We are sitting cozily in beautiful Punta Tosca, Isla Socorro. Isla Socorro is drastically different than San Benedicto in that it reminds me of California with its green, rolling hills. The island is inhabited by a Mexican Naval Base and as a side note does not allow guests on shore without special permission. I’ll admit, I didn’t always think it was beautiful here, in fact, I was quite afraid of this place as we pulled into it. As Brad mentioned in the last email we had a 36nm sail to get here and Perspective was bringing up the rear of the pack at a solid 3rd place out of 4. (Its an unstated rule that if boats are going in the same direction it’s a race). There are benefits to not being the first boat in. As boats 1 and 2 rounded the corner into the anchorage they were met with 20kts of wind with their spinnakers up! Once they got things under control they were kind enough to alert the rest of us about the high winds and to prepare ourselves accordingly. Sure enough we were hit with the same winds but had only our reefed main up as we entered.
We waited as boats 1 and 2 got themselves anchored and then we made our approach. Here arose a missed training opportunity in my arsenal of skills. In these windy conditions its best to use the windlass free fall function via a clutch and rod. That’s something I’ve never done before and we decided not to practice it here. This meant that while I dropped the anchor, Brad would have to do some heavy duty piloting to keep us from blowing back from our anchor too quickly as it had a long way to drop before it hit the sea floor below. I let out 150ft of chain as quickly as the windlass would release it, then another 50 and we let the boat pull back on it. Then we let out another 50ft. We sat there and watched to see if the boat would drag backwards or stay put. Once we confirmed that we weren’t going anywhere, I went to the anchor locker with Brad and untwisted the rest of our chain so it could come out of the windlass. He went back on deck and slowly released the rest of our chain, link by link. Eventually all four boats were settled into the anchorage, all appropriately spaced with dragging alarms set. Just before bedtime a whale and her calf visited the anchorage and got pretty close to our neighboring boat. What a treat for us all!
Accompanying the wind we had large southern swells rolling into the anchorage, hitting us stern first. As these swells roared into shore you could see their true power as they pounded into land, spraying water high into the sky. I spent a lot of time on deck observing the power of mother nature as it was the only place I could handle being without feeling seasick. The waves were bouncing off shore creating a washing machine type of sea state. Even with our flopper stopper deployed Perspective was rocking in every direction. Even the multi hulls were getting bounced around quite a bit, albeit their motion was arguably worse as it was a quick and harsh jostling back and forth. We all rode it out knowing the conditions would soften up. And sure enough things did improve as the day went on yesterday. Bringing us to today, Easter Sunday!
You may be wondering why we left our last anchorage and headed to this one? We would have received the same high winds and swells in San Benedicto but with the unwanted bonus of volcanic ash and grit landing everywhere on our boats. No thank you! We are very excited to explore the new dive sites around this anchorage and will keep you posted on what we see.
We hope that each of you are having a wonderful holiday weekend, spending it with those that you love! We thank you for the email responses back, they’ve been quite entertaining and great for crew morale. If you’re reading this message on our blog we can be reached via email at crew@svperspective.com.
We had been in the same spot at Isla San Benedicto for 10 days and wanted to get one more dive in before moving south to Isla Socorro. I am so glad we did as we experienced a first for us underwater. While we have had pretty close encounters with hammerhead sharks on this trip, it is normally one or two swimming around minding their own business. That’s good as we don’t want too close of an encounter, but it is nice to see these magnificent animals clearly.
Before we get into our sightings and pictures, I’ll talk a little about sharks here. If you are not aware, there are three variants of hammerhead sharks: The bonnethead, scalloped hammerhead and the great hammerhead. The bonnetheads are largely harmless, the scalloped not dangerous unless feeding or spearfishing, and the great hammerheads should be monitored as they *can* but rarely do get aggressive. We pretty much exclusively have the scalloped hammerheads here in the Revillagigedo islands and therefore are alert but not worried. Other sharks we see regularly are silkies, duskies, white-tipped reef sharks and silvertip sharks. The white-tipped reef shark isn’t considered dangerous and the rest are if there is spearfishing or feeding activities or a diver is trying to molest one (petting, riding, grabbing the fin/tail and other stupid activities). Again, we are alert but not concerned. The one shark we keep an close eye out for is tiger sharks. We have not seen any, but they are in the area and can be aggressive. Universally we are excited to see these magnificent creatures and surprisingly have never felt fear. I expect that’s largely because they show so little interest in us and just go about their sharky business.
