"Pacific Puddle Jump" Underway - Mexico to French Polynesia

Hi All, (TC)

Date/GMT: 2016/4/5 1220 hrs
Status: Enroute
Position: 21 34' N, 111 19' W (114 nm SSW of Cabo)
Winds (T): 005 @ 10-14
Perf: Boat Spd 6.2 kts SOG 5.7 kts COG 212 M

Despite conspiracy efforts (removing our prop, chaining the keel to the docks, etc.) by terrific and well meaning friends, Cinnabar checked out of the Palmira Marina after 3 fun years and departed for San Jose Del Cabo, Baja enroute to the fabled South Pacific.

Our 'cruising/bluewater' skills were a little rusty as evidenced by a couple of immediate issues:
- The always reliable W-H autopilot would not hold a course.
- We accidentally pumped a bunch of freshly fueled diesel overboard (amount TBD - 3-15 gals) through the port vent hose due to an inadvertent transfer manifold valve position.

We've never done either of those before. Ahh, the joys of cruising. Finding new ways to mess up!

Nevertheless, we hand steered and motorsailed all night around the East Baja Cape in 9-14 kts of variable wind and the next afternoon, ( 21 hrs, 165 nm) we pulled into SJ del Cabo to refuel.

The long empty fuel dock looked welcoming and indeed we got fuel, but after a few minutes, a knucklehead panga driver bonked our boat, dinged our paint job, and marina management wanted to charge us $50 to remain any longer at the dock. After such indignities, we gladly departed and slowly motored around the harbor's flat water for an hour while we made some final passage preparations (stowing the heavy anchor and chain below, midship). Sly relayed that the VHF radio became aflutter with Spanish chatter regarding us idling around the port, but nothing further came of it.

In the late afternoon, we set sail for the open sea, The Marquesas beckoning 2614 nm away.

The autopilot (AP) follow up: Like we knew it would be, hand steering all night was a royal PITA and not advisable for a 3000 nm trip sailing shorthanded. On watch, one is virtually imprisoned at the helm and can hardly move about the boat to perform other tasks (trim sails, navigate, check bilges, stretch, make a hot drink, etc.). Thus, the AP is an essential piece of gear. We were prepared to remain in port until the AP was fixed. After spending a few hours troubleshooting while off watch, it appeared that all AP elements were working except the AP fluxgate compass. I thought I would have to order a new one in port, an easy but delaying repair. As it turns out, the AP, miraculously recovered in the early morning hours. We think the root cause problem was inadvertent temporary magnetic inductance to the sensitive AP compass due to our poor storage practices. We have always been very careful about putting ferrous metal items near the compass. But in this case, apparently not careful enough. When we removed the heavy windlass motor, the canned goods, and spare stereo speakers, all in the bilges and more than 3-4' distance, the fluxgate compass regained its bearings and the AP was back to its old self again. Phew! Another valuable lesson learned!

----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com