October 8-9, 2013
The passage from hell.
Logbook – October 8, 2013 (Puerto Refugio to San Felipe)
Passage Log Highlights
- 1131 Depart Puerto Refugio
- 1231 Port engine off
- 1239 SB engine off, Main + Genniker
- 1524 Dorado! 8.6 kts SE
- 1742 Main + Genoa, 15.7 kts SW
Daily Notes
- Southbound Net – Steve asks, “Any Exoduses underway?”
Logbook – October 9, 2013 (Puerto Refugio to San Felipe)
Passage Log Highlights
- 0300 47.6 kts wind! No main, 3 reef genoa
Daily Notes
- Gale force winds
- So happy to be @ San Felipe
- Alex had to take the 8-10am watch
- Summary of passage sent in email from airmail account
- Wifi from the boat
- Shore power working well
- Alex made top ramen when we got here
- Alex busted out the fans right away, but it’s much cooler here than in Santa Rosalia
- Went to bed with Exodus still a mess
Email to family and friends dated October 9, 2013
Subject: we made it
We made it to San Felipe, and holy crap, what a night. We left Puerto Refugio about 11am yesterday and for the first 6 hours or so we had light winds from the ESE and confused seas such that the sails had trouble staying full, and we limped along at an uncomfortable 2-3 kts. Then the wind picked up to 12 kts or so and within the next hour they had picked up to a steady 20. (Steve, this is about when we talked on the Southbound net). We were expecting about 20-25 kts during the night, and we put 2 reefs in the main and 1 in the Genoa just to be on the safe side. I went to bed with plans to get up at 2am for my watch and did very little sleeping because the seas were still very confused just bigger so they tossed around quite a bit. At midnight I heard the engines come on so I came up to see 37 kts on the instruments and Tim is preparing to drop the main sail. I took the engine controls to try to steer us to the wind to bring down the main and since Tim was already wearing my foul weather jacket I got totally drenched. We brought the main down and then just had the smallest possible Genoa still out. The washing machine was on turbo cycle, we were getting tossed like crazy! I went below to change into dry clothes and find another jacket, and that’s when the sea sickness started, the worst I’ve ever had. I was pretty much out of commission. Poor Tim had to have watch duty all night! I got up around 3am and tried to “suck it up”, but I just couldn’t manage. At that point he had seen sustained winds over 40 kts with gusts up to 47. We were running downwind with no sails and dragging warps to slow us down. When I got up again at sunrise the winds had died to below 15 kts but the seas were still a mess and we had minimal Genoa out and were dragging warps still to only go about 1-2 kts. At this point we were way off course, about 40 miles due East of San Felipe. We were hoping the seas would settle down a bit so we just sort of hung out there for an hour or so. The seas never really did settle down, but I thought we needed to make a move so I pulled in the warps and started the engines and just powered through the remaining swells. I was worried the winds would pick up again and even contemplated heading to Puerto Penasco at that point since at least then the main swells would be on our stern. It turned out OK since the wind did pick up again to 20kts, but this time from the North, so while it confused the seas even more, it at least didn’t cause them to build. Alex even took a watch since I was still in pretty bad shape and Tim desperately needed some sleep. He had instructions to wake Tim if the wind shifted or got to 25kts, which thankfully it never did. We had a very uncomfortable ride but we pulled into the marina here in San Felipe about 1:30. I have never been so happy to be in a marina. Exodus did awesome, and at no time were we in any real danger since Tim handled every situation extremely well. It was inevitable that we would see this kind of weather at some point, and we’ve come through it stronger, and at least for me, with an immense amount of confidence in Exodus and Tim.
Steve, I’m sorry I didn’t check in this morning on the Amigo net but I really was barely functioning. I’m wondering if this rivals your guys’ experience on the southern crossing! Also, can you be sure my yahoo email is ok to send to your winlink account?
There is supposedly wifi at the marina here, but we haven’t gotten it to work yet. Hopefully soon.
Love and miss everyone,
-D.
One additional bit about that night that I’d like to share was when I came up to the helm after Tim and turned the engines on in order to drop the main sail, I looked around at the seas battering us, and cried, “Tim, this is horrible!” His response was priceless. He said, in a very calm voice, “No, it’s not. It’s fine. Everything is fine. Just point us into the wind.” To which I thought, “Ok, sure, I can do that.” Pointing us into the wind is something I’ve done hundreds times while anchoring and raising/lowering the main. I was only a little bit offended when he called back, “Don’t put it in reverse!” We were going about 6-7 kts, did he really think I would put it in reverse? Well, better safe than sorry.
Tim’s “Of fish and men” essay was so good, I’ve been trying to get him to write his version of the San Felipe passage. Maybe eventually…
Gresham Family Exodus 