Notes on Fuel Consumption (and Our Whale Watching Habits)

We are not total purists, but we do try to sail from anchorage to anchorage where possible. However we sometimes enjoy those flat calm days as it makes for excellent marine mammal spotting. Sometimes this wildlife spotting has a tendency to bite us. Take the day near Coronados we spotted pilot, fin, humpback, and blue whales, plus bottlenose and common dolphins. It was flat calm and so the engine was on and we were meant to be jumping 20 miles north before a forecast strong norther. It was handy to use the engine to find them, but also handy later in the day to motor sail with 2 reefs into what became an exciting 6 foot chop before we bore off to our destination late in the afternoon.


We have a Yanmar 3GM30 27 Horsepower. I think we could have got away with the 2GM as we replaced a Volvo MD2 16HP when we bought the boat 7 years ago. But in times like we've had it's been nice to have the extra push. On the other hand, maybe we would be less pig headed and turn to run with the wind to seek shelter.

At 5 knots our range is about 450nm with all tanks filled. That’s one large stainless tank of 135L, a flexible tank of 45L and a couple of jerry cans. If it is flat water we could eke out another 50nm but as we have learnt, a good heel on starboard tack puts a nice airlock in the system making the last 35L in the tank fairly useless due to poor tank design. When we learnt this lesson after a great day of tacking up Johnstone Strait, we fortunately only needed the one minute it took to run the fuel pipes dry and coasted the remainder of the way into the anchorage.

To get fuel from the flexible tank to the main tank is done by a hand pump. In a rough sea, this is a rather nauseating process as the diesel fumes fill the cabin. Fortunately this is a rare need and has only twice been required on long passages.

Since leaving Alert Bay in July 2009 and arriving in Guaymas, we've put 472 hours on the engine. We don't use it to charge batteries or make water and sail as much as we can, with < 2kns of speed in a rolly sea being our usual patience level for starting the engine. The shocking truth is that the engine has been on for close to half of our distance travelled, nearly 4000nm. Much of this would be motor sailing but it still surprised us.

If we call ourselves eco friendly, then buying 1000L of diesel a year had better be worth it. For all the hours simply spent looking at wildlife, we can only hope that the sighting reports we send in to Whaleforce (www.ceinst.org) , or photos and sound recordings to scientist friends helps to offset some of that karma. Saying that, we hope to be off in search of the endangered Vaquita later this year purely for selfish curiosity.
We are now in the boatyard in Guaymas where it was 35C inside the boat yesterday. Heidi spends her day with sheets, sarongs and clothes pins, trying to provide every square inch of shade possible. There’s an eccentric collection of characters living on their boats despite the heat. It makes us feel soft as we are about to get on a plane to Canada and run from the desert (and work for the summer and boost that hungry cruising kitty). We’ll try to keep in touch while on home territory, especially if we can organize some adventures!

Narama crosses the Gulf of California

After staying in Santa Rosalia long enough to fill with food and water and have some local friends come to visit, we sailed away about midday. We planned to have an easy sail to Sweet Pea Cove, on nearby Is. San Marcos, but the day was fine and the sailing lovely, so we bore away and decided to cross the sea right then. Well eventually our afternoon breeze died away and after ghosting along at half a knot, we admitted defeat. We motored towards Isla Tortuga, twenty miles out from the coast, but now only a short distance away. The sailing directions and cruising guide both say that this island is steep-to and offers no anchorage, but we managed to find a seven meter ledge on the west side to drop our hook. This boulder slope was by no means perfect, but we didn’t get the anchor jammed between the rocks. By now the sea was a perfect mirror and we enjoyed a peaceful dinner and watched the sun set behind Tres Virgenes, a trio of dramatic volcanoes. Our new plan was to stay until another breeze materialized. This fortuitous roadstead anchorage provided us with two pleasant surprises that we didn’t expect when we decided to cross the sea: 1. a good night’s sleep; 2. a chance to sail nearly the whole way. Had we carried on that evening we likely would have motored through the night, instead we got underway at 530 am and had a light SE breeze that allowed us to sail away from Tortuga at about 3 knots. By midmorning it filled to 15 ESE and we had a kickin’ sail at 6 knots on a close reach. We felt it was a poetic way to end nearly 6 months of cruising in Baja. We dropped the hook in Bahia San Pedro on the mainland with enough daylight left to wander the beach and have a swim. We will be putting Narama to bed soon so we can fly back to Canada for the summer.

