Our stay in San Diego was hectic and way too short. We continued trying to pack everything into every nook and cranny of the boat and ran around running errands. Most importantly we got to spend time with family before heading south.
We departed Marina del Rey at 18:26 February 24 and arrived in San Diego the next afternoon at 14:30. According to the logbook, Alex and Dad did yoga on the deck at 11:16
Logbook – Feb 25, 2013 (MDR to San Diego)
Passage Log Highlights
0609 Moon set, sun about to rise
1430 Arrive, both engines off
Daily Notes
Whale sighting off SB stern
Alex & Dad yoga on deck
Edit: I have absolutely no memory of Alex ever doing yoga. These are the gems that live inside this logbook.
The geography of San Diego HarborPoint Loma LighthouseA view of The Coronado Bridge as we sailed into San Diego HarborCoronado BridgeExodus at the end of the dockA final going away party in San DiegoA quiet morning, our last one in the marinaA quiet morning, our last one in the marinaOne last run along the waterfront
Lobgook – Feb 28, 2013 (San Diego to Ensenada)
Passage Log Highlights
2300 Depart San Diego
Daily Notes
Filled propane tanks while still in MDR on 2/22
Filled fuel tanks + 2 jerry cans diesel + 1 jerry can gas today
T minus 0We went to Colin and Jen’s to say goodbye. No photo of C & J, just the boys with MonkeyLast-minute dinghy shake downChris came by for one last goodbyeLast goodbyes with Grandma and GrandpaNighttime departureCheers to a safe passage
Logbook – Feb 24, 2013 (MDR to San Diego)
Passage Log Highlights
1758 Started engines
1826 Depart
1917 Both engines off, main and genoa, reefed the main earlier
The final preparations were fast and furious, but once we had set the departure date, we were absolutely determined to leave. We didn’t intend for the departure date to be a firm deadline, but in the end, we somewhat treated it that way. Many people had told us the hardest part of cruising is getting off the dock, but we didn’t really experience it that way. We each had our (very) long to-do lists, but we identified those items that would have to delay our departure if not complete, and we focused mainly on those. We purchased so many last-minute tools, parts, supplies, and provisions that the UPS and FedEx guys were at our house every day.
Most of my time the last week or so was spent figuring out where to store everything on the boat. It was like a giant puzzle, and it wasn’t a huge stretch to get everything to fit, but my concern was not remembering where I put everything. We were running errands down to the last day before leaving and picking up things at random moments of opportunity. For example, “Hey, there’s a sail maker’s shop, let’s stop by and get a sail repair kit.” I started to wonder what else we had forgotten that we didn’t have the good fortune to drive by during those last few days. Tim’s parents were with us our last days in Marina del Rey, and that was a huge help in many ways. They helped us move our last items onto the boat, make several trips to Good Will, and entertain the boys during all the chaos.
Time to Leave!
We had a going away open house on the boat the day before we left, and it was a welcome opportunity to slow down a bit and hang out with friends. There are so many people we are missing. Brenden had the visibly hardest time saying goodbye and leaving. I comforted him several times telling him it was normal and totally OK to be sad and to write it down in his journal so he can remember how he felt right then. In a year our lives would be totally different and we will want to remember everything, even the sad feelings. Brenden returned the favor when I said my final good-byes to Colin and Jen. It’s like he could tell I was starting to get a little teary inside and he came over and put his arm around me. Alex is also missing everyone, but he is much more Stoic about it. In addition to friends and family, I am desperately missing running. I was nearly devastated not being able to run much my last month at home due to a sore foot, but I did get one last run along The Strand and one last run on Harbor Island in San Diego to remember the beautiful coastal running I was leaving behind.
Cheers to a safe journey – Leaving Marina del Rey
We left Marina del Rey at night after sundown on Sun, Feb 24th to find very choppy seas until we turned the corner around the Palos Verdes peninsula. Our first destination would be San Diego, and that made leaving home a lot easier than it otherwise would have been since I knew we would still have the comfort of friends and family while we took care of last-minute to-do items and provisioning before leaving the U.S. We arrived in San Diego early the next afternoon, and it was enjoyable entering the very familiar harbor and seeing the Point Loma Lighthouse and the Coronado Bridge, two landmarks I’ve spent time around over the years. We stayed at the Cabrillo Isle Marina on Harbor Island, and we had an end tie at the furthest possible location from the dock gate, which meant all of our visitors got their exercise walking out to Exodus. We had a final going away party on Tuesday, and other than that it’s regrettable that we didn’t relax more and soak up the time we had with family, instead we were frantically running around doing errands and trying to get everything stowed on the boat.
