Alcyone Sail Training

Hello,
The newsletters are going to take a new low-tech form. Some people have been
having trouble downloading our attachments, so we will return to our pre-photo
format. The Wave Weekly is also undergoing changes. It is a partially because of
"real school", taking more time now that it has begun in earnest, and the girls not
wanting everything they write being sent for all the world to see. So we will see
what form the new "Monthly Ripple" might take.

We left San Diego on a Sunday afternoon. As we motored out, a cloud of spinnakers
surrounded us. We weaved back and forth as they gibed back and forth. Once clear
of the fleet we hoisted sail and motor sailed toward Ensenada. The wind stayed light
all that evening, we arrived early, hove-to for a few hours and had breakfast before
heading into anchor. We hadn't stopped in Ensenada on our last two trips down the
coast and the town has definitely grown. The last time the waterfront was a maze of
construction with bamboo holding up second and third stories of buildings-to-be.
Now most of the construction is done and painted, there is a "fancy" tourist street,
a cruise ship terminal and a brand new yacht marina. We knew that we didn't
belong in the new yacht marina because they didn't allow laundry in the rig, and we
usually have something hanging to dry.

Sugar and Robin headed ashore to take care of clearing in. There was a new facility
for that also which had all the offices and a bank in one place. It was clean and well
lit. There was less walking involved but it took about the same amount of time as
they went from one desk to the bank, then another desk to the bank. When they
thought that they were all done they went to ask a gentleman where to get a
Mexican ham radio license and he asked them if they had gotten their temporary
import license for the boat, and that would be $55, please. Sugar was running out of
money at this point and was hemming and hawing when the gentleman mentioned
that they are good for ten years. Sugar told them that we had been in Mexican
waters 5 years ago and we probably have one that is still good. He wanted to see it
and Sugar told him it was in Port Townsend. He then said, OK, go up to the
stoplight and press the button, if you get a green light you can go, if you get a red
light you pay. Sugar got lucky.

That took the whole morning and by the time we had lunch and headed in to find
the radio-licensing place everything was closed. So we were destined to stay another
day in Ensenada. That turned into four days has we waited for a low to pass by and
stop giving us light southerly winds. Robert and Sugar had a great time exploring
the back streets of the town in search for a 55 gallon drum for on deck wash water,
and they became great friends with the gentleman who ran the auto parts store
where they went once, sometimes twice a day for V-belts. We enjoyed getting some
fresh fish from the fish market and cheap avocadoes, papayas and melons from the
supermercado. There was a great park along the waterfront for Mary to play in
that had a square with the biggest Mexican flag ever. And as is the Alcyone
tradition, the highest mountain was found and hiked before we left.

We departed Ensenada in the morning and had a great sail until early the next
morning into Bahia San Quintin. We anchored up off the mouth of the lagoon and
watched the waves break across the entrance to the lagoon, then noticed some
breakers off to our other side on some sand bars, they weren't all that close but it
was a little unnerving having them break near us, so we moved a little closer to the
point. That afternoon we did an explore off the beach landing before entering the
lagoon. The next morning a full explore was launched, the inflatable towed a dory
into the lagoon and the morning was spent exploring the tidal flats and sand dunes.
They were going to go conquer the highest mountain again, but Holly had headed
ashore earlier and run across a rattlesnake on her morning run. So beach play and
tide pooling was the order of the day. By the time they were heading back out to
the boat the tide had changed and there was a big standing wave they had to row
and motor through. The outside of the Baja gives a lot of practice in surf landing
and play. We left early the next morning 0300 for Bahia San Carlos.

