November 14, 2011

Refreshing rain turned into an all-out squall. Once again we were on a lee shore in shallow water with not much distance between us and other boats, or more importantly, between the Whistle Wing and the shore. I was woken up at 3:45am when I heard an almighty bang and the anchor start ripping through the windlass. There was not much time for thought so I threw on a hoodie and ran up on deck. The wind was all of sudden driving pellets of water into my face at around 35 knots. Talk about a rude awakening. Wind chop was driving the boat ten feet in the air before the combined weight of the boat and anchor falling accompanied with the swell would bury her nose completely. The snap that I heard was our snubber, a ¾ in. thick line with a breaking strength of 30,000 lbs., completely parting. The wave action had chafed enough of it away, coupled with enormous strain, to part it as if it were a piece of floss. The windlass could not handle the strain so chain was ripping out every time we had a serious up swell.

Boating lesson for this blog: anchoring. Military regulations call for a 7-1 ratio for anchoring. That means 7 feet of chain for every foot of water depth that one is anchored in. Cruising practice normally dictates anywhere between 4-1 and 7-1 depending on conditions. Those conditions include the depth of water, what the bottom is made of, if you are using a mixture of chain and nylon, and currents/tides. Books have been written on those four conditions so I will not bore you with details. After letting out the amount of chain that you want to use, you attach a snubber to the chain and lower it towards the water and then make the snubber off to a cleat. This is done for three reasons. First and foremost, you never want to have strain on your windlass unless it is actually lifting. This obviously ensures that it lasts and can haul when it has to as well as the fact that it is not designed to take major loads. The second reason is that a snubber is made out of line (types can depend on preferences) and it can take a static shock from swells and turn it into a dynamic load. A chain only deals in static shock loads because by its nature it is inelastic. These are the death to anything on a boat because all of the enormous forces are consolidated into a single punch. Finally, the snubber transfers the force vector on the chain from the top of the deck to the waterline or wherever the snubber is made off to the chain. Think trigonometry and you will be on the right track. In short, the snubber is incredibly important and if that snaps then you know there are huge problems in your future.

We immediately began preparations for getting under way and within 5 minutes we were weighing anchor standing out to sea instead of getting trapped in a bay with a bad sea state, a group of boats, and a shallow bottom. We cranked the engine up to 1600 rpms and realized that we were only making about a knot of headway. The conditions were that intense. And they had all cropped up in the span of an hour. Amazing how the Sea of Cortez can be so fickle. This anchorage was supposed to be one of the most protected and I had jokingly mentioned to Mike that unless our luck changed we would wake up early and have to get off another anchorage. I need to insert my foot in my mouth and stop making such sarcastic comments. We decided that instead of heading off the wind and swell we would just loiter till the sun came up and then try to put in to Pichilinque. There is a small commercial anchorage and marina there that we could at least drop our hook, eat breakfast, catch a few zzz’s, and then be on our merry way. No sooner had we finished the dishes from breakfast that Mike noticed a large contact on the radar coming our way and we needed to weigh anchor and get under way again.

I am starting to fool people into making them think that I know what I am doing with the sea and anchor detail. Within the past 24 hours I had weighed or set anchor seven times. Sometimes I really do just long for the sea and a nice week long tack in the trade winds. The only problems that you have to deal with are the occasional squall where you can easily fall off and reef, a rainstorm here or there, heavens that are so bright at night that they rob you of your night vision, and bioluminescence that makes your wake sparkle and glow. It is a rough life. But the work, challenges, and adrenaline rushes are also fun in their own regard.

After raising the anchor, catting it, and rounding the point, we took a look out and saw a huge container ship was bearing down on the bay we had just exited. Talk about good timing. There were two options of attack after this. We could take an anchorage in the municipal anchoring off of La Paz or follow up on the leads of a cheap marina and take our chances. Mike decided on the latter and we hailed Marina Palmira and got a slip. When the numbers were crunched it became obvious that a week would actually be cheaper than a couple of nights so we are now in this marina for a few days. Thankfully if we want to leave early there is a sister marina in Mazatlan that carries over any unused but already paid for days.

During the check in process a women proposition Mike and said that she would do our laundry for 50 pesos. That is roughly what it would cost in the states to go to a Laundromat and pay in quarters but this women would take care of all that and fold them. Next thing you know I am given laundry detail and the price has risen to 200 pesos. Joe chimes in from his bunk that it is alright and he would foot the bill. Who am I to argue. She took the laundry and three hours later had it back at the boat, separated, folded, and ready to go. This senora then rattles off some Spanish and the gist of what she was saying was that the 200 pesos had gone to tokens for the machines and detergent and she now needed a tip. I finally gave her 50 more pesos to shut her up and she stormed up in a fake temper to try to get more money. Upon closer inspection I realized that we could have done our laundry for the equivalent of 120 pesos and she had used the marina laundry machines that we did not know existed at the moment. Last time I trust anyone with my laundry except my mom.

Fresh water, hot water, water pressure, hell even shower heads are taken for granted. I spent a good 20 minutes soaking in a nice hot shower in the marina. I smell great! The only problem that I could foresee when I set my eyes on the shower was that the boat would smell because of the dirty laundry. But after being swindled by the biggest con artist known to Marina Palmira, our clothes are clean, I am clean, and life is good. After showering Mike and I went in to the city center to find crutches for Joe. Turns out that was ridiculously easy. The marina has a shuttle that will drop you off anywhere within a certain section of town and it will pick you up if you ask for a definitive time and location. You have to catch the shuttle in to town at a certain time, and of course that time is Mexican time, aka 15 minutes late, but it was free. We took the shuttle in and were dropped off right at a medical supply place. Then we asked the owner of the store for a taco cart.

There was a taco cart right around the corner that specialized in shrimp and fish tacos. YUM. We feasted and had two soft drinks and the total bill for the both of us, after tip, was less than 10 dollars. That is living. We then went for a nice ambulation and walked the 2 or 3 miles back to the marina. Now we are just sitting, enjoying a great sunset, Mike is about to go shower, and we are alternating using the one internet connection afforded to our boat. The day may have started off rough but it turned out for the best. Always nice when that happens. There is always a silver lining though. I think I like marina life a lot more than Mike or Joe however. They are all about being in anchorages to escape the noise and bustle of cities and marinas whereas I like that. But marinas are expensive and anchorages are free, so, as with anything in life, it is a big trade off. Joe has a doctor’s appointment tomorrow to get an x-ray and let’s keep our fingers crossed that nothing is torn or fractured.

The cabin fever finally got to him. After I finished writing this blog I went above decks and was busy doing things. Next thing I know I see Joe’s head like a turtle just peeking over the edge of the hatch cover. He was letting me know that we were going to attempt to head off the boat and go to dinner at the marina restaurant and catch the Monday night football game. This turned into a hilarious scene trying to get him off and on the boat. We wrapped a life sling around his armpits and used the main halyard to lift him over the lifelines and then slowly lowered him to the dock or the deck and then gave him his crutches. Now that we know how easy it is to do that he will not go as stir crazy as long as we stay at a marina.