Fafner Log
Date: March 2, 2007
Location: Las Hadas Anchorage, near Manzanillo, Jalisco, Mexico 19 deg 05 min N, 104 deg 20 min W
We left Las Hadas and Mexico at 1215 hours and headed out on our first long passage. Next stop, the Galapagos!
Date: February 22 - March 2, 2007
Location: Las Hadas Anchorage, near Mazanillo, Jalisco, Mexico 19 deg 05 min N, 104 deg 20 min W
Said good-bye to Liberty. Came back for provisioning. More disco music at night. Time with Pythogorus, Kalewa and Ladyhawke. Made Bimini.
Date: February 18 - February 21, 2007
Location: Barra de Navidad Lagoon Anchorage, Jalisco, Mexico
Swimming at the Sands Hotel. The French Baker with panga delivery. Mary's birthday party. Time with Liberty & Pythagorus.
Date: February 15 - February 17, 2007
Location: Bahia Tenacatita Anchorage, Jalisco, Mexico 19 deg 17 min N, 104 deg 50 min W
Fire and marshmallow roast on beach. "Jungle" dinghy trip up river. Snorkeling at The Aquarium. Volleyball & soccer on the beach. Disco music at night. Time with Liberty, met up with Pythagorus.
Date: February 9 - February 14, 2007
Location: Melaque Anchorage, Bahia de Navidad, Jalisco , Mexico 19 deg 13 min N, 104 deg 42 min W
Anchor near the fish trap. Canadians in their RVs. Valentine's Day treats. St. Patrick Church. Begin skim board project. Open air market.
Date: February 3 - February 8, 2007
Location: Las Hadas Anchorage, near Manzanillo, Jalisco, Mexico 19 deg 05 min N, 104 deg 20 min W
We arrived at Las Hadas and set our anchor by 0930. We tidied up the boat a little and them all hands took a nap.
The Las Hadas anchorage is just off from the Las Hadas resort made famous by the movie "10". I talked about getting my hair braided and running up and down the beach in slo-mo, but the rest of the family seemed to think my time was better spent in other activities. And then they didn't actually offer suggestions. Hhmmmm. The resort is pretty. All of the white buildings climb up a hillside. It looks Mediteranean. I see it as inspiration for going there.
Here we've joined our friends on Liberty. We've been to the open air market and an 80 peso taco place in Santiago. Oh, and we've purchased a reel to continue trying to land a fish. We refuse to give up. Dorado are too tasty. And I've discovered I like ceviche.
This is apparently a place Mexicans like to come visit on vacation. The boats at anchor here are more than boats, they are actually markers for a wave-runner slalom course. Monday was Constitution Day here and a three day weekend. Lots and lots of young people were out on wave runners or trying to water ski behind under-powered ski boats. The action on the water slowed down a little during the Super Bowl. Speaking of the Super Bowl, I have only one thing to say; half-time. Prince. We got to see him on Liberty's TV. Ah, he can still give me happy feet. And he's from Minnesota. Purple rain, purple rain...
The resort also likes to keep the tourists dancing. We were treated to a nightly show that started around 9 PM. I think they just played the same CD every night and hoped the crowd wouldn't recognise the same songs. We did. The lead off song was always The Village People's "YMCA". As much as Alex likes disco, even she was getting tired of it.
The kids enjoyed swimming from the boats to the beach on shore. They took their orange rafts across the wave runner strike zone and snorkeled around the rocks. They saw puffer fish and skates and rays. They kids called the path through the skiers the Kill Zone. I'm just glad the rafts were bright orange. They also borrowed a sailing dinghy from Howard on Anu. They had a good time zipping around the anchorage. At least until the skiers came back in earnest.
In a radical departure from our current direction, we have decided to go North and follow Liberty for a few days to explore anchorages we missed on the way down.
