Adventures of s/v Octavia, Derek Elliott

Date: 06 Nov 2011

Derek & the Monarch Butterflies race to Mexico: On October 23rd 2011 at 9am in lovely California sunshine I sailed out of Travis Marina at the foot of the North end of the Golden Gate Bridge, accompanied by half a dozen pilot whales, to start a 1500 mile journey to Mexico & the commencement of an almost lifelong dream of single handing my boat to Mexico. About 13 miles out I turned left or SSW or 207degrees (I’ve got to write ‘degrees’ until I find that little circular degree symbol on this keyboard). By now its 11:45am so you can see this journey is going to take a long time: 9am to 11:45 am is 165 minutes to travel 13miles which is = to 12.69 minutes per mile. Multiply that by 1500 miles & it = 19035 minutes = 317.25 hours which is about 13 ¼ days. This time frame assumes perfection & no problems. I should easily beat that pesky Monarch Butterfly. 12:30pm (45 minutes after my calculations) I start getting radio weather reports of unseasonable SW winds approaching. As I’m on a SW course this means sailing directly into the wind which is not good, so I decide to run for Half Moon Bay & safety. By now I’m 18 miles off shore & 21 miles from HMB so I phone Cissy on the satellite phone to tell her of the change in plans & she changes her plans so that she can meet me in HMB which is only an hours drive from San Francisco. I don’t know why but there are two plans for these satellite phones, one is per minute with a two-year agreement & the other is cheaper but you prepay for time that has to be used within two years, although you can add more time whenever you like. The problem with the latter plan is you cannot use those minutes in the USA unless you are at least 12 miles offshore. But between the satellite phone & our cell phones that are usually OK a few miles offshore, we should be able to communicate all the way to Mexico. The wind started to veer & I now had it directly on the nose (sailing directly into the wind) so I took all the sails down & motored in the last 7-10 miles. While motoring in I got a hell of a fright as I thought I’d run over a crab pot. Fishermen put their crab pots down & attach them by line to small buoys so they know where they are & can pull them up. The problem with this arrangement is they are difficult to see and running over them it’s easy for my propeller to get caught in the line from the buoy to the crab pot. If that happens your fucked, as the line wraps round the drive shaft, kills the engine & can actually pull the shaft out so that water starts pouring in. Several years ago Cissy & I were moored in Half Moon Bay & on leaving wrapped the mooring buoy line round our prop. We had to have a diver go down & cut it loose; thankfully the only damage was to our pride & pocket. But I digress, in panic I knocked the engine out of gear & reduced the revs only to see the supposedly Crab pot buoys were large orange jellyfish covered in algae & looking similar to the pots. They were everywhere, 100’s of them seemingly just below the surface. Then I noticed what looked like small fish skipping on the water, so I went over to investigate & circling I saw they were the fins on Sunfish. Sunfish are real weird fish. They are large disk like fish (3 feet wide & bigger) with two fins for swimming & a small fin like tail, they look like something Hollywood or Disney would think up. Apparently not very good eating, as they are all bone. They were on their side eating the jellyfish, some jf were huge, over ten feet long. They have mooring buoys in HMB so I phoned the harbormaster & booked one. I eventually got into HMB about 5PM & tied up to a buoy. I say tied up to a buoy but it wasn’t that easy. These buoys have a ring on the top that you pass your mooring line thru & attach back on the boat. We have high sides on our boat that make it difficult to lean down & pass the line through the ring. But we do have a great device on a pole that passes the line thru the ring & easily allows you to bring the other end back on to the boat. It’s called a ‘Happy Hooker’. Problem was the ring was too small to pass our ’Happy Hooker’ through. After attacking various buoys 6 or 7 times, I gave up & had to resort to attaching a boat hook to the buoy like Sir Lancelot & wrestling the line through the ring while being stretched by the buoy & boat. Not very nautical, but it worked. One of the problems with working on the boat outside the cockpit when single-handing is the 5-foot line or tether you have attached to you & to the boat that stops you accidently falling overboard. It constantly gets in the way. Your either tripping over the fucking thing or it gets caught somewhere along the safety line (Jack line). You attach a strong line to the boat that you can clip your tether onto & it enables you to get round the boat safely. Still it beats the alternative. When I sailed out of San Francisco I realized I’d put the Jack lines inside the standing rigging (the wires that keep the mast up). So I had to redeploy the jack line so that it went outside the rigging. Otherwise I’d have to unhook myself when strolling about the deck. Once attached to the buoy I launched the dingy & went ashore to pick up Cissy. She had bought a great takeaway Chinese. Not the way I had envisioned my first night at sea but it was a good alternative. What a day. We were exhausted & cuddling in bed by 9:30PM. The bed on Octavia is actually more comfortable than our bed at home & the one at home is not uncomfortable. Next morning, Monday 24th, I dropped Cissy off at the docks about 9am so she could get back to San Francisco, but she will be back tonight as I decided to stay another day in harbor, as the sail down here showed up a lot of faults (like the position of the Jack lines). The main fault being the outside mike from the radio works intermittently, therefore I did not hear the updated weather forecast until I was well out to sea & able to go below & hear the radio. Also a couple of days before I was due to leave, the Apple MacBook Pro computer that has all my charts, documents & bio fell in the water. We got it out pretty quickly, dried it & it worked. Next morning when I tried it again it was dead as a dodo. We took it to Andrew at ‘The Total Mac’. He managed to save the hard drive. In the meantime we bought another Mac laptop & he transferred the info to it. He subsequently got the original laptop working so we keep it as a backup. Because the new laptop has the new apple operating system on it I could not get my GPS to work until I downloaded the updated drivers. This I was able to do due to the Wi-Fi antenna I installed on the boat a few weeks back. I can now hopefully get Wi-Fi while miles from shore. After dropping Cissy off I got back to Octavia & signed onto the Internet for $6.95 for 24 hours. As I was working away trying to get everything together I heard a knocking on the hull. Thinking it was the Harbormaster or a kayaker I went outside but couldn’t see anything. Just then about 40 feet away from Octavia a sea otter surfaced & I watched as it attempted to open a shellfish on its chest by striking it with a rock. When it saw me it swam back to Octavia, dived & started striking his lunch against my hull again. I started hitting the hull in time with the sea otter but must have frightened him as he then swam away. At lunchtime I was eating my sandwich in the cockpit & heard a commotion. It was a bloody great seal, shaking a big fish like a terrier shakes a rat or toy, and then letting it go. He was breaking bits off to eat & loads of seagulls were chasing after the little bits. The weather is pretty dismal but looks like the NW wind will override the Southerly by tomorrow afternoon. I’ll drop Cissy off at the docks tomorrow morning, load the dingy onto Octavia & set off about 8 or 9am. Go out 20+ miles then head South again to continue my journey. That evening Cissy & I finished off the Chinese for dinner. Its been real nice these past couple of days being with her, as for weeks I’ve been involved in my projects, trying to get everything ready for this trip. Cissy doesn’t do well on little or no attention. We can now relax & enjoy each other again. Next morning, Tuesday 25th I dropped Cissy of at the Harbormasters office, she paid him $10 for the mooring buoy (should have been $30). She seemed pleased about that & phoned me as she drove back to town along the coast road. When I got back to Octavia & had hauled the dingy back on board, I was sitting in the salon drinking coffee, feeling a bit low, as I didn’t know when I’d see her again. As it was now about 11am & I still had stuff to correct on the boat, I decided to wait one more day & leave early in the morning. Couldn’t use the Internet after 12noon as my 24 hours had run out. Planned my rout for going down the coast, I’ll go out about 20miles then turn South, should be out of the way of crab pots & other big boats transiting the coast. Left HMB Wednesday 26th about 8am. Patchy fog giving me between ½ mile & infinite visibility. Seas were rather large mainly from the NW (forecast stated 10’ waves every 10 seconds) & sometimes confused (coming at you from sneaky angles) kinda makes you wonder why you’re out here. 9:15am approx 6 nautical miles offshore. I have the full main & 100 per cent (where is that bloody per cent sign) jib sails up in approx 10 to 15 knot winds. The seas have started to calm a bit. Cannot see the shore as its in fog, but I’m in the clear & can see any crab pots, I’m doing about 5 knots. I have something called a Winchmate. You put it over the winch, pull the trigger & it turns the winch for you. Saves you having to put your back into manually winching the sails up. Problem is it packed up as I was putting the main up, so had to do it manually anyway. Now I’m knackered. 11:30am. Winds picked up from the North about 20k’s. Seas got rough again. Had to use the hospital piss pot I have, as it was too rough to pee over the side or go below. Like a newbie I threw the piss pot contents over the wrong side. Felt like Gandhi, only instead of drinking it I was wearing it. When I first started single-handing I cut the top off a gallon milk container to use as a urine collector but found the sharp edge more amenable to practicing surgery on my penis than comfort in urinating. Fog closed in again giving me about ¼ mile visibility. Nasty looking stuff lasted about 40 minutes. Got so thick I expected a giant finger to point at me & a deep voice tell me I was a sinner. 1pm. About 20 miles offshore & heading South at 145degrees. Unfortunately had to douse the jib as the car the port jib sheet goes thru slid forward & rendered the jib useless. Speed down to 4.8 k’s. Eating lunch at the moment so I’ll deal with it later. 8pm. Just had an interesting conversation with a 1000’ container ship. One of the navigation aids I have is a high tech system known as AIS. It stands for Accident I??? System. It allows you to see ships over 200 tons up to 300 miles away. Not only that, it shows the vessels course, speed, destination, name, closest point of contact & lots of other stuff. By AIS I could see this ship called APL Thailand about 30 miles away coming straight for me. I called the ship & said I had him on my AIS & could he see me, as I was only 40’. He said he couldn’t see me so I told him we were on a collision course. He replied rather incredulously “ You want me to change course???” By now I’m beginning to feel a bit silly for bothering him, then he said, “What is your position?” When I told him he once again said incredulously “you are 34 miles away”. The Coast Guard then came on telling me to change channels as the one I was using (Ch 16) should only be used for emergencies & hailing. Must admit by now I’m feeling a real prick. I did eventually see him 8 miles away all lit up like a Christmas tree. I can now see two other fucking great ships 80 miles behind him showing that we are on collision courses. Think I’ll wait a bit longer before I bother them. I was also concerned because I could see a tug behind me matching my speed & course, obviously towing a bloody great barge. If I’d stopped this thing would have been right up my arse. I changed my course from 140degrees to 160degrees. The problem when the seas are as rough as this is the compass card sways all over the place & you tend to lose any sense of direction. You can’t see fuck all as its pitch black & can only steer by your instruments. If your only frame of reference is wobbling all over the place & occasionally standing on its side, it gets rather confusing & you have to fight the urge to panic. 9:30pm. I realized my running lights aren’t working so I kept the lights on in the salon. Had to take the mainsail down as the following wind & some odd waves caused the boat to fall sideways, slamming the boom from one side to the other & I was frightened the sail would tear. As I had furled the main while running (wind behind me) the material bunched up at the gooseneck so I couldn’t get the last third of the sail in. Hoped having only 1/3rd of the sail up would cause no damage. 10/27 Thursday 12:30am. Just finished pulling the last 1/3rd of the mainsail in by hand & wrapping it safely around the boom, it would have demolished itself if I’d left it much longer. Cissy would have been pissed. To pull the sail in I had to climb up to the mast, hank my tether to an anchor point I had luckily installed a few weeks ago for just such an emergency & claw the sail down. It was a bitch, the fucking boats bouncing about all over the place, its pitch black, cold, noisy & there is nothing on the sail to grip onto allowing you to pull it down. Eventually I was able to fold the sail over the boom & tie it down. Must remember to furl it correctly next time by turning the boat into the wind, this will stop the sail from bunching up at the gooseneck (the end of the boom attached to the mast). Speed down to 4.5k’s. Turned engine on to 2100 RPM. 1:42am. Just spent about 20 minutes looking at an incredible sight. I was looking at the ocean with my high-powered spot lamp & the spot showed literally thousands of glowing white & red (orangey) eyes. They looked like anchovies or sardines leaping out & sometimes skipping over the water. I think the white & orange eyes belonged somehow to the same fish, as when I could follow the eye it seemed to change color in flight. I could also see orange blurs in the spot on the water that turned out to be squid chasing the fish. I also saw lots of white-bellied birds. It was a real carnage out there. I was opposite Partington Point over an area known as Sur Canyon & in very deep water, over 5’k deep. 4am. For some time the ride has been very rough & I notice ‘Chinook’ the tug that I can see on my AIS 12 miles behind me has changed course from 140 degrees to 130. So I did the same & the ride is definitely smoother. One thing I’m rather pleased about is that through all this rough stuff I have not felt seasick. I usually get motion sickness pretty easily; I cannot even look down at a map in the car. When we are out sailing, Cissy has to go below to get stuff or fix meals. My concern when I first bought the boat to live on was that I’d get home every night & throw up. Greg recommended a regimen of Meglizine twice a day starting several days before I left. As a an emergency backup he prescribed suppositories in case I cannot keep anything down, these I keep in the fridge. Cannot imagine stuffing something up my arse, especially something cold about the size of half a finger. 7:15am. Changed course to 110 degrees to get me into Morrow Bay. Waves going NNE, my direction, increased revs to 2200rpm, speed over the ground is about 6.5k’s should get to Morrow Bay in 9 hours at this speed. No wind, beautiful sunrise, sailing directly into the sun, morning is beautiful, not like yesterday morning leaving Half Moon Bay. 8.45am, things are so quiet I laid down for about 20 minutes but couldn’t sleep. As I can’t see where I’m going I imagine everything from icebergs, half sunken containers, whales, crab pots & other ships that I’m about to crash into. Need to get some sort of alarm clock that I can set for an hour. 11:45 am. I feel great, had a SS&S. Shit, shave & shower & changed my clothes. Only problem was when I fell against the shower door I must have opened it a bit as the carpet is now waterlogged. Looking out it looks like a vast blue desert with giant sand dunes (waves). Just found a couple of dead flying fish on deck, they must have been flying fish last night & not anchovies/sardines. These fish have the large eyes & are about 4”-5” long. Basically black with some silver & speckled blue markings. About 3pm I hailed the Coast guard on channel 16 & asked if the bar was OK to cross into Morrow Bay & he started giving me wind speed, direction & water temp. Thought that was weird. I learnt several days later from a local that the bar had been dredged 20 years ago & nobody asks about it anymore. Must be an old Pilot book I’m using as it recommends calling in for bar advice. 4.43pm. Turned engine off at Morrow Bay Yacht club docks. Animal life here is incredible. Coming up the river to the mooring I saw sea otters, bloody great seals/sea lions & a myriad of birds. Was in bed by 7:30pm. Friday 28th. Slept like s baby from 7:30 last night till 8am today. Met Wayne the Port Capt. He only charged me $20 for staying at the dock tonight & $15 for staying on a club buoy tomorrow night. He forgave me last night’s fee as I collapsed at 7:30pm without connecting up to electricity or any other utility. He invited us to the club function tonight that includes free food. I phoned a couple of friends of ours - Ron & Kathy & invited them, they are Hashers. Cissy is on her way down. She’s concerned about the condition of the car. It’ll be good to see her again although its only been a few days since I last saw her, because of all that’s been happening it seems like forever. I can hear the Capt. of the boat moored in front of me castigating his crew. I think he’s a bit of a Capt Bligh. Earlier he was really badmouthing his crew. Think that may be why I wanted to do this on my own, I only have myself to blame for any fuckups. Although I must admit it is not as romantic as I thought it would be. With another person you really could rest, sleep & get more out of the journey. 