Month: November 2017

is this post. But before it gets postponed and loses its value and after all the whining, I want to mention what a wonderful day we had in Cabo yesterday . Thanks to the Captain and YOU – Jake! Loved every minute. 🙂 We were guests at this amazing resort and had lots of fun in the pool, high above our anchorage.

Cheers!

I have been keeping a journal throughout our adventure. It is hard to keep track otherwise, there is so much to process and so little time in between new experiences. I am learning a lot and feel, I should know so much more, just taking part in this. It makes me feel a bit vulnerable. I am also the only female on board, including the dog. Which is probably a good thing, but I miss having a good friend around, one who can back me up sometimes or just joke around. Like my good old German or Team Handball friends, who think alike, have the same kind of humor. I wonder, if I than would be in better spirits and enjoy this experience a different way and would just be a little more relaxed. Mats is also missing his friends and our home, the routine.

Maybe this is also the wrong time to be so thoughtful. We have done 2 overnight sails and the third night is ahead of us. Tensions are a bit higher, since everyone is lacking sleep, except maybe the kiddo and the dog.

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t want to sound bitter. Well, maybe just a little northern German. 😉 There are plenty of things, I do enjoy. Like the dolphins swimming with us. The sunsets. Exploring new little towns. Beach time, warmer weather. Seeing Mats on his first Boogie Board rides. At the same time, I see him being very attached to me. Seeking comfort through all off the new and unknown. Waking up while I do night shift, realizing I am not next to him in bed and just starting to cry: Where is my Mami? There have been times, I just took him out of bed and he slept in the cockpit, while I was finishing my shift. He has been complaining about stomach aches lately too.

The reason also for the entire adventure taking place is, so that Dad and Kid can grow closer together while spending more time with each other. But so far the Captain has been busy with things I don’t know how to do, or just don’t see that they have to be done, that it is me keeping the little man company most of the time. The relationships are difficult, I can only imagine how hard it must be for the Captain being the boss, the husband, the father and the friend all at the same time and trying to keep everyone happy. And he is doing great.

I think a little break from the sail, time to reflect, would do all of us good. Or we/me just need to find a better relaxation program… 😉

The 6 days in San Juanico were a good break after all that sailing. We did quite some portions without any break, just because the wind was better further out at sea and getting back to shore would have added a lot of miles, or the anchorages weren’t promising.

In Scorpion Bay, everyone had fun and we caught up on some sleep. Here are a few images of the restaurant right by the beach, where Mats found some friends.

We are getting up (Mats is waking up!) early and are tired when the sun is going down. There is always something to do, really. Cooking, cleaning up, putting the dinghy together, filling up fuel, running the engine for battery power, checking oil, trying to stay clean without observing too much of that fresh water we have. That means, the dishes are first washed with salt water and then quickly rinsed with fresh water. There are two foot pumps in the kitchen and two fossils, one for salt water and one for fresh water.

The toilet is also run with salt water. We are jumping in the ocean to bathe, use the soap on deck and jump back in to wash it off. After a few days of doing that plus moist wipes, my skin starts itching and I am looking forward to some fresh water. I think everybody on board does.

The Captain thinks that jumping in the ocean is also a great way to take care of his dirty laundry!

Kruiser and Mats love messing around

But it is also kind of cool, that you try to get by a different way and learn to observe water. Getting back to more comfort, will be easy. The opposite is always harder at first and you learn to appreciate what you are used too, more again.

The water is clear and wonderful refreshing, not cold. That makes it easier for sure.

Big ‘Hello’ and thank you goes to Frank in Germany, for buying some ice cream to cool us down in sunny Cabo! We received it and also your nice message. Sorry that you did not see any dolphins on your trip. Given the fact that we sailed all the way from San Francisco to Cabo, we did not see that many either. Say ‘Hello’ to the rest of the family!

There are things I haven’t thought of, when I dialed into this adventure. All of a sudden, they just live up to you and all you can think of is “F$&x”!

One of them is getting to shore in a dinghy, when surf is up and you have kid and dog on board and don’t know yourself what the heck you are doing. It doesn’t necessarily help, when the Captain, which is your husband, starts running down scenarios. Freaky shit. I bet from shore, it all doesn’t look that horrible. But if one of those strong little sucker waves grabs your dinghy and it doesn’t seem to take much to flip it, bury things underneath and destroy the only motor you got….  I don’t even want to think further than that….

It’s serious stuff and it did not come to my mind beforehand.

In Punta Abreojos, we did not even try to get to shore ourselves, we asked some Mexican Fishermen, if they could bring us to shore in there Panga.

But in San Juanico, we came specifically for the surf and the men felt comfortable to read the waves and find us a good time to get on and off shore. Most of the time, it worked well. One time, I jumped out of the boat too early due to a misunderstanding and had Mats in my arm. It was still a little too deep and we both went heads under, until my feet hit the ground and I walked us up. The men (and Mats) were very confused on why I had done it, but I just had misunderstood the command and saw a wave coming. Silly me, right?

