Re-entry

We're back in the real world and finally heading home without any requirement to quarantine on entry into the US. That was a relief. Kay and I rented a car and are driving back to Seattle now. It is the end of a grand adventure, one that didn't go as planned, but went much better than it might have. I can honestly say the last several months have been a good experience. We can't ask for much more than that. I think I'll close this blog at this point and open another when I figure out what comes next. I honestly don't know. I'll edit this page with a link to the next blog when I start one, so stay tuned. In the mean time I'll leave you with a photo Kay took of me as we prepped the rental car for the trip north...

Five weeks

Last night was way more enjoyable than the night before. The first was grim: cold, wet and foggy all night and through most of the following day. Last night was clear and warm with a sliver of a moon, a starry sky, and dolphins shooting through phosphorescent seas. It was quite a contrast and a rather spectacular finale.

We're on the home stretch into San Diego. The predicted light wind (no wind) arrived on schedule and we've been motoring through the last couple of nights. It's all very soothing, droning away, hour after hour, while contemplating the pandemic chaos that awaits us. We're looking forward to being done with this trip and yet simultaneously apprehensive about making contact with a changed world.

The night before leaving La Paz five weeks ago, we enjoyed dinner on the veranda of a restaurant overlooking the marina. The setting sun complemented piña coladas and seafood tacos. What a difference a month makes.

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Among the negatives

There might be a positive impact of the virus on our intended trip: the downturn in the world economy will put a damper on the number of boats that have been crowding into the South Pacific anchorages. This was going to be an especially busy year with the World Arc under way. All those boats were forced to reroute through Hawaii. They won't be back next year. And, all the PPJ boats that would have been preparing to go next spring and can still afford to go might be forced to wait another year by their inability to prepare. It's all speculation, but probably reasonable. Then again, what if this blasted thing hangs on and some of the countries don't open their boarders by next spring? I'll have to decide if it's worth it to leave my boat where it is for two years - two years of not being able to use my boat. Ack! So much uncertainty. I guess I don't have to make any decisions now.

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The light at the end of the tunnel

I assembled the crew's breakfast this morning: oatmeal, fortified with some leftover from the last time we had it, and chopped dried apples. No one knew where the raisins made off to, or even if we had any left, so I chopped up some dates and threw them in instead. I served it with a bowl of chopped walnuts, chopped canned peaches, and a large jar of home grown yogurt. Sprinkled with brown sugar, it was delicious.

Our to-do list is light today. The sun is out, so the solar panels are making electricity while the watermaker fills the fresh water tanks. We're starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel on this trip. We're waiting for heavy weather to die down before departing tomorrow morning on what might turn out to be our last day of sailing. Sometime tomorrow night the wind is forecasted to die down for several days so we'll do a motorboat ride the rest of the way into San Diego.

Eric got word from the Mexican embassy yesterday that they couldn't advise us on whether to stop at Ensenada for clearance, since each port was adhering to is own policies. Given that the Port Captain for Turtle Bay wouldn't allow us off the boat, we're resolved not to try stopping at Ensenada to clear customs. We might just find our way clear of Mexico in four or five days!

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Not so Pacific

Our overnight passage to the next in a succession of anchorages was a rough one, but it was made in relatively good form. I refrain from naming most of these stops because nine tenths of them are named after saints or other religious contrivances and honestly, who cares what they're called?

The wind and waves were predicted to be moderate last night, but the wind was in the low to mid twenties for much of the night. The 2m waves made for a lumpy, wild ride.

I was lying in bed off watch at one point, trying to get some sleep on a bunk that was pitching and rolling under me. I heard a lot of lines running and winches rattling as Eric and Linda worked to keep pace with the rising wind speed by putting a third reef in the main. Suddenly I heard Eric shout an expletive and it wasn't hard to predict what was coming next: all hands on deck. Kay and I joined them to find reefing lines fouled in a 25 knot wind. It was a dark and stormy night... Eric led the effort as he worked to resolve the foul from the top of the coachroof while holding on to the boom for dear life. Linda and Kay worked the lines and held his light, while I managed the helm, somehow keeping the boat oriented so the wind came from forward and to one side of the boat. That kept pressure off the sail and prevented the boom from swinging around while Eric worked. It was a good bit of teamwork and everything worked out in the end, but you never know how things will turn out when you're in the thick of it.

I was on watch again later in the morning as the wind died down and we coasted into the anchorage under a lovely sunny day. The forecast is threatening to hold us here for several days, but it was nice to arrive in friendlier weather.

