Anchored in Turtle Bay

Leaving Ensenada

Ryan and a couple of his close friends made the long drive and dropped off the solar panel control part that we needed.  Jeff hit the on switch and we soon departed from Cruiseport Village Marina. 

We made it out of the channel and sailed over to Coral Marina to get fuel. This looked like a more modern Marina than where we stayed but it was further away from town. So I think we really lucked out with staying at Cruiseport Village.

After fueling up at $4.00 a gallon, we finally set our sails and headed south. It was a little windier and choppier than it had been the last few days.

Not too far out from Ensenada, Konrad had a “fish on!” He feverishly reeled and pulled, as we all huddled around to be of assistance and to see the fish! It was so exciting to watch it all! As he brought the fish up to the stern of the boat, which was putting up quite a fight, Konrad grabbed the slippery fish, removed the hook from it’s mouth and then sat there trying to hold it down as it flopped about.  Kim then handed a hammer to Konrad who gave the fish a few good blows. With each blow, blood would spatter all over. I had to turn my head for this.  I could hear the hammer squish the poor little fish’s head each time.  I looked the other way, tried to plug my ears and hold onto the boat all at once. Oh…and take a picture of this exciting event.  Konrad was so happy! Kim too! They had such big smiles on their faces. Poor Rick had been trying to catch a fish the entire trip with no luck and Konrad catches one the first half hour after we leave the shore. 

The Crime Scene

The fish Konrad caught was a 20” Bonita. It was really a pretty fish.  Too bad it was soon not going to look as pretty. Konrad gutted the fish right then and there at the stern of the boat. Blood was everywhere on the back deck and on Konrad’s shorts. It was quite a mess. It looked like a scene from Dexter. 

Not too much longer after we had cleaned up the bloody mess, Rick noticed we had picked up a crab pot somewhere along our way.  He could see the yellow line coming from beneath the boat.  He was able to grab the line and pull it up to the boat while Konrad took a knife and cut it loose.  The crab pot was free but part of the line was still attached. It must have been wrapped around the rudder. Since the swells were pretty big and the winds were up we decided to take care of removing it for a calmer time.  Luckily it was windy and we were able to sail.

Rick bringing up the crab pot…oops.

Kim and Konrad resting after battling a fish and a crabpot

For dinner that night, Konrad’s fish fed all six of us and there was more left over for lunch the next day. 

Later in the evening the seas were a lot messier and windier. Big swells and heavy winds. At least bigger and heavier than it had been most of the trip.  It was pretty cold too. We were all dressed up in our foul weather gear again.  Jeff assigned the night watches.  The first watch was he and Peggy from 6-9. Then it was to be Rick and I from 9-12, Jeff & Peggy again at 12-3, Then Rick and I from 3-6. It was a long night! Not much sleep by anyone except Kim and Konrad (we decided to let them sleep their first night off shore).  When you were on watch you obviously had to be awake but when it came time to sleep you just couldn’t sleep because of all the rocking and rolling of the wind and sea. We were at a beam reach, starboard tack & heeled pretty severely to the portside of the boat. The boat was moving like a freight train through the water, moving at about 8 knots.  Trying to sleep was a joke because we were so pushed up against the portside of the boat, jammed against our luggage, which was on our bed.  A ride to best describe this moment would be the Artic Flyer at the Boardwalk. It’s the ride where you go round and round up and down at fast rates and being slammed up against the person you’re in the car with unable to move because the G-forces are so strong.  But instead of panicking, you laugh, you laugh really hard!  That was Rick and my experience. We were laughing hysterically on and off through the night. I guess the laughter also could have been that we were delirious with sleep deprivation. 

This is what we sleep in when we are underway. Things get thrown around and there's no time to clean it until we get to calmer seas.

Back to the boat moving like a speeding train…Rick was enjoying this tack so much and the speed that we were going that he kept us a little off of the course we were supposed to be on. He liked it so much, that by morning we had gone about 80-100 miles further out to sea than we should have.  I don’t think Jeff or Peggy was too happy with this turn of events but we just checked it off as another learning experience.

The entire next day was about getting us back on course.  The sun was still hiding behind the clouds so it was cool and a little blustery. We were still wearing our foul weather gear.  We’d had high hopes of wearing t-shirts and shorts once we hit Mexico. Anyway, it was a long day. The waves were rolly, choppy and the wind speed was about 16 knots. 

Upon waking on this day, November 15^th, our Spinnaker sail got intertwined and tangled beyond what looked like repair.  The thought of just cutting it loose came to mind at times.  But Rick, and Konrad and Jeff worked together to untangle the sail. Rick and Konrad were up at the bow of the boat doing what they could do and Jeff was at the helm. Peggy, Kim and I were on standby at the winches.  It took quite some time to unravel the sail. We ended up driving in circles to do so. It wasn’t easy because it was windy and the swells were big.  After the sail was untangled, believe it or not, we put the sail out again. But this time, we sort of switched our course so that wind would work with the sail instead of against it.