Back to the dive, we had a great dive for April fool’s on what is known as the canyon. There is a fish/shark cleaning station where everyone congregates and gets ‘cleaned’ by the little fish, who then pick the parasites off the big fish. Amazingly, no one gets eaten… It’s an example of predator/prey cooperation in the wild and is fascinating to watch. While hanging out here, we saw our first school of hammerheads in the distance and it was beautiful!! A first for us and hopefully to be repeated.
Sorry for the clarity as they were right at the edge of our vision. This one is a bit better looking up from about 70 feet.
Happy April Fool’s day from Bruce!
Shifting gears, the wind was forecast to pick up, so we departed San Benedicto on April 2nd and sailed south 36nm to Isla Socorro and anchored at Punta Tosca( 18 46.894N, 111 02.722W). More about that in our next message.
We had our first experience of having to pull anchor in the middle of the night last night. It was a learning lesson for both of us as we made an error in judgement. But first, let me back up before we get to the juicy gossip of midnight re anchoring! When Brad and I first rolled into the San Benedicto anchorage we were quite tired and struggled to place our anchor in a spot that wasn’t caught in the rocks. The wind was blowing off of the volcano at a steady 20kts which had stirred up the visibility in the water. Finally on our fourth drop we found a place that seemed suitable. But was it really?! The next day we got in the water and dove our anchor and chain to find it mischievously wrapped around several boulders and making several 90 degree turns. It looked like a drunken sailor dropped anchor! Nevertheless, our gear was holding and we weren’t going to go anywhere with how the chain was set. In fact, it was set so well that the it snapped our “snubber” (a line connecting the chain to the boat acting as a shock-absorber) due to the chain wrapped around a rock right under the boat–See attached picture.
Yesterday the wind was low and Brad and I set about fixing our anchor situation once and for all. Brad was at the bow and I was at the helm following his instructions while we tried to get Perspective freed from the tangled mess below. We cautiously pulled forward and our attempts were met with hard yanks from below, pulling Perspective like a toy. This would require another tactic. Cue our amazing boat buddies, Bruce and Alene on Migration. They had just finished doing a dive and were suited up and offered to give us a hand. Alene kindly offered to hop in the water and provide directions to untangle our anchor chain from the surface. When she first had a look at our tangled mess, she gave a good chuckle. Not one to back away from a challenge she said we could do it! Brad and I resumed our stations and Brad followed Alene’s instructions and repeated them to me. Step by step we were able to get our chain free from the rocks below and eventually pulled up our anchor.
Now all we had to do was find a new place to drop the hook and once again Alene provided her snorkeling services. She located some sand between Paseo (another buddy boat) and the shore. We pulled into the spot, dropped the hook and sighed in relief as we knew we would be able to pull anchor in a hurry should an emergency arise. We were pretty close to Paseo, about 200ft or so but felt it was a safe enough distance to stay put. Here’s where we made our mistake. We had asked Paseo how much chain they had out, and we had about 70ft less than they did. Combine that with a change in wind direction and you end up with two boats that are very close together, ready to go bump in the night!
If it weren’t for an annoying squeak on deck that required some on deck investigation, we wouldn’t have known just how close we were to Paseo. Brad being the trooper that he is, went on deck to find the squeak and silence it, but not before calling me up there. Paseo was maybe 35 feet from Perspective! I uncovered our dodger glass, hailed Paseo on the radio to let them know that we were going to pull anchor and to stand by. It was a tense time for all of us as we placed fenders, stowed our flopper stopper and finally pulled the anchor. Once the anchor was up, Brad took the helm and we began the process of finding a new spot to anchor. The moon had yet to rise making the anchorage and the surrounding land quite dark and disorienting. We made several loops and finally it was decided we were going to anchor in another area altogether.