Date: February 2, 2007
Location: 20 deg 10 min N, 105 deg 43 min W at 1200
Geoff and I woke up before the sun and pulled up the anchor. We were under way by 0430. I was a craven watch companion and promptly went back to sleep. Geoff loves me and let me be. We motored around Cabo Corrientes and set the sails and the fishing pole by 1000. It was Geoff's turn to sleep. This fishing thing is getting to be a thing. Again we were Fishing and not Catching. Geoff somehow heard the line whizzing out as the fish grabbed the lure. Geoff bounced up from being asleep to try to help land the fish. Geoff tripped, the fish heaved, the pole broke and all we have to show for it is Geoff's bruise. At least this time we managed to keep the lure. It was hanging behind the boat on a piece of the broken pole. But we are undaunted. We will try again.
We sailed under a full moon, which was cool.
Date: February 1, 2007
Location: La Cruz de Huanacaxtle Anchorage, Nayarit, Mexico, 20 deg 44 min N, 105 deg 22 min W
It seems appropriate that our last night in Banderas Bay be spent in La Cruz. So we left the Marina Vallarta via the Opequimar fuel dock and motored over to what feels a little like "home" here.
Date: January 8 - January 31, 2007
Location: Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico, 20 deg 39 min N, 105 deg 14 min W
After all of our guests had gone home we switched gears and got into boat-prep mode. Chris took Sea Breeze to the boat yard first and we followed about a week behind him. Both boats are out of the yard now (yippee!!!) and we are staying at Marina Vallarta getting ourselves ready for the next leg of the trip.
We are also being pleasantly distracted by the Winson Family on Pythagorus. Both families are provisioning and completing boat projects for continuing South. The girls on our boat are finding time to play with the girls on their boat. One of their favorite activities is watching an artist create paintings using spray paint. People could commission Leo to make a painting for them. Claire asked for a surreal space scene. It was interesing to watch him place colors and pot lids just so to create the space-scape. It was also cool to see him set the paint. He used one of the spray cans as a mini-blow torch.
We are ready to continue South and Chris is ready to head off shore. We will leave Puerto Vallarta first, but Chris and Will plan to leave only a few days later.
Date: December 6, 2006 - January 8, 2007
Location: La Cruz de Huanacaxtle Anchorage, Nayarit, Mexico, 20 deg 44 min N, 105 deg 22 min W
Fafner and Sea Breeze arrived in plenty of time to prepare for our holiday guests. We checked in with the Port Captain, located good grocery shopping, found our friends, the Nichols on Liberty, and discovered electric margaritas at a local cruisers hang out. By the way, you can see what the Nichols are up to at www.libertydaze.com. We like them a lot and hope to be seeing much more of them.
Sonia and Tole came to spend Christmas with us. They arrived on Dec. 17th. Rosie came to visit too. She arrived on the 21st. We went snorkeling and swimming and shopping and zip-lining and surfing and dining. Whew. I've included a description of our activities with them.
We spent the week between Christmas and New Year's at a much slower pace. We did more beach walking and swimming. We found an up-and-coming flamenco-inspired band that we enjoyed. A group of young people with a new-age inclination had gotten together and were figuring out their sound. One of the restaurants in La Cruz let them play on Thursday nights. The group consisted of two acoustic guitar players, an electric base player, a percussionist who played a box-ish drum in addition to a bongo-ish drum, a vocalist and another percussionist who specialized in an instrument he called a hang. The hang appears to be a relative of a steel drum. The group was called Tateware. We liked them enough to go hear them a few times. I guess that almost makes us groupies.
Our New Year's Eve was almost quiet. We made dinner on the boat and played games. The kids have this game called Hoopla. The game was entertaining on several levels. The game itself was fun. Also fun was seeing your spouse acting out clues to get other players to recognize "Woodstock". This year we all managed to stay awake until midnight. We watched the local fireworks displays and then the guys remembered the bottle rockets that they had stashed for such occasions. We shot the bottle rockets off the bow to welcome in 2007.
