MIKE tells all about what's going on with 'LA OTRA'
along with other boating and some non-boating stuff
August 30, 2007 - Log 26
It has been over a year since we last updated the
web page and I have many more miles under my keel.
You will note that I said my keel and not La Otra’s.
La Otra has been undergoing a major rebuild of her machinery and
electrical systems, and some beautification stuff.
She will turn 30 in October and she is sound and looks good for an old
girl. Following is a report on the
efforts on La Otra and some of the trips I made at sea this last year.
La Otra
My friend Colin and I pulled the
engine and transmission out of La Otra in order to do a complete rebuild.
Pulling the engine out of it's little hole inside the boat was a
challenge. We used a chain hoist
attached to the main boom and with three people and a lot of huffing we were
able to swing it out of the boat and into a dock cart.
We then wheeled it to another location where we could hoist it out of the
cart and into Colin’s van. We then
transported the engine to the workshop where we started the rebuild project.
I will not go
into detail about the actual process of rebuilding a diesel engine.
Let us just say that thanks to Colin I now know all about the internal
workings of Perkins engines. When
the engine was completed we reversed the process we used to get the engine out
of the boat to get it back in place.
I then started
replacing hoses, vented loop, exhaust mixing elbow, wiring and anything else
that did not seem up to standard. In
the process of doing this final bit of work I discovered that my seven year old
batteries were not up to turning over the engine with all its new compression.
This required new batteries. I
decided to add a separate starting battery, a battery isolator and new wiring.
All the engine wiring was loomed up and it all now looks like a
professional installation.
While we were
rebuilding the engine I was also making hard tops for the dodger and bimini.
This was an experiment that did not turn out the way I had dreamed.
When I had them completed and installed I did not like the way they
looked. I think La Otra is too nice
of a boat to have something “hokie” out where everyone can see it.
It took about a week but I finally took them off and trashed them.
They went off to the land of well intended projects that never quite made
the grade.
The outside
canvas work was showing signs of eight years in the tropical sun so it all got
replaced. La Otra got new sail
covers, hatch covers, dodger and bimini. We
were able to make some changes to the design of the original dodger to
incorporate some of the things we have learned over the last few years about
shade, wind and rain. The new canvas
looks good and I have almost forgotten about the hard dodger project.
The Boating Adventure Section
Hurricane John
Hurricane John announced its
arrival in La Paz
in the afternoon of September 1st with strong winds and lot of
blowing rain. The wind continued to
increase during the evening and it topped out at 95 knots.
John was a small hurricane in size (not intensity) as the eye passed
overhead at 0300 hrs on September 2nd.
I spent the
hurricane on the boat and it was an interesting time.
The wind was blowing the rain into the cockpit and through the joints of
the bin boards that seal the companion way hatch.
This was sealed with modeling clay which we have found is a great
temporary fix for leaks, and it only cost six pesos for a block of it.
There was a lot of rocking and rolling and reports of damage coming in on
the radio.
The key to
getting through one of these events with a minimum amount of damage is
preparation. I had spent a couple of days before John arrived getting La Otra
ready. I also prepared a couple of friend's boats and another friend's
condo as well. I went through this
get-ready drill three times last summer with only one of the storms actually
getting to us.
There was some
damage to the docks here at the marina, mostly from having big boats in slips
that were too small for them. Damage
to the boats here was limited to a few boats.
Some boats were not prepared and had not removed sails, and a head sail
or two unfurled. A jib unfurling in
95 knots does not last long. Just
long enough to drive the boat into the dock and make a lot of noise when the
sail blows apart.
We got through
John with not much more than loss of sleep and no power, water or internet for
four days. People north of us on the
Baja were not so lucky. While they
did not have the wind we had, they actually had more rain with a lot of flooding
with loss of lives and no services for many days.
Asha
Cat Delivery
Our friend Mike Arndt had purchased
a 45 foot Robinson Caine catamaran from the Moorings fleet.
The boat had done its time as a crewed charter boat in the British Virgin
Islands and Mike needed some help getting it to
Brunswick,
Georgia, USA. Never wanting to not help a friend
in need and always wanting to sail new waters I was on my way to the BVIs on
October 30.
