Against the Wind

AGAINST THE WIND


Uncertainty joined the MOTU crew April 24, 2020, when we  pulled out of our slip at Marina Riviera Nayarit, more popularly known as La Cruz Marina, and headed west and north.  We were going back to the USA, in a climate of locked down ports and marinas, closed borders,  and quarantines.

So much information - some true some not - was flying through the internet wind against us, too.  But our immediate concern was the weather forecast.  We motorsailed across Banderas Bay and out past Punta de Mita with light noserly winds and lots of current against us and pointed toward San Jose del Cabo.  News indicated that port and marina were still open, and it was possible to get both Mexican port and international zarpes.  

  

Wind stayed below 10 knots and the night watch was brilliant, with Venus as a beacon and luminescence tracking our rudder in the inky water.  The winds decreased further the next day and in the afternoon we spotted the  rugged mountains around San Jose del Cabo.  Arrived outside the breakwater at 2330 and dropped the anchor off the beach with thundering surf.  Motu must have decided  that it was better to behave than not,  and sat with her stern to the swell and we actually had a good night's sleep.  We saw no vessels at all during that journey.

We were able to fuel and check in,  and spent a few days in the lovely but very expensive Puertos Los Cabos.    This beautiful marina features the whimsical, strange art of Leonora Carrington.  A stroll around the harbor brings encounters with surrealist paintings and sculptures .  Temperatures were rising on the southern tip of Baja, Covid had shut down everything and signs of "Quedate en Casa" (Stay at Home) were posted all over the area.

Sunset at San Jose del Cabo

Hope was aboard as we sailed with light winds towards Cabo on the last day of April.    Condos and hotels line that beautiful coast on the bottom of  Baja, and only a few small sports fishing boats joined us out on the water.

Captain hard at work   

Lost in Art

By mid-day the wind was howling offshore of Cabo, and we were anchored off the beach between two tourist boats and another cruising boat, after motoring around trying to find shallow water (35 feet).  There is a very deep canyon right off the beach making anchoring tricky.

Next day, May Day!  But not mayday!!!  May 1st and off we charged toward Cabo Falso, that truly mean, awful cape on the southwest corner of Baja, that makes you want to give up and sell your boat right there.  And with false hope that day, we rounded The Rocks, and had about 15 knots dead against us, which continued to increase.   Made it to Cabo Falso with winds getting up to 25 plus and sea state turning ugly.  Weather  reports indicated we would have that almost the entire 200 miles to Santa Maria.  Admitting defeat, we turned the wheel, turned off the engine and enjoyed a lovely downwind sail back to the anchorage at Cabo.  Another better looking weather window finally was forecast a few days later as more boats  arrived in the anchorage to make the trip north.   Had the good fortune to meet the wonderful crew on the Crealock 37, Pristine, Cheyenne and Colin, who became our traveling buddies and springboards for the Great Bash North, and friends forever.

Cabo San Lucas    

Cabo Falso

May 6 dawned and the weather window with it.  Everyone escaped from the anchorage and we finally motorsailed around Cabo Falso in fog and decreasing wind.  The ornery California current came and went and came back again.  We had fun WhatsApping the crew on Pristine and getting their take on weather, current and progress made.  The slow, heavy Motu plodded along behind them, but hey, we did have mocha frappaccinos!


                                 

Pristine making moves

So began what Cheyenne calls The Great Wait.  We made it to Santa Maria, with an overnight stop off Belcher Point in Magdalena Bay at sunset.  While we had a couple of days with moderate winds, more was forecast further north before hitting us, so we settled in for what turned out to be an 8 day stop.  It did blow, a big southerly swell highlighted some of the days, and we celebrated Stephen's 77th birthday in the windy wilds of Baja.    We were so happy to have Pristine there to compare weather reports, commiserate about the voyage, discuss boat problems and just visit  over the VHF and internet when available.   They made us laugh just when we were ready to sell the boat (again) for a $1.98.  (Only kidding Motu)

Happy 77th Birthday!

Marja's Carrot Cake

                      

And we began to realize that we made a mistake leaving in early May.  All of our other trips up Baja had been end of May, June, and though still a challenge, had much shorter wait cycles, usually five days of travel and two days of wait at the most.    Of course this year the storms off of Alaska would not go away and were sending crappy weather down the West Coast of US and Baja most of the month with resulting short weather windows.  The really good things about this May Bash were meeting the crew on Pristine and very few fish floats and nets.   We didn't hook one polypropylene line around our prop!!

