Where did they come from?
We knew the Pacific Ocean had big swells. They come from Aleutian storms in the very North Pacific. I dealt with them as a kid sailing offshore in Northern California. They would roll in from the northwest and sometimes when you were in the trough between the swells you couldn’t see the sailboat on the other side. I mean couldn’t even see their mast!
We thought the seas were behind us…
When we left Banderas Bay and we heard there was a swell running I was quite surprised to see it rolling in from the south. We had never been south enough to know that storms in the southern ocean (winter there) would pound the coast of Mexico during the summer months. Of course the surfers love it and I should’ve figured it out when everybody on the plane was wearing board shorts and tie-dyed T-shirts.
On the road again
We enjoyed northern Mexico but as usual we were excited to get south. We like to get out in the ocean and cover some ground. This trip would be 10 days alone and we had poured over the cruising guide to pick restaurants and anchorages. They were all beautiful.
Little did we know…..
What happened next was some serious swell dodging and we missed many of the great anchorages that are packed with cruising boats in winter when the conditions are benign. The trip was a blast as we like curve balls and that is half the adventure of cruising. You see, when we board the plane in Florida headed to the boat for a week it’s not like you can predict the adventure ahead. You know you will be on your boat and you have an idea of the weather but every thing else you plan is just an outline. Boats and oceans have a way of rearranging the plan and you react to it as it comes. It may not be half the fun. It may be all the fun!
But everybody else does…..
We were alone out there without a cruising boat in sight and for the next 1,500 miles. But that is a story for the next video and blog.
Please enjoy this next video as much as we did making it!