How Does One Week Turn Into Three?

La Paz, Mexico

We had planned on being in Mazatlan for one week. It took us three to get out of there and we finally made it to La Paz a couple of days ago. So what took so long?

When we arrived in Mazatlan our Yanmar had logged just over 1,000 hours; and since there is a Yanmar service center in Mazatlan we decided to have them help us with our 1,000 hour service. We believe that our engine is one of our biggest safety features and it needs to be treated with lots of TLC. So far "the beast" (our engine's serial number ends in 666) has treated us with nothing but respect in return. Knock on fiberglass.

A mechanic came by to remove our heat exchanger, fuel injectors and various other things to be serviced. Turns out we had some pitting in the heat exchanger and it would need to be sent to a machine shop to get welded. This was supposed to take a couple of days. After one entire week(!) and many inquiries of progress we were finally told that the heat exchanger won't take the weld and we would need a new part - and it would take at least 10 days to get the new part! This being Mexico there is no guarantee for that and 10 days is probably being overly confident as things tend to get held up in customs.

So rather than wait for the new heat exchanger to come to Mexico we took action. We ordered the part to be overnighted to the Yanmar dealer in Los Angeles and booked a flight for Mike to fly to LAX the very next day.

Since his trip coincided with the weekend, Mike had some spare time and was able to do some other shopping for us as well - such as Trader Joes's, REI and West Marine. Best of all, Mike's cousin Randy was headed to Cabo by van and was able to bring everything down for us (including a new battery), rather than Mike carrying it back on the plane. How about that for serendipity?!

If the machine shop had been successful we would have looked at a bill of about $700. Here are the numbers for what really happened. At least now we have a brand new part and lots of goodies from the US.

Air travel (using some air-miles): $270
Yanmar parts in LA (new heat exchanger, gaskets, misc): $1,300
Overnight shipping from east coast: $70
Rental car (three days): $85
Gas (for rental car): $46
Bill from Yanmar dealer in Mazatlan: $450
Boat moorage for two extra weeks beyond planned: $260
Total: $2,381

Of course there were other expenses like food and shopping but I'm not including those in this total. If you're interested in this month's total expenses take a look at our monthly expenses.

Our fourth crossing of the Sea of Cortez was a breeze. Literally. We even got to sail some in the south-westerly winds that appeared as forecast on our favorite weather website stormsurfing (check it out - this site has much higher resolution wind forecasts than other free weather sites).

Arriving in Bahia Balandra (10 miles from La Paz) after our crossing this was what we were greeted by: Sunrise to the east and a full moon setting to the west. Beautiful!

Sunset over the Baja peninsula

The ice-cream man in Bahia Balandra makes in-water deliveries

We're currently in a slip for just a few days to replenish food and fuel

Mission in La Paz (founded 1720, built 1861)

Goodies from the US

How to Stay Safe

It seems to me that many people over-think this whole cruising thing before they set out and buy things they would never use in their land-lives. For example, if you didn't own a gun before, why is it necessary to own a gun when you move onto your boat? 

Much like I would not make my home in the slums of (insert some city here) I would not take my floating home to the slums of (insert some country here). 

Our boat is our home and we plan on living in places we like, and feel safe and comfortable in. We never owned a weapon to protect us in our houses, so why do we need one now? We chose to live in safe neighborhoods onshore and now we choose to live in safe anchorages or marinas. 

Though I have to admit that we do own a gun - a flare gun. And if you've seen the movie Captain Ron you will know how much damage one of those can inflict. But if scary men with weapons want to rob my home I say let them! We're insured and I think fighting back would just tick them off and make us all the more unsafe.

Oh, and if that's not enough: Guns are illegal in Mexico so we didn't really have a choice anyway.

Anatomy of an Overnight Passage

This is a play-by-play account of our short overnight passage from Tenacatita to Banderas Bay. It seems like blogs are always about destinations so I thought I would share real-time how we spend 30 hours at sea. This passage was a bit tricky as it involved the rounding of a cape - Cabo Corrientes at the south end of Banderas Bay. All weather forecasts suggested benign conditions and favorable winds. Here is what really happened.



All icons are clickable for more info. You can also view this map in a new window.


SATURDAY
0400 We're at anchor in Tenacatita and I can't sleep. I grab a headlamp and start reading my book. Mike wakes up 10 minutes later and is wide awake as well. We had planned on weighing anchor around sunrise (0730) but since we we're both up we decide to get going now. We run lifelines, get out our harnesses and tethers, and make sure everything is secured and ready to go.

