We left at 9:15 am from San Diego this morning Jan 07th for Punta Colnett, 118 miles from San Diego. We had a great sail then we turned on the motor to put a reef in. We set Auto (autopilot) up to hold the heading into the wind. Once we were into the wind the engine decided it did not want to run, yeah you got it, more kelp in the intake hose. We put the reef in and Russ cleaned the intake hose. We are now headed back down wind. The sea state is about 5 foot and the wind is about 18-20 knots. We were averaging about seven knots until 4:00 am when the wind died and the fog arrived. Our average for the entire leg went down to about 5.4 knots. Russ motored using the radar to dodge fishing vessels in the fog. We arrived on Thursday Jan 08th at 3:00pm and the boat put to bed by 4:00pm.

Colnett has high bluffs with a gorge where the wind likes to funnel down. According to Charlies Charts this is the preferred place to anchor. It is a little rolly but manageable. Russ put a bridle on the anchor and it helped a lot. A bridle is a snatch block on a line one third back from bow, rolling hitch on the chain led to wench aft, chain let out.

January 9th finds us anchored in San Quintin. This leg was about 39 miles. We motored all the way. It is one of the best anchorages yet. Follow Charlies Charts to enter. We anchored in about 18 feet of water. If you tuck up in, you have a calmer swell. We did not have much swell running the entire time we stayed. It was a gentle rock from side to side.

It was warm enough for Russ to take another Sun Shower. We stayed here for three nights. Russ completed a lot of projects to include putting a fishing pole together so I could fish. Pelicans were diving, birds flying; seals were cruising, dolphins fishing and grebes chuckling. What more could you ask for.

After reading the MexWeather book by Pat Rains (a must have), we learned how the Northers in the Sea of Cortez form (by the way it is the same for the Santa Anas). We stayed here for three days because the weather fax showed that a Norther in the Sea was ready to let loose and since wind likes to funnel down through gorges and the next anchorage is not the best and the one after that is a good anchorage with gorges we elected to stay put. While individuals in the sea reported on the net up to 40 knots. Thank goodness for weather fax. The engine burns .6 gallons per hour at 2100 rpm doing 5.5 knots

We left San Quintin at 8:30 am this morning Jan 12th. It was a 4 knot sail for an hour then the wind died and the motor started. 10:25 am looks like the sea breeze is setting in maybe a sail. We are about 3 hours out from Punta Baja. We decided that it would be nice to have fish for dinner so out goes the lure. Our lure consists of a bungee cord attached to 100 feet of parachute cord attached to 24 inches of stainless steel leader then the lure. When the bungee cord is stretched to the max you know you have a fish on. Now you wait until it is tired enough that it surfaces and water skis. With in an hour of the lure being out, we had a nice 10 pound tuna. Jodee is a happy girl. The easiest and most humane way to kill a fish is to grab it by the tail and put the head in a bucket and poor a small amount of cheap alcohol in the gills. Yes, it is a pink job to pull the fish in and poor the alcohol and a blue job to fillet the fish. We pulled into Punta Baja about 3:00 pm with the Ice Machine full of ice. Grilled tuna that tasted like steak and Henry's rice topped off the fare. About an hour after anchor down another sail boat came in named "Cotton" and anchored. It was a Newport 27 all rode no dodger, pretty hearty.

Bahia San Carlos is our next destination for today Jan 13th. Had to navigate through thick kelp that was around Isa San Jeronimo. After the morning land breeze was gone we had to motor sail the rest of the way. We arrived at about 2:30 pm. When putting the anchor down it did not want to set when backed down. We kept the engine in idle reverse hoping it would set. After dragging it across a few rock it finally set. We had an enjoyable after noon and the best tuna fish sandwich. They have what is called "Cape Effect" here. Cape Effect simply means that you will have a little higher wind around a headland or point than off shore. The wind is about 10-15 knots. The sunset was about 6:00 pm and the wind died until about 7:30 pm when we had no less than 30 knots blowing from shore. We sat in the cockpit with rope lights for our lighting and had once again tuna that tasted like steak and left over Henry's rice. We decided to watch a movie. The wind finally let up around 11:00 pm. No, we did not drag anchor.

January 14th we got up at about 9:30am. There was a nice sailing breeze, to bad we had to wait. You see the next destination is Isla Cedros which is 80 nautical miles south. The departure needs to be timed for a daylight land fall. 80 NM at 5 knots equals 16 hours. We calculate everything on 5 knots. So we set the departure at about 5:00 - 6:00 pm to arrive at the north anchorage at about 9:30 am.

Now everything was going as planned until the chain decided it did not want to move. We were set hard. I guess my concern of dragging was for not. Russ let more chain out and we turned the boat first to hard right, the chain still would not come up, then we did the same turning to the left, still did not come up so Russ decided to drift back until the chain was straight out and put the engine in reverse to try and drag the chain. Well the boat jerked hard a few times and then Russ started to bring the chain up. This did work. The only thing we can think of is that the chain was laid between two rocks and with the winds and current turning the boat had wrapped around the rocks. Now with the anchor is on deck and we are on our way.

