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| La Cruz is NOT a hurricane hole |
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| Busted up marina slips |
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| Anchorage at La Cruz..23 knots of wind during surge |
I put the dingy in the water and hauled ass back into the marina to the Captain's office. After convincing him I was anchored outside the marina , he signed me off . This was because, by then the Port Captains and the Navy had closed all harbors, but boats were leaving the marina anyway. Lots of them.
I returned to the boat and re-stowed the dingy and begain listening to the radio(s) for info. Everyone was waiting to hear what had happened in Cabo San Lucas. As I was anchored in 25 feet of water, I thought it best to get to deeper water. I headed out towards the middle of the bay to 250 feet and watched the bay fill up with boats with the same idea.
Interestingly I had left the marina the day before to anchor out. During the surges that rolled in while I was in deep water the dock where I HAD been tied broke free inside the marina drifting around carrying a few boats with it...... damn, I'm a lucky guy!
It's currently 6 P.M. here. I re-anchored in a bit deeper water outside La Cruz. The harbors are ALL closed and the surge continues, although not out where I am. During all this the wind kicked up to 20+ knots, which is not helpful!!!!
So far, the floating dock is the only damage I've heard about (except for one 70' sailboat going aground outside the harbor) and everybody has been in good sprits, with all helping each other in any way they can.
Here is a copy of a report I received from a boater in Paradise Village, 5 miles south of my location:
"Yesterday afternoon, starting about 1PM and continuing to after dark, the water level in Paradise Village started fluctuating about 2-2.5 feet from peak to trough every 15 minutes or so. Currents in the marina were stronger than normal but not strong enough to break anything.
The narrow entrance channel was a different story. Late in the afternoon I saw a sailboat try to enter under power. It couldn't make it in, so the current was probably above 7 knots. And it reversed every 15 minutes.
The reversal process was interesting. The water didn't slow, stop and restart in the opposite direction. The edge of the north side of the channel would start flowing in the opposite direction from the main flow, and the counter current would expand southward over a 2-3 minute period. At one point there would be two strong currents flowing in opposite directions. That set up eddies and whirlpools and standing waves.
The port captain declared the entrance closed but didn't do anything to block it. (Not sure what he could have done.)
Probably 15% of the boats in the marina went out to deep water before the tsunami effects arrived. A lot of them were planning to race in the Banderas Bay Regatta, and had taken their only anchor off the boat. I heard anchor-lending conversations on the radio so I hope all of them were able to anchor outside of LaCruz.
I hope someone will report from LaCruz. I heard a story of a dock breaking up there."
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I took the dingy into the marina the next morning to take a few pix of the damage. There is still a lot of surge in the harbor and whirlpools at the entrance. The channel markers have all moved!!!!!!!
I plan to go to San Blas tomorrow via Chacala........More later!!
