Tradewinds Sailing Blog

Once again, the weather changed a bit yesterday, and was not quite what was forecast. I started seeing 20-25 knots from the west, and seas rapidly built to short, steep, 4 to 6 foot breakers. Fortunately, I only had to endure a few hours of this, and it wasn’t on my nose, but I decided to take a break anyway. So I pulled in to San Jose Del Cabo, the marina we used for the last Puerto Vallarta race, and was tied to a dock just before sunset- perfect!

You may recall that my original plan was a 5-week offshore route to San Francisco. But the winds said no, so I went the coastal route. And it went super quick. I thought I would be stopping along the way to wait for better weather, but I had great weather the whole time and never stopped. So the trip was too quick, as it turns out. The state of California has an issue with the boat if it enters before June 9, so I have to wait for about 2 weeks someplace. I was thinking Ensenada, so I would be there and the Baja part behind me, but with the revised weather down here, I would be stuck in Cabo for 4 or 5 days anyway. So I decided to just park here for the two weeks, and fly home for a while- an unexpected bonus!

I will return to Cabo on June 3, and depart whenever the weather looks good after that.

5/18  8am   23.03N  109.40W    7585nm gone,  1169nm to go.

What is this? It got below 80 degrees last night. I must be getting too far north. I actually had to put on a T-shirt last night, the first time I’ve worn anything but swim trunks in almost 2 weeks. Next thing you know I’ll have to wear a fleece, too. I guess I won’t be Mowgli of the Sea anymore.

Yesterday turned out to be quite entertaining, courtesy of all the marine life. The morning started with a few more turtles, then a large whale surfaced right next to me, just to get my attention. So I grabbed the camera, he swam forward of the boat and leaped out of the water in a full broach, all while I was video taping. Very considerate of him, I would say.

Around midday a flock of boobies joined me, flying in loose formation with my sails, and occasionally one or two would land on the bow pulpit and rest. They stayed with me the entire day, and as the sun was setting they all decided they wanted to spend the night on the bow pulpit. But with 20 birds, they were having a time of it. Birds were trying to match their flight to the bouncing of the boat for two hours, until after dark, all so they could land on the pulpit. It was very fun to watch, and they weren’t disturbed by me at all, even when I sat on the foredeck just a few feet away. Amazingly, 9 of them managed to squeeze up together on that little piece of rail, and spent the entire night there, finally flying off for breakfast when the sun came up today. Why none of them would land anywhere else is beyond me, especially as others had landed on the spreaders, masthead and bimini before. I guess that’s why they are called boobies.

As fun as that was, the highlight of the day was the afternoon dolphin show. Not the really big speckled dolphins of previous days, these were the small dark ones (spinners, maybe?), and were very acrobatic. A large herd of them started swimming with me, jumping out of the water, dodging this way and that, doing tail walks, and sometimes leaping as high as 12 feet out of the water, wagging their tails at me. And yes, I have video! Eventually I will return to the land of broadband, and promise to share.

My direct route to Cabo seems to be working out pretty well, although the sea built up a bit during the night, so I had to reduce sail to slow down, to keep from jumping off waves and slamming the boat. But good progress was made, all in the right direction. Actually, at 173 miles in the last 24 hours, a 7.2 knot average, it was one of my best days since Panama. I should make Cabo San Lucas late tonight, and if the weather allows it I will continue on towards Magdalena Bay-Santa Maria.

5/17   8am    22.06N   108.43W    7503nm gone,  1232nm to go.

Yesterday saw me sailing off of Manzanillo, which is famous for its fishing. And it seems every Mexican with panga or an innertube was out there. Problem is, they fish using long nets (as long as a mile across on the surface), and sometimes long lines with hooks and bait strung together, also up to mile across the surface. And they mark these hazards to boating with empty water bottles and old 2-liter 7-up bottles, every 50 meters or so. In other words, with a little waves, swell or white crests, they are impossible to see until you are on top of them. And they seem to criss-cross the area from the shoreline out to 20 miles like a big spider web.

