Oct More

After motoring 4 hours yesterday the winds filled in and had a great sail till early this morning when we got to the North Cape of Cedros Island. Just at Daybreak we passed a anchorage and we decide to put in for a bit of exploring.

Had a 5 Tuna day yesterday. Cleaned 4 and let one go so we are having enough tune for a while. These where small ones about 7-8 lbs just right.

Just dropped off our crew at the rocky beach at the anchorage. The seas are calm with a small break close to the beach. It is however rocky with lots of large smooth rocks. The water is glassy clear and we can see the fish swimming. Water temp 70F or 21C.

The beach landing was spectacular and all got totally soaked. Crawling over the slippery stones with the waves throwing you off balance. All part of the adventure if it was easy then every one was here. Reward: Exploring a area where few foot have tread. The rocks are showing traces of copper and iron ore.

Looks like the wind is filling in so we probably proceed when our crew is back.

This morning the seas laid down. The wind is getting very light and the motion is letting the sails slap. So we are forced to turn the engine on and see if the sea will settled down a bit more or the wind will fill in again. Lost a large fishing lure overnight. 80 lbs test leader so it was a big one or the sharks got at it. Also the first squid on deck. Everyone feels a lot better this morning. Destination Cedros at this time unless the anchorage is rough.

Oct 28

Departed around 0930 from the dock. Two cruise ships in town so time to leave. Weather looks great and indication are for a nice sailing wind. Nice and sunny and we enjoyed the view of leaving the harbor. A large swell breaking on the Breakwater and a large swell in the Bay. But no wind at all. So we motored out to sea and 30 minutes out found a breeze so we set sail and turned off the engine.

Wind increasing to 20 Kts with large swell and we are close hauled trying to make Punta Banda. As we got closer the winds increased to 30 Kts or so with some impressive large swells. The waves break wildly on the Rocks 1/2 mile off the beam and we shudder to think what it would be like to be in that.

Rounded the point and eased the sail while the wind increases to 30-35 Kts with a horrible rough sea. All are queasy as the motion is wild and rough. This continued all the way till early Thursday.

Had a fantastic run till Friday morning. Thursday afternoon tacked out again. Again we found ourself's way out there playing in the big wind and big swells. A bit tiring as we had to hold on all the time and things where flying from time to time.

Helen's Coffee mug went on a rampage and self destructed some where on the cabin floor. Thursday's night salads where also canceled. Joanne had it all ready in the bowls we eat from when we are offshore. These are medium size plastic bowls designed to keep our food from spilling. They where all ready made in the galley and we where just ready to hand them out after saying grace and we took a deep roll to Starboard at the same time the bow went down in a trough. The bowls and content went airborne and salad all over the galley.
Joanne canceled salads after that and we just had our potatoes, meat and veggies. Nobody complained.

Friday morning at 0500 hrs we jibed the boat on a Easterly course and set strait for Ensenada again. During the day the weather moderated and by morning we where in a gentle swell with winds of 18 Kts. The winds continued shutting down and last night we ended up turning the diesel on as we lost even the hint of wind. A thick fog settled in and during the night we proceeded cautiously under power with the radar running. Around 0200 hrs just when entering the continuously economic zone we encountered the Mexican fishing fleet. This was interesting as they are behaving much different than just a power driven vessel in fog. Got around all that but not without some fancy maneuvering and blasting the horn many times. We try to stay at least a mile away in these conditions but how you get away from a vessel that whatever you do gets closer?

This morning we 41 NM out from our Ensenada way point. So we arrive probably sometime during the day. The plan is to anchor of Isla Todos Santos and go in on Monday to get Clearance into Ensenada.

Have a fantastic sail. Winds 25 to 35 Kts and nice big seas. Clear and sunny. Yesterday had a once in a lifetime encounter with 3 Blue whales. We where sailing along at around 7 Kts. Neil noticed a whale right beside the boat 20 feet away from inside. We all went on deck and discovered the whales where playing with us and took turns swimming under and very close under the stern. We got sprayed on by there breath. Than they fell back a little bit and came up charging back surfing in the large waves. Absolutely fantastic. They stayed about 20 minutes or so. Also noticed them turning them upside down showing of there bellies. Then they where gone bored by us going so slow I guess.

All is well. We have to hold on as we are rolling a bit. Making great progress but expect to slow down a bit ones closer to mainland again. We where way out some 90 Nm from shore. Now we are on a Easterly courses strait for Ensenada.

Left SF yesterday around 1100 hrs. Initial light winds and against the tide we motored outside the gate and set sail just past the South tower. A low NW swell and NW winds. Slowly the wind increased and by last night we are in 20 -25 Kts great sailing. Our new crew is doing well. Every body has found there sea legs and all did their watches overnight. We are making great progress but found ourselves pushed out to sea. This morning we jibed and are now coming back in at a course of 130T.

The shaft generator is purring away but again does not keep up with the load. This time it is much larger but the RPM's are to low I think. At 8 kts it is doing good but at lower speeds it does nor produce enough. More tinkering ahead . Will try a smaller pulley on the alternator.

Our stay in SF was relaxing. A week in Alameda, than a few day in Sausalito and the last few days in Aquatic Park down town SF. A great spot next to where all the action is.

