Course Change
01 March 2020
by Deb Oleynik
I wrote in my last blog - flexibility and adaptability are key in this sailing life. I have to keep reminding myself of that as quick left turns are made. Yes, quick left turns. If you were tracking us on the Garmin Mapshare page you saw that is just what we did.
Our sail out of San Diego started out fine. It was quiet except for dodging through a fleet of fish-pen pulling, fishing boats. We watched the sunset, had some dinner and I went to get some rest. When I awoke I found Bob on deck not feeling too well. It seemed like a case of motion sickness but we really don’t know what triggered it.
Bob rarely ever gets sea sick. He has spent countless hours at sea in all sorts of conditions and has never gotten this sick. For three days he struggled to get past it but the nausea and vomiting then triggered a migraine. The rough seas threw at us swells up to 15 feet and wind waves that battered us. They always seemed to hit right at the moment he seemed to be feeling a bit better.
We traveled over a couple hundred nautical miles down to the east side of Guadelupe Island, Mexico. From there it was going to be a gradual course to the West to get to the Marquesas but with no land close by for thousands of miles. Bob needed some steady ground to get well. The only choice at that point was our quick left turn. Turtle Bay was just due East and it was calling us.
So here we are in Turtle Bay, Mexico. It’s a quiet little spot nicely protected from the Pacific therefore a well known respite point for boats cruising up and down the coast of Baja. Bob is on the mend and I am also getting some rest. We have had time to rethink our plans. Our Marquesas Islands adventure is going to have to wait.
We are in Mexico now so we will continue on here. There is lots of good sailing in the Sea of Cortez on much more protected waters. And it won’t take four weeks on the open ocean to get there. I’m really liking that fact!
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