Captain’s Report
Noon position (1900 hours UTC): 17d 33.8m N, 102d 38.2m W. Days run: 111.2 nm. 89 degrees F, 67% relative humidity.

Work party today was sanding the inside of the port bulwarks in preparation for paint tomorrow. So it goes…
Cheers, Jake

Crew Report

Well what a day! Began at sunrise with bright blue particles seen just below the surface (bioluminescent zooplankton?). During the day a swim call as the seas were calm only to be interrupted by a container ship. The audacity to interrupt our swimming! Then chef salads and watermelon on deck. Juvenile merlin (falcon) on the yardarm yesterday and today swifts and red-necked phaleropes. Then in waiting for the green flash in a spectacular sunset, sei whales show up. Hard to know which way to look. Green flash or whales? HHHMMMM… Hard decisions at sea. Tonight another spectacular moon. Drinking coffee 24 hours a day (Yes Rusty you would be proud of me) Hope your new job is going well Bettina! Miss you kids. Love & blessings to all- Wendy

Another exciting day full of new discoveries. blue things in the water that we could not seem to catch for closer inspection, colorful fish that still wont bite the hook, beautiful sei whales surfacing beneath the sunset, and a possible shark! we also managed to get a refreshing swim call in. another great day in the pacific. to my friends and family back in the colder climates, i am learning many new things from wild life i have never seen before to celestial navigation. love and miss you all, cheers Alex

As you can see, there is never a dull moment!

Captain’s Report
The wind finally faded away altogether around midnight so we started the motor and put on just enough turns to make 4.5 knots.

Crew Report
Around midnight last night the wind finally faded to nothing so we started the motor and put on just enough turns to make 4.5 knots. We had another big red ball of a sunrise and each watch reported sea turtles as well as dolphins. The sea is basically flat and it’s in the high 80’s F. Around noon a Merlin came by and circled, eventually landing on the main crosstrees and took a nap. It traveled with us for a couple hours then shook it off and went flying again only to return and ride along for another little while. It finally took off for good and we’re a least 20 miles off shore.
The forecast is for more of the same, hot and flat. Those not on work party are practicing celestial, getting the most of the last bit of this years almanac. So it goes… Cheers, Jake

Greetings all, it’s Dennis. We also had a pet Brewers Blackbird for an afternoon, we named him Milwaukee of course. Considering that Brewers are suburban birds, this little guy was a long way from home. Everything is proceeding as usual. Its very warm, which means we are all working on our tans. Must be ready for Florida. I must say it is nice when you have to start considering ways of slowing down. I have never been in a situation where I was going too fast. It is a good feeling. C watch, or as we have named ourselves the Caballero watch, cleaned the bilges for our work party today, now they smell good. Love you all, miss you all. Dennis Out.

Today marked the day when it went from being pretty warm to being super-duper hot. For someone from the Northwest, having the sun out and being drenched in sweat while sleeping in the middle of November is a new experience for me. Hopefully I’ll get acclimated to it soon. In the meantime, we had a bunk fan triage event this afternoon–bringing into working order as many bunk fans as we could. We had great success, and hopefully folks will be getting better night’s sleeps. Best wishes to all! -Ben.

The wind died and the heat came. Sunrise brought us a view of the peaks over Manzilla, MX as they popped through the low clouds and haze that covered the horizon. Later in the day, a dead sea turtle, fat and bloated, bobbed by on top of the water and we drifted by. Below decks, the temperatures passed 90 degrees, and at mid-day there was little difference on deck, but as the afternoon wore on, clouds came and gave us a reprieve. Now, at 7 pm it’s gloriously cool and the debate has started about who will spend the night sleeping on deck. Fat and happy as always, Karen the cook.

Gabe says: This morning, after a 2am to 6am watch and breakfast I decided to take a seat up on the monkey deck to watch the rest of the sunrise before catching some sleep. It wasn’t but two minutes later that I heard the familiar splash and breath of a dolphin. As I glanced to where the sound came from, my eyes caught a few surfing our bow under the water, occasionally breaking the surface for a quick breath. Then I noticed several more, crossing from starboard to port under our bow, then back again. It was as if we had an appointment, “Meet up with us at the bow before you turn in for the morning.” I was waiting to hear them speak, sometimes when they are that close you can hear them, even when they are under the water. Finally, one crossed the bow, said something in dolphin speak, and they were all gone. I reckon he either said good bye, or see you tomorrow. A day in the life of a sailor on the Lynx…
With 506 nm to Huatulco that should keep us a little ahead of the game. It’s hot with lots of turtles and dolphins and a Merlin came to rest in the rig for awhile even though we’re 20 miles offshore. Spent the work party repairing bunk fans and scrubbing the bilge in the fo’c’sle and salon.
Noon position (1900 hours UTC):18d 36.1m N, 104d 14.7m W. Day’s run: 91.4 nm. I will call on 2 Dec. with fuel numbers.
Also, the shortwave propagation has been very poor the last two nights and Sailmail has been very slow. If it stops working I’ll call with the daily report. Cheers, Jake

