One Final Post about San Jose del Cabo

As I am sure you have realized I have not been giving the names of the ports we are currently in or where exactly we are going to. This is a security issue. Having said that I can now tell you where we were...hence the title of this post. I failed to mention one person from the marina in San Jose del Cobo that was extremely helpful to myself as well as the entire boat. He and I became friends and if you ever find yourself at the marina you should ask for Guillermo Castro....he would also like you to friend him on facebook tell him I sent you. Here is a picture of us

This is my last look of the beautiful San Jose del Cabo Marina as we were departing this past Monday afternoon..about 4pm local time.

It's about time to add the next leg to our voyage

This has been a wonderful spot in paradise to wait out weather and repair parts. I want to send a word of thanks to Triche, Theresa, and all the folks at Caracole for helping Rick with the logistics stuff. He raved about how helpful and professional everyone was. Have met some really nice folks

Randy and Viola, retirees from British Columbia were among my favorites. Riff Raff from the Rocky Horror Picture show even dropped by for a visit. He obviously has not held up well over the years! All of the locals have been extremely gracious, putting up with this gringo and his terrible attempt to communicate with them.

One of the neatest things about this place is the large cross on the hill overlooking the marina where are docked. It's the first thing you see in the morning and the last thing you see at night. The cross was erected not long ago to memorialize those that were lost in the terrible hurricane and flooding that occurred last year. This place looks amazing considering the short period of time since it happened. These are a resilient group of folks and I am glad to have spent some time with them. So we will be heading out sometime in the next day or so and there is a lot to do. Will post again at our next stop. Cheers everyone!

Just another day or two In sunny Mexico

When I last posted I told you about the boat owner coming on a courier mission.....thats transportation/logistics speak for the only way to get parts somewhere quick is to have someone hop on a plane and bring them to you. it worked. The new blower is installed and working great. The water pump will have to wait until the next stop. To catch you up on the last couple of days Robert and I had some down time to explore. We found a couple of interesting places...

That spoke to us! And then we saw this sign!

Wow! Today the Los Cabos Ironman is going on and it turns out the marathon portion is running right through the marina. As I post this runners are still coming through. I saw the first ones at 9 am. That's 12 hours ago! You have to admire their determination even though I think it's a sickness! Your welcome DT! The Captain asked me to go with him into town on an errand....that was an adventure...all the main roads were closed for the iron man race so we had to make adjustments...turns out every year they grade a road through the "currently dry" riverbed so people won't be cut off!

What a trip! While coming back I found a new friend!

Well at least I had a nice view to watch some Sunday NFL football. ..I mean American football!

Their is one picture of something I saw in a local shop that answers a lot of questions. I don't feel it appropriate to post on the blog but if you are interested in seeing it and the questions it answers email me...but be prepared! You have been warned. Night all!

The boat owner is coming!

Had to get things ready for a visit from my brother Rick! I think we are ready.

Another day in the life!

Not much to report on yesterday. After breakfast we motored over to the fuel dock...about 200 yards away and filled up on fuel...2000+ gallons! then we headed out a short distance in the the ocean to dump the holding tanks and then back to the dock. So now we are fully fueled and ready to go when the weather picture opens up for us. In case you haven't heard there is a hurricane heading towards the Mexican mainland...it is projected to come in at Puerto Vallarta. That puts it right in our travel path. No need to temp fate...especially in a 55 foot boat. The news of this historical storm is all over down here. Looks like it is a monster! After returning to the dock we all loaded up in the rental jeep and headed into town. Robert and I got dropped off on the main street that is part of the historical district and off we went to explore. The pictures that follow are of some of the neat things we saw.

Our Lunch in a street side cafe...Fish Tacos...not great but all of the salsas with the chips were fantastic.

Evelyn's Store!

Neat Bag I Found

Mezcal...with the worm...for Triche's friend

A neat place overlooking the town square had hand painted sports teams logos/helmets all over...this one is for Kole

For Triche and Pal

For Rick

For Madison, DT, and Troy

Great Picture to end today's post...Cheers!

Side Notes

First of all good morning from my little place in this big world.

