We departed Mexico on April 9, on a day said by some to be a “perfect weather window” for getting off the notoriously windless coast of the Mexican Riviera. Our timing had nothing to do with perfect planning, and everything to do with fate… and the timely arrival of our friend Rob Landa with our new turnbuckles from Mainstay-Yacht-tech at home in Sidney. Thank you so much guys!
We started motoring out of Banderas Bay, with Mike on the bow removing the anchor for storage down below and waterproofing the windlass hawse hole to keep the sea out. As we left the bay, we passed through dense clouds of small rays, which were drifting just under the surface in groups of 50 to 100 – we must have seen thousands of them that day. The sails were up shortly, and we headed off the coast in NNW 8-10 knots, a gorgeous gentle beam reach.
After the months (not to mention the years) of preparation for that moment, we both really felt relieved to be finally underway!
The moderate winds stayed with us for the first part of the trip, occasionally getting as high as 15-18 knots and gradually switching first to northerlies and then NNE, which we considered a sign of our arrival in the trade winds.
On this part of the trip, seas were a bit lumpy and confused, around 2 metres on average which meant it was rock and roll time. Nothing dangerous or scary, just enough to make cooking a challenge and make it very important to hang on at all times, whether on deck or down below. We were glad that we had lots of pre-packaged foods, including our favorite Kraft Dinner and the portioned-out rice and lentils that went in the pressure-cooker for a more nutritious meal at sea.
We were lucky that neither of us really suffered from seasickness on this trip. Both of us felt not great for the first three days or so, (Marni especially), but then the feeling went away and we both had our normal appetites and didn’t even feel the draggy lethargy that we have experienced in the past.