Thursday 2 a.m. LT. Passing by Bahias Sta Maria and Magdalena where large numbers of whales are congregating for calving. Dark now or I'd pause briefly to go in to see them. Hope I don't hit a sleeping whale but motor running should reduce chance of that.

Soon after sunset, sky was completely clear and beautifully starry. Cloudy now but waning moon shining brightly on calmer sea than before. Pleased that I managed to furl in genoa easily.

Cabo is just over a day away - will be reaching it in good time, well before stormy weather arrives - might see whales on way or near there. Will make for San Jose del Cabo for fuel and to wait for better weather.

Dull overcast giving way to glimpses of sun. Still having to motor, with very little wind from astern. Managed two hours of sailing last evening. Heater on - air is cold.

USNS Brunswick just passed by, 5mls off, headed North. Nice to make contact earlier with Ham radio friends. It's a long push SSE to get down the long Baja peninsula. ... Likely to be mostly motoring for next several days. .. Ugh...

Happy New Year!  A belated update ...   

 It's taken a while for me to get around to writing this - so much to do, including travelling north to retrieve some boat items I need now.   I'm presently docked at the very friendly Southwestern YC in San Diego, getting generator repairs done, hoping to leave reasonably soon to head down to Mexico to get on with a few more minor jobs....  (It's rare to find a boat without a list of boat jobs, however small, waiting to be done - there's always something waiting to be fixed...!)

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30Nov Boom was removed from mast so gooseneck connecting mast to boom, along with the boom end itelf, could be taken away for repair.

2 December 2016 ·

Lashing did a good job, holding genoa foot down after snapshackle pin disappeared... Rusty pin or spring ...or bad SS ring..? Old shackle now removed and new 'D' shackle bought to replace it.

Gooseneck and boom end metal parts now well done by Steve but he queried state of plastic sheaves inside boom end - considering what to do about it... Think I have a set of new ones somewhere on board ....!

BTW, in answer to queries on possibility of re-starting nonstop RTW attempt from San Diego .... Apart from lateness in season to head S to Cape Horn and around Sthn Ocean (since would likely be May when rounding N.Z.), San Diego start would require an added WP for extra miles to be added: WSSR rule 26.1.a states: "To sail around the World, a vessel must start from and return to the same point, must cross all meridians of longitude and must cross the Equator. It may cross some but not all meridians more than once (i.e. two roundings of Antarctica do not count). The shortest orthodromic track of the vessel must be at least 21,600 nautical miles in length calculated based on a 'perfect sphere'. In calculating this distance, it is to be assumed that the vessel will sail around Antarctica in latitude 63 degrees south. A vessel starting from any point where the direct orthodromic distance is too short (e.g. San Diego) shall pass one single island or other fixed point on a required side so as to lengthen the orthodromic track to the minimum distance".

Saturday 3rd Dec:  Racing in Hot Rum Regatta Enjoyed racing on 'Echo' with several excellent young sailors and their parents... 

Alice helmed most of the race, others tended sheets and helped with spinnaker hoist and dousing & her brother and friend did a good job trimming the spinnaker in often gusty conditions. 

All of the crew did excellent work - their parents must be very proud of them!

4Dec Christmas Party time at San Diego Y.C.....  The snow doesn't last long ... but long enough for these lucky kids to get in some tobogganing fun.

6-8 Dec  I was invited to attend CCA Christmas Dinner at St Frances Y.C. in San Francisco on evening of Wednesday 7th Dec, so took Greyhound bus from San Diego there and back.  On way to L.A, bus pulled in to the Santa Ana bus and railroad terminal ...

A lovely mission-style building.  I was lucky - just made the onward bus connection in L.A. (first bus left over one hour later than scheduled).   Bob and Kristi Hanelt were my very welcoming hosts in Oakland Hills - many thanks for an enjoyable stay - and plenty of 'cruiser chat'!  

Thursday Dec 8 Back to SD to get on with boat jobs.  Interesting countryside, passing Pyramid Lake well N of L.A. - a large reservoir high up in arid mountains.

Friday 9Dec  New generator part had arrived - here are new and old exhaust parts side by side...  Notice difference in size of new design and old... And water pipe connections are different, causing a problem in replacing and connecting up the new part... Caused a long delay in fitting.... 

