Bill Hudson
11/26/2009, Bahia Asuncion

We took off from Turtle Bay at 0545 with no wind so we kept the motor on for the next 5 hours making good time heading South. By 1045, the winds finally showed up. Not much but we took the 8 to 12 knots and raised all the sails and took off at a mighty 3.5 knots. It was slow, but it was free. We pushed on, enjoying the sunshine and the warm weather marveling that here it was, the day after Thanksgiving and we were in swimsuits and working on our tans.

By 1500, the winds had died down to next to nothing so on came the motor again and on we pushed towards Bahia Asuncion. We pulled in and dropped the anchor at 27 08.347N 114 17.276W just as the sunset. There is a young lady here that looks after cruisers called Sirena and she answers to all call made on VHF 16 and helps get people like us anchored and does what she can to help us out. She'll even take you on tours of her fair city. We called her as we entered the bay and she told us where to anchor as 9 foot swells are due here tonight. That's a lot of swell, let me tell you. The winds had started to build just as we entered the harbor so we dropped the anchor and let out plenty of chain to make sure we stayed put. We'll see what the night brings, but the winds have dropped to next to nothing and that is fine with us.

We've covered 2160 miles since we left Port Townsend, with 56 added on today to our total. That puts us to almost 5,000 miles since we left on April 3 for Alaska. James, the new Hydrovane did his job today and steered us perfectly as we sailed South. He's been a great addition to the crew and he doesn't eat Amps like his big brother.

Let go back to yesterday when Tracy made the wonderful pecan pie. Instead of being on a boat, you're in your house with the same space and equipment. First, you have to gather your supplies to make the pie. There is no pantry in your house so you have to try and remember where you stored everything. Of course you made a list of everything you brought home, but some times you got rushed and things didn't get added to the list. OK, the flour--try under the sofa in the livingroom. Nope, how about in the den. Got it, oh yeah, don't forget to check for the bay leaf you put in to stop the weevils from ruining it. That happens out here in the heat. OK, on to the pecans-- oh, yeah, I put them in the basement so they will keep dry and cool. The Karo Syrup, Hum, where did I leave that. Oh yeah, it's up in the bedroom closet on the floor behind the boxes of cereal. On a boat, nothing is like in a house. Every square inch of space has a purpose and needs to be utilized. There is no pantry where you can just reach in and there it is. The Crisco was two years old but still fine. Every time you use something, you have to put it on a list if you want to make sure you pick up more the next time you are out getting provisions. That could be two weeks away and it is bound to be forgotten that you need more of something. There are no 7-11's or Cirlce K"s out here. Oh, I forgot, the roller to make the crust has some black marks on it from where I left it under the floor boards in the galley. There must be a leak in the pipes. I'll have to check that later.

Back to the kitchen(we call it a galley) to whip it all together. I forgot, there is no electricity in the galley, I have to go out and start the generator so the mixer will work. Now the galley is about the space of the inside of your guest room closet. About 6 foot by 5 foot if you are lucky. Counter space is rare, so you had a board made to cover the top of the stove and the sink is the best place to put the dirty dishes so they don't fall on the floor during the next earthquake. Remember, your house is in an earthquake zone and could move at any time and there is always the possibility of an bunch of wind coming up that will shake everything you have out on to the counter. To make it easier, the stove is suspended on a rod so it can swing back and forth if a quake happens. Unfortunately, when you open the door to the stove, that lowers the front of the stove(remember, it's on a rod to hold to level?) and everything you had piled on top(counter space is limited remember?) flies at you and crashes to the floor and make a nice mess. Oh yeah, you forgot to put out the pins that hold the stove in place and keep it from rocking. The stove is heated, but only in the back of the oven(propane)--not all the way around, so when you put in the pie(or what ever you are cooking), the rear of it gets cooked faster than the front. So, every now and then, you have to open the door and spin the pie around so what was in the front is now in the back. Now don't forget those pins again. Boy, baking sure is fun, isn't it?

