It is now May 3 and Bob has been away for 6 weeks. The first week was difficult for me even though Bob was in the marina in Mazatlan. I kept thinking of his trip and worrying that he would be hurt or fall overboard..yes I have a vivid imagination. Patches, our dog, was also missing Bob, and still is. He has become very attached to our male neighbours. Just as an aside, yesterday when I was leaving him, he went and sat at their door!!
As time has passed I have become more accustomed to being on my own. I have never minded living alone as I do enjoy that freedom, but just as Bob missed me to talk about the days's aventures or mundane issues, I missed him for the same reason.
Whereas Bob was very solitary on the boat, I have a great network of friends here who support me if and when I need support. My social calendar has been full!!
When Bob was at anchor or doing a day sail, I really wasn't concerned but every time he had an overnighter, I did not sleep. In fact when he returned from the Baja I was awake every hour and finally got up at 6 am!! And yes when I did not hear from Bob for 24 hr, I did have a meltdown. Thank goodness I have a great neighbour who lent me a shoulder to cry on, literally and metaphorically.
I look forward to seeing Bob tomorrow and hearing all about his adventures. He should have some great photos for me to post. Look for photos.
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Bob's Trip April 29 - May 1
April 29, 2012
This morning I was up at 5:00 am. I made and ate breakfast and prepared the
Deanna B to go to sea. I hauled up the anchor at 6:00 am and
headed out. All the weather forecasts called for northwest winds.
When I was about 2 nm off shore I sent Deanna a spot message so that
she would know that I had left the bay and was heading out to sea. I
was under sail with a NW wind and was making 7 knots. My chart
plotter gave my estimated time to Mazatlan as 27 hrs. Things were
going great. Then the wind changed to the southeast. I slowed to
nearly a stand still. I started the engine and motored. The best I
could do was to get the wind to 20 to 30 degrees off my bow. The
headsail came down because it was just slowing me down. All the
forecasts had called for NW winds. The course was 105 degrees.
Should I set a course to the NE and wait for the forecasted winds to
change and allow me to sail back south to Mazatlan? The winds
increased to 15 to 20 knots but continued to blow from 125 to 135
degrees. By 12:00 noon I was down to 4.5 knots and the chart plotter
was now giving my time to Mazatlan as 40hrs. That is disappointing
when you sail for 6 hrs and your ETA has increased
by 13 hrs. As the wind increased, I set the mainsail just right
and by motoring at 2200 rpm I was able to get the speed back up to nearly
6 knots. This made me feel a little better but with the increase in
wind speeds the seas grew as time went on and that did drop my speed
again. As it got dark the winds did drop and with them the seas. I
motored on with the winds still coming from the same direction and at that point I was cursing
all the weather forecasters in the world.
April 30, 2012
By daylight the winds had shifted another 10 degrees to the south. I
was still motor sailing at the same rpm but I was able to get the
headsail back up and my speed back up to 6.5 to 7 knots. By 12:00 I
was only 20 nm from Mazatlan and passing through fog banks. When I left
the Baha I was able to see the mountains until I was nearly
50 nm off shore because of the clear dry air. I was now unable to see the
coast near Mazatlan until I was less than 10 nm of shore. Back into
the high humidity!
When I arrived at Mazatlan at 3:30 pm the channel
into the marina had been closed because of the size of the waves at
the mouth of the channel caused by 36 hrs of SE winds. This forced me
to motor 5 nm south to Stone Island to find a rough anchorage for the
night. The waves were breaking and big enough to surf on .. around the point and the islandenough, but by coming straight in between them on large but
not breaking rollers I was able to anchor. I ran out 150 ft. of
anchor chain even though I was only anchored in 20 ft. of water. I
was not taking any chances of dragging onto the beach behind me.
There was one other boat anchored in the same area. I was very tired
but I sent Deanna a spot message and then called her to let her know
why I hadn’t gone into the marina. I was able to heat some soup on
the stove even though the boat was rocking at a pretty good rate. As I sat in
the cockpit eating my soup I watched some fishermen setting their nets
seaward of me and I wondered how they expected them to stay there in
these seas. By 7:00 I was in my bunk and sound asleep. After 38 hrs
with only 45 minutes of sleep it is very easy to go to sleep.
May 1, 2012
When I woke up at 7:00 this morning both boats were gift wrapped in
those damn fishing nets. The fishermen were working at unraveling the
mess. The other boat was free first and it was of out of the bay and
heading back towards the channel into the marinas. 30 minutes later I
was free and following. When we arrived at the channel there were
still large seas running into the mouth. It was interesting looking
up at the number of people on the cliffs above.. with their cameras, and
watching to see if the sailboats would be successful surfing into the
narrow channel without winding up on the rocks.... and we were
successful!
Deanna B did turn slightly to port as the wave picked her
up from the rear but I was able to straighten her out again in time to
make the channel. Surfing into a narrow channel on big seas is
something that I do not enjoy doing. Later I was talking to a sailor
who was waiting to go out through the channel and he said that after
watching us coming in he decided to wait another day before attempting
to leave. After tying up at my slip I had a very appreciated shower
and breakfast at Gus y Gus restaurant. My plans are to spend 2 days
getting Deanna B ready to leave for 3 months and then drive home to
Patzcuaro on Friday. The happy end to another successful voyage.
--
This morning I was up at 5:00 am. I made and ate breakfast and prepared the
Deanna B to go to sea. I hauled up the anchor at 6:00 am and
headed out. All the weather forecasts called for northwest winds.
When I was about 2 nm off shore I sent Deanna a spot message so that
she would know that I had left the bay and was heading out to sea. I
was under sail with a NW wind and was making 7 knots. My chart
plotter gave my estimated time to Mazatlan as 27 hrs. Things were
going great. Then the wind changed to the southeast. I slowed to
nearly a stand still. I started the engine and motored. The best I
could do was to get the wind to 20 to 30 degrees off my bow. The
headsail came down because it was just slowing me down. All the
forecasts had called for NW winds. The course was 105 degrees.
