Updates from GatoLocoSailing

Kurt, Laurie, Roy & Debbie  sailing Cuba Lista

We’re down to one week and counting to begin the Baja 2010 cruise. Work to get Gato Loco ready for our departure next Thursday (Apr 22) is steady and nearly finished. We love this annual opportunity to get Gato Loco in ship shape and sail ready. Wax, bottom cleaning, new Jib, repaired tramp and lazyjack sailbag… The list goes on but we all love doing the work. There’s something special about spending time at the marina doing boat projects. Last Sunday with the wind out of the south, Bill & I were able to raise the main sail panel by panel and scrub the dirt off left by the winter storms. The main looked like a black sheep next to the new jib. Looks much better now.

2009 leg 5 crew; Sally, Lisa & Marilyn >>>>

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Leg 1 details have firmed up and everything needed will be with us as we head to Cholla Sunday night. Craig’s friend John Heizer is flying in from Illinois to Tucson and riding down with Craig mid-day next Wednesday. We will spend the night on Gato Loco and head south at first daylight for the 12 hour leg to Puerto Lobos.

Updated Baja 2010 Cruising Schedule Some single crew spots still available

Leg 1 - April 22 (thur) - May 1 (sat) - Penasco to Puerto Escondido (Lowell, Frankie, Neely, Craig Reay & John Heizer)

Leg 2 May 2 (sun) - May 8 (sat) - Seawind Rally, Puerto Escondido to Santa Rosalia (Lowell, Frankie, Neely, Bob & Chris Sanders)

Leg 3 May 9 (sun) - May 15 (sat) - Santa Rosalia to San Carlos (northern route) (Lowell, Frankie, Neely, Bruce & Cynthia Tegge)

Leg 4 May 16 (sun) - May 23 (sat) - San Carlos area (Rick sailing with friends)

Leg 5 May 23 (sun) - May 29 (sat) - San Carlos to Loreto (Bill, Owen Kelly & Liza Wendt)

Leg 6 May 30 (sun) - June 5 (sat) - Loreto to Santa Rosalia (Bill, Dave & Ellen Redden, Larry & Linda)

Leg 7 June 6 (sun) - June 12th (sat) - Santa Rosalia to Penasco (Bill, Doug Stover, & Paul & Jackie ??)

Arriving crews sleep on the boat Saturday night..

<<< Neely, Frankie, Kerry, Bill & Chris, 2009 leg 4.

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Seawind Rally news..

I received this email from the Santa Rosalia Singlar marina. Looks like they will work to accommodate us as we arrive on the 7th. I will follow up on whether we need to make reservations in advance. We should also get some information on transportation back to Loreto on Saturday in the coming days. Here’s the email…

Mr. McCulley,
I want to introduce myself, since I am now in charge of the Marina in Santa Rosalía as well as Puerto Escondido.
Ivan forwarded me your e-mail in regards to the rally you are organizing.
We look forward to reciving you in Santa Rosalía and hosting any activity you would want to develop related to the rally.
I am contancting a transportation service from Santa Rosalía to Loreto and will let you know the rates and will be glad to help for any arrangement you might need.
Wish you success in the rally.
Sincerely,
Lic. Constanza Noriega Curtis
Subgerente Escala Náutica Puerto Escondido
Encargada Escala Náutica Santa Rosalía
(613)1330189 cnoriega@fonatur.gob.mx

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Provisioning for the Seawind Rally..

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Kurt wants to let rally crews know what to expect as we sail north to Santa Rosalia so they can provision accordingly. Here’s a rough idea of rally activities. I hope this can be useful on provisioning.

Sun, May 2 (20nm) - Depart Loreto Fest, stop over in Loreto for provisions
and final arrivals, Anchor Isla Coronado.

No campfires allowed on the beach so maybe a good night for hordevours
party or pot luck thing on the boats after visiting the island

Mon, May 3 (26nm) - Lunch stop over San Juanico, Anchor Pta Pulpito, Explore sea caves and dive the point.