Thanks to Rowena Carlson who invited me for a good time spent with SSSS group at house near Y.C. overlooking the Bay at their Christmas party and Annual Awards evening...  (SSSS =  Sexy Sabots Sailing Set! - was originally only women)  ....  Naples Sabots are the 8ft S. Californian junior sail-training equivalent of the beginner Optimist dinghies - mainsail only but with a leeboard on the starboard side instead of a central daggerboard.  More difficult to sail... "A bit quirky," I was told, so people who master them become good sailors!  

14-28th Dec - flew to Vancouver to organise sending aft cabin cushions etc down to San Diego, retrieve some smaller items (clothing etc) from storage at R.V.Y.C. and spend Christmas with friends.  Had good snowfalls while there!  A White Christmas...

Sunday18Dec -  Cold trip over to Tsawwassen from Gibsons to Victoria, close to Cadboro Bay.  Car - ferry - bus - train - bus - ferry - bus - bus - walk ..... Took from 10 am to 5.30pm but all worked out fine and went according to plan - very little stress!  Almost no snow here...  Enjoyable Wassail at RVYC in the evening…  

Then over to Anacortes on Tuesday 20Dec - windy but lovely ferry trip through San Juan Islands. Great to be a  totally relaxed passenger... just enjoying the scenery!  Aft cabin cushions and cockpit table now on their way to San Diego from Anacortes - many thanks to Vince at Ullman Sails Anacortes and Chuck in SD. Suitcase with clothes and other smaller items were retrieved from Royal Victoria Y.C. on Monday and will come with me on flight back to 'Nereida' in SD later next week. Friend Jeff has loaned an inflatable kayak in place of dinghy and outboard so I can get onshore when at anchor in Mexico, if needed.

Back to Gibsons via Coastal Celebration ferry from Swartz Bay on Wednesday - was shown around bridge of same boat on way over last Sunday - rather different from 'Nereida'!  Visited friends in Sidney for lunch in between ferries - an amazing job Charles has done in constructing a steel boat in his back yard - all his own work!!

25Dec Nice to spend Christmas in beautiful B. C. with good friends...!    Happy holidays to one and all!

29Dec Back on board after flights from Vancouver and Phoenix. Nice to see radio friend Sid, K7SID, & wife Carol in Phoenix.  Felt warm here in San Diego!  (But gets cold overnight...)  

Bad news on generator while I was away - it's seized and almost certainly needs re-building.... Sounds expensive, despite only one cylinder...

Friday 30 December 2016   Many thanks to San Diego Y.C. for their generosity regarding moorage costs while here. Aft cabin cushions and cockpit table arrived today from Ullman's loft in Anacortes - thanks to Chuck for his suggestion, to Vince for packing and dispatching... and to Niall for unpacking and bringing to the boat from the loft here in San Diego.

We might have problems - but people are generally kind and helpful....  Needed to find another berth for 'Nereida' from Tuesday since, despite SDYC's much-appreciated generosity until end of December, the slip we've been on was taken from then. Walked over to Southwestern Y.C. - was immediately made welcome by Mark and berth assigned from Tuesday - so that problem was resolved (while waiting for genset problem to be finished with...) Thanks to SWYC members Susan and Richard for their kind welcome - and a great Irish coffee!! Can't achieve anything further now on genset front until Tuesday,... so will put it to one side and enjoy a quiet, relaxed New Year - maybe get some reading, writing and walking done....

2 January   Trying to sort a few jobs: genset repair, new mast-top Windex, LED light strips in two places, tidying/organising aft & main cabins...... & must move boat to new berth tomorrow. And that's just today's thinking....there are lots more items I've not listed here...! I've had whipping of line and sheet ends on my list for ages, especially after renewing several recently, so was nice to have rigger Mark expertly whip the ends of several for me - far more quickly than I could have done. That was after he'd moved the position of the rod-kicker (vang), making fresh screw holes in boom, avoiding old badly elongated ones which can't have helped the gooseneck problem.  Just have to attach reef lines now, when not rainy or windy from wrong direction. (It has been raining a lot - bucketed down on New Year's Eve!)

4th January Coffee and doughnut at Downwind Marine - a Wed morning 'tradition'.... Then Evan brought me back over and replaced the Windex at the mast top - saved me a trip up to struggle with removing old one and also it needed a couple of bends made in the metal rod so as to give it good clearance - not so easy to do. Nice to see it working.

