NoeMar's sailing trips

Showers on the Noe Mar

2012-02-09T19:52:00.000-08:00

Seems, I don't have a picture...but here it is...yes, you can take a shower, the door to the "Head"opens and closes off the bow section of the cabin...there is a hot and cold pressurized water with a shower head in the wall of the "Head"...pull it out, wet your self with warm/hot water. Turn it off, soap...turn on rinse...well, turn off and towel dry... there you have it...a real shower. OK, you ask, where does the water go? Good question...it goes into the bilge and the bilge pump kicks on and pumps it overboard. OK, what about drinking water...yup, we have a huge RO water system...all the hot water and drinking water you want. HOT water? Where does that come from...get real, you are out in the ocean...well, the engine must be running...but it heats the small hot water tank in a hurry....careful, it is very hot. Jeeze, what about cooking? Well, the kerosene stove (2 burner with an oven) is rather new and made in the UK...one of the best. Now, if only someone was a better chef than I am. OK, what about the Fridge? Cool blue man, and all new (last year) electronics...it will freeze your beer...oops...forget that...and it runs once a day...and it is large, top loader. OK, so we won't have fresh fruit for 30-40 days, so how can we get our Vit C...hey, did you check out www.highlandvitamins.com ?? do so, I built the Co from scratch...we have mulits and Vit C on board...no charge, just the best you can buy. I the comments section...post a comment and I will try to answer it. Cheers....Skipper Scotty

Noe Mar's interior

2012-01-14T16:30:00.000-08:00

Here are several shots taken last year of the interior and the V berth inside her. The Galley table makes into a bed also. The Qtr berth is hi

dden from these views.

2012-01-02T15:02:00.000-08:00

Skipper and First Mate in Thailand

2012-01-02T13:18:00.000-08:00

Here we are on the s/v Lotus in Thailand off Puckett Island, this fall. More fun sailing with Jerry & Joni...on their steel 40'ft Cutter...I didn't do much to assist Jerry in building this great ship...but I did pour lead and drink beer :-) More fun...and Candy soaped the wheels so he could skid the huge trailer with the boat on it out of their drive way (that was the day...steep...but all worked out).

Crew for Hawaii

2012-01-02T13:07:00.000-08:00

I posted for a crew to sail the Noe Mar to Hawaii in April, 2012...and then on to the Pacific NW. Perhaps a month layover? So far I have several very experienced offers. Sounds Great...so this Ancient Skipper is raring to go forth and bring this great Ship home.

Dec 2011 Sea of Cortez

2011-12-27T17:54:00.000-08:00

I forgot, out of the 7 that came on board...there were a lot of gals...OK, so I missed the ones of them sunning on the deck in two piece bathing suits...sorta busy trying to get some wind...but here the gals are...notice that Marko has a line right in the middle of her face...OH well

Dec 2011 trip

2011-12-27T17:50:00.000-08:00

Brant brought friends down to go sailing. Now, you know what happens in the Sea of Cortez? YUP...heavy northerlies one day...total sun and calm the next...so the Next is when we went "sailing"??? Oh well, beautiful day, saw a humpback, tiger whale shark, and dolphins...and lots of sun

Noe Mar

2011-12-25T16:39:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple of older pictures of the Noe Mar under sail

Jan to April 2011

2011-12-25T16:29:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures of Candy and my trip

Jan 15, 2011

2011-12-25T16:18:00.000-08:00

Candy flew down with me to actually go sailing...so after a nice dinner and getting ready...sailing we did on Sat the 15.
Left the dock @ 9 AM...71 F, sunshine and no wind. Motored @ 2,100 rpm with a speed of 5.6 knots.
9:55 spotted a pod of Dolphins...but missed taking a picture.

10 to 10:45 the Mexican Coast guard made an on board inspection. Mainly safety and our papers. They were interested in # of life jackets, # of VHF radios (and tested them out), fire ext. and our US Coast guard registration. They were not interested in our TIP for the Noe Mar. Hmmm. This is the 4th time I have been inspected, first by the Mexican Navy and then Coast guard...etc, Difference is the size of weapons and looking for drugs or safety.

11:30 we got some wind and sailed @ 4 K...heading 320...then we doused the sails (lost wind and we were nearing our destination). Of course, then the wind hit us 12K on the nose.

Anchored @ 4:30 in 16 ft of water, 40' chain...all in the Ensenada Grande on the Isla Partida. Beautiful.
That night the wind hit a good 20K, but all was well. I fixed dinner, a glass of vino and good books.

The next day, at anchor, the wind picked up to 25 k...northerlies...wow this should be great sailing back to La Paz.

2011 Jan 17

2011-12-25T16:09:00.000-08:00

At the Cross is this Vase. Someone's ashes? If so, what a beautiful place to be buried

Crew

2011-11-11T14:04:00.000-08:00

Went sailing in Phucket, Thailand with Joni & Jerry on the s/v Lotus...lots of fun. They have been sailing for 8 years.
Met a couple from the Seattle area that were at the rock climbing school on one of the Islands. Seems they are interested in sailing on the Noe Mar. They will get in touch with me after Dec 1st. Sounds great.

April 2011

2011-11-11T14:01:00.000-08:00

After paying my annual moorage, I went into town to get new deck paint.

After painting the deck...looks good and better paint...I left to sail to the islands.
Anchored @ 4:45 after sailing and motoring...did sail some. 24 deg 29.5 N 110 deg 27.67 W (5/13/20110
Raised anchor @ 8:50 AM the next day...and did some sailing back to the Marina.

Nov 5 2010, to La Paz

2010-11-10T12:49:00.000-08:00

Pulled the hook up @ 7:45 in Hook Bay...and sailed and motored back to La Paz. I set up the Mizzen staysail and polled out the Genoa...the main even went up at the end. Not much wind...but when I motorsailed I got 6 knots, only 4.5 knots with the motor only. We arrived @ 4 PM...hate that...the tide was coming in and we had a little trouble mooring. I have included a shot up at the radar arch and the wind indicator/anemometer.

Nov 4 2010

2010-11-10T12:42:00.000-08:00

Got into Hook Bay by 2 PM. Brant got sea sick (during the rolling I got woozy...but OK). Unloaded the Tinker and rowed ashore and back. The wrist stimulator worked for Brant...better than meds. Hooray!

La Paz 2010, 11/4-5

2010-11-10T12:37:00.000-08:00

That evening as we sit at anchor in Cardonel Bay...we heard the bildge pump go on 3 times in a row. Nothing makes ones heart stop faster than hearing water come in your boat. I started quickly searching...the obvious place to look...stuffing box. YUP!! that was it...water pouring out in a small stream. The Noe Mar has everything easily accessible...however, you do need to remove a few (like 10) bronze screws to get the pipe wrench onto the threaded nut that is part of the stuffing box. Having done that, Brant handed me some waxed lashing line and I asked for the knife and lanolin. I unscrewed the big nut...water really poured out, then wrapped the line around the propeller shaft, lots of lanolin, and hand screwed the nut on. Water stopped coming in..Hooray!! I snugged (not to tight) the nut, and put everything back,. All was well.

Yes, I did fix dinner...Tilapia with garlic and tomatoes in olive oil.

Anchor up @ 8 AM and off to "Hook Bay" on the Isla San Francisco. No wind, but lots (15-20 knots) last night. Motored to keep the fridge and food cool...Oops..a block of ice next time and maybe another battery to our bank. As you can see, we did get some wind.

La Paz, Nov 2010 first day

2010-11-10T12:24:00.000-08:00

We installed a new block, the old one was white plastic and the sun destroyed it...what a mess on my last trip getting into the marina. Block on the main halyard and she was ready to be cleaned. Went and stocked up on food.

Next day we took off @ 9 AM. No wind...but after winding our way out of the long harbor of La Paz, we got wind from 4-7 knots. Up went the sails, shut off the mtr and sailed @ 4.9 knots, pointing about 5-10 deg off wind (yes we have a wind anemometer and a apparent direction indicator on the mizzen). By noon we had to turn on the mtr...1.5 knots sailing is a bit slow for me. :-) We were headed to Isla Partida and Cardonel Bay for anchorage.

La Paz, Nov 2010

2010-11-10T12:13:00.000-08:00

Interesting, as I was flying home after a fun week with Brant Walsh (Highland's IT guy) on the Noe Mar, a fellow and his wife were commenting about a fun Kayak trip from Loreto to La Paz, BCS. They had a small sail boat that they sailed in New Mexico. As they left he said: Why did you not get a plastic boat rather than a wooden one.

More interesting is the fact a guy at the Marina de La Paz (where the Noe Mar is moored) was interested in sailing with me on a "Gaffer"...but he was concerned about it being made out of "wood". WOW!!! Wonder how all of us got here on this continent?

Let me assure everyone...a wood hulled boat is great. Yes, in the hot climate of La Paz it takes more upkeep...seems even the bronze rivets (she is an all bronze fastened hull...redone in the 1980's) like to push out the fairing compound in their homes. Also she is a bit heavy, but I have still sailed her @ 9 knots and one of our days averaged 6 knots on this trip (motor and sail combined). Still, she hasn't been hauled for 3 years and her bottom paint is still great (so the diver says). I might mention, that a wooden hull absorbs water...thus at and below the water line it is the same as ballast...that and her isolated lead keel keep her upright in the heaviest weather you can imagine.

Here is my crew...Brant Walsh...

Sailing alone

2010-05-29T07:44:00.000-07:00

Sailing alone May 2010

2010-05-29T07:32:00.000-07:00

May, 13, 2010…no it is NOT Friday  rather it is Thursday.
Since Candy chose not to come down to La Paz this week…here I am…on Monday, I started to clean up the Noe Mar…dust everywhere. Painted the dingy on Tues, Painted the cabin top later (paint color has faded, so it made the dingy look weird). Plan on taking off on Thursday and sailing to the Islas espiritu santu & Partida. My neighbor takes off for the islands on Wed.
Left the marina de La Paz @ 9:35, after helping my neighbor turn his big power boat around (both PhD’s in Psych, retired…hmmm wonder what they think of me?). They offer to help me un-plug and cast off…but they have a prior commitment to go to Santa Todas. So, I cast off by myself…have to use the docking pole to keep me close while I undo the lines. I make it OK.
Call Candy and assure her I am OK and will be OK. Thus I use the ATT iPhone to call her all the way to the Islands. I lose connection @ the anchorage in Ensenada el Cardonal bay.
Leave @ 9:35 AM motoring…no wind…2.8 knots until I get all on board. Thanks for the auto pilot (Raymarine). As I am bringing fenders on deck, I hear the roar of a good sized outboard…but ignore it…well until Casey Jones (yes, his real name)came roaring up beside me…and paced me. Chit chatted and asked if I was OK (seems the whole Marina knows I was hospitalized for a few months last year). I assured him I was and he grinned and said HAVE FUN!! Plus the wind might be 15 knots out there.
OK, but I never found the 15 knots until I came into the bay to anchor  Still, with a 8 knot wind, I set sail and managed to get 3.8 knots (OK, land lubbers that is around 5 mph ) but was that real wind speed or apparent ? Either way this heavy boat did OK…and pointed (she is a gaffer) 5deg off the head wind. Not shabby, cry you Marconi rigged sloops  Oh yes, second thought that wind was apparent, so subtract 3.8 knots from the 8.
Gave up when the wind slowed and I needed to hit anchorage before 6-7 pm. So, I motored @ 4 +knots @ 2700 RPM…good fuel mileage at that speed.
Arrived at 4:30 PM, set the anchor in 17 ft of water (used 30+ ft chain)and zoomed in my nav chart…love that old XP Gateway lap top…it runs forever…but only as a nav station.
Dinner…well, I made a scrambled omlet using 3 eggs, 1 roma tomato, ¼ onion, ¼ potatoe, some Mex cheese (great stuff), olive oil and seasoned with blackened creole blend and salt. Sorry, no garlic. I won’t win any chef prizes, but that and a glass of BC Norte vino…it was great. Turned on the music…listened to Ellen Quinn and her funny ballads about sailing…some funny and some sad. OH well.
Took pics of a sailboat with it’s spinnaker set…check it out. Plus pics of the anchorage…I could go hiking tomorrow up past the Mangroves in this bay…but I think I’ll play being a sailor and go out tomorrow and play in the wind…if it is like tonight. Later……..Cheers, all………Skipper, Ancient Scotty

Noe Mar, 2010 March

2010-03-27T18:15:00.000-07:00

Candy insisted on taking a picture of me with the Noe Mar this time...so as all can see, she (the Noe Mar) is in good shape, the Skipper could use a little more muscle but all in all, she and he are ready to sail. Unfortunately the First Mate really would prefer to rest ashore and have me take her out with a crew.

Fortunately, one of my old crew is contemplating a sail in the Sea of Cortez for a week or so...now if all goes well and I play my cards right, I will convince them to take a month sabbatical and sail with me to Hawaii within the next year or so. Then we will have some real posts. Cheers all...tell next time

Skipper of the Noe Mar..............Ken

Tinker 2010

2010-03-27T18:06:00.001-07:00

Here is Candy at the bow of the Tinker (seen elsewhere on this blog)we are under power. Well, if you can call a 3.3 HP Merc engine, power. I learned the hard way several things when leaving an engine for a long period of time. 1) remove the spark plug and spray in a marine grade lubricant. 2) run it out of gasoline/mix when leaving it. and now 3) if it won't start, loosen the fuel line to the float bowl, and spray in carb cleaner. These things work...the engine runs great, but do not over rev her, or you will rebuild it. The shop in San Carlos that rebuilt it called her a "Barbie" engine. :-)

As you can see, yours truly was at the helm of this small craft. The Tinker is an amazing inflatable...she sails, she rows, she motors and she is even a life raft...that and the CO2 inflatable life cushions in the Noe Mar make her very ocean safe.

La Paz car show

2010-03-27T17:57:00.001-07:00

The car with it's owner (yes, he spoke English) is an MG Magnet, 1500cc and immaculate original paint. The upholstery is new and the dash is custom made in La Paz of wood. What a beauty.

The Maverick (yes, a Ford Maverick)is a Boss 302...all original and a top notch paint job. My Dad had a Maverick, to bad it wasn't a Boss 302 painted orange.

The Baja rig was the first to be displayed in the show, but it was really outdone by the older pickups and even a VW Karmen Ghia in orange. Nice show...all across from the Malecon. Great evning.

La Paz and Candy 2010

2010-03-27T17:53:00.001-07:00

As always, when we go to La Paz and the Noe Mar, there is a street vendor on the Malecon that is selling Red Roses...and in this case a red rose and a few daises. Since Candy is frequently on my laptop (hey, notice the New Gateway NV) I took this picture of her in our deluxe vase...right on, we do recycle.

La Paz and the Malecon

2010-03-27T17:32:00.001-07:00

La Paz has this great Malecon, which we walk every evening when we are in Port. Seems most of La Paz does the same thing. As previous posts have shown, there are lots of bronze statues and palm trees. We noticed a few years ago that they had added clever recycling bins on the Malecon...Organico...Inorganico. Well, Candy insisted on a picture of me between them...seems I have lost some wt. since the Hosp stay, but hey, the picture is of the recycling bins, not me. OK?

During our walks, we encounter various art fairs, music and dancing performances...especially on the week-end. Here is Candy with a local artist (I will find his name) that air brushes batiks of animals, esp African ones. I bought her one that is of a leopard...well half a leopard with this eye that won't quit. It will hang in our hall going downstairs.

The occasion for the artists being in this mall was a show given by one of the musica eschola...loved their music, but sadly there were no CD's available, and my espanol is so bad, I gave up trying to find if there ever was one. I didn't get a picture of them, but the next day I did get a small picture of the local belly dancer's school. Sorry about my use of "blogger", it seems to post pictures at the beginning of a new blog...so I need to study that procedure.

What for the next few pictures and blog... Mediterranean restaurant, car show, and Candy.

Thanks for looking at what I do and the Noe Mar.

Aqua Air generator, 2010

2010-03-21T15:24:00.000-07:00

Some time ago, I purchased a thin layer film solar panel to go with my existing Crystal solar panel, but I never was sure that I would have enough juice to run all of the electronics and fridge (cool blue) that I have on the boat, that and the running lights. So, I did some research and came up with Aqua Air from the UK. A tried and true generator, that can be used as a wind generator when anchored (remember the Noe Mar is a Seagoer Yawl and has no room for a normal wind generator...and the mizzen mast is taken up with a radar dome).

The aqua part of this generator uses a small blade on a shaft, similar to a taft knot log of the old days, only larger, and the same principle. The blade twists a line that is attached to the center of the generator and creates electricity while you are sailing...even directly down wind. I queried a couple that used it for years on their sailing journey and the say it never slowed their boat down even a 1/4 of a knot...not that they could discern. After building a new stern rail, I mounted the generator, ready to be used on distant cruising. Next I had to mount the controller to prevent the batteries from being over charged. I also have a controller for the solar panels. Anyway, here is the picture of the small electronic controller that I mounted under the deck and down to the house battery system. More fun, tight quarters...but it is done. Now I only need to test the system. Anyone up to sailing with me to Hawaii next spring? We could test it, as soon as we clear the cape or cabo (espanol) and head into the trade winds.

March 2010

2010-03-21T15:03:00.000-07:00

We arrived to the Noe Mar on March 17th, opened up the dusty hatch, took out the diesel jerry cans, and the outboard motor. Now we can safely enter the cabin and store our belongings. OK, so let's get out the hose and wash her down (the Noe Mar, not my wife Candy...besides she would've really hosed me off if I even tried).

That was good, as Candy is putting things in order, I decide to fire up the Iron Genny...and so I did. The volvo hummed and ran nicely...then I picked up the rpm...OUCH! I couldn't get it to 1500 rpm. I shut it down, popped open the motor hatch, and looked inside. Looked OK, so I had Candy move the throttle lever ... all OK there, then I noticed that the original air intake on the Volvo Penta engine, was deteriorating. I unfastened the air intake pipe and sure enough the original air cleaner had disintegrated. I took the spring and foam off in the garbage container on my work bench (Yes, I have one, albeit small). I fired the engine up...and hooray she ran fine, so I ran it for a few minutes, to be sure that any foam that was sucked up into the engine was totally consumed.

I went to the local chandelier, Sea Mar, and no such luck, but they drew me a map on how to get to the Auto Zone store. Well, Candy and I walked for about 3-4miles and asked a lot of directions from helpful locals here in La Paz and finally found it. The clerk had lived in Kansas for many years (did he know Dorothy?) but came back to his home town, La Paz and now has a job. He was very helpful and the above picture is what we came up with. There is a hard plastic insert that is over the intake pipe (rubber with a steel insert inside it) and the filter is clamped onto that piece. The hard plastic is jammed down over the hose and fits tight over the steel insert. However, a "wee" bit O' duct tape...orange one is heavier than the standard grey...and she purrs like a kitten. Job done.