While underway we are always tethered to the boat. We use harnesses because they are more comfortable than life jackets and we feel it is safer to be attached to the boat if someone goes over than to float away in a life jacket - especially when only one of us is on deck. When the weather gets nasty we wear life jackets with an integrated harness.

0530 The anchor has been weighed and we're making our way out of the anchorage. Luckily there is a bright quarter moon because some boats didn't turn on their anchor lights and others simply use little solar powered garden lights or a string of christmas lights. The boats who do have proper anchor lights are easy to spot because their lights cast a long beam of light across the water. If you have ever considered using anything other than a regulation anchor light please try leaving a crowded anchorage in the dark first.

0630 I go back to bed to a windless morning and the droning of the engine.

1030 I wake up with a slight case of mal de mer after our week at anchor. I put on my harness and relieve Mike who is ready to get some more sleep. I have a light breakfast of a hardboiled egg, avocado and water. We're heading north, nearly straight into waves which are on top of a long swell. They are steep and short and Camille is pitching and heaving uncomfortably. I feel better now that I've gotten some fresh air and can see the waves coming. It's a clear blue sky and just over 80 degrees Fahrenheit. Wish I could go for a swim...

1045 I settle into my favorite chair on the landing above the companion way. Out of the sun and wind and with a 360 degree view it's a great place to sit out a watch. The autopilot is steering the boat and all I have to do is confirm we are still on course using the same iPad I'm using to take these notes as well as keep our boat log. Every few minutes I confirm we won't be colliding with anything and every couple of hours check the bilge and engine.

The watch seat

1130 I spot what appears to be a panga (small open fishing boats the locals use). As we get closer I start to notice a long string of evenly spaced soda-bottle-floats right in our path. I slow down to figure out where I could pass when the panga speeds over. The fishermen pick up one of the soda bottles to retrieve their lure and then motion for me to pass through the opening they have created in their mile long "fence". I thank them and continue on my way.

1320 In a steep wave right in front of the boat I suddenly see something floating just below the surface. It's a small group of manta rays gliding along peacefully until they notice the boat coming at them and dive off in a panic at the last second.

1340 Mike gets up and starts cooking lunch. Half way through cooking we run out of propane and have to switch to our other tank.

1500 Lunch/early dinner time. While we eat our cabbage and potatoes (we're a bit low on fresh food) a large pod of dolphins surrounds our boat. They are hunting for their dinner and we hope that whatever they are chasing will hit our lure to make our next meal a bit more exciting. We're making 2 knots over our usual cruising speed due to some unusual current - everything we've read says we should have a counter current here - though we're not complaining.

1330 40 miles to go to the cape and the seas seem to be settling. A nice onshore breeze has picked up. We get ready to hoist the main.

1345 Sailing!

1500 Whale off the starboard bow!

Whale

1515 We've slowed to 2 knots and decided to take in all sail. A little sad the sailing is over but we hope this means an easy rounding of the cape.

1530 As we clear the last of the lines the wind suddenly picks up to 15-20. On the nose!

1540 Motoring into wind and seas. Hoping the wind models are correct and that this wind will die out by sundown. When rounding a cape winds and seas can double in strength near the cape - called a cape effect.

1600 Fish on! Another skipjack... Mike had already caught one in the morning and made ceviche so we let this poor fellow go.

1800 Mike goes to bed. Usually he goes to bed after sundown to rest up for his watch but we both want to be awake for the rounding of the cape. My normal watch starts after sundown and lasts for six hours. Mike stands the next six hours until sunup. After that there is no real schedule but we each take a nap sometime during the day.

1835 Short steep waves are building and we're starting to get a little bit of spray over the bow. I'm debating zipping up the dodger but I like the breeze - it's still pretty warm. A balmy 82 degrees.

1900 Sunset. I turn on nav lights, zip up the dodger and put on a light sweatshirt. Still 80 degrees out but the wind is a bit chilly. The wind, waves and current have slowed us to 3 knots.

Sunset from the watch seat

1945 25 miles to the cape. We are occasionally falling off a crest and slamming into the trough - a sound I despise. I'm still hoping the wind models were correct and that this will abate to a light (southerly) breeze shortly. Also hoping that the earlier push from the current was due to a rising tide as we are now at slack tide and about to go back up.