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Fueled up!

A lot of boats had planned on joining the Pacific Puddle Jump (PPJ) rally this year from all up and down the west coast of North and South America to places all over the South Pacific. With SP countries now closed, scores of boats that had already left the Americas were forced to leave their boats and fly home. Many choose to reroute toward Hawaii instead, with the result that Hawaii is now overrun with yachts returning from foreign countries and seeking entry and safe harbor. We've heard from some of those boats via the PPJ network that Hawaii has closed at least one port to arriving yachts and is enforcing a two week quarantine on arrivals without regard to time spent on the yacht enroute. As I understand it, this is a directive from the governor of Hawaii. A similar policy may be in effect in California. We won't know until we get to San Diego whether we'll be stuck there for a couple of weeks before we can head home. So far we've been on the boat for over three weeks, so it's pretty unlikely that we're carrying, but I guess they don't know that.

We're in Turtle Bay now. It's the first anchorage in Mexico that we stopped at on our way south. It took us four days non-stop going south. This time it'll probably take us a couple of weeks of bashing up wind and anchoring along the way. So: two weeks to get to San Diego, two weeks quarantine, and a few days to drive home puts us there toward the end of May.

When we arrived here, we were met by a local in a Panga who sold us diesel and told we are not welcome to go ashore. Apparently there are police and military personnel who are posted to intercept us if we try. We assured him we were happy to remain on the boat. Refueling without having to go ashore was exactly what we were hoping for. Now we can proceed to San Diego without having to stop and without worrying about running out of fuel. Yay!

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Progress

And they're off. It's been a lovely day for sailing today. We waited until 11am to get going this morning because there was no wind. We figured there was no point in motoring out of the gate. Now that we're out, winds are moderate and progress is reasonable, if unimpressive. As the boat sails, we've traveled about 30 miles in seven hours, but that only translates to about seventeen miles as the crow flies. At this rate we'll get to the next anchorage around this time tomorrow. Our only goal is to arrive tomorrow with some daylight remaining. Notwithstanding our current rate of progress I think we'll make it. Even if the wind dies at some point we can motor some of the way. Time will tell.

I just got off watch and will be on again in four hours. We double up at night which gives us more watch time, but keeps us awake. Staying awake on watch is good.

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Yogurt

It amuses me to observe where my mind goes when I write. I usually sit down without a clue of what I'm going to write about. I suppose it's like conversation in that regard. Sometimes we have something we want to talk about and sometimes we're content to let the conversation take us where it will. Face to face conversation between two or more people adds more opportunity for conversation creativity. My output tends to diminish with more people because it feels like having to force my way into the conversation. Not so here though. The cursor just waits patiently for me to say something.

It is looking like our departure will be tomorrow morning. It should be perfect sailing to the next anchorage. Had we left today, as I might have done, it would probably have been a rougher ride.

Kay and I just cleaned the bilge. It seems to need it once every few days; that's more than Quijote does, but this boat has a couple of sources of ingress that Quijote does not. The chain locker on this boat drains into the bilge. Every time we pull anchor on Rover a little drainage from the wet chain goes into the bilge. And at the other end of the boat the prop shaft penetrates the hull through a seal that's designed to leak a little to lubricate the shaft. That leakage goes into the bilge too. Quijote has a chain locker that drains overboard and uses a saildrive, a design that obviates the shaft penetration of the hull, so we have no leakage there either. No leakage, dry bilge.

Kay and Linda did some baking at this anchorage. Kay made yummy cookie bars and a spice cake yesterday morning. Linda bakes bread and rolls once or twice a week and she makes yogurt in a jar every couple days. The home-made yogurt is quite good. It's a little less creamy, and more tart than the commercial products, but it's definitely nice to have and easy to get used to. I really like the tartness. I might try making some when I get home.

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Ugh...

I feel like I usually do when I take a nap in the middle of the day: just this side of cruddy. We made good time getting to the new anchorage overnight, but only because we motored five out of eight hours. We sailed for three and then the wind died.

After our arrival we ate breakfast and crashed. Now it's noon and I'm dying for a hot shower. Maybe later. Three other points of detail over the last twelve hours are noteworthy.

