Baja Filter

The photo is of a genuine Baja (pronounced "Baha") fuel filter on the left and the ersatz one that I purchased in Richmond, CA on the right. Inside the Baja filter you can see the first of three filters, each successively finer. These filters are considered sine qua non for taking on fuel in Baja California and beyond because they ensure that the fuel delivered to the boat's tank is free of particle and water contamination. At the other end of the Baja filter is a 1" diameter pipe that will fit inside Pachuca's fuel intake.

SD Day 7 - We Have Moved

Late this morning Arnold and I moved the boat from the Police Dock to Slip E4 of the San Diego Yacht Club.

I contacted Joe at the SDYC Dockmaster office this morning and he gave me the pen assignment. I then visited the Police Dock office and they gave us a $63 refund on the 3 days of the 10 that we didn't stay and have the option of returning for another 3 days before we depart San Diego.

My exit from the pen at the Police Dock was - well - not the best example of seamanship. I had gone over the challenge with Arnold: 10-12 knot wind coming from the stern and sometimes from the starboard quarter with the various problems that this would present. I made the mistake of not backing out and going to the upwind side of the fairway aggressively. People who had helped us cast off yelled to go forward and out but they did not understand how little drive I have with my 22 HP engine. I went forward, the wind caught me, and we were saved only by four people on the jetty fending us off with all their might. Looking back, if I had reversed even 20 more feet I would have cleared the leeward jetties easily.

We motored into our pen slowly and with a mercifully slight cross wind of 7 knots. Between Arnold fending off with the boat hook and my creeping into the pen we got the boat in with little problem. Afterward I went to the Dockmaster's office and did the paperwork with Joe, who had been briefed by Karen. From there I went to front desk where I was given and electronic key to the showers ($100 deposit) and guest passes for Arnold and myself. We have tenure for 10 days but it is likely that we can get an extension.

We've been told that the San Diego Yacht Club is considered to be the premier club of the bay. It certainly seems to have stature and tradition. There are black and white photos of the commodores dating from 1886. (The first and only female commodore appeared in 2006.) The facilities look very good, including a library and the first swimming pool that I have ever seen in a yacht club. We have been given a very good pen, only two boats from the club house. This has relevance to the best news that I have saved for last:
WE NOW HAVE ON BOARD INTERNET ACCESS!!!!

Wow, this changes everything. For the first time since the Makah Indian reservation at Neah Bay I can update this blog and attend to my email from the comfort of Pachuca. I will also be able to make Skype voice calls from the boat. YIIIIPPPPPEEEEEE!!!! We are paying $39 per day for our stay here but figure that the on-board Internet has to be worth at least $10 per day to us.

And I must say that visiting as a member of the Fremantle Sailing Club has made this possible. Sarah, the membership secretary at the FSC, gave me great support with her letter of accreditation to the SDYC.

The accompanying photos are of Pachuca in her new home. The first photo shows the SDYC club house in the background.

SD Day 7 - Navman Sounder OK

I spent over two hours at McDonalds updating the blog yesterday afternoon. At the end of that session I had 15 minutes of battery life remaining on my webtop computer for a Skype conversation to Australia. I peddled home in the dark, using mainly the sidewalk, giving constant vigilance to cars darting in and out of fast food businesses. Tonight I will check yesterday's blog upload. I am particularly interested in the outcome of that sailing video upload that appeared to have gone OK.

Soon after waking this morning we checked the bilge. There was about 2 cups of clear water in the bilge - clear water, not red or green, which absolves the water tanks.

We plan to move the boat to the San Diego Yacht Club today and keep a few days here at the Police Dock up our sleeve. I spoke with Karen at the club yesterday and she said that she could see 3 slips that would suit us, so was optimistic about finding accommodation for us. However, she asked that we call this morning to get a specific slip assignment.

Yesterday I updated Pachuca's cruising log spreadsheet to include the San Diego leg. For the 500 sea miles between San Francisco and San Diego we averaged 1.9 knots, which is not surprising given the light winds in the first few days and the huge amount of heaving to under strong adverse winds. The numbers for the entire 20 months of cruising since Fremantele are:

Avg Speed Knots: 3.5
Dist Sailed Nm: 12026
Days Under Sail: 144
Lay Days (in port): 482
Days Away: 616

I can report good news on our Navman depth sounder problem. Yesterday morning I checked the transducer and found it fully bathed in olive oil that looked clean enough and of the right color to put on our next dish of spaghetti. I then turned on the unit and saw a depth of 2.1 meters, climbing upwards in 0.1 meter increments to 15 meters. Later I saw the depth back down to 0.1 meters, but climbing. Eventually the "DUH" moment arrived when I realized that there was a pattern and the unit might be in some sort of diagnostic mode. I recalled that Arnold and I had put the unit in some sort of self test mode way back in Tahiti Iti when we thought that the unit was faulty. (It wasn't. We were anchored in over 40 meters of water, but that is another story already covered in the blog.) I dug out the manual and saw that the unit could be put in and out of "simulation" mode by simultaneously holding down the "alarm" key and powering it on. Soon after Arnold returned to the boat from his bicycle trip for a hair cut he held down the "alarm" key on the display and I powered up at the switch panel and the unit began to report a credible and consistent depth of 5.1 meters. This morning I noticed that the tide is up and the unit is reporting 6.1 metes.

Arnold agrees that I should proceed with the installation of the new Raymarine depth sounder for several reasons. First, it gives us redundancy on a facility that is vital to the welfare of the boat and crew. Also, the Raymarine unit will display depth at the chart plotter, giving the navigator a more comprehensive view of the situation. Finally, the Raymarine unit may report deeper depths than the 35 meters or so that the Navman does. Incidentally, the Navman is 10 years old.

Saling Video

Arnold took this video soon after resumption of sailing after a gale. Note how hard Jeff the wind steering is working.

Water Tanks

These are photos that I took during our investigation of possible water tank leaks.

The first two photos are of the starboard tank. Note one of the 4 house batteries at the back.

The next two photos are of the port tank. Behind this tank is another house battery and the water pressure pump and a shower drain bilge pump.

The white sticks are marked at 10 liter intervals and are used to plumb the tanks.

The last photo shows the tinted water that we will be drinking for the next week or so. (Should be OK. We used food coloring.)

Photos of Bilge

As long as the bilge was exposed, clean, and dry I figured that I may as well photograph it.

The first 4 photos show various sections of the bilge from the mast to the companionway. The thin copper wires are the earth wires for the HF antenna tuner. The top photo shows the white electric bilge pump. Next to it is the intake for the Whale Gusher manual pump. Note the drain ducts along the sides of the bilge. They collect water coming down the sides of the boat. The 4th photo shows the thru-hull fitting for the engine salt water cooling intake.

The last photo is of the section of the bilge in front of the mast, where the in-hull depth sounder transducers lie. The round white enclosure houses a defunct transducer. The round black unit is the Navman transducer which seems to have been malfunctioning lately. The new Raymarine transducer will be fitted in this section, ahead of the keel near the center of the boat.

SD Day 6 - Water Tank Tests and Baja Filter

This morning I exposed the bilge, dried off a few spongefulls of water that had dribbled in overnight, then Arnold and I filled the port tank after emptying a bottle of green food coloring into it. The food coloring was Arnold's idea and it seems to have worked very well. We then looked at the tank, paying particular attention to where the hosing is clamped to the tank, and could see no leaks. We watched the bilge and no water - let alone green - was seeping in from the side. We then gave the same treatment to the starboard tank, using red food coloring. There was a bit of leaking from the bung at the top through which we plumb the tank and I soon fixed that with plumber's tape. There was water on the floor beneath the tank but we were pretty sure that it was the remains of all of that water that we had taken on the starboard side during our passage to San Diego. I mopped up that water and we had a good look at the tank and its fittings and could detect no leaks. No red water was seeping into the bilge.

The fact that the tanks were not leaking did not surprise me because I knew that Scotty had done too good a repair job (complete with pressure test) back at Fremantle for that to be a likelihood. However, I had been concerned that the hose couplings might be leaking as we rolled from side to side. However, all couplings were double clamped and water tight.

We still have a leaking issue when hobby horsing to weather, but we will have to look elsewhere for the problem. In the meantime, we'll be getting red water in the galley and green water in the head for the next few days.

At mid afternoon John called and said that he had sorted out the account issue at Downwind Marine. He picked me up 20 minutes later and we to get two Baja filters, one for me, and one for Jak who wanted to get one now that he's heard that they are not being manufactured any more and when Downwind's stock is gone ther will be no more. The filters are very good: solid aluminum body with three filters inside of progressively finer grade. This is a true "Baja" fuel filter in contrast to the single-filter plastic affair that had been sold to me in Richmond as a Baja filter.

SD Day 5 - Fishing Licenses

I started the day by finishing off the task of cleaning and drying the bilge. I had worked into dark the day before by pouring detergent into the bilge, cleaning the surfaces with a sponge, then flushing fresh water through it using a water hose to put fresh water in and the electric bilge pump to get the water out. After that it was a matter of sponging dry the bilge from the companionway to the forecastle.

