This was the view from our office in Paradise Village, Puerto Vallarta this morning. Not too shabby. Shorts and T-Shirt sailing all winter long.
One of the most gratifying things about doing what we do here at J World is catching up with our alumni, sometimes years down the road, and hearing about all the great sailing adventures they have gone on to experience.
Just recently we got a quick note from a couple of just such sailors… Mark and Emily Fagan graduated from J World and went on to pursue great adventures. Emily wrote, “Our experience with J-World was exactly what we both needed to get the confidence to go cruising.” And boy did they do it in style. They have published articles on their adventures, wrote a large portion of the “First Timer’s Guide to Mexico,” released a series of DVD’s on cruising… and more!
Read their story below, then visit their website and kick back for a while… there is a TON of great stuff there (all the pictures are from them too), and if that doesn’t make you want to cast off for the tropics (or come visit J World in Puerto Vallarta) I don’t know what will!
Thanks for the update, Emily and Mark, and thanks for the kind words. We are thrilled to hear how much you enjoyed your adventures aquatic and thanks for sharing!
I was an experienced sailor from my former life when Mark and I got together. I learned to sail on the Charles River in Boston at Community Boating as a kid in the 1970’s. This is a very cool city-sponsored program for residents of the area. I then lived aboard a Nonsuch 36 in Boston Harbor for 4 years in the mid-1990s (my mid-30’s). Brrr. Those winters are really cold. You have to build a shrink-wrapped enclosure with 2×4’s and mylar over the deck of your boat to keep the snow off, a tradition for year-round liveaboards every October… In mid-winter you walk straight off your boat onto the snow on the finger pier — no need for stairs!
Mark had sailed Hobie Cats on the lakes in Michigan as a kid, but had no experience on larger boats. I had lusted after the J-40 when I lived on the Nonsuch and then the J-120 too, so when I saw that the Liveaboard sailing lessons at J-World in San Diego took place on a J-120, I was hooked. We did the Basic Sailing class together on the J-24’s, and while Mark got the hang of tacking and jibing properly, I picked our instructor’s brain about how travelers and spinnakers worked, two areas I was very fuzzy on.
After four days on the J-24, we moved onto the J-120 for three days and two nights, staying at the J-World dock one night (the policies at our planned anchorage in Glorietta Bay had just changed, requiring advanced reservations, and our instructor didn’t know that til we got there), and the other night in Mission Bay. This was Mark’s first time anchoring out and staying overnight on a big sailboat, and even though we had no wind the whole time and lots of fog (it was May — I didn’t know about “Gray May” and “June Gloom” back then when I planned this excursion for us — he said to me at the end of the class, “That was the best vacation I ever had!”
Wow!! My sweet hubby was a sailor!!
We then did a 3.5 week charter in the BVI on a Sunsail 37. We anchored out every night — no moorings or marina stays — and we had a ball.
We really wanted to go cruising, but we lived in Arizona, and getting from the desert to the deep blue sea was a big step. Instead, we took off in an RV for 2.5 years first, and learned how to live off the grid on solar power and how to live a traveling lifestyle. One winter we stayed in Jacksonville Florida while visiting our son who was stationed there, and as we watched the boats on the water, the urge to go cruising intensified. We began a serious search for a boat, decided the model we wanted was a Hunter 44DS, and subsequently put four offers on different ones in California. It was 2009 and the bottom was falling out of the economy. None of our offers resulted in a closed purchase, so we left our RV in storage and flew to the Grenadines to spend a few months in the Caribbean to decide whether we wanted to cruise there or in Mexico. The Caribbean is gorgeous but the people weren’t very friendly. We had our doubts about cruising there.