I flew from
La Paz
to LAX. Then an overnight trip to
New York. Then to San Juan, Puerto Rico, and
onto a flying culvert for the short hop to Beef
Island, BVI. This was a long trip but as
Mike was covering the expenses it was the cheapest flights I could find.
In Los Angeles someone had taken my sea bag by mistake.
Much to my surprise the various airlines were able to recover my bag and
get it to Beef
Island
with only a one day departure delay in our sailing trip.
Oh well, we had to spend an extra day in Roadtown eating at Pussers and
drinking their famous rum drinks. We
also did our provisioning and checked out the boat.
We rigged jack lines as we intended to do a rhumb line course which would
take us offshore for the entire trip to Georgia.
We checked out
with Customs on November 2nd and motored out through the charter boat
traffic and the crowds of the BVIs. When
we cleared the islands we were under sail and making good time.
We discovered early on that there was a problem with the electrical
charging system but rather than returning we decided to continue on and to run
the generator to keep the electrical equipment operating.
The problem this created was one of fuel use. If
we ran the generator we would not have enough fuel to make it to Georgia. So we changed course and headed in
the general direction of the Turks and Cacos
Islands
It was about
this time that we started to feel the impacts of the first cold front that we
would deal with on the trip. Increased
wind, rain and swells to 12 feet. On
November 5th we had 39 knots of wind and lost the top out of the
reefed main so we were clearly a motor vessel now and fuel stops were becoming a
major planning factor.
We were unable
to stop in the Turks and Cacos because of the narrow entrance channel, darkness
and high wind and seas, so we proceeded on to Great
Inagua
Island, the southern most of the Bahama Group. We
arrived at Mathew Town in the afternoon and checked in with the officials.
There is a $300 fee for a six month cruising permit in the Bahama Group.
This applies even if you are just stopping for fuel.
They do not take credit cards so we had to make a bank trip which
required us to stay until morning. The
next day we took on 77 gallons of diesel for $400.
Bring money when you go to the Bahamas.
We decided to
go up through the islands and not through the Bahama Channel which goes past Cuba. The island route provided a little
more protection from the seas and offered more fueling opportunities.
November 9th
brought another cold front and bouncy sea conditions again.
The water in this area is either very deep or very shallow.
Once we departed the Exuma Channel for Nassau
we ran for a number of miles from waypoint to waypoint in less than 25 feet of
water. Careful navigation is
required here as it is very shallow if you get out of the narrow channel.
We arrived at
the Yacht Haven Marina in Nassau
on the 9th and decided to stay until the current cold front passed
and the sea and weather conditions improved.
We stayed there until the morning of November 12th.
We worked our way through the narrow and shallow channels around the
islands heading for the Northwest Providence Channel then on to the
Gulf Stream
.
The next
predicted cold front stalled somewhere over the east coast and the Gulf Stream
was a treat. The sea conditions
were good and we got a two knot or better lift from the stream.
We arrived in Brunswick, Georgia
on November 15th just ahead of the weather front that had stalled
for a couple of days. We checked
into the USA
with Homeland Security and ended the trip at about 1,900 miles.
We cleaned the boat and did some stuff in town for a couple of days then
Mike dropped me off in Saint Augustine, Florida
for my next boat ride. All in all
it was a great trip and it was good to sail with Mike again.
Hey Mike how about a trip to the Med next year?
Celere Trip
Our cruising friends from our early
days in Mexico, Chuck and Candi (Celere) now live near Jacksonville, Florida, which is only about an hour away from
Brunswick, Georgia. Chuck had Celere in a boat yard in
Saint Augustine, Florida, for some regular maintenance work and wanted a hand getting the boat
back to
Jacksonville. Oh well, the old friend in need
excuse again.
Mike dropped
me off at the boat yard in Saint Augustine
where we contacted Chuck. We did an
inspection of Celere which is a boat Chuck designed and had produced.
She is fast and comfortable to sail in and I was looking forward to even
a long day sail on her again.
I spent five
days with Chuck and Candi having a great time and getting a detailed orientation
to the Jacksonville
area. Chuck and I did do some work
on the boat but mostly it was a great chance to catch up with old friends.
