Friday 19 April 2013
This morning the storm was still going strong but showing signs of coming to an end. Early Friday morning, a 42 foot sailboat just behind us broke loose at about 3:00 am and ended up on the rocks near the dock. With lots of help after their Pan Pan Alarm went out, people responded and they managed to get it off the rocks and broadside onto the fuel dock for the rest of the night. She has some nasty scrapes and marks on her starboard side but did not get more seriously damaged. Currently, she is back on the same mooring just behind us. Apparently, their single line leading through the loop on the mooring line and back to their bow cleats got chafed through by the mooring loop. Our sailing buddies on their 42 Brewer Pilothouse next to us have two separate lines through their mooring loop. I had the mooring loop directly onto the port bow cleat with a secondary line tied onto a second loop in the mooring line for additional safety. Of course, this is never a guarantee that something else will break.
Our wind instruments recorded consistent winds in the high 20’s to low 30’s with the highest gust being in the low 40’s but lots of gusts hitting the 30’s. We have certainly been buffeted strongly in this storm with the boat gyrating as the wind gusts hit us. Offshore, at anchorages in the Islands, boats have been reporting steady winds in the mid 30 to high 40’s with gusts into the mid 50’s. One also reported losing their Bimini to the wind. Boats have been dragging in many of the anchorages but none have been lost. Lots of fun and games, this had certainly been a very nasty, long Northerner for so late in the season.
The wind did drop in the late afternoon, so we went ashore to the Porto Bello Restaurant for more food and drinks and to celebrate Anita’s birthday. It was finally quiet overnight.
Allowing for the sea to settle for a couple of days, we might get more settled weather by Sunday or Monday to make a crossing to San Carlos. Everyone is complaining about the weather in the Baja this year. Apparently, the winter was really bad and the spring weather has been inconsistent, as we have discovered.