Sailing to Mexico from the Pacific Northwest: Hazards and Resources
Sailing to Mexico from the Pacific Northwest:
Hazards and Resources
By Rob and Debra Murray from SV AVANT as previously published in Currents Magazine
About the Hazards
As you set out on your sail to Mexico from the Pacific Northwest, there are numerous hazards you will encounter. For most, the only defense is a good watch.
Fishing Boats
Most vessels inshore are commercial fishing boats, and many do not use AIS, so other fishermen don’t know where they are fishing. At night, they usually light up like stadiums hosting a World Cup game and are easy to spot. They tend to congregate on offshore banks or directly offshore from ports on the coast. Some fishermen have begun using AIS beacons on fishing gear, which is a bonus.
Debris
Floating debris, especially logs, can be an issue, particularly during or immediately following heavy rains or large tides, and especially off of larger rivers or inlets.
Crab Pots
Crab pots are endemic. While there has been an effort to create a crab pot free zone down the coast, its observance is marginal and equipment drifts into the the lanes anyways. The consortium that manages the lanes hasn’t met to update the agreement since 2017. Note that in areas subject to strong current, commercial crabbers will generally use two buoys, one to hold the line up and a second on a further 10 feet or so of line that will still be visible and retrievable, even when the first buoy has been pulled under by the current. It’s easier to tangle a buoy in your prop if the current is slack and both buoys are lying idle on the surface.
Bars
Of course, everyone worries about the dreaded ‘bar crossings’ that may be encountered. After all, they do call the Columbia Bar the ‘Graveyard of the Pacific’, right? But if you’re crossing at a slack or flood in weather that isn’t horrible, none of the bar crossings are difficult. In Avant’s passage down the coast, we entered Astoria (the aforementioned ‘graveyard of the Pacific’), Coos Bay and Humboldt Bay/Eureka (widely considered the second worst bar crossing), and had no trouble at all. Our timing had us arriving at each bar on or near slack water, with a slight edge to the flood tide. Many mariners recommend using the last of the flood tide as the optimum time for a bar crossing, when the water is deepest. Waves at each entrance were under two feet, and the period was long, as predicted by the forecasts we sailed under. Charting was universally excellent.
Each harbour with a bar has a coast guard station that can offer advice, an up-to-the-minute bar report, and will even send out a cutter or other boat to guide you in if conditions warrant (we availed ourselves of this at Coos Bay when visibility dropped to under 200’). If you get caught out by a closed bar, you just have to gut it out until the bar reopens, but with modern weather forecasts and a modicum of planning,
this is highly unlikely. (Note that the coast guard definition of a ‘small craft’ in bar closing advisories is a vessel under 65’ in length.)
Available Resources
The following resources can make this specific passage more pleasant and perhaps less challenging:
Weather Information
No doubt you have attended courses, read books, downloaded software, studied weather patterns, learned how to download a variety of GRIBs, receive weather faxes, decode 500mb charts, toss chicken bones and generally worked really hard to prepare for cruising by becoming your own expert weather forecaster. Well, on this trip, those skills can be used for entertainment value or simply allowed to rest. (Don’t worry, you will use those skills south of the USA/Mexico border).
The NOAA forecasters are as good as it gets, and there are dedicated teams in each of Washington, Oregon and Northern California working around the clock to deliver the most accurate weather forecast possible. These forecasts are available via VHF on the usual WX channels to a considerable range offshore (usually at least 50 miles, often 100+). The forecast zones extend to 250 miles offshore in discrete steps, and the forecast zones are quite small. In addition to the forecast, each weather office provides a ‘discussion’, which underscores the reasons for the forecast offered, how the models informed (or did not inform) the forecasts, what’s likely to follow the forecast period, and any other juicy tidbits the forecaster(s) think might be interesting. You can find the discussion by going to the forecasting office’s webpage and looking for the ‘discussion’ button.
If you want to ‘play along’ with the forecaster, you can download the GRIBs (GFS and NDFD editions) and see if you get the same conclusions.
Live and near live weather observations are also available from the national weather service by finding the ‘observations’ button on the left side of the forecast page. These vary in frequency from every few hours to live, depending on location and observation station type. There are dozens of these between Neah Bay and San Francisco.
Enjoy the weather forecasts. They end at the Mexico USA border and it becomes far more basic there.
