I Sail Away

There are still a lot of details to sort out in the next few days and writing time has been pretty sparse. The Baja Ha-ha activities are still happening, and we are sorting through customs and various paperwork. Right now, we have a slip in the marina in the middle of it all. The restrooms and showers are wonderful, we are in the middle of the night-life and close to everything. In another few days, that is going to change . . . .

I will be moving the boat to an anchorage right outside of the resorts and using the dinghy to get back and forth to town. There are currently roughly 100 boats anchored out in the bay, although in a few days, they will start to peel out for their various destinations. Some will sail towards La Paz, Mazatlan, or Puerto Vallarta, and others will begin sailing against the winds on the delivery back to colder climates (we call it the Baja Bash). Still others will sail down closer to the equator in preparation for their “Puddle Jump” to the Marquesas.  I will stay here in Cabo San Lucas on my 40-foot floating city.

While still sorting and officiating all of the things that need to be officiated, I tempt you with this–another stunning sunset on the Pacific Ocean.

Both of my brothers went through a very large effort to help me assemble some fishing equipment for the trip. Jeff sent a big package of plugs and gave me some lessons on exactly how to tie the knots, how to troll them behind the boat, etc. Greg sent his fishing reel. I pulled together the rest of the bits.

On the last 170 miles to Bahia de Tortuga, we assembled the fishing gear and strung it out behind the boat. At first, we dragged a pink, squid-looking thing behind us because the previous day, one had washed aboard. After about 45 minutes, I decided to change to a cedar plug.

Within 30 minutes, I got a big hit (it felt big because we were doing 8 knots under sail) and proceeded in pulling in a perfect-sized 15-lb Yellowfin Tuna. After we got it aboard, I cleaned it (it had been feeding on similar sized fish), and we immediately sauteed 4 filets in olive oil with some onions. We put four more filets in the refrigerator, and for dinner, I made foil-pouched yellowfin with carrots, onions, potatoes, garlic, bell peppers, and lemons. Mmmmm.

Thanks Greg and Jeff for feeding us in the middle of the Pacific–that we awesome!

Late in every afternoon, there is a 7:30pm Happy Hour on the Single Side-Band Radio (SSB) and sailors get together and talk about things. There was a big discussion about the weather because a storm was supposedly blowing into our path. We had some repairs to make to the head (on-board toilet), and no one could bear the thought of repairing it while sloshing around in big seas. So, we changed our course and headed in towards the shore to a little anchorage called Bahia de San Quintan.

The Cruising Guide described this as a “rolly” anchorage. We found what we thought was a nice place to anchor, and we set the hook for the boat. There were a few others around us, but several other boats were moored over on the other side of the bay.

Once on the hook, part of the crew finished the head repairs, one crew completed miscellanous tasks around the boat, and I cooked a nice dinner (pesto chicken burritos with onions, garlic, tomatoes and cheese), cracked a bottle of wine, and sat around the dining table together.

Afterwards, we had a little dessert and some after dinner drinks, and then headed to bed.

A couple of times during the night, I got up to check the status to the boat (as did the others). The wind had shifted and we were getting these strange rolling waves during the night.

Around 4:30am, I heard the roar of a wave . . . which proceeded in crashing right onto the boat and into the cockpit. I was thrown flying from my bunk and onto the cabin sole. (Not so nice wake-up call). We all got up to survey any damage (there was none) and make a plan for the day . . . and, we decided that rather than take another hour to reset the anchor somewhere else in the bay that two would volunteer to take the first watch, and we would move forward. I volunteered, and we were off!

All-in-all, about 60 boats moored in Bahia de San Quintan. I hope we were the only ones with THAT problem.

And, were off! A few more minutes to the Mexican border. Weve got the spinnaker up, and we are sailing.

More soon!

My apologies for the lack of updates–there are some wonderful and crazy stories to tell from the delivery leg.

But, right now, we have 40 minutes until the boat departs for the starting line.

Pictures and stories to come–I promise!