TimeLine
Halloween costume in San
Diego! No wonder they
won the contest!
report the next morning suggested north winds would die down in 48 hours.
Every day for the next 7 days we heard that the wind would die down in 48
hours. One weather report didn't even acknowledge that there was any
significant wind in the sea of Cortez for the first 4 days we were anchored
(actually he disagreed with official NOAA warnings which were accurate).
In the meantime, the anchorage grew from 20 to almost 40 boats as we all
waited for 25 knot north winds to decrease. Most of these were Ha-Ha
boats, so we finally did decide to have a potluck on the beach one afternoon.
As days passed, on occasion, someone would decide to head out for La Paz,
but within an hour or two would let us know they were giving up and coming
back in. And so we waited.....
There was a small fishing village on the beach, and most afternoons we
shopped for fresh fish in the trucks. The vegetable truck was rumored to
come on Friday afternoon. He eventually showed up Monday. The little
hotel on the beach was closed for remodeling and new ownership, but the
little restaurant at the end of a small dirt road (off the bigger dirt road)
was quite the find. Pablo picked Duke, David and Maureen up in his old
beater truck as we were walking towards him (he'd been on his way to the
well to get water). He provided us with margaritas and a fine chicken lunch.
Pablo generally fixed his meals from what was available in his larder,
maybe only beer one day, beef not chicken another ... maybe shrimp or fish ...
Sunday morning Melinda, David and Adrienne made the 5 mile trek to the
store in the next village, a pleasant stroll and quite a success. They visited
the proprietors hermosa next door and purchased tortillas fresh off the
grill. After securing provisions, the store owner took pity on them and
drove them back to Los Frailes.
On a sadder note, one boat that joined us in our anchorage had suffered
the loss of their mast & rigging after towing another sailboat upwind in
harsh conditions for several hours. After they had cut loose the towed
boat and made a last tack to head into the bay, the mast snapped and they
had several anxious moments before they were able to cut everything
loose and let it all sink to the bottom.
We had arrived early Wed. am, and had figured to head north by Friday.
Then we thought the weather would be better by Sunday (several boats
departed Sunday for Mazatlan). Sunday night we packed up the dinghy and
prepared to leave Monday morning early. At midnight we woke up listening
to howling wind, and went back to sleep. Another plan was made to leave
early Tuesday morning. 4 am came by, the wind was still howling....but then
Daydreams called out as they motored by - we talked on the radio and they
had made the decision that if they didn't leave they might be here forever.
The wind was in the midteens - but off we went within the hour. Again we
sailed out across the Sea of Cortez, eventually tacked back - flying along
at 8 knots. At 1 pm we were contemplating tacking again, and when I
checked on the chart we were only 14 miles north of Frailes after 6 hours
of great sailing. So again, in order to get where we wanted to go, we
turned on the engine.
We crashed northward through big waves and swells. 11pm and we were
close to Bahia de los Muertos. Discussed stopping to rest, but decided that
if we just kept going we would be in La Paz the next morning. (Bad idea)
Justin and M had the watch now as we motored on. We were 6 or 7 miles
past Muertos when the engine rpms began fluctuating drastically. We
reduced power immediately & began checking gages - in short time we
diagnosed a clogged fuel filter. All the crashing had stirred up junk in the
fuel tanks. With reduced power we were still making headway, and it was
too rough to attempt any repairs at the immediate moment. Fortunately the
wind direction soon changed and we were then able to sail nicely until 3 am.
David had just gone off watch and was hoping for some sleep (we had just
entered Cerralvo channel), when the wind disappeared completely. We
couldn't turn the engine back on until the fuel filters were cleaned out -
luckily the seas were now glassy. David was roused from his bunk and
started wallowing in diesel. At 6 am we were ready for an engine (and
sleep too, but that would have to wait). We motored north very slowly just
in case the filters went south again. In San Lorenzo channel we turned
west then south (after our long northward trek) and we were able to sail
the last few hours on a building
breeze into La Paz.
We pulled into La Paz at 2 pm. The channel into La Paz
warrants the warnings about not entering at night if you are
unfamiliar with the area. Take our word, or read about
ee-Ya who ran aground a week later. -M
Cabo and Los Frailes
welcome sight
from the big Friar
any part of these
Mexican cows
from the south, the
big mountain in the
background is the big
Friar!
Frailes (the friars)
atop the Friar
Frailes Page !!!!!!!!!
from the narrative determine which sections
were sailed and which sections were motored ;)