Got estimate to rebuild the genset yesterday ..... A mere $5133 ......! That's a lot of money..... (New one is twice that) People here at South Western Y.C. are very friendly - was taken by Amagele for fresh fruit and veg shopping yesterday and Frank would have done the same if A. hadn't made her offer first! Thanks to both.... Low cloud and fine drizzle today - totally unlike the blue sky of yesterday! Parts are all available for generator rebuild but present motor has been replaced with 'low-emissions' upgrade so new one might not be useable as is - Kubota US are looking into that for me.  Doubt that a reliable 12V rebuilt version is lying around anywhere and labour to pull old out one and replace it is way more than for rebuilding in situ.  Good mechanic here - trustworthy and does excellent work - came very well recommended.  'Nereida' probably won't be ready to leave before February.  Debating how best to spend time over 2-3 weeks while waiting for parts to arrive after motor stripped down ... frustrating!

In the meantime, it's great to have regular Internet access - keeping tabs on the Vendee Globe race is a daily necessity ...  Go, Alex, GO!!!

7.40pm Sun PST/0340 Mon GMT

Just checked in to the Pacific Sefarers' Net - heard nothing at all on frequency yesterday so it was good to make contact with Jane, NH7TZ, on Kauai, who was just about able to take my report. Propagation is particularly bad on 20m at present.

I'd been hoping that the strong winds forecast for tonight wouldn't arrive - but they did - with a vengeance! .... Just to remind me, as if I hadn't already found out several times recently, what winds in the N. Pacific can be like!

We're presently getting 33-44kt of wind, frequently gusting up, and with accompanying 4-5m seas to match, with steep faces fairly close together, making for an uncomfortable ride.

With just 115 n.mls to San Diego harbour entrance, arrival is expected after sunset tomorrow (Monday evening LT).

The good news is that these conditions are supposed to ease somewhat shortly, this being the peak period - let's hope the forecast has got that right!

10.30pm Sun PST/ 0630 Mon GMT Wind only up to mid-30s now... not mid-40s... Great!

San Clemente Island 40 mls off. Seas pretty rough. Will make sure I'm awake as we near the island... a Navy Base.

5am Monday PST/1300 Mon GMT Passing 8 ml south of San Clemente Island. Just changed course slightly to round the island and make for San Diego, 60 miles off.

Beautiful, clear, starry sky... Pleiades astern, high up in West, a bright planet (?) high ahead in East

Wind died down nicely a while ago - to around NW 25kt now - unfurled most of genoa to speed us along - making 5.6 kt in 4m swell. Expecting wind to die more as we close the coast.

Spoke to radio friends on East coast - from Florida to Maine - was great to speak to a few of them that I've not made contact with for some time. All very sympathetic.

7.30 am Back to my bunk for an hour or two of sleep after some brief contacts with West coast radio friends...

12.45pm Enjoyed a late brunch of a very nice onion omelette, followed by fresh coffee and brown bread with home-made marmalade (thanks, Susan - lovely!).

Wind is up and down but slowly dying - presently WNW 15 kt, giving SOG ~5 kt. Sky getting quite cloudy but glimpses of the sun still.

Seas are also down, to 2-3m, so we're ambling gently towards SD, keeping an eye out for frequent shipping - Golden Energy (tanker) just crossed our bow a mile off half an hour ago, on its way to the Panama Canal, and the motor vessel Sally Ride is off to port. (Later: I thought she was on a pleasure jaunt of some kind, out of SD, but it seems she's a very well-equipped scientific research vessel!)

Not long now to having to break the engine seal so we can motor in to Shelter Island's Police Dock for our Clearance procedure to take place - a 24 ml actual passage from here but only 19 ml away as the crow flies - the N-S SD harbour entrance channel to the east of Pt Loma is very long.

2.20pm Time to furl in genoa, break that engine seal & turn on - making less than 3 kt in dying wind of 7 kt from astern... We're not getting very far like this! 19 n.ml.from San Diego.  Must break engine seal & motor rest of the way - very loathe to do that.

3pm Cut the seal with a bit of effort... Started motoring at 2.30pm. Point Loma has been in sight for a time. Slight drizzle now...

Fairway buoy to entrance channel is 11 miles away. Seas still rolly, with 2.5m or so swell, wind W 6 kt .

4.40pm Mon PST/0040 Tues GMT 2.5 ml off main channel entrance and 7 miles to Police Dock. Grey and murky - very restricted visibility - radar on plus AIS - all helpful to see what's ahead... ETA at Police Dock for Clearance into US still around 6pm, possibly slightly later. Must hoist yellow 'Q' flag for international clearance in...