Date: December 5, 2006
Location: Punta de Mita Anchorage, 20 deg 45 min N, 105 deg 31 min W
On the way to this anchorage we hooked a Dorado! Yippee! Sadly for us, the Dorado was not resigned to his fate as our dinner. Just as we were reeling him close enough to the boat to gaff him, he broke the line and disappeared with our lure. We had spaghetti instead. It wasn't the same.
Fafner arrived and set anchor by 1450. We did not find ideal holding and left the next morning.
Date: December 3 - December 5, 2006
Location: Chacala Anchorage, 21 deg 9 min N, 105 deg 13 min W
Fafner and Sea Breeze arrived in Chacala and anchored at 1330. This anchorage was close enough for us to swim to shore, so we did. Straight to a palapa. Beverages again.
The next day we ventured into town looking for an internet connection. We were told to go to the local school as the school library had the internet. I was a bit loathe to go near a school during daylight hours, but I got over my anxiety and we went. The internet connection accommodated wireless access, so we sat in the schoolyard at a picnic table and checked our e-mail. The school day was from 7 AM to 2 PM for the elementary kids, so until the kids came to hang out in the library, we had the schoolyard to ourselves.
Fafner and Sea breeze left Chacala at 0750 on Dec. 5th.
Date: November 30 - December 3, 2006
Location: Mantachen Bay Anchorage, 21 deg 31 min N, 105 deg 14 min W (East of San Blas, Nayarit)
Fafner arrived in Mantachen Bay and anchored by 0900. Sea Breeze arrived shortly after us. We found a lovely palapa on the beach and treated ourselves to some well-deserved beverages. We frequented this palapa on many occasions during our stay here. On a trip into San Blas we found the town plaza. The plaza was decorated for Christmas with a large tree and a nativity scene. The warm weather made the rest of the town seem more like summer. We got into the summer mood and found ice cream.
We also found a "jungle" tour up the river into the mangroves and the marsh. This trip allowed people to ride a panga in search of wildlife. We were interested in seeking out crocodiles. We had an excellent guide. He knew where the crocodiles liked to sleep, so we saw quite a few. Crocodiles are not unlike cats. The ones we saw seemed to spend their time lying in sunspots and sleeping, but they weren't completely dead to the world. I had the impression that if they had thought we were worth their while, a couple of them might have moved, had they chosen to do so. We left the big ones alone and actively pursued some little ones. The tour also stopped at a crocodile farm/zoo and then took us to a spring where we could swim and get lunch. The spring had a cyclone fence sunk into the water across one end to keep the crocs out. Hhhhmmmm. I'm not sure that the fence would keep out a determined croc, but the water was crystal clear and invitingly cool, so we went in.
The day we left we were out in the dinghy chasing a whale shark in the anchorage. A whale shark is actually neither a whale nor a shark, but rather an extremely large fish. This one was about twice as long as our 10 foot dinghy. We rowed after the whale shark for long enough to catch its interest. It turned and started swimming toward us with its huge mouth open. Whale sharks eat plankton and not people, and we knew this, but we were still disconcerted by the sight of its gaping mouth coming our way.
We had a brief chat with the Panga to Panama guys and then we departed the anchorage by 0900 on Dec. 3rd.
Date: November 29, 2006
Location: 22 deg 17 min N, 106 deg, 32 min W at 1200
The big excitement today was passing a fishing fleet. We counted 11 fishing boats and 1 dredge. At night we found a second fleet. Other boats seemed to be finding fish, but not us.
Date: November 28, 2006
Location: 23 deg 30 min N, 108 deg 27 min W at 1200
Early this morning a boobie circled the boat 12 times. The kids counted. Later in the day the boobie returned with friends to do a few more laps of the boat. Perhaps this was some undocumented initiation rite among sea birds.
Date: November 27, 2006
Location : 24 deg 22 min N, 110 deg 14 min W at 1200
Fafner and Sea Breeze left La Paz at 0850. At noon we were motorsailing in light winds through the Canal De San Lorenzo. By 1600 we had the spinnaker up and were enjoying the sail.
