23 deg 01 min N lat/ 110 deg 20 min W long

Almost Fetched Cabo San Lucas                                 November 17, 2011
            It appears that the Skipper of the Shamaness lost track of the fuel consumption. We just ran out of fuel in the port tank and according to the ship's log, we're running on fumes in the starboard diesel tank. But NO WORRIES, Mike and Pedro are getting prepared to siphon ten gallons of diesel from the emergency diesel tank on the foredeck. We are now becalmed 25 miles from the Cabo San Lucas anchorage. So, inspite of a great yesterday afternoon and all night downwind sail, we've been running the motor too much! (Trolling for big game requires motoring.)
          Fishing yesterday was a zero, although two big sportfishing boats hooked up marlin near us. Pete is STILL fishing so LOOK OUT....but the skipper has his knife sharpened and is waiting for another opportunity to cut Pedro's line! (We are loaded with fish fillets and camarones already!) Our wind died this morning but the flying fish had lots of fun zooming off the wave tops and gliding and soaring across the sea...apparently escaping the Shamaness in predator mode! Now that the seas are calm, the flying fish aren't showing off anymore.
         The minor repair list keeps growing so we're anxious to get to civilization and start breaking stuff, finding a hardware store, ship chandlery, etc. to buy new parts. (Leaking sink drain, ready to rust off cold water supply line, rotten rubber valves on dinghy air pump, companionway ladder hinges bent, electric  priming fuel pump not working.)
          Our MOST important ship's stores are  nearly exhausted....e.g. One can  of cold beer remains, no eggs (For making waffles and brownies), no wasabi (for eating sashimi), no port wine (for playing poker), AND now that we ate ham hock gravy and biscuits for breakfast...we're out of ham hocks.
But....our ice box is full of outrageously delicious fish and prawns.
        Bye for now...we'll be busy tomorrow : check-in papers, re-fueling and filling the ship's water tanks, repairs, grocery and parts shopping, mounds of dirty laundry, re-filling propane tank...and we'll of course need at least one night in one of the finest Cabo Watering Holes!
      Having lots of fun!
Love, Dennis, Pedro, Mike           

Mag Bay     Baja California, Sur                                         November 16, 2011

Uncle Remus Day
     Zippity-Do- Dah, it's totally awesome weather here this morning. Gently bobbing in the lazy swell, basking in the warm sun, we've finished breakfast and are slowly getting ready to put the Shamaness on course for Cabo San Lucas. The sportfishing boats even lazed around this morning, sun tanning, feeding the sea gulls, before chasing outside the Bay to fish. The pangas have already run their traps and our “friends” offered us more grande camerones. We declined as we loaded up with seafood yesterday.
     If a day aboard Shamaness was told by a baseball fanatic, yesterday we NEARLY hit for the CYCLE! Can you comprehend: one kilo of giant prawns, three sierra, one 25 pound dorado, a wonderful 15 mile sail in calm seas back from the fishing hole. Then, waiting for our shipment of lobsters, we sipped sundowners and watched the sunset over the Baja  ridgeline. Unfortunately, lobsters are OUT OF SEASON, we “waited” a long time, and drank too many sundowners, so we substituted    steamed prawns and brownies for fish dinner (Fewer dishes). The brownies  needed 2 eggs, of which we have none. So, bisquick thickened the brownie syrup...and we ate'em anyway. Mike said they taste good, you just can't pick'em up.
     Poker tournament continues to drift along with a line up of Mike in first place, Dennis struggling in second and Pedro firmly established in third place. Dennis finally caught Mike bluffing last night and we're trying to NOT FEEL sorry for Pedro...it's still fun to watch him keep opening his wallet.
     We plan to sail offshore to troll across some seamounts and continue a “catch and release” fishing program...single, barbless hooks only. It's only 150 miles to Cabo San Lucas so we'll probably arrive Thursday and see about checking the boat and crew into Mexico on Friday. There is a list of boat repairs and some bar hopping on SQUID ROE (Some cruisers do tequila shots at Cabo Wabo!) to attend to before Pete and Mike fly home next Tuesday.
Love, Dennis, Pedro, Mike

