The Taco Traveler

If you've ever sailed or motored into 20+ knot winds, after looking at this weather prediction, you'll appreciate why we're still here in San Diego.

 
This is the model for 12Z this coming Sunday (4am PST), and it predicts south winds from 27-33 knots. So that's why we'll be here until sometime Monday, when the wind starts looking something more like this:

Though I feel in a hurry, I have to point out that I'm a champion at waiting for weather. Because of my late start from Seattle, I waited in Port Townsend for at least a week after the boat was ready, and then in Eureka for at least two weeks (with a visit to Seattle). And the San Francisco delay of a month or so wasn't due to weather as it was to a 10-day trip to see the boys. Here in San Diego the delay hasn't been weather at all, until now, but patience seems even more important when single-handing or heading out with inexperienced crew.
 
What I use mostly for weather is a site that Captain Rich turned me on to: Storm Surf. That link goes directly to the Wavewatch III weather models, which are built based on the NOAA Wavewatch III data from around the globe. Last night before we decided it wasn't worth it, I was looking at the three Baja charts (last table on the page) to see the local wind forecasts up & down the coast. Here's the forecast for Northern Baja (Ensenada). We could have been in Ensenada right now, but we would have been fighting 11-15 knot winds the whole way, and would have probably just motored.

For Central Baja, the wind is flukey until Friday, and then it comes out of the south for a few days, and on Sunday it's up to 32 knots. We would have been past the 32-knot section, but "racing" the weather is never smart. South Baja looks great, though Saturday and Sunday would have been blowing against us, by Monday everything is once again as it should be, blowing from the NW about 15-20 knots.

So I guess what I'm doing is trying to convince myself that staying here until after my trip to Seattle next week was the right thing. I know it was, but to rely so much on "forecasts" rather than getting out there and just dealing with it, makes me feel much less adventurous. But I want nice following breezes, and in this case, given everything else I've already mentioned, it just made sense to wait for them.

Right now Denali is playing his Charango on deck. It's a 10-stringed Andean instrument, and sounds very cool. After I go inform the dockmaster that I'll need to stay here another nine days (wonder if they're getting tired of me?), we'll go out for a sail. Well, at least it's a beautiful day in San Diego.

 

After what seems like forever here in San Diego, it's finally time to go south. There have been documentation delays, work delays and just plain nerves that have kept me from venturing farther down (nerves about paperwork / bureaucracy / "checking in", the quality of my Spanish, unfamiliar anchorages...). But at least now I have crew. Denali and Malavika are inexperienced but smart. They're great companions, and fascinating people. They will learn about sailing soon enough, but for right now, at least they'll be able to keep watch while I get some sleep.
 
It's 7pm PST, and we'll be leaving about 10 or 11pm in order to arrive in Ensenada (68 miles away) around 10am. After checking into Mexico at the CIS (the combined check-in office for all three agencies we have to alert to our arrival), we'll fill up our tanks with fuel (at 2.50/gallon, I hear), have lunch, and then very likely head out again. I've considered staying a night in Ensenada, but as much as I hate to say it, a schedule dictates that we make more south before relaxing. I need to be in Cabo for a flight to Seattle on Wednesday the 29th, so our plan currently is to head down to Bahia Santa Maria (which is right next to San Carlos, Magdalena Bay), where I'll hop on a bus to Cabo. When I return to the boat on Friday 1/31, we'll continue south, and maybe spend one night anchored out at Cabo (I've heard slips in the marina quoted anywhere from $150 to $180/night for a 43' boat) before heading for La Paz, where we'll rest and relax for a few days before crossing the Sea of Cortez to Mazatlan.

I need to be in Mazatlan by February 16 for a trip to Panama City to see the boys. Speaking of... I just talked to Ty Ty (Grady had called earlier). Man, I miss those boys. It's so hard being this far away, for this long. I know, though, that we'll all be better off for me having experienced this trip, and that someday they'll join me for the whole dream, picking lobsters off the sea floor, kayaking into shore to hike a mountain, meeting new people, having endless adventures....

I'll keep a log and write often, though I may not be able to upload until Cabo (unless I get my SSB/SailMail configured).