On boat moving
day we departed early for Saint Augustine
so we could depart the dock before 0700 hrs.
This was required so we could be at the Bridge
of Lions
when it opened. It is open only for
about five minutes. I needed to call
the bridge operator to make sure the bridge was all the way up to its 80 foot
height, as Celere has a really tall mast. We
cleared but not with a lot to spare. We
went out of the channel past the historic fort and turned north.
We ran along the coast for 29 miles until we reached the Saint Johns River.
We went up the
river for about 20 miles until we reached Jacksonville. The trip up the river was
interesting. A lot of different sights and boat traffic.
We crossed the Intercoastal Waterway in a couple of places and had to
deal with more bridges. There is a
lot of current in the river and it makes docking in the slip an adventure.
We had time to wash the boat and secure her before it was time for drinks
and dinner. It was cold and windy
but it was a great day out on a super boat.
Ohio
Trip
I took a short side trip to Ohio
on my return to La Paz, to visit with my mother who now is in a rest home.
I had a chance to visit for a few days and have Thanksgiving Dinner with
the Ohio Family. I also made another
trip back to visit in the Spring. The
second trip back was just fly back, visit and return.
No related boat trips.
Itsabout Delivery
In early April I contracted to
deliver a Valiant 40 from La Paz
to San Diego. Ray (s/v Adios) was to serve as my
crew for the trip. John, the boat
owner, was to go along on the trip with us and act as an additional crew person.
I did the needed fuel use calculations to ensure we could make the 400
mile leg between fuel stops based on normal boat speed.
We added on-deck fuel cans but this still became an issue on this trip.
I have
addressed the trip from
La Paz
to San Diego
in other web pages so I will not repeat the details here.
We provisioned, checked boat systems, set the watch pattern, said goodbye
to all and departed in the morning of April 16th from Marina Costa
Baja. We had a good run to Cabo San
Lucas and got to the fuel dock there at 0930 hrs on April 17th.
We were fueled and out of the port in 45 minutes.
The weather
prediction for the north part of the Baja was for gale force winds and high seas
which would impact even the lower part of the Baja. We had a good rounding
of Cabo Falso but started to feel the impact of the weather north of us about
1200 hrs. We were soon down to 1.5 to 2 knots per hour toward the goal due
to short steep seas. I had based our
fuel plan on making 3.5 to 4 knots per hour, meaning that we could not make
Turtle
Bay
on our available fuel. This would
require us to go into Magdelena
Bay
to find fuel. It was a slow and
sloppy trip.
We reached
Mag
Bay
in the middle of the night and the navigation light at Punta Redondo was out so
I did not want to try and enter Mag
Bay. We proceeded on to Santa Maria
with its seven mile wide entrance. We
went in with radar until we reached 30 foot of depth and dropped the anchor.
We had a good breakfast the next day and sailed backwards to Man O War
Cove in Mag Bay, about 24 miles. I
checked in with the Port Captain and he arranged to have fuel brought out to us
the next day.
While we were
in Mag
Bay
we were able to repair the generator and water-maker as well as get fuel.
We departed the next day with strong winds.
This gave us a great sail out to the mouth of Mag
Bay
but it turned bad as we turned into the north wind.
The weather prediction was for
dropping winds and seas in 24 hours so we spent the rest of the day at Santa
Maria Bay. The evening weather
prediction changed to strong winds for the next week to ten days, so we departed
into it at 2400 hrs.
The leg from Santa Maria
to Turtle
Bay
was just crap! Slow boat speed and
a lot of bouncing around. John came
into the cockpit when I was on watch all wrapped up in my foul weather gear and
ask me to explain what it was I loved about doing this.
I told him that today I didn’t love it but things would be different
tomorrow.
We made Turtle
Bay
at 1530 hrs on the 23rd of April.
We took on fuel and put the boat back in order from all the bouncing and
banging on the trip up from Santa Maria. I decided to spend the night and
let the crew rest before doing the last 385 miles.
The trip up
the last leg improved with the exception of the 80 miles across the Viscaino
Bay. Once we were past Sacramento
reef things improved a little and we just had to keep going.
