May 27th – La Paz – Jim’s Blog #47

We are now in La Paz after a bit of a rugged passage from Mazatlan. If we were to have gone directly to La Paz from Mazatlan we would have had a 52 hour trip, which means two consecutive overnights with no break in between – it’s very difficult to park by the side of the road in a sailboat, or stop at a fast food place to break up the trip! So we planned a two-part trip: 30 hours from Mazatlan to Los Muertos, and then a second 12-hour segment after some rest at anchor in between.

The forecast for the “Southern Crossing” (Mazatlan to Cabo San Lucas or to La Paz) was ideal for Friday and was supposed to hold over on Saturday. That forecast would have given us tail winds and a fairly smooth sea. However, we had not completed all the provisioning and work that we had planned before setting out. Also, I mentioned in an earlier blog that I am not superstitious generally, but there are so many instances of disastrous voyages that commenced on Friday, that we think it wise to forego leaving on that day.

On Saturday our propane tank was delayed in being filled, which caused us to get it back at 2PM, a time for starting out that would have gotten us to Los Muertos after sunset – not a good time of the day to be coming into an anchorage. Although we could have increased the engine speed to make it a bit earlier, the wind was blowing at 15-20 knots directly into our proposed path as we got ready to set out. There were also whitecaps on the waves with swells working against the path we would be taking. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to help us decide to put off our trip until the next morning.

So, while most of you were preparing for Memorial Day barbecues and family outings on Sunday, we set out at 6AM for the 180 nautical mile trip (a nautical mile is 15% longer than the miles we use on the highways). Over time the weather kicked up to what it had been the previous day, and neither Sheilagh nor I were feeling completely healthy. The attached video shows how it was in the early stages of the day and we haven't shown pictures of the stuff strewn around the cabin from the later bumpy ride.

For 18 hours we rode a bucking bronco (okay, hobby horse) over four-foot seas with swells just 4 seconds apart. We cranked up the engine and that only helped to bury the bow into the incoming swell as we plunged over the last one. That slowed us down significantly even though we were using both our sails and the engine to make the six knots we had planned for. What was worse was the constantly jolting ride that had no consistency about it. I should hasten to add that this was not even close to being that kind of hardship that mariners encounter when they ride 40-60’ seas around Cape Horn at the tip of South America, but it was not pleasant.

At about midnight the wind and the swells declined significantly; so we could make up some of the time we had lost bucking the waves. During this “uncomfortable” day we began asking ourselves what it might be like to encounter the same conditions for 20 days in a row, if we were to head for the South Pacific and got into some weather. We decided that we much prefer day trips that can be put off until we actually see the weather we will be encountering.

However, there were some good aspects of the trip. We didn’t put on any weight because neither of us felt like eating anything. At one point we got to see a marlin jumping continuously as it went by, and it wasn’t even connected to a fishing line. We also saw several turtles floating on the surface and at least two schools of dolphins playing together a ways from the boat – no, the dolphins were not molesting the turtles. At one point I saw several dolphins cutting across from where they were playing on a direct line to the bow of our boat. I had forgotten to take the camera with me; so I can only describe that there were about 6 dolphins cruising in the bow wave caused by our boat, constantly rising and falling on the wave, jumping at times, and seeming to make way for one another to come into the main flow of the water. As soon as I decided they would be there long enough, I ran back to the cockpit, grabbed the camera and returned to find no dolphins anywhere. That’s often the way it is, but I want to assure you that I wasn’t suffering from some sort of hallucinogenic vision at the time – at least I don’t think so.

When we sail at night we always wear life vests with tethers that we clip to the boat; so one of us won’t be lost overboard without the other one being aware. Often there is only one of us in the cockpit on watch at any given time. We also rig jack lines from the bow to the stern on both sides of the boat, which we clip into when we have to go forward; so we’re always connected to the boat. We also have a rule that we don’t go forward at night, even on a jack line, unless the other one is in the cockpit observing the process. These life vests are fairly light weight, but the back collar has always cut into our necks and caused us to be uncomfortable on watch. On our trip to California we picked up some sheepskin, and Sheilagh fashioned collars out of the material for the collars of the life preservers. If we ever fall overboard and are found by another boat, they may think we’re aviators with the aviation-like look we have when we’re wearing them. They are certainly a lot more comfortable than before.

We made it to Los Muertos almost exactly 30 hours after our departure, arriving at just after noon. There was only one other sailboat in the anchorage, and it looked as if the Giggling Marlin Restaurant on the beach was closed. Our intent was to leave the anchorage at midnight for the 12-hour run up to La Paz, allowing us to negotiate some tricky waters after sunup and arrive at Marina La Paz at noon on Tuesday. We had a late lunch at 2PM and hit the rack for some sleep soon after.

At 11:30PM we woke up and prepared to set out at midnight. We were immediately disoriented because the wind had changed, the boats on our right were now on our left, and we couldn’t seem to get oriented to the direction we needed to take to get us out of the bay. It didn’t help that there was no moon and everything was absolutely black. We decided it wasn’t essential that we leave at midnight; so we went back to sleep to wait for the moon to rise in a couple of hours. At 2:30 we woke up again with the moon out and found it very easy to get our bearings. We pulled up the anchor and set out at 3AM with a beautiful evening full of moon and stars and a flat sea. It was our first launch at night, and everything worked out fine.

We had planned to arrive in La Paz about 12 hours after our departure, but we found that the current was strongly in our favor from 8AM on, and we arrived at about noon, having motored on a calm sea the entire way. We were assigned a slip in Marina La Paz that would have required some tricky maneuvering with a 1.8-knot current pushing us sideways into a cement pier with a work platform in the way of our maneuvering. We expressed our concern and the marina sent out a power boat to move the work platform, after which we sailed into the slip without any trouble. Friends caught our lines and tied us off, after which we grabbed a quick lunch and slept for the rest of the day. I can only surmise that the vigilance of keeping alert during a passage takes a lot out of us despite our lack of exercise or hard labor in the process.

That night we went to dinner with Ed and Cornelia of ‘A Cappella’ (old friends) and Barry and Pat of ‘Pacific Voyager,’ whom we had last seen at Barra de Navidad several months before. We had great ribs and hamburgers at ‘Bandidos Restaurant,’ which is a permanent location in the backyard of a local house for what was once a street vendor who cooked his meat on a grill over his pickup engine – the pickup being the transportation on the street. He still uses the grill on the pickup, but now uses a deep fat fryer for the French fries on another stove, and has expanded his operation to include tables and chairs set among the palm trees and served by attentive waiters and waitresses with music from large speakers set around the yard. Everything was excellent and a unique experience altogether. We both hit the bunks again that night and slept until dawn. More later . .