Blog Archives
Jumping Rays! Mobula Edge Out Mantas.
Although we are securely tied to a marina in Long Beach, CA, the memory of the jumping rays we saw in Los Frailes, Mexico is still fresh and vibrant. As we headed south toward La Paz, we stopped one afternoon to anchor in Los Frailes and were greeted by the distinct sound of belly flops.
Most folks who have spent any time near a public swimming pool would recognize the sound of a belly flop. This day in Los Frailes we heard that smack over and over and over again.
Wings up for a smack of a landing!
Ray after ray after ray was launching out of the blue sea and slapping back down into the water! Of course we anchored as quickly as we could, then lowered the dinghy and slowly approached the rays.
Wait for the slow motion jumping – they are beautiful!
Our haste was unnecessary as the rays jumped and splatted for hours – literally!
There were so many rays jumping that we feared one would land in the dinghy and we weren’t sure how we would manage to get it out without injuring it or us. So we returned to Ticket To Ride and enjoyed the show from the boat.
Hours later the rays were still jumping. In fact, when we went to bed we could still hear the repeated plops through the open hatch. Even when we awakened, the rays were still jumping.
Mr. Ray mid-flight.
There are a few theories about why rays jump out of the water like this:
- They are trying to remove parasites. (Yuck)
- They are excited about food in the area.
- This is a form of communication.
- This is part of a mating ritual or dance.
Personally, I think this was a combination of numbers two and four since the jumping lasted for well over 12 hours! Either that or these rays were particularly talkative or especially dirty. 🙂
I was trying to determine if these were Mobula or Manta Rays, but according to Dive Magazine, UK, there are no more Manta Rays, only Mobula, at least when determining scientific classifications. This combination of Mantas and Mobulas comes after a DNA study that reclassified Mantas into the Mobulas species.
While the DNA may classify these rays as one group, there are some physical differences. The primary difference is that the Manta Ray has its’ mouth in front of the body and the Mobula’s mouth is positioned a little further back, but still in front of the body.
My favorite picture of the rays.
Regardless of how the rays are classified, they were an excellent source of entertainment that day in Los Frailes. Every once in a while the slapping sound would stop and the bay would quiet. But soon enough the rays would begin their jump and flop once more and the sound alone would bring a smile to my face.
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Alluring Alamitos ~ Lovely Long Beach ~ Cushy California
Ha! Enough alliteration in that title?
So we have been back in Long Beach for two weeks now and we are having a blast! We have enjoyed an excellent mix of sailing, re-supplying and social time.
In the last two weeks, we have had many guests sail with us on TTR and other folks who have just stopped by to welcome us back or simply ask about our boat.
Needless to say it has been busy, but it has also been a ton of fun.
The sailing conditions in Long Beach Harbor cannot be beaten. There is a long break water just outside the marina that creates a large, calm area of water but the wind still blows nicely there. It is behind this break water that we first put TTR through her paces back in January and February when she arrived by container ship.
Once you leave the break water area, there is plenty of room to sail and the Channel Islands reduce the waves in the water.
Finally, if you want an easy destination sail, Catalina Island is a quick trip aboard TTR.
As an informational aside, we have the performance polars for TTR loaded into our B&G navigation system and on our nav screens we can see how well we are doing compared to the polars. This number is expressed as a percentage of optimal performance and is what we most often use to determine how well our sail configuration and sail set are working.
My view while helming TTR under double headsail.
Frank and I spent one afternoon last week sailing TTR using a variety of sail configurations for downwind sailing because we anticipate a decent amount of 140 port-140 starboard degree sailing when we head south again to Mexico and when we cross the Pacific Ocean toward the Marquesas Islands (spring 2020?). We are planning for times when the wind direction and our course cause our wind angle to move between 140 to 180 and we want to stay on rhumb line.
While sailing our last boat, Let It Be, we had an asymmetric spinnaker in a sock that we used for light downwind sailing. However, we think deploying that type of sail on TTR would be too powerful for the two of us to handle alone. When outfitting Ticket To Ride, we bought a cable-less reacher from Doyle sails and they cut the sail a bit fuller than usual so we can use this furling sail instead of a socked spinnaker.
TTR flying the Doyle cable-less reacher.
In an effort to test our downwind sailing options, first we put up our cable-less reacher only and tried sailing between 140-170 degrees. Sailing with only the reacher was simply delightful! The sail flew well and the motion of the boat was perfectly smooth. TTR moved along at about half of wind speed.
Using our reacher only, we were making about 80 percent of polars which translated into a boat speed of 6 knots in 12 knots of wind.
Not bad, 79.8% of polar with only one sail up.
Next we left our reacher up and added our jib on the windward side to fly double headsails. With this sail configuration we tried sailing through about 35 degrees of wind angle – say 155 to 170 on the opposite tack.
Frank walking the deck while sailing double headsails.
Sailing at these deeper angles and edging slightly from a port to starboard tack, we were again making half or a little more of wind speed. The boat was extremely comfortable and the sails were staying full. We maximized our sailing results by using an outboard jib lead on the jib sheet to help keep the clew to weather.
Using the reacher and jib we managed to meet 95-100+ of our polars which translated into a boat speed of 6.3 knots in 11.6 knots of wind.
Very happy with TTR’s performance under reacher and jib.
Based on these results, we have decided that we do not need to buy another sail for downwind, light wind sailing situations. We will work with the inventory we have and hope it takes us comfortably and relatively quickly to our destinations.