Wave Patterns
Waves offshore contribute substantially to the (dis)comfort the crew experience on the passage. Aboard Avant, we have found waves change character at depths of about 60m/200’. When the depths we sail in are under 60m, the waves seem to have a different character, a more insistent vertical component, than they do in greater depths. We always aim to be in depths greater than 60m/200’ whenever possible. When closing the coast, expect waves to ‘feel’ stronger, even if they are not visibly any bigger. Also when closing the coast, watch for secondary wave trains from reflections off shorelines where the shores are steep to, or a change in wave direction where a wave train may wrap a point or headland. And there are also outliers such as this one.
Generally, wave height has very little to do with discomfort aboard; it is the ratio of wave height to period that creates difficulty. When waves are ‘square’ (wave height in feet = wave period in seconds), no one will have any fun aboard, whether the waves are 3’ or 8’ high. We choose not to sail in square waves. When the period extends to 1.5x the wave height, conditions become much more tolerable. When the period is 2x or greater wave height, the gentle rise and fall is barely noticeable after a while.
When traveling with the wave train, the apparent period will be longer, and when traveling against the wave train the apparent period will be shorter. Take this into account when evaluating wave predictions.
Guidebooks
The NOAA Coast Pilot 7 is a free download and covers the coast from Neah Bay to the Mexican border. You will want to read chapter three, and use chapters seven to thirteen in reverse order as you transit south. This volume, over 700 pages, is a comprehensive mariners guide to the coast, its character, and its hazards. It is updated weekly, so make sure you have the latest edition downloaded.
There are commercial cruising guides available for the Columbia River and San Francisco Bay, but we found they added little to what the Coast Pilot provided for free.
The USCG has produced a general bar crossing guide with lots of relevant information. Individual bar crossing guides are available as well, and some can be found on this list. The following bar crossing guides (in pdf format) provide specific information about hazards for each bar crossing:
- Quillayute Bar Hazards
- Grays Harbour Bar Hazards
- Rogue River Bar Hazards
- Tillamook Bay Bar Hazards
- Yaquina Bay Bar Hazards
- Umpqua River Bar Hazards
- Depoe Bay Bar Hazards
- Columbia River Bar Hazards
- Coquille River Bar Hazards
- Chetco Bar Hazards
US Coast Guard
The US Coast Guard is a highly professional military search and rescue operation, and operates multiple stations up and down the coast. From late May through Labor Day, they also operate a number of seasonal stations, some located on the jetties surrounding bar crossings. They can be reached by VHF or by telephone (numbers are in the Coast Pilot, or on their website. Note them down before you go). Their VHF coverage is typically at least 25-50 miles offshore, and we found cell coverage was passable at 8-10 miles offshore and excellent at 5. It is ALWAYS worth calling by VHF or cell phone to get a bar forecast before committing to crossing any bar on the coast.
Charts
NOAA charts (both raster and vector) are free downloads and can be used in navigation programs like OpenCPN. They are frequently updated, and OpenCPN has a chart downloader that will automatically update your electronic charts directly from NOAA. Proprietary e-chart sets like C-Map or Navionics are also updated, but not as frequently. Like milk, bread and beer, charts are best fresh, so do use the free resources to ensure you have the most up to date information aboard. Paper charts for backup can be purchased individually, or you can get a ‘chart book’ that covers large sections of the coast. We elected to do the latter, buying two MAPTECH Chartbooks that covered the coast from the Canadian border to the Mexican border.
SY AVANT 🇨🇦 Rob & Debra – Beneteau 43.5
ISLAND ADVENTURES ASHORE
SV VIVA'S ISLAND ADVENTURES ASHORE
SV VIVA is in French Polynesia in the South Pacific. Their recent report shares a few different ways to explore the islands of Moorea and Tahiti:
We rented a scooter and toured the island of Moorea yesterday and did a 9-mile hike up to Belvedere and back on the 3-cocotier trail a few days ago...found many amazing views. Today, we took the ferry across to Tahiti at 7 am, rented a scooter and toured the whole island with several beautiful stops along the way. We sprinkled this tour with some provisioning that we could fit in backpacks and boxes on our rented scooter.
VIVASweet bike lane!
SV VIVA 
Pierre & Marie - Amel 52'
Adventurous and Practical! Thank you for sharing VIVA!
