It's been over a month since my last post, and what a month it's been!
After painting the Kiwi Grip in Cetus' cockpit, we started our drive north. We weren't in a big rush so we enjoyed the drive even spending two nights at our favorite Mexican hotel: Hotel Mision Santa Maria on the Pacific Coast just south of San Quintin.
We spent one night in San Diego after crossing the border where we checked out a trailerable trimaran for my brother, then up to Longbeach to have our life raft looked at for repacking. It hadn't been serviced or repacked in a very long time and even though it inflated just fine, all of the required up grades for that raft would make repacking it more expensive than a new one so that will be our next major purchase.
We had another nice break from daily driving when we stopped in Seaside, OR for a few days to visit friends -- and had a nice visit with Carly & Ryan who were also in Seaside for the Labor Day weekend.
But as we were traveling up from San Diego we were seeing another hurricane developing off the Mexican Coast -- and unlike the earlier ones this year it wasn't predicted to head straight to Hawaii as the others had but it was on a path to go right up the Sea of Cortez!
Everyday we hoped to see it fizzle out or turn away but it just kept heading for Baja and by the time we left Seaside it was pretty clear it would at least hit Cabo San Lucas. We contacted Javier at the Marina in Puerto Escondido where Cetus was secured at the dock and had him add a couple more lines to keep Cetus away from the dock should winds come thru there. And they did!
Hurricane Newton hit Cabo (but luckily not with the same force as Odile had two years before) then blew over La Paz and San Evaristo and on Tuesday (Sept. 6th) it began blowing and raining in Puerto Escondido and Loreto. The worst of it was over by 9:00 that night and we were happy to hear from Javier that there was no damage in the little marina and Cetus was safe. So Cetus weathered another hurricane unscathed!
Our friends boat, Due West, broke loose from the buoy they were on when the pennant failed and ended up in the mangroves, but luckily when they got it off the next day they found minor damage -- so thankful for that because it could have been much worse. They are now hauled out in the boat yard doing the repairs to the keel.
Newton continued north to Santa Rosalia where it made a mess of the roads and town, but the boats in the marina made it thru with minor damage thank goodness.
But the worst damage that Newton brought was when it crossed the Sea and battered San Carlos and Guaymas! Much boat damage there -- where boats usually are safe from storms like this. We heard at least 7 boats sank in Guaymas when one of the docks tore apart, and in San Carlos a row of boats on the hard fell over like dominoes. What a nightmare!
So we dodged another bullet and are hoping no more big storms crop up this season -- which technically runs till November 1st. We will be returning to Cetus in Puerto Escondido by October 7th.
For a great post on Hurricane Newton in Puerto Escondido check out our friends Heidi & Kirk's blog -- they were there and their boat, Due West, is the one I mentioned went into the mangroves.
SVDueWest Blog