Tuesday, June 23, 2009

CANADA!

we made it. an awesome sail lasting 28 days. great weather. great sailing. no major problems, just some wear and tear on sails and ropes. one broken shackle. we had great meals and our fresh food lasted until the last day.

thanks all for your prayers and blessings.
i will post more later about this passage and our whole voyage.

best wishes

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

good bye hawaii...


heading on our last leg of this voyage back to canada tomorrow.
we will probably be sailing for about a month. maybe our most challenging sail yet.

leaf bought himself a ukulele as you can see in photo.

thanks everyone for your best wishes and prayers for fair winds.

wishing star crew

Monday, May 25, 2009

hanelei bay






we are anchored in beautiful bay. voted number one beach in u.s.a.
it is also the bay in which peter paul and mary wrote about in the song puff the magic dragon, hanali. because it is beautiful and the mountains are the image of a recumbent dragon.

a wonderful place surrounded by dramatic emerald green volcanic mountains with waterfalls cascading down cliffs almost starting almost impossibly high from the tops.

the beach is long and and the sand is soft and the colour of light brown sugar.
the water is warm (27 degree)and the surf is large enough for serious surfing out by the reef, but inside the reef along the beach has a gentle swell making it lots of fun to play in. a real paradise. there is little development and the beach is so long that hundreds of people can enjoy it without seeming crowded. the surroundings are jungle like with banana plants and coconut palms and many other lush green plants and flowers.

this may be our last stop before heading back to canada. it is a real great finale to this voyage.

we have been spending our days exploring in the small character town and swimming.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

birthday cookie recipe and radio link





yvonnes birthday cookies

1/3 cup oil
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup ground almonds
1 egg
2t grated orange rind
2 cups flour
1/8t salt
2T orange juice
2t baking powder

mix sugar, juice, eggs and oil
stir in sifted dry ingredients
adjust flour or juice to make nice firm dough
divide into about 30-40 balls rolled in hands
balls should be about walnut size
squish lightly with fork in two directions
bake on lightly greased tray or parchment paper
bake @ 375 until light brown about 15 minutes

--------------------------------------------------

we found we could get internet in the bay and guess what? cortes radio is now online, it is so fun to hear it so far away. here is the link so you can listen too...

http://www.cortesisland.com/tideline/show21s/Cortes_Radio

we made it part 2






we have been in hawaii for one day now and we are really enjoying ourselves.

we met another sailor who has a car here and showed us around the island we are on (kauai). the highlight was the farmers market and we got some nice fruit and veggies.

leaf got a new boogie board and spent an enjoyable afternoon playing with it in the surf on a brown sugar beach on the bay we are anchored. he loved it.

our passage from mexico was what one sailor told us it would be, a little of everything, storms, doldrums and perfect sailing weather. fortunately the weather was mostly very kind and it was a classic downwind run with warm steady tradewinds on our back. we got lots of rolling swells and we got seasick a bit. however, once we got our sea legs we were cooking great meals and making the most of the challenge.

we caught at least five dorado (mahi mahi) these are delicious white fleshed fish and we made great meals out of them, two i soaked in soy sauce and dried on the hand lines, they turned out great, sort of like fish jerky. we caught some barracudas but we didn’t know if they would taste good so we threw them back. we also threw back many tuna as they are not our favourite and we can only eat so much seafood.

we all read lots of books, leaf read over thirty all by himself, yvonne and i probably read a couple of dozen between us. many of the books were sailing stories so we got to share the lives and stories of other sailors who went before us like robin lee graham on the dove, bernard moitessier, triston jones, tania aebi, magellan, herman melville, joshua slocum and others. with these sailors on board, we were we in very good company.

we also played lots of board games and cards.

in one big storm, our largest headsail ripped in two along a seam. it will be repairable. we have a large inventory of other headsails so it did not slow us down too much and that was about our only problem equipment wise. not bad for 33 days of non-stop sailing.

our wind vane autopilot (lucky the monkey) worked perfectly. all the upgrades in the last while all worked out well too. the electronic addition (her boyfriend, rob the robot) on our autopilot made her steer perfectly in even the gentles of breezes or when we motored.