The early morning was a motorboat ride but with the sunrise we began to catch
some fish, Mexican Bonita. They were about 10 pounds apiece and we caught three
of them. By the time we were done catching our morning fish the wind came up and
we had a pleasant sail down to San Carlos. There was a fish camp up in the bay and
a "world famous wave/windsurfing camp" off the point. We had a great sail in and
Sugar and Robert rushed to get the windsurfers set up to take advantage of the
wind, but by the time they were in the water the wind had begun to die off. The
next morning while school was happening on the boat, Sugar and Holly went for an
explore ashore. Sugar headed out to the windsurfing camp and visited there while
Holly went for a run. We took the three dories ashore in the afternoon and set up a
net on the beach to play volleyball. Surfing the dories ashore got a bit exciting, but
we all made it in dry, and the local fisherman and the other cruising boats that were
in got a kick out of seeing the fleet of dories. The fisherman were coming back in and
landing their pangas on the beach, too; then coming down with trucks to pull them
onto trailers and bring them up the beach. We went and visited with them were
impressed by their fish and big sharks that were in the boat. Robin and Alyce
practiced their Spanish and invited them to come play volleyball with us. One of
them took us up on the offer and we had a great day playing. Launching the dories
was another trick, but it all works out well if you plan on being wet anyway; one
person rows as the other walks the boat out and keeps it bow to the waves then
slithers in over the stern. The next morning a strong NE, dry wind off the beach
was blowing. We were planning on renting mountain bikes in the morning from the
windsurfing camp, but instead stayed on board. The wind died off in the afternoon
and we went ashore for to explore more great tidal pools. Mary delighted in bathing
in the warm tidal water and everyone else enjoyed exploring in such a remote and
beautiful area.

Another early morning departure had us heading down to Turtle Bay. This was
going to involve sailing through the night and arriving the next morning. The wind
came up with the sunrise and we set our down wind sails: the course, raffee, stuns'l
and big jib off the main. It is a great combination for down wind sailing, nothing
chafes and there is nothing to accidentally gibe. Alyce had made a pull apart coffee
cake the evening before that was baking. Things couldn't get much better. We had
at least 60 miles of visibility, Cedros Island appeared way off the bow and the coast
went on for miles. We decided that the Baja could be described by various shades
and textures of brown; it is stark, severe and beautiful in its own way. We ended up
having to motor a bit with the evening sunset, but an offshore breeze filled in by
midnight and we had a great sail the rest of the way into Turtle Bay.

Our stay in Turtle Bay was dominated by strong NE winds, which blew off the land
each morning until afternoon. We hid and closed the boat up and waited for the
afternoon calm. Turtle Bay is a sizeable natural bay about half way down on the
Baja and has always been a good stopping point for refueling. The cannery has
closed now and the "town" seems to be in a bit of a decline. Our first afternoon
there was spent exploring the town and provisioning; we are always on the lookout
for fresh fruit and vegetables. There were young people waiting on the beach to
"watch" our boat while we were ashore, and it is always tricky when getting ready
to leave because even more show up claiming to have watched. The next afternoon
we decided to forego the town and moved the boat closer to the head of the bay,
where we could do some swimming and play volleyball. It was the weekend and
there were some local boys out playing on the beach; they were taking turns driving
a 4-wheel motorbike. We talked two if them into playing volleyball and then joining
in surf play. The water wasn't really warm yet, and the boys were questioning our
sanity and thought it was really cold, but it was getting warmer and definitely
playable.

Our next stop was Bahia Asuncion. We left early in the morning and arrived before
the afternoon wind came up, so it was a motorboat ride. But we took the
opportunity to use the engine driven saltwater hose and wash Turtle Bay off the
decks. Sugar had been up since 3 in the morning and was hoping to get a nap in
around 8, but we started to catch fish, after three bonita and a yellowtail jack,
Sugar decided to take in the fishing line so he could get some sleep.

This was the first time we have stopped at Bahia Asuncion and we were pleasantly
surprised. The little fishing village was thriving. There were two canneries, a new
church was being built, and there were even trees and little gardens around some
houses. The water was a beautiful blue and crystal clear, though it had not reached
the 70-degree we were looking for yet. The next morning some fishermen came up to
the boat and offered to trade some lobster for beer. There had been a party ashore
the night before and they needed some beer to get going. So Pa traded two warm
beers for three lobsters. The girls--Holly, Robin, Alyce, Darby, and Mary, went out
to the point in the morning to do some snorkeling and got the attention of the local
fisherman who thought they might be diving for abalone. But it was all right once
they were able to explain that they were just looking at the fish. The locals think
we're crazy.

We were the only boat in Bahia Asuncion, but as soon as we headed off toward
Magdalena Bay the radio was full of boats talking back and forth whom were either
heading up or down the coast. The passage was 180 miles so we left around six in
the morning and arrived at nine in the evening the next day. We had one of the
most pleasant light air sails that there has ever been. It is probably a combination of
our new folding prop, and the big light air jib that we managed to appropriate from
Grandpa. We ghosted along doing between three and five knots with flat seas and
blue skies. We ghosted into Bahia Santa Maria with the radar on and anchored in
the middle of the bay.