1:30pm. For lunch I had Madras Lentil that Maureen dropped off to me as part of her going away care package. Along with the last of the rice from Cissys Chinese takeaway in HMB, delicious. Morrow Bay is an incredibly friendly place. While sailing up the river yesterday I waved to a gang of about 6 grizzled old commercial fishing guys & immediately they all started waving energetically like a bunch of silly kids. But everyone here is like it. I swear I just saw ZZ Top sail down the river. All the boats & dinghy’s seem to have dogs in the bow (front). People are paddling by on surfboards. Little electric tour boats & taxis are going up & down. The water here gets more use than it does in San Francisco. Friday night after the club soiree we went to dinner at a great taco place with Ron & Kathy. Saturday 10/29/11. Cissy woke to a bad case of exhaustion, flue, cat scratch fever & general blaaas. She stayed in bed nearly all day. I was able to plot my course for the next part of the journey, which includes anchoring off Santa Rosa Island in the Channel Islands. Sunday 10/30. Left Morrow Bay Yacht Club at 9:15am, waving goodbye to Cissy I wondered when & where I’d see her again. On the way down the river I saw a sea otter with a wriggling crab on her chest & a youngster trying to climb onto her to get at the crab. It was neat as you could see the little one was all excited about getting to the crab but had difficulty climbing on. Once in the ocean the seas were a bit glompy with the main swells from the NW. Takes a while to get used to being out here again. Feeling a bit lonely & sad for leaving Cissy. I realize these great conjugal visits have got to end as I’m getting further away & this last trip was a four-hour drive for her. Again we had a couple of nice days together although she was under the weather yesterday. Looks like she had the same malaise she suffered a few weeks back. 11am. Turned off the engine. Doing 5k+ under main & about 120per cent jib. Getting cold & seas still glompy & confused. 11:48. Decided to reef the main by 1/3rd as these irregular seas & the list was putting my port (left) side under water & the dingy hanging on the back was taking a hit now & again. 1:22pm. Phew, that was an effort. Had to take the main down as it was crashing from side to side again (jibing). I started the engine & drove the boat into the wind. This time I was able to furl the sail properly. But I need to set up a downhaul to stop the main crashing from side to side. Speed is down to 5 knots. 2:30pm. I seem to be surrounded by crab pot buoys. I don’t understand it as I’m in 1600’ of water, unless these are government weather buoys. Certainly look a lot cleaner than the crab buoys I’m used to seeing. These have one red & one white buoy attached. Apparently I’m within ½ mile of a flashing buoy but I can’t see the thing. Mind you there are a few white caps out here. 3:48pm. Fuck!! Just went below & heard a NOAA Special Weather Statement. ‘Gale force winds & small craft advisory from Port Hueneme to Point Conception including San Miguel & Santa Rosa Island out to 60 nautical miles.’ Exactly my bloody course. Have to replan my route to make a run for Los Angeles & Marina del Rey. I don’t want to go back to Morrow Bay. Its 155 miles to MdR-at 6 knots I can be there in 26hours. I’ll change course to pass just off Pt Conception & Pt Arguela, bypass Santa Rosa Island & head directly for safety, which means the NW waves will hit my beam (side) making for an uncomfortable ride. 5:45pm. Took jib down, course is now 152Mag. I’ll just miss Pt Arguelo increased engine speed to 2400rpm. Now & again a particularly nasty wave will rock me violently but nothing ‘Octavia’ can’t handle. The problem with these violent movements is my imagination thinks of all the shit sitting in the bottom of my fuel tank getting shook up & sucked into the engine. Don’t think it’s a credible fear as the tank is only about 10 years old & I check the fuel filters frequently. 6.08pm Saw my first oilrig; at least I won’t forget its name ‘Irene’. She’s 5.88miles away; I can see her on my radar. Turned on my running lights. They didn’t work before as I wasn’t turning them on correctly (Don’t go there!!). Someone told me to be careful of the oilrigs. I was concerned, as they did not appear to be noted on my charts, now I know why. They have names, not symbols. I wondered what all those names were for! 9pm. Tried to phone Cissy on the satellite phone as I passed Point Conception but couldn’t get a connection. Pt Conception is a biggee. Anyone who sails these waters knows the most dangerous waters are here. Because the landmass now starts to head East all hell breaks loose with the winds & currents fighting, but once round it the journey is supposed to get easier. I must admit that due to the overall bad weather I feel a bit like Pigpen with all that doom & gloom hanging over his head. I monitored the weather from two weeks prior to my journey & it was perfect. The day I started, Murphy woke up & started slinging shit around. 10:56pm. Off to my port is a bright glowing green light. Not just bright but it actually looks like a burning intense green. Can’t see how far it is from me as its pitch black out there. According to the chart there appears to be something marked about 3 miles away but I can’t work out what it is. Oh well, one of life’s mysteries or some poor bastard in a sinking dingy shooting off his last flare. Just went below & found my microwave, printer & various sundries on the floor. I usually tie, nail or screw everything down that can move, but this part of the journey is rougher than before. 10/31/11 12:26am. What are the chances?? There is a 965’ freighter about 35 miles from me named ‘Octavia’. Should phone him & fuck with him. “This is Octavia calling Octavia can you see me??” 1:31am. These oil rigs are incredible. They are massive, covered in lights with wands that spew fire. Coming up on them they remind me of giant galleons all lit up. There is also a heavy bunker oil smell. 3:30am. According to the chart I just passed a flashing buoy by .40 of a mile, didn’t see it. But the fog is now so thick I sometimes cannot see the sea on which I’m sailing (that’s only 5’ away). There is still that heavy bunker smell & the outside of ‘Octavia’ is soaking wet from the dew. 7am. Been listening to the doom laden weather forecast all night but now its getting light I’ve put the ‘Stones’ on & I’m eating an egg sandwich. Got a bit too laid back & due to the fog I aimed at the wrong oil rig & put myself too far West. Reset course & should be OK again. 12 noon. Looks like I’ve beat the weather. Just phoned Joe & Olivier in Marina del Rey. They have me booked into the California Yacht Club & will come out & meet me. The CYC is a rather exclusive club but Joe assures me they’ll just take my $20 key deposit. It is now windless, the seas are moderating, the sun is out & the fog gone. Olivier said they are still fogged in in MdR. Think I’ll have a SS&S before they get here. It’s amazing how cleaning up with a hot shower & change of clothes revives you. About 3pm Olivier, Joelle & Joe rendezvoused with me on the ocean. Because of my dingy hanging off the back of Octavia, Olivier had to use his skills to come alongside & transfer Joe to ‘Octavia’. Once Joe was successfully on board we sedately sailed into MdR. What a great reception. Due to the adverse weather & the O’Connell’s hospitality I’ll probably stay here a few days before I continue my journey.

Date: 12 Nov 2011

10/31/11 Monday Joe was transferred to Octavia & we sailed into Marina de Rey drinking a celebratory beer. Once in MdR Olivier led me to my slip for the next few days & what an impressive slip it was. Clean, stable, all the utilities, even a garbage can. I quickly shut down Octavia’s systems & secured the lines & was off to Joe & Joelle’s for a few days. Tonight is Halloween, what a great night seeing all the kids in costume (& some not so young kids). Again I was knackered after another 33 hour sail, I’m sure I was in bed before most of the kids. For the next 3 days I reveled in Joelle’s cooking (every French bird I have known has been a marvelous cook, must be in their genes). They’d take me to the boat every day to continue the daily maintenance & fixing stuff for the next leg. Cream of it all was Olivier presented me with a refurbished outside mike for the radio. Several times on the journey down I hadn’t heard the updated weather forecast as the outside slave mike worked intermittently & I could only hear the full report when I went below. 11/3/11 Thursday Reluctantly moved back on to Octavia & started taking the seasickness pills again. Probably leave in about 3 days, once this storm system has passed & the waves had had a chance to subside. Also need to acclimatize to living on board again. I was really surprised how well I felt during some of the stormy bits, I never really felt sick, maybe a bit queasy a couple of times but overall never uncomfortable. Thanks Greg. 11/6/11 Sunday. Woke up to the rain pissing down although the wind seems to have dropped. It’s not the wind that makes for an uncomfortable sail, but the height & duration between waves that makes it uncomfortable. You can always reef (shorten) the sails to compensate for the wind, but there’s nothing you can do about the waves, except maybe find the easiest motion for the boat. The next leg is a short 45-mile hop to Avalon on Santa Catalina Island. I’ll leave tomorrow if the seas are calmer, otherwise I’ll wait another day. Had lunch with my boss today. First time I’ve met him. Neat guy, his job is his way of life & he obviously enjoys life. Gave the marina key back to the harbormaster yesterday in preparation of my imminent departure so can no longer leave the marina by foot, luckily Randall (bossman) had a key. 11/7 Monday Decided to stay in port one more day as ‘Small Craft Advisories’ are still in effect until this evening, predicting 6’ to 8’ waves. It will give me a chance to plan my route from Avalon to Ensenada in Mexico & beyond, as I haven’t recently looked at the charts or cruising Pilot charts. On the way down from San Francisco I had the benefit of using electronic charts & Pilot books. The Pilot books are a big help because they were written by sailors/mariners that have ploughed these waters already & have first hand knowledge of the currents, anomalies, safe harbors, good anchorages etc. They also gather local facts (like telling me to phone the Coast Guard before entering Morro Bay & asking about conditions over the bar). Now I graduate to Charlie’s Charts of the West Coast of Mexico. 11/8/Tuesday 1am: I’ve had a shower & shave, filled the water tank (150 gallons), taken all the trash off the boat, made sure the charts, GPS, AIS are in sync. Researched how to get out of Marina del Rey in case of fog, then the course to steer for Avalon. All I have to do in the morning is disconnect the electric cable, slip the mooring lines then worry about getting out of the slip. When Olivier led me in he warned me about the sharp left turn to get into the slip. Going forward Octavia steers well, trying to go backwards she doesn’t respond worth shit. Hopefully there will be no wind in the morning. Sometimes I feel like I’m in a pinball machine bouncing off other boats & things while trying to steer in reverse. 6am: Got up, had breakfast made coffee & left at 7:15am. Very light wind but cold & bright. Beauty of turning the clocks back is the surprising amount of extra light first thing in the morning. Going down the channel to the ocean there was an amazing amount of activity for that time of day. Several 8’s (rowing boats with 8 rowers & a coxswain) were out practicing, with two of them racing. There were scullers everywhere (single rowers-well they can be married but they are rowing on their own), with there training boats in attendance. It all took me back 50 years to when I dedicated my life to rowing. Jeeze, 50 years ago, did it really happen??? Then paddling across the channel cam a familiar form; paddling his surfboard was Olivier. What a guy. Talk about the ultimate athlete. I stopped Octavia & we managed to talk for a while, then he paddled off to start his day. Millions of people in LA are on the freeways going to work with all the stress & strain of driving & here’s this guy casually paddling to work. 8:30am: Radar has just packed up. ‘No Heading Pulse’ whatever that means. I checked the connections to the display, everything’s OK. I’ll try the connection to the Radome (the transmitter at the top of the radar pole) when I get to Avalon & can climb the pole in safety. Weather is clear, should not need the radar. 9:20am: Changed course to 150° (thank you Nancy for telling me where the ° is) this should take me straight to Avalon. About 3 or 4 miles of to the right a bunch of terns were diving on fish. They drive straight into the water & look like arrow heads as they hit. I used to see them in San Francisco. When mating the girl sits on a buoy or something solid & screams at him as he looks for a fish to feed her. When he gets one he feeds it to her while standing on her back & as she swallows the fish he quickly has his evil way with her. He then flies away, she shakes herself & they start all over again. See girls, if ever you are invited out for sushi, beware! Once the terns started diving, a load of seagulls came flying in from all around, along with a load of Pelicans & they all converged on the tern area. 10:30am: Can just make out Santa Catalina as a dark outline on the horizon but in haze, approximately 15-16 miles away. I’m in about 2700’ of water, with large patches of kelp floating on the surface. Probably torn off the floor during the last storm. I was concerned when I sailed through such thick patches as it could get caught on my keel or propeller. But it’s so slippery I just glide through it. Apparently they utilize the stuff that makes the kelp slippery in toothpaste & other tubey stuff so that it squeezes easily from the tube. Looks like the wind may be waking up as I see wind patches on the surface. Just saw a large swept back or curved fin break the surface about 100’ off my port aft quarter (left side towards the back of the boat). It was swimming towards me. Another just broke the surface on my right beam. I’m just about to cross the shipping channel. Radar is no longer as necessary now I have AIS & the visibility is good. 11:50am: Raised the full main, increased the jib to 120% (100% jib means it reaches from the front of the boat back to the mast-a 120% means it goes past the mast by 20%.) Reduced engine revs to 1800rpm. Speed dropped to 5.7knots over the ground (SOG) & 5knots through the water (STW) 12:15pm Rigged the downhaul I’d made while in MdR, it appears to work as the mainsail now occasionally flaps halfheartedly while the boom stays put. SOG 5.5knots, STW 4.9knots. Increased engine rpm to 2k. WOW-these fins belong to Orca, these are fucking great killer whales, several are off my port beam, two appeared real close, with one about 20’ from me, he appeared with ¾ of his body out of the water then dived so that it looked like he would go under & in front of me. They are huge-this bastard was over 20’ long, black & shiny. Then they disappeared. No wonder they call them killer whales, I nearly died of fright. About 1pm, I’d just finished lunch & was laying back, when I thought I saw a white buoy, as I was looking for it again I saw a black Orca, then a light grey one then the white one. It was completely white, an albino. There were several Orcas–mostly black but some were grey & I’m not sure if there was one or more completely white, as sometimes it seemed to surface a bit further along than I thought it would. They appeared to be running in the same direction, then in all directions. As they were about ½ a mile from me I couldn’t see what they were doing – then just as suddenly they disappeared. These guys were on my port side. About 2:30pm I noticed some off to my starboard (right) beam about ½ to 1 mile away. Swimming in the same direction as me. With a couple coming so close I could see the water running off them & mist from the blowholes. As they didn’t dive deep but seemed on a mission there was not a lot of blowhole stuff. I was now doing about 6knots & they were swimming so leisurely I was actually pulling away from the one closest to me. They really are huge. I was looking at them through my binoculars & noticed a large passenger ship in the haze & realized I’d gone past Avalon. I knew the ship was in Avalon as I’d seen it on AIS earlier. Quickly I pulled into the wind, which meant sailing towards the whales, dropped the sails & changed course for Avalon. Once done I looked around & once again they had disappeared. Got to within 4 miles of Avalon & radioed the Harbormaster on channel 16 then someone came on & said call the Avalon Port Authority on Ch 12. The Port Authority said I would be met at the harbor entrance. Sure enough an old salt in an impeccable uniform, wearing a gun & in a very fast boat met me at the entrance – he asked how long would I stay, I said ‘How much a night’ he said “$28”, I said ‘One night, please’ He then said “pay for two & we’ll give you the next 5 nights free” So I paid for two. The extra nights will give me a chance to find a berth in Ensenada, as so far I’d been offered berths at $60, $40 & $30 a night & wanted to try two other marinas to see if they were any cheaper. In Ensenada I needed to check into Mexico, get a Zarp (entry visa for Octavia for 6 months) a fishing license ($44) & show my passport to someone. I had intended sailing off next morning from Avalon although I didn’t want to, as not only did I need to do more research, another storm was on its way. Although not as bad as the last one, this one will just bring a lot of rain. If I can get onto the Internet I can get all my research done & use Skype to call the marinas. Meanwhile this old salt assigned me a buoy with verbal directions to “go past the green pier to the 3rd set of buoys out from the beach, turn right at buoy numbered 88, continue along the row of buoys till you come to number 107 then turn right and attach yourself to it. “ I said, “You’ve got to be kidding,” he said, “it’s just like a map,” I said “then give me a map.” I then heard him on the radio instructing another harbor boat to escort me & help me by saying “This one will need help”. I met this other harbor boat by the green pier (I could remember that much as the pier stood out like a sore thumb) Approaching buoy #107 the harbor valet started pointing to it like a pointer gun dog with his nose. I had to gently approach the buoy & pick up the marker pole, to which was attached a small line that led to a bigger one with a noose on it. I attached the noose to my bow cleat while the pointer/valet/greeter told me to walk towards the stern while holding the small line & promised I’d find another noose for my stern cleat; I never did, so he told me to tie the small line off instead on the cleat. He then asked for permission to come aboard, & asked where the head was. He dropped a green pill into the toilet bowl & told me to flush. Then he drove