The night was quiet! Wind and waves were decent! I slept inbetween the million things that wakes one up on a sailboat making a passage! I thought about deploying the whisker pole during the night but decided against it and to wait til day light. Therefore I kept a more western heading to allow sails to be on a beam reach.
First thing this morning “let’s deploy that whisker pole” that caused us to delay our departure for 8 weeks! So, I reefed the main considerably to allow the head sail to have unobstructed wind, took the pole out of the chalk (rubber holder on bottom of track), tugged on the topping lift to allow some height and slowly raised the pole and pulled out the sail. Hmmm, should we telescope the pole more. Na, it seems happy for now!
Tada, we are heading more south then west and aiming for inbetween Christmas Island and the Marquesses. We are surfing waves and drinking coffee!
Sails and sailors are happy!
Chalk to hold bottom of pole while storedWhisker pole attached to gib sheetMainsail reefed Another tool…Birds are gone!
At 09.00 N17*24.072 W115*43.10 COG: 230 SOG: 7kn ….clouds and flying fish!
Evening and night of day 4! Male Red Footed Boobie stayed on the solar panel all night while female Boobie flew around the boat on and off all night. He was sound asleep in the howling wind with his head tucked into his body. Since they mate for life she was probably wondering what he was up to!
Male Sound asleep…Goodnight world!Female Boobie searching for her mate!
Stars are amazing tonight and winds are building! I’m pretty sure I have to reef the mainsail more during this evening. I’ve already furled in the Genoa sail and staysail is up. Feels like it could be an entertaining night! Sarantium is doing 6.5 kn and getting bounced around a bit. I could point her down a bit and sail her on a beam reach but then we will go more south than planned. It’s ideal to sail as westerly as possible so when it comes to crossing the equator there are more choice in where to cross. You don’t want to get there “too east” as more likely to run into the doldrums too early. According the PredictWind there is more wind around the equator the closer we are to French Polynesia.
Waves are building tonight and it seems sea floor is shallow here. Typically, when the depth-sounder says 34-40 meters depth I can expect larger breaking waves. But there is no way around it. We have another island coming up on our port side and after that depths should increase. I’m so glad I bought a boat that can handle these conditions well.
I can’t wait to crack open my first coconut!
Looks like 180 days was all this flag could handle! Today, I’m illegally here in Mexican waters!
01.00 it is and my shift has started! I laid down for 4 hours, however slept zero minutes. Can’t say I’m excited about my shift tonight! As soon as I took over the helm, female red footed Boobie joined her partner on the solar panel, 4 feet away from the helm! They have been saying hello to each other by squeaking back and forth! They must be happy to be rejoined!
Pretty quickly winds diminished and I had to unfurl mainsail and get Sarantium up to 6 kn in order to stabilize and have a smoother sail. After an uneventful night I fell asleep.
At 11.18, N18*21.54. W113*53.20
COG:223T SOG: 6.2 kn
Plan: keep this course until W130* and N9* and then start turning south through the equator to avoid doldrums. 😉
180 days ago I fulfilled one of my small dreams! At the time it felt like a milestone crossing the border into Ensenada, Mexico! I remember feeling this journey I embarked out was more than just a vacation to the USA. I was also damn nervous about getting the TIP (temporary import permit) and the border rigmarole. Of course, I didn’t have the right paperwork and it took a bit of work on my part, contacting my boat broker, who stepped up and made it way less stressful🙏🏽. Anyhow, here we are, just about to cross into international waters at 355 nautical miles off Mexico mainland! I believe international waters starts 200 NM off a any country. If so, then we are definitely in international boarder. But what I am not clear on is if this includes islands off Mexico. There are five to six islands that we have been passing throughout the night and we have two (Isla Roca Partida on our port side) coming up which we will be passing in the next 6-7 hours.
So, I slept!!! Last night I crawled into bed around 20.00 and was woken up around 00.30 to take over in the pit! I was still tired as I am pretty sure I had not slept much in the past 48 hours as waves were so close together and wind direction not favourable. For that reason, we set the steering more south than we would have liked. The motion with a following sea brings more comfort. Now we are steering more west and will continue this until we see a favourable crossing position for the equator.
I set my alarm on my phone for 25 min as this is generally how long it takes for tankers to appear on the horizon. Yesterday, I hailed two as they were within 2-3 miles of collision. Both, altered a their heading a couple of degrees to give more clearance. It has been busy with tankers, cargo ships and large pleasure boats up until now. Now, all I see is another sailboat called “Bliss” who most likely are headed to French Plolonesia! It is nice to know other sailors are out here. My Danish connection is also out here somewhere but a couple of days ahead of us. I keep in touch with them on “Noforeignland”.
I slept on and off for the next 6 hours with the alarm to wake my every 25 minutes. I stand up, look around, activate the radar and check the AIS for large boats. Repeat the alarm and go back to sleep!
At 06.00 we did shift change and I slept until 09.00! YAY!
During the night, generally, my rule is that we drop the genoa and replace it with the staysail and if necessary reef the main. This I do 30 minutes before sunset. The boat slows down a couple of knots, from 7.5kn to 5.5kn. In the event we would hit something, such as a whale, container or derelict, the impact would be less. It will also be less dramatic if a squall occurs.
In regards to food, we snack a lot. I have hard boiled eggs on hand, nuts, bread and cheese, apples and oranges. Every 2-3 days, I make a pasta/rice/veggie stew loaded with lentils, beans and chickpeas that can be eaten warm or cold. My mother would be happy to know I eat well. I dug out the fishing gear this morning so with any luck we will be feasting on fresh fish soon!
