Monday, December 19
Every day Charlie has been up early, and even before coffee, tuning the SSB radio to listen to the weather forecast by Don Anderson up in Ventura. The views of this old salt added to info from Sailflow.com and other sites contributed to a picture of favorable conditions in the waters of the "Southern Crossing" this weekend. Especially for a long slog like the 240 mile trip across to Mazatlan we wanted to be off when the going looked smooth.
All signs were for light to moderate wind from the north for a couple of days starting on Saturday, and although I had to walk off just before the Bridge game and a great Christmas concert in town, we said our good-byes to Mary and the nice folks at Marina de La Paz. About noon we powered out the long channel in a dead calm. The tilted rock strata at the end of Isla Espiritu Santo looked particularly appealing as we passed it, but we expect to have more time there when we return in February.
After a quiet night the wind came up a bit and I was lucky enough to see a terrific sunrise against a sky of Martine's blue with crazy light splashes like solar flares at the horizon. All day the wind carried us at about 7 knots though it came up to 20-25 eventually with short, rolling waves. We watched a glow on the southern horizon gradually turn into city lights. Charts of this area are notoriously lacking in detail, but Charlie set waypoints for our turn at the base of Isla Venados and for the anchorage on the lee side based on our cruising guides and info on our iPad Navionics charts. While bouncing around in the dark and the wind we found our way effectively due to his foresight.
Our midnight arrival wasn't great timing but a the night on the hook inside the island gave us calm water and some lovely sleep even if the wind was buffeting the boat a bit. The long strip of shore lit by bright lights and Christmas decorations felt welcoming and exciting, our first real city since San Diego. Today we got up, listened to the weather and the radio nets, pounded north about 7 miles into sloppy waves and made the tight turn between breakwaters into Marina El Cid. This place with its two swimming pools will be home for our first tropical Christmas.
Glad you had an easy crossing. Where does the description "Martine's Blue" come from? Obiously, I am fascinated by colors and their names.
ReplyDeleteCatherine on s.v."Indigo'
Happy Birthday Susie! Enjoy Mazatlan.
ReplyDeleteYou were way smarter than us. We went from those big seas into that tiny channel late at night. I was never so scared in 40+ years of sailing. Why didn't we think to just anchor in the lee of the island until daylight? Doh!
Every Sunday, there was a group of cruisers that cycled every Sunday from Marina Mazatlan out to the end of the road in the north and had a big breakfast at the beach. That was fun.