round the boat & when satisfied sped off. Apparently this is a serious no discharge harbor with heavy penalties if any green dye is spotted coming from a boat. You do not defecate or urinate without the whole world seeing it in this marina. This could be a problem. What an incredible harbor/marina, the water is so clear I could make out the bottom 30’ below. Going towards my buoy I passed a research tourist submarine going out. Taxis were ferrying passenger to & from there boats. You can understand the purity laws as they have 250 buoys. Each boat would have at least two people on board & the harbor is only about ½ mile across & ¼ mile deep. Although I can see why they are giving 2 nights paid & 5 nights free as there are only about 15% (thank you again Nancy for the % sign) of the buoys in use. Now for some fun. I am sitting in the cockpit drinking a cup of tea & a 36’ sailboat with the mainsail draped all over the boom & the jib still ¼ exposed is approaching a buoy at warp speed. With a grizzled old salt driving, another character sitting in a lawn chair smoking & drinking a Coors. Up front is a rather full figured woman in a track/leisure/jump suite. The grizzled old salt was yelling at full figure to grab the pickup pole – she rather intelligently didn’t as he was still traveling at warp speed. He then rammed the boat into reverse & tried to back onto the pole but went over it so everyone looking over the side couldn’t see where it was. For the next attack he came at the pole slower, she grabbed it & pulled it on board, grizzly ran forward to help her leaving the boat in gear, so the two of them could not hold the pole on board & had to let it fall back. He ran back to the cockpit & continued onwards in a big circle to try again. She grabbed the pole again, this time lawn chair man ran forward, they managed to get the loop around the cleat but then she fell over & sat there nursing her wrist. Lawn chair man & grizzly walked back with the line & tied off to the aft cleat. They all then promptly collapsed in the cockpit drinking fresh Coors & smoking. Its now 5:30pm & already getting dark. I’m moored looking towards the ocean & can see the fog rolling in. On the hill above me there is a church, I think its bell chimes every 10 minutes. It was rather charming at first but now it’s getting on my tits. During these next few – there they go again – ‘THE BELLS, THE BELLS’… During these next few days I will try & repair the radar & see if the wind generator works. The next trip is a biggee, 22 hours to Ensenada & Mexico; need to get myself psyched for it. Wednesday 11/9/11 Phoned Cissy this morning as I was in bed by 9 last night & didn’t call her. Nice to hear her voice with the sleep still in it. Launched the dingy & went to see the harbormaster to give him my boat certification number, I couldn’t find it when he met me at the harbor entrance yesterday. Went to where I thought his office was & tried to tie up at the dock. Problem was it was a massive dock with massive hawsers & cleats; they were the size of garbage cans, & a good 5 ‘ off the water. I’m now thinking this can’t be right; I can’t climb up there. So I cast off & went to the dingy mooring at the green pier. Whereupon I was informed that I had just tried to tie up at the ferry terminal & the harbormaster was actually here at the pier. Just then I saw the bloody great 300-foot ‘Catalina Flyer’ catamaran ferry come in & dock at the ferry terminal. Settled my business with the harbormaster then went to find the ‘Catalina Island Yacht Club’. Yesterday I tried unsuccessfully to get onto the Internet. The local wifi service wanted $10 for 24 hours, daylight robbery. All the hotels needed passwords including the yacht club, but I thought the yacht club would be sympathetic as all clubs have reciprocal agreements with each other. Found the club about 10:30 am, it was all closed up so I rang the bell. I was rather curtly informed by a woman who was shouting ‘who is it?’ that the club did not extend courtesies to visiting yachtsmen or yacht clubs & no, I could not come back later for drinks & no they did not extend wifi privileges either. What a bummer, I thought it was only St Francis Yacht Club in San Francisco that did not extend reciprocal rights to other clubs. But No, this trumped up shit house didn’t either. Having been unceremoniously sent packing I mused on the fact that this had been my last hope for free Wi-Fi & that I would have to pay $10 for 24 hours. Who stays on the Internet for 24 hours straight? At least they could offer two twelve-hour shifts at $5 per shift. Enough of my ranting. I continued on from the shit house to hike to Hamilton Cove. What an amazing place. It’s a small cove surrounded by steep cliffs with condos set into them. Like those old Indian caves in Nevada & Arizona. Man really is incredible. Some of these condos were massive. It’s a gated community with a guard & swing barriers to get in. I’d hiked up about 1500 feet from sea level & was really wheezing & breathing heavy when I realized I hadn’t been for a walk in over three weeks. The guard let me through so that I could see the place, it was amazing, must have been hundreds of apartments/condos, set in the hill, no one had a back view but they all had a great seaward view. They had a big pool & jaquze at what looked like a large community building. The walk back to Avalon was rather pleasant, all down hill. Avalon’s backstreets are very cutesy, with original and custom built houses, some like dolls houses. The touristy harbor front is very sea-sidey, although not as bad as Southend or Fisherman’s Wharf. But more like a place that’s been tastefully designed, with no traffic along the main part. I watched some fishermen for a while, while trying to pick up some tips. If I’m to pay $44 for a fishing license in Mexico I’d bloody well better catch some fish. Got back to Octavia about 4pm, had a cup of tea & felt better about the days events. Apparently another storm is coming through, this one will not be as bad as the last one & will be mainly rainy, and it’s actually coming down from Eureka via San Francisco. Anyway I’m safely attached to a buoy for a few more days. Heard from Cissy this evening, she was feeling down earlier but is OK again now. Thursday 11/10/11 Last night before going to bed I listened to the VHF weather report. To power the VHF radio I have to turn on my electronics circuit. The problem with this is that although some of the instruments & equipment are not on, they still draw some electricity in ‘stand-bye’ mode. Going to bed I forgot to turn the circuit off, so during the night more juice was taken from the batteries than I wanted. Unless my so far useless wind generator miraculously starts producing electricity, I’ll have to run the engine this evening to recharge the batteries. This is a huge waste of power & diesel. Phoned Cissy, she’s in fine fettle & looking forward to looking after River & Aden tonight, two cute 4 & 7-year-old girls. By the time I got my shit together & landed at the pier with my bike it was 11am. Because of the purity laws in this marina, I’ve been urinating into a liter bottle. It’s taken two days to fill & Christ what a smell. I once saw a documentary on the leather tanners in India. How they collect & pay for human urine & the commentator commented on the horrendous smell – in fact it made him gag & his eyes water. All the while these Indians were happily stomping about on the leather soaking in this piss as if it were spring water. I remember thinking what a woose this reporter was, but after smelling this specimen after just two days, I can imagine what the smell at the tanning factory must be like after a week or two especially in that heat. Anyway, dumped my body fluid then cycled merrily on my way round the south east of the island towards Lovers Cove & Pebbly Beach. A mile out of town I was confronted with big yellow signs on either side of the road warning me of impending disaster & legal consequences if I went any further. Apparently the cliffs above the road were unstable & crumbly & I should not proceed unless I was in a totally enclosed vehicle. Being a guest on this island I did not think the warning applied to me. A resort dependant on tourism would not let a tourist be injured. About 4 miles further on I had passed the crumbly cliffs & came across two more yellow signs mirroring the two I’d just passed but warning everyone on that side not to proceed the way I’d just come. Following the road for about 5-6 miles seemingly straight up, I came to the end of the road for me as it went into a quarry. Turning back I decided to walk out to the point between Lovers Cove & Pebbly Beach. Leaving the bike under a bush I gingerly walked the path along the ridge between the Cove & Beach. What a great view. I was above the seagulls flying below, even well above the paraglider I could see off Avalon. I could also see the mainland & surprisingly a brown/orangey smog/haze stretching the full length of the horizon. I thought they’d got rid of their pollution, apparently not. Sitting down on the moss eating my lunch I noticed a guy paddling his paddleboard from Avalon (wondered if it could be Olivier-No). He disappeared under the cliff, then I saw him again as he paddled along Pebbly Beach. He then did something strange, he started hitting the water with the flat of his paddle & I noticed dark shapes fan out from beneath him – THEY WERE SHARKS! They were the unmistakable shape of sharks with the large forward section followed by the tapering off to the tail fin. Then I noticed dozens of them, all around him. If his board was 12’ long these sharks had to be 4’ or 5’ long. He continued paddling till he rounded the next point & I could no longer see him. It was fascinating, this must be some sort of nursery as all the sharks were about the same size & were just leisurely swimming up & down. There was a channel between the shore & the offshore kelp bed of about 20’-25’ & this is where the sharks were & where the paddler had paddled. After about 20 minutes they disappeared. I’d finished lunch & was getting concerned about the welfare of my bike, although I hadn’t seen anyone around to knick it. I started back, and then my mate Paul from England called. I excitedly told him of what I’d just seen. He did not seem particularly impressed that I’d just seen someone on a paddle board part the sharks like Moses. Mind you it was great talking to him & hearing his voice. This solitude is nice as I can do exactly as I please at my leisure, but the price after a while is a need for companionship. Especially after an experience like this when all you want to do is talk about & discuss it. Finished talking to Paul jumped on my bike then noticed the paddler coming back. I cycled back & was waiting for him when he hit the beach in Avalon. What a neat guy. He was about 45, really buffed with a cauliflower ear & bald. He’d recently moved here from LA as his girlfriend lived here. I asked if he knew the sharks would be there & he said “Yes” that’s why he goes there. They are Leopard sharks & feed off the clams, mollusks & crustations along that corridor. They are all 4 footers with some 5 footers. Waved goodbye to him & his girlfriend, she owns the nick-knack shop at the foot of the pier. Rode around the flat part of Avalon for a while. Most of the houses are real cutesy & colorful, just like dolls houses with some just as big, but they are all regular abodes. Dingied back to the boat, decided to leave the bike in the dingy as it’s a hassle loading & unloading the thing. You can imagine loading this heavy bike from the boat, with gears & bits of sharp metal hanging off. You have to time it right with the dingy bobbing up & down, getting it in without it falling over the side or puncturing the fabric. Tomorrow I’ll cycle to the hinterland, Little Harbor & if possible Two Harbors. It all looks a bit rugged & hilly on the map so we’ll see. Made a cup of tea, sitting back in the cockpit when who should turn up? None other than Grizzled old salt, Lawn chair Man & Full figured Woman. I noticed their boat had gone when I left this morning. Now their back. They do seem a bit more sober & subdued as they approach there mooring with united concentration. But what a fuck up. This time they made three attempts in which they managed to hit the boat next to them & do more pirouettes than Nureyev (sp?) It’s difficult to see why they are having so much trouble. Eventually a Harbor patrol boat came screaming up & lassoed their stern like a cowboy & strong armed them back into line, whereupon with a united effort they were able to secure the boat to the buoy, collapse in the cockpit for a well earned fag & a Coors. I had to go below this time as I was laughing so much I didn’t want them to see me; it really was like a three stooges routine. I ran the engine from 5pm until 6:30pm to charge the batteries. It also gives me access to hot water as the cooling water for the engine runs through a heat exchanger in my hot water tank. While the engine was running I put my hand on the alternator as I perceived a faint whiff of burning rubber, it was hot but not unduly, as I pulled my hand back along the casing my finger hit the fan, lucky not to lose my finger, but it sure got my attention, I can see its started to blacken already. Got to bed late, about 1am as I was writing up the journey so far so that I could send it when I go on line. 11/11/11 Friday. Didn’t get up till 9am, made coffee, had breakfast – my last hard boiled egg from San Francisco, that was three weeks ago, still good, I think. Phoned Cissy, she was already on the road & looking for parking. That’s something I don’t miss about San Francisco. Don’t think I’ll go for the bike ride today as its very overcast. Wind from the East & swells from the East NE. Wind from the East means its right on the nose, with no protection from the island or breakwaters. The swells cause Octavia to rise & fall in an exaggerated way so that it looks as though I’m in rough weather, but I’m not. Looking around all the other boats are riding the same way. As I’m writing this I momentarily got a bit nauseous, reminded me to take a seasickness pill. The barometer has been falling for the past couple of days, usually a sign of rain or inclement weather. Might as well stay home & finish writing about the journey. I called the harbormaster as Octavia is being hit by the empty pick up pole next to me. Made me wonder if the buoy I was attached to had moved or the empty one next to me had. The harbormaster said it was probably the wind & low tide causing it but he’d send someone along to see. The harbor guy said all’s OK but there is an Easterly storm coming in tonight. Cissy called, she’s just finished walking a pug, and apparently it’s raining & cold in San Francisco. Exactly the weather they have been predicting for here later tonight, its slowly moving down. Due to the waves one of the lines parted in the dingy, so I repaired it, took the bike out & put it on deck. Weird conversation while repairing the dingy, had a three-way conversation with Cissy & a woman from Horizon wireless, apparently we have gone way over our limit again, and those bastards charge 45c. for every overage minute. Can’t understand what’s happening, we used to be able to control it, but for the past three months its been costing a fortune. I’m bobbing up & down & side-to-side in the dingy while trying to concentrate on the phone bill. Think they got another $10 a month from us. Decided to bring the dingy back on board as it’ll be noisy & can cause havoc in a storm awhile attached to the side. Succumbed to the Wi-Fi extortion of $10 & went online. Good to get back in contact with the news of the world. Booked into a marina in Mexico, Marina Puerto Salina, only $20 a berth with water, electricity & free Wi-Fi. Problem is its 27 miles from Ensenada where I need to go to book in officially to Mexico. Still I have a bike & I assume the road will be good. The marinas in Ensenada wanted $60, $40 or $30.88 per berth. The harbormaster at Salina did warn me to stay in the middle of the channel, but a bit to the right as it’s silting up. I think that’s what he said as I have a problem understanding someone that doesn’t speak the Queens English, maybe my problems are just beginning. Its now 10 pm & I am having difficulty hitting the correct keys as I think the storm has started & the swell is here, the computer is jumping about a bit. Think I’ll go to bed & read my ‘Spanish for Cruisders’ book. Its’ aklsp turbnsed col;sd. 11/12/11 Saturday 11am. That was the worst night since I started. The storm came in about 9 or 10 last night so I checked around the boat & went to bed. The wind blew from the East, which meant the harbor was completely unprotected. I have been up since 2am. I did not want to get out of bed, as it was safe, dry & warm. All the things I new it wasn’t, outside. I could hear the wind & rain & could feel the extreme motion of the boat. I quickly put on some clothes my life jacket & tether as I could hear the dingy hitting the boat. Clipped my tether to the safety line & literally crawled back to the ding hanging off the back of the boat. One of the lines holding the dingy squarely against the boat had frayed leaving the dingy at an angle & filling up with water. I fixed it then crawled back to the cockpit. I could only see the immediate boats round me but what a scary sight. They were bucking from stem to stern so that I could see their underneath, keel propeller, everything, so I new I must be doing the same. Imagine all that water in the ocean being pushed straight into this harbor that is extremely shallow in comparison. I thought it was a good idea to hang the dingy from the boat, but I noticed everyone else left there dinghies in the water attached to a long painter (tether), think I’ll do that in the future. Octavia was bucking so much that the sea was pummeling the dingy. I could not launch it even if I’d wanted to because the sea would take it higher than the deck of the boat, then lower than the keel. Some of these boats in here are 50’ & 60’ & its difficult to imagine anyone inside them because of the extreme angles. It is now 2pm, just made a cup of tea by holding the kettle on the burner. Although the stove is gimbaled, the seas do not run the way it’s gimbaled, first hot thing for 22 hours. I have started the engine again to feed the batteries. I will send this letter off to you now as my Wi-Fi runs out at 5pm & I still have some cleaning up to do. See you in Mexico. Must admit I didn’t mind paying that $28 per night as the Harbor patrol where out all night, in real shitty weather, they pulled someone off the 50’ powerboat in front of me & put her in an ambulance.