You will notice that after I hook up my new Gateway laptop (I have 3 of them now, two will remain on the Noe Mar) and picked up the rose I always get, she is content and happy...Candy that is...not sure about the Noe Mar, since she is still at the dock.

Replace bow & stern railing

2009-07-14T14:51:00.000-07:00

Sorry, it has been so long since I posted, but I am mainly working on the boat, water maker (all fixed now), bottom paint, and railings, including the boom crutch and the fore and aft railings.

All of this started in Sept, 2008 and ended in Feb 2009. However, I became ill due to a mistake with an endoscope and ended up with pancreatis that hospitalized me for 2.5 months during that time. I seem to be a lot better now, but my shoulder operation is still slowing me down. Enough about me and my excuses. Candy and I plan on being on her in Oct and taking her out for a few days sail.

Meanwhile, check out the new railings, they are great. Seems the old ones rusted out after 20 years of use, not bad for iron pipe, but the new ones are alwgrip'd and should last longer.

Malceon 2008

2008-11-22T16:17:00.000-08:00

Here is the Malceon of La Paz. Enjoy the pictures

Skipper Scotty

Nov repairs

2008-11-22T16:05:00.001-08:00

November, 2008

Since we have a group coming down to La Paz and the Noe Mar, I decided to fly down to La Paz and finish up the boom crutch repair and hopefully have a new bow and stern railing built.

First, the weather was GREAT this time of year, slight breeze and low 80 F. Still, I brought a small AC ($100 US) to the boat and made a trial run with it. Had to clear out a lot of junk to store it in the stern, but I did it. Oh yes, the cardboard defectors look junky, but hey, hopefully we will never need it…and if we do, what more do you want? Looks or cool air?

Carlos, at the Water Works, lined me up with someone to repair the Dodger (I took leather and naugahide with me), Genaro R. is his name. He came and gave me a bid of 500 pesos (cheap) plus another 500 for re-stitching it. I took the dodger off and gave it to him the next day. When it came back, I was disappointed, there were crooked seams and over sewn in places and the new cover of the front rail was wrinkled. This dodger was made by Artful Dodgers of Port Townsend, WA and is top quality. When I return, I hope to have it re-sewn. This fellow has a great reputation, so I am not sure what went on, other than his staff must’ve been in a hurry. Oh well, it fits and is on and ready for the group that is coming in Dec.

Next, Carlos told me I needed the bottom repainted (the diver said the paint was off in places and some wood was exposed). So I hauled it out at Palmara, up the road a few blocks from the Marina de La Paz, where the Noe Mar is moored. I decided to go for broke and purchase Petite’s Trinidad paint ($400 USD/gal). Got the picture? This haul out is going to run around $1,500 USD. However, they did all of the work, I could sleep aboard, and she was back in the water in 2 days.

Meanwhile, we took off the bow and stern railing and had Malcolm (and crew) at CFM machine shop (behind the Quaker State store) start building. The quote was for $1,500 to 1,650 USD. Meanwhile, since the peso is now 12 per USD vs 10 per USD (last month) I withdrew pesos and paid him 16,000 pesos to get the job going. Malcom uses AwlGrip paint and primer for the painting job on the railings, not powder coat. However, he does a great job but is expensive. Hopefully these railings will last another 28 years, like the original ones did.

Had to change my flight home, but it gave me time to install and paint the boom crutch plus make sure the railings were being done correctly. Other than the wrinkles and crooked stitching on the dodger, everything was looking great when I flew home on Thursday.

Might mention that my temporary neighbor had a great boat and they looked after me very well (concerned about an old codger, probably). Barry and his wife Pat were great, as was their 45 ft ketch. I took them out to dinner at the Mediterranean restaurant (since they have no income other than a trust, they live on a true cruiser’s budget) for a thank you note.

Had several people check out the Noe Mar’s interior…and everyone was impressed. Makes me feel good.
I walked the Malceon all the way to the Marina Palmira...about 4 + miles…so I took several pictures of the Malceon of La Paz, so one can get an idea of it (I have the bronze statues pictured elsewhere on this blog). So enjoy it.

When I get back in Dec, 2008, hopefully the railing will be installed and I will hook up the life lines and we will be ready to sail.

See all of you later…hopefully some will come down and go sailing on our old Gaffer (1931)………Skipper Ken

Sept 2008 repairs

2008-11-22T14:57:00.000-08:00

September 2008

Candy and I flew into La Paz on the afternoon of Sept 6, 2008. Temperature was around 100F and the humidity was about 80%. Needless to say, very uncomfortable.

Found the Noe Mar looking dusty but very good. Bottom needed cleaning. It had been cleaned in April, March, June & July (or was July included?), however at this time it had a lot of small barnacles and growth on it.

I use Carlos (at the “Water Works”) to schedule a cleaning for this month and the next 2 months. As soon as the water cools (it was around 80-90 at this time) growth will slow down, and we will be back in December this year.

The heat was so great along with the humidity that I tried to purchase a small AC…no luck, in spite of the fact that there is a large store for these items in La Paz. So, Sunday we took the bus (yes, new Volvo with AC) to Todos Santos on the Pacific side of the Baja. A run-down town but lots of art, nice picture museum and we found a good restaurant for lunch. No AC but 3 fans and it was cooler there.

Todos Santos used to be the capital of Baja Sur, but La Paz is currently and has been for a long time. Todos Santos had lots of water, at one time, and they grew sugar cane, until the water dried up and the price of sugar fell. Currently the water is back. Wonder why? No one seems to know.

Since Candy was so uncomfortable and I was working fixing odds and ends on the boat, she flew home on the 10th, that Wed. I stayed to fix the RO water maker, get a new boom crutch made (2,500 pesos) and work on the wind/water generator.

Of course we had a couple of nice dinners, in AC restaurants, The Patron and the La Pazta, which is part of the Hotel Mediterrane on a side street off the Malecon (the main water front walk way in La Paz). We, also, enjoyed the new lighting of the bronze statues on the Malecon.

On the day that Candy left, a tropical storm came roaring in (well, lots of rain but the winds stayed well below 30 knots)…and it was not nearly as strong as predicted. All the water came rushing down town, flooding the main street and loading the Malecon with sand, gravel and debris. Time to go across the street to the Italian restaurant and order a few margaritas (watch out, they will numb your lower lip). That and chat with some of the local expiates, highly educated, single guys with ex families, boat anchored…and so it goes. Interesting.

Finally, time to fix the damn RO water maker that hasn’t worked for 4 years…so off to “Bill the water maker guy” and his floating shop, mansion, etc.

He comes checks out what I have done and asks me to remove the membrane and it’s holder. Well, still 90 with 90% humidity…so after water logging the nav station area with my sweat, I manage to get it out to take it to his AC boat and shop. First thing I notice…I plumbed part of it incorrectly…oh well.

Bill’s boat is an old wooden motor vessel…twin Cummings diesels (huge) and built in Norway. He has remodeled this 3 story 65 foot floating mansion complete with a full shop for building and repairing RO systems (his main job in his previous life).

The membrane is shot…new one costs me $500 USD and has a 20% greater flow rate than the old one. He installs it and off I go…back into the nav station underworld and check it out. It checks out…only one small leak, which I fix…or was it?

Later, Bill asks me to run the system before I fly home on Monday the 15th…and I say OK. Well, it won’t work…he comes back and finds a huge leak at the other end…down I go again and remove the column…he takes it and fixes the leak. Now we install it and check things out…one valve is frozen, another is full of junk, etc. BUT!!! When we finish trouble shooting it…the system works….25 gal per hour…151 ppm particle matter (which is super pure…if I got the ppm right). Tastes like bottled water. I run it for an hour, top off my tanks, back flush the system and then pickle it with sod bi sulfite. WOW!

Next project, which has been ongoing during this time: I removed the old boom crutch (due to rust) and take it off for a pattern to make the new aluminum one. They come back a day after I did that with the new one to check fit and prepare to finish welding it. Carlos is on top of this procedure and he has a good machine shop on the job. They split the wood part of the boom crutch taking the old one apart…so I get to meet another expiate…Pedro the shipwright.

Pedro’s problem (if these things are a problem) is he is more interested in a Viking tattoo scene on his back and a couple of American gals (twins?) that he wishes to show his boat off to…for 2 days  Meanwhile the welded boom crutch does not get a new wood gallows.

I fly home on Monday AM and he assures me he now has the wood and it will be ready by Dec when we come back. I think I may come back earlier to get it installed.

I have Carlos researching making a new bow railing for the bowsprit…it is also rusting away and is 20 years old. I don’t want stainless, rather I would like to keep it white. Currently it is painted galvanized iron pipe…Carlos thinks Aluminum wouldn’t look right (larger dia for the strength) but he knows a shop that would do it well and powder coat it after it is dipped, etc. I also need the dodger repaired, the leather is shot.

I get ready to leave, I have painted some of the cabin sealing and a fresh coat of paint on the cabin sole…right out the hatch. I drop my new shirt on some of the fresh maroon paint…in a panic I soak it in solvent, use a special hand cleaner, wrap it in a bag and put it in the suitcase. The night before I hemmed up my new cargo pants with sail lashing thread and my needle and palm…it works. I have all of the laundry done and dried…I got a new soccer ball for Coleman and a shirt and skirt for Malia (since my youngest grand kids live with us).

Oh yes, I need to learn the espanola word for “deflate”….that inflated soccer ball cost me a ton of problems. However, on the tarmac, it was taken away by security with the promise he would deflate it, if he could find a needle for it. Darned if he didn’t do it and return it to me, just as the jet was ready to leave. Now who would carry a needle and inflation pump around at the airport? Beats me, but Coleman likes the ball.

Until next time…and enjoy the few pics.

Skipper Scotty

April 2008

2008-09-05T20:32:00.000-07:00

The Islands of La Paz

Abril 2008

We left Scotts Mills on Wednesday, March 26^th @ 4:30 am with snow falling and arrived in La Paz @ 1:20 pm in beautiful sunshine with a 90 deg F temperature.

Took the Taxi to Marina de La Paz and found the Noe Mar covered with dust, but in good shape, with the exception of the batteries and it’s charger. I had left the house bank disconnected and the charger unplugged, hoping the solar panel would keep the batteries afloat.

Well, one battery was dead and hot (when charged) and the battery charger was toast. So off to town I went in search of a new charger. Carlos (Water works) sent us to Lopez Marine Services…and gave us directions in espanol…well, we had to ask but we found it. I purchased an IOTA Power Converter/Charger, DLS 55 for $305.53 USD. Apparently it is one of the sturdiest units, made in Canada and the USA. The Chinese manufactured ones are NOT allowed in Mexico and this eliminates 90% of those that we sell in the USA. It seems to work great, however, I am down to 2 good Optima batteries.

We fill out water tanks, fuel is OK…clean the boat, wait for the bottom to be scrubbed and then take off for Isla Espiritu and Isla Partida. Candy spends time, plots a course, writes down our heading (180 deg off due to my auto pilot flux gate compass pointing to the stern vs the bow). Puts in our way points and off we go.

To leave La Paz, requires you to motor a long distance out around the Mangrove Isla between the harbor and the Sea of Cortez. This takes about 1.5 hours motoring. At the very end, it is confusing, due to the marker bouys swinging the course tight to the shore and then out to the last two.

Wind? Not much, however, enough for the Genoa and Mizzen (increased from 5 knots to 6 knots that way). On the way, we saw a beautiful Schooner with her Ballon Jib ( asep spinnaker?) set, beautiful turquoise blue. Later, we, found out it was the “Magic” and her sails were built by Carol Hasse…small world.. Well, if we were going down wind I know we could do well with our Mizzen stays’l and our balloon jib.

A while later the wind picks up , I put the engine in neutral and raise the Main…as the Noe Mar heels over, I hear crashing below and the Ist Mate hollering that she asked me NOT to raise the main (hey, we were sailing) OOPs. So down it went and we motor sailed @ around 6.8 knots to our last way point….Caleta Partida…or the inlet between the two islands.

As we followed Gerry Cunningham’s GPS point for anchoring, I found we were in very shallow water (5.5 feet……or less). I turned the Noe Mar around and set anchor in 20 ft of water. Zoomed in on the computer chart, C-Map running on MaxSea…and left the system on, so we could watch us drag slightly. Hoisted the anchor and reset…now it seemed stable. Turned on the anchor light. However, we opened an eye every few hours and checked it, since we had three other boats near us.

In the morning we rowed the Tinker to the shore and walked in the silt…watching out for new coral growing. Later we fired up the Merc outboard (runs but it is smoking and wants to quit…I think the break in period is well over and the fuel is too rich).

Candy decides that she wishes to snorkel, but her shorty wet suit is too cold…so I get my light wt. full suit out and she goes snorkeling for a short time…………way too cold. I could get out my heavy wet suit, but it would be way too big for her. Anyway, she is gutsy and it was fun being an observer.

Time to collapse the Tinker (hate pulling a dingy…inflate able or hard…stowed it on the Port Side…ready to be washed and put away when we get back.

The last day in the bay, the winds were 17 knots all day….nice...however, when we raised the anchor (yes, all by a hand anchor winch)…the wind died………..and back to La Paz we went, motor sailing (with the Genoa poled out). It took us 4 hours to get back @ 6+ knots.

The next day, the owners of Magic came over and talked. Later they invited us to this gorgeous one off schooner. She will be shipped to Canada and put up for sale. All due to the First Mate’s eyes, very sad and great people.

Time to fly home and get ready to go down in the fall.

Cheers, Skipper Scotty

2008, painting

2008-02-29T16:01:00.000-08:00

Finally, we paint the bottom at the La Marina del Palmar. Alejandro is the owner and has a great crew. It ended up costing me over $2,000 USD and a full week on the hard...but she is all done and should be great for another few years.

By the way, I found out ( the hard way) that you should have the bottom cleaned once a month. A diver costs about $34 USD for a 34 ft on deck boat. This is a must in the Sea of Cortez.

2008-02-29T15:33:00.001-08:00

In the previous post, I started to show off the Bronze Statues of La Paz....here are more

La Paz, the city of Bronze statues, 2008

2008-02-29T15:14:00.000-08:00

Flew into La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico on Alaska Air (Delta also flies there now) in January 2008. Time to haul the Noe Mar, repaint the bottom and the topsides. Since I had the yard two doors up from the Marina de La Paz and I could sleep on the boat and their staff would do most the work, I decided to take pictures of all of the Bronze Statues of this beautiful city...so here goes:

La Paz 207 pictures

2007-08-16T14:36:00.000-07:00

Here are some of our favorite pictures of La Paz...and check out the looms...these are real and were in use making beautiful rugs.

Spring trip to La Paz

2007-08-16T13:46:00.000-07:00

Candy and I (OK so it was mainly my idea) decided to go down to La Paz and play with the Noe Mar. I assured her that we would NOT have to go sailing...nor would we spend all of our time working on the boat (well, we did spend some time working on it).

So, off we flew...weather was hot when we arrived on the 10th of June, 2007...the weather was very warm and sunny (always in La Paz).

We found the Noe Mar...opened her up and settled back for a relaxing time in La Paz. We went to my favorite restaurants,walked up and down the beach walk (this is beautiful in La Paz)and ran into old boating friends from San Carlos, Mx.

We took the tinker out...went over to the Mangrove swamps across the way, went swimming and enjoyed the great hot weather. Oh yes, La Paz is not very touristy but has the highest middle class constituents in Mexico. Yes, you had better brush up on some of your beginning espanol. Candy was great at it.

Now, as to the repairs on the Noe Mar. The boomkin needed repair...and I had purchased a rigging tension device...time to use it. Sure enough, the Mizzen stays were very loose...so we tightened them up to specs.

This is a great tool and every sail boat should have one aboard, the Noe Mar was professionally rigged before it left Port Hadlock, WA by Brion Toss...still with all the heavy winds and hot sun, she has become loose. It seems to me that stainless expands in heat...heavy winds cause it to stretch slightly...etc, in fact, I still need to do the main stays. I bought my professional gauge from Brion Toss Rigging in Port Townsend, WA. I would advise to not try to cut corners with this tool...get the professional one...more accurate...and remember, this is a sailboat. That reminds me of crossing paths with a large (60 ft or more) sail boat in the Atlantic. Professionally skippered and headed to the Azores...broken inner stay...and limping. Requested weather GRIB files from us on the Ocean Planet (google that one...aka Bruce Schwab). We gave them the info so they could sail to the Azores in lighter air...thus, hopefully, saving their mast and rigging. This appeared to be a rather new boat. Think about it.

We hired a fellow to help us scrape and redo the cabin sides (cetol) plus I touched up the bow with Interlux paint. The Noe Mar needs to be hauled and repainted this fall when I go back down by myself. However, I am putting off the trip until Sept due to the heat in La Paz.

We walked a lot...cool great evenings...great super mercados (real ones) and lots of celebration around town (always). Great food...in fact they have an ice cream store (gelato) that is home made and fantastic. We even found a Turkish restaurant...small and hidden but we found it.

Of course, Candy had to try her espanol on military guards (armed to the teeth and all in black) that were guarding a housing complex...well, we didn't get shot...but no, they did not understand her. Later we found out...they are protecting naval housing for the families...nothing else...hmmmm.

Enjoy the pictures...and remember...keep your shrouds adjusted and sail well.

Santa Rosalia and South

2007-04-17T16:10:00.000-07:00

Santa Rosalia South:

We leave the harbor of Santa Rosalia on Thursday, March 29^th, 2007 after checking the latest Weather Buoy off Loreto. Looks good after a day…so we head for Punta Chivato on March 27, 2007. Make a call to Ed and Jean Epifiani and tell them we are coming.

The winds are 18-20 knots and the seas are rough…we sail fairly fast…about 7- 8.5 knots under Jib and Jigger (Genoa and Mizzen only…poled out the Genoa). When we take the whisker pole down…to prepare to go into Punta Chivato bay in high winds…it jams and Dave helps but it hits his hand…big time. I get it down but Dave may have broken a bone (later it appears not).

Ed stands on his roof of his “Eco” home (solar panels for all electricity and a deep well)…calls us on channel 16…we go to 22 and he directs us in…….winds calm down…we take in the Mizzen…and motor into a clam anchorage. Good place to hole up in a breeze. 27 deg 3.1126 N and 111 deg 59.2933 W.

Ed rows out to greet us…looks good for a retired Dentist J His row boat is like a dory but slimmer and trimmer. We inflate the Tinker…put out our boarding ladder…load up the engine and oars…and motor into the beach. No Surf…easy landing…tons of shells.

