I'm not sure what you're using for weather, I don't remember chatting about it in SB, but here's a few sources I like.
Hey Mark was checking in on your "adventure".
Saw some of the great feedback on weather. Cause "there is an APP for that
I'm sure you're familiar with all of the real time Buoy reporting Apps and BuoyWeather forecasts. In addition a couple of them that we use to look at the weather which may be useful.
Thunderstorms/Squalls: A super App that aggregates multiple weather radars as an overlay to your position is RadarScope. When we were Southbound in August there were a couple of squalls offshore and it was awesome providing us with insight into the intensity and movement (which was South to North) and not moving along our route. Not sure how well this works in Mexico but worth a look see.
Predictwind has several layers and graphs with rain, swell, isobar maps and a graphing function for the wind. There are also a couple of pricey upgrades for weather planning and departure planning that I know are used by a couple of delivery Captains I know.
WeatherMap+ has multiple layers and a Horizon of several days.
OutCast is another one with multiple functions including Marine Weather predicting both swell direction and estimated wind waves as well.
Hope this helps and look forward to hearing about your arrival in Mexico!
CB
Thanks Chris. I'm familiar with a couple of those apps but not all. I'll be sure to load them up before we leave Ensenada. I now have a TELCEL data plan so hopefully I'll be able to use them on the way down the Baja.
Speaking of Ensenada, we successfully arrived on our second attempt (Saturday). It was still a little bumpy when we left San Diego but nothing near what we experienced the day before. By 10am it had flattened out nicely and the remaining miles to Ensenada were very pleasant.
We have now been at Baja Naval Marina for four days. The staff here are amazingly professional and helped us with every step of the customs / import process. We had done absolutely none of the paperwork online before we left, and were completely cleared in after one morning, including fishing licenses. My only complaint about the marina is the surge as we're bouncing around like crazy. We actually got a hotel room last night to get off the boat for a bit and sleep somewhere without the sound of noisy lines and fenders. Granted, we don't have fender covers or any other gadgets for reducing dock noise...
It's amazing how far $120 will go at a hotel. We got the junior suite with jacuzzi tub, free champagne and two free breakfasts at the restaurant across the street (great food)! The hotel was Posada El Rey Sol if anyone's interested...
For those of you following the Facebook page (
https://www.facebook.com/mvhalcyoni/) you would have seen that we were hauled out yesterday. This was the first haul out since we had the boat surveyed prior to purchase in March. The paint was in okay shape but will definitely need to be re-done next year. I had the boat power-washed and zincs replaced. They had 3 of the 5 zincs on hand and the other two were left - they were only about 30-40% wasted. Considering I hadn't had those two zincs replaced in February, they are holding up very well.
There was also a considerable amount of kelp and fishing line wrapped around the shaft so it was nice to get that cut off (see photo). Once we're in the nice clear water of the Sea of Cortez I'll be sure to check the shaft/prop with a snorkel on occasion. The prop was free to turn even with the fishing line, so I don't think it will make a big difference as far as propulsion goes...
Tomorrow we're making the 10nm trip over to Isla Todos Santos. The main goal of the trip is to finally run the watermaker for the first time and make sure everything is operating correctly, then we'll dinghy ashore and do some hiking. We'll return to Ensenada by the end of the day and we're planning on staying here until the middle of next week. There's some significant swell coming down the coast so we're going to wait for it to roll through before we begin the trip down Baja in earnest. Also I think I've finally made the mental switch to cruising mode... I wanted to make La Paz by Christmas but we may or may not. Regardless, we'll be in Mexico and having a blast. We actually can't wait to be anchored in the middle of nowhere again!
For those of you looking to learn Spanish quickly, I highly recommend the "Duo Lingo" app (Android, and I'm assuming iPhone as well). It's incredible. I feel like I've gone from "no clue" to being able to read 80% of every sign in only 48 hours. It helps that I speak French but the app is very, very effective.