A most excellent adventure...

Posted By: Tom T. House, Salsa (Stiletto 27)
Date: 10/23/06 3:00p.m.

Report: outside forum guidelines

In Response To: 2 people, 1 cat (pic) (Dave Melius)

What you describe would be a "most excellent" adventure. I have often sailed on the Sea of Cortez, on both the mainland side near San Carlos and points north, up to Hemilia Bay, etc. and on the Baja side, from Santa Rosalia, to Mulege and down to Loreto. I've used an old P-cat 19, a 17 foot Super Cat, and a Stilleto 27 catamaran. We've even sailed a Freestyle 15 beach cat from Los Angeles, CA to Catalina Is. and back a number of times with two of us on it and enough supplies for a few days of beach camping, while on the Island. What a blast...! A Hobie 16 is pretty small…but all boats shrink when you add salt water and a bit of distance and deteriorating conditions… On the other hand, we’ve sailed some pretty hairy stuff on our Freestyle15 cat and two people and camp gear and food for a long weekend, including our own water, etc. Even though we started some of these trips by buddy-boating, the sea was a big place and we often, lost track of the other boats and finally met up at our destinations...in spite of working at staying together. On one of our trips, one of the boats missed Catalina all together and it was along time before they figured out what had happened and the next bit of land would have been Japan if they had continued in the fog… That’s where the GPS would have been a good thing….even though they intended and planned on staying where they could see land… Stuff happens…. Self sufficiency and self reliance is essential… and remember when you mess with mother nature…sometimes both mother nature and you win…but mother nature will always win…and when you loss, the price can be high… The Sea of Cortez is a big place and even though land is in sight, it can still be impossible to reach; sometimes it disappears when you least expect it and you will probably be completely on your own if anything happens. If it all turns to donkey dust, yo may find that the next stop is Cabo San Lucas or even further south if things break and you are floating at the mercy of currents and winds… Make sure someone knows what your float plan is and what to do if you don’t check in at the times you say you will, whether that is hourly or daily or due to some considerations we’ve even used check in times only at the very beginning and end of some of our 10 day or two week trips… For what it is worth….here are some tips we’ve learned along the way on some of our Sea of Cortez trips and those to Catalina, etc: Forewarning, information, research, preparation and practice is being forearmed and essential to make the adventure a good experience rather than a bad one… or the last one…. Required Gear to Bring on Boat: · Waterproof VHF marine radio in a waterproof radio bag. Standard HX350S Submersible is one of the best choices for catamarans. Protect the radio from direct hits by ocean waves. Keep it inside a duffel bag or other container when not in use. Make sure your battery is fully charged before leaving! Don't wear down your battery by using the radio unless necessary! Most radio failures are battery failures. Waterproof bags aren't perfect. They often leak a tablespoon or two of water. In order to prevent this from corroding your radio (esp. the battery charging contacts), always remove the radio from the bag after sailing and rinse it in fresh water. · PDF of appropriate size, with attached whistle, for each person. These must be worn at all times. · One wetsuit per person, of appropriate size. It is recommended to wear the wetsuit all of the time from the beginning of the trip to avoid fatigue from cold, wind, etc. · Three meteor flares and three hand-held flares · A paddle (daggerboards do NOT count!) · Minimum 1 liter of water per person (more recommended). · Waterproof flashlight · Compass · Map of area, w GPS coordinates, etc.. If you laminate this in clear plastic shelf lining material (about $3/roll), it will be waterproof and tearproof. Bring 2 copies in case you lose one. · Rigging and trapeze wires in good shape. Any rusty wires or wires with broken strands must be replaced before the trip. Also check the trapeze wires, hooks, adjusters, and lines. · A righting line sufficient to right the boat unassisted. · A 50 foot or longer tow line, 1/4 inch minimum. This line is also used to secure the boats on beach at Catalina when unattended. · Give your boat a shakedown sail BEFORE the day of the trip! Check the sails, rigging, righting line, etc. Practice tacking, gybing, trapezing, and otherwise sailing your boat with all crew and gear aboard. Practice a capsize and righting to make sure