Bahia Tortuga-October 31, 2008

Turtle Bay- 360 miles south of San Diego. Lat 27 37, Long 114 60. We crossed the start line on Monday at 11:00 a.m. We sailed for 24 hours with 10-15 knots of wind. The first night was crazy. David and Alli had a real tense night with fog, boats everywhere, and changing winds. There learning curve is very high. After the first day we have had to motor. Wind has been 1-3 knots. The first few days the water was lumpy, however,very smooth now. One night we had lots of lightening and squals. The skies were beautiful.

David and Alli caught our first yellow fin-20 pounds-on Wednesday. David hooked it, Alli gaffed it and Linda and Wally ate it. I wish we would had audio when Alli said "how do I gaf it, and David said how do I kill it with a bat!

The pictures are out of order. They are from Monday to Friday of this week. We celebrated David's bithday yesterday. We even baked a birthday cake on board.

Turtle Bay is a small town of 1000 people. It mainly does fishing. Everyone is really nice in town. Very welcoming and friendly. We are having a beach party today with the Baha fleet and the locals. We saw dolphins, sea lions and look forward to seeing whales and sea turtles.

Angel update. Continues to keep us entertained. She finally did her "duty" after 48 hours.

Costume Party - October 26, 2008

What fun we had today! Sponsors of the Ha-Ha had a great party with food and costumes. We participated as the crew of "Gilligan Island"-Mary Ann, Gilligan, Ginger, and The Captain. We won in our category.
We depart in the morning. We likely will not have internet coverage until Cabo. If you would like to see where we are check the web site of www. Baha Ha-Ha.com.
Joel this is for you. We are at 32 39 000, 117 06, 000.

San Diego, October 25, 2008

We are on the countdown of 2 days before we leave for the Ha-Ha. All of the cruisers say we need to get going so we can stop spending money and working on our boats.
Wally and I feel like we live here at Pier 32. It is very similar to Ventura West, where we were previously living. We have neighbors, lots of visiting and parties.
We have been socializing the past few days with friends and family. Dee and Sol visited us for dinner and wished us well on our journey. Our crew, David and Alli, arrived on Thursday. We shared our boat with Alli's family on Friday.

San Diego, Pier 32-October 23, 2008

We wonder what we do everyday, the day is over before we know it. Since our last update we have spent time in Cat Harbor, Avalon, Oceanside, and currently at San Diego Harbor. I think we finally feel like we are under control and ready to leave the country.
Wally has spent time repairing the ignition switch and the macerator switches. In addition, he continuously finds things to improve on the boat. I call him brilliant to know so much. I have become the surgical assistant in these projects.
Monday we attended an all day seminar on Sailmail. This is a system we will be able to do email through the SSB radio in addition to obtain weather reports. Our friends from Ventura, Jim and Lucy, joined us for the day.
We continue to meet wonderful new people who are heading south. We had a party on our boat last night and it was like we had all known each other for a long time.
David, my son, and Alli his girlfriend will join us today for final preparations for the Baja Ha-Ha.

Catalina-Two Harbors, October 14, 2008

We set sail on October 8 for Catalina Island. The first few days were warm and relaxing. Many other cruisers are here. We all have been meeting at the bar to share our upcoming adventure. We have met cruisers from as far away as Washingston. Most of us are heading to San Diego for the Baja Ha-Ha leaving on October 27.
We had been experiencing Santa Ana winds for the past few days, wind gusts up to 35 knots in the harbor. The kids were surfing on the waves at Isthamus harbor. Wally definetely had his hands full as I had gone to the mainland for a Memorial Service. As soon as I got back we headed to Cat Harbor. It is beautiful and calm. The full moon rising over the mountain was beautiful last night.
We have adapted quickly to our new life. We are continuing to work out systems on the boat. We wonder where the day has gone as we are constantly busy.
Angel is also adapting well to her new life. She continues to be a good guard dog.

Ventura Harbor-October 5, 2008

Friends and family joined us in celebrating our cruising departure.