Greeting all, the wind has clocked around to the northwest but is still light. Sky is mostly clear. We’re easing along at 4.5 knots in about a 10 knot breeze.
Noon position(1900 UTC): 19d 17.3m N, 105d 40.4m W.
Day’s run: 131.0 nm. That’s about 593 nm to Huatulco. With 7 days to go, eventually we’ll have to make a tack offshore and work back in. But we’ll do that later. Right now we’re coasting on down 20-30 miles off the beach. We’ve been seeing sea turtles and a whole tree. Yep, a tree, roots and all just floating in the middle of the ocean. Go figure. For work party today Jimmy’s watch finished painting the port waterway up to the bow. We’ll do the stbd side when we tack. The nice thing about this easy sailing is the deck stays dry and you can paint.
Cheers, Jake

Greetings Everyone on shore,

Day four of leaving the land of my hopes and dreams. When I started sailing, I was approached by a stranger late one night in a dark, dark alley. This stranger spoke of a land of milk and honey. A land blue warm water, where hawiian t shirts were socially acceptable and commonly seen on the streets. And a land of water taxis, known as pongas. Oh how they recklessly move about the harbor, back and forth traveling with ease, carrying super cargo of tourists from the cruise ships. Once I saw this I knew where and what I was meant for in life. Traveling back and forth in the Lynx’s small boat, I began to feel the allure of this mysterious profession. I had the opportunity to see Talofa, and aboard her Cactus, I sailed along with them in Tall Ships 2005 Challenge, and was great to see her looking Bristol as always. Alas duty to the Lynx called me away from my dream, and we upped anchor, sailed right outta the bay to head to sea.

Even on a broad reach with about 12 knots of wind Lynx is still making 4.5 knots through the water. Amazing how the weather has remained beautiful. Calm as can be, a gentle breeze to help cool ones body, and smooth sailing. Yet we have not caught a single fish. How I do wish we could catch something, even a boot would even be an improvement, at this time. – Jimmy

Days seem to mingle. Was it today or yesterday that a Brewers Blackbird landed aboard, far from the agricultural land Sibleys Birds of North America book claims to be its habitat. We tried to feed it cornbread crumbs and did manage to supply fresh water before he went and disappeared. I hoped that it was in hiding so it could return to shore safely, but my hope is dwindling. At this morning’s sunrise, red and spectacular, a family of dolphins came to play in our bow wake as we were sailing at 6 knots. They hung around for an hour, and later, several turtles swam by, their small flippers breaking the crest of our tiny waves. That’s what life is like on my brief appearances out of the galley. In the galley is hot, hot, hot as the diesel stove cranks away. Karen, the cook

Captain’s Report

Greeting folks, another fine day of sailing.  The wind is just east of north about 10 kts, seas are small from the north about 2 feet.  It’s in the low 80’s F with about 7/8 cloud cover.
Noon position:  20d 23.5m N, 107d 41.1m W.  Day’s run:  120.5 nm, about 727 nm to Huatulco.
It’s not often the GRIB files are wrong but we’ve had consistent breeze, although light, while the GRIB said we’d have nothing.  We’ll take it.  The GPS is acting up again so we’re using the hand held unit (thanks Robert).  I figure it’s the antenna wire so I’ll pull the back off tomorrow and see what’s up.  Otherwise things are fine, more later,  Cheers,  Jake

Where in the World is Wendy? Somewhere a couple of days sail south of Cabo. Just off the helm on a moonlit night enjoying sailing along at 6 knots. Great sunsets the past two nights spreading out 90 degrees (surround sunset versus surround sound).  The last glimpse the other night took on the intensity of molten lava within a fissure in the sky. Learned to be a chipper today using a chipping tool chipping off rust on the metal rings and plates where the guns once stood. Almost a chip off the old block. Tomorrow we paint. Got a shower in today so my fellow shipmates are much relieved. Thinking of The Lonely Forest playing the ShowBox tonight. Go John! Listened to the music through the night watches. Miss you kids, fam and friends- Love W

Crew Report
Jake here,  today our GPS went on the fritz (again, I think it’s the antenna wire) so using that as an excuse I broke out the sextant and ran a noon sight then some sun lines later.  They plotted nicely, thank you, and this led to a discussion of Lunar Distance, which is the way it was done before Harrison gave us the chronometer.  The British Navy’s approach was to have three guys with sextants (or quadrants) each doing one part of the problem.  The first guy taking the height of the moon, the second taking the height of the other object (sun, planet or one of only a handful of stars) and the third guy holding his sextant sideways trying to get both the moon AND the object in his mirrors at the same time.  If you’ve ever tried this you know what a pain it is.  When all three had their instrument dialed in some one would call “mark” and all would be recorded.  Then you break out the oil lamps, the quill pens and the trig and log tables and proceed to do seven digit multiplication long hand.
Yikes.  The result is time and a position.  I’ve tried a couple of these using a programmable calculator and after a couple of false starts I got it to work.  It took me three days and the time I got was a minute and twenty seconds off.  Therefore the position was also pretty shakey.  It gives one a world of respect for those old navigators.  So thanks for the wristwatch, thanks for the pocket calculator, thanks for the Nautical Almanac and tomorrow I’m fixing the GPS.  Cheers,  Jake.

