spectacular day to start out the New Year!.

David goes down to catch some zzz's. It is a long night. The wind was gusting over 25 and it was quite rolly but we maintained a good speed, no need to take in any sail. At the beginning of my watch I was finding myself a little anxious. But as I got used to the feel of the boat I felt my confidence in myself and the boat increasing. All I can think about is what an appropriate name for the boat!

I had to keep babysitting Otto to keep us on course - he kept wanting to point us into the wind. But we managed. Only took two waves into the cockpit. But at least the water is warm.

David took over and I tried to go to sleep with little success. These long days are difficult when you can not get any sleep.  I watched the sun rise and the start of a beautiful day. Winds slowed down and so did we to about 4 knots but then increased during the day. 

1300: only 90 miles to go or 18 hours. Not a boat in site. No land in site.

1400: made a nice stir fry - spicy and sweet orange pork. Then I went to bed. The seas had calmed down so I was actually able to get caught up. After listening to David and his encounter with the Boobie bird. They are the dumbest bird and when they get tired they will try to find something to land on. Today it was our boat and you do not really want them on your boat as they like to poo incessantly! So I could hear David trying to scare him off but you almost have to touch them before they would move. So that was his entertainment for the afternoon and mine was listening to him. But I did sleep.

1900: got up just in time to see the orange slice of a moon setting. Then we started the motor to give the batteries a charge and to turn on the water maker. It is one of the things you have to be diligent about on the boat. Even though we have these nice new batteries and the solar panels are also doing a nice job of keeping them almost fully charged you have to be aware of the systems on the boat that are using up your power. We always turn off our starting batteries so they stay fully charged.  The sailing instruments and the nav lights and the refrigerator do drain the battery. So we will run for a couple of hours.

2130: I turned off the motor and turned off the water maker. Batteries are fully charged. It is a very pleasant night with a steady wind from the north east at about 10 knots. We are cruising with the genoa at 4 - 4.5knots. I can make out the glow of Mazatlan on the horizon. I did spot one fisherman tonight. The stars are bright but it is pretty dark out there. I can barely make out the horizon. Must turn this iPad off so I can get my night vision back. You can tell that we have passed that imaginary line into the more tropical weather. You can smell it in the air and you can feel the difference in the air temperature. 2144 and I would guess that it is still in the 20's.

Time for a music interlude. Listening to David Gray. God how I love nights like this. My man is sleeping like a baby. Confidence is sailing on her own. The wind is steady and warm. The stars are bright. And I am touching heaven!

 02-Jan-2014

Winds have died down. Tried to go as long as possible before turning the motor on so that I would not wake the captain but as soon as I started furlong in the genoa he woke up anyway. Sail in, motor on and I am back to bed. David motored for the rest of the night.

0630: up to a beautiful sunrise. David to catch a couple of hours before we get into Mazatlan. Very warm and very humid. Just about a dead calm out here.

0630 whale sighting. 

0651: one lonely dolphin playing in the bow wke. Tried to get. Picture but he was took quick. And as I am typing this he jumped right out of the water in front of me with the sun rising as a backdrop. Checking beggar. Guess that picture stays in my brain.  And now I see the spray from the blow hole of another whale. Half a dozen fisherman out here so there must be fish. Pretty active morning.

0930: Mazatlan 23*10.217 N 106*25.406W

David phoes ahead to get us a spot in the marina. Apparently there is a lot of theft in the anchorages.

Entrance into the estuary

We have arrived at Mazatlan!