Should I set a course to the NE and wait for the forecasted winds to
change and allow me to sail back south to Mazatlan? The winds
increased to 15 to 20 knots but continued to blow from 125 to 135
degrees. By 12:00 noon I was down to 4.5 knots and the chart plotter
was now giving my time to Mazatlan as 40hrs. That is disappointing
when you sail for 6 hrs and your ETA has increased
by 13 hrs. As the wind increased, I set the mainsail just right
and by motoring at 2200 rpm I was able to get the speed back up to nearly
6 knots. This made me feel a little better but with the increase in
wind speeds the seas grew as time went on and that did drop my speed
again. As it got dark the winds did drop and with them the seas. I
motored on with the winds still coming from the same direction and at that point I was cursing
all the weather forecasters in the world.
April 30, 2012
By daylight the winds had shifted another 10 degrees to the south. I
was still motor sailing at the same rpm but I was able to get the
headsail back up and my speed back up to 6.5 to 7 knots. By 12:00 I
was only 20 nm from Mazatlan and passing through fog banks. When I left
the Baha I was able to see the mountains until I was nearly
50 nm off shore because of the clear dry air. I was now unable to see the
coast near Mazatlan until I was less than 10 nm of shore. Back into
the high humidity!
When I arrived at Mazatlan at 3:30 pm the channel
into the marina had been closed because of the size of the waves at
the mouth of the channel caused by 36 hrs of SE winds. This forced me
to motor 5 nm south to Stone Island to find a rough anchorage for the
night. The waves were breaking and big enough to surf on .. around the point and the islandenough, but by coming straight in between them on large but
not breaking rollers I was able to anchor. I ran out 150 ft. of
anchor chain even though I was only anchored in 20 ft. of water. I
was not taking any chances of dragging onto the beach behind me.
There was one other boat anchored in the same area. I was very tired
but I sent Deanna a spot message and then called her to let her know
why I hadn’t gone into the marina. I was able to heat some soup on
the stove even though the boat was rocking at a pretty good rate. As I sat in
the cockpit eating my soup I watched some fishermen setting their nets
seaward of me and I wondered how they expected them to stay there in
these seas. By 7:00 I was in my bunk and sound asleep. After 38 hrs
with only 45 minutes of sleep it is very easy to go to sleep.
May 1, 2012
When I woke up at 7:00 this morning both boats were gift wrapped in
those damn fishing nets. The fishermen were working at unraveling the
mess. The other boat was free first and it was of out of the bay and
heading back towards the channel into the marinas. 30 minutes later I
was free and following. When we arrived at the channel there were
still large seas running into the mouth. It was interesting looking
up at the number of people on the cliffs above.. with their cameras, and
watching to see if the sailboats would be successful surfing into the
narrow channel without winding up on the rocks.... and we were
successful!
Deanna B did turn slightly to port as the wave picked her
up from the rear but I was able to straighten her out again in time to
make the channel. Surfing into a narrow channel on big seas is
something that I do not enjoy doing. Later I was talking to a sailor
who was waiting to go out through the channel and he said that after
watching us coming in he decided to wait another day before attempting
to leave. After tying up at my slip I had a very appreciated shower
and breakfast at Gus y Gus restaurant. My plans are to spend 2 days
getting Deanna B ready to leave for 3 months and then drive home to
Patzcuaro on Friday. The happy end to another successful voyage.
--
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Bob's Blog from April 17 - 28
April 17-22, 2012
These days were spent wandering around La Pas and lounging on the boat.
April 23, 2012
Today I was off again. Up at 6:45 so that I could be ashore by 7:30
in order to make the ½ hour walk to the Port Captain’s office for 8:00
to pick up my departure papers. The office was actually open by 8:10
so I was out by 8:15 with my papers. Back to the marina by 8:45 for a
shower and breakfast. I had actually hauled anchor and was motoring
out the 4.5 mile channel by 10:15. This was good because high tide
was at 11:50 so if I had trouble with any of the bars on the way out I
would have still had a chance of floating free at high tide. It is
always interesting how, as one leaves a port, that you looked so hard to
find your way into, how simple it seems now. Oh well it should be a
snap next time. As the speed of the boat and the wind speed were
identical and the wind direction indicator showed the wind right on
the nose I motored. The wind later shifted 30 degrees off the nose and
registered 7 knots so I ran up the main and tried sailing. When the
best I could get was 1.5 knots no matter how I approached this wind, I
went back to motor sailing. At least by doing this I could maintain
5.5 knots on this flat sea at 2000 RPMs. At this speed I can
stretch close to three hours out of a gallon of fuel with my little
3GM30F Yanmar. And that is about how long it took me to reach
Ensenada de la Raza which is a small bay on Isla Espiritu Santo. The
bay is very well protected by the high cliffs around it and Isla Gallo
(Rooster Island), from every direction but on the south. Any bets on
which direction the wind will come out of tonight? This is a
beautiful bay. The water is an emerald green because of the white
sand below it with a white sand beach at the head of the bay. The bay
is surrounded by sandstone cliffs. Many birds have dug into these
cliffs to make nests. There is a sea turtle that keeps circling the
boat and sticking his head out of the water to look at me. It is very
hot in this bay because of the high cliffs surrounding it. The down
side is that there are many tiny flies. They don’t bite but they do
irritate one. I don’t know for sure but I would guess that they are
the Bobos that people talk about around here. I won’t be cooking
diner until later with this heat. This is a time for sitting beside a
Dodo coil and drinking beer. I sent Deanna a spot message to let her
know where I am but there is no Banda Ancha signal here for email. I
will try my cell phone later on.
Well no luck with contacting Deanna. No cell phone coverage either.
