A Plan was Hatched ….
Five years ago, while attending Trawlerfest in San Diego (a
boat show focusing on trawler-style boats and passagemaking ), we heard a
presentation about FUBAR (Fleet Underway Baha Rally) describing a rally for powerboats
organized by various San Diego yacht clubs, to travel from San Diego to La Paz,
Mexico. We decided then, that we would
work towards someday, doing this rally !!
Cameron (being the researcher he is) had decided that, based on what he had read and
for where we were wanting to travel, a NORDHAVN would be THE boat to do it in …
Beautifully built, large fuel capacity, heavy and safe , with a proven track record !!
It was the beginning of a dream that we have been focused on
(or consumed with if you ask our
friends and family) for the last 5 years
!!
From the inception of this dream 5 years ago, to our
commitment over a year ago to the now renamed CUBAR (Cruisers Underway Baha
Rally), we have focused on getting familiar with our N60 by extensively
cruising the Pacific Northwest, getting some open ocean experience
(circumnavigating Vancouver Island) and finally bringing Sea Level down to San
Diego this summer in anticipation of CUBAR 2015 …. Leaving Wednesday, November
11th.
Preparations for this rally have been extensive and a year
long process. Cam put the entire process
on an Excel spreadsheet (gotta love an engineer ) and we have been working to
cross off every item on it.
It is 5 pages long !!
With very
tiny printing !! ….
Route and Crew information…. Maintenance and equipment …. Health care issues and checklist … safety
equipment checklist … General Planning and Provisioning….
Specific jobs we’ve done to get ready have included
replacing the entire set of house batteries, we purchased a porta-boat and
motor, replaced the bilge pump housing, fixed the Tankwatch (holding tank)
monitors, done a myriad of engine maintenance jobs (changed fluids, replaced
impellors, belts, filters etc) downloaded all the electronic charts for the
west coast of North America, from Alaska to Central America, got a Direct TV
installed , purchased “about a million” spare replacement parts & filters,
made marina reservations, ordered boat shirts, got phones and communication
systems (inReach) organized so family can track us, got medications and
prescriptions in order, got first aid kits ordered and organized, waded through
the paperwork for bringing Sea Level and her crew into Mexico ….
Endless ….
We flew down in October and attended a number of CUBAR seminars on
travelling to Mexico, started the onerous task of Mexican paperwork …. (FMM’s,
TIP’s, Crew lists – endless - as you might imagine ) and fuelled up. The San
Diego Yacht Club has done an amazing job of organizing the rally this
year! The seminars they have put on,
were an invaluable source of information …. Topics such as getting your boat
through customs, provisioning, safety at sea, what to do in a medical
emergency, fishing in Mexico, and what
do if you are “suddenly in command” (ie your captain becomes incapacitated )
etc. LOTS of great information …. Very
well organized ….
With GREAT giveaways ….
Just after arriving on Nov 4th, we took the boat out with a
very savvy electronics tech and we believe we successfully (and we HOPE finally
) have dealt with the autopilot issue.
It seemed to have been a combination of poor wire connections
(discovered by the tech) and the uploading of the most current software. Fingers crossed that the problem with the
autopilot are all behind us !! We have
had ongoing issues with it and luckily it ended up being a relatively “easy
fix” - we were getting to the point of having to replace the entire system and THAT would have been a “major fix”.
One more thing crossed off the never-ending “to do” list….
A run to Trader Joe’s, Ralphs and Costco ensured we have
enough provisions …. No room in our fridge for even one more carrot stick !!!
Endless lists .... (MY version of Excel) .....
A VERY full fridge .....
It hasn’t been ALL WORK AND NO PLAY, however. We have managed a few fun evenings with our
good friends …. Dinner and lots of singing …. Crazy fun times !!
Cam with Jerome, owner of Daybreak - another N60 doing the CUBAR
We have asked friends Christine and Ed Theobald to crew for
this leg of the adventure and they will join us Sunday so we can spend a few
days getting them familiar with things about the boat, and meeting the other
cruisers doing the rally – 37 boats in total !!
Its going to be a very unique experience and one we hope turns out to be
as much fun doing it, as it has been preparing for it ….
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