TT

 

In the small anchorage that sits between the Coast Guard Air Station and the huge docks where the cruise ships load and offload their passengers, sits a massive field of mooring buoys rented by the month by the San Diego Mooring Company. I haven’t gotten a great look at the boats farther out, but as best I can tell it’s no more than a floating trailer park within walking distance of downtown. I don’t mean that pejoratively; more than anything else, it just makes me sad.

By far the saddest of these floating trailers are the ones lining the quay – the walkway along the waterfront once you get past the touristy restaurants and into the area of the city that is nothing but a four-lane road running to the airport. There you see the boats on the low-rent mooring buoys. The ones tied stern-to the quay where all the walkers, runners, bike riders and vagrants can see the bottom-growth getting heavier day-by-day from stasis and owner-neglect. Like meals on wheels for overweight couch-potatoes too large to leave their homes, these boats have their adventure delivered to them by the wakes of passing container and cruise ships that remind them twice – once coming from the bay, and again going back out after rebounding off the quay – of larger swells they used to surf.

Though there are clearly people living on many of these boats, you rarely see them. The bar-b-queues are well-worn, sometimes the dinghy seems operable to ferry them to land for a bit of work, but there’s nothing about these boats that rings of adventure... anymore. Often, the sails have been replaced with rolled up tarp, or what lies underneath a sail cover is just a boom.

Nanaimo

You can't see it in this little photo, but Nanaimo's hailing port is Ipswich. Really? Ipswich, Suffolk, UK? Ipswich, Queensland, Australia? Ipswich, Massachusetts? It doesn't matter; they're all pretty far away. Did this little Nanaimo really come all the way from some Ipswich or another? Did she motor down the River Orwell and out into the English Channel, past London and out into the Atlantic? Did she thread her way through the islands of the South Pacific, maybe hop up the coast of Mexico and land here? Or did she come down the east coast, through the Canal? Anyhow, now she sits, after all that adventure, sail-less but still barely alive. Possibly kept alive by her wind generator, waiting out her remaining days in the San Diego Yacht Convalescent Home, a $20 summertime drugstore inflatable raft serving as her dinghy.

Euphoria

By far the most ironic of these boats, Euphoria seems pretty sad. From the overgrown assortment of boat bumpers, of which the owner is obviously an avid collector, to the rusty aluminum dinghy that seems to be about 2/3 her own size, she doesn't really seem to scream, euphorically. She hails from Coronado, which is just across the bridge. A lot of bumpers get lost due to poor knots, so I guess this area, like the backstop of a baseball field, is a good place to pick up the stray bumpers floating away from the rest of the mooring field residents.

Mutt “N” Jeff

Deflated and engineless, sometimes, even their dinghies have given up. Mutt "N" Jeff has, at least, some hope of a visitor, with her bumpers deployed ready to receive a guest alongside.

Dinghy Dock

The most hopeful of these pictures, the dinghy dock shows that there is some sign of life out there. The dinghy dock is the parking lot for the working crowd. And really, it's not too bad a commute. A five-minute dinghy ride, ten-minute walk to many downtown buildings.... I'll have to make an effort to stroll on my dinghy through the mooring field before I leave San Diego, and see what sorts of folks are out there a bit farther, beyond the quay.

Vacancy (Thanks. Chemistry and I will pass.)

All my favorite things about San Diego came together in one day. The beautiful bike ride, Mission Bay, the boardwalk of South Mission and Pacific Beach, La Jolla, Pannikin Coffee & Tea, DG Wills' Books, Windansea Beach where the waves were breaking fairly large and the crowd was lining the rail watching the surfers, a nice sunset (not enough clouds or color to be an amazing sunset), a fun nighttime boardwalk bike ride down to Ocean Beach (South Beach Bar & Grill) for some chips & guac, a fish taco, a big beer, a quiet reading in the loud bar of my new Trainspotting screenplay, a quiet (safe, this time) ride home to my boat and a 30-minute shower. Absolutely amazing.

I've never ridden that far on a bike. True, it was only 25 or 26 miles, which is nothing to most serious "cyclists," but for me... I mean, I think I probably weigh about 140 pounds and am totally ... * [ripped just like I was in high school when I was state champ in wrestling my Junior year, and ] exhausted and sore.

