And Now For Something Completely Different

Couple weeks ago at Mavericks.

My family is visiting for the next few days here in Cabo San Jose.  Today we are headed out for some sailing and whale watching.  Next week, Tex and I depart for Mazatlan and then on to Puerto Vallarta.  Looking forward to more good times aboard Aquarius. 

The Sea = Danger

The sea is a dangerous place.  The perils of the sea include sharks, pirates, shipping containers floating just below the surface, gales, fire, rouge waves, food poisoning, infection, dismasting, hurricanes, sinking, rudder failure, scurvy, tsunamis, fog, dehydration, salt water crocs, anchor failure, water spouts, contaminated water, lightning, terrorists, hypothermia, drowning, fishing nets, lee shores, whales, malaria, unlit fishing boats, strong currents, unmarked obstructions, reefs, large ships, sea sickness, mutiny, dismemberment, and death.  Sailing requires a huge amount of luck as well as constant vigilance so that these issues donot happen.  Tex and I have been very lucky indeed.  On many of our passages we are sailing 24/7.  We have watch schedules of 4 hours on and 4 hours off and we are sailing in the darkness.  All we can really look out for is the lights of other boats.  If a large object is in the water ahead of us, we will not be able to see it.   One of our scariest moments was when lightning was all around us.  With a large object protruding into the sky, all we can do is pray.  And I am not just talking about the mast.

Some of our highlights so far have been as follows:

Retiring from the Too Much Fun Club, loading the boat the next day, and sailing away the following day

Kayaking into Painted Cave on Santa Cruz island off Santa Barbara.  This is the largest water cave in the world

Day sailing down the coast of norcal with stops at famed harbors such as Half Moon Bay, Santa Cruz, Monterey, Morro Bay and around the Cape Horn of California, Pt. Conception.

Circumnavigating Santa Cruz Island on a 5 day sojourn.

Spending 3 weeks in Santa Barbra and taking friends out to the beautiful island of Santa Cruz.  Ed and Yvonne joined us, Sue and John, and some of my sailing friends as well.

Celebrating my 60^th birthday at the Ritz in Santa Barbara

A visit to the famous island of Santa Catalina and Avalon.

An afternoon touring Newport Beach with a high school friend on his private tender

Beating my crew and friends 19 times in a row in bocce.  And playing a game inside a cave on the beach.

Arriving in San Diego to celebrate the 50 anniversary of Ultimat Frisbeee with a bunch of folks from around the bay area and elsewhere.

Spending 3 weeks in San Diego and a week with my oldest friend from childhood.  Steve Peterson joined for the Frisbee and then spent a week on the boat with us.

Sailing with my son and his friend in San Diego

A night sail to Ensanada, 60 miles down the coast

2 weeks in Ensanada, the gastronomical capital of Mexico

Having two orcas visit us off Ensanada

A week with Bridget in Cancun celebrating our 25^th wedding anniversary

A week with my family in Puerto Vallarta to celebrate Thanksgiving

700 miles sailing from Ensanada to Cabo San Lucas

Sailing the islands off La Paz and inviting other boats to join us on our boat to celebrate the cruising life

Discovering the wonders of San Jose del Cabo, a beautiful small town and the antithesis of Cabo San Lucas

Here is what we are looking forward to in the new year:

Having my sisters, Bridget and family join me in San Jose del Cabo for NYE and some more sailing the Pacific with them

Sailing to mainland Mexico and having friends and family share our fun in Puerto Vallarta during our 2 week stay there

South of PV are some of the most exotic anchorages in all of Mexico with a new anchorage about every 20 miles 

Having Scumby and family visit us in Ztown and celebrating his birthday.  By the way you are all invited

Attending the international gypsy guitarfest in Ztown

Meeting more wonderful cruisers as we sail the coast of this wonderful country.

Tex has been a saint

The weather has been fantastic

The boat has performed way above our wildest expectations

Everyone from Mexico has been helpful, warm and friendly

Tex and I are having the time of our lives.

Please join us on our dream cruise!!

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WE LOVE MEXICO!

Made it Cabo a few days later.  Had a great sail from Mag Bay all the way to Cabo in some great winds to 20 knots.  Anchored off the beach and took a nice swim.  Next morning we headed into the marina at Cabo.  We were told they had no room.  We waited a while and they found a slip for us.  We headed to town and checked in with the port captain.  After lunch we headed back out and anchored at the beach again as it was the easiest way to get there.  We headed in and met some folks and had a blast.  Opps we drank a few margs and they were strong.  Back at the boat we slept well. 

Our ex crewmate Mike was heading over to pick up his stuff.  He was not enjoying the way I had set things up to meet my friends and he abandon us on our longest leg.  I asked him to leave the boat and he agreed.  He and our friend Lisa showed up and we had a nice time.  We went to a cool restaurant called Mi Casa for dinner.  They have great mole.  The mariachi band came over and I requested Oye Como Va by Tito Puente and made famous by Santana.  They ripped it.  Then they did Black Magic Woman.  Amazing.  Next day we headed out to San Jose del Cabo about 20 miles away.  They have a new marina and we spent the night.

