Sailing with Dummies (California to Texas, Day 21)
Monday, June 29, 2009
by Mike
More rain this morning. We headed directly into a headwind. That’s the Minnow’s most common travel condition. Into a raining headwind.
We got to Cocos Island at 1:00 in the afternoon and it was sunny and nice! Perfect conditions for island exploration and diving. We did both.
Sailing with Dummies (California to Texas, Day 20)
Sunday, June 28, 2009
by Mike
It’s been raining a lot on the way to Cocos Island. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 96% of the time. Of course, part of the time it’s only sprinking, but that still counts as rain.
Fishing Report:
We started out the day with a 15-pound dolphin. It was raining too hard to clean it, so we practiced our catch and release techniques. Next Fullerton brought in a 10-pound dolphin. This time we were in light rain so we killed it and cleaned it.
Late in the afternoon Bob slowed the engines and started reeling in a good one. So good, in fact, that it started jumping out of the water. It was some sort of bill fish and looked just like they used to on Wide World of Sports. Bob kept after it for a long time. Luckily we had the sails down at the time and could stop quickly, or it wouldn’t have been on long.
“Bob quit screwing around and catch that thing,” I said after about an hour. It was getting dark.
Thirty minutes later Fullerton had the spotlight pointed to the end of the pole and we all were wearing headlights, Bob was playing the fish (or playing with the fish), and I was trying to follow the fish around with the boat.
“Turn 40 degrees left and back up,” Bob would say, “now thirty right. This fish is fast. Now forward!” I couldn’t see the line in the dark, so I was just driving blindly. Kind of like driving a minivan?
Thirty minutes later the fish was up near the boat, tired out, but still much stronger than any of us. After lots of effort (lots of failures) I finally got a sailing rope tied around its tail. We winched it up on the steps. Then we rejoiced, puffed our chests out, took pictures, touched the fish, and measured it.
It measured 115” long (9 feet, 7 inches). A blue marlin. A beast!
Then we let it go. It twitched a couple of times and then swam off like nothing was wrong. Catch and release. That’s what fishermen do.
Fine Dining:
We ate the dolphin. The actual name of the dish was “Sautéed Mahi-mahi in spices ala New Orleans.” The potatoes went down good with the fried fish!
Fine Arts:
In the lull between catching fish I treated Bob and Fullerton to some fine art. I hooked my electric guitar into the ship-wide stereo and started wailing. It was great!
One problem was some electronic noise, kind of like feedback only high-pitched and constant and loud. Fullerton thought it sounded like a carbon monoxide detector going off. I thought it added to the experience. After 20 minutes my fingers got sore and I ended the performance.
They were still sitting there, outside, when the big fish bit.
Sailing with Dummies (California to Texas, Day 19)
Saturday, June 27, 2009
by Mike
We spent the morning and afternoon cleaning, getting more diesel and diet cokes, and exploring a bit. Fullerton showed up with a rental car and took us for a ride. Bob and I were good enough to earn a McDonald’s drive-thru in Liberia.
We had gotten enough stuff done, and explored enough that at 4:00 we took off for Cocos Island. About 30 minutes into our voyage we looked back and saw the marina and harbor in deluge of rain. We thought, “wow, that was luck, what good timing.” About 30 minutes later we were rushing to shut all the windows and hatches as the deluge caught us. We thought, “wow, it’s nice to get the entire boat rinsed off so well.”
We’re about 1.75 days from Cocos Island. It’s supposed to be really good scuba diving there. We’re looking forward to diving and exploring the island when we get there.
Sailing with Dummies (California to Texas, Day 18)
Friday, June 26, 2009
by Mike
We pulled into Costa Rica at 4:30 in the afternoon. We parked at Marina Papagayo, “Costa Rica’s first and only luxury marina - the jewel of the Pacific American Coastline” according to their website. It is a nice place, but it’s still under construction. The people there are nice and willing to help. Wendy was especially helpful!
We hired an agent to help. They cost too much and weren’t the greatest. By 6:30 we had completed most of the customs and immigration junk.
After we got rid of everyone we unfurled the gennaker, revealing a messed up furler. This meant that we couldn’t refurl the gennaker (as we suspected) so we took the sail down, folded it, stuffed it in a sail bag, and stowed it. We will continue “gennakerless.”
Wireless internet in the marina let us catch up on normal email. It also let us waste time reading old news (olds?). Word was that Fullerton was in the country, but we didn’t see him.
Sailing with Dummies (California to Texas, Day 17)
Thursday, June 25, 2009
by Mike
Nothing noteworthy to report today. We motor-sailed our way toward Costa Rica against a current of .75 to 1.5 knots. It was hot outside and cool inside. Finished another book and started yet another. Nothing broke!
Lots of porpoises swam around the boat during the afternoon and evening. They were fun to watch.
Fishing report:
Some bites, no fish.
Fine arts:
Bob broke out his IPod to settle some sort of debate. The debate was left unsettled but we did listen to a variety of music for a few hours.
Sailing with Dummies (California to Texas, Day 16)
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
by Mike
Good conditions continued overnight. Early this morning the oil plug came out of the right engine while it was running, draining it into the bilge. Luckily, Bob heard the beeping of it and shut it down quickly. Unluckily, this made a really messy mess.
After he went to bed, I attacked the clean-up and refill. Figuring to get full credit for an oil change (and deservedly so, it was a mess) I opted to change the filter, too. It’s stuck down at the bottom of the most forward (hardest to get to) part of the motor. It’s way worse than I can describe.
We got about 13 miles from shore hunting for the most favorable current. It got hotter, the closer we got to land. Good thing the air conditioner works. Looks like we might make Costa Rica on Friday. Reports are in: Fullerton is already there waiting on us.
