The Cliffs to port of the photo are depicted by CHARLIE as shelter for the "Better Anchorage" suggestion and he is correct in most instances however, the writerr would suggest that anchorage be taken in about 24' rather than 30' which will place the boat closer in to the cliffs and therefore, less fetch and refractive swells from the outside. As a general rule, northbound traffic would not be here unless there was adverse weather at the north end of Cedros and therefore it would probably be a bit windy here. The writer sailed into the anchorage on 25 kts of wind and anchorage was taken in 22 kts. So, what about really bad weather? The next morning, the weather man on the Amigo net gave a forecast for the day as being "Winds from the west at 30 to 40 kts with 15 ft. seas which will extend to the coast". Further, the weather man advised that there were only two anchorages for this weather along the coast, Turtle Bay and/or Santa Maria Bay. The Host for the Amigo net, Marlene on "Jellybean" wished the Author "all the luck in the world". After giving all of this some thought, also to include the writer's investment in the boat, it was decided at about 1:30 P.M. to return to Turtle Bay arriving at about daylight. The military had an old adage "Discretion is the best part of valor".
Prior to departing for TB, the anchorage 14 miles to the south, Bahia Playa Maria, was reviewed and since the depiction by Charlie appeared to give better protection, a stop with anchorage was made however, protection from the 20 kts of wind was OK but there was a 5 foot refractive swell rolling in from around the punta and after considering this swell at 15 feet from the west at 40 kts, it was decided to continue to Turtle Bay about 100 miles distant. Aftere departing under sail on 18 to 20 kts of wind,, a course was set for the south end of Cedros to arrive well clear of Pta Eugenia and about parallel to the beach line to the south. Charlie describes this beach as Scavenger's Beach, on which can be gathered a collection of flotsam from shipwrecked and other vessels. He suggests that it be best avoided. About sundown, the wind increased to about 24 kts, there was now a low overcast and the sails had been shortened and trimmed to the extent that the boat was on autopilot with light pressures on the pedestal. It was a surreal scene, the howling wind, the square eight foot swells and the low overcast gave the appearance of sailing in a tunnel. Later on in the evening there was a change, the wind increased to 28 kts gusts to about 35 kts and a change in direction from the northwest to the west.. Now, there was no reason to be concerned about clearing Pta Eugenia, we were not going to get there, after a check with the chart reading GPS, it was noted that we were heading straight for the beach to the south
Now it became quite clear as to the origin of the name "Scavenger's Beach" in that an inexperienced crew without a chartreading GPS may elect to continue in the darkness with a southsetting current with the intention of clawing off the beach and thus Pta Eugenia or worse yet continue as above with a failed engine. They are heading for disaster and will probably become part of Scavenger's Beach With the wind as described above, they would have only one real option, turning around and going back, not a pleasant option after coming this far. The wind eased to a more sedate 22 kts, so for the writerr with the modern contrivances, it was a simple matter of cranking the engine, securing the jib, trimming the main, engaging the autopilot and setting course to Cedros Village arriving at about midnight. Unfortunately, due to weather, the anchorage outside of the seawall was untenable and since no sailor in his right mind would anchor in the harbor, course was set for Turtle Bay, arriving as above.
Now, was all of the above the correct decision?. Well, the writer and his boat are still intact, it is not known if the wind did increase to 40 kts from the west with 15 foot swells since the writer was not there. However, if the writer was in the anchorage and this weather continued to the anchorage, the situation would indeed be grim, the entire coast would be a lee shore. As it was, the writer spent the next week comfortably anchored in Turtle Bay along with other weathered in boats for company. |