John McKay came by at 10.30 AM to take us into the City to obtain permits for our visit to Mexico. At the Mexican consulate we were told that if we were visiting by boat we should get our permits in Ensenada, which according to our cruising guide has an efficient one-stop office where we will be able to get all of our documentation with minimum fuss.

However, John advised not to wait until Ensenada before we get our fishing licenses lest we be vulnerable while sailing through Mexican waters on the way to Ensenada. First we were taken on a drive through a charming park with Spanish-style buildings, with the San Diego Zoo near by if I heard correctly. We had lunch there at a Japanese cuisine cafe seated at an outdoor table enjoying the splendid weather.

After lunch we visited CONAPESCA, the Mexican fisheries office at 2550 Fifth Avenue, and dealt with an extremely pleasant and helpful man. Arnold and I walked out with one year's fishing license each at a cost of $48.20 per license. Arnold asked questions regarding spear fishing and learned that spear fishing is OK as long as air tanks are not used and the spear guns are powered by elastic bands and not gas cartridges.

We then visited a sort of Baja California tourist office (in Clairmont, I think) where I picked up a book describing fish found from Alaska to the Galapagos.

John dropped us off at the Police dock in mid afternoon and we thanked him for once again helping us out. We had had a pleasant outing, gotten to see much more of the city, and were very happy to have those fishing licenses.

In the evening Arnold and I watched Oliver Stone's "Alexander the Great", a film that we need to see only once.

SD Day 4

Arnold and I devoted the first 90 minutes of yesterday morning to cataloging and stowing the $350 worth of groceries and supplies that we had purchased previously.

Then I spent an unpleasant hour drying (Talk about a Freudian slip - my fingers typed out "crying" before I corrected the word to "drying".) and cleaning the head. The head is one of the damp areas of the boat. In heavy weather some water passes through the brand-new-recently replaced solar fan vent cover and a lot of condensation accumulates on the ceiling then dribbles down into the cupboards. So cleaning includes wiping off every surface with a weak solution of bleach to remove mold. After that job was done I ran the fan heater in the head for the rest of the day to finish the drying process.

During this time I received a call from West Marine informing me that the ST60 display had arrived. We arranged that John would meet us there at 12.30 and Arnold and I arrived at noon to select some other items that had caught my eye. The netting along foredeck rails is looking a bit torn and shabby so we got 40 meters of 2' wide nylon netting and 30 meters of cord to make the replacement, probably in Mexico. I also selected a proper ship's log book which I will start using to ensure that I have a written record of my last position in the unlikely event that I lose all boat electronics. Arnold came up with an excellent fish net which should solve the problem of fish spitting the hook out as I try to haul them aboard. ("Them? - all 2 fish since I departed Australia 21 months ago.) We also put selected a dive bag large enough to hold all of those fish that we will spear in Mexico. (We hope.)

John arrived just before 12.30 and after finding that cord that I needed for the rail netting job we went to the checkout using Jak's Port Supply account for some discounts. The ST60 display cost $336 and the transducer was another $100. The entire bill, including 8.75% state sales tax came out to $620.39. (Ouch! Welcome to modern boating.)

From there we drove to Von's for an internet session and got back with enough time for me to visit Evan's catamaran for some advice which he badly needed. Even had purchased the 30-odd year old cat a day or two earlier knowing next to nothing of sailing or boat maintenance. Arnold had given him some basic advice (including making Evan aware of what hull antifouling is) and I went over to check out his rigging. For lack of time I won't go into details, but some of the things we found were: broken wire on the baby stay which meant a replacement. Lower port rail is corroded and is a trap for anyone who grabs it. Rigging looks generally OK but unbelievably loose. No jack lines. No inflatable life vest. No EPIRB beacon. No life raft. Only one anchor (a good 60-lb Bruce) with maybe 10 feet of chain. I asked him if the autopilot works and he said that it turns on OK. (Yea, but does it work?) This would normally be OK because that is how young men learn about boating. However, Evan planned to leave today for a solo sail across the Panama Canal into the Gulf coast. I spoke with him this morning and he has been given one extra day at this jetty then will spend some time at anchor preparing the boat. The baby stay has been removed for replacement and he has purchased a Danforth kedging anchor. This morning the vendor will arrive to help fit two propellers.

Then Arnold and I drove to John and Priscilla's house with dinner with them and their friends Pam and Fred who live on their 30-ft boat that they are preparing for cruising. Wow, what a charming traditional house with mind-blowing panoramic views of the entire San Diego bay area, including the Coronado islands. I did some secure internet banking using John's machine then joined the others in the lounge for an hour of conversation over drinks and a smorgasbord of nibblies until we were joined by Pam and Fred. Then we moved the dining room for more conversation over a wonderful meal. (The home made chocolate care with two scoops of coffee ice cream finished me off as far as eating. I remarked that I felt "pampered and spoiled.")

It was a wonderful evening of indulgence, warmth, and easy conversation where we exchanged our boating, travel, and life experiences.

This morning Arnold and I inspected the new depth sounder equipment and read carefully the instructions. I have lifted the sole boards in the "transducer area" in front of the keel and we can see no problem with fitting the unit. There is a minor issue with the wiring connection between the transducer and the display, and I plan to visit West Marine today to sort that out. However, I have a big preliminary job of drying and cleaning the entire bilge. This will make our job of threading the cabling much easier and will dovetail nicely for our plans of filling up the water tanks with water tinted with food coloring to see if they are leaking. Using our entire 280 liters of water in 12 days suggests that Arnold and I were using over 20 liters of water per day - a whopping 6 gallons per day. This does not seem likely given that we had disabled the pressure pump and were using salt water for much of our dish washing. When we tie this high water usage with the large amount of bilge water that we pumped out during our sail to San Diego we think that the possibility of leaky water tanks is worth investigating.

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Photos

Arnold took photos and video during our passage to San Diego which I hope to publish soon. Here are some photos that I have taken.

The top photo is of me holding the fold-up bicycle in its bag saying goodbye to Neil. We hope to see him and his family in the Sea of Cortez soon.

Next is a screen shot of the chart plotter showing Pachuca in the midst of some serious ship traffic. The curson is near the dreaded Point Conception.

Then there is another screen shot showing our miserable attempts to tack into the adverse and shifting wind. We struggled for hours and got basically nowhere. The circle around Pachuca marks our security zone. Any ship within 23 minutes of penetrating that zone will set off an alarm.

Then there is Arnold rugged up at the helm in rough seas. ... We were not able to take photos of the really rough seas because the spray might damage the cameras.

The last to photos are of Pachuca in her temporary home at the Police Jetty on Shelter Island. On the other side of Pachuca is Pyewacket. A closeup of the final photo will show our wet weather gear out to dry.

SF Day 3

Arnold and I had a very productive day using the transport that John and Priscilla made available to us.

The day started with some difficulty when we heard Pyewacket's engine start up in the next berth. Soon Arnold and I were out there working their lines while they backed out. I was still wearing my bedroom slippers. The entire thing was a seamanship fiasco that taught me a mercifully cheap lesson in how not to go about helping somebody else. Noel asked me to hold a stern line and use it to bring his stern around as he backed out. On the bow Jackie tossed out the bow line and asked Arnold to uncleat it from the jetty and throw it on the boat. That left Arnold with no control of the bow. Noel's big 54 or so footer started to back out and I pulled on the line to swing him around. I asked Arnold to push the bow away from the jetty. Then it was Arnold who alerted us to the fact that Pyewacket's bow was headed for Pachuca. Jackie scampered over and Pyewacket's bow was over Pachuca's gunwale far enough so that she was able to push frantically on my boom to fend off their boat. Pyewacket's anchor caught my rail then we heard a screech and a "thong!" and Pyewacket was free. Off went Pyewacket and I went over to Pachuca to survey the damage with as philosophical attitude as I could muster. Mercifully there was very, very little damage. The top rail had a slight kink but no strand was broken. The rear sancheon had a very slight bend that could have even been there before. To Noel's credit he returned later to assess the damage and agreed that all was well. The big lesson that I learned was to take care of Pachuca first. Either Arnold or I should have been posted on Pachuca to fend off. One of us would have been sufficient for casting off lines. The other lesson that I learned is not to rely on the other skipper. The instruction for me to pull on that stern line was extremely unwise because the angle of my pull was too sharp for me to be very effective and in any event I ran out of line before Pyewacket was half way out of the pen and I to let it drop into the water yelling to Jackie that the loose line must be recovered. Also, allowing Jackie to cast off the bow line was foolish. We should have discussed the plan ahead of time and vetoed that proposal. Finally, Noel was at the helm and had a commanding view of the situation yet it was up to Arnold to sound the alarm. The entire event was an exercise in poor seamanship and judgement and I am grateful that I learned that lesson at a reasonably cheap price. The damage could have been horrendous.

I spent an hour or so washing my two pairs of Wal-Mart $15 sailing shoes and our two sets of Ronstan sailing boots in a weak solution of detergent and bleach. So out to dry on the boat was most of our wet weather gear including my life vest and faithful sailing jacket which Roland had given to me before my departure from Fremantle.

I then took some measurements for our visit to West Marine and uncoupled our 5 gal LPG tank and we were soon on the road.

