A Month Long Shakedown Cruise in the Sea of Cortez

Marathon’s “shakedown” cruise in the Sea of Cortez started in La Paz on 7 April 2018 and ended in La Paz on 5 May 2018. It was a great adventure and we learned some important things about the boat and its systems. The overall objective was to head north, check out boat systems and our approaches to sailing and eat as much of the stored food on Marathon as possible.
Here is a quick trip summary noting where we stopped, what the author liked and what might be done differently next time.
Our first night was in Caleta Partida after leaving La Paz at the crack of noon. We had intended to head for Playa Bonanza because of predicted westerly winds but the wind was clearly from the NE, the skies were clear and whales were cavorting around us. We sailed nearly all the way.


Anchorage and Beach at San Evaristo

To San Evaristo
Leaving Caleta Partida the following day we were delighted to encounter southerly winds which blew us north so quickly that we changed our planned destination from Isla San Francisco to San Evaristo. This was mostly a good idea as we were making our way north as quickly as possible, following the advice of Terry and Heidi on Cetus. The only bad news was our arrival time in San Evaristo meant we were the second to last boat to arrive and we were not in the best location to avoid the southerly swell coming into the anchorage overnight. Everything in the boat moved at some point during the night with a few things hitting the cabin floor.


Los Gatos

To Los Gatos
We continued to be driven north by southerly winds the following day and arrived in Los Gatos late afternoon. We discovered several “leak” issues in the engine compartment prior to departing from San Evaristo. The fuel filter filler pump was continuing to leak, the valve at the base of the fuel tank was continuing to leak, the raw water pump was also leaking. The alternator belt was squeaking because a nut had come loose and fallen into the engine bilge but fortunately was found, re-installed and after the belt was tightened the annoying chirping noise from the alternator belt was eliminated. Diesel continued to leak into the bilge but fortunately at a very slow rate.


En Route to Aqua Verde – Life is difficult


Aqua Verde

To Aqua Verde
We motor sailed to Aqua Verde and arrived in the early afternoon. The only excitement enroute was a pressure water line coming loose inside the galley resulting in quite a lot of precious fresh water in the bilge. This water leak along with the other leak issues was addressed after arrival. Fixing the raw water pump was easy with the installation of a new gasket under the impeller cover. The detached freshwater pressure hose was surprisingly easy to access and re-attach. The diesel leaks were and are much more challenging.
Aqua Verde is a very pretty anchorage and with mostly reasonable protection if you can get into the right spot. It is a very popular place so finding and anchoring in the right spot may not be easy. My impression is that it is not a great anchorage in north winds. The beach is also very busy with campers and local pangas coming and going much of the day. One of its apparent advantages that we did not explore is a small tienda that sells basic supplies.

To Puerto Escondido
Big northerly winds were being forecast to arrive in a few days so we headed for the marina in Puerto Escondido. This is a good marina in a very scenic location. Not cheap to tie up to a dock but the mooring balls are reasonable and provide access to all marina facilities on shore. When the wind did blow (up to 30kts coming through the marina), getting to shore from a mooring ball was not without significant challenges so many people opted to stay put. The Marina then provided a shuttle service for those who might want to come in but did not want to use their dinghy to do so. The small tienda is very well stocked and the restaurant is good and reasonably priced. Going to Loreto is possible via a rental car or by “hitch-hiking” a ride with someone in the marina who has a car or who has rented one. A ride can be requested during the daily 8AM net on Ch22. A rental car is US$40 for the day and is inclusive except for fuel.

Karen from “Snowaway” suggested that we tackle the diesel leaks with “Rescue Tape”. We have quite a lot on board and after the first attempt failed, a more aggressive approach with 5 layers of tape held out for the balance of the trip. Good stuff and thank you Karen!

To Punta Colorado.
We booked the marina slip from Thursday to Monday based on early weather forecasts that suggested this duration for significant northerly winds. The wind actually died down by Saturday night but since we had already paid for Sunday, we stuck with the planned Monday departure and headed out of the marina for Punta Colorado on the east side of Isla Carmen. Once out of the confines of the marina however, the wind was much stronger and from a completely different direction than forecast. Wind speed was up to 23kts and the boat was moving along briskly at up to 7.2kts. At one point we believed that it might be better to go somewhere other than Punta Colorado because the forecast winds were definitely not from the west and getting there for a comfortable night might be challenging. So we started for somewhere else – precisely where was not completely clear. After studying options on the chart and in the cruising guide, it seemed that Colorado was really the best bet so we reversed directions and sailed between Isla Carmen and Isla Danzante to get to the east side of Carmen. We anchored at Punta Colorado which was very pretty but subject to overnight swell from somewhere.


