March 15, Passage to PV, day 1

This email is going to be pretty short because we are under way and I'm not a big fan of looking at a computer screen down below in the cabin in these rolly seas.  Dave, Stephanie and I left Cabo around 9:30 this morning for our passage to Isla Isabela which is a small island off of the Mexican coastline just north or Puerto Vallarta.  Early this afternoon we were surrounded by thunderstorms but were sailing in a reasonable 15-20 knot breeze but with super choppy seas.  Later in the afternoon it calmed down a bit and the ocean has calmed as well and we are currently motor-sailing at 6 knots towards our destination.  It should take us about 48 hours to make the 220 mile passage so we are expecting to arrive sometime early Tuesday morning.

Today we were treated to a very prolonged whale show that lasted about 45 minutes.  We were not super close but could easily see them jumping out of the water and the huge splash from their re-entry even though they were probably a mile away.

It is a bout 7:20pm, winds are about 5 knots and the seas are pretty calm.  I am hoping that it stays this way throughout the night.  Will update you tomorrow.  Ciao for now.

Bret, Dave and Steph
SV Liahona

March 13, San Jose del Cabo

The eagle has landed!  I arrived this afternoon in San Jose del Cabo at about 3pm today, a short 19 miles north of Cabo San Lucas on the east cape of the Baja peninsula.  I left Bahia Frailes this morning around 8:15am and had a great sail heading south in about 10 knots of wind.  Unfortunately the wind changed from it's normal northerly flow to coming from the south today.  So I had to tack a bit because my destination was directly upwind.  All good though as I only had about 28 miles to cover which I did in about 7 hours.

The theme lately...whales!  Lots and lots of whales.  Yesterday in anchorage I saw several whales 1-3 miles off in the distance pretty much all day long.  I didn't have any whales talking to me last night but today's passage made up for that.  During the sail I probably saw 15-20 whales through the course of the day.  I'm pretty sure all or most were humpbacks and most sightings were somewhat distant, maybe 1/2 to 1 mile away or so.  Many of them jumping almost completely out of the water and then many sitings of them just breaching seeing their massive head come out of the water to blow air and salt water then the curling of their backs and finally their massive tails vertically up out of the water to then either be slapped back down on the water or silently disappear without even as much as a splash like an olympic diver.  The highlight of the day was a pod of 5 or 6 humpbacks, all mature adults that were about the size of my boat, that were directly in front of the bow a mere 20 yards away!  Words can't even describe how magnificent these animals are.  The are huge...and graceful.  The 5 or 6 stayed within 20-30 yards of my bow or beam for about 5 minutes before heading off in another direction.  I was actually afraid I might hit one as I was under full sail and a quick diversion move to miss one was not possible.  I was able to capture some amazing GoPro footage of them while they were close.

I was also visited by a couple of large dolphins that played in the wake of the bow for about 10 minutes and have some pretty cool footage of them, in and out of the water, taken with my GoPro that was on an extension pole which put the camera within 2-3 feet of them while they were under the bow.  Pretty cool.  Yes, today was another day for the memory bank.  One to remember.

I am happy to be here in Cabo and have internet access.  I immediately Facetimed Tanner, Karla and Aven and it was SO good to talk to them.  I tried to call Tallen but the little man is tough to get a hold of. haha.  Well, another great day in the books and I'm stoked to have company aboard tomorrow.  Ciao for now.