So my track yesterday looks like some kind of Aztec drawing, with hard turns and zigs and zags every which way. It was tiring and frustrating, detouring around some of the nets, but also crossing many of them, too, as I didn’t see them until it was too late. Sometimes I would slide over without a problem. But sometimes I would get snagged, and I would go head to wind and try to back down, and that could work. If it didn’t, sometimes I could reach the offending line (they mostly use fishing line for everything, occasionally a real rope, though) with the boat hook, and pull it up and cut it. Once though, nothing seemed to work, so I had to drop the sails and go swimming with a knife. The water was warm and clear, which was nice, but it was still a hassle, and a delay. I am very glad to be past all of that, at least for now.

Now, do you remember all that stuff I wrote yesterday about the two legs of the triangle and going to Mazatlan and then west? Fuhgeddaboutit. As unbelievable as it is, the weather forecast was not completely accurate. It seems the NW winds are behind me, at least for now. The conditions I am seeing tell me to go straight to Cabo, and not sail the extra 100 miles to Mazatlan. So that’s what I am doing. I figure even if the NW show up afterall, I can always run with it and go to Mazatlan anyway.

If all goes well, I should be in Cabo early morning on Friday. And after that looks to be a classic Baja Bash up to San Diego, but I will finesse that when the time comes.

5/16   8am    20.15N   106.24W    7330nm gone,  1403nm to go

That’s what I’ve been doing for the last 3 days- the big slalom. During the night, the wind blows offshore from the East, so I am on starboard tack angling out to sea a bit. In the morning, the wind switches and comes from the SW, so I can sail parallel to the coast on Port tack. In the afternoon, the wind builds and veers a bit more West, so I angle more towards the shore. Then in the evening, it switches and I head back out again. My track looks like a big lazy “S”, but it has been good for me, as I am very happy with my progress.

The next hurdle in front of me is Cabo Corrientes, which I need to go around. Like the other major capes in Mexico and California (Sur, Conception, Falso) it juts out into the prevailing NW winds, causing the wind to accelerate (same volume of air going through a smaller space, makes it squirt like a hose nozzle). This also agitates the seas quite a bit, so the normal strategy heading north is to try to round the cape in the early morning, before the winds and seas build for the day.

The normal NW winds have been absent these last days, which has allowed me to make such good progress, but they are forecast to return Wednesday afternoon or evening, building to 10-20 knots. But the way it looks right now, my big slalom has worked, as I expect to round Corrientes early tomorrow morning, avoiding the mess.

After that, the next hurdle is getting to Cabo San Lucas. It is pretty much NW from here, which is straight into the winds and seas. So I expect to head north, maybe as far as Mazatlan, then west over to Cabo. It’s a bit longer sailing the 2 legs of the triangle, but it makes sense from a weather and sanity perspective.

The days continue hot and sunny, and the nights are starry.

5/15   8am    18.40N   104.06W    7170nm gone,  1564nm to go

The high rise hotels of Acapulco passed alongside yesterday afternoon, and in the evening I started getting some adverse current, so things are starting to slow down just a bit.

I discovered an interesting and surprising variety of bugs and beetles on the boat yesterday, seemingly from nowhere. I haven’t been close enough to shore to have caught them as strays, so I am guessing these are the hatchlings from bugs that came aboard while I was in Panama. Nothing serious, but all of sudden they seemed to be everywhere. And already this morning their numbers are much reduced.

I enjoyed some glow-in-the-dark dolphins last night. It’s when the algae in the water makes everything that disturbs it phosphoresce, or glow green. The boat wake, small waves, everything glows in the dark. But the dolphins are amazing like that, you can see them coming from 100 yards away like torpedoes, and even with no moon they are lit up like daytime under the bow. Very fun, and a nice break to the night.

I’ll be passing Zuhuatenejo and Ixtapa this morning, continuing towards Manzanillo.