The first port of call was the San Diego Yacht Club. I was graciously received and my membership to the Fremantle Sailing Club was accepted, although my membershipcard expired in 2008. I explained that I've been away for 18 months and that a quick visit to the FSC web site should confirm my status as a fully paid up member. It was agreed that I would request the FSC to send a letter to the SDYC. [Note: I spoke to Brenda this afternoon. She found my 2010 FSC membership card and will mail it to John and Priscilla's home tomorrow.] I was issued with a permit granting me access to the club until 2 Feb. There is no reservation system and it is first come first served so the plan is that a day or two before we must leave the Police Jetty (which is on 2 Feb) I will apply for a slip at the SCYC. I was told that the chances for a berth are very good because of the modest size of Pachuca with her 39-ft length and 12-ft beam. Arnold and I left the club confident that we would be able to spend an extra week or two in San Diego and get to spend more time with our cousins and get to see the city.

We then got LPG for out tank which took 4 gallons meaning that we had approximately 0.7 gallons left when we sailed into San Diego. So our calculated risk to not fill our LPG tank until we reached San Diego had paid off. The attendant said that getting LPG in Mexico would be no problem.

We dropped into "Marine Exchange" where I picked up a refurbishment kit for my Whale Gusher Titan pump which unfortunately I must use a lot. This was very good because it will enable me to keep the pump going until I return to Australia.

We then had lunch at Arbee's and while there I got a message to call from Customs and Immigration. I returned the call and the lady, Rene, said that they were aware that I was in San Diego and how long had I been here and why didn't I notify them. I got a mild scolding on the responsibilities of being the Captain and Owner and what stiff penalties could be levied on me. I explained that I tried about 5 times to call their number from sea and when I could still not get phone service from only 9 miles out I notified the Coast Guard on VHF 16. They got back to me and said that all was OK, so I assumed that I had met my obligation. Big mistake. Rene said that the Coast Guard and Customs & Immigration do not communicate. I replied that fine, I could accept that, but why didn't the Coast Guard simply tell me that I should contact Customs and Immigration? Besides telling me that contacting the Coast Guard was useless Renee gave me the useful fact that it is OK to pull into a port without announcing myself, as long as I make that telephone call within 24 hours of my arrival. Looking back, my mistake was in not calling Customs & Immigration after my arrival even though I thought that notifying the Coast Guard had been sufficient.

Renee advised me to visit her a day before my departure to obtain my Clearance (Zarpe). I thanked her for answering my question on how to get a Clearance and that I would indeed see her.

Looking back the experience was a combination of poor instructions given to me, bad judgement on my part, and an understanding approach by Customs and Immigration.

We left Arbees and visited West Marine where Bill was extremely helpful with my need for a depth sounder. A display has been ordered and will be in tomorrow by 11 AM. The in-hull transducer in in stock. Bill said that the in-hull transducer will read as much depth as the thru-hull one, but I will not be able to get water temperature. I find that a small price to pay for not having to dive over the side to scrape growth off a thru-hull transducer such as the one I had on my previous boat Angie. Arnold and I prowled around the gigantic store and made notes of other things that we will purchase on our return tomorrow. They could not help me with the chart of Drake's Passage and referred me to the nearby "Seaview" bookstore. Arnold and I found it and to my delight they had in stock a wonderful chart covering the entire west coast of Central and South America, including Drake's Passage, and west covering the Galapagos and Easter Island. We started chatting about our cruise and plans for visiting the Sea of Cortez and I was shown a wonderful cruising guide that I could not resist purchasing. ("Your'e a great sales person." I told her.)

After that we visited the laundromat for an hour then headed back to the boat with our clean laundry and booty. The first thing we did was to bring in the gear that we had left drying on deck. I telephoned John and he gave me the good news that he won't need his truck until Wednesday. I am telephone him tomorrow after noon and if I confirm that the depth sounder gear has arrived at West Marine he will meet us there so that we can make the purchase with a "Port Supply" account. After a beer and a few chores Arnold and I left the boat and are here at "Von's" at a comfortable table in their court yard using their wireless internet facilty over Starbuck's coffee.

It's been a busy but very satisfying day.

SD Day 2

Our second day here in San Diego turned out to be a very good one. I spent a couple of hour washing my wet weather gear and some wool garments, then while Arnold and I were carting the staysail up the ramp to the grassy area for flaking and bagging we ran into John and Priscilla who had come to see us. We had met them and their friends Jak Mang and his wife from the SF Bay area in Port Townsend. What had brought us together was our admiration of the rear ends of each other's S&S boats. John and Priscilla had just purchased Rebecca, which is still in Port Townsend because they wisely decided to wait until after winter to sail her down to San Diego.

John and Priscilla had been monitoring our progress on the blog during the difficult passage to San Diego and from their house they reckoned that they could maybe see Pachuca in her slip. Anyway, they showed up in separate vehicles and John presented the key to his Fort pickup truck and told us that he would not need it until Tuesday. How perceptive, thoughtful and extremely helpful to us! It was a wonderful gift that would change everything for us. John helped us to fold the sail then he and Priscilla paid a short visit to the boat where we described some of our experiences. John passed on a potentially very valuable suggestion to us: that the San Diego Yacht Club would probably welcome us as visiting members of the Fremantle Sailing Club and offer us reciprocal rights. The fee, if there is any, would probably be low. Arnold and I plan to pursue this.

Soon after we hit the road to explore our new surroundings. Arnold was the dirver because he is much more used to driving on the right side of the road and is fully insured with USAA. We found a Bank of America where Arnold was able to attend to his accounts. Then we found a McDonalds and got our overdue dose of junk food (quarter pounder meals with milk as the drink) which really hit the spot. After that we found a large grocery store and spent $350 on provisions for the boat. Tomorrow we'll probably visit the Laundromat and certainly visit the boat shops.

Soon after returning to the boat we learned that Noel, Jackie, and Jackie's parents Roy and Valerie will leave on Pyewacket for a stay at a marina. This put a sense of urgency on our offer to install C-Map on their computer so Arnold and I spent several hours setting up C-Map over white wine and lots of laughs. In the end Noel had charts of the entire world and could see the position of his boat from my GPS antenna that I had set up for him as a demonstration.

It was a great day and thanks to John and Priscilla, Arnold and I are confident that we'll be able to make all of our reparations for the next leg of our journey.

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San Diego, First Morning

It is 8.15 AM and the sky is clear and sunny but the air is surprisingly nippy. Arnold is still in the sack. He must have been very tired if after more than 11 hours of sleep the smell of fresh coffee did not rouse him.

I plan to leave our AIS on for another day. I expect this region to be covered by that world wide AIS network that can be accessed via the internet so it will give FOP (Friends of Pachuca) a chance to see exactly where we are.

The authorities already know where we are. After repeated failures to get mobile telephone service as we approached SD harbor so that I could report our arrival I hailed the SD Coast Guard on VHF 16 to inform them that this Australian registered yacht was entering their zone. Using working channel 22A he got the name and description of Pachuca then asked me to stand by. A minute or two later he called telling me that all was OK. I was so relieved to hear that there was no problem that I broke the terse professional protocol to chirp "Thank you, Have a Nice Day! About 20 minutes later a pair of camouflage painted unmarked helicopters approached from the NE, did a low slow circle around Pachuca, then disappeared back to the NE. I had VHF 16 on but they had nothing to say. The would clearly have seen the name "Pachuca" on the sail cover and if they were as well equipped as we figured (including radiation detectors, Arnold figures) they would have seen our AIS data. We have no doubt that these people mean business with all sorts of surveillance that we are not aware of. And that is to be expected because they have a tough job to do. This is the US-Mexico border and possibly the biggest hot spot for immigration and narcotics contraband.

I've started a list of tasks and procurements during our stay here. We have 10 days at this facility and according to Noel there are no extensions. I plan to phone a few marinas to explore possibility of spending another 5 days or so in San Diego, but we are unlikely to pay the $120 per day reported by Noel.

Today is boat cleaning day. We need to fold up and bag the staysail, take out the bicycle and unfold it, stow everything back in its place, clean the head, wipe the walls with a bleach solution, and do some exploring of the area if we still have some time. I'll also hand wash this lambs wool sweater that Brenda sent from Australia and I wore during the entire passage, as well as a wool cap that got a dose of sea water. The big laundry day will be closer to departure.

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SF-SD Day 11 - Arrived

Pachuca is safely berthed at slip 7 of the police jetty in San Diego Bay. Our coordinages are 32N42.578, 117W14.061.

Arnold and I had a good night's sleep while the boat lay ahull drifting toward the north at about half a knot. The wind had abated somewhat but the boat rolled a lot because of the bit swell.

We went to bed last night with the plan to get up at 5 AM and set sail at 6 AM to take advantage of a moderate breeze that was supposed to die out in the middle of the day. We happened to wake up at 3 AM and decided to sail before dawn and were under way at 5 AM. The conditions were excellent with a 15 kt following breeze and a clear night giving us a superb view of the lights of the city.

At about 10 AM the wind died down and we started up the engine to motor the last 9 miles. Once again there were crab pots everywhere. Even in the shipping channel, which is only about 1/3 mile wide, there were plenty of crab pots. The other concern was the big swell which I feared may give us some trouble, but turned out to not be a problem.

