Greetings from Murre in Mexico -- MOA

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Date Posted: - Thursday - 12/30/10 - 4:03pm
Author: Randall via Gitano Vela (Bruce)
Subject: Greetings from Murre in Mexico

Hola Travelers and Dreamers,
This is SV Gitano Vela checking in to report on the progress of Murre, and her skipper, Randall. Murre is currently located in Puerto de San Carlos, Baja de Mexico: http://www.spotadventures.com/user/profile/?user_id=64778
Randall sends the following message:
"Hey Bruce,

Hope all's well with you. Have been meaning to reach out for some time, but managing Murre down coast has been much more of a full time job that I would have thought. Haven't had internet access since San Diego, but have finally hooked up the SSB and have got email going since about Ensenada.

Current location, Bahia Santa Maria:
N24.46.622
W112.15.504

Am 15 miles above Mag Bay. The sailing directions liken Mag Bay in size to that of San Francisco, and in that vane, I liken Maria to Drakes Bay, a large crescent with mountains on one side, a sweeping beach. But the similarities are not endless. The mountains here are desert mountains-- high, sheer, scrabble rock with severely limited vegetation, much of which is, to the casual eye, long dried and dead--that feed to a white beach and turquoise waters. Across the estuary and through the maze of shore birds, a mangrove swamp. Up the beach, six lavender painted shacks where the local pangueros (men who fish from pangas) live. Stunningly beautiful but weird country.

The last two weeks have been more in the line of adventure than the California coastal experiences.

Out of San Diego, I anchored off the Coranados and thought I was going to be rammed or boarded or both by a Mexican Navy "PT" boat (didn't know it was Navy at the time--just thought it looked mean).

After Ensenada, spent three nights at Hassler's Cove off tiny Isla San Martin. Stop here when you head south. The island is a cinder cone, a jumble of crushed lava tubes, almost impassable, but covered in "chaparal" plant life entirely unseen up north. I didn't recognize anything. The local pangueros wanted to trade lobster for sodas or cigarettes. All I had was beer, which they accepted begrudgingly (am getting that Mexicans don't care for California beer). The other yacht in the cove, Gypsy Moon, a 34ft Pearson, drug twice in the two days of 30 plus knot winds from the south. Murre stayed put.

We weighed the same morning, Murre an hour or so ahead, when around 12 o'clock, Gypsy Moon issued a mayday. A foot of water over the cabin sole. I steamed full bore the five miles back to their location and hove to for three hours while they pumped and assessed the problem. Faulty check valve on the primary bilge pump and no siphon break (same rig on Murre--there but for the grace of god go I). The anchor dragging, the leak, and the fact that there was no one out there to answer their call but me has unnerved Marcus and Cyndi. Will be surprised if they continue past Turtle Bay.

Two full days sailing to Turtle bay for Murre. No sleep for Randall on that bit. Then two full days of sailing and motoring to current location during which I experimented with 30 minute sleep periods at night. I can have as many 30 minute sleep periods as I like, but after each, I must do a turn on deck. So far so good, but nights are still very long (almost 14 hours of dark) and cold. Even this far south I have on two fleeces, longjohns, and two pare of socks. Can't keep warm on deck--don't move enough.

Big seas on both runs. Last night we took two sloshers on board, one washed up and over the cabin. I had both companionway hatch boards in place but the hatch itself was open and the incoming spray and water soaked the galley. Was lucky not to fry the electric switch panel. Some of the waves are so steep one wonders how the boat will rise to the task, but she makes it look dead simple--usually. Sometimes she makes it look like a miracle.

The sailing in big seas and big wind has been exhilarating, but the motoring, which was required for 2/3rds of California and over 1/3 of Mexico so far is shoot-yourself-in-the-head boring. The Perkins has been flawless however.

Hey, can you help me understand how other single-handers manage sleep on passage? Can't believe I didn't research this better. For example, how did your friend who just singled to Hawaii manage sleep. I've heard of 15 minute intervals, but that seems insane.

My rationale for 30 minutes is largely driven by the fact that I have working AIS and have seen a grand total of six ships since leaving SF, three of those in the last two nights. There's just nothing out here, and one learns quickly that where collision avoidance is concerned, one can only worry about lighted things, ships and boats. I have no hope of seeing anything else--a log, a container, a whale--it's just too dark even under a moon.

Thanks in advance. Hope you're surviving the intense rain.

RR

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Replies:

[> Thanks for posting this, Bruce -- Paul M31 #106 NJ, - Friday - 12/31/10 - 7:56pm

I have been following Randall's progress with great interest.