We had another night time departure when we left San Diego and the real adventure began.
Shakedown cruise is a term referring to when a vessel is taken out for performance testing and or crew familiarization. It’s used in the nautical community for vessels of all sizes and also used prolifically within the sailboat cruising community when someone gets a new boat or does major repairs or upgrades and wants to test it out before venturing too far offshore. We did what we called a mini-shakedown cruise with Exodus, getting off the dock for a few days and venturing out to Catalina Island, which is part of the Channel Island chain off the coast of Southern California. We spent the first two nights at our favorite spot, Emerald Bay, and then also took a day trip out to Santa Barbara Island. The boys and I went ashore at Santa Barbara Island, and the dinghy drop off and pick up was quite adventurous, since we basically had to grab on to a ladder which was hanging down while the dinghy was bouncing around in the swell. We had a nice walk around the island, and the guest book at the visitors center showed that they don’t get too many guests this time of year.
We left Santa Barbara Island a little late and ended up arriving at Cat Harbor (the backside of Two Harbors) after dark on New Year’s Eve. We carefully navigated the forest of mooring balls until picking up one that turned out to be set up for a boat a bit longer than ours. The boys were ready to rally and go ashore, but Mom was the party pooper. We all ended up in bed before midnight.
The next day we headed to Little Harbor, which was the highlight of the trip. There was one other boat there with us, a young couple on a small monohull, and they went for a hike and took some great photos of Exodus from up on the ridge. The boys fished, tried out the new blow-up kayaks, and practiced driving the dinghy. It was cold, and we were all very much looking forward to the warm weather when we went south. (There will be days in the tropics where we will long for this weather!)
Catalina and Santa Barbara IslandsThe geography of Catalina Island
Logbook – Dec 29, 2012 (Marina del Rey to Emerald Bay)
Passage Log Highlights
1740 Departed MDR
2320 Arrive Emerald Bay
Daily Notes
Under engine the entire way
Anchor alarm went off twice after arrival
Edit: The anchor alarm is basically just an iPhone app. You set a waypoint where the anchor is located and then set a distance threshold, and if the iPhone GPS location exceeds that distance threshold from the anchor waypoint then the alarm goes off. The alarm is intended to be an indication that the anchor is dragging. The trick was always setting anchor waypoint accurately, so you don’t get false alarms. Eventually, later on when we were in Mexico, we developed a procedure where I would drop a waypoint on the boat chart plotter at the helm when we were dropping anchor, so we would have a more accurate anchor waypoint. Then I would transfer that waypoint location into the app and it became quite a reliable indication of anchor dragging.
Sunset reflecting off the California mainland as we head to Catalina.Captain Tim, fully equipped with his harness and everything. The harness serves two purposes. It lets you clip yourself onto the boat when moving about in order to prevent an accidental man overboard. It is also a flotation device in the event you do go over.Brenden at the helm, but not exactly navigating.Chips help with seasickness, but Alex doesn’t get seasick. He does like chips.Trying to catch dinner.
Logbook – Dec 30, 2012 (Emerald Bay Day Sail)
Passage Log Highlights
1330 Engines on, depart
1740 Engines off, arrive
Notes from the deck log. There were no further occurrences of crew meetings in the log.
Logbook – Dec 31, 2012 (Emerald Bay to Santa Barbara Island to Catalina Harbor)
Passage Log Highlights
0630 Start engines, depart
1215 Arrive, anchor down, SB Island
1545 Just after departure from SB Island
2036 Secured to mooring at Cat Harbor, engines off
Daily Notes
Deanne, Alex, & Brenden –> Hike on SB Island
Logbook – Jan 1, 2013 (Cat Harbor to Little Harbor)
Passage Log Highlights
1520 Engines on – leaving for Little Harbor
1626 Anchor down, engines off at Little Harbor. Heading 196 deg, depth 10.4 ft
Daily Notes
Going ashore for lunch and ice cream (1300)
Alex & Brenden test out the new blow-up kayak
We had lunch (and of course ice cream) at Two Harbors on New Years Day, and I walked up the hill to get this shot. When we have gone to Emerald Bay in summers past I have run from Emerald Bay to Two Harbors, and this is the view that greets me as I’m approaching Two Harbors.Trying out the new blow-up Kayak (we bought two of them, so they should be fun for the whole family).