November 14, 2011                

Gin Rummy in Mag Bay

      The weather front was bigger than the cruiser weatherman, Don Anderson, predicted. We are still anchored at Belcher's Point in Mag Bay. The “Rain in Paradise” fell upon the sea for 24 hours, but no real inconvenience for us because our anchorage has given us protection and we are still discovering new tunes to play on the stereo. Mike and Pete continue to deal the gin rummy cards and the three hand,“after dinner” poker tournament is still “possibly” in doubt.
     The dinghy outboard sputtered to life, momentarily elected to choose “half-throttle” as top speed, but eventually cleared the carburetor and hauled the Shamaness crew to shore for a walk this morning.
We visited the Belcher's Point fish camp and were unable to purchase camarones or langosta. Apparently the nearby larger town of San Carlos has the pescadores that catch shrimp and lobster. This fish camp catches sharks, and dorado...but NO BAIT today, so they are waiting for the wind to stop, let the bait fish school up, and  harvest the big dorado manana. Tomorrow  we're going six miles outside the mouth of this big bay and troll for dorado in the midst of our new friends, the sportfishing and panga fleets.(We're also now playing “cruiser radio” patrol...listening to all the radio chatter, secret messages. Captain Dennis just finished relaying a radio message from “ALMOST ALIMONY” to OUTRAGEOUS...they're headed to Man-O-War cove.)
     We finished the yellowtail so now cooking the ham hocks and 13 bean soup for dinner. A dorado for dinner is our goal for tomorrow. One sportfishing boat  just reported:..”.conditions too rough today”, but another boat scored several BIG DORADOES . We plan to arrive in Cabo San Lucas around the 20th of November, so will probably be hanging around Mag Bay for a few more days. (We have a plan to wave furiously at the lobster pangas tomorrow...maybe lobster, shrimp, dorado for dinner?)
Love, Dennis, Pete, Mike

PS One skipper is sharing a story of casting a Bally Hoo and catching Marlin after Marlin...just like fishing for bass!

Sunday November 13, 2011

Anchored at Belcher's Point, Magdalena Bay

Harbor Day (That's what the Canadians call a RAINY DAY!)
     We're enjoying a lazy day...it's RAINING in Paradise! The Shamaness Fishing Team warmed up yesterday while sailing 20 miles from Bahia Santa Maria to Mag Bay. Mackerel, bonito and skipjack tested and honed our fishing skills.. No dorado ripped at our gear, although one denizen of the deep gave Mike a thrill, jumped and threw the hook. We know the GOOD FISHING is here because six million dollar sportfishermen megayachts are anchored next to the Shamaness. But we have principles and refuse to fish in the rain.
     The yeasty cinnamon rolls for breakfast were awesome, but Pedro is now ON PROBATION  from galley service. “Just too much smoke and too many fires for the good of the vessel.” Captain Dennis feels  the only crew capable of returning his new oven to showroom cleanliness is Captain Scott of the S/V Raven...so , “Scott, please go grab several cans of oven cleaner and grab a jet plane.” (Send the bill to Pedro!)
     The crew is busy reading and studying the Mag Bay cruising guide, GPS chartplotter and Mike's IPOD navigation app. They've generated at least three REASONS why we should risk running the Shamaness aground in the poorly marked, shoaling canal winding to the town of San Carlos:1) We drank all the Port wine last night, 2) we need more eggs for breakfast, 3) our tortillas are old, etc, etc...but mainly 4) WE should voyage to San Carlos....BECAUSE we've never been there before! I explained that our last two gallons of gas in the dinghy MIGHT be enough IF the cranky Yamaha decides to start and somehow becomes reliable.
     Pedro is now scratching the blackened oven shelf while belligerently accusing Captain Dennis of incompetence. He claims the Captain's advice was flawed:
“HONEY please...err, Pete, please add honey to the rolls.”
 Now it looks like permanent damage to the oven...Mike will need to intervene, hold Kangaroo court. Now Pedro is shaking his finger! So life is good aboard Shamaness in the RAIN in Mexico.
Love, Dennis, Pete, Mike