Date: 18 Nov 2011

11/13/11 Sunday Got up @ 8-30am, wonderful nights sleep after eventually being up for 38 hours. Anybody says anything about the wonderful benign Southern Ca weather I’ll probably do something extremely violent to them & say something like, “You mean like that?” Mind you today is clear, sunny a bit chilly & after the last two days its heaven sent. The boat in front & to the right is a big 50’ ketch called ‘Matang’ she’s from Honolulu, HI. I think 4 people are aboard. She has all her wet stuff – towels, clothes & odd assortments hanging off all her spars to dry. As I look around several other boats are also drying out. I wasn’t too badly hit – although I did find one leak into the electrical compartment, looks like its coming from the jib rail that’s set in the deck above it. Never had a problem with it before. Stuffed a load of towels in there for now. Trash boat just came by; they actually pick your trash up for you. The boat is full up with plastic bags & all sorts of shit (literally probably) as no one could get off the boats. Grizzled Old Salt just dingyd by & said “Weren’t that fun yesterday” “No shit” I replied. Charles came paddling by; he’s the buffed character from Shark Alley. Not Chuck or Charlie, but Charles, a very fitting name for him. He said two boats went down yesterday. One here in the harbor & one out in Lovers Cove. I think it was the rather run down sloop with a wooden mast, not sure if the boat was wood or steel, the hull was stained like rust had run down it. It also had a dingy tied to it, which normally means someone is aboard. Charles didn’t know if anyone was on it when it went down. I really am surprised not more boats went down; although there are not a lot of derelict boats around, if that storm was common all the derelicts would have been taken care of. Think its called ‘Natural Selection’. I understand from comments this was a very uncommon storm. They do have them this time of year but not with the wind ferocity or steep high waves that accompanied this one. One thing I forgot to mention was that during the storm the darkness was suddenly split by a flashing white light. It was my ‘Man Overboard’ strobe light. It was ripped off its position on the horseshoe throw able buoyancy thingy on the aft rail. I forgot it was there. We’ve had it back there for about 10 years, suppose I’d better replace the battery now I know its there. Again I had to get all dressed up & crawl to the back to turn it off. I didn’t want the harbor patrol to think I was in trouble & have to come out in those conditions. Those boats were amazing, they were bobbing about all night, right through the worst of it attending to the buoyed boats – Right there my $28 a day fee that I bitched about was more than worth it, just for the comfort & contact with the outside/real world they gave. You felt these guys were putting their lives on the line during these survival conditions for you. One consequence of the storm is the clarity of the water is now shot. You can only see about 3’ down. There is also a lot of flotsam, garbage, seaweed, looks like the Sargasso Sea out there. The harbor boats are bringing dinghies back to the harbor, so some got away. I lost a nice large fender that somehow got ejected from the dinghy. Shore boats (taxis) are ferrying people ashore, doing a great trade, everyone needs to poop, dry out or just get off “this fucking boat”. I’ve just defecated in my head (toilet), as I’ll be out of here early tomorrow & can flush outside Avelons confine. Looked in the mirror while in the head & I’ve become one of the ‘old grizzled characters’ the image looking back @ me frightened the bejeesus out of me. I haven’t changed clothes in 3 days; I just put clean dry ones over the old wet ones. I also had 3 days growth on my head, feels kinda fuzzy. I went to bed at 9 last night & just removed my shoes, as we didn’t know if another storm was coming. As it happened the wind built slightly until midnight then went away. I did have to get tethered up early in the night as the downhaul from the boom was screeching like a Banshee every time the boom swept from one side to the other on each successive wave & as tired as I was there was no way to sleep through it. Don’t know why it screeched like that, it’s never done it before. I’ve now put oil on the fittings & its OK. All is well with the world again. Just rearranged how I anchored the trysail Jib & Spinnaker halyards (lines you use to raise the Jib between the main jib & the mast & the Spinnaker) as they were tied off to my flag halyard & I’ll now need that to fly the Mexican courtesy flag. We paid $2.50 for the flag in the Mission district in San Francisco. It came with a stick attached. I removed the stick, put 2 brass grommets in the flag & it looks real professional. I think it does anyway, hope the Mexicans agree. I’ll spend the rest of today, re-plotting my course as I’d booked a berth for 2 nights in Ensenada, were I have to clear customs, sign in, get an import certificate for the boat & a fishing license. The harbor in Ensenada was charging me $30.88 a day. Just found another marina only 27 miles from Ensenada that I can easily cycle to for $22 a day. It’s in Marina Puerto Salina, its brand new, not even on the charts yet. When I told Cissy she said “that’s 54 miles round trip, half a century, you get pooped cycling the 7 miles round the Presidio”. When I booked into this marina @ Salida I thought it was a bargain @ $22 & that 27 miles by bike wasn’t that far. I forgot I’d have to get back. “What if you get a puncture?” she continued. Nope, didn’t think of that either. I think by now you may understand why I have started this journey. If I have a flaw, it’s that I don’t always think things through adequately - especially if It’s something I really want to do. Maybe that’s why I’m now sitting in a small boat 700 miles from my wife, home, stable bed, familiar friends, faces. Having endured sleep deprivation, total terror & fear, horrendous storms, monumental fuckups & pestilence seemingly every inch of the way. Now I am about to face a barbaric nation, bent on slitting my throat & robbing me blind, according to some people who have never been to Mexico. Or, as some people have said, the Mexicans are the kindest, happiest people you’ll ever meet. A bit like the Munchkins in Happyland were the only problem is their wooden teeth as they are a fire hazard. Anyway I digress. I had to find the coordinates for this marina on Google Earth, between where I think it is & Google thinks it is, is a discrepancy of about ¼ mile. The Google coordinates are also inland about 1/8 mile. This is probably because the Marina is man made & therefore inland a bit. I should get there about 9 or 10 am on Tuesday; the harbormasters office opens at 7am. Somebody can talk me in if I have a problem. 11/14/11 Monday 9am: As I left Avalon I radioed the Harbor Patrol & thanked them for their efforts during the storm. I had to use the inside mike as they said the outside one was putting out a screech that rendered my voice inaudible. Must look into that, I think the outside connection might be a bit corroded. I can hear OK on it, just not transmit. Between Avalon & Marina Puerto Salina is a bunch of island called Islas Los Coronados. My dilemma is do I leave Avalon at about 4am to reach the islands while its still light or leave at a gentlemanly hour of 10am to noon to get to Salina in the light, but pass the islands in the dark, Salina won out. I’ll just make sure my course misses the islands by a lot. Course to steer from Avalon is 126° MAG to the islands then 124° to Marina Puerto Salina. Raise the harbormaster on Channel 6 or Ch16. I’m sure the harbormaster said Ch16, but the chart book says Ch6. Guess I’ll find out when I get there. Apparently there is a large breakwater protecting the harbor & I have to stay to the right of the channel going in as it shoals. At least that’s what I think he said, as he’s English was not too good. The day was lovely & clear, I could see the mainland about 15 miles away was still shrouded in fog. Then a wonderful sight, as if waiting for me, dolphins spread over a large area. At one point running with me – next to me – literally, I’d see them dive alongside or under the boat & see the silver line of bubbles streaming off there fin. The smaller ones jumped clear of the water with sheer exuberance. They then all started swimming more leisurely back the way they (we) had come. These waters are simply teeming with life. Was a slight smell of burning rubber when I first started the engine. I had run the batteries down & the engine generator was struggling to put the juice back in. 10:30, Running under full main & 110° jib. Speed picked up from 3knots under engine alone to 6knots with the sails up. Wind about 15 to 16 knots from the SSW, perfect for my 125° course. I’ll leave the engine on a bit longer as I still need to recharge the batteries more. I still have a ‘NO HEADING PULSE’ from my radar. Turned it off as it was pissing me off that it hadn’t healed itself. I can see fog in front of me but about 10-15 miles away. 11am: Turned engine off, as batteries are 80% charged. It’s not worth the diesel to charge the last 20%. Its weird the way batteries work. The more they are charged the harder it is to get subsequent amps into them. 11:15am. The outside compass shows I’m on a course of 140°. The inside compass shows 130° & the chart GPS shows 125°. Must get them calibrated ASAP. The course was supposed to be 125° to pass the Coronado’s Isles safely to my port. There is a warning on the chart saying ‘Difference of 3° or more from the normal variations exist in the area’ No shit, but that doesn’t explain the 15° variance I’m experiencing. I’ll go with the chart course as I can actually see were I am on it. I’ll reduce the outside compass course by 15° as I need to use that one to set the autopilot. To be sure I’ll miss the islands I’ll set another GPS unit I have to point towards the islands. As long as It’s pointing to the left, I know I’m passing them on the desired side. All this electronic stuff is comforting but the price is the amount of juice it takes from the batteries. I’m currently using between 8 & 10amps. I have 400-amp capacity in my batteries. But again due to the quirkiness of batteries I can only plan on using 200 amps before I turn on the engine to start recharging them again. 11:30am. Speed is down to 4.3knots over the ground. Means the wind has dropped a bit. No hurry, I don’t want to get to my destination too early, as I need light to see where to go. This is what sailings all about, utilizing the free wind to get to your destination. Just realized I’m only 400 miles from San Francisco, it’s taken me 23 days. Could’ve driven it in half a day. Better slow down, don’t want to get a ticket. Talk about getting a ticket. I left a trail of feces, urine & yellow die from Avelon for about 3 miles. I actually waited till the porpoises had disappeared before polluting there world. (Or was that why they disappeared?) I had to get rid of it ASAP as the bowl was so full the waves or any seaway would have created a disaster for me. I didn’t really think of that when I pushed the envelope. In fact the course at the moment puts the waves on my beam, although not bad it’s a bit more uncomfortable than earlier. The waves are now hitting the side of Octavia so that she rolls sideways down the face then rolls the other way down the back of the wave. 2:30pm. ‘Widawati’ passing 4miles off my starboard rear quarter, supposedly heading for Richmond CA, USA. Don’t think so unless he’s circumnavigating. Don’t think some of these ships take AIS info input to seriously 3:30pm. Laid down for about 30 minutes. Got up & wolfed down a basket of seaweed & a chocolate biscuit, promptly felt sick & whoosey. This sideways motion is not helping either. 5:30pm. According to my AIS - HMCS Protecteur suddenly turned directly at me from 5 miles away. I waited until he was about 3 miles from me & raised him on the VHF. He said he could see me off his port bow & for me to hold my course. Not sure if he’s coast guard or what. It was obviously some sort of warship. She had a white light on her forward & aft masts as well as usual running lights, but unlike normal commercial boats that are all lit up she was completely dark & ominous. 6:48pm. Heard The Coast Guard on Chanel 16 then ch 22a talk to a warship that wanted to fire off some white & red flares. I could hear the coast guard but not the warship. Although I might just as well as the coast guard repeated everything the warship said. Sure enough I saw these flares being set off right from where HMCS Protecteur would have been. Anyone know what HMCS stands for? Doubt if it’s Her Majesty’s something or the other. All this excitement made me forget my seasickness. 8:12pm. Just worked out that at this speed 4 1/4 knots I’ll be off Coronados about 2am & Salinas about 9:30am – perfect timing. Picked up another US warship (its actually in Mexican waters) called USNS Yukon & she has her AIS destination as ‘The Dark Side’. See, these bastards don’t take anything serious, I suppose when you have the might of the USA on your side you don’t have to. 8:45pm. 24.5 nm West (actually SW) of San Diego. 9:19pm. Just spent 30 minutes with the spot lamp & Lo & behold I saw orange eyes again. This time they looked more like orange tinsel or that shiny orangey tin paper used for wrapping presents, also a couple of dolphins. I thought I’d heard them breathing out as they surfaced. Saw them in the spot swim under the boat & turn sideways towards the light. Need to get an extension cord for the lamp, as the one at the moment doesn’t give me much leeway to swing the beam. 10pm. Spoke to Cissy on the satellite phone, amazing clarity. She seems a lot better as she went to the Hash, which always picks her up. 10:31. Just passed into Mexican waters. 25nm off Tijuana. 11/15/11 Tuesday 12:30am. Just as I needed to change course towards Puerto Salinas, USNS Yukon, the naval ship that for some reason had been patrolling around Isle Los Coronados turned towards me, which meant we would have been on a collision course if I’d taken the course I wanted. Thought it more prudent not to push things in case he thought my actions a bit strange, so I waited a bit longer. She finally changed course away from me so I could change my course. 3:30am. Just had a shock. I went on deck to look around & not ½ mile from my starboard rear quarter was a fucking great sailboat with all her sail up. She must be about 60’ long. I must have passed her for her to be in that position. They obviously didn’t have anyone on watch either. 3:50am. She must be dead in the water as she is now way, way back. There is little or no wind. That’s a real sailor with plenty of time. 7:08am. Now I’ve seen it all. I was up front attaching a mooring line in preparation for docking when I saw a load of dolphins heading straight for me from both sides. Three rode my bow, the water is so clear I could see every scar & scratch on them. There was a real big one, a not so big one & a little one. They’d come up to the bow, ride in front for a while then either dive, turn sideways & disappear or just keep swimming in front. They were here for about 20 minutes, I think it was the same three but couldn’t be sure. I was hanging over the pulpit not 3’ from them when they were near the surface. Then they disappeared. I returned to the cockpit only to see another bunch coming towards me all from the shore direction. So I quickly clipped myself back onto the safety line & ran forward. Although they were all around me, none rode the bow this time. It truly is a moving experience; you actually feel the energy & life in these animals. I’ve been looking at this screen for several minutes now trying to come up with an explanation of the feeling they gave me, but I can’t. 9am. Trying to find the sea wall but can’t see it. I’ve been calling the marina for several minutes now, but to no avail. I’m calling on Ch6 & Ch 16. I’ve just about reached the limit of where the sea wall should be. All I can see is a pile of rocks with a broken down building next to it. This is supposed to be a brand new settlement. By now I’m starting to panic. I can’t see anything along this coastline that resembles what I’m looking for & the fact no one is answering my call means I could be miles off course. As I pass the pile of rocks I see there is a gap. Behind the rocks I see what could be masts, but not sure as they don’t seem to have sails on them. They look more like posts. Still no one answers. I’m now thinking this bargain was not such a fucking bargain after all. I see a fisherman in a panga (open fishing boat not much bigger than a dingy). Going up to him with one eye on the depth sounder, I asked him if this pile of rocks is Marina Puerto Salina, he assures me it is by waving his hands towards the rocks. I start towards it, remembering to stay to the right of center. I then commit myself as getting closer I can see there is indeed a channel behind these rocks, with a sigh of relief I see it now looks like the Google picture. Jeeze in future its traditional & expensive over new & cheap. When I get into the marina I pull into a 60’ slip & I’m suddenly surrounded by helpers securing ‘Octavia’ to the dock. I am informed in very broken English that they could hear me but obviously I couldn’t hear them. What the fucks wrong with my radio. I’ll need to look into that ASAP. Turned the engine off at 9:50am. I was shaking, that was much too close for me. This place could be what you might call typical for Mexico. Several buildings are complete, but most are not, with a lot of vacant lots. The two hotels are complete on the outside but empty inside. One even has an inside pool with water in it. Another hotel is still only a skeleton of steel. The marina docks themselves are complete but only about 1/3 full. Some of the boats in here are really derelict. Spoke to the people in the office & someone will take me into Ensenada for the formal check in tomorrow. Paid for 3 days stay as I need to mend some equipment & I know I’ll be in bed early tonight after being up for 27 hours already. Called Cissy on the satellite phone & was on for 10minutes & 1 second. That 1-second cost me an extra 99c. I couldn’t find the bloody off button in the dark. In future I’ll have my glasses on & a lamp handy. You have to go outside on the boat to get a signal for the phone. 