Looks like we are in for nice sailing condition the next few days

After arriving under the gate we proceeded at once to Oakland's Jack London square. Customs came with 4 persons strong, initially making me wonder but turned out to be just 2 trainees tagging along. After a short efficient check of passport and boat papers we where send on our way.

We previous stayed in Fortmann Marina and found that they had a slip for us so we treating our self's to a few days at the dock. They are reasonable at $20 per day including power. So we can give our genset a rest and the wash machine a workout. Joanne scoured the boat from stem to stern for anything loose or fast she could possible drowned in the wash machine. The boat looks like a Chinese Laundromat at times like that. These days we are more and more mainstream as natural drying of clothes is becoming political correct. (We don't care as long as it dries)

Helen did not make it on time to get the video she intended to make us passing through the gate but made up for that by bringing us the parts we needed to rebuild the shaft generator. The stator and rectifier where burned out. This time we got a stator with potential 40 AMPS output so if all works well we can now be totally sail long distances without any fossil fuel use whatsoever. On our long passages we sail but still need a fair amount of power and we need to run a diesel generator a few hours per day to keep the batteries up. The generator was installed last year but we had some problems with the belt pulleys. This was remedied this spring by making a new aluminum one and increasing the size to 8". Another problem was that we could not turn it off and this may have caused it to burn out. Now all is ready to go and after a considerable investment we can start saving money and fuel. Payback something like a few years now as the cost of alterations and repairs has pushed the cost up triple the estimated. (Sounds familiar?)

Alameda is a old waterfront area where a lot of sailing ships where build, repaired and based from. The many Victorian house testify to her nautical historic past. Many sea captains' had these housed build and we enjoy looking at the array of styles and colors. Truly a fascinating town to visit.

We are now sitting at the dock in the poring rain. The bay area is now getting a large pacific storm with high winds and lots of rain. Ironically this rain is very much needed however it is creation floods and slides. California is a tough place to live. Fires, floods, slides and Schwarzenegger the locals say. After the storms is through we will proceed to Sausalito and Aquatic park

Arrived last night in Drakes bay at 2100 hrs. Yesterday the sea turned glassy calm and we had to motored the whole day from 0600 hrs. Overall not to bad as we had great sailing for all most all the rest of the trip.

After a good night rest we are ready to proceed and our ETA at the Golden Gate is noon today. We have made arrangements at Fortman Marina in Alemeda to stay for a few days. Crew all eager to celebrate arrival under the Golden Gate. Always a thrill.

This morning at 0600 hrs all winds left us. No other choice than to turn on the engine and make tracks for PT Reyes. ETA sometime tonight.

It is sunny and getting warm. This is going to be sunbathing weather today.
The ocean is getting like glassy but still has a bit of a swell.

We plan to get to the Golden Gate tomorrow noon to give Helen a chance to film us from the bridge. We will plan for the North side to make it easy.

Then to Oakland to do our formal entry in the country.

Much better now since the pesky little squalls have left. We had another night of them Saturday night but on Sunday the skies cleared and we are under a high pressure system again.

We made decent progress 5- 6 Kts the last 24 hours but we have been Gybing back and forth to keep the wind on the quarter and the sails full. This way we make a few more miles but we keep the rig longer. With rough seas the slapping and banging is too much.

Friday afternoon we got a large Tuna. At least 20 LBS. Joanne was delighted and ordered to stop fishing as we have more tuna than we know what to do with.
Cleaning fish normally the skippers job and it is a real mess. There is much blood flying around and the cleanup is at least as big a job as filleting the fish. This all when the boat rolls.

The next few days the weather still looks good. A Wednesday arrival is still the goal.

Yesterday was a great day. Sailed all day and got a great big tuna around noon. All have found there sea legs and doing watches etc. Many small showers coming through yesterday. No real wind in them till last night when we got slammed by 40 KTS in a squall. We had the a few seconds to figure out what was happening but within two minutes or so reefed her down to bikini size sails.

Since we are pestered with them and have been handling sails many times. The seas are about 10-11' with Northerly winds 20 -25 Kts. Great sailing and we are making decent time. At this rate should arrive sometime on Wednesday. The latest Grip files look very favorable with 20-26 Kts winds all the way in.

Left yesterday morning Port Renfrew and crossed the Juan De Fuca Strait with no wind but still a good swell running from the SW. The left over of the weather we avoided by staying in port that last night. Lots of small sports fisher out and we set our fishing line overboard in the of chance we get a fish. Normally slow speed and a down rigger are required but we just tie a line to the rail with a hootchie on the end.

Ken was tending the line and we got a salmon within 15 minutes. A good size at that and after cleaning it in the cockpit had about 7 lbs of nice steaks. Fresh Salmon for dinner. It was good.

Set sail in the afternoon and struggled to get away from the coast. Often winds near shore are fickle and once one gets away from the shore effect the sailing starts in earnest. Overnight motored for one hour as the swell make the slapping of the sails unbearable. But since we sail and right now NW 15- 18 with 7' Westerly swell. Making 6-7 KTS.

All are trying to get our sea legs (back) we have become soft being a few months in the sheltered areas.