Earlier when I thought that there was a sea turtle swimming around the
boat I was wrong. There are dozens of sea turtles everywhere in this
bay. So it wasn’t just one turtle swimming around the boat it was
many different turtles.
I have never seen the sea as alive as I see it tonight. First of all
it is absolutely flat which does make me a little nervous. And when I
sit in the cockpit, the water is alive with sea life. Something was knocking
the dingy back and forth so I decided to hoist it out of the water.
When I turned on the deck light there were schools of fish shooting
back and forth just below the surface. As I reached into the water to
attach the hoisting lines to the dingy I watched hundreds of fish
swimming around my hand. The sea was actually frothing with life.
April 24, 2012
Well the sea stayed relatively calm last night, but the boat was rolling a
bit this morning ..really nothing to speak of. I was able to make coffee
and eggs with no problem. I had the anchor up and was gone shortly
after 8:00. The down side to the calm night was that there was also
no wind to sail with this morning. I hoisted the main, mostly because
it made me feel better, and motored for 4 hours over a very flat sea
to Isla San Francisco. There is a very pretty crescent shaped bay on
the south side of the island. When I arrived there were boats
anchored all along the beach. The sailing guide suggested anchoring
at the northwest end of the beach. This spot was open so I took it.
Since then the boats in the middle left and most of the new arrivals
have crowded into the bay at the other end of the beach. Once again I
wonder what they know about this bay that I and the person that wrote
the guide don’t. Oh well. The bay again has a white sand bottom and
very clear water. I could watch the anchor chain dropping onto the
sea floor 25 ft. below.
I sent Deanna another spot message to let her
know that I am here. Again no Banda Ancha or cell reception. I
figure that in the morning I’ll pack my laptop and cell phone into the
backpack, row into shore and climb to the top of one of the big hills
around the bay to see if I can get a signal from there. I don’t have
much hope but I’ll give it a try. This is a very remote area for cell
towers. But I am suprised how many boats that I have seen along the
mainland are here. I rowed into shore today and walked across the
island to the bay directly across from here and there were 7 boats
anchored there. The water is beautiful around this island but the
land is sand, cactus and dry shrubs. This is the kind of place that
one keeps a sharp watch for rattle snakes when hiking around. So far
there has been no repeat of the sea life that I saw last night. Mind
you something has been rattling the anchor chain. I would expect that
to be the dolphins that I saw coming into the bay before dark.
April 25, 2012
Well this morning I climbed up the hill and as expected no Banda Ancha
or cell phone reception. Great spot to take photos from though and a
fantastic view. The no reception is interesting because I can listen
to the net on VHF from 44 km away in La Paz. I did learn some things
on my walks around the island today. First most of the white sand
beaches end above the water line and then it becomes gravel. That
probably explains the very clear water in the bay. Secondly I have
decided that my worry about rattle snakes was unfounded. Even thought
the land around here is identical to Arizona desert it is an island.
So unless someone accidently or purposely brought them to the island
or some rattler decided to become a long distance salt water swimmer
they are most likely not here. I haven’t seen one at any rate. But I
do still watch for them when I walk. I will most likely spend at least
two more days here. Last forecast that I could get called for 20 –25
knot winds here for tomorrow. The winds today were very light and
from the southwest. I will wait for them to shift back to the
northwest. Those are the winds that I will need for a good sail back
to Mazatlan. I will watch the winds and decide whether or not I will
sail for Mazatlan from here or head back south to Bahia los Muetos and
sail across the sea from there. I am getting more used to being on my
own but it is more fun sharing places like this with someone else. I
don’t mind the sailing on my own. In fact when the weather really
gets bad I would rather be on my own. If at some point I really screw
up and have to pay the ultimate price I would rather pay it alone.
And I have never felt that I have needed someone to help me sail the
boat better. Other then I get pretty tired sometimes when I can’t get
the sleep I need. But when I get to where I am going it is nice to
have someone to share that experience with. I am not saying anything
negative about other solo sailors. I have nothing but respect for
these people because I have been there and done that. I am just
describing how I feel. In some ways I am a bit of a sentimental wimp.
April 26, 2012
Well today the winds were a little stronger from the NW and it was
cloudy. After breakfast this morning I rowed into shore again and
went for another hike through the hills. The hills are made up of a
lot of loose shale. You have to be careful on the slopes because it
would be really easy to start sliding. This could result in anything
from a loss of shin to sliding over a 100 ft. cliff down to the
seashore. I took some photos today of the terrain, a couple of
turkey vultures, and one of the little lizards that run around on the
ground. When I got back to the beach I went for a swim. I think that
the water is warming up. A little. The big 'around the island' race is
supposed to take place tomorrow. I imagine that is why more boats
than usual showed up in the bay today. When the winds shifted to the
NW last night I was glad that I was anchored close to the cliffs at
the NW end of the bay. I am not sure yet but if the weather is ok
when I get up Saturday I’ll most likely make the run back south to
Bahia Los Muertos. That gives me a shorter route across the Sea of
Cortez back to Mazatlan. It also gives me a more easterly course
across the sea which I hope will give me a better angle to the wind.
April 27, 2012
Well I wasn’t going to leave Isla San Francisco until tomorrow but
when I got up this morning the weather looked fine so after coffee I
hauled anchor and headed for Bahia Los Muertos. It is a long sail for
one day nearly 70 nm. I left sending my spot fix until I was about 5
nm away from the island so that Deanna would know that I was on the
move again. What I didn’t realize at that time is that I had
forgotten to send out my spot fix the night before so she was already
worried. The sail was not bad from Isla San Francisco until almost to
the south end of Isla Cerralvo. Because I knew that I had a long way
to go and that I had started a little late I chose the most direct
route. This took me on the outside of Islas Partida and Espiritu
Santo which was a little bumpy because the seas were still running
fairly high from the winds that had been blowing the day and night
before. My course then took me between Isla Cerralvo and the Baja.
