THE FABULOUS FUBAR– San Diego to Baja
November 2007
We had a wonderful November. As you know we decided to make the trip down the coast of Baja California as part of a group, the first ever power boat rally to the Sea of Cortez - “The FUBAR”, and it was great. We joined it particularly because several couples who also own Selene’s, as well as several other couples we’d met with similar trawler type boats, had already signed on. We also looked forward to meeting other “South-bounders” who will continue, as we will, down the coast of Central America and through the Panama Canal to the Caribbean during 2008. With that commonality, we knew we’d learn a lot and have a good time with like minded people. And we did!
The FUBAR kick off was in San Diego the first weekend in November and began with seminars and parties. One in particular was excellent. We’d been to several classes over the years that focus on medical emergencies at sea, but this was by far the best. Dr Jerry Kornfeld was great at explaining medical things to we lay people. For example, he took a lot of the mystique out of stitching someone up by relating it to regular sewing - made it seem like something I could do, (except for the blood and screaming part)…Ade might survive this trip after all. Heretofore I’ve told him all I can do is pray for and holler Mayday!
We had a Selene get together the night before we left (they are officially now known as Awesome Selene Soirees -”ASS” parties) and it was great getting to finally know some of the people we’ve only had quick bits of conversation with at the rally’s. Les & Rose Dobbe on “Voyager” have a lot of experience having sailed their large Cat from Europe across the Atlantic, and then taking another Selene through the canal, and for many years they have traveled Mexico by land, so they are our heroes and the leaders of our clan. Of all the other Selene’s, it appears that only Voyager, ourselves and John & Kathy on “Mystic Moon” (lovely couple, they cruised the PNW and Alaska for two years) will be on the same southward path, at least as far as Z-town. We are hoping to rendezvous with them often. The very nice people on “Annaruth” and “Rediscovery II” will take their time coming down, and “Kasekuchen” is being shipped by Dockwise to Ft. Lauderdale as the Klein’s are now Selene Florida. They are a wonderful group of people, and we are just tickled pink to have had this opportunity to get to know them.
Our Crew:
For our crew, we flew nephew John out from Little Rock to San Diego, and proved to be a wonderful addition. He was with us from the first party and seminar until Cabo San Lucas. He cruised with us on the Great Circle in 2000, and although he is a few years older than son Kei, they have always been buddies. We wish Kei could’ve taken time off school to join us, but school is first and so John solo’d it. He was a wiz at our communications. We purchased a T-Mobile Blackberry just as we were leaving after learning the Verizon had difficulties with their Mexican counterparts and the North American plan we’d been on would only work in very selected ports. We didn’t have any idea that the T Mobile would do all that it did…but John saw the potential right away. He hooked us up to the Internet, programmed it so that we can be cruising along and we hear blip blip blip, and we are getting a signal and downloading as we cruise along the barren Baja coast. It’s Magic! The internet hookups are rather cheap, but the phone calls are pricey at like $1.50 a minute…ouch, so we don’t use it much. But we have Skype and can use that VOIP system for nada, and John figured out how to hook up the internet to our Satellite phone. This was incredibly helpful as Ade and I had our hands full running the boat, getting her ready for sea, provisioning, etc.
John’s replacement 2/3 of the way down was sister Diane and brother-in-law Mike. They flew to Cabo to take over when John had to get back to work. They’ve also joined us onboard WS I, and have “crewed” on DW with Dot & Ken. Always ready to fix anything, catch anything, and cook anything…they were a wonderful addition.
Getting Ready to Go:
*Ade’s Captains Logs covers the actual trip down, so I am just filling in with “color commentary” and to illustrate that there is always an element of chaos (mine) behind Ade’s orderly log entries!
WS was already in Ensenada, so while the others were sailing from San Diego, we were zooming along the I-5 to San Ysidro, dropping the rental car that had been ours for several weeks, taking the train/trolley to the boarder, lugging our suitcases and supplies across on foot, finding a $100 taxi on the Tijuana side and then heading down the Baja coast for WS- and oh yeah, trying to find a place to get John’s Mexican visa. WS was filthy having suffered through the fires of San Diego and amazing windstorms of late October, so before we could board, we had to hose her down and then load her up. We’d loaded several boxes of supplies on Dreamweaver so we would not have to haul them across the border and were happy to see Dottie and Ken just a few slips away. They’d left ahead of the group in order to line up for fuel, which is $1 cheaper per gallon than in the states. That was an ordeal as the marina was not really ready for all the huge yachts that were arriving and requiring thousands of gallons. They hung in there circling and taking temporary dockage, and finally just docked right at the fuel pump to be ready for the next trucks arrival. Ken had it under control, so the rest of us were able to enjoy the great music in the bar and have a wonderful meal at the Coral. The next morning DW fueled up and took off, we met them a few days later in Turtle Bay. DW was not really on the FUBAR, they just sort of came and went, but were able to join most of the parties using Diane & Mikes passes.
