SAILING TO THE AMERICAS...A BREAK FROM MEXICO !
(Note: Numbers marked in RED are coordinates for Sea Chart use only)
After alot of sticking up "Crew Available" notices at the various Ports we visited, we finally got a sailing trip we decided we wanted to do.
SUNDAY 19-03-00 19*
11 · 739´N 104* 04 · 929´W The Marina at "Isla Navidad" (Pacific Coast
of Mexico). We arrived at the berth at 1330hrs,
half an hour before the planned meeting time. No one home, so we ditched our
bags. Wow, this boat was immaculate, spotless and shining. It´s a one year
old "Santa Cruz 52" (Racer/Cruiser), worth about half a million dollars. We
headed for the "Grande Hotel" Bar at the marina, for an expensive beer in
the midday heat, while waiting to meet our new sailing buddies.
1400hrs Back to the berth
and, sure enough, they were all there, loading their bags, bang on time. A
quick introduction was had, and the "Owner", Fred, said "...nice to meet you,
I´m Fred, can you take your shoes off please.".....Ooops!!! Thankfully he
wasn´t joining us, and Skipper LT (Larry Turner) says, quietly,"Don´t worry
about the shoes once the owner is gone." Whew!!! Relief!!! I think it was
a bit much to expect us to sail 1100 miles, 24hrs a day, in our feet...that´s
what "Deck Shoes" were invented for...and of course we had our "Dubarrys"
(Irelands Best) on. The afternoon was spent "stocking-up" the boat. In the
evening we played "Tour Guide" to the Yanks and showed them around "Our Town",
well we had just spent three weeks in the area, and they were new in town.
Needless to say, we eat, drank and were merry.
MONDAY 20-03-00 After grounding
temporarily on a Sand/Mud bank, in the middle of the channel, on the way back
to berth after refuelling at the "Fuel Dock", we were ready, fully provisioned,
(Fuelled, Stocked and Barrelled?!?!?!). All we waited for was the two guy´s
(Brian and Dana's) bags to arrive after getting lost in the flight the day
before (Mexican Airways-Eh?!?!). 1500hrs and finally we slipped lines at "Marina
Navidad". Wind- SW 9kts, Sea- gentle roll, Sky- Hazey, Sea Temp 24*C. Wind
direction was good, as we had to head West first then NW most of the way up
the coast. Was this too good to be true? Yes, it seems so! As we cleared the
headland at "Bahia de Navidad" and headed NW the wind swang around, was shifty
and light, but pretty much on the nose the whole way after that. Full Main,
No.3 Jib (as that´s all the owner had left us), and Motor. Average Boat Speed
8kts. 1800hrs 19*13.67´N 105*02.33´W
First whale sighted
at a distance . off starboard beam. Not enough time to get the camera, just
one tail flick. A "Roster" was organised for the trip, 4hr watches (4 on,
4 off), our first official watch starting at 2000hrs (until midnight). Our
first watch was uneventfull. However, we did get music on deck, actually you
could have it anywhere on the boat at independently different volumn levels,
courtesy of the on-board HI-Tech "Bose Lifestyle Sound System". The sky was
clear, and we had a full moon to help our night navigation. All is well. 19*42.85´N
105*36.4¨W Midnight, and our watch is over. Skipper recons he can smell
whales bad breath, but nothing sighted. This meant a more vigillant watch
had to be kept...we didn´t want to run into one of those, did we. We got the
for'ard cabin, ensuite even, very nice, but not for sleeping while underway.
Tuesday 21-03-00. 20*12.30'N 106*19.03'W 0400hrs. Back on watch, all is well and quiet. First large vessell´s nav. lights sighted off "Port Quarter" at bearing 160* at 0530hrs, by 0600hrs it was at bearing 190*, no risk of collision, no need to alter course. I got some excellent photos of the sunrise, over "Puerto Vallarta", at 0715hrs. 20*22.30'N 106*31.83'W 0800hrs. Second night watch over. Time to try to sleep for awhile. 1315hrs 20*50.20'N 107*04.03'W We´ve seen our first "Flying Fish". Apparently, these guys leave the water to escape larger fish, only to be preyed upon by larger birds. It´s quite interesting to watch as they launch and fly, then dive and swim. 2000hrs to Midnight. A flying fish landed on the deck during our watch. Earlier Brian and Dana saw one fly right through the cockpit area and out the other side...very cool! By this time I fully appreciate why this is called "The Big Up-Hill Battle"...it´s into the wind and waves all the way. This evening I saw another nice sun set while Valerie impressed the crew with her cooking.