Date: November 18 - 27, 2006
Location: La Paz, Baja, Mexico, 24 deg 9 min N, 110 deg 19 min W
We spent the time in La Paz exploring and doing chores. The anchorage was interesting. Other sad, neglected boats were floating amongst the newer arrivals. Pelicans had taken over our nearest neighbor. The pelicans would balance on the bow pulpit and scan the water below them for fish. The sand bar between our boat and shore made crossing in the dinghy a challenge. We never touched bottom with our dinghy motor, but we could watch the water break over the sand bar at low tide. We saw dolphins fishing along the bar.
We celebrated Thanksgiving Dinner with Chris aboard Fafner. We had turkey and stuffing and mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce; the works. We had pumpkin pie too.
Date: November 18, 2006
Location: La Paz, Baja, Mexico
Fafner and Sea Breeze left Ballandra and set out for the short trip to La Paz at 0800. On the way we were passed by a Green Peace vessel. We anchored in La Paz harbor across from the Mogote at 1100.
Date: November 17, 2006
Location: Puerto Ballandra Anchorage, 24 deg 19 min. N, 110 leg 19 min. W.
Fafner and Sea Breeze left Los Muertos at 0600 and arrived at Ballandra Bay at 1330. We anchored and set out for shore. The water was a clear turquoise and we could see the bottom. We were pursued by curious puffer fish. The fish were our only company.
Date: November 15, 2006
Location: Ensenada de Los Muertos Anchorage, 23 deg 59 min. N, 109 deg, 49 min. W.
Fafner left Los Frailes at 0630 and arrived at Los Muertos at 1500. Chris was waiting for us and we all went to "The Giggling Marlin" for beverages. It was a surprise to find a chain bar/restaurant in what appeared to be a remote anchorage. We're not sure how they stay in business, but we weren't about to question our good fortune. The beverages were sustaining. We did some snorkeling here and enjoyed the warm water.
Date: November 13, 2006
Location: Los Frailes Anchorage, 23 deg 23 min. N, 109 deg 25 min. W.
Fafner left Cabo at 0645 and arrived at Los Frailes at 1745. We met the Panga to Panama guys again.
Date: November 10 - 13, 2006
Location: Cabo San Lucas, Baja, Mexico
We enjoyed another Baja Ha-Ha beach party. The kids reconnected with their friends and body surfed. The adults also reconnected and entertained each other with tales from the rally over tall, cool beverages. The awards ceremony was held on Nov. 11. Fafner took first place in our division! Sailing the entire way paid off . We're very proud of ourselves for both accomplishments.
Date: November 10, 2006
Location: Cabo San Lucas, Baja, Mexico, 22 deg 53 min N, 109 deg 53 min W
Fafner sailed across the finish line for Leg Three at 0406! Yippee!!! We did this with a passenger. Around 0200 a frigate bird landed on our main mast. His beak and tail feathers were illuminated in our tricolor light. We had the best winds of the passage as we rounded Cabo Falso Claire and Karen even had to reduce sail. The frigate bird stayed put. Finally the bird saw some friends just after daybreak and took off, presumably for a day of fishing.
Date: November 9, 2006
Location: 23 deg 37 min. N, 110 deg 54 min. W at 1200.
We gave our spare gas jug to the crew of the "Get Lost". These are four guys out of Two Harbors on Catalina Island who are adventuring to Panama in a 24 foot panga. Their motto is "Panga to Panama!"
Date: November 8, 2006
Location: Bahia Santa Maria, Baja, Mexico
Fafner and the Baja Ha-Ha fleet started Leg Three at 0800. Because of the light wind, everyone got a "free" hour of motoring. At 0900 Fafner's motor was off and the race was on. We put up the spinnaker.
