Mexico cruising | The Rigneys' Great Adventure

This is a recap I submitted to the Ventura Yacht Club’s, that they published in their newsletter, “The Forecast,” in its “Members on the Move” section. Leslie thought I should post it for all to read:

The Rigneys aboard their Tanaya 42, Kandu, made a soft start of their planned circumnavigation, taking full advantage of reciprocity to finish last minute items aboard Kandu. They wonder if YELP should include reviews on the various yacht club showering facilities? The clubs have been very accommodating, some more regulated than others. Clubs visited in order of appearance: Del Rey, California, Alamitos Bay, Dana Point, Oceanside (Eric gave OYC his VYC presentation), Southwestern, San Diego, Silver Gate, Chula Vista, Coronado Cays, Navy (They honored reciprocity as well. The Rigneys just needed a sponsor, which the Navy club provided), back to Silver Gate and Southwestern. The new showering facilities at Silver Gate take first prize.

Ensenada brought the first international leg, and the boys responded well. VYC members Bill Kohut and Joe Houska joined them for the border crossing. Eleven-year-old Trent was and remains bent on learning Spanish. Bryce was mostly interested in skateboarding the streets and port of Ensenada, drinking Mexican Coke and drinking coconuts. Between Ventura and Puerto Vallarta, some problems arose aboard Kandu. Debris from a dissolved inspection plate gasket blocked their fuel supply. The control unit of their windvane malfunctioned. Hydraulic fluid leaked from the ram of their autopilot. And the inside rigging of their extendable spinnaker pole gave way. But nothing “mission critical” occurred that redundancy couldn’t circumvent. The first overnight sails with watch schedules went well. Thirteen-year-old Bryce has difficulty waking for the 10 p.m. to midnight watch, but is otherwise fine. The confused seas, remnants of Hurricane Pam, didn’t make for comfortable initial crossings. After two nights, Isla Cedros was their first landfall. Then a surf stop at Isla Natividad on their way to Turtle Bay. Passage to Bahia Maria meant another two night sailing in confused seas. Leslie questions going all the way to Easter Island, but will wait to see how the sail to the Galapagos goes this month. They missed the Grey Whales in Mag Bay by a week (darn wind generator controller and fuel blockage!). The four day passage to La Cruz, just outside Puerto Vallarta, provided two days of favorable seas and wind, which calmed to a day and half of low rpm motoring (tachometer quit, so they go by ear until Bill Kohut arrives with a new sender unit in a few days). Bill Kohut is flying to meet them in Puerto Vallarta, bringing many requested parts and supplies. Kandu is thoroughly shaken down and ready for her long upcoming passages: Galapagos, Easter Island (maybe), and French Polynesia. Don’t forget to follow them on the website and subscribe to their blog feed at RigneysKandu.com. It includes a map link that will track in real-time their passages.

Post script: Easter Island and Pitcairn are off the list for now, due to time constraints surrounding our visa with French Polynesia. Maybe we’ll visit them on our return, after transiting the Panama Canal. Today, April 30, after many false starts, we plan to leave the Puerto Vallarta area for the Galapagos. It will take 15 days or more, before we arrive in Isla Isabela.

April 5, 2015

Leslie as we come into Cedros Island after two nights at sea.

I woke up slowly this morning having gone through a night of watches. Sleeping on a moving boat and being responsible for that boat is not relaxing. Even at anchor with a steady wind blowing, I have not been sleeping soundly. My ears, nose and motion sensors are all actively accessing the situation – constantly. The night before, early on, there was a crashing “BOOOOM.” Our telescoping spinnaker pole broke. The extension or telescoping section could not support the tension of the outstretched genoa and crashed back in. Fortunately, it was during Eric’s own watch, so he dealt with it.

9:10 pm. It is still Easter Sunday, but the day has darkened outside. I’m on the first watch from 8:00 p.m. until 10, then I will repeat a watch early in the morning from 4:00-6:00 a.m. The moon is just rising. It is an eerie yellow full moon. The wind is coming from dead downwind. Once again, it is not coming from a great direction for Kandu. We’re trying to conserve fuel, so no motoring right now. We are also trying to see what it’s like to use less energy.

