This story contributed by "BajaMur" Murray Carver Visit Mur's Home Page for some great pictures!
My first trip ever to Gonzaga Bay was the weekend of December 18-20, 1998. We flew in from Long Beach, California with pilot Doug in a Cessna 206. Doug landed on the airstrip right behind the houses near Alphonsina's on the north end of the bay, and his house is the second one from the end of the sand spit that ends at Willard Island. By the time we got everything unpacked and set up, it was too dark to launch the boat so we decided to get up early and hope to catch the high tide then. I slept great until about 3am when the winds really picked up and started flapping the canvas covers over the windows. Uh oh, I thought, looks like we won't be fishing in THIS wind. However, it calmed down some by daybreak and we decided to just fish the lee side of the island for wind protection if necessary. But, that didn't happen because the tide was already too low at 6am and we couldn't get the boat off the trailer (high tide was at 3am, but I'm not THAT fish loco!!) No big deal, we decided to launch at around noon when the tide came up again--and tides are HUGE there by the way, with over 15 foot swings during the full and new moons--and we had the latter. When the tide is high, the water is about 30 feet from his porch. At low tide you walk out there a hundred feet and it drops down quite a ways too--I've never seen anything like it before, but you San Felipe veterans know all about it. OK, here's where the Baja adventure REALLY started for me... Since we couldn't launch the boat and I really wanted to fish, I started looking at alternatives. I noticed that Doug had a small sailboat--a sabot--which is what I learned to sail in as a sea scout! We soon dragged the boat down to the water and I gathered up some supplies for a trip out to that first point of the island to do some fishing! I put on my wet suit, took rain gear (just for wind protection since there was no threat of rain in those clear blue skies), two fishing poles, a tackle box, a life jacket, a small anchor and plenty of rope to anchor up and to tie down my expensive rod and reel to the boat. I also took a couple small bottles of water, some beef jerky, a gunny sack to put the fish in and some squid for bait. I was ready for some sailing fun and some fishing too! It didn't exactly work out as planned..... "The weather started getting rough...the tiny ship was tossed... if not for the courage of the fearless crew.. the sabot would be lost.. the sabot would be lost.." (sung to the tune of Gilligan's Island of course!) Doug asked me if I really wanted to go out with the wind gusting like it was, and I decided no I didn't. It was looking too rough so I called it off. However, about a half hour later the wind died down nicely and I decided to give it a try. I hopped aboard and since the wind was blowing almost straight offshore it was super easy to just let the sail out 90 degrees and cruise downwind. Doug pointed out what I already knew though; that coming back was not going to be easy--tacking back and forth into the wind-- but I'd done that plenty of times and didn't worry at all about it... but I should have! I sailed that 100 yards out near that first point very easily and just let the sail go It flapped free in the moderate breeze no problem. I then tied a lure on the little pole with the broken tip and small spinning reel that I borrowed from Doug's garage (the broken, shorter length of it made it better for a sail boat anyway) and Doug said even if I lost it, it could be replaced cheaply enough. I made a cast toward the point only to find the line very twisted, so I cut off the lure and let all of the line out behind the boat--it untwists itself that way. I thought I'd just sail a little ways and then reel it back in and try it again. I never did... The wind started gusting again then, but I didn't think much of it since I was going with the wind and it didn't seem too bad. But the wind waves were getting bigger and I was very soon almost surfing down the fronts of them. No big deal, right? Well, I guess a sabot is not made for surfing... it's made more for something like PEARL diving!!! I hadn't sailed 50 yards when suddenly as I surfed down the face of a 2-3 foot wind wave, the bow of the boat just kept going DOWN into the back of the next wave.. right under the water!! I just sat there frozen in shock as the boat filled completely with water in a matter of seconds!! And, of course, it immediately turned over--dumping me and almost all my gear into the cold water of the bay! (luckily it WAS the Sea of Cortez and not the Pacific Ocean, and the temp. was about 65 I'm guessing). You can imagine how I felt about that time, and I had no time to waste... I first grabbed the life jacket and threw it over my head; not taking the time to belt it on. I then started grabbing things I for SURE