BOOM!
1250 miles since leaving La Paz, I'm officially in El Golfo de Tehuantepec. I rounded Punta Angel at dawn and am now headed NE. Salina Cruz, portal to the monster nuker lagoons, is a mere 100 miles away.
If Mexico looks like a stomach, I am currently entering the small intestine. Dramatic, wild coastline with vaporous mountains looming.
Fun Tehuantepec Wind Facts:
Average wind speed 24/7/365: 14.3 knots!
Gale Days Annually (sustained 34 knots or more): 140! I wish I had the 3.5m Cabrinha from Big Winds Kite School.
Maximum Annual Wind Speed: 70 knots!
November, December, and January have the most Gale Days... about 20 each.
February, March, and April generally register about 12 Gale Days... with an average wind speed of about 17.5 knots.
June and September are the least windy months although there is still a 10 knot average... and hurricanes are spawned here in the Gulf regularly.
70% of the time, the wind is from the N. For the sake of anchoring, I hope it doesn't blow hard from elsewhere.
All these numbers are from Salina Cruz. Along the 50 mile stretch of lagoon it'll be windier.
Here's a few fun Tehuantepec quotes from Captain John Rains' MexWX: Mexican Weather for Boaters.
"Tehuantepec gales have overwhelmed and blown ships as large as a 120' coastal freighter 300 miles off shore. Each year, some sportfishers or cruising boats get caught too far out and are blown way off shore by overpowering wind (60 knots) into very big seas, sometimes breaking windows, hatches and rigging, even capsizing and sinking. The lucky ones are rescued.
and another
"When a gale is blowing, we parallel this beach with as little as 30' of water under the keel, staying in a narrow margin (.25 of a mile or less) of lee between the beach and the windline. Because there's no fetch, the sea surface is almost flat, whipped by miniature waves and white streaks, and sand may dust our decks. Yet travel remains blessedly smooth. The only exceptions... are two lagoon entrances with one or two mile outer shoals breaking dramatically during gales."
The sandbars at those lagoon entrances should be some of the most interesting kiting. The current RIPS in while the wind NUKES out... with 10 miles of fetch upwind, I can hardly imagine the chaos of swells and breakers that forms. Factor in a typical spring swell from the SW slamming into it all and things get real interesting.
Maybe I'll stay on the beach... maybe I'llbe kiting with a lifejacket... maybe a waterproof backpack with radio, food, water, etc. Vamos a veer.
There is supposedly a Frenchman kiter in Tehuantepec already. I hope we meet up for mutual safety. I hope we're on the same page too.
Having a kitebuddy besides my dog would be fucking great. Self-landing in over 25 knots is too dangerous. Pulling the release sucks.
I repaired the 25hp MERC motor. With that, my dink is a bonafied rescue craft... within major limits... no good without a driver.
I'm stuck south of the real fun for a day or two or three. Noone plans on sailing into wind like this... today's QUIKSCAT image for Tehuantepec.
NUKING.Gleefully preparing for a lull,
MAX
PS Yesterday, sailing, I saw about a dozen sea snakes...peed on one of em'... the black and yellow ones... deadly poisonous and agggressive. Also, about 500 sea turtles. Nature rules! Remember?