This is what Tracy goes through every time she cooks or bakes in the galley. Nothing is ever easy when it comes to cooking on a boat. It is always an adventure, wether it is just looking for what you need to cook or getting it all put together, yet she has made many incredible meals since we have moved on board.

Tomorrow, we will be off for town to explore Bahia Asuncion. From what I have heard, they serve a Burro Burrito that is just devine. I guess we will see when we have lunch.

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Bill Hudson
11/26/2009, Turtle Bay, Mexico

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!! This has been one of the warmest Thanksgivings we have ever experienced. It was in the mid 70's here and the attire of the day was shorts or a swimsuit, not overcoats and sweaters like back home in Colorado. Yeah!!! Finally it's warm!!

The morning started out with the fuel boat showing up to sell us some diesel for Zephyr. We were down a bit so, with a quick conversion(I cheated and used a program on my Mac) from gallons to liters, we were ready to pump. We guessed at 80 gallons and agreed on 300 liters of fuel. Tracy stayed below and monitored the tanks while I was above decks watching the fuel get pumped in. We guessed right at our 80 gallons and the tanks were full again. The last time we had filled up was at Marina del Rey back on October 15. This time, our consumption was down to just .80 gallons per hour instead of the 1 gallon we normally use. The reason was that for several nights we had only run the engine at 1000 or 1300 rpms and that uses less diesel. O course the fuel savings are off set by us only doing 3.5 knots at that rpm versus 6 knots at 1750 rpms. Yes, the consumption was less. but so was the miles covered. I think it's better to run at 1750 and get our 6 miles versus only 3.5 miles at 1300 rpms. But hey, that's just my opinion for what it is worth.

I fired up the little Honda generator on the stern to replace the amps we had used during the previous night and she fired up at the second pull. I stopped it while I went and got the cord to connect it to Zephyr. Now, of course, she won't start no matter what I did. Tracy told me to stop pulling the cord and let it rest. I'd probably flooded it.

So I went below to change the diesel injector oil that has to be changed every 50 hours or so. It's like I have said in the past. Cruising is nothing more than fixing your boat in exotic locations. Once one, I tried the generator and she sprang to life. We had amps!! We ran her for the next two hours and all the batteries were fully charged. What we used after that, the DuoGen could keep up with.

As we sailed South, we noticed that one of the lines that holds the rudder onto the bottom of the Hyrdovane had become quite frayed. I went down into the water to pull the pin and replace the line. We don't want to loose the pin that holds the rudder in place. Once the knot was in place, I sewed the end of the line to the knot so it can't come loose.

I actually finished a book today! It's called "Why didn't I think of that?" by John and Susan Roberts. It's a book with 1198 tips from 222 sailors on 120 boats from 9 countries. Not much of a plot but it's got lots of information from other boaters as to what has worked for them on their boats.

It was warm enough today to pull out the solar shower and heat water so we could at least wash our hair. The water in the bay is up to 68 degrees so we are getting warmer water as well as daytime temperatures so I'm all for that. Soon, the water will hit 70 and I'm in it then. 80s better but that's ok.

Tracy cooked up a wonderful Thanksgiving meal including a pecan pie!!! Chicken(out of turkey) and stuffing with cranberry sauce and with the pecan pie of desert. it was a perfect meal. Of course the wine didn't hurt either. We sat in the cockpit and watched the Sun go down as we had desert. A lovely day.

Tomorow, we are off for Bahia Asuncion about 50 miles South of here. We expect to anchor at 27 08.26N 114 17.47W if you want to see where we will be on Google Earth. We read about this place in "The Log", a newspaper that is put out around San Diego and Los Angeles. They had a nice article about Asuncion so we think we will stop in for a day or two to experience the off roads of Mexico. As we will be off just after 0500, I thought I better tell you about today now.