Salinas – huge! Looking north-west across the salt flats.

To Salinas
The next morning we were treated to a Bighorn sheep on the beach prior to heading off for Salinas. This anchorage is huge and though we considered one of the smaller anchorages at the northeastern edge, there was already a boat in it so we kept going into the main anchorage. This was a good place – northerly wind is not abated much by the land but there is no swell if the wind is from any northerly direction. Would not be a good place to be in southerly winds. Only a couple of boats in the anchorage at any time and the abandoned salt works on shore are interesting. We liked it enough to stay for 2 nights.


Sunset – Isla Coronados

To Isla Coronados.
Lots of experienced Sea of Cortez Cruisers rave about this place and with good reason. It is well protected (26kts coming through at times but good holding and no fetch), very scenic and offers some interesting onshore walking opportunities, including a volcanic cone ascent. Dolphins were playing in the anchorage and though there may have been up to 10 boats at one point, the place is huge and it would be hard to read the name on a nearest neighbour’s boat. I would put this place into my “highly recommended” category and we liked it so much that we stayed for 2 nights.

To San Juanico
Motor sailing to San Juanico took up much of the day after leaving Isla Coronados. This is a very beautiful anchorage with lots to see and do on shore. For most of the time, the only people on shore were from boats in the anchorage. While there, that number hovered around 10. We stayed a week! Longer would be fine but finding the exact right place to anchor is important as there seems to be a propensity for easterly and south easterly winds to start up and blow all day. The wind stops early evening but the wind generated waves do not.

To Puerto Ballandra
Beautiful, quiet and very peaceful anchorage. The water can get shallow fast and anchoring on the narrow band of suitable locations is made easier if there are only a few boats there. If the wind blows from the west overnight, it gets very bumpy inside the anchorage. We stayed 2 nights in order to prepare for the overnight sail back to somewhere near La Paz.


Planned Route for Overnight Sail

On the morning of departure for Espirito Santo (2 May), we were in some pretty shallow water because of the persistent overnight westerly wind blowing the boat towards the beach. Next time we should find a better spot to anchor.

About half way down Isla Carmen we encountered hundreds of dolphins heading north. Some broke off from the main group to come and check us out, passing immediately in front of the boat. It was amazing.

Things That Broke or Behaved Abnormally
1. The knot meter stopped working about half way through the trip. It could be that the impeller is stuck or it could be something else. I should have taken advantage of the opportunity to snorkel under the boat but water temperature was not up to my preferred level.
2. The wind meter behaved abnormally. This instrument is connected to the knot meter and the two malfunctions could be related.
3. Setting up Wanda was more difficult than previously. This is presumably because I was using the wind instrument to determine wind direction and it was providing incorrect wind direction at least some of the time.
4. Diesel leaks noted elsewhere.

The list is pretty short!

Some Thoughts for Next Time
Weather. We listened to the Sonrisa Net every morning for Geary’s weather forecasts. These are generally helpful presumably because of Geary’s immense experience and knowledge regarding the interpretation of weather forecast information from various sources to make them useful at a local level. However, they do not provide much advice regarding timing – i.e., when will the wind start to blow and when will it stop. Direction and strength was generally pretty good. We also used a standard subscription to PredictWind which we accessed using the IridiumGo (note: installing the external antenna made a huge difference to the IridiumGo’s functionality – it always had 5 bars). The PredictWind “PWE” forecast model seemed to be accurate more often than not if compared to actual and then experienced weather. Using a combination of these two sources was helpful and having the Iridium access was really helpful for those mornings when it was really difficult or impossible to hear Geary’s forecast for where we were.

