HaHa Legs 2 and 3

Thursday  November 1 – Land Ahoy!!!

Today was our third day at sea and with a crew of 4 total we were all quite well rested. With watch shifts of 3 hour each, we get 9 hours off watch at a time. During the day most of us are us and around except for naps, but at night the crew member at watch is all alone to their thoughts. Watch consists of watching for other boat traffic, monitoring our position and course on the GPS and watching wind direction/force and sails. We tend to read or update our logs during solitary watches.

No fishing today because we have no more room for fish in the fridge. So we spent the day napping and preparing meals with fresh fish.

The big event today was arriving at “Turtle Bay” at sunset.  It was great to arrive before dark to allow a safe entrance into the bay as well as to get a good view of town and the anchorage. We anchored in 20 feet of water close into the public dock. Instead of assembling our dingy we payed $5 to hitch a ride in a panga to shore. We walked through this dusty town to the Veracruz restaurant where about 50 HaHa members were eating and drinking.  The locals we passed along the way were very friendly. We had some dinner and drinks at the restaurant and chatted with others before returning to an open bar on the beach and talking more with another crew. We then returned to Mariah via another Panga and called it a night.

So, from San Diego to Turtle Bay it was about 360 miles which we sailed and motored in 3 days and 6 hours.  We averaged 100 miles each day which was my goal.

Friday November 2 – “Lifes a Beach”

We started the day going to town to access wifi at the Veracruz restaurant and getting some groceries.

We then pulled up anchor and moved closer to the beach party and anchored just of the beach in 17 feet of water. The weather was breezy and cool with cloud cover but still okay for beach activities but cooler than the previous heat wave in San Diego.

The HaHa beach party began around noon on a beach east of town separated by some medium hills.  There was a basic concrete structure where locals sold drinks.  Two shade tents were located next to the bar, a volleyball net was set up on the beach and speakers played music.  The beach began at the cliffs below hills that served as a wind block and went on for miles to the east around the bay. At the beach some water was draining out of an inland estuary which was mostly dry at low tide. At my last visit in ’09,  this drainage was much greater and folks were riding the current out to sea in all kinds of floating devices or just floating on their backs.

Three of us went ashore in the 2 kayaks and 1 stand up paddle board while James swam. Andy flipped in the small beach surf but was fine. The Mariah crew spent the afternoon playing volleyball, chatting with other crews, climbing the local hills for views of town and the bay, and enjoying the potluck lunch. Andy and I also tried towing the stand up paddleboard with the power dingy. It was great fun flying around the bay…kinda like wakeboarding but less maneuverable.

We returned to Mariah at sunset, ate dinner and relaxed to the movie “Hot Tub Time Machine.”

Saturday November 3 – Day 1 Leg 2, Back to sea

Mariah pulled anchor at Turtle Bay at 7am and was at the starting line at 8am.  We hoisted the spinnaker which worked for an hour but then the winds grew light and we had to motor. It’s always a beautiful sight at the start when the fleet is close together and all the spinnakers are flying.

The electric autopilot failed to work this morning. James and I spent the next 3 hours repairing the motor unit. It appears that a pin fell out so that the gear was just rotating loose on the drive shaft. It took quite some time to disassemble the whole unit to find the problem, do the repair, and reassemble the unit. The gears were in a metal housing full of oil so it was messy work. But luckily we were able to fit it and return to hands free steerage.

We covered another 100 miles today. The winds were 15-20 knots from the north allowing us to sail from 5-6 knots. There are reports of a tropical storm south of Cabo San Lucas which the fleet is monitoring but is not expected to be a problem.

The radio reports other crews catching fish. One caught a 52” Marlin while others caught more dorado and tuna. The water temp is 70 -75 degrees which I think is favorable for fishing.

Sunday November 4 – Day 2 at sea

Light winds today so we motored most of the day until dusk when we could set sail again.

Movies included an afternoon matinee of “Out There” which was a surf film. We hoped the film would get us excited for surfing at our next stop. The evening show included “Knight and Day” which was an adventurous romp.

Fishing was poor today. Brittany reeled in a very small tuna type fish which we returned to the sea. We soon after had another larger hit on the same lure which broke the fishing line at the pole which must have jammed.

James and Andy played a chess game which must have lasted 1-2 hours.

The highlight of the day was probably meals. We had ceviche on crackers as appetizers and fresh fish and chips (breaded tuna) for lunch. Dinner included 3 Boboli pizzas; one with pepperoni and the last of the mushrooms and two more with chicken pineapple chunks. Its great to eat well at sea.

Monday  November 5 – Arrived Bahia Santa Maria 

Its strange being “off grid” with no information of the elections. Maybe one of the other boats will find out the results because otherwise we wont know the presidential outcome until Cabo San Lucas at the end of the week.  In this age of “being connected” and knowing news immediately, its odd being out of contact…but also kinda nice and lower stress.

We sailed wing and wind through last night averaging about 4 knots with a moderately bumpy ride.

