Welcome to Vagari’s 2nd Pacific Coast of Mexico Cruise

We left home on November 17^th for San Carlos. We “splashed” Vagari on Monday the 21^st and took her for a 1-½ hour motor around the point to the marina we use. We did a lot of work on Vagari while in the storage yard. A boat yard is a very dusty dirty place so we were relieved to be on the water again. We went on a test ride with our engine mechanic. It looks like the work he did on the prop shaft and the new prop are all working as intended.

One noticeable difference this year as opposed to last year is that Rhea is climbing around the boat and up and down ladders working on the boat. Last year with her bad knee she couldn’t do much. This year she polished the all topsides (water line to deck) and put new bottom paint on the rudder covering the fiberglass repairs we made to the rudder. The rudder was full of water after last years cruise so we drilled 20 holes in the rudder let it dry out during the hot dry summer. We had to fill the rudder with foam then patch the holes with three layers of fiberglass. This all had to covered with bottom paint before we “splashed”. Rhea finished painting almost five minutes before the crew arrived to launch Vagari. She is better than ever with her new knee.

Today is the Monday the 28^th and we are still in San Carlos because we are still working on the boat starting up all the systems and repairing as required. The weather window is closed until Wednesday so we are also enjoying our time with other cruisers. A strong N W wind (up to 40 kts) started mid day Sunday and will last until late Tuesday. These winds are common this time of year. They are caused by a high-pressure system crossing from California across the southern US. The Sea of Cortez has high mountains on both sides so wind is funneled down the Sea to an almost permanent low in the tropics. This is similar to the notorious “Santa Anna” winds of southern California.

Every day we seem to find time to go someplace with other cruisers or have people over for a meal and/or board games.

The surprise problems this year is with the sails. The headsail has a fancy system to make it more aerodynamic. A part of this system, a zipper that runs from top to bottom has deteriorated and can no longer be used. The slides on the mainsail that connect the sail to the mast seem to have worn the track on the mast and themselves. We are still working on the solutions, both short and long term to these issues.

As of Tuesday PM the weather window is now Thursday morning. We plan to leave by 10 AM for a 140 kt mi crossing. It’s a little on the chilly side here so we want to get south quickly.

Welcome

Welcome to the second season of the Cruise Vagari blog.

To re-learn the “black magic” of posting to a blog I posted below the letters we sent our kids during our shakedown cruise in May-June of 2004.

1st letter to the kids. Spring of 04 shakedown cruise

Hola,

We haven’t figured out the phone or the email system yet so we haven’t been good communicators. Our only attempt was a ham radio/phone patch Tuesday morning to Joe’s home, no answer or answering machine then the same to Kim’s where we think we left a brief A-OK on the machine.

I am going to JC’s Café Wednesday morning and try and send this email

Getting the boat back together has taken a full week and we are not done yet. We did get out for a long day sail on Sunday. Other than the head breaking and a great sail in warm water/wind with incredible scenery up and down the coast, the highlight was a finback whale crossing under the boat. We saw it approaching and it went right under the boat and surfaced just as it cleared Vagari.

As soon as the wind comes up Wednesday morning we plan to take off for a one or two night trip up the coast. We will try and call you via the ham/phone patch Wednesday and again on Thursday if we don’t get you on the first try.

We are both doing well and once we figure out the in’s and out’s of Vagari we will have time to work on the communications and computers.

Love,

Dad and Mom

P.S. I miss talking with you Kim and Joe. Once a mother, always a mother. Maybe once we get the e-mail figured out, it will be better. Take care of yourselves until I return to give all the motherly advice you know you need. I love you.. All of you.

Note: I have not been able to send email from Mexico until yesterday. My Earthlink was the problem. Still is. But I sent myself mail using Rhea’s Hotmail account yesterday so I going to send all of our updates to family.

