Rover

Overnight to Bahia Asuncion

13 April 2020 | Bahia Asuncion, Baja California Sur, Mexico
Eric
The weather pattern the past few days has featured less wind from
midnight through dawn, with the wind building in the early afternoon and
evening to the high 20'€™s. Hoping for smooth easy sailing on our next
leg, we planned an 11 pm departure from Bahia Hipolito and an overnight
(8 hour) passage to Asuncion, arriving after dawn. The first part went
according to plan and we were soon outside Hipolito, moving nicely in a
beautiful clear evening and the off-watch was sent below to sleep. We
could see phosphorescence in the wake of the windvane and rudder. It
looked like fireflies just below the surface of the water. Then the
almost full moon rose and we had a beautiful sail for about an hour. The
wind decreased so we added more sail until all working sail was up, and
the boat speed dropped below a knot. We'€™d wanted 6-12 knots of breeze,
but 3-4 was too little to maintain steerage and stop the sails from
slatting. We have a drifter for light air conditions but setting the
drifter is an involved process in the daylight, and didn'€™t sound like
fun in the night. We let the off-watch sleep and started the engine.
Since we'€™re trying to conserve fuel, too little wind is a problem and so
is too much. Last passage, there ha€™d been too much wind, now there was too
little.

The second watch, Rod and Kay relieved Linda and I at 2 am, and we went
below to sleep while they motor sailed toward Asuncion. Since they
didn'€™t have to tack, they arrived at the bay ahead of schedule, before
dawn, and saw some lobster floats in the dark. According to the standing
orders, they woke the captain (me). We slowed way down, and put out
another lookout. By now, enough wind had come up to sail so we set all
working sail and secured the engine. We had a beautiful morning sail as
dawn was breaking.

Bahia Asuncion is known for the amount of wildlife in the bay and birds
on the island that shelters the anchorage. As we got close to the
anchorage, we started the engine and took in all sail. Rod and Kay were
on the foredeck taking in the stays'€™l and the sun was just rising when a
large pod of dolphins came to visit us. They played in the bow wave and
jumped out of the water, singly or in pairs. After we'd left them
behind, and woke up Linda, a couple of sea lions came to check out the
boat, leaping out of the water on their way over.

We dropped anchor in twenty feet of water, about a hundred yards
offshore of the village of Asuncion. It was Easter Sunday, and the
village was very quiet. After an Easter Breakfast highlighted by
cinnamon rolls that Linda made yesterday, we all went back to bed until
afternoon. A short rest day of cribbage, Easter dinner of canned corned
beef, and the crew were all in bed by 8 pm.

In the middle of the night, the wind changed direction, and the anchor
reset with a clunk and a rattling of chains. I checked to make sure we
were still well set, anfd before I got back to sleep, I heard some
scrabbling on deck. I turned on the deck light and investigated to find
a pelican on the foredeck. We have netting on the lifelines to hold the
stays’l on board during sail changes, and I didn’t want to startle him
into the net. I gently encouraged him onto the pulpit (photo), and then
urged him more vigorously to leave the boat. He flapped away into the
night.

--
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Comments
Vessel Name: Rover
Vessel Make/Model: Valiant 42
Hailing Port: Seattle. WA
Crew: Eric and Linda
About:
We're making a big change to a cruising lifestyle. Eric retired in 2012 after 32 years in R&D (mostly) at HP. Previous passions included flying and bicycling. Linda will retire in 2013 from Oregon State University. She's been active in Zonta, was a Scoutmaster, and is a champion baker. [...]
Extra: Linda was barrel master and Eric participated in the Jackson Street Vintners; a group of friends that made wine from 2000 to 2013
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