2pm yesterday: Kay and I settle in for a game of cribbage; she with a beer and I with my usual coconut rum and pineapple juice. Eric comes by and dumps our drinks in the sink, explaining that we can't drink on days we sail. I'm tempted to point out that our intended departure is ten hours away and midnight is technically the following day, but I hold my tongue. The incident marks the sole note of discord on an otherwise harmonious cruise. I have a great deal of respect for Eric and the job he does managing this boat. He knows his boat well, knows how to sail it well, and is a good leader. In my eyes, he's anal in all the right ways. But... we can't expect to agree about everything.

7 am this morning: approaching the anchorage at sunrise with an escort of dolphins riding the bow wave - magical.

9 am this morning: sitting down to breakfast on Easter morning with home made cinnamon rolls - heart warming.

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Cribbage

Kay just beat me at a game of cribbage. We play most days when we're at anchorage around 3 or 4 pm with a tumbler of coconut rum and fruit juice to fortify us. Cribbage, like tennis, or any game between opponents of equal skill is very streaky.

It's been mostly a day of reading. We did a little deck work this morning and I bloodied one toe. I drove my Croc into the narrow end of a deck cleat and it aligned perfectly with a hole in the croc to do its damage.

I have only Crocs and Keens to choose from for footwear, since I didn't feel like being burdened with too much stuff and I didn't anticipate any hiking for this part of the trip. I usually wear the Keens on deck and the Crocs in the cabin, but one Keen got wet yesterday with a wave rolling down the deck. They're out in the cockpit now drying off in the sun and wind.

Things have been going well. The current pattern is for the wind to peak in the late afternoons. It got up over 30 knots today, so we're trying to pick our timing carefully. It's supposed to gradually decline as the week rolls on so hopefully we'll arrive at our next anchorage early before it picks up, then make our multi-day run for Turtle Bay after it eases. That's the plan!

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"Home" cooking

We rolled out of bed this morning, enjoyed a breakfast of oatmeal, and weighed anchor around 8 am. The morning was sunny and breezy, a perfect day with just the right amount of wind for a day of sailing. The plan was to take a 24 hour passage to the next anchorage, but on closer inspection, Eric discovered an intermediate destination that will allow us to anchor before nightfall. That'll give us two daytime passages in place of one overnight passage. It was a popular decision with the crew, as it gives us better sleep. And we're in no hurry.

I'm on the hook to make dinner tonight; black bean soup and home-made bread I'm told. As ambitious as that sounds, it's really not. At least not for me. Both soup and bread have already been made. It's up to me to heat and serve.

Before embarking on this trip, Linda rented a hotel room with a kitchen in La Paz and sequestered herself for long enough to fill their boat's freezer with ready-made vacuum sealed meals. I've done the same on Quijote before leaving on trips from home. The primary difference is that Quijote, as a smaller boat, has no freezer. That substantially limits the range of pre-prepared home-made meals. I have no idea how deep their freezer is, but so far the meals keep coming. Presumably we'll resort to canned meals at some point.

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Two weeks and counting

We're staying two nights at this anchorage - Abreojos. The day between has been spent doing boat chores. Linda serviced the main halyard winch, cleaned the cockpit, and is now making yogurt. Kay made brownies and bran muffins. Eric tried and failed to fix his AIS and his battery monitor. I did makework. The ladies have been much more productive than the gents today.

We have a single overnight to the next anchorage. We'll depart tomorrow morning.

There aren't many boats out here. We see an occasional cruiser heading up or down the coast and every village has a few pangas out fishing. When the AIS was working we saw a few larger commercial targets - fishing boats and cargo ships. But there isn't much out here otherwise. There's probably a reason for that. Aside from being so remote, I'm wondering about the impact of the pandemic. Just as it has emptied city streets and made road travel unwise or unnecessary, it appears to have had the same impact on commercial and recreational boating.

The only reason we've been able to carry on is that we provisioned for a long trip across the Pacific shortly before things blew up. Both Rover and Quijote were preparing to depart Mexico around April 1st. Now Quijote is on land full of food and we're making good use of Rover's stores. With sails to limit fuel consumption, ample stores and the ability to desalinate water, we can remain out here for a very long time.

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Progress

We're anchored! It's not a quiet little cove, but it is home for the next few days. There's a shoal area off the point where the incoming swell breaks with a roar, dissipating most of its energy. That's a good thing for our comfort.

Eric just reported stats for our latest leg. We were under way for 77 hours during the leg. All but six hours was spent sailing. That leaves us with enough fuel to motor from here to Turtle Bay, where we can buy fuel again. We're close to the half way point of the trip. Good progress!