Beach campfire and hotdog dinner

Tues, May 4 (45nm) - Pulpito to Coyote Bay in Bahia Conception, Beach
fire and Bertha’s Cafe

Beach campfire and dinner at Bertha’s restaurant or on your own boat.

Wed, May 5 (0nm)- layover day, Transportation to Mulege for sightseeing

Beach campfire and group dinner on the beach

Thurs, May 6 (38nm)- Lunch stop over Punta Chivato, Anchor Isla San Marcos

No campfires allowed on the beach hordevours party pot luck on boats

Fri, May 7 (15nm)- Depart early to Santa Rosalia to have the afternoon for
sightseeing.

Rally farewell dinner at Fernando Pizza Restaurant.

Sat, May 8 - Rally over, Transportation back to Loreto. The drive back to
Loreto is an awesome snapshot of Baja desert and seascapes. You will enjoy
it.

Remember we sail weather permitting and plans could change… Comments welcome..

Until the next update… Lowell

Santa Rosalia fishing boats.

Loreto Fest Activities.

Loreto landmark family restaurant (Caripole, just east of the Mission)

Seawind Baja Rally 2010

The sunset colors are starting to shine as the beach campfire glows hot enough for roasting our hot dogs. We’ve been sailing together for the past 4 days, anchoring in one beautiful location after another. Some of us are old friends and some new. It’s great how sailing together in the first Seawind Rally has formed great bonds. Tomorrow we sail to Loreto Fest ending the rally. Campfire talk babal is about how we need to do this again next year.

The Time Has Come !

We’re sailing north from Puerto Escondido to Santa Rosalia with a lay-over day in Bahia Conception and an excursion to Mulege. This is a good chance to sail together with friends and see the “middle sea” and her Baja destinations ending in historical Santa Rosalia. Remember, plans are weather permitting and we will only sail in safe conditions so keep your travel plans flexible.

Here’s the Rally Itinerary

Fri - Sun (Apr 30 - May 2) Loreto Fest, Seawind crews join during the festival. Gato Loco should arrive by Friday mid-day.

Sun, May 2 (20nm) - Depart Loreto Fest, stop over in Loreto for provisions and final arrivals, Anchor Isla Coronado.

Mon, May 3 (26nm) - Lunch stop over San Juanico, Anchor Pta Pulpito, Explore sea caves and dive for lobster.

Tues, May 4 (45nm) - Pulpito to Coyote Bay in Bahia Conception, Beach cookout and Bertha’s Cafe

Wed, May 5 (0nm)- layover day, Taxi to Mulege for sightseeing

Thurs, May 6 (38nm)- Lunch stop over Punta Chivato, Anchor Isla San Marcos

Fri, May 7 (15nm)- Depart early to Santa Rosalia to have the afternoon for sightseeing. Rally farewell dinner at Fernando Pizza Restaurant.

Sat, May 8 - Rally over, Transportation back to Loreto or fly out from Santa Rosalia. The drive back to Loreto is an awesome snapshot of Baja desert and seascapes. You will enjoy it.

Kurt’s accounting of boats planning to join us…

Moondrifter (Ralph & Helen)
Gato Loco (Lowell & Frankie)
Razzle Dazzle (Carmy and Terry Wepsic, Gregg and Terry Wickstrand, Len Gregory, Michael and Elizibet Harth)
Selah Roy and Debbie (Roy is heading down mid March and will be based in La Paz at Marina Palmira
Mariah (Seawind 1000XL currently at Costa Baja) Gary and Diane
Rufener
Tenacious Grace Send me info on your boats….
Stray Cat
Slyvester (Fountaine – Pajot 36 with friends Rob and Char Fraser) Currently in La Paz at Palmira)
Tango (friends on a Perry 43 that came to last years Catalina Rally)

Leg 2 route.

Read about the 3rd Annual Seawind West Coast Rally (click here)

It’s late July and the weather is sweltering in Phoenix when I received a phone call from our friendly west coast Seawind representative and now national sale manager Kurt Jerman. He’s organizing a owner’s rally mid August on Catalina Island. Our 1000 sets in Puerto Penasco in the northern Sea of Cortez. It’s 2000 miles from Catalina and we have no interest to making that cruise this time of year (if ever). “Not a problem”, Kurt replied.. “I have a boat you can use and better yet it’s in San Pedro (Los Angeles area) and it’s a nice 26 mile reach to Catalina”. The thought of cool Pacific breezes was more than the Gato Loco crew could resist.
We’re in!

