04 January 2024 | Puerto Vallarta
04 February 2019 | La Cruz de Huanacaxtle, Nayarit, Mexico
21 September 2018 | Half Moon Bay
04 March 2018 | Sea of Cortes
30 March 2017 | Puerto Escondido
26 March 2017 | La Paz BCS
04 February 2017 | Puerto Vallarta, MX
26 March 2016 | Costalegre Mexico
02 January 2016 | Chacala
02 January 2016 | Barra de Navidad to Puerto Vallarta
02 January 2016 | Barra de Navidad
23 July 2015 | Photo taken at Equator (N 00 Degrees; W 147 Degrees 32 Min)
17 June 2015 | Barra de Navidad
14 March 2015 | Zihuatanejo
18 December 2014 | Pacific Coast of Mexico
18 December 2014 | Baja, Mexico
28 April 2014 | San Carlos, Sonora, Mexico
10 December 2013 | Puerto Vallarta to San Blas, Mexico
10 November 2013 | Marina Nuevo Vallarta
Its been awhile!
04 January 2024 | Puerto Vallarta
Thomas Wordell
Yes, its been awhile since I updated my blog. Seems like time slips by without me noticing sometimes!
Anyhow, after my back operation in January of 2019, I have continued to sail Eagle during the winters and still love my life on the ocean.
In the spring of 2022, I sailed north with my friend Jenny (whom I used to work with when I was a Wildland Firefighter) intending to head up to Baja. But after a delightful cruise up the coast, stopping at Isla Isabela on the way, Jenny found out as we were approaching Mazatlan, that her brother was in ICU after having a heart attack! I told her to forget our plans and get home to be with family. I decided to keep my boat in Mazatlan for the summer of 2022 instead of trying to find crew at the last minute for the crossing to La Paz.
In the fall of 2022, my friend Ann came down planning to help me cross over to Baja. We got half way across with great winds and perfect conditions, but the closest we could point to the wind was directing us towards Cabo, not La Paz. So, I opted to start the engine and motor/sail to help us point higher into the wind. After a couple hours, the engine started making a "howling" sound I had never heard before. After some investigation, I discovered it was coming from my fresh water pump -- most likely the bearings. Not wanting to have the water pump seize up and ruin my engine, we opted to turn tail and use the winds to get us back to Mazatlan. We were disappointed to not make it over to Baja, but we did have a great 3-day sail in the Sea.
After waiting for a week for a new water pump to arrive, we changed plans and ended up sailing down to Banderas Bay before Ann had to return home. The best part of the trip was that Ann and I sparked, and have been partners ever since. I am so happy she is in my life now and loves to sail!
During 2023, my friend Bill came down in February and helped me sail Eagle down to Zihuatenejo for Guitar Fest for a wonderful week of music and fun with friends. Another friend, Tommy, flew into Zihua and helped me sail back up the coast to Banderas Bay. Ann came back down in April to finish out the spring sailing season. I decommissioned Eagle in La Cruz for the summer.
This past fall, Ann came back down in November of 2023 for a short sail up the coast to Chacala and then over to Yelapa. We had a great time!
I'm currently home for the holidays, but will return to the boat in mid Jan. Ann will return in early Feb to help me sail Eagle down to Barra de Navidad. Then I hope to have a couple friends come down this winter/spring to help me sail back up to PV and then up to Baja in the spring -- I really want to get up to Baja one more time before I get too damned old to do it anymore!
Fall 2018 and Winter 2019 Blues
04 February 2019 | La Cruz de Huanacaxtle, Nayarit, Mexico
Tom Wordell
In late October I flew down to Barra de Navidad and started prepping Eagle for a voyage north. My plans were to meet up with my friends Howard and Linda Roose in Puerto Vallarta in late November, then come home to Boise for Christmas before returning to take Eagle up to Baja for the spring. Plans changed!
I spent about 10 days getting the boat ready, but had tweaked my back a bit about halfway through the process, so I laid low for a few days to let things mend. I've had back issues for years, but this time I was getting nerve pain down my leg and it worried me. I moved the boat out to the Lagoona for a night or two, then cruised up to Cuastecomate and on to Tentacatita for several nights. I then motor/sailed up to Paraiso for a night and then on to Chamela where I spent several days paddle boarding, cleaning the boat bottom, changing zincs and getting ready for the trip up and around Cabo Corrientes. A good weather pattern set up, I left right at daybreak and I motor/sailed up the coast arriving in Punta de Mita around midnight. After a couple days there, I sailed to La Cruz and started provisioning and getting the boat ready for the arrival of Howard and Linda. They arrived on Monday, Nov 26 and we spent the night on the boat in a rain squall. The following day, the clouds cleared in the afternoon so we jumped on a bus and went into Bucerias for groceries and pesos. On Wednesday, Nov 28th, we hoisted anchor and had a great sail up the bay past Isla Tres Marietas and over to Punta Mita. On Thursday, we were sailing back to La Cruz under light winds. Linda was at the helm and I was down below when I simply turned to come up the companionway and BAM!, my back went out and I went down. I was crippled! I had severe nerve pain running down the length of my right leg and foot! It was horrendously painful. Howard and Linda helped get the boat to the La Cruz anchorage where we got the anchor down around 2pm. After a couple hours of assessing my situation, I realized we needed to get into the marina, so I hailed security, got a slip and motored the boat into the dock. I was not at the top of my game and it was lucky I didn't hit any other boats!