By this time Jean is back from Loreto (took friends to the aeroporto) and is there to greet us with warm hugs and smiles (Jean on the hugs…both on the smiles). We take a tour through their magnificent home…great kitchen…big “great” room…huge wood shop…upstairs is Jeans weaving room with 3 looms…next a computer room (satellite dish)…and a screened in breeze way….plus a guest bedroom and bath downstairs…and of course a master bedroom. All tiles and all stucco…beautiful place.

We go out for dinner and drinks…then into the dingy and motor back to a blinking red and yellow flashing light (the Noe Mar never drug anchor)…and a pleasant rest.

Up at 8 AM on the 30^th of March…and we head for Loreto or rather Puerto Escondido. Dave gets out my ocean first aid case (cost $600 but worth it) and gets splints out for his hand…and wraps it. Very sore…but hopefully it is not broken.

Out in the Sea of Cortez…the winds are 17 knots and sailing is bumpy but good….7-8 knots. I do raise the main after a while…and I have the Genoa poled out. When we raised the Jib leaving Santa Rosalia…it whipped and broke the radar reflector…I will build one myself when I get home.

We are still having computer problems…but I am able to keep it running…this is serious…and I need to fully download my new computer and sink the GPS plus get all the charts up and running on it (it was loaded but crashed a month before this trip)…Of course I can always get C-map for my radar…and we do have 2 GPS’s and paper charts…but that is more work. By the way…all charts a frequently off in the Sea of Cortez…so keep a look out and try not to sail at night…unless you have a good moon.

Back to our trip…Dave gets sea sick…so I turn on the motor and lower the main…smooth’s the motion out and picks the speed up to 9.5 knots…slow the engine down…our hull speed is 7.5 knots. We check Cunningham’s book for the middle Sea of Cortez and find a hole to duck into for the night….winds pick up to 25 knots…time to settle down.

We duck into Punta Pulpito 26 deg 30.718 N 111 deg 27.4055 W that night…….trouble lowering the spinnaker pole again…I will solve this…….after that we talk to 2 other boats anchored there for the last 2 days. We put out 100 ft of chain…need to raise that tomorrow.

We leave around 7 AM on March 31^th, 2007 and head out to sea…the winds died last night but the wind is up to 17 knots today…later it slows down to 15 knots Northerly. No pole today…but Jib and Jigger to Loreto. I had charted a course to down town Loreto so we could see the area, an oasis in the desert rugged mountains…nice spot. Highway 1 runs through it and Alaska Air flies into it. Sixteen miles south is Puerto Escondido and a harbor. Today we only sail and motor for 5 hours…we lower sails and go into the inner harbor.

Another Sinclair facility…all new, all Mexican government marinas. We call and request moorage….finally we are told ball 74 (very little English spoken and here I am with zip on espanol). We hook the line on the ball and get out the Tinker…over to the new marina. A Mexican family is having a picnic and nice music is coming out of the boom box. A young Senora comes and takes copies of all of our papers….ants everywhere…food laying around…big screen TV…no Wi Fi…no computers…however; the bano and showers are the same. This marina will never have regular docks…but will have fuel and water shortly. No hot water in the showers…but hey…it is clean and refreshing.

The Iridium phone lets both of us keep in touch with our wives and allowed me to have Micro Soft re-register my XP operating system…yes it was MS that shut my system down and it took me around 100 minutes to get it re-registered…at a nice cost of $1.70 per minute…thanks a lot Bill Gates. Fortunately I had an Iridium phone and could re-register with it…because I did not have the ability to be on the internet. Without this process, my main computer would shut down. I do like the C-map on a Furno radar…but it sucks more juice and is not nearly as nice a format as MaxSea (which I have) or Noble Tech (which Ocean Planet used). I might add, thanks tons Pat (my tech son-in-law…seems the Oregon State Police have encountered this shut down my MS).

We left Puerto Escondido this morning at 7:30 Am on April 1, 2007…headed to La Paz…no wind (zip) so it is motor all the way (unless the wind god is favorable).

Just out of Puerto Econdido, Dave sees a lot of “fin whales”…and the tourist panga watching them. They put on a good show for him…I get to scan my computer that crashed again with Lava Soft….unfortunately I cannot use most virus protection software because it interferes with Ocens…etc….Oh, well, I am getting good at it. Both computers go home for a total check up …thanks Pat and Bruce (our work IT guy) for all of your help and keeping these things working. Later, I find all is well, just need to tune my systems up a we’ bit.

Today is bad sailing…no wind (3 knots) and 75 deg F outside…82 inside…apparent wind is 9 knots…so we create a nice breeze…but the motor is running…L very, very “treste”. Dave is busy reading about Captain Cooks boat (a replica) and it’s crew as it sails around the world. Apparently it has a big Aussie crew that sings ditty’s that irritate the women crew members….like: “I wish all the women were bricks in a pile and I could lay them all” ???? Apparently these Aussies don’t have Candy as a wifeJ. Dave says the women complained about sexual harassment…but it didn’t get them far. Apparently this replica of Endevor is very accurate and they have all volunteer crews that sign on for a short tour.

Well, we are going to take the Canal de San Jose…should cut an hour off our sail…at this minute we are off Punta San Marcial (for those with a map of the Baja).

We are going to make an all night run for La Paz…Dave needs to get home…and I could use a little time to straighten up the Noe Mar…sorry all of you sailors…but we have seas of glass until around 3 AM…by then it is to late to set sail…and to dark. Dave’s hand is still very sore. Check the next blog about La Paz.

Skipper of the Noe Mar……….Ken

San Carlos to Santa Rosalia, Mexico

2007-04-17T15:04:00.000-07:00

San Carlos, Sonoma, Mexico, Marina Real…………………Sunday, March 25, 2007.

David (my son) and I arrived, finally, in San Carlos after 4 PM Sunday…seems US Air has a problem getting their act together…one of the reasons I chose to move the Noe Mar south to La Paz (there I can fly Alaska or Delta…not only do they use USA airplanes but they have a far better record of “one time flights” plus they are cheaper by half the cost.

Upon arriving at Marina Real…we found the Noe Mar filled with dust. One would never believe I painted her deck the day Candy and I left last time.

Also the Marina Office has moved to closer and newer headquarters…very nice.

Several projects to do and the Merc engine (which all the local staff at Marina Seco called the “Barby” engine…only 3.3 HP) to pick up (repaired). One of the projects is the “mast head light”…by the way Candy, David does not believe that you winched me up the mast (more than once, I might add). OK, after washing the deck and putting our food and cervasa away, Monday AM…up the mast…down the mast…up the mast…down the mast………OK, got the point? I went up the mast 4 times…and Dave did a great job but he wondered…where is the electric winch???

As it turned out…the main wire had a break in the plus lead…the light bulb was burned out…the unit itself was and is a mess (too old) and it needs a new one…LED??? However, after a trip to the Merc dealer in San Carlos (also the West Marine dealer) we got new wires and a new bulb (no mast head fixture available). Dave repaired the light fixture (actually he jammed the new bulb into the old fixture, since the new brighter and higher wattage, had the wrong prongs on it). Hey…it works and works great.

Next project before I got the boat ready to depart on Monday eve…check out how the SSB works for various talk stations. Everyone says that “Don” says we will get our “butts” kicked if we take off on Tuesday…OK, OK, we will leave tonight. However, I cannot download a GRIB file and Accuweather says that all will be very calm….hmmm…where did “Don” see 30 knot winds?? Don’t know but I am not waiting to find out. Dave reads all my SSB books and figures out how to check on “Don” and crews that are chit chatting. Never hear “Don” but a lot of chit chat…boredom?

We get Isabella (Marina Real’s port Master) to give us transfer forms to La Paz…to be shown to Santa Rosalia if asked. I get the latest info I can on the weather from Accuweather (should’ve used www.Bouyweather.com )…we get to the fuel dock just before they close and take off @ 5:08 PM on March 26, 2007.

27’ 56.8258 N & 111’ 06.3281 W…we raise the sails (I use the working jib…just in case)..set the autopilot for 52 deg (remember it is 180 deg off…I need to remount the fluxgate compass). After inserting a waypoint…I check our distance…79 NM to go.

Beautiful sunset…take a video and go for my little camera…oops…where is it? Not sure…did I leave it in the shuttle coming here??? Need to scour the Noe Mar for it (later found it).

Nice moon for most the night…I sack out for (around 8 PM) a few hours after my quick dinner (Dave prefers gourmet cooking vs my fast cheese tacos..or sandwiches, washed down with cervasa). Get up @ midnight…take over the helm…27’ 38.856 N & 111’ 40.76 W…motoring on flat glossy seas @ 5 knots (was 6.5 knots when we had a wind) checked our distance to the harbor in Santa Rosalia….36.8 NM to go…hope it is daylight when we arrive. I read all the articles (using a red headlight…makes for weird reading) in this months Crusing World…relax in these glassy seas. Dave sleeps well…and I am bored and sleepy. Come below…keep an eye on the radar & computer. Watch the ferry go to Santa Rosalia (yes, it beats us)…Dave gets up and takes over.

Just out of Santa Rosalia in early AM…we get a small breeze…I shut off the engine and we sail nicely. Now, right in my path to enter the Marina…pangas every where…so I fall off…Oh well, time to take down the sails and enter the harbor.

Dave calls the marina…This is the Sailing vessel, Noe Mar, calling Santa Rosalia Marina. They answer and we request a slip for the night…yes, they have 20 available…and they would wait for us on the dock.

WOW!...four of them there to anxiously tie us up to the brand new (albeit small walk ways) dock and system that was made in Canada…they quickly ask us if their prices are to high…and hurriedly show us the new showers, new offices, etc. They are proud of this Marina and the President will be here in a few weeks to dedicate it. They will take us into town (we walk)…they will let us use their computers for the internet…and so it goes. Price??? 10 pesos per foot plus 10% tax…per night……or $36 USD. Spendy.

Dave and I check out the town…look at the Eiffel church (a prefab church built by Gustaf Eiffel…aka Eiffel Tower)…neat.

I finally got hold of Ocens and learned how to use the Iridium phone to dial Mexico…it is “0052+ the numbers”…not 011 as you would do in the USA. So, I down load a 3 day GRIB file from Chopper…they call for 18 knots period. I try to call my friend Ed Epifane…no luck…he is out and about. I even find where I put my little camera…Hooray!!

Remember this is Tuesday, March 27, 2007. I noticed that the Davis Weather vane was twisted…so Dave hoists me up the mast with the preventer system (block & tackle on land)…oofff…I can’t reach it but Dave hands me the pole from the fore deck and I shove it around to it is straight. Seems to work. He challenges me about Candy helping me do this with this system. Candy will have to vouch for me.

David takes us out to dinner in a small diner…good food and good rum, but to much ”carne”….Oh well. We get to bed late.

I wake up @ 3 AM on Wed the 28^th…the boat is being smashed into the dock and the wind is up to 25 knots…OOPs…better listen to “Don” vs Chopper of Max Sea. I put another line on the bow…bend a bolt over that was left on the docks (as a guide to make them all square). Do my best to cross tie it better…give up and go back to bed. Shine the flash light on the weather station…31 knots and???

All day we get 17-28 knots….get hold of Ed and he says the channel we will go through is doing 30 knots. I get a printed download of the Bouyweather Global weather service…it is specific for all the bouy’s in the Sea of Cortez. It will let up some on Thursday AM…we plan on going south to Punta Chivato and anchoring behind it until Friday. Then Friday on the winds subside. This will give us a 5 hour start…and a nice visit with Ed and Jean (Dave says sitting here is boring) and be safe. Checked out the Cunningham’s charts…it is a good holding area for Northerlies and Ed agrees (he is a very experienced sailor and lives here).

My main computer is fried…think it has a virus (turns out later…it is MicroSoft that shut it down, read the next blog) …I only use it for Ocens mail and Grib files and then rarely. I have down loaded everything onto my new laptop (my back up) but CMap is not letting me open every thing (since I forgot my codes…I have them now). Still, we have paper back ups and a GPS…however the GPS interface to the new computer is not working…so we will travel in daylight from now on. The marina here gave us keys to use the computer system tonight (or so they thought)…so I will see if I can get help downloading a new driver and CMap to open up my paid for charts (actually did it when I got home…and I have the codes on my laptop). Need to cover ALL of my bases before I take off like this…paper still works in an emergency.

Dave is off shopping…I am finishing this for the day, fresh cup of coffee…and then it is shower and shave time. Dave’s espanol is pretty good…gets me out of trouble with the locals J.

Check with everyone tomorrow (Thursday)……….Skipper of the Noe Mar….Ken

Ken's Story

2007-02-18T12:58:00.000-08:00

We flew into GYM, Mexico airport ( Guyamas, Sonora, United States of Mexico) for a relaxing two week sailing vacation in San Carlos during the middle of October, 2006. The sun was out and the temperature was a warm 82 deg F. All looked great.

Then came our luggage…Oh My G—my army duffle bag has a white spot on it and has a black plastic bag around it. White paint was everywhere. Of course, I punched the “red light/green light” system…and I got a red light…meaning that all of my bags had to be unpacked. Every one was great…and assisted me in wrapping up one quart of blue white Interlux topside paint (after making sure it was just that). I tossed it in the back of the van…careful not to get paint on anything else, off to Marina Real in San Carlos.

I should’ve known that this was an omen for the next two weeks…but I was here to do a quick bottom paint and get off shore with Candy. This was supposed to be the trip that encouraged her to sail in the Sea of Cortez…perfect weather and light winds.

We had arranged to have the boat hauled out the next day…however, we could not stay on her when she was hauled…so Candy went into San Carlos to get a room at the Best Western (seems we have been there before). When she came back, we went to fire up the Taylor “cooker” (galley stove to you Yanks)…a gush of kerosene came out of the main line. WOW!! This is a new unit…but sure enough the stainless braided line had a hole in it. Probably due to the dry warm climate she was sitting in for 7 months.

Oh yes, did I mention that I moved the Merc outboard out of the cabin and pulled on the starter cord…it was froze. It worked fine when I left. Of course the whole boat was dusty (I leave a hatch open under the hard dingy)…so clean up was also in order.

We went into San Carlos (shuttle ride) for a new stove line and to get the outboard fixed. Of course the Merc dealer (yes, they have one) does not repair these…but there is a guy that will. Nope…no hoses available…but in Guyamas there is a place that will build one.

Just as I am ready to take the Merc to the person that repairs them…a young fellow (Nacho) came and grabbed the motor…yes, he would repair it and he was the fellow that was going to help me paint the bottom of the Noe Mar the next day.

OK, go for the bus and take off for Guyamas. Believe it or not, the hose place was on the main road into town and it was bright yellow…easy to spot. We got off, the fellow’s shop was pristine…and he made up a hydraulic hose to match the old one. OK, so it isn’t as pretty…but I assure you it will last longer than I will. There two things done plus a place to sleep.

That night while sleeping on the Noe Mar, Candy heard “critters” munching on our hull…Toredos???? I hope not…but as I laid my ear to the sole (floor to you land lubbers)…I too heard them crunching away. What have I done…taking the Noe Mar to the warm waters??

The next day, we motored the Noe Mar over to the hydraulic lift and off she went to the yard…and did she need it badly. Well, I had painted her bottom a year ago and I had a diver 6 months ago in La Paz…but she needed new paint and the hull cleaned. Nacho showed up and he started scraping with big flat scrappers….he knew these barnacles and he knew the “snapping shrimp “ (or so they are called…and these critters were the ones making the noise…not chewing on the hull…but rather expanding and growing themselves…what weird looking beasties). He rushed off and bought me a gallon of the most expensive purex (bleach) that I ever bought (but hey, he had to drive to town…etc)…I needed more bottom paint (I know where to buy it now) so his buddy brought over some partial gallons and we blended…scraped and painted the bottom. I found the rudder needing some “under water epoxy”…and I have that on board…so a minor repair to halt any further delaminating. The rudder base is bronze and I have tapered two layers of bonded plywood over it to streamline it and John Simpson (Burnaby, BC) redesigned it’s shape. Oh yes, I do believe this haul out cost around $700 USD (in cash…no Visa or Master Card here)…for all labor, bleaching the hull, the paint and the in and out fees.

That night we had a nice dinner in San Carlos and a great rest at the Best Western Hotel. The next day the Noe Mar went back in…and the Merc came back repaired ($180 USD). OK…in one more day we will sail.

I undid the sail covers, hanked on a working Jib along with the Ginny…I was ready for light winds or heavy winds (afternoons were breezy). We motored out of the Marina and into the bay…ready to go out to sea. I hoisted the main and the working Jib (hate feeling nausea) after hoisting the Mizzen…just then Candy hollered…smoke!!! I ran back and shut the engine down (oops, forgot to tell you the kill cable on the engine froze while we were gone and no one had a new one…so I had to lift the engine cover and turn it off by hand). I took loose the belt off the water maker (where else was smoke coming from?)…fired the engine up again…the temp alarm went off….I shut her down…unscrewed the front of the engine and opened up the impeller pump. Don’t loose one screw into the bilge, I said…and sure enough I quickly lost one. However, the impeller was indeed shot. I installed a new one (yes, I did have one on board)…meanwhile as the boat was rocking, I was getting greener. I got it back together…Candy yelled that she couldn’t steer the boat and we coming up on rocks. I came on deck…rounded the boat around…looked at these rocks that were 100 feet away (as She said)…calculated them to be about 1-2 miles on the Starboard side (but they are scary) and fired up the engine. The temp. Gauge read OK…but there was smoke coming up from down below…damn.

I decided to sail into San Carlos, anchor, take the dingy in the next day and get a new screw for the impeller and try to find were the smoke was coming from. I would anchor in the same bay I did last April (it is listed in Cunningham’s book). Bad choice…there is a great place to anchor just inside the entrance to the bay for the San Carlos Marina…but hindsight is always 20/20.

It rocked and rolled all night and the next day the waves were choppier than before. We unloaded the hard dingy…put the Merc on her and went to shore. Buried the Merc under the dingy and walked into town. Got the screws and another impeller…and now back to the boat.

Have you ever gotten a hard dingy over a rough surf??? We didn’t either…damn near ruined my wife (what a sport…I thought the dingy did her in at least twice)…dumped the motor several times…turned it over each time by hand…and then fired her up and shut her down.

Candy suggested we hire a Panga to take us to the Noe Mar…I was frustrated and said no one would do that. Fortunately, she was right and I was wrong…for $130 (Mexican…$13 USD) a panga operator took us to the boat….and then yelled (in espanol) that this was NOT the place to anchor. Boy was he right.