Captain’s Daily Report
Finally got some wind. It’s from the NNE at 10-15 knots, we’re doing 5-6 knots on 125C.
Noon position: 21d 45.8m N, 109d 15.0m W. Day’s run: 84.6 nm. We’ll do much better tomorrow with this breeze.
My plan is to push south for a couple of days then maybe do some laps around the off shore islands to kill some time and get to Huatulco on the 5th. Happy Thanksgiving. Cheers, Jake

Crew Report
Hello all, Gabe at the keyboard. We here on the Lynx hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Ours was delicious, you would have no idea such a fine meal could be prepared in such a small galley. We ate on deck under a cloudy sky with intermittent light rain, but the air is so warm it only added to the uniqueness of a Thanksgiving in international waters. We are a day out of Cabo San Lucas, making steady progress as we are not in such a hurry to get to our next port. The winds have been fair today and the seas calm. I hope all our friends and family enjoyed themselves today and remembered what they have to be thankful for. One can’t help but be reminded of our loved ones on a day like today, we miss you all and you are in our thoughts.

From Wendy: Happy Thanksgiving and blessings to all of you; my loved ones- friends & family. Such a time is this to be far out to sea eating turkey & the fixings. Last eve as we left Cabo we had almost absolute glassy sea for a bit with partial cloudy skies and a moon that played hide & seek for a time before appearing one last time in a gap above the horizon to paralyze us with the beauty of the night then disappearing into its black sheath. A red-footed booby sat upon the yard arm for a time today much to the consternation of Mark. Oh well, to guano or not to guano. Miss you all more then words can say especially on this day. God bless you & love to all- wendy

Jake here, Had a great Thanksgiving, turkey and all the fixin’s. Dennis, Duffy and Alex re-enacted the landing at Plymouth Rock. Or was it Jamestown? It was hard to tell. Jimmy confessed his goal in life now is to move to Cabo and be a ponga driver. Plans are in the works to perform the Christmas Carol next in three minutes. Stay tuned. Cheers, Jake

Happy Turkey-Day, Dennis here. What a turkey it was, with mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, and two pies. Ummm Ummm Ummm. Tropical rains to counter the tropical heat, and a beautiful sunset all under sail. We were sad to leave Cabo, but onward we go. Everyone made sure to drop by whilst we were at anchor and tell us how beautiful the boat was, and why not. Anyway next stop Huatalco. Good night and have a pleasant tomorrow. Dennis out.

Karen the cook – Happy Thanksgiving… my family’s Turkey Day stories all seem to revolve around the chore of feeding so many, and waking up so early to put in the turkey, but when you cook for 11 every day, and always wake at 4:15, it wasn’t that much of a daunting task. I had plenty of crew help as well, with Mark guest starring on the gravy, Gabe on the mashed potatoes, Ben stepping in in all ways, and Wendy on decorating the table, complete with pumpkin. So all was well, and there are even a bit of leftovers for tomorrow. The play with Duffy as Squanto, Dennis as the English/narrator and a special appearance by Alex as smallpox was a riot and enjoyed by all. Look for pictures in December!

Hello everyone. Day one in Cabo was very busy, cleared the crew into Mexico in two waves. Here you have to present the entire crew in person, with passports to the immigration officer. So I purchased the 12 Visas and called for the first half to come ashore, got them squared away and called for the second half. As the second group were getting their stamps, I went up to the Port Captains office to clear the (now officially stamped) crew list. Yep, it takes five copies. Customs was a different matter. The office in Cabo is closed. Permanently closed. Like empty room, no tables, desks or chairs. By a coincidence my friend Stephen Phillips and his family were in town on their ketch Odyl trying to clear in as well and the best we could make out is we had to go to the airport in La Paz for Customs. So Karen, Stephen, Kimberly and I caught the local bus up to La Paz (one hour, 32 pesos) and presented ourselves to the customs supervisor at Terminal 1. He was totally confused. “Why didn’t you go to the office in Cabo?”. “Because it’s closed.” He makes a phone call then tells us, “The office in Cabo San Lucas is closed. You must go to the airport in Cabo San Lucas.” “That one is closed as well.” He makes another phone call and tells us, “There is no longer customs in Cabo San Lucas. You must go to the downtown office in La Paz.” Since it was after 4:00 PM there was no chance it was open so I asked him for the phone number. He makes another call, has a conversation with someone then tells us, “The office in La Paz is closed.” By this he means also permanently. There is, apparently, no customs in south Baja. The guy was nice and when we asked him what were our options he suggested to Stephen and Kimberly that they clear in Mazatlan as “the second port” and that we clear in Huatulco. This is all to do with the “temporary import” form, basically our promise not to sell the boat in Mexico. They’re good for 10 years so the Lynx’s should still be good, assuming you guys got one the first time. It’s not on board so could you check the Archives? Anyway, I’m not worried about it. I’ve got my visas and the “Zarpa” leaving Cabo and that’s all I need to get to Huatulco. With any luck they’ll just kick us out of the country from there. Got fuel, got groceries, we’re outta here. Right now we can still see the lights of Cabo, there’s 5 knots of northerly breeze and we’re going 2.4 knots south.. Cheers, Jake

