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| San Diego to La Paz Feb '08 |
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Monday, March 3, 2008
In La Paz
It’s been over a week since our last post, and I apologize. By now, many of you know that we arrived in La Paz, and are finally settled into our new slip. We had a rough transition from islands to town, but everything seems to be working out now.
Our first challenge was that our permanent slip wasn’t vacant, so we had to move around a bit. Then we discovered some holes in the holding tank hose. Not pretty. Next, we learned that the wi-fi here in the marina is spotty at best, and doesn’t like my Apple. Finally, after multiple frustrating attempts to send email, we learned that either AT & T, or Telmex have blocked our outgoing mail. So, we rolled up our sleeves and got to work. I learned how to say “sanitary hose” in Spanish, and we purchased 5 meters of the stuff at the (amazing) local hardware store. We then spent an entire day removing the old hose and snaking the new one into place. I don’t think either of us had ever been in more twisted, uncomfortable positions in a single day, and we both felt pretty old and creaky the next day. The good news though, is that we fixed the problem, and figure that this new hose will last longer than we’ll own the boat. As for the wi-fi and email issues... once we moved into our permanent slip, Mark managed to get his computer to connect easily, and I did some online sleuthing to figure out how to “work around” the block on our outgoing email. I still can’t connect to the marina wi-fi on my Mac, but I can walk across the street to a café, where they have a great connection. After a week, most of our issues seem to be solved (knock on wood).
Mark went back to work last Saturday, and I’ll return this coming Saturday. We’ll both be on the Sea Lion, Mark until April 12th and me until the end of the Baja season, on April 19th. We probably won’t post much here until late April, when we take Cheers back out to the islands, but you can click the “Where’s the Sea Lion?” link to the right, and read the Daily Expedition Reports to know what we’re up to. I’m also working on posting a few photo albums from our trips on Cheers, so check back soon. I hope you enjoy them.
~ Michelle
Our first challenge was that our permanent slip wasn’t vacant, so we had to move around a bit. Then we discovered some holes in the holding tank hose. Not pretty. Next, we learned that the wi-fi here in the marina is spotty at best, and doesn’t like my Apple. Finally, after multiple frustrating attempts to send email, we learned that either AT & T, or Telmex have blocked our outgoing mail. So, we rolled up our sleeves and got to work. I learned how to say “sanitary hose” in Spanish, and we purchased 5 meters of the stuff at the (amazing) local hardware store. We then spent an entire day removing the old hose and snaking the new one into place. I don’t think either of us had ever been in more twisted, uncomfortable positions in a single day, and we both felt pretty old and creaky the next day. The good news though, is that we fixed the problem, and figure that this new hose will last longer than we’ll own the boat. As for the wi-fi and email issues... once we moved into our permanent slip, Mark managed to get his computer to connect easily, and I did some online sleuthing to figure out how to “work around” the block on our outgoing email. I still can’t connect to the marina wi-fi on my Mac, but I can walk across the street to a café, where they have a great connection. After a week, most of our issues seem to be solved (knock on wood).
Mark went back to work last Saturday, and I’ll return this coming Saturday. We’ll both be on the Sea Lion, Mark until April 12th and me until the end of the Baja season, on April 19th. We probably won’t post much here until late April, when we take Cheers back out to the islands, but you can click the “Where’s the Sea Lion?” link to the right, and read the Daily Expedition Reports to know what we’re up to. I’m also working on posting a few photo albums from our trips on Cheers, so check back soon. I hope you enjoy them.
~ Michelle
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Haven't Budged
We arrived into Ensenada Grande, what was it, two days ago? Since then we haven't moved the boat more than 60'. It's been pretty calm, sunny and warm since we arrived. Yesterday we were working up some energy to hit the long hike until we saw the Sea Lion pull around the corner and head in for the anchorage. We contemplated "bugging out" for another bay to the south but decided it was as good a day as any to be social. Michelle started baking cookies and I got the dinghy ready. Throughout the morning we had many friends come by to catch up and see our home. Bud Lehnhausen (longtime friend and expedition leader) and Tom Niessen (friend and one of Michelle's professors) got to stop by just before the ship left. It was great to see both of them due to the fact that Tom was about to head home and Bud would not see Michelle before he got off the ship. We made a quick delivery of some of the leftover cookies to Ryan Foley and Singyn Hunter (see Mag Bay stores delivery) before the Sea Lion headed out for Los Islotes.