Wednesday 22-03-00 22*46.56N 09*31.00W 1400hrs Mexico time, or 1200hrs San Diego time. After a rough night on watches, and trying to sleep off watch, I did get to see a "Sea Turtle", in the sea (with difference to those we saw in Museums and farms on land earlier in our tour). We passed him about two metres off to starboard...he waved as he headed south. E.T.A. Cabo San Lucas 3hrs...and time for another well needed break...YES!!! 1800hrs Mt, or 1600 SDt . Refulled and tied up at the Marina in Cabo San Lucas for the night. Dinner and drink was had, out on the town, and a good nights rest in the shelter of the marina
. Thursday 23-03-00 22*52.82'N 109*54'W As Cabo San Lucas is a "Port of Entry" (or our last official port before leaving Mexico) LT spent the morning clearing papers for the boat and crew. We got breakfast in town and "Provisioned" the boat again. After slightly grounding again (we draw 9ft), we powered over the sand/mud bank in the middle of the marina, and left C.S.L. at 1530hrs Mt, or 1330hrs SDt. At this stage we all changed our clocks to San Diego time. Everything will be reported in San Diego time, from here on in. 1420hrs 22*52.85'N 110*04.03'W Spotted two whales at a distance from us and later, at 17.15hrs, saw a Whales Tail (Postcard Style) towards the Baja Peninsula. 1735hrs 23*02.90'N 110*16.50'W Great sunset, with a school (or Pod) of Dolphins...getting great air. Then they came over to play with us. They stayed for many hours, through our watch, off watch and were still there when we came back on again at 0200hrs.
FRIDAY 24-03-00 24*28.67'N
112*24.02'W. 1340hrs Two more whales sighted this morning. We "flossed"
the kelp off the keel, for the first time today, and cleared two sprat off
the deck. Sails down, sails up, sails down, sails up, all day long as the
wind kept changing direction. A quiet day on the sea, except for the dolphins
and bouys to avoid, and kelp to clean off the keel.
SATURDAY 25-03-00 26*48.70'N 114*15.05'W. 1340hrs
Nothing new to report. We pretty much motor-sailed all the way to "Bahia Tortugas"
(Turtle Bay), where we stayed on anchor for the night, tieing up at 2300hrs
27*40.93'N 114*53.15'W. We were followed in the
bay by another yacht. "Falcon" was a 50ft racer. As it was calm Lt offered
to let hem "Raft-Up" (tie along side) for the night. They did, and it was
nice to have guests on board for wine, beer and "chip+dip" (courtesy of Valerie`s
new Mexican menue). Stories (or lies) were swapped, then everyone went back
to their own boats for a well needed night`s sleep.
SUNDAY 26-03-00 1100hrs Weighed anchor and departed "Turtle Bay". We motor-sailed with jib and main, up and down like a "Yo-Yo", all day and all night. Our passage took us inside (east of) "Isla Natividad" and "Isla Cedros" which gave us something to look at, while catching up with two 48ft yachts that had left "Turtle Bay" two hours before us. That made us feel good...a little competition!!! Then as we left the shelter of "Isla Cedros", the wind picked up and, although it was shifting from NW to NE and back all night, it was the first bit of decent sailing we had, with no motor for along while. We sailed quite well with 1st reef in the main and the No. 3 jib. But then later that night Lt took on too much by himself, with his novice crew (Dana). They struggled for a while, then an accidental gybe put everyone and everything down below flying. Valerie got thrown out of her bunk accross the dinning table, and had the bruises to show for it in the morning. Damn all sleep was got by anyone that night. We eventually found calmer waters and nicer winds closer to the shore, even though it was an on-shore wind, predominantly from the NW. This left us, in not the best position in the world, sailing along a "Lee-shore". Another boat, headed south, passed us by during the night and called on the VHF for some chat. Yacht "Modern Koyote", or something like that.
MONDAY 27-03-00 30*00.50'N 115*54.22'W 1200hrs Another morning spent motor-sailing like a "Yo-Yo"...jib up-jib down, main up-main down, jib up-jib down, over and over again...all too much work and not gaining any speed from it. The wind was just too shifty on the nose. More "flossing" of the keel, quite a lot actually. You can try and avoid this by day, but not by night as we keep passing through large patches of drift kelp. 1430hrs … Valerie (off watch) is now preparing dinner for later tonight…as she couldn`t even make soup last night, it was just too rough…it`s calmer now! And yes, we saw a whale, tail in the air too, at fairly close range…Yipee!!! Later we had the great meal that Valerie had prepared earlier…we felt like kings…thanks Val !!!
TUESDAY 28-03-00 32*42.558'N
117*14.097'W We arrived at San Diego "Custom Dock", flying our
yellow "Quarintine" flag until customs and immigration officers came on-board
to inspect us, at 1300hrs. Ships log at San Diego 2830.43 nm Less starting
log 1647.90 nm ------------- Trip total 1182.53 Nautical Miles The rest
of the afternoon was spent clearing out all our gear, and tidy-ing the
boat in general, ready for a major scrub the next day. 1800hrs, or 6pm
as we`re back on land, Lt brought us to the "Hotel Cabrillo" (Motel actually),
on Roscrans Street (Shelter Island/Point Loma), where he had the four
of us booked into for the next two nights. We arranged to meet again,
after a shower and change of clothes, at 7pm, when Lt collected us and
we all, including Sandy and Gregg (his two house mates), went "Down Town"
to the "Waterfront Bar" (the oldest bar in San Diego) for food and drink.
WEDNESDAY 29-03-00 10am. Lt collected us, to scrub the boat and bring
it back to "Show Room" condition, as the owner likes it. After having
lunch at the "Marina Snack Bar" we finished at 4.30pm. Lt gave us our
return flight tickets to Puerto Vallarta, thanked us for "a job well done",
and told us we were free to leave. We played tourist for the next three
days in San Diego, doing our own thing, but did meet the guys again on
Saturday night, to "Wine and Dine" at Lt`s house, before leaving S.D.
early on Sunday morning… … On with the Mexican Tour !!! Damian y Valerie,
Mexican Tour 2000.