5/14  8am   17.31N    101.31W    7004nm gone,   1736nm to go.

Sailing along yesterday afternoon, an easy 10-knot breeze on the beam, flat seas, clear sky, and I was relaxing in the cockpit with a book. I felt a bit of side-motion on the bow of the boat, like a wake from a boat, so I looked up to see what caused it. I noticed a spot of upwelling water, like a glossy spot, near the bow, and I first thought “more dolphins”, as they leave these glossy spots when they flip their tails to swim. But a second later, I realized the spot was too big for a dolphin, so I though, “a whale?” In the 2 seconds it took to think that, I had sailed past the spot, so I stood up in the back of the cockpit and turned around, to watch if the whale would surface. I saw another big smooth spot, but no telltale blow from the whale. Hunh…  Then something caught my eye in the clear water, right behind the boat, and it was a huge shark chasing me!  It was a great white, maybe 15 to 18 feet long, and coming at me fast. I had all these thoughts in a split second, including a Jaws flashback- I need a bigger boat- and, quick get the camera. But as I reached my arm behind me to get the camera, it dove and swam away.

I’m guessing he was sleeping, and I nudged him awake, and he wasn’t very happy about that. So he gave chase, but soon realized the boat wasn’t food, and left me alone. But I had visions of him jumping out of the water and into the boat, and my heart started beating just a little bit faster for a few minutes…

Other than that, it was a thankfully uneventful day. More turtles still, and some dolphins, too, and a look at some of the southern Mexican coastline as I closed to within 8 miles of it.

There is land effect wind here, meaning as the land heats up in the afternoon, the hot air rises above it, drawing in ocean air. This makes the west wind bend to the southwest along the shore, which is better for me. The evening is the opposite, the air sinks, pushing wind out from the shore. So I find myself weaving in towards shore during the day, and back out to sea at night.

I am feeling very comfortable now, even though I know the NW winds and seas on the nose will come, because I am in familiar territory, and there are lots of anchorages and villages and places to stop and rest along the way if the weather isn’t cooperating. So far so good, and we’ll see how long my luck lasts…

5/13  8am   16.16N   99.04W    6855nm gone   1895nm to go

Although I’ve been calling this a coastal route, I have been sailing about 100 miles offshore, and crossing the Gulf of Tehuantepec, which this morning is behind me- about a day and a half ahead of any big winds and seas even started to develop. But now, I should be within 20 miles of the coast until I jump from near Puerto Vallarta over to Cabo San Lucas, and that is still some 600 miles from now.

Yesterday afternoon a nice SW wind filled in, allowing me to sail through most of the night and finish crossing the Gulf. I should note that on my paper Mexican chart, it says Tehehuantepec, like I used yesterday. But in my U.S. chart book, and on 3 different electronic charts, it says Tehuantepec. So I am going with the preponderance of evidence and using the slightly shorter Tehuantepec. I hope I don’t anger any Aztec or Mayan gods, but since it’s behind me, I probably won’t use it at all anymore.

There were plenty more turtles and dolphins yesterday, but I expect less of that near the shoreline. I will be watching the weather closely, and hoping for continued good luck and mild conditions as I work my way north and west up Mexico. It’s already been one week since I transited the Panama canal- how time does fly…

5/12   8am    15.16N   96.20W    6691nm gone,   2065nm to go

This morning I’m sailing in Mexican waters. And Mexico is right next to California, so I must be almost there, right?  Well, it turns out that Mexico is bigger than the rest of Central America combined, with some 2000 miles of coastline. I don’t have to sail all of it, (I won’t go into the Sea of Cortez), but most of it is in front of me.

Yesterday brought lots more sea life, including several visits of dolphins, more manta rays, and literally dozens of turtles. I stopped counting at 20, and it was only mid day. Most of them are Olive Ridley turtles, with the humpback shell, but there were some flat hawksbill turtles, too. I thought about jumping in and getting some underwater pictures of them, but when I looked real close I realized they were about a billion small jellyfish floating along. Which explains all the happy turtles, because they eat jellyfish. They must like the warm water, too, which is currently 85 degrees. And that’s as cool as the air gets at night, too.

