It was an interesting start to the sailing season… We hustled to leave Puerto Penasco and probably should have listened to the locals who asked, in a questioning way, if we were leaving the next day. We had a narrow window to beat three days of strong southern wind and waves so Wednesday morning at 5:30am we motored out of the marina to start our passage. The forecast called for 3.5 foot seas and that was fairly accurate for the first hour or so with some 5 to 6 foots every couple of minutes. We powered on and as the miles clicked off the waves were growing and a few hours out we were getting spray over the windows frequently and the seas had built to 7-8 feet. Conversations were had and we pressed on for about thirty minutes when we pulled the plug and reversed course back the safe harbor. Blerg. All told we put 30 nm under the keel and had a five hour shakedown cruise. Which turned out to be a good thing as we had quite a few new projects to tackle.
While we waited for the weather to improve we knocked out this list:
• Better secure dinghy (new this year)
• Clean/tighten port forward hatch to stop small leak
• Tighten mast shrouds
• Rewrap screecher and jib furlers to better secure sail (screecher
• unfurled on passage)
• Seal new stanchion posts
• Dry Sheets and foam
• Install swim step
• Install rubber bumper for anchor chain hatch
• Fuel up tanks (5.8 nm per gallon)
• Tighten fresh water hose barbs
• Clean interior hatch passages
• Replace canvas latch
We also squeezed in fun with Lowell, Marcia, and Ed’s friends at various restaurants, bars, and on Gato Loco. The day before departure we spent the mid-day helping two other cruisers get hauled out at Cabreles yard. Both were new boat owners, the couple on Wildhood only having a month at see to sail from Puerto Vallarta to Penasco – quite the hustle. The couple and their two girls on Way she goes II made their way from Guaymas up the Baja over a couple of trips and while abbreviated made some great memories with more to come next year with the whole season cruising full time. Both boats pulled out of their tight slips and into the slings of the travel lift with no drama. Whew. And we left them to enjoy the celebratory beer of a “season” completed.
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