Wild Ride

The day started out nice enough at Ensenada de los Muertos. There was a a light breeze and calm sea. We got underway at 7:30 AM planning to go 46 miles to Bahia los Frailes. We did notice that there were only 4 panga fishing boats putting in at our anchorage of the past two nights, Muertos. The day before more like 20 pangas we’re putting in to fish. It turns out they probably knew something we didn’t at the time. The wind and waves were going to pick up.

We put up the sails and kept the motor running for about the first 4 miles. Meanwhile the seas and breeze began building. We soon had 4 foot waves coming across the beam (sideways) about every six seconds. This was causing the sailboat to rock one side to the other at a steep pitch. Then there was a loud clunk and the motor suddenly stopped. It sure didn’t sound good.

We began excavating the lazaret (storage space by the side of the engine) to look for the problem. It was discovered that a spare anchor line and chain had slid out of the storage compartment and into the propeller shaft. The rope was wrapped around the shaft and the chain was jammed between the shaft and floor. So no more motor until we could repair it. We continued to sail onward.

Eric began untangling the mess and grinding through the chain, working all the time in a very tight space below deck. I fetched various tools for him, but even that was not easy as the waves were rocking us one side to the other every six seconds. I got seasick as a result.

After an hour or so Eric says “ I don’t want to alarm you but you need to see this.” I put my head into the lazarette and saw water squirting into the boat around the propeller shaft. The gasket called a “stuffing box” had been shredded by wrapping the chain and the rope around the shaft. The stuffing box is what keeps water out of the boat where the propeller shaft goes through the hull. After Eric cut through rope and chain and exposed the stuffing box, water was flowing in at a good rate. The bilge pump was quickly overwhelmed. I set up the emergency bilge pump which turned out to have enough capacity to keep us ahead of the incoming water. So far so good. Meanwhile Eric was trying to figure out how to plug the leak. No kidding, he wrapped duct tape around the leaking area and it slowed the flow considerably.

Up to now the auto pilot had kept us on course. But before long the seas and wind were too violent for the auto pilot to cope with. One 6’ swell was coming from the north every six seconds, and another swell was coming from the west about every six seconds. Winds were steady at 20 to 25 knots. We actually got spun around 360 degrees once with the autopilot on.

At that point I turned the auto pilot off and took over the tiller (steering) duty. Eric took the front jib sail down and reefed (reduced) the main sheet to first reef. We got thereby better control over the boat.

We started to discuss what to do next? Clearly we needed to get to a safe harbor where the leak could be properly repaired. Moreover such a harbor would have to have the ability to haul the boat out of the water in order to repair the stuffing box. Not many harbors can do that. After making a few phone calls we decided to sail without stopping to San Jose del Cabo about 65 miles downwind to the south.

We also decided it was time to call the Coast Guard too. The BajaHaHa instructions were to call Central Dispatch for the US Coast Guard in Oakland California and let them coordinate with Mexico for help. I had put the number in my cell phone. We called and explained the situation. They said they would contact the Mexican Coast Guard and call us back. They did so in about an hour and told us the good news. The Mexican Coast Guard was headed toward us and would meet us at about 6:30 PM. They would then escort us the rest of the way to San Jose del Cabo.

The next task was to get the 5 gallons of gasoline out of the inflatable dinghy that we were towing. We needed that gas to run the portable generator.. No motor meant no built-in electricity generator. Moreover, something was wrong with the electrical battery storage, a problem that had plagued us since leaving San Diego. No electricity meant no bilge pump to remove the water not to mention no navigation via the chartplotter, no navigation lights for the night time that was coming, no AIS by which the Coast Guard was tracking us, and no autopilot. So this was a must do. The problem was the violent sea. The dinghy was often lurching in the opposite direction of the sailboat.

We brought the dinghy up along side the sailboat. One of us trying to get into the dinghy, or reach into the dingy, was out of the question,because falling overboard would mean almost certain death. So we would try to snatch it out of the dingy with a pole. Eric extended the boat hook, a pole with a small hook on the end, to about 12 feet. After about five minutes of effort, he managed to snatch the plastic can out of the dinghy and into the sailboat. I thought it was a rather miraculous feat.

By mid afternoon we were approaching Cabo Plumo where the Sea of Cortez meets the currents of the Pacific. Waves are now up to 8 feet from the north, and 8 feet from the west all at six seconds between peaks. The waves would combine in strange and amplified ways. Combined with the Cabo Plumo current mixing effect it was a real washing machine. Wind gust were as high as 30 to 35 knots. We took the main sail down to second reef to maintain control. Even with this minimum sail area we were doing 6 knots whereas 7 knots is about the maximum hull speed for this boat.

A few miles past Cabo Plumo the wind and waves started to quiet down. We were approaching sunset and the mountains to the northwest were probably blocking some of the wind. As hours went by conditions became calmer and we were able to put the autopilot back on.

Now we could relax and reflect on what we’d been through. Eric says “putting the anchor chain on the floor of the lazaret was stupid, really stupid stupid.” He put the chain there. I was glad to hear him say this as I had been thinking all afternoon “I’m never going to get in Eric’s sailboat again.” To put this in perspective you have to understand that Eric and I have been adventure buddies since college now over 50 years.

I had to admire too Eric’s strength, stamina and level headedness throughout the day. He did all the hard work. About all I could do was hang on to the tiller because I had been seasick since morning.

There was also the failure to get an updated local weather forecast in the morning. I had seen a forecast the evening before that was very generalized for the southern Sea of Cortez. Winds 10-15 knots from the NW and waves from the north 2-3 feet: perfect sailing weather. Either things had changed or we needed a local forecast or both. Our Starlink was down, Iridium Go never worked right for us despite much cost and effort, local cell wouldn’t do data, and the restaurant WiFi was no good either. So lots of coulda, shoulda, woulda around the weather forecast.

The US Coast Guard kept in touch with us every hour until the Mexican Coast Guard showed up around 11PM. The winds slowed and so did our speed. At 2:00 AM a towboat arrived to tow us in the last seven miles, straight into a 15 to 20 knot wind (local conditions). The harbormaster had arranged for the tow as well as a boat haul out for Monday. The harbormaster had stayed up late, along with a couple other men to wait for our arrival. By 4 AM we were sound asleep.

Are we having fun yet?

If you’re wondering why there are no photos of the crazy water, we were preoccupied.Read more