We are finally in the house in Scottsdale! We made our first trip back to the boat yesterday; she has been bombarded by seagulls, but other than that, everything was o.k. We needed to get some things off the boat; clothes, pots and pans, the TV, and other things to make life on land a little more comfortable.
Back to our crossing from Refugio! Whew! That was exciting; about a half an hour out of the anchorage, we set sail, and boom! Fish on! We caught a beautiful Yellowtail; we still have alot of fish, so, it was his lucky day. The sailing was good, but, the predicted southeasterlies were more from the south, and the swell was slightly southwest, making for a rolly start. The wind increased, so we furled the genoa, and put in the first reef on the mainsail. Now the swell was increasing, with large breaking whitecaps; Karin suggested we go for the second reef. I agreed. With lifevest and safety harness on, I went forward to put in the reef. The conditions were getting rough, but, I thought we were doing all the right things. Karin was wondering if we should turn back; that didn't seem like a good option, as we would have to bash against the wind and seas for several hours.
As I completed the reef, and headed aft, I looked at Karin on the wheel, with a six foot wave behind her; and surfing across the wave, was a large shark! I wish I had a picture!
A few minutes, or hours, passed, and the conditions weren't getting any better. As we descended into a trough, we did a small accidental jibe. Unfortunately, it was enough to foul the mainsail on the rigging. We're done! Start the motor, drop the sails,and ride it out, the rest of the way to Rocky Point. Motoring was less stressful, but still uncomfortable. Things were crashing in the cabin, it was difficult to stay on course, and it was getting dark. It was going to be a long night! We had planned our trip to arrive at high tide, but we were going too fast. After reducing the throttle, to adjust our arrival time; we decided that we would just have to anchor outside of the harbor, in the dark!
A few hours later, we headed into the harbor. Our slip wasn't ready, so we aimed for the first open one we saw. My least graceful docking so far. I bumped the dock, just enough to break the pvc water line, and send a plume of water flying into the air. Oh well, we made it!
We got the dogs off the boat and headed for a hotel. Air conditioning! A few days of rest, some good meals, and walking the dogs. ( Gypsy has made a miraculous recovery!?)
A few trips to the boat to get her ready for marina life, and we'll be on our way to Arizona. Now, she's tied up for the summer, and we'll be making trips down to day sail, and make improvements for the next leg of the journey!