Logbook – Jan 2, 2013 (Little Harbor)
Passage Log Highlights
1352 Start engine for day sail for Man Over Board (MOB) drills
1453 Arrive back at Little Harbor
1548 Re-anchored due to original location too close to another boat
Daily Notes
Alex took the dinghy solo – started it himself
Tim and Brenden caught a rockfish while out in the dinghy
Ryan & Nicole on SV Noana – took photos of Exodus
Ran out of water. Ran watermaker for 4 hours
Fault alarm on watermaker – service pre-filters
Edit: Our dinghy engine was a 20hp 4-stroke, which had a pull cord starter. It didn’t take Alex long to master the mechanics of getting it started. It took Brenden and I just a bit longer.
Edit: Running out of water is a rookie move. It won’t be our last.
Exodus on the hook at Little Harbor (This is the photo we used for our cruising boat cards. It was taken by Ryan and Nicole from s/v Noana)Heading out to do some kayak fishing. I guess Tim is the fisherman and Alex is the propulsion.Sunset kayak fishing.Sunset kayak fishing.Let’s hope we never take this kind of view for granted.Alex had plenty of room (and time) to practice driving the dinghy. He loved it!Brenden and Dad doing some dinghy fishing.Here’s Brenden with the catch of the day. He was quite pleased.Brenden is amazed by his fish!
Logbook – Jan 3, 2013 (Little Harbor to Marina del Rey)
Passage Log Highlights
0932 Engines on
1605 Whale sighting
1812 Arrive, engines off
Daily Notes
Pan pan from USCG
Edit: A pan pan is a distress signal one step down from a May Day. It basically means there’s an urgent situation, but no one is in immediate danger.
We took possession of Exodus in San Diego on Dec 1, 2012. It was a long, overnight sail from San Diego to Marina del Rey via Emerald Bay (Catalina Island). We weren’t official owners yet, but we took possession in order to have time at home for final outfitting and preparation.
When we left San Diego we were intent on sailing (not motoring) but the winds were light and from the wrong direction, so after many hours of going further and further off course we finally motored up. We arrived at Catalina island while it was still dark and although Avalon was the closest anchorage, we weren’t that familiar with it, so we kept going to Emerald Bay, where we felt comfortable anchoring in the dark, since we had previously spent a few chartering weekends there. We got a few hours of sleep and then started the second leg to Marina Del Rey. We were able to sail most of this leg and pulled up to our end tie at Marina Del Rey Marina in the late afternoon.
Logbook Entries from New Boat Owners
Our logbook format evolved over time, and eventually we settled in on one section for passage log (indexed by time) and another section just for daily notes. But in the beginning, it was a bit of a mess.
Logbook – Dec 1, 2012 (San Diego to Emerald Bay)
Passage Log Highlights
0945 Departed San Diego
1140 Raised main and genoa
French toast breakfast in the salon on passage from San Diego.A game of dominoes in the cockpit. It was December, so the weather was on the chilly side.
Logbook – Dec 2, 2012 (Emerald Bay to Marina del Rey)
Passage Log Highlights
0643 Arrive Emerald Bay
1104 Depart Emerald Bay
1231 Light rain
1656 Arrive @ MDR Marina
Edit: From the beginning, we used 24 hour military time for the logbook.
A rainbow guided our way as we were headed towards Marina del Rey.Safe arrival drinks!Exodus on an end tie at the Marina in Marina del Rey.
We had Exodus in Marina del Rey for almost 3 full months before our big departure. During that time we practiced navigating and docking; completed cleaning and maintenance work; and did a ton of provisioning and preparation. There was a lot to do but we also had a little fun.
Logbook – Dec 9, 2012 (Day Sail)
Passage Log Highlights
1423 Departure
1725 Arrive back at dock
Daily Notes
Deanne, Alex, Brenden practiced maneuvering with engines
Left the harbor to watch the sunset
Edit: Being a catamaran, Exodus has two engines, one at the back of each hull. This makes maneuvering a catamaran infinitely easier than a monohull.
Edit: The harbor at Marina del Rey is quite small compared to places like San Diego and Long Beach, so it was easy and quick to get from the dock out to open ocean.
Brenden practices parking on a dime next to a buoy in the Marina del Rey harbor.