11/16/11 Wednesday 9am at the harbor masters office & was escorted to Ensenada by Raol. We had to go to Immigration, Port Captain, Customs & somewhere to get the fishing license. Fortunately they are now all in the same suite of offices. Got there at 9.30am. First hurdle was insurance. My insurance only covered me as far as Ensenada. We had to go to an outside insurance agency for ‘Liability Insurance’. That cost $208. This agency had all the computers & modern communication stuff, but had to use a manual typewriter to finish the policy, problem the typewriter had was no ‘@ ‘ sign, probably no need for it before email. So my email address is now dereklex.net. Then back to the government offices. We eventually finished by 1:30pm & had paid out another approximately $280 for various, licenses, fees, duties & what have you. Took Raol to lunch, as there was no way I could have done all this without him. Lunch only cost $7.50. When we got back to the Marina I gave him 200 pesos for his help in getting me through the process including copying of documents & talking nicely to the official when I didn’t have the correct stuff. I didn’t even understand what I was missing. When I got back to the boat & worked out that I’d only paid Raol less than $20 for his work all day, I gave him another 200 pesos when I met him again. Feels good to be all legal, even have a fishing license, I wasn’t this legal in USA – think stories of Mexican jails are a great deterrent. Did my laundry; there was a load, as I hadn’t done it since Joelle’s in LA. Had to feed the dryer 4 times to get it all dry. By the time it was finished it was pitch black out & I had to carry two great loads on my back on a bike. I had a minor’s lamp on my head & as I was on the bike, it was a very precarious ride back to the boat. When I got back to the boat I could see my running lights were still on, they’d been on since before hitting the Coronados islands. Must remember to turn them off in the future. They are on a different circuit to the other electrical stuff. I use the bike to do the laundry & visit the harbormasters office as due to the layout of the marina, my dock is about ½ mile from these facilities. 11/17/11 Thursday Spent the rather overcast & dour day cleaning up & fixing stuff. I e-mailed Furuno yesterday regarding my Radar, they sent me a # to call. Thank god for Skype. Apparently it could be as easy as a belt come off. Unfortunately the belt is in the radome up the radar mast. I was able to fix the VHF radio; it appears there are three channels – USA, Canadian & International. I have now set it up for international, did a radio check with the harbormasters office & it works. Needed distilled water for my batteries. The only store near here is about 1-½ miles away up the hill out of this cove. Cycled there along the busy main Tijuana (San Diego) to Ensenada dual carriageway. It has a hard shoulder except for a bit that goes over a creek or something where you have to time it so that no bloody great trucks are barreling along, as you have no choice but use the main pavement. To do this you cross the indentation embossed in the concrete that makes a noise if you cross it, we call them ‘rumble strips’. Think it’s in case you fall asleep while driving, the noise will wake you up. Problem is on a bike it tries to push you arse over tit over the handlebars when you cross them. The store was no bigger than our apartment & reminded me of a very bad gas station store. They didn’t have distilled water, but did have some sulphuric acid to put into the batteries. Bought that & some tortillas as I’d run out of bread (& so had they). The proprietors name was Gladys (which I thought was a strange Mexican name). They did sell fresh eggs but I had nothing to carry them back in. I asked for directions back, I think she thought I was rather stupid as she said “the same way you came, you cross over the road” WHAT! – there a fucking great barrier separating the traffic. Apparently you wait for a break then run across the South bound lane, jump over the barrier with your bike, run across the Northbound lane & if still in one piece cycle home. When she saw the look on my face she said “or you can cycle back using the same hard shoulder I used to get here.” Which is what I thankfully did. Didn’t even have to go passed the bit over the creek as the marina land started before then & all I had to do was cross some grassy stuff, hop over a downed fence & I was in the marina. Even bypassing the guard with a barrier he lifts to let vehicles into the marina. T.I.M. This is Mexico. I was talking to someone in the marina about the unfortunate shape it was in & she just said “T.I.M.” They liked the place though & had been living on there boat here for a year. For some reason there are a lot of military guys here, even sitting by some of the dock entrances, all heavily armed. When I came into the marina I did notice several dilapidated cottages, some with satellite dishes on them among the sand dunes. Apparently these are the barracks. Currently listening to a San Diego rock station ‘105.7 The Walrus’ keeps fading in & out, probably the last rock I’ll hear. It’ll all be castanets, squeeze boxes & guitars from here on out. In bed early after talking to Cissy. I was decked out in minors lamp & glasses, didn’t want to spend money for extra seconds looking for the off button. 11/18/11 Friday. Another dour foggy day. I’ll finish this write-up; plot courses for Bahia San Carlos & then on to Bahia Tortugas known as Turtle Bay. It will take about 24 to 32 hours to get to San Carlos & 24 to 29 hours to get from San Carlos to Turtle Bay. Depending on how I feel I may skip San Carlos & go directly to Turtle Bay, but I don’t think it’s likely. I do need to pick up the pace a bit as I promised Cissy I’d be home by Christmas. At this rate it will be Christmas 2012. Just had an interesting email from Nick, our friend in OZ. He said 15 years ago when he was circumnavigating he was in Avelon & had the same problem with the ‘Bitch” at the Avelon YC. In fact his conversation was almost word for word as mine. When he was out there he didn’t have the benefit of GPS, AIS electronic charts or a lot of other high tech stuff I have the benefit of today. Real men don’t use GPS. I’ll end now as I need to climb the radar mast as well as plot my next course & won’t be able to do that & send this off before I leave.

Date: 07 Dec 2011

11/18/11 Friday Didn’t get a chance to inspect the radar, as it took longer than I thought to plot the course to San Carlos & then on to Turtle Bay. I also like to down load images from Google Earth of my destinations as they often give a better insight than the charts. In fact I would have been up shit creek without the Google image when I arrived at Marina Puerto Salina, as the chart didn’t show anything there at all & the Google image even showed Lat & Long. Filled the tank with water, smelt very chloriny, hope it dissipates quickly. All ready to cast off in the morning. 11/19/11 Saturday Got up @ 5:45 am. Overcast & cold but no fog. Left the Marina Puerto Salina @ 7am for San Carlos. Set a course for 200° then 170° but had to change back to 200° as 170 was too uncomfortably rolly, hopefully I can adjust later. 10 minutes out the porpoises were coming at me from all angles, they’d jump through the water with the smaller ones jumping clean out, it actually felt like they were pleased to see me. They really remind me of dogs. Again some would swim under & out from the bow. I couldn’t go up & watch them this time as the boat was rolling too much. Some came flying up from the bow, don’t know how the boat doesn’t hit them. Lots of kelp floating about, this stuff is more rugged & stronger looking than our California stuff. Currently have the main & 120% jib up. Seas hitting my St’bd aft qtr so they are pushing me along a bit. Got a bit of a fright as the Course over the Ground (COG) info from the GPS was still showing the course I was on when I put the sails up. Could not get it to change so I had to reboot the computer, a scary thing to do when you rely on it fully for all your navigating & chart information. I do write down my Lat & Long every hour (mostly), but I don’t plot it on a hard copy chart. I figure with two computers on board, if one craps out the other should see me through. Looks like this heading is good to get me down the coast to San Carlos 155 nm away. 12:15pm. Had to take down the Jib & most of the main as the wind dropped & became variable, making the main whomp enough to bring the rig down. Hoping the 1/3 main I left up will dampen the rolling action. Some of the swells are 10 to 15 footers & seem to come more on the beam (side) than the quarter. Nasty bastards. 12:30. Yea, the sun just found a hole in the clouds, nice to feel it on my face, haven’t felt it for two days now. So much for sunny Mehico. Thick cottony clouds surround the blue hole in the sky & a few of the cottony clouds are rather dark. 12:50pm. Who says I won’t eat foreign food. For lunch I ate tinned corned beef with a slice of raw onion all wrapped in one of Gladys’s tortillas, in fact I had three of ‘em. Just passed a styrene slurpee cup that will probably float for a thousand years. Haven’t seen a lot of trash like that around so far. The waves & swells are now hitting me beam on (side) & its extremely uncomfortable, plus the dinghy is being bashed about. Can’t change course towards shore, as I’m too close, so I will have to head out to sea. I’m passing Point San Jose & hoping that is the reason for the change in wave direction. 1pm. I’ve covered 40 nautical miles in 6 hours=6.66knots. This speed should get me into San Carlos by 3pm tomorrow. Enough light time to find an anchorage & get settled in. I had to make a diagram of a compass rose, as I often need to find the reciprocal course. Especially when AIS tells me a boats course that is coming towards me, I need to know if I should panic. I have great difficulty in working out the course as it affects me. This diagram works well as all I need to do is subtract or add the difference in the course from the points on my rose. Actually that explanation was more complicated than the problem really is. 1:36. More dolphins – about ½ mile away, saw splashes then saw them jump, they were coming towards me, they are so energetic & eager they really are like dogs. I’d been below plotting my course when I saw them so I quickly donned my tether & ran to the bow. This must have been the best show yet. There were 10 or more, its difficult to keep track though as they are all over the place. They would swim & keep pace with the boat while turning sideways to look up at me. They look like they have mascara round their eyes. I was so close while hanging off the bow that I got sprayed a few times when they exhaled. Suppose I got snotted on by bloody dolphins. They are so fast through the water that the effort they put into swimming does not seem to explain their speed. Although when they do suddenly shoot off you can see the whole body gyrate. Didn’t see any little ones with this bunch, in fact they all looked rather large. I wonder if they move about in gangs, like all bachelors or something like that. They were so crammed under me at times I was surprised not to see any collisions. Most appeared to have scratches or scars on them. 2:00pm. Oops another plastic bottle, Clorox or something of that ilk. 4:30pm. A large fishing boat with two bloody great powerful lights, looks to be close to shore, its difficult to see in this light but I’m 13 miles off shore. There are so many dolphins around that I hope they aren’t catching any – Do people eat dolphin? Hope not, it’ll be like eating dog. That’s gotta be difficult to digest. 4:45pm. The sun is just going down – it looks like a giant yellow ball squashed upon the horizon. The outside display that mirrors the computer & allows me to look at the chart while steering from outside works great at night, especially using Dian’s mouse as I can manipulate the chart & don’t have to keep going below to see were I am. Doesn’t work worth shit during the day. Even when I go on my hands & knees & push my face right up to it, I still can’t see anything on it because of the light. I can see the flashing light of Punta Colmett 15 miles away. Must be powerful, as I generally can’t see the lighthouses or lit buoys. I’ve been within a mile of them in the past & not seen them. Fat lot of good they are. 7:11pm. Laid down for 30 minutes didn’t sleep, as again I was imagining all sorts of shit hurtling towards me, bent on my destruction. 7:38pm. That’s weird – AIS just came alive with no name or details of a vessel #35765800; Nine miles from me doing 18knots & on the same course. I had seen this numbered vessel earlier, she was sitting in Ensenada. I can see her off my starboard stern; all lit up like a fucking Christmas tree. It’s a cruise liner. Ahh, now her information has come up. ‘Carnival Spirit’. 961’ long. Destination Cabo San Lucas. I’ll probably be stopping there to take on more diesel, hope she doesn’t take all the fuel. She’ll pass me by about 5 miles; hope I don’t feel the wake, its bad enough out here as it is. Should I radio him & request he slow down? “Oy you, watch your fucking wake willya.” 9:20pm. Just spoke to Cissy. She’s baking her ‘anatomically correct’ ginger cookies. Carnival Spirit just turned off her AIS info again. Wonder if they do it because of pirate concerns? 11/20/11 Sunday 1am. Just laid down for an hour. Think I must have slept for a bit as I had a horrible taste in my mouth. Every hour I look around then mark the chart with Time, Lat/long, Course (from all three sources- outside compass, inside compass & GPS), SOG & STW. I then work out my speed & direction by comparing it all to the last positions noted. That way it gives me an idea of my ETA. Don’t think I’m as paranoid about lying down anymore as I have been lying down after every hour’s info taking, it really helps. 6:25am. Not sure why but the time on the computer & cell phone say 6:25am but the satellite phone says 7:25am. Jeeze, these dolphins are up early, here they are again. Changed course to take me directly to Turtle Bay. I will not go into San Carlos. Because I now feel a lot more comfortable sleeping during the journey I can stay out longer & not turn into a zombie. This will shave a lot of time off the overall journey. Wind, what there is of it is variable, think I’ll set the alarm & put my head down again. 11:05am. I’m heading 156°. That will clear Islas San Benito, (the islands between me & Turtle Bay) but close, about 4 miles. I should be there 9 ½ hours from now about 8:30pm, that means it’ll be dark as I pass. 11:30am. I’ve been approaching a large mass of dark clouds that touch the sea. The swells are the same as they were, but the sea surface is now smooth like silk. Some light rain has started to hit me. 11:40am. The wind is now coming directly from the cloud & has ruffled the sea again. Decided to pull the mainsail down. I’m 47 miles off shore as I’m crossing the bays of Bahia Falsa & Bahia Sebastian Vizeano, the furthest point away from land within the bays. Plotted another course in case I needed to make a run for it. 12:30pm. Hopefully that was it. There was some rain; I was completely enveloped in the cloud, with about ½ mile visibility – now its unlimited visibility. Directly in front of me is what looks like a white cloud of steam or gossamer that stretches from the clouds to the surface of the ocean. I have set my GPS to take me out to sea and away from the centre of this thing in the event it gets bad. 1pm. I’m currently 66 miles west of Bahia Blanca, think that’s the furthest I’ve ever been out to sea. My SOG is 6.5knots. At this rate I’ll be at the islands in 6hours or 7:15pm & at Turtle Bay by about 3:30pm tomorrow. 1:30pm. Just had Gladys’s tortilla with corned beef & Piccalilli pickle. Now right there, that’s gourfuckingmet. Still can’t get over her name being Gladys. Its like a Chinaman being called Fred. Think I’ll put my head down for 10 minutes. 