you know where everything is, that it is working properly, and that your gear won't cause a problem. Also, practice furling your jib around the forestay in case this is needed because of high winds. Make sure the jib can be tied securely and won't come undone in the wind, even after 3 hours of flogging. · Waterproof flash lights, one attached to you and a spare in your duffle and a couple of chem lights and whistle also attached to your PFD vest Recommended Additional Gear to Bring: · Spray-suit (semi-dry suit) or spray-top to wear over your wetsuit. These really help to keep you warm by cutting down the evaporative cooling of water from your wetsuit. · Sunscreen, hats, sunglasses. You should also wear retaining devices for your glasses and hat. I use croakies on my glasses, and I use an old batten tie from my hat to my shirt (attach with a safety pin). · Swim goggles - These may be handy to keep spray out of your eyes if it is very windy/choppy · Trapeze harnesses for all on board. If the wind is very strong, the boat can be much easier to control when one or two crew trapeze. · Spare pins, clevis pins (ring ding's), and shackles for your boat. Camping Gear: · Large Dry Bag - These are large enough to hold a sleeping bag and clothes, etc for 1 person. Get this early! Suppliers are West Marine, REI, A16, and Cascade Outfitters (go to http://www.cascadeoutfitters.com/riverhome/bagsm.html). West Marine usually has 2-3 in stock, and can get more from their warehouse in 2-3 days. But, if 15 people show up just two days before the trip, there won’t be time to order enough drybags and there might be a problem! · Sleeping Bag – The Sea of Cortez and the surrounding air and storms can be very warm or very cold… remember that outdoors and wet could get very chilly, especially at night, whether you are on land as expected or on the boat if things don’t work out as expected.. Also, there can be a lot of rain or even very heavy dew that falls at night, and if you are sleeping in you bag under the sky (this is what I do), it will get a little damp on the outside. You may not want to bring an expensive down bag, however, as there is always the possibility that it could get wet while sailing on the boats! An inexpensive to medium cost synthetic sleeping bag is usually a good choice. · Sleeping Pad - If you want to sleep on the ground, rather than on the boat’s tramp, bring an Ensolite pad or similar to keep your sleeping bag off of the dirt and rocks. This will also keep you warmer. I prefer to sleep on the trampoline, since it is like a giant hammock. It is much softer than sleeping on the ground, and also significantly warmer, since your body heat isn’t going directly into the cold ground. · Tent - I don’t use one, but if you want to you can bring a small tent. If it is one of the self-supporting kinds (with a built-in frame), you could also set it on the trampoline, to keep the hammock effect but still have an enclosed sleeping space. Whne it rains, if you are on the tramp, the rain will go down the tent, hit the tramp, follow the tramp to its lowest point and drip down… It will also “wick” upwards and soak your sleeping bag from the bottom up…. We use a plastic sheet or tarp over the boom and as a rain fly to keep the rain off the tent and off the tramp…letting the rain scoot of the fly and past the hulls on each side… · Tarp - If you want to sleep on the ground, you may want a tarp to place under your sleeping bag & pad. You could also use a tarp & some spare lines to make a tent on the boat using the boom. · Toiletries - toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, hairbrush or comb, etc. · Clothes - General suggestions are: 1 pair jeans 1 swimsuit 2-3 t-shirts 1 sweatshirt 1 rain slicker 1 hat (for sailing or general usage) 1 pair shoes/sandals - If these can get wet, they are easier to carry on the boat since you don’t need to fit them in a drybag. If you want to do a lot of hiking, choose appropriate shoes to bring along. · Spare trash bags + duct tape - These may come in handy for emergency waterproofing of extra gear. · A large nylon duffel bag - I place my drybags inside a duffel bag when carrying it on the boat. There are several purposes for this: 1. The duffel protects the plastic drybag from puncture. 2. The duffel has extra pockets for stuff that doesn’t need to stay dry. This also includes fast-access items like water, snacks, radio/GPS, etc. 3. The duffel deflects the initial brunt of waves from the drybag. Full force waves may force their way inside the seal of the drybag. The duffel cuts at least 90% of the wave’s force before it hits the drybag to reduce this problem. Another tip: face the drybag seal toward the rear of the boat (inside of the duffel) to further reduce wave-induced leakage. 