S/V Rutea Sails Around the World: Bahia Santa Maria

Monday, December 27, 2010

Bahia Santa Maria

Christmas Morning Underway

I still don't believe it, but Ruthie wrote in the log book that on our passage from Abreojos to Bahia Santa Maria, she saw Santa Claus and his reindeer fly across the sky when she was on watch from 2330 to 0200. After all, that area has almost no population and there would be no place for Santa to stop. I didn't actually accuse her of making a false entry in the log book but I remain unconvinced.
Regardless, we had a very nice Christmas morning with bright blue skies and relatively calm seas. The wind was too light so we were under power. I made a full-on breakfast and Corie got to open her presents. Cabo San Lazaro came into view late in the morning and we dropped our anchor in Bahia Santa Maria in the late afternoon. After a fantastic Christmas dinner, we all went to bed early.
Bahia Santa Maria is one of our favorite anchorages. It's huge - the opening is eight miles across - and it's almost always a calm place to anchor. Last year when we were there we traded a six pack of Coke for six lobsters. I asked for a better deal but the pangeros wouldn't hear of it. The one big draw back to the bay is that a heavy surf breaks almost entirely around the inside perimeter, making a dinghy landing an adventure in of itself. Regardless, it was something we had never tried so we loaded up the dink and took off exploring. From where we were anchored, we could see a fish camp so we headed that direction. After several passes, we thought we saw a spot where the surf only broke occasionally so we went for it. As it turns out, beaching the dink there was easy so we pulled it as high up as we could, set the anchor and took off.
It was a little intimidating at first as the road lead right through the fish camp. Here was a small cluster of shacks made from any small or large scrap of lumber or tarp that could be found. One shack had a roof made of a political campaign's banner. Another had part of one wall with a nicely painted panel that said "Sixteen Adult Life Jackets Inside" but I kind of doubt there actually were any life jackets there at all. People seemed to mostly ignore us though we had to be an oddity. I heard a mother singing to her daughter and she continued singing as we walked by, despite our intrusion. We were virtually walking through their living rooms. Even though this is about as poverty-stricken as one could find in the western world, there didn't seem to be a sense of desperation. It was obvious that these people worked very hard for not very much but we heard laughter and saw people relaxing on the Sunday after Christmas.

Corie Riding Back to the Fish Camp

We continued to walk all the way to the Pacific, a distance of about 4 kilometers. The beach there is famous for the amount of jetsam and flotsam that shows up on those shores. It certainly appeared that it would be a fantastic beach for which to collect shells, however, I have a very strict policy against such practices. I threaten to check Ruthie's pockets. In the distance we could see the hulk of a ship that had come to grief on that beach. Just last month a sailboat also met a similar fate though we didn't see it. It had taken us longer than expected to walk there so we didn't stay long.
On our walk back, Corie complained of a blister she was getting on her heel. Just at that moment, an old yellow Ford pick-up truck, loaded with families, came by and offered us a ride. We piled in the back with the kids and dogs and rode back to the fish camp. The little girls in the truck were shy and giggling at first but gradually warmed up. They had spent the day at the beach. When I got out my camera to take their picture, they squealed and hid their faces. There was much joking and laughing when we parked at the fish camp. We thanked the driver as graciously as we could and walked on back to the dinghy. It had been a unique adventure.
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At 12/28/2010 12:23 AM (utc) Rutea's position was 24°34.51'N 112°04.12'W

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About Rutea

Rutea was built in 1984 by Conyplex in Mendemblik, Holland. A small brass plaque says that she's hull Number 9 but on the Conyplex website www.contestyachts.com there's no mention of them building that many. She's designed by Dick Zaal, who designed most of Conyplex's earlier boats. The brochure says that she's 48' overall with a 14'6" beam and she draws 6'. Her cast iron bolted-on fin keel weighs 12,000 pounds and she is supposed to displace slightly over 37,000 pounds but she's never been one to watch her weight and, ahem, she's gained more than a few pounds since we bought her in 1996. Her ketch rig sports Profurl furlers for the jib/genoa and the staysail. The main has a very tall aspect as does the mizzen. All of her winches are made by Enkes although I did add a Harken self-tailing for the main halyard. She uses an unusual reel winch that's equipped with Spectra rope for furling the genoa. There's a running backstay on the mizzen mast and there are no forward lowers on the main mast. The head stay is Dyform.