I went to the bow with a flashlight in my hand waiting on instructions to drop the anchor. I had the light shining in the water to see if I could spot rocks below, but all I could see were the curious sharks making their way around our boat. With the bright light shining on them they looked like ghosts as they swam ahead of us. I thought to myself this would not be a good time to fall in the water, and if I did, I’m pretty sure I would be running on the surface! Once Brad found a suitable spot he gave me the command to drop the anchor and let out 100ft of chain. I did exactly that and stuck my foot on the chain to feel for any skipping or dragging. The feedback I received was solid. The chain pulled taut and the boat lurched forward. I dropped more chain until we had 200ft laid out, then another 50ft to finish the job. Words cannot express how thankful I was that we did not get caught up in the rocks below (at least from what I can tell) but that will require some under water investigating later.
Feeling confident in our new spot we radioed our fleet of buddies and gave them our thanks for the offers of help and support. We definitely learned an important lesson and are so glad that we managed to avoid that imminent bump in the night!
The lesson for the day is to ensure our chain is the same length (scope) as our neighbors so that we move *together*…
We went back to the “Boiler” yesterday. It’s amazing what a difference a day can make. We only saw one manta swimming by in the distance, and the water clarity was much different. We also dove with a group from a dive boat, and you can see the density of divers in the picture. Maybe that has something to do with the larger life staying away… 🙂
It was still a wonderful dive, and we were joined by a couple on a fourth boat for our dive, so there are currently 8 of us in our cruising group. We also took advantage of a birthday last night to gather on one of the boats for cocktails and cake. So much fun!!
We plan to travel South to Isla Socorro tomorrow or the day after, and check out the dive spots there.
More later!
As always, we miss you at home and it makes us feel less isolated to read your emails, so don’t be shy!
P.S. I’m trying a new email ‘reply-to’ address as I have reports of some of you not getting our emails. If you haven’t, they are being posted to our blog at the address below.
The wind and swell has died a little bit and we dove an exposed pinnacle on the North West side of the Island called the “Boiler”. It is the signature dive at the islands here including a bronze plaque celebrating the creation of the marine preserve.
Sarah is really coming along having completed her 22nd dive today and is extremely comfortable in the water and is a very aware diver. That’s good as we keep an eye on the animals and each other. Unfortunately, I think she’s now ruined and will be bored seeing the pretty little fish… 🙂
This is truly a magical place and possibly the only time we will be here due to the remoteness of the islands and changing fees/laws for visitor. We are trying to enjoy every moment in this special place!
As always, we miss you at home and it makes us feel less isolated to read your emails, so don’t be shy!
We are anchored in beautiful San Benedicto next to a dormant volcano along with two other cruising boats (Migration & Strange Byrds). Since arriving the conditions have calmed down a bit and Perspective is no longer rolling to the point of crew insanity. We had a quick passage from La Cruz (320nm) taking about 52 hours with only 8 hours spent motoring. The wind was mostly on the beam or a little forward as we made our way to the island. It’s a comfortable and fast point of sail for Perspective and it doesn’t take much wind to keep her going.
Yesterday we had our first encounter with manta rays that inhabit the area. We went along with our buddy boats to a spot called the Manta Bommie. It’s about 100 yards from where Perspective is anchored. The Bommie is a rock formation that comes up straight up from the sea floor and the top remains about 20ft under water. True to it’s nickname, we did see Mantas there! Being a new diver I was nervous about how I’d handle seeing such large creatures in the water. Would I be scared? Would I panic? The reaction that ensued caught me completely off guard. Tears began forming behind my mask as I watched this beautiful creature soar over us. Did Brad put onions in my mask while I wasn’t looking?! I watched in complete awe! We ended up seeing two different mantas on this particular dive. Alene on Migration LOVES mantas and isn’t afraid to show it. She and I did a happy dance under water to celebrate our encounters.