Shamaness Ship Log        11/11/11
Bahia Santa Maria, Baja California
24 deg 46 min N lat/ 112 deg 15 min W long

Too Lazy To Fish.
      The anchor chain rattled over the bow roller at 4:30 A.M. this morning in Bahia Santa Maria. We're basking in the warm sun, resting after listening to the diesel push us down the Pacific Coast of Baja for the last 30 hours. It's a gorgeous day here in this big pristine, horseshoe shaped bay. We saw the lights of San Carlos 5 miles away last night, but this place is isolated and uninhabited...UNSPOILED Baja! A tall, rugged mountain protects this area from the Northerly swell and winds...it's great for sleeping here!Our only neighbor, Don and his wife are anchored in their 45 foot trawler ¼ mile farther inside this well-protected anchorage.  Pelicans, frigate birds, dolphins and just a few minutes ago, a very small baby seal came and visited the Shamaness.
     Pedro has the solar shower heating water on the cabin top and Mike is busy texting and making HDR (High definition resolution) photos with his Iphone.  (75 miles west of the Baja Capital City, LaPaz.)
    We plan to read, shower, sleep under the cockpit shade until late afternoon and then MAYBE put the dinghy in the water and see whether the outboard motor will start. Pete loves to troll for fishies! We'll be eating MORE yellowtail sushi, sashimi, fish sandwiches...hopefully making room for the DORADO and WAHOO that we saw jumping on our way here yesterday. We'll probably move five miles down the coast tomorrow and start fishing and exploring Mag Bay.
    Weather is great (Not enough wind to sail...very calm), beer is ICE COLD, life is good.
Love, Dennis, Pedro, Mike

Headed to Mag Bay                       11/10/2011

      The sailing was good last night, but the sleeping was not so good. A 10-15 knot breeze on our beam kept the Shamaness honking along at six knots but the short, close together wind chop and swell rolled us like a roller coaster. We're re-locating the case of beer, wandering can of Carnation evaporated milk and cleaning up the smashed cloves of garlic from the salon sole. (That's the floor for all you landlubber's.) Everything loose found it's way to the starboard side last night!
     We departed Turtle Bay yesterday late morning in a 20 knot North wind and sailed happily downwind until mid- afternoon when the wind died. Mike hooked into another denizen of the deep and we boated a 25 pound yellowtail!!! So motoring along, eating sashimi, we overtook our “somewhat arm's length” new friend, Tom.  The 24' Tanzer,  Vanessa,  was bobbing and gently rolling in the gentle seas and Tom accepted a 20 mile tow from the Shamaness.
      The North wind filled again around sunset, we threw Tom a bag of yellowtail and  motorsailed into the night. We are now motoring in calming seas and dying wind. We're 100 miles northwest of our next destination, Magdalena Bay. We plan to explore the remote bay (Pedro says it's a BIG bay the size of San Francisco Bay?), catch some fish...we'll need to remove the barbs from our hooks and start eating fish FOUR times a day!
     The sun is shining bright, the weather is getting warmer. The dolphins were flying straight up, toward the sun and falling back into the sea this morning as we sipped our first cups of coffee in the cockpit. I'm training Pedro to make biscuits and Mike is bugging me to teach him how to operate the single-sideband radio. (Captain Dennis overslept this morning and missed the weather report.)
    Time to check the biscuits and start frying eggs and pastrami for breakfast....ummm good
Love, Dennis, Pete, and Mike

25deg 59 min N lat/ 113 deg 29 min W long.

