We arrived in the protected waters of Bahia Frailes today at 1:30pm after one of the best passages of my short history as a captain. As noted before we left Mazatlan at 8am yesterday with rain and about 15 knots of wind. There were several squalls and localized storms the night before which left the Pacific Ocean in a bit of a confused state with no one dominant swell pattern. Pretty much the entire first day until just before the sun disappeared below the horizon the sea was very lumpy and we sailed under main and genoa in 12-15 knots of wind. A good sail but a bit uncomfortable with the sea state.
No matter how hard I think of the right words I can't properly describe the sunset as we both were standing on the bow watching the sun say goodbye to another day. The sun was a bright, almost day-glo colored orange, pinkish color and it was the shape of a perfect ball. It's movements were slow at first but as it finally set atop the ocean it was a mere count to 20 before it was completely gone. The clear sky continued to hold the colors that she left behind, like the dust flowing behind an old model T rumbling down a worn, dusty, country road. I asked Marne if she had EVER seen a sun that looked like that before and received the quick repy "never". As I said before, my words don't even come close to doing it justice.
After the sun went down the seas calmed a bit but we continued to have good winds from off the starboard beam which pushed us along nicely at 6-7 knots. On a night passage it doesn't really matter how good the sail is or how calm the sea is; it is still a long night. As the captain, especially under sail, it is impossible for me to get much sleep as I am always worried about sail trim, wind changes, sea state, mechanical issues and the list goes on. During Marne's shift from 11pm - 1am I took down the genoa and ran just the main assisted by the motor so that there was very little to worry about even though we could have easily sailed during that time too.
After a short, interrupted nap I went back up top at 1am, turned off the motor and continued to sail. Sailing at night is difficult. Sail trim is art and requires constant visual inspection, comparison and adjustment to sail efficiently. A black night does not aid in that process. By the time the sun was peeking over the eastern horizon I was too tired to enjoy it's beauty. I looked aft over the stern, acknowledged it's arrival and laid my head back down on the damp cushions of the cockpit. Once the light had fully enveloped us we continued our sail westward under a beam to broad reach, the wind pushing us toward Frailes. Hours and hours went by with no other sounds than the water pushing briskly past the hull at 7 knots or so and the wind flowing across the sails. It was magical. All counted up we had motored a mere 3 hours throughout the 30 hour passage. And of that 3 hours, really only a about one hour was completely necessary, the other two, just convenience so that I might rest a little easier. Overnight passages are not my favorite thing but this one was pretty awesome and it is pretty cool to think that Marne and I could travel from Mazatlan to Baja, over 165 miles, by the power of the wind. Meanwhile the systems on the boat, like radios, refrigeration, navigation aids and others were being powered by the batteries that had stored the sun's power from the energy collected by our solar panels aboard from the day before. Not gonna lie...that's pretty cool. Loving the life. Loving the freedom. Loving the simplicity. Loving the adventure. Loving Marne. Life is good.
Bret and Marne
SV Liahona
Tarren - I did get your email. Thanks! Would love to know more about your schedule, I def want to have you and Natan on the boat for as long as you can be here. You mentioned leaving your car in SC. Not sure how that helps anything as that is my end game at the end of May. Better to have your car in BV, maybe bus down to me wherever then crew with me back to BV where your car is. Love you mucho!
Clint - No need to bring towels as I have plenty aboard. As for needed items, nothing that is necessary. However, if you would like some famous Liahona Kahlua Brownies bring a box or two of brownie mix. Favorite Girl Scout cookies...Samoas! DUH! So pumped to having you guys aboard and now I am in place to pick you up as I am just a mere 28 miles north of San Jose del Cabo.
Dr. Layer - Marne is still anxiously awaiting your email with her "instructions". haha
Tanner and Tallen - So missing my boys! Can't wait to spend the summer home with the 112 crew!
Monday, April 13, 2015
April 13, Passage Update
It is about 10am and the passage has gone great with 10-15 knot winds off the starboard beam almost the whole trip. We are currently 20 miles due east of Bahia Frailes on the Baja penninsula doing about 7.5 knots and have land in sight. We should be at anchor around 1-2pm. We have sailed almost the entire time and if my calculations are right we have only burned about 2 gallons of diesel over the 30 hour passage, about $9.00. Not bad. I LOVE the way the Liahona sails! She is one slippery, fast bee-atch! I think we are setting some kind of pure sail speed record from Mazatlan to Baja. lol. Anyway, all is well aboard and we should be at anchor soon. More later in the afternoon report.
Bret and Marne
SV Liahona
PS. Sorry I didn't get yesterday's check in sent until now but I tried and it was super rough and I couldn't find a quiet frequency so I gave up.
