Race Day

Today is the day; it is the start of the Baha Ha Ha race down to Cabo San Lucas (http://www.baja-haha.com/). This is what we have been working towards (as the first part of our journey) and by mid day we should be in Mexico (well, Mexican waters, that is).
As we head out of the harbor towards the start line, we have just a couple of chores left to do- fill up on water and get gas for the dingy. No problem, as we are on time for the 11am start, so we thought.
The autopilot is not working. “oh shit”. As our Capitan is on the phone with Raymarine IT long distance desperately trying to repair it before we head off for 11 days, we are dodging war ships, ferries and cruise lines, in what is, one of the busiest harbors on the West coast. It was cool to be that close and see the ships in detail, but better, when we were out of the shipping channel and not getting honked at. Alas, no luck and we must start the race without it. We are now about 45 minutes behind the lead boats at the start.
As things start to calm down, Brian makes up a watch schedule. We will all have to take a turn at hand steering the boat. This is not like before, when we motored down the coast, this time the sails are up and so must your concentration be.
It’s 5pm and the beginning of my 3 hour daytime shift. Wow, this is hard. It is fairly windy, at 15 – 20 knots, and a couple of swells coming from different directions are making it hard to control the helm. The waves really are pushing us around, which you have to account for by steering. Laurie, I have a new respect for you! Top that off, with me now being sea sick! Yes, those 4 beautiful days in sunny San Diego on flat, serine waters, ruined all the acclimation of the rolling waves coming down the coast. It’s okay, I am so stressed out about steering the boat, keeping the wind in the correct direction so I don’t jibe the boat, that I don’t have time to puke. Fresh air is good and my Dramamine should kick in anytime now. All I can say is, I’m gonna be ripped (strong lean arms), steering is a workout. Off to bed for me (with my gallon zip lock just in case I get sick- joy), and FYI, I am not looking forward to my night watch.
O snap! Ginger snaps that is! I need to wake up and feel better (which I already do, no kitty puke for me). Ginger is great for both. It’s 2am and the beginning of my 2 hour night shift. It is dark, foggy, and there are other boats all around us which I can not visibly see (only know because of the radar). Brian tells me not to worry about them, that we are all going relatively the same pace and won’t run into each other. Still hand steering, and the wind has not really let up. It is pretty scary at first. Then, I finally find my groove and Brian takes a nap (topside) next to me as I finish out my shift.

Sea Sickness

I am so bummed. I thought I’d be skinny be now, by existing on crackers and water, but the medication (like Bonnine and Dramamine, and those acupressure bracelets) totally worked! I had heard stories like I’d be sick for 3 days and then would be use to it and acclimated. This is good and bad. I was hoping to lose some weight, even if by being bulimic or anorexic for 3 days. Well, I guess I’ll just have to swim it off!
So here’s the deal: if you get sea sick, take the medication 3 days prior to leaving on the boat. Then, once under way, take it for 3 days straight. I suggest Bownine over Dramamine since you only need to take it once a day (last for 12 hours). It’s chewable too. Underway you might need to take 2 a day, but I only had to do this on the 2nd day but the swells were much bigger then too. Anyhow, I then pretty much stopped and didn’t take anything on the 4th day (but I still wore my acupressure bracelets). Now I am fine on the boat, top side or downstairs. However, when on land, I feel like I am on the water, as it is moving, like I am drunk, without the drinking part!
All I can say is thank goodness for drugs because I hate throwing up and I like eating!

San Diego!

We had 4 beautiful days in sunny San Diego, anchored in a marina off Coronado Island, but we spent most of the time running around and doing errands! However, we did manage to get away to go see a movie. What did we watch? – “W”. I have mixed feelings about the movie, but it was just nice to have some down time. The other really fun activity we did, was the Baha Ha Ha kick off party/ BBQ on Sunday. Oh, did I mention it was a costume party. Oh yes, you are looking at Hansel and Gretel baby. Very fun, lots of prizes, food, drink and dancing. Met a lot of the other Ha Ha-ers, and even ran into Robbi from Windsome Wench (a boat we race against on Friday nights out of Berkeley, CA.). What a small world sometimes.

Brian and I as Hansel and Gretel at the Baha kick off party!

Some more costumes at the Party!

Our Anchorage at Glorietta Bay & the view of the Coronado Bridge

First Day out in San Diego - a stop at the Del Coronada for some Lunch

Day 6 - Going to San Diego

Oh shit its 5:30am, and we are already 1 hour late, hung over and headed for San Diego (85 miles). It’s foggy and everything is wet. Steven, the captain, had upgraded the chart plotter/ radar yesterday, so it was to be an easy departure from the narrow harbor, but no such luck. Using the big light again to see the unlit derelict boats, we made it out of the inner harbor only to have major navigation problems. The upgrades had turned the chart plotter radar screens upside down, so left was right and vis versa. After some confused comments and some shouting, the display screens were fixed and off we motored into the foggy dark morning. The fog was just at water level, if you looked up you could see the stars. The morning passed uneventful until 9:45 when, off the starboard bow, came two thundering cannon reports. The NAVY had begun shelling something close but we couldn’t see because of the fog. It turns out they had begun an all day shelling and bombing of San Clement Island 10 miles west of the boat. You could feel the concussions through your body as they blasted away. At 2:00 pm we rigged the sails, mostly for practice as the winds were still too light to actually sail. However, we did sailed for one hour, running wing on wing, slow and off course but we sailed! We put away the sails about 15 minutes before the Santa Ana winds picked up and changed the wind direction to back on the nose. Oh well, that’s Murphy’s law for you. Under clear starlit skies we arrived in SD around 800pm, and headed for Point Loma. We were immediately hailed by an unlit 300 ft Coast Guard cutter advising us (and being that they are much bigger than us so we better do what they ask) to steer away from them, and the harbor we were heading to, until they finished launching helicopters.
After a quick delay we were back on course to check in with the Harbor patrol, as this is mandatory. When we arrived the office was closed, so we are spent the night in jail, Okay at the jail, because of the patriot act we must check in with local law enforcement before we can go to our next and final US stop. We then head south of the border.

Water tanks are refilled. 1 week’s water usage was 125 gallons or 5 gal per person per day. Brian drinks about a gallon of water minimum a day, so that’s amazing!

Practicing on the way to San Diego - Wing on Wing, baby - Nice!

Motoring to S.D. - notice how flat the water is= no wind!

Brian Captured this awesome night picture of dolphins swiming underwater. They escorted us in to San Diego as they played in the Boat wake, as they often do. I love that!

Kitty on the moring watch, at the Helm

Our Capitan and First Mate

So much to do with getting along with others, especially in tight quarters, is actually liking one another, and this is especially true on a sailboat. Steven and Susan have been very accommodating. Steven has done so much in his life. He began in LA, moved to San Francisco, went to school at UC Berkeley, and early on moved to Colorado. This is where he met Susan. She re-located there from Alabama. He is a retired lawyer, and has been in the Army (so lots of Army Navy talk between him and Brian) for a period in his busy life. Susan is a retired Document Tech Writer so I can relate to that. We even match up well politically, which is awesome! I got us all Obama (temporary) tattoo stickers for Nov 4th! Whatever you all are in favor of, please just get out there and vote!
Susan’s blog is: http://withlitha.blogspot.com/
Check it out.

Capitan Steven and his 1st mate Susan.