With Arnold monitoring the chart plotter and my doing the steering we found our way to the police jetty at noon with no problems. Soon after we tied up Arnold mentioned the heat which made me aware that I was hot. Off came my wool seater, cotton pullover, and nylon skivvy that I had worn for 11 days. It was good to be once again among palm trees and wearing a T-shirt. We visited the office where we were given 10 days accommodation that though not free as the book had stated was very reasonable. (Noel was to tell us later that the marinas around here are quoting $3 per foot per day. For example, Pachuca's 41 feet that includes the monitor wind steering would cost $123 per day.)

We were assigned slip no. 7 and when Arnold and I walked over to see it I was amazed to see Noel and Jackie's "Pyewacket" in the adjacent slip. I made haste to Pyewacket where unfortunately I woke up Jackie's parents Roy and Valerie from their siesta in the cockpit but was soon speaking with Noel. I told him that I had expected him to be half way across the Pacific by now (slight exaggeration) and Noel explained that they had taken their time in getting to San Diego and were now hosting Jackie's parents who were visiting from England for two weeks. They plan to head for Mexico soon, as are we.

Noel cast off my lines for the move of Pachuca before going for his shower and Arnold was waiting in slip 7 to make my lines.
When Noel returned to Pachuca I asked him where the shops were, mentioning that Arnold and I were down to the last bottle of beer and before we knew it Noel presented us with 8 cold cans of Budweiser. Soon he returned to Pachuca with two more and joined us for what must have been 90 minutes of a splendid bull session under in the bright sunshine. Jackie joined us for the last 30 minutes of it when she returned from a shopping expedition. For now this corner of the San Diego Police Jetty is Australian.

After that we had our first showers in 11 days, then ran electric power to the boat and finally filled up our dry water tanks.

Arnold recalls San Diego as being a relaxed and laid back city. We certainly like the vibes in this jetty, which because it has a 10-day limit of stay is full of boats and crews on the move. The place seems to have a certain vitality to it.

However, the facilities are not too convenient. The shopping, laundry, and internet are in the order of 3 km away. The bicycle will be useful for this. There is supposed to be a bus service and Arnold will look into that tomorrow.

Ten days sounds like a long time but it will run out fast and we must be disciplined in doing the things that must be done while we are here.

One of the new tasks that popped up today will be a new depth sounder. The Navman sounder started to act erratically today, reporting depths of less than 1 meter at times. Even in this slip I have seen depths ranging from 15 meters to 5 meters.

Our decision to stand off last night and make our entry today proved to be extremely wise. We made our entry rested and relaxed and enjoyed the sunny weather and moderate winds. Had we entered yesterday we would have been tired, in peril from the high swell, and terrorized by those rain squalls with their fierce winds. I'll try to remember these benefits next time I have a similar decision to make.

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SF-SD Day 10, Gale 4

Last night was the most difficult one of our passage.

The grib file predicted about 20 hours of strong SW and W wind so we ran downwind toward San Diego to position ourselves about 75 miles off the coast until the winds moderated. We hove to, got a fresh grib file, and found a much different wind forecast of 15-20 kt NW winds today than that of a few hours previously. On the strength of that we resumed our sail toward San Diego at about 6 kt. However, when we closed to 25 miles off the coast we discussed the fact that the wind had not moderated as expected so we hove to 25 miles off San Diego to give us sea room in case the strong winds continued.

The strong winds continued and we had the worst night of the passage. The prevailing wind was 30-35 kt but we were regularly hit by squalls that took the wind to over 45 knots. In these relatively shallow waters of 50 meters the seas were huge. We were regularly hit by breaking waves that shook the boat from stem to stern. The worst thump was strong enough to break the lee cloth attachment of Arnold's bunk and send him crashing to the sole. (No damage to him.) That shock to the boat was strong enough to make the cutlery on the leeward side of the boat jump out of its little trays and wind up all over the place. Because it was formally my watch I suggested to Arnold that he take my bunk on the starboard and leeward side. At 2.30 AM I concluded that I was doing no good sitting at the navigation table staring at the chart plotter so I rigged up the port lee cloth as best as I could and managed to sleep by lying diagonally on the bunk with my knees against the dining table, rolling back and forth with the boat.

We were up at 7 AM and decided to make way for San Diego to take advantage of the expected lull in the wind during the afternoon. At 9.30 AM I pointed the boat for San Diego under bare pole with a howling wind and a huge following sea. After 10 minutes of this I concluded that it was too dangerous to try to make San Diego under these conditions. I was having enough trouble steering the boat but when we made our turn into the harbor the swell would be even worse and if we got hit by another squall at that time I would not be able to control the boat against the strong cross wind with Pachuca's small 22 HP engine. We decided accept reality and heave to for one more day. We expect to enter San Diego Harbor tomorrow, Saturday the 23rd.

We looked at the stainless steel saddle that had come loose dumping Arnold on the cabin sole and I was puzzled that we could not find the bolts. Also, I did not see big holes in the bulkhead where the bolts would have come through. I got on my hands and knees and could not believe my eyes when I found the fastenings. The saddle which was supposed to restrain a sleeping person in the most violent of seas was held by two 6 gauge screws with a thread length that I've just measured to be 8mm (1/3 inch). I told Arnold with disgust "This is not my work!" My work was the aft saddles of the lee cloths: jarrah backing plates with big washers for all to see. I have no idea what the person who fitted that saddle had in mind. A stainless steel saddle that strong warrants strong fittings, otherwise a lighter saddle should be used.

At 10 AM the promised moderation of the wind really happened and the squalls seemed to have receded. But with the weather really not settled and the swell still huge (17 ft on the coast) we decided to play it safe and stick to our plan.

This storm system has been huge. It has affected the entire west coast of the USA from the Mexican to Canadian borders. As of yesterday 5 counties in California had been declared disaster areas. They have experienced or are expecting huge rain and snow falls, flash flooding, major beach erosion, hail stones, etc. In a message to Arnold Sandra said that 4 gales have hit the west coast. Interstate 5, the main north-south artery for the western seaboard of US, was closed.

And Arnold, Pachuca, and I have copped the edges of all of those gales out at sea. We agree that it was a tougher experience for us and the boat than those winter gales in the Tasman Sea in August 2008. The boat took a real hammering but thanks to its low freeboard, eggshell curvatures of its thick hull and deck, and small windows, I was never worried about the integrity of the hull. (Jeff the wind steering was a different matter. I was worried that one of those waves would break on it and demolish it, but he survived intact.)

Was it disastrously bad luck that Arnold and I got caught in those gales? That depends on how you look at it. We must have been one of a very few number of sail boats that, to push the boxing analogy, were IN the ring, not just ringside.

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SF-SD Day 9

[Note: yesterday's blog did not go out because I forgot to move it from the "Saved" box to the "0ut" box. So today there will be two entries, for days 8 and 9.]

The last 24 hours have been a rerun of yesterday. We sailed well into the night and by the time of my midnight watch the wind had picked up and the boat was over canvassed. We shortened sail but by 1 AM the wind had backed enough to put us near the southern end of Clemente island before dawn so we decided to heave to while we had adequate sea room. It is just as well that we did because soon the wind died down and started to rain. An hour after that the wind started to pipe up again and we spent the rest of the night trying to hold our position against 25-kt southerlies (gusting to 30 kt). (We drifted 8 miles to the north in 9 hours.

Arnold was up before me and reported at 9 AM that we seemed to have a fair though strong wind. After cups of coffee I went on deck and got the boat sailing by untying the boom restraint, freeing the wheel, rolling out a small amount of jib, putting the boat just off the wind on the same starboard tack, locking in the course with the autopilot, setting up Jeff by mounting his airvane and locking his water paddle in the water with the boat hook, aligning the airvane with the relative wind direction, then locking the wheel to Jeff and putting the autopilot on Standby. After rolling the jib to a tiny area we found ourselves heading SE at about 4 kt.

Soon after we found ourselves racing south in a strengthening wind. Arnold and I suited up with the intention of falling off the wind to a starboard reach and pumping out the bilge. Once we were the beam reach we realized that we were carrying too much sail. The wind was at about 33 kt. Arnold helmed the boat as far into the wind as possible which was enough to make the boomed out mainsail flutter. Then I had to go to the mast and pull the sail down inch by inch (Oh my aching hands!) We then fell away on a broad reach and the boat sailed more comfortably at speeds of up to 6 kt in an apparent wind that Arnold saw hit 36 kt. I went on the leeward rail to tuck one of the mainsail battens into the lazy jack and a big wave hit and I found myself in ankle deep water trying to keep my boots on the toe rail of the heavily leaning deck and clinging on to the fence rope. After that was over I yelled out to the weather "I KNEW THAT YOU HAD MORE!) Back in the cockpit I commented to Arnold "Welcome back to heavy weather sailing." and he replied that he was glad that we were sailing through this weather for a change instead of whimping out hove to. He said that he was actually enjoying it.