Fishing report:
Right in the middle of changing the oil filter I heard a reel start zinging. I actually had to think about it for a moment. I was oily, greasy, sweaty, and crammed horizontally in a cranny a little smaller than I comfortably fit. But a fish is a fish. So I backed my way out of the corner, climbed out of the engine compartment, walked across to the other side of the boat, and dutifully cranked the drag down, quieting the reel. Then I returned to the engine for awhile.
Twenty minutes later I came up for air and checked. The pole was still bent. I reeled it in. And I caught a fish! It was an eight-pounder. A skipjack tuna. I let it go and got back to finishing the oil business.
Late in afternoon I started reeling in a fish. It seemed big. I put the motor in idle, reeled a bit, the fish ran a bit. The fight was over in only five minutes, when I reeled in a fishless lure. Blah. Looking at the lure I noticed the hook was bent. Not just any hook, this is a very large stainless steel hook. The same kind of hook that brought in a 9’10” sailfish in these very waters two years ago. “Hookbender” won this round. I don’t know what kind of fish “hookbender” is, but he is now part of Minnow lore.
We caught our first dolphin today also. It was kind of small, maybe 2-3 pounds. It’s in the refrig now. The fishing drought has ended!
Fine Dining:
Started the morning cooking, and eating, sticky buns. And fried eggs. Continued with pasta for lunch. Feeling frisky, I mixed Kroger’s noodles with Albertson’s marinara sauce. Worked great!
Sailing with Dummies (California to Texas, Day 15)
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
by Mike
We went faster today. First, the wind was finally not directly opposing us. This was a big improvement. Also, the waves were negligible, except for a large swell from the storm, now hundreds of miles away but still making its existence known. Choppy waves slow the boat down. Large swells don’t. Finally, we were not going against a two-knot head current. In fact, for much of the day, we had a current moving us along slightly faster!
The result was SOG (speed over ground) of 8-9 knots for most of the day. That compares with 3-4 knots for most of the three previous days on the water. The ride is also much more relaxing. One more thing … nothing broke.
Fishing report:
It started out as a good fishing day. I put the first line out and within 10 seconds had a bite. The reel screamed and took out about 50 feet of line in seconds. Then it quit. An hour later, when I was bike riding, the other pole started screaming. Then quit. Might need sharper hooks?
Late in the day we noticed that one of the poles had no line left on it. Probably lost a big one. Anyway, no fish boated today, but more action than we’ve had in several days.
Spending time outside by the poles would probably help our success rate, but it’s a lot nicer inside with the shade and air conditioning.
Fine Dining:
I finally broke out some chicken and fried it today for lunch. It really hit the spot. I don’t know I was needing (wanting), meat (protein) or grease (fat), but it was sure good.
The evening meal consisted of a huge baked potato loaded with butter, sour cream, salt, pepper, cheese and ketchup.
Long Beach to Cost Rica
Sailing with Dummies (California to Texas, Day 14)
Monday, June 22, 2009
by Mike
We spent the morning and afternoon at dock today. It rained lightly most of the morning and quit around noon for three hours. Then it started again.
We put up a new radome and now have radar again. Repaired the chafed rope holding a radar reflector so now it might not fall. Painted some marks on the anchor chain so we can see how deep it is in the water. Fixed the generator so we can run the air conditioner. Repaired the lifelines so we might not fall overboard. Remounted the teak seat in the front right of the boat so we can sit there and relax. Replaced the halyard clip so the rope wouldn’t flail around in the wind. Ate a bunch of cake for energy.
We also got 4 large trash bags of laundry done.
At 6:30 the welders showed up and welded the broken ¾” aluminum. Then we reassembled the front end of the boat and filled up with diesel.
By 9:00pm we were heading out to sea. And at 10:00 we put up the sails and were sailing at 9-10 knots in smooth waters with a nice quartering wind under the stars.
Fine Dining:
Bacon, eggs (over easy), and tuna-fish sandwich. And we ran out of cake!
Sailing with Dummies (California to Texas, Day 13)
Sunday, June 21, 2009
by Mike
Today I got up at 4:00am. I got semi-functional at 4:10. Bob went to bed at 4:15. It was rough with a 20 knot headwind and big waves coming right at us. And it was raining, of course. It was too rough to do much of anything comfortably, so I plugged in a movie. Then I sat, reclining on two pillows letting them absorb some of the banging and slamming.
The movie, some football movie with James Caan, wasn’t great, but wasn’t bad. About an hour into it I heard a huge “BOOM” behind me (toward the front of the boat) that sounded like some sort of major impact. Maybe like a car wreck really close. But I felt nothing. It was followed by a secondary noise (toward the back of the boat) which reminded me of glass breaking. Or something breaking.
Immediately I went outside to see what I could see. Well, immediately after pausing the movie, that is … it was at a good part. I didn’t see anything except rain in the pitch black. Then I grabbed an overboard beacon and a headlamp and put on a nighttime harness. I clipped into the safety webbing and headed forward. When I got to the front, I saw he front stay flying around loose and it had already caused some damage. I slowed the engines and went back inside and told Bob that he might want to start getting awake, we had some things to do (“happy father’s day, now get outa bed you lazy muttonhead!”).
The front stay is a 60-foot-long guy-wire that goes from the top of the mast to the tip of the bowsprit, (the pointy thing out front). It has a large sail (gennaker) furled around it. It holds the mast forward and we fly the gennaker from it in good sailing conditions. At the bottom of the stay is a drum that spools a rope used for furling and unfurling.
The stay had wrapped around the right spreader, about 30 feet up, and the bottom was held in a general area of the right front by the furling rope and a cable attached to the bottom right hull of the boat. Still attached to it were the eight-foot bowsprit and the 20-foot cable, along with substantial hardware and connections. It was heavy and swinging around wildly as the boat crashed into the waves.