2000 It's pitch black out now and the moon isn't scheduled to appear until midnight. The wind is still picking up and we're taking water over the bow when we fall off a crest.

2030 The weather is getting worse. After a particularly hard slam I slow the boat to 2 knots. Mike is up on deck as well now.

2145 Surrounded by cresting waves - the big ones sound like a freight train going under the boat. Whenever a particularly big one rolls under us we try to slow the boat to keep from slamming. We've discussed turning back but have decided to give it a couple more hours to see if the wind lets up.* We're now hand steering because the autopilot can't correct at these slow speeds and high winds.

2245 18 miles to the cape. The wind seems to be laying down a bit - there are a lot less cresting waves and we're able to go a little faster. Making nearly 3 knots - unless we slam into a wave which stops us dead in our track. Mike went back to bed and the autopilot is back at work. 

SUNDAY
1230 Mikes starts his watch and I get to go to bed.

0500 While I haven't been sleeping well per se, I am now very awake because the motion of the boat has changed. I get up to investigate. We are at the cape (standing 5 miles off) and rounding into Banderas Bay! Instead of pitching we are now rolling. I go back to bed for a little more rest.

0630 In the protection of the bay the seas have settled. I was just starting to get some good sleep when Mike wakes me up to take over.

0730 It's light out and I'm just waiting for the sun to rise over the Sierra Madre mountains so I can take off this jacket and open up the dodger (note that I've been barefoot and wearing shorts all night - it never really got below 76)

0750 Sunrise. A welcome sight after a long night.

Sunrise

0800 Everywhere I look there are fish jumping. I toss over the hand-line in hopes of catching something for lunch.

0830 15 miles to go across the bay to Punta de Mita where we will anchor for tonight. Tomorrow we will do the last 15 miles back to Paradise Village Marina (Mike's parents are flying in Tuesday).

0930 Dolphins are doing acrobatics just off the bow. They are rather small so I'm guessing they are spinner dolphins.

1030 Bottle nose dolphins are following us off the quarter. I have read that Banderas Bay is a nursery for dolphins - there were a lot of babies in this pod.

Dolphins in Banderas Bay

1130 Whales, whales, whales. Everywhere we look are spouts and pangas full of tourists following the whales. We even see a few of them breach. These last few hours made us forget all about our not so fun night and reading back over my notes I think "Was it really as bad as it sounds?"

1230 Anchor down in Punta de Mita. Mike is the first one in the water. 

1400 Tacos on the beach

1730 Pina Coladas in our cockpit

* At no point were we in any danger. It was just a very uncomfortable ride and the wear and tear on the boat more than we like.

Captain's License Renewal

Written by Mike - Verena said that I had too much time on my hands this summer and it must have been true. I was actually perusing the internet and found a job that sounded like the perfect fit. I believe a lot of the interest was due to the job being located in Hawaii. The small problem was that I needed a “bigger” ticket, i.e. I needed to have a captain’s license with an endorsement for greater tonnage. Since it was almost time to renew our licenses and we had some down time during hurricane season, we decided to go through the renewal process.

So the ordeal began with renewing and upgrading my captain’s license over two months ago. It may have not been as much of an ordeal if it was not for the fact that we are docked in Mexico. The first thing I did was to gather the necessary information and attempt to understand the process as much as possible. Verena and I had taken a 100 ton captain's course from Columbia Pacific Maritime for our original application nearly five years ago. Dennis Degner, the owner of Columbia Pacific Maritime, was eager to help me understand what I needed to get through the renewal and upgrade. All of this information is also available on his website and he is always willing to help mariners with licensing questions.

After preparing all of our paperwork and gathering our sea-time we packed our bags and flew to Los Angeles, California.

Sea Service Documentation
This is, in my opinion, the toughest part of the entire process. We had to gather all of our time spent on ships, boats and our own boats in the past five years and get signatures for sea time served. Since we both worked as hydrographers before moving aboard Camille we spent a lot of time on different boats. Each captain you work under has to sign your time spent on his/her boat until you have enough to satisfy the requirement. Dennis has a very succinct explanation of exactly what is needed for any given license on his website. Just choose the license you are after in the left column. Verena and I now have 100 ton near coastal master licenses - upgraded from 50 tons.

STCW
Since this was a renewal, all of our STCW endorsements carried over from our original license. If we had waited too long or not had enough sea time since our original licence we would have had to take a Basic Safety Training refresher course (about $750). Thanks to our time spent working for NOAA aboard the Fairweather, we have STCW endorsements for advanced firefighting, fast-rescue boats (lifeboatman) and towing. I have a medical person in charge endorsement. 