I replaced the original Volvo MD40A six-cylinder diesel with a Beta Marine 90 and I've been very happy with it although it puts out nowhere near 90 HP - probably 70 is more like it. Regardless, it's adequate and very economical on fuel. I also replaced the original Westerbeke 6kw genset with a single-cylinder Kubota diesel that drives a 150-amp alternator. Since we switched over to 12-volt refrigeration, we no longer have any 110-volt appliances on board, other than the water heater. Since the new Beta Marine engine has two big alternators (one is 100 amps and the other 175), we have our Victron inverter/charger power the water heater when we're under power (we don't have engine coolant circulate through the water heater).

Rutea's layout down below is different from many boats of her size. Aft of her water-tight forward bulkhead is a 'wet' head, complete with two sinks. Aft of that are two cabins, both with bunk beds on either side of the boat and each has a door to the forward head. This was perfect when we cruised with our family as our 3 children had their own quarters. The main saloon occupies the area aft of the forward cabins and her dinette and settees are large enough to seat 10 people (we've had many a memorable meal here!). Under the cabin sole are two 90-gallon stainless steel fuel tanks. Under the settee seats on either side is a 120-gallon water tank, also made of stainless steel. On the starboard side, aft of the dinette is the foward-facing nav station and on the port side is the galley where we have a 7 cubic foot refrigerator and a 5 cubic foot freezer. Aft of the nav station, on the starboard side is my work shop. This was originally designed to be another stateroom but the original owner had Conyplex convert it into a work shop, complete with a heavy-duty work bench and a massive 6" vise. I sometimes spend days at a time in there. Many a visiting cruiser has eyed with envy, drooled with desire and blatantly coveted my work shop! I have access to the engines from there. On the port side, aft of the galley, is another 'wet' head. Aft of that is the aft cabin, which has a settee as well as a full double-size berth. Aft of the aft cabin or 'owner's stateroom' as it's called on many boats, is her spacious lazarette, which is where the water heater and diesel-fired boiler are located. Bolted to the back of the aft deck and overhanging the transom are her Simpson davits (I sometimes tell people that the boat was built around those davits - they're very substantial with a capacity of 250 Kgs). Resting on top of the davits are Ruthie's roto-molded kayak and above that are two 215-watt solar panels. Hanging off the davits is our Aqua Pro dinghy and it's 15-horsepower Honda outboard.

On deck, starting at the bow, is Rutea's primary anchor, a Bruce 30 kilogram that's connected to the 350' of 3/8" Hi-Test chain with a Wasi Powerball. The anchor and chain are deployed and retrieved by a Lofrans Progress II windlass. In the anchor locker lives another Bruce 20kg anchor that's connected to 50' of 3/8" Hi-Test chain and 150' of 1" MegaBraid rope. Also in the anchor locker, amongst many other things, is the 18' Para-Tech sea anchor with it's dedicated 100' of 1" single-braid rope. Moving aft is Rutea's main mast, which has double spreaders, four Enkes winches and one Harken self-tailing winch. The mast is made by Selden as are the two heavy spinnaker poles. The tracks for the staysail and the genoa are stainless steel. In the cockpit are five more Enke winches and a Harken mechanical backstay adjuster. The mizzen mast is also quite substantial and has three Enkes winches on it. The turning blocks are stainless steel. The steering system on Rutea is the Whitlock Mamba system using a torque tube and a push-pull rod. The compass in the binnacle is made by Sestrel.

Even though we try to keep up on Rutea's appearance, she's still starting to show her age. I replaced her portlights (all twelve of them) and Ruthie has taken over the job of varnishing her brightwork. In 2000 we removed her teak decks and replaced it with painted fiberglass. Much less maintenance! She's what I call a 200-foot boat: She looks great from 200 feet!

Regardless, the best part of Rutea is the way she handles. While she's not the fastest filly in the fleet, she can cover a respectable amount of distance in a day. Her sail plan allows her to be easily balanced to the point where the autopilot has very little correcting to do. Her sails are all made by North except her spinnakers are Dutch-made.

Rutea’s electronics package includes radar, chartplotter, AIS, sounder and sailing instruments - all made by Garmin. Her radios are all old but they work well. Her Icom M802 SSB has been modified to use ham frequencies.