sy Timoneer

We arrived safely in Cabo just after midnight and anchored in the bay. Today we came in for fuel and clearing customs. We are tied up on the dock until tomorrow when we will head off for the last 740 miles to San Diego. Everybody is enjoying stretching their legs this afternoon.

“JC” John Cornish
Yacht Timoneer
Ph +1 410 733 6180

Noon Position – 21deg 31N 108deg 01 W
Course – 309 Degrees / Speed – 10.4 Knots / Day’s Run -260 Miles
Weather – Overcast and 10 foot swells
Wind – 5 knots from the NW

Today’s News
It has been another uneventful 24 hrs. Still no fish and very little wind. We have 0.5 knot current against us. The water temperature is dropping and so is the air. Everyone is digging deep in there draws to find long sleeves. It has been a long time since we last needed them.

Due to the lack of wind so far we will be stopping in Cabo San Lucas to take on some more fuel to get us to San Diego. We will get there early tomorrow morning.

JC

Noon Position – 18deg 52 N 104deg 26 W
Course – 309 Degrees / Speed – 11 Knots / Day’s Run – 265 Miles
Weather – Fine with a few clouds and slight seas
Wind – 3 kts from W

Today’s News
The last 24 hours have been very uneventful. No fish, no wind, no current, we have been motoring along with the coast of Mexico in sight a lot of the time. There are still a few turtles around and plenty of spinner dolphins.

This afternoon we will leave the coast to head across the Gulf of California to Baja and into whale spotting territory. Grey whales spend their winter around Baja before migrating back up to the artic for the summer.

JC

Wednesday, 07 April 2010

Noon Position -16deg 53N 100deg 26W
Course – 293 Degrees / Speed – 11 Knots / Day’s Run – 230 Miles
Weather – Sunny again with slight seas
Wind – 5 kts from NW

Today’s News
We all enjoyed our Mahi Mahi for dinner last night. Soon after we ran into a current which slowed us down to 8-9 kts for a lot of the night. By sunrise we were clear of that and back to 10-11 kts. At 0800 we were passing Acapulco when one of the fishing lines went mad. 30 minutes later, with Tom and Will taking turns on the rod and a lot of reversing, we had an 8 foot Blue marlin alongside. It still had a little bit of fight left in it and Cam was looking at quite a wrestle to get the hook out when suddenly it spat the hook and saved us the hassle.

We are motoring along in very pleasant conditions but with little assistance from the wind.

Tuesday, 06 April 2010

Noon Position – 15deg 37 N 96deg 38 W
Course – 270 Degrees / Speed – 11 Knots / Day’s Run – 240 Miles
Weather – Sunny and no clouds
Wind – 6 kts from W

Today’s News
Finally our Pacific Ocean fishing curse has been lifted and we caught a small Mahi Mahi yesterday afternoon. It was going to be a stretch to feed 6 of us but luckily we caught another this morning. Last night we went around the Golf of Tehuantepec and the breeze picked up to 15 kts from the north giving us a nice push along. It died away by sunrise but was replaced by a current pushing us along in the right direction. Today we have been able to see the coast and mountains of Mexico, the first land we have seen since leaving CR. We have been passing hundreds of turtles today. We guess they are waiting for the right moon to go ashore and lay eggs. We have also seen a lot of Spinner dolphins in the distance making big splashes.
We are making nice progress and thankful for the calm seas. Long may they last.

JC

Monday, 05 April 2010

Noon Position -14 deg 47 N 92 deg 49 W
Course – 313 Degrees / Speed – 10 Knots / Day’s Run – 225 Miles
Weather – Fine with no clouds and flat seas
Wind – 4 kts from SE

Today’s News
We were all happy to get to deep water and away from the Skip Jack tuna until we found an unlimited supply of another poor eating fish. Yesterday afternoon we managed to catch 3 Sailfish. Cam got very good at wrestling the hook out of them from on the bottom step of the side boarding ladder. All 3 swam away with no more than a sore lip. We are all pretty keen to catch a good eating fish. We have yet to catch one in the Pacific.

