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 October 17th 2005 at 03:30 We begin our journey! We left San Francisco Bay on our way to Monterey for our first leg of the trip. The seas were rough coming under the Golden Gate Bridge and Jorie became sea sick during the early part of the trip. It was a full moon and quite beautiful. After a few glitches ( water pouring from our dripless shaft seal), all systems were running smoothly. Our trip was highlighted by a pod of dolphins swimming, and racing in our bow. We also saw a whale spouting, and the flash of its tail as it dove under the waves. We arrived in Monterey at at 15:30. We averaged 7.5 knots/hr.   Oct. 26th, 2005 We have to admit, it was good to be on the water and leaving Monterey. We had nothing but fog and cool temperature while we were there. Also, we got into a little tussle with a sea lion that did not want us to go by....but all is well, Ken was the victor. Our friend Lloyd (who is a very experienced delivery captain, electrician, and man of many talents), came along with us for our “hand holding” experience of going around Point Sur, and Point Conception, and our first overnighter on Tide N Knots. It was a beautiful trip. We motored at the beginning as the winds were coming from the South. After passing Point Sur, the seas became a bit rolly, and the winds banked around to the North. Up went the sails and the ride smoothed out (kind of). The auto-pilot worked like a champ, following the wind on target. There is nothing like listening to good blues, watching the moon reflect off the water, looking for traffic every ten minutes or so, and thinking about…..everything. Life is good. The next day, we decided to stop at Channel Islands Harbor to visit my (Jorie’s) brother. So, here we are, with beautiful sunshine at last. Until the next leg….see you on the water. Jorie and Ken October 30 –November 16, 2005 Our trip from Channel Islands Harbor to San Diego was uneventful. It was the first overnighter with just Ken and I. Three-hour watches were a bit tiring, but it was a beautiful night with calm seas. We sailed for a short while, but mostly motored because the winds were so light. After arriving in San Diego, we spent the next two weeks finishing the last shopping/house keeping things. Ken and I struggled putting in the water maker, which felt like a major accomplishment when we were through. We got Mexican visas, fishing licenses, and various other permits that are required in Mexico. We visited Kens father and stepmother and had a nice break from the boat. Until the next leg…see you on the water. Jorie and Ken  November 16-November 18, 2005 At last, we are on our way to Mexico…cruising for real. We left early afternoon with calm seas and fair winds. We had the good music playing and decided to celebrate the evening with a nice Mexican meal. Things were fine until about 8-9pm when I started feeling a bit seasick. By two in the morning (on my watch) I was actively feeding the fish the contents of my stomach. I had to wake up Ken every time I was going to the side of the boat per our agreed upon safety rules. Suffice it to say, that neither of us slept much and were very tired the next morning. Fortunately the seasickness only lasted about 12 hours. The next night was much better. It was everything I signed up for, dolphins, whales, beautiful full moon, communing with nature, singing loudly with the music, and no one to hear. We arrived at Bahia Tortugas at 10:00 the next morning. Dropped the anchor and took a nice long nap. We purchased fuel delivered by a panga boat and were on our way the next morning. Until the next leg…see you on the water. Jorie and Ken  November 19-November 21, 2005 The plan for this leg of the trip was to blast straight to Cabo San Lucas…about 2 ½ to 3 days. But, boy how plans can change. First we had some battery issues. They were really low and we were not sure why. We had been really careful with our electrical usage. We started up the generator to charge them, but it seemed to be charging really, really slow. After getting them charged we decided to run the refrigerator and promptly popped a fuse in our inverter. No problemo, we had spares. (Had to dig them out from under the forward birth, locate the proper tools which were also buried, remove settee cushions and boards, unload all of the stuff that was stowed there, and then there was access to the fuse). Mission accomplished and we were back in business. Everything was put away. About twenty minutes later, it happened again!!!! We were able to replace it again, but now concerned that we have a wiring problem. The night was uneventful and by 15:00 we were passing Bahia Magdelena entrance to our port side. At