Jesse's Girl

Resort at Los Suenos (El Gran Sueno)

2010-03-25T17:32:00.000-07:00

As there is many posts I skipped and in an effort to catch up a little I am combining the posts for our two trips to Los Suenos (formerly Muertos.) The first visit was our last stop on the way to La Paz just before Thanksgiving 2009. The second trip was the second week of February just before Carnival on our way to Mazatlan.

We went to visit Teddy at the resort again. This resort is a stunner! It looks like where the rich and famous come to play in a secluded tropical setting.

Far side of the grounds.

A little dark but this is the only photo I have of the "movie group." We dingied over to the beach to have lunch together and Teddy, being the nice guy that he is, had his staff set up the a movie for us.
Backside of the pool bar.

Robert and Kathy from Blue Dolphin were traveling with Steve from Ubuntu to Carnival while their boat was up on the hard in La Paz awaiting a bottom job.

Of course we had to get a little hammock time.

Jesse in his element waiting for the movie to start.

Robert and Kathy took the recliners in front leaving the 20 person sofa for Steve, Christine and Evan from Windward Star, and Jesse and I.
These giant "candles" are actually fountains with the water lit from beneath to resemble flame.

A shot of the full moon.

Not lighting but another shot of the full moon.

This is the sunset leaving Suenos after our second visit. (Had to throw it in). After this point are the photos from the first visit.

One of the "regulars" at the old Giggling Marlin restaurant, now 1535 restaurant.

She even brought her owner.

While we had lunch at 1535 we had a T.I.M. (This Is Mexico) moment when some of the tourists were naked and running through the dining room. :)

We had to stay awhile in Muertos (Suenos) awhile the first time because the boat bit my foot and I couldn't sail. We enjoyed every minute of our time there though!
The resort from the water.

Approaching the Clubhouse.

Teddy graciously invited us to use the pool, water slide, and he even provided the towels.

The inside of the clubhouse is amazing! I love train sets and Teddy hurried to turn them all on shortly after we met him.

Some new friends from Moondance and Proximity.

Arrrrrr!!!

The Castle at Los Muertos (renamed Los Suenos)

2010-02-05T17:48:00.000-08:00

A friend, Christine, and I hiked up to the famous castle of Los Suenos. It is a few months from being finished and is very impressive even in its unfinished state. Christine explained that she and a couple we know just walked up a few days prior and on through the property without any of the workers blinking. So she and I just confidently walked up as though we owned the place, smiled and said "Hola," a lot. So funny, out of 50 workers no one thought twice about us being there.
The courtyard.

Almost completed line of courtyard arches.

Leading into the main house. I was very impressed with the blending of indoor and outdoor living spaces. Not to mention the exciting blend of Renaissance, Moorish, and traditional Spanish architecture.

Many salons, bedrooms, and courtyards overlook the ocean for breathtaking views of the turquoise water.

The infinity pool is nearly finished with a full bar, fire place, and kitchen just behind.

Jesse's Girl is the middle boat in the harbor.

A sweeping view of the ocean side of the new property development.

I would someday like to meet the owner and say, "Nice to meet you and by the way I love your place in Los Suenos!" :)

La Paz to Bahia De Los Muertos (Suenos)

2010-02-04T12:56:00.000-08:00

The trip was great from La Paz to Muertos! There were breaching humpback whales, jumping rays, and the most beautiful full moon we have ever seen!

Here is a very amatuer video of the rays jumping. It's a bit rough but it was the first time I used the camera to shoot video.

As good as I could get the photo of the full moon rising with the healing of the boat. :)

1-23-10 Whale Sharks

2010-01-24T01:07:00.000-08:00

Saturday Jesse and I went in to spend an obscene amount of time on the Internet at a cafe. Saw Marv and Ardy on Odyssey and they had the great idea to go sharking, to find the whale sharks we were hearing about. So scrapping the Internet idea I went with them to borrow Patsy's metal dinghy for this impromptu adventure. I had no camera other than the Iphone, no swimsuit, no snorkel, mask, or fins. Life happens whether you're ready or not so just grip it and rip it. (Favorite golf saying)

We went to Ladybug, a sailboat anchored in the bay, to find Ronie and Chris, friends of Marv and Ardy. We sang "A sharking we will go" after finding them and gathering them into the dinghy. About 5 miles down the beach Ronie spotted the shark's dorsal fins. There were three sharks at first and we followed the largest which was about 25+ feet.

This is the best photo so I'll put it first.

Here's Ronie from Ladybug swimming after the shark. She stripped down to skivvies and went in. She is the last swimmer pictured and the shark's tail is directly in front of her. It just appears as a dark area here and it's head runs out of the frame at the left. Gives you an idea of how big it is. By the way, whale sharks are the largest fish in the ocean and eat plants only. The next one to go in was Chris. About then the tourist boat near us lent us a mask! Send out the "need" vibe and ye shall receive. :)

See if you can spot the fin in this one.

By then I had decided I needed to figure out how to improvise a "swimsuit." I had inappropriate skivvies for the task. So I went in in my bra and silk skirt (mind you I needed to wear something that day that did not bind on my bruised and battered legs (boat bites) and was planning on having an Internet day). But I was not about to miss this.

We were taking turns jumping near the path of the shark because we lacked fins and we could not keep up with it swimming. So I jumped and everybody yelled, "Dive Shanna!" So I slapped the mask on and went down just under the surface and came face to face with the shark just a foot away. I was tempted to touch it's face but I did not want to break the laws protecting them, cause it distress, or worse I was afraid that like sea turtles I might cause an illness in the creature from the oils on my hands.

So I came up wide eyed and yelled, "WOW!" Then I dove again to see its long wide body swimming by! The spots and stripes were beautiful and the great fish had smaller yellow fish swimming by it's mouth. It is incredible to be so close to something so huge and peaceful. I can't find words to do the experience justice.

Marv and Ardy looking back at Ronie and a tourist near the largest whale shark.

Ardy was the last to go in and although she looked to be 6 feet away from it, it's fin was actually close enough to touch as they are so wide (and flat).

What an amazing memory! Next time I will insist Jesse come along!

If I get some photos from Ardy's camera I will add them later.

Ensenada Grande/Los Islotes 1-12-10 to 1-13-10

2010-01-24T01:06:00.000-08:00

There are three lobes in Ensenada Grande, we stayed in the largest Southern lobe.
The welcoming committee from Windward Star and Magenta.

Jesse's Girl in our favorite stop in both of the islands we visited.
Again I kayaked while Jesse had a rest.

All by me onesies.