Our first round of guests back in Long Beach included our son, Clayton, and 9 of his friends who are sailing instructors at a camp on Catalina Island. These camp counselors don’t have a ton of time between camp sessions, so we picked them up on Catalina and went for a fast but short sail on TTR. As instructors, these kids are very good sailors and I think being on board a performance catamaran was a fun change for them. We were easily clipping along between 10-11 knots on TTR and they were loving the speed and comfort. They also enjoyed staying dry while sailing . 🙂
After a quick sail, we provided a home cooked, hot lunch which was enthusiastically consumed – probably it was a far cry from a summer of camp food! “Nomad” dubbed our marinated chicken “10 knot chicken” since Frank fired up the grill and cooked it while we were sailing back toward camp at 10 knots!
We really enjoyed sharing the afternoon with these young people. They were polite, appreciative and full of energy and cheer.
Laura, Lisa and Mary Grace
Our next guests were sailing friends we met in the Bahamas in 2017. We met Laura and Chris when they were volunteer fee collectors for the Exuma Land and Sea Parks. We ended up buddy boating with Laura and Chris off and on in the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico! This is the 2nd time we have met up with Laura and Chris while in California because they regularly fly here when taking a break from their sailboat.
Lisa and Chris at the helm.
Happily we have also become friends with Lisa and Dave, who are long time friends of Chris and Laura. We took the four of them out for a long afternoon of sailing on TTR. It was fun to have experienced sailors on board and have everyone take turns at the helm and handling lines.
Chris, Don, Frank, Mary Grace and Laura (Thanks for the photo, Val.)
The next foursome who sailed with us are new friends we met while traveling in Mexico. We met these two couples in different parts of the Sea of Cortez, but soon realized they are both from this general area and know each other through sailing here. So of course when we realized the overlapping friendships we invited all four to come to TTR for an afternoon of sailing and dinner on board.
Seven out of eight of the people we took sailing this week have only monohull sailing experience. It is always interesting to hear the reactions of monohull sailors when they go out on TTR. First they are concerned that we have left too many items unsecured in the boat when we leave the dock. Next they are surprised by how high out of the water we are and how much space there is, without going down a companionway.
Once we are sailing, our monohull guests quickly appreciate the comfort of not heeling and the speed of TTR. Many times I have heard jokes between spouses that perhaps a cat is in their near future.
Gratuitous picture of TTR at anchor in the Sea of Cortez
Returning to Alamitos has been great. We love seeing our kids, meeting up with friends both old and new, and having access to so many conveniences. Frank is working hard to accumulate all the spare parts we might need when we leave for Mexico, then cross the Pacific. While in Mexico we ordered a couple of items that never arrived because they were held up in Customs, so the ease and speed of ordering on-line and having things delivered is greatly appreciated! I am spending time updating documents, looking for reference materials for our future cruising grounds, lining up a safety course and planning annual doctor visits (oh fun).
So there you have it. This is how we are currently spending our time in Alamitos Bay. Due to marina rules, we can’t stay on this dock long term, so we hope to explore a few of the Channel Islands when our time on this dock ends.
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Scooter Time ~ E-sploring Coronado Island
We arrived in San Diego, CA from Ensenada, MX just after the sun came up and quickly dispatched with the clearing in process. (We used the Border Control app “ROAM” and it was very easy and efficient.)
We motored TTR through San Diego Bay to Glorietta Bay, a public anchorage right across from the Hotel del Coronado and overlooking the Coronado Golf Course.
Our youngest son, Clayton, happened to be in San Diego that day so we were delighted to get to spend the day with him on board TTR. Even though the trip from Ensenada to San Diego was an easy one, Frank and I were a bit tired from not having much sleep, so we all just hung out on Ticket To Ride and spent the day catching up and enjoying time together.
Enjoying this view from the boat was delightful!
Frank and I spent the next day exploring Coronado on our e-scooters**. Coronado is charming and picturesque. Plus the drivers are accustomed to bikers, skaters and pedestrians, so we felt comfortable puttering all over on our scooters.
We stopped at one beach that turned out to be the dog beach. The area was teeming with pups cavorting on the sand and in the water. I swear you could see the smiles on the faces of the dogs as they ran, sniffed and played to their hearts content. Pictures didn’t capture it at all! (Seeing all the dogs made my heart ache for Captain, but also lifted my spirit just seeing them play.)
Not as busy as the Maleçon in La Paz, but a nice place!
All told I think we scootered about eight miles this day, so we saw a good sampling of Coronado.
Looking across to downtown San Diego.
Of course we stopped at the very famous Hotel del Coronado so we could see it for ourselves.
See our trusty e-scooter waiting patiently? 😉
The Coronado Hotel is the second largest wooden structure in the U.S. and when it opened, it was the largest resort hotel in the world. The hotel architecture is classified as “American wooden Victorian beach resort” and is currently undergoing some renovations; but these are being handled very tastefully and are as unobtrusive as possible. The grounds of the complex are beautifully groomed; both the sand areas and the lawns and gardens.
Just one of the elaborate flower arrangements inside the hotel.
Inside the hotel, the woodwork is extremely rich and the old fashioned metal elevator gate gleamed. Greenery and flower arrangements abounded.
It is interesting to imagine what this hotel was like when it opened in 1888; ladies were wearing bustles and gentlemen sported top hats in the 1880’s. Today the attire, including our own, is incredibly casual and the patrons are exceedingly informal. Think how many changes in fashion, protocol, laws and customs that lobby has seen over the last 130+ years! The Coronado had been open for 30 years before women were even allowed to vote. I find it fascinating to imagine all the changes that have occurred during those 130 years the Coronado has operated.
The lobby was opulent but understated.
The Coronado has had an impressive number of influential, powerful and famous guests ranging from presidents to princes to movie stars, as well as military personnel and their families during WWII. The Coronado even claims to have a resident ghost! (Source: Wikipedia)
After an arduous (not!) few hours of scootering, we stopped at Clayton’s Coffee Shop for a late lunch. Clayton’s feels like a 1950’s coffee shop with its U-shaped counter seating and just a few booths. The menu is wide and the food was great, though sadly, the little juke boxes on the counters no longer work. Clayton’s is a popular spot that also sports a walk-up, order-out window if you don’t have time to sit down for a while.
