Our passage from Mazatlan to Los Muertos was fine. We got out of the slip okay with the surge coming into the El CID Marina, past the dredge then went over the breaking wave at the mouth of the jetty with a few more rollers and we were on our way. We found out they closed the entrance later in the day so good thing we got going early. The seas were nice and wind predicted to be South, then Southwest but was pretty much on our nose West the whole way. We were pinching hard.
Then in the afternoon it picked up to 12 knots true so that gave us about 17 knots apparent. The seas were off the Port and we were not bashing directly into them. They did pick up for several hours with the wind to make it bumpy, lumpy and the wind clocked around to be more on our nose. We started out at 6-6.5 knots and were doing 5.5 knots during the afternoon blow. About midnight the seas calmed down to be nice and smooth. By morning we were on the Sea of Cortez side and the seas were completely flat. We were back to over 6 knots after midnight. The weather apps we mostly use are PredictWind and Windy apps. We left at 7 am and were scheduled to arrive at 4 pm the next day - about 38 hours. If we did 6 knots we could have shaved off about 5 hours. We ended up shaving off 2 hours. We arrived at 2:30 pm the next day. It was really quite a nice passage.
Our big problem was our Garmin autopilot would not come on. We eventually got it to come on about noon after working on it all morning, but it still would not communicate with the autopilot brain which made it useless. We had to hand steer the entire passage! We thought about turning back but decided to tough it out which is what we did.
There were some other boats on the same passage (s/v Dune-an Irwin, s/v Cool Change-a Gemini catamaran, s/v Princess Erika-a Formosa ketch) and we kept in VHF contact with them which was fun. Also, a surprising amount of ship traffic and of course the Baja Ferry. The ship traffic was easy to monitor using our AIS Vesper Marine XB 8000 app WatchMate as it instantly showed the potential collision paths of our boat and the ship. For the rest we used our radar.
We had a half-moon rise and fall making it pitch black, but for the stars, around 2am. There were quite a few sea turtles the whole way, some with bird riders. After the sun came up for a while, we picked up a couple of hitchhikers - a dove and a gull. They shared the bow pulpit and foredeck yet they made quite a mess! Between the seas, wind and wildlife, we appreciated the nature that surrounded us!
Debbie did all the hard troubleshooting work in the lazarette. Turns out it was a loose backbone connection (not found in Friday's field work while underway). We installed this Garmin under deck autopilot at least 14 years ago and we could've done a better labeling job. Anyway we got all the components talking to each other and life is a dream. We also did some labeling!
We did have some wind in Muertos last night but not a big deal. We anchored without our Magma-flopper-stopper (Magma Rock 'N Roll Boat Stabilizer) and it was not an issue here on the SoC side. Will go for it again tonight. Nice and flat.
Next day up the Cerralvo Channel
Today's passage was a 9 hour passage from Los Muertos to Playa Pichilingue. First we went up the Cerralvo Channel and then over on the San Lorenzo Channel to the Playa Pichilingue anchorage. At the end, by the anchorage we were getting 20-22 knots of apparent wind but the sea was not that bad. Nothing like we found the Pacific to be. The conditions were quite nice most of the way. We did a lot of weather research, as usual, for this passage. We had thought we fixed our Garmin autopilot, but it refused to work right out the gate so hand-steer it was. More to be revealed, once we get settled, on fixing this...
Our big problem was our Garmin autopilot would not come on. We eventually got it to come on about noon after working on it all morning, but it still would not communicate with the autopilot brain which made it useless. We had to hand steer the entire passage! We thought about turning back but decided to tough it out which is what we did.
We had a half-moon rise and fall making it pitch black, but for the stars, around 2am. There were quite a few sea turtles the whole way, some with bird riders. After the sun came up for a while, we picked up a couple of hitchhikers - a dove and a gull. They shared the bow pulpit and foredeck yet they made quite a mess! Between the seas, wind and wildlife, we appreciated the nature that surrounded us!
s/v Elegant'sea ⛵ Chip & Debbie 💑 anchored ⚓ in Ensenada De Los Muertos (Cove of the Dead) ⚰ ☠ BCS (Baja), Mexico
While sitting here at anchor in Los Muertos we fixed our autopilot! It took a few more hours of troubleshooting but it is now working. We have a 10 hour passage coming up tomorrow so this is really great.
All the stuff that was in the lazarette.
We did have some wind in Muertos last night but not a big deal. We anchored without our Magma-flopper-stopper (Magma Rock 'N Roll Boat Stabilizer) and it was not an issue here on the SoC side. Will go for it again tonight. Nice and flat.
Next day up the Cerralvo Channel
Today's passage was a 9 hour passage from Los Muertos to Playa Pichilingue. First we went up the Cerralvo Channel and then over on the San Lorenzo Channel to the Playa Pichilingue anchorage. At the end, by the anchorage we were getting 20-22 knots of apparent wind but the sea was not that bad. Nothing like we found the Pacific to be. The conditions were quite nice most of the way. We did a lot of weather research, as usual, for this passage. We had thought we fixed our Garmin autopilot, but it refused to work right out the gate so hand-steer it was. More to be revealed, once we get settled, on fixing this...
It is essential for pilots and operators to stay updated on any service bulletins, advisories, or software updates provided by the avionics manufacturer. If there are persistent issues or concerns, reaching out to the manufacturer's customer support or consulting with aviation authorities may be necessary.
ReplyDeleteSo next just check your all electronic products before the departure.