During Russ's four hour watch we hit kelp twice and had to clear it by putting the engine in neutral wait until the boat slows down then put her in reverse to clear the prop. We were lucky this worked both times. There was 2 knots or less of wind on the stern. My watch started at 12:00am. There we were motoring along minding our own business when all of a sudden the engine comes to a sputtering stop. I kind of panicked and made sure Russ was awake (as if I needed to). With in a minute or less of the engine stopping we heard a pod of what we think to be about 4 whales off our port side close enough that you could hear the bellows in their body see the bioluminescence when they blew. They went from port side to bow starboard. While Russ was changing the fuel filter the dolphins came right after the whales had passed as if saying you can proceed now. Was this divine guidance? I think so. Who would know what would have happened if the engine did not stop. We were definitely on a collision course with these great large animals. We arrive at Isla Cedros north shore at about 9:30 am and checked out all the possible anchoring spots and there are numerous colonies of sea lions and elephant seals (I would say sea cow that is how big they are). The sounds they make are amazing and all so different. There are quite a few youngsters and they love to play in the surf. These creatures seam to be very curious, at least the young ones. A few have been out to the boat and delivered a quick little show for us and then looked as if to say "momma look at me". What a pleasure and a privilege it is to see and hear these creatures.
We'll have to see what this evening brings. For tomorrow we are moving on to a new anchorage where the larger village is. Isla Cedros is port of entry so we will make sure all is in order before moving on.

Up at 5:30pm and under way at 6:30 to go check in. We have a 2 hour motor boat ride to get there. Sunrise this morning was magnificent, add a cup of your favorite tea and what more could one ask for. The temp yesterday was high of 75 and low was 63. Mark you promised me that it was going to get warmer. You were right.

The dingy was lowered and Suzuki was put on for the first time in 19 years and ashore we went to check in. The beach is gravel and steep making the dingy wheels useless. The landing was perfect as if we had been doing it forever. However, the fist beach launch was almost perfect except for the three gallons or so of water that came over the bow and proceeded to get our bag of fresh pastries wet. Thank goodness they tied knots in each little bag. None were wasted.

We asked for directions to the port captain and we are off. The city is very clean. At about one third of the way to the port captain's office this truck stopped and said hello and introduced himself as "Issac" the Harbor Master. He asked if he help us. He gave us a ride to his office where we checked in and out of Mexico all at the same time. Because we had all of our other paper work completed this only cost us 203 pesos or about 18 dollars. The exchange rate we're told is 14 to one except on cedros it is 12 to one. The port captain "Issiac" drove us around to where we get fuel, Planta de Agua (water plant), bakery, groceries and back to the dingy. We went out to the boat to get the jerry jugs for fuel. Issiac met us and took us to the pemex fuel station. Russ took the fuel back to the boat and selected a Transmarine Hat for Issiac. Now it was time to get water from the Planta de Auga. They opened at 2:00 pm so meanwhile we picked up a few groceries. Now back to the boat to deliver the water and pick up the trash and to the internet café to send this off. I tried to skype but the problem was that I hear and nobody could hear me. Yes, Mom that was me calling on your cell phone yesterday (Friday). I will try in a few days when we have internet access.

Saturday, January 17, 2009 we were up at 6:00 am and on our way by 7:00 am. On the southern tip of Isla Cedros there is a salt plant. This is their major commodity along with fishing industry. The salt comes from mainland lagoons on barges and is taken Isla Cedros to finish drying. Mainland does not have the depth for the large hold ships to get in and Isla Cedros does.

One hour into the morning departure the coats came off and two hours into the crossing sweat shirts came off. We were approached by a ponga holding up two lobsters. We said si with a hand signal and they came along side. We traded three Transmarine Hats for four medium sized lobsters. Thank you, Transmarine (Bill). Dinner will be Lobster of course, chicken, mashed potatoes and carrots. So far it's a great sail with about 12 knots of the port quarter. Our destination is Bahia Thurole just around the point from Turtle Bay.

January 18th we were up at 6:00am. He turned the radio on to received weather from the nets and was unable to tune them in so he called to any vessel in Turtle Bay to see if they have any updates on weather. The motor yacht (66') "Out of Here" responded and gave us some weather. The anchor was up and we were on our way at 7:00 am for Bahia Asuncion. This leg was pretty much a motorboat ride. We arrived at about 3:30 pm and put the boat to bed. Ernie called on the VHF radio to ask if we needed anything. So we will hook up with him tomorrow.

"Out of Here", "Sea Quest" and a 46' bayliner were here to greet us. The three of them are traveling together. We were invited to go to dinner with them, but we declined because Russ was not feeling well. We had dinner onboard and watched a movie. The sea life was prolific and very happy.

