This was stolen from Sea Talk, the newsletter of the Pacific Seacraft Owner’s Association, with the help of Debi Davis. It looks like they edited it some. We thought you might want to know what Jim and Lynn are up to, even if they did not write us.
San Diego is a great place to finish all the things you need to do to get ready for an extended cruise. There are lots of chandleries on and near Shelter Island where we moored for nearly two months and the public transportation is easy to figure out. Fortunately, we frequently had the use of a car, generously provided by my sister and brother-in-law.
...at long last we actually did loosen the dock lines and departed San Diego on Sunday afternoon, January 10th. We had a royal send off from my sister and her husband who came to video our departure from the dock, as well as from the end of Shelter Island, and even from the Pt. Loma lighthouse. Jan had a big flag to wave which was easy to spot from the channel. We waved back with a green dish towel.
On our way out, we passed Dennis Conner being towed in on Stars And Stripes after an afternoon practice session. I think we got several good pictures. Maybe we will see him in Auckland.
We made an overnight passage to Ensenada where we stopped just long enough to complete the “check in” process. Some cruisers avoid checking themselves by staying at marinas and paying $50 to have it done by marina staff. But we like to walk around and are not in a big hurry, plus it is kind of fun to see how Mexicans do things. Our general impression is that everything is about 20 years or more behind in terms of technology.
Ensenada is a port town with two big cranes for loading freighters and many fishing vessels. We heard from a cruiser friend that some fishing boats are not lit at night and Jim did notice one on our approach to Ensenada. We noticed a lot of manual labor, people working with shovels and wheel barrows.
We left Ensenada by noon and sailed / motored non-stop to Bahia Magdalena, Mag Bay in cruiser lingo. We had originally thought we would stop at Isla Cedros and Turtle Bay which are about halfway down the Baja Peninsula, but we were still wearing our heavy poly pro jackets and counting our blessings that we were a northwest boat with a functional heater. We had great success checking into the radio nets and kept listening to all the local weather reports and heard that the water was 10 degrees warmer half way to Cabo. And it was true!! After passing Isla Cedros, we broke out the sun shower and have not had to turn the heater on again.
We timed our arrival for the entrance to the bay for early morning, but after a beautiful clear night, the entrance was shrouded in fog. The entrance is over three miles wide and not particularly tricky, but radar is very useful at times like this. The GPS position is not always accurate, or the charts of some areas are not particularly precise, but the radar gives good feedback as to where the boat is relative to shore.
The best thing we did was prolong our stay in San Diego. Not only did we allow ourselves some extra time to prepare for an extended cruise, but we timed our departure to coincide with the migratory habits of the gray whales. Bahia Magdalena is their destination from the Bering Sea and one was there to greet us as we negotiated our entrance in the fog. This morning, Sunday, January 17, we were enjoying a cup of coffee tea in the cockpit after breakfast when one surfaced within 50 feet. We were surprised to see one so close in shallow water. There are dolphins and sea lions everywhere and pelicans doing their kamikaze dives. The fog around the entrance burns off, although here inside the bay it was sunny all day.
The village is isolated from the mainland, so there are only a few vehicles, all trucks which are used to haul things from place to place. There is a desalinization plant and the little houses have 4-5 gallon barrels of water outside the doors. A generator supplies electricity. The village population is made up of young families. We did not see any elderly people.
The houses are very simple structures and many are painted bright colors. The construction is very primitive. Some are of cinder blocks, but many are simple wood frames with corrugated roofing which is also the interior ceiling.
There is no pavement and there are many dead trucks and a few dead appliances. There is a fair amount of litter and the remains of burned garbage piles. It is sort of like a desert version of La Push for those of you who have ventured to this Washington coast outpost.
January 25 : We departed Bahia Magdalena in the afternoon with one other boat, Peggy Love single-handed by Chris, with Little Heron, single-handed by Colin from the Queen Charlotte Islands, leaving later that same evening. We kept in radio contact with the single handers during the night and advised Chris each time we saw another vessel to be sure he was still alert.
Early in the morning the wind built up to greater than 20 knots with waves of 6 to 8 feet. Chris had some problems with his autohelm during the night and also became distressed because his depth sounder indicated that he was in shallow water. We copied his position, which was very close to ours, and rechecked the chart. But there was no shallow water in the area. We tried to reassure him that occasionally the depth sounder will give erratic readings when the water is turbulent. He seemed to calm down, but single handing can be very stressful when the weather gets rough and things seem to go wrong.
Two cruise ships overtook us during the morning. We made radio contact to make sure they saw us among all the whitecaps. They were very courteous. The wind and waves continued all day, but in the early evening, the wind died. Chris managed to fix his autohelm, but had fallen behind us and Little Heron.
We motored the remainder of the way to Cabo. It was 10 at night when we arrived. Fortunately, the anchorage is a very wide bay and a half moon provided enough light for us to find a spot to anchor. We left the radio on when we climbed into the V-berth for some uninterrupted sleep. Just before dawn, Chris radioed for assistance and Jim was able to guide him in by flashing our spotlight at him.
Although Colin on Little Heron made the passage successfully, I really wonder about single handing overnight. Chris was obviously very tired and seemed very anxious on the radio. Their girlfriends are flying in, so we are very relieved to know they will have company.
January 28 : Today we are congratulating ourselves for once again successfully finding our way through the maze of Mexican boating bureaucracy. So what if it took us from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Finally, it is time for lunch and a margarita!!! And, no, we still do not wish we were back at work.
Tomorrow we plan to do e-mail at the local Internet Cafe. This message should keep everyone busy until we get to La Paz! Then we will tell you about the fun times we had in Cabo.
Adios, amigos!
Jim and Lynn Rodeheaver, Windchime