* Although part of the original screenplay, not a single part of this scene ever made it into the final cut of the film of my life. Unless my life was cut non-sequentially, which would be weird.

So the screenplay thing: I bought a couple of screenplays at DG Wills and a few days ago I bought a book at Upstart Crow about writing screenplays. The screenplays are Trainspotting and Pulp Fiction. Tarrantino does whatever the he wants in a screenplay, direction-wise, so Pulp Fiction probably isn't a good model to follow for someone unknown, but the Trainspotting format is straightforward. I'm seriously thinking about this. Now all I need is an idea. Hmmmm.

TT

 

If you really want to know my workout secret, study some of the worst golf course designers of the past century. Study them well. You'll find that they know how bad their designs are, so they construct their course so as to keep leading you away from the clubhouse, so that after the 9th hole you find yourself faced with a decision: "Well, should we just walk in? I guess we might as well play this piece of crap back towards the clubhouse, huh?" Therein lies the secret to my workout. Keep running or pedaling as far as you can, and when you can't go any farther, you'll find that you still have to get back home. Tricky, huh?

I've just been reminded by my lunch why I registered this domain name in the first place. I sit now, in The Upstart Crow bookstore / coffee shop in Seaport Village, downtown San Diego, after having just had lunch across the sidewalk at Harbor House restaurant. My idea was (and still is, I suppose) to have a searchable database and user reviews of not just restaurants, but locations and "passion foods." To allow people who are passionate about a certain sort of food to be able to find The Best Fish Taco or The Best Creme Brulee or The Best Caesar Salad or The Best Steak or The Best Eggs Benedict in any city they happen to be in around the world. Of course, it started with just fish tacos, but I've expanded it to all my favorite stuff.

Yes, I'm sort of specific in my tastes, and other peoples' favorite fish tacos may be nothing like mine, but whatever, it's my site. There will be certain criteria for each food. For Caesars, did they overload it with cheese? Is it spicy? Garlicy? Too thin / broken (no egg yolk, usually)? Can you taste the anchovies? If not, can you get real anchovie fillets on the side, or do they use a paste? So at Harbor House, the Caesar was pretty good, but failed on the anchovies (they use a paste) and though I'd requested "easy on the cheese" it came loaded with semi-chunky (but very good) parmesean. No fresh-ground pepper was offered. :/
 
For Fish Tacos, what sort of fish? Fried, grilled, baked? How's the white sauce? What's the filler like? Cabbage, cilantro, chopped peppers... whatever. And the one thing that really gets to me... do they have a freakin' hot sauce besides goddamned Tabasco? Harbor House, no. Good tortillas, good cabbage mixed with cilantro (stuff your own), good fried flaky whitefish, bland pico de gallo, bulk mixed white and yellow pre-shredded cheese (bleh), a mediocre white sauce, and no hot sauce but Tabasco. And so close to Mexico, too. Arrrrgh!

Oh, and the server brought my tacos like 8 minutes after she had brought my Caesar. I was about 5 bites into it. Nice timing.

Anyway, not much more to share. This place (Upstart Crow) is a special place to me. It's where I came many many days before going to work at the Marriott while in college, and I'd sit here, in this very window seat and write in my journal. I'd practice writing (describing the people who walk by, the smells here in the coffee ship with the books and the dust and the french roast), confiding in my journal, writing crappy poetry, and I think I even did some sketching. When I was really adventurous I'd turn around and grab a Heidegger or Derrida and see if I could even come close to decifering what the hell they're talking about.

So that's what I'm going to do now. Baffle my brain with some Heidegger, drink some good French Roast, and create some writing that's absolutely not for public consumption. And maybe eat a cookie; hey, I'm riding my bike everywhere!

TT

 

It's been a ridiculous amount of time since I've posted. I've been meaning to write about a few things for a while, but you know... when I'm not sailing it seems I have so much to do, and so little I feel anyone would be interested in reading about. But despite that, here's a little story about what happened after I finally got to San Diego.
 