Today January 19th we went ashore for fuel. We learned that "FUEL" does not necessary mean diesel. No diesel available here. Were told it is available down at Punta Abreojos. I hope so. We tried the internet today with the same problem. I can hear you and you can not hear me. We were walking the town looking for diesel when we met Ernie. We are to meet with him when he gets off work at 3:00pm. He needs a dingy repair so Russ will evaluate the problem. It appears the valve leaks due to it being it was not a zodiac valve. While Russ fixed the problem with 5200 glue, Ernie and I went for purified water. While getting the water Ernie found out that a guy in town has 60 liters of diesel that he might be willing to sell. Ernie and I went to his house and for 400 pesos for 15 gallons = 2.13 per gallon. So we did end up with diesel. Ernie took us to his house to meet his wife and niece. We purchased a lavender & pink bolsa for Miss Libby. We said our goodbyes and headed for the boat.

Up at 6:00 out at 6:30 January 20th for our new destination of Punta Abreojos this is 7-8 hours run. We saw our first flying fish and a baby turtle today. We arrive at 5:00pm and set the hook just before sunset with winds blowing at 20 knots. The sun went down and the winds died also. A good night sleep was had after watching "Death Becomes Her" on the DVD.

We decided that we would motor by the city to see if going a shore was a tenable idea. The surf was so BIG the waves were braking with white foam. We may be some what crazy but NOT that crazy. So we headed out (Jan 21) for our next destination which is Magdalena Bay.

This trip was an overnighter and we encountered light rain and I learned what rain on the radar looks like. This was the first time at night that we only wore sweats. One does not realize how much the moon is your friend until it is not visible and you can not tell the difference from the horizon and the water. As Russ would say "The moon was my friend until it sank out of sight".

We arrived at the mouth of Mag Bay at about 2:30 on January 22nd being greeted by whales, there were so many we had to navigate through them. This was a magnificent experience. They were all around us in every direction. We now know how close the whales were that night off of cedros when the engine quit. They were no more than 25 yards off our side measuring by the sounds of their vibrating tonsils. Friget birds were attacking a seagull then a seal. I guess the wanted free dinner. I have never seen these birds land.

We are anchored in Man-O-War Cove at this moment. We will be here for a few days. The port captain Gary has been very pleasurable. They have a generator for the electricity and it runs until 11:00 pm. The only light on after that is the light house. We asked Gary about an ATM and he said that banditos stole the ATM in San Carlos and now you have to go to a bank in Constitution which is about 60 kilometers from San Carlos. I guess we will wait until La Paz.

January 23rd the Port Captain Gary delivered diesel for us. It was 9.55 pesos per liter. A lot higher than what we paid in Bahia Asuncion. Neither one of us has any energy today. It looks like dealing with diesel and scanning and printing documentation papers will be enough for now. We have been in Mag Bay for 6 days and we still have not gone ashore because it was either to windy or we just did not feel like it. We got caught up on some reading and cross stitching. Russ spent two and a half days working on the wind generator to find out that it actually draws power from the battery. So a call to Ferris is in order.

Back twenty years ago we took a photo of three little five year olds that helped us look for seashells. We printed the photo of the kids and took it ashore to hopefully find them to give them the photo. It turns out that the kids all live in San Carlos, a forty-five minute panga ride north, however the mom and dad of the little girl still lives in Puerto Magdalena. We found someone who know them and took us to meet mom and dad. They were thrilled to have a photo of their child that was taken twenty years ago. I think we made a friend that day. We up anchor and headed to the mouth of Mag Bay to maybe get another shot at the whales. Sure enough we were not disappointed. One whale broached, twice right next to us. They were closer to the boat this time. If you want this experience you can always fly to Cabo San Lucas and they will bus you up to Mag Bay (about 6 hours) and you go out in a ponga for about an hour or so and you also can have lunch. That is how we meet Bill and Karen from Berkley, CA. We anchored at Punta Belcher for the night.

January 29 finds us up at 5:00 am and out at 6:00 am. We watched the whales all the way out. This leg is about 30 hours or 160 miles at 5 knots. We arrives Cabo San Lucas at 10:00 am January 30th.

It was good to see Apolima (Phyllis & Gary) anchored. We meet them in San Diego. The bay is bustling with action every where similar to Acapulco. So much that you have to look even if you did not want to. This is the first time we have had free wifi internet service at anchor. So we skyped everyone.

We anchored in about 25 feet. The charts appear to be incorrect. The depth along the west shore line are up to 100 foot deep from the entrance so it appears that they have dredged in order to fill land in for more hotels and beach. There are no moorings like stated in Charlie Charts.

We went to walmart today with Phyllis & Gary. We were told it was five blocks up the boulevard. So we walked for a while then caught a bus that cost about .07 cents. This was a super walmart. We purchased enough that we split the cost of a taxi back to the marina. At Marina Cabo San Lucas they have a dingy dock that cost 30 pesos or $3.00 us. 30 pesos is about $2.30. Things have changed in twenty years. There is also a Home Depot, Costco and Ace Hardware here. At the marina there is a mall and a movie theatre. The movie cost 30 pesos per person on Sunday so we went and saw "Benjamin Buttons" in English with Spanish subtitles. We ate popcorn, hot dogs and soda. Only in Mexico can you get in to see a current movie for about $2.30 cents.

The street venders try to sell you there goods. I ended up purchasing a silver fish bracelet for about $6.00 and they started out at $25.00. After purchasing it I found out that I could have gotten it for $5.00. Nobody would go below $5.00. This is really a pretty good vacation spot although somewhat expensive.