Bret and Marne
SV Liahona
PS. Sorry I didn't get yesterday's check in sent until now but I tried and it was super rough and I couldn't find a quiet frequency so I gave up.
Sunday, April 12, 2015
April 12, Crossing
We left Mazatlan at 8am this morning, under cloudy skies with rain and about 15 knots of wind. It is 7pm and we are about 60 miles out from Mazatlan. Winds are good, but seas are lumpy. We have only had to motor 2 hours while the wind changed direction,and are currently sailing under main and genoa at 5 knots.
Have had 2 sea turtle sightings, the water is amazingly blue, and we are about to watch the sun go down over the western horizon.
We are barely within visual sight of 5 other boats making the crossing at the same time. All is well aboard, expected to arrive in Vahia Frailes at appx. 2pm.
See you on the other side.
Bret and Marne
SV Liahona
PS. Todays edition was written by the first mate as the Captian is resting up for the evening watch. Enjoying my time aboard the Liahona. She is so beautiful and already she makes me feel like I'm home.
Have had 2 sea turtle sightings, the water is amazingly blue, and we are about to watch the sun go down over the western horizon.
We are barely within visual sight of 5 other boats making the crossing at the same time. All is well aboard, expected to arrive in Vahia Frailes at appx. 2pm.
See you on the other side.
Bret and Marne
SV Liahona
PS. Todays edition was written by the first mate as the Captian is resting up for the evening watch. Enjoying my time aboard the Liahona. She is so beautiful and already she makes me feel like I'm home.
Saturday, April 11, 2015
April 11, Isla Venado, Mazatlan
It looks like we have a good weather window starting tomorrow morning for the crossing over to Cabo and the Baja peninsula. Before heading across we decided to head into Marina El Cid in Mazatlan to top off the tanks and give the boat a fresh water bath. From where we are anchored it is only about 3 miles away to the breakwater and into the harbor. When we got to the very narrow breakwater there was a pretty good swell rolling in, about 4-6 foot, and breaking along the rocks that protected the entrance to the harbor. It shows in the cruising guide and on my charts that the minimum depth going through the breakwater is 10' at low tide. Unfortunately, we were at low tide. The Liahona draws 7' but that does not leave much wiggles room. As we slowly inched toward the narrow entrance the depth continued to get shallower. My concern was the swell which could easily skew the actual depth by several feet at the low part of the swell. As we got just between the two rock walls, we were almost there, the depth gauge showed we had 4' under the keel. Not exactly enough for me to feel very comfortable in that situation so I quickly threw it in reverse, pivoted the boat around in the narrow channel, and then back into forward and motored back out. We sat outside trying to decide what to do and tried to call the port captain or other boats that would have local knowledge, all to no avail. After studying it for about 20 minutes we decided that we didn't need fuel that badly and headed back to the anchorage.
After talking to some friends about the entrance he said that a few years back he was in a boat that drew 8' and actually struck the bottom in similar conditions with a big swell. So we sat in the anchorage until about 2:30pm when the tide was a bit higher and then headed back over. This time we punched through and the least water I saw was 5 under the keel. Not optimal but not too bad. We fueled and then headed back out to Isla Venado.
At the docks we had washed the boat down with fresh water then filled every bucket we had in order to wash and soften the various lines on the boat that are constantly exposed to salt water and over time stiffen due to calcification. Those chores done we are now just sitting in the very rolly anchorage and I think we are set leave tomorrow morning sometime for our crossing that should take us about 30 hours. Winds on this side tomorrow are predicted to be 10 knots and less and then on the Baja side maybe 10-15 knots when we get over there. My confidence in the weather gurus these days is not super high but if we run into anything uncomfortable in the first few hours we will turn back. We have plenty of time before Marne has to be in Cabo for her flight back to Oregon. Will update you later as to the passage. If we are indeed underway the report may be extremely brief, just to let you know that all is well, or possibly non existent until we arrive. Will have to see how things go. Please no worry warts until you don't hear anything passing into Wednesday morning.
Bret and the Amazing Marne,
SV Liahona
Catherine - Can you please pass on Todd's email to us as we think he would really enjoy the updates. Marne says she is really missing poodle and hopes he is well.
After talking to some friends about the entrance he said that a few years back he was in a boat that drew 8' and actually struck the bottom in similar conditions with a big swell. So we sat in the anchorage until about 2:30pm when the tide was a bit higher and then headed back over. This time we punched through and the least water I saw was 5 under the keel. Not optimal but not too bad. We fueled and then headed back out to Isla Venado.