2:30pm. Had a nice nap. As I look around with the binoculars I cannot see the mainland because its 71 miles away to the East, but I can just make out Islas Cedros, 40 miles to the South East. The alarm just went off telling me to get up. I do like an afternoon nap more & more as I get older. 3.30pm. Just spent a pleasant ½ hour sitting in the cockpit drinking tea & eating one of Cissy’s chocolate chip cookies. Octavia is carving her way through the water at 6 ½ knots, doesn’t seem that fast as the waters are very benign with only pure white wash & foam that she’s throwing off from the bow. I can now make out the islands I’ll clear at about 8 tonight. I can also see the lighthouse that is supposed to flash every 7 ½ seconds according to the chart, but is actually flashing 3 times every 15 seconds. Oh well, TIM. 7:52pm. I am due west of the island, I must have been going faster than I thought as my ETA was 8pm. Oh well we’re not all perfect. Probably an unknown current. 11/21/11 Monday. Arrived at Turtle Bay 9:50am. Been afloat for two days. Put 100’ of anchor chain down in 18’ of water. Wind about 10knots so I put another25’ of chain down. That amount of chain would keep Houdini in check. The water I loaded in Marina Puerto Salina tastes funny – it smelt chloriny when I was putting it in the tank but I thought that would dissipate. Now it tastes like I’m drinking someone’s swimming pool. I have a bottle of ‘Rose’s Lime Juice’ that has been on board so long its no longer green but brown. I’m mixing a little of that to the water & it improves the flavor somewhat. Had a cup of tea & a tortilla & Stilton rolled up sandwich 10:30am. Went to bed & got up at 2pm. Apart from 3 decrepit sailboats that look like they are here permanently, there are also 5 other transient boats probably here just to rest before moving on. I anchored next to a large (80’) fishing boat, thinking these guys obviously know the best spot to anchor. Wrooong thing to do, they were loading & unloading the local ‘pangas’ (local fishing boats about 15’ to 20’ long with 40HP & larger engines) constantly & the Mexicans don’t do much without boisterous behavior. The prevailing wind is out of the NW & fairly brisk, up to 20k’s. So I put another 25’ of chain down. I’ll dinghy into the fishing village tomorrow. 6pm. Wind gone. Just had 3 of Gladys’s tortillas with peanut butter & a cup of tea for dinner. Bloody pangas come screaming up to the fishing boat, they have two speeds fast & stop. Load & unload their stuff & go screaming off again. They may all be friendly & wave but the wake is worse than being on the ocean. It’s like someone waving & smiling at you while they run over your foot. No one uses lights, you just hear them like those pesky midges when camping, and then the waves hit, bastards. Got to crash as I’m so tired, so I’ll set the clock to call Cissy at 9pm. Had a quick look round before crashing & a panga is approaching the fishing boat, but this time not at speed as its loaded down with 2 oversize containers & three guys holding onto them for dear life. The boat is so loaded down & unstable that the gunwales (sides) of the boat are 6” from the water, usually these gunwales are at least 3 feet high off the water. Now the fishing boat is craning the containers up, I bet the 3 guys are relieved. About 30 pelicans around the fishing boat are all pecking at the water like chickens in a barnyard. I think the bright lights of the fishing boat are attracting baitfish & the pellys have an easy meal. At least easier than their normal habit of falling out of the sky like a rock to catch fish. 11/22/11 Tuesday. The fishing boat has gone, must have left early this morning. Finally got my act together & dinghyd into the village. I asked the guy on the pier if I could leave the dinghy at his pier “No problemo” & it’s also not necessary to lock it. Mexico like the Mohave Desert reminds me of a giant construction site. In the Mohave the work hasn’t started but in Mexico it has sorter started but not finished. You always have to remember to look wherever you are walking, even walking down the pier, planks were missing & no nice orange cones reminding you to be careful. In the village some houses had sidewalks, most didn’t. Must be hell when it rains, as the ruts, potholes, mounds, rocks & crevasses would be disastrous to those not used to natural surroundings. Its what I imagined London to look like in the 17th century, although they must have indoor plumbing here as I didn’t see/smell anything to suggest otherwise. Although I have my mountain bike I could not negotiate these streets easily. Most of the stores are like extremely bad 7/11’s, but I did find one that had fresh meat. As it was early in the day I made a note to call back before getting into the dinghy, the problem was I couldn’t find it again when I needed it. This place is not that big but it’s higgledy-piggledy. The alleys go for a few houses then back up to another house. Few of the roads are straight & wide. In fact they all look the same. Had lunch in what looked like someone’s large front room. The kids were watching a steamy Mexican soap opera that had long Fellini type shots of people’s faces. I ordered fish Veracruz which was sautéed-breaded fish with a tomato based fish stock & olives. It was delicious. With fresh cooked tortillas & a beer it came to $6. During the course of my walk I met two lots of Canadians & also 4 guys from Alameda cruising on a lovely 55’ powerboat going to Puerto Valletta, where I will eventually end up. I stopped for a beer at the bar on the beach & met up with all of them again. I just had one beer as I could see they were in for a session & I felt knackered again. Got back to my dinghy & the ‘No problemo’ guy. Whereupon he started pocking at his eyes & at my dinghy so I gave him a US$1 note I had in my wallet & he seemed pleased with that as he waved me goodbye. Got back to Octavia. Before going to bed at 7 o’clock I went on deck to have a look around make sure all was OK & when I looked up the mast a bloody great albatross was sitting on the top. As the boat rolled he put out a 3’-4’ long wing to steady himself. I have no idea how he managed it as I have a navigation light, antenna & a wind vane that sweeps the top of the mast. I had to shake the mast to get rid of him. Realized I was looking up at him with my mouth open in astonishment, another reason to get rid of him. While this is going on the fishing boat is coming back. The problem is I’ve put out more chain since he left & that has left me parallel to him & only about 60’ away. I’ll worry about it manyana. I’m off to bed. 11/23/11 Wednesday. When I went on deck the fishing boat captain asked me to move further away ‘Por favor’. The wind was now from the SSE & had pushed me to within 40’ of him. The problem was he was attached to buoys fore & aft so he didn’t swing. Not like me I’m a swinger. Reluctantly I upped anchor & moved further away. I say reluctantly because as a single hander it’s a chore. You need to set the autopilot to run the boat in the direction the chain is laying. Set the speed so that it doesn’t cause the boat to run over the chain or not go so slow that the windlass (the machine that winds the chain in & out) has to do all the work & exert a great strain on it. I have the ability to raise & lower the chain from either the bow or the cockpit. So when I lower the chain I usually do it all from the cockpit. But when I raise the chain I have to go to the bow, that way I can asses & control better the speed for gathering the chain. Also when the chain comes back onto the boat it falls into the chain locker. The problem with that is that chain tends to pile up & eventually blocks the rest of the chain from getting into the locker. I then have to open the forward hatch & with a long pole push the top of the mound off, thus allowing more chain in. It was nice & warm & I was soon drenched in sweat. And do you know what the bastards did once I’d moved away & re-anchored? They fucked off. They left on another fishing expedition. Thinking about it they probably didn’t want to contend with me being so close when they returned later that night or in the morning. Spent the rest of the day setting up my fishing gear & getting Octavia ready for the next part of the journey which is to an anchorage in Bahia Asuncion about 50 miles away. Apparently they have shops, Internet access & a bank. Another guy from Canada came paddling by in his inflatable canoe on his way to the village. He’s from Quebec (probably why I thought he was Polish, it was a French accent). He’s single handing & heading for Panama & the canal to go up the Eastern seaboard back to Quebec. He’s single handing because “all the women like sitting in here drinking cocktails, but don’t like it out there” nodding towards the ocean. He told me about the hurricane that’s heading West @ about 40knots & that’s why the wind here is currently from the SSE. Seemed to make sense to him. Another couple came rowing by returning from the village. They were from Seattle. They made this trip 10 years ago & they said it was a lot nicer then. Apparently this is an el Ninyer (woman) year. She said another storm is coming through this Friday & Saturday & you don’t want to be out in it. They will stay here thru Sunday/Monday giving the seas time to settle down. They have a SSB (single side band long distance radio allows you to communicate all over the planet) so they receive updated weather reports. I can only get weather if I can get an Internet connection. You won’t believe this, I just caught a fish – well I think it caught itself, as I don’t remember taking the hook out of its mouth, it just dropped onto the boat when I reeled it in. He was jumping about all over the place I quickly jumped on him. Slippery bastard, I had to hold onto him with a cloth. He was about a foot long, thick at the head & tapered to a fine tail. The fins on his back stood out like a sail. He was the most beautiful light blue & grey. Looked a bit like a very flashy mackerel. I showed it to some passing Canadians (there’s a lot of cruising Canadians) & they said it was a bonito, they’d caught several. I said what do they taste like - they didn’t know, as they’d never eaten one, they always threw them back. This suckers not going back. I had him with onions & rice, it was great. If it tasted like anything it was thick trout. 11/24/11 Wednesday Arose @ 5:15am. Started to get light about 5:45. Wind from the NW. Cleared Turtle Bay about 7am where the wind was fluky & from the SE. 9:32am. I swear I just saw something jump out of the water, turn a somersault & land back in the water. It was black & white & actually looked like a skunk. Just saw an unusual sight. A large seal lying on his back with one flipper in the air, like a sail. The flukes at his tail pointing straight up. His head was away from me but as I passed he slowly revolved his body so that his head would be watching me. Never did see the other flipper but I assume he was using that to revolve his body. Got into Asuncion about 4pm & got a shock. The anchoring places available are all in at least 140’ of water. I only have 250’ of chain. Didn’t feel comfortable with the first place I tried to anchor. So I upped anchor & tried another place further round the bay near the beach, but luckily an English speaking voice came on the radio & said don’t anchor there as some large waves come ashore. He said go back to where I was originally. So I did, as by now it’s after 5:30pm & dark. Talk about ‘Deep Throat’ I had no idea who he was. Did not spend a comfortable night. Apparently since the guide book I’ve been following was written, a lot more pangars are anchoring in the only useful anchorage with no more room for outsiders. Left Asuncion next morning Friday at 8 o’clock without going into town, as I did drift in the 140’ depth during the night, but the weight of the anchor & all that chain stopped me drifting too far. Headed for Magdalena Bay 200 miles away. Course of 144° for 200 miles. About 4:30pm I decided to take the sails down. I was just going to reef, but due to the building wind & the possibility of having to take the sails down in the dark. I opted to take them down now. Glad I did. By now the wind was so strong the autopilot couldn’t keep the boat into the wind where it has to be to reef or lower the sails. When you see a light fly by the salon window, you know it’s windy & rolly, because that light was a star. I then proceeded to spend one of the worst nights so far. All I could think of was that woman from Seattle saying you don’t want to be out in this one. And where was I? I had a sinking feeling in my stomach. The people in Turtle Bay had been talking about the hurricane that started in the Gulf of Tehuantepec, apparently they have some real nasty shit come out of there. I’d never heard of the place before & all I could think of was ‘The perfect storm’. It became so uncomfortable I put my lifejacket on inside the salon. Come 9pm I was supposed to call Cissy. I tried for 30 minutes to get a signal but didn’t think I was getting one due to the rocking & rolling. Just to stay in the cockpit & not lose my holding or the phone took quite an effort. Eventually gave up and I’d try in the morning if things improved. 10pm. The storm intensity picked up a notch. I remember the lady from Seattle saying this could last from Friday to Saturday. Why didn’t I listen to them? I think it did eventually start to subside early Saturday morning, but even so the waves continue long after the wind dies. What a godsend that autopilot is.

11/26/11 Saturday (Cissys birthday) 3pm. Arrived & anchored in Bahia Santa Maria, about 25 miles before Magdalena Bay. It would have been dark when I got to Mag Bay so I decided to anchor here & get some sleep, then cruise on to Mag Bay tomorrow. Lovely anchorage, very wild but good holding ground in 30’ of water, I put out 250’ chain, wanted to sleep with no worries. I looked out the salon windows when it was dark & because of the cabin lights attracting baitfish, several pelicans were pecking at them like chickens. 11/27/11 Sunday Left Bahia Santa Maria at 8am after a most restful nights sleep. Heading for Man-O-War cove in Magdalena Bay should be a pleasant 25-mile sail. What could be thrown at us that has not already been thrown. Well, how about a full blown Santa Ana storm. As I sailed out of Bahia Santa Maria to round the point at Punta Entrada that leads into Mag Bay, the wind started to build. I have a full main & about a 120% jib up. This boat is flying; problem is I want to land the bloody thing. I am hitting 8 knots in a boat with only a 30’ waterline. Technically it’s not possible, but I’m doing it. I’m so over canvassed that it’s like sailing a laser; only this laser weighs 12 tones. My home is so keeled over that I’m basically standing up steering with my feet wedged into the side of the cockpit coning & with water gushing over the gunnels. No way the autopilot could handle this. Pres & I once raced in the double handed Farrellones race, with winds that hit 70 knots. A catamaran capsized bow over stern during that storm. I have a wind generator on board that has basically been freeloading off me for the two months I’ve had it. So as not to burn out the generator it shuts down in 60 knots & the blades just free fly. Suddenly I have this whirring noise behind me & I have no idea what it is, I can’t turn round as I’m basically hanging on. Apparently the wind generator went into free fly so these winds had to be up there. I could not get to & around the point so I had to let the sails out a bit to spill some air, surrender to the wind & sail with it, in other words run to sea. Several miles out I was able to turn into the wind, reef the sails & finally get back to & round the point. Needless to say the wind generator is now working as it should. All it took was a fucking great gale to reboot it. 2:20pm. Got into & anchored in Man-O-War cove. 200’ chain in 35’ water. 