Crossing the Tehuantepec

Crossing the Tehuantepec – an account by Jessica

In the spirit of continuing to keep the blog better updated, I am faced with writing the section about crossing the Tehuantepec. I don’t relish reliving these moments but to paraphrase a friend’s wry humor “It’s not going to write itself,” so here I go…

Part of the purpose of this season’s journey was for me to get better at passage making. On the Baja HaHa, we made three different passages, each with more than one overnight. We had weather many sailors would find boring and motored a lot of the way from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas. What sailing we did was beautiful with wind from behind and the spinnaker pulling the boat along in rather flat seas. I subconsciously considered the HaHa a means to an end and, surrounded by 150 other boats doing the same thing, didn’t think too much about the conditions or the lack of sleep.

We also had an excellent crew. Chris and Michelle of Beleza, our long time sailing and boat show friends, came with us for the ride. Even though we stood watches together and didn’t get any more off watch time than we would have if it had just been the two of us, the time on watch flew quickly by as Michelle and I chatted the whole time. They are good sailors, good boaters, and good house guests. They packed their sailing necessities for the 10 day journey as well as clothes for a week in an all inclusive in Cabo in the smallest of back packs. Michelle arrived with enough pre-made food to keep a small army fed in high style and Chris trimmed the sails to the finest level, getting the most out of our sailing. They cooked, cleaned, and kept our spirits up even when I was near melt down stage in an anchorage with 30 knots of wind yanking us around. So, in summary, I didn’t think too much about it when we sailed hundreds of miles on the HaHa. Since then I have struggled with long passages, particularly those that require us to sail overnight. I don’t sleep. I’m uncomfortable and I begin to wonder if it’s all worth it.

Pacific Mexico coast

The Pacific coast of Mexico south of the popular destination of Zihuatanejo, is characterized by long stretches of coastline with safe anchorages becoming fewer and farther between. I’m not sure of the exact numbers but there are four legs in which the passage is 220 to 250nm. Basically, each requires 40-48 hours of making way. I purposely didn’t look at these distances before agreeing to make this journey. I knew I wouldn’t come. I had had a hard time on our four day passage from La Paz to La Cruz and didn’t want to live that misery again. But… I want to be a cruiser so I’m out here trying to get better at it.

And I thought I was. On the passage from Acapulco to Huatulco we took longer watches and made the most of them. I did exercises, got up and made a snack, listened to audiobooks. I still felt exhausted by the end from irregular sleep but felt accomplished because I had been more like a normal person than I have before when all I could do was stare at the mind-numbing ocean.

Then I got to the Tehuantepec. This stretch of sea, known as Golfo de Tehuantepec, is legendary for howling winds, huge steep seas, and dangerous conditions. Now, keep in mind, I freak out in uncomfortable. How am I going to get through potentially dangerous? Winds blowing south from the Gulf of Mexico are stopped by the mountains of Mexico until the stretch of land between Huatulco and Chiapas, Mexico’s sourthernmost port. Along that stretch, low lands allow the winds to pass into the Pacific and they are actually increased in strength by the Venturi effect in this narrow gap of land. They frequently blow over 50 knots and occasionally blow over 70 knots. The effects reach hundreds of miles out to sea and create large, steep, dangerous seas.

What a difference 22 hours can make

There are days, however, when this beast lies down and calm passage can be made.

The common wisdom is to sail “one foot off the beach,” hugging the shoreline around the gulf. This means that if you chose poorly and the winds begin to blow while you are crossing, at least there won’t be enough fetch between you and the shore for waves to develop. The wind might give you a walloping, but the sea state won’t be violent. Since the day I learned of the legendary Tehuantepec winds, nicknamed T-Peckers by sailors, I have sworn that when I go, I’ll hug the beach.

Bolstered by my recent success on the passage to Huatulco and by accounts of friends saying “It’s not a big deal. Just choose the right weather window. We had an easy passage!” I mustered my courage. We watched the weather forecasts like Foxy watching a squirrel. Multiple times a day we analyzed wind strength, max gusts, sea state, pressure gradients and how closely the forecast models aligned. We had a short window but let it pass, waiting for a longer one. No sense pushing it. Finally, the right window arrived. The forecast had been showing a few days of winds around 8-10 knots with 12-15 knot gusts. The sea state looked beautiful: 2-3 foot seas with a 15 second period. It really couldn’t be better. It actually looked like we’d have a boring crossing. Fine by me!

Route Crossing the Tehuantepec

Once again we opted to leave in the afternoon, putting us in to Chiapas near dawn so we had plenty of time in case something slowed us down or we wanted to sail slowly in the light wind. Steve and Chelsea on Jean Anne left a few hours before we did, wanting a little extra time. They opted to go straight across rather then hug the beach because all of the weather models predicted we wouldn’t have much wind. As we sat in the anchorage in Huatulco, killing time until our set departure, the wind began to pick up. It was blowing 15 knots and Volare sailed on her anchor like a swordfish fighting a line. I cringed and told Adam I wasn’t looking forward to going out to sea if it was this windy in the anchorage, but Steve and Chelsea reported it was a little bumpy right at first but the sea had settled down and they were enjoying a nice downwind sail. So we went.