Clayton’s Coffee Shop.
I am always glad to be back ‘home’ to the U.S. and San Diego was a special entry spot. The Navy has a large presence there and as a result I could hear the National Anthem played early each morning as the flag was raised. Listening warmed my heart and reminded me of how fortunate we are to have the opportunities and freedoms we enjoy here in the U.S.
All in all, I would say we scootered the stew out of Coronado and had a great time doing it! Exploring Coronado was fun and it’s nice to settle in and enjoy our own country for a couple of months before we join the Baja Ha-Ha in November and head back to Mexico.
**We bought Glion foldable scooters. They fold up and can be pulled along like a suitcase; they weigh about 22 pounds so they can also be carried and they store easily. We decided to buy the scooters to replace our mountain bikes which we found tiresome to transport to shore in the dinghy. So far the scooters have been a good compromise, though on rough road surfaces the ride can be really bumpy. We are not affiliated with Glion or Amazon.
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The Baja Bash ~ Bashing 750 NM Toward California.
So we had heard a lot about the “bash” up the western coast of the Baja Peninsula required to return to California even before we left Newport Beach in March. But we figured we would face that bash when the time came.
Well the time has come and thankfully, “The Bash” is pretty much finished. We are nestled into a marina in Ensenada and are happy to be settled for a few days! (San Diego is a mere 60 miles north and Long Beach an additional 85.)
Sunrise on passage – always SO welcome.
We stayed longer in the Sea of Cortez than anticipated because we enjoyed it ~ there is just so much to see. But with two named storms already in the Eastern Pacific, we knew we had to get moving north.
A reasonable weather window developed so we departed Puerto Los Cabos in San José del Cabo, at 7 am on July 4th. While our compatriots were celebrating with BBQs, picnics and fireworks, we were beginning our trek north.
I believe we chose a good window for our trip, so we cannot complain about the choice of our weather. In fact, along the way we ended up in VHF conversations with 5 other boats who had chosen the same timing to move north; two sailboats and three trawlers.
Fortunately we didn’t encounter winds above 19 knots, but when they are coming on your nose they are tiring. The seas were also cooperative with most of them in the one meter range and none over 1.6 meters.
We even had some time to sail TTR on this trip!
As I have stated, two main reasons we bought our HH55 are her ability to sail well in many conditions and comfort. Ticket To Ride did not disappoint us in her sailing on this slog.
Over the 754 nautical mile, 5 day trip, we were able to sail at least a full 24 hours – that is without any engine assistance. Our usual sailing wind angle for this trip was a true wind angle of 50-55 degrees with an apparent wind angle of 28-32 degrees. Even pinched up that tightly we were able to hold our course and TTR sailed faster than we could have motored. We were often clipping through the water at close to 8 knots SOG with a current against us.
We also spent a good amount of time motor sailing with either our genoa or mail sail up.
The benefit of sailing instead of motoring, in addition to speed, is the comfort of the boat motion plowing through waves. When sailing, the boat is much quieter because she moves through the water with less banging into the wave troughs and the engine is off.
I find the constant noise of upwind trips fatiguing, so sailing allowed us a slight sensory break.
The work on our AIS/VHF that we had done in La Paz has certainly improved our reception and transmission of our VHF. The AIS is also improved but we suspect the unit itself might be faulty as it sometimes ‘goes out.’ Fortunately when Frank disconnected and reconnected it, the AIS resumed.**
Frank did a little fishing, without success. Well he did manage to catch one, but not a keeper….
Frank carefully unhooked this guy and pushed him back into the water.
Clayton researched this shark for me and has decided it is a long fin mako. Any ‘sharksperts’ out there who want to confirm or correct this?
One of the trawlers we saw during the trek is here at The Marina Coral. It is a beautiful Nordhavn 65′ yacht that also started at Marina Puerto Los Cabos and they completed the trip more quickly than we did. The captain estimates they used slightly more than 800 gallons of fuel compared to our 150 gallons for this trip.
I found it interesting to have a mile for mile comparison on fuel consumption between the trawler and TTR. I wish I knew exactly how long the trip took them. Don’t take this as a criticism of motor boats…. someday sailing may become too much for us and we might move to one.
The weather has definitely changed already. While in the SOC, we never saw rain and rarely saw any clouds. It was hot and the water was a welcome respite from the heat. But now the clouds cover the early morning sky and burn off throughout the morning and the weather is much cooler – long pants and a jacket are definitely possible.
All in all, our bash was tiring from a noise and motion standpoint. The boat performed well and we felt very secure on TTR. Generally the days were less windy than the nights and we had little or no moonlight so it was dark! Other than the boats mentioned above, we saw a tug pulling a barge piled with salt (daytime thankfully) and at night a few fishing boats. The local fishing boats have very little light but thankfully they would shine a bright light our direction and we would reply with a white light acknowledging their location. Oh and we saw a Carnival Cruise Ship as we were entering Ensenada.
I think everyone loves dolphins!
Other than those few ships, our greatest entertainment was the dolphins we saw occasionally. The dolphin usually appeared when I was pretty fed up with the banging motion so I found them an especially delightful distraction!
We were definitely ready to arrive in Ensenada and enjoy less motion and more quiet. As always, we are thankful for a completed and safe passage.
**Although this AIS problem is a warranty issue, we do not consider it a fault of HH Catamarans. Likely this is an issue within the AIS unit itself. I sometimes think todays electronics are mass produced and never really tested; just sent out assuming it is cheaper to replace a faulty one than spend the time and labor on quality control.