Also in the area there are plenty of beautiful fish, all larger than we normally see due to the area being protected. We did see several sharks too! There were white tipped reef sharks that are small and completely cute, next up in size is the silky shark followed by the hammerhead that we saw lurking around the corner. The sharks didn’t seem to be interested in us and I’m OK with that. We’ve been told to do plenty of 360 degree checks and swivels as we dive the area so we aren’t caught off guard by a nearby shark.
We plan to stay here for a bit longer and eventually we will move the boat to Isla Socorro for a change of scenery. Until then we will continue to enjoy the various dive sites in our backyard. We hope each of you are doing great and have a wonderful weekend!
Now where did I leave off? Oh that’s right. We were just leaving Isla Estanque heading south to Bahia San Francisquito. It was a 44 nautical mile hop south. This passage meant that we would officially be leaving the Bahia de Los Angeles area until next season. We departed the anchorage, grateful for the protection and comfort it provided us the night before. The winds hadn’t picked up yet, so we were once again motoring, charging up our batteries, laptops and electronics as we went. It didn’t take long before the winds filled in and we were able to sail.
We had about 20kts of wind on our stern with following seas to go with it. Little by little the seas began to build and Perspective started to get tossed around. Perspective didn’t care. She carried on beautifully, the stern getting picked up by the waves and happily gliding down the troughs until the next wave came a few seconds later. As the hours and miles passed by, the conditions continued to build, with us seeing up to 29kts. Brad and I already had a reef in our mainsail and it was time to start reefing our headsail to get the boat under better control. Things got smoother once Brad took the helm and relieved our autopilot of its duty. It’s at the helm where you truly feel what is happening with the boat. Is she balanced? Do we need to reef (reduce sail)? In this case, all was OK and Brad was able to predict the upcoming swells and counter steer to them which made for a less rocky ride. The crew definitely approved!
Along the way we “raced” another boat on the horizon. It’s what you do when you see a boat going the same direction as you, you race. This particular boat happened to be a catamaran captained by a couple that we met in Puerto Penasco. We gave them a call on the radio and it turned out they were heading to the same anchorage as us. On this passage we maintained an average speed of 6kts and maxed at 10.2kts while surfing down a wave. It was a great sail, even if I was nervous for a lot of it.
Our race competition and Brad having fun while hand steering.
There are a few anchoring options in San Francisquito and based off the conditions we opted for the west anchorage. We settled in, made dinner and went to bed by 7! I woke up the next day excited to explore the shoreline with the camera. About a year ago, in the backyard of Brad’s childhood home, I became bird/nature obsessed. I found myself getting lost behind the lens observing life happening before my eyes. Fast forward to now, I was super excited to see a familiar place with a newfound appreciation for it’s critters that inhabited the shore. We recently upgraded to a new camera body and purchased a couple of zoom lenses. I call the largest lens the “bird bazooka”. Â
Night time views from Bahia San Francisquito
Eventually we gathered ourselves, the dog and the camera gear to head to shore. We heard coyotes crying the night before so we knew we had to keep a close eye on Sydney so she wouldn’t get lured away. It was not a problem once she got ahold of her stick and got into fetch mode! Brad kept Sydney entertained as I wandered the shoreline looking for victims to shoot with the bazooka. I was in heaven! There were tons of fly catchers landing on beautiful perches, butterflies happily fluttering along and hummingbirds chirping. There was a lot of life here in this desert arroyo. I slowly made my way to the end of the beach and found myself at the local watering hole. A roadrunner quickly caught my eye and I was surprised that it hung around, completely unafraid of my presence! Beep Beep! There were herons, kingfishers, gulls and an osprey all within bazooka range. Eventually it was time to go back to the boat and I could not wait to explore this area more over the length of our stay!
Tracks leading to a turtle nest, unfortunately the nest was raided by a couple of coyotes on shore.A couple of night herons resting in the bushes. The local flycatchers were so cute! The loggerhead shrike was a pleasant surprise to see!The infamous roadrunner that let me take its photo over the course of our stay. More photos of the cute roadrunner. Beep Beep!
