| To Isla Isabela |
| On Wednesday the 5th of January, we woke
after a calm night to much calmer seas in the bay. The weather reports said that there
were still Santa Anas in southern California, but not strong and expected to die down on
Thursday and Friday so we decided to leave for Isla Isabela, 275 miles to the southeast
across the Sea of Cortez. Unfortunately, the wind had died so completely that we ended up
motoring almost all day so decided to change course and head into Los Frailes, 80 miles
south of La Paz, rather than motor all the way across. WInds and seas stayed calm all
night and we arrived at Los Frailes about 0800. As we approached the anchorage at Los
Frailes, the wind picked up from the north, so we had breakfast and a nap, and then just
before noon got underway again to Isla Isabela. |
Leaving the Los Frailes anchorage we put the
main up with two reefs and the staysail, but the strong gusts off the shore overpowered us
so we took the main down completely and spent the first hour or so under staysail only
doing close to 7 knots. The gusts died off as we left the land behind so we put the main
back up with three reefs.
It was a rather lumpy night with short, confused seas. The waves were mostly six to eight
feet but occasional we got 10 to 12 footers which really slewed the boat around. Once in a
while a large wave would slap us hard from the port side, sending water into the cockpit
and making it hard for the off watch to sleep. Winds were 20 – 25 knots with stronger
gusts and we averaged 5.6 knots. It was rather cold on the night watches and we wore foul
weather gear all the time, partly for warmth and partly to avoid getting wet by spray.
Several times we thought it was calming down, but then the wind and waves would pick up
again.
By noon of the second day at sea, things were calming down somewhat, the very large seas
were no longer there, and the wind was more stable without the strong gusts. The motion
was still a bit boisterous but manageable. There was no moon this trip, so the nights have
been very dark although there are lots of stars to see as it is pretty clear. We saw a
number of shooting stars and Paula saw one meteor very clearly crossing from the southeast
to the northwest. In the early morning the Southern Cross is visible on the southern
horizon. The tip of the Big Dipper is right at the northern horizon and the pole star is
dimly visible. |
| Both of us managed to get some sleep lthe
second night although we were still having trouble with the boat motion. The waves and
wind calmed down considerably overnight so that in the early morning we progressively got
the genny out, shook the reefs out and then finally ended up motoring the last 10 miles as
we headed down the west side of Isla Isabela
towards the southern anchorage. |
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