February 7, 2017
With a second day having a rental car at our disposal we decided to explore the oldest mission on the Baja, Mission San Javier. This is quite a drive from Puerto Escondido with a twisty, and at times washed out road. I would rank the drive as a 6 out of 10 with some rock dodging and hole avoidance required…
February 6, 2017
It was a buddy boat sail up to Puerto Escondido with Striker and Harlequin. We were the last out of the anchorage, by a few minutes, and pushing north we passed both of them. It isn’t a race, right? While at the helm I spotted a disturbance in the water. There are numerous reefs along the way so at first…
February 1, 2017
With the calm winds and waves we departed La Paz. After twelve weeks in La Paz, it was a bit of a shakedown cruise to Ensenada Grande on Isla Partida. Motoring out of the La Paz channel We were the first boat to pull into the anchorage but before long we were joined by four other boats. A bit of…
January 30, 2017
Such is the common saying that La Paz is like a rubber band trapping people for weeks or months longer than planned. It is a nice city, beautiful malecon, restaurants, large cruiser community, and lots to see and do. Making it easy how it gets its reputation. After the rudder bearing repair and new anchor roller installation we were ready…
January 24, 2017
Yet another substantial, multi-step process… Point of note, Seawind 1160s from the factory have 50 meters (165 feet) of 8mm short link galvanized chain. After the mock up that Baja Naval completed in Ensenada it was up to me to fabricate a new anchor roller bracket once back in the US. Before leaving the boat in La Paz I took…
January 21, 2017
Whew, this is a job I am extremely happy to have behind me. I can’t say it was fun. The removal, with the proper procedure, wouldn’t be that tough and would take a maximum of two hours. The installation, well that is another story. But I’m getting ahead of myself. In my communications with Seawind I found out that there…
January 10, 2017
Okay I will be the first to admit I can be a bit, um, well, anal. I like things to be done correctly and the right way. To help those that join us I have put together a number of guides. Do I like having the defined procedures and feel it helps the boat run smoothly? Yes.Is it overkill? Probably.…
January 1, 2017
Whew looking back at 2016 I am feeling very good about the outcome. The long awaited trip to the Sea of Cortez accomplished, not only accomplished but thoroughly enjoyed. It is funny how different an experience will be from what we had dreamed about. Not at all in a good or bad way, just different. The trip to the Sea…
December 14, 2016
I’m in the middle of upgrading the center steering bracket. The Seawind design had a single Ronstan Traveler Car to support the Steering Bracket. My understanding is the newer 1160 catamarans have relocated the Steering Bracket from a vertical mount to a horizontal mount to reduce stress on the ball bearings. This would be a significant change so instead I…
November 17, 2016
This adventure started on Sunday October 2nd wrapped up today, Thursday November 17th, six weeks and five days later. The crew varied with Vicki getting the most time aboard at 32 days and she was a tremendous help. The energizer bunny of the crew, she was in the water twice a day snorkeling or diving and when aboard never stopped…
November 17, 2016
UPDATE January 21, 2017!!! – Rudder bearing installation, see the new post for more information: Update What a process… I had reached out to Van at Seawind Catamarans for assistance on how to remove the rudder bearings. But I suppose I should start from the beginning – for a while now I have had a vibration when making a sharp…
November 16, 2016
Here are the spots we snorkeled from October 30 through November 12, the orange lines indicate the area we snorkeled and there are notes on each spot: Cabo San Lucas: We piled into the kayaks and started at Lover’s beach, then moved back towards the marina to the second spot Highlights: Watched a stingray swimming below at Spot 1 and…