Bahia Santa Maria is in the lee of the north headland that makes up Magdalena.
There are ten miles of sandy beach curving away down to the south and a lagoon
near the head of the bay where the local fisherman have their fish camps. We woke
up the next morning, Thanksgiving, in complete fog. After breakfast the fog cleared
and we all decided to go for a swim. The water was still beautiful and clear and it
was even warm. Everybody, even Mary and Leslie, enjoyed the playing, swimming
and bathing.

The day before, during our perfect sail, we had gotten a call on the radio from
Eshamy, a boat and family we had gotten to know two winters ago when they were
on the same dock with us in Port Townsend. Eshamy was a few miles ahead of us
and were planning on stopping at Santa Maria also. So after our swim call, we
moved the boat closer in to the beach and Eshamy, and began planning our
Thanksgiving feast. We invited Mike, Laura, Nick and Kobo's friend Selkie to join
us. The girls had made a Thanksgiving piñata that we broke open on the foredeck.
Mary's candy from Halloween had run out so she had been hoping that Halloween
was coming again soon, and the piñata was almost as good. With both boats
combining forces we had quite the feast; a pork roast, lobster, smoked salmon,
cranberries, applesauce, and roasted root veggies, and we topped it off with
pumpkin pies.

Our stay in Bahia Santa Maria was awesome; beautiful beach, terrific wave play,
warm water and unbelievable shell collecting. We had afternoon volleyball, when the
wind was up the windsurfers got some use, and there was a lagoon to explore and
play in behind the beach. Mary loved the lagoon at low tide when the water
warmed up in small Mary-sized pools. Every day we decided to stay just one more
day. On the other side of the long curving sandy beach was Magdalena Bay and we
knew that we would enjoy visiting there just as much, but were hesitant to leave.

It was about 30 miles into the anchorage at Magdalena Bay and it was a busy
passage. There was a big swell running and not much wind, so we motor sailed
along rolling gently, catching fish, seeing whales and enjoying having everyone on
deck. We caught seven Bonito and one Sierra Mackerel. Alyce, Robin, Holly and
Sugar took turns cleaning fish. We were set for quite a few meals. We headed in and
anchored off the small fishing village at Porto Magdalena. There were quite a few
boats anchored in the bay; some we recognized from other anchorages, some new to
us. The port captain, Gregorio, came out in his panga to clear us in. He said it had
been extra busy with lots of boats coming through lately. He is very helpful to
cruisers, arranging for fuel, and making a taxi-like run into the nearby city of San
Carlos in his panga. After we cleared in most everyone headed in to hike up the hills
behind the village to a wooden cross. From there one could look out over Magdalena
Bay and out on the Pacific side.

The next morning Robin, Alyce, and Sugar joined Gregorio on his morning run up
into San Carlos, Leslie and Darby started a round of laundry, and Holly, Robert,
and Mary headed ashore for an explore. All endeavors were successful. That was
enough village life for us and we moved the next day two miles down the beach
away from the hills and village and back to beautiful white sand.

We were joined off the beach by two other boats, and the volleyball and beach play
continued. Magdalena Bay had the perfect beach for Mary: a very gentle slope with
little to no surf so she could wander in and out. There were also lagoons that fed
into the beach to play in, and gentle sand dunes to climb and explore. For Darby
the wind was just right to practice wind surfing, and there were kids her age, no
girls, but buddies to swim and play with. For Holly there were miles of beach to
run. Robert and Sugar have developed their volleyball skills and also their volleyball
court setup. The other boats in the anchorage listened for the afternoon conch shell
to blow to announce the Alcyonies were heading ashore to play. The mornings were
spent doing school and boat projects and the afternoons playing.

It is always hard to move on from a beautiful beach and comfortable un-crowded
anchorage to what we know will be more people and more civilization. We have
been lucky to have the time to go slowly down the west coast and have enjoyed the
remote anchorages with small villages. Sometimes we are not quite sure what we are
moving on to, but it seems like it is time to move on. Our next stop will be Cabo San
Lucas and from there we will head up into the Sea of Cortez. I will try to get this
sent off from there. We hope that all is well with family and friends.