The winds picked up and we found ourselves moving across the bay to another anchorage. This would be our daily routine, moving from one anchorage to another in search of comfort. This was Sydney’s preferred spot because there was a small sandy beach nearby without coyotes. It was also next to a proven spearfishing spot which made Brad pretty happy too! Speaking of spearfishing, Brad prepped all his gear and we took a spin to the nearby spot. I snorkeled as he hunted and searched for a delicious cabrilla, a type of sea bass to shoot. It only took one shot and Brad speared our dinner. He cooked it up with fresh garlic and that delicious “everything but the bagel” seasoning on top. Have you tried that seasoning yet? It is delicious and can be picked up at Trader Joe’s or any of the stores in the spice section.
A kingfisher in flight, Osprey perched on a cactus, and a Phoebe perched and ready to pounce. Gorgeous scenery views Perspective anchored in some still water…
We spent a total of 5 days in Bahia San Francisquito, continuing to play musical anchorages. Both of us were pretty darn happy just to be back in the water. We kept our eyes on the weather and noted a good window coming up, it was time to make our move down to Santa Rosalia. While I wasn’t stoked to be leaving, I was stoked to be heading towards civilization and a grocery store! I had been feeling a little stressed as I watched our vegetable supply dwindle down to half a zucchini, half a carrot and half of a cabbage. As a bonus, we would be meeting up with a couple of our cruising friends that were in Santa Rosalia! I’ll tell you all about our stay in Santa Rosalia in our next post! Take care, stay safe and have a great day!!! Happy Holidays from our crew to you!
After splashing Perspective we both took a sigh of relief knowing our time in the yard was finally done! It didn’t matter that we still had lots to do, things just felt better in the water. Our main priority was to get ourselves moved onto the boat and out of our apartment. Luckily we were able to borrow cars from our cruiser friends which made this process much easier. We figured we would move in stages rather than all at once. I’m glad we did it this way because it kept the chaos to a minimum. We would take a load to the boat, let the boat swallow it, then grab another load. This process went on until mid October and then we were completely aboard. It was great to be home again.
We live on a boat again!
Aside from putting all our belongings away, we had a few chores to do. One of which was sending Brad up the mast to correct the angle of our second spreaders. Brad being the clever man that he is, created a special tool for the job so he could make sure the angles were correct while he was aloft, rather than going up and down several times to check. We ended up borrowing a pulley system from a friend that made it much easier to send Brad up. Rather than me cranking on the winch at the mast, he hauled himself up while I kept the line tight on the winch acting as a safety backup. Once the spreaders were tweaked to their correct position, we sent Brad up with a hose and rag to wash the rigging of dirt and filth. Boy was it filthy! The water cascading from the rigging was completely brown, with no regard for our freshly washed deck.
Captain Brad cleaning the rigging.
It wasn’t long before the jobs were ticked off the list and Perspective was ready to head out! Our plan was to leave midday and arrive to our destination the following morning. I had been dreading the overnight component to our “shakedown” sail, but there was no getting around it. We left the dock on Thursday, October 29th with plenty of nerves jittering. We told ourselves if something goes wrong, we can always turn around and go back. As we headed out of the slip we were immediately focused on dodging shrimp boats that were moving about the harbor. Once we got a safe distance from the harbor, we focused on getting our sails up. We decided to rig the first reef in the mainsail just in case the winds piped up mid passage. We then got ourselves on course and let out the headsail. Ahhhh the moment the engine shuts off and the boat becomes powered by the wind is indescribable. Rather than plowing through the water, you gracefully glide with sounds of lapping water rather than a droning engine.
The happy crew sailing away from Penasco!
We continued to sail for as long as the winds allowed and then it was time to turn on the “iron genny”, the engine. Brad took the first watch and I relieved him at midnight until 4am. It was a calm night and I remember looking to the top of our mast, imagining it to be dancing with the constellations in the sky. The moon was full, the seas were flat and the wind was calm. Not a bad combo for our first overnight after 14 months in boat jail. Brad came up at 4am and I was beyond happy to see his smiling face as he climbed into the cockpit. Ahhh it was time for sweet, sleepy oblivion! I came back up at 7am and it wasn’t long before we were discussing where we were going to anchor. The weather forecast allowed us to comfortably anchor in the western side of Refugio. It was our first time in this anchorage and I am so glad we dropped the hook there. We had beautiful mountain views that changed constantly with the light in the sky. At times the mountains were shades of blue and gray, other times, it glowed a fiery red or orange!