Then, in our third week in Grenada, Mark just happened to look at Yacht World (we had sworn off of it during our Caribbean soujourn), and he saw the ideal Hunter 44DS had just come on the market as a foreclosure. The bank had an online offer form, so Mark filled it out. Rather than click “send” right away, he showed it to me and went off to take a shower. I saw his number and laughed and took another $10k off and clicked “send.” Within 30 minutes the broker responded saying the bank had “respectfully countered” two thousand higher than our offer. Oh WOW and Oh NO!!
Taking just our word and our full-fare, fly-today plane tickets as enough to hold the boat for us, we flew straight to San Diego on New Years Eve 2010, and went right to the boat on New Years Day. It was perfect for us in every way and we were thrilled. We named it “Groovy.”
Within three weeks we had put our trailer in long term storage and sailed Groovy to Ensenada and begun a new life as cruisers. We stayed there for six months outfitting the boat. We added 555 watts of solar power on a beautiful custom-made arch and 300′ of chain and a 60 lb Ultra anchor. We spent the summer months anchoring out around San Diego (floating between the old A9 anchorage, Glorietta Bay, Playa Cove and the Police Dock), and during that time Mark installed a 60 gallon/hour watermaker.
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| Paradise Village… the J World Office is just off to the left…. |
In November we sailed to Cabo, leaving a week after the Baja Ha-Ha, and after our 17 day passage we promptly crossed the Sea of Cortez to Chamela Bay. This was a 330 mile passage that was downright terrifying, not because of high winds but because we were tossed all over the ocean in very choppy seas. Six hours into that passage we heard two sailors chatting on the VHF radio about the weather forecast they had heard on SSB. “This is no time to be crossing the Sea of Cortez,” one of them said. Yikes! But if we turned around, we’d be sailing back into Cabo in the dark. On we went.
We never had any passage as difficult as that one after that. In the next 3.5 years we sailed as far south as Chiapas, at the Guatemala border, and as far north as San Carlos in the Sea of Cortez. We left our boat for two hurricane seasons, once in San Carlos and once in Chiapas. Our favorite cruising grounds were from Zihuatanejo and south of there. The Bays of Huatulco were a sheer delight and we stayed there for four months, roaming from one anchorage to the next. The snorkeling was superb and the daysailing was terrific. We crossed the Gulf of Tehuantepec twice, encountering smooth conditions each time (although there were threats on the horizon on our return trip, but nothing that disturbed us other than putting a lump in our throats!). We spent 5 months in the Sea of Cortez and passed through the charming anchorages of the Costalegre several times on our way up and down the coast. We enjoyed both of those areas a lot, but our hearts were — and still are — in Huatulco.
We took advantage of being in Mexico to do some inland travel, and in many ways that was the highest highlight of our cruise. We went to Oaxaca, a vibrant and energetic colonial city that has some fabulous ancient Zapotec ruins nearby and a town center that comes alive at night. We also visited San Cristobal de las Casas in Chiapas, another colonial city that has an intriguing Mayan influence. We visited the ancient Mayan ruins at Palenque, Yaxchilan and Bonampak and were fascinated to find 1,000 year old ruins filled with painted frescos of Mayans that had a very Egyptian style and were brilliant enough to have been painted 100 years ago. We traveled into Guatemala and visited the colonial city of Antigua, but we found the area disturbing, as the poverty is extreme and the people did not seem happy in the way that the Mexicans are. We also visited San Miguel de Allende and lastly Guanajuato, a colorful and artsy hillside town with a history steeped in silver mining. Guanajuato was our favorite place in all of Mexico.
We returned to San Diego in July, 2013, doing the Baja Bash after the wild northers of the spring season had ended and before the hurricanes of the late summer got too dangerous. We managed to find ourselves in the sweet spot tucked between two hurricanes, and in just 8 days we went from Paradise Village Marina in Puerto Vallarta to Ensenada. It was a bumpy ride for about 24 hours and slowed to a crawl at once point when the oncoming waves got pretty intense, but other than being a white knuckle ride due to us worrying about what might go wrong, everything went like clockwork.