Tangled mess

That night the night watches were altered just a little but we all had double shifts again, which really means you’re up the entire night. Rick and I had Kim join us at one of our early a.m. shifts.  She and Konrad really want to be a part of the entire experience of sailing so that includes night watches. I wanted to let Kim sleep because she looked so cozy down below. So, I let her sleep an extra hour after Rick and I had been on watch before I woke her.

On a side note, our GPS ran out of maps. So, we were/are at the mercy of paper charts. The GPS has never really worked the way we’d like since we got to Mexico. Jeff is going to try and contact Garmin today to see what can be done to download an update of some kind.

 

Cedros
November 16^th, was similar to the last. The sun was hidden, the seas were sloppy and the wind about 16-18 knots most of the day. We finally got a little sunshine in the afternoon as we drew close to Islas Cedros which is a big island that looks baron and uninhabited.  It got so warm out that we all took off a layer or two until we were down to shorts and t-shirts. Jeff thought maybe we would sail to the other side of the island and anchor inside the little bay for the night. We started into find a spot, when he decided it wouldn’t be that great of an anchor so we headed out to find a spot at Turtle Bay as planned.  Our ETA was to be around 10pm.

 

Bahia de Tortuga

We arrived in Turtle Bay at 10:00 p.m. It was completely dark out and there was no moon out to guide us in.  Everyone was out on deck, except for me. I went to my cabin around 9 and fell fast asleep.  So the events I’m about to tell you are second hand.  On Rick’s account, when we arrived in the channel of Turtle Bay the visibility was nil and the wind was blowing at 28 knots or more. It was a fairly narrow channel at that. Jeff had to sort of feel his way in. There was so much showing up on the radar screen you couldn’t tell what was what. So needless to say Jeff was a little disoriented and ran aground on the tip of Punta Sargasso.  He maneuvered the boat and eventually got us off the rocks.  The anchor was dropped around 11:00 p.m. inside Bahia Tortuga.

We all got a full nights rest!

Today, November 17^th,  we woke to sunshine but heavy winds. Dingying to shore does not sound so inviting right now. After a delicious ham and egg breakfast made by Peggy, we each have all just been doing our own thing. Kim and Konrad are watching a movie on their computer down below. I’m sequestered to my cabin working on the blog. Peggy is getting things organized (after you are out at sea for a few days things get a little out of order). Hopefully she can find time to take it easy as well. Rick and Jeff are tinkering with the Windlass, which we discovered was not working when they attempted to use it this morning to pull up the anchor to move the boat to a better location.    

In the near distance (about a 1/4 mile) we see the shore. It looks very dry and mountainous. There is a small beach area and a few homes and small buildings. Not many! There are maybe ten other sailboats and about 6 big fishing boats anchored here.  We also see a sailboat belonging to our friends from Canada that we met in Ensenada’s here. They have a gorgeous Passport 44’. Rick and I were able to see their boat inside and out. It is the perfect boat for cruising of any type….coastal cruising or an ocean passage. They recently sold their home in Canada and purchased this boat to live aboard and to sail the world, along with their 17-year-old son. Such a nice family! We hope to see more of them in our travels.

This evening after we dinghy’d to shore, we walked around the town in Turtle Bay. It’s a dry, dusty, quiet little town. The houses are so small and fragile. They are made of whatever was available at the time I imagine. Some houses are falling apart and seem to have a collection of junk all around them. 

There are little dogs running loose all over the streets. All uncared for. Some look worse than the others. A couple dogs I saw had major dread locks….so sad. I want to pet them but know it’s probably not a good idea.  We walked throughout the town looking for a place that had Wi-Fi. We finally found a spot over looking the bay. It was a little run down but the most in tact structure we found. We were surprised to see some other Sailors there. They were all so friendly! Some were returning from the Baha ha ha. And some just heading towards Cabo like us. The owner of the restaurant, Paula (sounds like Pow-La) was the sweetest.  She made the best fish tacos. They were awesome! She took such care to make them just right. Which also meant so much time. She actually had to wait for her son to return from the market with food before she started to prepare what we had ordered.

Enjoying a night out for fish taco's!

After a fun evening out, we got back to the boat and got to sleep early.

I have to say, we miss our old crew and wish they were here to join us. But we are really enjoying our new crewmembers too, Kim and Konrad. They are so adorable, fun, interesting, flexible and willing to help anytime. Kim is an amazing chef back home and Konrad was a scuba diving instructor.  But the cool thing about them is that they are good together. They do everything together. They cook together; clean up together; sit intertwined together when lounging around either down below or on deck.  So connected. …so in tune with one another.  With all of the traveling and the adventures they’ve had together it looks like they will have a strong and happy relationship for years to come.

 

Konrad & Kim

We are here until tomorrow morning then we only have six more days to go.  We are not sure where we will stop on the way but we are up for the adventure!