didn't want to lose; my water shoes (I'd need those once I got to the rocky shore I figured) and the water bottles all of which I just shoved down the front of my wetsuit for safe keeping; my bag with the rain gear in it, and the tiller (rudder of the boat which started to float away). I immediately lost my tackle box and the 30-50 dollars of tackle inside (stupid me! Why didn't I tie it on like my expensive fishing pole??), the gunny sack and bait floated off but I didn't worry about that, and I never saw the bag of jerky (would I need that for emergency food rations? The thought passed through my mind). The anchor somehow wedged under a board in the boat which was lucky since I needed that rope to start lashing every thing to the boat before it drifted off. I tried to right the boat by standing on the center board, but the wind was too strong and just hit the flapping sail and turned it back over. I then knew I had to remove the mast and sail to right the boat. That was easily accomplished and I just lashed the rope around it to keep it from floating off and made a big loop about 8 feet in diameter with which I planned to swim the boat to the nearest shore. My plan worked, with the help of the wind and waves which took me straight to the second point from the house-- and between the first and second points was a nicely protected cove with a rocky shore. It was only about 100 yards away and the water got calmer as I got some protection from the first point as I just laid on my back (after I had secured the life jacket on properly) and floated and did a lazy back stroke to shore. I stopped a couple times to take inventory and then noticed some good news... that fishing line that I had let out had somehow tangled around the boat and equipment--that meant that little borrowed fishing pole should be attached somewhere! But, I didn't want to take the time to untangle it and find it-- I just wanted to get to shore into the sunshine!!! When I got close to shore I shouted out loud, "Land ho!!!'" laughed, put on my water shoes and then tried to pull on the fishing line to retrieve that little pole. Too late, it had already become snagged on the rocky bottom and there was NO way I was going to swim myself and the boat out to untangle it (I couldn't leave the boat there to get banged against that rocky shore). I tugged on the line until it finally broke. No big loss... I then just stayed in chest deep water and slowly dragged the boat into the protected cove about 50 yards until the shore had much smaller rocks and calm water. Yippee, I was a shipwreck survivor! LOL I then put everything on shore to dry out a little in that gloriously warm sunshine and turned the boat over to get all the water out. I then prepared to sail straight back to his warm beach and NEVER sail in a small boat in such windy conditions again! I wanted to get back out there soon too, since I figured they must have seen me capsize and would worry about my safety. I could see it already... them watching with anticipation, and suddenly the mighty sailor Mur comes sailing from behind the point--leaving them only to wonder, "How did he get everything back together and sailing so quickly?!" I put on the rain gear over the top of my wetsuit which got me toasty warm, tied down everything to different parts of the boat to avoid any more loss and then scoped out my plan of attack. The protected cove had calm water, but the wind was swirling quite a bit. In fact, the wind was blowing steady out at the point and I could see where the point ended and the rough, choppy water began-- a clear cut division. The contour of the island allowed the gusting wind to roar down a low spot above the cove and then created a whirlwind effect which actually caused some little twisters to form on the calm water of the cove when the wind was gusting the hardest. That explained why Tom and I thought there was maybe a blow-hole around that first point, which was causing water to spray out like it was-- it was just little water spouts bursting out of the cove! That was worrisome to me, but I figured that with the calm waters I could control the sail enough to get out to the point, and then make some quick tacks and be back on the beach in no time.... Wrong! I relaunched the S.S.StupidMur and pointed it out toward the main bay... Wow, I noticed right away, that wind was REALLY whipping around that cove! No problem, I just wouldn't fasten down the sail, but just held the rope in my hand so I could release it immediately if a gust caught a hold of it. I also knelt down in the center rear of the boat instead of off to one side like before so I could lean side to side or back if necessary to keep it balanced and the bow up. And that worked just fine getting out of the cove. The wind kept changing directions and the boom kept swinging from one side to the other, but I just kept ducking and working that rope to keep