Aren't you scared?
One of the great teachers of religion and mythology, Joseph Campbell, said, "The meaning of life is to feel alive." Modern life offers people few opportunities to feel alive. Nothing about going to the mall, watching movies, sitting in front of a tv (watching programs of others sailing), working 40-50-100 hours a week with a 4 week vacation did it for us. I think the pursuit of feeling alive pushes some people to jump off bridges secured by a rubber band and do other crazy life-risking stuff. (Which I would never dream of ).
Boating is far safer than doing most of the things we do everyday -- driving, flying, crossing the street. About 95% of the time boating is done in normal conditions; the other 5% is the challenge. While that 5% includes some conditions we have yet to experience, we have studied what others have done and are prepared for the worst. Our boat is strong and so is our determination. If all we feared was the unknown, we would have never left the house. We would not be on this interesting journey.
We attended a seminar highlighting Central America to Ecuador with several other boaters from our dock and were somewhat disappointed in the lack of concrete information; however it served to be the catalyst to the sharing of knowledge. This week has left us excited about the continuation of The Genesis.
We met many new and wonderful people in Guaymas. We hope to someday meet up with these new boating friends again in different anchorages along the way. The locals that we met have enriched our lives in so many ways. This is a town we could live in if we ever wanted to re-locate.
So, after spending 5 weeks in Guaymas, secured to a dock, we threw off the lines and headed into new territory. It wasn't planned that way but it is working out that way! The mainland portion of the Sea of Cortez has very few anchorages, and the ones that do exist have their challenges. Bar crossings, silted in waterways and much shoaling are the largest challenges. We have a distance of approximately 450 nautical miles to get to Mazatlan. The forecast for Thursday, is calling for Northerlies at 35 knots. A decision was made while underway to practice for the Tehuanepec. (You will learn more about this nasty when we are ready to leave Mexico) The longest passage Ken and I have made at one time is 56 hours when we had to get to an airport so Ken could fly home for his Mom's funeral. This passage will be 75 hours. The 56 hours was also shared with our friends Wayne and Wendy. This passage will be done by us.
We left Sunday at 0530 hrs and traveled until 0800 hr this morning. (Monday) We stopped for 1 hr to have supper and participate in the SSB net so that we are being tracked by fellow boaters. This is a wonderful practice that we will continue to participate in on the whole Central America trip. This morning we anchored in an open bay caught a bit of a catnap, maintain the engines, get tomorrows meals ready and will depart at 2000hr. The reason for the break is so that we arrive in day light at our destination. We will have a bar to cross and we would never attempt this at night unless in an emergency. There are no good places to stop but you can just drop an anchor in the shallows while you check things out before continuing, it just means a little or a lot of rolling. The plans are to be in Mazatlan by noon Wednesday. I guess when you add the pit stops it will be more like 90 hours.
The daytime is a normal boating day with us sharing the driving. At 1800 hr after dinner we begin our 3 hr shifts. I begin with 1800 - 2100 hr then 0000 hr -0300 hr. Ken does the in betweens. Ken has the male sleep gene and can sleep at a drop of the hat. Me it is not so easy but it is getting much better.
We actually do not mind the overnight passages. Nature is amazing and I am sure next weeks blog will be about some of the things that have come to join us to keep us VERY MUCH awake at night. I have yet to come close to falling asleep.
One of the great teachers of religion and mythology, Joseph Campbell, said, "The meaning of life is to feel alive." Modern life offers people few opportunities to feel alive. Nothing about going to the mall, watching movies, sitting in front of a tv (watching programs of others sailing), working 40-50-100 hours a week with a 4 week vacation did it for us. I think the pursuit of feeling alive pushes some people to jump off bridges secured by a rubber band and do other crazy life-risking stuff. (Which I would never dream of ).
Boating is far safer than doing most of the things we do everyday -- driving, flying, crossing the street. About 95% of the time boating is done in normal conditions; the other 5% is the challenge. While that 5% includes some conditions we have yet to experience, we have studied what others have done and are prepared for the worst. Our boat is strong and so is our determination. If all we feared was the unknown, we would have never left the house. We would not be on this interesting journey.
We attended a seminar highlighting Central America to Ecuador with several other boaters from our dock and were somewhat disappointed in the lack of concrete information; however it served to be the catalyst to the sharing of knowledge. This week has left us excited about the continuation of The Genesis.
We met many new and wonderful people in Guaymas. We hope to someday meet up with these new boating friends again in different anchorages along the way. The locals that we met have enriched our lives in so many ways. This is a town we could live in if we ever wanted to re-locate.
So, after spending 5 weeks in Guaymas, secured to a dock, we threw off the lines and headed into new territory. It wasn't planned that way but it is working out that way! The mainland portion of the Sea of Cortez has very few anchorages, and the ones that do exist have their challenges. Bar crossings, silted in waterways and much shoaling are the largest challenges. We have a distance of approximately 450 nautical miles to get to Mazatlan. The forecast for Thursday, is calling for Northerlies at 35 knots. A decision was made while underway to practice for the Tehuanepec. (You will learn more about this nasty when we are ready to leave Mexico) The longest passage Ken and I have made at one time is 56 hours when we had to get to an airport so Ken could fly home for his Mom's funeral. This passage will be 75 hours. The 56 hours was also shared with our friends Wayne and Wendy. This passage will be done by us.
We left Sunday at 0530 hrs and traveled until 0800 hr this morning. (Monday) We stopped for 1 hr to have supper and participate in the SSB net so that we are being tracked by fellow boaters. This is a wonderful practice that we will continue to participate in on the whole Central America trip. This morning we anchored in an open bay caught a bit of a catnap, maintain the engines, get tomorrows meals ready and will depart at 2000hr. The reason for the break is so that we arrive in day light at our destination. We will have a bar to cross and we would never attempt this at night unless in an emergency. There are no good places to stop but you can just drop an anchor in the shallows while you check things out before continuing, it just means a little or a lot of rolling. The plans are to be in Mazatlan by noon Wednesday. I guess when you add the pit stops it will be more like 90 hours.
The daytime is a normal boating day with us sharing the driving. At 1800 hr after dinner we begin our 3 hr shifts. I begin with 1800 - 2100 hr then 0000 hr -0300 hr. Ken does the in betweens. Ken has the male sleep gene and can sleep at a drop of the hat. Me it is not so easy but it is getting much better.
We actually do not mind the overnight passages. Nature is amazing and I am sure next weeks blog will be about some of the things that have come to join us to keep us VERY MUCH awake at night. I have yet to come close to falling asleep.
AN UPDATE TO THE ABOVE BLOG
We made it to Mazatlan in record time. We had a current pushing us to speeds above 7 which got us in at 0100 at night. The seas were calm and the tide was a flood allowing us to get over the bar in safety. Total time including the 8 hr stop (would have gotten in at daylight had we not stopped) was 72 hrs. Not bad.
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posted by genesisincalmh2o @ 2:27 PM
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