Logbook – Dec 16, 2012 (Day Sail)
Passage Log Highlights
1345 Departure
1552 Arrival
Alex uses the chart plotter to navigateBrenden helps with an oil change – he’s the best at fitting in tight spaces.Uncle Mike visits! He gave us a ton of medical supplies, which thankfully we never needed.Hammock burrito!Late-night pillow shenanigans in the salon.Andrew visits!A day sail with Andrew.Anthony visits!Sunset at the marina.On Feb 1, 2013, we completed the offshore delivery and became official owners of Exodus.Proud new owner!Another beautiful sunset at the marina.Putting together the new BBQ.Chillin’ and eatin’ ice cream in Brenden’s berth. Being a catamaran, Exodus has two hulls. In the port hull there are two berths, so the boys each had their own rooms, each with a double wide bed. Pictured here is the forward berth, which was claimed by Brenden, so eventually half of the bed was taken up with bins of legos.Chillin’ in Brenden’s berth, eating ice cream and playing some Minecraft.Papa and Nana visit!We installed an SSB radio, which was the only major outfitting we had to do in order to get Exodus ready for offshore cruising.Departure countdown.We call him Brenden the boat diver.Brenden the boat diver.Brenden the boat diver.Jen and Heather visit. Oh how I will miss these ladies.Sea Lions on one of the end ties at the marina. Luckily they never invaded Exodus!
We were fortunate to be able to spend 2 weeks on Exodus with the previous owners (John and Sherry) before we officially took ownership. The Baja Ha Ha is an annual boat rally from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas, and it’s known for being an initiation for novice cruisers looking to spend the cruising season in Mexico before making the jump across The Pacific.
It was an informative trip, but also a lot of fun. Joe and Cole rounded out the crew, and with Joe’s sailing and boat knowledge and Cole’s culinary talents, we learned a lot. We had mostly calm weather and mostly NW winds, which meant a lot of motoring and some spinnaker sailing. We had mixed feelings not taking the kids, but overall I think it was best that our focus was on learning as much as we could.
Tim is at the bow while getting ready to leave San Diego Harbor. We had really cal, sunny weather at the start.Raising the mainsail. Tim is helping it out of the stack pack while Cole looks on. Raising and lowering the mainsail on Exodus is easiest with at least 3 people. One person at the helm to steer Exodus into the wind, one person on the controls for the electric winch (when raising) or tailing the halyard (when lowering), and then a third person up top guiding the sail in or out of the stack pack. When needed, the person at the helm can pull double duty and work the winch as well.The fleet all lined up and ready to go. Some boats have their colorful spinnakers flying already.Cole and Sherry relaxing on the net at the bow..Flat seas so far, so the beers and cocktails are already flowing.The fog rolled in shortly after leaving San Diego. It just happened to be during my watch, so I got a lesson in using the radar to detect other vessels in low visibility.Our first sunset at sea. The boats in the rally have all spread out, but there are still several nearby.The first catch was a Dorado, as they are known in Mexico. Later, when we got to the South Pacific we switched to calling them Mahi Mahi. They’re called Dolphin Fish in English, but who calls them that?Fresh sushi rolls.The second catch was a yellowfin tuna!Our first of two stops was Bahia Tortuga (Turtle Bay). It’s a large bay with a small town.A friendly game of cruisers baseball with some of the local kids at Turtle Bay. That’s Deanne heading for third base.Tim takes a turn on the stand-up paddle board in Turtle Bay.Getting ready to leave Turtle Bay. Another beautiful morning.The spinnakers come out.Look out, Deanne’s at the helm.Getting a lesson in trimming the spinnaker.The marlin that got away.The dolphin show.Cruising along with a fellow catamaran – sunset behind S/V Vakasa.The view of Exodus from S/V Vakasa.Exodus’s glorious blue spinnaker is not necessarily a light wind sail. It works best with at least 10 knots of wind and is rated up to 25 knots. We tested it a few times over the years.A view of Exodus’s spinnaker from the front. Catamarans sail very well dead downwind because they don’t need the mainsail for stabilization.Our second stop was Bahia Santa Maria, which is a small bay just outside of the much larger Bahia Magdalena (aka Mag Bay). I walked up to the ridge with Cole to take in the view of the bay.Exodus at anchor at Bahia Santa Maria.Panorama of the beach at Bahia Santa Maria.Skurfing = part water skiing, part surfing. This would become a favorite pastime for Alex and Brenden and their cruising friends over the years. Here on the Baja Ha-Ha it was a favorite pastime for the men.At Bahia Santa Maria, the dinghy beach landing could be quite treacherous, so the locals would give you a ride to shore in a panga (for a small fee)Many people still brought their dinghies to shore (including us, that’s Exodus’s dinghy at the bottom). We expertly navigated the surf to safely make it to shore. We did spend a few minutes ahead of time discussing what to do if the dinghy capsized, just in case.We played a lot of volleyball, including a few high stakes games for beers.Sunset at Bahia Santa Maria.Another Dorado (Mahi Mahi).We made it to Cabo! In this photo you can see El Arco (The Arch), which is the distinctive rock formation at the tip of Cabo.Safe arrival cocktails! This would become our Exodus tradition after every passage, not matter how long or how short.We also did safe arrival cannonballs off of the bow, and even Deanne jumped in!After a couple days in Cabo we said goodbye to Exodus
It was a great trip, and we learned a lot. We weren’t quite the new owners yet, but we hired Joe to bring Exodus back up to San Diego where we would eventually take possession and then sail to Marina del Rey for final outfitting and preparations. This was getting real…
Tim always dreamed of traveling on a sailboat to the South Pacific. He even had a boat name already picked out, “Chasing Summer.” In my cynical way, I pointed out that you don’t actually want to chase summer since that’s when the hurricanes come.
