Here you will find tales of voyages past and present on our trusty Pacific Seacraft Dana 24, "Sockdolager," and our Bigfoot29 powerboat, "Raven," from Port Townsend, Washington, USA. In 2009 we sailed north from Puget Sound up the west coast of Vancouver Island to the Queen Charlotte Islands (now called Haida Gwaii.) In 2010 we went back to the west coast of Vancouver Island. In July 2011 we left the Northwest, sailed to Mexico, and in March 2012 we crossed the Pacific to French Polynesia, then on to the Cooks, Niue and Tonga. We spent several months in New Zealand, and in May 2013 loaded Sockdolager (and ourselves) on a container ship for San Francisco. In June and July 2013 we sailed north along the California, Oregon and Washington coasts, and in August we arrived home. In October 2016, Sockdolager found new owners, and we began cruising on Raven, a unique wooden 29' powerboat. In 2018 we cruised up to Glacier Bay, Alaska, and back. But in 2024 we had the chance to buy Sockdolager back (we missed her), so we sold Raven. We hope you enjoy reading about our adventures as much as we enjoy having them. (And there will be more.)



Thursday, December 1, 2011

Southbound off the Baja Mexico coast

If offshore voyaging ever had its own tourist brochure, the 5-day passage we just completed from Ensenada to Puerto Bartholome (Turtle Bay) would be on the cover. Though the first 4 days were plagued with calms, our light air sails kept pulling us along, and between San Diego and here we used only 8 gallons of diesel. It would be hard to overstate the beauty out at sea; green meteors with firey red tails streaking under a starry night sky reflected on the water like a mirror; pale-skinned dolphins jumping the bow wave under the red and green running lights; WARM-ish fog (a first); sailing wing-and-wing on seas so calm it was like a lake; more green flashes, and so many other things to report.

Wouldn't it be great if we could teleport our friends (one at a time) to join us in the cockpit each evening for sunset, emergence of the stars, conversation, and, best of all, to listen to the sounds of whales breathing. You would be amazed. To hear a huge whale (possibly another blue by the sound of its breathing)just a few yards away, quietly resting at the surface between breaths as deep as the ocean, or to be surrounded by a pod of curious pilot whales not once but twice, and hear their breathy sighs and snorts only ten feet away on all three sides of the cockpit, well, this will give you an idea of the magic.

This morning we leave for Bahia de Magdalena, about 250 miles away, weather permitting. While we're offshore you can see a map of our position on the "Where is Sockdolager Now" special page on the left. We're sending this via Ham radio, so no photos this post, and we can't access our email right now, so either check the blog periodically or sign up to follow.

2 comments:

  1. Yup...and it only get's better, and warmer as you go along! we are in la Paz, so if you choose to come this way, we will hold a cold beverage for you, and welcome you when you get here! So far we have found this place to be awesome.

    Tom & Jeanne SV Eagle

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  2. That's it! You are adopting me and I'm running away with you!

    ReplyDelete