BIRDS NESTING ABOARD IN COSTA RICA
BIRDS NESTING ABOARD IN COSTA RICA
SV FIREFLY, currently moored at Marina Papagayo in Costa Rica, recently had the opportunity to have some visitors aboard that made themselves right at home....and then up and left. No harm, no foul, and enjoyed being witness to such a precious time in a birds life.
Brenda shares the story:
.
. I did witness the Oriole enter into one of the displaced nests so all must have been good.
SV FIREFLY Brenda & Ted - Catalina 47
THANK YOU FOR SHARING THE SIGHTS WHERE YOU ARE!
Getting Ready to GO Cruising!
Getting Ready to GO!
by Ocean Posse member Rob Murray on SV AVANT
What do you do to get ready for a cruising season? What resources do you rely on? How can you assess the weather and potential passages months in advance? The following is a list of some of the steps we take and resources we rely on aboard Avant to get ready for a major passage that’s a few months down the line, or to get ready for a season of sailing.
First, we have a look at Jimmy Cornell’s World Cruising Routes, a staple reference guide for cruisers. While a great resource, this book is a, “comprehensive guide to over 1,000 routes covering all the oceans of the world from the tropical South Seas to the high-latitudes of the Arctic and Antarctic” – all in some 600-odd pages. While it provides breadth, it is somewhat lacking in depth. It suffers to some degree from the source of data, which is a mix of pilot charts and books overlaid heavily with the personal experience of many seasoned cruisers. Since some areas are not frequented by cruisers for various reasons, they are often omitted (for example, the 1987 edition omitted Colombia, since it was so dangerous it seemed no one cruised there). Also, since Cornell’s other endeavors (such as founding the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers [ARC]) have been long distance and circumnavigation focused, it often misses out on more coastal routes. Nonetheless, it is always our first stop for a broad overview.
Cornell does focus on the passage part of the planning and has virtually no information on local conditions to expect when you have arrived.
Regarding our plan to leave Panama, Cornell says, “Eastbound Passages from Panama can be extremely difficult at all times of the year, because of the prevailing direction of the winds and current” and that “better and more comfortable passages have been made in late spring or early summer”. Good to know.
Before Cornell wrote his guides, sailors relied on Ocean Passages for the World, publication NP136 from the British Admiralty. I think the 3rd edition of 1973 was the last to feature separate routing advice for sailing ships and power vessels (newer editions omit advice for sailing ships). It builds on the 1895, 1923 and 1960 editions and is the last Admiralty guide written for professional world sailors (the iron men in wooden ships). PDF versions can be found online and make interesting and instructive reading. While the sailing directions are directed for full rigged tall ships, they suit modern sailors because, although we may be able to sail upwind, none of us much like it. While I enjoy referring to it, I should note that its precision and brevity make Cornell look positively loquacious.
Next, we go shopping at the NGA store (National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency) is a support agency of the United States Department of Defense with the primary mission of collecting, analyzing, and distributing geospatial intelligence (GEOINT)). If the US Navy gave you command of a destroyer and said ‘go there’, the NGA would provide the travel guidebooks. The NGA annual budget is classified, but was estimated to be at least $4.9 billion in 2013. It is nice to be able to add that kind of horsepower to your cruising budget.
We get the Sailing Directions (Enroute) for our area (these include:
“detailed coastal and port approach information, supplementing the largest scale chart of the area). Each publication is subdivided into geographic regions, called sectors, which contain information about the coastal weather, currents, ice, dangers, features and ports, as well as graphic keys to standard [MIMA/DMA] nautical charts available for the area.”
They have some photos, and some sketch charts. While mainly designed for much larger vessels, they are very handy. After the introductory chapter, the detailed description of the region begins. A map/chart precedes each chapter and outlines the nautical charts used in the area to be discussed. In these chapters, as much as possible, the coastal description is in geographic sequence and gazettes the coastline, ports, anchorages, navigation aids and hazards. These are fairly current: it is unusual to find one that hasn’t been updated in the last six months or so. For example, the 2017 Publication 148 was corrected (updated) through 26 September 2020 when I downloaded it in December 2020. Similar ADMIRALTY Sailing Directions are available from the UK Hydrographic Office, but they are priced at Hardback Paper Publication: £63.50, Electronic version (AENP): £38.70 per volume, so we don’t use those.
