Hello from SV Marissa! Well things are going good despite some interesting learning times. We’ve been learning to read the weather, sail, install a transmission, and over all, learning to become cruisers. We left San Jose del Cabo Monday the 9th of March at about 8:00am. We stopped at the fuel dock and topped off our tanks and then out into the wild we went. The transmission and engine seemed great and working well. We motored out a few miles and shut the engine down and up came all the sails. Wow, the day was looking great and starting out awesome. We sailed up the East Cape effortlessly. Marissa’s sails were full and moving fast. We were contacted by another sailboat, “Jersey Girl”. They wanted to say “good morning” and let us know how beautiful our boat was looking under sail. It was nice to talk to them. We saw many whales and manta rays breaching out of the water. It was really cool to see. Some were very close to the boat. We sailed all day and it turned out to be our best day yet.
We arrived at our anchorage, Bahia Los Frailes, late in the day and the place was empty, except one motor boat on anchor. I saw a catamaran coming from the north and they looked like they were going to enter the same place as us. Yes, I stepped on the gas to beat them, wanting my pick of the spots, LOL. We were somewhat unsure how close to get to shore and after dropping our anchor, that catamaran swooped around right in front of us and dropped his anchor closer to shore. I was thinking, “what a….”.
The place was nice and we spent some time snorkeling in the nature preserve. There were lots of fish, just no fishing or spear fishing allowed. We were keeping our eyes on some weather coming our way from the north and trying to decide if we should go or stay. It looked like some strong winds coming and we wrestled with staying or going. Our next stop would be 47 miles away, a full day of sailing. So, at the last minute we made the call to go for it. We took a short nap and at midnight we were up preparing to go again. Trying to pull up the anchor was hard; my windless just stinks, not enough power. I had to sit down on the deck and hand over hand, pull up the 220’ feet of chain and 60lbs anchor on to the boat.
The night was as black as can be; no moon, nothing but the stars as we left the bay. We motored out into the unknown once again, wondering what lies ahead for us, as it seems there’s always something around the next corner waiting for us to conquer. We knew the wind would be coming around 3:00 am and as scheduled, it started. So we threw up all the sails and Marissa was moving under wind power once again. It’s so much more peaceful with the motor off. We would sail all night tacking back and forth upwind. We were contacted around 4:00 am by a Mexican Navy ship in the area and they asked us some simple questions. They had a very bright light they shined on us from some distance away. It was a good feeling knowing they were there if we had any troubles.
As the sun came up behind us, the winds were increasing and we were flat out moving. The boat heeled over and it felt good to be making some time and distance. I’ve heard many times to “reef your sails before it’s too late”, but I love speed and neglected that advice! We were sailing faster and faster, all the while in the back of my mind thinking, “how will we slow this thing down if we need to?”. We got to a point where we had to round the corner of the point of the peninsula and head the other way. It was hard. We sailed towards land as far as we could, then tacked back out to buy more room, but now things were changing, and fast! The wind was strong and there were waves. The waves were square and close together. It was rough, to say the least. I kept thinking “dang, I wished I had less sail up” but no, not me. I need to go as fast as possible, ha ha ha. We kept having to go out where it was rough, over and over, and it SUCKED. I just couldn’t get around the corner. At one point, we got hit by a strong gust just as we had tacked the boat on a starboard tack and man, the power was something. The boat heeled over about 45 degrees. I looked out the side of the cockpit and we had water coming over the toe-rail. We started taking on water down inside the boat as well. The boat was over so far that the anti-siphon loop for the bathroom sink wasn’t working. Yeah, we should have shut that valve. I guess we are learning things the hard way, it seems.
With the boat flat out hauling the mail and bashing into these square waves, I was wearing out, to be honest, and not sure what to do. Rounding the point now was possible but the navigation was showing (lots of) rocks. I just couldn’t take anymore of the beating, so I went for it!!!! Shannon had some choice words for me but I had decided to run through the rock section…. yeah, yeah, yeah, I know; maybe not the best decision I’ve ever made and believe me the looks and words I was getting from my first mate were something. But my mind was made up. I was running the rock section and not going out into that crap anymore. I got the two front sails in and now just had the mainsail up, so I fired up the engine and started picking my way through what the navigation said were rocks. I had to somewhat slalom through the rock field and yes, I was nervous and being yelled at all the way through. As a life-long surfer, I can read the water surface as good as anyone. So, as I made my way through, I was reading the water constantly, looking for boils in the water and yes, I was still getting those looks from Shannon and getting lots of shit, but I was pulling it and with every turn, back and forth, getting closer to being out of it. Yeah, of course I made it through and didn’t hit anything, ha ha ha, and now I was heading straight towards my anchorage.
