Begin forwarded message: > Greetings all! > > Sans Souci is now anchored at Bahia Santa Maria, arriving yesterday, > just after dusk. > > First an answer to a question from yesterday: I was asked why the > pictures from the pilot house were so blurry. I should have spoken > more about what it is like in the pilot house when running at night. > In order to be able to see outside, at night, it is important that > your eyes adjust to the dark. We darken every instrument in the > pilot house to virtual darkness. The pilot house picture in > yesterdays email was taken by setting my high-end Canon digital > camera to 1600 film speed. This allows me to shoot a picture in > almost total darkness, however it still wasnt enough to get the > shot without it blurring. I really needed a tripod in order to take > the picture. That said, I liked how it turned out. Dont ask me why, > but I thought it captured the character of life in the pilot house > at night. Even though we keep it almost totally dark in the pilot > house we still walk around the pilot house regularly at night to > look for lights on other boats. > > One other technical detail from yesterday: We have been using our > Flopper Stoppers while at anchor. > > > > The flopper stoppers look like giant fishing poles that poke out the > side of the boat. They are for at anchor stabilization. From these > giant poles hang steel plates, called fish that float beneath the > water. While anchored the side to side motion of the boat causes > these plates to be dragged up and down in the water. The friction > caused by the plates moving through the water softens the rolling > motion of the boat. I cant imagine anchoring without flopper > stoppers. > > We ran the 220 miles from Turtle Bay alone. Winds were ok; > approximately 20 knots the entire run. I think I was physically > exhausted, and not really in the mood for running all night, because > I had more trouble with this run than usual. I had the 10pm to 2am, > plus the 6am to 10am shifts, along with Jeremy. Throughout our time > in the pilothouse both of us kept looking at our watches. I was > changing the music about every 20 minutes, tinkering with the > electronics, telling stories, anything to help pass the time. At > midnight, when we caught up with Dreamweaver, another Fubar boat, I > greeted him, and continued on our way. Then 15 minutes later, I was > bored and called him on the radio. I confessed that I had nothing to > talk about, but was bored, and that I would appreciate it if would > tell me about his boat and where he was going. I knew this would > help eat up time. > > Dreamweaver turned out to be an interesting boat. The owner, whose > name Ive forgotten, has a home in Mexico in Los Barrilles, just > south of La Paz. Dreamweaver is a brand new 46 sportfisher that he > was bringing down to its new home in Mexico. We chatted for a while > about life in Mexico. Roberta and I have owned a home near Cabo San > Lucas for ten years, and he has owned a home near La Paz for nearly > fifteen years. Back when we first arrived in Cabo, life was pretty > primitive. I remember when most conversations focused on shopping > and groceries. When someone would find lettuce that looked somewhat > edible, that was big news in the neighborhood. Now we have Costco, > Home Depot, Walmart, many supermarkets, fast food places, 10-screen > movie theaters and more. I made the comment that I would have been > happy if Cabo had stopped growing when Costco opened (about three > years ago). He said he would have been happier even without Costco. > I know what he means. > > Toward the end of my first shift, around 2am, I noticed that we were > sliding around pretty good. Things were starting to fall off tables, > and I had to make a run through the pilot house to move things off > the tables, and close all the drawers. This made me curious about > how Dreamweaver was faring. If a 68 100 ton boat was getting slid > around, what could it be like on a 46 sportfisher? Dreamweaver. > This is Sans Souci. I just got curious. Do you have stabilizers? > This was a dumb question, but at 2am Im not always at my best. No > he responded. How are you handling this? I asked. As I should > have guessed he said Not very well. We stayed in touch on and off > for the balance of the run. Because we stopped to fish, he actually > beat me into the anchorage. > > As Ive mentioned before, Im not a fisherman. Most of my boater > friends are serious fisherman, and more than one has tried to get me > fishing. It will never happen. On the other hand, I did hope that my > son Chris, and my dad, would get into fishing on this trip. Jeff > used to fish commercially, and Jeremy, the young guy who is with us > from Nordhavn, our boat builder, is a seriously addicted fisherman. > Even though Jeremy was worn out from running all night, as soon as > we started getting close to Mag Bay Jeremy was on the back deck > putting the poles out. We had been watching the water temperature > all night, and as it rose from 68 degrees to 74 degrees Jeremy was > getting more and more excited. > > Not only the water was warming. The air around us was starting to > feel like summer. Sans Souci has a fly bridge, but in the four > months weve owned the boat, it has never been warm enough to > actually