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Sailing Log from the Sea of Cortez – Part 4 • Isla Monserrate & Diving Las Galeras
Jump to: Part 1 • Part 2 • Part 3 • Part 4
As the journey continues…
Voyage aboard the sailing vessel Defiant seeking fun in the Sea of Cortez. With a first leg goal of Guaymas, where some additional refitting will be done to the boat, the Defiant continues in a multi part literary adventure in the Sea of Cortez.
by Capt. Tom
After battling the north wind in the Sea of Cortez to find anchorage at Isla Monserrate, the next day dawned still and bright. Monserrate is one of the quieter islands in the area. Large power yachts rarely disturb the night with the drone of a generator and since the anchorages are not as tenable as other close by, you can often have Monserrate to yourself. This was the case on this particular morning.
Following our torn sail of the day before, I sipped coffee, crunched a bagel and assessed the damage. This headsail was toast and the broken tubing on the staysail roller furling needed to be repaired or replaced before the next tack tore another sail. I launched into rigging the new headsail while May slept off a one-on-one conversation with a bottle of Cazadores Tequila the night before
Because Monserrate isn’t the most hospitable, you can claim it for your own. During the cruising season the winds can switch from NNW and NNE and turn to SSW at night. This means the anchorage chosen during the day or evening can become quite untenable at night, or visa versa. Summer is probably the best time to visit Monserrate as the winds are predominantly from the SSW and night winds become increasingly rare. Yellowstone beach, on the north side of the island is great when you can guarantee you won’t have winds from any of the high points. In a north wind you would be pinned to a lee shore.
With glass calm seas I raised anchor and single handed my way to the northern anchorage.
The major benefit of summer anchorage at Yellowstone is the snorkeling and diving about two miles to the north. There are two small plateau like islets that erupt form a rocky bar that extends north from Monserrate known as Las Galeras. There are no landing areas on the islets and the water drops quickly away from these abrupt points of land to as much as 150’ on the west side. Snorkeling is best on the north and west sides where the waves have broken away the larger rocks, creating a rich marine environment for the smaller surface creatures. The west side of the two little islets provides very interesting diving along a bluff wall. I wouldn’t quite qualify it to those who like wall dives, but the rapid change in depth makes a very good dive. The east side drops off quickly too, but I have found the diving more interesting on the west side.
A rocky and shallow strip extends north from Monserrate to Las Galeras and by 9AM Defiant was anchored off Yellowstone Beach and the dive gear was ready to load into the dingy. May downed a cup of coffee and choked down a bagel and I believe purely to show I was not the subject of her rage, summoned up a weak smile and the fortitude to disembark to the dingy.
Again, the joy of having a more than adequate dink for exploring the Sea came shining though as 4 tanks, two people and a Labrador zipped across the 2 miles of open water to Las Galeras in less than 7 minutes. Please try to set your hooks carefully when visiting the dive sites in the Sea. This one is not particularly frequented by divers, as are those closer to La Paz and Loreto, but the more popular dive sites show the signs and scars of hundreds of ground hooks per year. Part of the park fees collected for your visit to the protected islands of the Sea is earmarked for the installation of moorings in the popular locations.
I’ve tried a variety of ways to cure hangovers in my time, from the hair of the dog and “Goodies Powders” to hot peppers. May was about to discover that adrenaline is the best and fastest way to cure ‘cruda’ – SHARK! I have had one wild shark encounter before, but I assure you, had I had a hangover, I would have been cured as well.
We were in our decent, down about 80’ of water when May tugged on my fin and pointed to a large shadow moving in our direction along the wall to our north. Sharks are prevalent in the Sea. I have seen plenty of Mako sharks, even on the east side of Espiritu Santos. Although our angle was poor, the lighting was good and I’m pretty sure it was a Tiger Shark, about 12-14 feet long. Mako sharks have a more pointed snout and cylindrical body; where as Tigers have a more muscular body and for lack of better words, more resemble the World War II submarine that bore their name. Those steely black eyes seemed to look right through us, but he actually seemed more interested in our bubbles breaking above us. Tiger sharks are reputed to be the second most agressive shark, second only to the Great Whites and one up from Hammerheads. All three shark species have been found in the Sea of Cortez.
I recalled a scientific study which said sharks are attracted to the electronic impulse of a panicked heart, all you have to do is control and slow your heart beat. For those of you who scoff, try slowing your heart down sometime when an 800lb eating machine is 75’ away.
There again I flashed on an old joke of the two hikers, the grizzly bear and a single pair of sneakers. How much do you have to slow your heart down? More than the diver next to you!
