Cruising Life--Part Three Of Our Adventures

Chart from the internet

As I recall, Dan and Debbie flew down to San Diego from Seattle, about the first part of January 1998.  They helped us ready the boat with food and supplies for our next leg of the trip.  By this time I knew what to expect—no showers and no hot food.  We could manage to boil water for hot drinks though.  Karl had prepared a gourmet dinner including medallions of pork during the frantic speed of the boat through the impending storms on our first leg.  He had also read us stories from Pat McManus’s books we had on board.  We would miss his presence.

We could have joined the Bahaha (http://www.bajahaha.com/HowTo.html) but opted to not go with that group.  After talking to one fellow who cruised down with them we were glad about our decision.  The boat he helped sail down was not sea worthy and did not have emergency equipment. Because of Chris’s training he would have probably spent most of his time repairing and helping the sailors install safety equipment.  “Flyaway”, was new and built in Sweden, so it was well made.  We had installed all new equipment on her also.  The only thing that broke was the water maker.  In our cruising around Mexico we heard horror stories about how boats crossing the Sea of Cortez had been dismasted.  The only thing we broke was a thingy for the engine transmission and Chris was able to use “a good Mexican fix” on it until we could buy a new part.

The weather cooperated and we were able to catch a few tuna, which Dan filleted.  We were told that Dorado mate for life then found out later that this is a myth.  I don’t recall that we caught any however.

After hours and hours of the droning of the engine the first stop was Turtle Bay.  I opted to stay on the boat as any climbing, walking, or use of my arms caused more pain from my fibromyalgia. The stop in Pirates Cove was made because of concern for topping up the fuel tank.  We anchored in pitch black with only the radar screen for light.  The next morning revealed that old fishing boats and tankers surrounded us.

Internet photo

Finally we sailed around the tip of Baja and opted not to stop at Cabo San Lucas.  Next stop was La Paz.  As soon as we arrived we signed up for a slip at Marina de La Paz. Debbie and Dan flew back to Seattle. We rented a storage locker and loaded extra stuff off the boat into it. We ate our next meals at the marina restaurant.

Storage we rented

Next blog-- our adventures in the Sea of Cortez.