The Travels of Aztec
| Vessel Name: | Aztec |
| Vessel Make/Model: | Cape North Cutter (by Brewer) |
| Hailing Port: | San Francisco, CA |
| Crew: | David & Carolyn Cammack |
| Extra: | Aztec departed Stockton Sailing Club in the fall of '06 and sailed with the Baja-Ha-Ha to Mexico |
30 March 2011 | El Cid Marina
28 March 2011 | Pacific Ocean
25 March 2011 | La Cruz de Huanacaxtle
24 March 2011 | La Cruz anchorage
01 March 2007 | The Mexican Riviera
10 November 2006 | Cabo to La Paz & Mazatlan
31 October 2006 | San Diego on South
01 October 2006 | San Francisco Bay
01 September 2006 | Stockton Sailing Club
Recent Blog Posts
30 March 2011 | El Cid Marina
Arrive Mazatlan
Arrive El Cid Marina 1:00 pm March 30, 2011. Tied up in slip B21B behind another sailboat. This huge slip is normally used by some monster power yacht, but here we are.
28 March 2011 | Pacific Ocean
La Cruz to Mazatlan
I'm not really a "blogger". So far, I wait until I'm in the mood and then write a story about what I remember. It has been over a month since we left La Cruz, and what follows is from my notes, the log and feeble memories.
24 March 2011 | La Cruz anchorage
La Paz to Puerto Vallarta
La Paz to Puerto Vallarta March 19-23, 2011
01 March 2007 | The Mexican Riviera
Mazatlan to Mazatlan
This segment will cover most of our first season as "Real Cruisers" , as we moved from Mazatlan down the Mexican Riviera" as far south as Manzanillo, with stops coming and going in Puerto Vallarta, Camela, Barra de Navidad, and Tenacatita Bay. Check out the photos - a lot of the detail will be there. Leaving [...]
10 November 2006 | Cabo to La Paz & Mazatlan
After the Ha-Ha
Cabo San Lucas to La Paz Mid November, 2006
Pass under Golden Gate - turn Left
01 October 2006 | San Francisco Bay
Monday, 9/25/06: Departed Golden Gate
This is the real departure date! Pushed off the dock by 8:00 to catch the slack before flood at the Golden Gate. Time and tide wait for no man! We had a glorious send-off! Sunny and warm and the Bay to ourselves - except a few ferries and the "tall ship" hay scow Alma sailing past Alcatraz. No ship traffic. 9:40: Passed under Oakland Bay Bridge. 10:35: Passed under Golden Gate Bridge.
[Unfortunately, it appears that this set of photos has disappeared.]
No wind, so no sailing. Motored to Pillar Point (Half Moon Bay) Arrived at the anchorage and dropped the hook by 3:30. Barbecued a pork chop on the stern and watched a movie (DVD - no TV reception in HMB) for a fun-packed evening. High fog (overcast) and chilly
Wednesday, 9/26/06: Pillar Point to Monterey
We raised the anchor by 8:00 the next day for what should be a nice downwind ride to Monterey. Fog still high, so visibility is OK - probably 2 miles. Still chilly, though, and the only wind is from dead ahead out of the SE - at a wild 4 knots, at that. The wind rose to about 12 knots (on the pointy end of the boat), which raised wind waves of about 4ft that slowed us down from 6 knots to 4 for half the afternoon. We decided no to sail, because we wanted to make Monterey before dark. We could have sailed just as fast, but in the wrong direction(s), and arrived much later. After passing the cement plant at Davenport (the decision point for Monterey or Santa Cruz), the wind went away altogether. The good news in that was that the waves went away, too, and our speed picked up to almost 7 knots. About 45 minutes before landing, the wind picked up to about 10 knots from the South and we could have sailed ... but for the last 1/10th of our trip??? I guess we're lazy sailors.
Arrived Monterey harbor by 6:30 pm. $26.00 / night for a 50 foot slip between 2 big powerboats from San Raphael. At least the new day was sunny and relatively warm. At least today is sunny and relatively warm. Ate breakfast at Lulu's, the tiny restaurant on the wharf. Fussed around the boat, walked out for a few groceries, talked to a few boaters (some of whom are headed to the Ha-Ha) and went to dinner at an old favorite, Cibo. We are in Monterey after all. The plan is to leave on Thursday for Moro Bay at 0400, hoping for a nice warm day and a West breeze. That's what NOAA weather says, although they sure lied to us for the Pillar Point to Monterey trip. If we leave on this 100-mile trip going 5 knots (whether sailing or motoring) at 0400 pm, we should arrive after daybreak Friday
Departed Monterey for Moro Bay on 9/28/06 at 3:10 p.m (couldn't sleep)
Gray, overcast, cold and dark. No moon or stars. Carolyn was the star night watch person!