Very confused and rough seas

Quite immediately it was apparent that we were not encountering forecast conditions. We were quickly pushed by 30 knots of wind and 8-10 foot, short period steep swell. Volare was lurching about like a toy boat. I looked sideways from where I sat, up on Volare’s watch seat, and watched a wave curl and crash at eye level with me. Although every fiber of my being told me to turn back, that was impossible.

Getting beat up

The wind and seas were from behind and turning back would have put us into a violent bash which, hard to imagine as it was, I knew would be far worse than our downwind run. Luckily, this was not a T-Pecker, but in hindsight seems to be some sort of land effect in which wind from the northwest wraps around Huatulco and blows up into the Tehuantepec, rather than wind howling down it. In any case and regardless of the cause, it scared me. It rattled me. It still does. I’m clenching my teeth just thinking about it.

After we arrived (safely, whew!) in Chiapas, our friends Mike and Angie on Madrone asked about the crossing. Madrone has been been an inspiration to me. We were lucky enough to hang out in Barra de Navidad and the Manzanillo area with Mike and Angie last year. Beginning their journey in Oregon, they have sailed up to Alaska, down to California, across to Hawaii, back to California and down to Mexico. They discuss their travels with calm humility and are meticulous in their boat care. They make me believe I too can make such monumental journeys. When they asked about the crossing, I unloaded my account of the crossing that nearly made me stop cruising. Now, the best account I can offer is the transcript of my email to them:

Hello!
We are in Chiapas, planning to check out of Mexico tomorrow and depart for El Salvador Tuesday.
We crossed the Tehuantepec. It nearly broke me. We were in Huatulco for quite a long time. Steve’s son came to visit and we watched the weather for two and a half weeks waiting for a good window. A short one was forecast but we decided to pass and rented a car for some land travel to wait for a longer one. Jean Anne departed early as they feel they are slower than we are. They said it was a bit bumpy at first but settled down and they were having a great sail. As we sat in the anchorage the wind began to build. It was about 15 kts where we were sitting. We pulled out for our passage and were quickly hit by 30 knots and 8 foot seas from the south.  Unfortunately we had been in the last bay of Huatulco and the only thing we could do was run with it. There was nowhere to duck in and turning around would have been a violent bash. So we followed the coastline and motored with the weather coming from astern. I wouldn’t let Adam raise the sails because I didn’t want any more variables and I wasn’t confident we could prevent the whole Genoa from unfurling. So we motored and I cried. And cussed. And decided cruising isn’t worth it. I talked about selling the boat and RVing full time. This made me cry some more.
Finally sometime around midnight, Adam saw a light flashing at us that we assume was a panga setting long lines. The wind and seas had calmed enough that I was okay raising the main so we pulled it out with a double reef and shut down the engine to fold the prop. We saw a few more spotlights like this as the hours ticked by and it was eventually calm enough that we flew the full Genoa and unfurled the main. The sea state was still rough and there was no sleeping for me so I kept watch, getting about an hour of sleep in that first 24 hour period. At one point the wind built again and I woke Adam up to reef when we hit 9 knots boat speed. After he went back down to sleep a squall hit and dumped sideways rain on us for several minutes. By daylight I had had enough and wanted to turn around. Adam thought the weather window was closing and if we turned back we risked being out when it started blowing from the north again. We pressed on and made it to Chiapas with no further issues. Several things broke loose that have never moved in 10 plus years of sailing. The TPec took a piece of my soul. But we made it.
Jean Anne did not experience any of this. They headed straight across while we followed the shore line. We surmise the rough conditions we saw were a land effect that we got stuck in while they sailed through before it had a chance to build.
I’ve been doing some soul searching these past few days. Because we have come so far and because it is important to Adam we will keep going. Unfortunately my confidence in weather forecasts is shot and my confidence in myself really rattled. The El Salvador bar awaits us next…
Foxy handled all of this like a champ, by the way. She slept on the floor of the cockpit with her life vest and tether on. She only got up to eat, drink, or stretch and never made a peep. When it was calm enough we hove to to take her back to pee and with a lot of coaxing she did. Adam was so proud of her on the passage that he got her a rib eye at the restaurant when we arrived!
I’ll let you know if I survive the bar!
Cheers, Jess

So that was my Tehuantepec crossing. It almost resulted in me pulling the ejection handles.

Multiple swells hitting us

I felt better with Angie’s kind response to this email. She talked about how she has gained confidence as she has made it through experiences like these in which tears and cussing and self-doubt take over, but in the end she got through it.

I also felt better when we reached El Salvador and were reunited with our former dock neighbors from San Diego, Sam and David on Islena. Sam smiles when she hears my account of the crossing and says “We’re fair weather sailors too.” They get it, having come from San Diego Bay where our worst weather is a momentary cloud crossing the sun!

The worst part is, to get Volare back to La Cruz for hurricane season, I have to do it again. I’ll be using higher grade pharmaceuticals to do it, I guarantee! Maybe we’ll invite Heather along next time. She’s keen to take on the Tehuantepec and this will give Adam a witness to me in full melt down mode! In the meantime, I soldier on…

Thanks for reading! Make sure to check out the rest of our website and follow along with our travels at CruisingVolare.