Engine is on

Rog is ready to cast off the lines after just two days in La Paz so the engine is already on!  Not sure of our destination but believe we will go to Partida today and then head up to Isla San Francisco tomorrow.  No internet for a couple of weeks while we slowly make our way up to Puerto Escondido where we will get more fuel and provisions.  Our goal is to get to Honeymoon Cove and just cool our heals for a bit

More on our journey when I find a connection but for not we are out to Sea.

The Passage of Friday the 13th

Sailing lore has always said to never leave port with bananas on board or on a Friday.  Leaving on a Friday the 13th is a double whammy of bad Ju Ju so what did we do last week?  Right we left on Friday the 13th along with our good friends Eric and Marilyn on Full Shell.  We escaped unscathed unlike our buddies on Full Shell who developed engine problems after just eight hours of sailing.  They headed back to Mazatlan under full sail knowing that is would be slow going.  What had taken eight hours under engine power ended up taking 23 hours to drift slowly back to port.

 Once Friday slipped into Saturday and the seas calmed I awoke to find Rog with his fishing poles in the water.  His watch had been from 4am to 7am and I was a little slow getting going with the morning coffee and light breakfast.  By 8:30 he was VERY ready to head down for a morning nap when we heard that unmistakable sound of FISH ON!  We always look around to see if we can see the fish as it begins his fight and this one was up and out of the water immediately so we knew we had something large on the line.  Luckily the wind was light so when we turned on the engine we could control the speed and direction in order to keep the fish directly behind us.  After an hour for fight we finally got him close enough to see what we had caught.

 Roger's goal was to lift him high enough to take pictures for our family Rob Roy Perfect Fishing Tournament in honor of my Father who passed away this passed Christmas.  This guy was too heavy for a straight lift so he decided to lay him across the swim step ladder instead.  

The swim ladder is 30 inches wide so you are looking at a wahoo that is at least 60 inches long and as time to release was of the essence to get him back in the water we will never know his exact measurement.  There is a tape measure in the fishing bag now.

 I was forced into service when two of our three lines started singing at the exact same moment, two fish on!  I was very surprised to find out how hard it was to reel in my fish when we were still underway at 5 knots.  I now understand why Rog is always asking for the boat to be slowed down, that and to try and not lose the fish because of a broken line.  I pulled in the first yellow fin tuna of this season, bigger than our one from last season.  Again it was a quick release so he could swim off.

I tried to take the hook out of his mouth but wisely decided to leave that job to Rog.  In calm seas the swim step has been a great spot for landing our fish.

Roger landed his yellow fin without much trouble.  The fish was worn out after being drug behind the boat while I took took the better part of 30 minutes to land mine.  He was quickly returned to the water.

This is the one that got away!  Our last catch of the day was a dorado that put up the biggest fight of the day.  He jumped and danced on the water when first caught and then dove to try and escape.  Close to an hour later we finally saw him again along with another fish that followed close behind.  Rog got him right to the stern of the boat and was about to use the gaff when the line broke.   With that our fantastic fishing day came to an end.  We were too tired to go for sail fish which was all we were missing from perfect day of fishing.

Our day came to an end with a beautiful  sunset that we thought would bring down the sea state.  We were wrong, the wind and seas picked back up to give us winds over 18 knots on the nose and seas around 4 to 6 feet.  By morning it was finally better and we had a delightful motor into La Paz

By Sunday 9am our trip that began on Friday the 13th had been completed with no major catastrophe.  We were very fortunate and will try not to temp fate anytime in the near future 

Easter Week in Mazatlan

When we left PV on last Thursday we knew that we would be arriving on the morning of Good Friday which is the beginning of a long holiday weekend in Mexico.  Our plans were to meet up with Orland and Linda on Cuba Libre.  We had heard about the Sunday brunch at El Cid and knew we had to give it a try.  We met on the terrace overlooking the water for our first mimosa at 9am and had our last one at 3pm.  What a way to spend a beautiful day

 The pool is the main attraction at El Cid and there were so many people in it you couldn't possibly swim.  The tots pool was a favorite for parents with small children

   
 There was music poolside for the entire weekend which we were also able to enjoy down on the boat

Roger found a poolside lounge and was determined not to give it up for the entire weekend.  Well, maybe on Easter just in order to have a mimosa, but the rest of the time he was right here.

I went for a beach walk with Linda and found it to be crowded with locals and vendors. At high tide we found it a bit difficult to navigate the beach but it was fun.

I loved the way the Mexicans bring everything to the beach.  Even a wading pool to keep the smallest kids safe from the big bad sea.

     



  Everyone finds a way to enjoy the water down here and I am sure a ride on this Hobie is a lot more fun in the warm waters found here that back up in the San Francisco Bay.

Friday the weather appears to right for our next crossing which will be from Mazatlan to La Cruz.  We will be traveling with Eric and Marilyn on Full Shell before we head up the Sea.

Passage to Mazatlan

I can write all about the beautiful passage we had between PV and Mazatlan but I think these pictures do more than words.  The seas were very flat, they have been forecast to be 4 to 6 feet, winds on our nose, that was as predicted but best of all was the sunset.  The island in the distance is Isla Isabella which is about the halfway point on the passage.  Someday we will drop anchor and go ashore there but so far it hasn't happened.
 

It had been slightly overcast most of the day which provided us with this fabulous sunset.  I was at the helm, Roger was down below taking a much needed nap before his night shift.  I was hoping for a green flash but it did not happen on this night.  We didn't see much in the way of sea life until late at night when Rog observed the water just teaming with bait fish.  The full moon brought them to the surface.  Two whales did make an appearance but the camera did not come out fast enough.

                                        Does this picture explain why we make passages?

Pictures of the moon never show what we really see but I will put up a couple of pictures anyway.  After all, in a 24 hour passage about half of that is done in darkness.  We only saw two fishing boats on this entire passage and they were during my watch.  Neither caused me to change course and both passed no closer than two miles so no need to get Roger up.

    For passages we run our standard knot, depth and windpoint windspeed as well as the radar.  At night we also turn on our cockpit Monitor that works as a repeater for our plotter and radar.  This keeps us protected under the hard dodger regardless off weather conditions.   You might wonder about the depth reading of 24  feet, it generally means something large is swimming along with us.  Be still my heart.

Watching the Basketball Game

It is Monday night and we have found a spot to watch the basketball game here at Paradise Village.  The lobby bar sports two big TVs and one is tuned in English to the KU/Kentucky game while the other is rocking in Spanish to a soccer game.  Needless to say, you can't hear a thing from either TV but the atmosphere is fun.  Right now KU is not doing so well, if fact it is not working out well at all but there is always hope.

What are our plans?  Not sure, not sure at all.  The weather is not saying go but it isn't so terrible that is says stay.  On top of that the port captain closes for Easter weekend Thursday so if we want to go anytime before Monday we have to go ahead and check out.  What to do, I guess we will get ourselves all ready to go and decide on Wednesday.  We do want to get up to the Sea at some point this season.

Along that line I did go to Costco today to pick up necessary supplies.  I am now well stocked on cheese, deli meat, stewed tomatoes and canned tuna.  It is hard to figure out exactly what we will eat over the next two months and not have any leftovers when it is time to leave the boat.  I try to leave the cabinets bare when we return home for the summer.  Fresh produce was also picked up but we will have that consumed before we leave Mazatlan.

The basketball game is going from bad to worse and the bar is running out of beer so I think it might be time for us to call it a night and head back to the boat.  My KU team still deserves my support but I may have to read about this in the morning