I thought I would share some thoughts and observations about life on the boat so far.The first thing that comes to mind is how much I took for qranted how easy this was going to be. Regular daily activities...cooking, cleaning, bathing, grabbing a snack, even sleeping and walking, are much more difficult while at sea...especially when the boat is less than calm seas. The effort involved with all these activities is several times more than when at home. First of all, everything is stored away so that it does not slide around. The galley does not have a bunch of storage space so all of the food (dry goods) are stored under a couch which requires some effort to reach. You also have to remember which storage cubby holds which items. Taking the cusions off and puling up the lid in rolling seas can be an adventure. Cooking a meal in rolling seas is another joy! Watching the pots and pans slide all over the stove can make for some fun times. You have to be careful when opening any cabinet or refrigerator door as items have shifted and are prone to fall out. Taking a shower in rolling seas is an experiance i think everyone should go through. The process of washing while trying to wedge yourself into that tiny space and hold on at the same time is tons of fun! Using the bathroom in rolling seas is one of lifes great pleasures! Without going into to much detail lets just say a regular toilet turns into a make shift bidet! Nuff Said! The time on the boat seems like an endless journey of stairs and ladders....also fun to negotiate while at sea. Now the Capt. and Engineer will tell you that the seas are really not that rough....ok I get it you have been through much worse...I am impressed! It has been a hugh learning experiance so far. While I am looking forward to all of whats coming I really like where we are right now. We will be here for several more days waiting out a major storm between us and our next destination. I have a lot of exploring to do at our present location and will continue to update with pictures and interesting things that I find. So enjoy the pictures below...until next time...Cheers!

This Robert trying to reel in the sailfish we hooked up with on our way down here. He is not so much reeling as hoping the fish would just swim over to the boat and give up!

This cross was recently put up on the hill overlooking our marina. It is right in front of our boat. Kind of reassuring!

It is lighted at night....off and on!

This is the other Nordhavn in the marina with us. It is the 85 Ft "GURU" registered in Wilmington, DE

Fish On!

Another Day at Sea....pretty uneventfull except that we loaded 2 wahoo on board.  The Engineer caught the one in the first photo and I caught the one in the second photo.  I cleaned tthem both and the Engineer grilled one of them for dinner....Excellent!  The third photo is for my son Richard.  He will recognize the reel as "old faithfull".  We bought that soon after we moved to North Carolina.  It is still going strong son and trolling the pacific ocean!

On a previous entry I mentioned the 12k generator had stopped working.  Well, with a little help from my brother Rick and the Nordhavn Dreamers List we found out that there is an additional breaker that is tucked in behind the generator in a little gray box....this is not mentioned in the wiring diagram.  Our Engineer had to use a mirror to even find it...thats how well its hidden.  So anyway, the breaker had flipped.  It is now up and running.

So not much else to say tonight, just sitting around waiting for my next "Mine Field Walk"!

Cheers,

Pirate Pete...ARRRRRRRR

"

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My Schedule At Sea

We have now been at sea for 44 hours as I write this ( 11pm Sunday , October 18, 2015) and already a routine is settling in.  Everyone onboard is on a 6 hour rotation.  So 6 hours on duty 6 hours off then back on again.  Robert and I releive each other as does the Captain and the Engineer.  I spend half of my shift with the Captain and half with the Engineer.  My main responsibility on duty is to perform hourly engine room checks.  This requires the "mine field walk" as i refer to it.  You see the engine room is very tight quarters to say the least.  Everything in the engine room is very hot!---somethings are over 400 degrees.  The room was not designed for somebody of my "monumental stature"!  You learn very quickly where to step and what not to touch.  I fashioned some insulating covers for my arms and always wear gloves......both of which have already saved me several times.

When doing the engine room check i have to look for leaks of any kind, loose fittings and hoses as well as check different guages to ensure they are in the proper range for operation. Anything abnormal is to be reported to the captain on duty. The whole check takes about 5 ~10 minutes including putting on and taking off the previously mention PPD (Pete Protective Devices).  The Engine room is extremely loud so you have to wear ear muffs as well.  By the time you come out you have a nice glisten of sweat built up---reminds me of my days at UPS opening up trailers that have sat on the yard all day in the south Louisiana sun!

The rest of my time on duty can be spent sleeping, fishing, updating my blog etc.  I just need to be accessable to the captian on duty.  I spent most of the day today fishing....no luck yet...several good hits but I screwed those up with my inexperiance with off shore fishing.  Learning as I go...I am very lucky that the engineer spent 10 years on sport fishing boat so I am learning everything I can from him.

So my shifts are 10 am to 4 pm and 10 pm to 4 am.  After the 1st shift I have been cooking dinner for the crew and then catching a few hours of sleep before I come back on at 10 PM.  Last night I was able to sleep for a couple of hours off and on during my 2nd shift.  So its not all fun and games. 

We will probably stay at sea for at least another 3 or 4 days before coming in to a port.  Hopefully I will have better fishing news to tell you at that time. But for now here are a few pictures for you to enjoy.

Picture 1 is what the pilot house looks like at night while at sea

The rest are just some cool sights while we cruised today.

Cheers,

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The Voyage has begun!

I am happy to report that we got underway this morning at 3 am local time. (Saturday, October 16, 2015).  We all have worked very hard and now are efforts are paying off.  The amount of activity it takes to get one of these voyages going is amazing.  I have told you just a small portion of what has gone on since I arrived however, The weeks and weeks of work put in by the Captain and the Engineer before I ever arrived is mind numbing.  My hats off to them.