The next morning we got up early and headed out to Los Islotes so I could swim with the sea lions. Here is the Northern side of the island.

The natural rock formations are pretty impressive around here.

A National Geographic boat was there with us exploring in a couple 20 person tenders.
The little blob in the water is me snorkeling. Jesse dropped me off and circled for an hour. The female seals came up first, then there were a few babies that followed, and soon there were dozens swarming around me. There was only one male that started out toward me, I quickly swam the other way to avoid an aggressive display of behavior. Friends have described the males getting in their faces and barking. Luckily I did not seem threatening and there was no issue.

Then it was back to La Paz...

Caleta Partida 1-10-10 to 1-12-10

2010-01-17T19:39:00.000-08:00

Meeting of the local mafia.

I have taken to photographing rocks, shells, and driftwood that would otherwise end up in my garden. That is if I had a garden that wasn't being rented out with our house, if it wasn't illegal to take things from this National Sanctuary, not to mention if there was enough room for more nick nacks on the boat.

View of the bay near the divide between Isla Espritu Santo and Isla Partida, which is the Northern most island.

Jesse's Girl

Peek-a-boo

I'm used to herons that are not so skid-dish. These are truly wild creatures though, unlike the herons that live in the city, seeing people all the time. You can only get this close and then they are squawking shrilly with their odd eerie voices.

Great Blue Heron

Some of our anchorage neighbors dropped by to trade galley fixings and stories of the open ocean.

1-9-10 to 1-10-10 Ensenada Candelero

2010-01-15T22:52:00.000-08:00

Okay this is just a short one...

Ensenada Candelero is beautiful for it's rock formations, one of which looks like a monk statue. It is a smaller anchorage and therefore quick to explore, so we were there less than 24 hours.

1-7-10 through 1-9-10 Ensenada Gallo

2010-01-14T22:19:00.000-08:00

We headed for the next bay called Puerto Ballena which consists of 3 lobes. We weren't in a hurry so although the trip was less than an hour including anchoring we arrived at about 3 pm. Alicia paddled up in the kayak and the evenings plans were arranged in 3 minutes.

She paddled to Windward Star to round up the gang and then picked up Alfredo and the fish he had speared. Then the inhabitants of On Verra and Windward Star came over to Jesse's Girl for cocktail hour that turned into 4 hours. Everyone was having fun so we stayed up late. Well, late for cruisers, for some reason the time is different here and you get tired sooner than normal, even for night owls.
Left to right: Christine, moi, Alicia, Alfredo, Evan.

Next morning it was Happy Birthday Jesse time. Alicia and Alfredo dropped by a fish first thing before they left for the next anchorage. Alicia does the paddling while Alfredo spears the fish.
Trigger Fish

Ewww trigger teeth!

Before Jesse's birthday I had taunted him with this present for a week and made him wait until the 8th (he tried several times to open it early).

Midday, while Jesse had a birthday nap, I went out to kayak and take pictures.

Doing the check it out kinda thing.

Going my way?

Caught you smiling.

Kicking back in tow.

Okay I know this is cheating but I should photoshop Jesse and I in on the beach.

1-5-10 Isla Espritu Santo- Bahia San Gabriel

2010-01-13T19:28:00.000-08:00

We got underway late (almost 11am). For all that have been stuck in the La Paz Eddy you will understand. For all that have never experienced it, this place just sucks you in.. There is so much to do, see, and new and old friends alike to hang out with. See it just sucked me in again, I'm here to talk about the islands. Can you hear Twilight Zone music playing too?

We put out hand lines on the way to the first anchorage that provided protection from the North winds, Bahia San Gabriel. Meanwhile, I did my most exuberant bad dancing while Jesse napped a little.

A little after 2 pm a killer whale surfaced behind us. I turned to tell Jesse to get up but he had heard the whale too and was getting up. About the time I told him I thought it had been a killer whale it surfaced closer and there was no doubt. Then it turned and went to check out the 2 hand lines we had dragging lures behind the boat. Jesse and I grabbed the lines and began to pull them in (a whale would simply be too much for dinner) and the killer whale swam right behind them a foot below the surface until he was under the dingy which was up on davits on the stern! What an experience! By contrast the photo I managed to get was just okay as we were too enthralled in the moment to do more than gape in amazement.

View from San Gabriel.

Next day we took a walk on the beach ...

We explored:
the white sand with fossils, rocks, and shells...

the mangroves ...

the old pearl fishery (there was not much more than a foundation left) ...

the fishing grounds of many different species of birds ...

& the hardened lava flows with shells and fossils trapped in the rock.

We also met some people on the beach from Windward Star, On Verra, and Magenta. We got together with Alfredo and Alicia (from On Verra) and Christine and Evan on Windward Star that night for drinks, dinner, and a couple documentaries.

Bahia Santa Maria Day 2 (Party)

2010-01-05T02:41:00.000-08:00

Approaching the beach party that is brought in by the folks from Mag Bay. They drive an hour and a half through the desert to bring the Ha Ha people a grand party. The band brings all the instruments, amps, generators, tents, etc. Also there is a huge feast that is trucked in and set up in the fishing shacks just for this event once a year.

The shore view of "town."
First thing we set up beach essentials.

Trouble squared!

Low tide makes for quite a haul if your bring your own tender!

This is why we paid $3 per person each way for the ponga (water taxi).

Margaritas for the girls...

Better watch out boys!

Chatting with Latitude 38's Drama Mama. Apparently there was not enough soap opera stuff going on aboard Jesse's Girl to warrant a spot in the magazine but hey, that's a good thing.

Looking down toward "town."

Shake it.

Singing with the band.

Hanging out with Bob and one of his crew members.

Cheese it up poser style.

Bloodthirsty beach vampire children ingenious to the area. I brought vampire teeth from The States to give to the kids for Halloween.

From tears and temper tantrum to all smiles with orange vampire teeth in 30 seconds.

view of beach after party

The ponga ride back.

Bahia Santa Maria Day 2

2009-12-24T13:22:00.001-08:00

The next morning...

Jesse, Judy and I went for a dingy ride so I could exchange a shirt at the Ha Ha "store."

Shopping at Profligate.

Prepare to repel boarders...

Judy, Jesse, and I pulled about 100-150 pounds of of kelp from the keel and rudder. We towed our very own eco-system with us on leg 2.