Navigation. Marathon has the following on board to support navigation in the Sea of Cortez:
i. A Furuno chart plotter with C-Map charts;
ii. Two iPads with Blue Latitude charts for the Sea of Cortez;
iii. Paper charts (Bellingham Chart Printers) for the Sea of Cortez;
iv. Maptech Charts on a laptop with a Garmin “puck” GPS; and
v. OpenCPN and CM93 charts.

We did not use OpenCPN but we did use everything else. The Blue Latitude charts are great for anchorages but lack required detail for the water in between. The C-Map charts (vector) require regular offset adjustment in order to provide accuracy for particular areas. They do have details required for safe navigation but do not always provide accurate vessel location information. If the offset has not been adjusted for a particular region (using radar or an observable geographic feature) it is not unusual for the chartplotter to depict the vessel as being on land.
The Maptech charts (raster), viewed using Ocean Navigator Lite (supplied by Maptech) are electronic representations of the paper charts that we had on board. Vessel location accuracy was variable but sometimes showed us as being on land and I could not find a way to offset the chart to fit reality.

Navionics charts are available for this region via iNavX and possibly via SD card for use on a laptop. For the cost, it would be worthwhile trying these.

OpenCPN and the CM93 charts will also be tried but because the CM93 charts are bootleg CMap charts, it is not likely that this combination will be any more accurate than the Furuno chartplotter and the CMap charts currently in use.

Examining Google Earth images back at home did not reveal some of the known hazards that are not plotted on any of the above charts and some that are. Thus, programs such as SASPlanet and GE2KAP may not be helpful, particularly because the Blue Latitude charts are so good for anchorages.

The prudent sailor should always use multiple sources of navigational information including eyeballs. It is not likely that every rock in the Sea of Cortez has been charted so we should always be prepared for surprises.
Food. We had a lot of food on board and eating it was one of the objectives of the cruise. We should have been more mindful of meal plans prior to departure because by the time we returned to La Paz, we had eaten a lot of the food in the freezer but not all of it.

Water. We were very careful with water usage but we still used more than was really necessary. It will be important to install the plumbing for the freshwater foot pump in the head to minimize use of the pressure water system which tends to be wasteful. We refilled the water tanks in Puerto Escondido and as a result did not need to run the water maker until we were just about to leave San Juanico.

Power. We were careful with power usage and day length seemed to be adequate for the solar panels to keep the batteries well charged. Generally the batteries were full by about noon on sunny days and later in the afternoon on cloudy days. It is not clear what impact the water maker would have on a cloudy day. Sunny days, with similar day length (sunrise: approx. 6AM; sunset approx. 7PM) should provide lots of power for the batteries which at the time of writing are about 1 year old.

Daily Routine. Adopting the SV Voyageur 10.10 systems monitoring approach would be a good idea. Vital fluids, location, weather, etc, are monitored at regular intervals.

Jacklines and Other Safety Items. The single jackline system running up the middle of the boat seemed to work well and will minimize the possibility of a tethered crewmember from going overboard if they are wearing a 3 clip tether with long and short arms. When we came up from below, we were able to easily clip in to the padeyes in the companion way, move to the wire jackline in the cockpit or shift to the permanent tether attached to the transition rope jackline between the cockpit and the yellow webbing jackline in front of the dodger which allows movement to the front of the boat.

Overnight – Puerto Ballandra, Isla Carmen to Caleta Partida, Isla Espirito Santo


Puerto Ballandra

We spent two nights in Puerto Ballandra, a beautiful, well protected from most wind directions anchorage with a terrific view back to Loreto and its mountain backdrop.


Looking out of P. Ballandra towards Loreto

The first day and night were very pleasant but a westerly kicked up on the second night which made for a very bumpy evening. Up early on the planned day of departure we were once again assured of northerly winds to push us south. This was good as the overnight westerly had the stern of Marathon way too close to the beach, at least from my perspective. We hauled up the anchor and motored out under mostly cloudy skies, planning to pass between the south end of Isla Carmen and the north end of Isla Danzante. The water was glassy smooth so we motored.

The northerly winds showed up mid-afternoon so we woke up Wanda the Wonder Vane, providing an opportunity for Vic to develop some experience sailing with a windvane. The wind continued for several hours but eventually died so Wanda was put back to sleep and the engine was fired up again.