Yes, by this time the chain had drug (I left the GPS on)…but we got aboard.

We sailed back to Marina Real (about 20 miles around the point) and I fired up the smoking motor just as we sailed close to the entrance (yes, I took all the sails down).
Whew! We were home.

The next day, I hired Nacho and a buddy to drive into San Carlos and bring back the dingy/Merc/oars…this they did for $15USD/each. I put the dingy in the water and motored over to the Noe Mar. Yeah! The Merc worked.

I figured I had to find what was going on with the main engine…I pulled the hoses off the heat exchanger (like an internal radiator)…and there were pieces of the impeller…but I wanted to check for more bits and pieces in the heat exchanger. I was just ready to drill a hole in the back of the settee…when Candy (is she always right?? But a great person to have around) said “pull up the flooring under the stairs”. Off course, I thought it was screwed in..but to prove it to her, I started to remove parts of the engine box and the electrical panels. OOPs…I had requested the shipwrights to make everything accessible, and they had. The sole (floor) panels in the entryway…were fit into place like a glove. I got the heat exchanger out and cleaned it…….but WOW! the Vetus water lock was melted. This shut down our sailing. As it turns out, even West Marine doesn’t sell them anymore…so when home I ordered one from Canada.

We cleaned the Noe Mar inside, went to dinner…rowed out to the bay (great fun) walked the deluxe home area (very spendy homes)…bought fish and great food from a local dealer (out of the back of his Nissan truck). Great food, Great cervasa, great company…Candy reorganized the boat and filed everything away.

Next few days I went to use the rebuilt Merc on the hard dingy (we had rowed the Tinker…which is a soft dingy and a life boat)…and as I was coming back to the Noe Mar…it seized up. So much for the repair job.

Off to San Carlos to the Merc dealer (who is also a West Marine dealer)…this time we make arrangements to take it to the San Carlos Marina dry dock where they tore it apart and found a main roller bearing destroyed. It is still there waiting for parts from the USA.

We flew home…question…will Candy ever sail with me again??? I am hoping to fix everything and then see what happens next.

Stay tuned…………Skipper…….Ken Scott

Vacation with Candy

2007-02-18T12:33:00.000-08:00

NoeMar's sailing trips
Hi Everyone,

Thought I would give you all an update on our adventure. This is my story and I’m sticking to it!

We headed out as planned on Monday and discovered our engine was overheating. The wind was light so I had trouble controlling the rudder – no speed. Ken was down below trying to figure out what was happening with the engine. We had a fair amount of wave action so were really rocking and rolling. Headed North but barely moving and in my estimation every rock was trying to reach out and get us. The swearing continued as Ken discovered the impeller was smashed and therefore little water was moving through the engine to cool it. He had a new impeller on board and proceeded to change it. With the boat moving all over the place it was difficult and he lost a screw down the bilge. The gasket did not seal well and the engine was not being cooled.

I suggested we head south to San Carlos where we were familiar with the area and could get to a Marine store should we need one. Ken by default agreed because by this time he wasn’t feeling well. At around sunset we reached a spot we anchored in last year. It felt good to get out of the sun. Unfortunately the calm did not last long. At about 2:00 am the surf was rolling, the wind was blowing and we were bounced every which way. I keep waking up fearful we were dragging our anchor. Ken snored through much of the night.

The next morning Ken assessed the situation and decided we needed to launch the dingy and head for the marine store for screws. We were dragging our anchor but in a rather circular motion so we had some time. It was dicey going to shore but we managed until the last wave. Yes, we landed in the water (warm water). Wet we walked to the marine store, stopped and got an ice cream cone (the only food for about 12 hours) and made our way back to the beach. The waves had picked up and were breaking close to shore.

I spent a lot of my teenage years around the water in Santa Cruz. My dad and I would take our canoe out through the surf. You had to be fast, get your rear end in the boat and paddle like crazy to keep the waves from breaking over the top of you. I remember a day a few of us got together and decided to launch a rubber raft the same way. After being drug through the sand, overturned and pounded about four times we made it out. I never did find my tennis shoes and was sure half of the sand on the beach was in my bathing suit.

So here Ken and I are with a very heavy old dingy trying to get back to our boat. We have oars, a small outboard, bigger rear ends than we use to have and less muscle. This insanity lasted through 5 or 6 tries. Twice the boat capsized and I landed under it. The last time I suggested Ken get in the boat and I push him out. It looked like it was working and I turned away to walk out of the surf and then turned to see Ken and the boat coming back at me. I was done! My suggestion was we go back to the marina and get a ride to the boat. Ken was hesitant – Ken is stubborn – Ken was mad.

We talked to the ice cream man and he found a fellow to give us a ride out to the boat. Ken kept thinking of ways we could go back with our raft and get the dingy. My eyes and mind glazed over.

About twenty minutes passed as the man did some maintenance to his outboard and then we headed out. As we got the closer to our boat the man got more excited. He motioned a lot and said a bunch of words – none of which we understood – except playa. Fear is a universal language – we needed to get out of where we were quickly! Our anchor was dragging and it was not a good anchorage under current conditions.

Ken took the impeller out put a new gasket in and tightened it all together. Still not getting any water flow through the exhaust and we needed to move. We took up the anchor and 100ft of chain. Started the engine to get out and began sailing back to our dock. Again the wind was behind us and not strong. The waves were rolling and we weren’t making any time without our mainsail. Ken put the mainsail up and I tried to stay out of the sun. By sunset we made it back to the entrance of Marina Real. Turned on the engine and Ken nicely docked the boat.

When the engine overheated it melted a hose and fitting – have to order it – takes two week
s. No more sailing.

I’ve been reading, doing laundry, a little judoka and healing all the bruises on my right side. Feel like I’ve been run over by a wooden dingy.

Candy

The beauty of the Sea of Cortez

2007-02-18T12:09:00.000-08:00

As Candy made it to the top of a housing developement above Marina Real in San Carlos...she took this picture of the view looking out over the Sea of Cortez. I, for one, wish I were 20 years younger when I started this venture...this is a great place to spend many years sailing around. Stunningly beautiful. Glad I have gotten this far.

Vetus Waterlock

2007-02-18T11:55:00.000-08:00

For those that are familiar with marine engines...you will notice that the exhaust pipe goes to the bildge...seems the vetus water lock, which is made of plastic, melted, as did part of the exhaust hose. Lesson #1...replace your water impeller every year if using your engine at all...or every 1.5 years if it sits at the dock. Seriously, and if used a ton (naughty, naughty for sail boats) then replace it every 6 months. Of course being of Scottish blood...I didn't. Now I carry 3 of them on board and have dated the time it was replaced.

Oh yes, the Vetus had to come from Canada and I have made a new replacement emergency system in case of any future problems.

Seems, I am not the only one to melt these units...read Reese Palley's book "Call of the Ancient Mariner" (he was going to name it something about Old Farts Sailing...but the pubisher said NO). By the way, that book is a good read for us "Old Farts"...not sure I agree with everything he says...but hey, he has sailed more than I have. Might mention, for the other Ancient Ones out there...when sailing any distance...download your GRIB files (from 2 sources if possible) and take on a crew that is at least 20 years younger than you and has some experience. I, for one, will not take my wife (even though she is 10 years younger than I) as the only crew member (she says, never on the high seas :-) but rather have at least one person that has some experience and is 40 or under in age. Well, if one has a ton of experience...then that may be different. I have been lucky with all of my crew...they have been easy to live with and most of them were vegetarians or fish and veggies...plus only one smoked and he (my nephew) was very carefull only to smoke on watch , or never, when sailing the Noe Mar.

Marina Real, San Carlos, Sonora, Mexico

2007-02-18T11:50:00.000-08:00

Candy walked up the hill from the marina...yes the Noe Mar is one of those white sticks :-)

We have found the moorage and setting beautiful and very nice. There is a free shuttle into town during the day...but in the evening you must take a taxi back.

Not far in back of the marina is a RV place and a nice resturant/hotel.

Marina Real, San Carlos

2007-02-18T11:41:00.000-08:00

Since the Noe Mar is stuck in the harbor (waiting for parts), Candy is relaxing and working on Sudoku. Not sure this is relaxing...me? I am drinking crevasa and vino...OK, so I washed all the dishes also.

Candy making it shipshape

2007-02-18T11:37:00.000-08:00

That evening, after melting our vetus exhaust...and being anchored off San Carlos, Candy prepares the Noe Mar for the evening.

Anchored off San Carlos, Mx

2007-02-18T11:33:00.000-08:00

The blur is due to the small but consistent wave action. That night we really were tossed around due to large swells. Beautiful anchorage but not a safe one.

Noe Mar hauled

2007-02-18T11:28:00.000-08:00

Just finished removing a ton of barnacles off her hull and repainted/new zincs/ready to put back in. This is the San Carlos, Sonora, Mexico yard. Had lots of help from the local workers.

Inside Noe Mar

2006-05-29T18:14:00.000-07:00

As I said earlier, Mary Kohler made the inquiry...how can two or three people live in such a small space for a week or more??

Well, Mary, it was not very comfortable and Candy agreed with you. So, several years ago I had her rebuilt inside so she would be more comfortable for 3 to 4 people. I think I succeeded since no one complained during thes three legs of the journey to San Carlos. She does have 6 ft plus head room...but if you are that tall (I am not) then you need to watch it when you go down to the galley and come back up deck. Of course even 5'6" people like me bang there head on the hatch cover now and then (I have a perminate knot on my head for that reason).

So, here are some before and after pictures of her...and an article was published in the Jan. 2005 issue of Sailing Magazine about her interior rebuild.

Sitting in San Carlos

2006-05-21T07:36:00.001-07:00

Here we are relaxing in San Carlos, after the trip. One is of my Sister, Betty and her husband Jim...then Karen, Candy's Cousin and her husband, Jim. The other is of Candy's son Justin, my son, David, my daughter Heidi and her husband Pat. I need to post one of my oldest daughter Kim and my Step-daughter Talli & husband Malcolm...see what I can find. As to you can see, San Carlos is a great place to relax and sail.

Pictures , San Carlos

2006-05-20T18:49:00.000-07:00

San Carlos at Sunset

Scenes from San Carlos &?

2006-05-20T18:43:00.000-07:00

Here we are...Skipper & First Mate at there San Carlos, Mx Birtday party

Questions and answers

2006-05-20T18:10:00.000-07:00

Well, it has been a month since I posted any new items, or pictures.

I get many questions........like, Sean at the Sail Loft in the Wooden Boat School at lower Hadlock...Do you have back up paper charts...did you stop in Oregon several times?

Yes, Sean, I (and thus the crew) carry paper charts, plus Charlies Charts (instructions and way points of most of the harbors on our journey)for the area we are cusing in. In this case the entire West Coast from Canada to the south of Mexico plus Charlies Charts and Cunningham's books on the Sea of Cortez. I might add that I use C-Map NT loaded on both (yes 2) laptops on the Noe Mar. Not only is this safer, but it gives you much more information for any harbour you wish to enter.

No, Sean, we did not stop more than once in Oregon (Coos Bay)...and then we stopped in San Fransico Bay to repair the Boom and then on to San Diego. From there to Turtle Bay in Mexico for fuel (about 1/2 hour and we did NOT dock)...next stop was Cabo...fuel and water...then on to La Paz....stayed a month and up to San Carlos, Marina Real (pronounced RE Ell...OK?). This is where she is moored currently.

Next...Mary Kohler (Mt. Angel where our company Highland Laboratories is located) said: How can you live in such a small space?

I don't know, but it is really comfortable for me...and hopefully the crew. The Noe Mar is a heavy cruiser and she is easy to rest and relax in, even in heavy seas...or even in 7-8 knots of speed. Very much unlike many lighter larger craft. So, Mary...though it is 1/20 of the space of our home...I enjoy it a lot. I do believe the 1st Mate and all crew members agreed. Of course it is nicer when it is sunny with a good breeze.

Finally, tonight at the Ajax Cafe in Port Hadlock...one of the staff asked...do you fish a lot?

Meaning, what else would you do on a boat in the Sea of Cortez? Ok...no we do NOT fish. Yes, my nephew caught a fish and did fish the first leg...but the Noe Mar carries no fishing gear...is not licensed to do so in Mexico...nor is the Captain licensed...nor any of the crew that may come aboard. Saves this Scotsman a ton of $$$ and if I wish to get fish...local fishermen will provide us with great fish...every day...at a inexpensive price.

Nope...Ajax staff and owners...I sail because it is a blast. I really enjoy nice warm breezes...the boat swishing through the waves...the noise of down below (the Noe Mar whispers and sings to us all the time). I even enjoy the crash of big waves in heavy wind (she handles 40 knots like most boats handle 20)...I enjoy setting sails and trying to get the last little amount of speed from a 5 knot wind (is 5 knots a wind??? more like a whisper). I guess I am saying she is fun.

Next...where are you going next?

Well, I am 70...I figure I can handle her very well until I am 80...but I do admit I have rotator cuff and need to keep taking Iboprofen and my vitamins...especially E & C...anyone for Glucosomine and Joint solution??? I admit, (for I must) when I look in the mirror each morning, my hair is far greyer than it was a year ago...my face is more "weathered" (shall we say?)...and my back is stiffer. OK...but my spirts are great...I can still jog some...etc. So, I do think I can do just fine to Hawaii and then? Sitka??? Not sure...but I do like the Ajax, so that might be worth comming back to moor around Port Hadlock. Good food and good people.

If I have some takers to Hawaii...or just sailing the Sea of Cortez...attach a comment to this blog with your e-mail or phone # and we'll touch base quickly :)

See all of you soon............Skipper of the Noe Mar........Ken

At the Dock

2006-04-19T09:07:00.000-07:00

Under sail

2006-04-19T09:04:00.000-07:00

The Noe Mar

2006-04-19T08:58:00.000-07:00

The Sturdy Little Ship

2006-04-19T08:02:00.000-07:00

The Noe Mar is a Seagoer Yawl built in 1931. The orginal design came from Thomas Fleming Day's ideas and with Charles Moer & Larry Huntington as the co-designers. They decided, since the Sea Bird Yawl was a success, to design two larger versions of it.

These plans were published by Rudder Magazine (Day's magazine) in a book called "How to build a Yawl" (of which I have a copy and an orginal). From this book a gentleman that had never sailed, nor built a boat other than a crude skiff, built a Seagoer Yawl and named her the "Islander". That man was Harry Pidgeon, and he became the second man in the world to sail single handed around the world in his home built Seagoer Yawl. If you google his name, you can find a lot about Harry and his sturdy boat. Interestingly enough, if you google Joshua Slocum you will find the first man to sail a sturdy little boat around the world by himself. Tough men. But back to Thomas Fleming Day:

Of the Sea Bird or Seagoer design, Mr. Day (known as the "Ol Man")described her as "Heavily built, ugly, and very slow" but he also said she was "seaworthy" and he liked her enough to sail the Sea Bird across the Atlantic in a heavy storm.

The Noe Mar (a Seagoer Yawl) is indeed heavy (10 tons with her motor, fuel, fuel for the cabin heater...full water tanks...loaded with all my tools and ready to cruise)...still she handled very well in 40 knot winds that took down a sailing vessle in the same seas we were in off the coast of northern California. In fact, my nephew and I felt very secure an safe the whole time...just a little rockin and rollin as we smashed through nice sized waves. We were very sorry to hear about the abandoment of the larger vessle that was in the same seas and location that we were in. I might add, that I have had light air sails built for the Noe Mar and she does well downwind in 5 knots of wind...but much better in 20 knots. She even did 6.5 knots of hull speed, with a 27 knot following wind, with just a working jib and mizzen raised when we moved her from one mooring to a bay in San Carlos this month.
I had my 1st Mate on board...and requested an additon to the sail plan so we could take her up to 8 knots...but the 1st Mate vetoed my request (hey, I need a 1st Mate:).

The Noe Mar has an addition to the orginal design...a 1/2" thick bronze strap that runs from her bow all the way to the bottom of her keel......yes, she will run over a log or other submerged objects without harm...although you would swear you had just smashed into a huge reef @ 8 knots when that happens (it happened two times on this trip). This idea was from the previous owners...I just removed the corroded and rusty steel strap and bolted on 2 layers of 1/4" bronze straps...and made them the same width as the leading edge of the bow and keel.

As to sailing on her at night...I have often tried to express how great it is, and I have failed...but hopefully the "Ol Man" will permit me to offer his quote of sailing this type of yawl at night:

"The bow waves broke away on either side a mass of fire just as if her stern was a plough being driven through a field of glowing sparks. The red and green side lights showed like the eyes of a dragon, the spray, like the breath form the monster's nostrils, coloring as it drifted across the bath of the beams. Except for the sound of the bow treading down the overtaken wave, nothing was audible save a faint rustle of the canvas--the song of the wind-satisfied sail. Boys, I wish you had been with me that night. Such a night as puts into your being that life-love, that affection, nay, passion, for existence, that gives to earth the enchantment so that all things assume an aspect of immutability, when the soul in its longing to share cries out in ecstasy, "Let me live forever!"."

This reminds me, perhaps I'd better install the LED lanterns (made from original kerosene ones) and turn off the mast head tri-color ones.

I might add that the Noe Mar is fully equiped with Radar, Statellite phone (with wich I can download weather GRIBs from 2 different sources), SSB (a third source of weather), VHF, two computers loaded with C-map Charts on Max Sea navigation, GPS, a Navonics auto pilot system (yes, another computer) and an Aires Wind Vane system...with a Sextant on board (sun shots OK but star shots???). I estimate around $30,000 worth of electronics as well as a new Volvo Penta MD2030 engine and a KIWI Prop self feather propeller (to gain that extra 1/2 knot of speed...we need help).

She is a beauty under light air sails...and no, I do not consider her ugly (just not drop dead gorgeous as some wine glassed hulls appear to be to me)...in fact she looks great when her shoulder is in the sea and the wind is blustry...and I guess, I like standing upright when she does that (as I am setting on deck :)

Check out her pictures and may she sail the seas long after I am off this planet, sailing somewhere in another dimension.

Skipper of the s/v Noe Mar

Wind

2006-04-07T18:40:00.000-07:00

Finally, some wind here in San Carlos

Skipper

2006-04-07T18:39:00.000-07:00

Here I am...leaving La Paz without wind...UCK!

The last crew

2006-04-07T18:37:00.000-07:00

San Carlos, SON, Mx

2006-04-07T18:11:00.000-07:00

Dave and I motored into Caleta la Posada bay around 2 AM (local time) on March 31, 2006. Well, we thought it was Caleta la Posada bay....but instead, it appeared smaller and bright lights were in my eyes. Seems we were in the middle of a disco band playing at a resort area in Sangrila Coves...I quickly turned around and motored out of it. How could anyone sleep with those lights and noise. As I motored back to get into the next bay (with David, my son, on the bow sprit with a light), I get a yell...ROCKS...I hit reverse as he still yelled at the top of his lungs. Did I mention there was no moon and though there were a few stars...well, the lights of the disco blinded everyone. We missed the rocks...both Dave and I were sweating profusly.