The sailing guide had warned of the currents that could be running
through this channel. When I had gone north through the same channel
last week, it had been morning and there was very little wind. But I had
noticed that between the south end of the island and the coast where
the channel is the narrowest, about 5 nm, there was about a 2 nm wide
stretch where there was only 180 ft. of water. On either side of this
stretch the water averaged about 600 ft. Today however I was running
down wind with about 20 knots of wind behind me and about 6ft. waves
right on the stern. When I hit the shallower water the current seemed
to really pick up. The auto pilot couldn’t keep up and I had to hand
steer through this area. The auto pilot cannot anticipate which way
the boat is going to spin and by the time it reacts the boat is facing
back into the wind. What I am still trying to figure out is if this
is a wind current, and the wind was hitting the channel at the perfect
angle, why would the depth have so much effect on the currents speed.
Wind currents usually only effect surface water. Mind you this is also
the narrowest part of the channel so who knows. I guess that there
could also be a deeper current running through there that combines
with the wind current. Whatever causes it makes for an interesting
ride. After I got over the shallow stretch the auto pilot had no
problem keeping up. I arrived at the anchorage right at dark. About
a mile out I could see where the other boats were anchored so I didn’t
want to stop to lower my mainsail because I would lose track of them.
I find that when it first gets dark it is the worst time for seeing boats at anchor as people
don't turn on their anchor lights until later. Some people aren’t back on their boats
yet and others just haven’t thought to turn them on yet. That is one
reason that I like anchor lights that turn themselves on as it gets
dark. At any rate I came into the anchorage under mainsail and
dropped anchor. When you have enough room this is a very safe tactic.
I wound up having to switch on the deck light to take down the
mainsail but I was in.
When I phoned Deanna I was in trouble for not
sending a spot message the night before. Sometimes you cannot get
them to work, in very rough seas as it is very difficult for it to get a
fix on the satellites, and at other times one can just forget as I
did. When the person at home is used to receiving the canned message
saying that everything is fine every morning and evening and it
doesn’t come in they instantly think the worst. At any rate I’ll have
to come up with a better communications system. More money.
I made a late dinner and was in bed by 10:30.
April 28, 2012
Today I must admit that I slept in until 7:30. When I was sitting in
the cockpit having my coffee, most of the boats that are heading north
into the Sea of Cortez, left. There are now only three of us anchored
here. I then put more money on my Banda Ancha. This allowed me to
get onto the internet to check the weather but it has been very
overcast so I can’t get a strong enough signal to use my email. I
then replaced some stripped bolts on the windlass, topped up the
fuel, checked the batteries for water, checked the engine oil and
the stuffing box. I am ready to head out on the 190 nm sail across
the sea to Mazatlan tomorrow morning.
NOTE from Deanna
Bob arrived in Mazatlan yesterday afternoon but was unable to enter the marina until today. The winds had created enough wave action so the channel into the marina had been closed. Today Bob is enjoying hot showers and restaurant food!!
These days were spent wandering around La Pas and lounging on the boat.
April 23, 2012
Today I was off again. Up at 6:45 so that I could be ashore by 7:30
in order to make the ½ hour walk to the Port Captain’s office for 8:00
to pick up my departure papers. The office was actually open by 8:10
so I was out by 8:15 with my papers. Back to the marina by 8:45 for a
shower and breakfast. I had actually hauled anchor and was motoring
out the 4.5 mile channel by 10:15. This was good because high tide
was at 11:50 so if I had trouble with any of the bars on the way out I
would have still had a chance of floating free at high tide. It is
always interesting how, as one leaves a port, that you looked so hard to
find your way into, how simple it seems now. Oh well it should be a
snap next time. As the speed of the boat and the wind speed were
identical and the wind direction indicator showed the wind right on
the nose I motored. The wind later shifted 30 degrees off the nose and
registered 7 knots so I ran up the main and tried sailing. When the
best I could get was 1.5 knots no matter how I approached this wind, I
went back to motor sailing. At least by doing this I could maintain
5.5 knots on this flat sea at 2000 RPMs. At this speed I can
stretch close to three hours out of a gallon of fuel with my little
3GM30F Yanmar. And that is about how long it took me to reach
Ensenada de la Raza which is a small bay on Isla Espiritu Santo. The
bay is very well protected by the high cliffs around it and Isla Gallo
(Rooster Island), from every direction but on the south. Any bets on
which direction the wind will come out of tonight? This is a
beautiful bay. The water is an emerald green because of the white
sand below it with a white sand beach at the head of the bay. The bay
is surrounded by sandstone cliffs. Many birds have dug into these
cliffs to make nests. There is a sea turtle that keeps circling the
boat and sticking his head out of the water to look at me. It is very
hot in this bay because of the high cliffs surrounding it. The down
side is that there are many tiny flies. They don’t bite but they do
irritate one. I don’t know for sure but I would guess that they are
the Bobos that people talk about around here. I won’t be cooking
diner until later with this heat. This is a time for sitting beside a
Dodo coil and drinking beer. I sent Deanna a spot message to let her
know where I am but there is no Banda Ancha signal here for email. I
will try my cell phone later on.
Well no luck with contacting Deanna. No cell phone coverage either.
Earlier when I thought that there was a sea turtle swimming around the
boat I was wrong. There are dozens of sea turtles everywhere in this
bay. So it wasn’t just one turtle swimming around the boat it was
many different turtles.
I have never seen the sea as alive as I see it tonight. First of all
it is absolutely flat which does make me a little nervous. And when I
sit in the cockpit, the water is alive with sea life. Something was knocking
the dingy back and forth so I decided to hoist it out of the water.
When I turned on the deck light there were schools of fish shooting
back and forth just below the surface. As I reached into the water to
attach the hoisting lines to the dingy I watched hundreds of fish
swimming around my hand. The sea was actually frothing with life.
