Sea Day 28-29 12/01-12/02/2016 Cabo San Lucas to La Paz, Mexico​

We went for a swim after arriving yesterday, then we went into Cabo for drinks and dinner. Steve and Janny were our taxi via dinghy and our tour guides. Cabo San Lucas is very tourist centered. There were crazy party boats all lit up cruising the bay all evening into the night. Little businesses lining the beach played music all day and late into the night, every area playing different music. The dominant music we heard was based on which way the wind was blowing us at anchor. In the morning we went to the Arcos and took a ton of pictures and video. Tim and Steve went into town and purchased good bottom paint for the boats and Tim was not able to find any sort of access to the autopilot motor. We had to make a choice at this point because weather conditions were favorable for travel around the bottom of the Baja and then north into the Sea of Cortez to get to La Paz. The winds were due to make the Sea calm. It is a flat out motor sail and at least a 24 hour run time. The next good window would be in 4 days’ time, did we want to just stay in Cabo San Lucas for 4 days or head out with Steve and Janny, knowing we would have to hand steer? We only had one night’s sleep from our run down to Cabo.

We decided to leave Cabo and head to La Paz where we would be in a marina and could relax. The seas were pretty rough as we left out about 1230 after filling our fuel tank with our jerry cans, we had one 6 gallon can left in case we needed some more during our travels. The current was also very strong and travel was slow for about 4 hours. Tim and I employed our 2 hour sleep shifts again. We are pretty tired.

We tried sailing a few times as the wind picked up so we could use Claude the wind vane. Sailing worked but our speed was so slow meaning the trip would take 2 nights instead of one. We kept on motoring. As we approached Isla Espiritu Santo we had a very tight transit through the Canal de San Lorenzo where there are reefs on both sides and there is danger of running aground. I cut my sleep schedule short so that Tim’s sleep time would have him up about 30 minutes from our arrival at the canal. Tim was up and moving, preparing to come up about 1030. Our next task was to dip the tank to see how much fuel was left as we had been motoring about 22 hours. We know we burn 0.6 to 1 gallon an hour depending on the sea state and current. Tim stepped into the head, and suddenly the motor cut out. Yep, the tank was empty! We should have checked before we switched sifts. There was wind, so I unfurled the jib and began sailing at 3 knots, while Tim finished getting ready to come up and after dipping the tank to see it was indeed empty.

We then heaved-to (that method of “stopping”), filled the tank with our last jerry can of 6 gallons. Tim primed the lift pump to get the engine restarted and it sputtered back to life. The wind was not good for sailing as it was on our nose now, being very shifty. We furled the jib and returned to slow motor sailing to conserve our fuel. We did not know if the 6 gallons would be enough to get us all the way to La Paz. Steve and Janny had told us to stop in Ballandra Bay in the morning because they wanted to snorkel there. We used our Delorme In Reach Satellite device to text them to see if they would wait for us in Ballandra Bay so we could get some more fuel. They texted back to say they were already in La Paz because the wind was up and it just pushed them in. We realized that La Paz wasn’t as far as we thought once we cleared San Lorenzo Canal. 

We pulled into the gas dock at Costabaja Marina to check into the marina about 1530. We attempted to get fuel but the nozzle was too large for out tank opening and the wind was an abnormal wind from an unfavorable direction, rocking our boat hard against the dock. We ended up having the fuel guys just fill our jerry cans and then we will put it in the tank on our own later in our slip. 

We are moored opposite Steve and Janny (whom we have to thank for bringing us into this beatiful place) and the community here in the marina is nice. We are so glad to now just stop for a while. Tank up on sleep and relax for a period of time. We also have to get the new motor for Otto and then see what other things we need to add to our boat like solar. Maybe now after 6 very intense months of learning and preparation and traveling down the coast we will actually vacation or recreate and rest. Now to work on learning Spanish! Hello La Paz!

The people here in La Paz are so nice, they are gracious and are very willing to engage in mutual language exchange. Most of them are learning English and  "yo practico Español" so they help us along. There are some really nice restaurants here at the Costa Baja resort, Italian, Sushi and others. 

Sea Days 26-27 11/29-11/30/2016 Bahia Magdalena to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico​

We were so relieved to have a couple days at anchor in Mag Bay. The rest was greatly needed from the incredibly confused seas. When the waves are coming from what feels like every direction and the boat is relentlessly rocking in all directions, pure fatigue from simple movements becomes an issue. A simple potty break can top 20 minutes if you have to remove outer weather clothing and replace it after using the head. Cooking can be nearly impossible. We figured out that sleeping across the V-berth was the best way to go and we were able to get better rest.

The seas coming out of Mag Bay were still pretty confused, but once beyond the shores a ways it was much smoother sailing. Several hours out, glad to be moving towards our meeting point again, Otto had trouble and flashed an error message. Then Tim noticed that Otto’s motor was super hot to touch. Uh oh…that error message meant complete drive failure, Otto was dead. Our options: Claude, the windvane as long as the wind held, or hand steering. We used both methods. Hand steering is very tiring because every wave can take you off course. We had Claude working for us and Tim and I strategized on how we were going to get through the night. We sure hope we can get a replacement in Cabo San Lucas, but chances are slim.

Our strategy was to start resting right away, we would get in the v-berth ready to sleep and set the timer for 2 hours, then get up and put ourselves back together for our next shift. That would have us each on the helm for about 2.5 hours before we had relief, but at the same time we were able to sleep in good chunks. We were still motor sailing for most of this trip.

Tim was pretty tired on the night shift around 0100 so he set up our Watch Commander that alarms every 12 minutes to help you stay awake. (Thanks to Kurt & Katie for telling us about this in Morro Bay.) Tim carries a pretty big load when these kinds of things happen. I don’t have the kind of endurance that he has, but he was on the edge with this run. I was down for a morning sleep between 0800-1000. I awoke to the funniest sight ever of which no pictures exist except the ones in my mind. I thought Tim had totally lost it, or he was desperate for his shift to end…the sight of Tim moving around in the cockpit, stripped down to his underwear happy as a lark, as Claude steered the boat, made me laugh pretty hard. (Tim did have his lifevest and harness on.) The truth was he started the watch in cold weather gear, now it was about 85 degrees!

As we rounded the corner of Cabo Falso and began to see the rocks of Cabo San Lucas, we got camera happy. It put new wind into our physical bodies. The color of the water was amazing! We came into the bay and anchored near Steve and Janny who had already been in Cabo for a whole day plus. We were so very glad to be at anchor again so we could get some real sleep. We could see our anchor on the bottom 18 feet below as the water was so clear! This is quite the place! Cabo baby!