These folks tried to get the Trick Or Treating organized first on the net and were told that everyone was too spread out and no one would be able to find the right boats (even though they were handing out flags to identify Trick Or Treat boats) Then we were told we should just take the candy to shore and "hide it under rocks for the kids to find." Ahh, yeah right. It took 15 minutes past this and I finally broke in on the net and moved the Trick Or Treat traffic to channel 72 to better organize a plan. Here we are getting our Trick Or Treat flag.

It's a race! During the morning net I said the first kids to Jesse's Girl get triple helpings of candy.

Josh from Evergreen right and his buddy made it over and what do you know, they were first too!

The 16 year old at the helm was just learning to drive the dingy.

Another first place with triple helpings of candy! :)

It was a successful endeavor and everyone who showed up at Jesse's Girl came in first.

More to come on Day #2...

Bahia Santa Maria Day1

2009-12-23T20:37:00.000-08:00

Coming into Bahia Santa Maria, Judy scouted a good spot for us to anchor.

A view of "town."

The first thing we had to work on was finding a gooseneck nut to replace the one lost in the middle of the night.

May we check out your nuts?

Doh, need a different nut! Hmmm, where can we go?

After checking Cuba Libre III and another boat, the fine folks aboard Puma were recommended and they were ready to help. It turned out that they had multiple nuts that would work and let us take 3 with us. The nylock nut turned out to be the best fit. Jesse and Michael installed it with a little threadlocker and bada boom bada bang we were back in business. (Later we brought by a 6 pack of precious Bayern beer from Missoula, MT).

Nuts installing a nut. Now I've seen everything.

Then Judy had the great idea to go to shore for a little beach combing. She had heard from our friend Marilyn Anderson of Gate 11 that the sand dollars were beautiful here. What a gorgeous day and we found a lot of really spectacular shells.

Uncovering treasures in the sand.

If you stay still for a half minute the sand comes alive with the darting movements of little crustaceans.

Brings a whole new meaning to the words "Crab Balls."

Back at the boat later that night we watched the full moon rise...

Dinner after leg 2. Hot, brown and plenty of it!

Baby cat!

Let's go to Bahia Santa Maria!

2009-12-21T17:45:00.000-08:00

Halloween came the day after the Turtle Bay beach party. We were scheduled to leave at Noon and then for reasons unknown to us the time got changed to leaving two hours earlier. Unfortunately, we were going to take Jesse to town for the first time that morning and had to scrap that idea to get ready to go. This can be the downfall of traveling in a group. The leg from Turtle Bay to Bahia Santa Maria is roughly 2 days, 2 nights so we started out with the crowd.

Judy had a great Halloween outfit for the occasion complete with BOO earrings!

The fleet.

Views leaving Turtle Bay.

Bob from Gate 11 aboard Sceptre. He may be offering up his boat as the next J boat for charter and training since J-World sunk.

Raising the main sail.

Setting up the genekker.

Caught you smiling...

Unsocking the Genekker.

Sleepy cat, sleepy cat what are they feeding you? Maybe he should stop drinking with the chickens.

Sunset the first day of the second leg with Judy and I clicking away on the cameras.

Did someone say "Michael's Shepard's Pie!" Yummy!

Fish on and Kipsa curiosity.

Cheese...and warmer weather.

Da Boyz.

We had 2 shifts each night at sea. Jesse and I took the 10pm to 2am shift and Judy and Michael took the 2am to 6am shift. Often Jesse would go down for a nap at the beginning and through most of our shift because he is not a night owl like me and spent plenty of time at helm during the day. I love the night shift. I listen to my I-pod, do bad dancing for exercise and to stay warm, and I blindly scribble page after page of randomly occurring thoughts.

On the night of Halloween when I was fixing a snack just after the start of Jesse's and my shift and heard a plunk on the cabin top of something metal. The cat even noticed looking up and at me. With trepidation I opened the campanion way and asked if Jesse had heard it too. He was trying to get his PFD (life jacket) on quickly. I was worried and beat him to the punch. I shined a flashlight up at the gooseneck (where the boom is attached to the mast) hoping the sound had not been the gooseneck nut. Sure enough the gooseneck nut was gone and nowhere laying on the deck and the gooseneck bolt had backed out almost completely. Jesse got the tools out and twisted the bolt back into position and checked and tightened it repeatedly throughout the night.

This loss was a little distressing as we had no spare nut, we were soon to be slightly low on fuel, there was no chance to refuel at the next stop with no facilities, and the main sail was unusable because without the nut the bolt kept backing out.

Sunrise the second day of the second leg.

When there was enough light Jesse and Michael assessed the situation.

While at sea Jesse and I use "The Pit" to nap in. This is a habit from our first long trip when we doublehanded from Alameda to Catalina Island in 2007. (We shine a flashlight on the napping person if we need help on deck when we doublehand). The forward berth is a little bouncy underway so we use it to stow stuff. (Judy and Michael had the aft berth which is good to sleep in underway). Kipsa cat is always happy when anyone goes down for a nap because he can either lay on them or curl up under their arm (see below).

Almost to Bahia Santa Maria...

Turtle Bay

2009-12-14T11:21:00.000-08:00

I'll start by saying that Turtle Bay was not our first stop. The weather was rougher than any other point in the previous 15 Ha Has.

One boat sank, which is a first in all of the Ha Ha's history. It was the boat J World, captained by Eugenie Russell that sunk after striking a whale. The boat was making 9 knots of speed and surfing down a large wave with a humpback whale at the bottom and the boat came to an abrupt halt as though they had hit a rock. Eugenie believes the whale lashed it's tail as a result of the collision and this drove the rudder post upward holeing the boat. It took 45 minutes for the boat to sink completely from the time the boat was holed "until the masthead Windex indicator passed 18 inches in front of Eugenie's face on it's way to the bottom." [Source: Latitude 38 online] She had both inexperienced students and old salts alike on the boat. She repeated over and over the roles that each person would play in an emergency unknowing that these instructions would actually come into play later.

The crew was forced into the life raft that became swamped with water. They used boots and hats to bail out the raft. Part of the emergency gear was lost but the EPRIB and VHF radio were among the items that were saved and the Captain was able the set off the emergency beacon and radio a Mayday call. Although no one heard the Mayday on VHF, the Coast Guard, responded to the EPRIB beacon. They recovered the entire crew after 3 plus hours calling Capt. Eugenie Russell a hero for saving the lives of her crew.

This will give you an idea of the choppy wind waves. (This is a 38 foot Catalina named "Risk Taker)."

We decided to stop at San Quentin (pronounced kin-teen) due to the weather. We came into the anchorage at night and anchored pretty far out as none of us had ever been there. We thought that it would give everyone a breather from the nasty weather and we would all be able to sleep at the same time. However, it was very bumpy in the anchorage and none of us slept well. (When I got up the next morning I felt like a zombie again).

