Cross the ocean with an antique sailboat that needs restoration at the age of 105? Is it possible to sail from Mexico to Panama and then to England by sailing? I did it, but ask me how it happened.
Deciding to Join
I never thought of leaving Mexico by sailboat. I was planning to travel in and out of all Central American countries by land as far as Colombia.. Emre’s cry of joy suddenly rose when he learned at www.crewskeers.net that a 105-year-old wooden boat needed help and would be in the Mexican port of Ensenada when we could catch up.. I wasn’t very enthusiastic when I first heard about it.. I said I had plans. I was going to see Nicaragua. Just because I spent 4 months in Mexico didn’t mean I forgot about Nicaragua.. I came for Nicaragua, I was in Central America and I wasn’t going to leave without seeing it.. Emre said that he would apply for the sailing ship Anne Marie.. I said OK. After all, we had traveled together for 3 months and then decided to part ways, we had already spent more than 3 months.. It was time to part ways. I said ok, so I’m going to Nicaragua.. The boat also had a blog, she sent it. Out of curiosity, I looked. The idea of sailing sailing came to my mind. An antique 105-year-old sailing boat. full teak. everything is manual. There is no autopilot, no refrigerator.. Mexico will descend from Ensenada from the Pacific coast to Panama, cross the canal. I don’t know anyone who passes the channel.. There is an Emre, but he is also the captain, that’s not counted, that’s his job.
The sailboat was in England in 1911, the Danish Prime Minister of the time, Baron O.. Specially produced for Reedtz-Thott, to participate in yacht races. Named after the Danish princess Anne Marie. The king of Denmark also participated in the races.. It is no longer known what lives have been lived on the boat, what dreams have been made.. It is still standing tall in Europe, which has survived two world wars.. My heart moved, I thought I should go too. Then we talked to Simon but I’m hopeless. What should the man do with me on the boat?. Ok, I participated in a few races with the sailing club of the company I used to work for, I also sailed on the Aegean coasts, but it is not the same as the whole Pacific!
Admission Process
I applied in case such an adventure would not be missed. I had the Atlantic crossing on my mind but I never imagined such a grueling journey. I tried my luck to see how many times a person has such an experience in his life.. A few days later we got an e-mail from Simon that we were accepted into the team..
Equipment Preparations
Dates are set. Preparations will be made. My equipment sponsor is Polar Bear actually, but I was too far away and there was a shortage of time.. I listed the needs to a minimum and went shopping.. Although it will be a trip to the tropics, the north of Mexico is cold, the ocean is colder. So he would need a quality overalls and waterproof jacket.. For storms in the tropics, my Marmot rain jacket and fleece are sufficient.. Also, sea shoes, boots and sleeping bags suitable for wearing on deck were required.. Simon had too many overalls and jackets, that’s how they took care of it. I looked at the prices of the boots in the nautical equipment shops, as if the prices have gone up, they will sell the sailboat itself.. So I called and scanned and solved the problem with a gardener’s drawing for about 30TL.. I also took care of the sleeping bag while it was passed for the electronic transition to America..
Meet the Team
We arrived at the port of Ensenada on the date we spoke. Anne Marie and her crew were there before us, replacing the engine that died on the way.. Of course I’m shivering. There was an excitement. I wonder how the team will be, will I be able to get along, will I be able to handle the journey?. The team consists of five people. Except for me, Simon, Rupert, Oz and Emre. Simon (skipper) is an Englishman in his 40s. A British lord’s private yacht captain and wooden boat enthusiast. Rupert is a British ex-computer in his 50s.. Oz, on the other hand, is 65 years old, an adrenaline junkie, a former base jumper, the kind mentioned in wikipedia.. A sailing tanker captain in Emre. I am the only woman. Anyway, when I spent a few days with the team, I saw that they were all cute, I said ok, 1 month will pass with these..
First things
With Oz and Simon focused on engine replacement, the first thing to do on the boat was painting the deck for me.. I really like paint and whitewash work anyway. I may have spent a little too much paint, but it was just my desire to do the job right.
Then I learned some basic sailing training and basic ties.
After that, the pile came from the ground.. I got the job I don’t want the most. The food account… It is left to me, Emre and Rupert, to decide what to eat and how much to eat during the one-month journey of 5 people.. I didn’t want to take such a big responsibility.. No problem if there is a refrigerator. But when there is no refrigerator, “Which of the fresh foods lasts, which decomposes quickly, in how many days the amount taken is consumed” these are things that should always be carefully considered.. On the first day of my assignment, I couldn’t cope with the stress and said “there is a program that calculates on the internet” and sneaked out.. I couldn’t find anything like that on the internet.. I lost my sleep at night, how to do it, but I found the method. I got up at 4 am and prepared an excel spreadsheet and now I knew how much of each one I should buy.
The next day we were sent to the wallmart with a huge shopping list, Rupert and Emre.. A long list from fruit and vegetables to toilet paper, soap to water.. With Emre’s on-site intervention, the store manager arranged for us a helper so that the shopping would take less time.. I don’t know how many shopping carts there were on the way out, but they gave us a truck full of bags, a driver and another helper to carry the bags.. (At the end of the cruise, it turned out that we did the shopping exactly as it should be)
Division of work
In my first meeting with Simon, he asked questions such as can you do everything, can you handle it?. I said don’t worry, I will fulfill all the tasks you give me.. That’s why I knew from the very beginning that everyone would be equal in the division of labor.. I already wanted this. Since the team was 5 people, we would keep shifts as two groups.. Simon skipper is in charge of everything. Emre and Oz shift leader. Rupert and I are beans They said, do you want to keep a shift with Emre as a couple or separately?. We’ve decided to keep it separate so we can blend in a bit more easily with the team.. good thing it did. My teammate, Oz, turned out to be the world’s swankiest, most elusive man.. I had a lot of fun.