I turned the boat sideways to the wind to settle the motion of the boat some and to use the wind to help keep the swinging mass away from the boat and doing more damage. Then I went forward for a better inspection of the situation, clipping and unclipping my harness along the way. It was windy, dark, and still raining. The gennaker had unfurled about 15 feet and was catching a lot of wind. It looked to be slowly unfurling more, not a good thing.
I took the left spinnaker tack (rope) from the front left of the boat and tied the end of it to the furling cage. Winching it in, it pulled the bottom of the mess back towards the middle of the boat over the trampoline where we could work on it.
By then Bob was up and silently observing the mess. We tied the bottom of the stay off with four different ropes and then removed the extra cabling and the bowsprit. This got rid of a lot of weight and thereby reduced the inertia of the swinging stay immensely. Then we turned the boat downwind to help get the stay off the spreader above. This accomplished, we tightening and loosening the four ropes, along with the furling rope, and managed to refurl the sail around the stay. That was a big help.
From there we ran ropes through the front cleats and back to winches. We were able to pull these ropes tight which pulled the end of the stay somewhat tight. Two hours after the “BOOM” we had things in good enough shape to limp on to the next town.
Some fine detective work later revealed that a shackle connecting a cable to front bottom part of the left hull had broken or come loose. This let the bowsprit be ripped upwards and to the right, which tore the bowsprit off where it was welded to a crossbeam. The stay, bowsprit, and cables tore off the top of the radome, killing our radar. It also tore off a radar reflector, broke a lifeline, and stetched and sprung two more lifelines. The gennaker furler may have some damage; we won’t be able to check it until we get the other things fixed.
While we’re at Huatulco, we’ll try to get the bowsprit mount welded and we’ll also try to fix a few other things, get some laundry done, and fill up with diesel. With luck, maybe we can be back sailing late tomorrow.
Sailing with Dummies (California to Texas, Day 12)
Saturday, June 20, 2009
by Mike
There was no sailing today. Lots’ or rain, direct headwind of 25-35 knots, and big, choppy waves to go along with it kept our sails down and both our motors running.
The forecast showed winds of 7 knots from the front right, but this was one of the days that they didn’t get it quite right. In addition to the crappy wind and rain and waves, we had a head-current of up to two knots. That really hurts when the boat speed is five knots. Yes, that means we made the progress that a person makes at a comfortable walk, about three miles an hour.
And this was with both motors running at high speed and a rough ride. A very rough ride. It’s exactly the kind of situation where we would have opted to stay in Acapulco to ride out the storm, had we known the weather. But we didn’t, so I blame the weather, Bob, and anyone reading this blog that didn’t tell us about it.
OK I feel better now.
Fine Dining:
At what seemed like a tiny lull in the wind and waves when we got really close to shore, I decided to take the opportunity to cook. I chose eggs, over-easy. We ate eggs, scrambled.
Sailing with Dummies (California to Texas, Day 11)
Friday, June 19, 2009
by Mike
We got to Acapulco around 8:00am this morning. Much of the city is built high on the rocks and cliffs. The view from the water is beautiful. As we were pulling into the bay area, there were lots of different sized fishing boats heading out.
We had arranged for an “agent” to facilitate the customs process for us. We wanted to get in and out as fast as possible. All we wanted was to fill up with diesel and leave. Our first communication with our “agent” was to anchor in the harbor and wait. Luckily we were slow at that and before we got anchored we got our next instructions – tie up at the fuel dock and wait until 9:15 when he would meet us there.
We tied up at the fuel dock at 8:45 and waited. And waited. We couldn’t get diesel until our agent got the paperwork done. 9:15 came and went as we waited. We waited until 9:30, just sitting. We waited until 10:00. We waited until 10:30. We weren’t able to do anything but wait.
At 10:50am six “official” people came aboard the Minnow and made themselves at home in our living room. They did some paperwork. And then they started talking. And talking. In Spanish. And talking and laughing. Lots of stories with animated gestures. We could tell things were slow for them. I would have offered them Cokes and cookies, but that might have prolonged their visit for who knows how long.
Finally, at 11:30 they began the process of getting up and they slowly meandered their way to the dock. Our agent assured us that he would be back “in one hour. I’ll be back at 1:30” with our permission-to-go paperwork. Bob informed him that one hour was 12:30. Bob informed him several times. And he got lots of nods and assurances back from the agent, “one hour.”
We ate lunch at the restaurant, filled up with diesel, and were able to wait some more. 12:30 came and went. 1:00 and we still waited. Sigh.
We got untied and moving by 1:30.
Fishing Report:
We fished a few hours late in the afternoon. Didn’t get a bite. It looks like these waters must be fished out.
Fine Dining:
I ordered a cheeseburger at the restaurant. It was good, but not as good as yesterdays.
Long Beach to Cost Rica
Sailing with Dummies (California to Texas, Day 10)
Thursday, June 18, 2009
by Mike
What a difference a day makes. Today, the weather was great. Gentle wind with nice slow swells. Very nice.
Fine Arts:
One of the hard crossword puzzles that Bob started, and I tried to finish, asked as a hint “Rossini opera.” Eight letters with the first three T A N. “Tancredi” I said triumphantly, not remembering if it was spelled Tancredi or Tancreti. Bob mentioned that the only T A N opera that came to his mind was Tannhauser. I mentioned that that was Wagner. He mentioned that he knew that but was going to try to make it fit anyway.
This led to a couple of hours of Rossini overtures played on the boat-wide stereo. We agreed La Scala was pretty lousy. I told him La Gazza Ladra (The Thieving Magpie?) was my favorite Rossini overture. We both liked William Tell, but weren’t sure if it counted since it was from TV.
Fishing Report:
Fished all day. Didn’t get a bite. Again. We put the fishing poles into storage.
No, not because we were giving up on fishing! Because we didn’t want to get hassled by the Mexicans for fishing in their waters tomorrow.