The prospects for the next few days are for favorable though at times strong winds. We expect the wind to veer to the West and remain strong at 25-30 kt. We'll be able to sail downwind with this using just a small amount of jib. Thereafter the wind is expected to come from the NW tomorrow (Friday) and remain NW but moderating on Saturday. We'll see.

After a good night's sleep and a relatively dry bilge (because we kept on top of it) morale is pretty good. Being able to get a PBS radio station for the first time in over a week has been a big plus. Sausage and eggs for lunch will boost us even more.

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SF-SD Day 8, Gale 3

The gale winds began to subside in the early afternoon and soon we were sailing again on a starboard tack, heading SE. The VHF radio weather report stated that the storm would make landfall way up in Eureka, CA, near the Oregon border. There were flash flood warning for central and south California, so they must be expecting some serious rain - which is sorely needed, as far as I can tell.

Before dark we ran the engine for an hour to charge the batteries. We ran the engine for two hours yesterday which I would have expected to keep our battery voltage levels up for at least two days. But on the other hand we are using a lot of extra power for the HF radio and the electric bilge pump.

Pump. We could hear water slopping in the bilge and could not seem to keep its level down. We needed to see what was going on. I looked into the bilge while Arnold had repeated sessions of pumping. We were relieved to confirm that we did not have an uncontrollable leak. We had let the bilge sections get so high over the previous hours that it took a while to get to the point where the level of the bilge water was stable just below the keel bolts.

Our starboard water tank ran dry this morning, after only 8 days out. Arnold and I discussed the ramifications for our stay at the Sea of Cortez. We will have to be able to replenish our tanks every 2 weeks or go on more severe water restrictions. I don't know much about the water situation in Baja. There are towns and the economy caters to yachties. On the other hand, the place is a desert.

By 8 PM we were south of the latitude of San Diego.

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SF-SD Day 7

It is 2.30 AM and we've been having a very good sail, covering 63 miles since noon. We've been sailing with jib only on a broad reach most of the day through a lumpy sea and under a clear sky. At present we are 68 miles west of the southern tip of Clemente Island, the southern most of the Channel islands, and very close to the latitude of San Diego, which is 125 miles away. I have shortened the sail to quiet down the boat for the night. We expect to be forced to heave to in a few hours as the next bout of strong southerly winds sweep through the area.

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At 3.30 AM the wind backed enough to where we would have to sail hard to the wind, which requires the mainsail, so I raised it and soon the boat was happily making 4.5 kt. But by an hour later the wind had backed such that we were headed ENE, toward the northern end of Clemente Island. Because we wanted to stay well clear of these islands I hove to. We are still hove to at noon and do not expect another opportunity to sail for about 7 hours.

Arnold and I are not concerned because we've got 2 days in which to position ourselves for the final run into San Diego on Saturday, 3 days from now. Maybe we'll watch a movie.

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SF-SD Day 6 Gale 2

It is 1.30 AM on Tuesday the 19th and Pachuca is sailing well almost directly for San Diego.

We started sailing at about 1 PM yesterday with a fair wind and very lumpy seas from the previous night's gale. It was a stunningly clear and sunny day, To our pleasant surprise and contrary to the grib file report we've managed to carry this course with good boat speed for the last 12 hours during which time we made good 60 miles toward San Diego. This has been a break that we have sorely needed after days of adverse winds that were either too week or too strong.,

Tonight's weather faxes indicate that the next low of 984 millibars will not cause us great problems today. We can expect swells of 12-15 ft and winds of maybe 15 kt.

The low after that is a more serious affair of 970 millibars. However, it appears that we may be close enough to San Diego by then to escape gale force winds. It is classified as a storm with winds of over 50 knots and will hit the San Francisco Bay area very hard before proceeding north.

At present we are 195 miles from San Diego, 130 miles directly west of Santa Catalina Island. Arnold and I have read about San Diego Harbor in the cruising guide. The key words are "expensive" and "crowded". The Police Dock will give us 10 free days, but it is often crowded out. Lying at anchor is out of the question for security reasons (advised to always have someone on the boat) and practical ones of provisioning and showing visitors the boat. We'll get by, as we did at Ala Wai and Victoria where we were warned that slips were hard to find. We are hoping that we may arrive during a lull in the arrival of transient boats. We figure that anyone wanting to spend the winter in Mexico would have gotten there by now. Only a lunatic would try to sail from Mexico back to the Northwest or Canada this time of year, and even those boats bound for San Diego may hold back until this rough weather passes. But these are little more than guesses.

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Things got rougher throughout the night than we had expected. The winds were not quite as strong as during the earlier gale (Though we did see 40 kt gusts) but a lot more water passed over the deck, resulting in those pesky leaks over the head of the starboard bunk and a few drops over the navigation table. They were not huge leaks but nevertheless hugely annoying. But as Arnold said, that was pretty good considering the huge amounts of water washing over the cabi

The aftermath of the gale was almost a rerun that of the previous morning. We woke up at 0930 with the wind still high and the sea furious, inching along at 2 kt with the double reefed main in an as hove to position as we had been able to set up. We had coffee, discussed the prospects for the day, then Arnold saw a patch of blue sky to the SW. I detected a very subtle veering of the wind which suggested that we would eventually get a westerly wind. At 11 AM the sky was clearing and the wind was from the west, so we turned the boat south, rolled out some jib, then dropped the mainsail because I hate running downwind with that boom threatening to brain somebody or damage the rig if we accidentally gybe. We set up Jeff and soon the boat was doing 4.5-5 kt in a lumpy sea with just a small amount of jib, headed SE. We could have steered more east toward San Diego but we wanted to keep well clear of San Nicolas and Santa Clemente Islands because we expected another rough time later within 24 hours.

Indications are that the passages of these storms will end by Friday and things will settle back to the "normal" 10-15 kt northwest wind on Saturday, which would be an excellent time for making our entry into San Diego Bay. We are willing to position ourselves 20 or 30 miles from San Diego and wait until Saturday.

At noon we were still directly west of Santa Catalina island and 175 miles from San Diego.

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Still Plodding Along

The afternoon of our first full day at sea (18 Feb) was quiet with steady progress of 3-4 knots. We put out the fishing line and tried two different lures with no success. I slid back the engine cover for some checks. The oil level was OK and the transmission needed a top up of about 100 ml. The outer fan belt of the big alternator was a bit loose but we decided that it was OK for now.

I did a deck check and found a cotter pin on the starboard D2 shroud half out because its ends had not been properly flared out - by me, no doubt, when I replaced the chain plates. On the foredeck I found a small adjustable wrench that I had left when working on the anchor well.

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Light Winds Out of Ensenada

Not long after dark we were approaching a string of boats - probably fishing boats - strung out in an arch across our path. We turned on the radar to make sure that there were no unlit boats ahead of us and adjusted our course 30 degrees to starboard to pass through a gap between the boats. We wanted to give the boats a wide berth lest we get tangled up in whatever nets they may have strung out. During this time I had been putting together the usual simple meal of rice, onion, and carrots this night mixed with chili beans. We ate in the cabin then I turned in at 9 PM while Arnold took the first watch.

I was up at 12.30 AM happy to see that our course was now almost due south and Arnold had managed to keep the boat moving well, doing at times 4 knots. However, at midnight the wind had died and Arnold had been holding the mainsheet trying to steady the flogging boom. I set up a preventer with a line passing from the boom through a snatch block that I had fixed to the toe rail then back to the port spinnaker winch, determined to do my best to keep all sail up until we got better winds after daylight. However at 2 AM I accepted that it was a hopeless cause, with wind under 4 knots - frequently down to 2.5 kt - and the sails flogging. I tightened up the lazy jacks, dropped the mainsail, then rolled in the jib. But we were not quite laying ahull. The autopilot that had been steering us so well in these light winds somehow continued to steer the boat and we were still moving SSW at 1 knot. Running under bare poles had cost us only 1 knot of speed.

At 2.30 AM we were 30 miles out of Ensenada but still 45 miles from the Bahia Colnett anchorage.

At 3.30 AM I noticed a slightly stronger wind and rolled out 30% of the jib to give us another half knot of speed. I hit the bunk and did checks every 90 minutes or so.

After morning coffee we decided to have a go at trying out the "snuffer" spinnaker - the one with a sock. I had never been game to try it but the circumstances were ideal for a trial: two men on board, wind under 5 kt, calm sea, and 23 miles of sea room. By the time we had read up on the procedure, I had set up the lines, and most painful of all dug out the spinnaker from the starboard sail locker which meant shifting most of the stores in the forecastle to the cabin, it was 11 AM and the wind sprung up to 7 or 8 knots so we hoisted the mainsail and were soon doing over 3 kt on a starboard beam reach. The spinnaker would have to wait until another day. Nevertheless we had done most of the preliminary work and would store the sail at the top of the heap in the forecastle for easier retrieval.

At noon we were 33 miles off the coast and still 38 miles from Bahia Colnett. Arnold and I agreed that even in the unlikely event that we could reach the anchorage before dark the overheads of getting there were too high. Besides, we felt so secure and comfortable in the calm sea that we saw little to be gained from spending a night at anchor.

