April 20, 2022-Venturing Into the Sea of Cortez

wingssail images-fredrick roswold Sailing Into Caleta Partida

 

They say that having a “schedule” is the worst thing for making sailboat trips.  Our effort to get to La Paz by early April and meet Jimmy and Robin, on their chartered boat La Marvela, proved the truth of that old saying.

That dash to get to La Paz came to a screaming halt on April 3 when we entered the Cerralvo passage at midnight and faced a black night with big waves and a cold north wind of 24 knots. There was no moon or stars, the wind was freezing cold and right on the nose, we were taking spray everywhere and we were dead tired.

 “Nope, we’re not going.” I said to Judy.  We turned Wings back toward Los Muertos, a protected bay just over 6 miles south.

Even that little trip of six miles was stressful.  It took over an hour to get there and neither the wind nor the waves gave any sign of abating. We donned life jackets and planned how we would get the sails down and secured and get the boat anchored in those conditions.

In the end it was easy; the wind did drop and the seas calmed down and by 02:00 we were safely anchored among a small group of other boats whose welcoming anchor lights guided us in. We were happy to be stopped. We had a shot of rum and crashed into our bunks and stayed in Los Muertos for two nights.

Judy and I had worked at a frantic pace after the finish of the Banderas Bay Regatta to get Wings converted from race boat to cruising boat so we could take off.  Meeting Jimmy and Robin on La Marvela in La Paz was to be the beginning of a three-month cruise in the Sea of Cortez.  Rene and Denny helped us get ready and in four days we completed what would normally take a week or more. Then we set off on the pursuit.

It was a joy to sheet in Wings’ sails, just the two of us, and head out into the Pacific Ocean, the blue Pacific. The crossing from Banderas Bay to Baja it is 340 miles, the way the crow flies. Of course we can’t often sail the way the crow flies, direct, and the wind was against us, so we began to tack, and it was shifty, so we found ourselves changing course often and sailing on which ever board was favored. But it was nice sailing and even the occasional tacks didn’t bother us. One of us on watch and lazing in the cockpit, gazing at the ocean, and the other, likely as not, napping below. When the wind changed whomever was on watch woke the other.

“It’s time to tack.”

And we threw off the sheets and turned the boat.

But shifty winds were not the only challenge Nature presented. The wind was not consistent in strength either. Sometimes it was blowing 10 knots, which was beautiful, other times 14 and we wondered if a sail change was going to be needed. Then, unsurprisingly, the wind would drop all together and we had to take down the sails and turn on the motor.

Later the wind would come back and we had to turn off the motor and put the sails back up. This cycle repeated itself and it became tiring. Pulling sails up and then down is a lot of work.

After three days we weren’t exhausted but we were tired. Then came our encounter with the Cerralvo Channel. We took a rest.

wingssail images-fredrick roswold Wings Moored in Ellipse at Puerto Escondido

After we resumed the charge we moved fast. We had three long days on the water, sometimes motoring, sometimes sailing, (and the sailing was often a heavy weather beat with lots of tacks) up the Baja coast past tall mountains and stunning scenery which we’d love to have stopped and enjoyed, but the time for which we just could not afford. We caught up with La Marvela  in Puerto Escondido. They were impressed that we overcame their three-day head start. We reached Puerto Escondido 4 hours after they did.

Sitting with Jimmy and Robin at the bar at Puerto Escondido looking down onto Wings moored peacefully in the Ellipse in I felt we’d achieved our objective and that we could finally relax. Margaritas for everybody.

Jimmy and Robin image Jimmy and Robin

Two days later we said our goodbyes and La Marvela reversed course and began its trek back south.

wingssail images-fredrick roswold Judy Handles the Halyard as Fred Works Aloft

Since then, with no schedule and no particular objective, we’ve been really cruising; going where we want, meeting new friends, finding nice anchorages, and taking long naps.

wingssail images-fredrick roswold Wings Anchored in Ballandra, Isla Carmen

The sailing has been terrific, not too much motoring, the boat maintenance projects have not been too arduous, and even the bees at Isla Carmen are not too aggravating this year.

 In a few days we’ll go into Loreto for provisions and begin planning the next leg.

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Fred & Judy, SV Wings, Sea of Cortez

April 17, Banderas Bay Regatta

jldigital media Leading
(Thank you John Pounder for the loan of your image, I'll buy it from you when we are back together.)

In our preparations for the Banderas Bay Regatta we practiced hard and prepared hard. We pushed the boat, we pushed the crew, and now I was pushing the yacht club, and they were pushing back. It was about the racing class we wanted to be in and it was too much; they weren’t having it.

“Fred, would you just shut up!”

That was the yacht club commodore talking. He’d had enough.

I decided to chill out a bit. I agreed to stay in the class where they wanted us and that was that.

Then came the racing.

This year we had some crew issues. We were constantly trying to recruit new crew to replace people who had boats of their own and wanted to go cruising. To make it worse the other skippers who were planning to compete in Banderas Bay Regatta were also scrambling for crew. It seemed like every good sailor was taken.

We did manage to put together a crew, a good one, and we practiced and practiced, including racing in the Beer Can Races. We also managed to address all the boat issues we’d experienced on the lead up to BBR.  By race day we were ready.

This year’s Banderas Bay Regatta was exceptional. There was wind, plenty of it, and the races were long, longer than usual. We had exhausting days on the water but we never let up on the boat or ourselves in these long windy races.