TWIC Credential

All USCG mariners are required to have a TWIC (Transportation Workers Identification) Card. This credential is an endorsement from the Department of Homeland Security Administration that says you are not a criminal and are fit, in their eyes, to be trusted to walk the docks in secure areas. With the original issue of our license we each had to get one of these cards. However, the cards expire every five years just like the license. To renew requires that you submit an application and wait for up to two weeks for them to do a background check unless you are eligible for an extension. Thankfully we were eligible for the extension and were able to make arrangements to pick up new cards. This took approximately an hour to do over the phone and $60 each. We had to wait approximately fifteen minutes to pick up our cards at their office near Long Beach Harbor.

Drug Test and Physical

The next step is making sure that you are not a drug addict. We found a lab that was qualified (this is important as the USCG will not accept just any lab results) to do the drug testing and was also able to perform an approved physical. The medical clinic caters to sailors and the ambience of the office was akin to the most dysfunctional DMV office. The clinic offers no appointments, so after walking in we were seen by the physician about two hours later. We took the drug test on Friday and were able to pick up the results on Monday. We spent $110 each for the drug test and physical and waited approximately an hour at the office on Monday to pick up the results of the drug test.

Submission of Application to REC

Then came the actual submission of our application package to the Coast Guard office. The Coast Guard has about ten pages of paperwork that need to be filled out as well as log of all of your sea service. It is recommended that you make an appointment with the USCG REC (Regional Exam Center) office if you want to hand deliver the application package. The package can also be mailed, however we wanted the added assurance that a qualified set of eyes would pass over our application before the REC submitted our applications to a contractor in Washington D.C. The government contracting company actually reviews the paperwork and gives the green light for the license to be issued. This step costs us $95 each and about fifteen minutes in the office.

Auxiliary Sail Endorsement Test

At this point Verena’s application for renewal was done. I wanted to add the sailing endorsement to my license which Verena already had. For this to happen, the application had to be reviewed and then I needed to have an approval from the reviewer to take the test. Two weeks passed and I was approved to test.

I called the Coast Guard REC and scheduled a test for my sailing endorsement for the following week. The sailing endorsement test is a rather straightforward exam comprised of 20 questions. In order to receive a passing score a sailor needs to get 70% of the questions correct. This meant I could miss six questions. After I completed the test I handed my answer sheet to the officer behind the counter. He said he could grade it right away and took it over to his desk across the room. He came back to the counter with a grave look on his face and said that I missed eight! Then he smiled and said I missed question #8. I was one answer shy of a perfect score.

After five weeks and a long vacation in SoCal that cost us a small fortune the licenses are in the mail. 

Verena and I are always looking for opportunities to help you get your boat up or down the West Coast, check out our services page.

Fear

A couple weeks into our 21-day Atlantic crossing from the Canary Islands to Barbados we were sailing along nicely while I was fast asleep in my bunk. It was that magic time when things always seem to go wrong - around 2am. I was awoken by a loud thud and a strong jerk which felt like the boat had come to a sudden stop. It was all hands on deck. The boat had indeed stopped moving, though the sails were still full and trying hard to pull the boat. 

Had we run aground in the middle of the Atlantic? We checked the bilge for any intrusion of water and after finding a slow trickle we grabbed some flashlights and checked around the boat. And there they were: faded yellow buoys attached to an old fishing net surrounding our boat. We pulled up on the net and started cutting it back but it just kept going and going like one of those magic handkerchiefs. In the beam of the flashlight we could see a thick line leading down into the deep dark sea. We later learned the net had been hung up on the propeller and broken our strut in half. 

After having seen but one boat in the past two weeks my mom suddenly saw a light on the horizon. We called them on the VHF and they responded immediately. We told them of our troubles and they offered to help. When they pulled up next to us we were looking at a 55 meter (180 feet) luxury yacht - the Lady Ghislane of London - then owned by British billionaire and member of parliament Robert Maxwell. 

They offered to have their divers cut us loose in the morning but until then they did not want to waste time by waiting around. They tossed us a line and proceeded to tow us through the rest of the night at 10-15 knots! We had never seen those kind of speeds on our boat and it was not without some damage.  We had a few bent stanchions and nearly ripped the cleats out of the deck before we attached the tow line to the mast. 

