Hurricane Paul

Hi everyone,  Well we cheated death again. This time it was Hurricane Paul.

The early models said it would bend out to the west and we thought we would have a bit of wind but that would be it. Had we known he was almost going to barrel  over us, perhaps we would have gone straight to La Paz to get out of his way. Instead we hunkered down in Puerto Escondido.

All turned out pretty well after all. High wind gusts measured in this inner harbor were from 36 to 56. The storm made land fall not 80 miles from here on the Pacific Ocean side near Magdelina Bay. We waited and waited for news of our impending doom or luck. Turns out we had luck as Paul went north but took a  heck of a long time. I guess a system that is hundreds if not a thousand miles across (this one I heard was smaller and compact) takes a while.

We had 10 inches of rain over the two days.  There were times we could not see the mountains that surround this harbor and make it such a good hurricane hole. Roads are washed out everywhere as you might imagine.

The winds came and went starting around 15 knots to 36 knots Tuesday and Tuesday night, after a lull from 9pm to midnight, started up again in earnest at 0:38 hours and continued until this morning. It was peaceful Wednesday around 8am. That morning I would still shudder a bit when I heard the roar of the coming wind and the whistling through the rigging. A bit of post traumatic stress I guess.

So Larry or I, and sometimes both of us, were up during the midnight to dawn wind lashing.  Wind was at first from the north, then east. But mostly from the Southeast or south so only three boats in front of us to cause us issue. Two were sailboats and they did not move. Our anchor held too. The third boat was an issue. A 70 foot luxury powerboat was kicked off a Marina mooring in favor of one of the big local sport fishing boats. They were told to anchor over by us. Larry had purposely anchored here as  we would swing into shallow water where others could not. The big boy, a boat called Esoteric from Salem OR anchored close to us. Well, once the swinging started we could see that Esoteric and Sun Baby were doing two different dances to the same beat. After a while they agreed they were a bit close and pulled in some of its 200 feet of chain. That is good and bad. So over the course of the night, with all the sailing they did on their anchor, they eventually dragged until they were between  us and our anchor buoy. Amazing they drug so far.




Their captain was very nice, made sure we knew he was watching the situation (all night) but by the time dawn came, they were 20 feet from us. This is a 70 foot, million dollar yacht that weights who knows how much and with 25 knots gusts....no wonder I was strung out.

They were waiting til light to see our anchor buoy and pull up anchor. Our anchor buoy was thrashed. It has bottom paint and gouge marks from being run over by their boat (this was after I fell asleep at 3:30 am in the salon).  Their anchor turns out to be 15 feet from ours when it had been 150 to 200 feet from ours the afternoon before. Yikes. So we did not sleep so well Tuesday night.

I have to say, of all boats to have 20 feet from our hulls, I would take Esoteric any day. They were on top of it and communicative. Good captain, poor choice of anchor location.

Overall Puerto Escondido did well. Only one boat broke free of its mooring due to chaffing of the line but was tended to right away. This is far from the stories you hear of a hurricane 10 years ago where 90 percent of the boats were damaged. I think a lot has happened...the marina maintains the moorings and tells you if one is in disrepair, people were conscientious about lines and chafe and it sounds like they have gotten rid of derelict boats. So good on all involved!

Not sure what we are doing from here. I am too tired to sleep let alone make a decision.  Nerves seem to take as much toll on one’s body as lack of sleep. Dinner at the marina will fix me right up!


Photos:

Here is Esoteric yesterday. Picture taken from my kitchen. They pulled in some chain and returned to a closer position by this morning. 

Waterfalls during rains.

Believe it or not, this shrimper came up between Esoteric and us and found......three feet of water!!!!!!! and PROMPTLY backed out. Larry's evil plan.....stay away!

Beautiful morning after!

Sweet Pea Cove

This photo is interesting. Shows that you never know where you will face in Sweet Pea Cove. Each boat is facing a different direction. Lots of currents between the island and mainland here.

We are facing north, Nirvana east, Ubatuba southwest and way down there is Beyond Reason facing southeast....funny.

