S/V Northern Lights

Vessel Name: Northern Lights
Vessel Make/Model: J/42 - #61
Hailing Port: Seattle
Crew: Rod and Mary Deyo
29 May 2015
25 April 2015 | Mazatlan, Sinola, Mexico
18 April 2015
27 January 2015 | Banderas Bay
18 January 2015 | La Cruz de Huanacaxtle, Nayarit, Mexico
09 January 2015 | Nuevo Vallarta, Nayaret MX
09 January 2015 | Nuevo Vallarta, Nayaret MX
28 December 2014 | Nuevo Vallarta, Nayaret MX
25 December 2014 | La Cruz and Neuvo Vallarta
15 November 2014 | Marina de La Paz
22 October 2014 | San Diego
17 October 2014 | San Diego
Recent Blog Posts
27 June 2015

Yanmar engine repairs - Replacing the oil cooler

Before heading to Chula Vista where we left the boat for the summer, we spent a couple of days anchored in Glorietta Bay as a nice break after working on the boat. While inspecting the engine before leaving Shelter Cove Marian, I had noticed a slight seepage around the oil cooler raw water intake at [...]

23 June 2015

San Diego - Shelter Island, Glorietta Bay, Chula Vista

After finishing the Baja Bash, we stayed at Shelter Island to work on the boat and haul-out at Driscoll's. We made a coouple of trips to Glorietta Bay in Coronado for a total of five nights. Before we headed back to the NW, we took the boat to Chula Vista where it will be moored for the summer.

29 May 2015

29 May 2015

Mazatlan to San Diego – Southern Crossing and Baja Bash 7 May – 26 May 2015

Mazatlan to San Diego - Southern Crossing and Baja Bash 7 May - 26 May 2015.

25 April 2015 | Mazatlan, Sinola, Mexico

Fixing a leaky hull seam in Mazatlan

Hull seam repairs on Northern Lights being done in Mazatlan, where the seam area forward of the keel was the source of the small, persistent mast step leak from flaws in the filler. The original seam filler is being ground out, the area dried, then it will be epoxied and covered with two layers of glass [...]

18 April 2015

La Cruz to Mazatlan

Photo is Isla Maria Madre to west near sunset.

Cape Scott to Banderas Bay - Summary

09 January 2015 | Nuevo Vallarta, Nayaret MX
Rod Deyo
We completed the initial trip from Seattle to the west coast of Mexico, arriving at La Cruz in Banderas Bay on Christmas Eve. We are now staying in the Paradise Village Marina in Nuevo Vallarta. The weather here has been great, usually clear with a few clouds when either frontal systems pass to the north or the ITCZ kicks off a tropical jet. Temperatures have been 70-80's during the day and nice cool 60's at night.

The voyage started with Mary and I going around Vancouver Island in July (see Around Vancouver Island in July, then coming back to Seattle for a few weeks in August to finish preparing the boat for the trip down the coast to San Diego in late August. The trip to San Diego took four weeks and a day, stopping at:
Port Townsend,
Port Angeles,
Neah Bay,
Newport, OR,
Crescent City,
San Francisco (South Beach Marina),
Half-Moon Bay,
Oxnard (Channel Islands Marina),
Marina Del Rey,
Catalina (Descanso Bay and Avalon),
Dana Point,
and finally arriving in San Diego in late September. Details are in our blog Seattle to San Diego.

Generally we stayed 10-30 nm offshore, where we were outside the 60 fathom line to avoid crab pots but inside the northbound traffic lanes further offshore. We saw many fishing boats, especially at night, but few other vessels.

We spent the time in San Diego working on the boat, upgrading the Simrad autopilot and adding an Iverson bimini (special thanks to Jason Iverson for getting this done on very short notice!!) with Solbian solar panels from BRJ Solutions in Seattle mounted on the top.

We left San Diego as part of the 2014 Baja Ha Ha in late October, arriving in Cabo San Lucas in early November after an extended stay by the fleet in Bahia Tortugas waiting to see what hurricane Vance would do. After the Baja Ha Ha, we headed north up the the eastern Baja coast to San Jose del Cabo, Los Frailes, Los Muertos, and finally to La Paz (this part of the trip is covered in the post From San Diego to La Paz).

We spent a couple of weeks in La Paz getting used to living in Mexico before heading up for ten days into the Sea of Cortez to Puerto Escondido and Loreto (see La Paz to Loreto). From there we returned to La Paz for a week before crossing the Sea to Mazatlan. We stayed in Mazatlan for a very pleasant 8 days before finishing the trip down to Banderas Bay. We'll be staying here in Paradise Village and La Cruz for a while until we figure out where we'll head next (see La Paz to Banderas Bay).

Some special highlights (good and bad) of the trip:

Passing Solander Island and the Brooks Peninsula in fog and gales,
Otter rafts near Tahsis, BC,
Riding a gale in the Straits of Juan de Fuco from Neah Bay to Port Angeles,
Avoiding large pods of Humpback whales off the Oregon coast,
Racing severe gales into Crescent City,
Staying in San Francisco's South Beach and going to the South Beach Cafe,
Seeing pelicans in Half-Moon Bay,
A night rocking and rolling in Descanso Bay Catalina,
Discovering Black-Crowned Night Herons in San Diego,
Seeing sea turtles south of Bahia Tortugas,
Stepping on jumping squid that landed on deck during the night,
Seeing Magnificent Frigate Birds, jumping Manta Rays, and Blue-footed Boobies in the Sea of Cortez,
Catching a pair of size 36 brown polyester pants on the prop off the harbor entrance to Marina Mazatlan,
Passing over floating long-lines south of Isla Isabela,
Meeting many very nice boating folks along the way, especially the helpful cruiser communities in La Paz, Mazatlan and La Cruz,
The very patient and wonderful people of Mexico!
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