Arriving Moro Bay at daylight, we tied up about 0800, collected ourselves during the day, and attended the Morro Yacht Club Friday night mixer. We met several interesting characters, including a few of the crew for boats planning the upcoming Ha-Ha.
[No photos from Moro Bay or Monterey, either]
We remained there only a couple nights, and stood out for Cojo Anchorage at 0230 on 10/1/6. Again, it was very dark and cold for several hours! As we motored (no wind, remember), we became aware of somethings moving in the water around us. As the light slowly increased, we could see more and more of the hundreds of porpoises crossing our path and following us. They kept us company most of the way to Point Conception. We passed a few whales going South, as well.
Points Conception and Arguello were on the Port beam at noon on 10/1/2006. A light breeze had come up , but with the reputation of the place, we decided to leave the sails furled for the actual rounding. Once "around the corner" into Southern California waters, the breeze continued long enough to cause us to roll out the genoa. We were at Cojo Anchorage at 1:30 and decided that there was no reason to stop there; we'd go on to Santa Barbara. The breeze only lasted about ½ an hour and died. Rolled the genoa in and motored on. Another hour later it looked like there was enough to sail again, so rolled the genoa out. This time is was only good for about 15 minutes. Rolled sails in and motored on...
Arrived Santa Barbara at 8:00 p.m. in the dark.
We highly recommend the Santa Barbara as a sailing destination, even though it's around that corner. The weather was nice then, and it's reported to be nice most of the time! The marina is very modern, although very large (quite a hike from the guest dock), the yacht club was quite active, and services and the city are quite accessible. You can stay a couple weeks for a very reasonable rate, but don't even wonder about keeping your boat there, unless you want to spend a quarter million or more to "buy" one.
While we were here, though, we looked up old friends Mike & Robbie Frank who live in Montecito (you know, where Oprah lives). We were invited for a lovely dinner at their house, and then took them out for a sail before we left. It's always great to catch up with people you haven't seen in a long time!
"Cruising" begins to begin: From there it was off to the first "cruising" destination - the Channel Islands. After reading the guidebook, it didn't seem a smart plan for green cruisers (us) to head for the very windy outer islands; so we headed straight out from Santa Barbara for Santa Cruz Island. This was the first bit of sailing we had so far! About the last 2 hours of a 4-hour crossing!
The first night on Santa Cruz was a stopover at Prisoners Harbor, where it was quite smooth but we were very anxious about the anchor holding. We didn't drag, but didn't sleep well, either. For a change of scenery and to do some more exploring, we spent a second night at Fry's harbor. This is a very small place, and there were only 2 of us there, anchored with bow and stern lines. I would not want to be in there with more boats!
[Fry's photo ??]
From Oxnard (Channel Islands Harbor) to Marina Del Rey, Los Angeles
We tried unsuccessfully and unintentionally to sink the boat near the Channel Islands by pumping water aboard using the deck washdown pump (that's been revised). This was one Coast Guard boarding I was very happy to have. Do you know how fast a 3-inch engine driven pump can remove water from a sailboat?
At Marina Del Rey we had a great short visit from Geoff Clough and his girlfriend Lindsay who live in the area. Geoff is the son of old friends; of Carolyn's best friend Sahri who died several years ago. After just a few days, and meeting a few more Ha-Ha-ers, we moved on.
The Baja Ha-Ha deadline in San Diego was beginning to look a lot closer. The next stop was Newport Beach. Although well known as a wonderful boating harbor, it was not real friendly to us. By morning the temperature was down in the 60s and the wind was blowing 25 knots. That's fine on the water, but not so comforting for docking in unfamiliar places. It calmed a bit by noon and we left.