this point we received a radio call from our friends on Hokalani, which is also a 48’ Tayana. They were out of fuel and stopping to anchor for the night. We had started out together with full tanks, so Ken and I began to question our own situation and if we had enough fuel to make it to Cabo. Discretion being the better part of valor, we decided to head into Mag Bay. By the time we got inside the bay, it was dark and we had the oh so fun experience of anchoring in the dark. Fortunately all went well, and we held safe all night. The next morning we headed off to San Carlos for fuel. We had to traverse a narrow channel to get there, but it was well marked with buoys and we did not have any trouble. When we arrived there, Ken called via radio to find out where to go. We were given instructions to side tie to a large fishing boat. Well, at that moment our engine died…we were out of fuel, drifting, and unable to steer our boat. We called for help, and were told to “wait cinco minutoes” while they figured out what to do. We saw a panga boat going by and hailed the man and he was able to tow us in. We rafted next to this giant rusty, stinky fishing boat and nearly tore off our shrouds in the process. Ken goes ashore to check us into the country and arrange for fuel. Well, to make a long story short, the fuel delivery system they had was a large hose, with no way to control the delivery speed, strung across the fishing vessel past the welder with sparks flying, and over to our boat, with us attempting to filter the fuel through our baha filter. As you can see, it was a mess, diesel everywhere. We filled our boat, and four gas cans to bring some to the vessel Hokalani so they could make it to a fuel dock. By the time this was over it was evening, we were stressed, hot, and ready to leave. We found Hokalani, delivered the fuel and were on our way. Ahh…the joy of cruising. Until the next leg. Ken and Jorie. November 21-November 22, 2005 So leaving Hokalani with 100 liters of fuel we headed off in the late afternoon for Cabo glad to be on our way and putting San Carlos behind us. To be fair the people I met were friendly and helpful, but man do they not understand about flames and sparks! So we headed out with Jorie taking us to sea. Talking on the radio we heard a nice lady who seemed to have a lot of experience cruising Mexico (Terry aboard ISHI and her husband Gary). After motoring all night and the next morning about 1:00pm we arrived at Cabo. I called on the radio and got a slip from the dockmaster (M16). As we rounded the corner to head for the marina, man were we surprised!! It seemed as if every boat, jet ski, parasailer, cruise ship, tall ship, sport fisher, kayac, panga, and anything else that moved on water was going every direction in front of the marina entrance. Jorie was running around putting fenders down and reading dock lines. I was trying to not squeeze the wheel so hard as to break it. We knew we needed fuel, so decided to try the fuel dock first. That is if we got into the marina without a collision. At the dock we tried slowing down to make an orderly approach. Of course this only allowed boats and the like who were willing to go faster (no matter who died) to zip up and take the spot I was going for, so I circled and sounded the horn and got a panga to move. Then just as I reached the dock another boat decides to leave right where I wanted to start. Only now I’m committed to the dock. I slow down reverse and try to hold her off. Until this boat clears and then I slide in, Of course the guidebook says there is always someone on the dock ready to help with lines, (must be some other Cabo). After I backed the boat and yelled for the dockworker to help we got the boat secured. At this point, Jorie was near tears, and had had enough of the boat. Of course with all that stress I jumped back and was anxious to fill up and get out of there. So the worker handed me the pump handle and I started filling up. After about 10 minutes I realized that I forgot the Baja filter. Great now I’m probably putting water into the tank. Anyway I complete the transaction and we’re on our way to M16. Just around the corner senor. Well just around the corner there is a huge sportfisher in M16 (Kahauna) so I see that M14 is opened and I went for it. After we got tied up I talked to Brad aboard Kahuna. He tells me he has had this spot for over a year, doesn’t know why the dock master doesn’t know that. Anyway at the dock masters we worked it all out. At this point we headed straight for the cantina for some well deserved, and much needed drinks. We spent two days in Cabo, reprovisioning, cleaning the boat, doing laundry, and decompressing. We met some very nice people (Denise and Dan on s/v Canece) Until the next leg, Ken and Jorie.  