The shark ambled just about 20’ over us and didn’t even twitch a fin as it disappeared into the blue. We stared and followed every move until it was well out of sight then turned simultaneously to each other and flashed the two thumbs up with eyes wide exclaiming “THAT was cool!” With a woman’s prerogative May suddenly signaled she wanted to surface. Now at 90’ it was time to begin working our way up anyway, so I agreed. Although we were very near the end of the dive season it was one of the most colorful and interesting dives I have taken, even without the shark.
When I got to the surface behind her, May was spewing Spanish words I had only previously heard spoken in a seedy Mexican bar while someone looked for their teeth on the floor after a fight.
“I left my f@#*$ camera in the boat!” She roared. May never dove without her sexy little Sony underwater digital camcorder. I re gifted the tiny camera to May for her birthday, given to me by a friend who is a professional photographer and gets 'gimmes' from the manufacturer. (in exchange for comments like this one) About the size of a pack of king sized cigarettes, it shoots more HD video than you have air in your tank. It has a variety of accessories including a 'helmet cam' attachment and is good down to 120'. It is neutrally buoyant. Due to be released under $200 in the US for Christmas 2010 – they are slick!
Because we surfaced and shortened the dive, we still had a fair amount of shallow water air left. We worked the shallows around the rocks for 40 min or so. May grabbed the Hawaiian Sling and went off her own way, camera dangling from the left wrist. In less than 10 minutes her beaming face appeared, a very healthy Pargo (well, except for the perforating spear) in tow. “On my first shot!” she exclaimed, barely able to life the catch out of the water. Her first shot EVER I will add.
As we loaded the bounty into the dingy and motored back to the Defiant it was still glassy flat. May reluctantly divulge that she needed to get back in cell phone communication by the end of the day. I needed to check my email as well, so we weighed anchor and motored for Los Candeleros.
We covered about half the approximately 12 miles in less than an hour. With a short day and sunset just around the corner it was a schedule altering event when the old Perkins 4-108 diesel let out a bang and a squeal then belched out an impressive plume of black smoke – and died. Innamay was stunned when I just laughed at the obvious disaster.
I need to back track here a bit to explain how I could find humor in an engine melt-down. I bought the Defiant for a surprise homecoming back in the early summer. Turned out the surprise was on me – no home coming! I spent the summer refitting the cosmetics and sailing her. The engine was a know weakness on purchase and replacing the Perkins 4-108, which as a mechanic I despise, with a new 75hp turbo charged Japanese engine was one of the primary reasons for the trip to Guaymas. On the dock in Guaymas was nearly $1000 cheaper than delivered to the freight yard in La Paz. I would be able to swing it aboard, crate and all with the boom. With the opening center cockpit to the engine room and having prepped the existing engine for replacement with new electrical yokes the entire replacement would prove to take less than a day at the dock.
As darkness fell I think our progress toward Candeleros was more a result of the ebb and flow of the Sea rather than the thrust of our sails. I plucked the guitar in the cockpit while May sat contemplatively, her feet dangling over the bow in the glow of the deck light. A pair of dolphins broke in front of the boat. With our snails pace we generated little bow wave to ride, the dolphins found us boring and jetted off into the darkness leaving a trail of luminescence.
We were still about 4 miles east of Los Candeleros when the long tentacles of technology latched onto us again. Both of our cell phones began to jingle and buzz with inbound text and voice messages. While tending to my limited communications requirements at the helm May went to the fore deck to return her calls. As I settled back into the stillness of our night sail I could hear another flurry of those words from the bar room floor, blasted to the recipient on the other end of her cell phone.
After a few minutes to cool off, where even in the dark at the forward end of the boat I could see the steam rising from her collar, May stomped back to the cockpit.
I have known May since her age ended with the word “-teen” and we have been friends for most of my years in Mexico. She is a cultural sponge, enjoying both soaking up my American-isms and nautical experience as well as helping me with my Mexican cultural education. There’s more to it than just speaking the language! With our age difference it could be a father daughter thing, but we have chosen to think of it as 'older cousin'. Well, anyway, May is moody. She has this mechanical quick smile she will flash to let me know it is not with me she is angry. It was with damp eyes she flashed me a quick one of those.
I guess it was the navigation computer she was angry with, judging by the force at which she spun it around on the chart table below.
“Thirty degrees to starboard, course three one zero.” She barked up the companionway, with a “Master & Commander” nautical prowess that would have made me laugh on any other occasion. “I need to get to Loreto - fast as we can.” She marched forward out of sight of the cockpit and without a further word.
As I came around to the new heading I looked over at the Labrador seated next to me at the helm, looking as perplexed as I, shrugged and said…”Cap’n said so!” And we 'snailed'* on into the dark...
To be continued…
From the decks of SV Defiant – over and out.
* Definition: "Snailing" the art of sailing very slowly with little or no wind.