2017

Doing Stupid Things in the Dark

So it’s Dec 2017, Sandra, a truly beautiful Costa Rican lady (see halyards) and I have sailed 2400 mi upwind and current from the bottom of Costa Rica, Golfito to be precise, to just below La Paz, Mexico. Along the way among other things we broke the steeing chain in the binnacle, the wheel now does nothing, all steering is via the autopilot, which goes straight to the rudder stock. Not the greatest situation, but it got us the last 2,000 mi, It’s just not very fast, so it’s 0400 and I’m breaking the #1 cardinal cruising rule, don’t go into anchorages at night, yeah, but I’ve been there before, sure it’s been 2 yrs, but it’s wide open. What could go wrong?

Well, as the bottom came up and the electronic charts showed no information I turned to starboard, man, should’ve turned to port, we bumped a couple of times and that was all she wrote. The tide tables showed 1 hour to high tide, then… well, we all know what happens then. A flashlight showed about a foot of water on my port side and deep on starboard, I tried everything I could think of, short of a dinghy and a kedge anchor, to get off. I was just about to shut the motor off and I figured, ah shit, at this rate you’re going to lose the boat anyway, give it another try. Holy shit, off she came like she’d never been stuck and banging for the last 30 min. It required a truly impressive sized rum and yellow shit to get to sleep that night/morning after we got anchored well away from the reef. I still have no idea how or why she came free when she did, but let me tell you, I’d rather be lucky than good.

If I’m lyin’