Acapulco Cliff Divers

The view from our dinner table tonight!  Almost didn't go, but glad that we did.  Brings back serious Sunday afternoon Wide World of Sports flashbacks!!!

Who Knew?! Sea Turtles have Boobies!

We left Bahia de Navidad yesterday, bound for Zihuatanejo. I was on watch, and kept seeing Boobies (the sea bird...)standing on the water, which usually means give them a wide berth since it's probably a log or something they are standing on. Well, I went sort of close to one, and saw it was standing on what I thought was a coconut... Clever Bird...those things could be tippy. I went closer to another and realized that all the coconuts I'd been seeing were actually Sea Turtles. And there were a lot of them. And most of them had a Boobie on their backs They would float along allowing the Boobies to land on their backs and rest. Some of them have had Boobies for a long time judging by the guano on their shells.

If any of you are following Spot, you will swear we were crazy yesterday. Actually, Manzanillo has a really big fishing fleet. The Panga fishermen go out 10 miles into the ocean, then drop a really long (5+ miles) fishing line with baited hooks on it. They hang out all day at one end, then pick it up and what ever they catch and go in late at night. The Pangas have flashlights, but the long lines don't have lights or markings. Some have a flag at each end. Visualize trying to see a golf flag at 5 miles. They do have plastic coke bottles or a clorox jug tied at each fish hook junction. So in order to see these things you basically have to look for a very orderly line of small floating trash.!!! Then you have to follow the trash line to the Panga and go around. Arrg.

We are through that area and about 5 hrs from Z-town. More then,

Deb

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My friend Drake Sparkman ...

I've just learned that my friend Drake Sparkman has passed away after a long fight with brain cancer.

Struck down during what appeared to be one of the happiest times of his life, this all seems particularly unfair.

Drake was unique, and I loved him for it. Universally, liked and respected, he was equally comfortable as the current Commodore of the American Yacht Club in his blue blazer and brenton red pants, as he was sailing to Hawaii in shorts and a hideously ugly Hawaiian shirt!

In our lifetimes, we are all lucky to find one or two really special friends. I've just lost one of mine....


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Tenacatita

All,

Deb and I are anchored in Tenacatita, a beautiful harbor surrounded by mountains, nice beaches, palm trees, etc. Dolphin are literally swimming around the boats in the harbor and rumor has it if you jump in they will come and swim with you.

Neither Deb nor I have been brave enough to give THAT a try, but I'm trying to work up my nerve.

The only negative in this day right now is a BIG one. We have the Cal-Stanfurd game on the radio, and are not happy with the 38 - 0 score!! Four years without a decent QB is getting a bit ridiculous!

Time to update my Rose Bowl shirt...

-Jim

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More on Tenacatita from Deb...

Here's a bit more about Tenacatita from Deb:
I was on watch Sat am when I made the decision we were going in one bay early into Tenacatitia instead of Bahia Navidad for a couple days because I wanted to sit out in a cool(er) bay rather than at a dock with a lot of people around. Call me a recluse. That's the reason for the big right turn on Spot. That and sneaky rocks on the north side of the bay.
This is a great little bay. The dolphins here are very used to people and boats, but seem fascinated by Ita. There is one big Bottlenose who keeps hanging around the boat playing Peek a boo with Ita. It will come up and blow within 5 feet of her for at least an hour, again and again. (S)He must like to watch Ita run from side to side. Jim wondered wether they could really see outside the water. I reminded him of the Sea World dolphins jumping out of the water and touching the big balls suspended 20 feet in the air. Yes, they can see something outside the water.
OOOO something neat. Sat night at sunset as we were motoring down here we were converged upon by a bunch of the little dolphins with pink bellies. (Aside: I will be able to give you names of these various types of critters as soon as Pat gets here with the books I forgot that my lovely sister Sally is getting for me.) Two of them jumped twice about 5 feet away from the steering wheel, about 5 feet in the air and looked right at Jim and I. It was very cool.
I took Ita on her first Kayak ride yesterday. She sat very low and peeked over the side. She thought it was cool. I managed to get in, land and get back onto the boat without tipping us over. Yes!
That's all for now!
Deb
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SF to Cabo 2010

Almost ready to leave Puerto Vallarta. Hope to be back underway tomorrow at some point. We'll make a few stops along the way, but hope to be in Acapulco the weekend of the 27th and 28th for their monthly regatta, and then will wait for the right weather window to sail South to Costa Rica where we meet Patrick on the 11th.

If we are late, there is a Four Seasons in the harbor that we've selected at our meeting point. I don't expect to be late!

-Jim

Another alternative to crack...

So, if you are looking for another alternative to crack, try driving on the buses in PV.  This must be where the idea for the Harry Potter Bus came from.  It is impossible that these guys squish these buses into the spaces they do.  After a Mexican woman next to me crossed herself, I closed my eyes!

 

Speaking of Harry Potter, I’m going to see it tomorrow, in English!  HAA HAA, Tori!!!!  Mischief Managed!