Arrived Police Dock in San Diego Hbr well after nightfall - stressful entrance in darkness and rain, following the long, lit main channel and then turning to port to make the final entrance inside Shelter Island, avoiding a shoal area to starboard.  With plenty of open water beyond the Dock, I was able to take my time preparing for coming alongside but it was a very difficult final approach, due to a strong current pushing our stern out as we tried to come alongside gently...  More speed ahead was the only answer, in the end, but that made things a bit fraught with an unhelpful kick to starboard in astern and Police boats moored up not far ahead!  Luckily, I just managed to secure the lines ... no-one around, of course...

Took a long time for two very friendly officers to arrive to do paperwork but finally got away and motored over to San Diego Y.C. where a convenient berth, with plenty of water for manoeuvring, had been arranged by friend Rod.  Ed came down with his flashlight to help make sure I knew where to head for and then helped tie up - many thanks to both for their welcome help...   I cooked a late meal and had a very good sleep!

Many thanks for the supportive messages. I'll get repairs done & figure out my options.

7pm Sat PST/0300 Sun GMT

What a lovely downwind sail just now - seas a little down but still quite big, sunset colours just faded, wind ~20kt, SOG 6 kt, clearish sky with bright Venus hanging high in W.... Beautiful and completely therapeutic! No rainclouds in sight...

Pity the forecast is for stronger, even gale force, winds to arrive later Sunday into Monday, as we near the coast...

Getting my position and weather report ready for Pacific Seafarers Net on 14300 at 0330 GMT. (Later: Nothing heard at all on the Net - propagation poor to present position.)

9pm Wind backed into W and down to 15kt - dead downwind - not a good point of sail without poling out the genoa - and that won't happen until daylight - especially in the rather rolly seas at present. Later: veered into WNW at 20kt again - better. Pleasant sailing, most of this evening.

1130pm Sat PST/0730 Sun GMT still sailing gently along: 20kt WNW wind, 5kt SOG - too good to be true! Waiting for the stronger stuff to arrive! Sleep in the meantime...

6.30am Sun PST/1430 GMT A good, peaceful night - gentle sailing in 20-22 kt WNW wind - so had a good night's sleep, with few gaps. Sunrise around now.

Made up log, checked emails and weather and then made contact with friends on the ham radio morning Nets - mostly West coast and inland US and northern Mexico - Baja California. All very relaxed and finished around 9am, ready for late coffee and breakfast.

Midday Wind and seas are up rather - seas to 4.5m or so, quite steep and not that far apart, so feeling quite rough, and wind is WNW-NW at ~25kt. Could reach 30-35kt later today. Cleared up in galley and I'm eating fresh fruit a lot, ready for clearing in to California - they won't let you bring in any citrus fruit from elsewhere so I'm finishing up some delicious, juicy mandarins!

12.20pm Wind is slowly increasing - up to 28-30kt now and just gusted to 33+kt with grey cloud nearby, SOG 6.2kt and over. Blue sky with plenty of cloud around and sunny in between - quite pleasant although seas are well up.

I hear some parts of S. California are having a lot of rain now - good for the reservoirs, ready for summer? Hope it has stopped by time I pull in to SD!

3pm Frequent lulls of 24 kt in between the stronger winds. Blue sky, scattered clouds, lots of sunny spells. Replying to emails.

5.30pm Sun PST(1.30 a.m. Mon GMT) Sun set short while ago... Seas still 4m or so and often steep. WNW wind either ~23 kt or ~ 30 kt... keeps varying....

10.45pm Fri PST/6.45am Sat GMT Wind was up over 30kt from SSW a short while ago but now 24kt with higher gusts - so far direction is unchanged. Rough seas - short and steep, so we're being tossed around a lot and have to be careful how I move around...

Wind got up to 33 kt for quite a time afterwards and veered to W. Had to change course twenty degrees or so to keep the wind to starboard and postponed gybing until wind eased later - as it surely must! Nice to have had all reefs tied in earlier.

6am Sat PST/1400 GMT Wind down to 15-17kt - from WNW, so changed back onto course and gybed the main, changing over the preventer (essential in these rough seas to prevent boom from crashing about). Was pleased to find rain had stopped but as I set to work it came down hard - but not for long... Lovely clear starry patch among the general cloud overhead. A flash of lightning on the horizon astern - hope it stays there!