We have had very little wind and have needed to motor all the last 24 hours. Today we are back to coastal water following the coast of Mexico. The shallower water has brought the return of the Skip Jack tuna. So far we have caught and released 5 this morning. Now we are heading into the Gulf of Tehuantepec which is renown for gales blowing off the land and out to sea. At the moment we have glassy seas so looks like we might strike it lucky.

JC

Sunday, 04 April 2010

Noon Position – 12deg 43 N 89deg 30 W
Course – 300 Degrees / Speed – 11 Knots / Day’s Run – 260 Miles
Weather – Sunny and no clouds
Wind – 15 knots from SE

Today’s News
Shortly after leaving Marina Papagayo we caught our first fish, a Skip Jack tuna. It was quickly returned to the sea and an hour later we got another which we also threw back. Soon after the breeze kicked in and we were sailing at 13 kts and brought the lines in. We passed a lot of large turtles during the afternoon. The wind eased after sunset and we then motor-sailed through the night until now. We are hoping the afternoon breeze will kick in again to allow us to sail. Today we have have had no luck so far with fishing but have been surrounded in seabirds all morning.

So far we have passed Nicaragua, Honduras and El Salvador.

JC

Saturday, 3rd April 2010

After being delayed by public holidays in Costa Rica and not being able to clear out with immigration, we are finally about to leave. It is midday, the weather is hot and the afternoon breeze is starting to build up, the seas are smooth and we all hope it stays that way for our journey to San Diego. The total distance to San Diego is about 2350nm. This should take about 10 days, weather permitting.

JC

Monday, 15th March 2010

We are now in Costa Rica. After cruising in the San Blas Islands we finally transited the Panama Canal on the 26th February which is always a fascinating trip. The first trip with guests coming to Costa Rica was cancelled so this gave us a bit of time to stop off along the way up the Panama coast. We had a few extra days in Panama City doing maintenance and victualling for the forthcoming trips and then headed out to Las Perlas to see our long time friend Gerda who lives a “Robinson Crusoe” life on San Jose Island. Her partner Dieter passed away last year at age of 82 and she is now all alone out there at 72 years old and lives an amazing life. She was very happy to see us and we helped take her boat out the water which was a big relief for her as she could not do it alone.

We then moved on to various other islands, Cebaco, Medida, Afuera, Montuosa and Coiba. Generally we were doing the usual maintenance work on the boat and working away on the job list while still taking a couple of hours each day for a hike in the jungle or some spectacular diving. It is always good to give the crew a bit of R&R which gives them the inspiration for future trips. Needless to say we all had a memorable trip and it is a place we would like to bring some guest back to one day. It is very unspoilt but changing fast.

We arrive in Golfito yesterday and cleared in to Costa Rica amidst mounds of paperwork which took hours and hours but finally done and everyone now downloading emails again.

We will be in CR until the first week in April and then head for San Diego, at which time we will post another report once we are on the move again.
Everyone on board is well
Phil

Thurs, 18th February 2010
Report From Panama

Timoneer arrived safe and sound in Boca del Toro on February 5th at 10am after a good passage from Antigua. Terry Gould the delivery captain left us in Boca and the original crew are all back on board again. Boca proved to be an enjoyable destination and a place we would all like to come back to in order to explore more.
We left on Tuesday the 16th, stopped overnight at the Zapatilla Cays and then on to Escudo de Veraguas Island where we spent the day. This is an amazingly beautiful island and we all enjoyed the stop there. We left at Midnight in order to time our arrival in the San Blas in daylight hours which all worked out well. It was 167 miles and we arrived at Porvenir in the San Blas at 1600 hours today. We had a very close fetch most of the way with big swells and a bumpy ride with lots of water streaming down the decks so not very comfortable. We did a detour or about 2 extra miles to visit a seamount along the way and caught one big eye tuna but lost 3 lures to something very big as we crossed the bank. Later in the day we caught another two big eyes and a sierra mackerel so not a bad day’s fishing in the end.

We are now safely at anchor in Porvenir awaiting the arrival of the guests on Saturday. We will transit the canal from the Atlantic to the Pacific on the 26th and then head up to Costa Rica.

All is well on board, everyone is happy and healthy.
PW