May 16 saw us on our way to Asuncion, another two day romp against wind and monster current around Abreojos, and into Asuncion bay in heavy fog, battling chain all wrapped into knots due to our beating against the wind.  Finally untangled and anchored.  Whew, another 207 miles done.  And another 8 day wait.  The Euro and GFS weather models didn't want to agree on anything!!  While there we hired a  very helpful and enterprising young Asuncion fisherman/diver, Lery,  to bring out 72 gallons of diesel from the Pemex Service Station using our jugs.  He also did a grocery run and brought out water when our water maker sprang a leak.  Colin and Cheyenne on Pristine continued to have serious issues with their fuel tanks, getting repeated filter clogs, sometimes within hours of the last change.  Loaned them fuel jugs to replenish their tanks and hoping new fuel would help.

After waking one morning to not great forecasts - wimping out yet again - we finally had a very good trip to Turtle Bay, motor sailing the 60-plus miles to the northwest.  No wait this time in Turtle, both weather models were predicting flat calm until reaching the north end of Cedros Island and we did have ideal no-wind conditions.    But Motu decided that Pristine was getting all the attention lately, and added to the Baja Bash dramas.   Her shaft seal system, Lasdrop, began leaking.   And that began an every-hour visit to the engine room to remove about a cup of water with the turkey baster for the remainder of our travels all the way to Ventura, California.  Cruising is so fun!!   As this has been a recurring problem which we have repeatedly tried to fix, we are looking at going back to the traditional stuffing box at the next haul out.

Baja wild life

.

Wild San Quintin

Some bashing was involved from the north end of Cedros to San Quintin, but ended with sun and bird and sea life and a very early morning arrival at the anchorage.  We were last in this anchorage 34 years ago, but boy, had it changed.  Silting at the entrance to the once accessible lagoon has reached well into the anchorage area.  Dropped the hook more than two and half miles off the beach!!  Later moved in but sneaker breaking waves would pop up at certain times of the tide/current change and were somewhat alarming.  Moved back out to about 30 feet of depth and that was ok, though the 25-30 knot system that came through made for a bouncy, wild anchorage.  We were only about 100 miles from our final Mexican destination.  Following the blow we executed the final assault against the Baja Bash, and entered Ensenada Harbor and Cruiseport Marina at 0800 on June 4, along with about five other boats who had just done the entire trip from Cabo to Ensenada in 8-12 days depending on some weather and boat problems.  We should have waited.  But at least we were quarantined.  

Departing Ensenada the same day we arrived, we finally left Mexico with a light southerly and sailed into San Diego Harbor the next morning with an escorting vessel that had no problem going to weather.

Clearing the way for us!

And reunited with Cheyenne and Colin on Pristine at the Harbor Island West Marina.  They had  carried on from San Quintin to San Diego with their international Zarpe, so they were a few days ahead.  We were able to visit, social distancing, and saw them for the first time without their masks!!  Over nibbles and drinks we formulated a plan to meet in Catalina Island soon.

The most excellent SV Pristine Crew

Motu is now in Ventura, California, hunkering down again, and planning some escapes to the islands off of Southern California,   Uncertainty is still here, but we are trying to embrace it with masks on, happy hours from a distance and via zoom, and having supplies delivered.  Hoping for safety and good health for all.

July 4th at locked down Ventura beaches!!

Sailing Motu in times of Covid 19

"When are you doing another blog?!"  Well, for better or worse, here goes:

 Our last blog ended in Galapagos, that magical place, where we spent three short weeks.  We departed in the middle of March 2018 and sailed north nonstop for about 1300 n miles with lovely conditions either running or reaching. until we got to the latitude of Manzanillo when we promptly

Las Hadas

were headed.  We looked at each other and quickly put the wind on the beam toward Las Hadas,  the location of the beautiful hotel in the Moorish style,  made somewhat famous by Bo Derek in the movie "10".

