Eddie

autobiogaphy
2017-11-14 23:09:46 (UTC)

Magellan

Over the years of my so called adult life I've had boats. On one vacation I encountered a family who were cruising to ports undetermined on a sailboat. Having a little sailing experience the idea of using wind to travel long distances on a boat big enough to live on board was intriguing. When I returned home from that trip I talked to a friend, Craig Hansen that had a 30 foot sloop and he took me out for a day in the bay. I was hooked big time.

I took some lessons and bought a 26 foot sloop and sailed in San Francisco Bay for a few years. All the while it was my intent to trade up to something big enough to cross the ocean for retirement. I imagined it would be a cheap way to live. Such is not the case.

After a few years of exploring the bay and delta region I felt confident enough in my skills and knowledge to take on something bigger, but wanted to keep earning the money to execute the plan. The company I was working for at the time had a setback and I was laid off. At that time I had housemates and didn't feel that I could make any drastic changes so I tried to get another job. This went on for a couple of months and I mentioned to the housemates that if it weren't for us living together I'd sell the house, buy a boat and take off. To my surprise they said DO IT, so I did.

This process took nearly two years. Tom and Donna bought a larger house just down the street from mine, I bought an Islander Freeport 41 foot ketch named Magellan, and the adventure began. It needed a lot of repair and outfitting to make it cruise worthy. All of that cost money. It was a hole in the water that had an insatiable appetite for hundred dollar bills. It was a fiberglass hull that had blisters on the hull below the water line. That alone cost $10k to fix and the list goes on and on.

The most important concern on a boat after keeping water on the outside is safety. The two primary safety devices are a personal flotation device for everyone on board and skilled crew. A man named Jerry Nelson contacted me about my ad for crew. He was experienced and an able seaman. I had no idea at the time just how much I needed him. To my surprise I was susceptible to motion sickness, but Iron Guts Nelson could eat raw meat and bounce on the waves at the same time. This was indispensable on numerous occasions.

Another safety device is communications and marine VHF radio is only capable of transmitting a few miles. The least expensive long distance radio equipment is amateur or HAM radio. This requires a license. It took 6 months to acquire the skills to pass the exams. At the time the general class license exam required the ability to receive morse code at 12 words per minute. My brain just doesn't work well with that thus I had to take the test 4 times over as many months to pass the test. That radio turned out to be the most important device aboard on several occasions.

After many weekend trips with Jerry and other friends the provisions were stowed and we set out from San Francisco Bay and headed south with our friend Bob Foester. The first day was a bright November 5, 1986 morning and the forecast was for 25-30 knot winds and 20 foot seas. This sounded like fun to us but by nightfall the wind increased and continued to do so By midnight is the wind was a solid 50 knots and the waves were increasing. In the middle of the night my motion sickness was in full flower. Bob wasn't handling the motion much better then I was. The inflatable dingy was moving around madly on the tow line and we tried to bring it on board, but without success. By dawn the wind was still howling and the waves had increased to 50 feet.

You just haven't really believed you were going to die very soon until you slide down a 50 foot wave on a 40 foot boat. We turned in to reach the shelter of of Moro Bay and the last toe line broke to leave us watching the dingy float away. That was the last I saw of it. Months later another boater found it half way to Hawaii. We stayed in Moro Bay for 3 days waiting for the wind to die down.

With a better forecast we set out for San Diego. The first night was a bit rough but now I'd found my sea legs and we turned to take the route inside of the Channel Islands which made it quite enjoyable and made it to San Diego Bay with no more problems. Bob flew home from there and Jerry and I did some more provisioning and small repairs. The Mexican Consulate was extremely pleasant and helpful with permits and visas.

We set sail for Cabo San Lucas on the evening tide and maneuvered to avoid the path of an aircraft carrier. As the darkness of night came so did my sea sickness. (Dam, thought I was over that) Iron Guts Nelson again proved himself indispensable to man the helm as we turn toward Ensenada. By the time the port was in sight my sea legs were reinstated and the wind abated, thus we headed south without delay. The next land mark was the island of Cedros where we set anchor and had 12 hours of uninterrupted sleep and a good meal. This was the half way point to Cabo. Along the way to Magdelana Bay. There we encountered two boats from Canada and Seattle on their way to Cabo. We set the anchor again and had a chat with these folks. It was the only time I'd set foot on land in that 1,000 mile trip. All three boats left on the dawn and there were a pod of dolphins ridding on the bow wake which was very exciting but imposable to photograph. The wind picked up that night coming from the east. We were only a few miles off shore which made for only small swells and we made great speed with reduced sails. By dawn the other boats were barely visible behind us as we approached Cabo San Lucas.

