0 The Jefe goes on a Magical Mystery Adventure. March/2024.

My cruising season in Mexico was rapidly coming to a close and it was time to beat feet for Guaymas where I intend to haul out. Sailors Run was resting at anchor in Chamela bay by the small town of Perula. The plan was to depart the afternoon of Monday the 25th of March. The weather for the passage looked good the night before but as one might expect on the day of departure the forecast was offering up stronger winds on the nose. Oh, well 20 kts verses 15 kts wasn’t earth shattering news and both Sailors Run and I were up for a little challenge.

  We were underway by 3 pm and should make it to La Cruz in Banderas Bay by 3pm the following day. The seas were up as it has been blowing out here for days and 6 to 8 ft. waves were pretty common, and the crests were sometimes just 40 feet apart making for an uncomfortable ride, lots of hobby horsing going on. It became obvious to me that the winds were increasing to 25 30 kts so I dropped my reefed mizzen, and we slugged on under full main and stay sail.

Normally we would reach Cabo Corrientes the entrance to Banderas Bay early in the morning, but this now looked like it would be dark before reaching the bay, still no big deal except for what happened that afternoon. My auto pilot steering system failed and now I was stuck at the wheel all the time Hmmmmmm!

  About 3pm, some 24 hrs into the trip I stood up in the cockpit and stepped up on to the deck and everything was wet from salt spray and a piece of line ended up under my left foot and I slipped back into the cockpit a drop of about 18 inches where I lost my balance falling back and bashing my head on a large stainless steel base plate for a dinghy davit. I heard my skull go crunch and some vertebrae in my neck pop! I possibly cussed at this point and was not pleased when my hand came back soaked in blood after feeling the wound. I dashed below and grabbed some paper towels and applied pressure to stop the bleeding. Just a few minutes later I put my hat with a string on it over the towels and synched it down promising myself that later I would clean and disinfect the wound. It was now that I noticed the boat seemed to be staying on course, so I decided to shut the engine down and check the oil. The motor was a half a quart low so soon it was topped up, but the damn thing would not start! This has been happening way to often so now I carry a starter battery that I had to dig out and carry to the engine with my head throbbing. I knew that the situation was becoming a bit too much, so once back on deck I dropped the stay sail and was content to labor forward at about 2-3 knots and just hang in there.

  It was late afternoon and I notice something very strange, there appears to be fir needles all over my boat everywhere I look! I try to pick them up, but it is impossible as they are not really there. I think of the bashing my head took and started to wonder. Oh well I’m at least back steering and we are moving ahead.

I look forward and am shocked at what I see, sitting on the port side by the pirate knockers are two girls, one about 15 and what appears to be a younger sister who is being groomed by the older one. Now if this is not creepy enough on the fore deck are 4- little boys goofing around up there. The boys seem to be trying to hide behind the mast. I look again at the girls, and they seem to be smiling at me so I wave at them, but it seems they don’t actually see me. This passage is getting totally freaky, so I duck below for a minute then come back up hoping they are gone. No way! they are all still there and hang around for what must have been an hour, and they were getting lots of sea spray at their forward locations. “Help Mr. Wizard it just might be time for the Jefe’ to go home”.

  Now that the kids are gone it seems to me, I’m on Sailors Run and Debbie is on a different boat, and we are trying to enter Banderas Bay. We are making little headway and are tacking back and forth. Finally, I stay on the starboard tack heading what I think to be north to find the other side of the bay. I have no chart plotter and one of my GPS disappeared this year so I have but one Garmin and it will only operate on external power and the course that it has in it for La Cruz doesn’t show the boat on it. I’m totally amazed at how big the seas are in Banderas Bay. I have the radar on the 16-mile range and after 6 hrs. I can’t believe I see no land ahead of me. I have the position for La Cruz in my logbook, so I look at my coordinates and the longitude are way off. Now I fire up my computer and open up CPN to find where I’m at on the chart “holy s–t”! I’m 20 miles west of the Bay entrance going the wrong way!