we had very few squalls and in the whole time out, we only changed our sails four times. we never reefed our sails. the time our big head sail ripped, i should have dropped it earlier. we sailed for weeks sometimes with no need to adjust our sails.

cooking was big highlight on board and once we got our sea legs, we ate very well. best meals included fresh hummus with homemade pita bread, mahi mahi coconut curry on rice, curried fish soup with fresh limes, mahi mahi in camelized onions, salad rolls with peanut sauce, fresh tortias with chilli and rice. we often had california wine with our meals that we had bought in san fran. every day we had at least one big glass of fresh orange juice (we brought 100 kgs of oranges with us). our fresh food lasted until the end. we brought 8 dozen eggs with us and they lasted all the way. for breakfast, we often had pancakes or apple oat porridge with soya milk. yvonne made lots of bread along the way too. someday cooking was not too easy but those days we often did not want to eat too much anyway. leaf made yvonne orange almond cookies for her birthday, they were great!

our biggest challenge over all was probably boredom but mostly we handled that well. we missed radio a lot. we had a ssb for listening for weather but it offered but little in entertainment or news.

we had lots of dreams of family and friends, they seemed very real. we really felt the prayers and blessings from them.

we are going to rest awhile here and figure out what comes next.

blessings to all.
wishingstar crew

Sunday, May 17, 2009

HAWAII!


WE MADE IT!!!!! 33 days at sea from mexico to hawaii.

we had a great voyage. no real problems, one ripped head sail on seam, no big deal.

lots of reading and fishing.

the people here are friendly and we are so happy to be at a safe anchorage.
thanks friends and family for all the blessings, we had so many dreams and good feelings of many of you and on this voyage, you were really with us!

blessings to all!
i will post more later,

Friday, April 3, 2009

a few more pictures...





boat yard blues...






we have been having lots of adventures. we started back south along the baja coast and stopped at a few fishing villages. we explored old drying beds for making seasalt. we did some repairs on the playground equipment in agua verde (green water), a favorite place of ours and many others.

north of aqua verde we hit a rock! it was scarey but everything is alright. we developed a small leak and had a diver check it out. we decided we had better haul out and that we did in la paz (the peace). a nice city with a big protected harbour.

the damage was minimal but it was a bit difficult to repair. we needed new bottom paint and zincs anyway so we made the best of it. we were in the boat yard for a week and had good service from the yard.

the cruising club here in la paz is great and we met lots of cruisers and used thier book exchange and video library.

we are floating again and almost ready for our pacific crossing.

best wishes everyone
wishing star crew

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

hidden ports






one of the stops along the way was poerto escondido {hidden port}, it is a beautiful hurrican hole with many boats moored. some are sailors but many are just floating condos for americans and canadians so they have a cheap place to spend the winter. almost everyone here is retired and few are sailing anymore. some like us just pass through and stop to get food and supplies at the nearby city of loreto, the oldest mission in the baja.
we met many nice people here and we went for a sunday brunch at the local saiors club. one nice guy gave us a couple of rides to loreto and helped us in other ways too.
we went on an awesome hike up a canyon near here with caves, palm trees, waterfalls and pools for swimming.
we are continuing on our way to other hidden bays and valleys along the way.
i left a piece of my art here as you will see in the photos.

keeping our hooks sharp, sails trim and dingy inflated.
fair winds and flat seas my family and friends...

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

sailing around mexico








well we are sill having a great time in the sea of cortez. lately we have been visiting small fishing villages. leaf has been playing sports with the children. we have been making and giving beaded gifts to the people of the village. the kids are so fun and really seem to enjoy leaf. he shows them new ways to play old games and they all laugh alot, they call him by name and invite him to play when we come to visit.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

salmon burgers

we are presently sailing around the sea of cortes.

it has been windy and the sea can be like the georgia straight in canada sometimes, with big steep waves. not fun if they are against you.

we have been hanging out in small bays and meeting campers and spent a few weeks in la paz. a beautiful city founded by cortez.