We have anchored @ 27 deg 57.745 min N and 111 deg 02.845 min W. Turned off the engine...made sure the anchor was set correctly and went to sleep.

Tomorrow the family would fly in...we have done it.

On April 1, I got up @ 7 and brought up the anchor and motored out of the bay. Went to the fuel dock in San Carlos Marina (7 foot depth...drove my depth sounder nuts).
We filled up with diesel and headed out around the mountain, Tetas de Cabra, (look
tetas and cabra up in your espanol dictionary)to Marina Real. Called on VHF and found our slip.

Watch out for Mexican paper work...apparently we have NOT checked our boat into the country of Mexico...another $50 USD or have the San Carlos Marina do it for $100 USD (they drive to Guyamas and run the gauntlet for you). This will register the Noe Mar in Mexico for 10 years. OK, I should be out of here by then.

The picture is of my son, David, reading his book (none of this "the World is Flat" stuff...rather old economic facts of the sea :) and one of the Capitian resigned to NO WIND. However, you will notice, that once we got here and sailed out into the Sea of Cortez...there is wind...lots of it up here.

Currently the Noe Mar is anchored in 16 ft of water with 60 ft of chain out in the bay of Ensenada San Francisco in San Carlos...27 deg 57.673 min N and 111 deg 01.0854 min W. The bottom is sand and she held with 30 knots of wind the other night.

We will leave the Noe Mar here...fly home Tuesday and pay for a years moorage.

Need to come down and repaint...bottom and top...hopefully have fun sailing here and then plan our next voyage within 2007. Wish us luck.

Hasta luego mi amigos...........Skipper of the Noe Mar..........Ken Scott

Are we there yet?

2006-03-31T19:41:00.000-08:00

Are we there yet (we keep asking)...nope, we should be in San Carlos slightly after midnight today, Friday, March 31.

Currently we are 26 deg 41.6 minutes N and 110 deg 49.7 min W....the local time is 11:34 AM.

David fixed freeze dried lasagna last night, chopped up a bunch of garlic, mixed it with butter and heated the bread in the oven. Seems he learned how not to light the top burner...soot every where. I woke up and shut it down. Other than cleaning up this morning...all is OK. I liked his bread...not sure about freeze dried anything.

Stove: my stove is a Taylor kerosene unit with primus burners (new). It must be preheated with alcohol...then when the alcohol flame goes out, you must strike a match or lighter and then, and only then, turn on the burner slightly. If you reverse this process...you burn a lot of kerosene...yellow flame and soot everywhere. Reason why a kerosene stove...safety and efficiency. Propane stoves are easy to use, and the odorless/colorless gas is heavier than air...thus you must have shut off valves and siffers to be safe. Plus the canister has to be on deck somewhere...and so it goes. Women love Propane due to it's ease. I prefer Kerosene due to it's simplicity in plumbing, safety, and it creates less moisture in the boat. It also puts out more BTU's. I suppose I should name my Taylor...Baron...for my first Doberman...a one man's dog and a mean sucker if you do things wrong. That is the Taylor. If anyone wishes to see one or locate one...respond to my blog and I'll fill you in. By the way...like my old Dobbie...the stove is black and beautiful.

Wind? What wind...? When we have it ...it is on the nose...but most the time we don't have enough to speak about...currently we have "0" knots.

Dave is busy reading true accounts of sailing written by the Pirates of old....not sure about that kid (he is only 45 going on 46) and listening to his super I-POD.

Me? I am busy bumping my head into "knees" of the cabin deck....yes, it hurts and does bleed........OH well...maybe I'll become a "Pirate" and wear the wound as a badge of honor.

Are we there yet??? Nope...I didn't write that much...enjoy and pictures will be forth comming.

Skipper of the s/v Noe Mar.................Ken

WE ARE ON OUR FINAL LEG

2006-03-31T19:39:00.000-08:00

Today is Thursday, March 30, 2006...our current position is: 24 deg 38.84 min N (Latitude) and 110 deg 27.18 W (Longitude).

My crew is my son, David (now pronounce his name y espanol)and that is all. We have about 2 days to go to make our port of
San Carlos, SON, Mx.

Last night we had winds up to 12-15 knots in La Paz...this morning (after I got fuel and we cast off)@ 6:30 AM we found ourselves with the proverbial winds...aka light to none. If we would've left in the evening...we could've got some good sailing...but it made sense to have one last meal on shore.

Sorry to diverse from the sailing subject...but our last meal on shore in La Paz was a kick. Seems a restaurant close to the down town marina (Marina de la Paz) hosts norte americano crusiers. They had their own band...everyone sat together (we met a couple from Utah)...drank tons of cervesa and ate Italian food. Yes, it was a kick and fun. Not many locals, except for a couple women looking for ????

We vary in speed over the land from 6.2 knots to 5 knots, we have the sails up but the wind is on our nose...may have to do some tacking...I am watching the wind. I downloaded the currents so we will know if we have current with us or against us (should be with us 80% of the way).

I will check in tomorrow before Pat leaves for San Carlos (my son-in-law who is posting these blogs when I am at sea).

Hasta luego mi amigos...and yes...I do miss all of you.

Skipper of the s/v Noe Mar....................Ken

Recovering in San Rafael

2006-03-22T10:30:00.000-08:00

New boom...and ready for her sails to be laced on.

The s/v Noe Mar

2006-03-22T10:28:00.000-08:00

Here she is sailing in Washington, just before the start...in about 30 knots of wind...using the working jib.

First Crew

2006-03-22T10:01:00.000-08:00

My nephew Steve...the fisherman. Check out the Tuna he caught while the tiller was lashed. No autopilot for him.

More Crew

2006-03-21T09:14:00.000-08:00

Notice the book Aron is reading as he is on watch........hmmm!

Crew

2006-03-21T05:54:00.000-08:00

Heather, at the helm....

Corey

2006-03-20T11:38:00.000-08:00

Noe Mar in light air...off Mexico

2006-03-20T11:33:00.000-08:00

Yes, we are sailing....about 5 knots

Crew

2006-03-20T11:22:00.000-08:00

Corey...now, you know why he and Heather are a couple...it is the smiles........great crew

The Crews

2006-03-13T13:13:00.000-08:00

Though I have 2 to 3 more days to sail to San Carlos, SON, Mx, I thought I'd tell everyone about the great crews that have been on board the Noe Mar during this long journey.

First leg, from Port Hadlock, WA to San Francisco bay:

Steve Dimock, Nephew, sailed aboard the Noe Mar once before for a day sail.

Totally unexperienced but a great guy.

Apparently, he trusted his "O'l Unc" a lot. Steve is very innovative, a hard worker and all around great guy.

We encountered no wind and up to 40 knots of wind. We had waves that washed clear over the Noe Mar (normally at night) and doused both of us. We actually were running under a double reefed main, working jib (small) and a reefed mizzen...then we were tossed sideways and it took both of us to control the helm, as water rushed over the starboard deck. Still, no "knock down".

We lashed the helm to a self tailing winch and took 6 hour watches. Yes, we broke the boom (due to a big worm that did in the center section of it)in 40 knots of wind. On the bright side, Steve caught a big Albacore Tuna while on the early AM watch. Steve is 41 (right?), married, runs a motel with his wife Susan...has two step-sons and a grandson. Gutsy and a great crew member.

Next leg...from San Rafael to San Diego we had two great crew members:

Aron Bosworth: US Coast Guard Able Bodied Seaman. Experienced sailor, worked as the Captain of a private sailing yacht in the Mediterranean. Very knowledgeable...good sailor...good person to have aboard , he kept me in line when it came to safety and setting the sails. Might add that he makes a mean salad...all natural...and is a good cook. Age...around 29. Going for a Masters degree in environmental studies.

Clayton Zimmerman: Young, only 18 1/2 but...sailed on many of Port Townsend's schooners. Knows his knots and sail setting. Might add that he knows all of the great people in Port Townsend and Port Hadlock that I know. He even dated a young lady (she's in College back east currently) that I sailed with when she was a new born baby strapped to her sailing Mothers front and/or her Captain Dad's front...I guess that was over 18 years ago on that Schooner. What happened to time? Might add that Clayton is vegetarian...so with he, Aron, and myself...we had great food.

One other thing...during this leg of the journey south...we used the Navionics Autopilot that I installed in San Rafael. What a great help. This unit is strong...lots of torque...bent the main bolt holding it...but I repaired that in San Diego. Our wind was light most of the time. We did have one night where it got a little snarly...25 knots and choppy waves. We lowered the main and sailed the night under "Jib & Jigger". This was the helmsman's call (Aron in this case) and a good one. They woke me to take the helm. Glad for great crew members.

The last leg of the journey (well, one more short leg to go...later this month) the crew was made up of a young couple (mid 20's) that I met in France when I crewed on the Ocean Planet: Heather and Corey...great people and good friends. They saw Steve and I off at the Ajax Cafe in Port Hadlock and listened to Doc. Malcolm, one of my son-in-laws, play his Sax and give us a great send off.

As to sailing...they both have been racing a sailboat during this last year in the Pudget Sound area (Washington) and doing well. Thus, like the previous crew...they could and did set sails...especially light air. They both did really great with the Spinnaker and the Ballon Jib as well as the Mizzens Stays'l (Mule).

Both, Heather and Corey are great cooks...Heather is vegetarian...so we had great food. Seems the vegetarians go to greater lengths to cook good food and great salads. We all enjoy each other's company, so our land visits were fun. Might mention that Heather speaks a fair amount of espanol....thanks Heather...that helped us out a lot. Corey, is good with marlinspike and fixing things in general. Whoopie! Sorry about the sea sickness Corey...still he stood all of his watches and was great company. Heather, always woke with a huge grin and cheery attitude...no matter what time of day or night that her watch started.

All in all...great crews...and a great trip. I will send another blog about the last part of the trip from La Paz to San Carlos, SON, Mx at the end of this month.

Thanks for reading about the Noe Mar's little journey...and her great crew members...Skipper of the s/v Noe Mar...Ken Scott

Home Tomorrow

2006-03-06T14:32:00.000-08:00

We left the Cabo fuel docks, after being awaken @ 3:30 AM and at the other dock we convinced them to let us stay until it opened @ 6:00 AM. Or was it Heather, when she leaned against the cabin side with her toes on the toe rail...looked at the Guards and said:"We are not moving" and meant it. Anyway...we had filled our water tanks with our new bacteria filter...and though they opened the fuel dock @ 5 AM and filled our tanks...we shoved off into the sunrise.

The sail around the Cape and up to La Paz, was uneventful...motor...no wind...a bit of wind once in a while, which picked up our speed by a knot or two.

I plotted a course around the two islands before La Paz...but when I took over @ 10 PM that night...I realized I could go between the islands...and that is what we did. This allowed us to arrive in the Marina de La Paz, around 11 AM. Whoopee...we got a temporary berth, two keys and got a shower. We now smell a lot better.

This was Sat. March 4, 2006 and our position is 24 deg 9.34 min N and 110 deg 19.5658 min W.

We walked over to La Marina del Palmar and asked the staff if I could rent a slip for 3 weeks. He said yes, but come back Monday. Which we did...and, of course, paid the fee for a months rental, plus $50 for a diver to clean the bottom of Noe Mar on the 22nd of March.

We all had fun on Sunday. Corey sailed the Tinker, Heather finished varnishing the hand rails, and then we decided to go swimming across the bay on a low level Mangrove Island.

We unloaded Noe Mar's hard dingy (called Squirrelly by Doc Malcolm)and attached the little 3.3 HP outboard motor to it. We got it running, after we turned the fuel on and opened the vent (easy when these things happen) and motored through a lot of wind (where was this wind when we wanted & needed it?) and waves. Well, Ol' Squirrelly is a pram...and only 7' long...so over the front came warm salt water. We made it to the island and went swimming, after we emptied the dingy.

The water was very warm...and the mangroves are certainly a funny looking bush.

We motored back and kept scooping water out...and surveyed the Hurricane damage to any sail boats. Some sunk, some listing, some scratched and scuffed a lot. I believe the Hurricane was in 2003.

We went to a good restaurant for lunch...bought tickets home on line (after Heather had 5-6 websites open, looking for the fastest and cheapes flight to PDX).

We fly home Tuesday and arrive at 6 PM. Now, if that bus to the Cabo airport is on time...or should we take a shuttle?

Sunday night there was a carnival on the sidewalks of the water front. We found great pan and thus had a great breakfast this morning (Monday).

Wait...this is our PORT OF ENTRY...so we started the paper cha-cha-cha. We went to the bank to get our Visa's stamped (came by boat so we could stay...thus, need visas) and paid for that. Went to the migracion office...more stamping and money...then to the ??? at the port...cash and more stamping...then we walked a mile or so to the Port Capitan....now the boat became official and more money was spent.

Amazing...we got all of this done by noon and stopped for a short snack. Now,so Corey says, if we were in France...stretch that to a week. Fortunately, the Mexican government has made all of this much easier this year than before. It helped a lot that Heather is able to speak espanol...seems she worked in Ecuador for most of a year and in the Chiapas another stretch. She says she gets it mixed with French a lot...but hey, it works. I would advise anyone cruising down here to take a crash course in the USA and then take a course here in Mexico. In spite of Cabo/La Paz/etc being Norte Americano turista areas...espanol is the main language. Oh yes, if you stumble, fall, but try...the local people appreciate it and understand.

Oh yes, the Tinker sails like a dream...the dingy "Squirrelly" is good...But heavy (home made out of Fiberglas).

Heather scrubbed the topsides of the neo Mar...Corey cleaned the insides...All done by the time I had made the slip accommodations this morning...What a crew. We ate the pan (warmed in our oven) and cheese for breakfast...But Heather hates the Taylor cooker. Seems like she turned a burner down...like off...And tried to re-light it. OK, Corey turned the stove off and we let the smoke out of the cabin. She still doesn't believe that Kerosene is safer than Propane (well, she does...But doesn't want to).

I will be anxious to go home...And at the same time I will look forward to coming back on the 27th of March for some minor painting/cleaning and 2 days sailing to San Carlos. Do I have any volunteers???? Probably be a motor sail...but who knows...it could be a beam reach.

I have lots of stories to tell about the three sets of crew members the Noe Mar had, and I am sure, the crew has a ton of them on the Skipper...time will tell. If I get any e-mails from them...I will post them on the blog. OH yes, Heather is teaching me more tricks on using a PC (her personal choice is MAC) and is really good at it.

Hasta Pronto mi amigos................Skipper of the s/v Noe Mar....Ken

Whales & Cabo

2006-03-03T17:11:00.000-08:00

It is currently 7:30 AM March 3, 2006...our position is 22 deg 55.4 min N, 109 deg 44.38 W. This is off the coast of Bueno Vista where Candy took her children & yours truly for a Christmas vacation several years ago.

Yesterday after Mag Bay...and light or non-existent winds...we spotted two whales together. Apparently mating, because one watched while on stood on his head...raised his flukes and slapped the water with them...this he did repeatedly. Typical male of the species showing off for the female...and she liked it. We cut the engine and drifted for a half hour watching them and taking pictures. WOW! is all I can say...and I'm glad they were ahead and to our starboard...not under us (Ouch).

On this same journey south we had dolphins playing with our bow...but perhaps we were to slow...who knows...but they left almost as soon as they came. What a joy to see this.

At sunset, I watched for a "green flash" but alas...no Tequila on board...so no green flash. However, a few evenings ago I did see the last sliver of the sun turn to a bright green color (does this count?) but I am sure that was a retina after image...vs the atmosphere causing this. There are many articles on this subject, written by believers, in Latitude 38 this last month...including one account that is...well...X-rated for this blog. I still think it is retina after image or to much Tequila and sun.

Heather continues to varnish the hand rails and Corey is setting sails at every move (what a crew).

We arrived in Cabo last night around 11 PM...no one around...and no answer to our hale on the VHF. So we moored at a fuel dock (we needed fuel)and found water in a tap. We got out the hoses and my "jim dandy" crud and bacteria filter system and filled both tanks (it is nice to have water) and put in 2 tblsp of bleach in each tank as we filled them. The bleach will disappear in a few days. Thus, we have clean, safe water. Great!.

We crashed around midnight and @ 3:30 AM the security guard rapped on the cabin sides and woke me up. My espanol is poor to non-existent and Heather's is good but mixed with French. The guard spoke no English...but he informed me we had to move and the dock would open @ 6 AM (I understood the number and he used his fingers to assure me of the time).

OK, we cast off...slowly looking at the next marina (only two there)...and the next marina had 3-4 guards...no English. We found this fuel dock and convinced their leader to let us crash for 2 hours. Heather just looked at them and said...we are staying...and she meant it. Anyway...@ 4:45 AM...the big fishing boats with their clients came and the dock hands rapped on the hull. OK, OK...we filled with diesel (need to check this but I am sure their prices were higher than Turtle Bay) and off we motored with a ton of fishing boats of all sizes, crossing our bow...running to and fro...egads...and the sun coming up in our eyes. I must add a Carnival Cruise ship coming in pointed right at us...or we pointed right at them...directly out of the sun. Of course we passed starboard to starboard. Those things are huge.

I set the way-points for our course around the end of the Baja and up to La Paz...no wind and the new GRIB file says we won't have over 2 knots of wind...thanks for a good engine and a full compliment of fuel.

The temperature @ 8 AM is 71 F outside and 79 F in the boat...wind is on our nose...at about 3 knots true...not worth trying to sail...but the sails are up and they do help us gain a half a knot or so. I might add the Jib is lowered.

Corey fixed a great breakfast for all of us...pancakes, real maple syrup, goat yogurt (Brian @ Highland would love it), fresh fruit cut up...my V-8 juice (it is now all gone)...and a great morning.

Hasta luego mi amigos.................Skipper of the s/v Noe Mar....Ken Scott

PS...no we have not been able to clear customs and emigration yet...how could we? However, the fuel dock took the boats name....hmmmm.

Whales, Whales everywhere

2006-03-02T21:19:00.000-08:00

We entered Mag Bay on March 1, 2006 @ 12:30 PM. We motor-sailed in and out. Going in we had a current against us and with sails and engine...only 3 knots. Coming out we did the same...sometimes 6.5 knots and some of it was only 3.2 knots. Since it is over 9 knots into the bay...well we didn't get back on our path until........