April 24, 2012
Well the sea stayed relatively calm last night, but the boat was rolling a
bit this morning ..really nothing to speak of. I was able to make coffee
and eggs with no problem. I had the anchor up and was gone shortly
after 8:00. The down side to the calm night was that there was also
no wind to sail with this morning. I hoisted the main, mostly because
it made me feel better, and motored for 4 hours over a very flat sea
to Isla San Francisco. There is a very pretty crescent shaped bay on
the south side of the island. When I arrived there were boats
anchored all along the beach. The sailing guide suggested anchoring
at the northwest end of the beach. This spot was open so I took it.
Since then the boats in the middle left and most of the new arrivals
have crowded into the bay at the other end of the beach. Once again I
wonder what they know about this bay that I and the person that wrote
the guide don’t. Oh well. The bay again has a white sand bottom and
very clear water. I could watch the anchor chain dropping onto the
sea floor 25 ft. below.
I sent Deanna another spot message to let her
know that I am here. Again no Banda Ancha or cell reception. I
figure that in the morning I’ll pack my laptop and cell phone into the
backpack, row into shore and climb to the top of one of the big hills
around the bay to see if I can get a signal from there. I don’t have
much hope but I’ll give it a try. This is a very remote area for cell
towers. But I am suprised how many boats that I have seen along the
mainland are here. I rowed into shore today and walked across the
island to the bay directly across from here and there were 7 boats
anchored there. The water is beautiful around this island but the
land is sand, cactus and dry shrubs. This is the kind of place that
one keeps a sharp watch for rattle snakes when hiking around. So far
there has been no repeat of the sea life that I saw last night. Mind
you something has been rattling the anchor chain. I would expect that
to be the dolphins that I saw coming into the bay before dark.
April 25, 2012
Well this morning I climbed up the hill and as expected no Banda Ancha
or cell phone reception. Great spot to take photos from though and a
fantastic view. The no reception is interesting because I can listen
to the net on VHF from 44 km away in La Paz. I did learn some things
on my walks around the island today. First most of the white sand
beaches end above the water line and then it becomes gravel. That
probably explains the very clear water in the bay. Secondly I have
decided that my worry about rattle snakes was unfounded. Even thought
the land around here is identical to Arizona desert it is an island.
So unless someone accidently or purposely brought them to the island
or some rattler decided to become a long distance salt water swimmer
they are most likely not here. I haven’t seen one at any rate. But I
do still watch for them when I walk. I will most likely spend at least
two more days here. Last forecast that I could get called for 20 –25
knot winds here for tomorrow. The winds today were very light and
from the southwest. I will wait for them to shift back to the
northwest. Those are the winds that I will need for a good sail back
to Mazatlan. I will watch the winds and decide whether or not I will
sail for Mazatlan from here or head back south to Bahia los Muetos and
sail across the sea from there. I am getting more used to being on my
own but it is more fun sharing places like this with someone else. I
don’t mind the sailing on my own. In fact when the weather really
gets bad I would rather be on my own. If at some point I really screw
up and have to pay the ultimate price I would rather pay it alone.
And I have never felt that I have needed someone to help me sail the
boat better. Other then I get pretty tired sometimes when I can’t get
the sleep I need. But when I get to where I am going it is nice to
have someone to share that experience with. I am not saying anything
negative about other solo sailors. I have nothing but respect for
these people because I have been there and done that. I am just
describing how I feel. In some ways I am a bit of a sentimental wimp.
April 26, 2012
Well today the winds were a little stronger from the NW and it was
cloudy. After breakfast this morning I rowed into shore again and
went for another hike through the hills. The hills are made up of a
lot of loose shale. You have to be careful on the slopes because it
would be really easy to start sliding. This could result in anything
from a loss of shin to sliding over a 100 ft. cliff down to the
seashore. I took some photos today of the terrain, a couple of
turkey vultures, and one of the little lizards that run around on the
ground. When I got back to the beach I went for a swim. I think that
the water is warming up. A little. The big 'around the island' race is
supposed to take place tomorrow. I imagine that is why more boats
than usual showed up in the bay today. When the winds shifted to the
NW last night I was glad that I was anchored close to the cliffs at
the NW end of the bay. I am not sure yet but if the weather is ok
when I get up Saturday I’ll most likely make the run back south to
Bahia Los Muertos. That gives me a shorter route across the Sea of
Cortez back to Mazatlan. It also gives me a more easterly course
across the sea which I hope will give me a better angle to the wind.
April 27, 2012
Well I wasn’t going to leave Isla San Francisco until tomorrow but
when I got up this morning the weather looked fine so after coffee I
hauled anchor and headed for Bahia Los Muertos. It is a long sail for
one day nearly 70 nm. I left sending my spot fix until I was about 5
nm away from the island so that Deanna would know that I was on the
move again. What I didn’t realize at that time is that I had
forgotten to send out my spot fix the night before so she was already
worried. The sail was not bad from Isla San Francisco until almost to
the south end of Isla Cerralvo. Because I knew that I had a long way
to go and that I had started a little late I chose the most direct
route. This took me on the outside of Islas Partida and Espiritu
Santo which was a little bumpy because the seas were still running
fairly high from the winds that had been blowing the day and night
before. My course then took me between Isla Cerralvo and the Baja.
The sailing guide had warned of the currents that could be running
through this channel. When I had gone north through the same channel
last week, it had been morning and there was very little wind. But I had
noticed that between the south end of the island and the coast where
the channel is the narrowest, about 5 nm, there was about a 2 nm wide
stretch where there was only 180 ft. of water. On either side of this
stretch the water averaged about 600 ft. Today however I was running
down wind with about 20 knots of wind behind me and about 6ft. waves
right on the stern. When I hit the shallower water the current seemed
to really pick up. The auto pilot couldn’t keep up and I had to hand
steer through this area. The auto pilot cannot anticipate which way
the boat is going to spin and by the time it reacts the boat is facing
back into the wind. What I am still trying to figure out is if this
is a wind current, and the wind was hitting the channel at the perfect
angle, why would the depth have so much effect on the currents speed.
