Homeward bound

Leaving Puerto Escondido

October 27, 2012
We took a leisurely morning, getting up after the 8:00 cruisers net was over. I spent the morning securing items in the galley and salon; we knew there might be some swell action after the norther blew through and didn't want a repeat of our arrival in Escondido. Larry took the dinghy into port to secure some ice for the trip, pay our mooring fees and use the internet one last time to change our SPOT message. We hoped to time our trip to arrive back in La Paz around mid-day so waited to leave until 2:00ish.

A little wind and sails up help

We motored out past the ellipse anchorage and the "waiting room" and headed for the southern tip of Danzante. At first we encountered 2-3 foot swells, but as the afternoon wore on the swells became larger and more uncomfortable. We rocked from side to side and wallowed about. We had to hold on tightly when moving about the boat, heck, even sitting at the helm. For awhile I felt that old fear coming back, that sensation of being a helpless toothpick in a giant washing machine, but after a couple of hours the sensation became the "new normal" and I began to relax. Sadly there was not a breath of wind. With some wind we could raise the jib which balances the boat and makes the ride much smoother. So hour after hour we rolled about, making headway but wishing the swells would diminish. After a few more hours the wind picked up; by making a small change in direction and raising both the jib and a reefed mainsail we improved our ride.

Warm clothing

Chilly with the setting sun

The temperature began dropping and we went below to add fleece layers to our clothing; it was hard to believe we had been perspiring in the hot sun earlier in the day. We didn't take regular watches, just took turns napping on a pad in the cockpit for an hour or two at a time. Turns out I was fine taking my turn at the helm. The auto pilot was doing its thing and Larry was sleeping just a few feet away. It was very peaceful, not lonely as I had imagined.  Every so often I stepped out of the cockpit and took a look around, partly to keep myself awake and partly to check for whales and such, although it has occurred to me that if a whale leaped out of the water in front of Milagro there would be little I could do to avoid a crash. Mostly I tried to keep alert and not think those thoughts!!

Welcome morning...glorious sunrise

The night went by quickly and as dawn approached I felt a new energy. We lost most of the cloud cover during the

Moon's up

night and the sun rising on the horizon: stunning. Before we knew it we were passing by Cerralvo and Espiritu Santo and through the Lorenzo Channel once again. Then it was onward to La Paz and Marina Palmira. We were unable to raise anyone on our dock on the radio (it was Sunday morning) but did get the Marina to answer so knew we would have at least one person to handle lines as we pulled into our slip. This is always an "iffy" moment for me but our next door neighbors on Rose of Erin saw us coming in and jumped to the dock and grabbed dock lines as my Captain made a perfect turn into the slip.

Ahhh, feels like home.