It's nice having the SSB to allow us to post to the blog when ever we want and not have to wait till we hit a big city to get internet.

So to all of you out there, I say again, Happy Thanksgiving!

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Bill Hudson
11/26/2009, Turtle Bay, Mexico or actually Bahia San Bartolome

The day dawned bright and blue with the temperature starting in the low 60s. As I said in yesterdays post, Tracy went forward to raise the forestaysail. What I let out was that there were several dozen squid (about 3 to 5" long) all over the forward deck. Even on the sail as we had left it flaked on the deck over night. They stared up at her with their glassy eye. She was less than impressed. My theory is that they were attracted to our boat because we had on our steaming light as we motored over the night. Squid fishermen typically have big lights attached to their boats as they fish. Any how, once the sail was up, I got to go forward and get them off the deck. Tracy had all ready pulled the ones off the sail and she didn't want to touch the rest. They are good jumpers as I found them quite a ways on board even though we have nets along the lifelines. With all the sails up or rolled out, we took off South We wanted to be in Turtle Bay before sundown and we have almost 50 miles to go. With the engine off, we were making good time in the 10 knot breeze. Unfortunately, it meant that we wouldn't get to Turtle Bay till almost 1800 and the Sun sets at 1646 now, so about 1300, on came the engine and we were forced to do a motor assisted sail to get in by sundown.

During the afternoon, we were delighted to see several groups of dolphins approach and play in the bow wake of our boat. They stayed with up for about 15 minutes before heading North. Tracy saw the plume of water from a whale but he never approached our boat. As one of the boats in the Baja HaHa rally was sunk by one, that is just fine by me. I'm not sure of the full story, but it can be read in the Latitude 38 website on line.

We caught up with Lene and Henrik on Dana about 1500 as they headed South. They were continuing South to Magdalena Bay, about another 240 miles farther down the coast. We wanted to stop at Turtle Bay and not rush down the coast. So here we are now at 27 41.116N 114 53.217W safely at anchor. We sighted the entrance to the bay about 1600 and entered at 1650 just as the Sun was going down and dropped the anchor in twilight amongst 13 other boats. I took several pictures and will post them once we get on the internet farther down the coast. I'm posting this using our SSB radio again.

From what we have seen so far as we came down the coast, this place looks much like the back lands of South New Mexico only with less vegetation. It a barren landscape with not a tree or bush in sight as we passed the coastline. The Suns reflection off the rocks on shore gave it beautiful colors but if you are looking for palm trees and sandy beaches, they're not along this shoreline. Once settled in, we sat in the cockpit and dined on smoked marlin that we picked up in the fish market in Ensenada. We bought a kilo(2.2 pounds) for 80 pesos(about $6.10). It's a beautiful deep burnt red in color with a mild smoky fish flavor. Served on crackers with a nice white wine, it was the perfect dinner as we sat at anchor.

After dinner, I tried to get on the SSB and find some networks that might be broadcasting but found none. I've not found a single one since we installed it. All in good time I guess. Put the wine and fish and add three full days under sail with little sleep and we were quite tired. We took off for bed before 2000 hours. I can't tell you the last time I went to bed at 8pm. Obviously we needed it as we both slept in till after 0700 this morning.

Well, that is it for now.

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Bill Hudson
11/22/2009, Ensenada, Mexico

We changed the diesel filters(three) on Sunday. A job I had been putting off for quite a while. We had the fuel "polished" while we were in Port Townsend and I felt the filters should be changed even though they had been done while we were in Shearwater, BC.. Now they are properly changed and we can continue.

We are currently about 36 miles off the coast quite a bit South of Ensenada after leaving there about 0900 yesterday morning. We'd been hung up for an hour or so as the marina's credit card processing machine was on the blink. Once they got it fixed, we were under way. Darn little wind of course though three weeks ago during the Baja HaHa(a gathering of sailboats that head down the coast and party along the way) ran into the worst weather they have had in all the 16 years they have been doing it. We on the other hand have been in winds of 3 to 5 knots so the sailing has been slow. We started the engine about 2200 and motored the rest of the night. This morning, the winds were a bit better and we hoisted the spinnaker(for the first time) and we are still moving slowly, but at least we are moving in the right direction--South.