February 2nd we left Cabo San Lucas at about 7:00 am after Russ fixed the anchor windless deck plug. We are headed for the Los Frailes first of three anchorages on the way to La Paz. At about 10:00 am the winds same up and by 11:00 am the winds and sea state were untenable. We turned around and went back around Punta Gorda where it was calmer and dropped the hook for the night. No sooner we had the hook set and the winds changed and so did the seas our little anchorage (that nobody goes to) was now untenable, good thing that untenable is now normal for us in anchorages. Sunset came and the winds died down to about 10 knots and the seas calmed down. We fished although we did not catch anything it was enjoyable to watch the jumping rays and mating whales.

Feb 3rd and we are under way at 3:45 am everything was great until about 7:00 am. The winds and seas started kicking up. The winds were about 35 knots and seas were about 6 foot every 8 seconds with two reefs in the main and no jib because the max rating is about 18 knots for the jib. Jodee is not a happy girl. We battled the waves and seas for about 3 hours before making anchorage. Yes, we are told a mild Norther is blowing. Anchor down about 9:45 am. The winds are howling, 25 knots gusting to 35 knots. The anchorage is well protected from the seas. We had a great breakfast and started to relax. It looks like we will be here for a few days until the Norther decides to blow itself out. Jodee is a happy girl. Because of the solar flares made weather fax almost impossible and the SSB (single side band) net weather was not audible we asked Apolima if the heard the weather today. We received a couple of weather faxes and asked Gary on Apolima to come over so he could see them. Al on SwanSong asked to be informed on the weather fax and meanwhile he will try to reach Don Anderson (ssb net weather) to get an update and also he has friends in La Paz he was going to try to get weather from. No joy on Don Anderson. So with the information we had from a few days ago we decided we were going to leave at about 6:00 pm Feb 4th, because the northers lay down at night. Just after our decision Al called Apolima and us and gave us the good weather news from his friends in La Paz. They also sent 4 days worth of La Paz tides. Yeah.

Feb 5th up at 2:45 am and under way at 3:30 for the next destination of Ensenada de Los Muertos (cove of the dead). Hummm!!!! There is a convoy of 4 boats, Smoke-N-Blues, SwanSong, Apolima, and Amy E. Charlie's Charts states that "The Giggling Marlin (of Cabo fame) has established a restaurant and handy facility for cruisers with reasonable prices for ice, laundry, and showers". There also are ruins of a warehouse and wharf once used for silver mining. We have had a great motor sail. Well there was a great restaurant, however, the ice, laundry and showers were non existent. We started with chips and salsa and added guacamole and then split a hamburger and two cokes. They did have free wifi, which we took advantage of.

Feb 6th was another oh dark thirty get up. We were under way by 3:00am to Puerto Balandra. It has beautiful white sand beaches and a famous mushroom rock. This is the kind of anchorage that was dreamed about for the sea of cortez. Light turquoise to dark green water depending on the depth. The winds changed from northwest during the day to south at night. We dingy around the area with Swan & Al on "SwanSong", and took photos. That night we had dinner on Smoke-N-Blues with "SwanSong". What a fun couple. At about 4:00am the winds really kicked up and the seas were a little bumpy. The second night the winds came from the west right into the anchorage bringing with it a wind swell and chop making sleeping virtually impossible. Water temperature is too cool for enjoyable swimming.

Feb 8th we decided to leave and head to Caleta Lobos a mile away. This spot appears to be quite calm. It also is open to the west. So we will have to wait to see what tonight brings. There is a lot of bird and fish life here. I think the pelicans are holding diving class because five or six pelicans take off all at the same time and a few minutes later they all dive at the same time. The seal in here seems to be very happy also. He keeps chasing the fish (they do that when feeding) and they keep jumping to get away. There are little minnows that keep rolling at the service along with osprey flying above. All in all it is a great anchorage so far. Russ has two fishing poles out, one that sits off the side with the lure in the water and my casting rod. I guess he thinks that a fish will just jump on the lure hanging in the water next to the boat. Maybe we shall see. Stranger things have happened. I once caught a fish in a foot of water with a bare hook. Who would have thought?

Feb 9th we left for Bahia Falsa. What a beautiful anchorage. It is protected from most directions. Tonight it is like being on a lake. Sea conditions are glassy calm. There is a beach café tucked away in the corner. It looks very inviting.

