San Diego Arrival

Day 11  • 
Here we are, arriving into San Diego harbor!

Waiting

Day 9  • 
Having lunch in the marina. Custom clearance should be done around 2pm. We will see.... until we have the documents back, nothing is sure. Haha

waiting for clerance

Day 9  • 
Got up at 6am for a nice coffee. Rod went to the marina's office to give all the documents for the custom clearance: passports, info about the sailboat.... etc. It should take a couple of hours of administration to have the ok to go. We clean the deck with soap and brush then go to the coffee shop t...

7h19pm

Day 8  • 
Arriving in Ensenada just before sundown. Nice breathe taking is directly to the Marina. Amazing pod of dolphins playing at the bow of our sailboat. Good vibe

4h30pm

Day 8  • 
We don't know how long this will take but we hope to depart Ensenada Friday and arrive SD 12 hours from Ensenada

4h28pm

Day 8  • 
We will be in Ensenada tonight. Marina Coral. Slip D-44. We will go to the marina office in the morning to clear customs and Zarp

1h54pm

Day 8  • 
Winds picked up. We are flying at 6.5 mph. Heading toward Ensenada where we have a slip reserved. Shower tonight and a still boat that won't move for sleeping

11h35am

Day 8  • 
Wow. Clouds leaving. Sun and blue sky took their place. Amazing beautiful glassy Mercury blue waters. Spectacular. Are we on Lake Tahoe?? Loving every second

7h30am

Day 8  • 
I'm so impressed by Capitaine Rod. He is so disciplined, meticulous, patient, calm. "If it had to be done, it has to be well done". We are in good hands w him

7h49am

Day 8  • 
Ensenada, where clear customs is 70NM away. At 5mph that's ETA 11pm. Options: anchor outside and wait for morning, or go in at night? Captain Rod will chose.

7h27am

Day 8  • 
Last hour of my watch last night was hard. Made it through for the team. Waking up to super mellow seas. Sun still hiding begins a wall of cloud/fog. Love4all

10h29pm

Day 7  • 
Nights are cold these days. Wearing all the layers I can put. Also sitting out of the cold air, better to stay protected as 3 hours of watch would be long.

10h27pm

Day 7  • 
Staying vigilant tonight as we get closer to land and nearby small island. We can see the lights of houses on shore. Not many stars to see as it's overcast

2h08pm

Day 7  • 
Quite a monotonous day today. Cloudy with a chance of dolphins. Cruising at 5mph. Napping and relaxing when not on watch. Lunch: Bean & salsa in mini burritos

10h11am

Day 7  • 
Just saw an Albatross who came curiously by our sailboat. AMAZING and gorgeous bird! Love them. Such wingspans. Tilden an I chatting about "fear" in life.

9h37am

Day 7  • 
Seas are calmer. Still 15mph wind but swell with low frequency. Still no fish caught. Our port light (red) went off. Need to fix it. Time change. Good spirits

3h50am

Day 8  • 
Winds down to 15mph. Big swell remain. Speed around 3mph. If we increase speed w/ the engine the boat bashed a lot. We'll just take our time to cross the bay

1h13am

Day 8  • 
Just took over Tilden at the watch, 2am. I feel well awake this time for some reason. Slow speed 3mph. Into headwinds. Bumpy ride. They call it the Baja-bash.

6h19pm

Day 7  • 
Rod's 8pm->11pm. Tilden is 11pm to 2am. I am 2am till 5am. Then Rod 5->8am, then Tilden 8->12.... hope the night goes well in these conditions. Interesting

6h16pm

Day 7  • 
Tilden made a great soup+bean diner. It's moving like crazy inside the boat so we are hanging to all we can. Probably got a few bruises here and there.

6h15pm

Day 7  • 
Blowing 20 true wind speed, it is rocking! Captain Rod set the angle of the auto pilot and the size of the sails and we are all set. This should be good!

6h13pm

Day 7  • 
We took the back side of isla de Cedros which was smooth. Saw many whales, seals, dolphins! Came out of the protective side of the island to encounter wind.

6h34am

Day 7  • 
Off we go. Gonna be a slightly rough 2 days. Very bouncy but nothing Captain Rod or Lucky Duck can't handle. 15 to 20 knots. Let's eat a good breakfast and go

8h27pm

Day 6  • 
We are anchored in Turtle Bay for the night. It was good to take the afternoon to rest a bit, text and call loved ones, visit the town and some groceries.

8h55am

Day 6  • 
We will have to inflate the dingy and add the outboard engine, in order to take the empty containers and fill the up with diesel. Will have to go several time

8h53am

Day 6  • 
We are at 559NM out of 1,000. Completed 5 days with 120 hours. Big pod of dolphins followed us last night, playing right and left of our sailboat. Amazing.

8h51am

Day 6  • 
After a few rough patches super windy, the ocean is better this morning. Long swell. Rolling.Completely different environment. Arriving in Turtle Bay for fuel

10h31pm

Day 5  • 
Started my 11pm to 2am shift. Getting used to Navigating at night and not using the eyes to read the water. Relying on the plotter and it's numerous numbers.

6h39

Day 5  • 
We are at halfway point in terms of mileage. 500 NM. Let see what the ocean has prepared for us for the second half. Love you all!!

day 5

Day 5  • 
7:30pm. Wind starting to die. Swells are not as steep but gradually getting larger. We sailed 30 miles, tacked out 12 miles. Heading N again twrds turtle bay

6h34

Day 5  • 
Fortunately the winds direction were favorable to sailing. Steep short interval swells were better negotiable at a certain angel so Capt Rod decides to tack

Getting ready

La Paz  • 
Rod, Tilden and I two hours this morning reviewing the whole boat and its set up with the owner. Everything looks great. Then we went to the supermarket to get our ten days of food and water. And coffee. Haha. Brought all on board under tremendous heat. Sweating so much. Need to have this boat under...

Arrived in La Paz, Mexico

La Paz  • 
First day of the new adventure!! Captain Rod picked me up at home at 6h15am and we took off to SFO. Tilden, the other crew member is in the car as well. I can see instantly that we will get along just fine!!! I can feel those things! So weird to be in SFO airport. Nobody there, compared to what "it...