We pushed on to Turtle Bay first thing in the morning. Michael handed out Stugeron (a European motion sickness medication) for the ladies. I did some stowing and cleaning while everyone else got us going and then napped until I was good for something. After the nap I was finally on track again. (I am used to handling some rough waves and weather without being quesy unless I am ridiculously tired). After a nap Judy felt better too so the whole crew was finally in the groove (or as we sailors like to say, "the slot").

Sunset as we came into Turtle Bay. Cue the bird. Yay, we made it to the first official stop!

Time to party on the beach after a great night's sleep.

Arleen (white top and jeans) on portion control duty for the pot luck.

These are all the savages Arleen had to keep under control. Of course I can sense a buffet starting before it actually forms a line and was one of the first off the mark so I could take this picture before tucking in.

The Catalina Morgan 440 reunion!

(Left to right) Al and Allie from Fly Aweigh, Orlando (and Linda, not pictured) from Cuba Libre III, Steve from Current Affair (crewed with Cuba Libre III for the Ha Ha)...

and of course Jesse and I.

(Linda, lower right is in this one).

Michael and Judy hanging with the 440 crowd.

Miniature Catalina 42 reunion, Michael and Judy have a 42 back in Alameda as well as Roger (right).

I lost half of my beer getting Michael to wave for the photo. I had the camera in one hand and the beer in the other and well, I waved. Jesse who was next to me got soaked as well. :)

Michael's view from the hill.

Shopping at the local mall.

Views of the desert and bay.

"I love you guys." Judy and Michael make a new friend.

Dingy row. We took the ponga (water taxi) at $3 a head to avoid dealing with the dangerous surf when there was an audience.

Nice shorts, Alan! Alan (red shorts white tee) is the harbor master of Alameda's Marina Village and moved us into our favorite dock, Dock 11 in 2006.

Jesse with Carol from Evergreen.

There's trouble, watch out guys they're plotting something.

Judy and Michael's trip to shore.

This is the sight that greeted Judy and Michael going in. It is quite an improvement over last year. The randomly ending stairs weren't there, just the rustiest, backward leaning ladder complete with a hole at the end of the dock that you had to dodge as the dock floated in a not so peaceful zig zag. Oh, and there was a moving rope that threatened to scrape you off the ladder as you climbed. Funny stuff. See the 2008 Ha Ha blog.

Later in the day, gasoline for the dingy and generator was delivered to our boat and Judy gave a pink scarf (part of her Halloween costume) to the lovely little girl who had accompanied her father.

Time for Mexican Train Dominos and then some.

At Sea

2009-12-11T22:52:00.000-08:00

It was a hell of a day at sea, sir! Rough weather and fish! That pretty much sums it up. Judy and I were a little queasy and spent a fair amount of time napping to over come it. Jesse and Michael stayed up in the cockpit fishing/sailing. Jesse caught the first fish, a nice Skip Jack tuna.

Shortly after Michael caught a Dorado (Mahi Mahi).

I am the "Fish Killer." I have always been the "heavy" and attempted to do the fish in quickly and completely. There was advice from others that cheap vodka poured inside the gills works instantly. While at Trader Joe's I purchased cheap rot gut vodka and was ready to wade into the fray for some fish killing.

36", which is the most common size for a Dorado.

While messing about with the Dorado Michael tossed the hand line out to get it out of the way and you guessed it, "Fish On!" He pulled in a nice Bonita tuna.

I expected the cat to be interested in the live fish, turns out he likes the canned kind and not so much the jumping kind.

The local marine life heard a rumor that Judy was coming through and this little guy sacrificed himself so she could have fresh calamari. He actually jumped on deck for the honor.

Blurry picture, I know, but it's all I have for this part of the adventure. That evening while the day's catches were fresh, I cooked them up to sample. Yummy!
Thanks Judy for providing almost all of the photos for this entry (and for a fair share of the other photos in other entries as well), my inventory was spotty at best for this part of the journey.

October 26th 2009, The Start of the Race!

2009-12-07T00:59:00.000-08:00

We made it! Jesse, Judy and Michael's first Ha Ha!

We had a less than ostentatious start with the water pump breaking and several hose connections failing. Thank you, Michael for installing the new pump and making new hose clamps for the leaky ones with our handy clamp creation tool. He was speedy too he was done by the time Jesse had the boat ready to shove off and we made it to the pre-race parade just on time!

Kipsa has a bad habit of investigating any hatch, compartment, or cabinet left open. Well, he's nosy about what people are doing too. (For those interested in such things, notice the water maker install).

Leaving the fairway of our old marina it was time for an Eskimo nuzzle and big grins that we got the hell out of Dodge!

Tuling around with the parade boats.

Judy and I were clicking away on the cameras. Thanks for the help in recording this wonderful trip, Judy! And for helping with the blog by sharing photos!

We were lucky to have some of or Gate 11 friends come and see us off. Looking good Ben!

Providence formerly of Alameda is now based out of San Diego. They were going to do the Ha Ha but ultimately decided to sit this year out. They were there to see us all off though.

Ready...Go!

Time put the Genekker up. I took the helm, Judy trimmed and ran the halyard, Jesse and Michael worked the fore deck.

Evergreen (foreground) is home to more fellow Alameda, Gate 11 peeps, Dennis, Carol, and their son Josh.

Digging in the workroom was a bit of a feat as it is about 5 1/2 feet deep and was about as full as it can possibly get.

Rigging hand lines for fishing.

Los Corondos...the adventure continues next post...

The Halloween Party Oct 25th 2009

2009-11-30T15:17:00.000-08:00

Let me add as an after thought to the previous post that it seems that there was hardly a second we did not seem busy in addition to the boat projects and trips out of town:

1) there were accounts to close
2) addresses to change
3) affairs to get in order
4) online accounts to set up
5) automatic payments to set up (retirement and others)
6) cars to sell
7) research on papers for foreign ports of call
8) Mexican fishing licenses to get
9) research on what we can and cannot get in Mexico and corresponding purchases to stock up on what we cannot get (endless mail orders and trips to stores)
10) shots to get for kitty (I also researched bringing the cat back into the states)
11) cruising insurance for the boat & Mexican liability insurance to get (which included a typed hurricane plan, photos, and info on our sailing resumes).

Also it seems for every project there were a couple of trips to West Marine or other stores to get supplies to do the project or to exchange parts previously bought that were not the right ones or because plans had changed for the project.