Feb 10th put us at the Marina De La Paz. We will be here for a week. The laundry is very nice. The showers are excellent. After getting settled at the dock we decided that we had better get our U.S. Dollars changed for Pesos. Yippy we get to go on an adventure. Take the Ibuprophen and off we went in search of a bank.
Now you would think this is an easy task since we have a map in hand and we have the position of the bank on the map, right!!! Well wrong. Most of the streets here do not have street signs. Sound familiar Mom??? We walked, then we walked some more then we asked a local what the street name was. Well, we found the bank and purchased pesos. On the back we also found the Jungle Club Bar and Restaurant. The sign said "2x1 Margaritas, Pina Colodas $50 pesos". Now that is a deal you can not turn down. $50 pesos = $3.50, Wow. We were told about two good restaurants. We also went looking for one of the two restaurants, although Russ thought it was called one name and I thought it was called a different name, both of us not really remembering the name but had a general location. Since we did not find it we decided to look for the second restaurant called "Banditos" after walking all afternoon we gave up and headed back to the Marina it is about 3:00 pm now and we still haven't had any lunch. Well we found it by accident and guess what? It did not open until 5:00pm. So we gathered everyone and all headed out to Banditos at 7:00 pm for a burger. Great open air place. They have a Chevy that they when they pop the hood it is a grill and where the seats use to be, is where the French fries are cooked. The music is of course oldies rock and roll.

Feb 11th Swan and I went in to La Paz to the department store and to the open market and found this really neat antique hotel. Everything in there is antique and unique. We then went to Ley the supermarket. All of this took about 4-5 hours. Meanwhile Russ went to Lopez Marine to get fittings for the water maker. The water maker and fuel tank are his mandatory projects. Since Ciao Milano restaurant and bar was having a jaz band we went. It turns out to be open mike night. A couple of guys from Canada played with the American locals. This black man showed up and sang with the American locals. There were two harmonica players that were the best I have heard. It was great night. Some of these locals are people that are cruising and others are people that cruised to La Paz and never left. Never leaving La Paz seems to be a thing to do. I can understand why. There is a social life here that can't be beat. The neat thing is this place is across the street from the Marina.

Feb 12th went up to Club Cruceros for coffee and ran into Tony from the Vallejo Marina. Talked with him a while and went with him over to the Virtual Marina to check it out. The Virtual Marina is a marina with out docks and walls. They have moorings, showers, dingy dock. You can also anchor. All of these will cost, however the price is pretty good. So we will be moving over there after the 16th.
I got Russ an appointment with the dentist for the 25th. The task of the day was getting water. They do not recommend drinking the city water although they say it is probably ok. Out comes the microdyne to put into the water and fill the tanks. We have water filters that will filter out most pathogens so our water is good to drink. Russ is still working on the water maker and fuel tank today.

Feb 14th Valentines Day. Swan and I took a 3 hour walk / hike to the pharmacy and around the city. Russ is still working on the wind generator. It spins and does not appear that it charges the batteries. We had dinner with Swan & Al on "SwanSong". Great dinner and excellent conversation.

Feb 15th we headed out to catch a bus to go to City Club. We left about noon and arrived back at the boat about 5:00 with more provisions. From what we hear the anchorages up in the sea are pretty remote.

Feb 19th Russ had surgery on his neck to remove a cist and also went to the dentist for a crown prep. The surgery took one hour forty minutes to remove a 3cm cist. The dentist appt was at 7:00pm and he finally saw the dentist at 8:00pm we were back at the boat by 10:30 and went to bed.

Feb 21st Phyllis and I went to the fabric store and then headed to wal-mart to look for a camera for Phyllis. We walked to catch the bus to Wal-mart. They did not have the camera so we caught a bus to CCC to find tehini for hummus. After walking all day we had carnitas (pork) on Apolima with Phyllis & Gary.
Feb 22nd Swan and I walked up to Ley's I bought garlic and water and she had to get a few groceries also. On the way back we stopped at Dorans a real nice department store. She wanted to use her 100 pesos. No luck. We got back to the boat in time to take a shower and meet Al & Swan to go down to watch the maudi-graw parade. The parade was great. We headed up to Rancho Viejo for dinner. Good food. Skype did not work well tonight will try again tomorrow night.

Feb 23rd was pretty much the same as yesterday. Walked some more around town and then Swan & I went to the parade and took still shots because yesterday Russ took all movies.

Feb 24th we dropped of our laundry at 10 am. We headed to Rancho Viejo with Tony on Boreus (former Windago) to have breakfast. After that we went to Lopez Marine to look at binoculars. They did not fit Russ's face. Tony headed over to look for a wooden dowel and we headed back to pick up the laundry. Wow it was only 150 pesos, that is less than $13.00. That is only $3.00 more than if I did it myself. SwanSong held onto our laundry so we could go get our park passport. You have to have a passport (permit) to go any of the islands in Mexico that are park reserves. It is another way for them to make money. $520 pesos later and we have a letter (receipt) that permits us to enter Espiritu island and is good for a calendar year. We will have to go back in a couple of weeks for the permit. If you do not have a permit and you get caught you have to purchase a day pass at $46 pesos which is about $3.80-4.00 dollars per day. On the way back to the marina Russ found my mask that we were looking for. Yeah. Picked up the laundry from Swan and headed back to the boat. No more adventures for today. We will be here for another week before heading up to the islands.

March 1st we headed out to the fabric store to pick up some bridal netting to make screens that would keep out the "no seeums". We thought we bought black and it turns out to be dark purple. So the next day we started on the screens we finished two and have two more to do. March 3rd I was out making a grocery run with Phyllis (Apolima). What a work out.