drive from it. We decided to give it a try, and to my > amazement, it was awesome. I think part of what made it so great was > that the wind was coming from behind us. Thus, there was no apparent > wind while we were driving. We put some loud music on, and everyone, > except Jeremy, who was down in the cockpit fishing, went up to the > Fly Bridge. This was the warm water cruising experience Ive been > seeking ever since taking delivery of the new boat. The only > disappointment was that Roberta wasnt there to enjoy it with me. We > celebrated our 35th anniversary a couple days before the Fubar > departed, but she had work to do, and couldnt come along. > <- Running with Dolphins > > I was experimenting with the Sonar, using it as a fish finder, with > mixed results. Not being a fisherman, I didnt know what depth would > work best for Jeremy. I zig-zagged around chasing anything on the > radar that looked somewhat like a fish. To improve our chances, we > slowed to seven knots, and even turned off the radar. Jeff thought > the radar might be frightening away the fish. Something worked. > Jeremy was suddenly screaming FISH ON!. Jeff went running down the > stairs to help him. I scrambled to wake my son Chris, and sent my > dad out to watch. I ran the boat, trying to keep us aligned while > Jeremy reeled in his fish. I was two decks up when Jeremy brought > the fish into the cockpit, but I couldnt miss hearing it. > Apparently the fish, which turned out to be a large Dorado, wasnt > too happy about how his day was going, and was raising a ruckus in > the back of the boat. I heard a lot of extreme flapping about that > went on for much longer than I would have expected. Jeff relieved me > at the helm so I could go down to see Jeremys fish. > > > > Jeremy was a VERY happy guy. Over the next couple of hours, he > continued fishing while cleaning the boat, and the fish. I was > amazed by how hard he worked. There was far more blood than > expected, and Jeremy worked his tail off cleaning it all off the > teak and fiberglass. I made the comment that I sure hoped he didnt > catch another fish. I couldnt imagine him working this hard a > second time. > > While we were fishing our way south, we passed a roughly 60 foot > fishing boat, that was stopped for fishing, and was rolling back and > forth in the waves so much that I was getting sea sick watching it. > I asked Jeff if the boat had come from Mag Bay. Jeff knew the boat, > and said it had come down from San Diego to fish. I couldnt believe > a boat had come all the way from San Diego just to fish. The story > gets even more interesting: Jeff said the boat would normally have > as many as 21 paying passengers, who were guys who wanted to fish > Mag Bay. For seven to ten days, 21 guys jam into little cots, on a > small boat, with a single head, and no stabilizers, to journey south > to fish Mag Bay, and then return to San Diego. I dont get it, but > then again, there are probably people who dont understand why I > like to spend 12 hours a day staring at my computer screen. > > I had little time to ponder all of this, because Jeremy was once > again shouting FISH ON!. This time it was for a Wahoo, which I now > understand is a really big deal. > > > > Chris had gone back to sleep after seeing the Dorado, and my dad > also didnt show much interest. I think Jeff and Jeremy are very > disappointed in us. The cockpit was once again flooded with blood, > which Jeremy worked for hours to clean up. Jeremy was very > contented. We did a bit more fishing without luck, and decided to > head to the anchorage before dark. > > We anchored at Santa Maria, just outside Magdalena (Mag) Bay. At our > arrival there were about 15 other Fubar boats. I was worn out from > running all night, and somewhat grumpy (an understatement). Boats > tend to break, and this is understandable, but I do wish they could > time it better. Sans Souci is a new boat, and still being broken in. > During the final hours of our cruise: 1) One of our generators > stopped working, 2) We discovered lots of VERY stinky water in the > bilge, 3) One of the toilets failed, and 4) The diesel furnace > stopped working. I was in the mood for nothing except sleep, and > decided to get up early the next day (today) to start repairs. > > Repairs that had seemed impossible last night, seemed like no big > deal this morning. In the first hour Jeff and I had nailed two of > the items (the generator and the Kabola). This afternoon, the > designer of the boat, Jeff Leishman, stopped by to assist in > tracking down the gray water problem. For those not familiar with > the terms Gray water and Black Water, the first of these refers > to water coming from the sink, and the second to water (and, more) > which comes from the toilets. Neither has a very pleasant odor, and > yet both tend to be an inevitable part of boating. Ive been > blogging for years, and the blog update that received the most email > was one I did talking about marine toilets. There seems to be no > topic that more frustrates boaters than dealing with marine toilets. > For Sans Souci, I told Nordhavn Spare no expense. I never ever want > to deal with plumbing issues. We have a great system on Sans Souci, > and I do not expect future problems. This was nothing more than the > boat gods knowing I was exhausted and wanting to mess with me. They > succeeded. > > My goal for today was to break out all the toys. This was our first > real day of sunshine and warm water. All of the days for months to > come will have sunshine and warm water, but the first day is still > special. I wanted to drop both of the tenders, including the little > jet tender. I also wanted to try out the scuba equipment and even > the passarelle. > > One of my goals was to discover if everything was working, and if > there was anything missing. For scuba I have a hookah system which > is built into the boat. I have never tried it and was curious to see > how it would do. Although the water is blue and clear outside the > anchorage, it is dinghy and green where we are anchored. I had to > think about if I really wanted to dive or not, but like any kid with > a new toy, I just had to do it. All of the equipment was new, and > untried. I quickly discovered that the flippers were missing, and > then accidentally kicked one of the masks into the water (which > immediately sank). As if we didnt have enough hints that diving > wasnt going well, I discovered that I didnt have near enough > weight to sink, and gave up. This may sound like it didnt go well, > but overall I was delighted. Its 36 degrees today back home in > Seattle. While Im whining about not being able to find my flippers, > there are those who have it a LOT worse. > > > > Both of the tenders performed remarkably well when put into the > water. I had never run the little Zodiac jet tender. Jeremy tried it > first, and when returning to the boat said Ken  that thing is > dangerous. You can really get hurt. The jet tender is based on a > jet ski engine, and seems to only have two speeds; too fast, and way > too fast. Add to this the steering that has only about two inches > between being turned fully to the left and fully to the right. > > _One of the tenders we passed while exploring. Several Fubar-ers > brought their dogs. > > At the back of Bahia Santa Maria there is a Mangrove forest. I was > completely surprised by it. We took both tenders, and ran them > across a shallow sand bar into a narrow little river. We ran miles > through what appeared like something one might expect in a Louisiana > Bayou, not a Baja anchorage. We raced the tenders, and had an > absolute blast. Along the way we saw several little fishing > villages. Very cool! > > _ A very happy Chris and his grandpa. > > > > > _ Fubar boats filling the horizon. > > _ Did I mention how spoiled we are on Sans Souci? Were not roughing > it too bad. This is Jeff enjoying the view. > > Once again there was a Fubar event on the beach. I knew it was going > to be messy getting to/from the event and didnt take the camera. > The event was held on a cliff overlooking the bay. To get to shore, > the Fubar group had arranged Pangas to transport us. We needed to > enter the same river I had gone into this afternoon. Earlier in the > day we had crossed the sand bar with nearly a foot of water under > the bottom of the tender. Tonight, we had a panga loaded with 20+ > people, and no apparent way to cross the sand bar. We bottomed > almost immediately, and most of the guys jumped out of the tender to > help push it across the sand bar. > > Dinner was good, the margaritas were excellent, and the chance to > talk with the Fubar-ees even better. I spoke with a Nordhavn 43 > owner who had just taken his boat up to Alaska from San Diego, was > in Roche Harbor (near Seattle) when we were there, and is now with > us here on the Fubar. I spoke with another Nordhavn 43 owner from > Los Angeles who is planning on leaving his Nordhavn in Cabo all > winter, while he flies back and forth from Los Angeles. > > The wealth of boating experience here is impressive. I had > previously thought that most of the boats would be captained by > persons with little or no long range cruising experience. There are > some of those here, but generally, this is a very seasoned group > that knows what it is doing. To my knowledge no boat has had serious > problems of any sort. > > During the party I asked around to see what comes next. Our schedule > shows the group entering Mag Bay tomorrow, and then making the major > overnight run to Cabo the next night. Of the first three people I > asked tonight, two were going to stay in our current location > another day, and the third was going to head straight to Cabo. This > had me thinking about our own plans. We are in an incredible > anchorage, but it is tempting to head straight for Cabo. It also > sounds good to go into Mag Bay as originally planned. Ill see what > mood I am in tomorrow. Thats one of the bizarre things about the > Fubar. I get the sense that no one knows what everyone is doing > tomorrow. We know we are loosely working our way towards La Paz, and > that well all arrive at roughly the same time, but its not the > tight coordination I had expected. Some of this is the high degree > of competence of the group. > > Thats it for tonight. More when I can. > > Thank you! > Ken Williams > Sans Souci, Nordhavn68.com > > PS Donna Palmer-Wilson has been sending out daily Fubar updates, but > it having Internet problems. She asked me to pass along that she > hopes to have it sorted out tomorrow.