Mexico had only designated the two states on the Baja peninsula a couple of years before that and the benefits thereof were scant. Only the main street was paved and many of the merchants had no electricity or roofs. Tom and Donna had flown in and were on the Quay (harbor wall) to meet us. They had rented a car and we all went to San Jose Del Cabo, a much larger city 20 miles away for a fine meal. A few days later I had an attack of Montezuma revenge at an most inopportune time. The wind shifted from the south and was blowing us into the sea wall. When we'd set anchor the chain had piled up but the anchor was not secure. The water was too murky to see this and I had to dive on it to find the problem. We quickly fixed the hook securely and I went back to bed.

The town of Cabo San Lucas was at the time quant. The Broken Surfboard was a great place for breakfast and it had the attraction of having a working toilet. For a faster pace evening out The Giggling Marlin was lively and there was a brick charcoal fired bakery that made great bread. It was a good idea to get at least 2 loafs as one of them would not make it back to the boat uneaten by yourself and passers by.

The time came to go to La Paz for Jerry to fly home. One little problem, the transmission didn't work. There was very little in the way of repair facilities in Cabo but a mechanic did open it and found it need a clutch that he didn't have the equipment or parts to repair. I took the failed component and boarded a bus to San Diego. For $20 and 24 hours ridding I got back to the US. Along the way we stopped somewhere (I've no idea where) for breakfast. The building has cracks in the wall big enough to walk through, but the ham and eggs I got were the best ever. The boat yard there was understanding enough to fix it and I headed back to Tijuana and the bus back to Cabo.

After reassembling and installing the transmission I'd had enough of being tied to the wall and anchored off shore with several other cruising boats. One night we had a party on the beach and after a rousing evening of drinking and singing I pushed the dingy into the surf and headed for the boat. Opps! I'd forgotten to put the anchor light on before leaving for the party. There was no moon and I couldn't see more then a few feet. Spending about an hour of circling the area I literally bumped into another boat that I recognized and from there was able to plot a course to Magellan. Let that be a lesson to me.

About then I meet a couple on the beach that wanted to go to Puerto Vallarta and we set sail. it's 300 miles of nothing but water in between but the winds were very calm and we motored the entire 3 days and nights of that voyage. After a few day we'd had our fill of PV and set out for Manainallo. Somewhere along the way we pulled into a small bay for an days rest, where I got flipped out of the dingy in the surf losing my glasses and swamping the outboard motor. I rowed back to the boat and went to bed. The next morning the dingy was nowhere to be seen. We motored out and spotted a fishing boat with our dingy on it's deck. I gave them some money as a finder fee and we continued on. At Manzinallo we docked at Las Hadas where some of the movie "10" was filmed some years before. Bo Derrik was not in attendance. (DANG)

The harbor across the bay from Las Hadas had a film of oil from which an odor which permeated the air within 300 yards of the water. The town itself is best described as quaint. Most of the building were crudely made of mortar and rock. The construction industry in Mexico didn't appear to need much in the way of building standards. Even a small earthquake would flatten most buildings almost nation wide. We gripe about building inspectors here, but the standards there would be uninsureable in the US. My crew departed for a bus to return to Puerto Vallarta and the ferry to retrieve their van in Cabo, thus I headed north single handed.

The the first stop was Baja Navidad where I spent several days among other boaters fishing and dining at the local outdoor restaurants. At a local farmers market an elderly American lady timidly asked me where I got the fanny pack I was wearing. When I said "Oh, I picked it up at K-Mart" she was shocked that I was another American. I had a great tan and she mistook me for a Mexican. I was very flattered.

The next stop was an out of the way spot with little in the way of the trappings of civilization. That night I felt ill in the gut and had to sleep through the next day and night. I motored across the bay to get provisions at the village and prepared to depart. After the transmission experience in Cabo I always tested it before weighing anchor. Good thing I did on this occasion as the cursed beast failed again. Fortunately there was a good wind so I could set sail. There were no repair facility anywhere near there.

After three days and two nights sailing up wind I arrived in Banderas Bay. I had lashed the dingy to the side of Magellan with it's outboard motor for propulsion when there was no wind and I had very little gasoline left having left without filling both Jerry cans. Let that be another lesson for me. I called for help on the VHF radio and another boater came to the rescue with gas and crew to help me get securely onto a dock.

With one of the other cruising boaters there we rented a car and left the transmission with a mechanic as we explored Puerto Vallarta and the surrounding country side. This a very scenic part of Mexico and we enjoyed it. The restaurants are wonderful and the people are very friendly. A few days later the mechanic returned the repaired transmission which I was getting very good at removing and reinstalling. A few days later I set sail for Cabo San Lucas with 300 miles of open water ahead and no crew. As I left the bay I caught two nice size mackerel the only two fish I got this entire trip. Right tasty though.