We borrowed a wheelchair from the marina, and over the next few days they helped me get into taxi vans, chase doctors and other local recommendations as I struggled with how to proceed. Howard and Linda were flying back to Phoenix on December 4th and I decided I should go with them and then on to Boise so they could help me get to the airport and onto the plane. I was extremely lucky to have them on board when this tragic event happened. They were great and over the course of several days helped me partially decommission the boat so I could leave it for as long as I would need while I was home and sorting out what to do.
I arrived home after being wheeled through the airports and onto the planes on Dec 4. I had an MRI taken on Dec 6 and discovered I had a severely herniated disc at L4/L5 on Dec 7. I tried an epidural steroid injection on Dec 12 that did not help. I tried laser therapy, decompression therapy and acupuncture to no avail. My right leg was in severe pain and I was really having trouble sleeping. I could hobble room to room using two canes, but anything more than that required a wheelchair. Consequently, I opted to undergo micro discectomy surgery on January 15 here in Boise. Things went well. I am walking again! I still have some numbness and pain in my right foot & leg, but hoping that fades over time as the nerve heals. I plan to recover for another 3-4 weeks and then fly back to Mexico on February 25 and rejoin Eagle. At this point, I think I will put my plans to head up to Baja on hold and take it easy for the remainder of the cruising season letting my back heal up fully before I start getting too serious about doing any remote single handed sailing!
Sometimes life hits you sideways and knocks you off your feet! Tom
The photo is of me in the wheelchair and Howard "at the helm" as we were heading to a live concert to see Cheko's band play at Octopus Garden on Dec 2.
Summer 2018
21 September 2018 | Half Moon Bay
Tom Wordell
In August of 2018 I flew down to San Francisco to visit my step brother and his family. Then I joined my friend Robert in Half Moon Bay aboard his sailboat Anna Maria – a Pacific Seacraft 37. I had agreed to crew for Robert from SF to Portland, OR. Unfortunately, almost immediately I got sick with the flu and was down with a fever for about a week. That set us back a bit and Robert was anxious to get going. After waiting a few more days for a decent weather window we departed Half Moon Bay planning to anchor in Drakes Bay for the night before proceeding to Bodega Bay. We arrived at Drakes Bay around 5pm and set anchor in the NW corner. Before dark the winds started picking up out of the NE so we opted to re-anchor farther away from the western shoreline, which ended up being a very wise decision! We put down 120 feet of chain in 20 feet of water and felt secure. Around 11pm the winds were howling and Robert got up to check the anchor. Not 5 minutes after he returned to the cabin we heard a loud “twang” and got up to investigate. In a matter of minutes, we had dragged nearly a quarter mile! I was worried the anchor had parted from the chain! We quickly got the engine started and while I kept the boat pointing into the wind, Robert was slowly able to get the anchor up. It was completely fouled with seaweed! With the winds blowing 30 knots in limited visibility in the middle of the night, we motored farther east in the bay and reset the anchor with 150 feet of scope. That time we held! It was after 2am by the time we got back in our bunks. The next day we arrived in Bodega Bay safe and sound.
The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful, but it was challenging to find the right weather windows with light winds and calm seas. There are a couple of nasty sections along the northern California coastline that always seem to have north winds in the afternoon well above 20 knots! We stopped at several ports along the way. It was cloudy, foggy and cold all the way to Coos Bay when the sun finally came out again! We crossed the Columbia River Bar in very calm conditions on a flood tide. There were hundreds of small fishing boats just inside the bar fishing for salmon and it was a bit dicey making our way through them before we docked in Astoria. The trip was over 650 miles. We had to motor most all the way except for a few hours when the winds weren’t right on our nose.
The next morning, Robert’s daughter gave me a ride to Portland so I could visit my son and other friends before flying home to Boise.