November 24-November 28, 2005 We left Cabo at 04:00 in the morning, to avoid the marina traffic and also to avoid the strong winds that tend to build off the point of Cabo. Leaving was so much mellower than arriving. We got out a ways, and put the sails up. We had a good wind off the starboard beam, and were cruising at about 5-6 knots. It was Thanksgiving day, and since we had no turkey, we thought we would celebrate with some nice BBQ steaks instead. We anticipated that our trip to La Cruz would take about 2 ½ days, so we settled into our routine of 3 hour watches. We sailed all day and most of the night. Around two in the morning (of course) the winds became stronger, and were shifting direction. I woke up Ken and we decided to put the sails away, so I wouldn’t have to stress about it. Of course, while we were doing this, our lines fouled at the front of the boat, so Ken had to strap in and go out in the dark to fix it (with 6-8 ft swells). After that our cleat jammed…anyway, you get the picture. Finally we are motoring along, and the rest of the trip in uneventful. We reached La Cruz early in the morning, and anchored in a nice spot. After cleaning up the boat and taking a nice long nap, we lowered the dingy and outboard in the water and headed into town for a hot meal and to meet the locals. It was great! The next morning, with coffee in hand, I went up to see the sunrise, only to discover our dingy and outboard had been stolen! Talk about a way to ruin your day. We got on the radio, and Ken got some help from other cruisers to go looking for it. At this point we have still not found it, and probably won’t. So, time to shop for a new dingy (if we can find one around here) My sister Tova, and brother in law Ron, and their children are in Nuevo Vallarta, (a few miles away), so we are pulling up anchor and going for a visit with them for a few days…Until the next leg, Jorie and Ken  Paradise Village Resort and Marina was a welcome change. They sent out a little jet ski to guide us into our slip. There were three people waiting to handle the lines. (A girl could get used to this). So much different than Cabo!!! You get full use of all of the resort facilities…pools, Jacuzzi’s, spa, restaurants, bars, etc. They make it so easy for you to spend your money…just charge it to the boat slip. We spent the next week visiting with family, and enjoying the sites, getting happy at happy hour, and just plain relaxing. After the family left, we decided we should as well. So we filled up with fuel, water, and food, and it is off to Mazatlan for a month to meet our children for their winter breaks. Until the next leg, Jorie and Ken  Now I know why they call it a “beat”. Sailing against the wind and waves beats you up. We left PV with weather reports of light wind and seas 2-3 feet. We tried sailing at first, but the wind was right on the bow, and we did not feel like making the journey much longer than it needed to be. So on went the iron sails (the motor) and we were clipping along at 5-6 knots. Soon the waves were a little bigger, slapping the bow, and causing water to splash the decks. We took down our screens, and put the windows up because the sun was going to set soon. It’s a good thing we did. Several hours later the sky clouded over, and the waves were now 4-6 feet and very close together, making for a very bumpy ride. Ken made dinner, because I got nauseous every time I went below. It was a long night. The waves were ranging from 6-10 feet, green water on the decks. Neither of us could sleep much due to the pitching, rolling, and sounds of everything rattling in the lockers. We arrived in Mazatlan around 15:00 the next day, and were concerned about going into the entrance to the marina due to the strong surge. Both of us wanted a quiet night, a hot meal, and to get off of the boat, so we decided to go for it. It was a bit tense, but we made it through unscathed and were soon snuggly in our slip and ready for a margarita. So…we plan to be here for a month or so, and take in the sites. Oh, and one final thing. I woke up this morning and Ken was talking to the people on the boat next to us. I am in my bath robe and having a cup of coffee. I hear this voice that sounds familiar, and I poke my head out of the companionway, and there talking to my husband is Dr. Robert Harf, a man I worked with at Sonoma Valley Hospital. What a small world it really is! Until the next leg, Jorie and Ken.  