The Las Hadas was still well maintained and was crowded with guests, mainly Mexican.   Boats were only welcome from the anchorage if they paid $10 a day to land dinghy at dock.  We paid and proceeded to go through a rather complex dance to get checked into Mexico since we lacked a Temporary Import Permit (called TIP by yachts) and had to go across the bay from Las Hadas to the large commercial port in Manzanillo.  The Government offices were all over the place and so we eventually hired an agent for $350 and paid another $135 in government fees.   It did remind us though, that 40 plus years ago when we sailed around the world for seven and half years on our 27 ft Cal,  Twiga, our total government fees came to about $140.   The agent  we hired in Manzanillo did the driving over several days and smoothed out a lot of  bureaucratic chuckholes; proceedings were further delayed due to it being Semana Santa - Easter Week -  when many offices, banks and other businesses close for the holiday.

Malecon, Puerta Vallarta

After a little over a week anchored off Las Hadas, we were underway and sailed straight in light airs, with mist, to La Cruz inside Banderas Bay, where Puerto Vallarta is located at its head.  It was wonderful to see  La Cruz again after 18 years,  but what a surprise.  The last time we were there, it was a small fishing village where if you wanted tacos and a beer, you needed to speak Spanish.  Now, if you want tacos and a beer, you need to speak English.  Also, there is now a large marina, restaurants,  holiday homes and condos in the hills. It is still a lovely, low key place with friendly locals.

El Cid Resort and Marina

Old Town, Mazatlan

Our time in the marina went by quickly and soon we headed for Mazatlan and ended up in the El Cid marina.  Now this marina is truly fancy, with its beautiful grounds and numerous pools and beaches,  but we were more interested in seeing the city of Mazatlan.  Enjoyed meeting up with Canadian friends Richard and Sue on Sine Timore again for explorations of the city.   We had avoided Mazatlan after a couple times over the years thinking it was a little bit on the dangerous side and run down.  Times change.  We were impressed by the newly completed Malecon that went for miles and enjoyed the wonderful old colonial town, and a great hike to the lighthouse.   The restaurants were plentiful and cheap.  After a little over two weeks we took off for San Jose del Cabo, which is roughly at the southeast tip of Baja.

Unfortunately, Marja became very sick there with an electrolyte imbalance caused by two medicines she was taking to control  blood pressure.  She spent a week in intensive care with absolutely first class care at the Hospiten hospital in San Jose del Cabo.  She dodged the bullet.

However, her doctor, refused to allow her to make the trip north in the schooner so we flew to Phoenix where Marja stayed with her college roommate, Denise Blommel and her husband Don Dorres.  Stephen  returned to Mexico and an old sailing friend of ours, Dave Wyman, kindly offered to help me take the boat to Ventura, California.

Motu charging north

The Captain AND Cook

The trip north was mainly a motorsail punctuated by Stephen having to put on his thick wetsuit and free the prop on two occasions of fishing boat line and plastic. This seems to be the way of the people who make their living from small fishing boats.  Just toss everything in the ocean and don't worry about it.  We saw this all along the coast of Mexico, Central America, and south America all the way to Cape Horn.  Discouraging.

Captain America

We finally ended up in Ventura West Marina, a welcoming and friendly Southern California fishing harbor with many wonderful sailing friends, new and old.

Ventura West Marina

Ventura

                                                                                                               It was Stephen's turn this time to grace the inside walls of a hospital after he was diagnosed with prostate cancer and had his prostate removed by robotic surgery at the City of Hope.  The recovery took longer than expected but lots of people never failed to point out that the old boy wasn't a teenager any longer.   We also were able to make visits to Marja's 92-year-old mom in Phoenix, Arizona during this time, staying with our most wonderful and excellent friends, Don and Denise.

Falmouth, UK

During the spring of 2019, our good friends John and Christine, of SV Patriot, a 58-foot Chuck Paine design,  talked to us about joining them to sail aboard Patriot in the British Isles.  We jumped at the chance, and in July flew LAX to Heathrow and then train to Falmouth, and on to a trip of a lifetime.  From Land's End,  to the Scilly Isles, Ireland, Isle of Man and SCOTLAND!!!!





We  fell in love with the land, sea and people, and had an amazing and wonderful time with John and Christine, turning what was to be two weeks into five!!  So glad they could put up with us for so long!!

Tobermory, Isle of Mull

Patriot in Tinker's Hole, Isle of Mull

Yes, this really is the Outer hebrides, Scotland!

We sailed up the West Coast stopping at many wonderful islands, including the treeless Outer Hebrides, and made the 65 mile journey from Isle of Barra out to the World Heritage site of St. Kilda.  WOW!!

