IGNACIO GETS CONFUSED AND CAN'T FIND MIRADOR
It is 5:30 PM on Tuesday, August 26 and the boaters in Puerto Escondido are preparing to have a Hurricane Party to celebrate the fact that Hurricane Ignacio did nothing as forecast. We experienced heavy rain and 20 to 35 knots of wind from about 4 AM till noon today. It is now almost calm and we can see blue sky to the SE.
Ignacio has been downgraded to a Tropical Depression with winds of 30 knots extending out 20 miles. The central pressure has risen from 991Mb at 9 AM to 1004 Mb at 3 PM our time. The storm will continue to fall apart over the rugged Sierra Gigante mountains to our west.
I gotta' tell you that is a huge relief after the updated forecast we received at 6 PM Sunday when we were told that the eye of Hurricane Ignacio would pass within 10 miles of us and then parallel the Baja east coast as it slowly moved NNW. The forecast for here was 80 to 100 knot winds beginning some time after daylight on Tuesday. Even worse was that the storm was moving very slowly. The strongest winds extended outward 15 miles from the center. Since we would be so close to the slow moving center we would have hurricane force winds for three hours and then a short calm period as the eye passed and then another 3 hour interval of hurricane force winds. Frightening News!
Even worse was the 30 mile radius of 50 knot winds. At the speed the storm was moving we would experience 50 knots or greater for over 12 hours. The gale force winds, 34 knots, extended out 15 hours ahead of and behind the storm. So, all in all, we would experience gales or stronger for over 30 hours. That was scary to contemplate.
We received this weather briefing from Don (WPUX557) via SSB HF radio. At 6:30 PM when the question and answer session ended I went on deck to begin taking down the genoa. I looked around the anchorage and saw 20 other genoas simultaneously unfurl and drop to the deck. After that forecast everyone was getting serious about taking gear off the boat. I rolled the big genoa as tightly as I could and tied it securely. I then stowed in in the cockpit for the duration.
Monday morning at 7:15 AM I again listened to Don on SSB radio and heard very welcome news. Ignacio had stalled over the Cerrallvo channel, about 30 miles east of La Paz, and had not strengthen during the night as predicted. After that Ignacio just wandered around La Paz and the south Baja peninsula and finally died today about 45 miles SW of us.
So the dire forecasts on Saturday and Sunday were false alarms but they sure did get our heart rates up!
There are 60 boats anchored in the inner harbor of Puerto Escondido. The anchorage is about 1/2 mile wide and about a mile long so there is plenty of room for everyone. There are also 15 boats anchored in what is called the "Waiting Room" just outside the breakwater that seals off the entrance to the inner harbor. They get great protection from all winds except from the SW. About 1/3 of all the boats are on permanent moorings. There have been no problems with any of the boats. There was not a single call on VHF radio for assistance while the wind was at it's maximum.
Two of the three missing Moorings charter boats returned to Puerto Escondido on Sunday evening. The third boat was found at Isla San Francisco on Monday morning. That is a pretty exposed anchorage but does have good protection from the seas coming from the SE to NE. They would have experienced 70 knots or greater for several hours Sunday evening and night. The seas were reported to be over 20' in that area. No one knows the condition of the crew and there was an unconfirmed report the boat went on the beach.
I went to bed last night, Monday, feeling pretty good because the forecast was for Ignacio to head WNW and dissipate. The wind started increasing about midnight and got up to about 15 - 20 knots. This morning at about 4AM the wind picked up to 25 to 30 knots and it really started to rain hard. The rain continued non-stop until about 10 AM and the 20 to 30 knot winds slowly diminished throughout the afternoon.
This morning at 9 AM I was standing in the galley drinking coffee and trying to see out the port hole over the stove. I saw something gray float by and then a red jug of some kind right behind it. My first thought was "I wonder what boat lost their gas cans?" At second glance I realized I was looking at the top of a Nissan 9.8HP outboard that was on the stern of a dinghy that was almost underwater.
Who do you know that owns a 9.8 Nissan?
Right - I finally figured out that it was Mirador's Portabote that was a awash. It was raining so hard I couldn't see 20 yards so I waited for the wind and rain to let up before I went on deck. The Portabote was still well attached to Mirador's stern but it was floating with only the top 1/3 of the Nissan outboard above water. About that time a boat about 75 yards from me called to say the dinghy had just sunk. He said it was floating fine about 1/2 hour earlier.