Once we were organized, we took a cab to downtown Ensenada to introduce John to ol’ Mexico, take him to the infamous Hussongs Cantina, ply the mean streets (actually they are quite nice now), provision, and dine in a great little restaurant. John and I joined part of the group for a tour of La Cetto winery the next day, a nice contrast to the busy hustle and bustle of downtown Ensenada - a relaxing drive in the country to the beautiful vineyard and modern winery. We enjoyed the tour and tasting several surprisingly good wines, even purchasing a few bottles to take along.
And We’re On Our Way:
We left Ensenada on November 8th in the company of two Nordhavns. We met, Patrick, Susan and young son Jonathan when “Paloma” was berthed next to WS I in Sausalito in ‘06. They had cruised Mexico earlier that year and knew D&K well. We also met Scott and Marian on “Alanui” a few months earlier in Sausalito. We dubbed ourselves the “Tres Tortugas” as we prefer to travel at about 7 to 7.5 knots and use very little fuel. Others in the FUBAR fleet travel much faster, and even our fellow Selene’s (all the rest are 53’s) cruise at 8.5 + knots and that extra speed makes a big difference on these 150 mile plus passages.
We had two overnight passages to get to Turtle Bay and I must say, having John aboard so we could split it three ways is a vast improvement over just the two of us. We took three to four hour watches, so in theory we could sleep 6 or 7 hours. Truth be told, no one really gets much sleep on these overnighters. But they are so beautiful with the stars shining brightly…no moon, so it’s quite dark. The radar keeps track of most other boats out there, but we have a keen eye out for any lights or signs of debris or crab traps in the water, or small boats that might not show up on radar. Night watch is active, but usually very quiet, so my iPod keeps me going, I put on oldies or folk songs and sing away. and work on easy Suduko puzzles. I can’t read a book and pay attention, so I leave reading for more leisurely passages. With the group there was often VHF radio conversation, especially between the mini groups traveling together. Even if you are not in on the exchange, it’s great to listen to fishing tales, or to boat problems being solved with the radio community or the ingenuity of the crews.
Once in Turtle Bay, Dottie and Ken joined us, along with the other 50 FUBAR boats and we had a great party at Annabelle’s on the beach. Lots of laughs, dancing and a Mexican buffet… we Selene’s have a reputation of being the last ones at the party, and so it was. We are here for a good time! Annabelle herself, a stout woman with a mean shimmy, showed us her moves. Ken somehow picked her up in the midst of all this, we thought he’d break his back…but she loved it.
The next leg was also an overnighter…took us to Santa Maria, next to Mag Bay and we decided to stay put for two days. The rest of the fleet moved over to Magdalena Bay proper while we stayed to hike, dine with DK and Paloma aboard DW and just have a nice time of it before we took off for Cabo. We like this bay, and remember it well from the Baja HaHa 2005. We again took the dinghies and explored the estuary, admiring the neat fishing shacks that line the banks and the dozens of Pelicans that nest in the mangroves. We tried to hike over to the sand dunes, but the mosquitos took a particular liking to Sweet Dottie and me, so we took their dink back and left the not so tasty boys to make the trek to the old wreck on the ocean facing beach.
Sin City and Crew Change:
San Jose del Cabo was a busy stop for us, Diane and Mike flew in and we had 24 hours to show John the bright lights of downtown Cabo, get crazy at El Squid Roe, do a Costco, and MEGA run and get John to the airport Saturday afternoon. John had heard stories of the last time at Squid Row, but really wanted to see for himself. We’d had a SELENE sponsored dinner at the marina, so we of course attended that, and our gang was in rare form. We hated to leave, but we’d promised. What a riot. It was the boy’s night to be wild; we girls were the designated drivers, so we watched the show. Ken got the party started by going out onto the empty dance floor doing his crazy King Tut dance moves. Girls ran out to join in, and John was right there - eventually the whole place got rocking, even Ade and Mike…I had to literally drag them out at midnight, saying that John might fit in, but for we 50+ year olds, it was TIME TO GO. I just hate being the party pooper, but such is the life of a designated driver!
