16th March, 2023

Our Journey North, March 2023

It was a perfect morning to leave the marina. Sun and no wind. An empty slip beside us. Friends to help us out. We even had Rhonda and Russ offer to help us into the fuel dock. One never knows if there will be someone there to help us in. All went well and after fueling we left Barra at 0820.

We put up the mainsail and motor-sailed along in sloppy seas until we turned the corner and headed north. The air was still. The sun was hot. What little wind there was came from behind us and pushed the smell of diesel fumes into the cockpit. Not fun. But it certainly could be worse. We did note that when we turned the corner, the seas smoothed out a bit. We were heading into the waves but no longer were being pushed side to side. We were still making good time at six knots. This is how it is sometimes when cruising. Not exactly boring. Uneventful would be a better word. We settled into a rhythm.

Longing for shade, I made myself as small as possible under the dodger. I began to read. Jay mentioned he thought he saw a whale spray. I looked up from my book, but jaded as I am, I just as quickly went back to reading my book. The spray he thought he saw was way off in the distance. Nothing to see, I thought. About five minutes later…

BAM! A loud thud hit the water shocking me out of the story and into the present. “Whale!” Jay yelled. I looked up to see a big splash just off our port bow. The water was coming over the lifelines onto the deck. I was stunned. Did we hit a whale? Is the boat okay? Did we hurt the whale? I looked at Jay with all these questions. He didn’t think we hit the whale and I realized there wasn’t a thud on the boat. After a moment, I thought I heard her breathe. We looked over the port side and there we saw a mama and her baby gently moving through the water, ever so closely. Whew. We all were definitely lucky no one was hurt, and no damage was done. It took us several minutes to regain our composure.

Jay is almost certain it is our autopilot that draws the whales to our boat. Alison christened her Moaning Myrtle. The autopilot does make a strange sound and so Jay thinks the whales believe it might be another whale. Out of curiosity they meander by. Only this time, I think mama whale might have misjudged how close she was to us. We watched as they swam south, wondering why, as we thought it might be time for them to be moving north again. I guess not yet.

The wind picked up and we motor-sailed along at a faster clip. We decided to pass on Tenacatita this passage and were headed straight up to Chamela Bay. It’s only 39 nm from Barra and we arrived a little after 1500 on Wednesday, the first of March. We slowly motored around the bay looking for a good place to anchor. We noticed several long lines set by the local fishermen. This was new and unexpected and can be quite a problem if we were to get one caught around our prop. We decided on a location far from the buoys marking the long lines. Once anchored, we settled in knowing we would be staying for a couple of days. The next weather window looked like Saturday, as 20 knot winds from the NW were forecast for the next two days.

We hung around the boat on Thursday. It is always nice to relax for a day after a long day of traveling. We took our time lowering the dinghy and paddle board. We rested and read. As promised, the wind came up in the afternoon and it was howling. We were especially glad to be anchored and on board.

Friday morning, Jay and I picked up Mark and Harry from s/v Wainui in our dinghy and drove up the river to dock our boat and walk into town for breakfast. We didn’t hang around too long. We knew the wind was scheduled to pick up later in the afternoon. But to our surprise when we came out of the mouth of the river and into the bay, the wind was already cranking. We were looking at twenty-knot winds and four-foot seas! From the south! The north end of the bay (where we were anchored) is protected by the northwest winds and swells but not the south. The wind was projected to come from the NW, and then not until later in the day. Thus, our surprise. The waves were coming head on.

Jay and I have never been in that kind of weather in our dinghy. I was in the front of the boat and the waves were crashing over the bow, over me and into the boat. I was quite nervous having had a previous dinghy accident where my leg was chopped up by the prop. I was afraid if we got turned sideways in the waves, we would tip over. But Jay was on it and kept us going straight into the waves.

We got to Wainui, and I held on to her as Mark and Harry got off the dinghy on to the boat. That wasn’t easy because of the waves pushing Wainui one way and us the other way. Then Wainui would fly up with a wave and we would fly down. They quickly exited. With those two on board, we headed back to Cadenza.