Fish photo:  Largemouth Blenny

Sights and Sounds of Marine Mammals in the Gulf of California

We have been really lucky with marine mammal encounters, so here's a link to share some of the sights and sounds from these animals that we have seen and heard on the way north inside the Gulf of California.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVqDnebitYk

It's Time to Go

It is customary that those who travel with us to write in our log book for one or more of the days aboard. We thought Mum’s (Wendy’s) last entry (a poem) summarized the last few weeks aboard admirably. Also, thanks to Barbara we can now share some underwater scenes.

It’s Time to Go

Our time is done and we’ve had fun

We’ve had blue skies and lots of sun
Narama sailed like a dream
The wind sometimes just off her beam
As she lifted her bows into the sea
We relished the feeling of being so free
We’ve snorkeled and swum and hiked some too

And even kayaked into the blue

Amazing sites that we have seen

From gulls to vultures and pelicans that preen

Then in the water many fishes abound

In every colour they pass without sound

Sea lions and dolphins came to see us

But seeing the blue whales caused excitement plus

Each of our hikes produced wildlife to share

There were donkeys and goats and a big black hare

Lizards, rabbits and squirrels were terribly shy

And a coyote crept so silently by

We saw many cacti in every spare patch

The variety was such that we couldn’t match

Waiting to nab anything in their way

It’s all survival for them I dare say

Now we must both bid our fondest farewell

Thank you! Our time here has really been swell

You’ve fed us so well and looked after us

And even caught a great big fish without fuss

I wonder just where we will all meet up next

You’ll just have to wait to read the next text.

Message from Antarctica

Click the link below for a short film from Heidi in Antarctica.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrRnxqP5ZVU

Update from Antarctica

I have been away from Narama for only three weeks and already it’s hard for me to recollect the heat of the sun and the desert landscape. I’ve just completed my first of three voyages which took me to the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and then to the Antarctic Peninsula itself. Crossing Drake Passage over the last few days was interesting, with force 10 winds (about 50 knots) and average seas over 10m. But it was worth it, especially to see South Georgia again where the weather was kind allowing visits to massive King Penguin colonies and Wandering Albatross nesting sites. Another special treat during this voyage was running into a dear friend from Alert Bay in Stanley (Falklands). Have a look at Hayley’s blog (link on the side “Oceanmaid Ventures”) she is currently attempting to kayak around South Georgia alone. I just hope that she gets the weather she needs!

There are two trips left for me this season, although they are much shorter and only visit the Peninsula. Here’s hoping that the last four crossings of Drake Passage will be gentle.

I think that penguins are the secret to world peace as no one can resist smiling at their antics.

Photos:  Heidi in St Andrews Bay, MS Expedition in Antarctic Sound, Antctic Fur Seals, Chinstrap Penguins

Whales in La Paz

Whilst Heidi is hard at work watching the real thing in frigid waters of the Southern Ocean, Stephen has found a local museum full of whale curios and who were only too happy to let me play with skeletons that still needed cleaning. See http://museodelaballena.blogspot.com/ . I also continue with boat projects that we started before Heidi took off. Varnishing, polishing, sewing(kayak cover and spinnaker), engine maintenance, resealing toe rails, making rat lines, strops to lift dinghy, painting………. And so it goes on. Carnival has just ended what a spectacle it was and the dozens of competing musicians have abated and sleep returned. At least until fish knocking the hull in the wee hours of a morning to get at the growing wildlife forced me into action and take the boat out to a nice secluded bay to destroy this thriving under water ecosystem, emerging from the water covered in what I am sure was now pissed off tiny crustaceans. Had fun taking the whale museum folks for trip out into La Paz Bay, we were fortunate to find 5 humpbacks and had a sail, something a little different for them. And finally the boat is slowly sinking again under the weight of victuals that are slowly accrued by back pack on each outing ashore. The guys in the hardware store are starting to make fun of me as I empty there shelves of “Alcohol Industrial” for use in our stove. I real don’t think they believe me. As I write another 25kn northerly is howling through the anchorage. They seem to come through a couple of days of each week and make for some damp rowing conditions in wind against tide.