Vic getting to know Wanda


Sunrise north of Isla Espirito Santo

We motored until about 6AM the following morning, just before the sun appeared on the horizon. A pleasant northerly came up and using the headsail only, we were able to reach Caleta Partida on a single tack from not too far south of Isla San Jose.

We travelled a total of 111 nautical miles in 25.5 hours and used the engine for 17 of those hours. Not the best sailing trip but a great boating trip!


Where we started and where we went.

San Juanico – terrific anchorage


San Juanico’s Unique Shoreline – Spectacular

We are likely spending the last of 5 nights here tonight. This anchorage is terrific. Lots of room, reasonably well protected most of the time and excellent aesthetics. Great for kayaking and lots of walking opportunities too. Amazingly, there is a small farm a short walk from the beach, where fresh veggies can be purchased. The selection and volume is limited but fresh is always good, particularly after being out for a couple of weeks. Bird life is abundant (a tight squadron of 18 pelicans flew by, nose to tail and only a few inches from the water – very impressive), lots of fish to look at in the water from the kayak (even though the water is still quite green), dolphins cutting through the anchorage and turtles popping up every once and awhile. This is definitely one of my favourites in the Sea.

Ten days out and 7 different anchorages


Isla Coronados – Highly Recommended by Others, With Good Reason!

The Consolation Sail – What to do with 6 weeks worth of food on board.
We left La Paz on Saturday, 7 April and spent our first night in Caleta Partida. The southbound wind was terrific and continuing the next day, it pushed us past Isla San Francisco to San Evaristo. The night was a bit bumpy there. Leaving the next day we stopped at Los Gatos which was quite comfortable and then Aqua Verde, also comfortable, but IMHO a bit over-rated and very busy with beach campers, local pangas and a lot of boats.


The Mooring Field – Puerto Escondido – 30 KTs coming through.

In anticipation of a big blow we pulled into Puerto Escondido the following day. And blow, it did. The marina and mooring field filled up with boats hoping to avoid the big North wind. Inside the marina, wind speeds were 25 to 30 knots at time which made life on a mooring ball challenging. Getting into the dock was difficult and wet. We were at the dock, so not a big deal. While there we visited Loreto and then a mission up in the hills, built in the 1600’s. San Xavier was built by the Jesuits around a spring and the location is impressive. When the wind was down to manageable levels we planned to make our way from Puerto Escondido on Monday.


Punta Colorado – Isla Carmen – Nice

Leaving the harbour we encountered much stronger winds than forecast so we changed our minds, but then changed them back again, and ended up in Punta Colorado. Winds were up in the 20’s for part of the trip. The anchorage was very bumpy but we did see a Big Horn sheep on the beach in the morning. We left there for Salinas and just about when we thought it was time to turn on the engine, the wind picked up, but on the nose. Even with up to 24 kts of wind it took us about 5 hours to travel to Salinas, 10nm away. We traveled a total of 24nm to get there. Today we left Salinas, which was terrific – big, open and not more than 2 other boats while we were there. So we spent two nights there before leaving for Isla Colorado, where we are today. It was a motor boat ride the whole way. Big wind predicted for tomorrow so we could be here for a couple of days.

Another Year in the Sea of Cortez


A very hard decision was reached a few days ago to delay our departure to French Polynesia until March 2019. Sheridan’s injuries and recovery schedule mean that she would not be able to get on a boat for another 4 or 5 months and would therefore not be able to join Marathon this year. The loss of momentum and financial implications of cancelling all manner of things and delaying until next year are significant but not as important as having the Admiral onboard from the outset. So there it is.

Marathon will spend the next month or so cruising in the Sea of Cortez in order to provide a sailing opportunity to our stalwart and remarkably patient and understanding crewmember Vic, in addition to making a start consuming some of the enormous amount of consumables on board.

We are very fortunate. Many people/couples who experience a health related obstacle in their cruising plans are dealing with incurable or difficult to cure problems. Sheridan will recover fully but it will take some time. We are grateful that the situation is as good as it is.

Cruising details will be posted as they occur. At the moment we are stuck at the dock waiting for confirmation that our just acquired insurance for an ocean crossing provides cover for all normal risks associated with sailing the waters of Pacific Mexico.

Predicting the Unpredictable and Knowing the Unknowable.

