We wrapped our minds around turning back to La Paz and that this could potentially be the end of our cruising season. That is just the deal with life on a (sail)boat and in the end we love it all, including backtracking. There are many boating resources in La Paz and it’s really the best outfitted area for repairs in all of Mexico. We checked PredictWind – not that it matters apparently – and planned to pull anchor from San Evaristo in the morning.
The forecast for our passage south showed light, a.m. northerlies shifting to 10-12 knot westerlies by the afternoon. What we actually had was 15-17 knots out of the southeast in the morning, right on the nose. We unfurled the mainsail and ran the engine at relatively low RPM’s as we worked our way back down the San José Channel. Jim was diligent about checking the engine regularly. The first few checks resulted in thumbs up and all good to continue..the third check was more urgent, get the jib out and shut the engine down. Jim had found more metal shavings in the engine compartment along with two ball bearings that had fallen out of the fresh water bearing and were sitting in the pan below the engine. We unfurled the jib and knew engine power was no longer an option for the rest of this passage. Solitude is a sailing vessel after all and we were carrying plenty of water and food so we relaxed into the idea that we might be out here for a while; just as the winds died down to 5 knots. The ocean was glassy most of afternoon and we were moving slowly, possibly backwards at times. Jim peeked into the engine compartment again and found coolant had now leaked out past the shaft seal of the fresh water pump and was shimmering in the pan below the engine. Confirming we had zero option of engine power now, we started reaching out to tow companies for when we got closer to La Paz. A good activity to do before any chance of heavy winds.
A note about Coromuel winds. Coromuel winds are a La Paz weather phenomenon that come from the Pacific side of Baja and blow through the low points of the mountains and into the Gulf of California. They are common in late spring/early summer, pop up in the afternoon and blow all night. We experienced these on our stop north when the Coromuels blew fiercely every night during our visit in La Paz while we were happily tucked in at anchor.
Just north of Isla Partida, about 30 nm from La Paz, we got to work on finding a tow. I will spare you the painful details of all the disconnected calls through our satellite phone, the horrible connection when we were able to get thru and the language barrier challenges. Add in a half dozen unnecessary calls with the Mexican Navy as well, we were hitting a wall trying to schedule a tow. In fact, tow companies said they would not tow us and the Navy verified they only pick up people and do not get involved in tows (contrary to what one of the tow companies advised). Finally, through a connection with a referral from one of the numbers we found, the man on the line said he would call someone he knows who will do the tow. Once we got in touch with our contact directly, Enrique, he confirmed he would come to get us and was ready now. We had expected to sail through the night but were happy to accept. We provided our GPS coordinates and hung up the phone at 5pm planning to see Enrique before sunset as he said it would be an hour and 15 mins for his arrival. As the sun got lower in the sky we shut down all battery operated equipment including autopilot and the refrigerator as we had no engine to keep the batteries topped up and the solar panels would not be helpful with the sun down.
As we watched 6:30pm come and go, we partially furled the main and reefed the jib expecting Coromuels to pick up anytime. Then 7:30pm, 8:30pm, 9pm passed and we attempted to reach Enrique on his cell and Channel 16 to see if he needed help locating us or if he was even coming. The Coromuels had picked up by now and we were hand steering Solitude going 6-7 knots, close hauled and heeled over in 26-28 knots of westerly winds. A sporty sail indeed. It’s not weather we would choose to be out in but the boat felt balanced and we never felt out of control or unsafe. We were happy to be on a heavy boat! We were also able to point up much higher than usual and actually making good headway directly towards La Paz.
When we were finally able to reach Enrique on Channel 16 and confirmed he was on the water looking for us, it seemed that – even considering our forward progress – the GPS coordinates we provided had not been used. Nevertheless, we were in touch, explained our location and shined our spot light back towards the island from the bay and also on our sails to help him find us. Finally, we faintly saw a boat light off Espíritu Santo and Enrique confirmed he could see our spot light. Around 10:30pm Enrique pulled up alongside us in his 21’ center console fishing boat and, pacing our speed while yelling in broken English over hectic wind and waves, he asked us to stop the boat. We furled the sails and Jim went forward to grab the tow line and attach it to our bow. In his offshore life jacket and tethered to Solitude, Jim’s legs were getting buried in waves as Solitude’s bow dipped down and then lifted 10’ or more into the air as we rolled over the crest of the next wave. Jim quickly tied the tow line onto our bow cleat and safely returned to the cockpit. Once the line was set it was a slow tow towards La Paz at .5 knots.
The Coromuels did not let up. Around 1am when we were close to shore, Enrique and Jim spoke on the radio and made the decision to pull into the closest anchorage (Bahia Balandra) for the night and Enrique would be back to finish the tow in the morning. We were covered in salt, tired, sore and it would be good to let the relentless winds calm down. Expecting to find an empty anchorage at Balandra since it is a day anchorage only, we were shocked to find five other boats tucked up behind the south wall of the anchorage. They were also likely trying to find refuge from the strong Coromuel winds. In the morning after 10am when the winds had settled, Enrique returned and brought us the rest of the way into La Paz. As we approached the La Paz channel entrance Enrique called for us to untie, he had finished the tow and would be leaving. We told him we need him to tow us through the marina channel and into the slip, we could not do that with our dinghy. He clearly wasn’t comfortable but reluctantly agreed. Jim showed him how to side tie our boats and we were on our way into the marina channel. Jim explained that their boat would be our propulsion (forward, neutral and reverse) and we would do all steering with Solitude. Once we got back to the inner basin and slowly turned down the fairway to our slip, two members of marina security were there to help grab our lines. All things considered it was a pretty smooth docking without engine power, although Enrique told us later his heart was pounding as we maneuvered through the marina. When we were safely tied into the slip, Enrique got off his boat and gave Jim a big hug and reached up to Lorin on the bow with a fist bump. What a crazy 24 hrs.
Jim has since removed the fresh water pump from the engine, found a local mechanic and together they were able to find a new fresh water pump locally in La Paz.
SV Solitude 