The wind reports I was receiving while in Turtle Bay were not very encouraging for going north. 20 to 30 knots were forecast in the afternoons for the next 5 to 6 days. On the second day I decided that if I left in the late afternoon I could cover enough distance overnight to get across the large bay up north and get close to shore. The winds are expected to be lighter near shore and I thought I could cover the distance before the afternoon winds kicked in. It didn't turn out that way.

I left turtle bay around 2:00 p.m. on March 12th. Although it was afternoon, I expected the first 20 miles or so to be protected from the strong winds by Point Eugenia which lies just north of Turtle Bay. I was wrong. Shortly after leaving the bay and turning north I ran into 20 to 25 knot winds. This brought my boat speed down to 1.9 - 2.5 knots and a very rough ride directly into 5 to 6 foot wind waves. I decided to bear off and tack back and forth about ten degrees off the wind. This worked well but it was taking much longer to make way on my course. I was hoping to get to the north end of Cedros Island by midnight but it wasn't until about 5:00 a.m. before I cleared the north point of Cedros Island. This is where the largest bay crossing of the trip starts. It not only takes me the farthest offshore but it is notorious for having the strongest winds and biggest seas on the trip north.

By 8:00 a.m. the wind was up to 18 knots and the seas were 6 to 8 ft. in hieght. I was beginning to realize that the plan wasn't going to happen as I intended and that I'd be crossing the bay above Cedros at the wrong time. A note from the log "1200 hrs. - 20+ winds - seas 6 -8 ft. - doing fine, if it stays like this it will be o.k.". Well it didn't stay like that. By 3:00 p.m., with the winds were somewhere north of 30 knots and the seas 8 to 10 feet, I hove-to. At this point I had way too much water entering the boat, gerry cans hanging off the rail and a cabin with just about everything on the cabin sole. Heaving-to was the only option to get control of the situation. The wind was so strong that I was drifting off downwind at 1.9 to 2.5 knots. Not really a problem as the leeward shore was 27 miles away but I was loosing ground on my course and heading away from the nearest land. I reversed the hove-to position from a starboard to a port tack which directed me closer to shore and, I hoped, lighter winds. The bildge had taken on quite a bit of water so I spent my time finding out where all the water was coming in and correcting the problems. I have sailed Solitude in some pretty rough weather without any problems. You really don't know where your limits are until the conditions raise the bar and challenge you at a new level. This was definitely a new level. These were by far the highest winds and the biggest seas Solitude and I have ever been in.

I remained hove-to until about 8:00 p.m. when the winds dropped off to about 18-20 knots. I set sail for the nearest point that could offer refuge from the wind which was San Carlos Anchorage at the north end of Bahia San Carlos. This spot was about 65 miles short of my intended destination but a safe place to wait out the winds. I sailed through the night arriving at San Carlos Anchorage at 9:00 a.m., on March 14th, with calm winds and smooth seas. I anchored up and went to bed for a well deserved rest. I have always said I don't want' to have a storm chapter to write. Well this was not quite a storm chapter but I do have a story to tell.