Fine Dining:
good weather = smooth sailing = lots of french toast and huge cheeseburger = smile
Long Beach to Cost Rica
Sailing with Dummies (California to Texas, Day 9)
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
by Mike
The rain started about 1:30am. That’s when the windows were shut and the heat started to set in. Along with rain squalls comes wind. Bob turned, adjusted sails, and contended with squalls and changing wind for two hours. When I got up and 3:30 he was in the process of taking down all the sails and we began motoring with two engines into a stiff headwind. Probably we would get through the rain and wind in a few hours and then would be back to easy sailing again.
The big waves from yesterday had turned into a substantial swell from the left. The headwind (20+ knots) was making a new set of “wind waves” from directly ahead. Motoring into this with no sails was rough. The constant splashing combined with the rain made it wet, too. Wet enough to keep all the windows shut. Which made it hot.
Luckily we have an air conditioner. Unluckily, it was blowing hot air, not cold. So it stayed hot. And rough.
The headwind and occasional rain continued all morning. And all afternoon. In the late afternoon the wind shifted to the right and put up some sails and turned off the motor. We sailed fast. We were doing more than 8 knots (40 degrees off the wind, with our mainsail at the second reef and our solent at 75%). It was still rough, but better with some sail up.
After sundown, twenty hours after it began, it started to ease. Turns out we were just north of a low pressure that was expected to dissipate, but when we got new weather this evening it had strengthened and is forecast as a possible tropical cyclone tomorrow. It’s behind us going the other way now, so no worries about it for us. The worries are the low that is forming south of Acapulco. We might end up in Acapulco for a few days to let that one pass.
Fine Arts:
None.
Fishing Report:
Didn’t fish. Too wet, too bouncy, too hot (that’s not what fishermen do).
Fine Dining:
The closest I got to fine food was the Chef-boy-ardee (is that named after R. D. Mercer?) ravioli I microwaved late in the day.
Long Beach to Cost Rica
Sailing with Dummies (California to Texas, Day 8)
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
by Mike
Today I’ll give you a snapshot of life on the Minnow. Or sailing with Bob (see above).
In the living room we have a “nav station” where a lot of electronic and electrical stuff is. It has our VHF radio, HF radio, and satphone for communicating with people who not on the Minnow.
When we talk to other boats we sit there. When we connect our computers to the satphone to get weather or send/receive email, we sit there. Sometimes when we read we sit there.
There’s a nice table and a comfortable chair there, too. And our boat-wide stereo and DVD player. And TV.
It’s where we drive the boat from most of the time. It has a GPS/chartplotter with a big electronic map display. A control for the autopilot is there, along with instruments indicating wind speed and direction, depth, speed, water temperature, air temperature, barometric reading, and time (yes, a clock).
The autopilot steers the boat virtually 24 hours every day. There are two steering wheels outside, but they rarely get touched, except when we’re docking or anchoring. The autopilot steers the boat on a straight line, or I follows the wind in “wind vane” mode. Most of the time, when we are using sails we use “wind vane” mode, so when the wind shifts the boat turns and the sails don’t flap or tangle or jibe. The autopilot beeps when the boat has turned very much as a result of a wind direction change so we don’t go in circles, or to Japan. When this happens, it beeps until a button is pushed, acknowledging the change in direction, or until the wind changes back (can be a long time).
Typically, the person sitting at the nav station presses the button, stopping the annoying beeping. If no one is near the nav station, someone gets up and stops the beeping. When Bob is at the nav station, it works something like this:
“BEEP…BEEP…BEEP…BEEP…BEEP…BEEP…BEEP…BEEP,” the autopilot asks for a button push.
“Bob?” I say from across the room, laying down reading a book.
“BEEP…BEEP…BEEP…BEEP…BEEP…BEEP…BEEP…BEEP…BEEP,” it’s louder right next to Bob.
“Hey, you want me to get that?” I try again. Bob is in his own world.
“BEEP…BEEP…BEEP…BEEP…BEEP…BEEP…BEEP,” we’ve turned 20 degrees right and this thing won’t stop its racket until the button is mashed.
“I’ll get that.” I sit up slowly, delaying a bit longer, hoping Bob will snap out of his trance.
“BEEP…BEEP…BEEP…BEEP…BEEP…BEEP…BEEP…BEEP…BEEP…BEEP…BEEP…”
I walk up behind Bob and silence the noise with a simple touch.
“Oh,” he says, now staring at the button in a stupor, “want me to get that?”
A snapshot of life on the Minnow. It’s not pretty.
Fine Arts:
For lots of years many of us have been in the habit of listening to books-on-tape while we drive. Before going hiking in Nepal last fall, I put several audio books on my MP3 player and got in the habit of listening to them anytime I was walking. I continued this habit while deer hunting, bike riding, lawn mowing, and lots of other things.
Now it’s become a habit while sailing. It’s nice to be able to keep busy AND stay wrapped up in a story. On the Minnow, it’s not uncommon for Bob and me both to be walking around with ear-buds in our ears, doing whatever we do. It cuts down on meaningless chatter, too. Not that we talked much before.
But, there’s always a price to pay. It has cut back on our boat-wide enjoyment of the fine arts.
Fishing Report:
Changed lures. No bites. We were going fast today, most of the day between 9 and 10 knots, which is too fast for good fishing. But I took action anyway. I put new line on one of the reels so we could let the lure out farther. Take action. That’s what fishermen do.
Fine Dining:
When there’s enough wind to push a sailboat 9-10 knots, there’s enough wind to make some pretty big waves. So I opted for ready-to-eat meals. Banana bread, leftover fish, oreos, chips and salsa, breadmaker bread (good for the gums), cheese, chips ahoy, and bologna. It was a good day for eating.
Location: 17°46'N 107°05W
Water temperature: 91 (Is this right? That's what Raymarine claims.)