Stan 7/1/04

2nd letter to the kids. Spring of 04 shakedown cruise

Hola again,

Wednesday morning I went to the local cafe/internet place to attend a computer club meeting. They couldn’t help me in part because their net connection went down. But I did meet the guy who operates the Internet for them.

When we returned Friday evening I go see this guy and as soon as I start my laptop his Internet connection goes down. Turns out, 2 hours later that my laptop was shutting his system down. My built-in wireless card is defective so I buy one from him for $35 and I can receive email but he can’t figure how to send mail so I’m only half way home.

Back to the Vagari log: We left Wednesday late morning and had a great sail up the coast. We were going to a small cove that was supposed to be great for one boat and protected from South winds/swells. When we arrived we felt it was too small (i.e. didn’t allow enough room to swing around the anchor when the wind changed direction) so we tucked in behind a large point that protected us from the wind and waves.

We didn’t see another boat or person the rest of the day except for a couple of pangas going past the point. We went swimming, snorkeling and took a dinghy ride. The moon was full with clear a sky so the landscape had a white color all night. We were in heaven until 4 am when the wind started screaming off the land. The anchor was holding and we were to close to shore for any waves to build up but the boat kept swinging around. This kept up until noon. We moved over to a large bay on the other side of the point hoping for better protection.

Two powerboats that we had met from our dock come in to share the bay with us for the night. Same problem at night except the wind started at dusk. Vagari has 300' of 3/8" chain for an anchor rode (line). We put out over 100' of rode and anchor in about 20' of water. The result is a strong anchoring system. The challenge is that when the wind shifts 180 degrees the pull on the anchor is from the opposite direction the anchor has to reset to the new direction. The main anchor on Vagari does that better than any other type of anchor. We also have 300' of heavy line we can use for anchoring but in these conditions we go with the heavy chain.

We have found some good restaurants and supermarkets in Guaymas, which is 18 miles from the dock. I think we have both lost weight due to the heat and physical work we are doing. Mom looks great! She is tanned and much thinner. She is very good at driving Vagari at sea and when anchoring. Our meals are very simple on the boat but healthy. No junk food except we drink liters of diet Coke every day. We go out for one meal a day usually when we in port.

A “dock guy” who cleaned our boat has befriended us. He also recommended a canvas shop that we use and a guy to go over the outboard. The outboard was back the next day and worked like a charm. We had a fitting on the mainsail halyard that we couldn’t open so I showed it to Pancho. Using vice grips, a screwdriver and lots of WD 40 (which I got from him) we had it open and working like new in 20 minutes. He is experienced at what he does and grew up in the area so he knows the local shops. Guaymas is a deep-water seaport with fleet of 300 + shrimp boats so they have most of what we need.

Big happenings in Marina Real Friday evening. The president of Mexico dropped in with his two helicopters and many white suburban vans. We got stopped at the gate and told very politely to proceed to the housing area until the presidents’ caravan had cleared the area. We got to see where the rich and infamous live.

Love Dad,

Saturday evening

3rd letter to the kids. Spring of 04 shakedown cruise

What do you do all Day?

Good question, with no job I wondered the same thing.

Wednesday (6/16) left the house at 4:50 AM. Seven hours later after a quick border crossing we were at the boat.

We unloaded the truck including the heavy generator set (I got some help) and the Portabote. By chance we met the canvas man and gave him out material and the old sail cover. Hope to have the new cover in a few days. While Rhea put things away I took the old dinghy and related stuff off the boat and put it into the truck.

By 3:30 we were wasted, the sun is very hot here, and went to JC’s for lunch/dinner. Did a quick shop for perishables. Then back to the boat to find the place to mount the Portabote. Typical sailboat situation, to mount the Portabote we had to move something and find a place for that so we…. An hour or two later we had that project done and I think have a good place for our dinghy. We also have a clear deck in front of the mast, which will be very useful when we are cruising.

We did the necessary mechanical things to turn the boat back on, electrical, plumbing, open thru hull fittings, check for leaks/problems etc. get the freezer/refrigerator going and called it a day.