We were anchor down at 0701 PST, 0801 local time, 23 November.
Anchor position was 22d 53.348m N, 109d 53.873m W
Day’s run (19 hrs): 116.7 nm.
Sorry for the oversight, it’s been a busy 54 hours. There was a motor vessel, the Wayward Wind, asking for the email address as we sailed into Cabo. Said he had pictures of us under sail at dawn approaching the cape. He was part of the “FUBAR” run, whatever that is. Sailed off the hook this afternoon so everyone was busy anchor and sail handling.
Copied 5 December in Huatulco. Cheers, Jake

Captain’s Report
Same again. Light, variable mostly WNW wind less than 10 kts. We’re seeing Frigate birds and dolphins and, of course, flying fish. Noon position: 23d 21.1m N, 111d 49.5m W. Day’s run: 146.8 nm. Today’s work party was rigging the port anchor in anticipation of tomorrow’s arrival in Cabo and painting the port waterway. Being Sunday, there was nobody at the Port Captain’s office, Customs, the fuel dock or the marina. We really ARE in Mexico. I’ll try again tomorrow. Cheers, Jake

November 22, 2009 Crew Report

Good Evening Ladies and Gentlemen,

Here we are on the good ship Lynx only 57 nm outside of Cabo San Lucas, our first stop along this amazing journey. For those of you that have wondered what it is like to cruise into these latitudes, let me give a brief description. You know how most people think of fall as the season of colors, where leaves begin to turn into an array of red, yellows and browns. Thanksgiving is a time spent with the family around a fire telling stories, and drinking hot cider. The weather outside begins to cool, sweaters that grandma has given in years past are pulled out and pulled on(Being from San Diego, I know known of these except for the latter). Well here at Latitude 23 we are doing night watches in shorts and t-shirts. Coffee at night has given way to cool refreshing water. Daytime, a perfect opportunity to work on your panama tan.
Have fun,
Jimmy McManus

Jake here… today we were passed by a US warship and large container ship. Definitely getting closer to the coast. We also saw a flock of Frigate birds and dolphins working a school of bait. Dolphins jumping, birds diving. The dolphins came to play at the bow for awhile then swam off for second helpings. A small song bird circled the boat for awhile looking to land. He was clearly lost. Motor sailing along in light, variable NW air looking forward to Cabo San Lucas in the morning.
Cheers, Jake.

Pretty much the same story today. Very light air from the NW, swell laying down. Motor sailing along at 900 rpm making 6-6.5 kts. Noon position: 24d 21.4m N, 114d 15.6m W. Day’s run: 163 nm. Cheers, Jake

Hi!  Wendy here-  Yes, I am really on board. Just finished my hour at the helm steering 106 degrees on a beautiful balmy moonlit night. It seems a million stars beckon to our sails.  Good fauna day with sightings of shearwater, frigate bird (looks like big prehistoric avian’s with the red gular pouches that blow up as a mating ritual- obviously not blown up in flight unless the Lynx looked as a possible suitor) And a sea turtle near a kelp patty plus flying fish that were so remarkable beating like small marine hummingbirds across the swells. Took my first sextant shot and was only .9 miles off from our actual position. Beginners Luck! Just reciting at the helm the John Masefield poem “I must go down to the sea again to the lonely sea & the sky.  And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by”.  Yes, that is what we have! Great Crew  Wonderful Ship  Excellent Food.

Karen here… It’s warm! The jackets, scarfs, sweaters and jeans have been replaced with shorts and T’s. It’s a far cry from four days ago when Ashlee was so layered up that she couldn’t even bend her elbows to eat. To celebrate, we had pork in a red curry sauce – just to have a break from the beef… but not to worry – we’ll be back on it tomorrow and our last full day at sea before Cabo and the results of the rumor if we really had to eat all this beef in the first place…