March 4th Phil from "Salty" delivered ten movies for us. Yeah. We headed out to Espiritu Island and made anchor at Ensenada El Gallo which is the middle lobe of three in the bay of Puerto Ballena "whale bay". It was the best sail so far. Flat water, wind 12 knots and boat speed up to 7 knots with a dirty bottom. WhooWho. We even pass a sailboat that was motoring.

Today March 5th we stayed on the boat all day. We had winds from 0 knots gusting to 30 knots. It was pretty strange. It was completely calm and "wham" we would get hit with 30 knots and minute later it would be calm again this went on all day until about 6:30 pm when it started to settle down. Russ accomplished a lot today. He tightened the alternator belt, cleaned the sea strainer which caught a little minnow, found the problem to the solar panel and tried to take a nap. No naps to day.

We got up at about 8:30 am today March 6th. I worked on my vitamin packets and Russ worked on the solar panel problem. We have one panel lead to the second panel with a number 12 wire and then both panels are lead to the battery on/off switch with a number 8 wire, then to the battery regulator. He believes that the problem lies between the two panels. He may have to lead them separately. We then jumped into the dingy for some exploring. We started at about 11:45 am and returned at 4:30 pm. We explored all three lobes of Puerto Ballena Bay. We motored to the first lobe called "Ensenada La Gallina". Russ shut the motor off and got the oars out and I moved to the bow of the dingy and I took lots of underwater photos and landscape shots and we kept on going right around to the second lobe "Ensenada El Gallo" where we were treated to a flock of pelicans flying and diving all around us almost getting us wet. This is where Smoke - N - Blues is anchored. Then I rowed us around to the third lobe "Ensenads de la Raza". This lobe has sheer cliffs and boulder drop offs in the water. These cliffs has caves everywhere and birds that nest in them. Cactus, trees and foliage are growing right out of the rock. We then head over to the Island "Isla Gallo" that is about a mile across from "Ensenads de la Raza". This island also has sheer cliffs with boulder drop offs. We only explored one side of the island because it was on the way back to the boat. This is the first time we have seen fish big enough to catch for dinner. Tomorrow we will go fishing. Two kayakers made port on the beach in our anchorage. They have pitched a tent in the cave and will kayak back north tomorrow.

March 7th I read most of the day and Russ worked on boat projects. It will be nice when he can do maintenance projects instead of designing and re-designing. I would like to see him even sit and read a book, maybe one of the good ones Kraig & AJ gave us. A ponga pulled up to the beach and dropped off a couple with two children with kayaks and camp gear. I guess this is a good camping spot.

March 8th I was up at 9:00 am and Russ got up at 7:00 am to listen to the nets since he tapped into the backstay for a single side band antenna (this was one of yesterdays projects, halleluiah), then it was back to bed. The smell of my fried potatoes woke him up. So it was fried potatoes and eggs with toast for brunch out in the middle of nowhere. Russ is trying to design a swim ladder that will work on this boat. The one we have is near impossible to climb up. The minute you step on the first step the ladder conforms to the haul. I don't know about you, but I do not have suction cups on my hands or feet to climb up the haul. I think we need another jug of wine and more napkins (to design on). The family that was on the beach with the kayaks passed our boat on their way back to their camp and Russ talked to them. They are from Alaska. Russ decided to jump in and mow the lawn (clean the boat bottom). He got one third complete before he was cold and decided that the suction cups that he held on to needed to be sanded because the just kept sliding. This will be tomorrow's project. After warming up with sweats and hot chocolate I got him to sit down to a good book for about an hour before going fishing. At 4:30 pm we loaded the dingy to go fishing. Before we went fishing we headed to shore to offer an invitation to the family from Alaska to come out to the boat tomorrow to watch a movie and have popcorn, cheese crackers and summer sausage. They said yes and the time was set at 2:00 pm. Russ will make two trips in to pick them up. Now it was out to the island to fish. I thought I had a couple of bites and it turned out to be the bottom. I had a diving lure on my pole and could not tell how deep it really went. We were trolling. Russ had a fish on the casting rod and it jumped out of the water and got off the hook. Twice around the island and we trolled back to the boat. Put the dingy to bed and started to charge the batteries for a moving tonight.

March 9th Russ donned his wet suit and back into the water to continue mowing the lawn. I stayed on the boat to hand down any tools that may be needed. I read and finished my book. Russ had mowed all the lawn with the exception of the keel. It took about 2 ½ hours. Then we had hot fresh water sun showers. You see our lawn has little tiny critters. So the shower serves to wash of the critters along with warming up. Two o'clock came and Russ went to get Andy and Roan. Meanwhile I was cleaning and making popcorn. He dropped off Andy and Roan and went to pick up Melissa and Rilley. Roan is 11 and Rilley is 8. The kids selected the movie Short Circuit. Andy was telling me that they do not watch much TV and they keep the movies at a bare minimum so that when they do get to see a movie it is a special time. They keep the kids very active with outdoor activities up in Alaska. It turns out they have sled dogs, ten of them along with a cat, a bird, a mouse, a hamster and I don't remember the other animals. These guys are great parents and the kids were a joy to be around. Melissa is a writer and Andy is an editor. After the movie we exchanged adventure stories and they gave a bottle of Kendall Jackson Merlot. I was surprised at this because they are traveling by kayak and have to pack all the gear in the kayak. We exchanged contact information and took them back to their camp before it was too dark.