Okay now for the FUN stuff! The next day was the West Marine Party that is always the day before the start of the rally. (Note the cool jellyfish costume).

We went with a 50's theme.

Jesse and I danced and generally made asses of ourselves for the couples costume contest! We saw that the prize was a Spot Locator so we pulled out all the stops. Jesse did the cheesy sexy dance and I did the ever popular Elaine from Seinfeld. Apparently we are good at playing the ass because we won!

Yay, it was great to see Ardy and Marv from Alameda's famous Gate 11, where we lived for over 2 years, again! They showed up in time to see our performance.

Stephen and Arleen from Ubuntu are new friends we met when we crashed a Pier 32 Pre-Ha-Ha party. They are now famous among the Ha Ha-ers for winning the prestigious nude sailing award! :)
Robert (left to right), Kathy, and crew are aboard Blue Dolphin, an impressive 58' ferro-cement boat. I can't wait to see the video of Jesse and I dancing at Squid Roe that Kathy shot, but I get ahead of myself. Get down Mama!

I was lucky to see many of the people I used to work with both from Northern ans southern California alike. Mick (left) is the General Manager of the San Diego West Marine Superstore.

Jesse and I saw a lot of dock neighbors from Marina Village in Alameda. Also as were so busy leading up to this point friends showed up as well to see us off. Jessica, who not only has the same shoes as I do but owns and lives aboard the same make and model boat as we do, walked us back to Jesse's Girl from the party.

Goodbye for now Jessica and Rocket, also Adam, Jessica's husband, who was out of town at the time.
The rest of the evening was spent stowing and prepping for the parade and start of the race the next day.

Prepping for the Baja Ha Ha 2009

2009-11-20T12:47:00.000-08:00

It's been awhile! What a busy year! Jesse and I decided after many years of working it was time for a little R, R and R (Rest, Relaxation and Retirement) and what more perfect way to start retirement than with the Baja Ha Ha! We asked Judy and Michael Stouffer to be our crew down the Baja coast and thankfully they took us up on the offer.

It was a massive undertaking cutting our ties to land and prepping the boat to go. I would highly recommend to anyone who is cutting ties to land and outfitting a boat to retire get all the "major" projects done at least 6 months in advance! Or more. It gives you time to work the bugs out! And to relax a little with friends! We however did not retire until about 2 months before the start of the rally....We worked not just tirelessly but through the tiredness. Walking zombies. We kept saying we needed to leave for the Ha Ha in self defense! It was hard to get together with friends as much as we wanted to because the boat needed so many projects done. Nothing like a starting pistol to light a fire.

The major projects included a water-maker from Village Marine (The Little Wonder, two days to install). We like it so far! It is was very affordable even after install, makes great water, is quiet, and took up less space than I thought it would.

Next was the batteries. We replaced our spent Lead-Acid batteries (3 8-Ds roughly 670 Amp hours) with 8 6-Volt AGM batteries with 1800 total Amp hours and a dedicated starting battery also AGM. Because AGMs can be turned on their side, do not release gas, and do not need distilled water added to them like wet-cell Lead-Acid batteries we were free to place them in less valuable real estate than under the galley floorboards. We put them under the previously unused space under the after berth freeing up the HUGE galley floorboard space for the most cavernous booze cabinet afloat! My bar owning grandparents would be so proud! (Side note: they owned The Elbow Room Bar in Missoula MT) But I digress....

Next the side projects of hooking up the water-maker to the batteries to try out for the first time, as well as supplying battery power to the electrical panel which in turn powers things like lights and refrigeration. Not to mention removing the old and huge 8-D batteries and the acid that was all over the surrounding area. And then cutting out part of the old battery box to enlarge the booze cabinet more.

Then davits (lifting arms that hang off the back of the boat on which you can hoist the dinghy). We had to drive to the L.A. area to pick these up as the cross bar was too long to ship inexpensively. The davit install created side problems of the BBQ would no longer fit on it's custom mount, the aft navigation light was no longer seen from behind due to the dingy hanging there, and the dingy motor crane was now in danger of having to be moved too. After a couple days milling it over Jesse and Michael came to the conclusion that swiveling the crane arm around would enable it to clear the solar panel and it worked! Michael re-routed the nav light to the stern pole and the BBQ just needed a stainless piece added to move it out a little.

On a side note I must mention that in the month and a half it took for the big stuff to happen the boat was completely torn up with the entire contents of the "work room" storage out on display for the world to see. I was completely glad to leave town to go to Northern California to sell our crap out of the storage unit in the big Gate 11 (our old dock in Alameda) Swap Meet. It was a fantastic success and we sold a TON! The most of the rest went to Goodwill in no less than 8 trips there. The remainder in the unit was stuff that would go "visit" Marc, Jesse's son, or "visit" my Mom and Dad. We stayed with Judy and Michael on their boat Milagro and thoroughly enjoyed seeing the Gate 11 Gang again!

When we got back to the boat 4 days later (2 days were spent driving) to see the solar panel install. Not to be, we had to get a metal worker fabricating the solar panel mounts. The good thing was that the four 135 Watt panels all fit on the davits with a small space for the stainless trident topped pole we have antennas and the dingy motor crane mounted on.

The solar panel side projects were the Outback controller install, wiring to the batteries and the panels, as well as a Pro Link to keep track of Amps, Volts, battery state, etc. (For everything installed the was the task of running wires through tight spaces and connecting each item with a power source as well as to the accompanying items to run in conjunction with).

We had to go back to Alameda in the truck to pack up the art stuff to take up to "visit" my parents in Montana. We stayed with Judy and Michael again who put on a lovely green chili Gate 11 party. We spent a day in the storage unit organizing and taking more stuff to the Goodwill. Next day we loaded the whole pickup full and drove straight through to Montana. We got there about 3:30 A.M. slept a couple hours, visited with the family a little (Mom and Dad had the Swine Flu), then it was on to unpacking the truck and putting the contents away so as not to increase the space I was already using. I consequently got rid of a great number of less important items that had got to Montana before. It's funny how things become less important the longer a person lives on a boat. We stayed in Montana 2 days 3 nights and the drove to Salt Lake City to stay at Little America and have dinner with friends from last years Ha Ha. Then it was on to San Diego. It was 6 states in 7 days!

