Bubba is in the House!!!! Good Bye MokaKat!!!

So one of my best friends from back in Arkansas is Bubba.  His real name is Robert, but I believe that somewhere down the road, he earned the name Bubba!  He is usually a little crazy, so I was hoping that we wouldn't end up in a Mexican jail in the next 10 days!  We have been wanting to get together on the boat for most of the year, but with work and other things he wasn't able, until now!  Bubba is in the house!!!!

Bubba wanted to experience the cruising life, so the first day I had him in the front locker unbolting the windlass.  Of course it was 90 something degrees and 100 percent humidity, normal for us cruising types.  Of course Bubba wasn't used to high temperatures, as Arkansas has had a real cold winter and spring, and he was suffering helping me with the windlass.  The windlass stopped working a couple of days before, and we couldn't take the boat out without it working.  Also, the new owners expected it to be perfect, so we needed to get it fixed fast!  After removing the bolts and taking out the windlass, we took it over to a mechanic at one of the local marinas.  It turned out that the o-ring was leaking gear oil into the electric motor, and all it needed was a good cleaning and new o-rings!  After we installed it back, it worked better than it ever had!  The next boat I buy, I will service the windlass the first week!!!  

We also walked a mile to the local grocery store to buy beer!  We used our little two wheeler to bring a couple of cases back to the boat!  I guess we could have taken the $3 taxis, but I needed to break Bubba into the cruising life in the right way!

That night we were able to meet up with Josh and his wife, who were friends of Bubba and had been vacationing in Isla Mujeres.  They had been out to MokaKat earlier in the week, but because of the broken windlass, we were not able to go sailing.

Also, my mother ended up back on MokaKat, after her exciting trip toward Belize.  She was done with mono hulls for awhile, and was happy to be back on MokaKat!  Her misadventure was documented on an earlier post, for anyone that missed it!  

So the next day we wanted to sail offshore and go fishing.  We just had a few days before the new owners were coming, so we wanted to take advantage of one last sail. There is a great fishing spot about 15 NM east of Isla Mujeres called Arrowsmith Bank, and that was where we were heading.  We motored out of the harbor and around the island on the south side.  The seas were rather large, but we still enjoyed a nice sail.  The only problem was that the wind was directly east, so we headed a little north east and would have to tack back east to get to Arrowsmith.  

 The East side of Isla Mujeres and large ocean waves

 My mom enjoying time back on MokaKat

The sail out was fun, but our fishing was frustrating.  I lost two of my newest and largest lures due to faulty leaders.  We still haven't made it to Arrowsmith and the day was getting late, so we decided to head back to harbor.  In desperation, I pulled out my trusty 6 inch Rapala, the one that has caught many snapper and barracudas in Belize.  It is a little small for open ocean fishing, but it was the only thing that I had left.  It was beaten up, had many scratches from large teeth, and the paint was rubbed off in many places.  I put it on with a new leader, and let out the line.  

It wasn't just a few minutes before the reel started singing out!!!  Fish on!!!  Bubba ran to grab the rod and I took control of MokaKat.  The fish was running so fast away, that I had to turn MokaKat around and chase it!  This went on for more than 30 minutes, before we finally got control of the situation and could see that we had a large silver fish on the line!  A few more minutes and we were able to gaff a 41 inch Wahoo!!!  This was the new boat record, and weighed over 30 pounds!   

This is where Bubba said 'You are going to need a bigger cooler!!!'

The fish was really bloody, and it took a few minutes to clean up the boat!  Of course Bubba put the line back in the water and we continued fishing.  It wasn't too long and he had another....and another...and another!!!  

Sometime after the fourth fish, I made him stop fishing!  We were all tired of pulling in fish and stopping the boat for each!  We were ready to get back to the harbor and eat some fresh fish!

As we rounded the east side of Isla Mujeres the main sail suddenly came down!  We were on a downwind leg, so there wasn't any damage.  After running up to the mast, it looked like the main halyard shackle either broke or came undone.  The main halyard and the block ended up at the top of the mast, a project for another day,  Luckily, the main halyard was not damaged, an expensive repair.  We secured the main and sailed on the jib arriving shortly into the harbor.  There is always an adventure on MokaKat!   

Cleaning the catch!

That night we had a great dinner of fresh fish cooked on the grill and enjoyed a beautiful sunset.

The next day we contracted our friend Zee, who was an expert at going up the mast!  We did a  little bartering and he agreed to go up the mast and retrieve our main halyard.  We cranked him up the main using our spinnaker halyard, taking all of the safety precautions.   While he was up there, he took some beautiful pictures of MokaKat and the anchorage!  Thanks Zee!!!!

 Yes, that is my mother, Bubba, and me down below!

 Zee and Bubba

With Zee's help, we coordinated a Cruiser's Potluck at the Bahia Tortuga Restaurant, a very cruiser friendly place!  We provided all of the fish and everyone brought something.  All together there was more than 40 cruisers there!  It was a great time and everyone got to eat some of our catch of the day!  The new owners of MokaKat, Karen and Trey, arrived earlier in the day, and were able to attend, meeting all of the cruisers.  The potluck was a huge success and thanks went to Zee and Bubba for coordinating and providing the fish!

