Homeward Bound

Position: 06/26/09 1800Z 21 03.350N 106 49.920W

There was no way I was going to be able to get anywhere with a broken bulkhead so I changed course for Banderas Bay which was about 115 miles east of my current position. One hundred fifteen miles with a broken bulkhead went pretty fast running down wind with about 25 knots behind me.

As I neared the bay visibility went down to about 2 miles and the wind filled as I reached the entrance to Paradise Village Marina. I was reefed pretty heavily. My engine was not running at the time and the sea was too crazy to raft up to the panga that was waiting to tow me in. I sailed through the breakwater and once inside the harbor I tied up to the panga and they towed me into a slip.

When I arrived my dad, Jen and my grandmother from England were there on the dock. My dad took a look at the bulkhead and made a plan for breaking it up the following day. Then we met up with Dick, the dock master, and I got cleared in. After a good night's sleep at the hotel we went to work. I replaced the raw water pump on the engine and did some laundry while my dad went to the marina store and got all of the supplies we needed to fix up the bulkhead.

Hurricane Andre moved up the coast and the day was squally and rainy with the spin off cells. Everyone in the marina was adding extra dock lines in case Andre made his way into the harbor. We added extra docking lines to prep Intrepid as well. The whole place was buzzing with speculation on what would happen. I didn't get much of a chance to see Paradise Village but what I did see I could easily remember from my days here as a kid. They still have the small zoo of rescue animals. The mother tiger that had the 4 cubs is gone and her cubs are grown. The monkey is gone. The marina is much the same but they have built a yacht club for the sailors.

Also, the ABC crew and Al and Pete from the LA Times showed up in the afternoon to get their stories. Dad worked late into the night and by about 10:00pm had decided to remove the whole bulkhead and replace it. The next day we spent the day being filmed doing the most obnoxious job of removing the bulkhead and troubleshooting the rig. It is a good thing those cameras don't have scent recording!

The next day was more cameras and Andre had tracked out to sea and dissipated. Dad finished glassing in the new bulkhead as I pulled off the sails and fixed the track on the mast with Mike from PV Sailing. He took the genny back to his sail loft to sew a patch and repair a split seam.

The next day I was ready to leave. There were lots of small jobs to finish up. A diver cleaned the bottom of the boat. The engine oil and belts needed to be changed. We cleaned up all of the fiberglass and work materials off of the boat and dock and I was off followed by the news crews. I sailed 7 miles to La Cruz and picked up my newly patched genny from Mike's sail loft. He tuned the rig and we took a look at some weather forecasts on his computer. I said my good byes to everyone and was off. It was an interesting position to be in as the last time I sailed between the Tres Marieta Islands and Punta de Mita on the northern tip of Banderas Bay I was 10 years old and my sole responsibility was setting and keeping an eye on the little storm sail on my parents' boat. Now, it was just me with Intrepid and the sea.

Last night I passed the prison islands called the Tres Marias and now I am tacking my way towards Baja. Intrepid feels strong and ready for the ride. I am so grateful to my dad who was an absolute hero on the stop.

Cheers,
Zac