As you know from my last blog, on Sunday (11/18) I came into San Diego Harbor and anchored, but you can't anchor anywhere in San Diego Harbor without an "Anchoring Permit" which you have to get in advance, or from the San Diego Harbor Police office, and the Harbor Police office is of course, 8-6 (or something like that, anyway they were closed at 11:30 on Sunday night). A little background; at many marinas I've been to, both in the Seattle area and in San Francisco, they have someone monitoring the VHF or answering the phone all night long. There's always a marina employee or a security guard to tell you where you can tie up temporarily until you can get a more permanent slip when the office opens. But in San Diego, there don't seem to be any such provisions. Even at the San Diego Marriott Marina, which is really nice and you'd think there would always be someone ready to take in a boat willing to pay $90 for a single night's stay at their dock, they close at 5pm.

So, with no marinas answering and seemingly nowhere to go, I anchored just off Harbor Island and went below, logged on and discovered a web site that said you could get a slip at the Harbor Police dock for a limited amount of time. With so many cruisers already bound for Mexico after the hurricane season ended (November 1, according to the insurance companies), I figured there might be slips available. So I pulled up anchor and headed over there about midnight. I docked temporarily at an end-tie which happened to be a pump-out location, and walked around looking for a slip to pop into or someone in charge to talk to, and nothing. So I figured, what the heck, I'll wake up early and get out of here before anyone knows. Since I'd been going for about 15 hours at this point, and with no responses to VHF hails or phone calls to about 8 marinas, I felt like I needed to get Chemistry tied up and get some sleep before I became, in boating terms "a danger to myself and others." And besides, looking at the larger dock not 30 feet away there were at least 4 other pump-out stations.

Well, the next morning I was up at 8am (when the Harbor Police Dock office opens) and because I'm too honest I decided I'd go pay for my stay anyway, and check to see if they happened to have a real slip for me to move to. It was there that I ran into the most cruel, angry, unhappy person I've ever encountered. Ever.

The exchange went something like this:

I walk up to the door, which is one of those half-doors where the top is plexiglass with a hole in it. The office is about 15' by 15', with windows south and west looking over the marina through one window and the Harbor through the other. There's a man, 55-ish, sitting behind a desk looking over his bifocals, shuffling papers.

    "Good morning," I say.
    He looks up and glares. Then looks back down at his papers. "We don't have any slips available," he growls.
    "Um, yeah, I see that on the sign here on the window. I'm the guy parked in your pump-out, the end-tie."
    "You're not supposed to be!" At this point, so quickly in the converstation, he may have turned beet red, and seemed genuinely angry. Very angry.
    "Well, I understand that, but I got in late and there was nowhere else to go. You can't anchor anywhere without..."
    "Are you leaving?!" At this point he stands up and starts gathering the papers he was handling.
    "Would you like me to pay for last night?"
    "No. Just be happy your boat wasn't impounded or that you weren't cited by the on-duty officer. GOOD DAY!" He looked me right in the eyes and said this, slowly, and it's been used before and sounds goofy, but the best way I can describe it is dripping with venom. And he tilted his head down and sneered the "Good day" part, like he had practiced very hard in front of the mirror at being hateful, condescending and dismissive. It was sort of evil.
    I was absolutely blown away, and I felt a sort of bemused grin coming onto my face, so decided I'd better turn and get out of there before my grin became noticable and he found a reason to lock me up.

I mean... if you hate your job or your life that much, do something about it. I'm bothered that he treated me so badly, but really, what I feel most is pity. Did his wife run out on him? Did his dog just die? I don't know, there could be lots of reasons for him to be that way on that particular Monday morning. In any case, in my untrained opinion, the guy needs to change something in his life or he's going to hurt someone.

So... What else? I returned a few days ago from Seattle where I had a great Thanksgiving. I've got a month-long sublease of a decent slip where I have a great nighttime running route, and a good daytime bike-ride to most anything I need. Yes, I actually like not having a car; I'm getting into good shape. I will be here in San Diego until 12/22, with a trip to Florida set for 12/6 to 12/20 while R goes to DC. I'm really enjoying having all day long to polish stainless steel and fix stuff I've been meaning to fix. For the past two days I've had all my anchor chain laid out on the finger pier while I painted sections every 40' so I'd know how much scope I had out from now on. While the chain was out, I completely tore apart and re-greased/maintained my anchor windlass. I'm also getting organized and planning things like a SCUBA compressor and a watermaker. And of course, when the sun's not shining and I've polished all I can polish for the day, I generally sit down at my laptop and start working. Speaking of work....