Our wake while being towed

At first light their divers cut away the net and line.* We had a slow leak the rest of the crossing and in Barbados hauled the boat to make repairs. Since we were participants in the ARC (Atlantic Rally for Cruisers) our story was written up in the 1994 edition of Jimmy Cornell's book "World Cruising Handbook".

This event took place in 1987 when I was 14 and cruising with my parents. I recall not being scared at all. On the contrary. Something was finally going on! After two weeks at sea it was a welcome relief from the routine. 

How would I react to something like this happening today? Panic comes to mind. Being over a thousand miles from land without a GPS-enabled EPIRB (GPS didn't exist back then) trapped in a piece of rope attached to an unknown item in the abyss and unable to move forward is not a favorable situation. 

In the years leading up to our current cruising adventures I still had that same fearless attitude and didn't think I would be scared venturing far offshore on our own boat. Boy was I wrong. Something about growing up and learning about everything that could go wrong has made me a lot more fearful of the sea and traveling by boat. 

The good thing about no longer being fearless is that I now think (obsess?) about everything that could go wrong and try to plan accordingly. Working as hydrographers, Mike and I were lucky to have had our share of safety courses and monthly drills where we learned how to deal with most major emergencies.

The next time you find yourself sitting in your cockpit while underway, look around. What is the first thing you would do if someone fell overboard that instant? Or one of the shrouds failed? Or a battery overheated and started smoldering? Are you ready for Murphy to take over your boat?

* We asked the crew of the Lady Ghislane how we could pay them for their efforts. They declined and instead asked us to make a donation to the UK volunteer maritime search and rescue organizations, which my parents did after we arrived in the US. The owner of the yacht tragically fell off his lovely ship a few years after our chance meeting.

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This post was written as part of a blog-hop. Visit the Monkey's Fist website for posts about this topic written by other cruisers or check out these topics:  

Why do we Cruise
Relationships Aboard
Pink and Blue Jobs Aboard
Leave it or Bring it: Stuff
Provisioning
Swag and Approaching the Natives
Clothes and Laundry

Why is my boat on shore?

NOAA Ship Fairweather in Alaska - where Mike and I lived aboard and worked for two years.

As many of you may know, Mike and I worked as hydrographers for the past 8 years. Nearly every time we tell someone about our (former) profession we are met with blank stares -- hydro-what? 


Hydrography: 

1. : of or relating to the characteristic features (as flow or depth) of bodies of water
2. : relating to the charting of bodies of water

- Miriam Webster Dictionary

Hydrography is the science of measuring the depths of navigable bodies of water and searching for underwater dangers to navigation, acquiring data for nautical charts and modeling the seafloor. 
Be sure to watch the short video about hydrography at the end of this post.


Today being World Hydrography Day we would like to dispel some of the myths concerning the data that is displayed on your chart plotter. 

• "Spending more money on chart cards for a chart-plotter will give me better data"
• Since all chart data comes from the same "source data" this is an incorrect assumption. However, some chart cards use all the detailed data available in all areas the chart card covers, while others only show detailed information in high traffic areas.

• "The company that sells my chart cards collects and updates the data for the charts"
• In the US, and most other countries, it is a branch of the government that runs the "hydrographic offices". In the US NOAA's Office of Coast Survey produces nautical charts and related products. 

• "I have a fancy 3-D chart plotter and can see the seafloor as it really is."
• The data on the 3-D display could merely be interpolated from the spot soundings on the regular chart. This all depends on the age of the source data. Be careful: If the original chart hasn't been updated in the last 20 years or so, the spot soundings do not come from a survey that scanned the entire seafloor. There could be unknown obstructions in between the soundings. NOAA charts include a source diagram that gives the user the age of the surveys which were analyzed to make the chart (Chapter 1 of the United States Coast Pilot has more information on source diagrams). Here is what can happen if you rely upon a chart which was compiled from an old survey that utilized lead line for soundings: Read the article.

• "Charts should be easy to update with the advance of satellite data"
• While satellite data can help in establishing coastlines and other above water features, satellite data is not used for depth measurements.

• "Most ships and boats have echo sounders. Why can't we use all that data to update charts?"
• Data from ship traffic is not used for nautical chart updates although there is technology that has recently been developed by private enterprise that uses data collected by ships for navigation. Most chart data today is collected with multi-beam echo sounders and side scan sonar.