11/9/2011

Headed for Mag Bay                             Turtle Bay, Baja California

      The Shamaness crew was (mostly) successful yesterday afternoon in Bahia Tortugas. Diesel tanks: FULL, groceries: FULL, hot showers: DONE, ice cold Pacificos: GONE, fish dinner: cheap but not delicious! No luck on langosta...I guess there aren't any poachers left here. BTW we saw two soldiers in fatigues (no machine guns) and one (empty) police car.
     We found two GRINGO sailors wandering the narrow, dusty streets yesterday and drank our fill of cold cervesa and listened to tales from the high seas. Captain Tom was anchored near the Shamaness but he's already weighed anchor, hoisted his jib, and sailed his vessel, the Vanessa over the horizon. His story was how he and his Tanzer (24' plastic beer can racer) survived “the storm.” He wobbled between bragging about how great his sailboat handled the biggest seas he's ever seen and amazement that he and his boat actually LIVED to drink and party in Turtle Bay.
         The other sailor's tale was not so happy. A 50 something, legally blind sailor by the name of Dennis, was eating a Mexican combo and swilling margarita's when we joined him in the Motel Rendon Bar. He was mourning the probable loss of his pocket cruiser 150 miles west of Turtle Bay after “the storm.” His story relates the PIRATE behavior of the United States Coast Guard declaring his 20' Pacific Seacraft Flicka   unfit for voyaging and demanded he abandon ship. His gooseneck on the boom was broken, he was dragging a sea anchor from the bow and a “grab ahold” and climb back aboard safety line from the stern. Now he's busy generating “litigation benefits” so he can SUE the COAST GUARD and buy another boat with his windfall.  (website: insightsailor.com) He says the Mexican Navy is wonderful...they're out THERE searching for his abandoned vessel.
      Mike is frying french toast, Pedro has re-bandaged his shark bite and is bragging about the wonderful antibiotic AZITHROMYCIN. So all is business as usual. I need to get this log out to YOU so you'll have more reasons to be assured of my sanity! But we're off for Mag Bay after breakfast...the sportfishermen reported a big Dorado bite inside the Bay and Marlin only 5 miles outside. (We ARE NOT marlin fishing!!!...we already learned all we need to know about DON'T fish for marlin!)
Love, Dennis, Pedro, Mike

11/8/2011
Anchored in Turtle Bay, Baja California

       The cliché: “nothing stays the same, constant change is inevitable”, doesn't apply to this Baja fishing village. The stark barren mountains, the windblown, rusted corrugated tin buildings, and the dust cloud rising high above the town of Turtle Bay is a vision from the first time the Shamaness anchored here, 15 years ago. The fishermen, hunkered in pangas, are still dressed warmly in yellow and orange foulies and are  still quick to wave as they cruise past across the wind-whipped bay waters. This desolate place gives credence to the tenacity of the Mexican fishermen and freedom from RED TAPE!
(i.e. We're NOT expecting any policemen, harbor patrol, customs officials, game wardens or holding tank cops HERE! Hell, nobody here has EVER heard of a holding tank!) This is Baja and the “FRON” letters on the license plates stand for FRONTIER.. OOPS! Mike is raging from the cockpit...I NEED an IPHONE! He is texting Terrie from this desolate, end of the earth frontier..SHIT!
      We had our first really nice day of down-wind sailing yesterday and greatly appreciated the harvest  moon as we dropped anchor at 6 A.M. this morning. (There was one 3 hour stretch of 20 plus knots on the southwest corner of Cedros Island that required dropping the mainsail and screaming down-wind on the jib only...) We're relaxing today, waiting for the 15 knots of east wind in the anchorage to lighten up. We have plans to walk the street of the Village of Tortuga, peek in the windows, buy some huevos (eggs) and leche (milk). The old rickety dock is still standing, maybe we can fill our port diesel tank and inquire about the possibility of connecting with a lobster poacher. (After dark, just like the last time the Shamaness was here!) Hopefully we can buy a hot shower and a nice Mexican dinner in town.
      The crew general health report is somewhat ragged as Mike is recovering from a bad migraine and Pedro is whipping a common cold. Captain Dennis is happily downing a couple Advil's for minor old man aches. The Shamaness is holding up well, although the galley sink drain is leaking and the hinges on the companionway ladder need repair.
     We have shared “the Baja experience” with many of you back home...and are re-living all those great cruising tales from days gone by! We MISS YOU and Love you all! Wish you were here...
Love, Dennis, Pedro, Mike

November 7, 2011

28degrees 52 minutes N lat/ 115 deg 27 minutes W long
30 miles North of Cedros Island, Baja California

SHARK, SPINNAKER, and BISCUITS and GRAVY!

