S/V INTREPID II - Cape Dory Intrepid 40

My photo
Intrepid II is a Cape Dory Intrepid 40 sailboat, hull #2, designed by Chuck Paine and discovered by the Captain in Blue Hill Maine in 2006. The crew are Kelly (Captain) and Carol (Admiral and Blogger). In 2009 INTREPID II embarked on her West Coast journey from Victoria to San Francisco, the Baja Sur Peninsula and into the Sea of Cortez. In 2010/2011, we sailed from Guaymas, south to Bahia Banderas and back. In 2011/2012 we left Guaymas, headed south to La Paz, spent three weeks at anchor on our northward journey and rested on the hard in San Carlos. Her 4th, 5th and 6th seasons were Boat Projects related. Season 7 - an incredible amount of boat work - but no cruising. Season 8 - Tropical Storm Sergio toppled Intrepid II in San Carlos dry storage. A disappointing season of serious and costly repairs. Season 9 - continuing those repairs and still hopeful for cruising.

April 26, 2012

La Paz to Santa Rosalia - the last three weeks


Dolphins in Ensenada Grande
A quick run-down of our voyaging since leaving Marina Palmira in La Paz on Tuesday, April 3rd:
  • April 3:  La Paz to Ensenada Grande, Isla Partida:  27 nm; stayed 2 nights at anchor
Arriving at Ensenada Grande - south lobe
    • April 5:  Ensenada Grande to Isla San Francisco:  19 nm; actually sailed across!
    • April 6:  to San Evaristo:  9 nm;  windlass problems, lots of hauling up anchor by hand; wiggled in to the anchorage with 7 other boats; spent Semana Santa here and sat out northers.
    San Evaristo anchorage from Cipriana`s cantina
    • April 9: to Los Gatos:  30 nm; all alone in the south lobe - the best place for protection from the south east swell and south winds; dolphins and small rays.
    Red rocks of Los Gatos
    • April 10:  to Yellowstone Beach, north end of Isla Monserat; 29 nm; breeching whale, then a huge manta ray just under the water, 10 feet from the boat;  a beautiful spot, but we had a very challenging late afternoon and night...winds shifted to the west and we pitched and rocked but stayed secure.
    Yellowstone beach - north side Isla Monserat
    • April 11:  to Punta Perico, north east side of Isla Carmen; 20 nm, with some sailing again!  All alone in a quiet spot until a largish power boat arrived in late afternoon.  We rested and stayed on the next day to tidy up and catch our breath from the Yellowstone adventure.
    Punta Perico - Isla Carmen - near Loreto
    • April 13:  to San Juanico on the Baja peninsula; 36 nm; a nice day but we had 3 - 5 foot north east swells with not enough south east winds to knock them down; motor-sailed past Isla Coronado and joined friends in this favorite anchorage.  We weathered another round of northers here, but hiked and fished, played Mexican Train and had two Bocce tournaments!
    Cruisers on the beach San Juanico
    INTREPID II anchored in Bahia Santispac
    • April 18:  to Bahia Santispac in Bahia Concepcion: 55 nm - a long journey and we started out at 6:30 am, arriving at 3 pm.  the only boat for a few hours; we hadn't been here since 2010 and enjoyed visiting Lupe`s restaurant (Ana`s); getting a ride into Mulege from Joel and Louise and visiting Sonrisa weather guru Geary on his patio in El Burro Cove; we especially enjoyed spending time with Paula and Bill and Max and Emma on SV Content - great new amigos.

    Captain`s new Mulege T-shirt design - Day of the Dead
    • April 23:  to Bahia Santa Inez "Punta Chivato": 27 nm;  left at 7:15 am in case we kept going to Santa Rosalia and to miss the stronger winds.  This anchorage has a great shelling beach but is open to south and east winds, so it can be tricky to stay here.  We encountered building winds by 09:00 am and lots of easterly swell. We gave our auto-pilot a workout as we tried to sail northwest across the large bay with Mulege at its centre point, as well as the 27 degree latitude boundary; the "north sea".  All turned out well as we anchored and the winds stayed from the northerly quadrants;with minimal swel.   SV Content joined us later and we had a visit from Ed, a local resident.
    Hotel on point at Bahia Santa Inez
    • April 24:  to Santa Rosalia: 27 nm;  underway again by 7:15 am into rolly seas as we came out of the bay, with wind from the north west "on the nose"; there were lots of cross currents pushing against us, slowing us down to under 5 knots for almost 2 hours until we neared Isla San Marco. A highlight...a humpback whale swimming right across our bow, then diving with tail flukes held high into the brilliant sunlight; no picture, but we will remember this!  Motor-sailed in to the marina and met folks from three boats, all of whom headed south within a day; a bit lonely at the dock. 
      •  An unanticipated boat chore...draining our port water tank and flushing and flushing and adding chlorine - should be good now.


    We will expand on these travels as we can....but that`s our trip northward to date......adios.

    Update from Santa Rosalia, Baja Sur Peninsula


    Hola everyone!  Three weeks at anchor without a chance to update this blog, so thanks for your patience.

