Cruising Update from Freeranger

When we left Victoria in early July, we spent the summer going up and around Vancouver Island. While I had been to many parts of the island by road and sea before, none of us had done this full trip, and it was absolutely worth it. From the Broughtons around to Ucluelet we had various spectacular anchorages to ourselves. We truly live in a stunning part of the world. Could have used a whole lot more wind though – we had the mainsail up a grand total of twice the whole summer!

We set sail south from Ucluelet direct to San Francisco on September 12. The trip threw pretty much every set of conditions at us. We had very lumpy seas and little wind for the first 36 hours, followed by 24 hours of perfect sailing, and then 30 knots and 6-metre seas for the 70 NM either side of Cape Mendecino. The last 24 hours were absolutely flat calm, culminating in a motor under the Golden Gate Bridge in all its night time glory at 2200 hrs. A pretty amazing landfall. Interestingly, despite checking in via the CBP ROAM app, no one in San Francisco seemed to know quite what to do with us, and it took nearly 48 hours before someone in the Port of Oakland finally figured out how to press the right button and clear us in. It was just in time for our crew who were due to fly back to BC, and makes a good argument for checking in to the US in a place like Port Angeles, before heading too far south.

Left: Family on the beach at Guise Bay, Cape Scott Provincial Park where the weather was perfect for a rare change to anchor for the night.  Right: A nighttime approach to San Francisco and under the Golden Gate Bridge was a magnificent sight after 5 days at sea!

Since leaving San Francisco we have made our way down the California coast to San Diego, joined the Baja-HaHa for the run down to the Sea of Cortez (a couple of articles on us here and here), and spent the past few weeks based initially out of La Paz exploring the Sea of Cortez, before moving further south to where we are now in Tenacatita. There are lots of kids boats here so we are going to spend some time between here and Bahia Banderas over the next few weeks before heading into the Pacific in late February / early March.

The kids are adapting well to the cruising life.  Left: Eden is hiking out; Right: Skye jumping off the stern.

If we had to choose one overwhelming highlight it has been how incredibly well the kids have adapted to this life. They have been simply amazing. A close second has been the wildlife we have encountered all along the way. Around Vancouver Island it seemed that every day we were getting close looks at hundreds of sea otters, dozens of sea bird species, seals, porpoises and more. As we headed south, we had a close (too close!) encounter with Sei Whales, and met with 5 dolphin species, literally thousands of sea lions, and more and different seabirds. Down the Baja, we had marlin jumping around us every day, and sleeping sea turtles became a watch priority (you don’t want to hit one!).

Top, left: seeing our first big iguanas on Isla Isabel was a highlight for the kids; Top Middle: juvenile frigate bird on Isla Isabel, Sea of Cortez, which is a truly extraordinary experience for bird, wild and marine life encounters; Top Right: Boaters at the docks in Monterey will find themselves up close and personal with some noisy neighbours!; Bottom Left: Incredible birdlife in Monterey Bay including these pelicans and cormorants; Bottom Right: The deck is often peppered with little squid after passages as we sail south.

Here in Mexico we have met with many land animals as well, including crocodiles and iguanas, and sea life including many rays. In La Paz we joined a local marine biologist to swim with Whale Sharks. Our most constant companions, however, have been the humpback whales. We cruised with them all around BC, and sailed south with them down the coast. It has been a rare day at sea where we haven’t had an incredible encounter, and the kids have become experts at all their various behaviours. We feel very privileged.

Skye and Eden take a closer look at marine life using the onboard microscope.

If we had to pick one overwhelming challenge, it has been the new engine that we had to install right before we set off. Unfortunately, the original engine in the boat suffered a head gasket blow out in the late spring, so – with a punch to the gut to our cruising budget! – we had to make the decision to re-power. This process has not gone well, due to a litany of both installation and mechanical failures. We could spend hours discussing this topic alone – we have spent countless hours dealing with it! – but in summary, we are on our fourth gearbox since June, we have had to haul out on three separate occasions to sort out issues, we have had to replace and rebuild various related parts, and much of our agenda has been driven by either being broken down, being fixed, or waiting for parts. We are still not entirely there with it, but we seem to be nearing the last piece of the puzzle. We are very much looking forward to putting this chapter of the trip behind us and getting the peace of mind that we had imagined a new engine would bring. Fingers crossed.

Last but not least, we have continued to take part in various ocean research-related citizen science initiatives, and to engage other cruisers along the way to encourage the same through talks, information sharing, and via yacht club visits and the Baja-HaHa. We have added many new projects to the Citizen Science Directory for Cruisers that we set up on the Free Range Ocean website, and we are now building some exciting initiatives with local partners in the Pacific Islands that will make Freeranger available to support their local ocean conservation projects.

Beach cleans are a regular contribution to our visits. Left: Did this FIFA Russia 2017 replica ball float all the way across the Pacific to Cape Scott? Right: We often carry a pick up bag when out walking in nature in case we come across marine debris. Picture taken in Rugged Cove Provincial Park, B.C..

Next up, our plan is to set off from Mexico in the spring, on a passage to the Pitcairn Islands! Follow us on instagram.

We are very much looking forward to 2025!