The weather continues very mild, and I am making good progress. I expect to be a full 24 hours ahead of the Tehehuantepecker, about 150 miles north of it, and it blows to the south, so no worries there.

The big decision, whether to go offshore or not, seems to have been made for me. There simply is not any wind offshore, same as it has been all week. I would have to motor 500 miles straight out to sea just to start getting wind, and the Pacific High might get in the way a week later anyway. I’ve recalculated courses (again), and as of today the offshore course would be about 1500 miles longer, and while I wouldn’t get any wind on the nose, I might not get any wind at all. So it looks like I am taking the coastal route. I had big plans for the offshore route, but the weather didn’t play it that way. So up the coast I go, along all the familiar cities and harbors I have sailed before. And that brings some comfort. Here’s hoping for good weather…

5/11   8am    14.02N   93.49W    6530nm gone,   2228nm to go

Yesterday was a busy day, with many unexpected visitors. There was yet another school of dolphin that came out to play in the afternoon, and a few more in the evening. Then near sunset, a bird took a rest on the lower spreader. Not long after, another one took a spot on the opposite spreader. Apparently the first bird was the alpha bird, because he flew off, circled around, and landed on the upper spreader. Not to be outdone, the second bird did the same, but on the opposite side. This made the first bird try one last time, landing on the very top of the mast, barely holding on to the wind instruments there. As the sun went down, the second bird left, and about an hour later the first bird gave up trying to hold on and he flew away, too. And in a most kind gesture, they both left behind several souvenirs for me to clean up today. Then during the night, a small squid managed to get himself on deck, but by the time I found him this morning, it was too late to cook him up for breakfast.

I departed Nicaraguan waters during the night, and am currently off Honduras’ little piece of the Pacific. It won’t last long, though, and I should be off El Salvador for lunch.

The weather continues very mild and flat, and I am very happy with that. The winds are fickle, coming and going and changing direction every few hours, which keeps me busy. But I’ve been getting enough good wind and favorable current that the progress in undeniable- 176 miles yesterday.

I am watching the weather very closely as I approach the Gulf of Tehehuantepec, which is famous for gale force winds and short steep seas. Sometimes. I’ll report on that tomorrow, along with my pending decision on whether to stay with the coastal route or head offshore…

5/9  8am    11.37N   88.38W    6205nm gone,  4420nm to go

Yesterday was a busy day, with many unexpected visitors. There was yet another school of dolphin that came out to play in the afternoon, and a few more in the evening. Then near sunset, a bird took a rest on the lower spreader. Not long after, another one took a spot on the opposite spreader. Apparently the first bird was the alpha bird, because he flew off, circled around, and landed on the upper spreader. Not to be outdone, the second bird did the same, but on the opposite side. This made the first bird try one last time, landing on the very top of the mast, barely holding on to the wind instruments there. As the sun went down, the second bird left, and about an hour later the first bird gave up trying to hold on and he flew away, too. And in a most kind gesture, they both left behind several souvenirs for me to clean up today. Then during the night, a small squid managed to get himself on deck, but by the time I found him this morning, it was too late to cook him up for breakfast.

I departed Nicaraguan waters during the night, and am currently off Honduras’ little piece of the Pacific. It won’t last long, though, and I should be off El Salvador for lunch.

The weather continues very mild and flat, and I am very happy with that. The winds are fickle, coming and going and changing direction every few hours, which keeps me busy. But I’ve been getting enough good wind and favorable current that the progress in undeniable- 176 miles yesterday.

I am watching the weather very closely as I approach the Gulf of Tehehuantepec, which is famous for gale force winds and short steep seas. Sometimes. I’ll report on that tomorrow, along with my pending decision on whether to stay with the coastal route or head offshore…

5/9  8am    11.37N   88.38W    6205nm gone,  4420nm to go