Crossing Back To The Baja

Rhea’s Overview of the Crossing:

On Saturday, April 3, 2005 we began our crossing from Mazatlan to La Paz. This trip would take about 40 hours – two nights and one full day. With our new autopilot we figured we could handle this trip with just the two of us. We were, however, traveling in the company of our good friends aboard Persistence. We maintained contact every hour with this vessel.

After watching the weather and deciding it was a go for the third of April, we left the marina in Mazatlan at 4 p.m. and headed out of the harbor. It was a little rough at the beginning and by dark the wind had picked up a bit and there was talk of turning back, but we decided to put a double reef in the mainsail and go for it. And we did. It turned out to be a long night during which we discovered that we had some trouble with the packing gland (not good) but Stan the mechanic fixed it. The rest of the night went okay and we managed to share the watch without further incident. The next day was calm; the sea was like a skating rink. Night came too quickly, and after a bowl of soup we settled in for another night. Fairly uneventful except we had lots of sea spray in the early morning and because the window over the navigation table was not securely closed, things got wet including our VHS radio. We had no communication with the outside world and needless to say, Persistence was quite worried. After getting close enough to shout our problem out, and getting our little portable radio to sort of work, Persistence kind of stood by because we had another problem. Stan needed to change the fuel filter, as the engine was not responding, as it should.

After the fuel filter was taken care of, we could not start Vagari’s engine. The waves were getting rather sloppy and it was not too much fun. Stan finally did figure out a way to get her going and we were under way for the last part of our trip into La Paz.

I am glad that the over night passages are done for this season, at least I think they are done. So we managed to make it through this with all the trials and tribulations and still remain speaking which is amazing. I guess when the going gets rough; you do what you have to do.

We are both ready to get back to the calm of Saddlebrooke. Let’s just hope the remaining couple hundred miles up the sea go smoothly. On the whole, as a first year endeavor, I would have to say that this cruising life has turned out better than I expected. While I am looking forward to returning to my other life for the summer, I think I will be ready to come back to Mexico in the fall. I would imagine that cruising gets easier every year as we become more familiar with Vagari and her capabilities and mine!!!

Stan’s Overview of the Crossing:

Crossing to and from mainland Mexico from the southern Baja is one of the more significant challenges you face when cruising the west coast of Mexico. The crossing to and from our homeport of San Carlos is a 75 mile mostly daylight trip. The southern crossing can be 240 to 300 miles. At best a full night and day if you take the shortest possible jump. After much discussion and chart work with a half a dozen or more cruisers we decided to do a two-night 1 1/2-day route direct from Mazatlan to La Paz. We had what we considered to be an ideal weather window and we wanted to “get it over all at one time” rather that breaking it down into two legs which adds a day but eliminates a second night to the trip. It’s a close call; next year I might take the other option.

We didn’t have enough time in Mazatlan to fully enjoy this large industrial city. Mazatlan is also the best place to start a land trip to the Copper Canyon area of Mexico so next year we will spend more time there and at Mantanchen Bay.

Saturday afternoon four boats left for La Paz, Baja Sur Mexico. The slowest Rod Lee left at noon, Persistence (http://sailwithpersistence.com/ ) and Vagari left at four and the fastest, Legacy left at 9 PM. Departure time is determined by estimated average boat speed so you don’t arrive at night. Most ports or anchorages are not safe to enter in the dark. We planned to arrive a couple of hours after sunrise on Monday. Sunday a group of six boats left.

We planned to talk on every hour on the VHF radio. The 5:35 afternoon weather update is on the single sideband radio. After several days of consistent forecast for a light wind passage including the 8:15 AM forecast that morning in the afternoon they predicted, “southern crossing - 15 to 25 kts on the mainland side from the south, then light again Sunday morning”. I was the only one of our group that copied the forecast. After confirming the forecast with the net controller I told the fleet the prediction.