Same mountains, different hours of the day.
Once settled, Brad went down for a well deserved nap and I sat the in the cockpit, camera in hand, marveling at the beauty of where we were! We were finally free from the stresses that plagued us on land and were able to enjoy a moment of stillness. I noted in my journal that “I am feeling so content and relaxed on anchor. There is no crazy running around, errands to run, or obligations. We make our plans and do as we please.” This is freedom at its finest! Our plan that day was to cut Sydney’s hair, take her for a swim and get ourselves in the water. Sydney agreed and we dropped the dinghy, loaded her up and zipped her to shore. This kind of routine carried on for a few days until the weather told us it was time to head south.
Sydney’s happy place, riding the bow of the dinghy!Sydney the beach babe!My heart is full with these two!Spying on Perspective…Beautiful Refugio….
Our next stop would be a new one for us, Ensenada Pulpito, located on the eastern side of Angel La Guarda island. We’d heard great reports from other cruisers and were excited to see it for ourselves. It would be a quick 5 hour hop south. Along the way we picked up some escorts. No, not those kind of escorts. We picked up hundreds of dolphin escorts! We were guided from every angle and I had no idea where to look! I changed lenses on our camera three times trying to find the best way to capture them. My favorite spot is at the front of the bow; sitting above the anchors, feet dangling, getting splashed by dolphin snot. What more could you ask for?!
Along the way Brad took the opportunity to make water. He filled our water tanks and emptied our worries about the system not working after being decommissioned for so long. Having the ability to make water makes our quality of life increase exponentially! Showers all around!
We approached the anchorage and watched as Sydney thrust her nose towards shore, sniffing wildly. This was our cue to get the dinghy down and get ourselves to shore. We had a large swell that day, creating breaking waves on shore. We decided to anchor the dinghy in deeper water and all swam in, much to Sydney’s delight! We did a little exploring and discovered a gorgeous estuary behind the sand dunes. Ensenada Pulpito anchorage is at the base of a valley with mountains sloping upwards on either side. Absolutely stunning and we can’t wait to go back again for another visit. We stayed two nights and decided to keep moving south.
Views from the ground in Ensenada PulpitoViews from the sky in Ensenada PulpitoPlaying in Sydney’s paradise!
As we departed Pulpito the winds were non existent. We motored, carrying our unwanted friends with us. I haven’t mentioned these friends yet, but I will now. These unwanted friends are called No See Ums. They are the biggest jerks! In fact, Brad and I have been getting bit up ever since our first anchorage in Refugio. This made for long nights of scratching, hiding inside the boat, and being a little cranky/crazy. So you could imagine my disappointment that these buggers wouldn’t leave our cockpit while I was at the helm. I steered the boat while simultaneously slapping my legs, ankles and toes. Killing those bastards one at a time. Eventually the wind picked up and we were able to sail. Thankfully our unwanted friends were blown out of the cockpit!
Clearly Brad was the crowd favorite.
Our plan was to sail to a highly recommended island known as Isla Partida. You know what they say about plans? We quickly got reminded that Mother Nature is in charge and that our plans were not going to happen that day. What happened? The winds picked up well above the forecasted amount. This meant our intended anchorage would be a no go. We figured the island was not large enough to create a protected area from the swells. Plan B had us heading over to Isla Estanque, a quick detour that was along our way.
We anchored on the south side of the island, protected from the seas and northern winds. What we didn’t expect was a strange wrap around swell that came up as the tide went up. We were getting rocked side to side but knew things would improve once the tide went back down. Unfortunately for Sydney, the conditions were a little too wild for us to feel comfortable leaving Perspective unattended. We swung on our anchor for the night and made plans to voyage to Bahia San Francisquito the next morning. But first, we enjoyed a beautiful sunrise! Can you believe these views and colors?!
