We're currently about 30 miles off the Pacific coast of Baja enroute from Ensenada to La Paz aboard Chamisa, a Westsail 42 owned by our friends Keith and Kay. As I have probably already written, Kay injured her shoulder recently. This was putting a crimp in their plans to sail Chamisa south from Long Beach California to La Paz, Mexico. So I volunteered to crew for them. And that's why I'm currently 30 miles off the Baja coast instead of in La Paz drinking a cold brew and trying not to let the heat bother me.
We left Long Beach at 10:30 AM on Sunday. Almost exactly 24 hours later we entered the port of Ensenada where we got cleared in to the country, had a restaurant meal and then spent the night. We left Ensenada on Monday at about 11:00 AM. Well, it was later than that after we got fueled up but let's say we left around 12:30 PM.
So far, the trip has been pleasantly uneventful. We did have to put up pwith a lot of fog during the night on the trip from Long Beach to Ensenada. Fortunately we've had no fog since. We've had basically NO sailing wind so far (what else is new?). The GRIB files I downloaded earlier today show the wind filling in later this week. However, by the time they do we'll be well south of where the wind's going to be blowing. Fortunately, Chamisa's engine is running fine. About the only issue we've had has been with the autopilot. For some inexplicable reason, it decides to follow its own path every so often. So far the fix has been pretty easy: shut the power to it down at the breaker, let it rest for 15 minutes to a half hour and then start it back up. It's worked every time so far. Oh yesh, and we lost the tachometer on the engine control panel so now we're just running by the sound of the engine and the speed we expect to attain at 2000 RPMs.
Yesterday, after leaving Ensenada, we were sitting in the cockpit hoping to see a whale. And then we did. A mother and calf not too far off our starboard beam surfced long enough to take a breath. They swam just a little ways away and then sounded, giving us a beautiful two-fluke show. Unfortunately, no cameras were handy. We saw a bunch of whales after that, I'd guess maybe 2 dozen in all. I got to see one jump out of the water. Looked just like the logo from that insurance company (can't recall the name). Because of their acrobatics, I'm pretty sure these were humpbacks. Oh, and there was also the little hump on their backs that gave me a clue. They seem to be headed north.
Last night was pretty boring. We had a few boats to watch for awhile but through most of the night it was just us. Not that I'm complaining, mind you. A boring passage is a safe passage.
Well, I'm going to send this out on Sailmail later this evening so you'll get this blog through the miracles of HF radios and the internet. What a wonderful world.
PS: if you were following Siempre Sabado's movement on Yotreps (back when we moved occasionally), you can follow Chamisa's progress on Yotrps by clicking the link to Siempre Sabado. We're using my account until Keith's Sailmail account is activated.
PPS: I'm unable to receive blog comments until we're back in internet land so don'y think I'm just snubbing you.
-SRY
----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com
No comments:
Post a Comment