Playa Bonanza

This is a great evening for Norwegian Steam. Cruising in the Sea of Cortez, at last! We are anchored a hundred yards from the long sand beach of Playa Bonanza, located on the east side of the island of Espiritu Santo, which is a natural marine park. Even though the wind is from the west, it is quite breezy out here. As soon as we got anchored, an hour before sunset, Jennifer and Amy rowed the dinghy ashore. I was worried that they might not get back, with the wind so strong, but they made it. Best rowing workout Jennifer has had since here crew days! The moon has not yet arisen. The sky is full of stars. Sally is preparing a risotto with Andrew's assistance. We have opened up some wine. Is this not paradise?

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Welcoming Committee

Amy and Jennifer Await NS

Most of the Westhagen clan have now gathered in La Paz to welcome Norwegian Steam.   Peter, Suzanna, Avery and Stella are not here because Suzanna is expecting a baby in February.  Eric is absent because he needs to care for a bunch of cats.  Even NS has, at last, a plausible excuse for her delay.

Pescador and Amy Await NS

In her perch atop the cargo ship Beluga Elegance, NS has been battling gale force winds all the way down the coast.  Although the BE has not shown up on marinetraffic.com in the last 31 hours,  she was halfway between SF and LA when her position was last recorded and, by my reckoning, should reach Ensenada tomorrow, given that the storms are predicted to abate this evening.  With only five boats to drop off or pick up, the BE could be on her way again in as little as 10 hours.  From there to La Paz, she should have a tail wind, allowing her finally to achieve her potential of 350 nautical miles per day, which could bring her into La Paz on Boxing Day.

Jon, Amy and Jennifer Await on the Malecon

Visiting Lisa and Ron near Todos Santos

Jon, Jennifer, Sally, Amy, Alan and Andrew Await NS on the Beach near Todos Santos

I love La Paz.  Wonderful town, great people, fine food, perfect weather.  A few in our party would like the evenings to be slightly warmer, but I do not concur.  In my opinion, 80 degree days and 60 degree nights are ideal.  We are staying in the very friendly and well run Posada LunaSol, a stone's throw from Marina de la Paz.  They have been extremely obliging in accommodating our many and frequent changes in schedule, but will have to turn us out on December 27, because of prior reservations.  This one last time, Yacht Path had better deliver, or we could be out on the street with no place to sleep.

NS Rides South

Bruce, Robert and Alan Push Off for Victoria

Wednesday evening, December 15, Bruce Vik and I moored Norwegian Steam against the hull of the heavy-lift cargo ship, Beluga Elegance, docked at Ogden Point in the harbor of Victoria BC.  There was little wind that night and the loading area was well protected, so we did not wait to see NS actually be hoisted onto the deck of the ship.  After all the delays and false promises, perhaps I should not have trusted the assurances of the Yacht Path crew, but by now I believe that I would have heard if something had subsequently gone amiss.

Bruce, I and Robert Rackl had delivered NS to Victoria on the weekend of December 4th and 5th.  On Saturday, we motored to Port Townsend in light winds, spending the night in the Point Hudson Marina.  We motored half way across the East Entrance of the Strait of Juan de Fuca the next day, but then the wind picked up.  We had a great sail into Victoria, changing down to reefed main and staysail in 25 knot of winds.  Robert, who was keen to test his resistance to sea sickness, was not sick at all, and exercised a steady hand on the helm while Bruce and I were reefing the main.

The "Old Salts" are Eager

We sailed to Victoria that weekend because the Yacht Path schedule was showing loading to start on the following Saturday, while weather reports showed really nasty weather during the intervening week days.  We took advantage of a weather window, and I am glad we did.  But true to form, Yacht Path delayed loading until Wednesday.  By my count, that was the 11th slippage of schedule.

Leif Eriksson Does Not Like the Look of Those Clouds

After loading 21 yachts, the BE was supposed to have headed for Ensenada yesterday evening.  Instead she showed up this morning in Vancouver.  This worried me a lot, and not just because it represented an additional delay.  Positioned as it is near the mouth of the Fraser river and its valley that cuts through the mountains and often channels frigid air from the interior, the port of Vancouver poses a serious risk of freezing temperatures to any ship moored there and certainly to any yachts stowed on deck.  I had taken the precaution to place anti-freeze in NS's water maker, but her engine and pressure water systems would be at risk.

Fortunately, BE was not in Vancouver for very long.  She was probably taking on fuel at better prices than she could buy it in Victoria.  She is now headed out the Strait of Juan de Fuca and lists Ensenada as her destination in her AIS report.

If there are no additional unplanned stops and nothing goes wrong, NS will be delivered to La Paz on Christmas Eve, according to the latest schedule.   Although I hope that the "splash down" will occur in daylight hours, I am now imagining that it will occur at the stroke of midnight.