4pm wind picked up so I put out the last 50’ chain. Two young guys took their two malamutes ashore in the dinghy for evening walks. Weird seeing huskies in Mexico. The boat & myself are covered in salt from the spray & mayhem of the sail getting here. The boom, mast, steering column all the surfaces are covered. I’ll wash in the morning before I go to the village. Problem is the boat will have to wait till it rains or we go to a marina. Had the last Miller Light that was in the fridge. We never buy that stuff unless D.Cups coming over. Early to bed. 11/28/11 Monday Arose at 6am, beautiful morning. This early in the morning the boat is sometimes covered in dew so I used that to clean the salt off the windows. Had a SSWD (WD is a wash down). Not having access to unlimited water anymore I can’t shower, just wash the appropriate dirty bits. Also noticed the nail was broken on my right big toe. It had been forced into & cut the toe itself. This probably happened when I had my feet wedged into the side of the boat to stop me from falling out during the sail in yesterday. It hurts now, I didn’t notice it before. Cissy gets this when she’s been skiing hard; she digs her toes into the boots. Usually means loosing the nail as it gets black & falls off. Dinghy into the village. Lowered the dinghy into the water from its davits, climbed over the transom & when the dinghy was at the top of a wave, expertly dropped into it, all rather neat & seamanlike. Once in the dinghy I looked around & saw I’d forgotten to put the bloody gas tank in. I now have two choices 1) fuck with the gas tank by climbing back over the transom again, with all that entailed & dropping the can into the dingy when it’s at the top of a wave, etc., etc., or 2) Row to shore. I rowed to shore, as I knew I couldn’t complete the last maneuver so well a second time. Probably easier to get ashore by rowing than trying to get it right with the engine anyway. With the engine you have to time it so that a wave carries you in while you wrestle with the engine to get the prop out of the water so that it doesn’t hit the beach. This involves hitting the wave right, surfing in while turning the motor off, tilting the engine so the prop clears land & getting it into the proper setting so that it stays there. Then sprinting to the front of the dinghy while grabbing the painter (line you use to tie your dinghy up with), jumping over the bow & pulling the boat up the beach while its still coming in on the original wave you rode in on. I don’t think so; I’ve been known to have problems getting out of the car. I sedately rowed ashore & alighted like a gentleman should. This village was smaller than the others but did have a school. Two Mexican 7/11’s, what one didn’t have the other did. Between them both I was able to get 6 eggs, tortillas & some limes. I have been surprised at the obesity of some of the locals. But it’s easy to see why. There is no fresh fruit or salad stuff. All the food is canned with the exception of some legumes. They must eat a lot of fish. They are fishing villages after all. When I got back to the dinghy, I decided to have lunch at the only eatery in the village. It looked funky, it was made from whalebones but the proprietor threw a hissy fit & wouldn’t cook for me. Even a local guy tried to get her to change her mind but to no avail. So I rowed back to the boat & as one of the eggs had broken I had an omelet. The Canadians on ‘Prairie Rose’ that I met in Turtle Bay sailed in. They came over on their way to shore. It showed the advantage of sailing with a crew as each person had a chore to do & between them they’d anchored, secured the boat & got the dinghy launched within an hour. Would’ve taken me three hours. Told them they probably wouldn’t be able to eat in the village because of the hissy fit proprietor. Later that evening, through my binoculars I saw them sitting at the table, eating! Ed on the boat ‘Sea More’ gave me a weather update; he gave everyone an update actually. There are certain guys out here who do that. They are able to get weather on their SSB & some even have professional weather services that interpret the info & give them advice. I could have done with some of that. I need a device for recording what they tell me though, as I cannot read my notes after they’ve finished. Did he say the wind was from the NW or the waves where? Did he say 15-30Knots winds or no wind on Wednesday? The couple from Seattle who told me “You don’t want to be out in that” used a professional weather service. 11/29/11 Tuesday Pat on ‘Cricket’ also has weather access & said he’d let me know what the 8am forecast was. I left Man-O-War cove at 7am, knowing I could still hear his forecast, as I’d only be a maximum 6 miles away by then. Headed 121° to Cabo San Lucas. If I can sail all the way, 150 miles (30 hours), then I’ll continue onto Banderas Bay on the mainland across The Sea of California. But if the wind is non existent or from the wrong direction & I have to motor at all, then I’ll have to stop in Cabo to take on more fuel for the 275 mile hop across the Sea of California to Banderas. The trip to Cabo will take about 30 hours. No big deal now I can sleep while at sea. The direct trip to Banderas will take 30 hours plus 60 = 90 hours, or about 3 ¾ days. Don’t particularly want to stop in Cabo as apparently its very expensive. $200 per night for a berth. Even anchoring just outside the harbor is $20 per night. 10am. Wind ENE about 10 knots. That gels with what the weather guys back in Mag Bay said, they said 6-8 knots. 10:30. Wind variable to non-existent. Took the jib down. Kept the main up but secured it with the preventer, as it’s a bitch to raise & lower now my Winchmate isn’t working. The preventer will stop the main from slapping about. 12 Noon. Hailed ‘Pegasus’ on the VHF as I could see her going my way, but, just offshore. She also had given me a weather forecast upon both of us leaving Mag Bay. She had opted for the close to shore but slightly longer route. I decided on the rhumb line (direct) route that went further off shore. That shows the difference between the experienced, seasoned cruising sailors & the Johnny-come-Lately ones. He’d opted for the inshore route as the fetch (distance over which the wind blows) from the Easterly’s would build uncomfortable waves further from shore. Whereas I still only see the time & distance of the journey. I asked ‘Pegasus’ if they monitored channel 16 on the “international’ channel or the ‘USA’ channel. Apparently all the American boats leave the channel on ‘USA’ I was wondering if that debacle not being able to talk to someone in Puerto Marina Salina was because I was on ‘USA’ & the marina was on ‘International’ Because this was a very benign crossing I was able to look into why my compasses & GPS were up to 15° different & discovered the autopilot was tuned into the local variant for the San Francisco Bay where we had done all our sailing in the past. So the setting for that was ‘True’. The setting on the GPS was ‘Magnetic’. I changed the autopilot to ‘Mag’ & hoped they’d be more in sync now. When I changed the autopilot setting she started a 360° turn, I had to run outside, turn off the autopilot & physically wrestle the boat back on course. 6:45pm. Took all sails down. Noticed ‘Pegasus’ had also taken her sails down. 11/30/11 Wednesday. 5am. Changed course to take me into Cabo, as I would no longer have enough fuel to go directly to Banderas Bay. 9:20am. The Cruise ship ‘Carnival Paradise’ on her way to Cabo passed me by 2 ½ miles. 11:40am Close to Cabo I tried calling Cissy as I didn’t know how much was in the bank account. I needed to know how much I could spend on diesel. As usual her cell phone wasn’t where she was. What an incredible place Cabo San Lucas is. Approaching the harbor you pass these luxurious resorts, condos, hotels, mansions. The architecture was mainly Arabic, Islamic, Spanish & gaudy western. After the poverty & simplicity of the past weeks this was real opulence. Coming round the point taking you into the harbor was like stepping through a window into chaos. Boat taxis, tour boats, pangas & cruise ship shore boats were suddenly everywhere. I had to sail through these & to my horror a fucking great dredger was dredging the harbor. All the boats had to squeeze between the dredger & the harbor walls, with the dredgers attendant security boats waving everyone this way & that. There are two places in the marina that sell diesel. The dredger was blocking the one closest to the entrance that I wanted. I had no fucking idea where the other was, all I knew was that I was surrounded by Macho little boat drivers intent on no-one stopping them from going were they wanted to go & as fast as possible. Luckily some guys on a large catamaran pointed the way to the other fill up place. I took on 150 liters of diesel “Necesito ciento cincuenta litros diesal, Por favor” I said. “Wot?” said the gas guy. I was eventually able to get out of there once they got the pump to work. Get back around the dredger & out into the bay. Just offshore were these three bloody great cruise ships. ‘Carnival Paradise’ was one of them. Along with ‘Oosterdam’ & ‘Disney Wonder’. If you’ve never seen giant mouse ears on a funnel you aint seen nothing. Weird seeing these massive great 1000’ ships anchored off the beach like that. I anchored off the beach along with about 7 other sailboats. Was able to get onto the Internet using a site called ‘Sales Room’. 12/1/11 Thursday Dinghyd into Cabo. When I was sailing in yesterday amid all that mayhem, I did see a funny sight, one of the fast American sport fishing boats was also aiming for the harbor when a bloody great sea lion tried to jump onto its stern. Startled the shit out of the guy standing on deck leaning against the gunnel. Aparantly there’s two of them that do this & the returning fisherman feed them. As I was going into the harbor in my dinghy I saw a bloody great sea lion, so I gunned it for the harbor, didn’t want one of those one ton marine slugs jumping on my little dingy. Still the dredger was dredging, now I became part of the mayhem, no one would get in my way & I wouldn’t give way to anyone. Eventually made it to the harbor dinghy dock, despite the fact I’d forget which way to turn the accelerator & suddenly speed up when I wanted to slow down & vice versa. It was like being in a washing machine with all the turbulence. Paid the man $3. Should have told him it was only $1 in Turtle Bay. Although the guy in Turtle Bay wasn’t wearing a valet uniform like these guys were. Was able to buy fresh food including meat, veggies, fruit & even fresh baked bread. Had lunch at a place that had chickens running in & out of it. Got back to Octavia after cruising the harbor & running the gauntlet of being mounted by a great marine slug again. Signs of the general mayhem in the harbor was my need to bail water out of the dinghy once back at the boat. Another great big cruise ship had taken the place of ‘Carnival Paradise’ It was ‘Carnival Splendor’ ‘Prairie Rose’ showed up & invited me over for dinner that evening. They had caught a Dorado on the way in. There were three Canadians on ‘Prairie Rose’. Rob & Amanda & their crew Will. Amanda was a professional cook & restrauntier. Rob only liked fried fish. Amanda needed a couple of eggs & some beer for the batter. All of which I was able to provide. She produced a most wonderful meal. The fish was excellent & with her accompanying tartar sauce & chinous (?) It really was a memorable meal. Got ‘Octavia’ ready for the Banderas Bay trip. This would be the longest one yet. All across the open water of the Gulf of California, missing the penal colony islands on the way.

12/2/11 Friday Left Cabo at 7am. Set a course of 106° for 275 nautical miles. Had a hell of a job getting the main up. In the end I could only put half the sail up as inside the boom is something called ‘a claw’. It feeds the sail out smoothly. Problem was it had somehow turned 180° & would not let sail out past the halfway mark. Despite me hitting it with a hammer to move it further along the boom. I’ll have to wait until I get somewhere steady to look at it closer. I had no idea it was there until I read the manual. Put up a 130% jib. The jib can in fact go to 150% but with all that sail I cannot see around it & have to go below & look through the salon window. With a 130 I have space between the bottom of the sail & the deck to see what’s coming. 9:15am. Put out 150’ of trolling line. The lure is a salmon lure. Doesn’t seem alluring for the local fish. 5:25pm. Took the jib down for the night but left the mainsail up as its only half the sail anyway. 12/3/11 Saturday A few sail changes & put the lure out again. So far dragged it half way to mainland Mexico & nothing. I pull it in when the porpoises pay a visit. Not sure what I’d do if I accidently caught a porpoise. Slept rather well. I try & get up every hour for course corrections, to look around & record the latitude, longitude & speed. Both from the instruments & from the bearings, time & distance traveled that I’d recorded previously. At one point I woke to see a bright ball of light disappearing over the horizon, obviously a cruise ship, but with no AIS info at all. And when I look back over the chart there’s a bloody great three-hour break with no observations. Must have slept for three hours straight during that time. 6am. Had breakfast – banana, tortilla & a cup of tea. As the temperature has been perfect I have been running around stark bollock naked. Feels good. Actually feels weirdly kinky when I put the harness on to go outside the cockpit. I’m finding it hard to get motivated to do some work today. So I won’t. I’ll have another cup of tea & just hang (literally). Between here & Banderas Bay is a group of islands used for a penal colony. You can’t go anywhere near them or they will shoot you. Had to change my course by 4° to miss the islands & get to my destination of Mita Point on the Northern edge of Banderas Bay. Hope to hit land there about 10:30 tomorrow morning. Changing the settings on the autopilot compass didn’t seem to do much good, or I’m getting more lax in my plotting, as I’ve had to make a number of course changes. More than I remember making in the earlier parts of the journey. Oh Ohh, here they come again. I’ve got to pull the lure in. All 150’ of it. Went up front & these dolphins were slightly different to the others as they were speckled, don’t remember the others being like that. They weren’t here long. Just long enough to check me out then move on. When they leave they all seem to disappear at the same time. I’m not going very fast at the moment so they lose interest quickly. It’s hard to imagine this is the same planet that can be so violent. Currently I’m sailing along on an undulating sea that is pushing me in the direction I want to go. A light but warm breeze. It’s all so hypnotic & tranquil. Looking around there is nothing, absolutely nothing but this breathing ocean. I can’t/don’t want to move or do anything, just stare & think. Hope there hasn’t been a war & I’m all that’s left. Mankinds in trouble in that case as I’ve had a vasectomy. Think I’ll have a salad for lunch. Walking round Cabo yesterday I bought a lettuce. Not yesterday, the day before yesterday. First one I’ve seen since leaving USA. 12 noon. I was laying down & got up at noon to do the noon sights & the AIS is showing a boat 9 ½ miles off my starboard (right) stern quarter. Doing 6 knots. Probably a fishing boat, no other info is showing. His course is 118°, mine is 120°. His name just came up ‘Abundance’. Sounds like a fishing boat. Distance now 8 miles, still can’t see him. Abundance is now 6.7 miles away & I can make out a long mast on the horizon, so she’s a sailboat. Unusual for a sailboat to have an AIS transponder on her. We usually have the receivers but not the transponders. It is compulsory for ships over 200 tonnes or 200 feet (can’t remember which) to have transponders as it transmits vessels info & lets other ships know what she’s doing. Boaters like me install the receivers so that we can see the big bastards. Suppose I’d better put my shorts back on, if I can remember where I put them. I’m down to my last two clean t-shirts. And one of them is suspect. Think I only wore it once though, so it should be OK. Dunno why I worry about it, not like the vicars gonna come calling. Past the penal colony about 8 o’clock last night, had more flashing lights than a cop’s car. 12/4/11 Sunday Replaced the lure that was missing when I pulled the line in last night. No idea how long I’d been dragging just the line around all yesterday. 9:30am. Just finished SS & WD. Came on deck & can just make out the dark silhouette of Punta de Mita on the horizon. Off to my right about ½ mile away a bunch of tern like birds was feeding. They drop like a stone to grab small fish. Can also make out lots of fairly big fish leaping about, some silver, definitely not porpoises, don’t know what they are. But again more carnage in the ocean. Just discovered two things wrong with going naked. 1) The cushions stick to your arse & when standing up have to grab them before they fly away & 2) Nowhere to put your glasses. 10:11. About 13 miles from anchorage. ETA about 2+ hours. A Frigate bird was attacking another bird that looked like a frigate only smaller & very drab in comparison. Then the smaller birds friend arrived, settled next to the first one & the frigate flew away. I wonder if the two smaller ones were female frigates. Approaching Punta Mita I saw 8 or 10 whales swimming leisurely away to my left less than ½ a mile away. Another sailboat was coming towards me & towards the pack of whales. Just then less than 200 feet from my port stern two whales sounded & blew spumes, they were swimming in the same direction & course as me. I was so concerned I took the boat off autopilot in case I had to turn quickly. I didn’t know if it was mother & calf as they were not that much different in size. One was covered in barnacles in white patches. The water around them barely moved whereas we were doing similar speeds but Octavia was making a fuss & displacing a lot of water in comparison. They turned away & dived with these massive great tail flukes disappearing but hardly disturbing the water. 12:30. Arrived at Punta Mita, anchored in 30’ water & put out 150’ chain. Three other boats here. Put the kettle on for a cup of tea. I’d been at sea for 53 hours, didn’t seem that long. Once you get into a rhythm you adapt & the lifestyle becomes your norm. Now I’ve reached the mainland safely, I’ll send this epistle on to you.