  Wow, my brain is on overload, and this just seems to become a real “nightmare”. I stare at the chart like a lost puppy and decide that I must sail east back into the bay that I have yet to find my way into. I have now been underway for nearly 60 hours and not one wink of sleep.

I start motor sailing east at good speed and its around 3am on Thursday when suddenly the power goes off on Sailors Run and I shut the engine down thinking we have blown a belt on the alternator. Guess what? the belt is found to still be there, but I change it out anyway because it was suspect. I add another half a quart of oil and guess what? even my starting battery with just the jumper cables is not enough juice to turn the engine over with any speed. Now our situation has deteriorated even further as there is no motor, no lights, no ais, no gps. On the bright side the radar still works and the fuel solenoid for the propane stove still works so, a fresh pot of coffee is started.

The boat is sailing well with jib and main and we are doing about 6 kts is my guess.

  It was just an hour of that and the wind completely drops out “S–t”. my mind is overwhelmed, my body aches and it is all I can do to stay awake. I can see Cabo Corrientes light which is abaft my beam and feel I’m inside the bay but just barely and who knows when the wind will fill in again. My body says do nothing; my brain always looks for solutions so when it came up with the idea to launch the dinghy “El Jefe the warrior rises to the occasion”! There is still a six-foot swell running and its dark, so I first unstrap the dinghy from the deck, flip it over and pump it full of air. The launch is hairy as I only want the dinghy over the side. I yard it up with the main halyard now it is swinging wildly about as Sailors Run rolls gunnel to gunnel. I watch and wait for my chance to get in behind on a swing out and get it up and over the lifelines. I manage to make this happen and drop the dinghy into the sea.

Wholly crap! one minute the dinghy is 6 feet below the cap rail then the next second it is above the lifelines. My plan is to get the motor on the dinghy, a 6hp 2 stroke and lash the dinghy amid ship to the port side of Sailors Run. Once the motor is full of fuel and laying on deck, I time a leap into the dinghy and just barely stay aboard as the dinghy yanks at the lines that attach it fore and aft. I look for the flattest stretch of water and grab the motor and yank it into the dinghy. I did however have a safety line on the motor so it could not go to the bottom if I lost control of it. I secure the motor on the stern of the dinghy and tie the helm amid ships so it will power straight ahead. I start the motor and let it warm up before I put it in gear and coming up on the towing lines. Next, I tape the throttle in the 2/3rds power position and clamor back aboard Sailors Run.

  I steer into the night doing about 2 knots and heading East, and it was comforting to know day light was coming and we were headed home. Before daybreak I had several mystical happenings, an encounter with strange wooden vessels with twinkling lights aboard, and at one point I went right into one as nothing was showing on the radar and I see wreckage falling about and at one point a bare chested 30-year-old guy was on my bow. I yelled at him and asked what he was doing, and he suddenly disappeared. Day light came and I was no less tired, but the mystical happenings seemed to be a night thing. I now knew I was in the bay and recognized the land masses and creep forward for LA Cruz and a chance to drop the hook in a familiar place and sleep for two days.

  The winds were light on this day so about every 2hrs I would fill the gas tank on the dinghy and power on. At 2pm I roll out the jib and we start moving a little faster towards our destination.

Its 3pm on Thursday and I have hit the 72 hours mark with no sleep. I actually nod off and bang my forehead on the wheel as staying awake is starting to look like a thing of the past. It also scares me to see the sun getting low on the horizon and still quite away’s to go before getting to the anchorage. La Cruz is hard to find at night without gps. My worst fears become reality it has become nighttime, and we are still 3-miles away and the mystical demons have returned and now I’m looking at my radar and seeing open water ahead, but my eyes see something very different, the lights along the shore have surrounded me and there are those weird boats with twinkling lights everywhere. I’m plowing through them but know there are real boats up ahead somewhere and decide to hell with this. I see what appeared like a little bay further east, so I head for that, get in the middle and drop the anchor. The anchor chain rattles out and after 100 feet of chain is out it becomes too heavy to stop so I let it run all 300 ft of chain.! I don’t know anything other than now I can sleep, and I crash into bed at 8:45pm and sleep till 7-am on Friday.