Meanwhile, in the anchorage, Apolima pulled in and dropped anchor. After dropping off the family we went over to Apolima and talked, laughed and drank too much wind. Off to bed.

March 10th we hauled the anchor up and put the fishing lures out and then the oil pressure meter decided it wanted to get jumpy. So, here we go again. Russ checked for oil leakage and there were no leaks, the bilge was dry. The lures were brought in and the engine stopped while Russ checked the oil situation. It turns out the pressure gauge does not like to be one quart low. It appears we burn a tad more oil charging batteries at low RPM than previously suspected. A quart of oil was put in and the pressure gauge went back to normal. Out went the lures and we were on our way to Caleta Partida on the island of Isla Partida. No fish to be caught today. The anchor was set.

March 12th. There are some caves that you can kayak or dingy through. To get there we have to go through a shallow winding cut to the other side of the island and about a mile to mile and a half south. So we lowered the dingy and took out the center seats to put in the cushioned sport-a-seats. This puts us lower in the dingy because we are sitting on the floor. We packed a lunch and loaded the fishing poles and minimal fishing gear. Donned our life jackets (sos suspenders) and now we are ready for exploring.

In the anchorage we had a west wind at about 5-8 knots. We made it through the cut without anyone getting out to pull the dingy through and continued on out to the point, there were high hills on both sides (wind was from the north at about 10-12 knots) then we turned south and proceeded for the caves we got about a half mile and with winds built up to about 20 + knots, seas were 1-1 ½ foot and we decided to turn back. The tops of the waves were being blown off and every wave had our social security number on it. We were soaked. Finally we made it back north around the corner into the lee of the mountains were the water was protected and put the lure back out. Yeah, I caught a trigger fish. No caves today, maybe another day.

Gary on Apolima went with us in his inflatable dingy. He had taken the wind scoop off the sailboat to use as a spinnaker for the dingy. He had a great spinnaker run (down wind). He learned how to turn the dingy with the spinnaker. To hook up the spinnaker he had to hook the bottom to the little knob on the front of the dingy and have a pole that went from the top of the spinnaker to the bottom of the dingy. To turn the dingy you lean the pole to one side or the other. He had a great time until he had to turn and come back. He to, was soaked. All in all we ended up with a story to tell. Oh by the way trigger fish are good eating.

A few of the moorings (charter) boats came in and one anchored in front of us. It has been our experience that most people on charter boats do not know how to anchor. This was no different. They pull in, drop anchor and proceed to party. Which is fine, except they never put enough rode (rope) out, so all the boats in their swinging circle have to keep watch so if they drag we can do something about it in order not to have damage to our boat. So, you might ask what does one do in that situation. Well we set on anchor watch, which means that one of us gets up ever hour or two to check our position in relation to the boat that could possibly drag. To set an anchor properly you let your anchor out to a ration of 5-7 time the depth of the water. Then you stretch out the chain. When the chain is stretch out you start a slow back down and when you know that it is not dragging by lining up two items up on shore and they stay lined up then you increase rpms and check to make sure the two items are still are lined up. We repeat this until we are sure that we will not drag.

Today March 13 was a day for relaxing, reading, cross stitching and pickling the water maker. We watch a number of boats come in and anchor. Cocktails were at 5:00 pm and the movie "Beyond Borders" at 7:00 pm.

March 14th, up at 9:00 am and had potatoes, ham, eggs for breakfast. Russ is working on the boat getting it ready to sail south to Bahia Falsa tomorrow. We jumped into the dingy at about 12:40 pm and headed out to the caves. This is our second try. We finally made it to the caves. To see pictures go to facebook.com and our page is s.blues. We saw the largest blow fish (puffer) to date, it was 10-12 inches long and came right up to look at the dingy. Saw whales broaching well off shore. Fish galore, did I mention fish galore? We went over to Apolima to say hi and the wind came up so strong we got stuck there. Phyllis fixed excellent spaghetti, along with a glass of wine, what more could one ask for. Of course when mother nature put the sun down the anchorage was once again peaceful.

March 15th, while raising the anchor the we had a visit from the Mexican Navy. They were out taking pictures of all the boats in the anchorage. So we took theirs. We had a great one hour sail then had to motor sail. The fishing lures went out and we fished for three hours. The only thing we caught was seaweed. We also had a great 45 minute sail into Bahia Falsa thanks to the afternoon seabreeze. Anchor down at about 2:30 pm and cocktails were ready by 3:00 pm. We turned on the Ice Machine and made Ice while motoring so we would have Ice when we arrived. You got to love that Ice Machine.

March 16th we sailed and fished our way to La Paz. The anchor was set and we relaxed the rest of the day.