At the docks we had washed the boat down with fresh water then filled every bucket we had in order to wash and soften the various lines on the boat that are constantly exposed to salt water and over time stiffen due to calcification. Those chores done we are now just sitting in the very rolly anchorage and I think we are set leave tomorrow morning sometime for our crossing that should take us about 30 hours. Winds on this side tomorrow are predicted to be 10 knots and less and then on the Baja side maybe 10-15 knots when we get over there. My confidence in the weather gurus these days is not super high but if we run into anything uncomfortable in the first few hours we will turn back. We have plenty of time before Marne has to be in Cabo for her flight back to Oregon. Will update you later as to the passage. If we are indeed underway the report may be extremely brief, just to let you know that all is well, or possibly non existent until we arrive. Will have to see how things go. Please no worry warts until you don't hear anything passing into Wednesday morning.
Bret and the Amazing Marne,
SV Liahona
Catherine - Can you please pass on Todd's email to us as we think he would really enjoy the updates. Marne says she is really missing poodle and hopes he is well.
Friday, April 10, 2015
April 10, Isla Venado, Mazatlan
A very casual day here anchored in the lee of Isla Venado (Deer Island) just a mile off the coast from Mazatlan. For a little exercise we took a hike up to the top of the island where we enjoyed beautiful views of the shores of Mazatlan and the Liahona anchored some 600' below us just off of the beach. The island draws a fair amount of tourists that come out via pangas or catamaran tours. As we sat down to enjoy a fresh mango sprinkled with spicy Tajin and drenched in fresh lime juice we began talking with a very nice family seated at a table next to us. The had 5 children who were very polite as were the parents. When someone asked what time it was the dad turned to a local behind him as asked for the time...in spanish that he obviously did not learn in school. I asked him how it was that he spoke the language so well and he replied "I lived in Argentina for a couple of years". Oh really! Like maybe were you serving a mission for the Mormon church? haha. "Um, ya" came the reply, "how did you know"? My reply was "Buenos Aires Norte Mission, 1981". That started up a bit of a conversation. He served in the Bahia Blanca Argentina Mission in 1993. Their oldest son is currently serving a mission in Thailand. Small world. We invited them on the boat tomorrow afternoon for a little sail but they politely declined because their two smaller children don't do well rolling around in boats. We gave them a boat card which they thought was cool and then made comment on the name of the boat, "Mormons, go figure, naming their boat the Liahona". haha
After the nice visit we came back to the boat where Marne decided that she wanted to go to the top of the mast to take some GoPro pics. The anchorage is pretty rolly and even after my warning that the top of the mast moves A LOT, she still wanted to go up. Up she went in the bosun's chair with me on the winch, 60' off the decks. I got some pics of her from down below and she was wrapped around the top of the mast hanging on like a koala bear in a typhoon. lol. After some pics from both ends she came down and then lazily swung along the side of the hull still in the chair dangling from the spinnaker halyard that is attached at the top of the mast.
Post bosun's chair experience we lit the bbq and grilled that marinated rib eye steak that we were bragging about yesterday. It did not disappoint. Probably one of the best rib eye steaks I have ever sunk my teeth into. For reals. Tomorrow we will probably make the short run into the marina to top off with fuel and wash the decks down with fresh water, making us ready to cross over to Cabo whenever the right weather forecast presents itself, which look like might be Monday...ish. Life is good. Breathe in deep, exhale slowly and examine all that you have to be grateful for. Whoever you are and wherever you may be, the list is long if you take the time to recognize it.
Bret and Marne
SV Liahona
PS. Marne says she loves and misses everyone in Oregon and although she will return there in a week she is already wishing that "notice" was given at work. (Don't be upset Dr. Duck, haha)
After the nice visit we came back to the boat where Marne decided that she wanted to go to the top of the mast to take some GoPro pics. The anchorage is pretty rolly and even after my warning that the top of the mast moves A LOT, she still wanted to go up. Up she went in the bosun's chair with me on the winch, 60' off the decks. I got some pics of her from down below and she was wrapped around the top of the mast hanging on like a koala bear in a typhoon. lol. After some pics from both ends she came down and then lazily swung along the side of the hull still in the chair dangling from the spinnaker halyard that is attached at the top of the mast.
Post bosun's chair experience we lit the bbq and grilled that marinated rib eye steak that we were bragging about yesterday. It did not disappoint. Probably one of the best rib eye steaks I have ever sunk my teeth into. For reals. Tomorrow we will probably make the short run into the marina to top off with fuel and wash the decks down with fresh water, making us ready to cross over to Cabo whenever the right weather forecast presents itself, which look like might be Monday...ish. Life is good. Breathe in deep, exhale slowly and examine all that you have to be grateful for. Whoever you are and wherever you may be, the list is long if you take the time to recognize it.
Bret and Marne
SV Liahona
PS. Marne says she loves and misses everyone in Oregon and although she will return there in a week she is already wishing that "notice" was given at work. (Don't be upset Dr. Duck, haha)
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