4. The duffel is easier to attach to the boat. Duffels usually have several strong handles, which can be tied with lines. Use 2 lines to attach the duffel to your boat. The primary line is about 8’ long, and is tied from the duffel to the mast. It should be very strong and tied securely. The spare line can be coiled and stuffed somewhere out of the way. The second "working" line is only 3’ long, and is usually tied to one end of the duffel. The other end can be used to secure the duffel to the windward side of the boat in a convenient position, or to the mast when tacking/gybing a lot. In the event of a capsize, you don’t want 50 lbs. of gear attached to the trampoline or the mast, where it would work against the weight of the crew, perhaps making the boat unrightable. To avoid this problem, if you capsize, just untie the short working line and let the duffel float in the water. It will still be secured to the boat by the longer, primary line. After righting, pull the floating duffel from the water and back onto the boat. Practice dumping the boat and righting it a number of times before your trip, with all the gear and people you’ll have… so you will learn how to do it before it becomes critical to surviving… General Information: · Bring some cash with you and some credit card(s) · There will be lots of Hiking opportunities Sailing Information: · Wind - The winds are usually out of the northwest from October until May, when southern winds become more frequent but are variable and often non-existent. Dead calms are a common occurrence. During the early winter strong afternoon northwesterlies (25+ knots) occur 5 days out of 7. They can make for a very choppy, uncomfortable beat north. · Shrimpers and such can be any place at any time and they don’t always have navigational lights or look where they are going. These ships basically cannot maneuver or will not if they are dragging nets, etc., so don’t get in front of them or you will be in trouble. · Safety - Although it is sometimes hard to predict, you should always be prepared for bad weather or a breakdown and have a bail out plan and a back up to that one when it goes bad for you. This should include mast breakage, sail shredding, a complete capsize where the mast is going straight down and you can’t right it. Never leave the boat if it is still floating at all and try to swim to shore…. Even when it is close, wind and current can make it impossible. · Wetsuits - Since it is difficult to put on a wetsuit after the weather has turned bad, you are cold and tired, and the boat is trying to buck you off, everyone should wear their wetsuit the entire time they are on the boat. This also prevents early loss of heat, so even in cool weather you will stay warm longer. Also, it is much harder for the body to warm up after it gets cold than it is to stay warm in the first place. · PFD’s/Lifejackets - It goes without saying that wearing of lifejackets is required at all times for everyone. If you fall overboard, capsize, etc. the wind, waves, and cold water can cause extreme fatigue in a short time even for good swimmers. As an added bonus, a PFD will help to keep you warmer because of the foam. Be sure that each PFD has an attached whistle. These carry much farther than a human voice, and can also be used even if you are too exhausted to yell. · Food & water - In case you have a breakdown, the wind stops unexpectedly, you get lost, etc., you should be prepared to spend up to 24 hours on your boat. Be sure you have enough water for everyone to drink, and some food to eat in the event that you get stuck out on the ocean. · Safety Aids - Before you leave, be sure to read the directions for all of your safety items, and that you have practiced using them. Know how to operate your flares, radio, gps, etc. before you leave! Also, be sure you can operate your gear in the dark without a light! · Radio Batteries - Most radio failures are caused by battery failures. Make sure your battery is fully charged before leaving. Since NiCad batteries lose charge fairly quickly, it is best to charge the battery the day before leaving. If they sit on the shelf for a week or more, they can easily lose more than 50% of their charge. Don’t use the radio unless you need it, as this will unnecessarily drain the battery. Also, batteries rarely last as long as advertised in actual use, so don’t count on getting more than 25% of the advertised usage out of it. · Other Batteries - In your gear that uses alkaline batteries, install new batteries in all of your devices before leaving. This includes your GPS, flashlights, etc. These are cheap and you don’t want them to run out of juice when you need them.