The first night out there was a fair wind so I foolishly left all the sails up and laid down in the cockpit to sleep. I woke up in the middle of the night with a good 30 knot wind blowing and strong sea. The waves were washing over the side and across the deck. I grabbed the wheel and had to fight to keep control of everything. I could see the running light of the ferry coming toward me and struggled to maintain a course that would keep out of their way. After a couple of hours the wind died down enough for me to leave the wheel locked and I reefed the sails which made the situation much more manageable so I laid back down and went back to sleep. The next morning I spotted a pod of dolphin, at least a thousand of them which was most impressive.

The third night of this leg the wind was completely calm and the sea was as flat as glass. I had no autopilot so I had to man the wheel constantly. Around 2:00 AM I was exhausted so I locked the wheel into a slow turn, set the alarm on the radar and got maybe 2 hours sleep. The next morning I could see the hills above Puerto Vallarta and by noon I was anchored outside of the harbor. I tied up the sails and went below for a long nap. The next day I checked in with immigration and harbor authority got some bread at that great little bakery and moved the boat into the harbor.

After a couple of weeks doing minor repairs I took on a crewman who was young and wanted the adventure of sailing back to San Francisco. The current and wind are exactly in the wrong direction when heading north. We set out against a strong wind and moderate sea. The first 24 hours yielded only 2 miles using sails alone with 1300 miles to go I started the engine and tacked against the wind which made forward progress slow but progress none the less.

We put in at Magdelana Bay and joined some other cruisers at anchor. On the second night we heard and felt a big bump on hull. It was the Mexican Navy to inspect the boat for drugs. They shuttled us to their destroyer where the captain looked at our paperwork and interviewed us. All of this was polite and courteous as were most of the dealings with government officials. Only one exception to this with a newly appointed port captain that wanted to assert his authority. The next day we took off for Cedros Island. During our laying out strong wind another boat went up to the north end of the island and encountered a Mexican fishing boat that had breached it's hull and had grounded on the beach. I got on the HAM radio and relayed the emergency. Within minutes the US Coast Guard and Navy had been advised. The other boat took some of the fishing boat's crew on board and we all went back to the town at the southern end of the Island. With local assistance the beached crew was ferried to town and we were all relieved that there were no injuries.

A few days later we headed north again but during the night the forstay of Magellan snapped at the turnbuckle. Being a cutter rig the baby stay kept the mast from falling. We put into a small cove and effected a repair. I was pretty scared when all this happened, but we made it without further problems to San Diego. At last we had ATMs and coin laundry. These simple luxuries aren't appreciated until you don't have them for a few months.

With a full tank of fuel we set out in better weather and chatted with the aircraft carrier Tripoli in the leeward side of the Channel Islands. As we rounded the point at Santa Barbara the wind and sea increased and Moro Bay seemed like a good idea to lay up. The approach there is a breakwater known for high breaking waves and at this moment the power of the Pacific Ocean was more apparent then any other time of this entire voyage. The swell picked us up and moved us sideways threatening to dash us on the rocks. Between swells I steered back to the seaward side of the channel. After a few cycles of this we were sheltered by the breakwater and made fast on a buoy.

With a few solid nights sleep and fresh coffee we continued on to Santa Cruz. At This point my crew guy got off and headed home by bus. He wasn't the best crew in the world but far better then none at all. Setting out again for the last leg in the evening I was tired and hungry and decided to put in to Ano Nuevo. The southern approach has a sand bar offshore. As I got near to it a wave broke in front of me and all I could see was a wall of white foam as high as the 50 foot mast. I turned back out to sea where I would be hungry and cold, but safe.

The next morning I was in the San Francisco Bay, home at last. By that afternoon I was at Pete's Harbor in Redwood City. Tom and Donna picked my up and took me home for a dinner of JC's ribs and loaded their washing machine with my laundry. I'd only gotten a couple of hours sleep the night before so I collapsed on their couch dead asleep. Someone finished my wash by the time I woke up. If that's not love what is?

This was the adventure of adventures for me. My wife says it was my midlife crisis and perhaps it was, but I'll cherish the memories of it forever. It was what prompted a very happy marriage and a confidence in myself to be able to effectively deal with challenges that could not be encountered in a safe and sterile environment. It also was to my financial ruin which in itself was a challenge to overcome. Without great challenges and overcoming them there isn't great accomplishment. As one poet put it: Take me down to the sea the lovely sea, Give me a tall ship and a star to steer her by.




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