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SF-SD Day 5

It is 2 AM. Arnold has turned in for a well-earned rest and I've got the watch. We are sailing to windward on a port tack against a 20 kt SE wind making 4.5 kt even thought we are carrying the minimum of sail: mainsail double reefed and the jib rolled right up to about a no. 4. The boat is moving amazingly well with remarkably little heel, though occasionally the bow smashes into an oncoming wave with a loud bang. We are trying to get as far south as possible before the first gale passes tomorrow. We have just crossed latitude 34 degrees, the same latitude as Santa Rosa and Santa Cruz islands 100 miles to the east. We are well off the continental shelf which should be of some help in the rough seas.

We have just seen the 24 and 48 hour surface and wind/wave weather faxes which were of particular importance to us. They confirmed that the storms will hit the coast just north of San Francisco - at about latitude 41N - then continue their northerly swing and head up the Northwest coast. Central and Northern California will be hit hard. And even for further south in the Channel Islands area there are repeated warnings of mountainous swells. For us this was relatively good news because it dispelled our fears that through some freak of nature the gales would pass this far south right over the top of us. Some sections of the second storm showed 55 kt winds, but the grib files for our patch of water predicts wind speeds below 40 kt.

Yesterday afternoon to our surprise we started to get decent, though adverse, winds. We decided to unzip the mainsail and raise it with a double reef. We sailed reasonably well the rest of the day, rolling in the jib as the wind got stronger. The wind was still adverse but Pachuca sails well to weather in strong wind and we could see on the chart plotter that the red line indicating our heading more or less coincided with the green line that indicates actual course over the ground. In light airs these two vectors diverge which I attribute to excessive lee drift.

Arnold and I took advantage of the cloudy but pleasant weather to have a go at setting up the staysail, which is hanked on the inner forestay. We set up the sheets and the new downhaul then hoisted the sail to see how it would all work. Several problems became evident: (1) The downhaul doesn't work very well because when you try to pull the sail down from by the peak the hanks jam up part way down (2) In a high wind the sail would tend to drop into the water (3) I'm not sure if the idea of leaving the sail on the deck held down by the downhaul and sheets would work very well (4) I'm still not happy with passing the sheets between the spreaders. No matter where you pass the sheets the spreaders will get in the way in one of the positions of close hauled, reaching, or hove to. Unless somebody can show be a better way, I would still have to go to the foredeck to haul the sail down and stow the sail. Arnold and I agreed that the staysail would be more trouble than it's worth so we stowed it back in the forecastle. This meant that I could put back up the fence rope that passes from the spreaders to the inner forestay which I find extremely useful when visiting the foredeck.

Then there were the noises. As we suspected the spinnaker pole was securely lashed against the starboard rail, but the ropes had slackened up and there was movement. A lashing of shock cord solved this problem. But there was another noise. It was the anchor. It was on the roller securely lashed, but the problem was that when the bow plowed through a wave the loose head of the plow anchor would rattle around. We hove to and I moved the anchor from the roller to the foredeck behind the inner forestay where I lashed it to the two samson posts. This has the added benefit of shifting weight aft of the bow.

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Later in my watch I had another look at the 24 hour surface chart and realized that our SW track was doing nothing to get us away from the storm because we were traveling tangent to its expected position, so I tacked to the ESE with only a tiny amount of headsail. Soon that became impractical because of the building wind and seas so we hove to. This took quite an effort because I wanted to make sure that everything was set up correctly, e.g. Jeff's airvane stowed and paddle out of the water, running backstay not rubbing on the mainsail, wheel lashed with shock in the correct position. I went to the bow and did not like what I saw with the backwinded jib. The clew of the sail was rubbing against the inner forestay and to roll in any more would have made the backwinded jib ineffective. Worse, I could see that because of the narrow foredeck and the position of the end of the car track I would not be able to get a good enough angle on the backwinded jib to make it fully effective. I concluded that the classical method of heaving to with a backwinded jib would not work with this boat. I told Arnold that I was going to fully roll in the jib and we would try out heaving to with just the mainsail. After fiddling around with the wheel to get a good angle on the wind (about 60 degrees) I stuck my head through the companionway and asked about the result of my efforts. He replied that rolling in the jib had reduced our forward speed from 3.5 kt to 1.5 kt. This meant that the backwinded sliver of jib had been providing drive rather than break.

So in one day I had come to decisions on the staysail (too much trouble) and the jib (Don't use it to heave to.) based on good observation and evidence. The question is, why did it take 20 months into this cruise for me to figure this out? It is largely, I think, because the hard lessons that I have learned about chafed and strained gear have forced me to look at these matters much more closely,.

It was a rough night - rougher than we had expected. Arnold saw gusts of 40 kt here and there. But the boat rode remarkably well considering the circumstances and I for one got good sleep.

We were up at 9 AM to find the wind still howling and the boat battered by big waves. I heard clattering on the deck and dressed up for a check of the topsides. Visiting the topsides after a stormy night is an interesting experience because you don't know what you'll find. Fortunately things were in good order. The anchor and spinnaker pole were still in position and firmly lashed. The mainsail had survived without apparent damage. In the cockpit I added another shock cord restraint to the wheel because it was jumping from block to block. The boom was clattering because the wind had abated somewhat. I brought in the mainsail and while attending to other things I realized that Pachuca had tacked and was now making more or less to San Diego at 2 kt. Smart boat, eh? Feeling good about the situation I bellowed to the weather "IS THAT ALL YOU'VE GOT?" This brought and instant reaction from Arnold to tone it down and besides, he said, Brenda wouldn't like it either. So it looks like Arnold is taking on the healthy superstitions of a seasoned sailor. (I'm superstitious too, but I am pretty sure that King Neptune knows that I don't really mean it and am just trying to get a reaction from the crew.)

As we approached noon Pachuca was ambling SE at 2 kt. We were on the same latitude as Long Beach, 185 miles of the coast because south of Pt Conception the land mass falls away sharply to the east. The wind was abating noticeably and the sun was out. Arnold commented once more how dry the boat was and congratulated me on my progress. We had a few drips from the main hatch. We knew in New Zealand that the main hatch did not have a perfect seal but had decided that the problem was not big enough to warrant a replacement. We also got a few drips through the starboard air vent. Those were all of the leaks as far as we could tell. The bilge took on water as usual when the boat hobby horses but we controlled that with regular pumping. (I am beginning to suspect a leaky cockpit drain hose for this water-in-the-bilge problem because when the boat hobby horses some sea water comes up the drain pipe into the cockpit, which means that the drain hoses are filling up. I plan to investigate this in the future.)

By noon we had brilliant sunshine with a crystal clear sky. It looked like we had gotten through the first gale OK.

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SF-SD Day 4

At noon yesterday I was convinced that we had escaped the coming bad weather but it looks like that is not to be.

The first reason is that our useful progress to the south slowed to a crawl from the early afternoon onward. We have been dealing with light and variable winds from the SE, just where we want to go. Tacking in these winds has been an illusion: making 2 or 3 knots through the water but basically heading sideways, east or west, with each tack. Pachuca's tacking spread in light winds with a lumpy ocean is pretty dismal: maybe 120 degrees. Worse, the wind direction is not stable so that for example we'll find ourselves heading north of west then tack and find ourselves heading ESE. But soon the wind backs 10 or 15 degrees to put us once again on an East heading. If this was a young gun crew of ocean racers an expert helmsman would steer the boat perfectly to achieve maximum pointing, the sail trimmer would fuss around making adjustments to obtain maximum drive from the sails, and very importantly this hypothetical crew would tack frequently and smoothly to take advantage the slightest wind shifts.

But Pachuca is a cruising boat with a total crew age of 132 years which is unfortunately divided by only 2. And Jeff, reliable and uncomplaining as he is, cannot point to the wind like a human - in light airs anyway.

The second reason is that the impending bad weather will be exerting its influence farther south than I had expected. The GRIB files indicate that we will be hit with southerly winds of 30 kt before the end of the day, then after a lull we can expect another dose of southerlies of up to 40 knots.

The batteries need charging so the plan now, at 8 AM, is to start motoring south for 5 or 6 hours unless a decent wind arises. The further south we get the less-bad the winds that we can expect. - And it Will be to the south. We are 63 miles NW of Pt Conception and I don't want to get any closer because I figure that those headlands will focus the southerly winds and make things rougher. Last night I received a message from Christopher who is now at Ala Wai boat harbor in which he gives his opinion of Pt Conception: "Pt Conception can be a nasty place of confluence. We steered several hundred miles clear of there."

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We started the engine at 8.45 AM and set a course for SSW. We were within 10 miles of the continental shelf and figured that we may as well take advantage of the opportunity to go to waters that may have less swell. At 11 AM we were still plodding along against the southerly breeze at 2-3 kt.

I made some preparations for the blow. The first thing I did was to zip up the mainsail to protect it and minimize windage. We took the air vane off Jeff, lifted the paddle out of the water, and disconnected the control lines. We then snugged up the running backstays to brace the mast. After some indecision I decided to bend on the staysail. What sealed the decision was memories of the damage that the original forestay had taken, largely from agitation associated with loose rigging, but perhaps from the stresses from using it when heaving to. It seems better to have the staysail and inner forestay take the loads from heavy weather. I will set up a downhaul for it using a snatch block that I will put at the bottom of the stay.

