Light Winds Out of Ensenada

Not long after dark we were approaching a string of boats - probably fishing boats - strung out in an arch across our path. We turned on the radar to make sure that there were no unlit boats ahead of us and adjusted our course 30 degrees to starboard to pass through a gap between the boats. We wanted to give the boats a wide berth lest we get tangled up in whatever nets they may have strung out. During this time I had been putting together the usual simple meal of rice, onion, and carrots this night mixed with chili beans. We ate in the cabin then I turned in at 9 PM while Arnold took the first watch.

I was up at 12.30 AM happy to see that our course was now almost due south and Arnold had managed to keep the boat moving well, doing at times 4 knots. However, at midnight the wind had died and Arnold had been holding the mainsheet trying to steady the flogging boom. I set up a preventer with a line passing from the boom through a snatch block that I had fixed to the toe rail then back to the port spinnaker winch, determined to do my best to keep all sail up until we got better winds after daylight. However at 2 AM I accepted that it was a hopeless cause, with wind under 4 knots - frequently down to 2.5 kt - and the sails flogging. I tightened up the lazy jacks, dropped the mainsail, then rolled in the jib. But we were not quite laying ahull. The autopilot that had been steering us so well in these light winds somehow continued to steer the boat and we were still moving SSW at 1 knot. Running under bare poles had cost us only 1 knot of speed.

At 2.30 AM we were 30 miles out of Ensenada but still 45 miles from the Bahia Colnett anchorage.

At 3.30 AM I noticed a slightly stronger wind and rolled out 30% of the jib to give us another half knot of speed. I hit the bunk and did checks every 90 minutes or so.

After morning coffee we decided to have a go at trying out the "snuffer" spinnaker - the one with a sock. I had never been game to try it but the circumstances were ideal for a trial: two men on board, wind under 5 kt, calm sea, and 23 miles of sea room. By the time we had read up on the procedure, I had set up the lines, and most painful of all dug out the spinnaker from the starboard sail locker which meant shifting most of the stores in the forecastle to the cabin, it was 11 AM and the wind sprung up to 7 or 8 knots so we hoisted the mainsail and were soon doing over 3 kt on a starboard beam reach. The spinnaker would have to wait until another day. Nevertheless we had done most of the preliminary work and would store the sail at the top of the heap in the forecastle for easier retrieval.

At noon we were 33 miles off the coast and still 38 miles from Bahia Colnett. Arnold and I agreed that even in the unlikely event that we could reach the anchorage before dark the overheads of getting there were too high. Besides, we felt so secure and comfortable in the calm sea that we saw little to be gained from spending a night at anchor.

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