The images presented were taken in the 1990's. Taken as prints, there is degradation when going from print to digital images. Also, where we were traveling sometimes delayed processing for weeks or months and humidity played havoc with the undeveloped film. Still, I wanted to share our experiences through the pictures we took.
We left Dana Point, CA November 15th, 1989 and it took us 11 days to sail to Cabo. Carl's mission was to get there under sail only-no engine. If the wind died, we drifted until it came back. There were other boats also on the move and we kept in radio contact all the way down. Talked with Lori's parents via ham radio. Lori made a pumpkin pie onboard for Thanksgiving. Just as we neared Cabo, we had a large pod of dolphins escort us for over an hour and one breached clear of the water right in front of the bow. A spectacular sight.  Papi's a favorite hangout for cruisers in Cabo San Lucas, MX. We began to experience that in every port where there were cruisers, there was a "hangout." A place where you could have a good, cheap meal, a beer, hang out with other cruisers, get local information, send a fax, receive mail and a host of other things. In Cabo it was Papi's. Wonderful place that created a lot of warm memories for a lot of people. We spent two-and-a-half weeks in Cabo. Then on to Isla Isabela.
The trip to Isla Isabela was a challenge. Our first day out from Cabo we had patchy, inconsistent wind. In 30 hours we'd only gone 40 miles, 10 of which were done under engine, so it was slow-going.
At about 3:30 PM on Monday, Dec 11, 1989, we were buzzed by a Navy gunship helicopter. His first pass was OK, but on his second pass he got too close and his downdraft knocked Bijou flat. Now if this had been a weather issue, we would have been prepared, but this was unexpected and because the weather was calm and hot, we had all the ports open, the center hatch was open and several things that would have been secured weren't as much as they would have been. We did not have our safety harnesses on either. Fortunately Bijou bobbed right back up but not before taking on a lot of water. We both shook for over an hour. Food lockers were flooded, cushions soaked with salt water, and water sloshed back and forth across the cabin sole. The pilot of the helicopter was not even aware of the damage he had caused and Lori kept trying to figure out how she could complain. The U.S. Navy and Coast Guard gave her that opportunity 24 hours later. We got things temporarily cleaned up, but as we were doing that, the wind filled in and began to build. Within 3 hours of the knock-down, not only had night fallen, but we were hoved-to in 30-35 knot winds with gusts to 40, 8-10 foot seas with an occasional 12. We spent the next 24 hours just maintaining. We only had one dry bunk, so we kept up the watch system. One in the dry bunk, the other on deck. Lori cursed that helicopter pilot several times throughout the night. When the winds and seas once again were manageable, we put up minimum sails and carried on. As we did this, we noticed a military ship steaming toward us. On their decks were helicopters!!! It steamed up behind us and started flashing lights at us. Our hearts thumped as we remembered what had happened just the day before. We did not want a repeat. We switched on the VHS radio to channel 16 and waited. Sure enough we got hailed. The gentleman was a U.S. Coastguard officer on a U.S. Naval ship. We anticipated a boarding, but they only asked a lot of questions. We assumed they were patrolling the waters for drug smuggling or something like that. It seemed there might have been someone checking the validity of our answers because eventually our officer told us everything we said had checked out. As he began to sign off, Lori took her turn. Without excessive emotion, it was relayed what had happened and the collateral damage that had occurred because a helicopter pilot had not been trained to stay clear of sailboats especially when they had sails up. We got the impression our comments would make it back to whoever was in charge. We both felt good about that and Lori got the opportunity to lodge her complaint. No emotion, just straight facts on the lack of training on the part of the pilot. Fortunately the passage was uneventful after that. After four up and down days at sea, we arrived at Isla Isabela. We had a lovely four to five day stay before sailing on to mainland Mexico. Comments are closed.
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