me heading in the right direction...and looked forward to reaching the main bay where the wind just blew in one direction, even if it was blowing harder with bigger waves... I shouldn't have. As soon I got to the main wind, the sail almost ripped out of my hand! I let it out some and didn't like the way it was flapping like crazy! I immediately began questioning the size of that rope holding the sail to the end of the boom-- it was nylon, but looked pitifully small at that moment and I knew if that broke loose I was in BIG trouble. But it held, and I then worked feverishly to stay balanced, head the right direction, and make a right turn into the wind where I could tack back to calmer waters and the beach in front of his house. But... It wouldn't let me! I couldn't turn! I'd crank the tiller all the way to left and the boat would turn a little, but then just stop, and go into "irons" (which is not moving and sail just flapping in the wind). Nuts!! Okay, maybe I needed to get up more speed to make the turn. So I steered perpendicular to the wind and pulled in the sail to go faster. And that wasn't easy.. that wind was really cranking! All of a sudden... snap!! Something broke! I looked and was horrified to see that the pulley at the end of boom through which the controlling rope passed had broken off completely which left just one pulley in the center of the boom to control the sail!! And that pulley didn't look very well attached at that point either!! In fact, the strap holding it seemed to be bending and even where the boom attached to mast seemed to be twisting in protest to all the torque forced upon it by that ruthless Baja wind! Oh how I despised the wind at that point. I had ALWAYS disliked the wind!! What good was it?? All it did was make the waters rough no matter where you went and made the fishing less comfortable, or the skiing, or biking or whatever!!! I was also aware that I either needed to turn into the wind soon, or somehow turn around and go back to the island from which I was sailing at much too quickly a pace for my liking. Why didn't I just stay in that warm cove and wait for wind to die down?? Double nuts!! I wrestled with the sail again and again, trying to get the speed to make that right turn, but it was simply impossible with wind and the waves as they were. I then knew I had to turn left--with the wind-- and try to make it back to the island. That was pretty simple--the turn that is-- because I just let the sail out more and pushed the tiller to the right, but going with the wind presented the original can of worms, and a whole new dilemma... how to get the sail over to the starboard (right) side of the boat so I could turn further to the left and back to the protected cove?? I couldn't do it!! If I pulled on it, it just made me go dangerously faster; and if I let it go, it wanted to point straight ahead of the boat and rip the rope and pulleys off! One solution was to try to untie the rope, swing the boom all the way around in front of the mast and rerig it on the starboard side, but that would have been nearly impossible in those wind and waves. The good news was that I WAS headed toward the island because it curves around and partially encloses the bay. But the bad news was that I was getting way too far away from the beach house I yearned to bask in front of on the sand!! Well, the distance thing soon became the lesser of my concerns. A gust of wind grabbed that sail again and a wave pitched me to one side and the bow the boat started going under water again!! This time I wasn't going to let it fill with water though, and I immediately jumped out of the boat to level it out. That worked for about 2 seconds, and then the wind grabbed the flapping sail again and the boat rolled over like a dying whale! Triple nuts and stinky darn!!!! Here we go again! Why oh why oh why...kind of questions kept coming to my mind for some reason.. And also such things as would of, could of, should of, etc.. I knew the routine, so I pulled out the mast, stepped down and made sure every thing was secure and made a big loop to drag the boat with again. I rolled the boat right side up, but noticed right away that since I was further from shore, the waves were bigger, and the current and winds stronger; this caused the boat to want to roll back over upside down again. I fought it for a few minutes, but realized that upside down wasn't hurting anything and just started to swim and tow it that way. Another problem arose however, because every time I took a swim stroke and pulled the boat a little, it would go in the trough of a wave and pull me back with a big jerk! (Speaking of big jerks... no, don't go there..lol) That was really hurting my shoulders around which I had put the loop, so I knew that wouldn't work this time. Besides, I looked to see exactly where the wind, waves and current would take me and was disgusted to see it