The Vortex Voyage

Monday, January 16, 2012

Hi from Mazatlan

We're running a little behind in our blog...
We have arrived in Mazatlan. The marina here is nice, connected to a big resort. Will post some video later. Some video's have arrived:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rk8yDqsQ3_0&feature=youtube_gdata
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPoDoFdA4bA&feature=youtube_gdata
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fb9J7yx7G50&feature=youtube_gdata
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zj60vaAxQE&feature=youtube_gdata
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lwG4CLPg1U&feature=youtube_gdata
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAqaabo9cG8&feature=youtube_gdata
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9M0dmmVa6rk&feature=youtube_gdata
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUgCQgxaL9g&feature=youtube_gdata
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOlVXZ2eqOs&feature=youtube_gdata
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wEpGv2oUH0&feature=youtube_gdata

Life here in Mazatlan is exciting with water volleyball at 1pm, bingo at 2pm, blackjack at 3pm, darts at 4pm and poker at 6pm. There's very little time for eating..haha
The trip here was exciting - crossing the Sea of Cortez. We got some winds and waves. We actually sailed most of the way. We hit a top speed of 10 knots. That was with a double-reefed main and a small jib. We had a crew member from France - Flo. Nice guy, quite smart, helped us a lot. He was only 23, but worldly, spoke several languages. He and his buddy went across Canada by hitch hiking, then on to California where someone gave them bikes. They biked to La Paz then crewed across the Sea of Cortez, on their way to South America. The other guy went on our friend/mechanic's boat Foley Douce.
We think we'll spend a bit of time here..
Oh, poor Archie fell into the water the other day. We had been working on the sail and left the boom off to the side with no cover. He must have gotten on it, then slipped off into the water. Luckily Neil heard something that made him get up and check. We found him swimming around the boat at around 6:30. Sharon got down on the dock and was able to pull him out by the scruff of his neck. Poor thing was traumatized. He's fine now, though. No worse for wear.
Anyway, we have lot's of work to do. Our lazy jacks broke on the way over so we have to fx them.
Here is a video of the last marina we were in - Costa BaJa.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZblPOmX_tp8&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Last Post of 2011

We also thought we had posted this earlier, so it is late. Better late than never, right?

Hi all,
We've been busy again. Still lots to do on the boat.
We did some sightseeing, so have lots of videos for you.
We went out to the desert on Christmas day, with some friends, and dropped off car loads of gifts and clothing for the poorer folks out there. It felt really good to do that and we enjoyed it a lot. It was heart warming to place a new doll into the arms of a 3 year old girl, who was too shy to say a word!
We moved into a new marina yesterday, Costa Baja. We actually won a free week here at one of the BaJa HaHa parties, so its not costing us anything. Its a brand new, very classy place here. There are swimming pools, beaches, hotels and even a golf course. Next blog, we hope to include some video.
We've decided to head over to the mainland sooner rather than later. We're thinking of perhaps spending the hurricane season in Costa Rica. So the plan is to leave here in about a week. After we finish getting our new solar panels installed and our new anchor chain.
Here are the latest videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiW9ZCfiwoU

Our Trip From La Paz to Bellandra

Friday, December 9, 2011

Swimming With the Whale Sharks

Hi everyone,
The other day we went swimming with the whale sharks. They are almost the largest sharks in the world (I believe there is one bigger one, Mega Mouth), but they are very slow, docile and harmless. They eat krill, not humans, so we weren't scared. Well, not much anyway. Sharon got so close to one that she had to back off to keep it from touching her. At one point, it turned and came at her, mouth first, Wow!

They hang around La Paz, in the shallow water. There were also a lot of manta rays there. It was really something.

It was hard to get good pictures, but here are some of the better ones.

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Videos - Ensenada to La Paz

Monday, November 14, 2011

The Trip to Cabo

We did it! We sailed (well, motor-sailed really) all the way from Ensenada to Cabo San Lucas.
We left around noon on Oct 24th, sailed for three days and two nights until we arrived at Turtle Bay (Bahia Tortugas). The trip was mostly uneventful. We had 11-foot swells the first night, but that was mostly during Jesus's watch, so we slept through most of it. We caught our first yellowtail. Not a bad size fish, probably around 6 pounds. We made sushi with some of it, but it was too much and we ended up throwing the rest out.
During the day, a tiny little yellow bird flew onto the boat. He stayed with us into the night, even going into the cabin and spending about a hour or so walking around and checking out the v-berth. Funny thing, the cats never knew it was there. It was so cute, we think it was too tired to fly to shore. He was gone the next morning, so he must have eventually made it.
We didn't see much of the BaJa HaHa fleet until just before we arrived at our first stop.
There was a baseball game the day after we arrived. Many of the boats didn't get there until the day after we did. The following day was the famous pot luck beach party. There were around 500 or so sailors and their crew and families (for some). The food and company was great and fun was had by all. There was lots of fish, as most boats caught something, and something large at that. Someone caught Marlin, but had to let it go, too big. Someone caught a 61 inch Wahoo.
During the next leg of the trip, we saw some great sun rises. We also experienced something call the "green flash" during one of the sunsets. Kind of neat, just before the sun set, it turned green.
This time we caught our first Durado, or Mahi Mahi. What a beautiful fish! This one was about 3 feet long or so. Jesus made us some ceviche, which was delicious. We later marinated some filets in teriyaki sauce and grilled it. Also delish. We still had too much and had to throw some out.
We saw dolphins many times, playing in our bow wave. The water was so clear, it was awesome to watch them. We could hear their squeaks too.
During one night, many baby squid jumped onto the deck. We heard one sailor say that one even hit him in the face! During another night, some flying fish got on deck.
Our next stop at Bahia Santa Maria was a little different than the first stop. There was not a thing there. But amazingly, for our beach party, a band showed up and meals were also cooked for everyone. We hear that this little "town" magically appears once a year, during the BaJa HaHa.
The last leg, to Cabo was the shortest and the easiest. The first night there was a "I can't believe we cheated death once again" party. We ran into some engine problems and missed the beach party, but we made the awards ceremony the next night, where we won 3rd place. (Everyone got 3rd place unless they got 2nd or first.)
We think our engine problems are fixed, so we're now headed to La Paz. More on that once we arrive.

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Checking in from Cabo San Lucas

Well, we arrived safely with the head of the fleet. Currently, we have some major engine problems that are preventing us from leaving for La Paz. Just as well as we've been advised to wait until Friday (today is Saturday) anyway due to a strong northern wind.

We found a mechanic with the fleet who is willing to help us if he is able. We're having breakfast in a local restaurant with WiFi so we thought we should provide a brief update.

We have lots to report, but will wait until we have some time.

So far, it's been quite awesome even with the problems. It's so cool to jump off the boat into to the 84 degree water.