TT

 

1:40 PM
About 20 nm SE of Catalina Island

Woke this morning about 8 after a long night’s sleep in Avalon Harbor, Catalina Island. Went to El Galleon, which looked like a decent pub-type place but the service at the bar was horrible, so I ended up leaving after one beer and an order of mediocre buffalo wings. I don’t want to be a downer and only point out the negatives about everyplace I go, but I guess I’m a critic at heart. Or maybe I’m already a curmudgeon at 39. Anyway, that whole city is freakin’ expensive! I could have filled up my dingy and loaded it into the water, but it was probably worth the $20 worth of water taxis (2 round-trips @ $5 each way) even though my boat was tied up only 30 yards from the taxi dock. And for diesel this morning I paid $4.70/gallon. Ugh. Oh well, it’s an island.

Anyway, I made my way out of the harbor around 10:30 am and am currently motoring towards San Diego, only 48 more miles away. A bit ago I passed through a field of sea birds, all just sitting there on the water, resting. So that's where they sleep! I also went through a huge pod of dolphins, but none felt like playing except for one guy just bobbing near the surface and slapping his tail on the water ("hey, everyone! Look at me!"). I’m trailing a tuna lure behind, hoping to catch something – this would be the perfect time because it’s just flat here and dead calm. Well, it’s picking up a little, chop-wise, but still no wind to speak of. Just motoring along at 2400 RPM… wow, good timing – just as I reached the ellipses there (after RPM) my lure got hit *hard* and the line started spooling. By the time I got to it and tightened the drag a bit, the thing got off. Dang! My fishing technique and/or my gear need some work. So, to continue, we’re motoring at 2400 RPM doing 6.8 knots through the water (with the California Current, doing 7.3 knots over ground), and will be at the harbor marker at the entrance to San Diego Harbor about 8:30 PM. It was fairly foggy this morning, with visibility about a mile. It’s lightened up and I can see about 2 miles.

I’m sitting here in the cockpit eating Saltine crackers with peanut butter and honey. My favorite snack for a long time that I’d forgotten about and just recently rediscovered. I've been eating pretty well out here these last few days, and am finding that though I’m eating often through the day, my tastes are growing healthier. Yesterday I ate 3 tangerines and an apple, several “dried plums” (did they re-brand “prunes”?) and only a few chips with some really good black bean dip. J

Time to go read the LA Times, continue my cracker lunch (and probably a tangerine or two, maybe a few “dried plums”) and wait for that reel to start spooling again.

 

3:52PM
About 31 nm NW of San Diego
Just went to check on my new lure, and couldn’t help noticing how as it gets warmer the water [10 minutes later…] holy crap, I just saw the remnant splash of a HUGE whale breach. I didn’t see the whale itself, but the splash was about ½ mile away and was still big. I scrambled over to the port side of the cockpit and got my camera ready, but it was apparently a one-time-only show.

Uh… as I was saying, the water is now 62.6 degrees and you can really see the color change. I’ll have to look that up – is it the temperature of the water that makes it appear more blue, or its clarity, or what? I’d put a new lure on a while ago and recently pulled in a big haul of: some sea grass, a big piece of kelp, and a piece of plastic that looked like a piece of an ice bag. So it’s working. It’s a wiggling “Cedar Plug” from a company called Lead Masters (Size #6, Zucchini). Their motto for this lure is “It’s the Wiggle That Works.” We’ll see. It does wiggle pretty cool; if I were a tuna, I’d bite it.

Just heard on the VHF a 16’ boat hailing the coast guard because their compass isn’t working. They left about 90 minutes ago from Catalina towards Newport but now have no idea where they are. Dudes, a GPS unit costs about $100 nowadays. Crazy. They’ll be okay – there are tons of boats going back and for the between the LA area and Catalina. I’ve seen 5 or 6 pleasure boats between San Diego and Catalina. For LA (Newport, Long Beach, Marina Del Rey, Ventura) you can probably triple that. But hopefully they’ll wave someone down soon. It could be scary out here at night with no idea where you’re going on a 16’ boat (open boat? A Boston Whaler?).