Sunrise views in Isla Estanque
I’ll fill you in on our passage south to San Francisquito in the next post. I hope you’re all having a great week! Take good care of yourselves and we shall see you in the next blog (which should be coming soonish). Cheers from the crew!
Before I wrap this up, I just want to give a huge shout out to Brad. The stress of preparing the boat, testing the systems and repairing the failures mostly fell on his shoulders. While we weren’t playing with Sydney on shore or taking a quick moment to relax, he was buried in projects. From repairing the water maker, fixing our dinghy motor and worst of all, servicing a plumbing leak, he got it all done. I know this wasn’t easy and it is much appreciated. Thank you, Brad, for all that you do to keep your girls happy! I love you!
Brad diagnosing the tilting mechanism that seemed to be stuck. Another surprise from being in Penasco for so long!
Thats right guys, we are back in the water! Brad and I had had enough of being landlubbers, so we drew the line and picked a date to splash. It was the day before Brad’s 50th birthday. After being out of the water for 13 months and 1 day, the idea of splashing was both an exciting and terrifying thought. We were crossing our fingers and toes that we would not encounter any problems with the repairs we had done. We were worried about taking on water through any of the thruhulls or having the engine give us trouble.  A few days prior to splashing we tested the engine on land, just to check for any hidden surprises.  We used a garden hose to flush and provide the necessary water through the system and everything went as it should have. Which left us with the “we better not start sinking” worry. That would mean an immediate haulout and we were not looking to be on the hard any longer!
With the splash time quickly approaching, we had to prepare the boat to be back in the water. We removed all sun covers, cleared the cockpit, ran the dock lines, opened thruhulls, placed the fenders and prepared ourselves to be trailered across the yard to the TravelLift. Any time the boat moves on land it is completely unnatural and quite stressful. Somehow during this maneuver, Brad ended up on the ground while I was left on the boat with the trailer moving us. I tried to play it cool but in reality I was sweating bullets the entire time. Eventually we were trailered up to the TravelLift. The slings wrapped around Perspective’s belly and we were airborne. Our boat was essentially flying through the yard at the mercy of the lift operator, no pressure Pancho, no pressure at all! As we crept forward towards the water the excitement was hard to contain and so was the fear of the unknown. Eventually Brad was let back onto the boat as we got closer to the water. He was immediately off to install a last minute part down below deck and I was on deck watching the water get closer and closer to the hull. Â
After what seemed like forever, the boat made contact with the water. Brad and I both went down below to check for leaks. I had my eyes on the bilge, watching for rushing water but none came. Whew!!! Next up was to start the engine. Brad did the necessary steps, the engine cranked over smoothly and water immediately exited the muffler as it should.  We were golden!  Things happened in a giddy blur after this. The dock lines were thrown back on deck by the yard workers and we motored forward out of the slings. Brad captained Perspective to her new slip in complete control. As luck would have it, a nice gentleman was at the dock and took our lines as we approached. We tied up, took a deep breath, hugged, high-fived and celebrated with a well deserved rum and coke! The splash was a success but the work is far from done. Stay tuned as we get ourselves and the boat sea worthy! Cheers and thanks for reading.   I hope each of you are happy, healthy and enjoying the weekend! Â
Perspective trailered up and ready to roll and one happy captain!Going for a trailer ride to the lift…Our amazing lift operator, Pancho, and views of Perspective approaching the water…Splashed with a fancy new view!
It’s been a long time coming and we figured it was time to post an update. We’ve officially been out of the water just shy of 10 months, and I can honestly say time has flown and crawled at the same time. We hauled Perspective out of the water on September 5th, 2019 to spend quality time with family and to get a few projects done while she’s out of the water. We spent about 3 months in the states, enjoying the extended time with family, friends and all that the US has to offer.
