Leaving Isla Carmen on January 12th, the last weather prediction we heard called for 15-25 knots of wind between us and La Paz. No worries. We couldn’t get a clear signal in the AM but what I heard sounded the same as the day before so let's go. And hey, 15-25 knots is like a Free Ride to La Paz - we don't need no stinking motor (sorry List Marine)!The last weather prediction we heard called for 15-25 knots of wind between us and La Paz. No worries. We couldn’t get a clear signal in the AM but what I heard sounded the same as the day before so no worries. And hey, 15-25 knots is like a Free Ride to La Paz!
We weighed anchor at noon and set sail on a port tack in a nice 15 knots of northerly breeze. We plotted our route thinking we could maybe sail out on port tack ½ way, jibe, and sail back through the channel between Isla San Francisco and Isla Espiritu Santo just after the sun broke. The wind would build to 25 knots in the afternoon and shut down to 15 (or less) at night. GREAT PLAN – I love this brochure!
The sail to Espiritu Santo was just 100 miles and an easy 20 hours. But why was the wind building? 1st reef, 2nd reef, 3rd reef in the main. Furl in the jib, wind goes down to 15 knots, put out more jib. Wind builds. 25 knots. 30 knots. 35 knots. The suns not quite down and we’re averaging 30 knots of wind and the sea is building. OK, no worries, the sun sets the wind drops. Yes, indeed, no worries. So, the sun sets and the breeze pipes up to 35 knots with gusts to 40. We have the autopilot steering (hadn’t set up the windvane yet). The waves are easily 10-12 feet. And some sets are coming up over 15 feet. HEY – this wasn’t in the brochure. The entire night was spent watching Begone flash her tail at these seas and wind. Bothe Tom and I saw the knotmeter read 7.7. What an amazing boat. And we did just fine. There’s nothing like learning early on that your boat can handle what you thought she could.
The breeze settled down to 20 knots by 0600 as we headed for the most southwest bay on Esipiritu Santo – Bahia San Gabriel – and entered after sunrise. We dropped our hook, issued the official “cheated death again” salute and welcomed the calm morning with a proper ration of Bourbon and a long, deep sleep. And when we awoke, we were (yet again) the only boat in the bay.
The next day, Friday, we set our for a little, calm, sunny 5 hour sail to La Paz.
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