We ended the sailing phase of our lives with a wonderful six month stay at Kona Kai Marina in San Diego, taking full advantage of being San Diego “residents” in one of the most charming parts of the city for a while. We put our boat up for sale in September, 2013, moved back into our trailer in December 2013, and sold Groovy to a Canadian couple in June 2014.
We have been cruising around the western states in our fifth wheel trailer since last January and are now fully-fledged RV full-timers once again. However, our memories of our cruise are vivid and tangible and they are with us every day. It was an exhilarating ride, and we are so grateful we had an opportunity to fulfill our sailing dreams.
So, that’s it in a nutshell!
When we returned to San Diego we were really excited about our cruise. Talking to future cruisers, they reminded us of ourselves a few years earlier — excited and bewildered at the same time, with a very limited idea of what cruising Mexico will be like. We were invited to give a talk to the Catalina Owners Association, and as a result of that slideshow, we realized that creating a DVD might help future cruisers visualize what their cruise would be like and get an overall understanding of Mexico’s geography and anchorages from a cruiser’s standpoint. So we created a DVD series and sold them to cruisers at the various gatherings and on the docks. Since then we put them on Amazon (they can be seen at this link) and have them available for cruisers to buy there (or at Seabreeze Nautical Books).
Our website is: http://roadslesstraveled.us and all our cruising-related links are under the “Cruising Lifestyle” menu item. I have published feature stories about our cruise in Cruising World, Sailing Magazine, Sail Magazine and Blue Water Sailing, and I published a cover photo in Blue Water Sailing (from Zihuatanejo) as well. These can all be seen at our Press Room page on our website. I wrote the core of the current Baja Ha-Ha First-Timer’s Guide to Mexico and have two new feature magazine articles coming out in the next few months. One is in Sailing Magazine (the November issue which should be on newsstands soon) about the Costalegre and one in Cruising World (February 2015) about our 60 gallon/hour watermaker.
Our experience with J-World was exactly what we both needed to get the confidence to go cruising. Even though I was an experienced sailor, I had quite a few gaps in my knowledge to fill, and, for Mark, every hour of our instruction was new info that he gobbled up eagerly. Our instructor was Rob was absolutely fantastic. He was very clear in his instructions, very patient with our mess-ups, and incredibly motivating.
I hope our story inspires other J-World students and alums!
The 2014 Rolex Big Boat Series September 11-14 in San Francisco Bay was a fairly different experience for me this year. I’ve done more BBS’s than I can can count now, but none like this.
First off, we didn’t sail a big boat. BBS has, over the years, grown more inclusive to the point where this year they included the not-quite-23 foot J/70s. Thirteen teams plied the waters of San Francisco Bay, a pretty good turnout considering it was mostly local boats and the event was concurrent with the massively attended J70 Worlds.
Secondly, I sailed with a nascent team. It flies against my instincts to compete in a high level event without significant practice and preparation. I like to be competitive, and a lack of preparation is a recipe for frustration. As I said, however, this was a different Big Boat Series.
You see, we had a J/Would alumni who just a month ago bought a J70. It’s his first boat. He’s been a great client and his enthusiasm for all things sailing is a real pleasure to be around, so when he expressed interest in jumping right into the ‘deep end of the pool’ and taking a shot at BBS, I couldn’t say no. If I had really thought about it and considered the fact that he had never driven a boat in a real race (outside of J/World Racing Clinics), or if I had thought about the fact that we had precisely one, and only one, weekend regatta to prepare, maybe I would have passed on the opportunity. But then I would have missed out on a remarkable experience.
What the fleet lacked in LOA was more than made up for in sheer talent. Paul Cayard was trimming main and calling tactics for Andy Costello (also owner of the J/125 Double Trouble). There were at least three sail-makers racing on different boats, and a huge host of talented skippers and crews. The regatta was seven races over four days. Each morning, our initial daily race was on a windward/leeward course up the SF city front. Morning breezes were light (10-12 knots generally) and building, and a good flood tide kept the boats tight up against the shoreline for current relief. For the afternoon race each day, the fleet over to the Alcatraz course. Breezes each day had built to 20-26 knots and the current had only built. The afternoon races were marathons, some 16 miles long, including legs from the Golden Gate all the way down to the Berkeley Circle…. and back!