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Santa Rosalia ~ French Influence In The Baja.
Like many cruisers, our northern most stop in the Sea of Cortez was the town of Santa Rosalia which has a relatively large population of approximately 15,000 residents. Santa Rosalia is a popular port of call and often the point from which cruisers jump across the Sea to the mainland side. We had no plans to cross to the mainland, but had heard so many positive comments about Santa Rosalia, we decided to check it out.
Old area of Santa Rosalia and TTR at the marina in the background.
According to San Diego History Center 1988 Institute of History, Santa Rosalia’s beginnings can be traced to a rancher by the name of Jose Rosas who, in 1868, discovered some “strange green pellets” in the area and sent them to Guaymas, on the mainland, to be analyzed. Response to the pellets was very quick and two German men, G. Blumhardt and Julio Müller, paid Rosas 16 pesos to show them where the pellets were found. Blumhardt and Müller immediately began prospecting the area.
In a couple of years, two men by the name of Guillermo Eisenmann and Eustaquio Valle had managed to buy out smaller prospectors who had been working the area near Jose Rosas’s find since 1870. Eisenmann and Valle started a copper mining company called El Boleo, which is Spanish for copper-bearing pellets.
Boys of all ages love trains, even old trains.
Eisenmann and Valle brought one hundred Yaqui Indians from the prison of Guaymas as the first laborers to dig the mines. In time, many more Yaquis were brought to live in barracks and they continued to be an important labor force in Santa Rosalia. By 1884, El Boleo was a well established mining company with 11 mines and a significant network of tunnels.
I’m not sure why an overhead sidewalk was needed. But it is unique.
El Boleo is usually credited with the founding of Santa Rosalia, but in May of 1885, a French company bought El Boleo from Eisenmann and Valle. It is the French influence from the Compagnie du Boleo still visible in the buildings of Santa Rosalia that give this town its unique flavor.
Not the usual architecture of the Baja California Sur.
The French influence in Santa Rosalia was most often mentioned by cruisers who told us about Santa Rosalia and indeed, the building architecture is unique among the Baja Peninsula anchorages where we stopped.
Today there is a mining museum which overlooks some very decrepit remnants of the mining buildings along the waterfront. The buildings are interesting because they allow one to have a feeling for how large the operations was; but they look like they could fall apart any day.
These old mining buildings have seen better days.
Iglesia de Bárbara designed by G. Eiffel.
Another attraction in Santa Rosalia is the Iglesia de Bárbara. Supposedly the French architect Gustave Eiffel designed this church and won an award at the 1889 Exposition Universelle. The church is made of stamped squares of steel and was dismantled after the Exposition to be transported to Africa.
The interior of Iglesia de Bárbara is bright, clean and fairly simple.
However, the director of Compagnie du Boleo found it disassembled in Belgium, so he bought the church and had it shipped to Santa Rosalia, where it was reassembled in 1897. Some slight modifications have been made to Iglesia de Bárbara, but it is still in excellent condition.
Something about this grabbed my eye.
Although we found the buildings and history of Santa Rosalia interesting and colorful, what we truly enjoyed about this town was the lack of tourism and the friendliness of the people. Santa Rosalia is what I would consider a working or average town, sort of an “Everyman’s” town. We really enjoyed ambling along the streets and being part of the regular, day to day scene.
A typical street in the older part of Santa Rosalia.
Aannnddd, I have to admit, we spent a fair number of days tasting a variety of taco places!
Our first stop with Laura and Don of s/v Intuition. This one was good but….
This was our favorite taco spot in Santa Rosalia.
Our favorite spot, Super Taco, was a small, very casual place right on the street and popular with the locals. For $5 US, the two of us enjoyed lunch here more than once!
Super Taco is clean inside with maybe five small, round,f plastic picnic tables.
Gotta love a good tortillaria!
After eating so many tacos, we stopped at a tortilleria to buy our own fresh flour tortillas. They were excellent! And allowed us to have a taste of Santa Rosalia after we sailed away.
Religion is a major influence and visible all along the Baja. Churches and crosses are numerous. Along sidewalks and on highways there are grottos. Even in bars and restaurants there are pictures of the Virgin Mary or Jesus. Our Lady of Guadeloupe is especially popular. Often the highest hill in town has a cross boldly proclaiming the importance of God here.
Our path up to the graveyard.
Santa Rosalia was no different. We hiked up the hill to the cross, to see the graveyard and the view. Okay, maybe we also needed to walk off some tacos!
The view and the breeze were worth the walk.
Another God-centered view from up on the hill.
Santa Rosalia is the only place we have seen wood siding on the majority of the buildings rather than the more typical stones or stucco. The wood certainly allows owners to express their love for bright colors!
The paint is accentuated by the muted color of the land in the background.
All together we spent about a week in Santa Rosalia. We never really ventured into the newer parts but instead stayed in the area close to the marina where the original town developed. We definitely enjoyed being there and hope to visit again next year. If you like visiting towns away from tourism, do visit Santa Rosalia. And be sure to stop by Super Taco – we think you’ll like it!
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The Malecón ~ The Pulse of La Paz?
Before arriving in La Paz, I had heard about the Malecón de La Paz. I knew it was a sidewalk and a main feature of La Paz, but in my mind it was something like a boardwalk; an average walkway in town.
I was completely wrong!
The Malecón with the street and shops ablaze in the background.
The Malecón is an incredibly popular and dynamic feature of La Paz. In my mind it is a defining space for this city ~ a pulse of the people.