• "Airplanes have lasers that can pierce the surface and see the seafloor"
• Laser or LIDAR data is being used for chart updating however there are many factors such as poor water clarity that lead to inconsistent results in data quality. 

• "Nothing in life is free, I have to pay for my charts"
• In the US, chart data and updates are available for free (well, actually you paid for it with your tax dollars). Chart plotter manufactures take this free data, copy it to their chart cards and sell the data back to you. There is free software for your computer that will read the free US charts downloaded from NOAA as well as ocean charts from NGA.

• "Here in Mexico, my boat shows up on land, so I need to buy a better chart card."
• As a country with far less money to spend on hydrography, Mexico's charts are often outdated and inaccurate, especially in regions less traveled by commercial shipping. If you find yourself on land a lot make sure the horizontal chart datum on the chart plotter matches that of the chart card (most likely NAD83 or WGS84).

Small "launches" are used to survey in areas the ship is unable to maneuver. It sure was an amazing commute!

iPad on Board

Sailing the Sea of Cortez

NOTE: This article was also published on the Women and Cruising website as well as being one of the 12 most popular articles of 2012. Women and Cruising is an excellent source for the cruising woman - whether out cruising or still in the planning stages. 

The iPad was one of he best purchases we made before leaving the US. We bought it at the last minute after realizing that buying new chart cards for our rather outdated chart-plotter could become quite expensive in the long run. The iPad 3/4G comes with an "assisted GPS" (the basic WiFi version does not have a GPS receiver) and while in the Apple store we talked to several of the geniuses about what exactly assisted GPS is. They all agreed that I had to be within reach of cell towers for it to work. I didn't agree then and I can now say that the GPS works just fine well over 100 miles from shore and gets a fix in mere seconds.  

Our boat's chart plotter came with one chart card that covers Cape Flattery to Mazatlan. While Cape Flattery is amazingly beautiful I doubt we will ever take this boat that far north (we sailed past boats on Puget Sound and love the Pacific North West - in summer). However, in one month of cruising we had already gone past the southern border of the chart card. Not to mention that the card is from 2004 and I just cannot justify buying new cards every year or two to get important chart updates.

Cape Flattery, Summer 2011

When we arrived in Ensenada we realized that our marina was too new to shown up on our chart-plotter. Luckily I had downloaded the latest charts onto my iPhone and we were able to come into port using it for guidance - though we quickly determined that the iPhone screen is too small to be used on a daily basis.

I have heard a lot of complaints about inaccurate charts around Mexico. Maybe we haven't been to enough places, but so far we have found the charts to be about as accurate as expected. This country doesn't have nearly the amount of money to put into charting as the US does. Of course, being hydrographers, we give anything that wasn't charted within the last 10 years a very wide berth! And night sailing close to shore is out of the question almost anywhere. 

The iPad makes route planning a breeze. We like to sit together in the cockpit with a cruising guide and the iPad to plan our upcoming journey. Later we transfer the waypoints to the chart-plotter on the binnacle. This way the autopilot can track our course and we can kick back and keep watches from a more comfortable seat behind the dodger (which is where I initially wrote this post on the iPad while Mike was snoozing happily until his watch started).

iPad Navionics app being used to navigate into Ensenada Blanca, Baja Sur, Mexico. The track showing us on shore is a dinghy trip to the resort to use their free wifi. 

Since the iPad has a 10 hour battery it can make it through almost an entire night of watches without having to be recharged. When the battery does run out there is no need to run the generator or inverter. We simply use the same 12 volt plug we use for the iPhones and use the electricity we make with our solar panels.

Taken April 2012 in Bahia de los Muertos, Mexico

We have a waterproof cover for the iPad so we can keep it at the binnacle while underway. Even in direct sunlight the screen is easy to see if the brightness is turned all the way up; though at night it can still be a bit bright even all the way turned down.

Turns out the iPad has many other great uses. Not to mention all the obvious ones like endless games, Facebook, internet research, dictionary, translator, email, etc...

Boat Log

We tried keeping a hand-written log of maintenance items, trips, fuel usage,etc but soon realized that after spending months trying to convert everything we had to digital we were once again using paper! We tried several of the boat log apps available for the iPad but none had everything we wanted. Finally we realized that all we needed was a calendar. We now use the calendar app and the best part is that we can search entries. So if Mike needs to know how many times we have ran the Honda generator I simply search for Honda. From there we can figure out when it's time to change the oil. By noting our location daily, I can cross-reference the dates with our digital photos.

