April 25 2019: By 5:45 am we had started the generator and shifted off of shore power. It took a few minutes to roll up the shore power cord and then Liana was handing me up lines from the dock. One of the security watchmen showed up just as we were sorting out how we were going to pull the last line off. He threw us the line and we backed out of the slip. Only one glitch when the GPS stopped working. Luckily we had been in and out of Ensenada a few times and it only took Liana a minute to get it hooked back up. The sun is just starting to break the darkness. We have heavy fog. Only the quiet drone of the engine is heard. The water is calm and the air is still.
“Mayday. Mayday. We’re taking on water and sinking.” We heard the panicked voice as U.S. and Mexican Coast Guard tried to ascertain who was in trouble and what their location was. Liana scrambled to write down the position. We plotted it about 30 miles away and knew we were too far to help. The Mexican Coast Guard dispatched a helicopter almost immediately. The U.S. Coast Guard took over communications and soon their situation became clear. Part of their rub-rail had torn off and left a gaping hole in the side of their boat. Water was pouring through, but only flooded in when they were going slow. So they went up to full throttle and sped towards Point Loma. It wasn’t long before the helicopter was hovering overhead of them but they were out of immediate danger so they sent the helicopter home and the U.S. Coast Guard did a radio check with them every ten minutes.
April 26 2019: Yesterday we made a quick decision to pull in to Cabo Colonet instead of sailing overnight. The day was beautiful but cold. This morning we decided to travel the coast. Our plan only lasted about an hour before we were surrounded by floating islands of kelp. Great for fishing but bad for boats. They tangle the rudders and props and can completely disable a yacht so we avoid them. We were lamenting the fact that we had no fishing license and just then a fishing panga chased us down. They wanted to trade, so we put out fenders and they came along side. They had barracuda and sea bass. Ooo ya, sea bass, love sea bass. We traded four sodas that someone left onboard. (Thanks, whoever you are!) We got two good size fish. We waved good-bye and I cleaned them for lunch. Liana is frying up the fish and it smells delicious. She brought up two platefuls of sea bass and peppers and celery sticks. Wonderful lunch!
We’re on a 36 hour run to Bahia Tortuga. It’s 3:30 pm and the sky is gray and overcast. We’ve only seen one other boat, a long panga with a crew of four men tending to nets. Islands are in view to the east of us and to the south nothing but the Pacific Ocean. The wind has been almost non existent ranging from 4-6 kts. The long Pacific swell rides up behind us growing higher as it closes in on our stern and then lifts us as it rolls underneath. The seas are calm, I just wish the sun would break out. Silhouette is motoring along at around 8 kts and full sails are up. Liana is all wrapped up in blankets.
The wind actually showed up just before dark. Normally we shorten sails in the evening to keep the boat safe on the mid-watch but not today. We had a boom preventer line on and attached to the rail on the deck. The wind cranked up and Liana heard a loud noise. The mainsail went slack and a 18-20 knot gust hit all of a sudden and bent the rail at a 45 degree angle. The lag screws pulled out of the deck and a foot of toe-rail was lifted. She took the helm turning us directly into the wind as I lowered the main to our second reef. We also reeled in the jib and took off the preventer block and tackle from the boom.
April 27 2019: It’s 2:00 am on the mid-watch. Liana is sound asleep on the settee in the salon. Tonight is miserable. The wind is blowing directly down our stern and it brings diesel exhaust into the cockpit along with bone numbing chill of damp air. Tonight is a moonless, overcast night out on a dark ocean but the flying fish are going crazy, especially around our green starboard running light. They are only about six inches long but the way they shoot out over the water makes them look like a flock of birds. They have slender silver bodies with blue wings that are transparent. They can fly several hundred feet over the surface of the water. In the morning we will pick up all the unlucky flyers that careened themselves on the deck. It’s the duty of the morning watch (Liana) to pickup them all up.
