About this event
a short report of wayne a crew member of auspice. If February was a month of transition, March was a month of execution. I had a great time racing with some friends on another San Francisco boat called AUSPICE. I spent two weeks dotting i’s and crossing t’s. And I spent one week sailing away from North America for distant places. So as not to leave everyone hanging, this note also covers the first 10 days of April and my landfall in Fatu Hiva, Iles des Marquesas, Polynesia Francais. As you might recall, my friend Sarah had made the trip down to Puerto Vallarta in late February and we had cruised south about 130 miles to check out some of my favorite parts of the Mexican coast. For Sarah, this was the end of a 15 month sojourn that took her from California to Australia to Thailand, Laos, Viet Nam and Cambodia, then to France, Africa and finally New York, South Carolina and back to California. She had a job lined up with a start date of March 17th and was squeezing in a last bit of fun in the sun. During our trip down the coast, while in one of the anchorages, I’d spotted another San Francisco-based boat, AUSPICE, that I’d raced against occasionally on San Francisco Bay. We spoke on the radio and the subject of the Bandaras Bay Regatta came up. The BBR is a low-key, cruiser-oriented week of social, cultural and drinking activities loosely organized around three days of buoy racing. I had wanted to race MOONDUSTER in the regatta, but knew that I hadn’t lined up crew, dealt with entry details or arranged any sort of insurance that would cover me, the boat, my crew and any other boats that might wind up in the sort of oh-shit moments that can occur when sailing in close quarters around a race course. AUSPICE has a great record on SF Bay and although I didn’t know Jim Coggins at the time, it seemed like a reasonable choice for a boat to jump on for a couple of beers and a couple of buoys. As it turned out, it was the boat. On the radio, Jim was enthusiastic to have some additional crew. The racing would include the Governor’s Cup on Sunday and then the three days of racing on the following Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Interestingly, the Governor’s Cup would also include boats that were in Puerto Vallarta for the Mexican Ocean Racing Conference – a no holds barred event featuring some of the biggest, baddest high-end race boats from the West Coast, many of which had just completed a race from San Diego to Puerto Vallarta. Sarah was a little dubious of jumping into the racing fray. Although she’d taken a few sailing lessons and done a few hundred miles with me, thewhole racing thing can be a little overwhelming and no one wants to be in the way.
Our practice for the first race consisted of showing up about an hour early for the first start with every intention of actually going through a few motions. Instead, we spotted a huge "bait ball", a swarm of small fish being driven towards the surface by larger fish and being attacked from above by frigate birds and blue footed boobies. And when I say attacked, I’m not really certain how to describe the scene. At any single moment, literally dozens of birds were stooping and diving flat out into the water followed by wave after wave after wave. A feeding frenzy from above and a feeding frenzy from below.
So what’s a race boat in a cruising regatta to do when seeing a massive bait ball just ½ mile away? We threw two fthe water and drove right through the middle of it all. And, within just a minute or two, another crew meAndre, who had never raced nor fished in his entire life, was hooked a good sized jack and the fight was on.
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land the fish. Jack’s aren’t good eating so it was a catch and release ordealeaving everyone pretty exhilarated, disorganized, no where near the starting line, unpracticed and, most importantly, ready for more fun!
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way to the starting area, discovered that thrace committee had never received any division splits and so couldn’t tell us whatdivision we should start in, started in the wrong division. Hey, it’s Mexico – no problem! Jim drove a good start, Berncalled some good tactics, and we recoverednicely when a jib sheet came loose only a hundred yards or so from some rocks. There were no mistakes setting, jibing odropping the spinnaker and we found out two days later that we won our division.
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wasn’t half bad and that maybe, just maybe,she’d extend her stay in Mexico for a few more days and extend her perfect international sailing record (1 race, trip to the airport and a few phone calls later and she was in.
