Unless the revolution sparks up after the upcoming election this is seriously the last post of 2020. We are 30 minutes from our Dana Point slip and finishing almost 10 months aboard Victoria. With the exception of a brief stopover in August, we’ve abeen on the move since mid-January having covered just over 4000 miles. To say we are bringing this adventure to a close with mixed emotions is a huge understatement. If it weren’t for the uncertainty from COVID, and the need for some serious rehab on Victoria, there’s a very good chance we’d be preparing for Mexico. Our last 11 weeks hanging in Catalina, with 4 brief trips to Long Beach or Newport, has helped both of us begin our “transition” from the Sea of Cortez to the SoCal “lifestyle...”. Oh well - ready or not.....

After a couple of weeks at home we headed out to Catalina, via Long Beach where diesel was 2.62/gal out the door, for 2 1/2 months. While it's good to be in home waters it's very hard not to long for the simplicity and beauty of Mexico. Still have some major maintenance items to address and a few repair do address this coming winter. We have started talking about a trip to the Delta next year so there's some research to undertake before deciding for certain especially with grandson #2 due to arrive in about 6 weeks or so!
Still wondering if Mexico #5 is over the horizon....

We are a few miles over "The Line" having completed the bash and wrapping up our 4th extended Mexico cruise and cleared into the US via the CBP ROAM app - very cool! This bash was by far the best of my 5 (4th for LJ, 3rd for Junior). We had some long days with very early departure times but only 1 overnight. The longest run was from Muertos to Bahia Santa Maria (appx 280 miles). We had about 6 hours, in total, of really nasty weather, 1 full day of unpleasant conditions (fog and lots of rolling but no slamming) with the rest being fine. During our 16 day passage from Loreto, we got off the boat 4 times; Agua Verde, Puerto Los Cabos (fuel stop only), Bahia de Asunción and Ensenada. Bahia de Asunción and Cedros Village were highlights on this northbound trip while sitting in Turtle Bay for 4 days unable to leave the boat would be considered "suckified! (Jack-ism)" This trip, like the previous, was filled with great times. In Turtle, for example, we GROSSLY over tipped the kids in a panga taking our trash - it was a scene right out of that noteworthy Ikea commercial "START THE CAR, START THE CAR.." as the little guy with the money tried to signal his amigos to stop talking and to haul-ass before the stupid gringos realized what they had done. Priceless. Then there was a guy from the very small fishing village at the north end of Cedros who wanted to borrow a ratchet and 10mm socket to repair a panga motor. I gave the tools to him expecting that was the last I'd see of either in spite of him telling us in his broken English he'd be back. Will he did return and, with a big smile, told us good luck on our trip. That simple example typifies every experience Katie and I had over the 6 months spent roaming the Sea of Cortez. Even as they suffer the horrible impacts of COVID and the related shutdown of their economy, the Mexican people we met were so genuine and helpful one feels somewhat guilty or embarrassed, if not angry, over the "climate" emanating from our country. I'll leave it at that.... Katie and I did many new things on this trip which contributed to that feeling of excitement and anticipation we felt each day. We traveled over 3000 nautical miles (about 3,500 miles), used more diesel than I'm willing to admit, made a bunch of new friends and visited places we would very much like to see again - will we, hard to say after spending 16 days of traveling.... And those 16 days have been an adventure. Lobster Jack finally broke the Victoria no-fish streak landing several Dorado, Skip Jack and a bunch of bass while on anchor. He and Junior are great traveling mates and expertly carry their share aboard Victoria! Katie and I thank them both for helping to bring the boat home to Dana Point as we close out #4. We hope the peace and tranquility we have enjoyed stays with us for sometime! Gracias por los recuerdos y tu amistad. Espero visitar pronto mi viejo amigo

Conditions between Cedros and Ensenada continued to be crappy most of the day. Forecast, of course, called for ideal traveling conditions! Off of Jeronimo I received a text from my brother-in-law commenting on wind north of San Quintin. After a quick evaluation, we abandoned our plan for a straight to Dana Point passage in favor of stopping in San Quintin. Glad we did. On the way to Ensenada this morning in pea soup fog and 8 to 10' rollers but no wind. We'll spend the night IN THE MARINA and hit it to Dana early Sunday morning

After spending a peaceful night at Cedros Village we moved up island to the northern anchorage to stage for our trip north. The anchorage had lots of roll and a couple a hundred Sea Lions barking all night. Lots of pups swimming all over the place. Good stop but wouldn’t do it again. Left Cedros at 0400 for Dana Point and soon enjoyed the usual Cedros north end spanking in the dark fog. But, as is typical, 2 hours north the sea conditions improved but remained bumpy and foggy for hours.

