SAILING CAMELOT

We arrived in La Paz around noon and anchored near the Marina De La Paz.

Lori adorned by her new shell necklace from Leanne & John

Now for the important stuff… On November 18th in the Year of our Lord (you fill in the year, since I will get in trouble mentioning her age to the world) Loredana Spinazzola Jeremiason was born into this world kicking and screaming. Lori has lived an interesting and adventurous life so far, but according to her this birthday was one to remember.

Accompanied by some of the usual suspects from our cruising life, John and Leanne from “Red Sky” and

The usual Suspects, Alma, SV Camelot, SV Perfect Wave and SV Red Sky

later Eric, Dawn, Whitney and Tommy from “Perfect Wave” we arrived at the Mexican Cruisers’ Party sponsored by the Mexican Department of Tourism and local merchants.

The event was held at Papas & Beer, a little watering hole on the beach next to Marina De La Paz, with a beautiful view of the bay.

Of course, not to be late we arrived about 2 hours before the event started, which got us a primo table next to the stage and from that point on it became known as the  Papas & Beer VIP Table, well at least by us. 

Alma teaching Tom the proper way to make Guacamole

As soon as we were seated, we met Alma, our waitress and new best friend. Alma was as crazy as us, or maybe just went along with our nonsense in fear we would shanghai her off to the deep blue ocean. Either way, she cheerfully provided us with wonderful food, buckets of beer and Margaritas.

The party began with a speech from the Mexican Minister of Tourism and local government officials, welcoming the arriving boats from the United States.

Mexican Dancers

After the formalities we were provided entertainment by dancing children in traditional Mexican costumes and later by a Mexican  Mariachi Band.

This is where is got a little interesting…. Lori was closely serenaded by several of the band members, which were then referred to as “Lori’s Boy Toys”. Later, Lori was seen dancing to the tunes of a local band

Lori and her new boy toys

and there is a rumor that she might have even drank several Margaritas. (TWO!)

Amazingly, we pretty much shut the place down, leaving only a few hardcore patrons standing at about 10pm, which in sailboat time is well after midnight.

Happy Birthday Lori!!!

Puerto Balandra

We arrived in Puetro Balandra on Tuesday, Nov 16th around 2pm. We had read about the cove in the cruiser’s guide and it looked like something that came from a vacation advertisement. What we found when we arrived was nothing short of spectacular.

Puerto Balandra has three separate shallow anchorages, with views of the cove from every angle. Of course the water was warm, around 80 degrees and had at least 50 feet of visibility, which made for good swimming and snorkeling.

"El Hongo" The Mushroom Rock of Puerto Balandra

The cove is only about 12 miles East of La Paz and is considered one of the area’s landmarks. There are beautiful cliffs caved by centuries of storm blown waves and hurricanes. The most prominant feature of the cove is El Hongo (The Mushroom), which appears in many of the tourism photos.

You could spend weeks in this cove before you could explore all of its hidden sea floors, beaches and mangroves.

Sundowners on the Beach and the last of the American Beers

The beaches were white sand and fairly secluded, keeping all but the most dedicated hiker from entering our new found land. You really felt like you were isolated from the world.

Each night we would go to the beach with the other boaters and have sundowner cocktails, while watching beautiful sunsets across the Bay of La Paz. Although there were about ten boats in the cove, it did not feel crowded and each of us felt comfortable.

Puerto Balandra and its wonderful colors

We spent two days in this cove and were very reluctant to leave, but La Paz and the Mexican Cruiser’s Party awaits. On Lori’s Birthday (Nov. 18th) we departed Puerto Balandra and headed for La Paz, two hours away.

A view of the boat anchorage from the main swimming pool

We arrived at Bahia De Los Muertos (Bay of the Dead) on Monday, November 15th just after noon. This Bay is being developed and the builders have decided to change its name to Bahia De Los Suenhos (Bay of Dreams), we suppose making it more attractive to prospective buyers. Either way the bay was very clear with 30 feet or more visibilty and the water temp. was 79 degrees.

