East Cape to Banderas Bay - What a Ride!

We started off on what is called the "Southern Crossing" to mainland Mexico the other day, with my Dad Herb onboard. The initial goal was to go from La Ribiera Marina (near Los Barriles on the east cape of the baja peninsula) to Isla Isabel (the Galapagos of Mexico), or straight on to Puerto Vallarta depending on conditions.

Cabo Riviera Marina - VERY much a work in progress

Herb & Chris ready to go!

The weather forecast seemed favorable before heading out, a steady 20kt NNW wind, which would make for a lively downwind sail. Unfortunately we forgot the standard "add 10kt" factor for the east cape wind forecast, and found ourselves in gusts to 35kt on the first night! Our first hint things were going to be wild probably should have been the breaking waves on our way out of the marina, as the NNW wind was sending big rollers straight down the channel. These two factors combined to give Anne-Marie her worst case of sea sickness to date. Luckily Herb and I were feeling fine and took all the shifts for the first day so she could get some rest.

Anne-Marie - Out for the count

Luckily Herb didn't mind the wild conditions

The second day brought with it very pleasant conditions. With a pretty steady 15-20kt wind from the stern we were able to make good speed as the sea state calmed considerably. The second night saw the wind drop down to 5-10kt, and the third day to the point that we were practically becalmed, and decided to motor the last 18 miles to Isla Isabel.

Anne-Marie trying not to throw up

Herb enjoyed the conditions

Anne-Marie was reluctant to stop at Isla Isabel, since she had finally recovered from her sea sickness, and was worried when we started up again it would be back. I knew she would be happy to explore the island though, and a strong wind was forecasted which was just as likely to make her sick again, so we hunkered down at Isla Isabel for the worst of the wind.

Isla Isabel is known to "swallow" anchors, since the sea bottom is covered in large rocks instead of the more forgiving sand we prefer. It was our first time using a trip line on the crown of the anchor, so I decided to jump in with my snorkelling gear before we attempted to set the anchor. As it turned out, our trip line was too short, and the anchor was just hovering a couple of feet over the sea bottom. It was probably for the best though as the area we dropped the hook was covered in massive bolders which surely would have tangled the anchor chain. After hauling the anchor back aboard, I decided to swim around with our hand held VHF radio and look for a sandy spot among the rocks to try and set the anchor. After five minutes of swimming around I found a suitable spot and sent Anne-Marie my position. She came in with Starship and dropped the hook. We were still a little off so I dove in again and moved the anchor onto the sandy patch. I remained in the water while Anne-Marie and Herb backed down on the anchor, so that I could watch and ensure we had a good set to weather the pending blow.

Going in to check on the anchor

Securely anchored at Isla Isabel

All that work really paid off though! The anchorage was incredibly beautiful and interesting. Isla Isabel is known for it's large flocks of nesting boobies (blue, green and red footed), frigate birds and iguanas. With no predators on the island, the birds let you walk right up to them!

Between the thousands of birds everywhere you looked, the sounds of their chirping and whistling, and the creepy deserted research station on the island, it seemed like a scene from Jurassic Park.

 

Creepy abandoned research station...

The forecast for our trip from Isla Isabel to La Cruz was looking great! We had an amazing sail, flying the spinnaker for most of the time, several dolphin encounters, and caught a skip jack tuna! It was pretty funny as Anne-Marie had just mentioned she smelled fish, and moments later line was ripping off the reel. One hour later we had some delicious breaded skip jack for dinner, courtesy of Anne-Marie. It's hard to get fresher than that...

Dolphins!

Do you smells fish??

Yup, here is one!

Finally we arrived in La Cruz as the sun was rising. Got the boat set back up into living mode and explored the town a bit. After that we all collapsed in exhaustion. Soon my Mom Michelle will be joining us for a week of exploring Banderas Bay.

For a few more pictures not on the blog, be sure to check out our Picasa album here:

East Cape to Banderas Bay

Also I compiled a short video of the boobies and dolphins we saw on our trip,only available on the blog, not in the email blast, enjoy:

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Location:

La Cruz

Latitude:

20.7485167

Longitude:

-105.3721667

Merry Christmas!