Some other times we got soaking wet, but all went well. It was good, that Kruiser is so tall and able to walk us out and hold the boat, while the Captain quickly tried to start the motor. All went well during the 6 days getting on and off shore, I just had occasional nightmares, that’s all.

We were able to either surf, SUP Surf or Boogie board some good waves and that was fun. The waves are very slow and it’s a long way from the point to beach. There is a Campground too, just grab your board and walk down. Surfer’s paradise.

The Pro’s

And non Pro 😀

And the weirdo

YES, we have found a Wifi connection in Cabo, which was strong enough to upload this clip. I could watch it over and over again. 😀 ❤

Sail from Asuncion to Punta Abreojos

It turned out it was a good decision to leave early morning at 6am. We had fantastic wind, made 7 – 8 knots, caught about 10 Bonitas but no eatable fish, so all went to be free again and we had sausages instead. It was also the first time Mats and myself wheeled in our first fish. Mats did a fantastic job, the Bonitas are fighting pretty hard.

I still don’t get, why it seems like a good idea to sail at night, if the next destination can be reached within a days sail. I guess the wind forecast looked better for the night, but then shifted.

Dolphins were swimming with us for about 10 minutes, those are the most memorable moments for me. It is insane, how fast they shoot through the water, you can see them already from far away how they jump up in excitement to catch up with the boat. They charge towards the bow, either jump out in front of it or swim away to the side to than charge again to catch up with the boat. It’s so much fun to watch these amazing creatures. I try to take in as much as I can and forget everything else around me. Maybe my jaw dropped down in awe when I sit there and it does not matter to me in that moment, if I get soaking wet from waves crashing over the bow. It’s so worth it!

Punta Abreojos means, “open eyes”. So, we were aware from the guide books, that it was necessary to sail in a wide circle into the bay to avoid rocks and not to try this in the dark. It was very windy and took a while to set the anchor in a way to make us feel comfortable, as we usually seek more protected anchorages. We did hope for Kruiser to be able to surf at this spot, but the swell wasn’t quite big enough. It was too wild on shore for us with our dinghy, but some Mexican’s stopped by our boat and Kruiser arranged a pick up with there Panga fishing boat for the next morning.

Punta Abreojos was also a cute, but not that well maintained as Asuncion was. We passed a school where kids were playing outside on a cement court. We ask if Mats could join them a little and the kids collected themselves on one side of the court and ran to the other side. Mats tried to do the same together with his Papi, until he got run over by the biggest kid of the group, probably weighing 120 pounds. He fell with his head onto his arm, luckily, and was fine after a little cry. Here a few impressions from our time there.

Sail from Turtle Bay to Asuncion

We were able to set sail inside Turtle Bay at 6:45am. Lots of Haha boats were still anchored, others had left already or left with us. It was good that we had wind, but we also had swell again and the all day sail was strenuous. But having boats around us, was quite nice and made the sail more interesting. One gorgeous boat with a big Spinnaker passed us, but most stayed behind, as Alsager was doing some good knots.

The speed was great for fishing and we had about 6 Bonita’s on the hook, which we released. One huge Sail Fish had a bite and when the Captain tried to wheel him in, he jumped high out of the water and we got to see that creature in full beauty and I just shouted “holy shit, holy shit” and went to get the camera. But off he went and I was happy for him and us. 🙂

We arrived in Asuncion just before sunset, the anchorage was very calm and we were the only boat upon arrival. The sunset was beautiful, as was the big full Moon, which rised shortly after. While eating Pasta we watched 3 more boats come into the bay in the dark, but the anchored further away.

In the morning we set up the dinghy and rowed on shore, favorite part for our dog Noah, who still doesn’t like to do his business on the boat. After walking around town a bit and getting ice cream for Mats (thanks Oma from Germany for getting him one through our “buy Mats an ice cream” link) someone recommended a restaurant to Kruiser.

Here I would like to add, it is of such great value that Kruiser speaks the language perfectly. The locals are always very friendly and helpful, but so much more, when there is a chance to communicate without problems. From his nature Kruiser also brings along a lot of charm, so we usually find what we need and more, without any problems.

Asuncion is a very cute little town. That restaurant which was recommended was overlooking the beach and had a very Mexican vacation feel to it. So relaxing.

After a fantastic meal, fresh grilled Mahi with rice and Tortillas, we started rowing back towards Alsager. Two of the boats which had come in at night, had now anchored beside us and they were sailing under the Canadian flag. We rowed by and started chatting with the two couples and they immediately invited us on board. Over a beer we had a really nice long chat and learned a lot. Both of the couples are blogging about there adventures as well, I haven’t gotten a chance to check there sites yet, but maybe you like too. Here we go: www.svdoubledeuce.blogspot.ca from Ron and Karen and www.LaterThanWeThink.blogspot.ca from Mike and Jacquie. Super nice Canadians and we hope to run into them again, they will be in Mexico over the winter as well and are planning to continue down the Panama Canal.