That practice and preparation paid off. On day one we placed second. It was our friends on Edwina who came in from behind and beat us by a minute and 11 seconds. It was clear that they were going to be tough but we were not giving up.

Then came the second race.  I urged the crew, “OK folks, here we go. We can win this one if we all, every one of us, really concentrate. And Shawn, my man, it’s up to you to keep that genoa perfectly trimmed the whole way. That’s what will win this race.”

They did it.  We won the second race.

Shawn was the star. A new guy on the boat, but a power house. He stayed focused on the jib like no one I’ve seen. He never lost his concentration. We beat Edwina by 18 seconds.

The fleet was having problems though. Two boats withdrew, and then in the third race Edwina blew out a sail and they were struggling.  We got another first.

On day three it was windy, over twenty knots. The race committee decided to run two races. When they announced the second race I groaned, “Geez, another one?” We were tired.

But we stuck with it. “OK folks, one more.”

Again, we pushed everything to the limit. When we got to the top mark and the wind was howling we never hesitated to set the spinnaker. At the bottom marks we sheeted the in sails rock hard. Sometimes it took two men to winch in the jib. And we hiked hard. Stefan urged us, “All the way out, get your cheeks over the side.”

On the last windward leg as we were pounding upwind, Richard said to me, “This is a tough boat Fred, all this punishment and it’s still taking it.”

“It’s a tough crew too, Richard.”

We were flying on the downwind leg. I looked down at Jim who was grinding the spin sheet.  He was grinning like a kid.

We won again.

So, it was a great regatta; three first places and one second place. We were jubilant.

Awards

Everybody contributed. On the foredeck Denny and Eddie were fantastic always getting set up for the next rounding even as the boat tried to throw them off. Rene grumbled about not having enough winches to do everything at once, but she managed it. The trimmers and grinders, Shawn, Luis and Stefan, put everything into it and never quit. Shawn, for his stellar jib trimming, was awarded the MVP (Most Valuable Player), and got to keep the first-place trophy. In the midst of all the chaos, Judy, Rena, Gloria and Dennis, at various times, went below and packed wet spinnakers faster than I’ve seen.

Jim Brainard joined for this regatta and, in addition to trimming and occasional grinding, was a great coach and tactical assistant.

Richard, as he always is, was a rock on main and tactics, plus assisting Gloria on runners. Richard said later that that last day’s races were the best ever.

Gloria handled the running back stays, normally a two-person job, and Judy, my wonderful Judy, was navigator par excellence. She kept our starts perfectly timed, our laylines exact, and kept us pointed to the marks. She has taken real ownership of the on-deck navigation computer and no one has come close to what she can do with that machine. Plus Judy went forward to assist Rene, helped with the spinnaker take-downs, and went below to repack them.

Even I did a good job; the whole crew kept me focused on my driving by nagging continuously if I didn’t keep the steering perfect.

Oh, one more crew addition: Eddie brought his dog Charley. Charlie stayed below while we were racing but he was part of the team.

It was definitely a team effort, three days, four races, and 10 people with total concentration.  I love them all.

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Fred and Judy, SV Wings, Mexico

April 16, 2022-Catching Up With Febuary

wingssail images;
Wings and Jazzy II

February was even more hectic than January.

We were looking forward to some peace and quiet in February. After all, the racing schedule was reduced and there was not much else on the agenda.

But the Wednesday Beer Can Races continued. We had wind, wind, and more wind. On the windiest days we had breeze into the 20’s and it didn’t seem to stop. Pushing the boat hard in that wind on those short courses was exhausting. We wore out our sail trimmers, actually experienced loss of control at times, blew out a spinnaker and, to top it off, we had engine and other boat problems.

The boat problems included broken blocks, broken battens, bent stanchions, plugged fuel lines, blown out exhaust mixing elbow, of course a totally blown spinnaker and minor issues. I was fixing things every Thursday.

As for control problems, in the strong gusts of wind the boat became unruly as the wind took over and I had to fight to keep the boat under control. Our crew had to scramble to stay on the boat and at their jobs. That included me.

In one strong puff I lost my grip on the deck and slid dangerously close to the edge of the boat while hanging on to the tiller! Of course, my death grip on the tiller while I fell caused the boat to round right up into the wind AND RIGHT TOWARDS THE SIDE OF ANOTHER BOAT GOING THE OPPOSITE WAY! It was a T-Bone between two boats going 6 knots in opposite directions about to happen. All I could do was pull the tiller farther which caused the boat to do a sudden tack and put us out of danger. Whew! Dodged that bullet. The crew on the winches never even noticed my pratfall; they just frantically completed the tack and wondered why I didn’t call for it ahead of time.

But we got through those tough races and afterwards thought they were fun. One thing about it: it turned out that they were good practice for the windy Banderas Bay Regatta which came later (we’ll write more on that soon.)

wingssail images;
Beach Party

Also in February, spontaneous social activities kept us entertained and busy.

Beach parties were organized and we attended some of them. Dinners out, dancing in the moonlight. Yeah!

We had an opportunity to actually sail on other boats, including John and Lynn’s 54 foot EDWINA and Peter & Eileen’s APPLESEEDS, and spent time on various other boats with friends we’ve become close to in Mexico.

In all, February, instead of being quiet, was a very busy month, but a good one for the Wingers.

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Fred & Judy, SV Wings, Mexico