Nina's November Cruise

Monday, 15 Nov, 1630
After some lengthy discussions and much paper-shuffling, Ned Pos, Fred
Ray and I get our papers for crossing, finish the last-minute loading,
start the engine, and slowly chug out of San Carlos for the rendezvous
with our fellow cruisers. Stu Willoughby and LeRoy Braun are on "Sweet
Obsession," Stu's brother Steve is on His MacGregor 25 (named "MacGregor
25") with LeRoy's brother Ken; Tony and Andy Rundle are on the MacGregor
26, "Cool Change," and Graham and Ruth Rundle are joined on their
Catalina 22, "Finally," by Graham's brother, Rip. Lots of siblings on
this trip. Bob Forier and Carolee say they will join us in a day or two
in Concepcion.
It's a lovely afternoon, clear, bright, blowing about 15 from the
northwest. We fly our main and working jib and move along smartly at 5
- 6 knots. All the boats check in on our hourly net as darkness closes
in. Ned has his camera all poised, but no green flash is seen.
I get the first nap and am awakened at 2030 by increased boat motion
and slamming into choppy waves. We discuss reefing and finally do so at
2345. Fred takes a brief nap, then is replaced by Ned for a snooze in
the quarter berth.

Tuesday, 16 Nov 0130
The wind is in the 20-25 range now, and the seas are confused and quite
lumpy. Nina crashes and jumps about, but our doughty auto helm keeps on
steering beautifully. When we start getting spray in the face, we
decide it's time for the second reef, and things then level off nicely.
Don't leave home without a good auto-steering of some kind.
Fred and I munch on Granola bars and tell sailing stories about the
good old racing days. Mine only go back to college, but Fred's go back
to his pre-adolescent days when he and a buddy got their first boat,
read some books, and began to clobber all the junior sailors in the
Seattle area. Fred was so wrapped up in sailboat racing that all
through his high school years he thought of girls only as lightweight
crew persons. This seems to explain a great deal about Fred.
0500 The wind dies quickly; we take out the reefs, then start the
engine. We can see the lights in the Chivato area, but can't figure out
the patterns. Nothing new here. Later, we discover that the lights on
Punta Chivato and Punta Santa Ines are out. The lights on the two
little islands are working, however, and provide some guidance, but we
wisely decide to wait for enough daylight before attempting to get to
the anchorage. All our boats have checked in throughout the night, and
everything seems okay.
0815 We motor with main and cruise past the hotel, make a right, and
drop anchor in ten feet of clear water on a nice sandy bottom.
1100 All boats are in and safely anchored, so we go for a walk through
the hotel, where we talk to workmen who are remodeling the place. They
are redoing the restaurant, kitchen, reception area, and ten rooms.
They seem to be making good progress and assure us that the place will
be open in Mid-December. We proceed north toward the RV/camping beach.
This is a lovely area, and there are about ten spots occupied by folks
of all ages who are having a great time. The water is in the high 70's,
so there is much wind-surfing, snorkeling, and general aquatic
goofing-off going on. We talk to an elderly couple (that means they are
even older than I). Cookie and Harold are from California and have been
coming to this spot for ten years. They fear that the people in the new
homes on the bluff above the beach are going to force closure of this
neat area and that they will have to search for another camping place.
Maybe Punta Arena, they say. We decide to look at Punta Arena when we
get to Concepcion.
1400 We nap on the boat, go for a swim, hike up to the tienda and buy
a few items, then return for a gourmet-feast dinner.
1645 It helps to be ravenously hungry, but we absolutely devour
a super one-pot meal before belching and settling down in the cockpit
for stargazing and story-telling. I was going to keep this recipe a
secret, but the lads told me I must share it with you. Here 'tis:
PERFECT ONE-POT GOURMET DINNER
Into a large sauce pan dump (errr, place gently)in this order:
1 can Dinty Moore, 1 lightly saut�ed onion, 1 can Heredia salsa roja,
1 can pork and beans, 1 can chunky minestrone soup, 1 squeezed lime, 2
shots good rum. Simmer for 18 - 23 minutes. Serve in plastic bowls
with Bimbo white bread on the side. Que bueno!