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organized than the Governor’s Cup had been. The Cup had given the crew a chance to become familiar with the boawe all settled in to our positions pretty easily. I had been a bit concerned about racing on a crew which featured five boat owners, three couples and a father-son, but therewas no drama, no trauma and we won eacof our races and were, I believe, the only undefeated boat in the regatta. Most of thcredit belongs with Jim Coggins, an excellent driver with a low-key, all-incstyle who brought out the best in everyone.
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turned pretty quickly to wrapping up my tiin Mexico and provisioning the boat for the passage to French Polynesia and points beyond.
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projects, trips to the new and improved marine hardware store in Puerto Vallartawhich must be seen to be believed, as welas Wallmart (my first Wallmart visit ever), Home Depot, Costco and Mega the appropriately-named superstore versthe Mexican Safeway-equivalent grocery store chain Comercial Mexicana.
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considerably from March 1998 when I provisioned for my trip to Hawaii. The availability and variety of consumer gooavailable in Mexico is quickly approaching that of the US and the prices are lower. Among the things I was able to snag for mtrip were 4lbs Brie, 2lbs Roquefort, 8lbs bacon, 2lbs Serano ham, Dijon mustard, marinated artichoke hearts, sundried tomatoes – you name it – no problema
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things conspired to make my life infinitely easier than it might otherwise have been. The first was the unfortunate collision that SOONER MAGIC had with a rock. The boabelongs to JT, another San Francisco cruiser and participant in the BandarasRegatta, and he had the misfortune of hittingnot one but two uncharted rocks. The first did little if any damage and was right inside the marina at La Cruz. The second happened at a snorkeling spot calledMariette’s and snapped off the lower part ofhis rudder. The result was that JR had to have his boat hauled for repairs and, as heprepaid for his slip, he allowed me to use it at no charge.
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planned for a day or two, mostly just tthe boat down before starting the trip. To be in a marina for nearly a week simplified so many projects and saved so much time it’s hard to begin to explain. Thanks JT.
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Shawn, who you might remember I’d met during my time in the boat yard in
Ensenada, finally caught up and were in La Cruz.
Although their scheduled departure for French Polynesia was about three weeks behind me, both Ben and Shawn helped me provision, sharing cab rides and menu ideas as we went. We also hung out in the evenings, going to dinner and generally entertaining ourselves, which made the entire ready-set-go ordeal way less stressful than it might otherwise have been.
And so, with a full load of fuel, every nook and cranny packed with yummy snacks or simple staples, and JT’s impending return, I left La Cruz on the morning of Friday March 21st and motored to Punta Mita.
I’d been spending a considerable amount of time doing weather analysis and route planning, and frankly the weather wasn’t looking so good. I wasn’t certain as I motored and then anchored in Punta Mita exactly when I’d be departing.
But there was a general conspiracy afoot that set the wheels in motion – it went something like this -
On arriving in Punta Mita and before I’d even dropped the anchor, someone called me on the radio. It was a couple I’d met coincidentally in December when I smuggled some parts into Mexico on their behalf. They were friends of friends and since then we’d run into one another a few times while I was on Bandaras Bay, they invited me to stop by their condo if I had a chance and I agreed I’d do that later in the day.
Part two of the conspiracy was another friend of a friend who was anchored nearby, who stopped by only to say "There’s a band playing on the beach tonight that you’ve got to see".
Part three of the conspiracy was the fact that Chris Coggins, Jim’s son, was anchored only 100 yards away, living on AUSPICE while his dad was back in San Francisco tending to business.
I invited Chris over for breakfast and we hung out for a bit, agreeing to head into the beach later in the day for a drink at the condo and then, perhaps, some music.
Part four of the conspiracy was yet another old friend, Bernard, who called out of the blue on the radio and was willing to relay a message back to Ben and Shawn – telling them about the music and suggesting they grab a bus up to Punta Mita for one last soiree. They agreed.
And so as the day wore on, Chris and I made the trip to shore and started making the rounds. While at the condo, I was able to check my e-mail and tend to a last fe
Date and time: Saturday, March 01, 2008 at 8:00 AM
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