Air temperature: 85
Sky condition: Dark
Weather: Light Snow
Wind: 9 knots
Boat speed: 8 knots (with one motor)
The night before last about 2:00 a.m. I was tooling along, minding my own business, and I noticed something come up on the radar.
The return looked like a big ship, but it didn't have an AIS (identification signal) like most ships do now. It looked like it was
headed toward us from 15 miles away.
A little later, I could make out some lights on the horizon. They kept getting closer. It was going about 13 knots. We were going a
blinding 6 knots. They seemed to be coming right at us, from the right. I think that's starboard. I couldn't tell whether they would
pass in front of, behind of, or over the top of us.
About two miles out, I got a radio call in Spanish asking for the vessel at our latitude and longitude in Spanish. I wasn't 100%
sure of the numbers, since I lost track in my translation after about the 4th or 5th digit, but since we were the only two boats for
hundreds of square miles, I guessed they wanted to talk to me.
I replied with the time-honored naval greeting, "Hablo Ingles?" It turned out the other boat was a Mexican Navy Warship, trying to
get by us without resorting to artillery. I offered to turn left or right, and speed up or slow down. They requested a left turn or
reduced speed, and I gave them both.
When they passed us I could see it was a BIG ship, even though I could only make out the outline. After I slowed down and turned,
Mike woke up and wandered outside, a little incoherent. He probably still thinks it was a UFO.
Yesterday morning we arrived at Isla Socorro, about 300 miles off the coast of Mexico. There is a naval garrison there. I called on
the radio for Socorro and Capitania and etc. on three different channels to get clearance into Mexico and/or Socorro, but nobody
answered.
Finally we got the dinghy out, threw in a bicycle, and I headed for shore with our papers, hoping to find aduanes and migracion, or
at least a naval officer who could make us legal.
I had do duck under a big 2" rope going about 200 yards across the harbor, holding a barge in position while they unloaded it. When
I got close to the dock, I saw several men with M16 rifles getting into a small boat. I waved to them, they waved back, and they
followed me under the rope and out to the Minnow.
We've never had machine guns on the boat before. Too bad I had taken the skeet off the boat in Oregon. The officer completed our
paperwork while the other guys stood guard. Mike fed everybody Coke Zeros and Chips Ahoy.
We asked a few questions. There is an airport on the island. There are 347 people there in the naval garrison. The Island and
surrounding is a nature preserve. The scuba diving is no good because of low visibility. He has been stationed there for a year. We
were not allowed to go onto the island.
After we were officially cleared, Mike and I broke out the scuba gear. The naval officer was correct. The visibility was lousy near
the bottom (60 feet down). Nearer the surface, visibility was 75 feet or so, but down below it was more like 8 feet because of all
the silt. So we cleaned the bottom of the boat.
As we left, the water was pretty smooth. There must have been some swells, though, because there were some huge waves smashing into
the rocks on shore. There were a couple of places where the water splashed up 30 or 40 feet. There was a big blowhole where water
shot up even higher. It looked a little dangerous for kayaking, so we headed out into open water.
We are now headed to Acapulco for diesel, or possibly Guatemala or Christchurch. This navigational business is confusing.
Long Beach to Cost Rica
Sailing with Dummies (California to Texas, Day 7)
Monday, June 15, 2009
by Mike
Land Ho Ho Ho!
Before sunup Isla Socorro was visible as a shadow in the distance. A low cloud layer obscured whatever mountain tops would have been seen. As we got closer, a ragged shore became noticeable. Isla Socorro, or “Help Island” is a rough place. A quarter mile (1320 feet) from shore the depth was more than 2200 feet. Heading around the west side of the island to the south side, to a sheltered bay, “Bahia Braithwaite,” there were no beaches, no sand, only ragged, rough rocks.
The bay was edged by these igneous rocks. At a depth of 55 feet, there was not much width for dragging or error. We wondered how our anchor would hold, expecting the bottom to be rocky like everything else. I dropped the anchor and it held.
After trying to hail the harbormaster, or “Capitan del Puerto,” for a few minutes and getting no reply, Bob headed to shore in the dinghy with a backpack full of paperwork and a bicycle. Before he got there a boatload of six uniforms were headed for the Minnow so he turned back and met them at the boat.
Bob pulled up to the left stairs and the Mexican boat pulled up to the right ones where I was waiting to take and tie off their painter to our cleat. It was kind of wavy so I helped them onboard.
The first man had a handgun in a holster on his belt. Pearl handled, probably a revolver. But I’m not a gun nut so I don’t know any more than that. It looked well worn. Wondered if that meant worn out and lousy, or worn in and reliable and accurate. Didn’t matter. However, when I see people carrying guns for purposes other than hunting animals, it makes me uneasy.
The next three guys handed their M16s back and forth as I helped them aboard. (Bob told me what kind of guns they were after they left, does that make Bob a gun nut?) One stationed himself at the front of the boat and the other two at the back corners of the boat. All three stood erect and were posed looking out from the boat, as if protecting it from attack. From the water?
It was hot. Bob and the first guy were sitting in the living room. The first guy was doing paperwork. Bob was watching. After a few minutes I offered everyone a Coke. Everyone knew the name Coke. And everyone took one with a smile and a “thank you,” except for the guy up front, who took one with a serious look and a “gracias.” After the Coke, the guys on the back relaxed, slinging their guns over their backs and laughing with each other. The guy on the front continued to stand erect, gun in two hands in a semi-ready position.
By now Bob and the first guy were playing some version of “Do You Know This Word” and Bob was cheating using a Spanish Dictionary. Also by now I had tried to make conversation with the other five (“Do you speak English?” … “No”) with no luck. So I opened a new bag of Chips Ahoy cookies. Even thought they didn’t speak English, they all seemed to know the word “cookie.” Got five thank-you’s and a gracias out of the cookies, too.
