Seven Selenes Cruise the Baja Coast
By: Mark & Roseanne Tilden

Seven Selenes joined 43 other powerboats of various sizes and styles for a two week cruise in November from San Diego to La Paz, Mexico. The Selenes were part of a 50-boat rally-cruise, called FUBAR (Fleet Underway to Baja Rally). The event was organized by the De l Rey Yacht Club with a variety of other sponsors, including Selene Florida. The following Selenes participated:

  • Annaruth, owned by Jake & Suzanna Maizel
  • Kasekuchen, owned by Bob & Cheyl Klein
  • Mystic Moon, owned by John & Kathy Youngblood
  • Oriana, owned by Frank & Marilyn Lomas
  • Rediscovery II, owned by Richard & Jane Wenstrom
  • Voyager, owned by Les & Rosemary Dobbe
  • Wandering Star, owned by Jo & Ade Salzer
Every boat was required by the organizers to have a least three people aboard, so most of the boats brought in friends or family for crew. Roseanne and I were privileged to join John & Kathy Youngblood aboard Mystic Moon.

San Diego greeted us with uncharacteristically cool and cloudy weather, so by the time we got underway early the morning of November 7th, everybody was ready for more sun and warmer temperatures. As it turns out, we didn't get much sun until several days later in Turtle Bay. By the time we reached LaPaz, we were all enjoying sunny skies, beautiful sunsets, and temperatures in the mid 70s to lo w 80s.

The itinerary included three overnight passages of between 185 and 280 miles, as well as four shorter day trips, with several lay da ys interspersed among the voyages. In brief, here was our itinerary:

  • San Diego to Ensenada (about 55 miles)
  • Ensenada to Turtle Bay (about 280 miles)
  • Turtle Bay to Santa Maria (about 225 miles)
  • Santa Maria to Magdalena Bay (about 30 miles)
  • Magdalena Bay to Puerto Los Cabos (about 185 miles)
  • Puerto Los Cabos to Muertos (about 75 miles)
  • Muertos to La Paz (about 55 miles)
Seas ranged from almost completely calm to 6 - 9 foot swell with about 25 knots of wind-fortunately most of it directly behind or on the quarter. The Selenes handled the seas marvelously, and while a few of the boats had minor issues, everyone completed the voyage without incident. For the Wenstrom's aboard Rediscovery II, this was essentially their maiden voyage, but even they completed the c ruise without much more than a monitor failure and a freezer that failed near the end of the voyage.

I was personally very proud of our Selene fleet. Our crews demonstrated excellent seamanship skills on the longer overnight passages . At anchor or on the docks, the Selene community was definitely the most fun! We were often the last to leave the beach parties. We had a couple of potluck meals where we setup tables on the dock and everyone brought food to share. We even managed to get most of us together a couple of times on one of our boats at anchor.

While we're proud of little ships (and we got lots of compliments), we also welcomed non-Selene owners to join our dock parties, and we adopted Jo Salzer's sister and brother-in-law, Ken and Dottie Saville on their home-built trawler named Dreamweaver as "honorary Seleners".

The Selene group also initiated their own informal fishing tournament. Each boat put up $50 to enter and there were three categories :

  1. The first edible fish caught over 5 pounds
  2. The longest fish caught
  3. The most fun fishing photo (judged by a popular vote)
We awarded the cash prizes at the final potluck on the dock in LaPaz, with the crew of Voyager taking the prize for the first edible fish caught (though there was considerable discussion over the definition of "edible"). The crew of Mystic Moon took home th e prize for the longest fish caught with a 44" Dorado. Our honorary Selener's, Ken and Dotti on Dreamweaver won the hotly contested "most fun fishing photo" for a series of photos that you'd have to see to believe (fortunately, I don't have them to publish). Let's just say, this category brought out a lot of creativity!

Most of the Selenes are remaining in Mexico and are headed farther south to cruise the Mexican coast and Central America. Bob and Ch eryl Klein's Kasekuchen will be loaded aboard a Dockwise ship in January to go through the canal and eventually to the Klein' s home base at Selene Florida in Fort Lauderdale.

While most of us felt that we would have enjoyed slowing down more and spending more time in the anchorages, overall it was a great event. Once again, the Selene community demonstrated one of our favorite sayings on Mystic Moon: "It's not where you are, it' s who you're with".

For more information on the FUBAR and for the personal blogs of some of the Selenes that participated, check out the following links :

 
  Installing Solar Panels on a Selene 60  
  Selene Cruising Blogs  
  The Down East Circle Loop (Part 1)  
  Three Wishes, Part 1: A Big Problem for Nancy  
  Three Wishes, Part 2: Nancy's Ambitious Plan  
  Three Wishes, Part 3: Can Nancy Do It?  
  Selene 49 "Hakuna Matata" crosses the Atlantic  
  Jet Tern Marine Appoints a new Northwest Selene Dealer  
  15th Annual Northwest Selene Owner's Rendezvous  
  Selene Annapolis joins forces with Luke Brown Yachts  
  2019 Selene Rendezvous  
  Preparing a Selene for International Shore Power (Part 1)  
  Lithium Ion Batteries for Boats: Fact or Flame  
  Adding an Electric Get Home Drive to Our Selene 47  
  Passing through History  
  Wenstroms Travels in Guatemala  
  Mikey Smith Joins JTM as VP of Engineering  
  Brian Calvert ("Further") Celebrates 2 years of cruising  
  Mayday Mayhem -- A Selene Rescue Operation  
  Three Wishes, Part 4: The Pleasure and the Pain  
  Three Days on Alaska's Lituya Bay  
  Preparing a Selene for International Shore Power (Part 2)  
  A Winter Cruise to Princess Louisa Inlet  
  Transiting the Panama Canal on Selene 53 Rediscovery II  
  From Sail to Power: Joel Marc's Story  
  What Puget Sound Pilots Want You to Know  
  Selene Owners Visit the Monarch Butterflies in Mexico  
  Barging in Europe  
  Installing a Thermopure MSD on a Selene  
  Book Review: "Cruising the Big U" By Ade & Jo Salzer  
  Three Wishes, Part 5: Queen of the Fog...and other Stories  
  Three Wishes, Part 6: More Adventures for Nancy  
  Selene Owners Summary of the CUBAR Odyssey 2022 to Baja  
  Jet Tern Marine Celebrates 15 years of Selene Trawlers  
  Fifteen Days at Jet Tern Marine  
  Jet Tern Marine Announces New Pacific Northwest Dealer  
  Bar Hopping -- Tips for making a safe bar crossing.  
  Selene 47 Rescues a Classic Tug Boat  
  2011 Selene Bahamas Rendezvous  
  Stabilizing A Selene at Anchor  
  Two Selenes Transit the Panama Canal  
  Seven Selenes Cruise Baja  
  Princess Louisa Through Eastern Eyes  
  Solutions for Leaking Diamond Sea-Glaze Doors  
  The Down East Circle Loop (Part 3)  
  The Down East Circle Loop (Part 2)  
  Selene Wins a 3rd "People's Choice Award"  
   
 
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