**Early days of the Malecón. Photo credit: SUDCALIFORNIA OF YESTERDAY.
Colonel Sinaloa Carlos Manuel Ezquerro, who became governor of Baja California Sur in 1925, is credited with undertaking the construction of the Malecón de La Paz. It was to be a long coastal sidewalk for foot traffic, adjacent to a roadway for vehicles. This development would include benches, concrete buttresses, lighting and even the planting of coconut trees.
**The Malecón around 1960? Photo credit: SUDCALIFORNIA OF YESTERDAY
In July 1925, Ezquerro instituted a 2% import/export tax to pay for construction of the Malecón. Fabrication was begun on September 16, 1926 amid great fanfare and crowd-pleasing festivities. (Radar Político article dated 2/18/18.)
The Malecón widens around the statues creating additional gathering areas.
Today the Malecón is a 3.5 mile, beautifully crafted, wide sidewalk lined with palm trees, sprinkled with interesting sculptures placed every 100 yards or so, and benches invitingly located near statues or in the shade of coconut palm trees.
During the daytime, the ocean bordering the Malecón is a captivating view.
But as pretty and inviting as the Malecón is, it is the people who make this place truly special. This sidewalk is extremely well used by the people of La Paz.
Kiddos race about on something like giant ‘Big Wheels.’
Families meander and exchange pleasantries, youngsters romp on the sidewalk or in the sand, lovers stroll hand in hand, kids and young adults propel themselves on bikes, scooters, rollerblades, skateboards, etc.
Volleyball? Rollerbalding? Or simply a stroll?
As we walk along the esplanade, we listen to the music from restaurants and shops across the street and we hear the laughter of the many people around us. It is easy to feel the warmth and welcoming atmosphere of the Malecón. Frank and I regret that we don’t speak Spanish and are unable to communicate well with the locals because their joy is infectious and we would like to know them better.
NORCECA Volleyball Tournament.
In addition to casual gatherings, professional events are a common and popular occurrence along this esplanade. We have seen volleyball tournaments, bicycle races and the termination of off road vehicle races at the Malecón in the limited time we have been in La Paz.
The matches were well attended but the VIP section wasn’t crowded during the week.
New benches and trash cans yet to be uncovered.
The Malecón is currently being improved and one evening as we strolled along, the benches and trash cans were so newly installed that they were still wrapped in plastic. We can see new pedestals that await delivery of their sculpture and we look forward to seeing the latest additions.
Wheelies, 360s, bike repair and other BMX fun.
I remember once when living in Texas, a young man from Mexico was in our neighborhood and he asked, “Where are all the gringos?” as we drove past the homes. Our answer was that it was hot and the people were inside. He answered, “In my country, we would all be outside with family and friends.”
It is only now that I have experienced a bit of Mexico that I better understand his confusion and how different things looked to him. Regardless of the temperatures here, we see people sharing the shade of palm frond umbrellas or gathering along the Malecón rather than remaining in their homes.
May 2018 marked the 90th anniversary of the Malecón de La Paz and it appears this iconic walkway will continue to play an essential role in this city and the people who live and visit here.
Special Note: There is an app called “Statues La Paz” that you can download and it explains each of the statues along the Malecón. I know it is available for IOS but I do not know about android. I have no affiliation with this application.
**More detailed information about the history of the Malecón and photos from the time of construction are available in the articles linked above.
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A Simple But Favorite Feature of TTR. Do You Like It Too?
One of the unique features of the HH55 is the sunroof in the salon. When I first saw the sunroof on HH55 s/v Minnehaha, I thought it was really fun and I knew that if we ordered an HH, we would want one for our boat.
Sunroof partially open with bug screen in place.
Similar to sunroofs found in a car, this one closes completely and has tinted glass to reduce sunlight. It can tilt up just a bit or can be opened completely for maximum breeze.
The opening is fitted with Ocean Air blinds that can be tucked out of the way or if you slide one direction a bug screen covers the window. Slide the blinds the opposite direction and a complete sun blocking cover extends across the window.
Sun blockout screen in place.
We love this feature for the light it offers, the breeze it allows into TTR and the ability to look at the mainsail from the salon.
BUT, as you probably have figured out, we are always looking for ways to make things “a little more” on TTR so we decided to have a small wind scoop made for our sunroof. We didn’t want a huge scoop that would create a wind tunnel, just a small one to direct air into the opening on hot, still days of summer while we are at anchor.
Here in La Paz, we worked with a sail and canvas shop and they constructed a scoop for us. For now we are attaching it with SeaSucker suction cups to the sunroof and bungie cords around the boom.
Our new scoop for the sunroof.
We need to make shorter attachment points to the window so the air is brought more closely to the opening, but I put this up temporarily to see how it fits and functions. And it definitely adds a little breeze to the salon!
The bungie cord attachments will be pretty slick as they allows us to open and close the hatch with the scoop in place should we have a sudden rain shower.
So there you have it, a little project we accomplished in La Paz and a small tweak for TTR.
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BVIs? Sea Of Cortez? Both Are Beautiful Sailing Locations. So How Do They Compare?
So recently a reader wanted to know what our average speed is on TTR. His thought was that we have owned Ticket to Ride for more than four months now and must have an idea of what her average speed has been.
This seemingly simple question took me down a rabbit hole because it sort of assumes that the sailing conditions we have had are consistent. This caused me to think about how different it is to sail in the Sea of Cortez compared to the British Virgin Islands.
Looking at Saba Rock in the beautiful BVIs
Long term readers know we had our first boat, Let It Be, in charter in the BVIs through Tortola Marine Management. (TMM has great people and they took excellent care of us and our boat.) It was in the BVIs that I cut my sailing teeth but because I was completely inexperienced, I didn’t understand how perfect the sailing conditions are there. Now that I have sailed thousands of miles in a variety of places, I have a better appreciation for just how nice sailing is in the BVIs.
