The Captain has done a huge amount of sailing and we are getting closer to Muertos and finishing up our crossing. We would be there by dark and I tried hard to do my part, but it only works, when the wind is not changing much. I never do the sails by myself and he also tries to have me help, especially taking the main down. I am still confused how to read the wind for example and feel I should know so much more after the past months.
On the other hand, it was good, that I created a different interest within the sailing, writing into my journal, taking photos and filming and combining all of that into the blog. It will be a nice memory for all of us and was especially great for family and friends interested in following our adventure. It kept me sane. There were just so many impressions, all the time, every day, that it will take a long time to process all of it. This way, there were always times in between to process at least some of it.
Shortly after the Mahi Mahi experience, a school of dolphins were chasing through the water. Our bodies were tired, but the fishing excitement and sea life around us, was refreshing.
Your senses come to a weird stage and you start seeing things, which turn out to be just water movements.
When we were close to Muertos and a beautiful sunset was ahead of us, it all off a sudden got hectic on the boat. I could not quite grasp what was going on, the moment was magical and we had almost finished our crossing. I was in a happy place taking photos. I still don’t know, if that was the problem, or if it was the lack of sleep, sailing conditions or expectations not met.
The Captain lost his cool and we had a fight. We later had a conversation that there were just more things to be prepared this time and the Captain did not want to throttle back to make it before dark.
It was still a real bummer to have such an ending.
He anchored by himself, I just stood by in case he changed his mind and wanted my help. The anchorage was crowded for the first time with approx. 12 boats. He threw the anchor and Captain, Mats and Noah took the dinghy to shore. I needed some time to myself and went to bed and was in my thoughts before exhaustion took over and I drifted into sleep. The guys came back a couple hours later and went to bed too.
At 1:45am we woke up from howling wind. The Captain looked outside, then turned the light on and said with serious tone: “Emergency”! I jumped out of bed and ran up. I saw the boat next to us WAY TOO CLOSE! I tried to figure out in a moment of shock, if he was dragging, or us, or what was happening?
Nothing changed fast, so we could collect our thoughts and just watch the surrounding. We put on more clothes, the wind was freezing cold, blowing sideways through the anchorage, Northwest, towards the rocks next to us. We were in between a mooring ball and an anchored boat, which was Isabella, who later became our good friends! Still sorry guys, totally our fault for anchoring so close.
We had been in Muertos many times before and had never experienced such a wind. I believe the Captain even checked the weather while ashore, but that wasn’t in the forecast. We also just came from the mainland, where the wind is way more predictable and usually calm at night. That just as side note. There were gusts now over 30mph!
We stood by the anchor and ran through different scenarios and solutions; the key was ready in the ignition switch. We watched all boats around us and lots of owners checked out their equipment and surrounding like us. Due to the heavy winds, the chain of each boat had fully expanded, so boats who were further away by the time we anchored, were now suddenly closer. We were not able to just let out more chain, as there was this mooring ball we could have dragged onto. The Captain looked at Isabella and told me, that is a great boat, they will have a huge anchor, we don’t need to worry about them. So, we stood there for about 2 hours and since nothing changed, the Captain send me back to bed. I was so cold, that I just laid there a bit nervous, listening to the howling wind, trying to warm up. The little man was next to me sound asleep, good not to have worries and full trust in your parents. J
The Captain stayed in the cockpit in a sleeping bag and by sunrise, the wind finally mellowed down a little. Most boats, also Isabella, left the anchorage.
When we became friends to Shane and Julie from Arizona later, we talked about our crazy anchor experience and their mouths popped open in disbelieve and they were like “Wow, it was you being so close to us?”
Ayayayayay! We learned a lesson!
That night was not what we hoped for, after the crossing. We were very tired, when Mats woke up in the morning.
To Sail or Not To Be 