No fish strikes today but there was a large school of dolphins which may have been herding a school of fish away from us.

We arrived at Bahia Santa Maria about sunset. Most of the fleet had arrived earlier in the day and had already explored the beach and local hills. After anchoring close to the beach in 16 feet of water we took the dingy over to Scuttle Butt (Formosa 41) for cocktails, snacks and conversation.  After that we visited the large party of about 50 sailors on Moontide (Lagoon 47) which was tied to Talion (Gulfstar 50) which were spacious and luxurious yachts. It was nice talking with different crews about their experiences.  For example, Exodus (Lagoon 40) was being sailed by the couples selling and purchasing the boat. Additional crew were comprised of a chef and an experienced mechanic/sailor. The new owners planned to cruise with their 2 young children after learning the ropes of their new boat.

The winds howled through the anchorage that night at 20-25 knots. My wind generator was cranking out the amps. We left the party early and had a windy and wet ride back to Mariah and got to bed early in anticipation of a big day tomorrow.

Tuesday November 6 – Bahia Santa Maria

Busy day today.  It started with wholewheat and apple pancakes and a 3 hour hike up the local hills before it got too hot. My choice of sandals was not the best for climbing on loose gravel but they worked okay. We climbed straight up the hill without a trail, along ridges and over many false summits until we arrived at a summit with a 360 degree view of inland sand dunes, the sea, and the sandy beach encircling the bay. A fellow named Nima shared a huge bar of chocolate, tea, and bagels with peanut butter.  On one summit along the climb was a huge bird nest resting on the rocks about 5 foot in diameter.  The nest felt like something out of a prehistoric era. We didn’t see any snakes along the climb but there were huge spiders and their webs along the way. Apparently there was a recent storm which brought rain resulting in greenery, small flowers, butterfies and some large moth looking creatures, some of which ended up in the spider webs. There were no snakes and only one report of a lizard. We climbed down another route which involved some scrambling over loose rocks but ended in a dry ravine.

The next activity was trying to surf the small waves with the inflatable stand up paddleboards. We already surfed the waves with the kayaks on the earlier trip to the beach to hike. James and I spent 2 hours paddling in 75 degree water and attempting to catch waves. It was tough to keep standing balance while attempting to catch a wave. Most waves I would either lose balance and fall off or bury the nose of the semi rigid inflatable board and flip over. We learned a few tricks and caught a couple of rides but really enjoyed just being out there n the warm water with music from the live band on shore.

Speaking of shore activities, the HaHa had locals organize music, $15 fish and rice platters, $3 beers, and we received our immigration papers. Volleyball was played all day on the beach and one guy paraglided from the hill above down to the beach. At dusk, the Mariah crew took our dingy up the waterway inland through mangroves and up to a local fishing village complete with shacks and solar panels. Small fish jumped along the way and we spotted gray heron and other birds feeding.

We returned to Mariah, loaded the dingy and all the toys and set sail about 8pm. We left early since we were always the ones being late and wanted to arrive in Cabo San Lucas in time for the Thursday night party at Squid Row. The 20 knot evening gusting winds died as we left the bay and were becalmed and motoring by midnight.

Wednesday  November 7 – Another day at sea.

It was nice being ahead of everyone for once due to leaving last night instead of this morning.  We motored all morning until the wind filled in a bit in the afternoon. We flew the spinnaker until sunset when the wind died and then motored again through the night.

We caught a smaller tuna to add to the fridge of meat.  Its always exciting to catch a fish and much easier  to slow  the boat under power. We also had another hook up that got away before we could see it. They seemed to like the squid looking lure.

Movies included “Super Bad” and “Dead Calm.”  Our one big meal for the day was fresh tuna melt, french fries, and a cucumber salad…Yum!!

Thursday  November  8 – Arrived Cabo San Lucas 

Arrived at Cabo San Lucas about noon. What a zoo!!  Cruise ship in the harbor, jet skiis buzzing around, and music blasting from shore bars. It was still great to get here though. After getting fuel and  water we anchored in the bay awaiting a slip.

We learned that customs may take our uncooked meat and veggies so we made a dorado stir fry to use up what was left. Other than some chicken that went bad we did quite well with food and were down to our last gallon of water in the tank.  We still had 10 spare gallons in jerry cans.

I dropped the crew on the shore via dingy for drinks while I returned to the boat for some quiet time. I cleaned the boat a bit, swam in the 80 degree water and took a long awaited shower. I really enjoy the crew but it was nice having the boat to myself for the afternoon to clean, tinker a bit and relax.

Friday, Saturday, Sunday November 9-11  Life at Cabo San Lucas

Have been busy doing boat stuff, snorkeling, and visiting with the other boaters. Also got a Mexico cell phone to keep in touch with family. Cabo is like the Vegas of Mexico so a short visit is nice but we are ready to move on to La Paz which is a quieter town. We may not leave until Tuesday due to expected high winds until then.We have also been at the Cabo dock which is expensive so plan to move to the anchorage tonight.
Hope all is well with you all!!

Cheers from Ken and crew