During my watch I decided to run to the head and grab my fowl weather coat. This process took all of two to three minutes. As I came up the aft ladder I see the autopilot flashing, telling me it switched off. I looked at our heading and we had made a half circle. The wind rounded us up. It took some steering to put us back to windward and I reset the auto pilot. It locked back on to our course but for the rest of the watch I was afraid to take my eyes off of it in case it happened again.
Liana relieved me at 4:00 am and she hates being cold. So in preparation she put on two long sleeve shirts, a hoodie, a winter coat, and an offshore sailing coat that has a hood with a wrap-around face-flap so all that’s visible is eyes. And… she has a stocking hat and gloves and she’s got a blanket. Diesel fumes are still blowing into the cockpit. I woke up at 7:30 am and she looked completely and utterly miserable so I took over and she went back to bed.
This morning the wind was howling around 19 kts and we were bashing as the bow plunged into the cresting waves shooting plumes of white water into the air. The waves were causing us to corkscrew. But the end was in sight – Cedros Island. As we passed on the lee shore the island blocked the wind and seas. But by the end of the island the seas came back with a vengeance. A strong current was pushing us sideways – we were crabbing. We put in hatch boards to prevent water from flooding in to the forward and aft cabins. The big waves came up beside us and exploded when they slapped the side of the hull. Just as soon as we cleared the channel and headed south the sea settled and we were smooth sailing again.
We pulled into Bahia Tortuga around 7:30 pm. The sun was just starting to set. The bay was nice and calm. I took a hot shower and Liana made dinner. We’re tired and going to go to bed early.
April 28 2019: As Liana and I made our plan of the day we decided to stay here a couple days to get some chores done. She had three loads of laundry to do and some sewing. My project list started with the bent safety track (toe-rail). Then things like make water and fill dive tanks. That was our plan. It’s 7 pm and the only things done are laundry (still hanging in cockpit), new cover sewn for jugs and the railing bent back in shape. I put Sikaflex under the rail and clamped it tight. Then filled all the holes with two-part epoxy. After it cures I will drill new holes, put in the lag screws and we’re done.
We had a bit of excitement this afternoon when the wind came up. A boat from Hamburg, Germany started to drift away. I noticed it dragging anchor. I grabbed our binoculars and looked to see if their dinghy was there. It was hanging in the davits so I assumed they were on board. I tried three times to raise them on the radio but no answer. Soon the radio was filled with chatter from boats in the harbor. Silver Seas called and said they couldn’t help because their dinghy was on deck and it would take time to get it down and mount the motor. Our dinghy was hanging in the davits but our motor was clamped to the railing. The fuel dock called saying they located the crew on shore and they were trying to get someone to run them out to their boat. They must have taken the water taxi to shore this morning. Liana and I decided we couldn’t stand by and watch their yacht run aground so we hurried to drop our dinghy and put the engine on. Just as we were lowering the engine a boat from the fuel dock motored out to the drifting away yacht and the crew jumped on board. They quickly got it running and re-anchored.
Dinner was my favorite – carne asada and a mini cheesecake. Then we started the generator and ran all over the boat plugging in things that need to be charged. The best way to conserve fuel is charge everything while making water. It’s even a good time to take a shower because that’s when we run the water heater too.
April 29, 2019: Ahh, what a morning, turtles swimming around lazily, dolphins playing and a seal lion swimming around Silhouette. The scenery is typical Baja California. Lots of cliffs and hills and even mountains. It looks like Arizona with an ocean. Lots of reds and browns and not much vegetation. The houses are cinder block or wooden structures, mostly two rooms and very modest. It’s a sleepy little town with one school house, a couple small tiendas and restaurants, one gas station and several little shops.
