We made it to Mexico in two and a half days. It was a great sail - we used the asymetrical spinnaker twice, and had two long runs with it up. The weather was good - one squally storm that luckily was pushing us the way we wanted to go, and really goosed up our speed. Because our friend Jason, whose boat we were on, has a schedule to meet, we did motor when the wind died down, which it did at night and at midday. Mike and I never have a schedule to meet, so we just usually drift along even when the wind dies down. Jason has a nice boat - it is an older 35 footer. We were actually quite comfortable, even with three people. Having three people was really nice as far as standing the night watches - My watch was from 3 am until 6 am - only three hours instead of six.
It was also a personal triumph for me. I can now handle the helm and actually feel pretty good about doing it. This has been a longstanding problem for me ever since I started sailing.
Jason's boat does not have the sort of auto pilot system that we have on Magda Jean. We have two electronic auto pilots, and both of them only require a bit of monitoring because they work very well unless the weather is really, really awful. That has only happened once with us, back last year when we left Ensenada for Cabo San Lucas. Mike had to hand steer for almost 8 hours straight. And that is exhausting. I have never been able to hold the course and constantly overcorrect. Then the boat goes too far the other way, and I would overcorrect again, until finally the boat is completely off course and Mike has to turn on the engine to get us straightened out again. It has been a bone of contention between the two of us, and I have continually fet guilty about not being able to do it, and getting totally panic stricken at the thought of having to do it. When I get panicky about something, it becomes a million times harder. I have gotten better, but I was still dreading any possibility of extended hand steering.
Anyway, Jason does not have the nice electronic autopilots we enjoy on Magda Jean. He has a wind vane steering device, which works with the wind rather than being electric and connected to a compass. I can't explain it here - in fact, I really don't understand the whole thing. Anyone who is interested can google it - just look up wind vane steering and you will find it. They are really amazing things - you hiook it up and it has a paddle for the wind attached to a rudder type thing, and then attached to the steering wheel. It uses no power, unlike the ones we have which use quite a bit of electricity. We have one on board, but have not used it, except to fool around a little bit with it. This kind of device requires a lot more monitoring, and you have to adjust it all the time, especially in variable or light winds. (They work best in the trade winds, which are winds that blow strongly and steadily in the same direction for days on end. We will run into these when we cross the Pacific.) So in a lot of ways, it is like hand steering since you are constantly adjusting it when it veers away from course. And another thing - there was no chart plotter on board in the cockpit, so I had no nice little screen in front of me telling me where we are going. I had to stare at the compass and steer to that.
I was literally terrified to stand my watch. I was sure I would have to wake up Jason or Mike and get help getting the boat on course, and I simply knew I would not be able to handle the watch. but I had to try, so I gathered up all my fortitude and decided I could do it. And I did. In spades. I even disengaged the device so I could just steer it on my own. I felt awesome standing behind the helm, watching the compass, keeping the course within five degrees of the desired course. I felt like a true sailor at last. I do not think I can really decribe how significant this is for me. A true milestone.
I do appreciate my boat more than ever in so many ways, and love Mike even more for getting that boat in such wonderful shape.
When we arrived in Puerto Chiapas, we pulled into the nice new marina, and were greeted by the port captain and customs. They has the nicest drug sniffing dog - not a problem since we are not lame enough to bring drugs between countries. I got to pet the dog. However, what we did not realize was we did not clear immigration. We figured it out the next day (today) and after going from office to office, discovered we (me and Mike, who had already gone on to the next little town in preparation for the rest of our trip) that we had to go back to the point of entry and complete that process. When we got out of the cab at the marina, Jason was waiting for us with the marina boss (Guillermo) who informed us we were illegal and called us wetbacks. It was hilarious. But it took literally all day long to get things striaghtened out. This is a new marina, and the people here are not used to dealing with noncommerical boats. And they are really not used to dealing with recreational yachts with crew that are leaving the boat and turning into tourists. I hate being the test case. But we got through it, and did not have to go to jail, which would have happened had we failed to get the required stamps in our passports and our tourist visas. It was a huge hassle - Guillermo actually hollered at the immigration guys and called them "cabron" and "pendejo". I was afraid he would end up in jail. But it all worked out okay.
It is great to be back in Mexico. I will always love this place and it feels like home, immigration hassles not withstanding. El Salvador will always have a fond place in my heart, but they will win no prizes for cuisine. I got to have pozole for breakfast this morning - a real treat. And Chiapas is the mole capital of Mexico, and I love mole. Our hotel is cheap and nice and right in the center of town. It is piring rain right now, and we can hear it beating on the windows. Viva Mexico!
"Reading makes immigrants of us all. It takes us away from home, but more important, it finds homes for us everywhere." (Hazel Rochman)
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