We ran into
the leading boats of the Newport
to Ensenada Race, just north of Ensenada. I heard Ray and John talking and
came up from my off-watch. The radar
was set on ˝ - mile range and it was
showing 15 targets. We dodged
traffic until we reached the Customs Dock in San Diego
at 0800 hrs. The Homeland Security
people were waiting at the dock ready to deal with any incoming race boats.
This was a first for me. No waiting for them to get to the dock,
etc. They checked us into the
country in record time and we were off to top off the fuel tanks and go to the Marina. We were safely docked at Sunroad
Marina by 1000 hrs. The end of a
long hard trip.
Ray and I
cleaned up the boat that afternoon and the next day.
We did a little shopping and I had a chance to have dinner with my
daughter, Kelley, before we flew back to La Paz.
Mystical Traveler Delivery
Shortly after the trip on Itsabout,
I had another delivery to San Diego. This trip was on an almost new
Beneteau 42. Mystical Traveler was
very well equipped. She had a furling main and head sails, electric winches,
great electronics, automatic water maker, and a bow thruster.
Hey, this boat even had electric salt and pepper grinders.
Ray (Adios)
had done such a good job on the Itsabout trip that I was pleased to ask him to
crew on this trip also. He was
looking forward to seeing how this boat would handle the famous Baja Bash.
The Beneteau hull design is flat aft of the bow and they have a tendency
to pound in the short choppy seas we encounter so often on Baja’s Pacific
coast. We were both pleased at how
well the boat handled some bouncy conditions on the trip up to San Diego.
I will not go
into great detail about this trip but I will discuss the differences between
this trip and the trip a few weeks earlier.
We started preparing the boat a few days before our scheduled departure.
The boat only has a 35 gallon fuel tank.
This required us to figure out how to carry 300 liters of fuel on deck in
order to make it between fuel stops. We
also figured out all the boat systems, provisioned for the trip, set our watch
pattern and departed Marina Palmira on May 7th at 0900 hrs.
Our trip came
to a halt five minutes from the slip when we got to the fuel dock.
One of the on-deck fuel storage jugs had a pin hole leak.
We went back to the slip and I took the bad jug back to the vendor for
replacement. We departed with the
new fuel jug and were in the San Lorenzo Channel (leaving La Paz
Bay) at noon. We had a great run that
day and we made the fuel dock in Cabo at 0910 hrs. the next morning.
We were only in Cabo long enough to take on fuel.
When we
departed the Cabo harbor there were no Cruise ships, no fishing charter boats
racing out and no tourist boats with blasting rap music.
I was confused about where I was because the usual man made “land
marks” were not there. I did make
some radical turns going out just to pretend I was dodging all the normal
traffic.
Cabo Falso is
just a few miles north of Cabo San Lucas but it can seem like a different world.
The wind and swells sort of collect there and it is always a pain until about 20 miles north of Cabo Falso. This
trip was no exception. We
rounded the Cape
in 28 knots of wind with 8-foot short period swells.
I had to quarter the waves to make any headway and we sailed about 10
miles to make 4 miles in the right direction.
The outside of the boat was wet and salty and things were not looking so
good right then. Ray came on watch
at noon to only slightly improved conditions.
When I came on
for my mid-watch at 1700 hrs. we were back in a different world again.
Things were getting calmer and we were surrounded by dolphins and birds.
An hour of this stuff and I had forgotten the trip around Cabo Falso.
Ray was again the master cook on this trip and we ate well.
We even had a couple of theme days, like Mexican food all day or rib
eyes, baked potatoes and salad. This
was a big change from the previous trip where we ate most our meals out of 3-cup
measuring cups, because they have handles, so we could hold them and eat at the
same time.
The major
issue we dealt with on the leg to Turtle
Bay
was fog. It was thick at times and
the tracking system on the radar gave us a lot of good information about the
other vessels in our area. It was
cold and wet but we were making good time. We
also perfected a system for transferring fuel from the deck jugs to the fuel
tank without spilling any even in the swells and wind.