A view of the restaurant pool area

There was a wonderful little Hotel along the Bay, La Casa de Los Suenhos, that is cruiser friendly. As long as we bought drinks we could use the pool and facilities. The owner of the hotel has what can only be described as an obsession with trains. The main restaurant has electric trains running throughout the main room. Pinball machines and other games are located on the the second floor balcony. The hotel has two endless swimming pools and beautifully planted grounds.

That evening we moved over to the local watering hole with only numbers as a name “1535”, which honored the year the Mesicans defeated Montezuma (The man, not the diarrhea). We had a great time and a wonderful meal.

Our time was short lived at Bahia De Los Muertos, since we wanted to move along to Puerto Balandra. The next morning we departed.

Entering Bahia los Frailes

We arrived in Bahia Los Frailes on Wednesday, Nov. 10th (See Map). The Bay is about 50 miles north of Cabo San Lucas and pretty isolated with a small Mexican Fishing Camp with about 5 pangas (small fishing boats). There is also a Resort or Bed & Breakfast at the south end of the Bay.

After we anchored, I noticed that the water is so clear you could see our anchor, laying on a sand bottom in 35 feet of water. The sea temperature is 82 degrees and we are just north of the Tropic of Cancer.

Our view from Camelot of the Mexican Fishing Camp and Baja California

Camelot is anchored about 1/4 mile off the beach, which extends about 3 miles around the bay. A large peninsula provides excellent shelter from the waves coming down the Sea of Cortez.

We plan on staying here through the weekend to wait out some high winds that are predicted over the next 48 hours.

We plan to do some exploring and maybe check out Cabo Pulmo, which is the only natural coral reef in the Sea of Cortez.

As a side note you will notice we are in the middle of nowhere, 50 miles north of Cabo San Lucas. We have no cell phone reception on either our Mexican or American cell phones, but have Wi-Fi…. What a world we live in.

Playa del Amor

For the last three days we have been at the dock in the Cabo San Lucas Marina. The town is very tourist oriented and at times it seems a little like Las Vegas, instead of Mexico. The Marina itself was wonderful and the staff was very helpful, but it was very expensive at $150 per night, which included a 25% discount for being part of the Baja Ha-Ha Rally. I guess when you have the only marina for 25 miles, you charge what you want.

Our view of the Beach

Because of so many boats arriving all at once I think the immigration officials were overwhelmed, but did a great job. We contracted with an agent to complete our paperwork and the next day we had visas and were checked in with the Port Captain.

On Saturday we had a visit from the Mexican Version of the Food and Drug Administration. She was very nice and did not confiscate our meat or fruit, but just asked that we consume it on the boat and not take it ashore.

Princess Cruise ship anchored near us

Today, we left the Marina and moved to the anchorage, just East of the the entrance to Cabo San Lucas Marina. We are anchored about 1/2 mile off shore in 50 feet of water. We are now one of those sailboats you look at from the beach while you’re on vacation…

Our view is spectacular and the pool temperature (Pacific Ocean) is a balmy 80 degrees. The weather is great and we plan on staying for at least two days before we start up the coast to La Paz.

That is enough for now… It’s hot and it is time for a swim!

The water is great!

Baja Ha-Ha Start

On 10-25-10 (Monday), we started the first leg of the Baja Ha-Ha Rally with 154 other sailboats. The Fleet paraded through San Diego Bay to a starting line between Shelter Island and a Committee Boat, which had dignitaries from both the US and Mexico on board. As we passed the Committee Boat, local Police and Fire Boats sprayed water arches and there was large media presence. Using the same shotgun that started the America’s Cup Races, the rally started at 1100 hrs PDT.