They eventually left. They were all extra nice, except for the serious one who wasn’t bad, just serious. But the guns were still scary.
Fine Arts:
There was no other place around the island we knew of to anchor the boat. So after the Mexican boat left we donned scuba gear and went down to explore the artistic beauty of the undersea world of Bahia Braithwaite. We followed the anchor chain to the bottom – there was some sand amongst the rocks there – and found that visibility was less than 10 feet. We gave each other the thumbs up (meaning go to the surface) and did some other pointing and gesturing (I took it to mean “meet at the boat” since that’s what I meant).
We proceeded to use the entire contents of our tanks cleaning the barnacles and growth off the bottom of the boat. About an hour and a half. And yes, that’s the closest we got to fine art on this particular day.
Fishing Report:
No luck. Didn’t get a blasted bite before the island. Didn’t get a danged bite after the island. Going to change lures tomorrow. That’s what fishermen do.
Fine Dining:
Although I started the day baking a quality loaf of banana bread, the highlight of the day was the post-diving plate of nachos. Cheesed up and salsa covered.
Long Beach to Cost Rica
Sailing with Dummies (California to Texas, Day 6)
Sunday, June 14, 2009
by Mike
Today was “change the engine fuel filter” day. One of the few things I like doing worse that diesel fuel filter replacing is diesel engine oil changing. A few weeks ago I told Bob if he changed the oil, I’d change the fuel filters. That was when I was in Oklahoma, far from the reality of the engine rooms on the Minnow.
So I decided to bite the bullet and use the smooth sailing today for the messy task. We have three diesel engines on board. One in the right engine room attached to a propeller and two in the left engine room, one for a propeller and the other that runs a generator.
When a diesel filter is taken out and replaced with a new one it lets air in the fuel system. For some reason, the motor won’t run until all the air is bled out of the fuel lines. This involves loosening nuts and connectors and injectors while pumping diesel through the system, using first a hand pump and eventually the starter. It’s messy. It’s in cramped, uncomfortable quarters. And it puts me in a foul mood.
Getting out of the shower 15 minutes later I was in a pretty good mood, knowing it will be awhile before I have to do that again.
Fishing Report:
We caught a few flying fish on different parts of the boat overnight. They fly up in the air and the boat catches them. One time one flew in the living room window, which is about eight feet above the water.
None on rod and reel. Not even a bite!
Fine Arts:
We listened to some selections from Bob’s IPod today. Some of the noteworthy selections were War Pigs, The Messiah, a Haydn choral work that I can’t remember the name of, some Primus songs that I don’t want to know the name of, and Choctaw Bingo, one of my favs.
Fine Dining:
Blackened tuna steaks again today. It might take awhile to get tired of them.
Long Beach to Cost Rica
Sailing with Dummies (California to Texas, Day 6)
Sunday, June 14, 2009
by Mike
Today was “change the engine fuel filter” day. One of the few things I like doing worse that diesel fuel filter replacing is diesel engine oil changing. A few weeks ago I told Bob if he changed the oil, I’d change the fuel filters. That was when I was in Oklahoma, far from the reality of the engine rooms on the Minnow.
So I decided to bite the bullet and use the smooth sailing today for the messy task. We have three diesel engines on board. One in the right engine room attached to a propeller and two in the left engine room, one for a propeller and the other that runs a generator.
When a diesel filter is taken out and replaced with a new one it lets air in the fuel system. For some reason, the motor won’t run until all the air is bled out of the fuel lines. This involves loosening nuts and connectors and injectors while pumping diesel through the system, using first a hand pump and eventually the starter. It’s messy. It’s in cramped, uncomfortable quarters. And it puts me in a foul mood.
Getting out of the shower 15 minutes later I was in a pretty good mood, knowing it will be awhile before I have to do that again.
Fishing Report:
We caught a few flying fish on different parts of the boat overnight. They fly up in the air and the boat catches them. One time one flew in the living room window, which is about eight feet above the water.
None on rod and reel. Not even a bite!
Fine Arts:
We listened to some selections from Bob’s IPod today. Some of the noteworthy selections were War Pigs, The Messiah, a Haydn choral work that I can’t remember the name of, some Primus songs that I don’t want to know the name of, and Choctaw Bingo, one of my favs.
Fine Dining:
Blackened tuna steaks again today. It might take awhile to get tired of them.
Long Beach to Cost Rica
Sailing with Dummies (California to Texas, Day 5)
Saturday, June 13, 2009
by Mike
We continued sailing directly downwind today. The wind has picked up and we are going faster now. With several days of consistent wind, the waves have turned into a fairly large swell from behind. It gives the boat a little more motion, but it’s still a good ride.
The water temperature has started rising. From 67 in Long Beach to mid 70s. It should to go up to the mid 80s sometime in the next few days. On the ocean, the air temperature normally reflects the water temperature. That means it’s going to get hot soon. It’ll feel great for a couple of days. Then I’ll have to start griping about it.
Fishing Report:
Got to yell “fish on!” a few times, including one that was on the hook for 10 minutes but broke the line, but nothing boated.
Fine Arts:
Lots of piano and guitar with headphones. Nothing to write home about. Is this considered writing home?
Fine Dining:
Today I attempted to make bread in the breadmaker. Twice. Three hours later there was some of what my Mom would call “hard tack.” There was also some dry flour. The entire loaf – uh, finished mess, it didn’t merit the name loaf – was less than an inch tall. Not enough water (I thought I remembered the amounts).
The second time I read the directions and painstakingly measured the ingredients. Then I started the three-hour process. About 30 minutes later I noticed the stirring paddle in the sink. Blah. I put the paddle in and restarted the machine. The loaf, yes it could be considered a loaf, ended up concave on the top, but edible. The ¾” crust is kind of hard on the teeth. Would be good for teething, though. Amy, are you reading this?