We had a
couple of periods of bad conditions for an
hour or two as we neared Turtle
Bay
in darkness and fog. I was dreading
entering the bay in those conditions. I
had discussed with Ray the possibility of laying offshore at least until
daylight but conditions were getting worse offshore with each passing hour.
Then like magic about four miles outside of Turtle
Bay
the wind dropped and the fog cleared. We
entered Turtle
Bay
using the radar and chart plotter at 0130 hrs. on May 11th.
We took on
fuel that morning and checked the weather. There
were strong winds north of us and a couple of boats that had departed while we
were fueling were returning to the anchorage because of bad conditions.
I decided we would sit out the weather for the rest of the day, rest,
clean up the boat and depart the next day early.
The evening
weather on the SSB radio called for winds of 25 plus knots to continue for a
week or more. We were not going to
sit in Turtle Bay until summer and a reduction in the northwesterly winds, so it
was just take off and tough it out. This
is a typical situation for spring and early summer in this area.
We departed
early but still had a hard time getting up through the Dewey Channel.
Winds at 25 knots with higher gusts and 6 to 8-foot short period swells.
I went off watch near the north end of the Dewey Channel where it meets
the Keller Channel just south of Cedros
Island. Ray had a tough time dealing with
the winds and current coming around the island and nearby points and land
masses. He got us safely into the
lee of Cedros while I slept below. He
saw some 40 knot gusts and 14-foot swells. The
Channel is only about eight to ten miles wide but it was work getting across it.
Ray finished his long watch running up the lee side of Cedros
Island
in sort of calm conditions.
I started my
mid-watch near the north end of Cedros. Conditions
went downhill in rapid order. In an
hour we had 10 to 12 foot seas from the northwest and the west at the same time.
Winds were up to 35 knots. When
we tried to hold a direct course to cross the Viscaino
Bay’s 80-mile stretch the westerly swells tended to break on deck and roll the
boat a little more than I enjoy. We
countered this by continuing to fall off to the east until we found a course
that allowed us to make some headway without putting us and the boat in danger.
It was a long night and next day to make good that 80 miles and pass the
Sacramento Reef, one of the last offshore hazards on the trip north.
When
conditions calmed some and we could lay a new tack and head back in the correct
direction it took us eight hours to get back to our planned track .
When we cleared Sacramento Reef and approached Isla San Martin the wind
dropped to about 20 knots and the swells started to space out. Mystical
Traveler responded and took the bit in her teeth.
The last one hundred miles into San Diego
were smoked off in good order.
We tied up to
the Customs Dock in San Diego
at 0620 hrs. on May 15th. This
was a 1000-mile plus run in 7 days and 20 hours, which included a 30-hour
layover in Turtle
Bay. The boat handled both the good and
bad conditions well and it was a pleasure to bring her north.
When I deliver a boat I always make a list for the owner identifying
anything that is broken or needs to be considered or changed for better or safer
operation. Mystical Traveler’s list was the shortest list I have ever
made.
I am pleased
that I am scheduled to join Lewis (boat owner) in this year's Baja Ha Ha, to
bring the boat back to
Mexico
for the winter. We will leave San Diego
on October 29th.
Moorings Charters
This year I have done a number of
trips as a Charter Captain for the local Moorings Fleet.
The trips range from three days to two weeks.
The fleet consists of both mono hulls and catamarans.
Almost without exception the guests are nice, interested in boating and
in our beautiful Sea
of Cortez. I have enjoyed many of these
trips. While on one charter we anchored at Evaristo.
It just happened that the family from s/v Sunbreak was there distributing all of
the school supplies they had been collecting from cruisers in La Paz. It
was nice to see how well the contributions were received.
Maverick Trips
Lindsey and I both have enjoyed a
number of trips with our friends Richard and Susie on Maverick, the Mikelson 70
we have discussed in detail in our earlier web pages.
We didn’t make any really long trips this year, just a number of happy
days at sea, fishing, cruising and sunning.
Summary
It has been a good year.
I was able to get La Otra back in good order and still got almost 5,000
miles at sea in two different oceans. I
think getting my Captain's License was a good idea for me.
It has opened up a new career path, so I can have something to do now
that I have retired. More
importantly I love doing it.
See "La Otra's" Old Ship's Log Pages: click
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