Both publications have some information on local conditions along the coast and note currents and weather systems with much more detail than other readily available sources.
For the western Caribbean, where Avant is now, the Sailing Directions (Enroute) tell us:
“The prevailing winds are the NE trades, which frequently assume a N or E direction, also a gusty character close inshore. These winds flow strongly from December to March”
and
“During the dry season [December to March], the winds are stronger”
and
“During the dry season, the wind may freshen to a velocity of 15 knots in the vicinity of the Panama Canal, but frequently exceeds 20 knots for a period of 24 hours or more. During the wet season in the same locality, the average wind velocity is about 8 knots, but greater velocities are experienced during passing local rain squalls.”
Hmmm. We are not fans of sailing to weather in strong or gusty winds; spring sounds much better.
We also get the Sailing Directions (Planning Guides) (these include, “relevant physical, political, industrial, navigational and regulatory information about the countries adjacent to a particular ocean basin in a single volume”). The information on each country is contained in a page or two. These are not hugely useful, but they do list national holidays and Search and Rescue (SAR) contact information for each country. You generally do not want to arrive on a holiday with the attendant overtime port fees, and while you don’t want to have to call SAR, if you do need to, it’s nice to have the number.
While you are in the NGA shop, you may as well get some other e-books that may be handy – the latest American Practical Navigator (Bowditch), the latest International Code of Signals (revised 2020 – you do have the new edition aboard, don’t you?), etc.
We want to review the Pilot Charts which:
“depict averages in prevailing winds and currents, air and sea temperatures, wave heights, ice limits, visibility, barometric pressure, and weather conditions at different times of the year. The information used to compile these averages was obtained from oceanographic and meteorologic observations over many decades during the late 18th and 19th centuries. The Atlas of Pilot Charts set is comprised of five volumes, each covering a specific geographic region. Each volume is an atlas of twelve pilot charts, each depicting the observed conditions for a particular month of any given year. The charts are intended to aid the navigator in selecting the fastest and safest routes with regards to the expected weather and ocean conditions.”
There are three main ways to get these, by:
- Buying paper copies at a chart dealer or online. (This is expensive and inconvenient, and a set is heavy to carry around for the use they get. They are rarely updated, however, so they will be current for many years). They are about $45.00 US per volume, plus shipping.
- Downloading the free PDF versions at the NGA. These are big PDF files, and some computers have difficulty managing them well. They are faithful copies of the paper charts and contain all the data.
- Downloading the free versions converted to *.BSB files for use within OpenCPN. The Chart Groups feature in OpenCPN is ideally suited for viewing and organizing Pilot Charts, but its often difficult to see the chart and the explanatory text or notes at the same time.
The downside of pilot charts is that they have been developed over many years and use data reaching back at least 100 years. Since a lot of the data is from pre-satellite times, they are primarily based on data derived from shipboard observations: since ships try to avoid areas of inclement weather, the observations tend to under-report gales and high waves, and the data quality for rarely travelled routes is poorer. The upside is that they combine a huge amount of data (tens of thousands of data points, if not millions combined in a very comprehensible format: wind, waves, currents, storm tracks, and more on a single page).
Here’s a view of the Pilot Chart for the western Caribbean in January:
Where the red arrow is (just North of Santa Marta Colombia) is the region with the strongest average winds, about 23 knots. Because the data is digital, we can move our cursor around to see the average winds are almost exactly 20 knots throughout the region, which makes a bit of a difference from the 17-21 in the pilot charts. Remember, if the average wind is 20 knots, about ½ the time it is stronger than that and about ½ the time it is less.
We also like to root around a bit in satellite data sets. You can review years of data for many satellites with disparate data sets at the NOAA portal. I don’t know what the combined budget is for this satellite array, but it’s a nice data set to have access to for free.
For example, if we want to know what the waves were like in the western Caribbean, January 2020 mid-month we go to this data set and can extract wave height data:
Hmmm . . . up to about 20-22’. That puts the fun meter pretty deep in the red, we should probably look at another month for that passage.
We can also go to this data set and extract the satellite wind data for the same date:
Positively sporty, that is. I’m not liking January for voyaging in the Western Caribbean.