Wind: from the northwest at 20 knots
Waves: medium big
Water temperature: 78.9°F
Air temperature: 69.6°F
Sky clear, except for half a moon.
We are 200 miles north of Isla Socorro, and should arrive there Monday morning. Isla Socorro is an island about 300 miles off the
coast of Mexico, southwest of the tip of the Baja Peninsula. It's a nature preserve. We have no good reason to go there, which is
the best reason.
We have man overboard beacons on the boat. They are small plastic things about 2 inches square. If you carry one with you when you
fall off the boat, it sets off an alarm and marks your position on the GPS. That way, if Mike falls off I can snooze for a while
before I get up and go looking for him -- his position will be marked on the GPS. As long as it's not windy and there is no current,
it should be fine to wait a couple hours before I start the search.
Yesterday morning I was in the shower. I didn't have any hot water because we had not run the right engine or the generator for a
while. So I soaped up and was scrubbing, and had turned off the water for a bit because it was cold.
Then the man overboard alarm went off. I rinsed some soap off my face so I could see, and hollered for Mike. No answer. I went up to
the living room and hollered. No answer. I went outside and hollered. He was cleaning a fish on the steps, and the engine was
blocking the beacon signal. I went downstairs and rinsed. It was an albacore tuna -- the second 16 pound one in two days.
Today I got up and Mike was reeling in a BIG fish. But the line broke. Later today I reeled in a fish about 2/3 of the way to the
boat. It got off. Still later, I had one on for a few seconds when I was reeling in the lure. It got away. Tonight I was sitting
outside, and a fish jumped onto the boat at my feet. Finally I caught one! Who needs hooks?
Birds were flying around the boat this afternoon catching small fish. The birds (and probably the fish) go really fast, zipping down
in between the waves. It looks like a lot of fun. But not much fun for the fish.
Mike's been playing the guitar. I've been playing the piano an hour or two a day. I'm trying to learn Liszt's transcription of
Beethoven's 5th symphony. Liszt's hands were bigger than mine. We may have to extend the trip into a couple of circumnavigations
before I can learn it all.
We haven't seen a single pleasure boat since we left the U.S. We've been staying pretty far off the coast, even outside the shipping
lanes. I like it out here.
Yesterday I fixed the saltwater washdown pump. It had seaweed clogging up the intake hose, and then the pump threw a breaker. I
think that's because one of the motor brushes was a little corroded and wouldn't slide into the rotor to make good contact. Either
way, we now have a new pump. The pump is in the anchor locker, not a large space. I unhooked one of the hoses with pressure on it,
and it doused me thoroughly with seawater. I was stuck right next to it and couldn't even turn around. It was pretty funny.
Long Beach to Cost Rica
Sailing with Dummies (California to Texas, Day 4)
Tuesday, June 12, 2009
by Mike
We have decided to stop and explore Isla Socorro. This will add about 80 miles to our journey. It should also check us in with Mexican customs, making it easier for us to stop and get fuel if we want to. Which means that we might use the motor more often to go faster.
We started with a little more wind this morning. It’s coming from right behind us which means we have one sail off to the left and one off to the right (that’s called goosewinged). No fancy sailing tricks or anything. The wind is just plain blowing us across the water. In this setup we can go about 40-45% of the wind speed. If the wind is coming from the side we can go 50-60% of the wind speed (using fancy sailing tricks and stuff).
Going directly downwind is usually avoided by most sailors, especially monohull drivers. A monohull uses a heavy weight at the bottom of the boat (in the keel) to keep from tipping over when the wind pushes on the sails. In light wind a typical monohull will lean over maybe 10 degrees. In medium wind it will tilt 15-25 degrees. When the wind is coming directly from behind, with the sails goosewinged, a monohull will alternatively lean to the left and then back to the right as the driver or autopilot try to keep it in a straight line. Even in a light wind, this is a tiresome ride. And in a medium wind it gets downright unpleasant.
A catamaran, or multihull, uses a wide base to keep from tipping over when the wind pushes on the sails. In a light or medium wind, The Minnow doesn’t tilt at all. It has 43,000 pounds holding both hulls down firmly on the water. In a heavy wind from the side it might tilt a degree or two, but it’s not noticeable. When the wind is coming directly behind, goosewinged, it will yaw back and forth slightly and slowly as the autopilot continually corrects the course (we almost never steer by hand). There is no discernable tilt either way.
Going downwind in The Minnow is relaxing. The swells creep up from behind and disappear underneath the boat. In a 17-knot wind with the boat moving at 8 knots, the air moving over the boat is a gentle 9-knot breeze. A mild back and forth motion occurs every 8-10 seconds;
left ……… then right ……… left again ……… almost like the boat is alive and breathing easily. Great reading conditions – but can be a slight challenge staying awake.
Fishing Report:
Ho hum … another day, another tuna. This time a nine-pounder. We think it was a bigeye, but it might have been a yellowfin.
Fine Arts:
The sky after sunset was brilliant. Bob took a picture.
Fine Dining:
Feeling it was time to get back to food basics, I started the day with bacon and eggs. And Coke Zero. And then iced tea. And then another Coke Zero. Sometimes I have a drinking problem in the wee hours of the morning. Eventually I turned back to salad, fruit, and tuna sashimi. Oh, and I cleaned up the leftover oatmeal cookies. For the sake of my health.
Friday night we ate in style. Chef salad, baked potatoes, and tuna ala New Orleans. All on paper plates. And unlimited iced tea served in plastic. Style!
Long Beach to Cost Rica
Sailing with Dummies (California to Texas, Day 3)
Tuesday, June 11, 2009
by Mike
Our second full day on the ocean featured small waves, light winds, nice temperatures (60s), and partly cloudy skies. Same as yesterday.
Fishing Report:
One bite. One fish. Sixteen-pound albacore tuna. Same as yesterday.