As a side note, the Baja Ha-Ha Committee had notified just about every official Mexican and US maritime authority about the Rally. Unfortunately they did forget one, the United States Navy who decided that they needed one of their large war ships and a submarine back in San Diego Bay during the start of the Rally. As we exited the San Diego Bay the war ships, which were confined in a very small deep water channel, passed right down the middle of the fleet causing some exciting moments. None of the sailboats were fired upon and the US Navy took it in stride…

We had good winds from the start and began heading towards Mexico. As the winds built, we started sailing to the seas and headed southwest, eventually ending up about 55 miles off shore. We continued down the coast of Baja. We had some very confused seas the first night and well into the second day, causing a pretty uncomfortable ride. Winds were strong, with gusts to 30 mph.

Camelot under sail

At day break on Wednesday, the winds had dropped to 8 knots and we were finally able to raise the asymmetrical spinnaker for the first time. We rode the kite for about 5 hours, when the boom vang parted from the mast. This device holds Camelot’s boom up and basically keeps it from striking the solar panels.  Due to the weight of the boom we had to strike the sails, secure the boom and motor the remaining distance to Turtle Bay. At this point we had sailed 304 NM and felt we could have sailed the distance, had the mechanical failure not stopped us.

The Turtle Bay Marina

We arrived in Turtle Bay at 2030 hrs., on Wednesday 27th after completing a total of 374 NM and anchored in the dark. It was interesting, because about half the fleet had already entered Turtle Bay and the radar lit up like a Xmas tree. One of our friends saw my boat on A.I.S. and directed us in. We anchored without incident and finally got a good night’s sleep. The next morning we woke to sunshine and dolphins swimming around Camelot. Most of the first day was spent repairing the boom vang and boat clean up.

The fleet anchored in Turtle Bay

Turtle Bay is a small village with a population of about 1600 residents, with the next nearest town being 90 miles away, so it is very isolated. When the full fleet arrived with its 600 sailors, the town was overwhelmed, but welcomed us with open arms. The local baseball teams came out and challenged the Americans to a match. Little did we know they were the equivalent of a Semi-Pro Team. Local fishermen were making extra cash driving their pangas (fishing

boats) out to the fleet offering taxi rides or picking up garbage. It seems everything in Turtle Bay is $2, beer, taxi rides or garbage pick-ups.

Beach Party at Turtle Bay

During our stay the fleet had a Pot Luck Beach Party. Although the weather is warmer (About 78 degrees), the water temperature was only 67 degrees.

At 0800 PDT on Saturday Oct. 30th we started the second leg of the Rally from Turtle Bay to Bahia Santa Maria, a straight line distance of 232 NM. The start was slow, even with the spinnaker up we were only able to make 3 knots of boat speed in very light winds. 1 hour 40 minutes into the race, the Rally Committee decided that they would allow us to motor until we found better winds. After 8 hours of motor-sailing, the wind freshened and the race was back on. The wind was from the west to northwest and gave us some of the best downwind sailing I have ever had. At times, we saw as much as 10.0 knots of boat speed, and the boat was frequently surfing waves (Not too shabby for a 37,000 lbs. sailboat).

The trip itself was pretty much a straight line of sailing with west-northwesterly winds, but with the coast falling away we ended up about 60 NM off shore. Total trip was 259 NM from Turtle Bay to Bahia Santa Maria.

Turtle Bay Police Officer

We arrived in Bahia Santa Maria at 2330 hrs, Sunday night (Halloween!) after 39.5 hours. We did break Sailing Rule #1, “Do not approach a new anchorage at night”, which Lori reminded me of as we approached the Bay and I danced with a Mexican Fishing trawler dragging nets. That was probably the most interesting part of the sail, since the Fishing Trawler Captain wouldn’t or couldn’t answer his radio and each time I turned to go around him, he turned towards me. After 15 or 20 minutes, I realized he was probably using purse or sane nets and spinning 1-2 mile circles, so I was finally able to get around him without incident.

Bahia Santa Maria Anchorage

The entrance to Bahia Santa Maria is wide, but is littered with ship wrecks and rocks. Prior to entering the Bay, there had been reports of strong gusting winds, so I struck the sails and entered under bare poles. It turned out to be a blessing when we were slapped in the beam with 20 knot winds, gusting to 23 knots as it flowed over the hills just north of the entrance to the Bay.