We also try to find cruising guides. Cruising guides for different areas in the world vary tremendously in quality, and many are out of date. For some areas, they’re just not available. We have also found errors in waypoints and just plain bad advice in some, so do check the data and be careful. As Ronald Reagan said, “trust, but verify”. Sometimes you can find cruisers going ‘the other way’ that you can trade guidebooks and check guidebook reviews with.
I spend the time to find or make satellite charts for the cruising area to use in conjunction with OpenCPN, and download satellite views to the OvitalMap application on our tablets and in SASPlanet on our PC for reference. We get at least large-scale paper charts to carry aboard (which we have never used but carry ‘just in case’). Last time I checked, the best deal was at Frugal Navigator, at about $16.00 per chart for DMA charts. For some more travelled areas, chart books are available and make a cost-effective alternative.
We also look for rallies and races in our area of interest as their websites often have good local intel (fleet briefing documents, weather synopses, lists of marine facilities, etc.). We join rallies if their interests coincide with ours, but generally avoid those that have a ‘fleet’ approach with all vessels sailing in ‘convoy’ with set departure dates, since we like to pick our own weather windows. So, sailing down the coast we looked at the website for the Baja Haha and didn’t join up, but we did join the Panama Posse since it seemed useful. In the Pacific, the Single Handed Transpac, the Pac Cup, and the Vic-Maui are good sources; in the Atlantic, the ARC (westbound) and ARC Europe (eastbound) have some useful bits. These rallies and races give you a means to meet cruisers in the area and get up-to-the-minute local knowledge from people in the area, and often offer discounts at marinas and similar places of interest.
We round out our research by looking for cruising blogs on the internet, seeking out Facebook groups for specific cruising areas, and looking at the Center for Disease Control website for health information, and UK and USA consular sites for information on safety. While some of the safety advice seems histrionic, it can be useful to have a relative gauge of what to expect in each area. The Canadian consular sites are usually not as good or up to date simply because we have fewer diplomats abroad.
To prepare for time ashore we may look at general travel guides such as the Barefoot guides or the Lonely Planet guides (printed or online), trip advisor, reviews in google maps, etc. We also download offline accessible street maps to our phones and tablets in Google Maps or another app (like Maps.me) for navigation in our land-based adventures.
Generally, gathering all this research takes an afternoon or perhaps a day (except for making the satellite charts, which can take a lot longer), then reviewing and sorting our ideas on when and where we want to move can be done at our leisure.
THANK YOU FOR SHARING YOUR ROUTE PLANNING STRATEGIES!
GUNKHOLING FROM SAN DIEGO TO BARRA DE NAVIDAD
GUNKHOLE *
FROM SAN DIEGO TO
BARRA DE NAVIDAD 
MX
* to make a series of short pleasure trips by boat, as from bay to bay
⓪ San Diego Police Dock 32° 42.537′ N 117° 14.10543′ W – ⛽💧
① Ensenada Cruiseport Village Marina 31° 51.2766′ N 116° 37.2433′ W 60 nm ⛽💧
② Punta Santo Tomas 31° 33.1589 N 116° 40.6879 W 18 nm