Back to my bunk for some more sleep -beginning to get lighter - dawn not too far away.... Brown booby that had decided to sleep on our port bow pulpit around sunset had taken off during the night - conditions just got too much for it, I presume. (A sign of how far S we've come - they're not seen much further N, being tropical birds.)

6.40am PST just noticed wind up again - gust of 30 kt, then down to 27kt and back up - to 33kt ... SOG 6.6kt - rain started again.... raincloud - reason for strong gust? Expecting quite strong conditions for next few days.

8 - 9 am Was nice to speak to various radio and boat friends on Chubasco Net and later, briefly, on Baja Net - when I suddenly realised that winds had got up to 45 kt under dark grey mass of cloud, SOG 7.6kt. The 40-45kt wind lasted for quite a time, slowly down to 35kt, then fnally 25 kt at around 9am... TSTMS?? Seas built up, of course, as well... A good 4m or so now

Going to be a rough ride to San Diego - 300mls off - with gale force winds forecast for Monday... which is what we already just had now in a big squall!

Why San Diego? I've had to make the painful decision to head in there for repairs needed to the boom connection and genset, among other, more minor, items. Not a comfortable thought while heading towards the Southern Ocean that the genset would probably be out of action for the next 7-8 months (an epoxy repair would almost certainly not last long, always assuming it could be done and would work at all), giving an ongoing battery power issue with not enough fuel (main engine takes more diesel and is less efficient at frequent topping up of wind and solar power inputs), and the boom connecion can only get worse with more rough use and is already badly worn.... Not something I can repair- it needs proper attention.

Feeling very disheartened and sad.... So many people have been so supportive and helpful in so many ways, for which I have been deeply appreciative... Thanks to you all!

.........................................................................

1pm Wind keeps gusting up under or near rainclouds - frequently to over 30kt, occasionally more strongly. Seas are over 4m and higher in the strongest winds.

Mostly the sky is overcast. but occasionally the sun gets out between te clouds and it feels warm - San Diego is in southern California, by the Mexican border, so has a pleasant climate.

Forecast is for more weather like today for the next few days - I just hope for not too many of the over 40kt squalls to come by!

Thurs 11.30pm LT/ Fri 0730 GMT Just ran the engine for an hour... Still trying to deal with genset cooling water problem - tomorrow should be calm, at least to start off with, so can work on it more then.

Hazy sky - stars not looking so bright as usual. Sea fairly calm. Wind W 7kt, boat SOG 3.6kt. Heading SE for a bit longer but will turn S later tomorrow before the Front arrives. Had a nice asparagus omelette with my usual 'chiplets' (diced fried potatoes) tonight.

Seeing ships on AIS screen more often now - until yesterday had seen none since near Cape Flattery. One is getting a bit close in just under an hour's time, so must stay up to make sure all OK - late to sleep tonight! Called on VHF 16 to check on their intentions. 2.10 am: 'Silver Euplecta' changed course to stay just over a mile off - that felt far more comfortable than when they were coming to within 0-1/4 ml of us! Closest approach in 2 minutes' time.

2.20am Fri LT/ 1020 Fri GMT A gust... and wind backed to SSW-SW, very light (6kt) so varying somewhat between SSW and WSW, ... it was W just before. To my bunk for some sleep while no ships are within 30 ml or more - alarm set...

8.30am Regular sightings, visually and on AIS, of shipping heading to/from LA - busy port. We're 330 ml due W of it now. Wind SSW 9kt, SOG 4-5 kt - varying lot in gusty conditions under grey, overcast sky - hint of blue sky on horizon to E.

2pm Genset problem has turned into seawater cooling circuit problem - there's a big hole in a (soldered?) connection leading from motor towards anti-siphon loop - which must be part of the seawater cooling circuit. Don't see how I can make anything other than a temporary fix with epoxy - not likely to last for long. Along with the gooseneck problem, I've a lot to think about just now...

5pm Seas are getting up as daylight fades - getting quite rough. Took in reefs and reduced genoa ready for the stronger wind expected - overnight, a Front will come through and wind will switch (veer) from SSW/SW to NW.

9pm Wind now over 30kt mostly... Glad all reefs are in and genoa well-reduced... Waiting for wind to veer more - will it be sudden or gradual? I suspect it will be rather quick... If I catch it changing just beforehand, I'll try to gybe in advance.

Sleep will be hard to come by tonight, I think.