First Passage

12/13/2010

As I begin this missive about our first passage of the season, we are about 25 miles off shore and about 70 miles from our destination. Once again we have gone “too fast” (when you are speaking of sailboats this is an oxymoron) so instead of trying to negotiate the dicey little entrance at Mazatlan in the dark we have decided to heave to and bob around for a few hours. We can have a leisurely dinner, catch a short nap, watch a couple episodes of Boston Legal and arrive after sunrise tomorrow.

This has been an interesting trip, and not just because we have a dog on board, although that has certainly been a new factor.

When we backed out of the slip in San Carlos Saturday morning Abby was in the cockpit saying good bye to “Auntie Linde” and “Uncle Ken” from “Rosebud” and wagging her tail at the novelty of having her house moving. It was a beautiful, calm sunny morning and Abby’s nose and ears were working overtime to take in all the sights and sounds passing by. A few hours out of San Carlos we finally had enough breeze to unfurl the jib. The seas were a nice, comfortable 1-2 ft and we romped along at 6 knots as all of us began to ease into our sea legs. As the day went on, Abby began to realize there was nothing but water around the boat and began to do a lot of pacing in the cockpit. When the sun set and it was full dark she decided she’d had quite enough of this adventure and was on her way over the side. Fortunately, she (like us) was on a tether. At that point she went below and that is where she has stayed until today. She may have had a bit of Mal de Mar or just been afraid but she parked herself on the settee (where I sleep when we’re underway) and did not move for two days. I can’t say I blame her.

After dark on Saturday, the wind started picking up and the seas followed suit. Before long we were rolling through 3-4 ft swells and surfing down good sized breaking waves. I have always said that I don’t know which I like less, daytime when I can see what is coming or night time when I can’t, but it was definitely a little un-nerving for my first night in many months. The waves would come up on the starboard quarter and lift “Faith’s” stern like a huge hand. As it rolled under us, the boat would, quite literally, surf down the face and we’d see speeds of 8, 9 and even over 10 knots from that push. I must say, I decided to be exceptionally grateful that we have a center cockpit. I can’t even count the times we could easily have been “pooped” (this is when waves break over the stern and into the cockpit…where you are sitting) if we had an aft cockpit. Chris had checked the gribs (weather predictions received via internet or single sideband) for several days before we left so we knew the wind would likely stay around 10-15 knots until late Monday. What I had forgotten was the seas build as the wind continues to blow. They were following (coming from behind) so it wasn’t uncomfortable but, for my “warm up run” (as we used to say in skiing) I had more hoped for glassy water. Sigh…

We stand 3 hour watches and, once again, I managed to get the “last watch before sunrise” which is my least favorite. I have resigned myself to the fact that I will continue to draw that watch until it is no longer my least favorite but I shall continue to complain about it. My 10pm-1am watch brought a beautiful half moon that didn’t set until after midnight, and when it did, it would turn on its side like huge, orange smile and slide slowly into the Sea. It was every bit as dramatic as the sunsets at sea are.

Both of us have suffered from the cold. The long underwear was left behind in the storage unit since we just knew we wouldn’t need them anymore. Hah! My ensemble for night watches has consisted of the only pair of jeans I have on board, a t-shirt, 2 sweatshirts and a fleece lined windbreaker. Since the knit hat I had on the trip down the Oregon coast is also in the storage unit I was thankful that one of the sweatshirts has a hood! It certainly isn’t as cold as the original trip down from Portland but, with the newly thinned blood we have acquired, it was plenty uncomfortable.

About 10:00 this morning the temperature dropped noticeably and shortly thereafter we found ourselves in a fog bank. Good grief. Fog in Mexico is not unheard of but exceptionally rare this time of year. It is also one of my least favorite things. On went the radar. Aha! There they were! Numerous shrimp boats just lurking about and waiting for night time to sneak out and surprise us!

Once the fog burned off we have been treated to a beautiful day with flat water, no wind and the occasional sea animal (I saw a whale and Chris has seen dolphins) to break the monotony. Abby is feeling better. She ate a little something, spent some time in the cockpit and has hauled almost all her toys out and made us play “fetch the obnoxious squeaky toy” with her. She doesn’t know it yet but tomorrow she will get to go for a walk in a new place where there are lots of cats and iguanas to get excited about.