December 6-January 17, 2006 Ahh, Mazatlan. We came to know it quite well. From Playa Bruija ( a really nice beach) to El Faro ( the highest manned light house in Mexico). We rented a house in Jurez for the kids, which turned out to be great. They were in the “real” Mexican part of Mazatlan. Not a gringo in site. They became known, and liked by all of the locals. They found which taco stands had the best and cheapest tacos. They found where to get the beer and tequila. They found the best and freshest tortillas and baked goods from the local panaderia (bakery). And….some of them (I’m not naming names) found the local table dancers and cat houses. We had a really nice Christmas and New Years celebration. The first of many I hope. Ken and I got to know the cruisers community very well. The morning radio net was informative and funny. We had several problems with the boat. Our first plugged head (which we blamed on the kids), and the, oh so fun experience of taking the toilet apart. Ken was a trooper and after several attempts solved the problem and got it working again. We also had inverter problems, which were more of a problem to deal with. It involved long distance phone calls, warrantee work. We went out for day sails and used the water maker successfully. We went on a deep-sea fishing trip, but did not catch a thing (and I was hoping to see how the pros did it). We watched fish hockey…quite entertaining. This is where you throw a stale bread roll into the water, and the fish push it around until it is soft enough to break apart…I guess you have to be there. All in all, it has been a good time, but Ken and I are ready to head south. My Brother Antoine is here to travel with us for a while and learn to sail. It will be nice having the watch more spread out. Anyway…that is all for now. Until the next leg, Jorie and Ken.  January 18th-Jan 20th, 2006 Log from Crew The sail from Mazatlan to Tenicatita was for the most part, uneventful. It was my first taste at over-nighters. I spent the first eight hours or so negotiating with my stomach to keep its content from blasting into the Pacific Ocean. Ken slept up on deck while I did my first night watch “just in case,” but all was quiet. Ken and Jorie were greatful to get six hours of sleep compared to only three (which was the case before I joined the crew). It was incredibly beautiful and peaceful at night with the sails up and without the constant hum of the diesel engine. The only sound was that of waves against the bow and the wind against the sails. I wished that everyone could experience such serenity. Before too long, the sun was poised to rise and my shift was coming to an end. I looked forward to going to bed, but before that I had to de-brief Jorie who was to take the next shift. I told her, “It was a quiet night, no traffic except one cruise ship passing port side, clear skies, and what else? Oh yea, we are going to hit land soon if we keep sailing in this direction. Good night.” Then I was off to bed. I could here Jorie waking Ken, the sound of immediate action being taking. I figured they were tacking the boat to avoid certain disaster. The next day the wind and sea were at a dead calm so Ken and I decided to go for a swim. Jorie decided she would pass. It took a large amount of courage to jump off the boat into waters of seemingly infinite depth. But not wanting to be seen lacking courage I plunged in, even though I could clearly see what looked like large white sea-worms all over. Jorie said that she thought she saw something big swimming beneath me. I was out of there so fast I could have ran on the surface of the water. They had a good laugh. But hey, I had just entered the food chain where I knew I was near the bottom. So better safe, then shark bait. When we got to Tenicatita it was hot and windy. We dropped the hook and decided to BBQ hot dogs rather than cook inside and heat up the cabin. After cooking the dogs for a while, we discovered they were all individually wrapped tightly in plastic. So we set about “skinning” our hot dogs, placed them back on the grill and watched them “sweat.” It was really the most unappetizing thing you have ever seen, but we tried to eat them any way. The next day we swam to shore, walked the beach, went to the local palapa and met the other cruisers. We took our dingy up the little river on the “jungle tour.” It was cool and shady and a welcomed change from the hot sun. There was a little village at the end that served great food. We ate our food then walked along another beautiful beach. After that we picked up some provisions at a little market, jumped in the dingy and headed down river. We managed to enter the bay without getting too swamped and were soon safely back aboard the boat. We met a lot of wonderful people at Tenicatita, made some good friends, but it was time to sail away in search of new adventures. Antoine  January 23-January 26, 2006 The trip from