10:27 PM
San Diego Harbor

It's a pain to find a place to park around here. This morning when I left Catalina I figured I'd just call a few places on the way. I've been so used to having phone and Internet all the way down the coast, that I wasn't prepared to find a massive dead zone between Catalina and San Diego that would keep me out of contact until after every Harbormaster's office in the city had closed down for the night. What? No phone recording about after-hours arrivals? No late-arrival contact number? Jeez. And you can't even anchor in this harbor without an "Anchoring Permit," so I'll probably get a ticket or something if the Harbor Police wake me up in the morning. Oh well... hopefully the ticket is cheaper than paying $90 for one night's stay at the SD Marriott Marina. $90 just to sit on my boat and sleep.... Unless I'm going to use the marina (fuel, water, shower, restaurant, etc...), I definitely prefer to anchor.

Still so many things I need to figure out on this boat, though. The windlass is one of them. I can't for the life of me figure out how to let out chain using the windlass. And there appear to be lots of twists and kinks in the chain that lock it up inside the chain locker. I need to sit on a dock and tear that thing apart and put it back together. Before Mexico.

Tired, late. G'night.

TT

 

Update 2/18/2008: Updated this for the 6th time, removing all legs prior to Puerto Vallarta. Also updating to allow for shorter trips (single-handing again) and to add places as recommended by friends I've made along the way. Currently in Panama City, FL visiting the boys. Boat is in La Cruz de Huanacaxtle, near Puerto Vallarta.

February 28 -- La Cruz to PV (day sail)
Approx 10 miles. Visit PV for nightlife & etc., get autopilot fixed.

Early March, 2008 -- PV to Zihuantanejo
Approx 420 miles. Including Tenacatita, Barra de Navidad and Manzanillo.

Mid March, 2008 -- Zihuantanejo, Mexico to Hualtulco, Mexico, to Playa de Coco, Costa Rica
Approx 1200 miles. Way offshore to avoid high winds coming off the Gulf of Tehuantepec (Tehuantepecers, heh heh... really - that's what they call them) as winds from the Gulf of Mexico shoot across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec through a narrow gap in the Sierra Madre mountains - picking up speed and spilling into the Pacific. The very end of this leg also crosses the Gulf of Papagayo, where more high winds occur.

Mid-Late March, 2008 -- Cruising Costa Rica's Pacific coast
After clearing into Costa Rica at Playa de Coco, we'll spend between 8 and 10 days making our way down to Golfito.

Late March, 2008 -- Golfito, Costa Rica to Pedregal, Panama.
After returning from Florida and celebrating the new year, we'll depart Golfito on a 100-mile hop around the Punta Burica into Panama and the Port of Pedregal. After clearing in at Pedregal, we'll cruise for 360 miles of islands and coastline including the Islas Secas and the Archipelago de las Pearlas before joining the rest of humanity waiting to get through the Canal sometime before the end of January. I'd hope to not have to rush through this part, as I'm not sure when I'll transit the Canal again. Assuming a Florida base for the foreseeable future, I'll see plenty of Caribbean islands and could cross the Gulf of Mexico for the Yucatan or Belize, but transiting the Canal from East to West will probably happen only one more time -- when I go back through to cruise the South Pacific. And it sounds to me like the Pacific coast has more to offer anyway in the way of nature, and a cruise of this coast won't be complete without a couple of river journeys where we can anchor and wake up in the middle of a jungle.

Late March, 2008 -- Transit Panama Canal
Need to leave a little buffer here, as you can't schedule an exact date/time for transit... basically we'll just show up at the Balboa Yacht Club and they'll tell us how many days we'll have to wait.

Early April, 2008 -- Colon, Panama to Punta Gorda, Belize
About 920 miles north up the Caribbean Sea to Belize. This could be the harshest part of the trip, with potential for battling currents and/or wind for a long passsage.

Mid April (Spring Break?), 2008 -- Belize
About 160 miles of Belize cruising inside the barrier reef, from Punta Gorda to Ambergris Cay. Boys spring break is April 7-11, so they might join me here for this easy cruising?

Mid April, 2008 -- Belize to Cozumel, Mexico
About 190 miles

Late April, 2008 -- Depart Cozumel for Panama City, Florida