We tackled all the stuff still left undone from yesterday starting with the dinghy. Nothing on our list was more important than transportation to and from the beach. I thought about how it ran great right up until it didn’t and what could have caused that? Water in the fuel was my guess so we transferred all the fuel from one tank to another and filtered it through our Baja filter. What we found was jello and water. We decided to clean the inside of the tank before we continued and found pieces of an old plastic funnel wobbling around on the bottom of the tank. I remember now – it was in Bocas Del Torro, Panama. The fuel can was spring-loaded making it hard to pour fuel unless you tilt it just right, pushing in the spring-loaded tip and if you, pushed, and cussed, all at the same time it might dribble an ounce or two of fuel. In Panama, during the tilting, pushing, pouring and cussing, the rusty spring that held it all together finally committed suicide and every piece of the wacky funnel busted off right into the dinghy’s fuel tank. It would appear it’s been happily swimming in the tank ever since. And would be still except I am doing this with Liana and she wants to take it out.
Remember when we were kids and had that game called Operation. Who knew we were training to remove four inch objects through a two inch hole. So we got out pliers and wire and Liana removed the last two pieces and declared the patient cured. We transferred five jugs of fuel on deck to the fuel tank and went to town to buy more. We dropped our landing gear (wheels) and raised the propeller to run it up on the beach. Timing is everything. We timed the waves just right and as soon as the wheels touched the sand we hopped out and I pulled as Liana pushed. Pedro was in his usual position, waiting on the beach to say he’d watch our boat. But today Pedro had some dude honing in on his turf and this guy waded out to help us pull the dinghy up on the beach. Liana dug out pesos and thanked him for his help. He said he would watch our dinghy, then immediately left. Pedro also said he would watch our dinghy but wound up walking to town with us. I asked him who’s watching our dinghy and he just said he was going for a coke. So there you go, make sure you pay them after they watch your dinghy, not before. We know this rule but we’re a bit rusty. So we lugged our five fuel jugs in our beach cart up the hill to the Pemex gas station. Today their credit card machine was working.
We filled our jugs and wheeled our full cart towards the beach just about the time Pedro was walking back from having his coke. We needed to quickly get our dinghy back into the water without the fuel and then bring the fuel jugs out to it, but a huge wave broke right over the bow. Now everything was floating in water and the next wave was on its way. Yup, you guessed it, the next wave did the same darn thing. I pulled out the pump, we dragged the dinghy out past the surf break and then pumped it out. A really nice young man watching offered to help us and we loaded all the fuel jugs and the cart. We’re soaking wet, the dinghy is sloshing with water but I managed to get the engine started and we raced out past the next incoming wave. Back at the boat we still had to load fuel, remove the dinghy motor and clamp it to the rail, raise the dinghy on the davits and tie it down; and the safety rail still needed to be completed.
April 30, 2019: Liana’s hogging all the sunshine! She’s sitting on what’s been dubbed Steve’s seat. Our nephew Aiden and I spent an afternoon in San Diego rigging stern seats to the rails but the one on the port side was in the way. I like to stand outside the cockpit on the deck during the mid-watch. The glare from all the gauges reflects off the windows and makes it hard to see anything up ahead. So I either turn them off, tape over the offending gauges and lights or stand on the outside. I decided to relocate the port stern seat to the rail where I normally stand. Now I can sit safe and secure. There’s also a handhold on the side of the cabin in the perfect spot to steady myself in the waves. It turned out to be one of my favorite places to sit.
It’s a beautiful calm morning, the sky’s overcast but we can already see the sun breaking through. We started motoring out of Turtle Bay right behind Silver Sea, a boat we were going to sail with. I had just finished raising the main and was coiling up the extra line when Liana said, “Did your hear that?” I did. I heard the motor wind down to almost an idle and then pick back up. She was driving and said she didn’t do it. Our diesel started running very erratic. A few days before when we were being pounded by waves I said to Liana, “Boy, we sure do have one reliable diesel. It’s never given us one bit of trouble over all the thousands of miles and thousands of hours we have operated it. Not one problem in four years.” Famous last words.