Tenicatita to Barra de Navidad was only 12 miles. We did see a pod of whales when leaving the bay. We decided to go to Barra to refuel and get some provisions. It just so happened that some friends of ours were in the marina there, so we decided to go to the marina rather than anchoring. What a good decision!!!! It was so hot, and the resort with the marina had a fabulous pool. We were soon poolside, with umbrella drinks, enjoying life. We had “boat boys” washing the boat, we had the laundry done, we had our meals out in restaurants, we had “the french baker” delivering fresh bread to the boat…the good life…can we stay just one more day, please, please, please. But, alas, and alack, all good things must end (plus it was expensive). It is time to move on. We are leaving in the morning on our way to Manzanillo, and then to Zihautanejo to meet our friends Lynn and Pete who will travel with us for a week. Until the next leg…we are off to the pool one last time. Jorie, Ken, and Antoine  January 29-January 30, 2006 As you can see, we spent a few extra days in Barra. We left on Saturday, because all sailors know, you never leave on a Friday. Our plans were to go strait to Zihuatanejo, but again, all plans are subject to change. Our sail was more of a “motor” due to lack of wind. We were cruising along at 7.5 knots, trailing our fishing line, the sun was sinking down, we had following seas with swells 10 foot or so. Not so bad when they are coming from behind. All of a sudden the fishing line starts to whirrrrrrr. We had something big on the line. Ken jumped out of the cockpit and grabbed the pole. I took the wheel and stopped the boat. Antoine is at the stern assisting ken…I went to grab my camera, cause we needed to capture this!! When I got back up, the boat was really rocking, cause now those 10-12 foot swells are coming on the side of the boat. I had visions of Ken and Antoine going overboard, me trying to get them back on, broken bones, gaping wounds, etc, etc….so needless to say, I grab the PFD’s , tethers and attach all of us. Eventually Ken and Antoine land the fish. It is a sailfish, approximately 100 lbs or so. This was our first fish, so needless to say, it was a learning experience in how to best fillet it. It was getting dark, the seas were really rolly, but we did manage to get the job done. I cooked up some nice fillets using a special breading that Suzie gave me…It was fabulous! The next day we decided to stop at Coleta de Campos, so we could get a good nights sleep and arrive in Zihua during daylight hours. We found a nice anchorage, and were the only boat there. We swam, ate, slept, and left very early in the morning. Until the next leg… Jorie, Ken, & Antoine  January 31- February 24ish, 2006 We arrived in the beautiful bay of Zihuatanejo mid morning. Lots of sailboats were already here. We had no problem finding a spot we liked and we set both a bow and stern anchor. We had one day to clean up our boat for our company. Our friends Lynn and Pete arrived on the 1st of Feb, just in time for the beginning of Sailfest. Sailfest is a five-day cruisers fundraiser for the schools in and around Zihuantanejo. They have raffles, silent auctions, sailboat races, chili cook-off, children’s games on the beach, BBQ, dingy raft-up, and the grand finale, the sail boat parade from Z-town to Ixtapa and back. The parade was really fun (see pictures), and we had some really nice guests aboard. Our visit with Lynn and Pete went by way to fast. Ken and I have been taking a dive class while we are here. There is a cruiser (John on Palagic) who is a certified PADI instructor. Ken is doing a refresher, and I am advancing my certification to open water diver. It is really great to just dive from the side of our boat, (even if we are doing it to clean our anchor chain and the bottom of the boat). Out time here has not been without problems however. Our outboard engine that we bought in Mazatlan has taken a dump. We are trying to get it repaired, but doing anything in Mexico is difficult at best. We are still working on it. Our plans are to stay here until the 24th when Antoine is leaving to fly back to Portland. After that we are heading south (maybe). Until the next leg…Jorie, Ken, & Antoine  February 28 to March 26 We decided to head over to Ixtapa, a few miles to the north of Zihuatanejo, to use the marina. We have decided to go to the states for a few weeks to get parts for the watermaker, and fill our suitcases with other miscellaneous sundries. While we had the boat in the marina, we got her all prettied up…washed and waxed, stainless steel polished, a few new coats of varnish on the teak. It felt weird to be leaving our boat. We got her all buttoned up and will