Date: 17 Dec 2011

12/5/11 Monday Re-anchored closer to land, as I was unable to get an Internet signal last night. Now about ¼ mile from shore in 27’ water with 200’ chain out. Nah Nah na nah na. Beat ya. Unbelievably a monarch butterfly just passed by the boat on its way to shore. Can you believe those things?? This one was zigzagging more than usual, must have been exhausted. “Just 195 more wing beats & I’ll be there” “Just 150 more wing beats & I’ll be there” “Just 100 more wing beats & I’ll be there” Poor bastards, how do they do it? It took me 50 some hours to get here from Cabo & I could eat & sleep. Nature is truly incredible. Spent some time watching the Frigate birds. I thought our sea gulls were great flyers, you should see these guys. They can actually hover in place & revolve like a record (like a CD for anyone under 40). Spent the rest of the day fishing & snorkeling. Some trout sized fish about 10’ down. A couple would make a nice meal. Some little zebra fish (they had black & off white stripes) were snacking on the algae on Octavia’s bottom. Big concern was the zinc on the propeller shaft was missing. The bolt holding it on was still there but the zinc had gone. That means it did its job, it sacrificed itself protecting the other metals. These zincs are attached because they are soft metals that get eaten away by stray electric current. It stops the current from eating the more ‘noble’ metals like the stainless steel shaft, bronze propeller or other necessary fittings. It’s often a sign of hot marinas. Marinas where the electricity is leaking from other boats. I’ll have to replace it ASAP. I haven’t stayed in a marina since I first got to Mexico, in Marina Puerto Salina over 25 days ago. 7pm. Went out to try more fishing & saw hundreds of those trout like fish swimming about by the side of the boat, they were attracted by the light from my salon windows. Need to get a net on a long pole & I should be able to just scoop them up. 12/6/11 Tuesday. Left Punta de Mita @ 10:30am for the 8 mile trip to La Cruz de Huanacaxtle. NE Wind about 10 knots. Perfect. This is what I thought it was going to be like all the time. That bird I saw being attacked a while back was not a female Frigate as I now see they are their own breed. They are incredible flyers & divers. Is it possible for a bird to fly upside down? I’m sure I’ve seen these guys do it. They are similar to Terns in the way they drop from the sky like stones but these are so much more agile & versatile. I’ve now seen them skim through the water like skimming stones, dive deep so once they hit the water they are down for several seconds. Take a shallow dive & change direction while skimming the water. Must get books on all this shit when I get back. 12:30pm. Just went on deck after working at the chart & saw two rocks not 300’ from me. My first reaction was ‘FUCK - how did I miss them on the chart?’ Only to watch them slowly disappear & be replaced by two giant tail flukes. 1pm. Arrived at La Cruz, anchored & was settled in by about 1:15. This is the way to do it. Pleasant & informative sail over from Punta Mita. Must be about 30 other boats anchored here. It’s a nice feeling seeing these other boats. Seems to give me credibility. When I arrived at those anchorages with a few or no other cruisers, not only was it a bit lonely, I also tended to question myself. Why was I the only one here? Was I weird or strange or is the weather about to explode? 4:30 – 5pm. I like this place. People are going ashore in there dinghies. I have Internet access; therefore I can communicate with the outside world again. Phone usage with Skype. Weather access, news, and email. Just saw another Monarch Butterfly zigzagging his weary way to shore. Bet his got his eyes on a bush where he can just curl up & sleep. 6:30pm. Big fireworks display further round the bay, probably Nuevo or Puerto Vallarta. For a poor country they sure spend a lot of money on fireworks. Some time back I thought I saw something that looked like a skunk jumping out of the water, doing flips & landing back in the water again. Well, just saw it again. Only this time I could see what it was. They are actually rays. They jump fully out of the water & flap their wings, looks like they are trying to fly. Also they are sort of colored dark & light. Doesn’t much look like skunks close up, but from a distance!! 12/7/11 Wednesday Needed to get some food. So I had to find an ATM machine. Was told the ATM machine was up on the highway about 5-6 blocks away. Walked up to the Highway, sweating like a pig. Nothing. A couple of better stocked 7/11’s but no ATM. Was told there was a machine in the Pemex (gas) station a couple of miles away. Two Mexican guys offered to take me there in their truck. They dropped me off at the Pemex station & sure enough an ATM machine in its own little hut. Withdrew 3,000 Pesos. Turned out to be $226. That’s about 13 1/4 Pesos to the $. The machine also took 40 pesos ($3) for giving me the money. About the same that’s charged in the US for using another banks ATM. My bank reimburses me all those fees, even from foreign machines. Caught a bus back to where I’d started on the highway, fare was 5 pesos. Bought some eggs – they actually sell them by weight not by individual egg. Thought I was being a frugal shopper by picking the biggest eggs, but nooo. Also bought some more tortillas, a lettuce, bananas & beers. Friviously bought a Mexican bag of Serrano chili chips. Walking back to the dinghy I discovered the village of La Cruz. What a quaint place. All the streets are cobblestones. Not rutted dirt like on the Baha. The sidewalks are decrepit but useable. The houses are colorful although some were really run down. They were also all so different & looked as if at some time this might have been a prosperous village. A bloody great cross was in the middle of the main street with a sort of ribbon festooned around it. It actually looked like the village could have been pre- planned & built as a boutique type of village then allowed to deteriate like so much in Mexico. I also passed two ATM machines on the way back. Also found the fish co-operative. It’s where the fishermen bring their fish to be sold. I bought a ¼ kilo (about ½ lb) of cleaned tuna for 50 pesos. Works out to be about $7lb for sushi grade tuna. This place is fucking incredible. Here an ‘Old Age Pensioner’ like me can live the way I’d like to be able to afford to live. Dinghy’d everything back to the boat & put the stuff in the fridge. Luckily I’d defrosted the fridge & freezer yesterday so it will keep nice & cold. Had a nap. Woke about 6pm & decided to go to the Yacht Club for a drink. It turns out not to be a real yacht club but a bar/restaurant called the Santa Cruz Yacht Club. Met a guy named George who was leaving tomorrow for Texas by bus. I needed to find out about the buses going to Tijuana; he was heading more towards San Antonio. He informed me that the two ATM machines in the village didn’t work & the closest was at the Pemex station. Felt good that the day hadn’t been wasted after all. Got back to the boat & had tuna with a salad. Must admit it tasted a bit better than tinned corned beef, raw onion & tortilla. Also, a few days ago, I think while in Cabo, I bought ½ kilo of ground meat. It must have been in my backpack for hours before I got it into the fridge. I cooked it when I got to Punta Mita about 3-4 days later. Must admit it was a bit suspect; a little bit shall we say ‘pungent’. I should have curried it, as that is what curries are for, to hide & cover tainted meat. I cooked it with peppers onions garlic, red wine, loads of spices & lots of jalapeños. Along with the last of my rice it tasted pretty good & robust. Anyway I’d been eating this concoction for the past few dinners so the tuna was a welcome relief, as I didn’t feel like dining on its unique flavor another night. Phoned my sister in Australia using Skype. Isn’t modern technology when it works awesome? Here I am swinging on the hook ½ mile from shore talking to my sister. The other night I was talking to my niece & as she also has Skype I could actually see her & the kids. (What are they known as ‘niecelettes?’ 12/8/11 Thursday Hailed the harbormaster at La Cruz de Huanacaxtle for a berth in his marina. He wanted US$750. I dinghied in to see him & eventually got it for US$650. What a bargain, $650 to rent a piece of water. In a country were the average income cannot be more than $100 month this is daylight robbery, still beggars can’t be choosers as I need to find a secure place for the boat so that I can get back to San Francisco & Cissy for Christmas. When I bought Octavia into the slip I found it was a slip designed to accommodate a 120’ boat. This means the cleats to secure the boat to are so far apart; my dock lines look like some kids string spider web game. Also the electricity on these big boats is two-phase 50-amp stuff. Twice what I use or am set up for on Octavia. I actually had to convert one of the electrical outlets they use for small hand tools to my use. It is 20 amps, but the electricity coming on to the boat is 137 Volts (instead of the customary 112-120 Volts). Hope it doesn’t fry anything. I put the batteries on ‘Charge’ until they are fully charged then disconnect from the system. Not sure what I’ll do when I leave for Christmas, as I’ll have to leave the electricity on or turn it off completely. The boat next to me is a 60’ Baltic Trader knockoff that the captain built himself on his land in Washington. What a project. It took him three years on land & a year at sea to complete. (Took me three years to build a water tank on Octavia that Nick had to finish) He even cut down the spa’s (Masts & booms), ribs & planking from his land, dried it all & put it all together. I am in absolute awe of guys like that. The courage & balls it takes to undertake such a project is I believe incredible. His kids from previous marriages often accompany & crew for him, the ex wives don’t. The cargo hold is a sort of large dormitory with about 10 bunks & recreation area. Real simple but functional design & built like a brick shit house. He has to have a crew of at least 5 to sail it & right now they are having a Bar-B-Q & the young lads are getting a bit inebriated. Comforting to see nothing changes. Interesting fact is that it seems everyone on board smokes (baccy) & drinking starts with breakfast. Last night talking to Cis on the sat phone it suddenly died. Apparently I’d used up all the 200 minutes I’d bought. Although the ‘Time Used’ only registered 1hour 28 minutes = 88minutes. They are sorting it out now; In the meantime I bought another 200 minutes. 12/9/11 Friday John, one of the ex-pats has been living here for several years (ten I think) has a van & arranged to take a couple of us to a large US style supermarket leaving at 9am. That’s when I found out that somehow I’d gone through two time zones. Luckily for me even the ex-pats live like the locals & 9am just means in the morning. Actually I’d gone through one time zone but Nayarit the county I’m currently in decided to use the same time zone as its bigger neighbor Puerto Vallarta in Jalisco County. Hence I’ve lost two hours of my life. Wondered why every one round here got up so bloody early. As I didn’t know how long the other guys would take doing they’re shopping I ran around just collecting the essentials - Beer, fruit, veggies & milk. Haven’t had milk in my tea since Avalon. Then had to wait patiently for an hour at the van in the heat, while they continued shopping. Back at the boat I took my laundry in to be washed. It’s cheaper to have someone do it than use the marina washing machines. I had a load as I hadn’t done any since Marina Puerto Salina & had started sniffing the clothes for the cleanest dirty ones. 12/10/11 Saturday Spent most of the day trying to figure a way home to San Francisco. It’s not as easy as I thought with the long haul busses, as they tend to go more towards Texas or the East coast. Nothing direct to Tijuana. Picked up my laundry (147pesos = $11). A bit embarrassing as it was all nicely cleaned & folded. If I’d known they would do that I would have thrown some of the stuff away. They even bleached the whites. They have an organization here called ‘Amigos de La Cruz’ a web site set up by ex-pats, as a lot of cruisers arrive here & never leave. I emailed them & asked for best ways to get to San Diego where I have a plane ticket to San Francisco waiting for me. 12/11/11 Sunday I’ve been in La Cruz for five days now. 2 anchored out & 3 in the marina. Believe me when I say this is how I imagined the cruising life to be but didn’t realize how difficult it would be to adapt to it. You may laugh & say how difficult can it be to adapt to a completely hedonistic lifestyle. The mere fact you have no obligations, commitments, structure or purpose make it real difficult to be motivated to do anything constructive or purposeful. It seems everything you need or want is right here. This morning I didn’t get up until 10am. Had breakfast & coffee in the cockpit. The problem with that is the two times a day you can work is early morning or late afternoon, both times when it’s cool enough to work. I need to 1) Fix the radar 2) Wash the boat down as its still covered in salt from Mag bay 3) Turn the claw around in the boom 4) Change the engine oil. Its black after all the miles its just run. 5) Check the battery fluids & equalize them. That means basically boiling the fluid in the batteries to rid the plates of the sulpher build up on the plates. 6) Ask around & figure out how to leave the boat plugged into the shore power with this lethal 137 volts coursing through it. 7) Rub down the outside wood & varnish it. It looked bad before I left home, looks like shit now. 8) Find out how to get home. So far the busses are not looking good for Tijuana & I can’t understand the airport Webb site. 9) Put the radar reflector back up the mast. Its an aluminium ball made up of 8 interconnecting sides that reflect radar waves from other ships so that they can see my echo on there radar screens. Wood & fiberglass boats do not give of or show radar echoes. This fucking thing fell down from the spreader when I was trying to reef the sail at Mag Bay. If it had hit me that would have been the end of this little venture. 10) Fill my propane gas bottle. I filled it a year ago & have been using it a lot lately. 11) Change the water filter. I’m sure a lot of shit was in the water I took on from Marina Pointe Salina for it to have so much chlorine in it. 12) Remove the wind generator controller so that I can send it back to them in Canada, as I’m not sure if it’s putting out as many amps as it should. A lot of people down here have succumbed to the easy life. I don’t mean to judge them because they do have it easy & have a better lifestyle than any but the richest people on this planet, but my fear would be losing the inquisitive, wonder, awe just the raw essence of this life. Booze plays a very big part in their lives. While having breakfast this morning I noticed crowds of people & a band streaming out to the point were last night the cruisers had a big bonfire & pissup to celebrate the full moon. It was great. All the kids were roasting marshmallows. I was surprised at the amount of kids there are cruising. Anyway, I saw all these people so I jumped in the dinghy to see what was going on & found it to be nothing more than a political rally. A big shot was either running for president or representing the president. I wasn’t sure which. While there I noticed a fair or market on the other side of the marina by the fish coop. So again I jumped in the dinghy & went to investigate. It was a sort of up scale farmers market & arts & crafts fair. It was great, with nice tapas, samosas, various foods & local fish. I bought an octopus. Also had radish slices with limejuice on them, an excellent combo. Also bought a poncho, shawl, dress combo made from baby llama wool for Cissy. I was assured she’d love it as this tiny Indian woman uses hers all the time. Managed to knock her down by 50 pesos ($4). Felt good about that although her kids probably won’t be able to afford collage now. Dinghyd back to the boat & watched a blackbird/starling type bird with a long tail attacking his reflection in a boats darkened window. Must have wondered who he was up against as that last attack should have flattened his foe. – Instead he was coming back for more. Also had an email from ‘Amigos de la Cruz) telling me the cheapest & by far best way to get to Tijuana was to fly Volaris Mexican Airlines from Puerto Vallarta & even gave me the English Webb site for them. Went to a dockside birthday soiree for Rick put on by his wife. They are a young (was his 45th birthday) Canadian couple that have been cruising for a couple of years & will keep going as long as they can. They have a wooden boat called ‘Nyad’ & the mast got dry rot & snapped. He has fixed it & they are just varnishing & finishing it off before re-stepping it. 12/12/11 Monday. Ran out of excuses & reasons for not working. Before breakfast I washed down the boat. First thing in the morning is the best time as heavy dew is still sitting on the boat. After breakfast I fixed the radar, it was the belt as the techies at Furuno said. Must have come off due to all the bouncing about Octavia did coming down the California coast. I ended up perched up on the radar mast like King Kong, hanging on for dear life while removing the radar dome. Would never have been able to do that on the hook. Tried but couldn’t fix the boom. Will try again tomorrow as I was getting blood on the sail from hitting my hand with the bloody hammer. Isabelle & D’arcy just left the marina for the hook again. They are originally from Victoria, B.C. but are now full time cruisers. She said they come into harbor occasionally for repairs & maintenance but are always ready to go back out again. Mark, the single hander I met in Turtle Bay who I thought was Polish but it was a French Canadian accent, dropped by for a beer. He only got in the day before yesterday as he was becalmed coming across the Sea of Cortez & unlike me, he wouldn’t use his engine. 12/13/11 Tuesday 12/13/11 Wednesday John & I dinghyd over to a seminar on El Salvador put on by the El Salvadorian business & their government. They have a big push on to attract tourists. It really sounds like a lovely unspoiled place. The crime rate is less than half that of the US & the violence perpetrated in that country during the revolution was 20 years ago. John actually cruised there for a year & said he’ll go back. Got back to the boat then went into the village as they had a farmers/knick-knack/arts & crafts fair. Got back to the boat & the Internet is down. The Internet gives me phone, email, news, weather, entertainment, in fact without it its rather lonely on the boat. Ate the last of my octopus for dinner. 12/14/11 Thursday. Today is a workday. Fixed the boom, pure muscle to turn the claw round the right way, raised & lowered the sail, all works well now. Now need to put screws through the boom into the claw to stop this happening again. Packed the Winchmate & controller for the wind generator to take to San Francisco with me. Over the past two days I’ve boiled the batteries, takes 8 hours per bank of batteries & I have two banks. This morning Patricia Belle left the marina. Later in the day Isabelle & D’Arcy on Christina returned as there water maker part arrived. Last night when the internet came back up I went on line to book my shuttle from Tijuana airport to San Diego where I pick up the plane to SF. Immediately after I had entered my card info I got a frightening error message ‘Server Error'/' Application. A potentially dangerous client input value has been detected...' The problem is that someone has the $14.40 fare as it was taken out of the bank, but I have no confirmation or anything confirming my reservation. So far I have been unsuccessful in getting it resolved. Although the Internet is back up its so slow that the Skype communication is untenable. With difficulty I was able to speak to an English speaking service rep, we were talking for 25 minutes when he put me on hold & someone else completely unrelated to the case came on. I had to hang up, as they didn’t understand English. I must take Spanish classes. 12/16/11 Saturday. A bunch of us helped Rick (sorry, can’t remember his wife’s name) re-step their mast. He was the guy that had the birthday party on ‘Nyad’. I’ll end this journal of my journey now as its late Saturday morning & nothing but mundane things are happening in paradise. As soon as I get back from San Francisco I will go back out on the hook. I need to go out for a number of reasons, it’s expensive in port & I want to continue my journey, but also the few days I’ve been in port I’ve visibly started to put on weight again. Thank you for coming with me. If it hadn’t been for you I would not have chronicled the past 53 days & most of the experiences both good & bad I would have forgotten or at the very least minimalized. Whereas now when I read back I can still get that feeling in the pit of my stomach (fear) or relive the experiences I had of complete awe, wonderment & astonishment at the riches this planet offers.