Malo, A Boat Named Bad: May 2018

Final thoughts on The Voyage of Malo

What are my latest thoughts on this once in a life time trip that Daniel and I are starting to wrap up? It has certainly been an incredible journey and a life time goal of mine. Daniel was certainly the Captain and he took his job seriously. I was first mate and tried as hard as possible to be a good crew. This I believe I did well and I am pleased with my performance, attitude and perseverance. Yes, this 8 month trip took some perseverance. We traveled and lived on Malo, our 40ft C&C sailboat for 8 months. We left Newport, Oregon on Sept 2, 2017 and sailed to Mexico, Baja and left Malo in Guaymas, Mexico on April 17th, 2018. We sailed a total of 3,200 nm.

We broke down many times on the way down the coast to Baja and this took some patience. Apparently in the boating world, this is pretty normal. These unfortunate breakdowns did offer us some remarkable explorations in some very cool places in California - like Eureka, Monterey Bay, Crescent City, and Half Moon Bay. A last minute decision was to bring our folding Montegue Bikes. At first, I was resistant, but in the end they were most helpful while we were still in the United States. It allowed me to get some much needed exercise, attend to shopping needs as our stay at all of these places turned out to be longer than expected, run a lot of assorted boat needs and explore the local areas. In hind site, it was actually fun and it is where and when we met some other cruisers with whom we became most friendly with, like Lynn and Curt on Slow Motion and Pajo and Ava on Cinderella, to name a few. Over time these breakdowns where resolved and Malo worked fabulously.

It was cold coming down the Pacific Coast. Foul weather gear was often required as well as lifejackets with safety harnesses so we could strap ourselves in. We had following seas and Malo surfed down the waves making for a rather fast trip at times. Often, all we had up for a sail was our jib as we were heading pretty much down wind. This action did not sit well with me and immediately I found the motion of down wind sailing very upsetting and sea sick I got. It was not until we got to Crescent City that I was able to bike to a medical clinic to get Scopolamine Patches for this ailment. They helped me greatly and I could then be a functioning crew member. This was not without side effects however; an awful tasting and dry mouth. To me, the sea sickness was worse, so I continued with the medication.

I had a lot to learn about sailing and how to work with Dan the captain. He wanted us to repeat each others communications, so that we would know we had been heard and understood. This took some adjustment for me and although I understood why, it felt unnatural and rather militaristic. I had a lot of nautical terms and language to learn and as time went on I did get better with the terminology. I had to learn how to properly coil the lines, handle the winches, pull on the halyards, and trim the sails. As time went on I was able to anticipate what needed to be done and when, thus our ability to work as a team improved. My shoulder was not 100% so Dan did take on more of the rolls that required greater strength and definitely anything that was overhead.

Night sailing for me was the most challenging. We have a great Ray Marine chart plotter which showed me wind speed and direction, boat speed and our course, and the AIS would indicate how far away the other boats were (if they had AIS). Coming down the US coast, this was really helpful but less so once we got to Mexico as fewer boats had it. Eventually as my sailing experience grew I was better able to handle night sails. I enjoyed the magnificent star filled skies and moon light on the water as well as the dolphins who even joined us at night. I would listen to music in one earbud in order to keep one ear open for boat noises. This would help keep me awake during the 3-4 hour shifts. It was always a relief and delight to view the pre-dawn and dawn skies.

We have been blessed with amazing blue skies, sunny days, clear star-filled nights, full moon shine on the waters, and at times wispy clouds. I think the only cloudy days I experienced or remembered was when my sister Carolyn and daughter Kara came to visit me in Puerto Vallarta. , I do not remember having rain for 8 months. That is one reason we left Oregon to escape the rainy season.

Sailing to Puerto Escondido

Dan SUP's through a cave

Clear water and colorful fish

The shear magnitude of nature we’ve experienced has been remarkable - whales, dolphins, seals, sea lions, pelicans, sea birds of many types, sea turtles, flying fish, schools of fish, a manta-ray, sting-rays and iguanas.

We saw sunsets and sunrises like none I’ve ever seen and so many of them. The stars were usually bright, clear and filled the sky. We even saw the southern cross one night while it was in a rare viewing for us, as we are still above the equator. We heard whales sing in the water. We snorkeled with colorful angle fish and clear needle fish. We experienced the thrill of bioluminescence in the water and especially when the dolphins were riding our bow wave as they glowed in the water and a trail of glow followed them. It was magical. We experienced desert hikes and beach hikes.