So all of that is pretty standard BBS. So what was different about this one? We showed up at a the premier sailing event on the West Coast with a new boat, a new skipper, and a new team, and we felt like we were racing sailboats. We didn’t break anything, didn’t crash-and-burn (well, ok, there were maybe two good solid broaches!), and didn’t get flushed out the back. And we had an absolute hoot. Our skipper, so new to the sport, was out there with some of the top sailors in the country… and in the world!… and we could taste the competition, sailing many of the courses and races right in the thick of the pack. In what other sport could you possibly do that? And in what other boat?
The J/70 is easy to setup, straightforward to dial in, and fun to sail. In the big breeze, they get pretty physical, and while my muscles are still aching after five long days of sailing, it all made sense when we would turn the boat downwind and take off on a screaming plane the full length of SF Bay! Seriously, we were outrunning the Farr 40 World’s fleet and other boats with twice the length and four times the crew! Now if the Race Committee can just comply with our request to have shorter beats and longer runs…
Anyhow, congratulations to Andy Costello for the overall win, and thanks to Dan for a great effort, and a great event. It really is a ton of fun sailing with him, and he puts up with our antics pretty well. His progress has been remarkable (a testament to J/World training programs and coaching, if I do say so myself), and we expect great things from him!
Wayne Zittel
J/World Performance Sailing
www.sailing-jworld.com
Come join J World aboard a turboed 50 footer for the West Coast classic Newport to Cabo Race. In March of 2015, six clients and three J World coaches will crew the legendary Hula Girl down the coast from California to sunny, happy Cabo San Lucas.
If you want to gain valuable offshore experience, or just have a great time racing aboard a grand-prix ULDB sled, this is a rare opportunity. Everyone aboard gets to take turns at doing everything, including driving. The environment will be fun, positive, and conducive to learning… and we’ll of course work hard to achieve a great finish!
Limited berths available. Visit here for more info, or call/email us for a copy of the Team Brief.
The reports from Hula Girl in her offshore cruise from Hawaii to California continue to roll in. They are well into the Pacific High, looking for the eastern side of it and the fresh breezes there to take them home.
Friday August 8
It seems with all of the hurricanes, tropical depressions and typhoons stirring to the south of us there is just no wind left for us folks sailing up north! We have lost count as to how many hours we have been motoring – the log knows but I can’t stand to look. Right now we are humming along at 8.5 KT and the sea is glassy. When I say no wind I really mean no wind. Let’s hope something changes soon. Jasper assures us that there will be wind in our future. So far he has not let us too far astray so we continue to trust his prediction, but we are formulating a back-up plan… If we can make it to the 400 mile mark off-shore we are hoping the coast guard can do a Gordo’s burrito air drop to us.
The fishing gods are taunting us daily. Today we had what looked like two medium sized tuna jumping out of the water right by our lures chasing each other but not the wonderful faux food we had to offer. Tonight looks like another pasta night.
But with all of that said spirits are high and we are happy to report that we only had one more small prop tangle, which given the early hour of the morning and the water temp, Jasper get’s extra credit for volunteering to be dunked. Brrrrrrr. He had us up and running again in five minutes. We have passed a colossal amount of trash and tangles of nets/ropes and other hazards…
If you need to find us try 35 23.627 by 135 11.651 and please bring some fresh vegetables….