Wind currents usually only effect surface water. Mind you this is also
the narrowest part of the channel so who knows. I guess that there
could also be a deeper current running through there that combines
with the wind current. Whatever causes it makes for an interesting
ride. After I got over the shallow stretch the auto pilot had no
problem keeping up. I arrived at the anchorage right at dark. About
a mile out I could see where the other boats were anchored so I didn’t
want to stop to lower my mainsail because I would lose track of them.
I find that when it first gets dark it is the worst time for seeing boats at anchor as people
don't turn on their anchor lights until later. Some people aren’t back on their boats
yet and others just haven’t thought to turn them on yet. That is one
reason that I like anchor lights that turn themselves on as it gets
dark. At any rate I came into the anchorage under mainsail and
dropped anchor. When you have enough room this is a very safe tactic.
I wound up having to switch on the deck light to take down the
mainsail but I was in.
When I phoned Deanna I was in trouble for not
sending a spot message the night before. Sometimes you cannot get
them to work, in very rough seas as it is very difficult for it to get a
fix on the satellites, and at other times one can just forget as I
did. When the person at home is used to receiving the canned message
saying that everything is fine every morning and evening and it
doesn’t come in they instantly think the worst. At any rate I’ll have
to come up with a better communications system. More money.
I made a late dinner and was in bed by 10:30.
April 28, 2012
Today I must admit that I slept in until 7:30. When I was sitting in
the cockpit having my coffee, most of the boats that are heading north
into the Sea of Cortez, left. There are now only three of us anchored
here. I then put more money on my Banda Ancha. This allowed me to
get onto the internet to check the weather but it has been very
overcast so I can’t get a strong enough signal to use my email. I
then replaced some stripped bolts on the windlass, topped up the
fuel, checked the batteries for water, checked the engine oil and
the stuffing box. I am ready to head out on the 190 nm sail across
the sea to Mazatlan tomorrow morning.
NOTE from Deanna
Bob arrived in Mazatlan yesterday afternoon but was unable to enter the marina until today. The winds had created enough wave action so the channel into the marina had been closed. Today Bob is enjoying hot showers and restaurant food!!
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Another post from Bob
Bob will be in La Paz for a few more days, depending on the winds. They are to calm by tomorrow but who knows??
April 16, 2012
Well I was up at 7:30 today so that I could listen to the VHF net at 8:00. I even went on as a new arrival to the area, which is rare for me, because I don’t like talking on the radio. Someone came on the net this morning and said that he had found a sea snake in his dingy so he felt that he should be warning the rest of us to be careful. A sea snake is far more deadly then a king cobra. The saving grace is that their fangs are set far back in their mouth so unless it finds somewhere, like between your toes, it has a hard time delivering all of this grief (many bare footed third world fishermen have been killed by sea snakes when they have accidentally land them with their catch).
I live on the boat on my bare feet. The last thing I need to worry about is a sea snake in the dingy. I have always hung the dingy out of the water from a halyard to make it harder to steal. Now I have to worry about sea snakes. It will soon be hanging from the masthead 45 ft. above the water!
After the net I took the dingy (after checking for sea snakes) back into the La Paz Marina. There I had a nice hot shower and then went looking for fan belts. I even found cogged belts at Quaker State. I have been looking for them in the size that I need for about 2 years, and haven’t been able to find them until now. I am hoping that they will take the load without the slipping problem. I bought 3 cogged belts and 1 standard. Just in case. I then walked to the Mega and did some shopping. The mile walk there was nice but the one back with all the plastic bags cutting the circulation of in my fingers wasn’t great. Yes Deanna I should have taken a cab. Then, because I was told in the marina office that it was standard policy to just check in on the radio with the Port Captain, I loaded my stuff in the dingy and went back across the harbour to the boat. The wind is still blowing out of the north at 15-20 kmh which made for a bumpy dingy ride. When I got back to the boat I attempted calling the Port Captain on channel 16. Half of Mexico were taking on 16, which is only to be used before calling; then you are to go to another channel. With everyone speaking Spanish over everyone else I finally gave up. Back in the dingy, back across the harbour and then I walked the 2 miles to the Port Captain’s office. Seeing that all that I had to carry were my boat documents it was a nice walk. By the time that I got back to the boat it was 4:00 pm. I spent a pretty quiet afternoon and I expect that it will be another early night.
Sunday, April 15, 2012
This is Bob's Log
Deanna B Log
Bob Burton
Log 2012 April trip to Sea of Cortez
April 10, 2012
Got away from the dock in Mazatlan this morning at 8:00 AM. Even
though I pushed things a little, because I wanted an early start, and
left only 2 hours after low tide, I still had 4 ft. of water under the
keel when I went out through the channel. All the weather forecasts
called for 5 to 10 knots winds until the afternoon of the 11th and
then they were to increase during that evening and the next day to 15
to 20 knots. After 2hrs of motoring west on a course to La Paz with
no winds suddenly I had winds from the SW at about 10 knots. I set
both sails and could sail. The wind increased to 18 knots and, even
though I was sailing only 50 degrees of the wind, I was now sailing at
between 7.5 and 8 knots. During the afternoon the winds dropped
back to about 10 knots but I was still making over 6 knots so I was
very happy. At this rate I would be into La Paz on the afternoon of
the 11th ahead of the forecast 20 knot winds from the NW. I saw
little sea life. A few flying fish, one ray that did his usual jump
and flap back onto the water and one seal that startled me when he
stuck his head out of the water beside the boat and then slowly swam
off on the surface toward the mainland. I must admit that I did
wonder about these non forecast SW winds. Was there such a low
somewhere to the north that it was drawing these warm winds into it?