The wind in the anchorage was also strong for midnight, 15 knots gusting to 20, which made for a fast anchor set. As soon as the anchor went in, the boat set back and came to quick stop in 32 feet of water using 130 feet of chain. The crew was tired and turned in almost as fast as the engine quieted, but I stayed awake congratulating myself with a couple of cold beers. As I sat in the cockpit I could see a line of boats entering the Bay. There was no moon, so the Bay was very dark and lit with Anchor Lights from the boats that had already arrived. At this point I realized that much of the fleet was behind us and trying to get into the Bay. For a short while I became the Vessel Traffic Service “VTS” for Bahia Santa Maria. I turned on my mast head strobe light and using the VHF radio guided boats into the anchorage, until about 0130 hrs., when I finally passed out.

Camelot under Spinnaker

The next morning we woke to 10 knot winds and beautiful skies, Bahia Santa Maria is very isolated with only a few shacks that seasonal fishermen use. The land appears more desert-like and is very barren. The ocean water temp is about 73 degrees, up from 65 degrees at Turtle Bay. The air temperature is about 80 degrees right now, but the wind makes it feel just right.

During our stay at Bahia Santa Maria the fleet was invited to a Beach Party given by the locals. In the middle of no-where they showed up with food, drinks and a band. It was crazy and fun. We shared sea stories with our sailing friends and got a chance to relax.

On 11-3-10, at 0700 hrs., Leg Three of the Baja Ha-Ha started from Bahia Santa Maria to Cabo San Lucas. The wind was very light during the start and after about 2 hours the Race Committee decided it was time to motor again. Later, the wind built and we sailed for a short time, which is a typical wind pattern for this area. Eventually we started the engine again and motored all the way to Cabo, reaching about 20 miles off-shore.

During the overnight trip the weather began warming and it was the frst night I Tom sailed in shorts. The good weather was short lived as we received reports of high winds from the northeast were building. At that point we decided to take a slip in the Cabo San Lucas Marina, instead of anchoring in choppy seas.  

Our first view of Cabo San Lucas

At 0830 hrs. on Thu Nov 4th, we rounded the southern end of the Baja Peninsula and began the five mile eastbound trip to Cabo San Lucas. Shortly after rounding the Cape we were struck with gusty winds straight on the nose of the boat. We decided with such a short distance to go we would strike the sails and go in bare poles.

As we entered the Marina, it reminded me of the canals of Venice, Italy. There was a huge cruise ship parked outside the Harbor and launches were busily ferrying passengers ashore. In addition, there was every kind of vessel known to man, from jet skies to luxury yachts coming and going from the harbor entrance. It was exciting and we were happy to get into our slip and secured.

We will be spending three nights in the Marina, to allow the weather to pass and attend the various functions of the Baja Ha-Ha before moving into the anchorage outside the marina on Sunday.

Cabrillo Isle Marina

This has been a busy week attending seminars and provisioning the boat. We have had very little time to ourselves or to sightsee. Make that NO time…

Today, we did have a little time to see Tom’s daughter, Jen and our grandkids Haley and Sidney. They drove into San Diego to visit and say goodbye. The girls are staying overnight to watch the Baja Ha-Ha Boat Parade, which is a pretty big deal here in San Diego. Officials from the US and Mexico start the Rally, Fireboats spray water and the media covers the event. 

So on Monday, 10-25-10, the crew of Camelot departs San Diego Bay for Mexico. This is Camelot’s first international journey and a giant step into fulltime cruising and the true start of our circumnavigation.

We will sail from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico with stops along the Baja Coast in Bahia Tortugas (Turtle Bay) and Bahia Santa Maria. This will cover about 750 miles and take about 10 days with two-day layovers at each Bay. We anticipate arriving in Cabo San Lucas by Friday, November 5th.

In the meantime, we will be off the normal grid, but will check in on the Baja Radio Net and Sonrisa Radio Nets daily. Those of you close to us will receive radio emails with status reports from along the way.

