The last leg, 'window-itis', stats
03 July 2011
Dave
Last leg and "Window-itis" and the stats
While in San Diego Mark and Susan Robinson came down for a visit and to reunite with C Monkey. You may recall C Monkey initially came aboard Pacifico with Mark in November for the trip down, but it turned into a lot longer adventure for C Monkey than for Mark. Now that he's back 'home' who knows where or on what boat he will turn up next! Anyway, we wish him a fond farewell and best of luck in his future sailing and boating adventures.
We made our last leg, San Diego to Oceanside on Thursday, June 30. That run was 42 nm and we motor sailed it right up the rhumb line. It was a perfect day, except we didn't have enough wind to make 4 knots of speed, but it was beautiful, mostly clear and sunny with 72° in the cockpit under the bimini shade. We were in our slip by 1630 all safe and sound! It was good to get the Bash over with, that is a long and challenging trip. We still have mixed feelings about leaving Mexico, but the cooler weather is helping us get over it. There is always next time to look forward to!
When we were bashing up, back at about Bahia Santa Maria, we were asking ourselves; "why are we here?" We understood that we were here to bring the boat back, and you rationalize that the days of slogging back up are the payback for all the fun you've had in the preceding months, but why did we leave Cabo when we did? We had planned to stay in the Cabo area until late June or even early July if needed, and to wait for a weather window to go north. We wanted to stay longer and had clearance from our insurance company to stay below Bahia Tortuga until July 15. So why did we cut it short and leave so early?
Mentally and emotionally we both felt that the trip was essentially over before we even left La Paz. Sure, we still had a few weeks left, but it would be waiting for that 'window' to head north on and you get anxious to get it over with. At about that time the first hurricane of the 2011 season was being spawned off the coast below Acapulco. This time of year they typically head north then go out to sea and die in the cooler waters. That said they are not a real threat to boats traveling north up the Baja and can be a big help, with their pressure system influencing the typical pressure gradients coming down the Pacific from the north. That's kind of an amateur version of it. Anyway, a lot of boats were gathering in the Los Cabos area looking for that 'window' of better weather to head north on, including us. With the weather forecasters saying, this is as good as it ever gets for the "Bash" and "go now" we got caught up in the frenzy. I'll call it "window-itis" and we departed Cabo before we had planed to. We found ourselves wondering why we were bashing and not sitting at some cantina someplace in Cabo! Oh well, nothing to do now but to get it done so here we are, home before the 1st of July. Oh well, things could be worse!
Not to bore everyone with numbers, but here is a recap of the some of the details and numbers from our trip. Our original plans were to go as far south as Zihuatanejo, which we did and as far north into the Sea as Santa Rosalia, which we also did, so we met those goals. We almost didn't get that far north, but Mike on So Inclined provided the enthusiasm and we made it. When we left Oceanside in November you may recall that we were in a mad scramble to get going. There was a lot left to be done and we continued to finish some projects on the way south. What I had over looked was keeping track of statistical details, like miles traveled. Our GPS units keep track of mileage, among other things, but I was inconsistent with recording that information. Initially I didn't reset the GPS odometer and did not have a good starting point, but I knew how far we traveled by retracing our tracks. I had it figured out by the time we got to Cabo and started keeping track of the starting odometer when we pulled anchor or left a marina and again when we dropped the hook or parked someplace. Periodically I kept a side record of stops and the actual mileage traveled between each point.
Here are the numbers: We traveled 4,046 nautical miles between 62 stops, anchor up to anchor down or to a slip. Those stops included 12 marinas for 84 days and 143 days at anchor in seven and one half months (223 days). Of the marina days those included ten days off the boat for the trip home and four for the Copper Canyon side trip, other than those events we were on the boat every night. Our longest passage was 354 nm, Cabo to San Hipolito and the shortest was 1 nm from Ensenada Carrizal to Santiago. We made nine passages of over 100 nm and six over 200 nm, just the two of us, who would have thought? We motored more hours than we ever thought we would, motor sailing the majority of the time, but we did have a few decent sailing days here and there. Between the lack of wind that time of year on the Mexican Riviera or wind from the wrong direction coupled with the constant need to recharge batteries and/or make water it was almost a necessity to motor. There were days we could have sailed, but had to run the engine anyway. I have to admit, I'm 'destination oriented.' That is, I'm not sailing at 2-3 knots when I don't have to!
So that's it for now, thanks for keeping track of us, sorry I wasn't more 'prompt' on my postings and we hope you've enjoyed what we've put forth to share with you here.
Our next voyage will be to Emerald Bay with the Oceanside Yacht Club in two weeks. There may be more adventures of C-Monkey on another boat. :-)
s/v Pacifico WDE6257, Clear! (for now)