Sail from Hell...

Closing in on Mazatlan...a sight for sore eyes! 

On a cool overcast morning, we pulled up the anchor and sailed out of Bahia de Los Muertos.  The wind/wave/weather forecast was predicted to be 15 knots of NNW winds most of the journey until nearing Mazatlan where the winds would basically quit and the waves were going to be 5’ @ 5 seconds  on our port stern and also diminishing by the time we got closer to Mazatlan.  All of this seemed doable and would make for a decent crossing.

We started off with hardly any wind, so little in fact, that it was not even registering on our wind meter. So we put up full sails & our jib and we motored along waiting for the wind. Thirty minutes later, the wind soared up to 20 knots, then 24 knots, then 29 knots, then 34 knots! After it hit 34 knots, I stopped looking… my anxiety level was raising enough as it was! Not only were the winds howling, but the waves were building and got up to 12’ or more and they were hitting us on our beam every few seconds. This made for a very uncomfortable ride! If you’ve ever ridden on a Tilt a Whirl at the fair, you will know what I’m talking about…but it wasn’t fun like at the fair because there was no end in sight.  And, there was no ‘Carnie’ to yell at to beg them to stop the ride! The only difference from the Tilt a Whirl is that the boat never turned completely around. If so, I would not be writing this blog. I would have jumped ship! 

The boat was severely heeled as the waves were hitting us. I was really starting to panic inside. I found myself nudging up more and more under the dodger where Harley was curled up in her bed. I was worried she was going to slide to the downside of the boat and roll overboard and that I would soon be joining her.  Rick saw the panic in my face which was on the verge of tears and asked  what he could do to make me more comfortable. I said, “let’s just skip Mazatlan and sail straight to San Blas"! (Going towards San Blas would have us change our heading making the waves behind us and make for a more comfortable ride). We laughed for a second thinking that would be nice but we HAD to stop in Mazatlan to wait for a package from FedEx that was being delivered to the Marina). We were also laughing because we actually did this one year because the crossing was so uncomfortable… it was like being inside of a washing machine, so we changed our heading and we ended up in San Blas bypassing Mazatlan altogether! 

Me, encroaching on Harley's space, trying to stay warm and feel secure

So instead of heading to San Blas, Rick ended up reefing the mainsail which made me feel a little better (we weren't heeled as much). But, I was still feeling pretty tense for the next TWENTY HOURS of the trip.  I barely ate and I put off going down below to use the bathroom as long as I could. I was practically paralyzed where I sat. I did not move from Harley’s side.  I was praying for the wind and waves to settle down.  Rick was able to move around a bit to check our charts, but not much else. The angle of the boat made it quite difficult to move around and it would have been unsafe.  One thing that kept my spirits up was keeping in touch with our friends Roxanne and Dean on S/V Endearing! We were communicating on the InReach and they were keeping us updated on the weather and the time that it should be dying down.  So, I knew at some point things would be better and I was just counting down the hours. Roxanne would send an occasional, ‘hang in there’, which was very comforting!

Things finally calming down enough for  Rick to take a little nap before nightfall

During our sail it felt that time was standing still. Finally by 2 a.m. the waves were down to their predicted 5’ and the winds were about 15 knots. I found it easier to breathe.

As the seas calmed down even more and the sun came up, I was feeling so much better! I was able to move around a little more and relax.

At 10:54a.m. the next day, we arrived and were tied up on the end of Dock 6 at Marina Mazatlan. Our friend Mike was there to greet us and grab our lines.  Soon after arriving and checking in, we took brief naps and then did a few cleanup chores, inside and out.

Solastra on the end tie on Dock 6

Later in the afternoon, we had an early dinner at La Mona at the marina with Mike who so kindly treated us.

Out to dinner feeling relieved we made it to Mazatlan and having fun as always with Mike!

We planned on being here in Mazatlan just a week originally, until yesterday when Rick was working on something in the engine and the fresh water pump broke, so we had to order a new one from the states. So we should be in Mazatlan a total of two weeks.