January 21, 2014 

Bob sails into La Cruz only to find....

Bob did leave Mazatlan on Saturday as planned.   Just before he left he sent me an email saying that for once he seemed to be caught up on everything on the boat....but he was feeling uneasy , as it seems that this is not a good feeling to have when you are sailing....this was foreshadowing!!

His first stop was Isla Isabella but the good anchoring bay was full (I think it only holds 2 or 3 boats).  When he checked the other area, of course, the coral heads were an unwelcoming site to a solo sailor.  Just for instance, if the anchor got caught, and he went down to free it, where would the boat be, when he came to the surface???  So on he went to Chacala.   Oh yes his new nav lights failed on the overnight from Mazatlan ...luckily  he still had the old ones to fall back on.  And the engine was running a bit warm!

While in Chacala, he worked on the cooling system and thought perhaps a loose belt was the culprit.  For all of you non-sailors, I don't mean his belt...it would a pump belt.  He didnt bother working on the lights,  as the lights  could wait as he would not need them on his trip to La Cruz.

Today I received his SPOT message saying that he was in La Cruz.  Great I think as he was there early so it would be easy to anchor.   Then he phoned me.  While he was anchoring in LA Cruz, and tried to back up....guess what?  No steering!   (Almost exactly 3 years ago..in fact I just checked my old post and it was January 17, 2011, that the same thing happened.  Three years ago, on our first sail, the steering gave out just as we were turning into Chamela.)
   According to Bob, he was not about to let this lack of steering ruin his evening.  He decided he would  take the dinghy into shore  and have a nice meal.  Great plan, except the dinghy motor wouldn't start.  Now to add insult to injury, he has to cook for himself.
What can I say?  Just another typical day in the life of a sailor.
Bob phoned me with all this 'good news', so after speaking with him, I opened a bottle of wine in commiseration.
Now I will pour myself a glass (or 2) and hope all the myriad of problems will be easily fixed.