Leaving the mainsail up, I motor sailed the rest of the way. As we got close to the new anchorage at Bahia Los Muertos, out of nowhere the dang wind just started to blow, and hard. I could see my destination and it was full of white caps. I was looking at the plotter trying to figure out where to drop the hook and things didn’t look right. Ok, so I was freaking out some, and I had the 53’ mainsail all the way up, STILL!!! I made my way out on deck and dropped that thing. We had some new lazy jacks installed before we left San Diego (thanks Casey at Pacific Offshore Rigging). They worked great; the sail came down easily and stacked itself nicely, but looking ahead, I just didn’t know how we were going to pull this off. Shannon is good with driving the boat when dropping the anchor, but in that kind of wind, while I’m up on the bow getting the hook off the boat and down, for her to keep the boat in one spot would be asking a lot. As we got close, we decided to do a drive by and just check it out. There was one other sailboat already there on anchor and it was good to see where he was, and it helped us to make the call on the right spot. With the spot picked out, we went for it. With the hook down, it was time to lay some chain out and with the wind we were expecting to get, I was going to lay it all out. So Shannon was backing up the boat and I heard her yell for me. Oh crap, what now? Well, we forgot the dingy in the back of the boat that had been being towed the whole day and the pull rope had gotten snagged by the prop. Yes, we suck. As I got to the back of the boat I could see the look on her face and then I saw the dingy, halfway under the back of the boat and filled with water. Everything in it was floating and we had found our next drama situation. Luckily, we had the hook down and holding in one spot. The engine had shut itself off and we feared the worst – we had just jacked up the new transmission. Oh boy!!! Deep breath time. Shannon got me a mask and snorkel, some fins, and a knife, and down I went. This all took about two minutes. I cut the line right away and the dinghy popped out from under the boat. It was full of water, so first I bailed it out. Then I dove down to see what we had. The rope had wrapped itself around the prop about six times then over the rudder. What a mess. I got everything cut away and started checking the prop and shaft. Everything looked good and turned correctly, so I came up out of the water and down into the motor compartment. Checking the shaft, it was spinning like it should and all looked good, so we fired up the engine and started checking things out. I put it into drive and reverse several times, giving it gas and all worked normal. Wow, had we dodged a bullet? I guess we won’t know 100% until we leave and run it for awhile but my guess is it’s ok.
As I write this, the wind is starting to blow. I just saw the gauge hit 23 knots and it’s just starting. We expect to be here waiting out this wind for several days with the worst of it being Saturday and Sunday. I guess it’s time again for, as my good friend Captain Sean calls it, “anchor anxiety”. It’s when you just sit down in the boat and hope everything holds. Waiting and waiting, I’ve got some concerns about my setup up front, where the anchor and chain connect to the boat, so I have it backed up with some extra rope, just in case. Wow, I’m not sure if I enjoy this or not. Our future and this trip have been a topic of conversation a few times now and the future is honesty unclear. We plan on making some islands just outside La Paz, staying for a few days, then heading into to La Paz. I’ve got some repairs to do on the boat again – we ripped one of the sails; it’s not bad, just the UV cover on the outside edge and a bolt up on the bow that holds the rollers for the anchor chain is bad and needing replacing. Yep, it never ends with a boat. After the repairs in La Paz, we’re going to go north, towards Mulege and not make any long term plans. We’ll just take it as it comes. We have hurricane season coming after the summer and would like to make it to Puerto Vallarta, but honestly, we’re not sure if we are capable of even making it home to San Diego at this point, LOL. We are gaining sailing knowledge with every day and hoping for the best.
Thanks for following Too Honest Sailors, where it’s not candy coated; it’s just the truth.