Bret
SV Liahona

March 12, Bahia Los Frailes

I have to start today's report off with an event that took place last night while I was sleeping.  Sleep came easy to me last night as yesterday's sail was quite long and there is plenty to do for one person to handle all of the necessary sail changes and trims, so I was sufficiently tired.  After watching a movie I went to bed around 8:30 pm and I was out.  In the middle of the night I was abruptly awaken by very unique, loud sounds.  I immediately recognized the sounds as I had the same experience happen about two weeks ago when I was anchored in Agua Verde.  It was the sound of whales.  Whales communicating with each other.  The sounds were easily heard and quite loud as they resonated through the hull of the boat.  Some were high pitched singing type sounds, like what you would hear on a National Geographic special about whales on the TV or internet.  Some of the sounds were low, grunting noises, almost guttural.  It was amazing and the sounds were so clear and loud that I thought they must have been within feet of the boat.  I grabbed a flashlight and ran up on deck, scanning the water nearby so I could see them.  I looked and looked, but nothing.  I went back down below to hear again the continued communication that was going on between at least two, if not several of them.  I listened for about five minutes or so then went up on deck again to see if I could hear them from the top side.  Nothing.  Going down below my hull continued to provide a clear path for their noises.  I was up for quite a while just listening to them, trying to imagine what they were saying to each other.  After about 45 minutes or so the sounds started fading and then within another 5 minutes I was left just listening to the lapping of the water on the sides of the hull.  Wow!  How amazing is that?  I was then and continue to be grateful for experiences like that.  To be that close to something so amazing.  I have no idea how close or far they were but it seemed as if they were only feet away, a few yards at most.  Although it could have been miles, who knows.

Just so you don't think that I'm totally out of my mind or have crazy dreams I watched several whales today just at the edge of the bay, maybe 1/2 mile away.  One was a large humpback with a calf.  Both the larger one and the calf jumped carelessly out of the water several times.  A couple other whales were a little farther away but I could easily see them breach and blow huge plumes of air mixed with salt water like steam bellowing out of a train in an old western movie.  Pretty cool stuff.

Down on the southern cape, or southern tip of the Baja peninsula, it definitely has more of a Pacific Ocean feel as apposed to the Sea of Cortez.  Long ocean swells roll through and you can hear them crashing on the beach.  The surf isn't big here but it would definitely be a challenge getting the dinghy ashore, especially by myself.  Later this afternoon after I did a few chores around the boat I took the paddle board over to where the sand and rocks meet on the northeast side of the bay.  The swell was breaking over the rocks and it looked like it might be rideable. It was a nice little left break and after getting the hang of catching a wave on a paddle board I caught a couple small waves and enjoyed the ride.  However, it was quite shallow and the bottom was all rocks and coral and after taking a little digger and scuffing along one of the rocks I decided that the paddle surfing might best be left for a more forgiving bottom...like sand. lol.

Tonight, if it stays calm, I am going to paddle over by where I attempted to paddle surf and see if there are any creepy crawlies out.  Hopefully I can find some so Dave and Stephanie can be properly introduced to boat life with a fresh lobster dinner.  You never know. Tomorrow I will set sail to San Jose del Cabo, a short 28 miles or about 5 or 6 hours away.  I met a couple here in Frailes on a Bavaria 42 that are heading that way tomorrow as well so we will probably buddy boat.  Adios from Bahia Frailes. Until next time...

Bret
SV Liahona

March 11, Bahia Los Frailes

After a long 9 hour sail I am safely anchored in Bahia Los Frailles.  Today was about a 48 mile run from Muertos to Frailles and I must say that it was probably the best sail I have ever had.  I pulled anchor at 6am and pointed the Liahona southbound.  The winds were light so I ran the motor with the Reacher out front grabbing the light air.  Within about an hour the wind picked up to between 4-6 knots from dead off the stern.  I figured I could use that and I had the whole day so I shut down the diesel burner and went with the main and the reacher, my light wind headsail.  Due to several reefs that lay about 2 miles offshore I broad reached away from the coastline for an hour or two then turned to my heading and went dead downwind wing on wing with the main on one side and the reacher on the other.  Sailing like that requires that you pay attention so that you keep the wind nearly directly behind you.  However, with only 4-6 knots of apparent wind the Liahona was sluffing along at about 3-4 knots which is dang respectable.  At one point around 11 or so it got so light that my speeds were just below 3 knots and I considered cranking up the motor but decided to stick it out.  Around 11:30 I was rewarded with a brisk 8-12 knots from the stern and the wind had me going about 6.5 knots.  Sweet!