But I digress. The point is that we don’t really have an average speed to report for Ticket To Ride because the sailing conditions these four months have been extremely varied. The first six weeks we sailed TTR we had professionals on board who were there to teach us and to push TTR to make sure she was ready to go. During that time our fastest recorded speed was 24.7 knots! (And yes, that is under sails alone.) Frank and I have not come close to that speed on our own. Our fastest speed has been 15.6 knots while pinched up at about 55 degrees and true wind speed of 22 knots or so. I thought we were plenty powered up and wanted to stay at a tight wind angle rather than push the boat any faster.
In the SOC it looks like we’re sailing in the mountains of Arizona.
In the Sea of Cortez the sea state changes greatly because there is a lot of fetch, land masses come and go, wind directions change and chop is caused by varying wind. It is very rare for us to put sails up and not tack or change sails each time we move anchorages. Some may think this is a down side to the SOC, but it has been an excellent way for us to practice raising and lowering sails and changing sail configurations on TTR.
In the SOC, flat, desert land here and mountains across the way.
As we moved into late spring and early summer, the wind patterns in the SOC have changed. Earlier in the year the wind was driven by northerlies and pressure systems from the north, but as the temperatures heat up the winds are thermally and land driven. That is, the wind is determined by the heating up and cooling off of the land which affects the speed and direction of the breezes.
The Sea of Cortez is well known for some crazy wind conditions with interesting names like Coromuel Winds, which are unique to the SOC. Other wind phenomena in the Sea include Elefantes and Chubascos. This link to the Club Cruceros website gives a brief overview of the weather near La Paz.
BVIs have plenty of places to leave marks of your presence.
When we were sailing in the BVIs, the winds were much more predictable because of the trade winds. Although the amount of wind changed, the direction was usually the same so we could easily plan our destination. In fact, most of the sailors in the BVIs travel from anchorage to anchorage in the same direction. As a result of the predictability of the wind, it would have been easier to say, ‘oh, TTR sails X percentage of wind speed most of the time” if we had spent these four months in the BVIs.
I can tell you that we sail much more often on TTR than we would be sailing on our former boat. We sail more often on Ticket to Ride because she points into the wind well and she moves well in light winds.
A working fishing village in the SOC.
Stark differences exist between cruising the BVIs and the Sea of Cortez. First is that the BVIs are much more developed than the Baja Peninsula. This affects many things:
~there are fewer cruisers in the SOC
~there are fewer restaurants in the SOC
~many anchorages are completely undeveloped in the SOC
Party time at White Bay, BVI is a daily occurrence.
~villages often do not have electricity or running water in the SOC
~there is less cell phone/wifi connectivity (think none for days at a stretch) in the SOC
~there are very few chartered boats in the SOC
Los Gatos is a pretty crowded anchorage in the SOC.
~there are more monohulls than catamarans in the SOC
~SOC is less expensive than the BVIs but buying things may be less convenient
~the electronic charts in the BVIs are way more accurate than in the SOC
Cleaning the day’s catch in San Everisto, SOC.
~less commercialism and a greater need for independence in the SOC
~we have stayed in only one anchorage with mooring balls in the SOC
~more large mammals in the SOC
~fewer coral in the SOC
~the local people in the SOC as a whole seem more welcoming
Limbo time on Anegada, BVI.
~the atmosphere in the BVIs is more like a party where the SOC is more about daily life
~the terrain in the BVIs is lush and tropical but the SOC is arid and mountainous
~the temperature changes more in the SOC than in the BVIs
~the water temp in the BVIs is warmer than we have experienced in the SOC
Hopefully this gives you a small insight into the differences between the BVIs and the Sea of Cortez. One isn’t better than the other, they just appeal to different people. I can’t say that we prefer the Sea over the BVIs or vice versa. For now, the SOC fits our needs (getting experience on TTR in a variety of situations) and we are perfectly happy being a bit more remote.
IF I had to guess the answer to our reader’s question about the average speed of TTR, I couldn’t. What I would say is that in lighter winds and the right conditions, she is capable of sailing at wind speed. We have had times when TTR actually sailed slightly faster than the true wind speed. I would say TTR is extremely quiet under sail, no creaking of rigging or slapping of halyards. I would also say that we are really happy with our new home.
Thank you for reading our blog. We would love to hear from you if you have questions. Feel free to look for us on FB for more regular posts, assuming we have connection while in the Sea of Cortez.
Geological History and Unusual Sights Define the SOC.
We have been in the Sea of Cortez for two months and we continue to be thrilled with the visual overload here.
TTR at anchor at Isla Coronados.
Our time in the Sea is limited this year because we need to go back to the States to have some warranty work done on Ticket to Ride. As a result, we have covered a lot of area at a fast clip. We have seen many beautiful places and I will share some thoughts and sights through pictures in this post.
I know there is a story written in these layers but I don’t know how to read it!
Frank and I should have studied geology to fully appreciate all the beauty and history of this stunning area. Every part of the Sea is dramatically framed by rugged and arid land masses. When we traveled the U.S. by RV this summer, we felt our lack of geological knowledge but we were fortunate that many of the parks had signs explaining the history told in the layered deposits of the cliffs and canyons we visited.
Very well defined layers at Punta Pulpito.
Here in Mexico, we sail or dinghy or hike past amazingly well defined layers of the earth’s history but we have no way to learn the story revealed by the lines. The internet is unavailable and neither of us studied geology, so we can’t even pull on long forgotten knowledge.
We hid from SW winds at colorful Bahia Cobre.
However, even without an understanding of the rocky history, we are amazed at the beauty and diversity of the formations we see.
The back side of Caleta Partida where we took the dinghy into small sea caves.