This raises the question of how we are going to heave to with the mainsail zipped up. I considered hoisting the storm trysail, which would give me experience in using it in realistic conditions. But after the first blow there will be a lull in which we may be able to use the mainsail, and I didn't want to have mess around swapping between trysail and mainsail. I haven't made the final decision on this one.

The boat and crew are well prepared for the difficulties of the next few days. All major boat systems are working and there are plenty of provisions on board. Arnold and I are rested up, particularly myself because I was able to sleep during my watch when the boat lay ahull.

From what we've heard on the VHF weather report the rough weather will begin late tonight (Sunday) and will last at least through Thursday. As bad luck would have it the strong winds will come from the south which is why we must heave to and try to hold our ground. There is no question of beating into that weather.

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At 1130 AM we noticed good wind from the SW. We rolled out the jib, shut down the engine, and found ourselves hiking south at over 5 knots, just skirting the outside of the continental shelf. We then set Jeff back up again and were able to enjoy lunch knowing that we were racing (relatively speaking) south. We left the mainsail zipped up. This boat amazes me at times. It seems to do as well going up wind with jib only as when the mainsail is also up.

The weather faxes were too fuzzy to read. I'll try again at the midnight session.

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SF-SD Day 3

It looks like we are on the move at latest. The good wind that we had at noon did not last long and we soon found ourselves dawdling at 2 knots again. We ran the engine for 90 minutes to replenish our batteries and get some distance. Because the light wind was from the beam the sails remained filled as we motored. The wind finally dropped to below 4 kt and we were forced to drop all sail and we were expecting to lay ahull all night. The boat was drifting roughly east at about 0.5 kt.

I put together a pressure cooker meal of pork, lentils, potatoes, carrots, onions, garlic, a can of tomatoes, and broccoli. The rice I cooked separately, served with Paul Newman sauce. It turned out to be a pretty good meal. The pork that Brenda and I had purchased weeks ago was superb. It was the first time that I had used the pressure cooker since I had replaced a part which had been shipped from Australia, and it worked fine.

But just before serving dinner we got some wind. In the fading light of the day we hoisted the mainsail with one reef with the hope of pointing into the 6 kt southerly breeze and increase the apparent wind speed. An hour later the wind died down again and I was at the mast tightening the lazy jacks before dropping the mainsail when we got wind again. From then on things got better and better, at a small price. Just before climbing into my bunk at 8 PM for some sleep Arnold said that the wind had backed and we were heading east. I helped him tack the boat. Then the wind veered and the boat started to head west, so it was out of bed for another tack. Then the wind backed and the boat was again headed east so out of bed again for another tack. But wait, there's more! The wind veered one more time and we tacked a forth time and the wind held steady with a course toward the Channel islands.

After a final hour in the bunk Arnold woke me up just before midnight for a weather fax session. By 1 AM I had the current surface chart, a 500 mb chart, and the 48 and 96 hour surface and wind/wave prediction charts. There is a string of storms headed east along roughly latitude 40N. Two of the storms will be packing winds of over 50 knots. I am no expert on the 500 mb chart, but the one I received seemed to confirm that the jet stream has dropped to the south. In 40 hours the Bay area will get 35 and 40 knot winds and it will be worse (as usual) along the Oregon coast. Seas will be at 9 meters (29 ft). Mercifully, even in our then present position 110 miles NW of Pt Conception we would escape the worst of it, but at the rate we were traveling we expected to be well south of Pt Conception in 40 hours.

We sailed into the next day on the same tack with boat speeds between 5 kt and 3.5 kt. I had a scare shortly before dawn when the wind weakened and backed sending us WNW. Fortunately I decided to hold the tack until daylight and 20 minutes later the wind veered and set us on more or less the original course. I had a second such episode later in my watch and Arnold had the same experience after taking over the watch.

At 11 AM I got up and cooked a brunch of sausages, bacon, and eggs that tasted pretty good to us.

At noon we 75 miles NW of Pt Conception, 55 miles off the coast, and confident that we had escaped the impending bad weather.

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SF-SD Day 2

We had very quiet winds but managed to keep the boat moving usually above 2 kt.

Yesterday afternoon I heard the most somber VHF marine weather report during my time in US waters. It said that the gentle first part of January for the Northern California coast was about to end. The Jet Stream was moving to the south and beginning on Sunday a series of storms would hit the San Francisco Bay and Monterey Bay areas. A second, worse one, would hit on Tuesday. A deep low parked off the Washington coast was mentioned. Travel advisories were given regarding snow and rain. It all sounded pretty grim to me and it appeared to Arnold and myself that we had made our exit from the Bay area just in time. Our concern now was to get south of Point Conception before Sunday afternoon, three days ahead. I thought that we could make distance but with the fluky winds that we expected anything was possible and we were prepared to motor if we had to.

In the late afternoon I took a sun sight with the sextant, put the numbers through my new whiz bang celestial navigation program and with the push of a button had the numerical results and a plot of the line of position in relation to my assumed position. Easy and Fast.

When I took over the watch at midnight the wind had dropped to 6 kt and I soon realized that with the light wind and boat speed below 2 kt Jeff was not able to bring the boat to a broad reach and we were tending to run downwind and have the small headsail collapse. I disengaged Jeff and engaged the Vistar the autopilot and soon we were creeping along to the SE at 2 knots. We had to keep the boat moving at all costs and so far we had managed that.

Just after dawn the wind shifted from N to E and SE. I didn't want to wake Arnold up so I had a go at raising the mainsail myself. The biggest problem with raising the mainsail is that the lazy jacks get snagged at the end of the sail batons, which protrude a bit from the leech of the sail. After about 30 minutes of heavy winch work where I had to drop back the sail part of the distance several times to clear snagged lazy jacks we were under full sail and the wind was strong enough that the mainsail and boom were steady. We were doing only 3 kt but it was a start. (I've got to do something about those lazy jacks. I'll probably extend their cords so that I can drop them completely below boom level, an arrangement that worked well with my previous boat Angie.)

Arnold took the watch at 7.30 AM and I woke up at 10 AM to find the boat sailing splendidly on a port tack making 4.3 kt against 11 kt of apparent wind. However, the course was approaching SW so we threw a tack and found ourselves heading ESE, closing on the coast which was 65 miles away. Just before noon we tacked back and found ourselves doing over 5 kt headed SSW.

The weather, incidentally, has been very good. There has been a sheen of thin clouds above but we've still been able to get good sunlight and see most of the stars at night.

At noon we were about 65 miles off the coast, 115 linear miles from the GG bridge, and 140 miles from Point Conception.

I'll have a go at a pressure cooker meal tonight and try to bake bread tomorrow.

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Day 1: Slow But Steady

At about the time I took the watch at midnight the wind began to weaken, which brought the familiar problem of flogging rigging in an agitated sea. The wind had veered to the NW and to avoid a flogging boom and the possibility of an accidental gybe I dropped the mainsail. I rolled in much of the headsail to prevent excessive flogging and by 1 AM the boat was moving reasonably well to the SW at about 2.5 kt. It was a moonless night but the sky was clear and I enjoyed the company of the familiar constellation Orion and tried to become familiar with some of the northern hemisphere stars.

There are plenty of ships in these waters (I am looking at 7 on the screen now.) In the middle of the night I hailed a cargo ship that was going to pass too close and he altered course 10 degrees to pass about .5 mile off our stern.

At 7 AM Arnold took over the watch and I crawled into the bunk for some sleep. At 10 AM he woke me up because there was a tanker headed directly for us. Over the period of 15 minutes I repeatedly tried to contact him, using his name and call sign, but there was no response. We were forced to gybe the boat to the SE to avoid the possibility of a collision. We were irritated at having been forced to take evasive action but soon realized that the incident had done us a favor because we were 60 miles off the coast and it was a good idea to slant back toward it. Our plan was to gybe again when we had closed to 30 miles off the coast, but the wind veered and we are now sailing SSW, roughly parallel with the coast. The apparent wind is about 8 kt off the starboard quarter, and we are making between 2 and 2.5 kt with a small amount of jib. The day is clear and sunny and the swells are moderating.

At noon we were 75 miles from the SF bridge and about 55 miles off the coast.

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On The Move

We have had a very good start to our sail to San Diego. It is 6.45 PM and we are 23 miles from the GG bridge and 15 miles off the coast, heading SW at about 6 knots.

Last night Arnold and I had made the decision to cancel today's departure. A cold front was passing through with winds that got up to at least 33 kt and the prediction was for 16-ft swells today. The winds were supposed to be westerly veering to NW. Arnold and I did not think that there would be sufficient wind to help us cope with the swell.

This morning we discussed a different strategy. Waiting for the perfect conditions may not happen for weeks. Our only sure bet was to move out immediately after the passage of a front and make fast for the south before the next one arrives, using the winds of the next front to move us along. The only problems were the size of the swell and the strength of the wind, but we would have to cope with that. So we decided to leave at noon today as planned.

The morning was a busy one of last minute preparation and saying good bye to our friends Barry, Barry & Joyce, and Neil & Tiffany. I handed in our keys to the office at noon and they graciously waived the charge for this last day. At 12.45 Neil cast off our lines and we were on our way, 45 minutes later than planned.