 

PV has been great.  We are getting some upholstery work done for ½ of what it was going to cost in the US.  Yeah!  And I went to see a Dermatologist today, just to make sure.   I got the “all clear, wear more sun screen, and your skin is great for someone who spends so much time in the sun…”

 

Otherwise, same ol, same ol for when we are in harbor.  Grocery shopping at the Wal-Mart, getting the propane refilled,  walking the dog…

 

That’s all for now!

 

Debbie

 

dolphin

Here's some raw footage showing more of our encounters with dolphin on the way from San Diego to Turtle Bay, Mexico. It may run a little long, but its pretty good stuff!

-Jim

Link to Morpheus "Spot Page"

Sunset Bar - near Marina Vallarta

 Many of you seem to like following us via our new SPOT tracker, but say that the map on the blog does not work very well.  So, we've set up a new link that you can bookmark and check at any time.  Hope this works better.  Thanks for following along!! 

http://tinyurl.com/WhereIsMorpheus 

-Jim



PS.  Ita seems pretty happy these days so long as we keep her well "hydrated"!

Updates to the "Master Plan"

View Morpheus Cruise Plan in a larger map

Ita the dolphin hunter.....

Morpheus Trivia Question

So, we are 70 miles out from PV and just under half way to the the Panama Canal. We have another 1500 or so nautical miles to go. What would you think the course is from here to Panama??
Guess before reading below....
Surprisingly, (perhaps only to me) it's no where close to 180 degrees. In fact, it's 105 degrees. Only 15 degrees off of due East!!
Random facts from Morpheus.
Out
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Deb's update from the middle of somewhere...

Hello all:
Well, it's been great sailing. We've been sailing from Cabo to PV now for about 30 hours, and we've run the engine for about 2 hours, and sailed the rest. I don't really know what this part of the ocean is called.. Pacific - Sea of Cortez Convergence Zone? I haven't had to change the sails or Otto for at least 4 hours. No dolphin or whales. Lots of flying fish. Really blue water. Warm, sunny, puffy clouds... Highlight of the day is a freshwater shower!
So, it's up to you all to entertain me. Please call my children and harass them for not emailing. We have one email from Chris telling us to call him.... And nothing from Pat.
Anyone know how to get a dog to pee? Ita's refusing to go while at sea.
Deb
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You either know the story, or you don't.....

Just a bit more mileage out of this one....

Deb's Cabo San Lucas update...

Hello All!
We have been here in Cabo for 2 days which has been nice. We came into Cabo just at Sunrise, and it was beautiful. Cabo and the Arches have to be one of the prettiest landfalls I've seen. AS we were getting ready to turn into the bay, a big whale breeches about 200 yards ahead of us. 2/3's of his body out of the water! Then waves his tale and then his fins. Soooo cool. Coming in at dawn was also exciting because there was a big Fishing tournament going on for Muscular Dystrophy. There must have been 200 fishing boats within a mile of the harbor going North while we were trying to go South. I swear it looked like LA!
Cabo is definitely feeling the effects of the Drug Wars at the border. It is very quiet, for Cabo. Definitely fewer people, but of course there are not 250 sailors here after a race and it's not spring break, but still, the restaurants are empty and the bars are suffering. We are staying in the Marina, so we get to listen to the Music from the bars while going to sleep. Actually it's nice. Then the Fish boats start at dawn, so I get some quiet time for coffee and email. Ita has LOVED being on land. Being able to walk and pee whenever she wants is her version of heaven. I have a big canvas bag I carry with me. Whenever we go into a store, bar or restaurant, or when she feels she has walked far enough, thank you very much, she jumps in the bag and goes to sleep. No one knows. Occasionally the bag will move when she makes herself more comfortable, but so far, so good. If anyone is thinking a cruising with a dog, get a lazy one.
Later today we are off for Puerto Vallarta. 35 hours or so to get there, so we leave this afternoon and arrive Sat am.
More on route,
Deb
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Hello from about 50 miles from Cabo...

Hi all,
It's the middle of the night, I'm on watch, so I thought I'ld quickly update the blog. We are 50 miles from Cabo which means we are running out of wind.
We left Mag bay this morning after spending yesterday with Richmond friends Torben and Judy Bentsen. It was great to hook up with them and trade stories. After chatting up a very nice big power boat for a bag of ice, we had plenty of margaritas to keep the talk flowing,... and flowing,... and flowing...
So after a late start today, we left MAg bay and have been sailing in about 17 knots of wind from behind. A beautiful Day. No Dolphins for Ita to chase today.
Gotta go make sure Otto (the Auto Pilot) is going the right direction,
Deb
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Deb's update...

Well, as those following Spot can tell, we spent the night in Magdalena Bay (Mag Bay). I highly recommend coming into a pitch dark harbor you've never been into at night instead of crack. Really gets the heart pumping, but the long term damage isn't as great.
Any way, after safely making it into the bay, using all the cool toys Jim has on the boat to make it safe to do so, we anchored... Many marriages have ended in divorce after anchoring drills, especially in the dark. It usually starts with a husband on the bow of the boat yelling directions at his wife she has no clue how to interpret. Well Jim hates that look, so we do our anchoring quietly, usually with socially acceptable hand signals. Those don't work in the dark, so did a "whisper anchoring"... Jim speaking very softly on the bow telling me what to do. Good thing I've done this before and know what "wishhh thsss doss" means.

