Dodging another big storm
09 November 2014 | 21 20.78'N:106 53.93'W, 100 miles from Puerto Vallarta
Mark
First, we had to hold up in Turtle Bay to let Hurricane Vance and it's 100+ knot winds pass. Now, another cyclonic storm is forming and barrelling towards us as we head to Puerto Vallarta. This time, we have nowhere to hide as we are about 200 miles from Cabo, 100+ miles from Mazatlan, and 100+ miles from PV. Sheesh - this one came up fast with not as much warning as Vance.
The good news is that we've got both engines running and making full speed for PV. We still have some wind which, normally, would be enough to sail slowly. But if we were to sail, the storm would overtake us and we would be dealing with predicted 35-47 knots of wind and 20ft+ seas. That would not be fun.
There are a few other boats around us: Moonshadow, White Wind, and Papillion II who are also going as fast as they can. We should all be safely in port before the storm hits. But, one other boat that we know, Valhalla, was 30+ miles behind earlier today without the ability to move along as fast as we can. We are hoping that they have turned around and are sailing away from the storm, instead of into it. I heard from Moonshadow that the rest of the Baja HaHa boats that were still in Cabo San Lucas were asked to stay there, away from this new storm, instead of crossing to the mainland. We are lucky that we left on Saturday afternoon instead of Sunday morning and are now ahead of the weather.
This is not normal for this time of year down here! It is usually quite placid. But, with it being and El Nino year, the water is much warmer than normal and providing more energy for cyclonic storms.
Our eta into Paradise Village Marina is late on Monday morning. We'll put a post up once we are settled into the marina so that you know that we have arrived.