The next three days were spent sailing to La Paz.  Sail during the day and then stop at an anchorage for the night. Worked great and by the afternoon of the 3^rd day we arrived at Espiratu Santos.  Nice anchorage with lots of fish.  Next day we headed up island to find a more protected spot.  Found a nice place with 5 other boats.  I went around the anchorage to invite folks over for sunset cocktails on our boat.  2 couples joined us and we had a great time.  Jo even brought Makeral stew for dinner.  In the morning I swam over to their boats and thanked them for coming over.  They loved it.  Tex and I then went for a sail and then headed into a small cove.  I went for a swim to the beach and took a naked nap.  Nobody to say no right?  Next day we headed to Seal rock and there were millions of fish there but nary a seal.  We headed to another anchorage and I went around and let everyone know we were playing bocce at 3:30.  Several dingys showed up and we had a blast with the kids.  Tex and I won the tourney. 

One of the boats was some young cruisers on their first overnight.  We invited them over for drinks at sunset.  Shane had purchased his 41’ boat and had been getting her ready.  He said he owned a company in LA and was so miserable he sold the company and moved on to his just purchased boat a few months ago.  Now he was trying to find a balance in his life and live as cheaply as possible.  He found it!  We enjoyed talking to him and his crew.  Next day we buddy boated with them into their marina in La Paz.  Nice spot.  We picked up a few provisions and then they drove to another mole restaurant and we had a feast for $20 each.  Now we are headed back to San Jose del Cabo to regroup and head home for the holidays.  We will be back in town shortly after Xmas with the family to hang out at a resort and do some more….sailing!

 Somewhere off La Paz!

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60 Miles/30 Days

We had a great time in San Diego spending over 3 weeks there.  We arrived on the 18^th of October and prepared to meet up from one of my best child hood buddies, Steve Peterson.  He is from Delaware and was out for the National Ultimate Frisbee Championships.  It was also the 50th anniversary of Ultimate.  We met him at the beach in Coronado.  There was a beach ultimate game going on.  A bunch of old Frisbee buds were there and it was great to see them all.  I had played at Stanford for 15 years on a club team.  After the tourney, Steve joined us on the boat for a week.  We were docked at a military facility called Fiddler’s Cove Marina.  Just outside of Coronado.  We spent our days exploring San Diego, going sailing and visiting with friends old and new.  Some other buddies visited with Andy, Doug, and a few others.  We also got to hang out with my son who lives in the area.  Connor hosted us for some swimming and bocce.  Our favorite anchorage was just off Coronado Island.

During our visit the Haha was getting ready to take off for Cabo.  We attended the kick off party and had a blast seeing old friends.  My old boat partner and long time friend was there, Arnie.  He had found a boat and was heading out.  One of the funniest lines of the trip happened.  There was a gal there dressed as a mermaid and I was giving her a hug and noticed she had a pierced tongue.  I asked if she knew what they said about a girl with a pierced tongue?  She said yes, that they usually had a pierced clit!  Way too much info!  It was fun to be there and wish the fleet a bon voyage. 

  We made reservations at the Police Dock on Shelter Island, as I was heading off to meet Bridget in Cancun to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary.  Tex would hang at the boat for the week.  Our other crewmate Mike had joined a boat on the Haha.  Had a great week in Cancun at a very nice resort right on the beach.  They had a few Hobie’s and I sailed every day in winds 12-18 knots.  Very fun and we had a marvi time. 

Back at the boat, Tex and I had a lot to do.  We did some provisioning and some last minute boat items.  Mike did not return to the boat so Tex and I prepared to depart on Sunday for Ensanada, about 60 miles away.  We left in the afternoon.  We had some good winds off Tiajuana and then arrived Monday to check into Mexico.  We had hoped to sail to Cabo but got delayed due to high winds.  That set us back further. We ended up staying a couple weeks.  When we were there, the Baja 1000 was taking place.  This is a motor race thru the desert.  We went over to see the line up and it was a huge party in the streets.  We had some street tacos and enjoyed the celebration. 

I was to meet my family in Puerto Vallarta for Thanksgiving so made arrangements to fly out of San Diego.  Stayed at my favorite Haha hotel, the Sheraton at the Marina.  Arrived in PV and joined family and friends for a week of celebration.  Our best friends Frank and Leslie host us there every 2 years and we always have way too much fun.  Volleyball, swimming, big dinners on the property and an awesome resort on the beach!  After a nice Thanksgiving, I headed back to Ensanada.  Mike was not returning to the boat so I put an ad on Craigslist for crew.  Alex responded and joined us in Ensanada.  He has been a great addition and speaks fluent Spanish.  He has been a big help.  We really needed 3 to make this 700 mile adventure work.  We provisioned and hit the coast on Monday afternoon.  We were bound for Cedros Island about 220 miles away.  We motored out and just after sunset, two Orca whales visited us and came right up to the boat.  Pretty cool.  My watch is 3-7 and I get the sunset and sunrise everyday.  It is so nice to get 8 hours off after a watch.  It would have been very difficult to do this with the 2 of us.  So glad Alex joined the crew!  We made it to Cedros and got the fuel we needed.  We took off the next morning for a 270 mile sail to Magdelana Bay.  During my watch we threw out the lure and landed a beautiful Mahi Mahi and had him for dinner.  Yum.  Resting now.

We made it to Cabo and have been hanging out in the bay and the marina.  We depart in a few minutes to San Jose del Cabo and in a few days up to the beautiful islands off La Paz.  I had been out there 2011 on a charter with sailing buds.  Looking forward to warm water and 15 knots on the beam. More soon.  Over and out.

We are looking for someone to join us on the second half of our adventure. 
https://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/boa/d/sail-in-mexico-with-the/6765337420.html

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