Alone in St. Kilda

What an amazing place.  Unfortunately we were a week too late and all the puffins had migrated elsewhere.  From there back to the Outer Hebrides and the Isles of Harris and Lewis, then across the top of Scotland and to the Northeast coast through the dreaded Pentland Firth and bashed our way through wind against tide waves to finally pop out and around Duncansby Head south along the East Coast of Scotland to Inverness.  More sightseeing and great times before transiting the Caledonian Canal for five days and leaving Patriot and John and Christine in Oban, Scotland.

Patriot battling the Pentland Firth

The wonderful Captain John and First Mate Christine

McCreag Tower, Oban, Scotland

Cruising the Burgundy

Another train ride to

Glasgow and then back to London for two days.  From there we took a train to Dijon, France and joined our good friends Tom and Lisa, for a week aboard their magnificent barge, Rabelo, eating and wining our way slowly and majestically along the Burgundy canal.

Moonrise over Port Grimaud

 Parted with them and boarded yet another  train to St. Raphael, on the southern coast of France, and on to Port Grimaud, where we found  sailing friends Geoff and Geraldine and stayed with them for almost a week in their beautiful penthouse apartment over looking the Port and the French Riviera.  We also were able to meet up with friends we met in Chile, Dominique and Carole from SV Hippos Camp.  A quick rendezvous and a visit to the Cannes Boatshow, and then back on the train north to Paris.  At the Gare de Lyon we were met by Monique and Bernard, old sailing friends we met in California when we were in Alameda in the Bay Area in 1987.  They sailed into the Bay in their gorgeous Garcia aluminum  boat, Passion, and we became fast friends.  Later saw them in the Caribbean and in  New Zealand in 1994, and twenty-five years later, visited them in and around Paris for two weeks.   Our sailing life is about our friends all over the world.

Christmas in Ventura

Heading south again

Back in the US, we were finally able to get underway again on Motu after a year and a half of being dock-bound.  Departed Ventura right after the Christmas holidays, and headed to Mexico again.  First a stop in San Diego where we were able to visit with Stephen's cousin's son, Glen, who is in the US Navy, and met up with our friend Karen Stromme and her partner Mike on SV Somehow.

The trip south was fine after waiting to sail into Ensenada - a BIG northerly swell had closed the port for two days!  One night stay and off we went, so happy to be underway until we ended up a couple of days later in a garbage, kelp, and plastic gyre well offshore in the middle of the night. We worked almost to total exhaustion to clear ourselves and limped into Turtle Bay, about half way down Baja, a day and a half later, where we hired a diver to completely clear the prop.  We were joined in that anchorage by other vessels, including Jim and Joy on Kelaerin.  Those two have been cruising since the 70s as well, although our paths had not crossed until this winter, and it was great to meet them.

Cabo

Sunrise over La Cruz Anchorage

Sailed into several other anchorages down the Baja Coast before landing in San Jose del Cabo in a raging northerly wind, and meeting up again with friends on Thylacine, Noah, Alex, Hank and Walt.  Hank and Walt are four-legged.  Several days later we sailed on to La Cruz, again in more of the lumpy, windy/no wind sloshy conditions we experienced during the entire trip south.

La Cruz was crowded when we arrived, with over 60 boats out at anchor and almost all the slips (other than the 70-100 footers) occupied.  We signed up for a month, initially, since we wanted to relax and do boat projects.  Met more wonderful boats and crews - Sapphire and  Lorien to name a few - and Somehow again and Valkyrie, last seen in Chile.  Had a surprise visit from Bay Area resident Bob Riksheim and his wife Irene.  He is like a fifth Vance son.

 Marja loved prowling the Sunday market at La Cruz, and we discovered the gourmet delights in the village.  A wonderful event took place when 24 young artists painted murals throughout the village.

We did make a trip north via American Airlines to visit Marja's Mom and for Medical Tests for Stephen, before returning to La Cruz.

La Cruz, its people, and murals

This Mural depicted the couple sitting in front of their house

And that's when we discovered a new surprise, called Covid19.  This is like throwing your biggest drogue overboard in a flat calm sea.   As we all know the world has come to a screeching halt.  We are still in La Cruz, hunkered down, distancing, ordering supplies that are delivered, and only walking around the marina while trying to understand what is happening.








We are struggling to decide whether to return to the US, or spend the summer here and see what transpires.

What we thought would be a cruise all about the people we were meeting and the places visited,  turned into a time of isolation, and yes, some fear.   The journey does continue.  In a very very different way.