Mark and I seem to do things slightly off schedule. So, why wouldn’t we stay in Baja Norte with its cold temps, northerly winds, and lack of snorkeling for winter? The prior post was about our time in Don Juan. We left there just before New Years for an overnight sail to Santa Rosalia, which…
Hopping in the time machine, let’s head back to 17 Dec 2023. We departed Puerto Peñasco after a simple rigging repair and a few days in a slip. We set off on a 41-hour, 179nm trip south to Don Juan, which is in the Sea of Cortez in Baja by Bahia de Los Angeles. Some…
Well. I did not plan for a 4 month lapse in blog posts. I expected to have a weekly–or at least bi-weekly–writing habit. Mark continues his streak of never ever blogging. 2024 has been filled with social time, a few projects, and a lot of moving. Since departing Peñasco, we have sailed just over 1,065…
It’s that time of year! No, not the one where Santa visits. The one where the named wind storms head south for winter and therefore, so can we. We splashed last week. That’s cruiser terminology for going back into the water. If you have 10 mins, watch the full video playlist of MACH 5 moving…
We arrived in Bahìa Tortugas (Turtle Bay) on Wednesday morning. We anchored, got ship shape, ate breakfast burritos, and went to bed! The passage was our first multi-day–4 days and 3 nights. We did better about sleeping. We started very seasick and with me (Christiana) colliding with the wooden back of the settee with my…
About two weeks ago, we did another passage. We left the 5 million barking sea lions on Monterey for the foggy Morro Bay, which is filled with adorable otters. It’s so quiet that it feels weird. As crafted a sail plan in the Bay Area, we knew the leg from Monterey to Morro would be…
In true Mark and Christiana style, our first passage involved jumping into the middle of the pool. Not wading in, not the complete deep end. But that 4.5′ zone where Mark is above water and Christiana is worried about going under. We planned out a nice, leisurely day sail to Half Moon Bay from Golden…
We did a thing! On Labor Day, we went out under the Golden Gate Bridge, to the lighthouse, and then back into the Bay. This was our first trip out of the Bay and into the Pacific on MACH 5–and all by ourselves. It is somehow so very magical to sail under the bridge. We…
On May 24, after 41 days on the hard, MACH 5 and her people splashed back into the water! It was wonderful. Nothing leaked immediately (or in the days since). Mark’s diligent work to properly install new seacocks and the prop shaft packing paid off. The yard team worked on the rudder reinstallation, again no…
It’s been two months since I last posted. We had a much-needed and super fun break by housesitting for Jason and Rachel. They live near Paso Robles on a 40ish acre olive tree farm–and future tea plantation. (Yes, I’m going to keep saying that until it happens.) Rachel has become one of my longest relationships.…