I dozed in the cockpit during the afternoon and enjoyed the warm
breeze. There was a lovely sunset and I even got the green flash, and
then the horizon lit up in a beautiful red. Things looked good.
April 11, 2012
Things started out this morning much as they were going along
yesterday. I was still making excellent time. I was sitting in the
cockpit thinking about how impressed Deanna would be when she got the
Spot message showing how far that I had come since leaving Mazatlan.
At 2:30 AM I was only 85km of the coast of the Baja. Suddenly the
wind just quit. Strange I thought. Then the temp dropped 10 degrees
in 20 min. Wholly s…! I furled the headsail as fast as I could. By
the time I got a second reef in the mainsail I was getting over 25
knot winds out of the NW. I was thinking of what friends said “If
there are forecast winds that you don’t want double them”. I was now
in my foul weather gear and it was foul weather. The waves were now
10 ft. with very little time between them and many were beginning to
break. This meant that I was getting a lot of water in the cockpit.
There were things starting to slide around on the sole of the cabin.
And I started to get water down the companion way. I closed the main
hatch. I must remember to put a latch on that because I had to open
it every so often to check the radar and my auto pilot controls are
down there so I didn’t want to lock it and it kept flying open in
these wild seas. I could still make way (5-6 knots) by motor sailing
because the winds were 30 degrees off my nose. This made very
uncomfortable going because of the angle at which I was hitting the
seas. The boat would come off the face of the waves half land on its
side in the trough the auto pilot would moan as it shoved the rudder
over to climb up the face of the next wave on an angle. The winds
were now hitting 35 knots at times and because they had been forecast
from the NW for the next 4 days I didn’t want to hove to for that long
to wait this whether out. By dawn I was cold and tired and still 65
nautical miles off shore. I tried to send Deanna a spot message to
let her know that I hadn’t sunk but the spot couldn’t get a fix on the
satellites because of all the pitching and rolling the boat was doing.
I wound up on my knees in the bottom of the cockpit trying to
compensate for the movement of the boat with my hands and at the same
time protect the spot from the breaking waves. If anyone could have
seen me I’m sure that they would have thought that I was preying for
salvation. I found a bay about 30 miles south of La Paz called Los
Muertos. It wasn’t very comforting to be trying to fight my way into
a place called Dead Men Bay but I have since discovered that it was
named for the dead men anchors that were used here at one time. Dead
men anchors were huge stones with holes drilled through them for
mooring lines that were dumped on the bottom of the bay with floats
above them so ships could tie up to them. The knots were slowly
ticking off. 40, 30, 20. At 10 miles off I could see the dunes
behind the beach. I was very cold and very tired. The charts showed
deep water along a 400 yd. beach with reefs at either end. My plan
was to make a pass through the bay under sail and motor. If it looked
like it could be done I would go back in with an anchoring plan. If
not I would be forced to go back out about 10 miles from the coast
hove to and try to sleep on the sole of the cabin and hope that no
ships ran over me during the night. As I came into the bay I could
see that there were other boats anchored along the beach. I quickly
dropped the main sail and hung the anchor. Anchoring was pretty
straight foreward after the last 14 hrs. I Spotted Deanna so that she
would know that I was safe because I couldn’t get reception on the
Banda Ancha to email. Before I went to bed I tried my cell phone and
got through to Deanna. It was so good to hear her voice. I ignored
the mess in the boat and fell into bed at 6:00 pm.
April 12, 2012
I didn’t wake up until 7:40 this morning. It is funny but the boat
looked in far better condition today. It is something what a good
night’s sleep can do for one. Spencer Boat Works mad one hell of a
boat. I even got enough of a Banda Ancha signal today to check my
email and send a couple of emails to Deanna. But no skype. I have
spent the day cleaning the boat up, checking oil and fuel and reading.
And typing this Log. It looks like I will just hang here on the
anchor until at least Saturday waiting for the winds to drop a bit
before going on to La Paz. Hope that my beer holds out until then/
April 13, 2012
Today was a great day. The weather was fine. I probably should have
gone to La Paz today but I didn’t know how nice it was going to be
when I got up this morning and the weather forecast showed tomorrow as
the best day so who knew. I spent the day sitting in the cockpit
listening to 60s music on Sirius radio and reading. Another tough day.
April 14, 2012
Well I was up at 5:00 this morning and ready to go. Of course the sun
did not come up until 6:20 but I was waiting in case Deanna called.
She was to call if the weather forecast changed for the worse. My
internet reception is so poor here that I cannot count on being able
to get the weather so Deanna was to call if there was a problem. No
call from Deanna so I send her a Spot message so that she would know that I
was leaving. I start the engine and am about to haul in the anchor
when I hear a sound coming from the engine. When I check it has
shredded another fan belt. There is an over sized alternator so when
it first starts it can easily be putting 80 amps into the battery
bank. This puts so much strain on the belt that if I don’t over
tighten it then it slips and burns out, but when I do tighten it until
it does not slip then it shredds to pieces because it is over tight.
Guess that I will have to put double belt pulleys on everything. More
money. For the first couple of hours after leaving the bay the wind
is aft of my beam so I make between 6.5 and 7 knots but after a while
it shifts to 30 degrees of my nose so I am down to 5.5 knots and motor
sailing. I have prepared myself to go through the San Lorenzo Channel
to get into Bahia de La Paz. The channel is named after one of the
ships that ran aground and sunk there. The sailing guide is full of
warnings about this channel. Don’t attempt it in bad weather. Make
sure that you go between the lighted towers in the middle of the
channel and stay closer to the south one because the north one cannot
be trusted. And watch out for the Rocas Suwanee reef that may not
even be marked at all. I get there and there is only one tower in the
middle of the channel. Sweet, that gives me a 75% chance of running
aground and sinking. I look at my charts and except for the reefs
there is a minimum of 30 ft. of water if you stay in the middle of the
channel. There are not a lot of sailboats out there that draw that
much water. The Deanna B draws 6 ft. There would have to be some
pretty wild seas out there before you would bottom out. Who writes
these guides? So through I go into the bahia. The Bahia La Paz is a
very pretty bay. At this point I am running back south so the NW wind
is doing it for me again. When you enter the harbour at La Paz there
is a 4.5 km channel that leads behind the sand bars into the harbour.
