There was a 36-48 hour window to sneak across the sea before the next blow. Seeing as the coming wind was forecast to last nine days we needed this window to work. Originally the plan was to stay one night in Playa Bonanza and then scoot down to Bahia Muertos, but with the wind in the low twenties the Ceralvo channel didn’t seem prudent to attempt so the game play was changed. We would leave from Bonanza. Looking at the forecast, around 5pm the wind was forecast to begin dropping and be below 10 knots by our 1:00am departure. We were hopeful that this would be enough time for the waves to begin to subside.
Sure enough the forecast held true and after dinner it was off to bed. Up before my alarm I did a final weather check and got us on our way. I even had success in not waking Jean, score! The first three hours were eastbound meaning the waves were on our beam. Thankfully they had shrunk from the past two days and weren’t too bad. With no moon it is always a bit nerve-wracking going around the north side of Isla Ceralvo, the radar and the lighthouse gave me some confidence but I was still relieved to get past and make our turn towards Mazatlan.
Around the mid-point the waves were supposed to spin around and come from the southeast (they had been from the northwest due to the winds), however that never materialized. We were left with mellow seas from the late morning until our arrival in Maz, score two!
For entertainment, we had dolphins play with us a couple of times during the day but zero fish were interested in our lures. No problem, the freezer had plenty of stock. Day turned into night and on we went. Midway through my 2am to 5am shift we had more dolphins come for a visit and with bioluminescence exploding off them made for a magical scene. I debated for a minute whether to wake up Jean, ultimately I took the chance and it was a good thing – she loved the show as much as I did, score three!
Later on Jean’s 5am to 8am shift I had no more than fallen asleep when she called for me to come help. She saw lights approaching and was worried. I searched the horizon and searched some more but couldn’t see what she was seeing. Then a few more minutes later she realized that her worry was about crashing into the moon (which was rising over the horizon). Duh. No problem, always best to get help when concerned.
Our last bit of excitement came after dawn when we reached the fishing grounds and started the infamous 1 liter clear Coke bottom float challenge. For an hour we had to dodge port and starboard in order to avoid any of these prop fouling floating jewels of the sea. That behind us it was just a skip down the coast to our anchorage where it felt good to get the anchor set by 11:00am. Another successful passage, whew!
No Comments