Sparky signing off…
Wednesday August 6
Well, we had an eventful day today. It started with calm seas and the need to motor then we hit a pile of submerged fishing nets/ropes – it wrapped our prop and then the fun began. We spent the next hour cutting and clearing the prop. Three of us went in to take turns being effectively keel hauled. I went out to haul in our sea anchor (a ton of fishing nets/roped stuck to our fishing line – felt like I was hauling in a 100 pound fish) but it did stop the boat from drifting. Ultimately Jasper needed to be kicked out of the water since he stabbed himself (minor injury but we preferred no blood in the water – nice traveling with a nurse and MD). And Chris methodically continued to saw away at the mess below the waterline. After an hour we were free again and more importantly the motor still worked – good as ever. Now we are making about 8.5 KT on the rhumb line for home! Seas are glassy, the moon just set and there is no wind. Let’s hope for no more trash encounters this evening.
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| Mid-Pacific: out here, you are farther from dry land than you can get anywhere else on the planet. |
The fish we hooked today got away, which was a mighty disappointment, but we try again in the morning. The menu has taken a hit as the fishing has slowed and the rations have dwindled…hope for better culinary news tomorrow.
Hope all is well on the mainland!
Sparky reporting from somewhere in the vicinity of 33 51.187 by 140 20.862
Link to current location: www.tinyurl.com/hulagirl
The crew aboard Hula Girl en route from Hawaii to San Francisco on our annual cruise, seem to be having a merry time. Despite the large high pressure system keeping the breezes down, they are still getting a good amount of sailing in…
Sunday August 3
We did not fish today since the ice box is full of the last fish family we wiped out. And to make fishing matters worse we have other foods that need to be consumed so this evening’s menu was beef and rice stuffed cabbage rolls with carrots and sour cream. It is a Bosnian dish and if you have any reservations talk to Jasper who is now a believer in all things cabbage.
Well now as for wind – today was a pleasant surprise. While the wind stayed below 10KT we were able to average 6.5KT sailing throughout most of the day following the rhumb line (49 degrees). And we calculated our fuel usage and remaining fuel – we are golden. Definitely not planning on going too far south. Even as we make eastward progress we are planning on motoring north when we hit the high then dropping down to SF when we leave the high. We downloaded our weather and wind this morning so we are good to go.
As for today’s happenings – we had to clear ropes off the keel, which was quite an impressive feat by Jasper sailing us in reverse. We thought we did not need him any more until that trick. He has bought himself at least a few more days… We checked the engine oil, we practiced some navigation, we are now tying knots of unbelievable proportions and we can get weather and updates without waking the chief. Not bad for this motley crew. There seems to be an air of happy content on board Hula Girl…
FYI 30 34.606 by 148 05.474.
This is Sparky signing off.
Monday August 4
We started the day with a whale cruising around us for about 10 minutes. What an awesome thing to see! Then we had distant breach off our bow. What a winner for us marine biologists! Can’t figure out who our visitor was – I know who he was not (not a blue, grey or humpback). Then the water got glassy and well it was time to swim! Fantastic! Then we had to tump the captain back in to clear our rudder from some fishing nets. Today we motor, tonight we motor, tomorrow we motor, Tuesday we motor, then Wed we sail!!! Or at least that is the plan and we will of course try to sail here and there when possible but who knows how the winds will really blow…
Other than that we again visited a lovely fish and vegetable curry over rice – tomorrow we will have morally recovered enough to fish again! I shall do the tuna dance before casting our lines and hope the tuna gods are listening.
Other than that Jasper would like to report that the floggings continue…now let’s see if you can figure out who is flogging whom….
True wind is less than a KT as we find ourselves at 31 52.915 by 145 26.111
Sparky is signing off to go learn something about the stars.
The reports from Hula Girl in the midst of our annual cruise from Hawaii to California. Sounds like they are getting close to the high…
Saturday August 2
Hi Wayne,
The wind has been holding between 80-120 degrees but usually not making it past 8 KT (and the 8 only last about 15-20 minutes at best) – with that we have been motoring a lot today but getting our exercise putting the jib up, then down, then up, then down, and on and on.