I am not sure why it sunk so suddenly but it is going to be a real bother getting the water out of it since only about 3" of the sides and transom are above water.
I attached the outboard hoist to the Nissan and lifted it to the mount on the stern rail. That was not a lot of fun because there was a lot of gasoline in the water I had to swim around the dinghy a few times to get the battery, fuel tanks, and oars out of it. I came up smelling like gasoline.
I took the cover off the motor and washed it for several minutes with fresh water. I then took the spark plugs out and laid the engine in the cockpit so the spark plug holes pointed downward. I then turned the motor over a number of times with the pull start to get any water out of the cylinders. I then poured a 1/2 oz of 30 weight 2-cycle motor oil into each plug hole and cranked the engine over about ten times while the spark plugs were still out. I did that three times.
I'll find out in a couple of days if the electronics were damaged. There is a very good outboard mechanic in Loreto that can help if necessary. Four other boats here heard my neighbor call about the sunk outboard and then called me with lots of details about how to deal with the motor. Several of them had similar experiences and they all got the engines running with no problems.
I guess between 4 AM and 8:30AM we got enough rain to fill the Portabote and sink it. The rain continued off and on until about 3 PM when it quit for good. The weather service is now saying that we received at least 20" of rain between 4 AM and 2 PM.
I am still puzzled about the anchor and rode we are sitting on. The anchor float is off to the east of where the anchor rode points. Even in the strongest gusts the rode does not point at the anchor float. I guess the 120' of anchor chain is buried so deep in the mud that a 35 knot wind does not pull hard enough to lift the chain out of the mud. That is quite reassuring!
I put 3' of 1.5" rubber hose on the primary 5/8" anchor rode where it runs thru the bow roller. Inside the hose, tied to the rode, is 18" of nylon fire hose covered by 18" of rubber. I sure hope that handles any chafe problems. Just to be extra sure; I have two 1/2" nylon lines, each 45' long, tied to the anchor rode 30' in front of the boat. Each line runs back to the anchor cleat on either side of the bow. When the wind gets up over 30 knots it appears that all three lines are equally sharing the load. So, in theory, even if the primary rode chafes thru I'll still have two lines attached to the rode ahead of where it broke.
The 33 pound Bruce anchor is all rigged and ready to drop if necessary. But, just to be sure, I have the huge FX55 Fortress anchor sitting on the foredeck with 60' of 1/2" chain and 150' of 5/8" nylon rode. If I start to drag I'll throw the FX55 over the side and hope that catches. I have little concern about dragging since it appears the buried chain is taking all the load from the rode so the anchor never feels a thing.
I'll start putting the boat back together tomorrow. I have to do the following:
-Put the genoa back on
-Untie the multiple wraps around mainsail
-Take the Fortress FX 55 anchor apart and restow it along with 60' of chain and 300 feet of heavy rode.
-Put the bimini up
-Put the dodger up (I removed the frame and canvas)
-Put all the various sheets and lines back on the boat
-Get some food
- Bail out the Portabote
- Start or repair the Nissan outboard
- Buy gasoline to replace all the water contaminated stuff
- Dry out the boat's interior
- Try to get the Link2000 battery monitoring system back online
I'll try to get out of here by Friday and head north to Bahia de Los Angeles as fast as possible. I'll put in another WEB update in a couple of days when I know my real plans.
It is now 8 PM and the wind is back up to 20 - 25 knots with light rain. Instead of sending this WEB page to my sister for posting I decided to work on the outboard while it was calm with no rain. The Nissan turns over fine and there is a good spark on each plug but it won't start. I think I need to get some better gas. The fuel filter in the engine was empty before I primed it with the squeeze bulb on the tank. After cranking it over for a while I saw what looked like gasoline in the fuel filter. I suspect there is water in that gas. Tomorrow I'll borrow some dehydrated gasoline and try again.
My the time I was ready to work on the carb the wind was back up to 20 knots and it was raining again so I'll wait till tomorrow.
I was pumping the water out of the dinghy by hand when I remembered Mirador has a portable 3600 GPH 12V pump that has a 40' power cord. I dropped that into the Portabote and let it run for about 10 minutes and then had a dry dinghy. Neat!