We are having a great time kitesurfing in Los Barriles and just wanted to wish everybody a very Merry Christmas! Thanks for following our blog and supporting our adventure. Happy New Year! We're looking forward to 2013.

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Location:

Los Barriles

Latitude:

23.67904

Longitude:

-109.696598

Staying Fit while Cruising

When I realized that our cruising plans would have us spending over a month in La Paz, I was a bit nervous that I would get restless. I absolutely love La Paz, but I always prefer quiet anchorages to cities. Part of what I love most about cruising is the constant exploring. What a feeling to turn the corner into a new anchorage and be stunned by the beauty of your new home just waiting to be explored.

Thanks to some great sailing ladies, I found some really fun ways to stay fit (and not feel restless) in La Paz. Sarah (S/V Hydroquest) and Lisa (S/V Molly J) introduced me to Zumba, a type of dance/fitness class. I thought it was going to be touristy, but it's all locals and all in Spanish. I'll never be able to wiggle my boobies or bootie like the women in this class, but I had lots of fun trying. One of the best parts is that it costs 70 pesos (~5.50 USD) for a week of classes!

Stephanie (S/V Le Letty) has been keeping us fit by teaching us aerial acrobatics on her boat. It's an amazing core and upper body work out. We always come back to Starship sore and happy. Stephanie is such a patient, calm and enthusiastic teacher. Thank you for the lessons! Here are some of Chris and my more graceful moves:

Here are some pictures of the pro (Stephanie) at work:

To see some of our less graceful acrobatic moves and see what else we've been up to, check out these pictures: https://picasaweb.google.com/chris.foxxxy/LaPazNovDec2012

We look forward to having my parents visit in a few days and spending Christmas with them and my brother in Mexico! We then look forward to exploring the mainland of Mexico (Puerto Vallarta area) with Herb and Michelle in the New Year. Then.....it's Puddle Jump Time :D !!!

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Location:

La Paz

Latitude:

24.160317

Longitude:

-110.33405

Thank You Perla Moon!

Starship has had a oil leak in the old iron jenny for most of the past year. She probably had it long before that also, but just wasn't getting enough use for the leak to be noticed.

Hard to see oil leak between water pump and front plate

Evidence of the leak is apparent below main pulley

One day last March when we were at the islands near La Paz, we met a boat named Perla Moon, with Fred & Linda aboard.

Perla Moon at anchor on Isla Espiritu Santos

Fred is a retired diesel mechanic, and was very eager to come over and take a look at our engine problem. He gave us some helpful tips about resolving some issues with the way our engine was mounted, and walked us through what might be involved in repairing our leak.

At that time, we were still trying to get a handle on how bad the leak was, and whether we could just live with it or not. Fred was the only person we met who considered an oil leak a problem. Most other people would just say "diesel's leak, carry extra oil", but Fred is a professional and doesn't put up with leaks.

Over the course of last year, as we monitored the leak and noticed it was getting worse, we decided we definitely wanted to fix it. We got a hold of Fred who was back in the San Francisco Bay area and asked if he would be willing to consult with us on the repair over the phone and skype. Fred was very enthusiastic about the prospect of helping us out over the phone, and we were very grateful for his advice! Linda also played a very important role in the process, acting as the technology advisor for Fred. Linda would get skype working and download PDF manuals of our engine for Fred to review.

After about five days of speaking to Fred for about an hour each day, the engine was disassembled and reassembled! AND it doesn't leak!! ... at least not from the repaired area...

The gears which needed to come off to replace the front plate (grey)

One can see where the leak was at the bottom of the water pump bearing housing above

Anne-Marie and I both gained a lot of valuable knowledge and confidence in our engine over the five days. We ended up having to take a part more systems of the engine than we initially thought, and have a much better idea of how all these systems work together.

Our leak free engine with a touched up paint job!

One valuable lesson I learned is to not worry so much about taking apart parts of the engine to gain better access to the area you need to work on. The extra work space is worth the time of taking off and reassembling some parts.

Thanks a lot Fred & Linda! We look forward to meeting up with you in Puerto Vallarta so you can redeem your kitesurfing lesson vouchers :)

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Location:

La Paz

Latitude:

24.160317

Longitude:

-110.33405