Tues March 17th was clothes laundry day after 10 days of being out at the islands. The blankets, ponchos will have to wait till another day. I Headed off to CCC (grocery store) to pick up fresh food. I meet Judy and Lisa there. They had a car and was going to walmart so I went with them. After getting almost all that I needed they brought be back to the marina. Judy and Lisa live in Cordelane, Idaho. They are looking for a retirement location. Nice ladies.

March 18. At 5:00 pm we headed to Caio Malano restaurant to listen to a jam session. Tonight Lorie & Ken were going to sit in. Lorie Davidson & Ken Embrey, are profession blues musician. Ken has played with Chuck Berry, John Lee Hooker just to name a few. Jonny Nitro And The Door Slammers, Tommy Castro Band gave Lorie her first stages on which to sing. She plays the guitar, sings and song writes. She has played with many famous blues artists. What an exceptional evening. We purchased one of their cd's.

Thurs March 19 we headed off to do some research, this took about half a day. Then Russ installed the swim ladder, Yeah. This project involved drilling through the haul and getting into pretzel shape to install the bolts. He had to remove cedar wall planking. Boy does he know how to tear a boat apart in minutes. The only problem is it takes longer to put it back together. All we need now is stand offs to keep the steps away from the haul while climbing.

Friday March 20 Swan, Laurie and I headed up into town to the pottery shop and the Bravo Market. The Brovo market was a cruisers dream. The process at the pottery shop they use they created and can only be found here in La Paz. It is beautiful stuff. I purchased only a couple of items. Tonight we will head over to La Costa Restaurant for the barking dogs concert and dinner. The music is fifties and sixties. Great time for all.

Friday March 22-25. We went to the Marina Palmira Art Festival. Wow, what quality art. If I had a house, I would have bought a lot. No place for art on the boat. The dingy seats are black, so after getting our but blistered from sitting on hot seats, they received some chaps. I went off to Wall-Mart with Phyllis from Apolima and Russ stayed on the boat to make a dingy bow cover. Now the dingy is only half dressed. What are chaps without saddle bags. Yeah, you got it, now saddle bags were made. NOW the dingy is fully dressed.

March 26 - 30 - Spent this time getting provisions and getting the boat ready to head north. Went to the kick / captains meeting/party.

April 1st - Start of Latude 38 Race from La Paz to Enseada de La Partida. The start was at 1:00 pm. We were about a half mile from the start when the race started. It was a great sail to Partida. We even were able to get one of the best protected anchoring spots. We had a great night sleep while the other boats bounced.

April 2nd was a lay day. There was volleyball in about six inches of water and potluck on the beach. It was Great potluck. We also went night fishing. No fish tonight.

April 3rd - This leg of the race is from Caletta Partida to Isla San Francisco. We finished this leg of the race and anchored on the East side of Isla San Francisco because the winds were out of the Southwest and the primary anchorage is on the west side and is open to the wind and waves from the southwest and west. We watched the International Space Station fly over. It was real bright. We had a great night sleep.

April 4th - Russ started the water maker and found out it pumps only salt water. Russ asked about the desalination plant in Everisto (anchorage), because our membrane on the water maker had blown and Darkside (powerboat) with Bob and Patricia offered us fifty gallons of water because he was headed back to La Paz tomorrow and he makes his own water. The sailing vessel Star with Reno and Kathy on board came and anchored by us. They gave us a conch shell and told us to blow it if they ever come into an anchorage and anchor too close to us. We told them thanks and that we were leaving shortly and he was glad to have his anchor spot back. We moved over to the west side of Isa San Francisco to join the race fleet. Russ made four dingy trips back and forth to Darkside for water. Thanks to them we now have full tanks and can continue on North. While Russ was making water runs I was scrubbing the deck with seawater to get what dirt I could off. These Islands are marine sanctuaries and you do not want to use soap unless it is sea kindly. At 4:00 pm was a costume cocktail party on Prolifigate (Richard & Donia - Latitude 38 - Cat). Everyone had to make some half assed effort to be in costume. Lucky for me I bought a mask at carnival and Russ went as Dr. Livingston. He wore his safari hat and Columbia shirt and zip off leg pants. When boarding he was stopped by the FBI agent to prove who he was. Wouldn't you know it the FBI agent (young girl off Don Quixote) had read all of these books. She asked him how many people he had killed. Finally she let him pass. We brought our own drinks and snacks to share. There was music and dancing and musical entertainment by the Don Quixote girls and crew of Prolifigate-Dino, then everyone joined in and the cruise went around Isla San Francisco. They sent someone up the mast to take an aerial photo of the group. So watch for us in Latitude 38. We watched the International Space Station fly over. It was not as bright to night as was last night. We are told it is a spectacular event when they flush their toilets. We also were told that most of the people on board are women.

April 5th - Watched the Latitude 38 race boats start for Isla Partida. Some of the boats along with us will be heading north and not finishing the race. We received our first plaque. It says "2009 Sea of Cortez Sailing Week First In Class. Everyone came first in class. Russ is lubricating the steering cables as I write this.

April 6th we went ashore to the east beach to hunt for agates. We found a few, but most of all we enjoyed looking at all the different rocks. When we arrived back at the boat I decided to make cookies. Yeah!!!