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S/V Nereida sails around the world

Sunset as Baja is left behind

0115 GMT/1815 LT was time of sunset tonight, as the Baja was left behind.
Wind has died but SW swell is quite pronounced, so a bit rolly.
Grey clouds over land ahead and astern but not much overhead
Air feels cool but it's 24C



Sunset leaving the Baja behind

0115GMT was sunset today. Air feels cool in the breeze but it's actually 25C Grey x clouds over land astern and ahead but little cloud overhead Wind has died but SW swell is quite pronounced so we're rolling quite a lot.

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Sunday 19th February - underway again

3.30pm Saturday Wind blew up a bit more and rain got heavier - but not for long... calm now, although pressure has dropped a lot over last 6 hrs - to 1007 now. Definitely time for hot food - just had some nice hot soup in a mug & have put some dried beans in to soak for tomorrow.

Later, more wind and rain again - but by sunset all was gone.

Sunday morning - Pressure has risen steeply to 1016 and there's a S wind blowing here in the marina, about 10 kt, I guess. Very little cloud and forecast is benign so I'm thinking I'll leave today for Mazatlan - wind is expected to become N ~20kt by time I arrive tomorrow afternoon, with possible calms in between - we'll see!

Photos already posted of noisy osprey on top of my neighbour's mast this morning.

I got out my gri-gri, thinking to climb the mast before leaving, in case there's an 'easy fix' to the masthead problem but realised time was getting late for heading out - so decided to leave climbing until after I get to Mazatlan tomorrow.

Would be nice to have wind info - and going up will give me a chance to look at the furler problem while I'm up there... Means I might have to use the staysail in place of the genoa, but that's rather small.

In the meantime, having left the marina around 1pm, the wind soon died right back - but is still from S - not as forecast!

I've 'lost' one hour! I forgot that the southern half of the Baja is one hour ahead of Pacific Standard Time, PST ...... same as in Mazatlan, in fact. (We're in Central Standard Time, CST, now)

Mast heads

One noisy osprey has laid claim to my neighbour 's masthead.
And my masthead is looking decidedly weird, with the metal top plate holding the wind instrument and vhf swung around by 90 degrees.
Bright sunshine and slight breeze - think I'll leave for Mazatlan later this morning.


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San Jose del Cabo - Saturday

Nice to be able to sleep as long as I want without the need to set alarms to wake me up frequently!!

Have been checking on weather situation - doesn't look as though the really strong winds will reach here - although there was some heavy rain overnight - grey, with 15-20kt win and occasional light rain now, but nothing much. Friends in Turtle Bay had 30 kt S winds, gusting higher last night - they’d moved to the S anchorage for protection.

By Sun/Mon, winds will have veered to N and are expected to stay settled from there for several days, becoming 15-20kt over Mon & Tues - a good time to sail - possibly to Mazatlan.

Later in week, winds will be light from NW quadrant, so not such good sailing conditions for heading SE towards La Cruz, athough perfectly tenable.

San Jose marina is mainly about small sports fishing boats - lots of US and Canadian registered boats here, taking advantage of the good fishing off Cabo San Lucas. But this is an expensive place to be in, with high tourist prices….

San Jose del Cabo - brown pelican

One very wary, but tame, brown pelican on his home base dock in San Jose del Cabo . I was on my walk back from the friendly but distant marina office after checking in there. Several other cruising boats are here, waiting for the threatened storm to pass by - but that is looking increasingly like a non event - possibly hitting Bahia Magdalena, but no further S.
In the meantime, I'm relaxing.....



Mssing mast track slide

Found this slide from a sail batten end, that came out yesterday from the mast track, on deck at the foot of the mast - clearly pulled out from the batten end cover - plastic, with no metal insert? Not strong enough.
Bright sun today; air still feeling cold except in the sun. Sea calm, a slight West wind, motoring still - as expected. No whales seen yet but another cruise ship said plenty around Cabo San Lucas.
Needing to change propane supply tank to galley- gave out y'day just as I finished cooking - so enjoyed my steak & onions etc- all just nicely cooked - lucky!
Expecting to arrive at Cabo San Lucas around sunrise tomorrow. Winds are forecast to stay light at ~5kt until after then so even if they back to S-SW from present W, we should be OK since, after rounding the Cape, we'll be heading 15 mls NE to the safety of San Jose del Cabo with its marina & fuel dock.