  Morning comes and we are still where we anchored. I must hoist the anchor by hand using the sail winch to grind the chain back in 25 ft. at a time. At last its up and once again the dinghy takes us the last two miles to the right anchorage.

  Now there is another whole side to this adventure, and I feel so sorry for all those that worried and feared the worst. My loving wife Debbie was worried out of her mind and was using every available friend and person in the area to try and start a search for me.

She is all Sailors Run and I was never alone in my challenge. El Jefe. Pictures to come later.

www.sailorsrun.com

0 JEFFE & ALL ON UKIYO:

Since Jan 23 until today, Jan 25th, they have been steadily moving towards Martinque, doing some motoring & sailing. Having no problems so all is well aboard They have 1,077 nm to go.

15’33 N-42’33 W

What they did do on the 24th, stopped the boat for 2 hrs where all 7 aboard had a mid-ocean swim time, saw no fish, no sharks just a refreshing time. He said Stratton, the young boy freaked out and Dan had to go get him, the others swam like fish.

Although when jeff dove in & when he came up the boat had moved away from where he was, so he had a hard time trying to get to the boat as he had 1/2 knot current against him about 200 ft away, so he swam like crazy & needless to say he was exhausted.

Can also go to www.sailorsrun.com to see adventures

0 JEFF AND CREW GETTING ACTION

Jan 20th-17’47 N-30’43 W Lots of squalls so going slower, did 179 nm, doing 6-7 kts

Jan 21st-17’12 N- 32’59 W- Caught a 10lb dorado, conditions were good, sunny, hot, altho they received information that a 50 ft sailboat-an Amel sailing to Martinque had gotten dismasted in where the mainsail took out the mizzen sail in 10 kts of wind, on this day they are 400 miles ahead of Ukiyo about 4 days out, theory could be a piece of rigging failed?

The plan is to catch up with the Amel and transfer fuel about 100 gallons if possible? Dan, Jeff are now trying to come up on how they will do this, as they have 1 jug onboard! Knowing these two their heads are spinning, some crazy thoughts but yet it will be a smart plan? I said to Jeff, Please, don’t go sucking on any hoses!!

Stay tuned for that day

Jan 22nd monday- 16’52 N- 35’39 W- 1500 nm to go

The other day the squall at 40 kts of wind got ahold of the Geniker as it was abit out, and tangled it up so the guys had to wrestle it and lay it down on the deck until winds became light, so on this day they were able to unwrap it as you can see the picture that was sent this is the way it went, looking more like a cork screw on the ocean. Am sure it was a Hoot!!

0 BACK TO THE ADVENTURE OF JEFFE

Jan. 15th, were at 24’16 n 19’10 w doing 7 kts

Jan 16th, 22’30w 20;44 w, while jeff on watch he was hitting 9.7 sometimes 10kts, was he ever excited to be at the helm.

Jan 17th 21’01 N 22’29 W motor sailing at 6kts

Jan 18th 19’29 W 24′ 59 N, had finally gotten some good winds as they head west, having 5-6 ft seas and 10-15 kts of wind, all had been comfortable at sea, were experiencing squalls.

It helps me know where they are, so I look on windyty.com for their winds, seas and position and how much closer to their destination.

0 UPDATE ON THE JEFFE

JANUARY 14TH

Jeffe called me at 830am mst time, his time was 330pm, he is 7 hrs ahead. He was on watch and sun was shining.

On Catamaran Ukiyo they were motor sailing at 6kts, winds 7kt, seas flat, but swell was picking up so jeff was hoping to get some winds soon. He wants to see how this cat can fly, Hee Hee

All 7 bodies on board are doing great

Latitude 26’13 n- Longitude 17;19 west

0 JEFFE AND CAT UKIYO:

Jan 13th. They left Las Palmas headed to Cape Verde around 1130am today their time.