I understand completely what he says when referring to the inability to spot anything that is unlit. On one of my night travels through the well traveled Delaware Bay, I was completely discouraged by my encountering multiple unlit buoys, just outside of the main shipping channel!! The chart referenced "research buoys" but did not indicate they weren't lit. Sheesh.

I learned to flash the area in front of the boat every 15 minutes or so - thank goodness the research buoys lit up like a Christmas three in the spotlight and were visible even a mile or so ahead.

Now, for those railroad ties and floating containers....

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[> Murre Update -- Gitano, - Tuesday - 01/ 4/11 - 2:47pm

An update from Murre and Randall Reeves.
"happy new year, bruce.

am about 20 miles NW of cabo and about 10 miles offshore. even though the forecast called for no wind at all this leg from bahia magdelena, a prospect that made me sweat bullets because i had JUST enough fuel for the 160 miles, between the morning north wind and afternoon north westerlies, we've sailed about half.

the passing cruise ship, norwegian star, which i saw on ais at 11 miles reports i was a radar contact at 8 miles, good. a car carrier last leg said i wasn't coming up on radar at all, so i've been worried. i only have the small gobi reflector at the top of the mizzen.

and best of all, last night was the first night i went without longjohns and a double sweater.

on the subject of ships, got a bit of a scare overnight. my port nav light failed (again), and i turned on the anchor light so as to be seen by anything approaching that way--not regulation, but who cares. didn't expect anything from port as I thought we were too far in toward the coast. all but one previous passing ship has been well offshore of me. the anchor light is LED and severely impedes the vhf antenna effectiveness and thus the effectiveness of AIS. trade off's. then came on deck around 8pm to find a cruise ship on collision course and close enough i could make out his red/green bow lights. (not real close--several miles--but closer than any before.) i had been napping previously and had come on deck before my 30 minute alarm expired, just out of chance. grabbed the alarm to see where the ship would be when it did go off, and i would have had plenty of maneuvering room, but if i'd waited the extra ten minutes, i'd of had a heart attack once i came on deck. then, of course, i couldn't get the autopilot to disengage as we went screaming at the ship when it was half a mile off. so i got to have my heart attack anyway. went to 25 minute sleep intervals after that.

full sun now, though only 60 in the cabin.

hoping to be at anchor by sun down.

hope all's well.

RR"

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[> [> Sleep -- Doug Wilson, - Friday - 01/ 7/11 - 3:57pm

Holas Randall,
I arrived in Barra de Navidad this morning after my 32 day trip from La Paz to the Rivillagigedos and then here to Barra. About 800 miles.
I keep a kitchen timer, set it for 30 minutes, wake up, check things out, back to nap. You get used to it, I did the same on the way down from the US.
I recall you asking about fuel some time back, you do burn more down here in Mexico, but for this run the wind was in my favor, I only burned about 40 gallons.
Here for two weeks, then moving north to La Cruz de Huanacaxtle.

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[> [> [> Congrats on making southing -- Randall, Murre, M31, - Sunday - 01/16/11 - 9:50pm

Doug,

Congrats on your south passage.

Sorry I'll miss you... Am departing San Jose del Cabo tomorrow for Frailes and probably La Paz. Not sure I have time to go south, though did really want to see the Tres Marias Islands.

Take Care,

RR

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[> Tres Marias -- Doug Wilson, - Monday - 01/17/11 - 12:21pm

Tres Marias are off limits, was a prison for many years, I think you still have to stay 20 miles off.
Get fuel when you can, none here in Barra this morning.

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[> 15 min. sleep intervals -- Sean (Keeping a proper watch.), - Monday - 02/14/11 - 12:43am

Randall,

Congratulations on your trip! I feel you are taking a huge risk with the 30 min. naps though. At the speeds that shipping travels a ship can go from over the horizon to over you in about 15 min. I know you have AIS but what about a radar with a proximity alarm? Lots of smaller fishing boats won't have an AIS transmitter and may be poorly lit or traveling unpredictably. You say you have only seen six ships but there have probably been many more you didn't notice. Coastal cruising requires a more diligent watch to be kept to be done safely. My friend Jonas aboard the Alberg 35 Pelican recently completed a singlehanded circumnavigation and he set an egg timer at 15 min. intervals ALL the way around the world day or night. He said it is tiring but you eventually adjust to it. Keep an eye out for Pelican as he is enroute from Cocos to the Sea of Cortez right now.