We got it done, but were exhausted after dropping John at the airport and knew we all needed a sober night, so went to lovely, yet sedate, downtown San Jose del Cabo and the Tropical restaurant we’d discovered on our last visit in ‘05. It meant missing yet another ASS pot luck, but we hope there are many more in the future.
Ade wanted to leave Puerto San Jose at Midnight Sunday, but then no one sleeps, so he compromised and left at 3AM. I jumped up, but once we were safely out of the harbor I went below to sleep and Mike stayed up and waited for first light so he could drop the hook… I am sure Ade’s log will go into our fish tales…. we really need a chart so we can determine what we have before we decide if we will release….something about several Tuna’s that looked like Bonita….ah well. It was a rocky passage, too bad for Diane and Mike’s first day out.
It calmed immediately as we came into Muertos Bay, the site of a fabulous new development, where there used to be just the mini Giggling Marlin. It’s a large anchorage and the FUBAR fleet was lucky to have a lovely dinner at the Bahia de los Suenos. These gatherings are lovely as, every time we go ashore we meet more people. This was just a quick overnight stop, so we left at first light to round the corner and get tucked into La Paz.
The Finish Line - La Paz:
We were delighted to see that we had randomly been assigned a slip next to DW, so with only inches between our boats, it became our family compound. It was the final FUBAR night and while we are all pumped to have made it, we know that we have just a few days before we have to say goodbye to so many as we go our separate ways…
Tuesday the 20th was a pot luck with all the Selene owners together for the last time, as I said everyone is on a slightly different itinerary or time schedule. The Youngbloods crew aboard Mystic Moon, Mark and Roseanne Tilden were going home to await their new 59′ (and catch up with us all soon we hope), and two boats will stay in La Paz for a few months. It was a night of goodbyes and the finale of the good natured Selene & DW fishing tournament. Dottie and Ken were adopted by the fleet and she wrote a great little poem that said it all. She also won the happiest fish trophy…and I think you’d better check her log for photos of that big beauty!!
There were a few more loosely organized events, meetings with other “south bounders” and a terrific Thanksgiving dinner. It was really a fantastic affair outside on the grounds of the new marina but properly set up with all the traditional Thanksgiving food with a slightly Mexican twist. It was very special to be so far away and yet have dinner with the three (of the four) sisters and husbands, and three+ tables of new found friends. .
One final event stood out for me. Thanksgiving weekend marked the official opening of the Costa Baja Beach club and development, and they’d brought in Mexico’s Pavarotti, a Fernando de la Mora, for a concert. No expense was spared. The grounds were elaborately decorated, sofa’s and tables and bars and buffets were set up. Waiters were dressed formally, and the elite of La Paz were in attendance. While we did not have tickets, we were invited to the parties and to watch from a private patio, or at the party site via big screen TVs. Everything was truly beautiful
Master Electrician brother in law Mike watched all day as trucks were brought in with the elaborate sound system for the concert, noting the huge generators. As we sat on the upper deck of WS waiting for the festivities to begin Mike said, “Oh Oh”. All the lights at the concert site were suddenly dark. He laughed and said “oh man, the system failed.” Now really curious we quickly made our way over and were told by the hosts, “No Problemo”. Oh sure. We grabbed a drink and walked up the stairs to the private balcony we’d been promised, which just happened to be above the generator system for the entire resort. The trucked in generator had failed and it was a muy major problemo. We watched as a staff electrician worked with sweaty palms to jury rig the sound and light systems to the house generator so that the concert could go on - with all the honcho’s in silk suits watching his every move. Mike narrated what he was doing and caught the attention of the honcho’s who realized he was an electrician and waved him down. He assured them that their electrician was doing everything correctly. When the lights came back on, there was a huge sign of relief, the honcho’s cell phones were flipped open, the electricians given a pat on the back (sweaty back) and the show went on. The concert was good, but for me, not as good as the behind the scenes drama!
We stayed for a few more days, said goodbye to Diane and Mike, and other Fubarians before heading out for the islands and lovely Sea of Cortez. The cruising community is really very small, and we keep running into boating people we’ve met at another time, in another port over the last 40 years. So, it’s never really adios, more like hasta luego!
We are glad that we joined the fabulous FUBAR. It was well organized, we met diverse interesting people, had numerous gathering and parties, and the money went to charity - so hats off to Bruce and Donna, and huge crew of helpers, you did a splendid job!
I’ll check back in from the mainland after the holidays.
