Mexico to Guatamala via a lot of empty ocean
AJAYA'S CRUISE
Phil & Nikki Hoskins
Fri 17 Jun 2011 22:36
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In our efforts to sail from Mexico to Panama which proved
futile (again) we sailed something like 600 miles (probably a hundred of
those just fighting an adverse current). It's a lonely stretch
of the Caribbean - we saw no other yachts and surprisingly little
commercial traffic.
On day one, in our efforts to gain some speed
in the lee of the island of Cozumel, we deployed the cruising chute - 'Mr
Flappy', but for once without it's taming sock which was torn and needing
repair. This sock pulls down over the sail using a downhaul
line so spilling the wind making retrieval relatively easy. Two big
mistakes coming up here, the biggest one from the
'skipper' in suggesting we pull 'Ol' Flappy' down in 17
knots of apparent wind whilst only partially deploying the Genoa
to act as a shield to de-power the light sail or at the very least to
ease off the controlling sheet. So with Phil on the foredeck, with Flappy's
foot in hand (so to speak) and the 'Admiral' poised with the winch and
clutch ready to let go in the cockpit we quickly descended
to disaster status by the quickest possible route.
Mistake number two - at the command 'let go now' The Admiral
in her stubbornness thought she could hold onto the cruising chute halyard. As
it whipped through the clutch in the cockpit at considerable speed it
immediately removed many layers of skin from two of her left hand digits on
its way up into the mast. From the foredeck Phil could hear
agonised screams coming from aft. He found the Admiral sat clutching two
very bloody fingers that had little skin left at the tips, a third digit had
suffered minor blistering. Luckily suede rope handling gloves had
prevented worse damage. Such a sight would normally reduce the
Skipper to fainting mode but there was no time to do that. Meanwhile
the foredeck was covered in acres of cruising chute blowing around in
the breeze waiting to be stowed or blown overboard and under the boat -
whichever came first. Now, we are usually very careful and considered when
onboard and even more so at sea but this was a real switch off moment and a
wake-up call!
 
Dawn on a calm sea.......
....the day remained the same
Putting this episode behind us and with the 'Admiral'
sporting a natty pair of finger bandages we sailed on. In the first few days,
despite lumpy seas, we made some reasonable progress considering
the adverse current. Using the motors judiciously, as there was no more
fuel available until Providencia some 500 miles away, we pressed on until the
wind gave out completely and we were left motoring on glassy calm water. At
such times the ocean shows a very different face. Gone
are the waves and the wind driven chop that hide so much from a cursory
glance around as you sail onwards. Now every little swirl or break at the
surface, perhaps caused by feeding fish, is easily seen and life that is
always in existence regardless of sea state makes itself known - its cover
blown!
Our day started with a small pod of baby dolphins around the
boat - nothing too unusual there but welcome visitors at any time. Then we
spotted them in the distance, a pod of whales that could have been mistaken at
first glance as oversized dolphins. Maybe 8-10 in number they made a bee-line
for the boat then veered away into the distance (thankfully) as whales can be
unpredictable and we are fragile! Not long after, another
sighting of whales roughly in the same area and distance off the
starboard beam. Different this time, looking like long finned pilot whales and
these did come over to the boat and swim around us. About half our boat length
(20ft) they gracefully swam alongside, with one rolling over to peer up at us.
We snapped with the camera but the pictures never quite turn out the
way they should. The whales didn't stay long though, moving away as
gracefully as they arrived. We saw more whales that day, they seemed to be
frequenting that part of the Caribbean and we enjoyed the glimpses we caught as
they moved generally northwards.
Whales
across our stern
Our next brush with nature came when the electric fishing
reel screamed as it released yards of line off the spool. Music to the ears of
any fish-eating yachtie! We hadn't had a 'nibble' on any of the lures
since leaving Puerto Morelos but here was surely enough fish on the
line to keep us going for days (perhaps?).
Under considerable strain it took a while for the reel mounted
on our pushpit to wind in a very large bull Mahi Mahi to the back
steps - 4ft long and a real fighter which had given a great acrobatic
display further out when trying to spit the lure shortly after becoming hooked.