We are on the rhumb line home (48 degrees) and holding steady. If these wind forecasts are worth their salt we make be able to hold steady all the way – there is one pocket in about 500 miles that may be bad but if we hit it just right we might be golden…
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| Full Double Rainbow, Mid Pacific on a previous HA-CA Cruise |
Now on to the most important parts of our day: FOOD
Sparky is back in the saddle. After letting a HUGE one slip away on the sugar scoop (almost dove in after it – the crew is all on high alert for Sparky overboard if there is a blue fin in question) this morning we were able to hook two magnificent Mahi Mahi at the same time and land both! We had Chris on one hand line and me on the other – it was beautiful! The fish are getting bigger to boot – one was about 20lbs the other just under 15lbs. We have fish for days!!! We started lunch with a lovely tartar with capers and red onion etc… followed by crispy fried fish tacos with Bosnian style slaw. Heaven! Then we went for a fish and fresh vegetable coconut curry over rice for dinner – thank goodness we are a spicy boat. Soon we will start experimenting with the dessert menu.
[note from Wayne: I am worried about the crew. I suspect they have been in the sun too long.. If theyare seriously thinking about incorporating fish into the deserts, I am worried. Fish Brulee? Tiramahu? (Or would is be Tiramahi?) Pescado Pudding? Mousse d’ Mahi-Mahi? Argh, I don’t feel so good… ]
We just hit 8 KT sailing – HOT DAMN – San Francisco here we come!!!
This is the fat and happy crew of the Hula Girl reminding you that butter and flour should be a standard provision on all sailing boats – the possibilities become endless…
May the force be with you!
Sparky
We are getting regular updates from the crew Hula Girl on our annual Hawaii to California offshore cruise.
Tuesday, July 29
Hula Girl is humming along today. Averaging 10 KT of wind and about 6 KT boat speed throughout the day. Mellow seas and a happy crew. We played with reefing today and did a few man over boards just to make sure we don’t lose Jasper along the way. We also took a brief detour to chase a flock of birds that were fishing – we have two most excellent hand lines in the water – one squid and one minnow and we are hoping for a tuna sooner rather than later. Just after dropping our lines we were checked out by a shark cruising by – pretty cool! Also lot’s of algal blooms that are accumulating and drifting with the current. We used a make-shift plankton net to collect some and check it out. Waters are pretty much teaming with life around here!
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| Hula Girl, Mid Pacific (photos from previous HI-CA trips) |
Chris wins best dinner (as of yet) award – North African couscous! I win an award for not puking today and finally having my sea legs. Jasper wins sleeping on the job award. And well Anne is keeping us all in line and that deserves an award!
Other than that we are at 24 50.186 by 156 05.543 and we are in touch with the rest of the group. We will figure out why the autopilot hates us….
Signing off for now…
Emina
p.s., Where the *&^%^ is the peanut butter!?!?
Wednesday, July 30
Sparky here again. Today was a good day at sea. Again we had mellow seas, 8-10 KT winds and averaged about 6 KT boat speed. My sea legs left me again but they are on their way back… The peanut butter saved us all – thanks for that!
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| Good Food = Happy Crew (photos from previous HI-CA trips) |
The big news of the day was the lovely 10 lbs Mahi Mahi that we caught. The menu included a tuna tartar (with red onions, soy sauce, chili flakes and capers) followed by tuna fillets fried with garlic and olive oil accompanied by a Greek slaw with feta cheese, black olives, and fresh tomatoes. Today was a great food day! We will dump the minnow lure and do all squid. We are aiming for a blue fin.
Boat wise Hula Girl is doing well and the autopilot likes us again. It seems we will be trying to tuck under the Pacific High – so far the plan looks as though it may work. Jasper is still on board and there are no mutinies to report! Hope all is well at home base!
Our location is 26 57.780 N 154 30.145 W – crew spirits are high – all stomachs are full!
Rock on,
e