Now a little about our cast off activities... I am sure will be repeated numerous times throughout the voyage.  The shore power cables had to be disconnected and stored. Then comes the mooring lines that also completely untied both from the dock and the boat. They then have to be precisely wrapped and stored. Then the bumpers (inflatable rubber bags that hang off the side of the boat to protect the boat from the dock or other boats parked beside it) have to be untied and stored on board. By the time all that was done we were already in the San Diego Bay Channel on our way to the Pacific Ocean.  Picture # 1 is the lights of San Diego as we were leaving. 

The reason for leaving so early was so that we could get to Ensenada, Mexico early enough to go to customs and immagration and process in country (required when traveling in Mexican waters)before they closed for the day.  The trip took us about 8 hours.  Nothing of note happened along the way....just a lot of staying out of the way of the Captain and the Engineer as they ran through system check after system check to make sure everything was running in tip top shape.  The next couple of pictures are of my first sitings of Ensenada.  That is the largest Mexican Flag I have seen.  

When we arrived we docked at a marina right next to customs and immigration.  The Captian went to check in with the marina office and was informed that customs and immagration are only open one saturday a month and this was not that Saturday. So off we went back out headed south!  

Time for a nap....

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Not long now-hopefully

Well today has been all about getting the last punch list items taken care of.  First off we loaded the tender on board and strapped it down. Then we started this beast up and motored over the High Seas Fuel Dock to top off the back tanks. 780 gallons of diesel later we motored back to the dock. We spent the next few hours stowing the remaining items that needed be put away and then cleaned the inside of the boat. Washed windows, vacuumed and mopped the floors,and dusted. Then it was off to the store for 280 lbs of ice. Captain Uncle Si always has a glass of ice tea near him....he said it won't be good if he doesn't have ice for his tea! Everybody is off doing their own thing right now. Later we have disaster preparedness briefings and engine room check tours. So hopefully by the end of the weekend we will finally be on our way. Below the first picture is of a friend I meet at the fuel dock. Cheers

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Shout out to my awesome neighbor/ friend Marty that lent me these rods and reels for the trip...they are going to come in handy. Thanks buddy.

..

We installed the rocket launchers today. One rod holder on each side. 

Went across the street to the holiday Inn bar to eat and watch the Saints come alive for once this year. ( it is very weird to watch a Monday night or Thursday night NFL game and it is over at 830 PM!) Anyway I came out and this vehicle was sitting there. Thought it was cool..

That's it for now.

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What a day!

Today was a ball buster to say the least. We had to the drop the anchor on the dock...gently of course and flake out the chain. This involves someone...me ...pulling on the chain and walking backwards laying the chain in rows as I go. This chain is not light weight and there was 400 feet of it!  Old guys should not have to deal with this! Once it was all laid out Robert and I measured and taped off every 50 foot section. Then Robert wire brushed the taped of sections so Captain Stubbing (love boat reference there) could spray paint his magic code on the chain. Basically he sprayed white paint on 1 link for every 50 foot of chain. So at the 50 ft mark he sprayed one link and at 100 feet he painted 2 links and so on. This is done so that the captain will know how much chain he has out when dropping anchor and when retrieving the anchor.  He needs to know this because when you anchor the tides, wind, and currents will make you swing. You want to make sure that you don't swing into other boats or under water hazzards. There is a mathematic equation that is used to determine how much chain you should put out at the depth you are anchoring  at but I have not taken an interest in learning it.....it's math!

Here is a picture of all of the chain flaked out and Robert doing the wire brushing....doesn't that look fun!

We also started stowing things for our departure that will happen some time in the next few days.  Robert and I were sent back to the grocery store for steaks, fresh veggies and fruit and chocolate for Captain Kirk... (star trek reference ).

Almost forgot to tell you about dinner last night. Went to a place called 50/50. Was told it would be the best burger you have ever eaten. When we walked in all I saw were the multitudes of draft beer taps on the wall...I was hooked. It took me longer to order my beer than my burger.....my brother-in-law would have loved it! Now for the explanation on the 50/50 name. Turns out all their beef burgers are 50 percent ground beef and 50 percent ground bacon! They were good but not the best I have ever had.

The exhaust tech came today and re-insullated the exhaust system. Great job. The fire extinguisher tech also came and certified all of the fire suppression systems as well. So we are getting closer to embarking on our journey.  

The picture below is for my Bro-n-law Mark Tumblin.  Thought he would appreciate were we ate dinner the other night....a very good restaurant that brewed it's own beer. They had a very good nut brown ale that might be the second best I have ever had. However, I have never had one as good as the one he brewed back in High Point.....hope you are feeling better brother!

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