Missing mast track slide

Found this slide from a sail batten end, that came out yesterday from the mast track, on deck at the foot of the mast - clearly pulled out from the batten end cover - plastic, with no metal insert? Not strong enough.
Bright sun today; air still feeling cold except in the sun. Sea calm, a slight West wind, motoring still - as expected. No whales seen yet but another cruise ship said plenty around Cabo San Lucas.
Needing to change propane supply tank to galley- gave out y'day just as I finished cooking - so enjoyed my steak & onions etc- all just nicely cooked - lucky!
Expecting to arrive at Cabo San Lucas around sunrise tomorrow. Winds are forecast to stay light at ~5kt until after then so even if they back to S-SW from present W, we should be OK since, after rounding the Cape, we'll be heading 15 mls NE to the safety of San Jose del Cabo with its marina & fuel dock.




Missing mast track slide

Found this slide from a sail batten end, that came out yesterday from the mast track, on deck at the foot of the mast - clearly pulled out from the batten end cover - plastic, with no metal insert? Not strong enough.
Bright sun today; air still feeling cold except in the sun. Sea calm, a slight West wind, motoring still - as expected. No whales seen yet but another cruise ship said plenty around Cabo San Lucas.
Needing to change propane supply tank to galley- gave out y'day just as I finished cooking - so enjoyed my steak & onions etc- all just nicely cooked - lucky!
Expecting to arrive at Cabo San Lucas around sunrise tomorrow. Winds are forecast to stay light at ~5kt until after then so even if they back to S-SW from present W, we should be OK since, after rounding the Cape, we'll be heading 15 mls NE to the safety of San Jose del Cabo with its marina & fuel dock.



Fwd: Warm at last! 2/3rd down the Baja...

Photo shows light wind effects - drooping ensign and wind generator blades hardly spinning. 
Lovely bright sunny day with far less swell - so we're no longer being knocked about- but light wind, so more motoring... & likely same until reaching Cabo San Lucas (250 mls away) - Friday, hopefully. Should reach there to be safe well before forecast strong weather arrives after the calm.
Looking forward to another delicious steak and onions with potatoes and broccoli later today. Mmmm!




Passing by whale-calving area

Thursday 2 a.m. LT. Passing by Bahias Sta Maria and Magdalena where large numbers of whales are congregating for calving. Dark now or I'd pause briefly to go in to see them. Hope I don't hit a sleeping whale but motor running should reduce chance of that.

Soon after sunset, sky was completely clear and beautifully starry. Cloudy now but waning moon shining brightly on calmer sea than before. Pleased that I managed to furl in genoa easily.

Cabo is just over a day away - will be reaching it in good time, well before stormy weather arrives - might see whales on way or near there. Will make for San Jose del Cabo for fuel and to wait for better weather.

Warm at last! 2/3rd down the Baja...

Photo shows light wind effects - drooping ensign and wind generator blades hardly spinning.
Lovely bright sunny day with far less swell - so we're no longer being knocked about- but light wind, so more motoring... & likely same until reaching Cabo San Lucas (250 mls away) - Friday, hopefully. Should reach there to be safe well before forecast strong weather arrives after the calm.
Looking forward to another delicious steak and onions with potatoes and broccoli later today. Mmmm!




One day out from Ensenada

Dull overcast giving way to glimpses of sun. Still having to motor, with very little wind from astern. Managed two hours of sailing last evening. Heater on - air is cold.

USNS Brunswick just passed by, 5mls off, headed North. Nice to make contact earlier with Ham radio friends. It's a long push SSE to get down the long Baja peninsula. ... Likely to be mostly motoring for next several days. .. Ugh...

Photo attachment with text to website blog via Aurora

Photo attachment with text to website blog via Aurora - trying again. Aurora normally auto reduces photos now - let me know if this one (150kb) is too big or if I should reduce size? Can you please delete recent previous test postings to website? On my way to Ensenada before dawn on Thursday - ETA mid-afternoon. Thanks, J.

San Diego - testing again sending photo with blog

To sail around the World, a vessel must start from and return to the same point, must cross all meridians of longitude and must cross the Equator. It may cross some but not all meridians more than once (i.e. two roundings of Antarctica do not count). The shortest orthodromic track of the vessel must be at least 21,600 nautical miles in length calculated based on a 'perfect sphere'. In calculating this distance, it is to be assumed that the vessel will sail around Antarctica in latitude 63 degrees south. A vessel starting from any point where the direct orthodromic distance is too short shall pass one single island or other fixed point on a required side so as to lengthen his orthodromic track to the minimum distance. No starting point will be permitted more south than 45 ° south. 1 degree of longitude at 63 degrees south will be taken as 27.24NM