The next time you hear from us, we should be veterans of the Baja Ha-Ha Sailing Rally and be drinking a coldy in Cabo San Lucas Mexico…. Or maybe  two…

Hasta la vista!

Eric Stone and his Band

On October 14^th we moved Camelot back up to Isthmus Cove for the Latitudes and Attitudes Cruiser’s Weekend. We took a mooring ball and relaxed all weekend with Bob Bitchin and his extended family of sailboat cruisers. On Saturday, they had a Cruiser’s Pot Luck with Eric Stone and his Band. The party was  a great family event and we met many new friends.

The Isthmus Cove Bartender serving Tom his Buffalo Milk

To my Uncle Tom: yes, I finally had a Buffalo Milk and here is the picture to prove it! Warning to other naïve perspective victims of the Isthmus Cove Bartender: Buffalo Milk is the local Catalina Island drink named for the Buffalo herds on the island. It is a strange blended concoction of vodka, kaluha, milk and some other clear liquors that tastes great going down, but gives you a buzz before you finish drinking it.

On Oct. 17^th we got up at 3:30 am (yes, before the sunrise) for the trip to San Diego. It was cloudy with no moon, so the mooring field was incredibly dark. I had Lori on the bow with a million candle power spot light looking for other boats or anything else that would put a dent in Camelot. Everything was going great until Lori turned to tell me something and shot me in the eyes with the spot light. For the next several minutes I think a seeing-eye dog would have done a better job of piloting Camelot.

We got out of the Harbor without further incident and began a long motorsail to San Diego. The weather was overcast and there was no wind, which did make the ocean nice and flat. We made pretty good speed and completed the 90 mile trip in 13 hours. As we entered San Diego Bay, we discovered that some industrious fisherman had laid Lobster traps all around the edges of the channel. Although the traps are not a hazard, the 100 feet of floating line with floats (Buoys) that like to wrap around your spinning propeller are. Add in giant kelp (Seaweed), large naval vessels and big power boats… Camelot should have received a Gold Medal in the San Diego Bay Slalom Course.

We arrived at Harbor Island and topped off the diesel tanks. Then we took our slip at Cabrillo Isle Marina. We are across from the Airport and can get most anywhere in the dinghy.

Kosmo the Sailing Sheepdog 4/28/1998-10/15/2010

On Monday 18th, we received news that our beloved Kosmo had passed away in Italy on October 15th. As most of you know, Kosmo was our Old English Sheepdog who Lori got as a 10 wks old puppy in Canada. Kosmo followed Lori in her moves from Canada to San Francisco and comforted her through her divorce. Later, when Lori and I met, Kosmo adopted me as one of the family. After selling our house, Kosmo lived with us on the sailboats for the first 3 1/2 years. Kosmo was somewhat of a celebrity in the local marinas and definitely had his own personality. In Alameda, Kosmo was the official greeter of Gate 11 and it seemed like everyone in Marina Village knew him. Kosmo routinely patrolled the dock and made sure no stray cats or Herons ever trespassed. Of course this lead to several accidental swims that kept everyone entertained. In October 2009, Kosmo became too old to live on Camelot and we moved him to Italy to live with Lori’s brother, Maurizio and his family. Kosmo became a farm dog and sort of an attraction in Maurizio’s home town. It seems no one in Northern Italy had ever seen a sheepdog and Kosmo received a steady stream of visitors. Our sister-in-law, Marina, walked Kosmo in the fields, provided him with tasty meals and generally spoiled him rotten. Maurizio’s sons, Lorenzo and Giovanni also played with Kosmo daily and even took him to school for show and tell. Kosmo made friends with the other animals and his life was wonderful till the end. Maurizio, Marina, Giovanni and Lorenzo, we thank you with all our hearts for taking care of our friend to the end. We know his loss hit you hard.

Later Monday afternoon, we made an exploratory dinghy ride and ended up on Shelter Island. We checked out the local marine shops and stopped by our favorite San Diego Restaurant, The Red Sails Inn. Who could go wrong with a restaurant that has red t-shirt with the motto “Get your Ship Together”.  