Fall 2017 - San Carlos to Puerto Vallarta
04 March 2018 | Sea of Cortes
Tom Wordell
I returned to Eagle in San Carlos in late October. She was in good shape having spent the summer in the marina. Ater recommissioning the boat, I departed San Carlos on November 5, 2017 enroute to La Paz along with Robert on Anna Marie. We had good NW winds 12-20 on our Sea of Cortes crossing to San Juanico. We spent 3 days in San Juanico because of very strong NW winds. On Nov 9th we sailed to Puerto Ballandra.... Robert had his autohelm fail part way there so had to hand steer the second half. On Nov 10, we sailed into Puerto Escondido and met up with Beagio and Jovanna on Gem. It was great to see them again and share some drinks and stories. After two days in Puerto Escondido we motor sailed to Agua Verde. It was very rolly there and I ended up stern anchoring to get a decent night's sleep. We left the following morning and sailed/motored down to San Evaristo anchoring in the north lobe of the bay. Stayed two days, repaired my macerator, snorkeled and had breakfast at Lupe's on the beach. Wednesday, Nov 15 we sailed to Isla San Francisco where we stayed 3 days snorkeling and paddle boarding. On Saturday, Nov 18 I had a great sail down to Ensenada Grande with 15-18 knot winds. Sunday, Nov 19 we sailed into Bahia San Gabriel and spent the night before sailing down to La Paz on November 20. I love sailing the coast of Baja – it is so colorful and the water was exceptonally clear this fall. I also love the remote-ness of the area... the secluded bays, turquiose waters, whales, and teeny palapa restaurants. It is becoming one of my favorite areas in Mexico!
My friend, Joe Frost, arrived from Boise, Idaho on Thanksgiving Day. We had dinner at La Fonda restaurant. On Friday Nov 24, we provisioned the boat in preparation to cross the Sea of Cortez over to the mainland. On Saturday, we sailed up to San Gabriel bay on Isla Espirtu Santos. Joe speared a lobster with the hawaiin sling, which we had for dinner. We moved up to Caleta Pardita on 11/27 and stayed until the morning of 11/29 when we departed for Isla Isabela. We had great winds and sailed out of the islands, down the inside of Isla Ceralvo and started across the Sea of Cortez. Winds were steady the entire way picking up as we got about half way across. I wanted to take in part of the headsail with the increasing winds and could not get it to furl. I went forward and found the forestay to be VERY loose. Fortunately, I was able to hand furl the sail, but quickly realized the forestay had parted. We were in 17-20 knot winds with choppy seas and quickly rigged a temporary forestay using one of the spinnaker halyards. I was able to get the main down while we were on a broad reach to keep pressure off the forestay. We diverted our course to Mazatlan so we could get the standing rigging repaired before proceeding further south. Unfortunately, we had give up saililng in great winds and motor approximately 100 miles into Mazatlan. We arrived the morning of 12/1. We were very lucky we did not lose the mast when the roller furler & forestay failed.
After getting a slip at Isla Marina, we discovered the roller furler foil (the part that holds the luff of the foresail) had slipped down because two set screws had backed out. This caused the foil to come into contact with the staylock nut that holds the forestay in the turnbuckle. The nut eventually loosened and backed out of the staylock fitting causing the forestay to come un-connected. The nut was solidly wedged inside the foil, so we had to dremel around it to get it out. Once that was done, we were able to reconnect the forestay and have a rigger come re-tension the fore and aft stay so we could be on our way again.
On Tuesday, Dec 5th, we se sail for Isla Isabela once again. We motored the first 5 hours out of Mazatlan, but otherwise had good winds all the way to Isabela. The east anchorage had 6 boats there, so we skipped it and headed straight to Mantechen Bay arriving on Wednesday, Dec 6. On Thursday, we took the dinghy to shore, had a great breakfast and then took the panga ride up to Tovara for a nice lunch and swim. Friday, we sailed to Chacala, but a very big swell was running so we opted to sail straight to Punta de Mita... arriving in the anchorage around midnght. It was a rolly sail all the way there and a rolly night at anchor. On Dec 11, we motor/sailed to La Cruz and then checked into Marina Nuevo Vallarta on Dec 13. Both Joe and I flew back to Boise on Dec 17. I spent a month with my girlfriend, Stephanie, and my two sons during my time in Idaho, but was ready for more warm weather and sunshine by the time I headed back south on Jan 15, 2018.
La Paz to Puerto Escondido
30 March 2017 | Puerto Escondido
Tom Wordell
Before I left La Paz, I received an email from a gal named Stephanie (the same name as my long term partner in Boise, ID) who wanted to gain some experience sailing in the Sea of Cortez. As luck would have it, we connected and she joined me and Eagle for the sail north to Puerto Escondido. Stephanie turned out to be great crew and was a lot of fun to have aboard. She was curious about everything on the boat, was a quik learner and a great cook (made excellent cabbage salads!), very attentive, generous, and willing to help with any of the boat chores. What more could a skipper ask for?
