sv CHEZ NOUS: October 2017

Thursday, October 26, 2017

BAJA BASH 5/23-6/1/2017

BAJA BASH on

sv CHEZ NOUS

5/23-6/1/2017

Predict Wind's GPS track

1,031 nm from Puerto Los Cabo, MX to San Pedro, CA with an average speed of 5.84nm/hr.

Al may add all the details later but now he is getting Chez Nous ready to take another trip back to Mx for the cruising season.

Monday, October 23, 2017

5/20-23/2017 Time in San Jose del Cabo/Puerto Los Cabos

5/20 Saturday afternoon : We were assigned a slip near the fuel dock. On the way in and shortly after getting tied up we recognized two familiar boats. One was "Compass Rose" Steve Roberts boat was in a slip close to ours but no one was on board at the time. The other boat that was across the channel from us was Lagoon 62 our old friends from the windy night at Partida with Ray and Capt. Bryan Carson on board. For the remainder of our time in in the Marina they allowed us to tie our dinghy to their stern so we could get to the office and cabs without walking around the entire Marina.

Lagoon 62

Compass Rose

We got to say good-by to Steve and his pilot buddies (Baja Bash crew) before they left. They had a perfect weather window and Al was more than a little sorry all of his crew wasn't here to leave with them.

Cross on hill watching over Puerto Los Cabos

5/21 Sunday: Got a tour of the Lagoon 62 and a nice visit with Bryan and Ray.

Ray's re-seach reveals the BD present we gave her is really a
Hammerhead shark and not a Ray skeleton.

Ray also gave me resources on the different kinds of Rays in the sea and ways to tell if they are sting rays of not. So the jumping ones Mobula don't sting. If the tail is longer than the width of the wing span or body then they most likely are the ones to avoid.

Big boats here make Chez Nous look small

For dinner tonight we took the dinghy to Hotel El Granzo near the harbor entrance. Lovely but poor service.

5/22 Monday: All of us were needing some exercise so we went exploring around the Marina and the road to town but my heels held us back a little. We did get to the cactus and sculpture gardens.

My last night on the boat so I packed while waiting for Kevin Kowey to arrive around 1700. He made it in time for all of us to meet Ray and Bryan for dinner. They had made reservations for us and drove us out into the hills to Acre Restaurant and Hotel for a special crew dinner with our new and old friends. Fantastic farm to table gourmet foods and custom cocktails in a gorgeous palm valley.

Ron,Kevin,Al,jl,Ray,Bryan

5/23/ Tuesday: All of us were up early. Breakfast on board and one final weather update. Al had to pay the final bill and dinghy me over to the office side where I could catch a cab. I hung out at the little restaurant there for a while so I could wave good-bye to Chez Nous.

0930 Chez Nous departed Puerto Los Cabos with Kevin Kowey, Ron Wood and Al Garnier on board. No wind. Log 6919 I'll let Al fill in the details of their trip home. It was a bash.

Alaska Air

0345 My trip home was idyllic. Isla Partida and Isla Espiritu Santo under the wing and La Paz peninsula on the right.

Saturday, October 21, 2017

5/17-20/2017 La Paz to San Jose del Cabo

5/17 Wednesday : Boat maintenance day, change oil, filters, fuel filters. Laundry and pool time for jl then one last trip into town to fill the coffers at the Cow store (a local grocery store that has a large sculpture of a cow on its roof. Super Mercado Aramburo which is across the street from J&R Ribs, the best ribs in town. I'll miss LaPaz.

5/18 Thursday: 0740 Underway from LaPaz to Los Muertos Al and I and a single reefed main. 13kts SSW expected to increase. A cool 65 degrees. Jacket weather.

1000 rounded the corner and entered San Lorenzo Channel and wind went down to 10kts.

1200 wind down to 4kts and shifted to the East.

1605 anchor down in Los Muertos in 30ft of water and 165 ft of chain with wind at 12kts from the SE.

Los Muertos

Chez Nous in the middle of a huge fish boil

Wind died around 2100. a very still night. Around 2300 I got up to see what was going on outside. It sounded like a babbling brook or rain. It was solid mass of fish all around the boat jumping and feeding on small 1 ft balls of bait that looked like krill. I took a movie and got the sound but it was too dark and my little flash light didn't help. Something to remember. There is a deep canyon on the sea floor near the anchorage at Los Muertos that is over 4,000 ft. deep so maybe the bait comes from an upwelling of the cooler water.

5/19 Friday: 0800 Anchor up head for Los Frailes with no wind. Motor on.

Los Muertos

1230 overcast , wind from the SE at 12kts. motor sailing with full main, and staysail close hauled and flat seas.

1530 anchor down in Los Frailes. 53nm from Los Muertos. Anchored south of waypoint as all sail boats were south. Later we heard that the ranger had made them move saying they were in the Cabo Pulmo National Park restricted area although the chart did not indicate that. So we're in 25 ft of water. Restful night.

5/20 Saturday : 0805 underway for SJ del Cabo motoring with light headwinds.

0920 off Punta Tule-20 boats at anchor fishing on a reef.

Oh that must be the reef

1100 approaching Punta Gordo head winds at 7kts and flat seas. A very easy no stress trip down from La Paz considering the wind that we have had the prior two weeks with Amanda and Steve.

Heading for the fuel dock

Looking back at the Entrance to San Jose del Cabo

1230 Tied up at the fuel dock. Took on 443 L 117gal. Burn rate in mild weather 1.4gal/hr. We last took on fuel when we arrived at Marina Palmira April 7th after crossing from the mainland. Since then we have cruised 496 miles.