Our days on MokaKat were winding down.  We moved MokaKat into the marina to clean her up and get her ready for the new owners.  I also got an airline flight for my mom to travel to Belize in a faster method than sailing.  She flew out  the day of the potluck dinner and made it successful to Stepping Stones Report in Belize.  

I spent a couple of days with the new owners to cover everything about MokaKat.  After a couple of fast moving days, Bubba and I headed back to Arkansas, leaving the cruising life behind.  My future was still unknown, but I know that I will be back cruising one day.  

Bubba and I had our last night in Isla Mujeres.  It was raining, and I still made him walk a mile to the town! It was a fitting end to a great 10 months cruising.  We didn't end up in a Mexican Jail, but we did get wet in the rain.  A couple of margaritas later, all was well!

 The famous whale shark picture!

 Last night in Isla Mujeres

The new owners of MokaKat, Karen and Trey!  Fair winds to MokaKat!!!!!

Happy Sailing on MokaKat!!!

Farewell to Augie (mom), Open Ocean Rescue, and Her Misadventure toward Belize

This post is about my mom! She was the one that stepped up last year and agreed to go on this crazy adventure with me!  We have been a great team for the past 10 months.  The latest buyer came and accepted the boat, so that meant that we were at the end of our adventure within the next 30 days.  There were a lot of emotions concerning this realization, both sad and exciting.  

Mom in her adventuresome attitude decided the best way to get back to Belize, where she was going to help house sit the Stepping Stones Resort, was to crew on a boat going south.  The advantage to going by boat was that she would be able to take all of her stuff with her, she would help out a fellow cruiser, and she would work for her passage.  

So she advertised her desire to crew on the morning cruiser net.  As it turned out, there was a boat, s/v Deja Vu that was looking for an extra hand, heading to Belize.  They had just traveled from Florida in the latest regatta.  Their boat was smaller than MokaKat, and was a mono-hull!  This would my mom's first time on a mono-hull sailboat!

After getting to know Steve, the owner, and Pat, mom moved all of her things over to the forward stateroom and moved on board.  They had a couple of days of repairs to their boat, and then they were off.

 A rainbow, promising new adventures!

 Mom's last sundowner with Michael, Barbara, Gretchen, Dale, Clark, and Augie (taking picture)

Michael and Gretchen from s/v Syrinx and Clark and Barbara from s/v Koa Kai

 Mom, packed and ready to go!

 Pat, Augie(mom), and Captain Steve on s/v Deja Vu

Mom, working on deck!

Good bye Mom and s/v Deja Vu, with MokaKat in the background!

The rest of the post is words from my mom, as she recreates her experience on her sail, or at least the attempt to sail to Belize on s/v Deja Vu!

Augie:

S/V DeJaVu. Stephen, Captain
Patrick, helmsman
Augie, crew.

I left Isla Mujeres Mexico on Wednesday,  May 21st bound for Belize.  I was lucky to find a boat heading south that needed an extra member, so I signed on.  Stephen and. Pat had been in a Regatta El Sol race from Pensacola, Fla. to Isla Mujeres and were heading through Belize on the way to Rio Dulce, Guatemala, where Dale and I wintered hurricane season last year.  After meeting them, Dale and I both agreed that they would be a good pair for me to sail with down to Belize, where they could find another crew member to go to Guatemala with them.

Stephen being a 52 yr. old owner/captain of his boat and having many years experience sailing with Pat, his helmsman, had participated in several regattas together, but the one this May was not to be a success!!  The weather down from Florida was rather quirky and on the sail to Isla Mujeres they lost the entire steering to a cable malfunction that plagued them the entire race.

After reaching Isla Mujeres, they sought a mechanic and machinist who fabricated a part and replaced the steering cable.  Thinking all was well, we started off to Belize early Wednesday morning and had fair sails all the way until we were parallel to Cozumel and the coastal area where we encountered winds of over 50 knots.  The main sheet was broken, a part ripped out of the boom and our main sail became out of commission from the strength of the winds and the driving rains.  Pat was man handling the helm, keeping the boat on course when a loud clank sounded and something clattered into the bilge area of the boat.

We couldn't tell what it was, as the steering still held so we kept on using only the jib and the motor.  We felt we could make it to Belize without the main sail, using the motor and jib as we were caught in a 2 knot current pulling us south in the stream and were running around 6 knots.  The rain was driving and the winds were behind us.  My lack of strength and expertise made me useless in this scenario but I could occasionally help and I could help keep the crew awake and provide food.