Much of my on-land and sea days are involved in keeping the family fed and watered…and then cleaning-up. This morning, because it was Easter, and due to the calm sea situation, I felt inspired to make pancakes served with applesauce. The boys requested chocolate chip pancakes. We did not have an Easter egg hunt as they had hoped, so chocolate pancakes it was! Instead of an Easter church service, I decided to acknowledge the day with a morning full of Easter music: Handel’s Messiah and later Sylvia McNair singing Exsultate Jubilate. It was glorious music to hear while floating along in the middle of the ocean.

We are a little speck moving on a massive waterway with no land in sight. Most of the time I do not allow myself to think about the possibilities of what could go wrong. But I catch myself at different times of the day, everyday, taking account of our rather precarious situation. We are so alone, out in foreign waters, watching the radar, paying close attention to the sea patterns, the wind, the provisions, the amount of water and propane being consumed, the direction (navigation), and keeping tabs on the general mental health of the crew.

After cleaning up breakfast, we all had some quiet time. I listened closely to Handel while playing a bit of Sudoku; the guys worked on the rigging. Dad taught Bryce how to seize the ends of the lines and ropes, offering him a dollar per end seized. I asked how to do it also and helped with six or seven ends. There are always ends of rope that need attention.

I brought out knives to sharpen in anticipation of catching a fish! Bryce put out the trolling lines, in hopes of snagging some unsuspecting tuna, to no avail. Since it was Easter, I wanted to make sure to prepare delicious meals, well balanced and as fresh as possible. For lunch, I prepared a cucumber, tomato, red onion and feta type cheese salad served with crackers and smoked tuna that we had bought at the Ensenada fish market. It was light and tasty.

Looking through my “Boat Galley Cookbook,” I tried to figure out what kind of fun desert I could make. Bryce decided to bake cookies. He was excited to eat a fresh tasting dessert. Eric doesn’t eat added sugar foods anymore, so I often refrain from baking sweets out of respect for his choice. But with two boys around, they do want to enjoy fresh sweets from time to time. Easter seemed the perfect time to make it happen.

Aside from baking cookies, during much of the afternoon, the boys and I played games starting with checkers, then one of our favorite card games: Rummy. We really enjoy ourselves with that game. We were even able to play outside because the wind and swell were not powerful.

I got a chance to read a bit while Eric worked with the boys on trouble shooting the sump pump for the aft shower. Then it was time for dinner preparations: boiled potatoes, grilled Mexican bacon wrapped hotdogs, and romaine salad with shredded carrots, red onions, celery, topped with our favorite dressing: ‘Annie’s Shitake Sesame.’ All these fresh foods today were quite luxurious since our fresh salad supplies will only remain through tomorrow. We are down to one fresh egg, 3 boiled eggs, 2 oranges and some limes. The rest of the passage will be canned fruit and frozen vegetables along with pastas, beans and rice. Tomorrow we’ll eat bean soup from yesterday’s large pot that I made in advance while in Bahia Maria.

Yesterday, I got a bit overwhelmed with the idea of cooking and providing for 5 people 3 times per day for many days on end when we travel to the Galapagos and then onward to the Tuamotus. I have got to create some future menus in advance for our long passages so the task doesn’t overcome me.

9:50 p.m. My first watch of the night is almost over. It’s been a long day with no nap. Winds are holding generally from one direction. This is important to note before handing off the watch to Trent. If the winds were to have changed, then I would have had to wake Eric to reset the sails; I still defer to him at the moment. As it is, the wind is blowing at about 10-11 knots, but we’re only going about 3.8 to 4 knots because the sails are not capturing efficiently.

A little prayer before I turn over the watch to Trent: “Thank you Lord for our easy sailing south, our solid boat, fair winds and seas. I am grateful for our safe travels. Thank you on this most important day that we remember Jesus’s sacrifice for us. We are blessed…in Jesus’s name I pray, Amen.”