It would have been a simple thing to find it except someone has parked
his ship in front of the entrance. I drop my sails, hang my anchor so
that I can drop it from the cockpit in case of an emergency and motor
towards the ship, where according to my chart, the channel entrance
should be. One eye never leaving the depth gauge. Sure enough as I
get close to the ship I can see the channel entrance. So I’m off
again down the channel with the dolphins playing in my bow wake. One
has to come down this channel with a fair amount of speed if you want
any steering what with the wind and current. Full keeled boats like
the Deanna B need to be moving in order to steer. Other wise they
like to go straight which is not a good thing in a winding channel. I
did notice that there were about three other boats behind me after I
started in but that must have been a coincidence. Mind you I hung
around out in the bay for awhile hoping that someone would go in first
and show me the way. There are a lot of sailboats in this harbour so
finding a spot to anchor can be a challenge. I first drop anchor
right near the channel but as my boat swings I only have 5 ft. under
the keel. I go on the radio and ask what the tide is like in the
harbor. The answer comes back about half way. Hum, I decide to move
back to the back of the harbor where there is a little more room and
more water. I am anchored about 4:00 pm. I’ll go ashore in the
morning.
April 15, 2012
Was up this morning at 7:30. It is a beautiful morning. I have
coffee in the cockpit and launch the dingy and motor into shore. I
have breakfast at the marina where I dock the dingy. Then I wander
around La Paz for a bit. On the way back to Deanna B I see a
beautiful ( about 45ft.) Sloop laying on her side where she settled on
the bar as the tide went out. Or maybe they ran aground and laid her
over. At any rate I am glad that I moved anchorages when I came in
yesterday. I just looked out a couple of minutes ago and a tug had
dragged the sloop off the bar and she was upright again and back into
deeper water. Tonight will be another quiet evening. Tomorrow I’ll go back
to shore to check in with the Port Captain and see what the charges
will be for leaving the dingy at the marina.
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Bob visits Los Muertos
Nothing in sailing ever goes as plans..says Deanna.
Bob has ended up in Bahia de los Muertos (which means Dead Mans Bay..you get the drift). He said that he started out actually being able to sail, and all was pleasant until about 2 am. Then at about 2 am on Wednesday morning the south wind died, temperature dropped and the winds came from the north. From 2 am until he anchored in Los Muertos at about 5 pm on Wednesday. The winds (about 32 kn) were not that bad but the seas were ugly...waves breaking on the boat.
When I spoke to Bob, he was definately sleep deprived..totally exhausted.
As he said the problem with solo sailing is that you are solo!!
Now he is resting in Los Muertos and is hoping that the winds will be cooperating on Saturday at which time he will head to La Paz.
Patches and I have discussed this latest sail and we are happy to be in Patzcuaro although we did have a earth tremor ...but no damage done.
Bob has ended up in Bahia de los Muertos (which means Dead Mans Bay..you get the drift). He said that he started out actually being able to sail, and all was pleasant until about 2 am. Then at about 2 am on Wednesday morning the south wind died, temperature dropped and the winds came from the north. From 2 am until he anchored in Los Muertos at about 5 pm on Wednesday. The winds (about 32 kn) were not that bad but the seas were ugly...waves breaking on the boat.
When I spoke to Bob, he was definately sleep deprived..totally exhausted.
As he said the problem with solo sailing is that you are solo!!
Now he is resting in Los Muertos and is hoping that the winds will be cooperating on Saturday at which time he will head to La Paz.
Patches and I have discussed this latest sail and we are happy to be in Patzcuaro although we did have a earth tremor ...but no damage done.
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Bob goes Solo
Bob went to Mazatlan on March 28 expecting to be sailing to La Paz after a few days of readying the boat. Silly of him to think that it would be so easy.
After a week or so of following every wire to the batteries, etc, the conclusion was: new batteries were needed. Last Friday Bob was at the office to check out but of course it was Good Friday and of course the office was closed for the entire weekend. Yesterday he did get underway and he has been sending me SPOT messages so at least I know he is alive and making headway. After 24 hr of sailing he looks to be about half way to La Paz. That means he has been averaging about 5 knots/hr...that is great considering the winds. Of course I dont really know what the winds have been, as my experience, limited as it is, suggests that weather forecasters are stilling casting bones or something...otherwise how can they be wrong in so many instances.
Patches and I are in Patzcuaro. We both miss Bob, but Patches seems to back to normal. He was sick for 2 days but is now back to normal.
The weather has warmed up alot in the last week. Clouds are gathering in the afternoon but very little rain yet.
If all goes well tomorrow Bob should reach La Paz and then we will be back on Skype. I will then have details of his trip.
After a week or so of following every wire to the batteries, etc, the conclusion was: new batteries were needed. Last Friday Bob was at the office to check out but of course it was Good Friday and of course the office was closed for the entire weekend. Yesterday he did get underway and he has been sending me SPOT messages so at least I know he is alive and making headway. After 24 hr of sailing he looks to be about half way to La Paz. That means he has been averaging about 5 knots/hr...that is great considering the winds. Of course I dont really know what the winds have been, as my experience, limited as it is, suggests that weather forecasters are stilling casting bones or something...otherwise how can they be wrong in so many instances.
Patches and I are in Patzcuaro. We both miss Bob, but Patches seems to back to normal. He was sick for 2 days but is now back to normal.
The weather has warmed up alot in the last week. Clouds are gathering in the afternoon but very little rain yet.
If all goes well tomorrow Bob should reach La Paz and then we will be back on Skype. I will then have details of his trip.
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