As we whizzed  along, suddenly a gust swept through and the entire steering cable snapped leaving the boat totally helpless!  Both Pat, who was steering and Steve, who was sitting across from me whirled into action.  The jib was brought in and I was sent below so they knew where I was and knew I was safe! They immediately opened the compartment in the bow of the boat where the emergency tiller was housed and got it installed in the housing so the boat could be brought back under control as it was rocking wildly in the 9 plus foot waves.  Then we discovered the engine was overheating!!! A broken impeller was later discovered as the culprit!

Once order was more or less restored, Steve got on the Satellite phone and got in touch with the US Coast guard who requested we abandon ship!!  (I did not know this until later as I was out of the loop below deck).  Steve was not willing to give up the ship, so he contacted the Mexican Coast Guard who sent a Rescue Ship to our aid.  They boarded ship not too far from the reefs of Tulum along the Mexican coast and took control of the helm.  We were then towed back to Cozumel as there were no marinas anywhere near our location.

 Captain Steve and the Mexico Coast Guard

 Captain Steve reviewing options

Pat helping out

 Forward Stateroom with all of mom's boxes and suitcases!

Emergency tiller, not a good sign

By the time daylight arrived, we did too!  Into the harbor in Cozumel, where we anchored and were boarded by several different agencies who required our names, age, address and country of origin.  We were photographed each time.  None of us knew who these men were or from where they came, but all were official looking and had guns! 

This can't be good!!!!

 Pirates!!!!

 Just a local Pirate tourist boat!

 Cozumel!!!!

 Mexican Coast Guard...again!

 Pat taking it easy, after a long struggle!!!

We were all exhausted and really weren't too sure what was going to happen next!  Steve went with Immigration to try to find out how to get help while Pat and I stayed aboard in case we had more company.  Since none of us spoke Spanish and none of them spoke English, we sort of smiled and did as we were told!  Steve, as captain, took the lead and was successful in finding a marina and a person to guide us in repair. Jack became the man of the hour!!

We did have one more night of adventure prior to being able to limp into the marina on Friday morning.  While we were anchored in the bay area on Thursday, where the marina was, we discovered that our anchor was dragging and our poor engine was not strong enough to pull us out of the current and back to a safe morning.  Pat had crashed below and I was keeping Steve awake as he hadn't had any sleep for over 24 hours.  He had rigged a rope over the emergency rudder and had attached it to a wench on the port side of the bow.  By placing his foot on the rudder, he could steer left and pulling the rope on the wench, he could steer right and keep the boat on course. 

 Jack, helping out!!!

Up the mast for repairs!

 More repairs!

After realizing that we were not making any headway due to the current dragging us further south, Steve chose to tack out into the channel away from the shore and the current and then be able to head back toward the northern shore where the marina was located.  After having gotten to the apex of this course, he had a bite to eat and turned the helm over to me to head toward a point on shore that was above the entrance to the marina and fell asleep in the cockpit!

I kept on course with some maneuvering due to my inexperience, until we were in the current again and being taken down shore.  I woke Steve who then got us to a point where we could drop the anchor again and this time it held and we went to sleep below, hoping we would awaken in the daylight to find ourselves still in the same place!

Friday morning, we limped into the marina to find that it was government owned and catered to fishing and tourism.  The Mexican government had confiscated a private marina and the accompanying land, put a fence around it and called it theirs!!  Once again we were checked out carefully by the authorities and when they realized the magnitude of our repairs, we were welcomed but have had to change slips numerous times while waiting through the weekend for the repairs to be made.  We have been without electricity several times, but are very appreciative that the repairs are finished as of Wednesday, May 28 and we are ready to head back to Isla Mujeres from whence we came!!  Hopefully, we will have a more pleasant journey back!

If I wanted adventure...I certainly got it!  This has been a very interesting week.  I have not been fearful for my life as I have been well protected by not only life vest, but the experience and expertise of the two men I sailed with.  I did pray continually during the worse situations when I felt most helpless and got great peace from that.  Other than a very badly bruised arm and a bruised rib, I suffered little injuries and neither of these things have bothered me enough to seek aid or kept me from functioning.

There are no amenities here at this marina.  No restaurant, bar, showers, or WiFi....it is strictly a working marina.  We are several miles from town, but at least the taxi drivers don't gouge us since many workers need their services as well.

Adios Cozumel!!!!

I am now back on MokaKat and planning to fly to Placencia on Monday if all goes well! My luggage will follow at a later date as I have too much to carry by plane.

Dale:
Well, my mom really had an adventure and I was very happy to know that she was safe.  s/v Deja Vu ended up sailing back to Isla Mujeres after the repairs were done.  Captain Steve was going to leave the boat at a local marina for a month or two, while he decides what to do.  Mom came back on MokaKat for a couple of days, before she was able to fly successfully to Belize!  The new owners of MokaKat allowed that her boxes of things stay on board and they delivered them to her in Belize later on!   My mom is quite the adventurer and traveler!  Good luck at Stepping Stones Resort in Belize!!!!

 Beautiful Sunset pictures at Isla Mujeres, Mexico!!!

(all three are of the same sunset!)

Happy Sailing on MokaKat!!!