Any geology buffs want to chime in and explain the geological history for any of these pictures?
But the SOC isn’t just about geology. While returning to La Paz, the wind was shifting and changing and as we were accepting the need to furl sails and start engines, we came across a pod of whales. The rocky bluffs near Espiritu Santo made a perfect backdrop for this whale spray.
A whale’s blow is it exhaling air from its’ lungs.
There were about 10 whales and each would surface three or four times before disappearing for a while. None of these whales breached and we never saw the tail. I’m not certain but I think they were Fin Whales. (Can anyone confirm that?)
Such a big mammal and such a small dorsal fin.
Fin Whales are the fastest of all whales and can swim up to 37 kilometers per hour! After rolling in our foresail, we just drifted for about an hour watching the whales surface all around us. It was a thrilling experience.
The whales were pretty close to TTR!
Each day we see amazing things that make us pause and appreciate the Sea of Cortez again and again. Sometimes it is a beautiful sunrise….
Sunrise at Caleta Partida.
Other times it’s the birds we see coasting on air drafts or diving like sharpened arrows into the blue waters. Or it is spying Blue Footed Boobies like these on nearby ledges.
Blue footed boobies!
The depth of the blue color of the male Booby’s feet play an important role in courtship of the females as the males display their feet to woo a female. The intensity of the blue can vary from a pale turquoise to a deep aquamarine.
The bird 2nd from left seems intent on the camera.
This quote from Wikipedia about the color of Booby feet is interesting: “The blue color of the blue-footed booby’s webbed feet comes from carotenoid pigments obtained from its diet of fresh fish. Carotenoids act as antioxidants and stimulants for the blue-footed booby’s immune function, suggesting that carotenoid-pigmentation is an indicator of an individual’s immunological state.” Bottom line; the deeper the color the healthier the bird, and the more likely he is to get the girl.
The cloud bank between the sailboat and land was interesting.
We have not seen an abundance of coral when we snorkel here in the SOC, which sort of surprises me since we see so many mammals like dolphin and sea lions. We see some fish when we snorkel and they offer the most color when we are underwater. We have seen hues of green and brown and hardly any coral. The visibility under water has not been very good either.
Stretching our legs on Isla Coronado.
In my opinion, the dramatic landscape, the surfacing of dolphins or sea lions and the rays jumping out of the sea combined with the lack of color under the water means the views from on the boat or on land are more interesting than those below.
On the whole, the weather here has been much cooler than I expected. In fact, when we sail, I often put on a long sleeve shirt or a light jacket. The water is still chilly and we are wearing wet suits if we get in the water. I am sure there are places where the snorkeling or diving are excellent and hopefully we will find them next Fall when we return to the Sea of Cortez.
The local people we have met in towns and fishing villages here have been amazingly warm and deserve a post unto themselves. I won’t expand on that now but in the future I hope to capture a sense of our experience and share it.
For now, we are enjoying the beauty of the Sea and watching the water and land to see what new surprises present themselves.
Thank you for taking time to read our blog. We would love to hear from you if you have questions or comments. You are welcome to visit our FB page where we hope to have enough connection to post pictures more often than we post here.
New Boats Are Not Like New Cars. Do we have issues?
TTR before her departure from Xiamen.
So let’s state the obvious first: cars are mass produced and before the first one appears on a showroom floor hundreds of prototypes have been well and truly tested. Then a bajillion cars are made and 99% of the time, any problem you take to your local dealer will have been addressed in another car before you arrive.
Boat builds are significantly fewer in number. The number of units of a “mass” production boat model built is still in the 100s after a couple of years.
Ticket to Ride is one of only four HH55s produced to date, and each boat is customized to the specifications of the buyer. Due to this customization, some of the issues we face on TTR are probably different from issues the other three HH55 catamarans have experienced.
In addition to the uniqueness of each boat, our catamaran is a little city unto itself that must safely carry us from one port to the next and provide all of our electrical, refrigeration, water, power and navigational needs.
Given these facts, it is unrealistic to think that every system on TTR, or any other new boat, would be functioning perfectly at the time of delivery.
La Paz under a full moon taken from where we are anchored.
Knowing we would have issues that needed to be addressed, we decided long before Ticket to Ride was delivered that we would spend a season living on board to figure out what is working and what needs fixing. That is the purpose of our trip to the Sea of Cortez.
First let us reiterate that we are very pleased with our boat. The quality and precision of the interior spaces; cabinetry, tech spaces, painted or veneered surfaces, etc are excellent and we are very impressed.
Ticket to Ride sails like a dream and is more capable than we are. I’m not saying we aren’t decent sailors, but this boat has excellent performance rigging, sails and equipment and she is set up to goooo.
But TTR does have some issues and in the spirit of sometimes removing our rose colored glasses, we will share a few of our current concerns and what is driving us to return to the U.S. for warranty work. To date we have had very good service and response from Hudson Yacht Group with our questions and concerns.
The nav desk on TTR.
Perhaps the most complicated and potentially problematic system on Ticket to Ride is CZone; the electronic control and monitoring system that is the brain of everything with an electron flow on TTR. CZone essentially is the replacement for the AC and DC switching panels seen on most boats plus a whole lot more. With this computer brain and the touch of a screen, through CZone we can program our electrical system to fit our current situation. For example, TTR’s CZone system has 6 programmable modes such as “day cruise” or “anchored home” that allow one to turn off and on all the systems used in those situations with the touch of only a single button. So when we press “day cruise,” VHFs, navigation screens, winches, etc all turn on when we touch that one button. CZONE is a beautiful thing and yes, there is the potential for problems. After many, many hours reading manuals and technical support phone time with CZone Tech Support of New Zealand, the CZone, Frank and Mary Grace are living in harmony.