When a boat leaves Mexico you're suppose to “clear out” of the country with a Port Captain. Most northbound boats, including us, typically do that in Ensenada. Ensenada is a nice place but presently is considered a COVID hotspot and, because we'd arrive on a Saturday, we'd be stuck there for 3 days. The “process” usually takes 2 days without a weekend. Needless to say, for many reasons, we wanted to avoid clearing out in Ensenada on this trip if possible. Having heard it was possible to clear with a Port Captain at Cedros Village, we decided to give it a whirl. Our weather window starts Friday so we left Turtle Bay on Wednesday for Cedros Village. When we arrived our efforts to raise the PC by radio failed so we decided to anchor and investigate. Before dropping the hook however the crew of a very large Mexican fishing boat waived us over and invited us to side tie. Once we were secured they summoned the PC by cellphone - 10 minutes later he was at the dock collecting our papers which he took back to his office to process. While he was gone we gave the 6 member fishing boat crew better than a case of beer and a couple of spools of fishing line - their cook brought us slices of freshly made pizza. 45 minutes later the PC returned with our approved documents and authorized us to anchor for the night in their small harbor. Much easier and faster than Ensenada. Cedros Village is under a stay at home order so no going ashore which is safest for everyone! Tomorrow we'll move 15 miles up island to be positioned for our straight through trip (hopefully) to home on Friday.

After 4 days in Turtle Bay waiting for improved weather we are on our way to Cedros Village where we hope to check out of Mexico. In TB we were prohibited from going ashore because of the COVID stay at home order in that portion of Baja. There are no reported cases of the virus in TB and minimal medical services. Two days ago a sailboat arrived with a crew of 4 (3 men, 1 woman). The boat is a sailing school vessel; 3 of 4 aboard are “students” paying to do the Bash - WTH! Shortly after our visit to their boat, the woman sent a text asking to join our crew offing to pay and “earn” her way. Needless to say we don't have room for some unknown crew with who knows what baggage and told her so. She persisted with her request until she observed us loading our dinghy on the deck (unless she's going to swim over there’s no means to join us...). My hunch is she and the others were sold some BS story about sailing the Pacific Coast of Baja and visiting the beautiful coastal villages only to find themselves bashing north. We (the 3 of us) left this morning at 0700. Plan is to checkout today, move to the north end of Isla Cedros tomorrow and launch north on Friday (8/31) @ 0500. Intention is to go all the way to Dana Point but the weather gets to decide that one!

From Asunción we moved another 55 miles to Turtle Bay where we will sit for 6 or 7 days because of big wind and crummy sea conditions north of us. Upon arrival Enrique's fuel boat immediately came to see how much diesel we needed. They were not happy when I said none! Their price has been reported to be as high as $8US per gallon, which is why we and most others have been seeking options, but they offered it this day for 34p per liter ($5.53 gal) which is much improved but still considerably higher than any other place we have found. Word is Enrique is feeling the pressure of not selling as much fuel and from the local merchants who rightly believe his greedy tactics are causing boaters, and their money, to go elsewhere - that's true. When we told the fuel boat we did not need diesel, they became indigent demanding to know where we fueled and telling us we were not permitted ashore because of COVID precautions. We have a few boat chores to undertake this morning and plan to “test” that prohibition this afternoon or tomorrow. At this point we intend on moving to Isla Cedros early Friday (7/31) to check out of Mexico with the Port Captain there, anchor for the night at the northern end of the island and, at 0400 August 1, depart for a straight through passage to Dana Point (340 miles). We will, hopefully, check into the US via the CBP ROAM smartphone App when we are nearing San Diego. And, of course, that plan is subject to change due to weather.

In Loreto I purchased eight 50 liter fuel jugs (105 US gals - 800 libs when full...) which we filled in PLC. That gives us enough full to easily reach Ensenada and probably San Diego depending on sea conditions. Another 50 to 100 gallons would mean we could go to Dana Point without needing fuel - more options. Since our next stop was Asuncion, I contacted a lady who I'd heard could arrange fuel. Sure enough - not only that but it was by far the cheapest we have bought anywhere in Mexico - 21p per liter (3.45US) delivered to the boat for $20US! I gave Juan (fuel guy) and his deck hand a couple of beers, a nice tip and my 8 fuel jugs - he was happy and so are we.

The weather forecast predicted good traveling for the next 3 days south of Turtle Bay with very crappy conditions north of that location for at least the next week. Our plan, based on that, was to hop our way to TB over the next 3 days. First stop was San Juanico (90 miles). This leg was bumpy for the first 2 hours then beautiful. Next was 55 miles to Abreojos. The ride up was very nice however the forecast was now calling for afternoon winds in the 20 range. We first stopped at a spot in Abreojos where I have anchored several time but it didn't feel right so we moved on to a second spot 3 miles away. Thank goodness! This spot was further away from the point and offered much better protection but even at that we had 27 knots of wind coming off the beach actually kicking up some sizable breaking waves. We could see the first anchorage with BIG waves rolling through with the tops being blown off - whew,