Thursday (6/17) The first task for the day was two get our two propane tanks filled. That took two and a half hours. The propane truck driver is supposed to eat breakfasts at a place known as the fruitarea at eight. Last trip I spend 30 minutes locating the fruitarea he wasn’t there so I just figured I missed him. Today I’m there at 8 but no propane truck. So I ask and they tell me 8:30. Quick trip to the bank to fill up on pesos and I’m back by 8:30. No truck. They now say 9. No truck at 9. They tell me to go the outdoor taco stand next door. An old man with good English skills says he comes at different times but he will come today. Ok, so I leave my tanks and head for the marina. 200 yards later I see the propane tank going up a very steep hill into an exclusive residential area. Retrieve my tanks and chase down the truck. At the top of the hill overlooking the Sea I flag the truck down. Three men in the cab, 15 minutes later we are all good friends and my tanks are full, I settled the 36-peso charge for 50 pesos, which was the smallest bill I had, and everybody is happy. By 10:30 I’m back on Vagari. Give the old dinghy to our boat guy (who took the bus all the way from Guaymas hoping to find some work) He will call his wife to pick up the dinghy. Mount the BBQ on the stern rail for the first time, tie down the generator set, and figure out a way to run the outboard motor in fresh water so the saltwater won’t corrode the inside during storage.

Another lunch/dinner out at a place with a WI-FI connection to get our email (thanks Kim for the updates). We organize the two deck boxes looking for something we think is missing. I spend an hour or so finding out what papers we need and getting our documents together so Vagari can leave this port district and go across the Sea to another port district. Rhea works below decks organizing and cleaning.

By 6 PM we are done for the day. We have crackers and chicken salad for dinner. By 8 PM she is in bed too tired for our usual evening classical music CD. I’m not far behind.

4th letter to the kids. Shakedown cruise. Spring 04

Economics Lesson

What Do We Do All Day

Friday (6/18) The first order of the day was to rig the flag halyard, which runs thru a block on the spreaders that are about half way up the mast. Rhea must crank me up using a winch on the mast. I’m in a chair attached to the main halyard. I show Rhea how to use the self-tailing winch to crank me up. It’s very hard for her to crank me up but she does. I’m nervous about swing out toward the outside end of the spreaders to rig the line but I finally work my way out and run the line thru the block.

All is not well however. I now realize I didn’t show Rhea how a self-tailing winch can be used in the non self-tailing mode to lower me down slowly. She has already figured out how to let me down quickly. Rhea gets detailed instructions from above but is unhappy because she doesn’t get much chance to practice. As we all know, Rhea is a “quick learn”.

We need a flag halyard because foreign vessels are expected to fly the host nations flag below the starboard spreader. The US flag is flown off the back of the vessel.

Next task is to unfold the Portabote on the front deck. We have practiced this on our patio in Tucson. No problem even on a moving deck, we are ready for a test run in 5 minutes.

Next, check out of San Carlos so we can enter Santa Rosalia on the Baja side of the Sea next week. First step is to get our visas validated. We got our visas in Nogales after showing our passports but they must be validated at a bank. That means we must pay 420 pesos ($38).

What an economics lesson. Two tanks of propane with which we can cook with for six months cost 36 pesos in the free market; two stamps on visas that provide nothing of value to anyone but are required by the government and are only good for 6 months cost almost 12 times as much.

Mexico does not allow its officials to collect fees. Fees are paid at a bank then you show your receipt. Not good for us because banks and officials have different hours and are often miles apart.

The actual check out costs only $25 US or 275 pesos. Vagari can now leave San Carlos on Monday.

Next we test the dinghy. We launch it off the deck. Mount the outboard, load it with extra gas, life jackets, oars, and lines and off we go. Great ride into “Catch 22” bay (the movie was filmed here). We went swimming on a beautiful beach and had a great time. The Portabote worked great. I dropped Rhea off at Vagari and took a solo trip hoping I could plane the dinghy with only one person on board. I did but ran out of gas off shore a mile or so. I had more gas on board so I was up and running in a couple of minutes.