Weather Updates

Aside from simply using weather websites we really like the Weather 4D HD app. For $2 we get all the weather updates we can handle in a really pretty display.

We haven't tried this yet but we have an app that will listen to the HF radio weather fax signal and then display the weather fax on the iPad. How cool is that?!

To Do List

We use the reminders app because, like the calendar app, it can work over the "cloud" and update the other iDevices. So, if I'm out and about with only my iPhone I can update our calendar or shopping or to do list and the other iPhone and the iPad will get the same update. It's all rather brilliant! We like to take the iPhones to shore in the dinghy because they are lighter and easier to protect from getting wet than the laptop or iPad.

Movies and Music

I like to watch movies on my night watches. Since we like to stand two long night watches it helps make the time go by and keep me awake. I can only contemplate life for so long.  When on WiFi or near cell towers we can also watch Netflix. Oh, and if you want to know how to listen to Pandora from Mexico send me an email ;)

Internet

Here in Mexico WiFi isn't always easy to access but you can buy Internet access by the day or month and by how much data you want. No need for a multi year plan. If you just email and do daily light surfing a month of Internet can be about $20. We have a chip for the iPad and a USB stick for the laptop and have been able to get Internet over 10 miles offshore. Great for getting weather updates!

By the way, if you buy an iPad outside of the US I hear (this is not confirmed) that it will not be unlocked like the US version, meaning if you buy it in Mexico it will only work with a Mexican carrier.

Phone Calls

Really cheap/free calls via Skype or Google Voice. Why did I ever pay for a cellular plan???

UPDATE (May 23, 2012): After nearly dragging anchor onto a rock we tried to use the iPhone/iPad as an anchor alarm. The problem is that it has to be left on (screen lit) all night and connected to power. It also seems to shut itself down after some hours which turns off the anchor alarm. I'm not a fan of having to run out into the cockpit every time we get a false alarm on the chartplotter so we now use our handheld GPS with anchor alarm. We record our track and set the audible alarm. Works great and  there is no need to get out of bed!

Cabo San Lucas and more Tales of Gales

After the sand storm we left Turtle Bay on a great weather window. Or so we thought...

On the morning of our third day at sea the wind became gale force within a matter of an hour. Apparently the Northers that plague the Sea of Cortez during the winter months can make their way across Baja and blow into the Pacific without warning.

With good sized swells form the NorthWest and high winds from the NorthEast the seas started building quickly and became confused, short and steep. To make matters worse, a direct course for Cabo put us right into the trough knocking us onto our side. We started running downwind, but after calling  my dad on our sat phone to get the most recent weather update we learned that this blow would last about 24 hours. Since running downwind in a gale is a fast way to travel, we would have ended up pretty far off shore, forcing us to beat back through sloppy seas and adding a day or two to our trip.

So we opted for heading towards shore. Usually this is not a good idea, but since this was an offshore wind there was no chance of us getting onto a lee shore. Our cruising guide stated that this shore is excellent to stay close to when doing the Baja Bash (heading north into waves, wind, and current), so we knew it would be fairly safe. We were also hoping that with less fetch the seas would be calmer and we could once again head towards Cabo. Our plan worked great! We beat into the waves at about one knot and when we got within 10 miles of shore the seas settled. Take a look at our SPOT track to see our route.

We finally made it to Cabo. The last time I had been there was in 1988, when I was sailing from Germany to San Diego with my parents. Back then we had visited a quaint fishing town with one or two inns and now I returned to spring break central. Condos and hotels have sprung up everywhere and our boat was in a constant state of motion due to pangas and jet skis zipping by.

Mike and I had a blast though, sneaking into resorts to use their pools and showers, and sipping margaritas with our feet in the sand.

Lover's Beach

Lover's Beach

Left: Mike 2012 -- Right: Verena 1988
At The Giggling Marlin Cantina, Cabo San Lucas

Sand Storm in Turtle Bay

The day we had planned on leaving Turtle Bay (on a good weather forecast) a wicked sand storm blew in from the east. It lasted for two days and sand got into every nook and cranny on board.

One of our neighbors, who also didn't know what was coming, had secured his dinghy by simply hanging it from a halyard - something a lot of people do. Take a look at how his dinghy beats into this boat. Luckily, he was able to wrestle the dinghy aboard and secure it on deck before any damage occurred.

The video is a bit jumpy since our boat was moving around pretty good in the chop but it gives you a good idea on why not to do this.