San Diego, Sirocco Back in the US of A

After quite the exciting trip up from Los Cabos, Sirocco arrived with all of her crew in Southwestern Yacht Club in San Diego. Despite having pretty strong northwesterly winds from Turtle Bay all the way to Ensenada, there really wasn't any serious damage to the boat, which is good because it looks like another weather window is forming later next week to make it to the Bay Area.

As a result, I'm making a quick turnaround and heading out this afternoon with a friend from college, Mike. Our destination is Morro Bay, 250 miles away up the coast. The winds look good to get around Point Conception, which is probably the most dangerous part of this next trip.

I will drop Mike off in Morro Bay so he can return to San Diego and get ready for his backpacking trip this summer where he will hike the entirety of the Continental Divide Trail, a combination of a few trails and roads that allow hikers to go from Mexico to Canada through the Rocky Mountains.

I haven't had a chance to upload photos from my phone to the Google drive so no photos for now. But hopefully by next Thursday I'm in San Francisco and I'll upload a lot of photos from the last few weeks and even from Panama as well.

Baja Bash

My dad is in the air on his flight from LAX into Los Cabos airport, scheduled to arrive at 6:50 pm. Once I pick him up, we'll get some dinner and take a quick nap before waking up at 3 am to head out for San Diego.

The trip from Cabo to San Diego is known as the "Baja Bash" because most of the time you are smashing into waves from the dominant north westerly winds. The forecast right now looks ok with winds less than 15 knots and Friday and Saturday around 5 knots from the northwest. However, later next week the low pressure system coming into California may produce some westerly winds which would really help us be able to sail.

In any case, Erica, Bridget and I had a great trip across from Puerto Vallarta to San Jose del Cabo. Winds allowed us to sail to within 30 miles of the harbor which was really nice after the long motor up from Huatulco. After we did some sightseeing around San Jose and Cabo San Lucas, they flew home Sunday.

Enjoy some pictures! If all goes well, my dad and I could be in San Diego by next weekend! Otherwise it may be Tuesday the 28th, just in time for my dad's flight out on the 29th. I plan on stopping in Turtle Bay and Ensenada, but have a bunch of other anchorages scoped out in case of bad weather or engine/rigging failures.

Last sunset in Puerto Vallarta. The colors were spectacular.

Erica's first watch!

Bridget staying cool below decks

Erica being a sailor

Erica not impressed by my picture taking.

The drunken sailor bar! I went here when I was here three years ago, didn't get a chance this time.

The girls enjoying hard earned margaritas on our first day in San Jose.

Tamales are still here, though I didn't see any nuns... they also weren't quite as good as I remembered, though still pretty darn good.

Bridget presents a safety moment. These electrical wires were hanging right over the stairs for the pedestrian overpass.

Lover's beach in Cabo San Lucas. We took at water taxi from the main marina for $10 each and I got to jump off a big rock on the way out. That's money well spent!

Erica and I on Lover's beach. Dawwww...

Erica was soooo excited about the springbreakers... NOT! We all agreed it was much better that we stayed in Puerto Vallarta for the majority of the time.

Concert/danceoff/beauty pageant in downtown San Jose

Sunday brunch with Erica before she left. Some of the best eggs benedict I've ever had

Decent pizza at Fiorenza's, but I found better stuff the next night at Toro''s Pizza, which is right next to the marina.

Sirocco's spot for a few days

I won't be using this as a navigational chart, but it gives a nice idea of just how completely desolate the next part of the trip is.

Burger at Retro Burger

Pecan/date pie for pie day! Not incredible but probably the best I could find in San Jose.

These cows just roamed around everywhere in the marina. Sometimes they would really spook me at night.

Last sunrise in Puerto Los Cabos! Next stop, San Diego!

Puerto Vallarta, A Hard Rock Life

I can't take credit for the Annie reference, that was completely Erica's creation.

But it's true I've made it to Puerto Vallarta! This area truly is teeming with exiting things to do. When I first arrived I took a short bus ride to the next town north of here called Bucerias. It has a concentrated tourist center with some really quality restaurants and shops. They also have a nice open air market on most days that grows even bigger on the weekends. You can find literally anything here: tools, clothes, sculptures, paintings, ornaments, food. It's all there. And of course you are right next to the water so there are a variety of top notch seafood restaurants that all have seating right on the beach.

Sirocco is currently tied to the dock at Paradise Village Marina. The marina rates are very reasonable, even though it is considered high season. I also have complete access to the entire Paradise Village complex, including all their pools, spa, beach and gym. For the first four days I was here, it was really nice to go jump in the ocean then hit the hot tub after a day of working on the boat. There wasn't much boat work to be done, but there was a nasty mess created in the long term food storage area underneath the cockpit. It appeared to be tomato soup and beans mixed together and left to sit in the baking tropical sun. Not a good combination. But some elbow grease and bleach made it like new and forced me to go either throw out containers from back there or bring them into the kitchen. Moral of that story is don't over provision with canned food before you leave the states!

Now Erica and our friend Bridget have arrived and we are staying at the Hard Rock which is conveniently located right across the street from Sirocco. We will be staying here until Tuesday when we'll take off to sail to Cabo where Erica and Bridget will fly back to the states. My dad will be joining me in Cabo for the bash up the coast. If all goes to plan I hope to be in San Diego by March 27th or thereabouts.

Here are some pictures from the trip up from Huatulco!

Erica descending the stair case in the Hard Rock. We are staying on the "Rock Royalty" level so they do make you feel pretty special.

Eating at a nice little seafood place in Bucerias. It really feels more like southern California here than Mexico sometimes with the number of expats and tourists.

Manuel Cota, a senator for the state of Nayarit, was out and about in Bucerias talking to constituents. He seemed very down to earth and had a large group of people following him hanging on to every word.

The beach and palapas in front of the Paradise Village resort. Not a bad to way to relax after a long trip.

After spending the night just bobbing around Banderas Bay, I motored in at first light and was tied up to the dock by 9 am. Here's a picture of the hotels in Nuevo Vallarta.

Sirocco at anchor in a tiny little cove just south of Chamela Bay, Jalisco.

Enjoying a nice Fresca in Chamela Bay before heading north to Vallarta, about a 100 mile trip.

In Acapulco I found a sistership to Sirocco! Cal 39 as well and probably very similar model year. However it doesn't look like this one gets out very much, which is sad.

In Acapulco these Beetles are everywhere. About 80% of their taxi fleet are these little cars.

Coming into Acalpulco. I had to stop to get fuel as well as add a remote starting solenoid on the engine to solve a "hot engine" starting problem. Basically the wire going to the starter gets too hot when the motor has been running too long and therefore increases its resistance. Not enough voltage is then present at the starting solenoid and when the start button is pressed, nothing happens. This fixed completely solved the issue, which only occurs when the motor has been running for 12+ hours and may not even matter when I get to cooler climates.

Before I left Huatulco I sailed around to a little bay where the Club Med was located to relax and clean the bottom of Sirocco. Fine day, but a little to much swell to enjoy the little reef that lays off the left side of the beach. Oh well, next time I suppose.