we are planning on an offshore voyage to south pacific in the next couple of months. this will be our longest passage yet and we are both scared and looking forward to it. we are working on repairs and some upgrades to make this passage safer and more enjoyable.

leaf has met some other boat kids and is having lots of fun making crafts and reading.

we are planning to be exploring more around the sea of cortes for the next few months, we may even go over to mainland mexico.

here is a recipie we enjoy onboard often.

salmon burgers

one can of salmon including liquid
two eggs
chopped onions
one half cup of flour
one half cup of rolled oats
one teaspoon of salt

mix all well.

tablespoon into hot oiled frypan and flatten burgers to thin round shape with flipper.

flip as it is browning a couple of times till firm and cooked.
served on a bun or with pasta is our favorite way to eat them.

we sometimes use cooked fresh fish or canned tuna or even leftover chili instead of canned salmon.

best wishes

Saturday, January 17, 2009

cape condo

John Steinbeck famously wrote in his book "sea of cortes" about his privately chartered science expedition from California around cabo san lucas and north along the baja peninsula that the little place called “cabo san lucas” was little more than a bar with locals hanging around hoping someone would buy them a beer.
In less than a hundred years “cabo” as they call the whole cape section and all its golf courses, hotels and condos has grown, one could almost call it “cape condo“.

But the beauty of the land and kindness of the local people cannot be tarnished by this crass condo crisis. Many condos look like palaces and small utopias designed for tourists to get a few weeks of relaxation from the endless grind. Some of the architecture here is in a style and quality that is amazing. We have seen condos covered in sheets of onxy, crystalline and castlelike is the over all effect. grand pools and golf courses in a dessert where in the past locals could not afford a beer, now they drive sport utility trucks and shop at walmart and cosco just like americans in the north. The conundrum of growth in mexico reaches paradoxical extremes. Locals seem to agree, growth is good and bad.

chiclet gum selling momas begging outside of the high end malls where you can buy a harley motor bike or a rolex gold watch is an example of these extreems.

The cape if famously expensive and very limited for selection of fresh food, but we find endless ways to use, peppers, onions, cabbage, tomatoes, avocados, bananas, and limes. together with our dry stores, fresh tortillas and all the fish i can catch we are enjoying many fine meals.

Sailing has been good and bad too, everything. Sometimes motoring all day, sometimes sailing in warm winds that make it all worth while.

Family time has become our entertainment. Daily we make our meals, stories, games and songs.

on a bay called Los Frailes we met a nice fishing guide who was camping with his family. He and one of his sons could speak good English and we spent an evening by the campfire with them. the kids played games, flew kites and went swimming for most the next day. They gave us lots of fresh seafood including a huge piece of marlin. They were very kind and shared their views on progress in mexico.

We have met other sailors on our travels and friendships are quick and everyone gives advise and directions to favorite places and services.

One sailing family we met today had a little boy, he was only one and a half but leaf and him became friends. after we said goodbye he ran down the beach crying after us to say goodbye one last time and gave us a huge smile as we all waved back to him.

Fair winds and flat seas to all our family and friends.

Monday, January 5, 2009

yahoo! i caught a wahoo!




we made it to cabo san lucas!
the sail from bahia santa maria to cabo was a little of everything, storms, calm, and lots of good stiff breezes with perfect sailing most of the time.

cabo is amazing, horrible and great.
the marinas cost $185 dollars a night but anchoring out is free so that is our choice.
dingy dock is only $3 dollars a day and it has security so that is great.
the town has grown so much that you really can hardly know the place from even ten years ago, really it is ten times as big at least.
it is like a new acapulco or something.
with big malls that sell everything from harley davisons to fancy clothes etc.

we will stock up on food and stuff for our further adventures.

on the way down i caught lots of tuna which we all threw back since we are tired of eatting them.
but a big wahoo has made some fine meals.

we didnt get seasick on this last two day sailing trip and that is the first time on any leg so far.
the water is warm and leaf and i went for a late night swim off the boat last night.
i will post more stories later.

keeping our sails trim and our hooks sharp.
best wishes