Cat on the rocks
26 February 2020 | San Evaristo, Baja California Sur, Mexico
Eric
We've been waiting out a Norther, sitting at anchor in the bay at
Evaristo for a few days. We met some new friends on Ghillie, a pretty
schooner, and have exchanged visits with them, but otherwise we haven't
been off the boat. The wind was about 25 knots when we arrived on
Sunday, the 23rd , and it's been up and down since then. We're well
protected from swell by the headland and reef to the northeast, and
tucked relatively close to the north side so there'âs no fetch to build
waves where we are. The wind does blast around and over the headland, so
we get variable gusts into the 20's in the anchorage. We've been here
with Ghillie and another sailboat since we arrived and a couple of other
boats have arrived, spent one night and moved on. A large power boat was
here, dragged anchor and tried a couple of spots in the bay before
moving on. One charter catamaran showed up, stayed a day and moved on.
On Tuesday the 25th another 45' charter catamaran and a sailboat showed
up and anchored. The cat was a little close, but not upwind of us, so we
didn't worry about it.
Tuesday night, the wind was quite strong. The anemometer showed a peak
of 30 knots, and it was quite noisy on the boat. We have a large 66
pound Spade anchor that's worked very well for us. We're anchored in 30'
of water with 150' of chain deployed, and the anchor has been digging in
for the past three days as the boat swings back and forth in response to
the gusts. We have an anchor alarm on our AIS system that puts dots on a
display every minute, and will sound an alarm if we get beyond 180' from
the position we set the anchor. The pattern of dots has accumulated over
several days and shows how far the boat has swung, and if it dragged at
all. It's a tight pattern of dots in about a twenty-degree arc. Just
what we like to see when the anchor is well stuck.
Nonetheless, with the loud blasts of wind I got up several times in the
night, and looked at our instruments, the lights in town and the anchor
lights of the other boats to make sure we were staying put. At 4 am a
large gust woke me up. I noticed that the cat had their running lights
on and had moved downwind relative to the lights on one of the other
boats in the anchorage and those on shore. I figured they'd let out more
scope, so I went back to bed. After a restless night, I slept in until
full daylight at 7 am.
When I looked out the porthole by our bunk, I couldn't see the cat. A
quick glance at our instruments showed we hadn't moved. I went to the
cockpit, still in my jammies, and saw the catamaran on a reef at the
south end of the bay. Their running lights were on, one engine was
running and there were several people on deck. The cat was leaning, with
the ama (each hull on a catamaran is called an "ama") on the side toward
the reef obviously much lower in the water. The boat was on the south
side of the bay, and they were getting some swell which was pounding
them on the reef. It was obvious the lower ama was leaking and full of
water, and resting on the reef. (photo to be posted when we have high
speed internet).
About that time our friends from Ghillie passed by on their dinghy to
offer the grounded boat some assistance. There was a panga also offering
help, and some spectators on shore. It looked like they didn't need more
help, and they weren't going anywhere, so Linda and I got dressed and
watched through the binoculars while we had breakfast in the cockpit.
The panga tried to pull them off unsuccessfully. Eventually the people
aboard took their luggage and went ashore on a panga. A couple of pangas
tried to move the boat at high tide, but no luck.
It's Thursday and the cat is still on the rocks. They've been pounding
on the reef for a day and a half and the wind is projected to be in the
twenties again today, so the swell will continue to bang it against the
reef. Perhaps we'll see some salvage operations before we head south
tomorrow (2/28) morning.
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