Arnold plans to depart the boat about mid-April. It is highly likely that he will fly out of La Paz. I will probably remain in La Paz for another week provisioning and preparing the boat and depart in the last week of April.
Brenda and I have agreed that she will meet the boat in Costa Rica. This will avoid the problem of my having to arrive in Puerto Vallarta or Acapulco on a tight schedule to meet an airplane. It will also allow me to clear the hurricane belt quickly because I should be out of the area by mid-May. (A big worry is that this is an El Nino year and they are expecting more hurricane activity.) Also, this spares Brenda the ... hmm ... challenge of crossing the notorious Golfo de Tehuantepec with its ferocious waves and huge seas.
Then the question is how am I going to get from La Paz to Costa Rica.
The orthodox way is to work one's way down the Mexican coast to the northern end of the Tehuantepec. There is a port where cruisers wait until they get the "go" signal from the port capitania which signifies a few days of calmer winds. At this point the cruisers sail as fast as they can staying a mile or 2 off the coast and get to the south side as soon as possible.
But here I'm afraid that I am reverting to type. Sailing alone I do not want to deal with the hassles of sailing close to the coast and dealing with associated dangers such as reefs, lee shores, fishing boats, crab pots, etc. I can see myself dead tired and afraid to heave to because of my proximity to shore or perhaps a frantic race to avoid the winds of Tehuantepec. I also want to avoid the time and hassle of going in and out of anchorages.
So at this point my plan is to formally exit Mexico at La Paz and heading S or SSW, putting more distance between myself and the coast, which falls away to the SE, with each passing day. I'd like to clear the coast of Golfo de Tehuantepec by about 300 miles, hoping that the winds that are funneled through that gap have largely dissipated that far at sea. Once I am past these hazards I will approach Costa Rica from the NW.
The fact is that given that Pachuca has proven herself to be a very good and strong sea boat I feel safer far out at sea than near land. Out there I can rest when becalmed or under sail, and I can always heave to the way sailors have done for hundreds of years.
In summary, I plan to depart La Paz Mexico in late April and sail for Costa Rica in a big loop of about 2500 miles. This will be a major crossing and I would hope to make it within 30 days.
Looking further down the track, Brenda must be back in Australia by sometime in September, so after seeing her off I would head for the Galapagos probably in October with a view to reaching Puerto Montt in Chile in November. That will be my springboard for the Horn in December.
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1 comment:
Very complicated to get from La Paz to Costa Rica ... take care!
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