S/V INTREPID II - Cape Dory Intrepid 40

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Intrepid II is a Cape Dory Intrepid 40 sailboat, hull #2, designed by Chuck Paine and discovered by the Captain in Blue Hill Maine in 2006. The crew are Kelly (Captain) and Carol (Admiral and Blogger). In 2009 INTREPID II embarked on her West Coast journey from Victoria to San Francisco, the Baja Sur Peninsula and into the Sea of Cortez. In 2010/2011, we sailed from Guaymas, south to Bahia Banderas and back. In 2011/2012 we left Guaymas, headed south to La Paz, spent three weeks at anchor on our northward journey and rested on the hard in San Carlos. Her 4th, 5th and 6th seasons were Boat Projects related. Season 7 - an incredible amount of boat work - but no cruising. Season 8 - Tropical Storm Sergio toppled Intrepid II in San Carlos dry storage. A disappointing season of serious and costly repairs. Season 9 - continuing those repairs and still hopeful for cruising.

September 21, 2014

Coping in La Paz area - post Odile


Thankfully we have now heard from our friend Henry, who makes his home outside of La Paz.  He managed to send out a message from a friend's home while power was on briefly.  From his update it is clear that coping with a Category 3 hurricane and its aftermath, even with experience, is daunting and exhausting.  He writes:

          "Everywhere you can see the damage and its like a horror show.
Walls blown down, house roofs gone, power poles and cables down, semi trucks blown over. 32 yachts grounded and 3 mariners missing and presumed dead.  Right now I am without all the modern conveniences of power, water, internet, cell phones, tv.  i am literally fetching wood and carrying water.  My friend down the street who is a Vietnam vet, says that this situation is equal to Vietnam, except that nobody is shooting at us.  No a/c means 30 - 33 degrees C. in the casa and 80% humidity with no fans.  It's dark from 7:30 pm until 7:30 am, at which time I read by candlelight or flashlight.   
Some of the stores are open by using using generators but there is no ice, no batteries, no water, no mosquito repellent (previous to Hurricane Odile, La Paz had a Dengue outbreak. After this it will probably be a Dengue plague!).
I line up daily and buy a few things for the day because nothing lasts very long without a working fridge.  There are a few restaurants open now so lunch is not a problem.
Gas stations have line ups 2 kilometers long and they are rationing. Walmart and Sorianas have already been robbed, so now they are putting security guards outside overnight.
 
Anyway it's an adventure here and I am thriving and surviving. I didn't realize that reading by flashlight could be so much fun and sleeping from dusk until dawn could be so difficult! "

The cruising community in La Paz rallied to meet the challenges of assisting fellow cruisers, tracking missing people, boats, and damage. They are requesting donations to aid in the ongoing efforts to refloat boats and related costs. The photos on the Hurricane Odile tab show the powerful impact of this storm and the sad reality for cruisers who now have to 'pick up the (literal) pieces' of their dreams.

http://clubcruceros.net/index.php/hurricane-odile/salvageable-boats.html

Keep them in your thoughts.


September 18, 2014

Hurricane Odile Impact

We are having some extremely anxious moments here at home while we follow the projected and actual track of Hurricane Odile as it closes on the southern tip of Baja California and the Los Cabos area.  Choosing to leave INTREPID II on the hard, initially in Guaymas, and now in San Carlos, was largely driven by the area being 'out of' the historical hurricane tracks, but you never know!

These satellite images (via Club Cruceros via weather links) speak for themselves.


Information was and still is sketchy.  We learned yesterday that, with the exception of damage to some of the docks in Marina San Carlos, the boats in the water and on the hard at Marina Seca appeared not to have sustained any damage.  Marina Seca staff sent us a much appreciated email:

"This notice is to inform you that after the Storm Odile on September 15th/16th there were no damage report on any vessel in both Marina San Carlos and Marina Seca.  There are two of our Docks R and S presenting minor damages, due to this situation we had to relocate some of these vessels located there to another Docks, our maintenance staff is working hard on the necessary repairs to get them ready as fast as possible."

Our thoughts are with those directly impacted by this most devastating storm:  those people who call Baja California home, as well as the cruising community we have come to know.  There are now reports of loss of lives and boats sunk from La Paz cruisers' reports:

"Within the boating community, the most tragic news thus far is that well-known cruiser Gunther Trebbow perished during the storm after his boat Princess was blown ashore from La Paz' Magote anchorage at roughly 2 a.m. on Monday.  On the popular website www.bajainsider.com Tom Zyber refers to Trebbow as "a local fixture" who was a long-time Friday Net host, and Christmas story reader. According to Zyber, "Gunther's health had been failing for the last year or so, and after trying to save his holed vessel he was too weak to make it to shore. He will be missed."

We had the opportunity to chat with Gunther at 'coffee hour' at Club Cruceros and are saddened to hear of his untimely death.  While the La Paz marinas appear to have come through unscathed, the dry storage yard near Marina Palmira has once again seen boats toppling and falling.  This is reminiscent of Hurricane Marty some years past.  There are reports of damaged or sunk vessels in Puerto Escondido and the loss of the old marina in Santa Rosalita.

Latitude '38 has been providing electronic updates gleaned from satellite phone calls and other reports from cruisers who were able to send out information:
http://www.latitude38.com/lectronic/lectronicday.lasso

For certain we will be determining just what supplies and resources we might be able to bring down with us later this year to assist in the cleanup efforts.