We went back to our boat, prepared the boat to sail out at night and as we pulled up the sails, the wind switched and was right on our nose. How unfortunate! We set anchor again and decided to try early morning again. YES, one of the best moments for me so far. 😀

 

All of us really enjoyed our stop in Turtle Bay. The anchorage is huge and it was no problem for the many boats from Baja-Haha and everyone else to find a spot. The Mexican’s here are so friendly. I don’t blame them for doubling the prices, it is a possibility for them to make some good money this one time a year. They are doing very well offering there service, from Taxiing from the anchorage spots to delivering fuel and water, even taking your garbage from you. Well, who knows, where that ends up…. 😦

They are getting a kick out of blonde Mats and he is getting a lot of attention. The break was well deserved and it makes me almost forget the long sail from San Diego and I look forward to rare overnighters from now on. Mats loves playing at the beach so much that he doesn’t want to go back on Alsager, when the sun sets. Tomorrow we will head out of Turtle Bay, we can recommend this stop to everyone. The Supermarket closest to beach is insanely stocked up.

Here few impressions when I walked through town with Mats, while the guys went for a surf.

Arriving in Mexico, I realize, that being able to post, will be very limited. The Internet is weak, even after purchasing Mexican sim cards, it will be tough to upload almost anything. Which is not great as I miss keeping in touch on a regular basis. How funny it is when the things you are used too, suddenly disappear. I wonder, if this is a bad, or in a lot of ways, even a good thing, because you stop staring at your phone or computer screen and start having a different perspective and look around you… again.

Whatever, good or bad, tonight is the first time since San Diego I am sitting down and getting my thoughts together. When we left San Diego, we were in good spirits. We had rested up, stocked up and took care of lots of things.

We hadn’t really planned forward, but the Captain certainly wanted to find wind to sail and save on gas, which is very expensive in Mexico. And of course, why else ARE we on a sailboat?

So, we motored further and further away from the coastline. Already getting out of the Mission Bay Harbor, we came across swell, I hadn’t missed since our arrival! It wasn’t a good feeling. It was worse though, when Mats started throwing up. He cried and had lots of pain in his belly. We thought of food poisoning, since he had never been seasick before. I was eying towards San Diego when Kruiser calmed us and got us back to the thought, it is just seasickness. Mats had the craving of Apple Juice shortly after and was soon doing much better, what a relief!

Mats sick, us being away from shore that far and thus no chance to anchor, weighted on me. One strong reason not joining the Baja Haha was to prevent overnight sailing. Now we were close to 50 miles away from shore, which made a stop impossible. I learned earlier on the trip, that the wind is the boss. And the Captain, of course! So, I was a quiet grump, there was no point in verbalizing my frustration.

When my baby was ready for bed, I just wanted to be with him. We find comfort in each other and our bond feels even stronger in this unknown adventure.

I fell asleep and woke up at 10pm and jumped out of bed, put my gear on and went into the cockpit. Kruiser was up and I jammed into his night shift. He was a bit confused and I thought he will probably be happy, if I give him a break. Well, I hadn’t put much thought into it and kinda screwed up the whole night shift program. At the end it was a very busy night with lots of boats around and Captain and myself being up most of the night, needing each others help. Kruiser snored away until later in the night and Mats too! I hope, at the end, it wasn’t too bad for him…  😀

He showed us the next day, what an exceptional Fisherman he is. He caught 2 Mahi Mahi’s shortly after crossing the Mexican border, a Bonita and a Baby Mako SHARK! Yupp, that was insane. No worries, I got it all on camera.

We made some yummy Mahi Mahi with rice and my brain is pretty empty from that point on. I think, I was just functioning since there was not much I could do anyway. I was in my own thoughts, planned on checking the flight situation when I was able to get back online to fly back home from Cabo. I don’t know, if it is me just giving up so quickly, or getting mad/feeling helpless, or just trying to calm myself down with the idea, hey, if it gets too much, there is always a way of return and getting out of this. It takes pressure off me, I guess. Kinda like: F…. all!  Yupp, thank you guys, I am even loosing my well behavior and am into Sailor’s jargon!

The good about the 3 days and nights, we had some nice sailing, a bit over 1 day of motoring. We were followed by Dolphins, MY FAVORITE HIGHLIGHT! Unbelievable and I cannot stop watching them. I cannot wait, showing it to all of you and hope I can edit it soon. It’s just incredible! And the fishing has been insane. I tasted the meat of a fresh caught Yellow Fin Thuna and felt like a cannibal. Getting out of your comfort zone. It happens all the time and it makes me grow….or hate it?

Are you still there? 😉