be visiting our family for the next three weeks. Oh…and check out the Crocodile that was swimming right next to our boat. I don’t think I will be swimming here. Until the next leg… Jorie and Ken April 2 to April 11, 2006 Ken’s Log So I am sitting on the back of Tide n’ Knots, and I realize that we have not done any updates to our web page (really Jorie suggested that instead of playing computer games I should do something constructive). Being the dedicated husband that I am I decided to follow Jorie’s advice and put something down. When last you heard from us we were looking at a crocodile five feet from the boat. So much has happened since then. We went back to the States to restock supplies, (watermaker parts, wine, port, DVD’s, candy and other hard to get in Mexico things). We got so much stuff in fact, we had to buy more luggage to carry it all. Jorie and I saw most of our kids, and we visited some family and friends…sorry we did not get to see you all. We managed to get through Mexican customs unscathed. We got the infamous green light, so our bags were not searched. It is a good thing too, because on the plane we were reading about how you were only allowed five DVD’s per person, and we had about 100. It was great to be back on the boat, it seemed we were away from her for such a long time. She was safe and sound upon our return, but now the “fun” was about to begin. It was time to do all of the boat projects that we brought back with us. We moved the boat back over to Z-town, provisioned, filled all of the tanks, and were soon ready to head out. On the 2nd of April we finally got under way again! Wow, it was great to be actually sailing again. We had made friends with three other boats (Ticket to Ride, Rosebud, and Hoofbeats) who were also planning on heading south, so we all set out together. We left about an hour or two before everyone else and arrived in Papanoa a bit earlier than everyone else. The guidebook we had, described Papanoa as being “a large anchorage, with room for 100 boats”. Yeah right!! There was hardly room for the four boats in our group. Papanoa was a protected, quiet little anchorage. There were no services to speak of. In the morning Tony from ‘Hoofbeats’ taxied us all in to town (the rest of us did not want the hassle of putting the dingys in the water). When we arrived at the dock, the locals met us and brought the town gringo “Frank” over to meet us. Frank is well respected in Papanoa, and the whole town knows him as well as he knows them. Frank bought us all a beer, which we enjoyed at his casita that he built. Frank told us how he had lived there for the last five years and what life was like there for him. Frank obviously enjoyed the slow pace in Papanoa. We walked through the rest of the town and had lunch at the hotel, the only real place to eat in town. After one night in Papanoa, we were ready to head out. We weighed anchor around 04:00, and headed out in a nice tight line, Tide n’ Knots taking up the rear. Once clear of the fishing pangas, and all of their nets, we headed out to get some sea room and have a straight shot to Acapulco. While we went out, the other three boats hugged the shore. We arrived before everyone else. Our arrival to Acapulco was not much fun. We could not get anyone to respond on the radio, and we wanted to find out about picking up a mooring ball. We decided to “just go for it” and soon had angry Mexicans yelling at us to move. We finally spoke to another sailboat that was here and they told us to take a mooring farther out. At this point our friends were arriving and it became a free for all for the mooring balls. The moorings were barnacle covered, ropes slimy and rotting, who knows what was holding them down. After multiple attempts, we were finally secured to the ball, and ready for a cold beer. We have spent about a week here, and we can’t say much for Acapulco. We have decided to go to Cocos Island, which is part of Costa Rica and about a 17 day trip from here. It will be our first really big trip, and we are both excited to be doing it. So Acapulco has been all about hardware stores, provisioning, getting the boat ship shape for the trip, visiting all of the officials to get our exit papers for Mexico (that is a whole story in itself)…all in all, not much time for site seeing. We are almost ready and hope to leave on the 12th. Needless to say, we will not have internet access for about three to four weeks…so until the next leg, wish us luck. Ken and Jorie | Central America 2006 | North America 2005-2006 | South America 2006 | | Return Home | Great Links | Contact Us | Pictures | The Crew | The Boat | logs | People We've Met | |
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