On my service list: 1. tighten up bolts on hydrovan as it seems to be moving slightly. 2. resplice some wires for the AIS and VHF, as it corroded and broke off. We temporarily cleaned it up but it needs to be done properly when we have less waves. It works for now but my friend, Kevin, the Marine electrician (on S/V Cat Harpin Blue) would be horrified, if he saw it!
No wildlife other than birds; I can’t find my birdbook for identification, but I believe they are boobies. They always look like they are trying to land on the bow of the boat!
In the day, I wear shorts, sweater. In the night, I wear base layer (smart wool), foul weather gear, wool hat, socks, rubber boots and two thick wool blankets on top when I snooze in the cockpit, as air is wet and cold.
I am happy!
Red Footed Boobie!
Ps. Male boobies are grey brownish in color with red feet, like the one on my boat. Female boobies are white with some black and also have red feet! I’ve witnessed female boobies circling around and fishing while the male is sitting here! He is probably waiting for dinner to be served!
Last night was not so pleasant with winds of 25 kn and 6-8ft, 3-4 seconds apart, waves on the beam that I was trying to manage. As much as my plan was to stay a west direction I ended up turning Sarantium south to surf the waves instead of getting smacked on the beam! Most of the night, Sarantium kept 5-7 kn with three reefs in the main and only staysail flying! I slept zero minutes until 05.00 when wind eased and wave action improved. This morning, feels different! We’re just getting into the trade winds and wind is gentler. We’re are presently on close reach and self steering is happy!
These landed 4 hours ago and are not leaving. They’ve been preening and hanging out. I could get within 4 feet and they still didn’t move. One left but came back! I think they’re called Red footed Boobie but could be wrong! They stayed for 20 hours!
Before I forget, I would like to thank you for reading my blogs! I also want you to know that all your comments are read and appreciated! During my night watches I read comments, however seldom have wifi on and therefore do not comment back. Comments often brings a smile to my face. 💙
At 17.15 Pacific Standard Time. N23*14.87 W109*15.57
COG: 174* SOG: 4.5 kn
We motored out of the anchorage to get away from rocks and shore. After about 45 min, I raised the sails and was heading south following the cost line of south Baja. We hardly had any wind at first, so Sarantium did a fair bit of bobbing around. Swell was building slowly as we played cribbage and took turns swimming while hanging off the dragging line for safety. The blue water has intensified in the past 2 hours. Sea lions, Manta Rays, and whales are frequent visitors. North Westerlies are building and the forecast predicts winds between 10-20kn. We are getting closer to the trade winds! I just got to keep an eye on three to four large boat coming my way. Zaandam, Navigator of the Sea, Julian II and CSL Tecumseh. The last one, I have already hailed 4 days ago, as we were on collision course, so we know each other. Fortunately, they altered course on that day. Let’s see if it is the same captain and he remembers me! Out, for now!
Goodbye Mexico!
The night was somewhat long. Wind never quite filled in and I was trying hard to keep Sarantium on a close haul to head south west. At times I dropped the sails, tied off the heavy furling boom to the side, as swell bounced it around and made it difficult to sleep. As we were situated about 15 NM off the south end of Baja and current was bringing us further south, I decided to sleep for an hour. Just as my alarm went off, wind started to build and at 8 kn of wind I raised the sails. It is always excited to feel the wind build and I always think to myself “this is it” and unfortunately so far it never turns out to be “it”! This went on all night and finally at 04.00 I turned the engine and motored South West. Around 05.00 I handed over the helm to my crew, Adrian, and I went to bed. I believe wind decided to tease some more and sails were hoisted and dropped for the next 4 hours. This makes for a very restless sleep below. 🤬 I ended up playing musical beds for the four hours as the forward cabin is quieter when engine is on and aft cabin is quieter when sailing…. around 09.00, we raised the sail again! This time, I am hoping for the last time until the equator!
Not sure what to call this Day 1 or Day 7. In regards to food, it is Day 7 but in regards to sailing to French it is Day 1! So I am going to call it Day 1!!!!
In fact, I believe that another name for the bay Sarantium is anchored in, is called Chicken Bay! As I previously wrote, wind looked poor for today and tomorrow. I knew Bahia Los Frailes was close by, so we motored in and anchored. I have spent the day swimming, snorkeling, watching whales go by, walking the beach and socializing with other sailors.
I woke up this morning to a welcome/goodmorning message in Danish, on the app “Foreignland”. The boat beside us belongs to a Danish man and his partner from Malaysia. They resided in Malaysia for 10 years where he had sailed to from Turkey, where he bought his boat. Since most sailors belong to the app “Noforeignland” he right away knew who I was, where I have sailed and where I am going. We ended up chatting back and forth, until they pulled anchor, motored out and is now heading to French Polynesia! Their boat is a Beneteau 59, so there is no way I can catch up to them. But I am sure I will see them again, as he owns property in Sweden where he plan to reside part time! The sailing community is small!
An hour later, a catamaran pulled up with a couple from Santa Barbara who are bashing back. When they learned that we were heading to French Polynesia they decided to bring over a bottle of red wine. I learned that this wine is from the oldest vineyard in Mexico called V3, Casa Mara from 1547. They said to “open it on the equator and think of this anchorage and us”.
The day allowed for going through the boat again and I decided pull the Assymetrical Gennaker out of the bag, mostly as I was curious whether I had sewn the bag and sail together when I was stitching the sail bag. The Gennekar comes with a sock/snuffer. Since I have never used these, I decided to watch a few instructional videos, as hoisting a massive light wind sail incorrectly, can lead to a disaster. I think I figured it out… I hope! Dinner consisted of concoxious items, such as, black rice, lentils, squash, onion, garlic, cauliflower with a dash of turmeric stuffed into a wrap! No wine!
Sailaway Sarantium 