We saw 10-15 maybe more grey whales...and some passed under our hull (this made the depth sounder go crazy). One even "Breached"...head way up in the air...most of the body out of the sea. Then back down with flukes showing. We even saw a baby whale dive...it's flukes were so small someone thought it was a dolphin...wrong tail.

Lots of local fishermen in their very white and shinny wooden fishing boats. Netting their catch. Very colorful. Of course where the fisherman's catch was being loaded...hundreds of Pelican's were waiting and perhaps a thousand gulls waiting for their misses. Quite a picture.

The land of the bay is stark...like New Mexico or Arizona...but around a long spit in the low sandy region are mangroves...yes, a swamp in the middle of a dry arid country. Very interesting if one had a kayak and lots of time.

I guess I should say: Water, Water every where and not a drop to drink. Seems we ran out of water this evening (March 2) around 9 PM...I shut the valves from the engine to the hot water tank, turned off the water pump and checked the bilge for bottled water...yes, we have enough. We will be washing dishes with salt water and a slight rinse...or like Ocean Planet...we will wipe our own dishes & keep them separate. We do have sanitary hand cleaner and wipes...so we will do fine. Now, comes the real question, can we make the water maker work tomorrow? Wish us luck. I have a theory...not enough water was coming into the system before. That and when we slowed the engine down, we couldn't build up enough membrane pressure. If this fails...then the system fails. Wish us luck. Might mention, for you land lubber...the Head uses salt water:)

This is the morning of March 2, 2006...our position is 23 deg 32 min N and 110 deg 55 min W. The time is 10 AM PST....normally I post the blog the following morning @ 9 AM...I am late due to a failed attempt to get the water maker going. Seems the water supply pump is not working at all...12 Volts to it from the main panel...but no dice. When I came down the Oregon coast with my nephew Steve, we hit some hard waves...and it came loose when I inspected it in San Rafael...so perhaps a wire is loose that I cannot see. Need to take it out and bench test it.

Oh well...some day we may have a water maker...funny the same brand of pump is for my main water supply...and it has always worked and still does (when there is water :)

Hasta luego mi amigos.......Skipper of the s/v Noe Mar..........Ken Scott

Bahia Magdalena

2006-03-01T21:24:00.000-08:00

As I said yesterday...Wind is a fickle woman...last night, under Main & Mizzen it got up 14 knots and with the Iron Genny...we clipped along @ 6.8 knots. It was rough and bumpy..but OK by me.
I took a long watch (8 PM - 4:30 AM) because Heather was on watch a long while and crashed at 9:30 PM and Corey still is a little "under the weather". Not sure we can do anything...he isn't barffing but he is very quite and pale. In my case, when this happens, I can sleep it off. I read in Latitude 38 that 3-5 gms of Vitamin C will cure this...but seems I don't have any Vitamin C...need to get a contact with a Vitamin Company for better pricing...etc :)

We are currently just north of the entrance of "Bahia Magdalena" @ 24 deg 34.17 min N and 112 deg
11.23 min W and the entrance of "Mag Bay" (as sailors call it) is 24 deg 31'N and 112 deg 03'W.

We have the Tops'l raised but since the wind is variable and on our stern most the time (wait it is coming up on our beam...time to raise the Balloon Jib?)we don't have a head sail raised.

We plan on going in and out of Mag Bay for a photo shoot and going right back out. This is due to the fact that I don't wish to clear customs here...I am shooting for Cabo San Lucas which is 156 nautical miles away and should take us around 32 hours to make it (currently it is 9:30 AM March 1, 2006). This would put us in Cabo around 5:30 PM of the 2nd...but if the winds are light we may be later or very early the 3rd of March...is the customs open on Sat.??? Let's hope we arrive by Friday early AM and have a day to do this.

I am off to set the Genoa (first try)...so, must sign off........talk to all of you tomorrow...and yes, the weather is very sunny and 64 F outside at this time.

Hasta luego mi amigos.............Skipper of the s/v Noe Mar.....Ken

Wind a fickle Woman

2006-03-01T19:05:00.000-08:00

Wind, where art thou? Last night we had 12-15 knots and with the Tops'l up, well, she really zinged. We were running without a Jib so I turned on the deck light and clipped in and went up front. Choose to use the "working jib" so that meant un-shackling the Genoa and re-shackling on the working jib and, of course, lashing the other to the bow sprit...after one was un-lashed. In spite of me feeling cool earlier...I was sweating when I was done. Heather woke up and came up to check all out (thanks Heather). She stayed up for a while...then went back to bed.

I figured since she was up for a while, I would keep watch for an additional hour...but she got up and took over @ 3:30 AM...so I crashed.

Did I mention that last night she made a great tossed green salad, sliced apples, sliced pears,cheese & a glass of wine (OK...I had two). We do eat good on the Noe Mar.

This morning the wind dropped again...up with the "Mule" and then we put the "Balloon Jib" up for fun. We got it to work better than a Genoa would, in this light air. Now, however, down came the "Mule"...not enough wind.

Baths...Corey took a real shower yesterday...and a upper body wash on deck this AM...me I sponge bath now and then...perhaps that is why Heather opens all the hatches :)

Motor is on again...but I charge the Frig (holding plate) and take radar off stand-by (no need for it here...but may as well use it).

This is February 28, 2006 and our position is 26 deg 7 min N and 113 deg 39 min W...due to light and variable winds we have had to set course a few degrees out of our way...so in a few hours we will jibe back to correct that. Currently, with the motor running...we are only doing 5 knots or so. We could stay on course and lower all sails...but then we would end up putting them all up again. So much for Gaffer's and no roller furling...but I don't mind. Beats what happened to "Bellingham"...and he had roller furling and a marconi sloop rig.

Time to get some sun...it is 68 F currently @ 10 AM.

Cabo...here we come............Hasta luego mi amigos............Skipper of the Noe Mar, Ken

Turtle Bay

2006-02-27T19:40:00.000-08:00

We arrived at Turtle Bay (Bahia San Bartolome') on the Pacific side of the Baja California Sur, at sunrise...what a beautiful picture. However, the town is a poor mining town or? and not so pretty. The landscape is mainly a desert with lots of gullies and ravines...interesting.

We set anchor and the boat next to us hailed us...from Bellingham, WA.

The local fuel dock guy, zoomed out in his "panga" (boat) and said he would be back as soon as he refuled the boat next to us. So, we had breakfast (tofu scrambled with mushrooms, green peppers, etc...and hot sauce...tasty).

Heather downloaded another GRIB file...and found how to make little ballons with the knots of wind speed in them. We will have wind but light for the next day or so...then we should get around 11 knots (currently we have 4 knots).

We left the bay after the "Bellingham" guy asked Heather to be a crew member and gave her his e-mail address. Right...with Corey standing there...and he had a leaky boat, torn head sail, no radar...and she said he was a creep. So much for being nice and giving him weather data.

Heather has problems with the GRIB files wanting to download onto Map Media...vs C-map NT (map media is a Raster file and we don't use it...but it seems to always be in the back ground on this V 11.0 of Max Sea). Oh well, we can get it to appear on C-map...never sure what this software does that way. She digs into it...me? I just want to use it. She is good with computers.

Shortly after leaving Turtle Bay...a huge grey whale breached to the port side of the Noe Mar and crossed our bow...then breached again. All the time leaving a slick of bubbles and yellowish material in it's wake. Is this the famous material that French perfumers paid dearly for? If so, it made the perfume last a long time. The whale was accompanied by another that passed behind the Noe Mar...no bubbles and no slick, but it did show us it's flukes as it dove. What a sight. Add to the great sunset later on...all in all a great day.

We are currently doing 5 knots in 4 knots of wind with gentle seas. 27 deg 17.5 min N and
114 deg 46.7 W.

How do we achieve this great speed over the wind??? Well, Heather and Corey (a racing team if I ever saw one) asked for more sails...I brought out the old and stained Spinnaker...we rigged it, used my spinnaker pole...made a downhaul...and it works. Not to mention the Mizzen Stays'l (aka Mule) and the Tops'l...all flying and all working. Need to save fuel (we took on 120 liters or 30 gallons at a cost of $80).

I am thinking of taking a look at "Mag Bay" and proceeding to our Port of Entry...Cabo...perhaps spending an evening in town and off to La Plaz. Perhaps, due to light wind...I'll leave the Noe Mar there%

Turtle Bay

2006-02-27T19:20:00.000-08:00

We arrived at Turtle Bay (Bahia San Bartolome') on the Pacific side of the Baja California Sur, at sunrise...what a beautiful picture. However, the town is a poor mining town or? and not so pretty. The landscape is mainly a desert with lots of gullies and ravines...interesting.

We set anchor and the boat next to us hailed us...from Bellingham, WA.

The local fuel dock guy, zoomed out in his "panga" (boat) and said he would be back as soon as he refuled the boat next to us. So, we had breakfast (tofu scrambled with mushrooms, green peppers, etc...and hot sauce...tasty).

Heather downloaded another GRIB file...and found how to make little ballons with the knots of wind speed in them. We will have wind but light for the next day or so...then we should get around 11 knots (currently we have 4 knots).

We left the bay after the "Bellingham" guy asked Heather to be a crew member and gave her his e-mail address. Right...with Corey standing there...and he had a leaky boat, torn head sail, no radar...and she said he was a creep. So much for being nice and giving him weather data.

Heather has problems with the GRIB files wanting to download onto Map Media...vs C-map NT (map media is a Raster file and we don't use it...but it seems to always be in the back ground on this V 11.0 of Max Sea). Oh well, we can get it to appear on C-map...never sure what this software does that way. She digs into it...me? I just want to use it. She is good with computers.

We are currently doing 5 knots in 4 knots of wind with gentle seas. 27 deg 17.5 min N and
114 deg 46.7 W.

How do we achieve this great speed over the wind??? Well, Heather and Corey (a racing team if I ever saw one) asked for more sails...I brought out the old and stained Spinnaker...we rigged it, used my spinnaker pole...made a downhaul...and it works. Not to mention the Mizzen Stays'l (aka Mule) and the Tops'l...all flying and all working. Need to save fuel (we took on 120 liters or 30 gallons at a cost of $80).

I am thinking of taking a look at "Mag Bay" and proceeding to our Port of Entry...Cabo...perhaps spending an evening in town and off to La Plaz. Perhaps, due to light wind...I'll leave the Noe Mar there and we all can fly home. The trip is great and varied but Candy was unable to fly to San Diego for the day...and it is time to go home.

At our current speed we should arrive in Cabo San Lucas or Cabo Falso in 3 days. Since today is the 27th of February of 2006...that would put us there around March 2nd...depends on the wind.

To go La Plaz is another day or so. After that it would be 2 days to San Carlos or so. Never very accurate when one depends on wind and currents.

Heather asked me why the "Teddy's" became Russian...well, my Russian military hat (very warm) was sitting next to them, I couldn't name a Purple bear for California's Golden Bear (besides, I'm an Oregonian)...and since the "Russian Bear" is tough and ferocious...and these guys are small and gentle...Hey...it just popped into my head. I should give the name Senor Teddyovich to the male Teddy...so there we have it...new names for now....Senora Teddiana (or Teddyana) and Senor Teddyovich.......wait until you meet them...very soft, very cuddley, and good company (probably due to their former owner).

Corey is doing great...me? My rib is killing me...but a few Ibuprofen...and it is OK. Hard to sleep...and I must walk and sit right. Oh well, such is life and it will heal just fine.

I never am able to justify my ballon Jib...it is the same size as my Genoa (but lighter and slightly more belly)and it never seems to do the trick...perhaps I don't know how to set it. Wish my Spinnaker was about 8-10 ft longer...it flys well but is small. Nice shape...horrible color (called...stain).

Time to go for another day.......miss all of you and see most of you soon.

Skipper of the s/v Noe Mar............................ Ken

Senora Tediana and Senor Ted

2006-02-26T13:07:00.000-08:00

The wind is still light...however in 4 knots apparent wind we are sailing @ 4.5 knots over the earth...and when we have 5 knots or better we can sail @ 5.3 knots. Must have a current...but the Mizzen Mule works great and the Tops'l is up and pulling also.

We figure on stopping @ Turtle Bay for fuel due to the huge amount of engine time. Speaking of which...clogged another filter...glad I had a spare and very glad I have dual Racor filters.
We should arrive @ Turtle Bay around 5 AM tomorrow morning.

Our current position is: 29 deg 06.77 min N and 115 deg. 32.71 min W. At 9 AM this morning we were out from Bahia Blanca...across the Baja peninsula from the Isla Angel de la Guarda (in the Sea of Cortez)

Corey is feeling better...I gave him my wrist band that is an electrical device to stimulate pressure points to prevent mal de mar.......seems to work...or is he just adjusting? Who cares he is drinking a Belgium Raspberry beer after 2 bowls of granola...great.

OK, who are the Senora & Senor I mentioned???

Senora Tediana (bears are Russian..right) and Senor Ted (However, we are in Mexico) belong to a Welsh Lass and an Ancient Scotsman (both USA blends) and they decided to take up residency on the Noe Mar. These two Teddy Bears have no eyes but are great with ESP...and take long hibernations when I am not aboard. They do indeed enjoy their life aboard (or so they say...by ESP). The Senora is very pretty...all purple and velvety...the Senor is typical male...rather plain but a nice brown hue. They keep each other company and the Skipper also. They thanked me a lot for not going to an adoption home (which the Welsh Lass was going to do...can you believe that?)and said they love the Noe Mar and the Quarter Berth. They just sit and snuggle all day and all night...very nice...and send me good vibes.

Heather is still fixing good meals and the Taylor Stove is working well...the Fridge is cold (thus the Cervaza/Beer) and the water is HOT!!! Life is good...miss Candy and all of my friends (better e-mail a bunch of them and see if I get a reply :) Pat Pope (my youngest husband...aka son-in-law) is posting these blogs...so I thank him.

From the Crew plus Tediana & Ted...plus the Skipper of the Noe Mar....

Hasta luego mi amigos......................Ken

Mexico

2006-02-25T10:59:00.000-08:00

What a day,Feb 24th,...taxi rides to the Mexican Consulate (surprise...we do NOT have to have a Visa for the boat...or fishing license...or Insurance...but it is a good idea to get it when we get there...just need our own visa's and they ushered us by a ton of Mexican's in line for hours and hours...what a Country)...next, Whole Foods, the Noe Mar is now listing to the Starboard due to food that Heather got and beer that I tossed in the carts. Oh, talking of Taxi rides...I forgot...yesterday I took a Taxi ride back to DownWind Marine...got a curtesy flag for Mexico, a super filter for contaminated water...set up to filter solid particles out of the marina water...and 99% of all bacteria. Two filters and all set up for the 2 drinking water hoses on board the Noe Mar. Who needs a water maker? Of course one needs to add 1 tablespoon full of bleach with every 10 gallons of water.

Heather took inventory of the food...she and Corey swabed the decks...and the interior...we arranged the bedding...unplugged the shore power...changed oil...we are ready to go. Oh yes, it is very difficult to get rid of used oil in SD.

We backed out with a strong current...got caught crosswise and nicked a big power boat...the owner looked under it and said it cracked his swim platform (it was in neutral and I had just put it in forward...oops..hopefully the liability insurance will cover it). The airies is fine...didn't even bend it...not sure about the power boat B&B...time will tell.

On to the America's Cup harbor and fuel (yes, DownWind Marine had 5 gal diesel tanks).

Set the Main/Mizzen and working jib. The harbor was windy and it was late in the evening...so we reefed the Main. Set a course for Cabo Falso and lost our wind...Oh well, fired up the Iron Genny...Corey took first watch and we took off.

I awoke @ 11 PM, took over until 3 AM...no wind...and I missed the Islas Coronados...Oh well, such is life. We are now off Punta la cesta del gato @ 31 deg 21.4 min N and 116 deg 40.4 min W.

Well, I better get this off...it is my watch soon and Corey is a little quezzy...

Hasta Luego mi amigos...Yes, we are in Mexico..........Skipper of the s/v Noe Mar...Ken

San Diego..WOW!

2006-02-25T10:54:00.000-08:00

This last leg of the trip from San Rafael to San Diego was a little of everything.
We had heavy winds...ran one night with "Jib & Jigger"...motored the last night and so goes the West coast weather. The Autopilot kept us on coarse and helped us make record time.

We arrived in San Diego amid jet planes, and the Navy testing huge engines (due to the loud roar that was on going as we entered the harbor). US Coast guard was flying their choppers as was the US Navy...what a busy place. The city was shrouded with smog...but up close it was sunny and pleasant.

We pulled into the Public Docks at the San Diego Police dock/Immigrations at 11:30 on Wed. Feb 22. Not bad after sailing out of San Rafael on the 19th.

As soon as we tied up to the "pump out" station and I went to get a berth...my crew packed and got ready to go. In fact, Clayton called Alaska and got a flight to Seattle that afternoon and I booked Aron to fly out this Sat. I gave them $20 for a Taxi and they both posed for a picture and off they went...before 1 PM.

I got a berth assignment ($10.50) and moved the Noe Mar with help from a couple of guys that were near by. One was buying a boat docked there...and he said he was going to take her to SF and then to the Philipines...this for a man who had never sailed and who looked older than the Noe Mar's skipper...good luck, I said.

Walked to DownWind Marine...got a couple of stainless bolts (one was a 1/2" eyebolt made in France...spendy) to repair the mizzen boom and the autopilot. As it turns out I was able to get a stainless 1/2" nut screwed down low enough to repair the autopilot's pivot. Amazing how much torque the autopilot exerts. Went over to West Marine...but no 5 gal diesel cans and no flexible solar panels...OH well. Stopped by a shop and had a printer make a "port of Origin" sign for the stern of the Noe Mar.

Next...called the Marriott Marina and booked a spendy slip for one night. Was able to get on line for a few minutes and notified Corey where I would be and to take the Marriott shuttle.

Motored to down town San Diego, on Feb 23nd, and found the Marina...tight and the wind shoved me the wrong way...but I made it. Moored and signed in.

WOW!! I found Heather and Corey trying to find the Noe Mar...I and the Noe Mar have a new crew.

Hasta luego...and Mexico here we come...............Skipper Ken

No Wind & Wind!!!

2006-02-22T02:26:00.000-08:00

Today is Tues, Feb 21, 2006 our position is 33 deg 52 min N and 118 deg 56 min W...in English this is in the Santa Monica Bay of California...soon to be in the San Pedro Channel off Los Angeles.

Yesterday afternoon...light winds so up went all the sails...including the Mizzen Mule/Spinniker...etc. Of course we took them down in the evening...and then quickly reefed the main...followed by lowering the Mizzen and the Jib...heading up and lowering the Main. The winds were heavy (25-35 knots?) and the waves steep...it got dusk and then dark before the Main was untangled. However, the crew did it while I took the helm (safest place...I'm old but not dumb).