When we got back I had to go through all the boat's storage and purge things, write up notes for the inside of cabinets on contents so people other than yours truly could find stuff. There were countless trips to the Goodwill, dumpster, and to friends to get rid of stuff. I shredded a 4 drawer cabinet worth of files. Really, I shredded until the shredder over heated, then ripped stuff by hand until my hands were full of paper cuts, then one crazy night with the Swine Flu I threw up my arms and took the rest of the paper to the beach and burned it in a bon fire!! That was fun!! Jesse was up in Northern California at the time delivering the truck to Marc, who bought it from us. Jesse rented a car to get back with a new to us 15 hp Yamaha outboard motor! So as to move more people and cargo, deal with the dangerous surf, and to get up on plane in the dingy. Great suggestion everyone! I mean really great suggestion the 15 hp engine is fantastic!!!!

After craziness reigned for a little too long things started to drop into place faster and Judy and Michael were coming to visit. The solar panels went up finally!

Thank God for Judy and Michael helping because it would not get done otherwise. Judy helped me organize, stow, shop, translate girl-speak to the guys, photograph, provision (she and Jesse did the major shopping 2 days before the race), and helped give us some structure to mealtimes (mealtimes of course are the best time of day, my hero!) Michael is great with boat projects took on a laundry list of honey-dos with Jesse and sometimes without.

The honey-dos were put the wheels on the dingy (that enable you to pull a beached dingy up above the surf line), install the easy gybe (keeps the boom from crashing across to the other side by accident), install the radar reflector, add a new flag halyard, lash down the jerry jugs of diesel and extra water, etc, etc. Marc volunteered or was volunteered to go up the mast for the reflector and halyard install. (Marc took our little red car back with him to Oregon the day before the Ha Ha started).

Whew! Looking back on the work Work WORK from where we are now, it was totally worth it! That was more than a bit wordy but we are asked a lot of questions by those looking to cruise and by land lubbers who want the understand what it is like. Hopefully this will help y'all out. I promise the later posts will be more FUN!

The Baja Ha Ha 2008!

2008-12-29T21:52:00.000-08:00

The Baja Ha Ha (a 760 mile sailboat regatta from San Diego, CA to Cabo San Lucas) 2008 began for Jesse and I with the arrival of friends from Northern California. We moved to San Diego from the Alameda, CA in July '08 so it was great to see everybody from up North again. For Jesse and I the Ha Ha was going to just be a great send off for our friends doing the race but little did we know that there were some surprises in store for us.

Here are some of our guests, Kat and Jay Watt at the Brigantine, a local restaurant on Shelter Island. Kat, obviously an accomplished lime squeezer, was just who Jay and his giant bucket of beer needed.

The night before the Ha Ha's famous West Marine festivities we enjoyed a fantastic party aboard Pat Garfield's Morning Star, a 70+ foot Stephens power yacht. We had most of the Farallone family there including many who bought their boats from Farallone as Jesse and I did. Thanks so much for the great party, and the pomegranate martinis, Patty. At the party it became widely known that our friends, Judy and Michael Stouffer, would not be going on the Ha Ha due to health concern (everything turned out alright). They had been planning to go aboard Suebee with some other friends Scott and Sue Radar. Scott and Sue were worried they could not go and wanted to be with folks they knew for such a long trip. I stepped in as I thought it would be a shame not to go at that point. Jesse was great about taking over at the Farallone office while I was gone and told me to have fun. Cheers and thanks! This set the scramble in motion! There was packing, planning, and last minute running! I wasn't ready until about an hour into the West Marine party, hosted by Mick Fritzching (manager of the Rosecrans West Marine). By the way, it was a great party my friend! My pirate hat is off to you and the entire West Marine staff.

The photo below is courtesy of Richard Frankhuizen was taken at the kickoff party. YAY, I love winning stuff!

The motley crew from Farallone. Is Eric who took this? Check it out Gilligan got off the island!
(Photo courtesy Purpleteeleaf)

The flight of the Bumble Bee, go Scott and Sue! Yes, yes I have the evidence. Check out those bees knees.

Where have you been? My response, packing!
Hi Shanna! Oh crap, she's holding a camera.

Nice tushies, Doug, Carla, and Crit of Moondance! We hear the waxing was painful!
Eager Dreamer was crewed by a nun and 2 Blues Brothers A.K.A Rosie, John, and Rick. (Many of the Ha Ha participants dressed in costume for the start of the race).Underway at last! It was an 11 am start for the Ha Ha '08. It was great fun to play with the genneker (the colorful fore sail for the novices reading this).

Patty brought Morning Star out so she and the crew (Jesse, Mimi, and Mark) could see us off. They seem innocent don't they?

Naughty Jesse! It was a hell of a wet soggy sendoff!(Photo courtesy Sue Rader)

Scott was our fearless skipper aboard Suebee.

Sue on lookout coming into Turtle Bay.
Coming into Turtle Bay, Scott and Sue do a last minute chart check.
Shanna on the bow. (Photos of the gals at the bow courtesy Scott Rader)

Whatever could she be looking at?
YAY, Dolphins at the bow (I find they stay longer if you chatter at them)!

Sue comes up to see what the commotion is all about. What a great moment with the two of us at the bow.

The fuel boat was doing a huge amount of business as the fleet came in. My advice is figure out exactly how many gallons you need, get out your calculators and convert gallons to liters before you fuel.

Sunset at anchor in Turtle Bay.

In the morning this delightful young entrepreneur made rounds in the morning collect trash for a buck a bag.
The all day party aboard Suebee. (Party photos courtesy Sue Rader)

(Below) The craziest dock I have ever seen! The dock itself was between 3 and 4 feet wide and comprised of 2 long sections that were attached to each other by what looked like a welcome mat stapled to either side. The pieces were rocking opposite ways and walking them and staying on took all of a person's concentration especially when passing others going the other way. At the dock end nearest the shore there was a square hole in the end that would float back and forth just below the ladder that led to the upper level. The rusty ladder itself was not just vertical but leaned backward slightly. To top it all there was a rope that attached the floating dock to the fixed upper level that ran across the ladder that would pull taunt and touch the ladder then slacken and pull away from the ladder. So dodging the hole at the end of the dock I took hold of the ladder and was not sure whether to duck below the rope and hurry up before the rope was taunt and scraping the ladder (and me) or to go over the rope quickly before it moved too far away from the ladder. I settled on under and have never climbed a ladder so fast. I laugh every time I think of it. For those less adventuresome they can arrive via beach landing, water taxi (ponga) ride, or even using the staircase down to the water on the other side of the tall fixed dock. However the adventuresome way comes with much better stories. (Photo courtesy Richard Frankhuizen)

The beach looking out at the Ha Ha fleet.

Most of the restaurants are little houses opened up to the public. This one is Zagat rated I hear.