This could be habit-forming.
Fine Arts:
We have been mostly “art free” on the boat so far. No movies. Almost all of the music on the boat has been played by Bob and me. I’m pretty sure that doesn’t count as art. Does reading books count as art?
Fine Dining:
It’s been cold when I get up in the morning (before dawn). Makes me want to cook something in the oven. Today it was cookies. In order to make them healthy, I added lots of oatmeal. They were “fine.” Also “fine” was the sashimi for lunch. All the chilled raw tuna chunks we could eat along with all the wasabi we could eat.
I’m still eating salads and fruit, too. To be a health nut (see oatmeal above). I like the salads but looking forward to the day we run out of fruit. My luck we’ll run out of salad stuff and the fruit will last the entire trip.
Long Beach to Cost Rica
Sailing with Dummies (California to Texas, Day 2)
Tuesday, June 10, 2009
by Mike
Our first full day on the ocean featured small waves, light winds, nice temperatures (60s), and partly cloudy skies. Very comfortable.
We are staying about 30-50 miles off shore as we go south. There were quite a few ships (maybe 25?) passing us going both ways. Most are closer to shore than us. Didn’t see any smaller boats.
To get to Costa Rica without stopping for fuel we have to sail (without running a motor) several days. The light wind is predicted to lessen in the next few days. That means we’re sailing kind of slow so we can use the motor in the weaker winds. If we happen to run out of diesel we can stop in Acapulco or somewhere and get fuel. But we prefer to skip those stops since they might take an extra day or two for customs.
Fishing Report:
The water temperature is 68 degrees. I think that’s kind of cold for dolphin fish, but it seems like there should be some other kinds of fish out there. All morning no bites. Afternoon, no bites. Finally in the evening Bob reeled in a 16-pound albacore tuna.
Fine Arts:
Nothing special today. More guitar wailing. Aida on the stereo. Bob dragged out the piano late and started on some of our new piano books.
Fine Dining:
Our first day away from drive-thrus and we survived! The menu included cinnamon rolls, salads, French bread, apples, bananas, and cookies. Boring until Bob caught a fish. Then we had blackened tuna steaks. Fresh and tasty!
Long Beach to Cost Rica
Sailing with Dummies (California to Texas, Day 2)
Tuesday, June 10, 2009
by Mike
Our first full day on the ocean featured small waves, light winds, nice temperatures (60s), and partly cloudy skies. Very comfortable.
We are staying about 30-50 miles off shore as we go south. There were quite a few ships (maybe 25?) passing us going both ways. Most are closer to shore than us. Didn’t see any smaller boats.
To get to Costa Rica without stopping for fuel we have to sail (without running a motor) several days. The light wind is predicted to lessen in the next few days. That means we’re sailing kind of slow so we can use the motor in the weaker winds. If we happen to run out of diesel we can stop in Acapulco or somewhere and get fuel. But we prefer to skip those stops since they might take an extra day or two for customs.
Fishing Report:
The water temperature is 68 degrees. I think that’s kind of cold for dolphin fish, but it seems like there should be some other kinds of fish out there. All morning no bites. Afternoon, no bites. Finally in the evening Bob reeled in a 16-pound albacore tuna.
Fine Arts:
Nothing special today. More guitar wailing. Aida on the stereo. Bob dragged out the piano late and started on some of our new piano books.
Fine Dining:
Our first day away from drive-thrus and we survived! The menu included cinnamon rolls, salads, French bread, apples, bananas, and cookies. Boring until Bob caught a fish. Then we had blackened tuna steaks. Fresh and tasty!
Long Beach to Cost Rica
Sailing with Dummies (California to Texas, Day 1)
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
by Mike
Bob and I finished up shopping, piddling, and repairing stuff around noon today and headed for the fuel dock. We topped off the fuel tanks and filled about 15 five-gallon jugs with extra diesel. We untied the dock lines, put all the bumpers and ropes away, and headed out to sea.
Leaving the Long Beach area we had to weave around some ships at anchor and quite a few oil platforms. I didn’t realize there were so many oil platforms off the shore of California. We were motoring into the wind. By 2:00pm we were still motoring but had the sails up.
After a couple of hours we neared Catalina Island. There was a big cruise ship there; I think it was Carnival. Who knew Carnival went to Catalina Island? Doesn’t seem like much of a destination to me. Close to the island we had about 30 minutes of cellular service. As soon as the ship (and the town) disappeared around the corner of the island, so did our cell service. Most likely, that will be our last cell service until Costa Rica – which means no pictures for this here blog until then.
Just past Catalina Island the wind improved and we sped from 6-7 knots with a motor to over 10 knots with sails only. San Clemente Island screwed up the wind some and we slowed to 9 knots. In case you forgot, a knot (nautical mile per hour) is a little faster than a regular mph (statute mile per hour). For example, 7 knots = 8 mph.
Fishing Report:
The fishing poles were still in good order after months of storage. Some of the fishing hooks were not. A couple of the great big fishing hooks had rusted so badly that the tip was as blunt as a fork tine, and the barb was essentially rusted away. I replaced the bad hooks with new ones and we fished from mid-afternoon until dark. No bites.
Fine Arts:
On a trip like this it’s helpful to keep in touch with some of the finer things in life. Like fine music and fine art. For the first time in my boating experience I brought a guitar with me. Electric. I also brought headphones and an electronic effects box. Today I played. When you combine enough electronic distortion with my imagination, I’m pretty good!
Bob thinks it’s pretty good that I used headphones.
Fine Dining:
It’s hard to top McDonald’s for breakfast and Jack in the Box for lunch. But Bob offered to build (I prefer the term cook but Bob was in charge) a sandwich for supper. It was good. Mmm. I was just finishing up when Bob mentioned that he was trying to use up the old meat. Hmm.
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