    INTREPID II is currently in Marina Fonatur in Santa Rosalia, still on the Baja peninsula side.  We are the only occupied sailboat at the dock,  which is a bit disconcerting.  The latest 'norther' has hit right on schedule and it is forecast to blow all through Friday, easing up by Saturday.  The dock puts us pointing east south east, so the northwest winds are blowing substantial wind waves into our stern and port side; just like being at anchor. Our plans at this point are to leave Saturday or Sunday to cross over to the San Carlos-Guaymas mainland, just under 90 nm away.  Once across the Sea we will determine how much longer we continue cruising and when we will start putting our dauntless INTREPID II  to rest for the summer and fall.

    We arrived here at noon on Wednesday, from Punta Chivato after a 5 hour bumpy, lumpy, motor-sail and lots of cross currents initially slowing us down. The upside was we had a humpback whale cross our bow with dolphins in attendance; then as he/she turned southward, we both have an indelible memory of its huge tail flukes lifting into the air in a band of bright sunlight.

    Church tower Iglesia Santa Barbara
    Staying at a marina gives us a chance to wash away 3 weeks of salt spray on INTREPID II and ourselves (yes, we do take showers), do laundry, banking, and catch up on regular email. Winlink (email sent by ham radio) keeps us in contact with family and many of you, but of necessity we only send brief messages and the propagation has not been wonderful these past weeks.

    A few highlights since arriving in Santa Rosalia:  Kelly made his 'pilgrimage' to the famous Chuyita's hot dog stand across from Iglesia Santa Barbara and determined they were as good as ever. These are diet-conscious turkey dogs wrapped in bacon in wonderfully fresh buns, with whatever condiments you choose to add.  We've checked out many of the streets in this French-influenced town, shopped at the El Boleo bakery, dined in two restaurants, finally got our bank card to work at the ATM and had an unexpected but fascinating tour of the Minero Boleo mine site which is under construction north of Santa Rosalia.  We hope to write more about all of these activities and add photos as time permits.

    Wishing you all a good week as April turns into May very soon.

    April 1, 2012

    HAPPY EASTER - Felices Pascuas!

    Easter egg graphics

    Wishing our very special family, our friends, and all of you who visit our blog a very HAPPY EASTER - may it be a serene and special day, however you choose to celebrate.  

    This is for you Teri:   Христос воскрес  

    Semana Santa has begun!

    Drum beats, snatches of music, loud cheers, streets closed off near the `malecon`.  Semana Santa has begun in La Paz.  This Holy Week lead up to Easter is not the solemn reflection of religious events. Those of course do take place, but it's more of a `spring break`feeling.  We've been told lots of locals try to get away to the beaches to party or go fishing or whatever they can arrange;  but it sounds like there will be plenty to occupy people who stay behind.

    INTREPID II was tentatively scheduled to untie the dock lines today; snip that La Paz bungy cord and head northward towards the islands and beyond.  However, once we started checking weather forecasts and comparing notes with other folks on the dock, it looks like we`d be setting ourselves up for some rolly nights right off the mark.  Strong westerlies are appearing on the grib files and other forecasts.  As we've mentioned, the nearby anchorages of Espiritu Santo are open directly to the west/southwest; great northern and often south wind protection; not so much for the Corumels and westerlies.  A good reason to stay a few more nights and ensure the loose ends are dealt with....and listen to the sounds of the festivities (earplugs tonight for sure!).

    Isla Espíritu Santo and Isla Partida (5378264191).jpg
    Anchorages of Isla Espiritu Santo

    Colour coding anchor chain
    We've made progress on the boat projects.  Kelly has replaced the gaskets on the three critical portlights and so far so good; they appear to have sealed well.  The anchor chain has been cleaned.  We've repainted it at various lengths to identify how much has been let out; the trick is remembering the colour code!
    Our canvas work was completed.  We are happy with both our new cockpit cushions and our sunscreen panel between the dodger and bimini.  Now INTREPID II is well equipped to be warmer in the cockpit on any damp overnights or when the wind is sharp and colder. Hopefully they won't be needed for the remainder of this season. Thanks to both Danny and Hector for their fine work.


    New cockpit cushions - very comfy
















    Thanks are in order to our good friend Henry, who drove us on a short trip over the mountains to La Ventana - a kite surfing mecca on the east coast facing Cerallvo Channel.  On our first passage in 2009 we'd tacked back and forth forever it seemed, in front of this wide bay, which is not great for anchoring, so it was fun to see it from a land perspective.
    Kite surfing campground - season is almost over 

    Enjoying La Ventana with Henry

    We`ve provisioned but will continue to add fresh produce and top things up before we leave. There have been casual visits onboard, and a few dinners out listening to great music.
     Cruisers enjoying Friday night at Tailhunters 
    In case there isn't a chance for a final update before we leave, our plans are to 'mosey' or 'meander' up the Sea in a northerly direction.  Find those peaceful spots where we can enjoy the beauty of the Baja peninsula; somewhat stark and arid, but still full of life and colour.  From time to time we may be in cellphone range and will do an update.  Otherwise you may not see any news here for 3 weeks or so while we explore our way back towards Guaymas.  We will do our best to send out updates via Winlink when propagation is good.  Those of you on our SPOT update should start to get those 'we are here' messages in a few days.

    Take care!