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[> [> Keeping a "Proper Watch" -- James (m-31" Pyxis"), - Monday - 02/14/11 - 11:17pm

In November 2009 I sailed down to the Sea of Cortez from San Francisco. On the Baja coast I sailed out to Guadalupe Island from Ensanada and then back in to Turtle Bay. This put me well off shore most of the first leg. I made long offshore tacks out and back on the last two legs. As a general rule I used egg timers set at 15 minutes when 40 miles or less from shore. When I was further off I took more extended naps. The AIS I have was giving me targets at up to 40 mile out for large vessels and closer for smaller ones.
What I learned is that there is no magic number for how much time at once a Single Hander can safely sleep. In shipping lanes or near a Cape a ship could be on you in less than 15 minutes but further off shore this is less likely. As for the 15 on 15 off regiment. I don't think many people would do this on long offshore passages. I would question the quality of the watch if they are just taking a look around in a daze then jumping back into there bunk every 15 minutes. I can't imagine 21 days of waking up every 15 minutes and I am no stranger to extreme sleep deprivation. Most of the of the single handers I know sleep for hours at a time when off shore. There is more to this than just the closing speed of shipping. Being fatigued from not sleeping enough can be more dangerous than the calculated risk of sleeping an extra 30 minutes now and then. Some times not sleeping for 24 hours or more is called for other times the smart thing to do is get some rest before you hurt your self. The trick is to know what to do when. In the end you weigh the demon of constant fatigue against the slim chance of a collision. Sailing single handed can be dangerous , you may as well be well rested.

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[> [> The Other Extreme -- Randall, Murre, M31, - Tuesday - 02/22/11 - 10:01pm

I haven't had to ponder this question much since posting it a few months ago because I've been island hopping between Puerto Escondido and La Paz. Simply amazing country here, like sailing in the Grand Canyon. I've been getting plenty of sleep at anchor except when (last night; three nights ago; twice the week before last) the forecasted NWesterly or forecasted calm turns out around midnight to be southernly right up you ass and the anchorage turns into a rodeo. But I digress...

Along the way I met a guy who, a few years back, single handed from Mexico to his home in British Columbia via Hawaii in a Cal 29. He had the same question we've been discussing here, and he reasoned that the likeley hood the dotted line on the chart representing his boat would meet head on with a the dotted line representing a ship was miniscule. The Pacific is, after all, vast. It could hold the continential US sixteen times over. Even thousands of ships take up a tiny space...

So he stood no watches. Instead he stayed below. He slept when and as much as he wanted. He watched movies and listened to music. He rarely went on deck unless needed.

Now, this man is no fool. He was forced to repair his autopilot underway. When that failed, he rigged sheets to wheel (!) for self steering. He survivied three gales in the north of greater than 40 knots. When his rigging began to give out--the wire was popping out of its swages--he successfully jury rigged repair. He did the entire Mexico to BC run almost non stop (only stayed two days in Hawaii).

I can see his point. When I crewed on a yacht from Hawaii to BC in 2005, we didn't see anything, not a ship, not a bird, not a plane, not a log, not a bottle with a message, until we hit the great circle route at the latitude of Seattle; i.e. almost 2000 miles of nada.

I'm not advocating this approach, but it is interesting to ponder, and was the norm until a scant forty years ago.

(He made it just fine, by the way.)

RR

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[> [> [> I feel sleepy -- James (m-31" Pyxis"), - Tuesday - 02/22/11 - 11:37pm

Randall

When are you leaving Baja? I will be back to Escondido by April 1

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[> [> [> [> sleep -- sam, - Friday - 03/ 4/11 - 3:03pm

Virginia and I spend six happy years simply 'gunk-holing' with a cadre of fellow cruisers. We logged about 25,0 miles just mingling with the locals while par-toking of their hospitality. Years later replicated this trip in a VW 'pop-top'. With out question, the Malolo was a much more rewarding trip....Don't hurry back...You're at the starting line of where the fun begins.....S & V

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[> my departure -- Randall, Murre, M31, - Wednesday - 02/23/11 - 12:19am

still a little undecided, but i'd like to be on the way to hawaii by mid april at the latest. just got back to la paz tonight (family visiting next week; thus the rush). will stay in the general area sailing around locally and working on the boat (shocker) until then.

any chance you'll pass through la paz on your way ... um ... north?

really like your hard dodger. you should post some pics to the mariner site.

RR

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[> Sorry to hear that our paths won't cross down here -- Jared Kibele, - Thursday - 02/24/11 - 12:11am

Hi Randall,

I'm bummed to hear that we won't get to see you down here in Mexico. It sounds like you won't be making it to the mainland before you leave and we're not planning to hit baja before we head out to the marquesas. Well, at least we got to see you briefly in Santa Barbara. I hope you have a great trip.

Jared and Christine,
M31 #9 Architeuthis
www.svarchiteuthis.com

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[> [> Likewise -- Randall, - Wednesday - 03/ 2/11 - 10:47am

As they say here, "egualmente!"

Great to finally meet you two up north, and I wish you the best of passages.

RR

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