The company responsible for our electronics package is Pochon out of France. At the time of writing our purchasing contract, we tried to convince HH to use a U.S. company for this pivotal installation. We knew the chances of having everything right from the start were slim because the system interactions and programming are complicated. We lost that battle and now we are facing a few disadvantages because our resource for fixing the electronics is a French speaking group in France. Between the inconvenience of differing time zones and language barriers, even issues discovered during the delivery phase are still not fixed.
Explaining the details of the electrical / electronic / navigational issues is complicated and more details than we think most of our readers would like to wade through. The summary is that we are having compatibility issues between CZone, B&G, Mastervolt and the Victron electronic components. We would really like an expert to come on board to resolve the problems. We also need that expert to communicate clearly so we can become more efficient at modifying the system to meet our particular needs.
Half of the solar panels on TTR.
The solar installation on TTR is excellent and our 1900 watts delivers so much power that we only run our generator once in a while to make sure it still works! The HH team did a first-rate job of adding the individual solar controllers Frank requested and as a result, our solar farm is producing about 80 percent of the energy we require! (The remainder is topped up by the engines when we motor.)
The wiring, neatness, detail and labeling of our boat electronics done at the HH Factory are amazing. Sailors who come on board and peek at our tech room are suitably impressed, as are we. However, there are a few glitches in the wiring that need to be addressed.
That is a pretty tech space!
There seems to be a multi-pronged issue with the wiring to our air conditioning units. Anytime we try to run the port ACs (the side of the master berth), a relay fails, the inverter/generator reads overload and the ACs quit completely. Frank has spent a lot of time trying to trace the issue and with the consultation of Jessica, HH engineer extraordinaire, he has replaced the same relay switch twice. Both of the new relays failed immediately. Our Northern Lights 9kw generator is powerful enough to run our ACs but the inverter isn’t recognizing the power coming from our generator and consistently shows “overload” and shuts down.
Related to this problem is that the generator and inverter/charger aren’t talking well even for basic charging of the batteries. If we try to charge the lithium batteries using the generator, the charger always shows “float” and never reads “bulk charge” even when the batteries are low enough to accept bulk charge. Frank has spent a lot of time talking to Victron and MasterVolt (inverter/charger and batteries respectively) and neither is willing to work through the problem with us ie, there is some finger pointing going on. Somewhere there is a wiring issue or a setting issue or a communication error in these units. This needs to be fixed as we won’t always be in sunny Mexico where solar power is an everyday full charge event.
We really like our B&G navigation/charting system but there are a few issues with it too. Our AIS and VHF systems are not working consistently and when they do work, they only broadcast or receive information for a maximum of 2- 2.5 miles. Considering our air draft is 88 feet, we should easily transmit and receive for at least 8 miles.
(AIS is an automatic identification system used on vessels to identify traffic. Notices of ships nearby show on the electronic chart and information about that vessel’s size, speed and closest point of approach can be seen. This is a big help when sailing at night and very important because we want large container ships to know we are out on the ocean with them.)
Our B&G autopilot, aka Jude, is mostly excellent. Jude can hold to a wind setting or a heading very well. She can follow a navigation route too. But sometimes Jude decides to change herself from navigating a route to just holding a heading… that would be like skipping a turn(s) when following directions.
Speaking of autopilots, we intentionally outfitted TTR with a completely separate back up autopilot system. Our primary one is on the port side and is working. Our redundant system is supposed to be installed on the starboard side but we have absolutely no reading from it and do not think it has been completely installed.
Also, we have recalibrated our electronic compasses several times and there still seems to be some discrepancies between the true compass readings and the electronic readings. We had our traditional compasses professionally swung before we left L.A. and we are confident that the error is in our electronic compasses. This has a bit of a domino effect and can cause calculated electronic information to be wrong. Frank is confident this issue involves magnetic interference and relocation is the answer. The problem is finding a 6 meter NMEA 2000 cable in Mexico.
Small things still need to be addressed on TTR as well. Some of these include:
~ a light switch mix up where two unrelated lights turn on/off by the same switch.
~ the enclosure around our helm station was made sooo tight that we cannot get it zipped all around, even when we had three people working together.
~ the oven on the stove sometimes goes out without any apparent reason.
~ there is a leak from a vent box in the engine room that allows seawater into the area when we have following seas. (HH is fabricating and sending us a replacement to fix this problem.)
This is not an exhaustive list of things that need to be corrected on Ticket to Ride, but it does give you an idea of the types of issues we need to resolve when we get back to the U.S.
We must make a very special mention of Thomas and Riccardo of the HH Team. These two men have done an amazing job of e-mailing with us, trying to troubleshoot our issues from the other side of the world. They have been extremely prompt and thorough in their responses and we are truly grateful. It is their responsiveness that keeps us positive that these issues will get resolved.
We are currently achored in La Paz, Mexico, preparing to move south to Cabo San Lucas where we will wait for a good weather window to sail back north toward Ensenada, Mexico and eventually California.
Frank is trying to get a few things resolved on our Spectra water maker before we leave here. Yes, there are a few bugs relating to the water maker, but so much progress has been made with it that I am not even listing it as a problem anymore. However, kudos to Spectra WaterMaker support and Riccardo of HH. They have been extremely responsive to Frank’s e-mails and phone calls and so far we have been able to make water all along even with the problems!! (Everyone knock on wood, please!)
Phew, so there you have another “report” from TTR. I promise, the next post will be full of pretty sights from the Sea of Cortez.
Sunset from our anchorage in Isla Coronados.
Thank you for reading our blog. Our posts are pretty sporadic right now because our connectivity is hit or miss here in Mexico. I try to post to the FB page to at least share some of the beauty of this area but I am limited by access. Thank you for stopping by.