We spent the whole Tuesday in a seminar for Sail Mail, which allows us to send and receive email, weather information and give position reports over the Marine Radio. This stuff is really cool and we should be able to stay in touch with family during our long passages and update the rest of you by sending position reports to our map of the world.

We took the dinghy to the seminar and it rained most of the day. Of course when the class let out, we returned to the dinghy and took the 30 minute ride back to Camelot in the pouring rain. We were laughing our butts off the whole way talking about how San Diego’s annual rainfall is about 12 inches, but when WE arrive they get 2.5” in one day.  

Today, we are renting a car and the provisioning begins. We will stay until Monday 25^th, when we start the Baja Ha-Ha Rally into Mexico.

Well, our four days at Avalon Harbor have now turned into a week and we are not ready to leave. This place is beautiful and reminds us of some of the seaside villages we saw on the west coast of Italy. On Thursday the Harbor Master informed us that they had a special deal on the moorings and offered us three nights free if we if we purchased four nights. Hey, we couldn’t pass up such a deal so now we will be here through Thursday (10-14-10)  

Eric and Marilyn of "Fullshell"

We have met several other Baja Ha-Ha boats, but they seem to stay one or two days and move on. Early in the week we started exploring the town and found a great little restaurant where the locals go. They had Happy Hour from 2pm to 7pm with $1 tacos and $7 pitchers of beer. We met up with some of the other Alameda boats that stopped in Avalon on their way to Mexico. We had a great time and caught up on what everyone was doing.

On Tuesday, Tom started the dinghy’s outboard motor from a weird angle and ended up tweaking his back, so he has been moving a little slower this week… It is hell getting old.

Lori and Avalon Harbor

On Friday, the sun came back out giving us the motivation we needed to play tourist. We booked tickets on a “semi” submarine ride and a bus ride into the interior of the island. The submarine was actually a boat that looks like a submarine, with port holes that sit about six feet under the water. It drove through the marine sanctuary and we saw lots of underwater life.

Later in the day we boarded a bus for a two hour tour, which made a round trip to the Catalina Airport. Catalina Island was once owned by the Wrigley Family (Chewing Gum & Chicago Cubs Owners). Later, they took 88% of the island and placed it into the Catalina Island Conservancy, which supervises the area and tries to keep it in its natural state.

Catalina Buffalo

Along the way to the airport, we saw one of the island’s 120 buffalo lying in the sun. Buffalo on an island 26 miles from the mainland you ask? In 1920 or so they made a western movie on the island and brought 14 buffalos over for the film. According to the tour guide, instead of returning the buffalo to the mainland, the movie company left them here and over the years the heard grew to over 600. Recently, the Island Conservancy relocated much of the heard to various Indian reservations, which left 120 buffalo to roam free.

Plane crash at Avalon Aiport

When we arrived at the Catalina Airport, we discovered that it was pretty much a flat spot on top of a 2000 foot high mountain. The island residents rely on the airport for their daily mail and what doesn’t get shipped by barge comes in by cargo plane. As we strolled around the airport we saw the remnants of a plane crash that occurred a couple days before. The plane remained with caution tape around it. Believe it or not everyone aboard lived. The bright side was the airport had a little restaurant with great chocolate chip cookies.

Catalina's Coast

After the short stop, we were back off to Avalon. Something I forgot to mention earlier was that much of this trip was on dirt road, which is the only real road between the City of Avalon and its Airport. So it takes 15 minutes to fly to Avalon Airport from Los Angeles, but then another 45 minutes to drive from the Airport to Avalon City.

The Jazz Festival continues here and the Harbor is filled for the weekend. Each day we are serenaded by live music from the docks. Today, we did our grocery shopping at the local market. The big score was London Broil Steaks for half off.

The moorings.

Well the sun is sinking behind the hills of Avalon, which means it’s dinner time.  Thursday we are heading back to Two Harbors for Cruisers Weekend…. Fair winds