At long last
it is time for WORKNOT to make the crossing I recently completed aboard
SeaFox. Weather has kept us in La Paz
for almost 3 weeks and finally the forecast is for ever improving seas starting
on Monday Dec. 16th and getting better each day for the rest of the week.
As mentioned
before, weather dominates cruising in small boats and in open ocean conditions
they are all small boats. Trawlers can’t
run from much, we celebrate anytime we overtake something that is moving, and
we can’t speed up to get to a port ahead of a storm. As an example, WORKNOT cruises very
comfortably at 8kts. It’s all related to
hull speed and the inability for a displacement vessel to plane. There is no amount of horsepower that can be
added to a displacement hull to make it rise up on plane and run at speed much
greater than its natural hull speed.
“Crossing an Ocean Under Power” provides lots of detail on this but
simply put the longer the boat the faster but in small increments. A 50 ft displacement boat is about a
knot faster than a 40 ft boat. WORKNOT
is capable of just under 10 kts under full power but at a terrific fuel
penalty, (5 X fuel at 8 kts). Her natural hull speed is about 8 kts. The formula is (1.23 x sq. root of the water
line length).
Back to the
weather, wind is the key to power boat comfort as waves are driven by wind and
impacted by current, duration of the wind, fetch and water depth. Wind dominates this equation. There a lots of weather sources and I’m
learning to use OCEN’s grib file tools via sat phone. The learning curve is steep for me but found
a cruiser who has lots of experience and its beginning to make sense to
me. Here are a couple of samples from
the weather forecasts information downloaded to make the decision to cross from
La Paz to Mazatlan. The colors are based
on the wind speed key on the left, blue is good. Red is a bad day at sea for everyone.
SUNDAY Wind Chart
WEDNESDAY Wind Chart
We
made the decision to leave on Monday, traveling with Salacia, N40. Neil and Dianna were part of the FUBAR Fleet
group and we all agreed it was of great comfort to look out the window and see
another running light at 3 AM. To make
the trip shorter we also decided we would go to Muertos Cove on Monday and
leave for Mazatlan on Tuesday morning unless the weather improvements did not
arrive. If it got bad we would wait it
out on anchor for a better departure window.
The
La Paz cruisers net reported on Monday the price of fuel was going up at the
first of the year. The BAJA peninsula
has enjoyed a 6% reduction is sales tax to encourage tourism and activity. This is being ended by the Mexican govt. at
the end of the year. Mexico is also
reducing the subsidy for fuel, raising the price of diesel a few Pesos each
month. We took on 525 gallons at La Paz
which delayed our departure for Muertos Cove until just afternoon on Monday.
Off
we went at last on a backtrack trip to Muertos Cove. We arrived just at dark after a windy ride
thru San Lorenzo channel and Cerralvo channel.
The weather was not as predicted and we were pleased to have waited to
cross until Tuesday. My wind alarm was
set for 30 kts and it kept alarming and could not figure out how to turn the
alarm off. Reading a software guide in
a pitching boat, looking at an instrument overhead is recipe for sea sickness,
at least for me. Finally got it stopped
and will read the book in calmer conditions.
Anchor down at 6:48PM (23.59 X 109.49 W). 31.9 gallons of fuel burned 55 miles.
Next
morning we got underway with Salacia at 8am sharp. Seas were calm but the wind was still in the
teens and above the forecast. We
pressed on knowing the forecast was for improving conditions the farther east
and longer we went. The trip is planned
at 190 miles and 25 hours. This is
about 45 miles shorter than direct from La Paz and almost 8 hours less making
the trip easier for a 2 person crew.
OFF WATCH
The
trip was very uneventful which is a good thing for ocean crossings. Given all the excitement about “selfies” in
the news tried to get on for myself but it did not turn out too well.
ON WATCH
Life
underway on a crossing takes on a feeling of its own. We take 3 hours turns at the helm, engine
room checks, eat lightly but often and try to rest whenever off watch. The weather was OK but it was lumpy almost
half the way there. We slowed to keep
pace with Salacia saving fuel but adding to the time for the crossing. The cabin starts off nice and neat but at the
end of these trips seems everything we own or at least used during the trip is
out on the counter top or stacked in the pilothouse. Log books, cruise books, multiple binoculars,
(tip of the hat to ESW who gave us a great set), cameras, cell phones, ipads,
dog toys, dishes etc are all where they were used. Always good to make port.
APPROACH TO MAZATLAN
MAZATLAN ENTRANCE LOOKS EASIER ON THE PLOTTER
NEXT ENTRY MAZATLAN CITY
No comments:
Post a Comment