The Vortex Voyage: September 2011

Saturday, September 17, 2011

Sept 10 – 13, Ensenada to San Quintin

We just completed our first real voyage. We left Ensenada at 9 am on Sept 10 and returned to Marina Coral on Sept 13 at 5 am.

It was quite an adventure for us. We saw lots of whales and were fortunate enough to have the camera in hand when a blue whale came within 20 feet of our boat. We caught a giant squid and several sea gulls. We used our Auto Pilot (AWESOME) and cooked while underway. We spent 3 nights out at anchor and got a few surprises.

The first night we had calm seas all night and everything was great when we were moving. We used the GPS and radar and arrived at San Quintin at around 7:30 am. We dropped anchor to try to get some sleep, but we got a surprise when the anchor dragged cause the seas were calm no more so we left at first light.

The second night there was so much rocking and rolling, and clanging and banging around that we again left at first light.

The next night was quieter and we had a really good sleep. The forth night we were going to anchor out at Todos Santos, the island near our home marina. But there was a boat on fire there, so we decided to go the extra hour and a half and head for home.

We got a lot of it on video. Sorry there are so many clips, but they are pretty short.

We did enjoy the trip a lot, though. We also learned a lot. We have a few more, little things to take care of, but we’re almost ready for out trip to Cabos San Lucas. Actually, we will visit there, but we’re headed into the Sea of Cortez. La Pas.

Friday, September 9, 2011

Sept. 9, 2011 Marina Ensenada

Hi everyone. We’re a bit late with this update for a couple of reasons. As usual, we’ve been very busy. Right now, we’re preparing for our trip south, which means making sure all the equipment and systems are in working order.

We now have both water tanks up and filled as well as both fuel tanks. We’re ready to go across the ocean now (but don’t worry, we have no intention of doing so). We have over 250 gallons of fuel and 240 gallons of water.

Getting the house ready for sale has been consuming some energy as well. Not too bad, cause our agent Stephanie has been doing a great job. And it didn’t hurt that Edna and Dong, the downstairs tenants have been helpful, cleaning the house and mowing the lawn. I think it goes on the market today, but we won’t be taking offers until we get to Toronto.

We tried going up and down the mast ourselves and are sure we can do it now. See the video with Neil way, way up there.

There was a huge power outage here yesterday. We understand it took out most of Southern California as well. It was a good exercise for us, though. We were able to switch our batteries over to the house set and run off the inverter. We made sure the fridge/freezer worked and we watched some video off the PC, battery power. It wasn’t long enough for us to get used to living off the grid, but it did ensure us that everything is working properly.