So we are here for the day, which we hope to spend with Torben and Judy Bentsen from RYC and then onto Cabo. Only 125 miles! That's 1/3 of the way to Panama!
Deb
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Bears vs. Washington on Xm Radio!

Go Bears!

-Jim

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Update from Debbie...

Here's an update from Deb. I started keeping a log at night while on watch on my iPhone of things you may find interesting... You asked for it. Here we go.

So I remember all my dreams on the boat. Too well. I keep thinking I'm not asleep because all these things are happening, people are talking... I wish they would shut up so I could sleep! Maybe it's the mecklazine? (Sea Sick Med)

It's very crowded out here. It's really dark because the moon doesn't come up until 5am, and even then its tiny! We bumped (softly) into something last night at 00:33. Whatever it was didn't chase us, so all good.

At 01:45 a %$%$&*& long line fishing boat played chicken with me. All is well until the last min when he sped up and turned in front of me following the contour lines. Jim just about had a heart attack when I called him on deck!

Sea creature count for today stands at a turtle, then a whale, and 3 bottlenose dolphins. The ones we've seen before have been the small black and white ones.... I have to download a sea creature ID book. I have books for fish and birds, no Mammals or reptiles!

Ita Peed. All good.

Deb

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Request for more Blog Posts....

I guess I have been lax on updating the blog. Here's one...
Friday 11/5 at 2:00

We are great. We spent the night in Turtle Bay, safe and sound. Jim updated the blog with the early morning explosion a boat a couple 100 yards away had, but we are fine and religiously checking our propane system. I thought it was the Harbor wake up canon so didn't get out of bed to check it out.

Ita is turning into the real sailor dog. She may be sporting a tattoo by the end of the cruise. She has discovered Dolphins and is often the 1st to let us know they are on out bow. She runs to the end of her tether and insists on going to the bow to try to catch them as they ride our bow wave and blow for air. Wonder what she'd do if she catches one? She's been peeing, but not in the right place. Damn.... Working on it....

It's been good motoring (hardly any wind) ,but clear and beautiful. Warm, lots of Dolphin and seals. Dodging bunches of kelp. Making sure all the systems are working. Cleaning out filters. etc. We have Sat. Radio, and weather, so listening to Katie Perry wile looking at the cliffs of Baja is pretty cool.

Have read a book and listened to two. Watched a Wearwolf movie last night with Jim. Seems like scary movies don't bother me with a built in Moat around me.

New batteries are great. Food is good, and our 1 evening cocktail while underway is delicioso!
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We should have purchased a motor boat!

Greetings,

We are 8 miles short of Turtle Bay which is about half way down the coast towards Cabo.

Still waiting for a decent day of sailing. The breeze was great this morning, but then quickly built to 25 out of the South (yuck), and then died completely (not much better). So, the new batteries are very full, the water tanks are full of water we've made while motoring, but...the fuel tanks are running on empty.

We had hoped to carry on towards Magdellena Bay to meet some RYC friends tomorrow, but now are arriving in Turtle Bay too late to fuel up today. Looks like a night at anchor, fuel tomorrow AM and then back out we go!

My two favorite new toys on Morpheus for this trip

1) The IPAD for its "Starwalk" application. It's amazing. Simply hold it up to the sky and it draws a picture of the stars you are looking at complete with names and constellation outlines. Fantastic!!

2) XM Weather and Radio - real time views of surface winds, fronts, cloud cover, lightning, etc.

Ok, time to get the anchor ready.

Hope all is well,

-Jim

PS> Have some great video of the dog on the bow watching a few dolphin playing under our bow for a few minutes.
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At 10/20/2010 3:44 AM (utc) our position was 33°58.90'N 118°26.85'W

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Always turn the gas off at the bottle!!!

Holy Cow!! What a start to our morning here in Turtle Bay!

Just after sunrise this morning, Deb and I heard the loudest explosion that either of us had ever heard. It sounded pretty far away, and given our trips to Mexico in the past and the explosives training provided by my brother Bob on past Mexican races, we just assumed it was Turtle Bay's traditional way to greet the morning.

Not true!!

When we got up an hour later, we looked over towards town and there was what was left of a 50+ foot boat (we later found it was from France) burning to the waterline. There had been one person onboard and when he lit his stove the entire boat exploded.

We assumed that anyone onboard had to have been killed but later found that the one person onboard had managed to get quickly to his dingy and escaped with only burns to his arms and face.

As you might imagine, we are currently double checking our gas systems, and turning the gas off at the tank!!

Off again in a few minutes for Mag Bay and Cabo. Hope to catch Torben and Judy Bentsen soon!!

-Jim

Finally!!

We had a GREAT time in San Diego as always. Finally underway. Heading south to catch up with friends that are about 350 miles ahead of us.

Cabo in. 4 or 6 days!!

Jim
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