For the rest of the day and through the evening last night we had the entire bay to ourselves. After dinner last we stayed on deck until the stars came out. It was glassy calm so the stars reflected off the surface of the water and there was enough bioluminescence in order to see schools of fish being chased across the bay. We found it hard to go below until it got too chilly to stay on deck. This morning Michelle got us moving early to get up the arroyo before it got too hot. We spotted many lizards along the way as well as a black jackrabbit at close range. The trail took us to the far side of Isla Partida and the cliffs on the East side. From our high vantage point we were able to look down on a peregrine falcon flying by as well as a pair of red tailed hawks flying up above. The seas were calm enough for a distant view of some dolphins swimming north. On the hike back to the beach I contemplated whether to head out for another spot or stay put. We got back to the dinghy took one look at our ideal anchorage, great conditions and no other boats in the bay and decided that we weren't budging, at least not today. Two other boats have joined us in the anchorage but they're keeping a very 'polite' distance so life is good. So, besides moving our anchor 60' closer into our little cove to secure our 'spot' we haven't budged. Mark
Thursday, February 21, 2008
In the Gulf
Last night's run north from Cabo was phenomenal! We pulled out of the slip around midday, and set a northeasterly course. Seas were calm, and we even had enough wind to sail for a little while. We saw several humpbacks and gray whales, a sea turtle swimming and had a masked booby give us a close fly by. We also had a large group of bottlenose dolphins play "Sea World" with us. Although they're much larger than the other dolphin species we've seen so far, several came in to ride the bow and started leaping out of the water right next to us! The perspective is so different from this low to the water. I'm seeing things I've seen dozens of times before with fresh eyes because it's all so much closer.
Then things got even better... A cloud layer had moved in, and created the conditions for a mind-blowing sunset with the peaks of the Sierra de la Laguna in the foreground. The sky, sea, clouds and mountains turned every shade of orange and red that you can possibly imagine, and it lasted for nearly 45 minutes. At the same time, a gorgeous full moon rose out of the ocean to the east. I was disappointed for awhile, because the clouds obscured the beginning of the lunar eclipse, then the most amazing thing happened -- about ten minutes before the total eclipse began, the clouds cleared. Seriously. They were gone for just over an hour, exactly spanning the time of the total eclipse. During this hour of darkened moon, we were able to see some stunning bioluminescence. At one point, we had an entire sky full of stars, a burnt orange orb of moon halfway up the sky and the glimmering fairy dust of millions of bioluminescing plankters all around us. Like I said, the perspective is so much different from a dark boat, low on the water.
I was just coming into Cerralvo Channel at sunrise this morning, and watched the full moon set behind the ridge above La Ventana. Gorgeous. We'd hoped to stop at Isla Cerralvo on our way north, but local weather sources say the northerly winds are supposed to pick up today and blow through the weekend. So, we scouted the shoreline, and plan to come back in late April when there's less chance of getting blown out of the anchorage. Right now, we're on home turf -- sailing up the west side of Espiritu Santo Island to anchor in Ensenada Grande for tonight. It may seem crazy to stay in a place we know so well, but tomorrow, I FINALLY get to do the long hike.
~ Michelle
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Lunar eclipse tonight
February 20, 2008 Cabo San Lucas
After the solitude of the past week and a half, we were more than a little nervous about coming into Cabo. However, we needed diesel and a calm place for Mark to do a little mechanical work, so we rounded the Cape and prepared for madness... but we never found it. It was about 11 a.m. and the fuel dock was totally quiet, so we filled the tank (at the miraculously low price of $2.54 per gallon!), bought some more lube oil and were out of there in under 20 minutes. Wow. Then we called the Marina for our slip assignment, and headed to G-25. While I went up to register and do a few loads of laundry, Mark started on the projects. Our beautiful old engine has some leaky seals, and running it for about 150 hours over the past two weeks put a fair bit of lube oil in the drain pan, so clean up was in order. Although this marina is ridiculously expensive, it’s got great facilities and it was really nice to clean up a bit. We spent the afternoon cleaning the boat top to bottom, then enjoyed some amazing water pressure at the marina showers. Shortly before sunset, we headed up to the Whale Watcher Bar at the Hotel Finisterra (remember Cinco de Mayo 2001?) for a margarita, and watched the Sea Bird head north to Magdalena Bay. Dinner was delicious, and we were sound asleep by 8 p.m. Not your typical Cabo visitor...
We’re planning to leave around noon, and head north into the Gulf. It sounds like the seas should be calm, and the winds light for the next few days. Our Astronomical Calendar says that there’s supposed to be a total lunar eclipse tonight, so I’m really looking forward to watching it from sea. Check out NASA’s Lunar Eclipse website (in the Links list to the right), for the eclipse times in your part of the world. It’s between sunset and midnight for most of North America, so most of you should be able to see at least a little of it. Plus, it’s the last total lunar eclipse until December 2010... so check it out.
We’re still formulating our plan for the next few days, depending on what we find for sea conditions around the corner, but tonight will be our last overnight passage. I’ll miss the stars, sunrises and solitude, but not the lack of sleep! I've added some photos to our earlier posts, so you might want to go back and look at them again -- especially the Fish On! post.
~ Michelle
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