Just about the same time I saw a huge spout from a whale off in the distance maybe a mile or so away.  Over the next half hour I watched as the whale breached several times, spouted many more and also was completely out of the water twice, landing with an enormous splash like someone had thrown a bus into the water.  I think it was a humpback but from that distance I can't be sure.  About an hour later I saw a strange fin just off the side of the boat.  It was a marlin.  I was pumped and hoping he was hungry as I had my lines out.  He wasn't interested but about a half hour later I saw another Marlin only 20' off the side of the boat that then swam back toward my lures but he wasn't fooled either.  Dang!  Pretty awesome though to see those amazing fish so close even though I wasn't able get any action on the lures today.

For a good part of the day I sailed with another boat that I tried to hail on the radio but had no luck.  He left Muertos after I did and in the calmer winds of the morning when I was pure sailing he was motorsailing and caught me.  Upon catching up he put out a genoa to compliment his main and at that point must have turned off the motor.  He was a single hander as well and we were quite close to each other for a few minutes before my girl decided she had enough and we gradually pulled away.  He pulled into the anchorage about an hour behind me.  Nice guy named Scott from San Diego.

There are a bunch of campers on the beach here at Frailles, the highway must be reasonably close.  That is about it for today but it was indeed a great day pure sailing for over 8 hours today.  I now sit about 28 miles north of San Jose del Cabo where I need to be to pick up Dave and Stephanie on the 14th.  Super pumped to have some friends aboard for a while.  L8R...'til tomorrow.

Bret
SV Liahona

March 10, Ensenada de los Muertos

Another day is closing on the Sea of Cortez.  A pretty relaxing day here in Muertos with the temperature around 85 today and the winds out of the northwest at about 15 knots.  I woke up this morning to loud slapping noises on the water.  As I poked my head out of the companionway I found the source of the loud slaps.  Several rays were jumping 3-5 feet out of the water, summersalting in the air and slapping down with a loud thwack.  There were probably 7 or 8 of them within a 100 yards of the boat.  The show went on for about 10 minutes before they either got tired or had completed whatever it was that they were trying to accomplish.  I have heard that rays do that to rid themselves of parasites that they didn't want giving a free ride to.  Whatever the case, I enjoyed the show, which by the way, is not uncommon, something I see pretty much every day.

Around 11am I went for a run out some dirt road leading to who knows where.  I simply followed it for about 20 minutes or so and then turned around and ran on back home.  On the way back a couple of fishermen towing their panga passed by and looked at me with that look of bewilderment like "what in the heck are you doing out here"? lol  I went back to the boat, had some lunch then decided to go in to the beach restaurant to have a look at the menu to see if they could entice me for dinner.  I decided not. As  I was getting back in the dinghy on the beach a panga with two fisherman pulled up with their catch from the morning.  9 sharks, ranging from about 4' to about 9'.  3 Hammerheads, 4 Blues and 2 Makos.  Wow, not exactly what you want to see right before you head out to do a little snorkeling...alone!  lol.  Well, I went out anyway, of course, and had a really nice snorkel off the reef to the north of the anchorage.  It was beautiful.  The water was super clear and there was a ton of fish.  I was also doing a little prospecting for the possibility of bugs later tonight.  Although the dive was really nice I wasn't super impressed by the possibility of lobster there.  Or was it the sharks lingering in the back of my mind on a night dive alone?  lol.  Either way, I think I will pass tonight.  I will get the dinghy all put away ready for an early departure tomorrow morning around 6am headed for Bahia Frailles which lies about 46 miles to the south.

I did get some company later this afternoon as another sailboat just anchored beside me about a half an hour ago.  They are flying a Canadian flag so maybe later I will stop by and say hi.

Ciao for now,
Capn Bret
SV Liahona