Our marina and a RV park. The shadow is the mountain we are climbing.

 

Looking northwest up the coast. The dry boat storage yard is in the center

 

Click on this photo to enlarge it and ...

you will see an air line from the front of the boat that goes to a diver. I’m told this type of "fishing" is illegal but we see this often. They don’t leave much on the bottom that can be eaten or sold.

 

Looking West toward the Baja

 

Sailor 2/3rds of the way up the mountain

 

Did a certain Ms Olson bring a friend with her on her trip here last month?

 

A small pocket beach perfect for a couple and a bottle of wine

 

Fishing

 

Welcome to our 2010 Cruise

We arrived Monday March first in the early afternoon after an uneventful trip. After checking into our motel and having our traditional welcome back lunch we checked out Vagari. She was fine; just needs some tender loving care. So we arranged to have her washed, waxed and her stainless steel polished as well as having a little bottom paint applied where it had worn off. We started the process of getting her ready for sea. We put everything we can below decks to protect from the summer sun and wind/rain damage. So all that stuff has to be put back where it belongs. We decided to strip some teak to the bare wood before coating it with a varnish like product. Other teak was just recoated. All this and checking out that everything works kept us busy. Friday we launched (“splashed” in cruisers lingo) at 2 PM. We were tied up in our slip connected to water and power 20 minutes after splashing.

Looking Good “On The Hard”

 

 

 

Traveling - Nervous time for the Admiral and Captain (2)

 

 

Looking good and finally wet (2)

 

 

The previous occupant of our slip is not happy

 

Rhea working on the teak (2)

 

 

Small cove off a larger cove. Pictures from front and back (2)

I met a fellow sailor who takes his dog on a two hour walk every morning. The following pictures are from our first walk.

 

 

Looking Southeast from an overlook near the marina

 

New housing development near our marina

 

The Answer to one of Life’s Great Mysteries

How would a dog “tree” a raccoon in the desert?

 

Welcome to our Sixth season cruising aboard Vagari

We are leaving our home near Tucson, Arizona Monday morning March 1st, 2010.
We will arrive in San Carlos that day but won’t put Vagari in the water until Friday or Saturday. Once we settle into our shipboard routine we will start posting updates.

The Final Post of the ’09 Season

After leaving Conception Bay Vagari went up the coast of the Baja stopping for the first time on the north side of Punta Chivato for a peaceful night. The next day as we approached Santa Rosalia fog developed so we radioed the port. He told us not to proceed because the fog was so dense he couldn’t see the entrance from his office which is right on the port entrance. Ok, so Rhea goes to the front of the boat and blows into our foghorn every minute while I monitor the radio and radar and steer Vagari in a square box pattern. Rhea must have blown the fog away because it clears up in less than a half hour. The port official radios to tell us it has cleared there also. Off we go only to run into the fog again. But we learn it’s still clear at the port entrance. Using the GPS, radar and with Rhea powering the foghorn we didn’t see a thing until just outside the harbor entrance where the sky was bright blue and the sun was shinning.

Santa Rosalia is a great place to spend some time because the town is built along the harbor and there is nominal American presence or influence. After a few days of exploring the town looking for unique restaurants and shops and riding the bicycle all over the area we decide to cross the 74-mile wide Sea of Cortez to San Carlos, our homeport.

We left well before sunrise with just the bright stars to light the way. Before sunrise we were in fog so dense that Rhea stood in the cabin doorway handing me paper towels to wipe my glasses so I could look at the radar screen. The radar showed one large vessel but it stayed exactly one mile from Vagari. After several more hours the radar showed another very large object. I was thinking I have never seen an object that large on the radar when I realized it was Turtle Island.

Before noon the sun burned off the fog but it was still hazy. The wind was moderate and from the side on the first half of the trip but then it picked up and moved in front of the boat so we had to motor into the wind and the increasing waves the second half which slowed us way down.

We coordinated our crossing with a large powerboat. They passed us in the middle of the Sea. They left after sunrise and didn’t experience any fog. They arrived in time for a nice dinner at our favorite restaurant. That’s why our kids still call motorboats, “easy boats”. The crossing was long and rough and we just made it in before sunset.

That ended our season. It was short but sweet. We hope to see you next year.