We decided that if we are going to cruise we have to learn to handle 25 kts so we would continue. We put a double reef in the mainsail in case it got rougher that predicted. The Rod Lee broke a critical autopilot part, which they fixed but they weren’t confident that it could handle 25 knots so they headed back. They ended up starting the next morning again.

The 25 kt winds never happened, the most we had was 10 kts from the south.

I was using the head after awaking at 4:30 AM to stand my next watch. Suddenly I heard a loud zinging noise and rattling and banging. The sound was coming from right next to my feet. That is where the drive shaft exits the hull. In no time I had the carpet up and cover removed. I found that the packing gland bouncing around on the prop shaft and seawater coming in around the shaft. Rhea turned the engine off and I had the packing gland re-installed and the leak stopped in a few minutes. But it was a very exciting few minutes. We advised Persistence right away and they were standing by near us quickly. A friend in time of need is a friend indeed! This problem was caused because I didn’t properly tighten the packing gland and its corresponding lock nut.

While making this repair I noticed that the bearing on the shaft was hot. There is grease fitting on this bearing and grease fittings on the steering cables at the same place. The steering is a little stiff so I had been in there with a grease gun several times. I checked the bearing and packing gland the rest of the trip every few hours and didn’t have any problems.

The first half of the trip featured favorable seas and winds. So except for a few minutes we had a good first half.

The moon was a little less than half full during the trip but it didn’t rise until an hour or so before sunrise. But oh the stars! If you haven’t seen the night sky from total darkness you are missing a real treat. They are magnificent.

The next morning at 2 AM we approached our first waypoint. Because we have never been there before we didn’t have any confirmed waypoints. A large ferryboat went right between Persistence and Vagari. Between the two boats, radar and GPS we missed the rocks and continued on to the next navigation challenge which is another narrow channel with rocks on both sides. We had good confirmed GPS coordinates for this area so it was relatively easy, except for the ferry that cut in front of Persistence at the narrow point.

About 20 knots of wind on the nose came up as we passed the first narrow spot. By now we were pounding with lots of spray flying over the boat. After two days of calm seas and warm temperatures we had the porthole over the navigation table open. That is where our radios are. The VHF radio mic was sitting in a pool of water when I went down for our 5AM radio check with the two other boats. I quickly got our handheld VHF radio but its batteries were dead. I had trouble getting the battery cover off. Persistence couldn’t contact us, assumed I had fallen asleep and was racing towards us with foghorn and searchlight going when I finally signaled them that I was OK. Tom’s wife was sleeping when she heard the foghorn. She thought they were about to be hit by a big boat. A friend indeed, again.

The excitement was not over yet. At sunrise we both slowed down to take pictures when I noticed that I couldn’t get my engine, even out of gear to go above 50% of its normal speed. No problem, I just needed to change the fuel filter. I put a new additive in the fuel in Mazatlan that was supposed to clean you fuel tank. It had a warning that your fuel filters my need special attention after the first use. I changed the filter in about 10 minutes. I ask Rhea to start the diesel so we could get underway. Silence, nada, nothing.

I jumped the starter battery to the house battery. Nothing. Then I tried the windless battery. Nothing. Then I tighten all the electrical connections that could be involved. Silence, not golden either. The last trick was to manually rotate the engine with a large vice grip in case there was a dead spot in the starter. I saw a friend do it. By God it worked, the engine roared to life. Persistence must be getting a little tired of us by now.

Tom of Persistence arranged for a slip for us, since I was still on the weak handheld radio, and took our dock lines as we entered.

The new autopilot drove the entire trip. It connects to the GPS and takes us from waypoint to waypoint. The engine starts with every turn of the key now. The regular VHS radio is working again so we are good to go.

The trip took 40 hours as planned.

Tuesday night we went out to dinner with Persistence as our guests.

We had an hour or two of excitement but other than that is was a beautiful journey.

I can’t believe how long this is but Rhea wanted to write for the bog for the first time. You may wonder if Rhea and I were on the same boat. I hope you find this interesting. We are open to suggestions or comments. If this bores you let me know so I can make them shorter.