I always wanted to travel but was never quite convinced sailing was my kind of thing. I took a sailing class with Andrew in San Diego Harbor and surprisingly, I thought it was fun (even if Andrew didn’t). I enjoyed it when we chartered from Long Beach to Catalina Island, but that was for long weekends, not days on end in the middle of the ocean.
Then it happened. In early 2012, I had finally had enough of work and in a fit of desperation I walked into Tim’s home office and said, “Let’s do it.” I’m sure it wasn’t as dramatic or as final as I remember, but after that our plans progressed at a crazy pace. Maybe Tim was afraid I would change my mind, because admittedly, I was clearly motivated by wanting a change but not necessarily motivated by wanting this exact change. We put our house on the market and started shedding things via Craigs List and Garage Sales. We couldn’t buy a boat until we had sold the house, and that took a few months. Our timing wasn’t exactly perfect, so we were lucky to get basically what we had paid for it. We moved into a small apartment near the middle school and kept on with the preparations.
I did a lot of reading on destinations, routes, and weather, and we had a tentative plan mapped out. Basically, we would leave in the winter and cruise quickly down the coast of Mexico to Central America. We were really drawn by the idea of visiting Costa Rica, which is where Tim and I went for our honeymoon. Then we’d do a late Pacific Puddle Jump stopping at the Galapagos on the way to French Polynesia. We’d visit as many places in the South Pacific as we could (mapping out the exact route along the way), probably stopping our westward progress in Tonga before eventually ending up in New Zealand for cyclone season. Then after it was safe to return back up to the tropics we’d pick up where we left off and hit the island between Fiji and Australia, ending the journey and selling the boat in Australia. Of course, that’s not exactly how it ended up happening.
We looked for a boat. We knew we wanted a catamaran, because we wanted the space. We had chartered Lagoon 380s so Tim looked hard for a larger Lagoon, preferably a Lagoon 400. He spent time on the Lagoon owners’ message boards and got a response from an owner who was willing to take us out for a sail on his Lagoon 400 just for us to see what we thought of that model. They weren’t planning to sell, in fact, they were planning to take the boat, called Exodus, to Mexico in the fall to do some cruising. After joking with our friends that I would call them if these people turned out to be swingers or serial killers, we met John and Sherry at their yacht club and had a great day on Exodus out on the water in San Diego Harbor. I was confronted with the fact that I had no idea how to sail that boat. Sure, I had taken lessons on a small 22 foot sailboat that required little strength and was steered by a tiller, but sailing Exodus was a lot more work. I stayed calm. I would learn.
Exodus was well equipped as a cruising sailboat with a large battery bank, large solar array, and a water maker. Starting with a boat already in that condition would mean we wouldn’t have much work to do outfitting it to be ready to leave. Tim stayed in touch with John and kept joking with him about selling Exodus to us, and then suddenly one day he bit. And all of a sudden we had negotiated a price and were close to being new owners of the Lagoon 400 catamaran that we wanted. The catch was they were already entered in the Baja Ha-Ha rally, and they still wanted to do it, so they didn’t want to sell before then.
Then someone had an idea, why don’t we do the Baja Ha-Ha with them?
Gresham Family Exodus 