On Monday in Chamela we bought some diesel and a few groceries. Bob carried 10 gallons of diesel (in the heat of the day) for about 20 minutes. I had wanted to take a cab but oh no that would have been too easy.
When we returned to the boat we noticed our neighbours leaving which surprised us. They had told us that they were leaving on Tues as were we. I wanted to call them to ask why they were leaving a day early. Bob vetoed that and I listened to him(he is the captain after all). I am sure that they left because they had knowledge of the nasty weather that we encountered.
Tuesday morning as planned we left Chamela for La Cruz. When we came south it had taken us 22 hr to make this sail so we assumed going north would take a little longer as the weather forecast predicted northerly winds and southerly swell...both working against us.
The winds started picking up shortly after we left Chamela and the swell kept growing. By 3 pm the winds were up to 30 knots/hr and the swell was over 2 m. Waves were crashing over the bow and we were both wet. Bob has a rain suit so he put that on and the dog and I went below. Everything was everywhere below. The boat was tossing and turning. Patches and I lay down on the floor. It was the only thing to do as I had been thrown off the sofa once. As we were making no headway Bob hove to. He had to put another reef in the mainsail ..in the dark with waves crashing. Patches and I watched from below. All we could see were his ankles. When they disappeared I think we both held our breath until we saw his legs again.
The dramamine had worn off so I was concentrating very hard on not being sick. Patches was licking his lips alot so I think he was queasy too. He wanted to be up with Bob but I finally calmed him down and he was quiet as long as I didnt move.
I can not begin to explain what this experience was like for me. It seemed never ending and there was no way out. It had to be borne and that was that. Hour after hour in the dark with the boat moving constantly and sometimes violently wore me down. I felt so sorry for Bob but there was not anything I could do to help him. I have anxiety attacks and I was amazed at my control. I thought that Bob did not need an additional worry and that seemed to get me through. After awhile I just felt numb. The constant noise was something else again. Sheets were slapping, waves crashing, the boat banging down on waves...hour after hour.
Bob stayed on deck the whole time making sure that no boats would run us over. As if..what other fools would be out there? Today in La Cruz I spoke to several other people who had been out in this gale and they too had no knowledge of it. Thursday and Friday were supposed to be the bad days but the system must have moved quickly.
About 9 am on Wednesday morning the winds calmed to about 30 knots and we start motoring. I convinced Bob to go to Ipala rather than La Cruz. Ipala was 4 hr away and La Cruz was at least 12. Bob was totally fatigued. To get to La Cruz you go around a cape which is wild at the best of times so for me it was Ipala. We had heard conflicting reports about it as an anchorage but at least we could anchor and sleep.
It took us 5 hr to get to Ipala and what a lovely haven it is. They farm fish in the bay which makes it a little dicey but no big deal. We took the dog ashore and had a most fabulous meal of lobster and a whole bunch of beer. Ipala is tiny but has about 4 restaurants and 3 little stores. The people are friendly and very helpful. I am glad that we went to Ipala but wish it had been under different circumstances.
Bob and I were asleep by 6 pm and never moved until 7 am the next morning. Bob checked the boat over and found that our navigation lights had been broken by the waves crashing on them. Luckily we didnt need them to continue to La Cruz as we would be travelling during the day.
Friday, February 25
7 am and we were out of Ipala. The swells were still over 2 metres and the wind started increasing but it never went over 25 knots. As we approaced Cabo Corrients the weather actually got better. Our trip around the cape was easy in fact very easy compared our former ordeal. We were in La Cruz Marina all settled by about 5 pm.
When we left Ipala I had a bad case of nerves hit me. My leg started twitching and shaking..strange but true.
On our way across Banderas Bay (think Puerto Vallarta) we saw a shark. Of course all we saw was that sinister looking fin sticking out of the water. I pointed it out to Bob who first thought it was a dolphin. Upon the second appearance of the fin, he knew it was no dolphin. Then it followed our boat for a distance which made us a little nervous.
By 6 pm I was swilling back Bloody Marys and enjoying a fabulous rib eye steak. Then back to the boat for a quiet evening of listening to the radio and enjoying a copa de vino tinto (glass of red wine).
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