We had loaded on the fuel from Turtle Bay so my first thought was, bad diesel fuel. From the cockpit I have access to our double fuel filters and I immediately shifted from the one being used to the other one. It started running a bit better at high rpm’s but at low it still sputtered and nearly died out. I turned us around and limped us back to the anchorage. Liana radioed Silver Sea and told them we had motor trouble and we’re going back to sort it out. Just before we anchored we pulled down the main and I had to rev the diesel to keep it going while Liana dropped the anchor. I pulled out the diesel repair manuals looking for a clue and nothing like what we were seeing or hearing was covered. Oil pressure was good, temperature was good, no smoke, no loud noises just unable to idle or power up consistently.
Liana made breakfast while I looked for solutions. By the time we were done with breakfast I had concluded it can only be fuel. I remembered the diesel also has an engine mounted fuel filter. It’s the pre-filter just before the injectors. I decided to change all filters while Liana put fuel injector cleaner in our tank. We restarted the engine, it smoothed out right away. It smoothly went to 3,000 and back down, no problem. We sat and listened to it idle and thought it might be fixed. We started up everything and lifted anchor once again. This time with a bit less confidence than before.
When I was down in the engine room changing out filters I went through “a moment”. Not many since Tim had passed away, but I have to say I got a lump in my throat and a bit teary eyed. I was thinking what I would do next if this doesn’t work and the very first thought that came to my head was I will call Tim, he will know what’s wrong. Then I realized, Tim’s gone! Never again will I be able to pick up the phone and call my big brother for advice. I have been pretty strong these last several weeks but that was my moment.
At 2:00 pm the wind is directly from astern so we rigged Silhouette wing and wing. The main sheet was pulled to the port rail with a preventer. This time I tied it off to the centerline cleat. By 4:00 pm we were racing along at 7-8 kts. By 5:30 pm we were at Ascension Island and we needed to make a wide turn around the island then double back into the wind. We had to down-rig the jib boom and when we furled the jib the wind picked up to 25 kts. Since we were still making seven knots on the main sail we didn’t re-rig the jib.
When we started our turn around the island we had the seas on our beam and the wind too. We bashed into boarding seas for a half hour. The windshield was covered in spray and a big wave broke right over us showering the drivers seat. We were holding on and trying to see through all the spray. The wind ticked up to 30 kts. Once we made the turn in to Bahia Asuncion we hoped the winds would abate but not our luck today. We had the most challenging anchoring since I don’t even remember last. It blew 30 kts, the waves still crashing over the bow. I asked Liana if she wanted to trade positions and I would go up on the bow to drop anchor and she said no that’s her job. Well, ok then…She buckled her life jacket and harness into the jackline and crawled on deck to get to the bow. I tried a slow approach but the wind kept blowing us over sideways and way off course so I put the throttle forward and plowed toward the drop zone calling out our depth, boat speed, and wind speed. Just as we were approaching our anchor site Liana yelled “Coconuts to port” then quickly corrected herself and said, “Buoys, fishing floats to port … and starboard!” Darn, right where we wanted to anchor. I had to steer hard to starboard to miss both sets and now we’re getting pushed by the wind from behind.
I rounded us up back into the wind and we dropped anchor doing 4 kts. Normally it’s 1/2 kt or less. Drop, Drop, Drop the anchor and immediately I heard the deafening sound of the rattle of chain links at high speed rumbling across the deck. Liana was calling out 25 ft, 50ft, 75ft. I was backing down at full throttle trying to take off our forward motion. I watched boat speed go to zero and then back up to 4 kts in just a few seconds. The wind was pushing Silhouette broadside at 4 kts. Liana called out, “200 ft” “Snub it off quick,” I yelled into the headset and she yelled back, “I’m doing it.” As soon as she snubbed it our anchor straightened out and jerked us to a stop! We swung wildly at the end of the chain scope until it settled. We lashed everything down and called it a day.
When we both got back in the cockpit we just couldn’t stop laughing about “Coconuts” Life is good today. We both stopped and prayed and told God thanks for getting us in safe.