We sailed up to Isla Espritu Santos on Monday March 13 and then up to Caleta Partida the following day. We took the dinghy through the “pass” at high tide and then motored south about 1.5 miles to explore the sea caves on the east side of the island. On Wednesday, March 16 we sailed up to Isla San Francisco and had a great time hiking and exploring the island. On Friday, March 18 we sailed up to San Evaristo, stocked up on fresh water from the desalination plant and made some phone calls home. Unfortunately, Lupe who owns the restaurant in San Evaristo was not around so we missed out on his excellent cooking! The following day we sailed up to Los Gatos and spent two days hiking on the red rock and snorkeling the reef. Los Gatos is a spectacular anhorage! On Monday March 21 we sailed up to Agua Verde and enjoyed excellent fish tacos at the great little restaurant on the beach. We also bought some fish from the local fishermen on the beach.
On Wednesday, March 23 we sailed up to Puerto Escondido and grabbed a mooring ball in the lagoon to take shelter from an upcoming north wind event. Thursday, we caught a ride from Jen, a friend who worked with Stephanie as a park ranger in BC Canada, to Loreto and spent a wonderful afternoon exploring the town, old mission, museum, and tiendas. We had some awesome fish tacos at a restaurant along the malecon. We even grabbed an IPA from a brew pub in town!
Over the next couple of days we enjoyed the showers ashore at the marina and the great food at the restaurant at the hotel in Tripui...about a half mile up the road.
Stephanie stayed with me on the boat until Saturday morning. She caught a ride to Loreto wth Cathy and Jerry off the sailing vessel “Sarah” to meet a friend who would give her a ride back to her car in La Paz so she can continue her adventure in Baja. I'm gonna miss having her aboard!
The Sail to La Paz
26 March 2017 | La Paz BCS
Tom Wordell
Brian and Vickie arrived on February 12. After a couple days in La Cruz, we set sail for points north along with our friend Robert on Anna Marie. Our first day out was a wild and windy sail up to Punta de Mita. Fortunately, the winds abated and we had a decent night's sleep. The next day we sailed up to Isla Pena near Jaltemba. The following day we sailed with jib only into Chacala. It was a bit rolly and the winds were picking up. After getting the anchor down, the winds continued to build and it wasn't long that it became quite clear we needed to pick up and head to Mantenchen Bay. We arrived just after dark and had a good night's sleep. The following day, we took the jungle cruise up to Tovara and thoroughly enjoyed swimming in the cool fresh water and jumping off the rope swing. Later that day we took a cab into San Blas and decided to move into the marina the following day. We spent two days in San Blas getting laundry done, provisioning, and enjoying the restaurants and shops. We also visited the Fort.
After waiting for a good weather window, we set sail for Isla Isabela. We were able to sail about 2/3 of the way there, but had to motor the last 10 miles or so against a strong northerly with a big swell. We anchored off Isla Mona and spent a rolly night our first night there. The next day we picked up Robert and took the dinghy into the south bay and walked around looking at the birds and lizards. We bought fish from the fishing camp and had a great BBQ back on the boat later that day. I dove my boat to check on the bottom and then went over to Roberts boat to do the same. I discovered his anchor was wrapped around a big rock and we spent several hours getting him off. Robert had to eventually put on his scuba gear to get the anchor chain cleared.
Our trip to Mazatlan was fairly calm... we were able to sail about half way there, but motored most of the time from midnight to early morning. As we approached Mazatlan early the next morning we encountered thousands of Bat Rays! Many of them were jumping and slapping the water. It was quite the site. We got a slip at Isla Marina Mazatlan and enjoyed a couple days and nights in the big city.
On Sunday, February 26, we departed for La Paz. Winds were light and we were only able to parallel the mainland coast as we sailed out the first day. Eventually we had to motor sail and then motor much of the way across the Sea of Cortez. Brian crewed for Robert and Vickie stayed with me. It was a long, but quite mild crossing. We decided to point north of La Paz and ended up heading into San Evaristo on Tuesday around noon. That afternoon, the winds picked up out of the north and ended up blowing hard with gusts over 25 mph for two days straight. We were pretty much boat bound. Our treat after two days of pitching and rolling was to head over to Lupe's for a great dinner and lots of beers on Thursday evening.
We pulled anchor and sailed down to Isla San Francisco on Friday, March 3rd. That afternoon we hiked the ridge trail and enjoyed a wonderfully calm night on the boat. On Saturday, we sailed down to Caleta Partida. The winds came up that afternoon, so we hunkered on the boat once again. Sunday morning, Vickie, Robert and I took the dinghy around the bay and saw some large needle fish. We then sailed down to Bahia San Gabriel and snorkeled that afternoon. On Monday we motored down to La Paz and got slips at Marina de La Paz. The following day Brian and Vickie departed for San Jose del Cabo to have a couple nights in a comfy hotel before they flew back up to the US.
Robert and I will depart La Paz on Sunday, March 12 under a full moon and plan to spend the spring exploring the Sea of Cortez up into Bahia Conception.