Still here.
22 April 2010 | Bahia Santa Barbara
Bill Hudson
We're still in Bahia Santa Barbara trapped by North winds. It blew for most of yesterday from the North to the West making it down right tough to try and make it anywhere North of here unless we motor and we really don't like doing that. So here we sit and here we wait. The latest forecast is for the winds to change in a few days or so, but who knows, it's changed before. That's how we got trapped here. The forecasts had all been for winds from the Southwest for the foreseeable future and it changed in the blink of an eye.
Meanwhile, it's a bit cool here with us actually switching to long pants and socks until it gets a bit warmer in the afternoon. The highs are barely getting into the 70's and for here, that's down right cold. It should be in the mid 80's by now. The cards come out for playing and books get read and videos get watched and we wait. We are under a sort of "boat arrest" if you will all controlled by Mother Nature in her infinite wisdom. It's not like we are on a tight schedule. We had just planned to get to Guaymas and San Carlos to find a good boat yard to hold Zephyr so some work can get done and she can be stored till hurricane season is past. We want to make sure the insurance company stays happy with us. We're covered for just about everything, but hurricanes are not in the policy.
So stay tuned for more updates. Meanwhile, I have a deck to wash as boobies camped out on the top of the mast and decorated our deck last night. These birds are fearless. I walked up to one to shoo him(or her) off and he(or her) just stood there like I didn't exist. IT didn't move until I reached out to pet it. He(or she) them flapped its wings hitting my arm and took off squawking all he way. We get circled regularly and have been found to be a good perch to keep their feet dry.
On thing I forgot to tell you about was our leaving Topolobampo a few days ago. As we beat our way out of the bay and out toward the farthest West buoy, we got nailed by a big wave. Up went Zephyrs bow and down she went into the big ditch between the waves burying her bow in the next wave. We got our decks cleaned by all the water we took over the bow. It filled the scuppers(side decks) with lots of water and covered the decks almost back to the cockpit before draining off. We were smart enough to have closed and battened down all the hatches ad port lights before we left the anchorage so at least all the water stayed out of the boat. The waves hadn't looked anywhere big enough to do what they did. It pays to be prepared before setting out.
We also caught a Sierra as we headed North. We put out our drag line and just sailed along waiting. About 30 minutes later, I looked back and there was something trailing our boat. He was about 28 inches long with beautiful gold marks on his side. We pulled in the line and hoisted him aboard. As Zephyr just kept moving along under "James" (our Hydrovane) control, We sat on the stern and slowly carved him up with a filleting knife. I did better this time and got several nice(yet small) fillets out of him. Not enough for a meal by any chance, but Shadow seemed to like them. So we keep on trying. Apparently, Sierras are one of the most common fishes in the region. We're still waiting for our first Mahi Mahi. All in good time.
More to come as the wind blows--still from the North darn it.