We motored the rest of the night, came into Ventura and refuled, then called Candy and Heidi (message on my phone).

Our top speed was maintained at 8.6 knots and we motor @ 5-5.5 knots. Currently we are under Main and Mizzen, only, and sailing from 5.4-6.2 knots. Wind is on our stern. Nice sunny day.

The dolphins finally found us...or we them...a huge pod has been playing with us for the last 30-60 minutes. Clayton and Aron took lots of digital pictures...great fun.

I have reserved a one night (or did she insist on 2 nights?) moorage at the Marriott Marina in San Diego on the 23rd. We should arrive on the 22nd and I am counting on the San Diego Police moorage for one night.

Need to put a locking nut on the Tiller autopilot...but the new system is fantastic. Batteries are holding up well...but we do motor a lot...more than I wish. We took on 35 gallons of fuel, and at today's prices...spendy.

I was tossed about last night as I picked up a pen to put in it's velcro holder...OUCH...my side still hurts. I did the unspeakable...but only for 5 min...I fell asleep @ 1:45 AM at the end of my watch. Aron says it was 1 AM but I had just checked the clock...so? Ok, I give up, tonight I will set all of my alarms...it is pretty at night but that is a long 4 hours from 10 PM to 2 AM and very boring.

Food is holding up well...we can never eat all of this...water tanks are good...and it is a great day! Oh yes, warm & sunny.

I think on the next leg, I will disable the Aires (no, she is not going in the trash...just that the autopilot is so great going downwind and making good time). We seem to be doing around 100 miles per day, and I have put a highlighted X on our chart I printed out as we progress. I need to print out a chart for the next trip.

Time to close this rambling Blog and see if I can e-mail a friend or 2 before resting for a while.

Hasta luego mi amigos.....................Skipper Ken/s/v Noe Mar

Sailing in the Santa Barbara Channel!

2006-02-22T02:25:00.000-08:00

Guess what...here we are 34 deg 27.27 min N and 120 deg 53 min W...heading into the Santa Barbara Channel...with all sails up...and no motor. We are sailing @ 5.5-5.7 knots (as good as the Iron Genny does).

Great fun this afternoon...we got a light air and Clayton said...can we set the Tops'l...of course and so we did. Not enough...next the Mizzen Stays'l (Mule) and we picked up another knot. Not to be one to wonder what to do next...Clayton asked for the Ballon jib...OK...that went up. Hmmm...didn't you say you had a Spinniker? Of course...and stains & all...it soon replaced the Ballon jib...and it worked great.

With the engine off..we calculated we had enough fuel to barely make San Diego...so rather than risk it we are planning on fueling up @ Ventura tomorrow afternoon. If we keep on sailing @ over 5 knots we may not even stop. However, between the Santa Rosa and Santa Cruz Islands we could loose wind...then on with the Iron Genny.

Aron is great, smart and level headed...Clayton is smart and willing to try everything (and is well trained to do so)...good crew. We eat the same things (except Clayton is 100% Vegetarian)...they made a great salad last night...and they let me sleep...but awaken me when required. What a crew. Glad they are aboard...they are making this trip faster than I would have by my self.

That reminds me...we do need a proper and larger Spinniker..hmmm...another BOAT $ ????

Jerry & Joni have been helping me with ideas about San Diego (yes, they answer my SSB e-mail) and are enjoying their life on the s/v Lotus (which they built in their back yard in Salem, OR). They love the small towns of Mexico and are sorry that I am Zinging down the coast of CA.

Did I mention the warmish sunny weather? If not...we have it (around 50 F). Still cool at nights but getting better.

Clayton got the Aries working well...but the wind is variable...so back on with the autopilot (Raymarine) and it is working GREAT!!! I know I gave a guy a bad time about wind vanes vs auto pilots in Port Hadlock the day I left...I owe him an apology.

Miss everyone...but, I am looking forward to the next leg of this journey...look out Mexico...we are comming.

This is all for now...I will report tomorrow...oops...the Iridium phone is great for calling Candy...but I need to use it more for letting in my GRIB files...and the SSB is very good if I tinker with the stations...which I do.

Have a great day...and we will talk to you later..........Skipper Ken of the s/v Noe Mar

The Noe Mar is sailing again!

2006-02-20T08:46:00.000-08:00

We got off to a late start on Sat. Feb. 18th...and promptly got out of our channel and spent an hour or 2 getting out of the mudd. The channel to Loch Lomand Marina in San Rafael is very shallow and very narrow. Well, the tide came in (after a power boat tried to help us...no luck) and we motored out of this mess.

As we approached the Golden Gate Bridge, all the sail boats from all of the marina's in the SF area came out to see us sail out under the Bridge, the motor running...since the tide was coming in at about 2 knots. How did all these Yachtsmen/women know we were going to leave?? :)

Today is Sunday the 19th and we have motorsailed...sailed a little and motor'd a lot.

Interesting, on the flight to Oakland I set next to a gentleman, John Hanna, that was Aron's dentist, has sailed on the Ocean Planet with Bruce Schwab, and was going to a safety seminar so he and his crew could race his boat in the Hawaii race coming up. Small world. John says Hi to you Bruce.

I forgot my great crew...Aron Boswith and Clayton Zimmerman. Both very experienced, Clayton is young (18.5) but is gung HO and knowledgeable. Aron, of course has sailed the Med. as the Skipper of a private yacht...and an Coast Guard Able bodied seaman...etc. Great guys...and we all eat the same type of food. OK, so I don't eat much the first few days out...it comes up to easily.

We are currently @ 36 deg 20.9 min N latitude & 122 deg 14.76 min. W longitude. Hopefully, I will get this off by SSB (always iffy).

Wind is currently 11 mph apparent...and on our nose...we are motoring @ 5.5 knots. The day is beautiful...but overcast...and seas are calm. OK...so it got up to 25 mph and gnarly seas last night...but I kept dry (froze my toes & fingers :)...and got to sleep a lot.

I am looking forward to San Diego and the final leg of this journey. Well, final, except for all the sailing adventures in Mexico...wish us luck and a pleasant journey.

OH yes, wish Clayton would quit reading about Shackelton...makes me nervous.

One more thing...Aron says that all the sail boats he has been on had a genset...so, see how out of date I am? Of course he has never seen MaxSea and C-Map NT...so now, who is out of date?

Must go...miss all of my friends...but I will be back...and perhaps we can all set up some sailing next fall in Mexico and the Sea of Cortez???

Skipper of the s/v Noe Mar and Crew...signing off........................Ken

It's as GOOD as it gets!

2006-02-12T11:31:00.000-08:00

I drove to Loch Lomand Marina, in San Rafael, CA last month to finish the Noe Mar for the next adventure. Candy had a meeting in SF and she flew down and stayed with me.

Fortunately I got a few days of sunshine and finished rigging the reefing lines & a new halyard. All looks good. Then it rained.

In spite of the rain, I finished the auto pilot installation. Everything seems to work well.

NO, I did not get to "swing" the compass (the new flux gate) and we will do so on our way out of the harbor (this means...slowly turn the boat around 360 deg twice to assure that nothing is interfering with the flux gate compass).

The installation was a real pain in the back...but I accomplished it. The computer for the system must be away from the engine...as needs be the flux gate, as needs be the digital reading monitor...and all must be away from the SSB/main compass...etc. Of course the boat had to be torn apart to run the wires. But it is done, and it works. What a great joy to punch +10 deg and see the tiller swing 10 deg...whoopee. Also, the Aries is rigged to work and not interfer with the Navonic Autopilot...so we have back up. Since the Aries takes no electricty, as soon as we are at sea and settled...I will try to learn how to use it again. I still have faith in the unit.

I gave up on the Electrasan TypeII head unit...seems I am missing a $100 valve (where did I put it?)...and I ran out of time. I also, gave up on the water maker. I was going to test it...but the bay was full of slim and yuk...so forget it, I will test it on the way to Mexico.

Need to call the local diver and see if he can check out the bottom and clean off the whiskers that always grow on a hull.

Aron Bosworth will be comming on the trip to San Diego...seems his prof gave him time off and a make up test. HOORAY...Aron is a US Coast Guard Able Bodied Seaman and very experienced sailing. He will make me toe the line as far as safety goes. Wow!..Seems we have signed on Clayton Zimmerman...who has sailed the Bryony and knows a lot of Port Townsend people. Turns out, he even has sailed with Aron before. Aron says he is really good (about time we have some good sailors...I need all the help I can get :) Sorry we lost Meredith Sornsen due to grad school...but hey it happens. Anyway...need to get south quick.

Now...listen to this, all of you Ocean Planet sailors...Heather and Corey will be the crew with me on the way south to the Baja and the Sea of Cortez. What fun. They both have been sailing a lot since they left France. Corey has even raced in a 40 knot breeze...he is having a blast and apparently sea sickness is subsiding. If not, we carry SCOP patches...etc. After the second day at sea, I am much better, so hopefully Corey will be just fine. He has been working on Heather's free sail boat (his father was a shipwright) and is doing great. As all the crew of the Ocean Planet know, Corey is quite a bicycle mechanic and builder.

Wish us all luck and fair winds. The seven day forcast for the Bay area is sunny but cool...so let's see what we get.

We will post our Lat/Long daily (thanks to Pat...my son-in-law that is the computer geek :).

For all of the Ocean Planet crew...guess what...for the last leg...I have a great couple sailing with me...Heather Guyton & Corey Thompson...seems they both have been sailing and racing this last year...a lot and in heavy winds. Both these legs should be a real blast. Wish us fair and good winds...and warm (getting tired of winter...it snowed yesterday).

Skipper of the s/v Noe Mar......................Ken

January 2006

2006-01-06T16:15:00.000-08:00

I am ready to head south to the Noe Mar on the 23 of Jan, 2006. I have all of the shielded cable wiring for the autopilot and fluxgate compass, new halyards to replace the "twisty ones" that are on the main Gaff...and two new set ups for preventers. No more broken booms.

I don't think I'll get the electrosan installed...but I should be close before Feb 18th...hopefully I'll finish it in Mexico.

R.O. water system...I have not given up...I will test a new theory. If it doesn't work this time...it may be "e-bay" and give the problem to someone else. However, I know people who have the same unit and it works well. OK, so I'll struggle some more. My advice to those that are interested...is...Spectra...pay the extra $$$ and just plug and play. That unit worked great all the way across the Atlantic. My unit puts out more H2O but hey...who cares.

I just lost my crew to Mexico from San Diego (Regina & Chris) on the first of March...so if anyone wishes to sail down wind for a couple of weeks...hollar.

Noe Mar's recovery

2005-10-16T16:17:00.000-07:00

It is October 16, 2005 and I just flew back from Oakland, CA.

When I arrived on the 11th, I drove down to Sausilito to see how the new boom was comming along. It looked great. I had them put a second coat of "Smiths" aka "Restore it" (a very low viscosity two part epoxy) on the ends of her. I took pictures of the old boom and discovered the worm hole bored into her and all the damage that it did...right where it broke. I even found a cocoon or egg sack...I told these boat builders/repairers to burn that sack.

The next day Jody (shipwright) brought the boom up to San Rafel on his pickup truck and I put it in place. It took me a few days to mount it, paint it, and attach the hardware. But it is done and perhaps I can lash on the main when I get back down there in a few weeks.

I found out that Pettit bought out Z-Spar and discontinued Z-Spar # 87 shell marine paint. Ouch, that is the color of the interior of the Noe Mar as well as the deck and spars. I blended a yellow with Blue White of Interluxes...though it looks good...it is not what I want. I will try to match the color @ Rodda Paint co and call ASS (yes, Admiral Ship Supply...and the guys like the acronym)...and see if they have a couple of quarts left...for the interior.

The new radar mount arrived and looks great. My home made Al job was rubbing on my mizzen stays'l...so I will mount that when I get back.

The new autopilot of Ray Marines will arrive next week and the new version (V12) of MaxSea is here. That one always makes me nervous...I have to back up my files and uninstall the old version. The old one (V-11) works great..but MaxSea assures me the new one is better (really???).

I printed out the files I have saved of Steve's and my trip from Charleston, OR to San Rafel, CA...looks good...unfortunately the power went down and I lost the tacking from Port Hadlock to Charleston... (dummy...remember the words "save as").

Much to do to make the next jaunt...and I am looking for a crew to sail her south (yes, in the winter...called rain and fog). Still, it should be fun. Perhaps my son and youngest daughter will come...but only if we can agree on the route and make in in a week (something about pulling into dangerous foggy harbors at night that I don't agree with...I would like to live another 30 years or so). After that...hopefully a short stay...I will be looking for a crew to take her to Mexico...or 2 crews ???

I have tried to post pictures on this blog and perhaps I will some day...but so far it "times out" and will not alow me to do so (even when the pics are fewer pixels).

I have successfully sent e-mail by SSB (WDC5664@sailmail.com ) and recieved one by it (yes I do check the internet and recieve the e-mail that way...this one is for Bruce Schwab)...but I cannot do this 100% of the time. Many times it cannot connect to one of several stations and several propogation listings that I choose. Sail mail said tall aluminum masts in a harbor can cause problems...and since I have a short wooden mast with a split antenna...that may be the problem.

Meanwhile, Iridium (noemar@ocens.net) works great...and while I am on land... SbirdScott@aol.com works even better. So, people may send comments to any of the above. Be warned...mention the Noe Mar in the subject line...or it coud be considered spam and be deleted (unless you are a previous e-mailer and on my OK list). Of course the sailmail and ocens have very tight filters on them...so junk mail does NOT occur...a nice feature. I keep trying to tell a couple of my granddaughters that they need to change their e-mail address (keeps be put in the spam locker). Oh yes...a couple of blogger vouyers got deleted and put in the spam category also, so if you wish to post a message on any of my e-mails or this blog...do so carefully and with repsect to me and my family...however, I do enjoy hearing from all of my friends and enthusiasts.

I am signing off for now...give you a report and hopefully some pictures (next time)....Skipper Ken

ETC

2005-10-03T09:02:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd recap some of the equipment updates, etc for a final blog, before the Noe Mar goes to sea again (in a few weeks or a month?)

OK...first thing to correct...of course a diesel engine takes in water for cooling and fuel for operating...and neither of the twain ever meet...thus (groggy and sliding in the nav station ?) the kelp had nothing to do with a fuel strainer....rather we emptied the forward tank and switched to the rear tank of fuel. Thus when we fueled up at the dock....any and all sediment that was in the tank came forth to clog the fine filter. This is the reason one has "dual Racor filters"...and I switched from one to the other...all was fine. So...replace the filter before you go again, Scotty, and keep a spare on hand.

I ordered and have a "battery monitor" system. Seems that Radar sucks a lot of power. O.P. had one...so I looked for one and found it...had it UPS'd to Charleston and it is on board. This will be mounted and the alarm turned on...so we never loose power again...No, I do not run the fridge unless the engine is running. Loosing power and having your lap top alarm come on (low battery) is not fun....besides you loose your tracking line (I saved it after that one).

Next...Bruce Schwab says (as I have found several times) that a Wind Vane does NOT work well in following wind/seas. Thus I have priced out a heavy duty system (Noe Mar weighs 10 ton) and it appears to be around 3-4 BOAT dollars (Break Out Another Thousand)....so we will see. Still, that is cheap life insurance.

The boom should be repaired next week...then it is paint it and replace all the hardware...and be very sure that the preventer is used from now on (I have 2 of them).

I am still leaving the option open to ship the Noe Mar back to Port Hadlock...but if I get a good crew and Candy is happy...we will proceed.

The Marina in San Rafael is the "Loch Lomand" and there are 2 of them in the world...the other one is on the Loch Lomand of Scotland....so I think we are situated correctly.

I will ship the Davis weather monitor back to be repaired or replaced (you know...the one the wave doused with salt water).

To much food...we gave a lot of it away to the staff at the Marina.

Need to clean the rust off the bow and sail...then I need to put a good barrier paint on everything and repaint parts.

R.O. water system...I think I would've been better off with a packaged unit...I found one in West Marine that produces 300 gpd for 4 boat dollars and no plumbing...still, the system I have is great...and I think it is a faulty membrane....so we will see.

When I haul the Noe Mar next time...I will saw off the top part of the rudder (like the Naval Arch. John Simpson suggested) due to the fact that the top of the rudder, when it is turned, forces the water up on the stern of the hull...and if that top is reduced...that will not happen. The result should make the rudder easier to handle.

The folding Prop, KIWI PROP, worked great...and we actually traveld 7 knots a lot of the time and we were NOT in the coastal 2 knot stream...rather we were out much further than that.

Need to set up the Trys'l so all one has to do is pull it out of the bag and attach it. This must be easy to do and fast. This is a matter of leaving lines on it...etc.

Preventer...need one for the mizzen also...or leave it down.

Aries...I think new bushings would be good...but it does work.

More storage bags for the galley...hate that noise of "crashing" to the sole all the goodies that are not velcroed down.

The Noe Mar stood up to heavy winds and seas (PS...email MaxSea about 40 chopper reports)... unlike a modern sail boat from Canada that was out where we were...all 7 crew were air lifted off of her after repeated knock-downs...and the boat is lost at sea. No injuries...but no boat either. Sorry about that...the GRIB called for 15-20 knots out @ 70-80 mi and only 5 knots in 15-20 miles....wrong... but NOAA figures called for the same as Ocens Weather Net and MaxSea Chopper. You learn to deal with the hand that is dealt you...and pick a good boat with a good Skipper and crew. We got 2 out of 3...OK? (could use a better Skipper).

One more item...Seems my Son-in-Law (Doc Mal) won the rowboat race around Skunk Island, hands down...he said it was due to the Dory I built him...I said it was due to his huge oars and great upper body strength. Glad Ajax had that race...fun...and sorry Lorry (hope I spelled her name right)...your guy came in second...:)

For now...the Skipper of the Noe Mar is signing off for a few weeks.........keep in touch all mi amigos............."Scotty"

Last of the first leg

2005-10-02T10:19:00.000-07:00

We left Charleston on a blustry windy day. Called the Coast Guard for a bar report and got a green sign. Checked the latest GRIB files at our hotel room,that morning, in Bandon...blustry for a few miles and then light winds. Oh yes, thanks tons Steve and Susan for the great room at La Kris Inn (their great little motel).

Off we went (no sails but the main was reefed and ready)through the bar and out past all of the buoys and the last bell buoy before hoisting the main. OOP's...my sea stomach was gone...mal de mar was back, big time. I hoisted the main...belayed it off and donated to the sea it's demand. Asked Steve if he was OK and if the helm was handling correct. He said yes to both. I crashed for a few hours (to recover).