was at least three times as far as I had to go the first time. Quadruple nuts?? I then was getting quite cold and starting to shiver and decided to save my strength and just crawled up on top of the overturned boat and grabbed onto the center board as it pointed up to the sky like the dorsal fin of that proverbial dying whale! It was nice to just lay there and relax, but it REALLY wasn't very relaxing! The boat kept pitching to one side, then the other and I had to keep shifting my weight to keep from rolling over with it. My hands were cold and gripping the boat was becoming harder every SLOW minute that passed. It didn't seem like I was moving at all, and wind was blowing the windbreaker up my back and chilling me to the bone!! Sound fun?? Anyone want to join me for a little sail sometime???? I estimated about 45 minutes to an hour of drifting to get to that rocky shore with the ever increasing sized waves pounding on it, and noticed another tiny little cove to the right with not much protection but at least smaller rocks to land on. I also noticed the warm sunshine washing that island in it's fabulous glow... I had to get into the water to get out of that wind, but just floating there wasn't helping me get any warmer. I worried about hypothermia and about whether I should save my energy, but the thought of getting to the sunlit shore was just too enticing. I knew the sailboat would make it eventually, and I could just swim out and intercept it before it hit the rocks, and be enjoying some sunshine in the mean time. So I made the decision to get there sooner rather than later! I swam for it! See you later... miserable little sailboat! That worked! I got to shore twice as fast as the boat, and was just standing up amid joyous shouts of "Land HO!!!!" when I turned to see where the sailboat was and noticed another boat coming to the rescue! It was Doug and two Mexicans in a big, deluxe wooden panga which looked like a luxury liner at that point! They circled the boat a couple times and I wondered if they were thinking that they were too late, but they then noticed me on the shore and came in my direction. They threw out a huge anchor (to keep them from joining me on the shore) and beckoned me to swim out to them. No problem, I made the swim and awkwardly, but joyously climbed aboard that rescue craft. Yippee and hooray!! Now for the sailboat; they went over to it before it got too close to the rocks and I told them in Spanish I'd swim it to shore and jumped back into my favorite swimming hole in the whole wide world! They then asked why take it to shore when they could just pull it up on the panga? What??? How could they do that? Full of water? Well, turns out those Mexicans were pretty smart and they were able to muscle it up there in no time! They pulled it rightside up over the starboard rail and most of the water poured out as they put both feet on the gunnel and leaned back with all their might as I tried weakly to help push it from the water. Bingo! Sailboat saved; Mur saved; no lives lost, and one sailor humbled! On the way in, Doug discretely told me to offer them something other than money, but when I asked what I could get them, "Food, drink, supplies or a tip (propina) they both immediately said, "PROPINA!." Okay, so I went up and got them a crisp $20 bill which I told them to split it, and they seemed just a tiny bit disappointed-- maybe they were expecting to see Benjamin Franklin??? Sorry boys, $20 was already a week's pay for them and that was all they were getting. I thanked them again, shoved them off, pulled the boat above the tide line and went up to thaw out and tell the boys about my latest Baja adventure! We pulled up some beach chairs, and that sun felt better than ever as I dug my toes in the warm sand in that wind-protected, toasty side of the house and answered such questions as "Why did you come back out after the FIRST TIME???" You see....most of those folks living there on the beach have little telescopes on tripods and have radios to communicate to each other when they see some spectacle worth watching! And I certainly gave them a SHOW! Dag nab it!! I then took a gloriously hot shower, and settled down in some nice warm clothes and fell asleep watching a football game on the digital satellite system... ahh...back to the good life! Tom, my fishing buddy who was wise enough to decline the offer to go sailing, was also snoozing in front of the game until we both woke up about noon. Tom said, "Well, I guess we won't be fishing this trip huh?" Huh??? WHAT?? That REALLY woke me up! I checked the wind and it had died down some again (in it's ever FICKLE manner!) and I said we WILL indeed be fishing this trip.. let's get ready and go! The fish report and photos of the trip are available on my web site, Mur's Home Page! http://www.timsbaja.com/gonzagasailboat.html
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