Scott and Sue in downtown Turtle Bay.

The locals wait for the Baja Ha Ha all year long and it is not uncommon for businesses to have signs inviting the fleet painted on the outside of the buildings.

The beach at Turtle Bay where we had a huge beach party. For people considering the Ha Ha for '09 remember that you need to bring your own plate and silverware. There were many who were forced to beg for plates (me included), or use bits of tinfoil, or Tupperware lids. Quite entertaining.

The party was to be over before dark because during the beach party of '07 people were stranded onshore due to the high surf later in the day that made dingy launches unsafe. Also as the second leg was to start at 7am an early night was a good idea to tuck in early. (Next 2 photos courtesy Richard Frankhuizen)
The whole Ha Ha group paused the volleyball, balloon fights, drinking, and general frolicking to pose for a photo during the party.

The next day during the sail to Bahia Santa Maria friends of Rosie and John aboard Eager Dreamer lost their steering and we thought it was a good idea to follow them and Eager Dreamer to Bahia Asuncion to make repairs. It was exciting to add a little more adventure as will as taking care of our fellow Ha Ha'ers. We got advice from the Ha Ha net to divert to Asuncion and information on Serena who was quite helpful (she is a Canadian woman who spent the last 20 years in Bahia Asuncion). When she was hailed from the boats she got a list of needed items for repairs, located the items at local stores and residences, and drove those who went to shore around to get everything.

There were 5 Ha Ha boats total that anchored at Asuncion for 2 nights. The last day there was El Dia De Los Muertes, a huge holiday in Mexico, and there were festivites in town for the holiday, a new baby had just been born, and some locals had just bought a house there. Serena invited us all to come to shore and join in the fun. It was a paticularly cold, windy day with a seastate that was not exactly calm. (I bathed in the ocean early in the day and had to laugh at myself because I about drown). The sea was getting rougher and we decided to take Serena up on the ponga (water taxi) ride to shore by the fishermen who were going to be coming back from the day's fishing with the main course for the party. The dingy landings can be dangerous when the surf is building with a real risk of flipping the dingy and the poblems that ensue when an outboard motor goes airborne. So we waited, and waited, and finally Serena hailed us and asked how many to expect for dinner. Rick of Eager Dreamer answered, "There are 13." A long pregnant pause stretched on and a small voice said, "13?" It turns out that the fishing was poor that day and there was not enough to go around so most of us never went to shore. It was unfortunate as Sue and I had built the place up in our minds, were facinated by Serena, and dearly wanted to meet her. Maybe fortune will smile on this wish when I do the Ha Ha agian. (Below Eager Dreamer rounds Point Asuncion onthe way into the Bay).

I am forever snapping photos of seascapes probably because my mother painted such beautiful ones. Incidentally, she painted sailing ships too and that is how a Montana girl fell in love with the romance of sailing originally. Then of course there was a little nudge from Jesse and a free sailboat ride that made the addiction take hold.

More of the area around Asuncion.

We here there are paved streets at Asuncion and a Naval Base. Alas this being stationary on an anchored boat made me want to get to land and explore at the next stop.

John and his brother Rick had to pull the anchor up with prue brute strength during much of the Ha Ha due to a windlass in need of repair.

Underway the next day we really had to hit warp speed to catch up to the fleet some of whom had made it to Bahia Santa Maria already.

Scott and Sue celebrated an anniversary and both had birthdays during the trip. By the time we got to Bahia Santa Maria I thought they should have some alone time. So I jumped on the first ponga with Kat from Kat Den Rie and went to shore for the party. This was taken going into the anchorage.It is easy to love Mexico with such beautiful land and seascapes and so great to meet the locals. They were very friendly and loved it when I made my attempts at speaking Spainish. Here at Bahia Santa Maria there are only a few little buildings and no town at all. The locals from Mag Bay truck in all the makings of a great party including, a whole kitchen setup, food, drink, generators, and music (which was quite good). Cheers to them!

We did what all good party folk do; we ate, drank , and made a dance floor out of the rockiest patch of earth you have ever seen. (Photo courtesy Richard Frankhuizen)

I will be adding a few photos here when I can get my little paws on them. As a matter of fact, this loooooonnnnngggg winded post is driving me a bit batty. I want to post so bad that I think I will and then come back and add a few more things from this point on.

Leg three the morning after the party on shore began at 7 am. There were some pretty tired little puppies.

Moondance is that you in the background with the yellow, and turquiose sail?

Dan aboard Seaduction and his fearless crew, Mike and Chris, kept pace beside us surfing a swell and easing ahead and then watching as Suebee surfed a swell and slipped ahead. It's always a race when 2 boats are out there on the water but tripley so when it is a race and the boats are the same make and model. (Yes, Seaduction you are a worthy advesary). Then the pressure was too much and Seaduction turned, rolled in the sails, and broke off from the crowd. Or maybe they caught a fish.

Reading underway, Scott takes a rest from the helm.

When sunset came that night there were 16 boats near our location and the number did not dip below 15 all night!

This ship was so unique and yes, I took way too many pictures of it. Of course that is the beauty of digital media.Coming into Cabo, the last stop on the Ha Ha the famous rock formations made have been the most photographed thing on the trip, and for good reason.

Having rounded the point we were almost to our anchorage.

In Cabo San Lucas I was too busy hanging out with friends, going to parties, and just kicking up my heels to take many pictures. Here are a few from Squid Roe and the infamous "We cheated Death Party." Or is the Death Cheating party the one we had on the beach the next day? Oh well, they were both a lot of fun. (Below-photo courtesy Richard Franhuizen)

The waiters and waiteresses marched out chanting and tried to find someone in the crowd who had a birthday. No one was having one that day or maybe they wouldn't admit to it. So, they needed to pick someone out and guess who got a green jello shooter with a candle in it plunked in front of them. I was told to make a wish and down the hatch it went!

Ewww, green jello drool! That shooter was huge!

It can be a rough crowd at Squid Roe, these are some mean hombres I ran across.

The December edition of Latitude 38 came out with this silly photo of me cutting a rug at Squid Roe, Ben McShan is to my left. There was a conga line to start out the dancing shortly after the green jello shot. The Ha Ha crowd took up the whole bar and I danced for 5 hours! Upon leaving the bar at 12:30 am about 12 Ha Ha'ers and I found there were no pongas out to the boats. (I was responible and asked how late the water taxis ran when I got dropped off and was told 2 am. But things are different in Mexico). There was much walking around, scheming on how to best get home, and story telling for about 3 hours while we figured out what to do. At one point we ended up in Robbie and Ruben's honeymoon suite making phone calls to people with dingys. Finally, we roused someone from their cozy bed to get us. Thanks everyone for getting me back first, as my husband wanted to know I was safe before he could turn in himself.