Another incredible sunset!

Desert exploration!

he Mexican people are incredibly nice and welcoming to us “Gringo’s”. I never felt hostility or resentment towards us, even though I wondered with Donald Trump as our current President how they would put up with us. The Mexicans we saw and met were nothing but pleasant, respectful, hardworking and helpful people. They have strong family values and an ability to work together to help one another out. I saw that in businesses and with the fisherman. It is such a wonderful quality and I’m afraid it is happening less in our country. I tried hard to speak Spanish and they were very helpful and understanding of my mispronunciation. What I have discovered as being my biggest challenge is “hearing the sounds” of the words and because my memory is diminishing, I have trouble remembering the words I learn. Practice, practice.

Amigo's

We met many wonderful cruisers along the way and at times ran into them again. It was always a joy to me, as I craved more social interaction. Most cruisers were from Canada, Washington State or California, or so it seemed. Being a fellow cruiser had an almost instant connection with the other boaters. We talked about boats, where you came from, where you were going, interesting experiences or just where the best restaurants are. Most people I found were also eager for some other human contact. It was most helpful to have a boating card and I was glad we also had one. (to share boat name & contact info). I found the SUP board to be very conducive for paddling to a boat in order to greet and meet them. At times, we would get together for dinners, drinks and especially over the holidays. This was a very important aspect of the cruising life for me

Mike from Sunshine Lady

Pajo and Ava from Cinderella

Lynn and Curt from Slow-motion

There is a lot more to cruising than just the sailing. There is cooking on a boat that is rocking, moving, and rolling. The galley is small with limited counter space. While we had everything we needed, it took some planning to be able to work efficiently in the tight space. Dishes were usually washed in the cockpit with sea water so we would save the precious fresh water for drinking and cooking. I cooked almost all of the meals and towards the end, it was getting tiresome. Dish detail was usually up to me, with a few occasions that Dan helped out. Life’s daily chores seemed to take a bit longer on a boat, however if outside, the scenery was incredible.

Bev washing dishes on deck

There is a lot of “down” time while on a boat; time to read, blog, to edit pictures, nap and play cribbage. This presented the most challenge to me as it is not normally a practice for me. My personality is to be more social and/or physical in nature. I read a number of books and when I found the right book, it did feel enjoyable to be able to escape into one. The boat is small and living 24/7 together with little ability to get off makes for a “pressure cooker” environment. At the end of this journey, we are both tired and tired of each other. Patience and understanding was needed.

Dan reading on deck. (I must've had things under control.)

Dan on his computer in aft cabin.

I took pictures with my I Phone 7 along the way and for the most part, I edited many of them. This was because of the blog I kept called Voyage of Malo https://voyageofmalo.blogspot.com. I found blogging to be helpful for me. It required me to stop and reflect as I wrote about our adventure on a daily basis. So much has happened on this journey, we’ve stopped at so many places, met many wonderful people and had so many incredible sails it started to turn into a blur. At least now, we can look back on our blogs and our memories will be refreshed. It was all such a new experience for me, that I wanted to share it with my family and friends. At the end, I started to get burnt out with blogging and would do more pictures and less writing. I also became frustrated with inconsistent WIFI and cellular connection in Mexico. Dan was most diligent with keeping his blog and he actually wrote in a much more deep and philosophical way than I did. There is a link to his web site from my home page, but the direct link is: https://onemoretimetosail.blogspot.com

Malo sits in a beautiful anchorage.

We have accomplished a lot in a little over two years. We bought Malo, fixed her up for cruising and had a terrific 8 month cruise. This took a lot of work , planning and perseverance. The cruising was incredible and yes parts of the trip were difficult, long and tiring and I am ready for land life again. Yet, I also have a fear inside me regarding this longing to be off the water and that is, I suspect that as soon as I get back on land for any amount of time, I will find myself wanting to be on the water again. Malo is on the hard and is taking a rest now at Guaymas Marina. She has been a remarkable boat, a responsive, capable and true sailing boat. Captain Dan and I were a good team. Malo loved and loves to sail.