Shortly after our 1:50 pm start we're still doing less than 1 kt. That's me steering with tiller between my legs. A 3/4 oz. windseeker jib is providing what power we have. At 67, I work intermittently for FEMA as a disaster public affairs specialist. As a retired journalist it seemed natural to create a blog to document my adventures on “Narrow Escape”.
By late afternoon a moderate breeze filled in from the NW and we were doing 5-6 kts under main and 155% genoa.
Nate Tucker is the tactician and the best helmsman on the boat. He's a wizard around the buoys in his Catalina 30 and was last year's champion in the cruising non-spinnaker class. At 78, he's one of the four Social Security recipients aboard.
Hobby Hobson can do it all -- foredeck, cockpit, trimmer, pole. He frequently crews on friends' boat in long Southern California races. He and his wife cruise their Hunter 34. Hobby will be 80 in June, but was the most agile crew member.
Geoffrey Vanden Heuvel, 47, was the young guy on board. Assigned to the foredeck, he had plenty of spare time and lots of serious reading material to fill it. He races his Capri 25 in the harbor buoy series. It was his first Ensenada Race and his first all night sail. I hope it won't be his last. The windseeker lies at the bow stowed in its built-in bag.
Pax Starksen was enjoying his 72nd birthday the day the race began, as he has dozens of times crewing on other boats going back 30 years. He's a forensic mechanical engineer, specializing in expert testimony in tort cases.
At down we were past South Coronado Island, after motoring much of the night as allowed, with time penalty, in the cruising classes. The sea mirrors the sun and forecasts the frustrating day ahead.
Pax is on his last two-hour watch of the overnight schedule. We had two in the cockpit and three below at all times. A new person rotated into the cockpit each hour. Each got three hours off-watch.
Hobby checks the sails near the end of his watch. A single red light illuminated the cabin all night. Display screens for the GPS map (top) and radar are hinged to swing easily in and out of the companion way opening.
It's a new day and Nate is lookiing for some new wind. The ensign behind him tells the story.
Hobby sits patiently. No sail trimming needed at the moment.
Geoff joins the party in the cockpit. Entertainment is watching the slack sails of a nearby competitor swing around to the rhythm of the swells.
The skipper has been up since 5 am. It's a little after 8 am and he's going to cook breakfast. (Yes, those are wind ruffles on the water and we were able to sail from time to time on Saturday morning.
Breakfast is going to be eggs scrambled with Canadian bacon, chopped onion and chopped peppers. The Origo stove is old, simple and effective.
The best preparation I made for the race was ordering this windseeker at the recommendation of Harry Pattison of Elliot/Pattison Sailmakers. The dodger from Harbor Custom Canvas was a big hit, too. There is sign of wind on the water, but the windseeker hasn't found it yet. See the darker wind shadow on the horizon. We saw lots of those mirages Saturday.
“Narrow Escape”, a 1968 Ericson 30, tied in a slip at the Hotel Coral in Ensenada after we dropped out and motored the last 26 miles on Saturday afternoon.
Nate and Geoff shared the suite I had reserved at the Hotel Coral. With separate beds for each and a spectacular view from the fifth-floor balcony, it was the lure that made me give up racing Saturday. That and the $400 it cost. The two-night minimum included Friday night. An expensive mistake, but very nice.
The four old timers at brunch Sunday morning after a restful night. Pax and Hobby stayed on the boat. Geoff left at 8 am returning to his dairy farmer life with a friend who had raced his trailerable trimaran and arrived under sail on Saturday.
The scoreboard tells the story. We radioed in our DNF status Saturday. Interestingly, the other DNF boat was the only other original model Ericson 30 in the race. Notice that Fair Havens, the winning Newport 28, arrived at 11:21 pm Saturday. Latitudes, last year's winner, didn't get in until 5:02 am Sunday. It is a second generation Ericson 32. Neither motored at any time during the race.
A cruise ship passes before morning light begins on our overnight motorsail back to San Diego. The waves were 3-5 feet and steep at the start, but it was calmer later. A strong offshore wind kept us warm in Todos Santos Bay while a huge brush fire southeast of Ensenada was clearly visible.
When the last quarter moon rose over the Baja California mountains about 2 am, it first looked like a brush fire had erupted on a hillside.
We were just north of North Coronados Island when the sun rose Monday. What we would have given for this kind of wind at this hour Saturday morning? That the perversity of this race. Yet we keep coming back next year.
Nate and Hobby are happy at the trip back to San Diego is nearly over. No more overnighters on this voyage.
Warship 9 hides Point Loma leaving the San Diego Harbor entrance channel as we motor in to clear customs as Shelter Island.
“Narrow Escape” rests in a slip at Marina Village in Mission Bay. Nate got off the boat at Shelter Island, picked up by his wife. Pax will leave on Tuesday morning to attend to family obligations. The Tohatsu outboard pushed us from 5 to 6 knots, depending on seas and winds, averaging 2/3 gallon an hour.
Leaving Dana Point Wednesday, it was 10 degrees colder with a brisk wind out of the SSE. It made our course to Alamitos Bay nearly dead down wind and that made for some unwanted excitement.
As this wind graph from SailFlow.com shows, the wind suddenly jumped from about 10 kts to 20 kts shortly after 9 am Wednesday. The boat heeled and rounded up enough to cause an accidental jibe. But we had set a preventer on the main, so it was merely backwinded instead of slamming the across boat. The autopilot couldn't cope with a downwind course in that wind and confused sea, however, so a westerly course was set, slowing our VMG to my port.
Tuesday's 6-12 ft long swell out of the southwest became mixed swells from the south, west and northwest on Wednesday. The dodger got a little spray, but “Narrow Escape's” upswept shear and flaired bow kept the decks and the cockpit dry. It is a sea-kindly hull that rarely pounds.
A Marine hovercraft speeds by about a half-mile off our bow.
The skipper relaxes, comfortable inside five layers of clothing. It was a great trip and the boat is much the better for being outfitted with the intention of winning its class.