Thursday, October 19, 2017

5/8-15/2017 Puerto Escondido to LaPaz with the Calhouns

5/8 Tuesday: Al settled things at the marina office and made sure our rental car was picked up. 1040 we cast off our mooring lines with Steve and Amanda on board headed for Candalera Chico, a tiny cove that we enjoyed 11 years ago on the CCA cruise and wanted to share with Steve and Amanda. When we got there one boat was already there and Al didn't like the wind in the cove. So we re-hoisted the main and sailed with a reefed main and genie. Engine off and a great sail in 18 to 28kts from the west. Anchored in Agua Verdes at 1500 close to sv Mamala with Tony and Lynn on board whom we had met weeks before in Isa Grande when Janet and Henry were with us. We all went for an early dinner at the beach Restaurant to enjoy their delicious fish tacos and to catch up with Tony and Lynn.

women's co-op

This was our first evening playing "Farkle". Which became a favorite evening past time.

5/9 Wednesday : Stayed all day in Agua Verdes. A treat to have the day to snorkel and explore different sides of the Bay in the dinghy and the kayaks.

Wind and water just a tad chilly.

A treasure find ?

I thought for sure it was cartilage from a Mobula Ray but I was wrong .
It was the skeletal cartilage from a hammerhead shark.

Amanda got a good work out in the afternoon getting back to the boat on our stand up paddle board as the wind increased.

Moon over the Gigantes in Agua Verdes.

5/10 Wenesday : 0820 Anchor up bound for Los Gatos approximately 20 nm. with light to no wind. Dropped the hook at 1120 and spent the day admiring the scenery.

Entrance between black rocks and red sand stone cliffs

5/11 Thursday: 0815 Anchor up bound for Evaristo 29 nm. Anchored in NW corner at 1320. The days sailing was varied NW- 10-15 kts of wind down to 00 then back at 25-30 kts. Had a nice sail with poled genie to port , main reefed motor sailing at 8kts. Too windy in the anchorage to do much. Steve and Amanda snorkeled from the boat and swam to another boat to invite them for cocktails.

Little fishing village with no road access kids are taken to school at Evaristo in Pangas.

Tucked up nicely in smooth water.

5/12 Friday: 0845 departed from San Evaristo across the channel to Isla San Francisco. No wind this morning. Anchored at 1045 with 15ft of water under the keel. We planned on being there in time for the guys to hike the ridge and Amanda and I to hang out on the beach. It was a perfectly beautiful day.

Steve and Al got to the top of the ridge

Isla San Francisco

The guys had a magnificent view from the ridge with the deeper Agate beach on the E side.

East side

In the last three times to San Francisco I hadn't gotten to Agate beach so this time I was determined to hike over the salt flat even though I knew I'd pay with heel pain tomorrow. It was worth it and I'd do it again.

walk across to Agate Beach

Agate Beach ahead

Looks like Chez Nous if far from shore but not in the middle
of the night with big waves .

Here are just a few of Amanda's pictures from snorkeling.

Isla San Francisco looking West toward Baja and La Paz Bay

Night falls on the bay but not before another ruckus "FARKEL" game.

5/13 Saturday: 0200 a Coromuel wind came in from the SW at plus 25 kts and blew all night. The worrisome part was that we were in 15 ft of water fairly close to the beach that rises quickly and the waves were already 3-4 ft. so if we drug are anchor there would be little time to reset. So we were on anchor watch till daylight.

0700 we raised the anchor and went around to the north side of the island . 0725 anchored in 18ft. of water . More importantly the sea were flat and the wind diminished to 15-20kts.

0900we departed for Caleta Partida with a doubled reefed main, with the maximum apparent wind 36kts. 40 degrees apparent off the bow we could not hold our course of 143 degrees Mag. with 4-6ft seas. So we motor sailed at 1600 rpms and set the staysail.

1300 anchor down in south anchorage with 10kts of wind and flat seas. 28nm from the Northside of Isla San Francisco to Caleta Partida. Just in time to have lunch and a dinghy ride through the cut to the E side of the fishing village to snorkel. It is the best snorkel spot around.

Caleta Paritda is the big bay between Isla Partida and Isla Espiritu Santo where there is a sand bar that almost completely connects the two islands except for a small cut that you can get through at high tide that starts in front of the fishing village then goes right up against Espiritu Santo then cuts east along the island. This is the same cut that we have pictures of Henry pulling us through in low tide.

Fishing village at the head of Caleta Partida.

We had a great afternoon of snorkeling then of course the wind came up at night. A beautiful Lagoon 62 came in close to us and anchored in front of us just to the southeast. One young captain and three young women all having a great time. Jumping in the water before the anchor was really set. Later we found out Ray was trying to retrieve something that her friend had dropped in the water and ended up swimming with real Mobula Rays. Amanda swan over to get acquainted and found out that it was the woman's 30th birthday, that the boat was registered in Montego Bay Jamaica, that the Captain (her boyfriend) wrote a book with the title "Bula" and that Ray is from Canada. Later that evening Amanda swam back over to give Ray her birthday present from ChezNous, the cartilage skeleton of what we still thought was a Ray. She was thrilled. We all prepared for a very windy night.

5/14 Sunday: Mother's Day. No one got much sleep last night. Wind shifted about 180 degrees and increased. We all seemed to take turns getting up to look outside at the Catamaran , shallow water and our plotter anchor track.

0700 Drug anchor in 30+kts with the Cat close behind and putting us in shallower water. . Reset anchor and added 30 more feet of chain. Now 160 feet of chain in 15 ft of water. At 1100 it was still uncomfortable and too windy to play with our water toys so we decided to up anchor and head back to LaPaz. Back in our slip at Marina Palmira in plenty of time to clean up and relax. Cab to Marina de LaPaz for lunch and a stroll on the Malecon .