Barra de Navidad to Puerto Vallarta

Bahia de Navidad to Puerto Vallarta

1020: 14-Dec-2015. Leaving Barra de Navidad. Winds are calm and what  little there is is on the nose which means it will probably be a motoring day!

1325: We were motoring in calm seas with 6-8 foot swells when the temperature alarm on the motor went off. 

Turned motor off and raised the sails. Looks like we would be tacking into Tenacatita! Lady Midnight quickly caught up to us so we let them know that there would be a change of plans. We were originally going to make it as far a Chemala but decided to stop and see about the motor. 

Lady midnight sailing into Tenacatita. Tim is taking pictures of Confidence under sail as we took pictures of Lady Midnight. Have to wait until he emails them to me.

David checked all the fuel levels, topped up the oil and transmission fluid. Everything looked good - no obvious problems. But we had been running the motor at 1700 rams, which is a little higher than we usually run. David figures that this was too high for the larger propellor causing it to torque and put too much of a load on the motor. This could have been the reason for the overheating.

0330: David woke me up as we had wanted to make an early start. I did a check in - what time is it? When he looked closer he realized that it was 0330 instead of the pre-arranged time of 0530. I will make him pay for that one!  So back to bed.

0530: Alarm goes off and as coffee was already prepared it was only necessary to turn it on! The dinghy was re-secured on deck and the other preparations completed for departure. We had a visit from 2 Dolphins which I took as an omen.

0708: Anchor up and we are underway. Passed by Lady Midnight to let them know that we were leaving but there was no movement on that boat. But they are bigger and faster so they will catch up.

0723: Out of the anchorage and the main is up. It was  relatively cool morning, actually had fleece and leggings on!

0725: sun has risen! The seas have a slight chop. Winds are 5-10 knots from the WNW. Course is 255. Speed is 5.6 knots. We are running the motor at 1400 rooms and will see if that makes a difference.

0807: Working jib and stay sail are out. We are motor sailing and managing a pleasant 5.9 to 7.2 knots.

1030: Brunch is served. Hashbrowns with bacon and onions, scrambled eggs and mango juice.

1048: abeam Careyes, the place with all of the colorful houses. 

Lady Midnight have decided to carry on. We have decided to anchor in Chemala to give the motor a rest and reassess the weather. 

We had a couple of nice ribeye steaks for dinner with Caesar salad and a wonderful bottle of Malbec. Very pleasant evening.

16-Dec-2015 strong winds were forecasted for late Thursday increasing Friday from the northwest and then turning to the southwest by Saturday.  So we thought that we could beat them if we left today. As you will soon find out, Mother Nature had a change of plans and moved her agenda up a few days which means we got caught in the middle of it!

0930 anchor was up and we were underway in light winds. 

1220: Motor was turned off and we managed a nice sail out of the bay at a speed of 3.2 knots. Salmon sandwiches for lunch with one extra for the night run.

1245: we tacked to a course of 010 with the wind coming around from the NW at 340. Respectable speed of 5.5 knots.

BA decided to lay down for an hour to try and fight off a head cold. The Captain lost his hat when a gust of wind came up behind him while he was looking through the binoculars. He even had the chin strap on but that did nothing to help. 2 and a half years - lost 3 hats! Not bad. 

I did not like that hat anyway - made him look somewhere between Gomar Pile and Gilligan!

1430: abeam Roca Negro. Winds were picking up so we rolled in the Genoa to about 1/3 and put a reef in the main. Winds are now blowing 15-20 knots!  We be sailing!

And now this is where this blog changes from a ships log to this first mate's story of adventure. And I apologize for the absence of any photos. The seas were just too rough, too much salt spray and I was having enough trouble just staying stationary in the boat without trying to hold an iPad!

As I said earlier this is about the time Mother Nature decided to move things up a bit and it looked like we were going to be caught in the middle of it. We had little option to turn around at this time so it looked like we were just going to have to deal with it. This meant steering a course 45 degrees off of our desired course, zigzagging up the coast. 

You must wonder why we didn't just motor all the way. The strength of the winds would not allow us to do that and the added stress on the motor, considering the previous issues with the motor meant that it was wiser to motor sail in order to to make any headway. We were only managing 1.5 to 2 knots with the motor alone. By raising the sails and tacking we were able to average 5.5 knots. The downfall is that we were not traveling in a straight line but rather that infamous zigzag beat!

So the next 48 hours put us in very rough seas (kind of like being in a washing machine - though I have never been in a washing machine - on super cycle)! Waves and surf maxed out at 12 feet and winds were blowing 35 knots, gusting to 50! The waves were breaking over the bow, over the stern and hitting us broadside continually showering us with ocean spray. The boat is coated with salt including my ass! It does not take too much imagination at this point to understand how quickly and uncomfortable sea rash can develop. I think I changed my clothes half a dozen times but that did not help much as everything you sit on is wet and soon you are too - or another wave breaks.

