They Had a Big Adventure
...Months, nay Years of preparation, trials and tribulations later...
...As an example, the autopilot did not perform consistently,
so we had to hand-steer over 2,000 nautical miles!...
So, with some trepidation and a lot of anticipation, at least for the first
part of the journey to the Sea of Cortez, we set off. Before I relate
these events I'll just comment on Graham as Co-Captain/First mate or
whatever. I cannot speak more highly of his abilities and attitude to the
whole adventure. He approached all of the work and the many 'cruising'
chores with enthusiasm and skill. Honestly, without his expertise you may
well have been fatherless, considering some of the situations he was able to
remedy! He could turn his hand to mechanical, electrical, carpentry and
plumbing jobs equally well. As we went along I became just so much more
aware that he was the right guy to have with me and we teamed well to get to
our destination.
Regretably for him, the pleasurable, restful times were limited as the extra
week it took us to prepare for departure compressed the time we could spend
in the Sea of Cortez. Now 'there's' a place for quiet cruising - clear aqua
waters, soft seas, secluded coves, good fishing (our rods were with Steve,
so I didn't have really suitable gear on board) and diving. This is the
part our family would love!
Our first night crossing was an apprehensive time. We decided to leave
Mazatlan at around 5.30 p.m., the theory being that we would get 3 hours
offshore before losing the light and then have all next day from dawn to
dusk to make La Paz. The previous night 6 boats attempted to make it - 5
returned with their tails between their legs to wait for calmer seas and
lighter winds. So, being the only boat to set out that night, never having
used the lower helm station and never having had the experience of
instrument steering, you can imagine my sphincter was working overtime. The
seas were moderately rough, resulting in a slackening of speed to 1475 RPM -
about 6 - 7 knots with a fair amount of spray over the bow and down the
decks. ( Just backing up a bit, we'd not encountered any bad conditions from
PV to San Blas and Isla Isabella (had a great dive there) then to Mazatlan,
except for one period when things started flying around. We had the dinghy
lashed on the aft upper deck and the outboard motor in the fishing cockpit -
virtually everything else was stowed in the main stateroom on the bed or
floor, leaving me just enough room to sleep. I asked Graham to lash down
the BBQ/Gas bottle box, which moved across the F/B deck and just as he
started this, a wave propelled him from behind me on the Starboard side,
over to the port teak railing, striking his head and flailing his arms and
legs as he fell. I thought for sure he would be seriously injured, as the
blow on the back of his head was very severe. He was quite dazed, even
perhaps some concussion, and for 24 - 48 hours was hurting so much he was
reduced to tears. So that he could rest then, I relieved him and gradually
he recovered and from then on, apart from what seems to be normal cuts,
scratches and bruises, he kept very well, even though his meals were
sporadic (not good for his diabetic condition) and sometimes inadequate, due
to the conditions.) We both lost weight!
So the night crawled on ( - 2 hr. shifts seeming too long when you're 'on'
and too short when you're trying to rest - ) without the calm, everybody
says happens as the wind drops. By morning though, the seas flattened out
and as dawn came, the morning mist revealed beautiful calm 'brilliant deep
blue' water and so it remained for the majority of the day. What a
wonderful experience. The marine life (none on our line) was extraordinary;
whales (we also saw Orcas in PV bay on our seatrial day) dolphins (mega, of
various types) flying fish, Tuna schools etc.
By mid-afternoon, we sighted land - 188 km from Mazatlan and then it seemed
to take forever to make landfall. We rounded Cerrabola Island and headed up
the channel, losing daylight about an hour or two from any anchorage.
Although we had the maritime charts and a detailed one for the La Paz Bay
(courtesy of Jim from High Roller) Graham cut the corner a bit, rather than
rounding the lighted buoy and we grounded momentarily in a shoaled area,
where we thought we could anchor. Fortunately I was on the bow with a
flashlight and Graham felt our bow lift, so a rapid reverse prevented us
getting stuck. The next anchorage was about 5 miles on, according to the
chart, so we plied on in pitch dark, until by radar and faint outline, we
came across the island and made our anchorage in the lea between it an the
mainland.
Next morning though when I awoke and peered out - it felt so good to get
some uninterrupted sleep! - I realised it was not the right island, as the
ferry was to our west, whereas it should have been behind us. A good
example of not using the GPS to give us our precise position! We passed the
right island and anchorage about 3 nm on when we went on in to La Paz to
complete port clearance and refueling. No harm done - just a little
embarassing I'd say.
From La Paz we proceeded north in the sea -to Isla Partida, Agua Verde
(beautiful spot) Loretto and Escondido Bay. Hooked onto a sailfish with an
old glow squid from Peaceful Bay days, but it despatched the lure and line
with a violent shake of its head and then proceeded to leap 6 or 7 times
showing the lure hanging from its mouth. Knowing we had to brave the
Pacific sometime, we cruised south in 3 days, covering about 100 nm a day in
daylight hours, which was very pleasant and arrived in Cabo San Lucas for
fueling, provisioning and waiting for the right time to get underway. We
stayed only one night in the marina (US$50/night) and were docked next to
Chief A 55' Hatteras sportsfisher, with twin 680 hp Detroit diesels and all
the gear imaginable. They left and returned twice during the evening and
night but were battered about at 12 knots, so returned to wait yet another
day. They really wanted out as their insurance expired on June 1 when the
hurricane season onsets.
We despondently mooched out into the bay to wait another day to see if
conditions moderated from the 20 mph winds and 6' - 9' seas. The bay is
beautiful, but the pesky seadoos caused us to roll and sounded something
like Graham when he's sleeping. We anchored in 70' of water - too deep we
knew, as it only gave us 2:1 scope but it was away from the rollers and the
macho seadoo pilots intent on buzzing boats. Swam a couple of times during
the pleasant afternoon, although I was feeling a bit chagrined from one of
the plastic chairs collapsing under me on one roll, with one piece piercing
my posterior!
That night we puttered in the dinghy into Cabo for dinner which G & I
enjoyed. I've never seen him laugh so much - he really did take great
delight in all of his new experiences. In many ways he's like my brother
Trev as he never did figure out those PESSOS! When we returned about 11.00
p.m. tha boat was GONE - if you can believe? Since we hadn't passed it on
the way back out, we quickly figured the tide must have changed and it was
heading back to P.V. In this Bay there were about 20 yachts anchored, so we
wended our way through them for about a km and saw AKII sidling up to a
$15million Italian pleasure craft about 100 ft. long! Graham winched in the
anchor - yes, the windlass works - while I started the motors and got us out
of there as quickly as we could. Red faced, but grateful for the cover of
night, we made our way back to our position and anchored in 15 ft. of
water - the seadoos on the morrow being the last of our considerations!
Just how AK danced through the minefield without hitting anything, or
fouling anchors, we don't know, but I guess we would have heard about it if
we had. What a break eh?
The weather fax we looked at didn't seem to offer any short term improvement
in the conditions, so we elected to give the Cabo - Mag Bay leg a shot that
afternoon at 4.00 p.m. With 155 nm across, it was a bit of a frightening
prospect, as guys like Doug and Ken love to regale you with stories of the
difficulties they have experienced - indeed Doug's last delivery had to be
aborted when 2 of the through-hulls blew out on the yacht he was delivering,
causing him to abandon his attempt after he got it safely back to Cabo.
The first time we turned into the Pacific, losing the protection of the
Baja, the force of the wind really hit us and we knew our joy riding days
were over! For 4 or 5 hours we made ground along the coast, but couldn't
hug it forever, so set a course - fortunately head on into the waves and
........
...CABO TO L.A.