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Layering up

The weather has been much cooler than I anticipated. At the time I was packing to join Rover, I was inclined to pack light rather than bring a lot of stuff I'd end up not using. I eyed the sweatshirt, jacket and foul weather gear I had laid out and thought to myself that half that pile would turn out to be unecessary. If Mexico was as warm as it I imagined it would be, it might all turn out to be unecessary. The trouble was I couldn't decide which to leave behind. In the end I brought it all, and a wool hat as well, and have been very glad to have them.

Last night during the cold, clear, moonlit night at three in the morning I had on a shirt, sweatshirt, jacket and foul weather gear with wool hat and hood pulled up tight, and still I felt myself slowly freezing, wondering: why can't I see my breath in these temperatures? It probably wasn't as cold as it felt, but hours of inactivity in a cool breeze will make anyone thankful for all the layers they can muster.

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Wildlife under way

The wildlife around us is displaying some curiosity. It started with humpback whales pacing along side the boat at a distance of twenty yards, blowing their fishy breath and matching our speed. We've never seen them do that before.

Then last night a cormorant circled the boat for quite a while, landing first on the pulpit at the bow, then on the BBQ at the stern and back again. Our relative wind accounting for true wind and boat speed was high enough that he had a difficult time maintaining his perch on either, but he tried for quite a while. Perhaps he was looking for a rest.

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Zagging

We've enjoyed a good couple of days tacking our way north toward an anchorage at Abreojos (open eyes) Bay. The wind has been blowing between ten and fifteen knots the whole way, which is perfect for this boat for the sail plan we have up. We've been doing a consistent 4.5 knots of boat speed all night long, which will get us there without burning fuel except to raise and lower the anchor. Nice!

We've been tacking every four hours when the watch changes and we have an overlap of crew. More hands makes the job easier, especially if we want to put in or take out a reef at the same time. The inReach tracker should be showing long, four hour zags.

The seas have been fairly modest the last couple of nights too. That makes life easier: easier to work, eat, and sleep. I'd complain about the lack of exercise, but I'm afraid it wouldn't endear much sympathy from a world in lockdown. Part of me is eager to get home and part of me is revelling in what I have, careful of what I wish for.

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Pescado

We're spending a second night at this anchorage in Bahia Santa Maria. The wind was up this evening, so we're waiting it out and will make an early escape in the morning for our next segment, which should take us about three days, depending on conditions.

A fisherman came by the boat this morning asking if we could spare some batteries for his handheld GPS. We gave him some and asked him to drop by again in the afternoon if he had fish to sell. It turns out he did, so we paid him a few bucks in pesos for a couple of fish. Linda cleaned them, Eric cooked them on the barbie, and we all enjoyed them for dinner. They were fresh, tender and delish.

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An hour in the bank

We have limited fuel for the eight hundred or so miles we need to travel between Cabo and Ensenada (fuel stop to fuel stop). If we tried to motor the whole distance, we'd probably run out of diesel three quarters of the way there. That means we'll have to sail about a quarter of the distance, which translates to sailing half the time when you consider the additional distance and inefficiency of sailing upwind.

Going south was easy: we set our sails and fly downwind in a straight line. Going upwind involves considerably more work and discomfort. However tempted we may be though to make quick miles with the motor when the going gets tough or the wind goes flat, we have to keep in mind that half of our time must be spent sailing. We have to make miles under sail whenever we can. That obviously assumes the sailing is productive.

Today was a successful day in that we were forced by the conditions to motor for three hours and we were able to sail productively for four hours. That's an hour in the bank for later withdrawal.

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Rest Day

It was a rest day today, so that means boat projects. Kay and I were tasked with cleaning the bilge. Rover has a lot more bilge than Quijote does. Apparently a (hawse pipe) cap was left off that seals the port where the anchor chain comes in and out near the bow and it let sea water into the boat when waves crashed over the bow. That water found its way into the (bilge) bottom of the boat. So first we had to hand pump and wipe the bilge dry, then fill it with fresh water, then pump and wipe it dry again. It was a fair amount of work.

Kay and I also made tacos for dinner tonight. They turned out well considering we don't have cheddar. Mexicans use a cheese like cheddar called wahaka, probably spelled something like Juahaca. It doesn't have a lot of flavor, but does better in the heat than cheddar does. It's kind of ironic considering how much cheddar a Mexican restaurant in the States must go through.

While we were doing all that, Eric and Linda were busy beavers knocking items off their check list: cleaning the cockpit, making yogurt, weather forecasting etc, etc.

It was a busy rest day.

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