③ Bahia Colonet Bight 30° 57.9028 N 116° 17.0747 W 40 nm
④ Isla San Martin North Bay 30° 29.178 N 116° 6.1356 W 30 nm
⑤ Bahia San Quintin 30° 22.5924′ N 115° 59.0887′ W 9 nm
⑥ Isla San Gernomio 29° 47.3276′ N 115° 47.4296′ W 37 nm
⑦ Fondadero San Carlos 29° 37.3596′ N 115° 28.565′ W 19 nm
⑧ Isla Cedros N 28° 20.212′ N 115° 11.434′ W 79 nm
⑨ Turtle Bay / Bahia Tortugas 27° 41.2544′ N 114° 53.2545′ W 42 nm⛽💧
⑩ Bahia Asuncion 27° 08.1355′ N 114° 17.4206′ W 46 nm⛽ 💧
⑪ Bahia San Hipolito 26° 59.3362′ N 113° 57.6966′ W 20 nm
⑫ Bahia Ballenas 26° 46.0426′ N 113° 30.0266′ W 28 nm
⑬ San Juanico / Scorpion Bay 26° 14.7986′ N 112° 28.333′ W 64 nm
⑭ Bahia Santa Maria 24° 46.133′ N 112° 15.441′ W 90 nm
⑮ Cabo San Lucas East 22° 53.304′ N 109° 53.844′ W *172 nm ⛽💧
⑯ Los Frailes 23° 22.836′ N 109° 25.297′ W 40 nm
⑰ Isla de Pajaros 23° 15.2645′ N 106° 28.3305′ W *163 nm ⛽💧
⑱ Isla Isabella Anchorage South 21° 50.5266′ N 105° 52.907′ W 91 nm
⑲ San Blas Outer Anchorage 21° 31.043′ N 105° 14.566′ W 41 nm ⛽💧
⑳ Punta de Mita 20° 45.764′ N 105° 31.15′ W 48 nm ⛽💧
㉑ Punta Ipala 20° 14.2306′ N 105° 34.4255′ W 32 nm
㉒ Chamela – N 19° 35.0404′ N 105° 7.8663′ W 47 nm
㉓ Isla Paraiso – E 19° 28.6194′ N 105° 3.7637′ W 8 nm
㉔ Tenacatita – Inner Bay 19° 17.9207′ N 104° 50.1528′ W 17 nm
㉕ Marina Puerto Navidad 19° 11.7294′ N 104° 40.8748′ W 11 nm ⛽💧
*overnight
WHEN THE HALYARD SKIES OFFSHORE...WHAT DO YOU DO?
WHEN THE HALYARD SKIES OFFSHORE...WHAT DO YOU DO?
On every passage there are sail changes and shifts that go smoothly or even better than expected...and then there are the surprises. Some surprises are more or less demanding than others. Our most recent surprise underway gave Captain Mike the opportunity to go up the mast in the middle of the ocean under clear blue skies over gentle 2 meter seas.
His thought was, "I'd rather see what it's like now under these conditions in case I have to consider going up the mast in anything else."
Here's what happened:
Last week, we sailed from the Marquesas to the Tuamotus. Conditions were excellent; we decided to go dead downwind and fly our Main and Jib wing and wing. We poled out the jib, adjusted our course, set the main, and put a preventer on it. The boat felt rock solid sliding down waves and sailing at 9-10 knots.
The wind slacked, we shook out the reef and sailed for maybe 5 more minutes before we heard a "floosh" sound and SURPRISE our mainsail lay a limp pile on the boom.
After minimal discussion, Mike went up the mast to retrieve the halyard. He used his ascenders on one of our spinnaker halyards and we backed it up with our second headsail halyard. At the second spreaders we swapped and he was raised the rest of the way on the headsail halyard and the spinnaker halyard was his backup. Now with all these halyards, where is the backup main halyard? THAT and a backup mizzen halyard are now on our list. Had we had a backup main halyard we could have waited to ascend the mast on anchor instead of underway. Hindsight is indeed 20:20!
Once down with the skied halyard, we found that the shackle had opened, the main twisted out, and bent the shackle arms open. We fixed that, reattached the halyard to the sail, raised the main.
Mike's Take-away:
"It was about what I expected. The hardest thing was staying on the mast. I would definitely not want to go up in anything more than that without more in place to make it easier...like maybe some mast steps or a better climbing set-up."
