Thursday, May 2, 2013

The Journey Home

It was a salty adventure en route home... Brad, Matt and Danny braved some very rough waters to get our Incognito back safely into Newport Harbor.
There was no way that us girls could make the journey back with them as the seas are much too rough and we would have been seasick the entire time. Going north is legendary for horror stories of rough seas and we sadly opted out.
The boys departed Cabo San Lucas last Saturday and set off in moderate seas which meant they could fish while underway. They soon caught a tuna and Danny made his famous sashimi lunch...Yum! However, that was the last of the fishing as the seas erupted and became much too dangerous with 8+ foot swells rolling through every 5 seconds. Winds were around 25-30 knots and no one was venturing outside the boat. Waves were so rough at one point that the forward stateroom mirror cracked along with a glass shelf in one of the refrigerators. Meals consisted of cereal in the morning and boat sandwiches when the seas allowed. Not the cuisine of choice they might of hoped for, however co-captain Matt took over as head chef when the seas calmed & whipped up some yummier fare. I won't mention that hot dogs were involved. Haha!!


To hear more detailed excitement straight from the horses mouth, here are some excerpts from Captain Brads sea journal:

Update #1: We have had a pretty ugly day today. Rough seas and 25 knot winds. We had to close the hatch to the fly bridge since we were taking water over the top and coming inside through the hatch. Sometimes a wave would completely cover the windshield and all you could see was swirling water on the windshield. It was like being in an aquarium. Things have settled down considerably the past hour. 4' seas and 15 knot wind. Very manageable. There has been a big tri-deck motor yacht following us all day. I think about 125'. He was 7 miles back just out of Cabo and is 3 miles behind after our 170 miles so far. Might be Celebration. If he and I stay at our same speeds he should be about 7 miles ahead of us in 24 hours, assuming he doesn't stop in Mag Bay. It's nice to have someone close in this kind if weather.

Update #2: We are about 11 hours south of Turtle Bay. The seas are still rough but not as bad as yesterday. Very lumpy though. That big boat that has been following us is nit Celebration. It is about a mile behind and two miles to the beam. Looks like about 125'. Some type of commercial boat. Watching it bounce all around thru the binocs. A small 25' boat sunk about ten miles from us at sunrise today. Danny heard the commotion on the radio. Locals towing a boat and it got swamped. Four people rescued. All ok. Our plan is to go straight to Ensenada. We will get there in the middle of the night and drop Danny off then head to San Diego to clear Customs and get a little fuel. Home sometime late Tuesday or early Wednesday.

Update #3. It is 4:20 pm Sunday. We are 80 miles south of Turtle Bay and I just slowed to to 7.5 kts. The wind is blowing 28 kts and the seas are high and very choppy. The boat was slamming down too hard at 9 kts. Even broke a glass shelf in the credenza reefer. Big boat is now abeam of us and four miles to port side. (See videos of the quasi rough waters below or go to website www.incognitoboat.com if they don't come up. The roughest waters weren't filmed for obvious reasons.)

Update #4. Was supposed to be the worst day and was actually best. Winds never got over 18 kts and seas never got over 5'. I upped the speed by one knot which should put us home Tuesday just after sundown. That assumes US Customs does not take too long in SD. Should be dropping Danny in Ensenada around 6am.

Well, Brad was correct in his calculations and Danny departed the boat in Ensenada at 6am on Tuesday while he and Matt bid him adieu. After our amazing 5 month adventure, Danny was a fantastic crew member and truly indispensable on all counts!

The boys cleared customs in San Diego easily and made their way home quickly to make it to the harbor by sundown. Hard to believe it only took them 4 days to get home from Cabo!

Katrina, Coco & I anxiously awaited their arrival on our dock with champagne in hand! We enjoyed a celebratory toast which was exactly how we commenced this big adventure last November.

We are now busy readying the boat for opening day at the yacht club this weekend. Lots to be done and looking forward to the grand finale of our Chasing the Sun Tour!!