Now we unload the dinghy and put it back on deck just to make sure we can do all this. We cheated by using the dock but it is easy. We flush the outboard with fresh water and adjust the outboard to better fit the Portabote.

It’s very warm by now so I take a shower and we head to JC’s for lunch/dinner and email.

After we eat it’s to late (3:45) and too hot to work on the boat (after an hour in air conditioning) so we head into Guaymas for some sight seeing and provisioning. After going down a one-way street the wrong way we cut short the sight seeing and do the provisioning.

Back on the boat by 5:30 and relax the rest of the day.

Remember, on Vagari “we have no plans and we are sticking to them”. However, our plan is to go for a one or two day cruise up (or down depending on the wind) the coast tomorrow then come back for a day or two then head across the Sea for a week or two. Then we will decommission the boat (this will take about 4 days we think) and then home.

5th letter to the kids. Shakedown cruise. Spring 04

What Do We Do All Day?

27˚ 20.0’ North

112˚ 15.6’ West

Hola,

We went up the coast for another checkout sail and ended up in San Pedro Bay again. The first day and night was ideal. We went swimming and snorkeling. I found a “wall” under water that went from 5 to 25 feet deep straight down. The water was so clear that after I jumped in I saw that my dinghy anchor was not touching the bottom even though I was just a few yards from the wall. I pulled the boat in until the anchor hit the sand.

Vagari has fish, bird and marine mammal field guides on board so we know a little about what we are seeing. On the second trip to the wall Rhea was aboard. She could see a lot from the dinghy so on our third dinghy ride she took a mask. Now she wants her own snorkel.

We also took two trips to the end of San Pedro Point to explore the sea caves. We took the dinghy into the largest one, cool.

In the very early hours of the second day the waves and wind moved from the South East to the West. We were anchored in a place that is protected us from every direction but the West. Vagari starts doing the rock and roll thing and the rocks that are so neat to dive on don’t look quite so neat now that they are dead downwind from us. If our anchor drags we end up on the rocks.

I decide to leave at first light. To this day Rhea is still amazed by the boat motion as we motored out of the bay. Given the right (or wrong) conditions the front of 25,000 pound boat can point way up in the air and then go under water in just a couple of seconds. Makes a big splash also.

Vagari got a free wash but our dinghy oars got washed overboard in the process. Rhea drove the boat while I handled the anchor and chain. She did a first class job of handling the boat in the rough seas.

When we got back to Catch 22 bay the seas were flat and we had no trouble getting into our harbor.

You may wonder why these wind shifts etc. are not predicted. For the last week or two and it looks like the next week or two there are no big fronts moving thru this area. The barometric pressure is almost the same every day and almost the same from the North end to the South end of the Sea. This means that the wind (and therefore the waves) is controlled by local thermal conditions. Which is the difference between the temperatures of the land and sea. Or for that matter, the North side of a hill or mountain vs. the South side. Therefore the wind direction and velocity vary from bay or cove to cove and change very quickly. It also means that once you get away from land there is no wind or waves. We found this to be true on our crossing.

We talked to another boat that saw us leave the anchorage. She decided to rough it out in the bay after seeing us get tossed around as we left the bay.

A couple of days later Rhea met the Captain of the boat that stayed in the bay. She is a mother with 3 kids. Her husband died on the trip down from Canada. She is continuing the cruise with her kids. Rhea can tell you more about this lady and her situation.

Wednesday (23^rd) we got up at 4 AM so we could make the crossing to the Baja side of the Sea and finish in daylight. By 5:30 the sails were up and we were sailing with the motor on so we could keep the average speed needed to finish in daylight.

