I was going to write some long winded post about our passage and thought, nah, let’s not bore everyone! So instead I will give the good, the bad and the ugly about our 3 day, 2 night trip to Isla Isabela.
The good…
1. We got plenty of sailing in on this passage. We sailed 27 hours without the motor on, this was amazing! The boat handles so well and continues to amaze us with her speed under sail. Best of all, it’s so quiet!
2. The stars were visible the second night. I was able to count 13 shooting stars on my 12-3am shift. The moon was also a spectacular orange color as it rose up from the horizon.
3. Neither of us fell overboard- (more about this in the ugly section.). We decided to wear our PFDs and clip in when leaving the cockpit, no exceptions!
4. Along the way we saw a wall of dolphins to our starboard surfing the waves and heading straight towards us. This was the COOLEST dolphin siting to date!
5. Brad let out our fishing line and it was instantly struck by a dorado. He saw the whole thing go down as the dorado’s fin skimmed across the surface. Too bad it got away!
6. I saved a life- at least I hope I did! I was awake on my midnight watch when I heard a bunch of slapping noises. What the heck?! Then I smelled a fish. Upon further investigation I spotted the culprit. A flying fish landed in our boat and could not get out. I tried to grab him but he was so slimy and gross, and kept slipping out of my hand. So I told him to hang on little buddy, I’ll be right back. I grabbed a paper towel and tossed him back overboard. I hope he lived to see another day.
7. More dolphins! We had a group escort us just outside the island. They stayed at the bow for a few minutes and went off their own way. Dolphins never get boring, they are so awesome!
8. Bioluminescence was visible each night and was a great distraction from some large waves passing under the boat. Look at the pretty sparkles and ignore the rest. 😉
9. We got to our destination with plenty of daylight to spare and were met by friendly boaters willing to give us a hand in the challenging anchorage.
Ok enough gloating, let’s get to the bad.
1. We were grossly unprepared! The headsail lines were not run back to their appropriate winches. This meant going up and down each side of the deck in crappy conditions to set them up. Doh!
2. We chose not to raise the main in calm conditions, we thought we would do it when we got around the corner and into the channel. Big mistake!
3. Our dinghy wasn’t securely attached and was threatening to launch off the davits. We should have hauled it up on deck before we left. Tisk tisk!
4. Our boom vang broke and fell down. The day before this happened Brad and I both heard something fall from the mast, it was a nut, an important one albeit. We assumed it came from our radar mount but you know what they say about assuming! This was an exciting moment, luckily Brad rigged up a solution and all is well until we can get a new piece fabricated in Puerto Vallarta.
5. Our main halyard chafed even more due to us sailing with our main fully up and eased out. Looks like we need to have our new sail reshaped at the top to prevent this problem.
6. We caught a fish but he was too small so back in the water he went.
Now it’s time for the ugly.
1. I got so scared that I burst into tears. Has this ever happened to you before? Oh dear, how embarrassing! We were making our way into the San Lorenzo Channel and got our butts handed to us. All of the guidebooks tell you this is a sketchy place and it’s notorious for kicking booties. Here’s what happened. We were in 20-25 knots of wind, fair enough. The problem was we were taking huge waves on our port beam crossing to starboard and our boat was not prepared. These waves were so tall and angry looking due to the wind that they literally made me burst into tears.
2. Brad had to go on deck to raise the mainsail in the conditions noted above. Talk about taking the anxiety to a whole new level. Let me clarify, it was my anxiety, not his. I am so thankful he did not fall overboard!
3. Brad lost his breakfast while working in the above noted conditions. We are still finding specks of oatmeal on deck and on the lines. But imagine being on a nasty carnival ride and working on tying things with your hands. It’s bound to make anyone sick! He is my hero for getting all of the work done in such scary conditions.
4. We took on a huge wave on our port side that soaked Brad head to toe while on deck, and soaked our entire cockpit including me.
5. A squid found its way to our deck. Ewww! Brad found and disposed of him before I saw it.
6. Hygiene- this is also embarrassing to admit but hygiene goes out the window on passages. Luckily these have been short passages so far! Back in real life we were religious about showering daily, now it just seems like so much work! 😉
Well, there you have it. There’s the good, bad and ugly on our 3 day, 2 night passage to Isla Isabela. Not every day is easy and there are tough times along the way. But the overall result is amazing and so worth the hard times. I cannot wait to share the next post with you all. Until then, cheers!