The First Mate fell on the dock and shattered her knee cap on 12 March 2018, the same day that our third crew member showed up. She was evacuated from La Paz back to Vancouver and is recovering well from surgery. Our plans to leave for French Polynesia on or about 21 March have been paused while we contemplate options and outcomes. The First Mate cannot get back on a boat until November which is way too late for a trip to French Polynesia. Options being considered include: postpone until next year, leave this coming week “short-handed” with only two people on board; and spend a month sailing now in the Sea of Cortez and return with the First Mate in November for another season in the Sea before leaving for the South Pacific in March of 2019.

This is the third time an unexpected event or events has disrupted our sailing plans. Sailors generally need to be very flexible with respect to plans given the peculiarities of weather/weather forecasting, the ocean in general and of course the perverse nature of sailboats and the near regularity with which things break. Not going in the next few days, even short handed raises, the question of “how can we know what might happen between now and next March”? Of course we can’t know everything but some of the knowables include the boat is as well prepped as it will ever be and will only need new perishable provisions, we will have had more sailing experience and most importantly the First Mate and I can share the voyage which was our intention when we planned this goofy adventure.

The Boat is Never Ready

So where does all of this stuff go?

We were fortunate enough to participate in the Bluewater Cruising Association “VICE” (Vancouver Island Offshore Cruising Experience) way back in about 2008. We learned a lot of important things about ourselves and our boat regarding preparedness for offshore sailing. This included the importance of power management, self-steering, navigation and watch keeping, and so forth. However, the most important take home lesson was that “the boat is never ready”. So here we are only some days before we intend to sail off from Mexico to the Marquesas and of course the boat is not ready but it is pretty close. A couple more things including a new chain to rope splice on the main anchor rode, a shakedown cruise to recommission the watermaker and test the new anchor roller, and hopefully a fully plumbed foot pump in the head to conserve water will all be in place within about a week to 10 days.

Incredibly however, the Admiral managed to fall on the dock on 12 March and fracture her knee cap into at least 4 pieces. So she is now back in Vancouver waiting for surgery to remedy the situation but even with surgery scheduled for the next day or so, she will not be back in shape to sail for at least 8 weeks. Thus, the other crew member and I will need to decide if we are prepared and ready to do a two person voyage to the Marquesas. If we do, the Admiral will join us in the Tuamotus. More to come in the next couple of days.

Back on Track!

thumbnail_La Paz December 2017 138

Isla San Francisco – Anchorage at Sunset (and somebody else’s boat)

We were fortunate enough to spend November and a good chunk of December 2017 in La Paz. We were even more fortunate enough to spend two weeks “in the islands”, enjoying some new anchorages and some terrific sailing. The sailing was book ended by repairs and preparations for “the puddle jump” which is tentatively scheduled for “mid-March” from La Paz.

We were joined for 3 weeks of this time by long time adventure friends Vic and Linda Jensen. They are keen sailors and always up for a challenge in the great outdoors. Vic will join us for the jump as the third crew member and Linda will become the fourth crew member somewhere in French Polynesia.

We abandoned the puddle jump plan in March 2017 because of a nagging concern that we and the boat were not ready (enough). This provided additional time for repairs, installations and sailing, all of which was good. At this juncture the boat is that much closer to being ready enough with only a few things left to be done. These include new bottom paint, the installation of an additional automatic bilge pump, a new counterpoise for the SSB/HF radio and possibly a new anchor roller.

Current plans are to park the boat in Tahiti in July for a yet to be determined amount of time. We will come back later to further explore French Polynesia, Fiji, Tonga etc and eventually make our way to New Zealand.

Last year we installed a watermaker (Spectra Ventura 150), new portlights, a new life raft, an IridiumGo, a Vesper XB8000 AIS, new house batteries (2 x Lifeline AGM 4D) and an Engel freezer. We also replaced the foam in the V-Berth with some really comfy memory stuff (after an initial failure of “tortilla” foam) and had some cabinetry built and installed in the salon to replace plastic bins. Of course all kinds of broken and breaking things were also replaced.

For example, the first attempt to install the new Campbell Sailor prop led to all kinds of grief with the diesel injection pump and injectors – it took about 4 months to sort the problem out but it is now sorted! The Campbell Sailor will be reinstalled while Marathon is out for bottom paint.