When I came up, I handed Steve the hand held anorometer and the wind read 27+ knots. Actually, we found out it was over 30 knots. We sailed on with out the jib or mizzen.

That night Steve said he watched the dolphins zip through the water, leaving phosphorescence trails...what a display. As I took watch, I mumbled about the dolphins not liking me...when shoosh, shoosh...dolphins taking a quick breath and racing forward......Yes....a light show...up to the Noe Mar...under her bow...out again...two of them following each other and spliting apart...huge glowing streaks. What a site (see it pays to whine to dolphins).

The stars and cresent moon were great...follow the little dipper...and read the soft fixed it)... well upside down and backwards...East = West, West=East, North=South,etc. Never sure why they made the compass like that...but you get used to it (I think). My watch from midnight to 6 AM is great. In fact, I couldn't bear to wake Steve up...until 8 AM. OOPs...Call Candy...or try to (left messages).

Later the wind died down some (we later found out that it was up to 40 knots) and I hoisted the Jib. Aires worked some of the time and other times...nope. Wind vanes are lousy down wind...and I think I need new bushings (it works but maybe with new bushings it will swing easier). We lash the tiller to a cleat and then around a winch...it works.

With the Genoa up, reefed main (blanketing the Genny most the time) we traveled on...up to 7 + knots. Things were going great.

Next day, we were only making 4 knots...I let the main out just a little...and we picked up speed...then it happened...it gybed on us...and swung back with a tremendous force (dummy me...with the Davis wind recorder not functioning...due to a salt bath...we never realized the speed and force of the wind behind us...like 30+ knots?).........................BANG!!!...What...Steve says...the Boom is broke. I look and there it is...out over the water with a 45 deg angle in the middle. How to save the sail and get the boom aboard? I quickly got a spring line, with a loop, around part of the boom...lashed it and went to the back to get a "block & tackle" (I'm sorry all you seamen...it is called something else at sea) that I have for a "preventer" (if I would've been using it...we would not have broken the boom...spendy lesson) and was able to reef in the boom and main sail. Now I could lower the Main...and did, somewhat. Steve sheeted in the boom sheet and thus brought the other end aboard. I lashed the sail, gaff and boom to the Noe Mar and then decided to call for help. Well, call Candy and get Linda Krooze's phone # to see if we could get moorage in the Bay area. We were intending to go to Half Moon Bay...but now we would go under the Golden Gate Bridge.

Linda called the Coast guard and got their number to us. We called on the Iridium...and then they requested we call every 2 hours. Talk about tired...every hour and a half one of us woke to call and then take the helm while the other crashed for an hour +...but we motored @ 5 knots and all went well. Thanks Candy and Linda for your help. Linda found us a spot in Sausilito and we made it in.

As we were motoring up the bay...a sail boat, with a party going on, stared at me...I still had on my Stearns off shore work suit on...I laughed and told them it was colder out there than in the bay...but keep playing...the guitar sounded great.
They asked where we were form...Port Townsend, WA, I replied...........Hey, that's where we are from.

After tying up, the group came over and tied up behind us...beer in hand.

As it turns out they were shipwrights from the PT area and one of them owned a shipwrights boat yard (small but all wood). We called them the next morning and they rowed out to get our boom and make a new one. Great team of guys and gals.

We moved the Noe Mar to San Rafel to Lock Lomand Marina (much cheaper) and there she sits.

I found a hot spot (on the side walk) and purchased tickets for me to fly home with Steve...to surprise Candy...........this we did.

Oh yes...it is COLDER in Oregon.

Sorry of all the trouble and worry I caused Candy, Linda, Coast Guard...but the Noe Mar handled well and Steve was the best I could've had aboard...in spite of his lack of experience. We got along well and we enjoyed each others company...what a great crew man.........Thanks Steve.

Where do we go from here? After the boom is on ??? Anyone wish to coast hop down to San Diego??? When???

I will start a new blog some time later...we may even truck her back up to Port Hadlock (that is an option)..................later my friends......Skipper Ken

Down for repairs

2005-10-01T17:57:00.000-07:00

Well, the boom broke and a new one is being made. The Noe Mar is moving to San Rafel tomorrow and I am comming home soon. The boom will be done next week. Where I go from here is very debatable...may even have the Noe Mar trucked home....but we will see.

Every thing is fine but not sure about taking her further...Steve and I have really enjoyed it but we are tired. Later....

Rocking and Rolling

2005-09-28T16:50:00.000-07:00

Tues Sept 27 @ 6:40 PM

Last night was a bit scary for Steve...around 9 PM I got a shout...come up NOW...seems a fishing trawler was on his rear end and nothing he did got rid of it...I came up to see that he was doing great and the trawler with huge lights past well astern of us. Still, he felt like it was hunting him down. Glad he hollered...because I could line it up and see we were NOT on a collision course (which he couldn't while stearing). Speaking of which...I got the aires wind vane to work perfectly for me for around 7 hours last night...held course between 25 deg (plus or minus)....good enough for me. However, today...no luck. I'm sure I'm doing something wrong.

I did several things before leaving PT area...one...instaled dual Racor fuel filters vs the single one I had. Guess what, the engine quit today...switched filters and away she went. I'll clean it in port (Half Moon Bay, hopefully). Another thing I did was install a "Prop Protector"...a little disk that goes on behind the propeller and it is razor sharp...good thing...here I am 65 miles off shore and motoring (no wind) and I hear this horrible racket like a huge Waring Blendor....up pops a whole skagel of Kelp...huge amount. Apparently I sliced and diced some of it. Horray for the Protector. Perhaps that is the junk that clogged the filter. Hey, Steve, hold it steady...I am having trouble typing (suposed he listened?).

I guess, I will look into a hydraulic self stearing device for this 10 ton machine...the Aries seems not to like directly down wind (help me out all you monitor and Aires users). Also, after changing head sails twice on this trip...perhaps it is time to talk to Carol or Sean about roller furling...Jerry and Joni are having Carol set them up...she gave them a great discount off the hardware.

We are eating...well some...horray...no vitamins though (asking for trouble)...we sleep a lot and both of us agreed that 3 people would be ideal. I put in a watch from 12:30 to 8:30 last night (to give Steve a full 8 hours sleep...he is a great helmsman and crew).
Current position is 71 miles off Cape Mendocino (good, hear bad news about that cape)...@ Latitude 40 deg 31 sec N and Longitude 125 deg 47.7 W...there you have it...another day at sea...Oh yes...the sun just came out...much appreciated.

Time to call our wives...later all of you and wish us easy steering and fair winds (no more 30-40 knots, please)...Skipper Ken and the crew of the Noe Mar (Steve :)

Velcro is our friend.

2005-09-26T21:46:00.000-07:00

The weather grib called for highwinds from the north northwest....YUK...so I told Steve we woud wait a day or so...then I downloaded a new GRIB....only20 knots...so off we went. Candy went out on the Jetty and waived goodby to us as we motored over the bar. We stayed motoring until we got past the white bell bouy (rocks jut way out here) and then as I recieved a big dose of mal de mar...I hoisted the reefed mainsail and went below (after all substance was elimenated from the gut). Steve was a tropper and stayed at the helm in 30-40 knot winds (so much for the latest GRIB). I recovered enough to take the helm @ 11 PM until 7:30 AM (or 8...who knows for sure). Winds were strong enough to break our reefing line...which is now repaired. Winds are down to 20 knots but the sea is still rough. We are currently @ Latitude 42 deg 3.6 sec and Longitude 125 deg 13.8 sec for the techno's. It is 7 PM pacific coast time and I'd better crash because my next watch is midnight. Steve and I are feeling better (takes a couple of days to adjust) but we are traveling slow (4 knots to 5). Cheers from the crew of the Noe Mar....and thanks tons Candy for all the velcro you installed...it is working....Ken

What does and doesn't work.

2005-09-25T13:47:00.000-07:00

As my friend L. said...be careful what you ask for when you request wind...yup, we got it...around 28 knots or more. Unfortunately, a lot of it was on the stern (aft) and the aries didn't respond as well as we hoped...thus as I mentioned...we lashed the tiller with the self tailing winch....worked well. OK, what didn't work....the light is out on the compass (fixed...a lot work)...the weather cloths of the cockpit...tore and flapped wildly (fixed...cost me a few $$$)....more items hit the sole of the cabin (floor to land lubbers) than I thought was in the boat. Candy spent most of the day with velcro and 4200 (Bruce S. recommended it over 5200 for this job). Don't leave your running lights on with the radar...runs your batteries down and when that happens....eventually your computer goes down and one looses their trail of where sailed (dumb). Thus I have purchased a NewMar digital DC energy monitor with an alarm system. I know...you have to wire it before it works...but we need to leave tomorrow @ slack tide. We have reefed the Mizzen for tomorrow (calling for 40 knot winds for a short period of travel) and reset the Aires wind vane (yes, L....we do have spare vanes for it). Also, Steve and I read the Aires book...so we now are experts with this device...right? The Iridium phone works great...but SSB Sailmail does not...connection is bad...overuse by cruisers?

We are currently located @ 43 deg 22 sec N and 124 deg 22 sec W...aka Charleston, OR or the "Coos Bay" inlet. We have averaged around 105 miles per day (as the crow flies) so this means we have sailed around 150 mile days. Not bad for a 10 ton gaff rigged yawl. Hopefully, as we learn more about the wind vane...we will increase that. Many times we were over the water @ 6.5 knots and over the sea @ 7.5 to 8 knots over the planet (current in our favor). We got up to 80 miles off shore but normally cruised around 40-50 miles off shore.

For my friend, Cindy P (the SF writer)....we spent a whole day and night watching a huge herd of White Stallions with huge Flowing Manes gallop across the mar....what a sight (for those who haven't read the story Cindy wrote for me....those Stallions are huge swells with huge breaking white caps...caused by winds in the 30 knot area...one should see these to believe their beauty). I might add for Pat Pope...good thing the dolphins aren't done...we would've drown them...and the decks of the Noe Mar are spotlessly clean.

Steve was a good sport when the Noe Mar listed about 30 + degrees with the decks awash...he certainly stared in AWE...or did he say "Oh Shit"??? I can't remember...but he was at the helm...so his fault :) Oh yes, more than once. I killed my Davis weather station due to salt water (my fault...I'm trying to get it to come alive).

Steve and I are now being spoiled by our wives...nice..and hopefully we will see them again soon. I know, Jody...Candy drove the entire distance in 4+4 hours...and we took 5 x 24 hours...but look above...she never saw the Stallions nor the gun metal gray plastic seas of early morning....bright moon with crystal clear stars...nor talk to a freighter that is 3 miles in front of you: Sail boat, this is the freighter (fill it in) I am 3 miles in front of you on a collision course. Reply: This is the Yawl, Noe Mar, and we have you in sight (radar and visual) and we will take evasive action...thank you. Freighter: Thanks for the reply...no one ever answers...appreciate it. And so the day goes.

One more item, Andrew (crazy KIWI from London and a great sailor) is going to become a father...papa...dada......Hey, Andrew...congratulations...and now another section of the world knows it. You will be a great dad.

We must go and finish up our last little projects.......report to you in a day or so on our way to "Half Moon Bay".......Skipper, Ken and 1st mate Steve

Sept 21....well, we got wind...lots of it.

2005-09-21T16:41:00.000-07:00

Sept 21....well, we got wind...lots of it. We are sailiing with a reefed main and a working jib...headed to Coos Bay for a stop over. Need to clean...repair and regroup to head on south. Winds are 20 + knots and rough. Sailing South is NOT what they want to send us. Both of us have been sea sick...so perhaps it is good to stop for a day or so. Yesterday afternoon we had very light air and put up the Mizzen Stays'l...pretty...and it worked. However, taking it down was a chore but more important changing head sails was a good way to get a big bath. Took me a while. I reefed OK...but I think I should've set the mizzen up to reef or lowered it. Beautiful moon each night...and great sunny days. The sea reminds my of Cindy's story she wrote for me...especially the white horses and their manes. Either that or a snow plow :) We are currently 48.586 N and 125.022 Wand sailing @ 7 knots. Oh yes, we have set up a special winch system to control the tiller...the Aires has a broken vane and we are not using it right anyway. See you soon........Skipper Ken & Steve

The first fish

2005-09-20T14:28:00.000-07:00

Well, here it is the 20th of Sept, 2005....and first thing this morning Steve catches a tuna...cleans it and packs in zip locked bags...what a fisherman. However, none since this one. We have motored most the way and currently we are off the coast of Washington, 46.425N and 125.4327 W, traveling @ 5.6 knots. During my "Dog" watch (midnight to 6 AM) I got wind and turned off the engine. Sailed for about 2 hours and lost the wind. On with the "Iron Genny" and down with the Genoa (due to back filling and wrong angles of wind). All the sails are up other than the Jib...if we get wind they all will fly. The rudder wanders even with the "tiller tamer" on...however, the Aires works great if we have wind. We are about 41 nautical miles off shore...but perhaps we'd better put into Newport, OR for more fuel...hey, that means we can take a shower! My sail mail (WDC5664) doesn't seem to be recieveing or sending...meaning Friday Harbor is busy or ? Wish us more wind and talk to every one tomorrow.........Skipper Ken of the Noe Mar

Time to set Sail 18 Sept. 2005

2005-09-19T21:42:00.000-07:00

We made it through the Straight of Juan de Fucia OK...but no wind. We got> wind for a few hours when I was on watch (3AM) but we lost it.> Unfortunately we are consuming fuel. Currently we are off the coast of> Washingto @ 48 N and 125.24 W. Steve saw a pod of dolphins...plus a huge cruise ship. I saw another cruise ship later last night. Amazing amount of lights lit. I feel a little sea sick...but haven't tossed up my cookies yet. Not sure I have the airies wind vane set right...but who knows, we rarely have enough wind.If anyone wishes to e-mail us use the "Whiskey Delta Charlie" number, so I can see if it works :) Besides it is free.Noe Mar is ship shape...few things happened...like a shakle came louse (Mizzen) and I replaced it...a leak appeared in the V berth and hopefully I have fixed it with "5200". Lots of food but we are not thrilled about cooking in this rolly sea. Apparently I do not have tea (green tea is NOT tea) but perhaps I can add some honey to the green stuff and survive until port. Which by the way, could be Newport, OR if we continue to have to motor sail. Miss everyone and had a great send off at the AJAX (as I said before). Wish us more wind...OK? Skipper Ken & Steve

3rd day on land...YUK

2005-09-17T18:46:00.000-07:00

Ok, we are now full of fuel...with 20 gallons of extra diesel...and we have very full water tanks. Seems, Aqua Marine never made it to PT...he had a call from CA...bigger fish to fry. Steve and I tore the RO system apart...check all of my installation...etc...fired it up...and no go. Who knows what is wrong...but it does NOT work. Thus, Candy is getting us quarts of bottled water for the bildge and we filled the water tanks to the brim. We should be fine for with water if we are cautious and frugal. WOW...all of you should've been at the AJAX cafe last night...the owners/staff gave me a great bottle of red....an AJAX shirt (which they autographed) plus I got a free meal. What a group...they all are fantastic and I will miss them. Malcolm played his sax with the guitarist and everyone was impressed...as was I. Thanks Mal....and from now on Heidi (my youngest) will post my blogs on line...because come Hell or High Water...we leave tomorrow. The wind looks good once we get out of the Straight...Steve is finishing lashing the mounts for the Tinker (our life raft and soft dingy). All sails are uncovered and the working jib is lashed to the rails....we are going to get a bit to eat...sack out and leave in the early fog (thanks to the Furuno radar). Wish us well and let's hope we can keep you laughing with our daily antics. We will miss all of you..............Skipper Ken

Day 2 of the journey south

2005-09-16T08:23:00.000-07:00

Well, here we are in Port Hadlock, trying to get ready to leave. We loaded up on Freeze Dry...and stopped by our friends, Bob & Robin Samuels....well, Robin is a great friend and a "mother hen" :) seems she filled our food larder up and smiled a lot. The bad news is, we installed the new piece of hose on the R.O. water system....and it still is not working. I probably should've purchased a Spectra...but you have to plum it also and I felt it would be neater to store various parts in various places on the Noe Mar. Still, we used the Spectra on "Ocean Planet" and Bruce loved it...12V and it served him well around the world twice and accross the Atlantic 3 times. Dan, from Aqua Marine, said he would fly over this AM to check the pump. He thinks it is the valves...I feel the factory didn't hook up the main drive shaft correct. Meanwhile...we continue to stock our larder....look for a hand R.O. system....and probably put off leaving until Sunday. Everyone is showing for our dinner @ Ajax...my favorite resturant...and Malcolm is bringing his sax....fun....later...Skipper Ken

NoeMar's sailing trips

Showers on the Noe Mar

Noe Mar's interior

Skipper and First Mate in Thailand

Crew for Hawaii

Dec 2011 Sea of Cortez

Dec 2011 trip

Noe Mar

Jan to April 2011

Jan 15, 2011

2011 Jan 17

Crew

April 2011

Nov 5 2010, to La Paz

Nov 4 2010

La Paz 2010, 11/4-5

La Paz, Nov 2010 first day

La Paz, Nov 2010

Sailing alone

Sailing alone May 2010

Noe Mar, 2010 March

Tinker 2010

La Paz car show

La Paz and Candy 2010

La Paz and the Malecon

Aqua Air generator, 2010

March 2010

Replace bow & stern railing

Malceon 2008

Nov repairs

Sept 2008 repairs

April 2008

2008, painting

La Paz, the city of Bronze statues, 2008

La Paz 207 pictures

Spring trip to La Paz

Santa Rosalia and South

San Carlos to Santa Rosalia, Mexico

Ken's Story

Vacation with Candy

The beauty of the Sea of Cortez

Vetus Waterlock

Marina Real, San Carlos, Sonora, Mexico

Marina Real, San Carlos

Candy making it shipshape

Anchored off San Carlos, Mx

Noe Mar hauled

Inside Noe Mar

Sitting in San Carlos

Pictures , San Carlos

Scenes from San Carlos &?

Questions and answers

At the Dock

Under sail

The Noe Mar

The Sturdy Little Ship

Wind

Skipper

The last crew

San Carlos, SON, Mx

Are we there yet?

WE ARE ON OUR FINAL LEG

Recovering in San Rafael

The s/v Noe Mar

First Crew

More Reading

More Crew

Crew

Corey

Noe Mar in light air...off Mexico

Crew

The Crews

Home Tomorrow

Whales & Cabo

Whales, Whales everywhere

Bahia Magdalena

Wind a fickle Woman

Turtle Bay

Turtle Bay

Senora Tediana and Senor Ted