Fortunately the motor trip to the GG bridge was faster than I had anticipated and we passed under the bridge at close to the 2.30 PM time that we had planned. According to the chart plotter the maximum strength of the ebb current under the bridge would be at 2.51 PM so we were very pleased with our timing.

It got pretty rough on the other side of the bridge. We had a big swell and head winds in conflict with the 4.5 kt current going the other way. But we were making excellent speed of up to 8 knots.

I hoisted the mainsail while we were still motoring into the wind and when we were well clear of the land began sailing on a SSW course, hard to the wind with full main and a jib that we eventually rolled out fully. We must have been about 2 miles of the coast when we started seeing big breakers like one would see at the beach. We appeared to be on the western edge of the breakers. Eventually I could see one heading our way and I yelled to Arnold in the cabin to brace himself then we got hit pretty hard. The boat lurched over and I could hear things falling onto the cabin sole but there was no real damage. However, I started the engine to help us get through the area pronto.

Things then settled down nicely. We had a good wind of 13-15 knots and we were slowly increasing our distance from the coast. I set up Jeff the Monitor wind steering and turned off the autopilot. Then the wind veered more to the NW and we followed it around for a SW heading. While having a celebration beer in the cockpit with Arnold, Brenda and Stephen telephoned from Australia and we had a short chat. During all of this we were continually dodging crab pots which Arnold described as a "minefield".

We had a light meal and arranged the same watches that we had used in sailing to Hawaii: I would sleep early and relieve Arnold at Midnight.

Arnold and I agree that our exit from the Bay went much better than we had expected. The wind has been very good and we are making haste for the south in swell conditions that are tolerable and improving.

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Sailing Tomorrow

After the passage of a front with accompanying strong winds last night there appears to be an opportunity for our departure for San Diego tomorrow because high is establishing itself just south of us. There will be a swell of about 15 ft and a moderate west wind until the afternoon, when it is supposed to veer to the NW.

We plan to motor out at noon to catch the full strength of the ebb tide under the SF bridge at about 2.30 PM.

The boat is ready and so are we and all going well we hope to arrive in San Diego in 6 or 7 days. Our biggest problem will be light winds.

We will turn on our AIS and our progress can be monitored at http://ais3.siitech.com/VTSLite/AView.aspx. (Note that we can be monitored only near population centers along the coast.)

Awaiting Departure Opportunity

This is Monday the 11th of January which means that Arnold and I have been here at the marina in Richmond for one week. During the first few days after our return I looked enviously at the favorable winds and good weather which we were not able to exploit for our trip to San Diego because we were not ready for departure. Now the wind prospects are not good but it looks like there may perhaps be a 36-hour window for a departure in Wednesday morning. At end of that 36 hours (Thursday evening) the prediction is that we will have light winds and find ourselves drifting, but by then we should be perhaps 150 miles toward our goal. We know that the farther into the future a wind prediction is the less reliable. Arnold and I have decided prepare the boat for departure within 24 hours should an opportunity present itself sooner than expected. To that end we will finish provisioning the boat today and do our laundry if possible. Incidentally, our sailing weather problems are much different from those we had on our trip from Neah Bay to San Francisco. The the problem then was heavy weather (which we got in spades). The problem for this leg is light and unfavorable winds. So far we have seen no danger of seriously heavy weather.

On Friday Rob Nikzad visited from San Francisco with his friend Bill. You may recall that I had become acquainted with Rob at Ala Wai boat harbor in Honolulu when he arrived as part of the crew of the Princess TaiPing. We had lunch at the BoilerHouse restaurant at the nearby ex Ford assembly plant building. After lunch we went to Pachuca where I gave Bill a tour of the boat and then we settled down for some good conversation.

In the evening we visited Joyce and Barry for dinner on their boat. Joyce presented us with a tasty main course of real wild deer shot by one of her relatives, and you can't get much more American than that. Joyce and Barry are very interested in cruising one day and Arnold and I passed on our experiences and opinions, for what they are worth. We like to think that we helped them with our advice.

On Saturday morning Arnold and I boarded the no. 74 bus for a visit to the Hilltop mall. We wound up purchasing only minor items that we could have found closer to the marina, but Arnold agreed that the bus ride was worth the time and effort because it gave him a chance to see more of Richmond. That night we searched through my modest DVD library and watched Denzel Washington's Man on Fire, a film of the blood 'n guts genre which included an RPG incinerating a car full of men, fingers cut off to make someone talk, and worse things too gruesome to put into this blog. (I wonder why the fairer sex generally finds these movies objectionable, tee hee.)

On Sunday (yesterday) morning Arnold gave me a hand to tighten the 22 large bolts that secure the chain plates (to which all of the mast side stays are attached) to the hull of the boat. Neil from a nearby boat had alerted Arnold to the indication of loose bolts during a visit to Pachuca and he turned out to be correct.

Then Arnold and I went topside to check out the rigging. I looked at the side of the boat from the side, across about 4 empty slips and tried to assess the rake of the mast by aligning a carpenter's square with the mast and what I thought was the horizontal line of the boat. The mast appeared to be close enough to perpendicular with perhaps a very slight rake to the stern, which is OK. I then used a plumb line and the mast looked vertical, with a slight bend to aft beginning where the inner forestay is attached. For the record, Pachuca has a masthead cutter rig (i.e. the forestay is attached to the top of the mast, and there is a second, inner forestay upon which a heavy weather staysail is hanked.) The book states that the rake for a masthead rig should be in the 1-3 degree range, with a 0.5-1 degree range for a non-racing boat. The more rake the better upwind performance with an increase in weather helm.

We then looked at the shrouds (i.e. side stays), bearing in mind advice that I had obtained from a rigger at the Richmond yacht club that it is better to overtighten a rig than to have it too loose. I tightened the D1's (inner stays that terminate at the base of the first spreader) 1/3 of a turn. The thinner D2's (intermediate stays terminating at the base of the second spreader) which had been replaced in Hawaii seemed loose so I tightened them 1/2 turn. The outer (cap) shrouds seemed OK. Along the way I lubricated everything with WD40 and compared the length of exposed turnbuckle threads of the left with their partners on the right, and they were remarkably close. The starboard D1 and D2 spreaders are about 3mm longer than the port ones. The cap shrouds are spot on. I then checked the forestay tension, a very sensitive issue because it was my sailing with a loose headstay that led to its destruction by the time we reached Honolulu. (We are lucky that we did not lose the mast.) Gauging the forestay tension is difficult when a heavy heasdsail is wrapped around it. But it felt OK and I will have another look at it when the headstay is fully rolled out in light airs. When it comes to increasing the headstay tension Dan at Port Townsend Rigging advised to make the first tightening at the forestay rather than the backstay. I have already done this once. I'll try to do the second one at the headstay, and "save" the backstay for when I must do the tensioning at sea. Tightening the backstay is a trivial operation, but using solely the backstay to tension the headstay will result in increased mast rake. On the other hand, tensioning the headstay is for me a real pain since there is a great risk of dropping critical bits overboard. I'll reserve this operation for quiet days at the marina. I left the inner forestay snug but not very tight lest it cause more bend in the mast.

In the end I felt that I had a tight and balanced rig ready for the next leg at sea.

In the afternoon we had a second visit from Bill with his partner Christine, and their three-legged Australia Cattle Dog "Olema". They presented Arnold and myself with a very generous gift of provisions for our cruise: a bottle of Argentine wine, a bag of mixed nuts, a box of organic tea, a large wedge of Jarlsberg Swiss Cheese, and big bar of dark chocolate. These are wonderful items that will give great comfort to Arnold and myself during our sail to San Diego, but I wish that they had not gone to the expense. The way I see it, I am a cashed up old fart doing his late life thing and they are the 30-somethings who are still grappling to find their place in the world and must conserve their resources. But one must accept such generosity in the spirit that it is given and for me, think of the good Karma that will come to them from it.

Anyway, we spent a pleasant hour in the cockpit over beer, white wine, and nibblies. I put out a bowl of water for Olena if for nothing else than to prevent her feeling left out. Then we went below out of the chill for more conversation where Arnold and I described some of our experiences in this sailing adventure. Not long before dark it was time to say good bye and I thanked Bill for the enormous interest that he's had in this blog since Hawaii. It had been good to finally meet each other.

The first photo is of Rob, Bill, and Arnold during our lunch on Friday. The next one is of myself, Bill holding Olena, and Christine in the cockpit. Arnold took that photo of me in the cabin. And finally there is Olena overseeing the proceedings.

Bill, a professional photographer, and Christine took plenty of photos on Christine's industrial grade camera that puts my 7.3 megapixel toy to shame. I will publish any that they send to me.

Jessica Watson the 16-year old circumnavigator was 270 nm from the Horn in calm water last time I checked. In the previous blog she complained about being becalmed. Let's hope that rounding the Horn turns out to be non-heroic this time of the year. Before we departed Eden on the east coast of Australia I said several times that I was more apprehensive about crossing the Tasman Sea in winter than I was about rounding the Horn in summer. Let's hope that the assessment turns out to be justified.