We had a very uneventful crossing no waves and very little wind. We motored the whole time; the wind died completely about a third of the way across. We saw: sea turtles; one large whale; dolphin; lots of flying fish and what I think were a pod of pilot whales but could have been dolphin. Arrived at 5:45 PM, average speed 6 knots.

I had my lucky cedar plug trailing behind looking for a tasty Dorado but the water was so clear it didn’t fool them.

Santa Rosalia has a small marina with 13 boat slips. People from the other boats helped us dock. One then took me to the clubhouse were I was given keys to the dock and the clubhouse and a sheet of paper where we mark down the beer and soda we take from the coolers. We “settle up when you leave”. They also have a washing machine and dryer we can use. We put that on the sheet also. “Don’t forget to turn the propane tank on all the way or the dryer won’t work”

We are learning that getting to know the other cruisers is one of the best parts of cruising. This marina is so small that we get to meet everybody. In the late afternoon the men drink beer and tell lies in the clubhouse. Perhaps today I will join them.

Santa Rosalia has an interesting history. I won’t go into it but we have been in a church designed and built by Carl Gustaf Eiffel who built a tower in Paris at the same time right next to this church.

Breakfast today in the Hotel Frances built in the 1886. It has a museum in the lobby we want to see.

And now, a word from your mother….

This cruising life is certainly interesting and too, are the people who participate. It has been mostly fun. The places we have seen are beautiful in their own way and the people are really nice. It should be a lot nicer in the fall when the weather is better and more of the cruisers are around. I think I may be able to convert to a part-time cruiser. However, I keep thinking of you and that empty house on Canyon Drive with ac and white walls in need of paint. Can’t wait to see you and my three grandbabies. I love and miss you. Mom

P.S. We had breakfast at the most charming restaurant at the top of the hill this morning. It was a hotel at the time of the big copper mines run by the French here in Santa Rosalia. about a hundred years ago.

Mom and Dad

6/25/04 2PM

6th letter to the kids. Spring of 04 shakedown cruise

What Do We Do All Day?

27˚ 56.788’ North

111˚ 05.521’ West

Hola,

We are back in our San Carlos slip. The trip to Isla San Marcos was notable because we saw three Sperm whales. They have a very distinctive head shape and they are the only whales that blow forward at about a forty-five degree angle. They feed almost exclusively on squid and octopuses. Santa Rosalia has a fleet of about 100 pangas that go out 6 nights a week to fish for giant squid. The really big squid run about 45 kilos (100 pounds) we were told. There are two squid packing plants just North of the harbor. The stench can be really bad if the wind is from the North.

We overtook the whales and as we passed the closest one lifted his huge head out of the water and looked at us. I would guess that we were well under 100 yards away.

We also saw bat rays doing flips from time to time. Common in warm seas we are told but the first time we have seen them.

The anchorage at Isla San Marcos was another neat spot. We were alone the first day and night. Just before sunset the second day an American sport fishing boat from San Diego anchored near us. We spent the days swimming, snorkeling, climbing around the near shore hills and taking dinghy rides to explore sea caves.

We found a cave that had a very low front door that you had to swim through, but once inside, the back opens onto a small beach accessible by dinghy if you go around a cliff. It also had a natural skylight in the ceiling. Really cool.

During the trip back to the mainland the engine died. We were about an hour into a 12-hour trip in very confused seas. We were bouncing around. I was up front cleaning up the mess made by raising the anchor. Rhea was at the helm.

The 1^st of two fuel filters was blocked because sediment from the fuel tank had been stirred up by the bouncing action of the boat. Vagari had spares on board so the only problem was figuring how to purge the fuel system of air after I had changed the filter. We also had the necessary manuals on board so I learned a new skill.

I had my lucky cedar plug out all the way back but no luck again. I am now thinking that only the Pacific Ocean Dorado like cedar plugs. One really smart bird dove on it four times. He was lucky not to get hooked.

We think we have two more days of “putting the boat away” before we head home.

Stan & Rhea

Thursday July 1, 2004