Day 580 Sail so far to make so little ground.
01 December 2009 | Mag Bay-Man of War Cove
Bill Hudson
We upped the anchor this morning to make our way over to Man of War Cove. The night had been strange with the tide versus wind happening all over again at 0400. I was up and checking our anchorage as the wind started coming in the stern port lights. Wind is not supposed to come into your stern cabin that way because it means your boat is anchored backwards from what is normal. The bow always goes into the wind. At 0400, the tidal currents rushing to get out of Mag Bay pulled our stern around again as it had done the previous afternoon. An hour later and we were all back to normal with the bow into the wind.
We headed off for Man of War Cove just 5 miles Northwest of where we were anchored. A short trip right? We decided to do it under sail even though the winds were coming at us from the Northwest. We figured if we headed Northeast for about 5 miles and then tacked back toward Man of War Cove, we would come out just about right and have some fun sailing for a change with a nice day sail. Off we went in 10 knot winds doing nicely with the Genoa rolled out and the main up. We hit a nice 4 to 5 knots, even over 6 when the winds picked up. About 6 miles out, we tacked and headed back(again up wind)toward Man of War Cove. Unfortunately, the wind either shifted or Mother Nature was out playing another joke on us. A normal tack is when you put the bow of the boat through the eye of the wind and set the sails at 90 degrees from the course you had been taking. Well, not this tack. Oh no, we had to turn at least 120 degrees to get wind to fill our sails to make us go. This meant that no matter what we did, we were not going to make it under sail to the new anchorage. We would end up about two miles South of the cove. So we were sailing 11 miles to cover a distance of 3 of the 5 miles we needed to get into the new anchorage. So after having sailed the 11 miles, we took in the sails and started the motor and headed in the last 2 miles to the anchorage. We sailed so far to go such a short distance.
As we entered the cove, we saw Dana, our friends that we had last seen on our way South from Ensenada. They had continued on to Mag Bay while we had stopped at several anchorages along the coast and now we were back together again. They have been at anchorage here since we parted. It 's great to see them again.
After we anchored, we had to wait for the "Port Captain" to come out and inspect our boat. When you sail into a harbor with a town, many times they have a "Port Captain" that is paid by the government to come out and "inspect" in coming boats for all their papers. Do people in motor homes have to report to the mayor of the towns they visit or is it just people on boats that have to visit town officials? Seem strange to me. As we waited, Dana upped their anchor and took off across the cove to another anchorage. There is supposed to be a bout of Santa Ana winds due here over the next day or so(at least that is what the weather gurus say).
Once the "Port Captain" Gregorio came by and we were all checked in, we brought up our anchor and headed for the new anchorage. Dana has traveled the world for years so I tend to believe what they say. We're now anchored for a second time today at 24 39.779N 112 07.565W and will be here for a couple of days. The autopilot has started to act up. Some times it works and sometimes I get a screen that says the rudder isn't heading in the right direction. So tomorrow I'll be in the engine room checking all the wires and their connections as well as all the hoses to make sure everything is alright. If it continues, we will have to have an "expert" come out and look at it once we get to LaPaz. As big as that town is, I would think that there would be a person, even another cruiser that knows all about Simrad/Robertson autopilots.
So we are at anchor awaiting what Mother Nature brings and will be putting the dingy in the water tomorrow to do some beach combing (once the auto pilot gets inspected). All work and no play makes Bill a dull boy.
Until tomorrow--have a great day everyone.