Bahia Santa Maria aka Punta San Quitin part 2
It was super rolly in Punta Colnett last night so sleeping was a challenge when you're getting tossed back and forth all night. I left Punta Colnett about 0800 this morning to make it to my next anchorage in Bahia Santa Maria. This is a huge bay, after rounding Punta San Quitin it's still about 5 NM...
Bahia Santa Maria aka Punta San Quitin
It was super rolly in Punta Colnett last night so sleeping was a challenge when you're getting tossed back and forth all night. I left Punta Colnett about 0800 this morning to make it to my next anchorage in Bahia Santa Maria. This is a huge bay, after rounding Punta San Quitin it's still about 5 NM...
Punta Colnett Anchorage
Contrary to my best efforts, I arrived at Punta Colnett after dark, actually it was due to the fantastic sail yesterday. I'm anchored in about 20 ft with a good holding sand bottom about.3 miles from the shore. It's a bit nerve-racking coming into a new, unknown anchorage in the dark. The saving gra...
Punta Colnett
I had a fantastic sail today from Puerto Santo Tomas to Punta Colnett. The wind was light and variable this morning but increased in to the high teens to low twenty's. I sailed most of the day with a full main and my big 150 genoa. It was glorious with a best speed of 8.3 kts. Once the wind got up t...
Puerto Santo Tomas
Left Ensenada about 1130, ran up to Marina Coral for fuel, then headed to Puerto Santo Tomas, an anchorage about 25 miles south of Ensenada. I arrived about 1600 , weaving around the kelp beds to find a spot to anchor in about 35 ft of water. Like most of the "roadstead" anchorages on the coast this...
Viva Ensenada!
Monday 12-9-24, I took care of all the paperwork necessary to legally enter Mexico. The Marina takes care of filling out all the proper forms and driving you to the port/customs and Banjercito office. In my opinion the service that the marina provided is invaluable. Unless you understand the process...
Heading to Mexico Finally!!
I left San Diego this morning at 0600 in the dark and totally fogged in. More on my exit, but first a recap of my five weeks in San Diego. As I noted in a previous post I had much needed repairs to my main sail. Also on the trip down the thermostat for my freezer quit working, fortunately I had a ne...
Arrival in San Diego
I arrived in San Diego on the same day that the 140 Baja HaHa boats left. Spent a few nights at the public dock near the police dock. Little do I know as I write this that I'll be in SD for almost five weeks.
Dana Point to Oceanside
A short 22 NM jump from Dana Point to Oceanside where I spent one night at the Oceanside Yacht Club. Hung out at the yacht club and chatted with a few of the local members. Heading out tomorrow morning for San Diego.
MDR to Dana Point
Left Marina Del Rey, heading to Dana Point and the Dana Point Yacht Club. Light wind fairly calm seas until I was south of Los Angeles where the wind shifted and I encountered really choppy seas. I arrived in Dana Point about four in the afternoon. Unfortunately I was only able to stay at the yacht...
Marina Del Rey
Spent a couple of days at the public dock here in Marina Del Rey. Docks are marginal totally covered in sea gull shit 😡, but it's cheap and walking distance to West Marine, which is fortunate because the sea water cooling pump for my refrigerator decided to go the way of the Dodo. I also found that...
Blasting Down the Coast to Ventura
With some sadness, I left Morro Bay at noon today. The day started out with light wind 3 to 5 kts. About a half hour ago at about 1430, the wind picked up into the low to mid 20 kt range. I'm currently sailing on a broad reach at about 150 deg.TWA with a reefed main and jib and making 7 1/2 to 8+ kt...
Leaving Morro Bay
I've had a lovely stay in Morro Bay at the Morro Bay Yacht Club. Everyone has been super friendly. Last night, Wednesday, the club had a wine tasting get together that I was invited to. Each week on Wednesday evening the Yacht Club has a wine tasting where they pick a different vetiatal and everyone...
Morro Bay
I'm docked at the Morro Bay Yacht Club. There was virtually no wind yesterday for the passage from Monterey Bay to here, but fortunately the ocean swell was mild 1 to 3 ft. which made having to motor for almost 20 hours somewhat bearable. The Orionid meteor shower was supposed to be peaking last nig...
Adios Monterey Bay
Monterey Bay has been a nice rest. This is a cool area, but it's time to head south. Next stop is Morro Bay about a 100 NM south. It looks like I'll be motoring for all or at least the majority of the trip as winds will be light, under 10 kts and possibly from the south west. Swell and waves should...
Monterey Bay and John Steinbeck
I left Bodega Bay this morning at 10 am in the fog. The channel out of Bodega harbor to the bay is well marked and visibility was between a quarter and half a mile. But I still motored out at about 3 1/2 kts just to be safe. Once out in the bay proper I raised the main to the first reef, though ther...