It took Jay two circles to get us close enough to Cadenza for me to get the painter around the cleat. Again, four-foot waves were knocking us around, back and forth, up and down. Finally, we got up on the boat and were able tie her down. We were exhausted but safe.

We left Chamela on Saturday at dawn and headed for our next stop, Ipala, 50 nm north. After several days of strong winds, we knew the seas were likely to be big – and they were. There was little wind, but the waves were an easy six to nine feet. Up Cadenza went, straight up a wave and then bam down into the trough. Not fun. Later in the day, the wind picked up which helped to smooth out the waves. Still, it was an uphill slog. We did have the current with us and were able to make our anchorage in eight hours instead of ten. We were happy with that.

Both Jay and I were totally exhausted by the time we got to Ipala. We had our token “anchor beer.” I fixed tacos for dinner and soon after sunset, we were asleep. We set the alarm for 0615 thinking we would leave at around 0700 to go around Cabo Corrientes. Only I was getting this feeling that we should wait another day to leave. I even woke up in the middle of the night with a wind gust reminding me that maybe we should wait.

An earlier weather report said Saturday/Sunday were the days to go to Ipala and around the cape. Right before we left, another report said Sunday wasn’t as good (maybe not too bad either), Monday was better. Sometimes though, when you are ready to go home, you just want to go home. And we were so close. Still, my “little voice” (or maybe it was my angel) said to wait until Monday.

When we woke up Sunday morning, I told Jay how I was feeling. He honored my request, but I could see he really wanted to go. We had no internet or phone connection so we couldn’t get the weather. Jay checked with our neighbor, S/V Sonrisa. The report Greg was able to get for Sunday was 10-12 knots from the NW. Predict Wind said 13 knots with gusts to 20. Jay asked him about Monday, and he said the winds were 5-7 knots.

We had never stayed in Ipala more than one night so this was our chance to see the village. We were both too lazy to put down the dinghy – there are lots of lines to untie and tie. And I have to climb over the stern and get into the dinghy while it is connected to the davits. Then, Jay lowers me down little by little. When it is time to raise the dinghy, I am in it and Jay brings me up, little by little and I climb back over the stern. (It is about this time I am glad I continue to do yoga.) It is a lot of work for Jay and a bit precarious for me. If there are any waves, I get knocked around like I am on a carnival ride.

I decided to go to town on my paddleboard. There was virtually no swell making the landing easy. I leaned the paddleboard against the wall and went exploring. It is a one-street, two-block village with a cobblestone street leading up a hill. Small children were running up and down, laughing and playing games with their mamas watching closely. I could see the women in their kitchens/living area sitting around visiting with their neighbors. The view from the top of the hill overlooking the cove was absolutely beautiful. It probably took me all of five minutes to see the town and then get back down to the beach. There were a few restaurants along the shore. The older kids’ playground was the beach. They were playing some kind of stick game. It took me another five or ten minutes to stroll the short shore.

When I was back on my paddleboard, one of the fishermen came over to me in his panga and said he would take me back to my boat, “No problem, lady.” It was a kind offer because he thought I was on another boat that was anchored way far away. I declined and said thank you, but I could make it easily back to Cadenza. The fishermen are always so nice, waving and smiling as they go by.

We had a good rest and dinner and then to bed. Once again, we left the anchorage at dawn. They called for 5-7 knots of wind, right? That lasted for a few hours and then kicked up to 17-20 knots, on the nose. The seas were sloppy around Cabo Corrientes – which was to be expected. All in all, it really wasn’t too bad of a passage. And we were feeling stronger after having a day of rest.

We weren’t sure if our slip at Paradise Marina Village was open for us yet because we had vacillated between arriving on the 6^th or the 7^th of March. It turns out it was ready. We docked around 1430.

It is always a good feeling to get “home” again after a safe and successful voyage. And despite the wind and the waves, I still think we made the right decision to wait a day. We didn’t have a schedule, so why not?