Date: November 7, 2006
Location: Bahia Santa Maria, Baja, Mexico, 24 deg 44 min N, 112 deg 13 min W
Another play day for the fleet. Another wonderful beach party. A delicious seafood barbecue and an adventurous band made this a great day. The band drove all the way from La Paz and then had to cross a sandbar at low tide with their equipment to make it to this beach to play for the party. Their drive was well worth our while, they sounded great. The kids enjoyed body surfing with their new friends. This was our favorite stop on the Ha-Ha.
Date: November 6, 2006
Location: 24 deg 50 min. N, 112 deg 32 min. W at 1200.
Fafner crossed the finish line for Leg Two at 1323. We were anchored and settled at 1715.
Date: November 5, 2006
Location: 25 deg 56 min. N, 113 deg 24 min. W at 1200.
We saw the green flash at sunset.
Date: November 4, 2006
Location: Turtle Bay, Baja, Mexico
Fafner and the Baja Ha-Ha fleet left Turtle Bay at 1100 for the start of Leg Two. We caught and consumed our first fish!
Date: November 3, 2006
Location: Turtle Bay, Baja, Mexico
Fafner and the rest of the fleet had a play day. The beach party had something for everyone, potluck for dinner, a band for dancing, water balloons for the kids, a tug-of-war for the adults and good company.
Date: November 2, 2006
Location: Turtle Bay, Baja, Mexico (Bahia Tortugas or Port San Bartolome), 27 deg 41 min N, 114 deg 53 min W
Fafner crossed the finish line for Leg One at 0050. We traveled very slowly and waited for daylight to enter the anchorage. We dropped anchor and were settled at 0800.
Date: November 1, 2006
Location: 28 deg 35 min. N, 115 deg 54 min. W at 1200.
Date: October 31, 2006
Location: 30 deg 52 min. N, 116 deg 41 min. W at 1200.
Date: October 30, 2006
Location: San Diego, CA, (start close to 32 deg 38 min N, 117 deg 13 min W)
Fafner and the Baja Ha-Ha fleet left San Diego 1100 with the start of the Baja Ha-Ha cruisers rally.
Date: October 12 - October 30, 2006
Location: San Diego, CA (Glorietta Bay Anchorage close to 32 deg 40 min N, 117 deg 10 min W)
We spent 10 days at the Municipal dock on Shelter Island. We took advantage of the nearby facilities to make the boat ready for the Baja Ha-Ha rally to Cabo. The kids logged lots of PE walking time putting in the miles from our boat at the extreme end of the island to anything else in the middle of the island. The West Marine here was the largest we'd ever seen. It had departments. We met fun and interesting people on the dock when someone organized a dock side barbecue. We met fun and interesting people at the Baja Ha-Ha related party at Downwind Marine. We like people and we like parties.
We moved the boat over to an anchorage in Glorietta Bay. Chris already had his boat over there. It was a special anchorage for the Ha-Ha boats, so we had company. Ed and Mary Arnold arrived and camped at Silver Strand State Beach which was near by. We visited the San Diego Zoo and the Embarcadero as well as the Mexican Fishing License Bureau. The afternoon before the start, the Baja Ha-Ha participants met enmasse at a costume kick-off party. Alex dressed as a Viking shield maiden, Claire dressed as a pirate, Karen dressed as Claire and Geoff dressed as Captain Ron.
Date: October 12, 2006
Location: San Diego, CA, Shelter Island Municipal Dock, 32 deg 42 min N, 117 deg 14 min W
Fafner arrived at Shelter Island in San Diego, CA at 0830.
Date: October 11, 2006
Location : Avalon Harbor, Catalina Island
Fafner left Avalon Harbor, Catalina Island at 1830 (6:30 PM) headed for San Diego.
Date: October 5 - 11, 2006
Location: Avalon Harbor, Catalina Island
We've enjoyed staying here. There are sufficient people for watching, other boaters to talk to and ferries and cruise ships bringing daily variety. We went for a challenging hike and got a good view of the island from one of the hills. We've been flying our Baha-Ha-Ha burgee since we left Brisbane. In the last two days we've been noticing more boats coming in also flying Baha-Ha-Ha burgees. We're trying not to swoop down on the unsuspecting crews the instant they catch their mooring, but its hard not to pounce on them. We're very excited.