Dana Point. The next port south was a place we had enjoyed visiting by land when Geoff and family (see Marina Del Rey, above) were living in Laguna Nigel. And the bonus was that our daughter Liane drove over from Las Vegas for a weekend visit as her crazy parents were sailing off to some foreign country. Here we met a few more boats headed for the "Ha-Ha" and enjoyed the hospitality of the Dana West Yacht Club.
After the weekend we motored on to the south, destination Oceanside. On the way we were stopped by your friends and mine, Homeland Security, with 6 beefy guys driving their 1000-HP speedboat. A brief conversation with them ("Where you goin'?) led us to the conclusion that they had no idea that 175 sailboats were about to depart San Diego for Mexico. I guess they don't really care who leaves...
We arrived in a thick fog; couldn't see 100 ft. Thanks to the new electronics (we can overlay radar on the chartplotter) we drove right in (very slowly, of course). No fog inside the harbor! We attended the Oceanside Yacht Club's Friday night mixer and stayed just one night before the last hop to San Diego
After one night at a private boat marina ($88.00) we scored a berth at the San Diego customs dock "marina", where you can stay for 10 days... that was all we needed until the start of the famous Baja Ha-Ha cruisers' rally to Cabo San Lucas.
This is the real departure date! Pushed off the dock by 8:00 to catch the slack before flood at the Golden Gate. Time and tide wait for no man! We had a glorious send-off! Sunny and warm and the Bay to ourselves - except a few ferries and the "tall ship" hay scow Alma sailing past Alcatraz. No ship traffic. 9:40: Passed under Oakland Bay Bridge. 10:35: Passed under Golden Gate Bridge.
[Unfortunately, it appears that this set of photos has disappeared.]
No wind, so no sailing. Motored to Pillar Point (Half Moon Bay) Arrived at the anchorage and dropped the hook by 3:30. Barbecued a pork chop on the stern and watched a movie (DVD - no TV reception in HMB) for a fun-packed evening. High fog (overcast) and chilly
Wednesday, 9/26/06: Pillar Point to Monterey
We raised the anchor by 8:00 the next day for what should be a nice downwind ride to Monterey. Fog still high, so visibility is OK - probably 2 miles. Still chilly, though, and the only wind is from dead ahead out of the SE - at a wild 4 knots, at that. The wind rose to about 12 knots (on the pointy end of the boat), which raised wind waves of about 4ft that slowed us down from 6 knots to 4 for half the afternoon. We decided no to sail, because we wanted to make Monterey before dark. We could have sailed just as fast, but in the wrong direction(s), and arrived much later. After passing the cement plant at Davenport (the decision point for Monterey or Santa Cruz), the wind went away altogether. The good news in that was that the waves went away, too, and our speed picked up to almost 7 knots. About 45 minutes before landing, the wind picked up to about 10 knots from the South and we could have sailed ... but for the last 1/10th of our trip??? I guess we're lazy sailors.
Arrived Monterey harbor by 6:30 pm. $26.00 / night for a 50 foot slip between 2 big powerboats from San Raphael. At least the new day was sunny and relatively warm. At least today is sunny and relatively warm. Ate breakfast at Lulu's, the tiny restaurant on the wharf. Fussed around the boat, walked out for a few groceries, talked to a few boaters (some of whom are headed to the Ha-Ha) and went to dinner at an old favorite, Cibo. We are in Monterey after all. The plan is to leave on Thursday for Moro Bay at 0400, hoping for a nice warm day and a West breeze. That's what NOAA weather says, although they sure lied to us for the Pillar Point to Monterey trip. If we leave on this 100-mile trip going 5 knots (whether sailing or motoring) at 0400 pm, we should arrive after daybreak Friday
Departed Monterey for Moro Bay on 9/28/06 at 3:10 p.m (couldn't sleep)
Gray, overcast, cold and dark. No moon or stars. Carolyn was the star night watch person!
Arriving Moro Bay at daylight, we tied up about 0800, collected ourselves during the day, and attended the Morro Yacht Club Friday night mixer. We met several interesting characters, including a few of the crew for boats planning the upcoming Ha-Ha.
[No photos from Moro Bay or Monterey, either]
We remained there only a couple nights, and stood out for Cojo Anchorage at 0230 on 10/1/6. Again, it was very dark and cold for several hours! As we motored (no wind, remember), we became aware of somethings moving in the water around us. As the light slowly increased, we could see more and more of the hundreds of porpoises crossing our path and following us. They kept us company most of the way to Point Conception. We passed a few whales going South, as well.