Wednesday 17 Nov 0700
Fresh coffee. We use the French press. No instant stuff for us.
Delicious. Go for a swim, rinse with freshwater spray bottle, gobble
down a PBJ sandwich, pull the anchor, and motor on a glassy sea south
toward Concepcion.
1330 We're on the hook in ten feet about 200 yards off Santispac beach
after a very pleasant motor sail. It's important to get an early start,
as Graham can tell you. They left around 1300 and encountered the daily
land breeze on the nose, which made for an uncomfortable trip.
1500 "Fantasea" has now pulled in, and we join Bob and Carolee on
shore as we go to set up dinner with Ray Lima. Ray's Place, which we
wrote up last November, is THE restaurant in Bahia de Cencepcion. Ray
is a Cuban who grew up in the San Fernando Valley. He and Ned exchange
many a pleasant reminiscence as we made plans for dinner. Ray and his
fianc�e, Fabiola, have a neat little palapa and a fine menu. In
addition to the standards on his list, one must always ask about the
specials. Today it is yellowtail--enough for all of us. We make
arrangements to have a table set up for all fourteen of us.
1900 The fourteen sailors are all in place, and I can attest
that the garlic-style yellowtail was fabulous. Others had it blackened,
and still others had the shrimp papagallo (wrapped in bacon and stuffed
with cheese. No on complained.
2230 Belching in the cockpit, trying to view the Leonid meteor shower
through eyelids which refuse to stay open.
Thursday 18 Nov 0400
I drag my sleeping bag up to the cockpit, settle down in the heavy dew,
and count the meteors. I only get up to eleven (none of them
spectacular--like last year) before I again doze off.
0800 Coffee, swimming, showering, more PBJ sandwiches. It's been
years since any of us has eaten PBJ sandwiches, but we all find them
oddly addictive. Maybe it's the Bimbo white bread.
0900 We take off on the three-mile hike to Punta Arena, which is worth
a close look. We usually give it a wide berth while sailing because of
the sandy shoals which extend up to two miles out at a depth of less
than eight feet. The beach is a four-mile crescent of clean white sand,
and many innovative palapas have been built next to RV spaces. There
remain many camping spaces, too; we hope Cookie and Harold from Chivato
find this beach if they get kicked out of Chivato.
We hike back listening to Fred's grumblings because the sand and small
stones in his Tevas are giving him blisters.
1400 Ray opens the Place, and we chow down on his famous burgers.
Burp. Excellent.
1630 Nap on boat. Great weather: mid 80's, mild breeze, my
tranquilo.
1830 Go to Ray's for light dinner. He has a three-taco and a beer
special for 35 pesos. We all try different kinds of tacos (fish,
chicken, or beef) and each thinks he has made the perfect choice.
2000 We wild lads are sacked out. Just too much excitement around
here.
Friday 19 Nov 0725
Up, drinking coffee, packing and cleaning and getting ready to depart
Santispac.
0830 Motorsailing toward Punta Arena and Mulege. Others to follow.
Pleasant sail for an hour or two, and then we motor at half tide into
Mulege's little harbor.
1120 We visit the friendly port captain, who remembers us from previous
visits and is quite cordial.
1230 We're checked into the Hotel Serenidad; the rest of the flotilla
is in the harbor, and we're ready for a walk downtown.
1700 Back at the Serenidad Fred tells us more about his blisters while
we enjoy a good dinner. We tried the pool and the swim-up bar, but the
water had to be in the low 60's. Forget that.
2000 Steve and Stu and crew are going to stay up for the UA/New Mexico
game--those rowdy youngsters--but we old fellows crash and burn.
Saturday 20 Nov 0700
After a nice breakfast we walk downtown to view the festivities. It's
the day of commemoration of the Revolution of 1912. Little kids are all
dressed as Pancho Villistas -- the boys with mascara mustaches and the
girls looking like soldaderas. There's a pickup-truck parade (supported
by the local fire trucks) out to the high school ball field below the
Mission. After many stirring political speeches (which sound the same
the world over) the kids from each school present rousing routines
taught them by their attentive, whistle-blowing P.E. teachers. The
best, of course, is a troupe of high school girls dressed in tight satin
outfits who do a lively cumbia routine complete with much
washing-machine motion. Parents and teachers cheer lustily. Little
kids chase each other (and dogs) through the crowd. The vibes are warm
and earthy.
1200 We visit the Mission then walk into town for lunch at Las Casitas,
the finest of the downtown hotels. In the year that the Serenidad was
closed due to ejido lawsuits, we had eaten the Saturday pig roast
there. It was quite good, but we're all glad that Don Johnson has his
hotel back and running up to speed.
1400 After visiting the jail/museum we're back and surprised to learn
that a rumor of foul weather has swept threw our little fleet. Graham,
Ruth, and Rip have decided to leave right now. In fact, they left an
hour or so before we got back. The rest of us talk things over and
decide to wait and see. A viewing of the weather channel shows nothing
weird in the Gulf of California and environs. Stu and Steve, however,
choose to depart right after the pig roast; Tony opts to stay until
morning with us. Bob and Carolee have dinghied in from their offshore
anchorage. They will likely set sail that night after the dinner.
1900 The dinner is its usual wonderful self. We eat and eat. Then
they say seconds are available. Only one of our group staggers to his
feet for more. He shall remain nameless, but he is definitely an eating
champ. Right, Andy?
2200 After the mariachis have blown themselves out, we have one
nightcap, peruse the weather channel, and decide that things look fine.
Sunday 21 Nov 0600
Breakfast and settle up the bill.
0820 High tide finds us motoring out of the harbor. A guy on a
35-footer tied up at the sport pier comes running out and yells at us
that they're getting a 40-knot gale in San Felipe and that we're gonna
get kicked around. Thanks for the news.
0900 San Carlos is 70 Nautical miles away, and we're motorsailing
close-hauled on port into a 5-knot zephyr.
So it goes throughout the day. Occasionally we kill the motor, then
restart it. Around 1600 the breeze peaks at 17 on our little wind
meter, but that's as hairy as it gets.
1700 Motorsailing with main and 2,000 rpm on the engine. Very easy
motion. Tetas de Cabra in sight ahead as the Tres Virgenes are outlined
the setting sun aft, and a bright, nearly-full moon has risen off the
starboard bow.
1800 After a last PBJ, we kick back, I tell some hilarious Steve
Helm stories. Too bad he's not there to tell 'em himself.
2200 The lights of the houses on the Caracol are in sight, as is the
black outline of Punta Doble.
Tony and Andy radio us that they are safely in, tied up at a slip, and
going out for a toddy. They really went fast. We had them in sight
most of the day, but around 1600 they got the perfect wind and zoomed
over the horizon.
2330 The channel is glassy, black, and welcoming. We slide up to the
fuel wharf, secure our mooring lines, sack out and dream pleasant ones.
Couldn't have been a nicer cruise.

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Nina's November, 1999, Cruise