So not only am I trying no to content with no sleep and little food - now I have an itchy ass!

But trying to always look at the positive side, there are some good things that resulted from this adventure. At about 20 hours into it I was mentioning to David that this was actually kind of fun. I had raised my comfort level of dealing with rough seas from 20 knots to 35 knots. We had practiced putting in a reef in these conditions. And just the practice of moving around the boat - inside and out!

I did take one giant leap for mankind in the head which I should mention. A 10 foot wave hit us broadside just as I was standing up from the head. This managed to force me airborne and then slammed me back onto the toilet seat and my back against the bulkhead. So now my ass is itchy and bruised! But nothing a new toilet seat can't fix - maybe we will buy a padded one this time!

Chalk all of this to more experience as we prepare for the big crossing to French Polynesia. So up until now I was dealing with the situation.

Then we made the decision to come into the coast and find anchorage in a small bay before we crossed the cape. We had been bashing for 24 hours and decided that we needed the rest. But when we got into the bay we felt that it was just too exposed to the northerly winds with a less than ideal holding ground. And David did not feel good about that - especially if we would have to raise the anchor quickly ( by hand) if we started dragging onto the rocks or the beach. So we made the decision to carry on. So this 10 hour detour was for naught!

So we are back in those ugly seas but at least it is daylight now. And if the winds settle down in the evening like they are supposed to then it may be okay rounding the cape. So now we spend another 10 hours bashing out past Cape Corrientes. 

Now it has been over 36 hours without sleep and very little to eat. The winds are still blowing over 35 knots. We have lost a 5 gallon Gerry can of diesel over the side. We almost lost our dinghy again when one of the lines broke loose. It was a little hairy watching David go forward to re- secure it and also put in another reef . At this point he noticed a 36" tear in our main sail. Good thing is that it is on a seam and should be easy to repair without too much loss of integrity to the sail. But I think the "fun" of gaining experience and raising ones confidence level has passed. 

We were both exhausted and attempted to catch a few naps in the cockpit but just when you got comfortable another wave would shower us with salt water. The salmon sandwiches were long gone though neither of us was in the mood for food. An apple and a few more crackers was about it. We tried peanut butter and jam sandwiches but they did not sit well either. We did not actually get sick - just an unsettled stomach. 

Oh - and did I mention that I was still fighting a head cold? I thought breathing in that salt air was supposed to clear those sinuses! Do not believe everything you see in commercials!

So we finally make it around the point by nightfall and then more poop!  The autopilot had been working fabulously- would not want to manually steer in this shit! ( sorry Mom). And we have been motor sailing and the motor has been running fabulously. But just as David went down below to try and lay down he noticed a different noise in the transmission. Motor off. Sails up. And you guessed it - no wind!!!!

I was trying to maintain a course with 1 knot of wind in lumpy seas. Haven't we been in this movie before? 

David checked and topped up all the fluid levels and could not see anything obvious. Again - could it just be that our little Yanmar motor was also tired out? David was apprehensive about using the motor for the last 18 nm in order to save it for docking purposes. So the chances of us being at anchor or in a marina tonight did not look good.

We only had 10 nm to get to the anchorage at La Cruz but it looked like it was going to take all night. And of course this is where I decided to have a little meltdown. Not when it was gusting at 50 knots! But when the winds were almost non- existent. I was trying to keep the boat on some kind of course,  away from the shore and the rocks, while David laid down. I tried to tack but there was not enough wind to draw the Genoa across and our rule is that I do not go forward at night without David on deck.

So I was feeling very incompetent, feeling bad because I had to wake him up, feeling bad that I kind of panicked - thaught the rocks and shore were closer than they were. Definition of meltdown - shed a few tears. David assured me that it was not me but the conditions. He gave me a big hug - God I love that man - helped pull the sail through - and got us back on track.

We finally dropped the hook at La Cruz at 1430. We did run the motor for the last 5 miles at very low rpm in order to get there. Showers on deck. To bed. Tomorrow is another day!

We slept for 12 hours - dead to the world. It was very calm so we crossed our fingers and motored across the bay into the docks at the Opequimar marina.

We are here!

We will be in the boat yard for the next two weeks or so, over Christmas and NewYear.

So for all of you faithful followers, David and I would like to take this opportunity to wish you a Very Merry Christmas and all the best in the coming year. I wonder what new adventures await us in 2016!

Feliz Navidad y Prospero Anos Nuevo!