Points Conception and Arguello were on the Port beam at noon on 10/1/2006. A light breeze had come up , but with the reputation of the place, we decided to leave the sails furled for the actual rounding. Once "around the corner" into Southern California waters, the breeze continued long enough to cause us to roll out the genoa. We were at Cojo Anchorage at 1:30 and decided that there was no reason to stop there; we'd go on to Santa Barbara. The breeze only lasted about ½ an hour and died. Rolled the genoa in and motored on. Another hour later it looked like there was enough to sail again, so rolled the genoa out. This time is was only good for about 15 minutes. Rolled sails in and motored on...
Arrived Santa Barbara at 8:00 p.m. in the dark.
We highly recommend the Santa Barbara as a sailing destination, even though it's around that corner. The weather was nice then, and it's reported to be nice most of the time! The marina is very modern, although very large (quite a hike from the guest dock), the yacht club was quite active, and services and the city are quite accessible. You can stay a couple weeks for a very reasonable rate, but don't even wonder about keeping your boat there, unless you want to spend a quarter million or more to "buy" one.
While we were here, though, we looked up old friends Mike & Robbie Frank who live in Montecito (you know, where Oprah lives). We were invited for a lovely dinner at their house, and then took them out for a sail before we left. It's always great to catch up with people you haven't seen in a long time!
"Cruising" begins to begin: From there it was off to the first "cruising" destination - the Channel Islands. After reading the guidebook, it didn't seem a smart plan for green cruisers (us) to head for the very windy outer islands; so we headed straight out from Santa Barbara for Santa Cruz Island. This was the first bit of sailing we had so far! About the last 2 hours of a 4-hour crossing!
The first night on Santa Cruz was a stopover at Prisoners Harbor, where it was quite smooth but we were very anxious about the anchor holding. We didn't drag, but didn't sleep well, either. For a change of scenery and to do some more exploring, we spent a second night at Fry's harbor. This is a very small place, and there were only 2 of us there, anchored with bow and stern lines. I would not want to be in there with more boats!
[Fry's photo ??]
From Oxnard (Channel Islands Harbor) to Marina Del Rey, Los Angeles
We tried unsuccessfully and unintentionally to sink the boat near the Channel Islands by pumping water aboard using the deck washdown pump (that's been revised). This was one Coast Guard boarding I was very happy to have. Do you know how fast a 3-inch engine driven pump can remove water from a sailboat?
At Marina Del Rey we had a great short visit from Geoff Clough and his girlfriend Lindsay who live in the area. Geoff is the son of old friends; of Carolyn's best friend Sahri who died several years ago. After just a few days, and meeting a few more Ha-Ha-ers, we moved on.
The Baja Ha-Ha deadline in San Diego was beginning to look a lot closer. The next stop was Newport Beach. Although well known as a wonderful boating harbor, it was not real friendly to us. By morning the temperature was down in the 60s and the wind was blowing 25 knots. That's fine on the water, but not so comforting for docking in unfamiliar places. It calmed a bit by noon and we left.
Dana Point. The next port south was a place we had enjoyed visiting by land when Geoff and family (see Marina Del Rey, above) were living in Laguna Nigel. And the bonus was that our daughter Liane drove over from Las Vegas for a weekend visit as her crazy parents were sailing off to some foreign country. Here we met a few more boats headed for the "Ha-Ha" and enjoyed the hospitality of the Dana West Yacht Club.
After the weekend we motored on to the south, destination Oceanside. On the way we were stopped by your friends and mine, Homeland Security, with 6 beefy guys driving their 1000-HP speedboat. A brief conversation with them ("Where you goin'?) led us to the conclusion that they had no idea that 175 sailboats were about to depart San Diego for Mexico. I guess they don't really care who leaves...
We arrived in a thick fog; couldn't see 100 ft. Thanks to the new electronics (we can overlay radar on the chartplotter) we drove right in (very slowly, of course). No fog inside the harbor! We attended the Oceanside Yacht Club's Friday night mixer and stayed just one night before the last hop to San Diego
After one night at a private boat marina ($88.00) we scored a berth at the San Diego customs dock "marina", where you can stay for 10 days... that was all we needed until the start of the famous Baja Ha-Ha cruisers' rally to Cabo San Lucas.
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