If you want the wind to die, raise a sail. Larry has a tough time with these crazy Baja winds  in summertime. At anchor we will see winds from every direction. Fortunately we have not had a large "Chubasco" wind. Our friends had 60 knot winds at anchor for several hours up near Bay of Los Angeles a few weeks ago at nine o'clock at night. Then dropped to 40 then 20 knots by 3am. Not so fun!

Larry and I cleaned the bottom of the boat. Rocky barking at Larry below.

Where did he go??

We have yet to take the dog off the swim step. First we need to take him to shore and see if he will swim with us. The tough part is getting him to dry. He has that layer of down under his hair that is important to keep dry on his skin.  The vet in La Paz told me to blow him dry. Blow dryer? What's that? Oh, you mean wind on the tramps? Best option.

Cooler temps

Oh yea!!

Temperature is going in the correct direction. Cold showers were actually cold rather than refreshing and pretty soon the hatches will have to be closed at night??? Is that possible?

Off toward Conception Bay today. Yesterday's high there was 100 and low overnight 73 Geary said (weather man on Sonrisa Net).

Exploring San Marcos Island

When first reading about San Marcos Island off of Santa Rosalia I was not interested. It has a commercial gypsum operation and depending on the wind conditions and were you are anchored, you can get a little dusty.

After being here in Sweet Pea Cove for several days we have found interesting snorkeling and rock formations. I also found to maximize the fish variety and quantity that you see, carry a little food. They are much like hungry puppies! Pied piper, I was!

Looking south from Sweet Pea Cove.

We went for a dingy ride and found some caves....

Beach is beyond entrance.

Shaky picture but shows the hole in the ceiling of the cave.

The way out!

Once again, the geological formtions of the Sea and Baja are varied and interesting. Add to that the remoteness with access to towns and the fact that most anchorages are within 25 miles of each other makes for the best cruising grounds on earth.

Dock (and dog) party!

It has been great getting to know other cruisers here in Santa Rosalia. Most of us were in the marina waiting to see if that hurricane Mirium was to be a threat and hurricane Norman right behind her. Turns out we had some squalls, some wind and two lovely, cool, rainy days.  Temp was down to 82 or 84 and was so nice we had grilled cheese and soup for lunch. This is the coolest it has been for us since June 16th or so--arriving to Cabo.

Great dock party last night with boats Beyond Reason (Bill and Lisa), Nirvana (Bob and Sherry). Also here is Ubatuba, a Voyage catamaran with Brazilians Iris and Alex, Firefly a Catalina 47 with Brenda and Ted, a great guy named Kim on his boat and a few others.

The dock party was delicious with bbq'd jalapeno poppers, some fine gazpacho and Mexican hot dogs that were surprisingly delicious.  Bill had a blender that sounded like a lawn mower! Pretty cool! We make due!

 Rocky made a new friend in "Sparky" the salty sailing dog. They played very well together at the dock party.  Sparky swims three times per day when at anchor, loves to sit up on the side of the dingy while underway. Kids these days. I suppose Rocky is going to want to do that now too!

Bill and Lisa's beautiful 43 Hans Cristian ketch and I love the name.

Looking back at the Marina Fonatur Santa Rosalia office with the Norsemen Voyage 43 in foreground. They have been cruising for five years. Iris is a saint!

We are off to see more places and get more fishing and snorkeling in before it gets cool. Leaving dock now. 

Dingy Ride

Rocky is first in the dingy to go exploring Punta Chivato.

Santa Rosalia

Having only buzzed through Santa Rosalia on Highway 1, it was a pleasant surprise to find such a nice town.

Our friend Chuck from MV "No Mas" showing us the highlights of Santa Rosalia. This is the actual locomotive from the mining done here at the turn of the last century, brought around Cape Horn from Europe. It lights up at night in a whole rainbow of colors.

 This church was designed by Gustav Eiffel, originally built in Brussels, was purchased by the Company, disassembled, and shipped here, then rebuilt. Finished in 1897.

 Much of the wood in these buildings was imported from Europe at the end of the 1800's.

September 15th is the ACTUAL Mexican Independence Day. Victory over the Spanish, and last night the fiesta was just getting started after dinner, this picture was about 9 PM. The MC called for everybody to take their seats about 15 minutes after we shot this. We missed it! Up before sunrise, though....does that count?

The harbor was built of blocks of slag from the copper mines.