         We're motorsailing toward Cedros Island and then into Turtle Bay around midnight tonight. We got caught in a mellow group of squalls last night, Pedro actually needed to double reef the mainsail and “run'er off downwind,” but no problems other than a lot of rolling and difficult sleeping. Today we're  waiting for the wind to pick up so we can hoist the big red and white spinnaker and leave the diesel in the fuel tanks.
       Yesterday afternoon we flew the spinnaker in 10 knots of wind and enjoyed a great afternoon of downwind sailing in calm seas. But toward evening the Fish Slayer, Pedro “Killer” Hatton, hooked into a denizen of the deep. Captain Dennis and Mike began the “emergency” spinnaker drop, while Pedro watched the mighty quarry rip  line off his brand new shiny Shimano reel. The sail drop was fairly routine (For our first time!) but “Killer” was cussing about...”now I'm down to the 30 lb backing line and this hog is sounding!”So by the time we got the Shamaness hove-to and chasing the fish, Pedro appeared to be losing the battle. Eventually, the “Old Man” of the sea put the hammer down and the tired denizen of the deep popped a dorsal fin out of the sea 50 yards to leeward. Nice tall dorsal fin and tip of tail with rounding of the fins...”kinda like a KILLER WHALE”...but NO, a four foot bonito shark was chewing on Killer's $20 lure. (This was bad news, because sharks have sharp teeth, are expected to be mean and ARE dangerous! And especially bad news because killer can be a cheapskate and wanted his lure back!)
      We have video and photos of Killer laying on the gunnel amidships, steadying the monster with the gaff while slashing with his trusty knife to free his lure. Blood and a terrifying stare from the shark are plainly visible. After a respectable bout of hand to mouth, gaff ,and knife slashing...both contestants ended the fight bleeding. Pedro has a small duct tape splint on a finger and the shark has a two inch gash near the jugular. Pedro is still fishing with his treasured lure.
      Mike's birthday party was pretty sedate last night as we all ate too much spaghetti and meatballs and the cake was a bit overdone (DRY CAKE)...So we had biscuits and gravy for breakfast this morning and are considering trying to eat more cake later ...maybe for lunch?
…...So far that's all we are doing here: Shark Fighting, Spinnaker Flying, and Biscuits and Gravy!
Love, Dennis, Pete, and Mike

November 6, 2011
30degrees 51 minutes North Latitude/ 116 degrees 32 minutes West Longitude
157 miles to Cedros Island

  Underway from San Diego (Happy Birthday Mike)
        The Shamaness and crew (Dennis, Pete Hatton and Mike Murray) motored out the San Diego Channel yesterday at noon. We bobbed and weaved our way through a flotilla of racing sailboats and convinced the patrol boat that we were carrying no contraband. Mike smiled his cop smile, reached for his badge and suddenly the Shamaness was given the “OK to pass”, no onboard search needed!
      The rainstorm hit us Friday in the San Diego marina, but a beautiful sunny Saturday morning convinced the Captain and crew that it was time to begin our voyage to Turtle Bay, Magdalena Bay and then Cabo San Lucas, Baja California.. Another low pressure front was forecast to arrive in San Diego today, so we decided to take our chances that we could “out run the rain”. So far our decision looks great. We haven't had favorable wind but the seas are pretty nice with warm, sunny sky today. The birds are working so Pete and Mike are trolling a feather and a cedar plug at five and a half knots...no tuna yet.
So all's well aboard the Shamaness, I'll go start Mike's Birthday cake soon.
Love, Dennis, Pete, and Mike