Northers: Now I'm pretty sure the word alone can conjure up all kinds of images and scenarios in the average imagination... and that no doubt could be a lot of fun explaining... but let me tell you what the word 'northers' now means to us...
Here we sit, in sunny La Paz. it's a little colder than we thought it would be so we're wearing things like fleece pants 'n pull-overs in the mornings and evenings... but that's ok, cuz it's warm during the day. We're tied up to a long, new dock in the middle of the main harbour and we're in good company. Several of the boats we've met along our way are also here and it's kind of like another group of our loose-knit cruising family. We'd been assured the new dock with it's newish dock-anchoring-system would hold us all very well, but I think the owner hadn't realized just how popular his new long dock would become and, as boat after boat arrived, the weight on the lee side (the only comfortable side of the dock) grew steadily larger. You see this dock runs straight out from the beach side and lies broadside to winds from the north. That's ok most of the time because, except for one kind of wind (you guessed it, but more about that later) the harbour is fairly well protected.
Now we'd heard about winds called 'northers' before we left. The Sea of Cortez veterans, all the cruising guides, and just about anyone you talk to who has ever sailed in these parts.. will tell you about them. They blow hard, they say. They blow for days and days. They start in early December and the air and water temperatures drop... it gets cold... they say. Now come on... we're from BC. We've sail in cold, heck we swim in cold, and as for wind - how hard can it blow? It's protected on 3 sides for heavens sake!
Well... let me tell ya... Here's how it goes. For the last few days, our local radio net weather guy has been mentioning that a norther was on the way. We all listened carefully and mused about how the dock would do with all the boats on it. No problem was the response. We also took a look at our dock lines and fenders... no problem there either... all looked good. Yesterday, I even hiked to a nearby marina to find a guy called Javiar who apparently had some large rubber snubbers for sale (just in case you know...). Unfortunately when Javiar finally arrived, he knew nothing about snubbers and, by that time the stores were closed.... so no snubbers for us. I should confess that, believing we'd be mostly anchoring, I'd left our handy-dandy Blow-max shock absorbers at home. We had only one rubber snubber (thanks to father Ken) we'd brought to use on our hand-line for fishing. We put that snubber on our bow line. Just about this time, the wind started to pick up... you guessed it... from the north. Seems when the 'northers' hit, they curl around the entrance into La Paz channel and harbour and then they head straight in to where dozens of boats are anchored and hundreds of boats are tied up at various marinas (ours included). The forecast, as we'd heard it, was for E 5-15 on Thursday, N 30 on Friday, and 20+ for Saturday and Sunday. It wasn't such a large surprise when the owner, or his right-hand -man, showed up Thursday afternoon pacing the dock and looking kind of perplexed. Indeed he was quite worried that the weight of all the boats on the one side of the long dock would create more flexing than the anchoring system was designed to hold. You see, the new marina is only partially built and, once complete, the anchoring system will be quite sufficient, but until then (and without the support of the rest of the intended docks) there was room for some serious concern. So, here's what happened. One boat joined several others that had been anchored, and left town all-together, deciding to take their chances at anchor in the lee of one of the nearby islands. Three boats moved off the dock and took up older mooring buoys in the nearby area. Four boats stayed on the main dock, but spread themselves out to even the weight distribution. One boat went around to the inside of the main dock, deciding to take his chances with the many small ferries that pass nearby. And we moved Shannon back and on to the main dock to a position that those who had experienced this before said would be the most protected.
Once all the moves were completed we all set to organizing our chafing gear and our dock lines and generally tidying up our decks and junk that collects there. This whole thing took the rest of the day. It was actually after dark when we finished (mind you, it gets dark here very early.. about 1700 ish...). I'm pleased to say we completed our dock line 'knitting' just before the brisker winds began to hit. Which was pretty much when we realized we should have used the winter lines (buried at the bottom of the biggest locker) and we should have had more rubber snubbers (who knew??) and we probably should have joined the others at that peaceful island anchorage somewhere 'out there' (but we hadn't). So, having done all we could think of to do, we turned in for the night... after all, how bad could it get??
Well.. it was just like anchor watch on a blustery night. I was up pretty much every hour checking out each new noise, or new jerk... and checking our lines to make sure they were all still in one piece. The wind howled... the boat lurched and bucked up, down and sideways... at times threatening to stick all her fenders under the toe rail of the dock... just to see what would happen... yikes! Through the night I became quite inventive with respect to re-establishing the best height for fenders, and shortening and lengthening the many spring lines, trying to get the boat to stop bucking quite so hard. After all she'll be 37 this April.. how much can an old girl take? And so it continued through out the night. The other boats and crew were going through similar maneuvers and, by daybreak, we were all pretty tired. But there is no 'rest for the wicked' and winds have continued all day. There are a few small boats on the beach, several dragged over-night and, when you look out to the end of the channel, all you can see is a wall of white water. We've seen gusts just over 30 this afternoon which is pretty much what they forecast so no real surprise. First thing this morning Kathy hiked to Lopez Marine and we're now the proud owners of four, humongous rubber snubbers that fit perfectly on those large winter lines I almost didn't bring (after all... we were going to the Sea of Cortez, not the Arctic... right?). Together with two extra-large, borrowed fenders (thank you Dario), all of the fenders we brought with us, our winter lines, our new rubber snubbers and rather taxed senses of humour, we are finally 'ready' for this 'norther' to hit... oh, wait a minute, it's almost over... or so 'they' say. We shall see. But that, my friends, it what the word 'norther' now means to us... big prep, big winds, take heed....
Before we leave you, may we wish each and everyone of you all the best over this joyous season. Enjoy your self... love your family and love your friends. All the best... CJ & Kathy