They have decided to take 2 German young ladies who are backpackers along for the ride to Martinique, so now 7 bodies on board, hey! it’s a big boat, the more the merrier so they say!

Jeff say’s at first it was a bit rough leaving the anchorage heading on the east side of the Island.

When he called his time was 3pm he was going on watch till 6pm.

He believes it will take 4 days to Cape Verde passing it by and start heading west.

So far all is going good!- In which we all sailors know, wind and waves can change at any second, so always be on your Toes (meaning to be alert and ready to respond-

God Speed My friend.

0 UPDATE ON THE JEFE

January 10th at 9am MST time, which was 3pm there time

They arrived at Las Palmas de Gran Canaria which belongs to Spain.

having to go thru the procedures of checking in, dog & cat as well

They plan is to stay till Jan 12th where they will try to sail to Cape Verde.

Jeff says, everyone has taken their turn at steering the boat w/o

autopilot, so far so good. All is well onboard so far, Yea!

These pictures I found online, to show you a map and where they might be, Awaiting pictures later.

0 NEWS FROM THE JEFFE’S TRIP

On the Catamaran Ukiyo after doing major provisioning at Costco they left Gibraltar January 6th very early in the morning going across the Straits of Gibraltar (which happens to be 8 miles wide) and going along the coast of Morrocco motor sailing at 5-6 knots hanging a left on the Atlantic Ocean going south to the Canary Islands. They do have some sails up. They did not see any of the Orcas whales that have been attacking boats on the entrance of Gibraltar.

Jeff says: since the boat is 30 ft wide at times, he finds himself crawling to get to where he needs to go on the boat, only 1 person has gotten seasick, but all is going good so far.

Bethany and her daughter are keeping him well fed, says Great Food!

Stay tuned for more action,

0 UPDATE: ON EL JEFE AND CREW ON CATAMARAN UKIYO

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE AND MAY IT BE A BLESSED ONE

On New Years Eve they arrived in Gibraltar after a Grueling 55-hour passage from Valencia, Spain having the wind on the nose.

They are at a Marina waiting for a weather window to head out on the Atlantic to the Canary Islands.

They took on fuel $1200 for 300 gallons of Diesel in which they carry 500 gallons. Jeff said the boat became very noisy and no matter on his watch adjusting sails to better sail didn’t work. This is all new for him, with 2 pontoons. Lots of ship traffic, fishing boats, Everyone on board is doing their jobs and doing great. They visited the rock and will go shopping at Costco on Tuesday

Here is a little info about Ukiyo: Built in 2010, cost was a Million dollars, it is 61.5 ft, beam 30 feet, height of mast 96 feet. 2-150 hp diesel generators (Yanmar), batteries capacity is 70kw-4 lithium.

Sails consist of Main, staysail, genoa, geniker. solar panels 2600 watts

Watermaker makes 35 gals an hr. has washer, dryer, dishwasher, 2 refrigerators, 2 freezers. icemaker and 4 cabins w/each queen size beds, shower and heads. air conditioners, heaters.

If you want to see the boat and crew can go to: INSTAGRAM@CRUISINGUKIYO

0 SHARING ANOTHER ADVENTURE FOR MY HUBBY-EL JEFE

Not sure if you all received his adventure story, the one he sends out too many of you all? So am updating you on his new adventure:

He said: This winter season is to be one of great adventure for El Jefe’ My son, Daniel and his Girlfriend, & her 2 kids have reached out to me to help them sail their recently purchased 61 ft Privilege Catamaran, a cruise of 4,000 NM., from Spain, Gibraltar to Antigua in the Caribbean.

Jeff flew from Manzanillo, Mexico to Barcelona, Spain, where they then left Barcelona, Dec 26th to Valencia, Spain motoring 165 nautical miles

At Latitude 39’25 N- Longitude 000’19 W

Dec 29th they will leave for Gibraltar at 6am, hoping to take 3 days getting there. He has a phone to call me but only when he is close to land, so I will not hear from him for those days, but as soon as I do I will post and keep you all updated, keep your fingers crossed for a safe passage.