SV WHIRLWIND Mike, Maurisa, Russell, & Josea - Alajuela 48
THANK YOU FOR SHARING YOUR ADVENTURES UNDERWAY
Send our editor your story to editor@oceanposse.com
GOOD NAUTICAL: ISLA ESPIRITU SANTO, SEA OF CORTEZ, MEXICO
GOOD NAUTICAL: ISLA ESPIRITU SANTO, SEA OF CORTEZ, MEXICO
This link is for the northernmost bay on the island. There are many up and down Espiritu Santo. All are interesting and fun to explore. A Park Pass is required and can be obtained in La Paz: https://goodnautical.com/mexico-pacific/anchorage/el-mezteno-isla-espiritu-santo
Marquesas named UNESCO World Heritage Site
Marquesas named
UNESCO World Heritage Site
According to the World Heritage Convention, The Marquesan Islands were recently named a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its "exceptional testimony to the territorial occupation of the Marquesas archipelago by a human civilization that arrived by sea around the year 1000 CE and developed on these isolated islands between the 10th and the 19th centuries. It is also a hotspot of biodiversity that combines irreplaceable and exceptionally well conserved marine and terrestrial ecosystems. Marked by sharp ridges, impressive peaks and cliffs rising abruptly above the ocean, the landscapes of the archipelago are unparalleled in these tropical latitudes. The archipelago is a major centre of endemism, home to rare and diverse flora, a diversity of emblematic marine species, and one of the most diverse seabird assemblages in the South Pacific. Virtually free from human exploitation, Marquesan waters are among the world’s last marine wilderness areas. The property also includes archaeological sites ranging from monumental dry-stone structures to lithic sculptures and engravings." https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1707
The ancient Marquesan anthropomorphic sculptures or tiki have received wide attention since they were first noted in 1595. Oral stories of their significance are difficult to come by as many have been lost. The Marquesan language has been all but lost to French in the islands although, presently there are many people trying to study it, use it, and keep it alive. Beginning in 1980's, there have been academic efforts to trace the history of Marquesan language, spirituality, and stone structures. Stylistically the Marquesan stone tiki followed certain social rules with similar characteristics to tattoos and material objects.
MEET THE FLEET: SV GARGOYLE
MEET THE FLEET: SV GARGOYLE
Kevin & Carla
From the moment Kevin and Carla departed Vancouver BC on May 31, 2019, their first “real” goal was to be in Barra de Navidad in time for the 2019 Panama Posse kickoff meeting at the end of November. That first five months and 4,000 + NM set the tone for the crew of SV Gargoyle, a 2011 Beneteau Oceanis 50. Kevin, Carla, along with their two cats, Sam and Dean, have been sailing proudly under a Posse banner of one flavor or another ever since.
2020 highlights included being locked down in Puesta del Sol, Nicaragua with a number of other posse members. Once they were allowed to leave, Gargoyle beat upwind for nine days to the Galapagos to be one of the first yachts post-COVID to be allowed into these magical islands. After two months in paradise with the islands to themselves, it was time to head East for their first Panama Canal transit and a planned May 2021 Atlantic transit. Insert the Omnicom variant into the story and with Portugal telling them they wouldn’t be allowed into the Azores; they made a 180 degree turn back to Panama for canal transit number two. The decision was now to go the other way to the Med, via the Pacific!
Departing from Marina Papagayo in March 2022 with Dietmar wishing us fair winds from the dock, Gargoyle made a 30-day passage to Nuku Hiva, followed by a season cruising French Polynesia and Fiji. Spending cyclone season in New Zealand, they experienced not one but two cyclones. Leary of the Red Sea they decided to ship Gargoyle with Posse Partner Sevenstar Yacht Transport from Auckland to Cork Ireland in May 2023.
After Gargoyle made her 3rd Panama Canal transit, albeit without her crew, what followed was a magical summer in Ireland and Scotland before a late summer run to Spain, Portugal and then the Med. A winter in Tunisia followed by this season’s cruising in Malta, Sicily, Italy, up to Venice, Greece and now where they sit anchored off Bodrum, Turkey. 24 countries, 40,000NM and yes, Sam and Dean are still rocking it with their human crew.
Follow us on....
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/sv_gargoyle/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/svgargoyle50
YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOihVJ744XS4CoB71HixcFw/
Kevin and Carla are always available as well for a call or email exchange with their fellow cruisers. sailinggargoyle@gmail.com
SV GARGOYLE 🇨🇦 Kevin & Carla - Beneteau Oceanis 50
THANK YOU KEVIN & CARLA FOR BEING A PART OF THE POSSE FOR SO MANY YEARS!
BOCAS DEL TORO BEACH CLEAN UP
BOCAS DEL TORO BEACH CLEAN UP
Report from Maison de Sante:
We had a nice group of Posse boats and local residents here in Bocas Del Toro, Panama who came out this morning for clean up on Red Frog beach. Many pounds of plastic garbage was collected 😊. The strangest items collected included a bicycle mud flap, a scuba purge valve, and a diaper🤢. Some people had to leave early so not everyone is pictured. Stay tuned for a future date where we can ALL participate in beach clean up wherever you are located!
SY BISOU 🇦🇺 Robin and Tad - Fountaine Pajot 44′ & SY MAISON DE SANTÉ 🇺🇸 Nicole & Keenan - Cal 46'