Date: October 5, 2006
Location: Avalon Harbor, Catalina Island, 33 deg 20 min N, 118 deg 19 min W
Fafner arrived in Avalon Harbor, Catalina Island at 0930.
Date: October 4, 2006
Location: Smuggler's Cove Anchorage, Santa Cruz Island, 34 deg 1 min N, 119 deg 32 min W
Fafner and Sea Breeze departed Smuggler's Cove at 0930 (9:30 AM) for Catalina Island. Light winds inspired Chris to fly his Spinnaker.
Date: October 3, 2006
Location: Smuggler's Cove, Santa Cruz Island
As we were sitting around speculating where Chris might be, a sailboat was passing our anchorage, off in the distance. Ha, ha, wouldn't it be something if that were Chris. But wait, that's a ketch, with a dark patch on its sail, and a blue dodger, get out the binoculars, and no trim strip, and a new box on the back, and I'd know that sweatshirt anywhere, kids, jump up and down on the foredeck and try to get his attention! Apparently Chris saw the dragon on our bow. He turned in and we had familiar company in the anchorage.
Date: October 2, 2006
Location: 34 deg 03 min N, 119 deg 59 min W at 1200 (noon)
We passed on the opportunity to anchor at Bechers Bay, Santa Rosa Island, as there was more wind than we liked. We continued on to Santa Cruz Island. We anchored in Smuggler's Cove by 1700 (5 PM) and during dinner listened in on a Coast Guard drama over the radio. A diver hadn't returned on time from a dive and his friends were worried. We listened to the plans for a search, but before the helicopters could be loosed, a lobster boat in our anchorage called to say that he had picked up the diver and everyone was relieved. We saw the movie "The Guardian" in Morro Bay, and I must say, my imagination was running over time. Southern CA is not like Kodiak Island, Alaska, but still...
Date: October 1, 2006
Location: Morro Bay
Fafner departed Morro Bay Harbor at 0800 (8 AM). Around noon a group of 20 or so dolphins came to play in our bow wake. The dolphins approached the boat in smaller groups of 2 to 5 and swam at the bow from the side. They would swim in the bow wake and then disappear under the boat. Sometimes they came up on the other side, some times they came up on the same side, and sometimes, I don't know where they went. We were lamenting the lack of a whale when one made an appearance. The whale puffed out its blow hole and arched its back and stuck around for a while. All in all we had company for about half an hour.
Date: September 26, 2006
Location: Morro Bay Anchorage, 35 deg 21 min N, 120 deg 51 min W
Fafner entered Morro Bay at 0900 (9 AM) and was anchored by 1000 (10 AM). We had lunch on shore and everyone took a nap.
Date: September 25, 2006
Location: 36 deg 03 min N, 122 deg 11 min W at 1200 (noon)
The day dawned foggy and overcast. And didn't really change much. At night Fafner crossed broad bands of phosphorescence. Karen was startled by trailing marine life. A sea lion was following the boat in the mist, snorting, snuffling and being generally noisy. When the curious sea lion popped up next to the boat Karen was sure it was a whale come to bump them and she jumped and squeaked. Claire pointed out that whales are rarely 4 feet long and they both laughed. Karen did however, keep a nervous eye on their snorting friend for the rest of their watch.
Fafner arrived near Morro Bay around midnight and waited for daylight to enter the harbor.
Date: September 24, 2006
Location: Brisbane Marina, California
Notes: Departed 0730 (7:30 AM), motored out the bay and passed under the Golden Gate Bridge at 1000 (10 AM).
1350 (1:50 PM) turned off motor and started sailing in light winds and sunny skies.
Watched some whales including two large whales and one small whale. At night the boat wake was phosphorescent. Fish also left phosphorescent trails as they chased around.