Cental America
And Back
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Topolabambo is so Fun to SayWe had two glorious days of sailing on our way to Guaymas from Topolabambo. 10 or 15 knots from the south, blue skies, cool breezes, magnificent. I bet you think that since we are travelling around in a sailboat that we sail all the time. Wrong. There are sailors who are more persistant about sailing than we are and they will wallow around happy to wait for wind or just not go anywhere until there is wind. They are thrifty and will probably be cruising for a long time. That's because there is precious little wind out there, and when it does blow it's usually to much from the pointy end of the boat. But purists will take all wind in stride and chant "sail sail sail, at all costs". We have a 3 knot rule: when the wind can't blow us to our destination (or close to it) turn on the engine. Our chant is more like "little or no wind, turn on the engine" or maybe it's "we can't get to our anchorage before dark, turn on the engine" or "get me the frack out of this storm, turn on the engine". I had my handline out almost the whole way, really hoping for dorado. Twice, the big one got away... one snapped my 100 pund line and took my lure. The pretty little thing in the above photo is a baby shark but you'll have to guess what kind of shark as I have no idea. Dois wanted to eat him but I said "no Dois, we have to throw him back so he can grow up and eat you". He was only about 30 inches long, but super strong, I was afraid he was going to break Dois' wrists while I tried to get the hook out. This was the view of the same spot that I took the giant wave photos in my previous blog. In fact you can see the same ship in one of the shots. I have to wonder where all these birds go when the waves are breaking like they were? We had a hitchhiker from the sandbar. Now I have to wonder where he thought he was going? By the way, I saved you from the picture where he shat all over my folded up inflatable kayak... where is our Chief of Security when I need her? Barking her head off below, that's where. She knew we had a stow-away. She has a nose that can find a sealion on a buoy a mile away. She also knows that when I'm clicking away with my camera, I might be a aiming at a dolphin, so every time I pick up a camera, she comes running over to look. I don't think she gets that I'm shooting the sunset. Or a moonset, equally tantalizing subject. Ginger was fast asleep across the companion way hatch and slept through this one. Ashika was pushed around during the last 30 miles into Guaymas. Earlier in the afternoon the wind died and Dois rolled in the jib/genoa, but it wouldn't roll up correctly. The bottom drum has been used as a bird condo more than once during our travels and it might need some cleaning and maintenance, but in any event, we had to drop the sail to the deck. I released the clutch holding the genoa halyard, expecting the sail to come down. But as the luck fairies were busy elsewhere, it didn't drop until it did, right as a gust blew the large genoa outboard and the whole sail went into the sea. The head of the sail was still attached and with just a little cussing and a bit of sweat, we pulled it back onto the deck and tied it to the lifelines to let in drain. Meanwhile, the seas started growing ugly and the wind re-invigorated itself into 20 - 30 knot southerlies. Hal had turned obstinate again and Dois had to hand steer the rest of the way to Guaymas harbor. There was a storm brewing and we entered the channel about 1am. We were safely anchored and starting to drift off (or pass out) by the time the first large drops hit Ashika's decks. Peace.
Peace.
1 Comment
Leo
7/14/2014 12:30:09 pm
Absolutley enthralling
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