At anchor waiting
06 January 2018 | 15 48.517N::-093 37.521W
Bill
We dropped our anchor about 1100 after almost three days out from Bahia del Sol, El Salvador having covered 340 miles since we left on Wednesday afternoon. Some sail and some motor and some sail and motor. We only made one mistake along the way and that was when we went too far off shore. The "Rules" along this coast is to "keep one foot on shore and one foot in the water". Stay as close to shore as you can safely and the winds along this coastline kick up a lot of swell fast as the wind passes over the water. We were about 15 miles off shore which isn't that far and the wind had kicked up and I was headed up on deck to roll in the bit of genoa sail we had out when we got nailed and I mean NAILED by a wave that crested on top of Zephyr, driving water into the open deck hatch and through the cockpits open windows. We had salt water all over the port side of the main cabin, soaking the seat cushions as well as anything else that happened to be close by. Even poor Blue got some on her as she slept in one of the cubby holes behind the back cushions. Inside was a mess as was the inside of the cockpit. I was mopping water for a while after we got our sails reconfigured. We ended up with a reef in the main and our forestay sail deployed. It's the first time and hopefully the only time we have ever had water come in that hatch. It's about 7 feet above the waterline and has always been a safe hatch to have open when out under sail. Luckily, it was only open a crack but it let in a lot of water.
We are anchored just off shore near Soconusco Bluff about 100 miles past the Guatemalan border waiting for tomorrow afternoon when the legendary Tehuantepec are supposed to lessen over Sunday and Monday so we can get past them. It's not unusual for them to gust into the 60 knot range and we want to avoid that. Forecasts are for them to lessen tomorrow afternoon and really die off on Monday but be back by Tuesday so we are on a tight schedule to get those miles covered as quickly as we can. It's not the winds that are bad but the swells they can kick up 3-4 meter range easily.
We are surrounded by shrimp fishing boats each night as we make our way along the coast, some larger and some smaller with just a net and a small light to let you know they are there. We have to be on guard as we sit in the cockpit making sure we give them a wide berth as we pass them. Some deploy nets and that can cause lots of problems should they get in our prop.
As we left Bahia del Sol, we were greeted by our two cats, Snowshoe drooling bubbles and Blue just panting away, both below decks. We hadn't been in the marina that long for them to loose their sea legs but apparently they had. It only took a few hours though for them to get them back so all is well now. We have rugs on the floor during passages so they can walk better without slipping as we heel over in the wind.
We are sitting with the wind from the west north west and the current hitting us from the southwest so we are rolling quite a bit as the swells pass under the keel. Tracy has taken her sea sickness meds so she's fine and the kids have stopped complaining now that they have been fed. we've been greeted by several local fishing boats once we got the anchor down, all trying to converse with us in Spanish. We speak little and they speak no English so it's more hand gestures that words. The one boat that came along side wanted the usual, cigarettes, or fuel but left happily when I gave them a nice cold jug of Coke from our fridge. Sure hope they don't spread the word. From what we could see in their boat, they had caught just one fish since leaving late last night. Not a good catch for them. With the dozens of fishing boats we see off shore, we're not surprised at the lack of fish they caught. You can't keep fishing like they do and expect to have a good catch, year after year.