Our planned destination is Turtle Bay, about 300 miles down the coast from Ensenada. This will be our longest uninterrupted cruise yet. We have already covered 143 nautical miles. Not sure what that translates into in statute miles.

The main and spinnaker are up. The furr people are resting in the stern cabin(God help them if they leave us any surprises back there if you know what I mean) and the two of us are on deck(ok, I'm actually at the nav station typing this. We've been passed by numerous freighters and the Norwegian Star cruise ship that we took two years ago along this same passage. I called them early this morning as they passed and got an updated weather report.

Tracy tries something new last night for dinner--packet meals. She put all the ingredients for the meal--chicken, curry, carrots, onion, soy sauce and garlic and closed up the packet and stuck it in the oven for an hour. It was great. Easy to make and easier to cleanup afterwards.

"James", as in "Home James"(our Hydrovane steering system) got used yesterday and is in use right now. He steers the boat in the direction we want to go(as long as the wind cooperates) and uses no electricity. Yesterday was the first time we used him and he worked flawlessly for the four to five hours we had the sails up. The Duogen(makes electricity by being dragged in the water) was down doing its job. No name for him yet. Since we aren't using the main autopilot, our energy demands are quite minimal and the DuoGen can keep up with our needs.

Well, I've got to close. If this works fine, it will be our first post off shore using the SSB. We dropped our Verizon phone and internet service once we left the USA. Once farther South, we will look into another company and see what they provide.

Stay tuned for more as we go.

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Bill Hudson
11/22/2009, South of Cedros Island

Yesterday was a day of sailing and experimentation. We finally hoisted the spinnaker sail and got her set just right. The winds were from the North and the Northeast at about 5 knots. Not enough to really allow is to go fast but it was a perfect time to put up our spinnaker for the first time. It took some work, but we finally got it so she stay nice and full and I even took a short nap as we plied our way South.

By nightfall, the winds had died off and we were forced to use the engine again but as the night went on, the winds came back and we did a "motor assist" sail. We had kept the main up so that Zephyr doesn't roll back and forth in the swell and Tracy let it out during her watch (2200 to 0200) so that we had the wins behind us off the port(left)side of the boat. On we went with the motor at about 1200rpms and we were doing a good 5 knots.

Once I came on watch at 0200, I kept a look out for other boats and watched a movie on our IPod. Nice having that available in the cockpit. While we were in Ensenada, I'd copied some for Lene and Henrik on Dana. Cruisers routinely trade books and movies as we get together.

As dawn arrived(about 0530) I noticed the charts showing a bunch of "breakers"(shallow spots where water breaks over rocks)ahead of us so I changed course to avoid them. Instead of headiing Southeast, I took us Souhwest instead until we were safely away from the danger. It pays to keep a close watch on where you are going out here. Shortly after that, I saw a tug boat heading on a curse directly opposite to ours and radioed him on our VHF to see if he know of the "breakers". Nope, he had never heard of them. Oh well, better safe than sorry.

Once Tracy joined me in the cockpit, we raised all the sails-Genoa and forestaysail-and took off at anywhere from 5.5 to 7.5 knots depending on the winds. We need to get to Turtle Bay while the Sun is still up and it's about 42 miles ahead of us. So the sails will stay up as long as the wind holds out. Lene and Henrik on Dana ar just ahead of us and on the same course. With luck we will both be there by 1630.

If you are using Google Earth, we're currently at 28 00.089N 113 32 798 W and heading Southeast.

I'll post again once we get to Turtle Bay if it's not too late.

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sunny and cool
11/22/2009, still in Ensenada, Mexico

Trying some new things--pictures in the posts

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