After those 3 months were up, we headed back to Perspective while Brad handled one of the most labor intensive jobs possible. He peeled every inch of the bottom of our boat, 1/8″ deep. We’ve known all along that Perspective had blisters, and we figured while we were in one of the driest climates around, we would get the job done. You might be wondering what blisters are, let me explain. Back in the day when Perspective was being built in the shipyard in Taiwan, there was a slight hiccup in their process of laying fiberglass layers. This hiccup was not specific to Perspective, in fact, a lot of boats built in that era have the same issue. Ok, so back to what a blister is. There are multiple types and layers of fiberglass used while constructing a boat. When the yard laid up the top layer of fiberglass called the mat layer, it wasn’t completely saturated. This allowed small voids between the top two layers of fiberglass to appear. Over time, salt water crept it’s way into those voids creating a liquid filled pocket, a blister. The size of the blisters varied and we knew we needed to address the large ones. After some exploratory surgery, more like “pimple popping”, we discovered that these blisters smelled like sour vinegar and were quite acidic. Gross! Our girl could not be tainted with these unsightly and stinky pustules any longer! It was time for “Dr. Harley” to find a cure.
Unfortunately the cure, peeling, took 14 days of back breaking work and literally went inch by inch. The tool Brad used was heavy, weighing about the size of a bowling ball, and awkward to hold. If you know Brad, you know he is one to do his research before diving into a project and he does it right. The research he conducted paid off in spades when the peel was done and the bottom was smooth and blister free. After the peel was completed, we had to let the boat sit and essentially dry out. The hull was carrying moisture from those blisters and we wanted to make sure everything was as dry as possible before covering it back up again.
While the hull was drying out, we turned our attention to other projects. Such as replacing the gaskets in our 17 port lights, which in theory, will stop some of the pesky leaks we had been getting. Brad completed various plumbing projects, installed a new inverter which will power our blender and other power tools beautifully, removed and installed new chainplates (this was another major project), removed and sold our diesel generator that was no longer necessary, removed and sealed thruhulls that were no longer needed, and sealed up the old generator exhaust muffler. Oh and we have a shiny, newly painted transom (rear end of the boat). One could say that Perspective has gone through another refit.
While we planned for the projects to take some time, we didn’t plan on a global pandemic happening in the middle of it. We are super fortunate that we’ve been able to hunker down in an apartment near the boat yard and stay in complete comfort while we wait things out. We are also blessed that our family has remained healthy and that they are keen to use Zoom so we can get our “family time” fix. This goes for friends as well! It’s been 4 months since we’ve been to the states and we know we have at least one more trip north in our future. The timing of our return is still unknown, but I suspect we will know when the time is right.
You may be wondering what it’s like to be in Mexico during Covid. I can say that I am proud of the town we are in for taking Covid-19 seriously. Until recently Penasco was on complete lockdown and tourists were not allowed into the town. Our only time spent out of the apartment was to go to the boat, walk Sydney or grab groceries. Entering a grocery store goes like this: one person per household is allowed to enter, your temperature is checked, your hands and cart are sanitized and you are required to wear a mask. The great thing is that everyone complies with these rules, so shopping feels “safe”. About two weeks ago, the town surrendered and opened up to tourists, and with this opening, the port opened as well. This means Perspective could potentially splash and resume cruising once the projects are completed.
We are anxiously looking forward to getting back in the water but are also anxious about what is going to happen in the next couple of months. The virus seems to be spreading at an alarming rate and it is unknown what the next moves will be regarding port and town closures. Current cruising conditions are not what they used to be. In populated areas cruisers are tiptoeing, trying their best to be respectful of the rules. For some areas, this means no swimming or aquatic activities, and certainly no beach visits. One can get around this by staying in remote anchorages but eventually a trip to town for groceries becomes necessary. Our worry is that those visits to shore will not be welcome by the locals who are afraid of us spreading the virus to them. This is a legitimate concern because most small villages in Mexico do not have clinics or hospitals. Medical care is often several hours away on treacherous roads, bringing their risk even higher.
For now, we will continue to hunker down and chip away at our project list and dream of the day we can get back in the water. When that time comes, Perspective is well equipped for us to be able to quarantine for a few weeks to ensure the safety of others.
Well folks, there’s our latest update. We hope this message finds you healthy and happy during these unique and challenging times!