Daily Routine
3 shifts of 4 hours between 6-18 in the daytime and 4 shifts of 3 hours in the evening between 6 and 6 in the evening. divided. What does this mean? In other words, it was spent working 4 hours during the day and resting for 4 hours, and working for 3 hours at night and resting for 3 hours.. Of course, everyone had to be on deck no matter what time the maneuver was made.. That means working a minimum of 12 hours a day, which is if you’re on your lucky day. The inability to get a deep sleep at night was our biggest problem.. Although I was able to manage for a week, the body began to feel tired for longer periods of time.. Especially if you come across a storm or something…
I said there is no autopilot.. As a result, someone has to be at the helm 24/7.. Look at the compass on the one hand, and on the other hand it was difficult at first to calculate the wave coming from right to left or from behind. Then people learn. During the first week, there was someone with me while I was steering, in case I needed help so I wouldn’t be alone, then when I found out, no one would come.. If they had come, we would have had two conversations.. Anyways.. It can be difficult for up to 3 hours at the helm during the day, but after 1 hour at night, one’s attention gets distracted, I can last up to a maximum of 2 hours, but the pleasure of holding the helm at night is also different.. No light just stars. Meals were prepared by the shift workers.. If I hold the helm, Oz has cooked. And what a beautiful thing. How does a man do everything he does with his hands so beautifully?.
Through the Cruise
The more challenging the cruise was, the more enjoyable it was. There’s no more trouble we haven’t experienced. Engine broke down, it was fixed. Once the sail was torn, it was repaired. Another day the sail was ripped from its seams, I sewed it. I also learned sailing stitches with excuses.. To prevent the waves from breaking on us from behind, we released a big thick rope, from the stern of the boat.. It was an ancient nautical technique.. There’s nothing left that I haven’t seen.
Rupert managed to injure himself somehow every day. How can a person be this clumsy?. One day he fell, he broke his arm, the next day he spilled tea on him, the next day he burned himself again. I got used to Rupert’s self-injury somehow, but it was bad for Emre.
While trying to open a balloon sail at a time when the wind was very strong, the sail rope that Emre and I were trying to hold suddenly escaped us.. Somehow we grabbed it again, Oz and Emre wrapped the rope on the winch, but the winch was broken. The crane, which should normally be held around it and not missed, turned in the opposite direction and Emre’s fingers were pinched, thus breaking it.. I didn’t know what to do. Where is it if I want to bring ice, there is no refrigerator. What is the first aid technique for a broken finger? The nearest hospital is two days away.. Of course it did. Fortunately, the tip of the fingers was broken.. I say broken but that’s my take. We didn’t see any hospital.. In the days that followed, Emre had a hard time opening and closing his fingers, they were already swollen like a drum.. What is possible to hold a rope. I think I’m the only one who left the boat unscathed.. Except when I’m trying to cook on the wobble, and I fall to the ground with a knife.. I don’t count it as an accident as I survived it unscathed, but I was stunned.
Challenges
The biggest challenge was of course insomnia. Not being able to sleep at an intense pace, on top of physical work, reduced my motivation a bit.. Especially due to the open spaces between the woods on the deck of the boat, being constantly salty with the water entering the cabin in every wave, and trying to sleep with a wet sleeping bag.. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have the question of what am I doing here at that point?.
I was seasick as if I had never sailed on a sailboat. The first week I just vomited and couldn’t eat anything. I counted myself lucky if I finished the day with half an apple, but that wasn’t an excuse to skip the shift.. If I felt nauseous while holding the wheel, I would call Oz for a two-minute break, throw up and then take the wheel back.. Hahahaha.. I wish I could share the video.
With the absence of a refrigerator, not being able to drink a glass of cold water in tropical heat also put it. Trying to cook on the sway was another problem.. The constant falling of everything I chop, the slippery floor and all that sprinkled salt and pepper on it..
I don’t like to complain about difficulties too much, but I have to explain what happened due to the lack of technology of the boat.
I can say very clearly that I would not have had such a good sailing training if it were not for these difficulties. Thanks to these difficulties, I learned, I enjoyed solving these difficulties.
Enjoyments
Let’s get to the fun parts…
30 knot storm, Poseidon spitting waves at me and adrenaline.. That’s what I love. As a person who has never been able to steer before, being able to get into the storm and get out alive and feeling that I have succeeded has been a source of motivation for me.
On stormy days, dolphins swimming with the sailboat, migrating whales, stingrays leaping onto the water, Those unique sunsets of the Pacific and the Milky Way… Seeing the Milky Way, looking at the lost star of Orion every night made this cruise unforgettable for me..
The most memorable one, of course, was the Panama Canal crossing.. I couldn’t miss the opportunity to experience something that I can only see in documentaries under normal circumstances.. Good thing I didn’t miss it. I crossed that channel with a sailboat. What more could it be?
Normally, I like to narrate a little bit of my experiences, but it is not possible to turn this 30-day experience into a story or summarize it because I had a different adventure every day.. In a few days I’ll be posting the logs I kept on the boat piece by piece.. I will also write about the Panama canal crossing.. Those who are curious can follow it there.
Here’s the link for my trips to Mexico
https://bilinlenenrota.com/gezi/k-amerika/meksika/
Sailing Log Logs – Part 1
Sailing Log Logs – Part 2
SAILING NAVIGATION LOGS – PART 3