Spud Point Marina Bodega Bay California
I arrived in Bodega Bay on Friday morning and briefly anchored in the bay waiting for the fog to lift. Finally I was able to head in to the Spud Point Marina in the early afternoon, where I've been tied up for the last couple of days. It's Sunday, evening, the boat is ready and I have a good weather...
Heading to Bodega Bay
I left Eureka this morning at 0645 crossing the bar and heading back out into the North Pacific Ocean. I'm motor sailing in very light wind and relatively calm seas.
Ready to Go
All my repairs and upgrades are completed. I'm ready to embark on the next leg of my trip south and journey through life.. I've been watching the weather and it looks like Thursday is going to be a good day to leave Eureka and head down the coast to Bodega Bay about 180 mm and 25 to 30 hours south....
Humboldt Yacht Club
It's Saturday morning, I just met Wes, on the dock, a member of the Humboldt Yacht Club. There's a race today and he invited me to the Skipper's meeting at noon where I met a few fellow boaters and sailors and was invited to the Saturday Happy Hour at the yacht club. Home again on Fairtide after a l...
Friends, New and Old
It's Thursday in Eureka, I had a great conversation with Lee Youngblood, a good and long time friend. Lee via text introduced me, via text/email to Phillip Thibodeau who's boat is based on Eureka. Phillip, called me from Paris to discuss the issues I was having. We had a wonderful conversation. It i...
Eureka, I made it!
I arrived in Eureka today about 1330 (1:30pm), tired but relatively unscathed. Under normal circumstances the trip from Coos Bay to Eureka should be about 20 hours, it took me 2 1/2 days. One of the interesting things about sailing alone is self reliance. There's no one to help, no one to complain t...
Accidental Gybe and More!
I left Port Orford about 1030 with all good intentions to sail non-stop to Eureka California. Early afternoon I was sailing with a double reefed main and a reefed jib in about 18 kts of breeze and as Fairtide was sailing along nicely I thought I could get in a nap. About 20 minutes into my nap I hea...
Off to Eureka California
I'm on my way to Eureka California, heading out at 0645 to time the bar crossing about 0730. You'll discover in the next couple of posts, that I probably pushed my weather window by a few days and paid a price. Eureka is about 175 miles from Coos Bay about 30 hours of sailing. I started out with a s...
If It Can Break....
I'm at the dock after being towed in by my son Jeremy. It's been a long, long day. So I'll start at the beginning. If you read yesterday's post you know that I left off sitting at anchor with no engine. Jeremy drove down again today with his skiff and we successfully towed Fairtide to the dock at th...
Fog, Fog, and More Fog in Coos Bay
I made it from Newport to Coos Bay with some challenging wind and waves early this morning. The coast and entrance to Coos Bay was totally fogged in. I crept across the bar and trying my best to navigate the winding channel. I was lucky when I briefly got off course that the channel was deep enough...
Almost heading to Coos Bay
I had a problem with my fresh water pump and had to install a new one while in Newport. I am fortunate that my son Jeremy and his S.O. Callie live just a few miles south of Newport so I was able to spend some quality time with them as well as having access to a vehicle and a place to have repair par...
Newport Oregon
Tied up at the Newport City Marina about 7 pm. Jeremy was there to help tend the dock lines, which 8 super helpful with the strong north wind blowing Fairtide hard on the dock. Although I had circumnavigated Vancouver Island last year including sailing in the open Pacific Ocean, this was my first 20...
Quiet at Last
Good morning world. It's 0430, I've been motoring or motor sailing since 0800 yesterday. Now there's 13 to 15 kts of wind. And I'm running at about 150 degrees to true wind angle and trucking along at 5 1/2 to 6 1/2 kts. It is so nice to shut down the engine and have a quiet beautiful early morning....
Fog, Fishing Boats, and Whales
Up at 0530 this morning to be completely locked in with fog, maybe 100 yard visibility. Oh well you didn't really expect anything different did you, Pat? At least I was able to relax and enjoy my morning coffee. The fog started to lift a bit before 0800 allowing for about a half mile visibility. Is...
Anchored Down in Port Angeles
Not much to talk about today. On the project list for today was installing the radar Ethernet cable and re-organizing stowing the multitude of stuff I brought along.
The Definition of Cruising
As most sailors and cruisers know the definition of cruising is "Fixing Your Boat in Exotic Places" and today was no exception! 🥴 Although I'm not sure that Port Angeles counts as an exotic place, it is the most exotic place I've been since leaving Seattle, and actually the only place 😉 As I noted...
Seattle to Mexico Day 1
Writing as I sit comfortably at the Pt Angeles City Wharf, day one of my trip to Mexico comes to a close. I left the dock at Shilshole pretty damned near my planned departure time of 7 am, only 8 minutes late. The morning was cold and rainy with a light south wind and I was hopeful that I might get...