But it wasn't to be a happy ending to this fishy story yet again and we
lost not only a very large fish but at the moment when Phil was trying to gaff
the thing it went berserk, flailing with immense strength until something simply
had to give and the 120lb breaking strain line finally snapped leaving the
fish to swim off with our home made 'killer' lure still in place along with a
metre of trace and a very good swivel. (Sorry Geoff) Time to make the Mark 2
version we guess!
By way of compensation for having to eat, yet another meal of
noodles, Mother Nature sent a calming influence in the shape of a
red-footed Booby bird. We had seen the blue-footed variety in the Galapagos but
this species was new to us. Featuring a neat pair of red feet and a powder
blue beak that looks painted on this bird has a somewhat comical appearance.
  The red-footed Booby - our guest for one night. One of
the most characterful ocean seabirds we have come
across
Lovely plumage
!!!
After a couple of circuits of the boat in the growing twilight
on Phil's watch it finally landed on our port pulpit where it promptly stuck its
head in its feathers and went to sleep. It stayed all night in fact, preening,
sleeping and glancing down into the sea seemingly curious as our
bows sliced through the slight swell. As we furled away the Genoa for
the night, when the breeze disappeared, it remained completely unfazed just
staring intently as the large triangle of white material disappeared into a roll
just a few feet away. The next morning it again stared at the sail as
we pulled it back out when the wind started to fill in. It then
took off for a test flight around the boat, swooping low over the
water before landing comically back on it's perch on the pulpit. Another
adjustment to a few feathers that were perhaps not in alignment and it took off
again, this time for good, no doubt to fly over thousands of miles of
ocean leading its solitary lifestyle on the wing hunting fish - obviously making
a better job of it than we do! We enjoyed its visit even if it left a few gifts
on our foredeck. Of course had we been Captain Bligh and his men cast adrift by
Fletcher Christian we would have - eaten it - delicious!!!
The weather forecast brought gloomy news - not of dangerous
conditions to come but a change of wind direction, meaning we would struggle to
make the 120 miles to the Vivarillos Cays off the end of Honduras which would
have given us a toe hold to use whilst we waited for another change of wind
direction. This boat simply doesn't sail or motor into short seas and that is
unfortunately what we suddenly had to fight against. In addition there was
another tropical wave expected into the Caribbean in a few days which leads to
squall and thunderstorm activity that is extremely unpleasant. We decided
to give up the hard earned easterly miles we'd gained, admit it wasn't
our year for Panama and head instead to the Rio Dulce in Guatemala, one of the
most hurricane free zones in the tropics. We were just 2 days away from the Rio,
now sailing downwind and relaxed, having taken that decision. We were
looking forward to a gentle few days run in to
Guatemala..............
   Not a brilliant start to the day which steadily
became worse with frequent squalls - it gets lonely out there
sometimes.
The 'Admiral' woke the Skipper in the early hours as we
were surrounded by thunderstorms - one in front, one behind and one to the side.
The radar didn't make great viewing but as there was lightening all around us it
didn't take a radar to reveal that we were stuck in the middle of a
lot of horrible stuff. Unbelievably Phil had been in
dreamland and not noticed the situation. With the Genoa rolled away and a
double reefed main up we were sailing at 6-7 knots so we heaved-to, virtually
stopping the boat to let the storms pass before getting underway again an hour
or so later.
The following day dawned gloomy. We were surrounded by
squalls, downpours of rain clearly visible at various distances, off loading
tons of water back into the ocean from whence it came. A couple passed over
us. The torrential rain flattened the sea, the cascading water washed
the decks clean (including the Booby guano that was left from our visitor) and
revealed several leaks into the boat that were hitherto unknown
about! As we approached within 12 miles of Livingstone, our clearing in
port for Guatemala, we opted to anchor for the night behind a headland 9
miles away from the entrance to the Rio Dulce. With the breeze at 10 knots
off the beach we settled down for an early night ready to hit the ground the
next morning to motor over to Livingstone to clear in to our 14th country
since 2008 and our 4th in 6 months, but it was to be a dark and stormy night to
remember!
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