August 17th west coast Seawind owners converged on Catalina Island for a weekend of island activities. Kurt spends lots of time on Catalina with his family and came up with the idea to invite owners to come to the island as a group where we could meet fellow Seawind owners and share our Seawind experiences. Five boats, 4 1000s and a 1160 enjoyed a great weekend with good weather and winds.

Boats and Crews:
1160 - Sea Esta - John & Patsy Peterson
1000 - Sea Ya - Joe Weathers and crew Dave, Scott & Greg
1000 - Barramundi - Steve & Pam Ellsworth
1000 - IslandTime - Larry and Nancy Robertson
1000 - KatKanDu - Lowell & Frankie McCulley and Bill Hensler
The KatKanDu crew were actually from Gato Loco resting in her slip in the Sea of Cortez, Mexico...

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Catalina is a one of the main sailing destination for southern California sailors. The island has three major anchorage areas with two communities Avalon and Two Harbors. Two Harbors, where the Rally was held, is at a narrow point of the island with Isthmus Cove on the north and Catalina Harbor on the south separated by an easy walking distance.

The Rally began on Thursday as boats arrived at the Isthmus Cove and grabbed a mooring. Activities started with hors-d’oeuvres on John and Patsy’s new 1160 (above). Later many of us meet ashore at the only restaurant at Two Harbors for dinner. Friday was a day to explore the Two Harbor area and get to know all the Seawind crews. Later in the day we all meet for happy hour at “Joe’s Place” aka “Sea Ya” with crew ready to serve us Fosters and shrimps on the barbi. Pictured right is the Rally gang on the stern of Sea Ya minus our rally host Kurt and wife Lori . After happy hour Kurt and Lori organized a great BBQ on the beach and Steve arranged a space station fly-over at precisely 8:05PM.

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Sea Ya crew - Greg, Dave, Joe and Scott with their spread

Saturday was race day giving us a chance to get the boats out for a race around the north end of the island and into Catalina Harbor on the south side of Two Harbors. It’s an easy walk across but around 20 miles by water. The wind Gods were with us allowing the race to start early. The race was tightly contested from start to finsh with boats very close at the start line making crews a bit nervous.

Heading for the start line………………………………….Larry & Nancy “IslandTime” at the start

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Sea Ya and Barramundi cross paths at the start ………………………… Pam on Barramundi sailing upwind of KatKanDu

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Bill, Frankie & Lowell on KatKanDu captures the lead and the race on the final down wind leg…Barramundi and Sea Ya cross the finish very close behind.

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The race lasted 5 hours ending at the entrance to Catalina Harbor with winds blowing 25kts directly in to the bay. The fleet’s next challenge was to get a raftup set with these winds. Actually after SeaEsta and KatKanDu got anchors set things went quite smoothly.

No rest for the weary racers as we headed to the historic Banning House for hors-d’oeuvres after settling in on anchor. The bay picture was taken from the Banning House patio. The walk up the hill was just what we needed after a day on the boats.

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John, Patsy, Bill, Steve, Pam, Lori & Kurt………………………………Steve and backup singers??

Winds lighten as usual as we made our way back to the boats for a huge Pot-Luck dinner. Thank goodness we had the 1160 with enough room for all the food. It was also a great experience walking from boat to boat and seeing all the options and innovations on the boats. Steve on Barramundi topped off the night with some strumming and singin.. We’re all a little worried about Scott recording our wonderful singing.

Everyone had a great time with new friends and are looking forward to the next opportunity to get together. Hopefully our next gathering will have even more boats. Thanks to Kurt and Lori for organizing this FUN Rally and giving the Gato Loco crew a reason to escape the Arizona heat!!.

Read more about the Gato Loco adventures at GatoLocoSailing.com - August 23, 2006