Sailing Encore

Finally warm!

We arrived in Cabo San Lucas on Monday 23^rd. The sun is out and it is a wonderful 78 degrees.

We are officially, finally warm.

Sunday morning as we prepped the boat for the trip from Magdalena Bay to Cabo, Target picked up anchor and motored over to us to say hi. It is Trevor and Laura on Mo Chalise! We met them in Ensenada at the marina. They are headed back into Magdalena Bay to see the small towns. Then headed down to La Paz for a while. This is the neat thing about boaters, you make friends along the way and met up again and again.

After prepping the boat we head out about noon. The weather is sunny with steady breeze.

And whales, we see them all around us as we leave the bay. Very close to boat. Spouting, rolling and jumping. It is amazing!

We are making great time sailing under main and jib at 8-9 knots. Wind is 18 knots out of South west. Things look good – should get to Cabo about 10 am tomorrow. But once again we will have a long time in pitch black. Sundown 5:20 and no moon till 2am. Reports say that wind will be steady 15 knots.From the previous posts you now realize that sailing is its’ own form of therapy. You self-entertain, you think about things, and you relax. It is a forced therapy. There is nothing else to do. And I am getting better at it.

I try to take a late afternoon nap. Vernon and I sit and talk. He teaches me more about our navigation system. We set a reef in the main so that we are ready if the wind should build. And pretty soon it is sunset.

One hour into the darkness at 7:30pm the wind is suddenly climbing from 18 knots to 23, then 25 and it is starting to come from behind. Soon it is dead behind us and we need to change course. We are going to ‘chicken jibe’ – it is tacking through the wind with the front of the boat instead of having the wind cross the back of the boat. A maneuver less dangerous in strong winds. Either way, it is pitch black. I am at the helm with steering and releasing the stay as my two jobs. Vernon has the main to control and pull on the other stay. And it is pitch black. “ready about?” “helms a lee”. And I turn the wheel and I turn it too far. So disoriented in the dark (like this- stand up in the room you are in, close your eyes, spin three times and walk to the door without opening your eyes— that kind of disorienting). Over steering, the main crosses and then crosses again. With the running stays getting caught so that the main is stuck. Oh s***!!! The wheel is stuck on port and locked with no ability to turn it. The wind is howling, especially since we are headed into it. And it is pitch black.

Check for lines in water, and then turn on the motor. And put auto pilot on. Then drop the main. And hustle about on the rocky, dark deck tying up the main. And it is pitch black. We have little head lamps strapped on and that is our only light to see by.

As we are climbing about, and the boat is rocking about, I notice Vernon is clipped on with his safety harness, and I am not. First rule- safety first. I step under the boom to tie off a line and slip a bit. As a wave hits the boat, I slide toward the edge of the deck. Grab the dodger railing and climb back to the cockpit.

Take a deep breath. Calm self. Tidy up. And watch the instrument panel in the darkness. Auto pilot on. No sails up. We motor forward into the cold dark night through washing machine waves. Vernon comes up and sits next to me and offers me a shot of rum. Warm, soft liquid down my throat. “Sorry it turned out to be such a night”. (gotta love that guy). And we watch the wind continue to build. The highest we saw was 30.8 knots ( 35.5 miles per hour). Pitching and rolling in the darkness. And there are hours to go.

And it is pitch black. I make a little video to try to show how dark it is.

Finally the sun comes up and it starts to warm. We can see rocks of Cabo in the distance.

And at 9:30 am we are at the famous arch- El Arco de Cabo San Lucas. And there are people everywhere enjoying the beautiful water and beaches.

And it is warm. 🙂