The next day the beach party a blast. We hung out with old and new friends and this time when I was stranded on shore with no ponga ride back (11 pm) I was ready. I took a land taxi to the beach, picked the closest point from the beach to the boat and swam for it. Halfway out, I thought, "Hammerhead shark," I answered the thought out load to myself, "Oh, you think of that now, you couldn't wait until you were at the boat." No worries though, the swim took 3 minutes total and I was free to talk to Jesse.

The next morning I only had 2 hours to pack and get out to the taxi to the airport as my departure tickets were booked last minute. It was a rather abrupt and tearful goodbye to those I happened to see on the way out but the adventure has a sequel. Jesse and I will be taking Jesse's Girl out for the next Baja Ha Ha. YAY 2009! We hope see you all out there. Cheers!

2008-12-28T15:40:00.001-08:00

Dec 19th-Just down the dock from our boat there are quite a few mega yachts. Lara had an open house for the brokers so here's a few shots of us aboard.

Back in Time- First Raft-up

2008-12-22T17:21:00.000-08:00

Jesse's and Shanna's first raft-up ever! Jesse's Girl was so new we didn't even have the name on her yet! We rafted with Judy and Michael Stouffer aboard Milagro after spending the night before at Drake's Bay.

Michael, feeling the pressure to keep up with his new found Captain Courageous status, saving dingys and all, rescued Shanna's hat from the drink and promptly tried it on! Quite fetching!

Jesse aboard the Angel Island tour bus. Boy were we in for real treat! The GPS guided automatic commentary was non-operational and the bus driver gave us his own personal tour information. We didn't learn a lot about history but there is a point on Angel Island he thought looked like a dragon! Maybe it was Puff the Magic Dragon.

Views from the tour looking out at the San Francisco Bay Area.

Some of the old houses are inhabited by park rangers. It's still top secret where the Angry Park Ranger lives.

The whole Angel Island raft-up group, left to right, Judy & Michael Stouffer, Milagro's crew (llama ranch owners), Shanna and Jesse.

Bay Bridge, San Francisco & Alcatraz

We got the chance to explore this building and we highly recommend the tour on Angel Island.

5:55 am Angel Island. The current and wind placed such strain on our mooring line that it snapped and upon discovering we were way to close to the beach it was all hands on deck aboard Milagro. All snug in our berth Jesse and Shanna heard the pitter patter of huge stomping feet. Then Jesse was up on deck in bare feet and Shanna in a short sleeve shirt. Brrrrr!

Trying to push the boats in the strong current did not work...

so Wally and Michael tried pulling....

Shanna was anxious to help so after pulling on the new mooring line it was run back to Jesse's Girl and she was told to wrap it around the mid-ship cleat. However, there was less than a foot of line in which to tie a cleat hitch and the boats were shifting in the current and wind, FAST! No worries, she wrapped it part way and stood on the line's end. To stay warm she crouched down into a tight ball and after a minute or two begged for someone to bring a coat.

The calm after the storm. Anybody up for some flapjacks?

Back in time-Drake's Bay-First trip in Jesse's Girl

2008-12-19T16:58:00.000-08:00

This is the first trip as well as first time under The Golden Gate aboard Jesse's Girl. Judy and Michael's Milargo is just ahead.

Hamming it up in the cockpit with the Farallone islands in the background.

This was our first time out to the Farallone Islands. We were excited to see the Great White shark breeding ground. The sharks did not cooperate by gracing us with their prescence but the islands were beautiful!

Kat and Jay Watt aboard Kat Den Rie was out there with Milagro and Jesse's Girl. Here are our fellow sailors playing chicken.

There we were at Drake's Bay when a lone unmaned dingy came floating by. On the VHF came Judy's voice asking if Jesse's Girl was equipped with a boat hook a bit longer than our boat so we could catch the stray dingy. We were not in possesion of such a thing nor our own dingy so we settled down with a cocktail and binoculars to watch the entertainment. There was Michael on the deck inflating and launching the dingy as quickly as though he were a super hero.

Michael and Jay head out at warp speed.

Captain Courageous, somebody get that man a cape!

Jay on the ride back.

Now, here's the other part of the story. When we arrived at Drake's Bay, Kat and Jay took Shanna to shore for some wildlife stories, a beer, and a look at a seal pup rookery. Upon arriving back at the boat Kat tied the dingy up with "a knarly knot." She always says, "If you can't tie a knot tie plenty of them." So the next thing that happens, of course the dingy gets loose as they are prepping their dish for the upcoming pot luck on Jesse's Girl. Jay was teasing Kat about the knot she tied and was going to let that stand as the offical record and it got out that it was actually the knot he tied the line to dingy with that came loose. :) Those guys are always trying to get away with something!

Heading back through The Gate.

2008-12-11T21:40:00.000-08:00

Here we are at the Catalina Association Christmas party in San Diego.

Just say "cheese." Okay that didn't work.

Let's try something else. Just say, "Mattress inserts!" Okay, that always gives us a smile. Good thinking, Jessica!

Here are our friends Jessica and Adam, a fellow 440 couple. They have hull #43, Voltare.

"Tell me more about those mattress inserts!"

2008-11-25T08:24:00.000-08:00

This is one of our favorite photos together. It was taken a couple of years after we got into sailing in the San Francisco Bay (2004). You can see the City in the background as well as Alcatraz. At the time we were sailing about 45 weekends a year and had taken 3 lessons, Basic Keelboat through Basic Coastal Cruising at Tradewinds Sailing School out of Point Richmond. Jesse took these lessons over with me, having taken them before in 1986 in the Seattle area from the Woman Sailor of the Year, Yvonne Howard.

First Post

2008-11-23T09:36:00.000-08:00

11-23-08

Ahhh the first post. Jesse and I need an outlet for stories of adventure on the high sea. We seem to be having more of them lately. We have done the Catalina Rendezvous 2x's now and I kind of fell into the Baja Ha Ha 2008 aboard Suebee. I only had about 36 hours notice to get into the race and wanted to do some serious crewing on a longer trip. Jesse knowing how important this was to me gave his blessing, ran the office, and battled the flu. It would have killed a mortal man!

We will be adding photos from all of our major adventures and a couple minor ones. I should be receiving my photos form the Ha Ha trip soon. Thanks to Scott and Sue of Suebee for keeping them safe on their computer and sending them!