Fixing the nearly 15 year old Southern Pacific RIB also failed so we now have an AB Hypalon Rib, the acquisition of which is a major story.

We will be back in La Paz at the end of January with a long list of things to do but importantly as well, a list of anchorages and ports that we still want to visit before we leave Mexico.

Boat Yard Blues in La Paz

It is hard to imagine that being in the boat yard could ever be a happy experience. It could be neutral, maybe, but thinking about the general environment – mostly boats being fixed, boats that have been neglected and may never be fixed and dollars flowing into a hole in the ocean – the general theme is more likely to be the blues rather than an Ode to Joy.

travel lift
However, being ever positive, our current experience could have been worse. Just as many cruisers bound for Mexico leave Canada and the US laden with all of the food and other items that they believe could not possibly be available in a place like Mexico, there is often this same expectation regarding boat facilities including marinas, boat yards, chandlers, etc. In a place like La Paz, it turns out that pretty much everything is available, but it might cost a bit more. Extending this logic to boat yards suggests that we should expect the worst when in fact there is no inherent reason for this expectation. Our current experience in La Paz’s La Marina del Palmar, part of the Abaroa empire of boat yards, has been mostly excellent.

A very recent 60 Ton Travel Lift pulled us out of the water after the mast had been removed by competent riggers using a crane. The quality of the fiberglass work done to repair the compression post step, the hull blisters and the new topside paint has been excellent. So we should be confident that if we have adequate dollars (or Pesos), then access to good equipment, facilities and people is assured.

One slight downside of this boat yard and the other that we have used here (Bercovich) is that normally, for most things, only employees of the boat yard can work on boats. In this case, I have done some of the epoxy work, nearly all of the mast work (cleaning the rigging, particularly the ball joints; installing a new VHF antenna and cable) and other random bits of work. The yard has rebuilt the mast step, done some of the epoxy work on the deck, all of the new deck paint and is replacing the engine raw-water through hull and stopcock. They do excellent work from what I can tell.

Now, if only the Canadian dollar would reverse its present trajectory!

Waiting for a Lift

Marathon sits at the dock in the Abaroa Marina Palmar – but one of the extensive array of Abaroa-owned marine facilities in La Paz. Marathon’s mast has just been removed by a crane, all in anticipation of repairing the mast compression post step, along with many other things that need to be fixed while the boat is on the hard.

Abaroa 1

The compression post step likely started to collapse when the teak block that held the load started to compress as a result of getting wet (see earlier post “stuffing box blues”). The fibreglass step was sagging and allowing the deck to also sag, meaning that the rigging was not as tight as it needs to be and the more it was tensioned, the more everything sagged. After much discussion with multiple people it seemed that the best fix would be to replace the teak block with epoxy, rebuild the step, fix the cabin top, re-step the mast and Bob’s your uncle!. However, sailboats are never this simple.

Fixing the compression post step went well and, fingers crossed, has solved that problem. Fixing the cabin top is turning out to be much more complicated. Conceptually, the plan was to drill some shallow holes in the cabin top and inject epoxy into the “voids” in order to restore the bond between the fibreglass skin and the wooden core. This has hopefully been achieved with some of the now many holes in the cabin top. Sadly, some of the holes ended up going through solid glass and into the interior. These are being plugged with thick epoxy. Some of the holes went through solid glass and into the wiring channels in the cabin top. Plugging these with epoxy is going to be challenging. Some of the holes, are where they need to be and are filled with Smith’s penetrating epoxy. All going well these will do the trick!

Next the entire cabin top deck will need to be repainted in two part polyurethane to help cover the holes and to fix the gel coat disaster caused by the Jordan series drogue vinyl bag – a bit of a mystery but a very ugly one.

All of this is being done while the blisters on the hull continue to dry out. We have not fixed any blisters for about 6 years so I guess we were due! The good news is that they really dry fast here compared to Vancouver so by Friday, they will be epoxied and hopefully the new bottom paint will be applied on Saturday or Monday. Back in the water, all going well by Tuesday, two weeks after being pulled out.

blisters

The good news is that the rust issue on the keel seems to be much better than last time Marathon was out of the water back in 2013!

Sailing a small yacht from Vancouver to Mexico in 2009 and beyond