HURRICANE ODILE - 9/14/2014

One too many adventures.

All of my past blogs that I have posted have contained text and photos of happy times on Dolce Vita as I have sailed the seven seas. I am very sad to report that this posting of commentary and photos is very sad.

At approximately 9:00 pm on September 14, 2014 a category 3 hurricane, the strongest to ever hit La Paz, Mexico, arrived where I am currently located. Winds greater than 135 MPH were reported in the harbor. I will attempt to take you through the sequence of events that transpired before, during and following the hurricane.

Hurricanes on this side of the Pacific Ocean form up in southern Mexico near the Guatemala border. Most follow a path the takes them northwest away from the Mexican coast. Starting in September, hurricanes begin to take a different path that brings them much closer to the Baja California coastline.There have only been 10 named hurricanes that have hit the Baja peninsula. All but one, hurricane John, has been a category 1. Now comes Odile.

We cruisers started watching Odile form up in the south. Its' path was projected to be southwest of Cabo. A near miss. Hurricanes can and do change course from projected paths and as such they need to be carefully watched. Odile is one such hurricane.

I dove on my boat to clean the barnacles off of the bottom and the propellor. The boat would not be able to propel itself under power if the growth is too much around the prop. I encouraged a friend anchored near me to do the same since he had not cleaned the bottom in 3 months. He kept putting it off so I cleaned it for him. The growth was so much that he would have not been able to move his boat and would have been at the mercy of the current and wind. He and his wife are on a very tight budget and didn't have enough money to pay for the marina fees if we had to move so I agreed to lend him the needed money so he would not been left behind at anchor. I would not have been able to live with myself if we were in a protected marina and he or his boat were lost.

On late Saturday evening it became apparent that Odile was changing direction. I helped to move a boat to a safer anchorage the first thing on Sunday morning and began to make preparations to move to a safe marina. I also told my friend to do the same and follow me. A third boat, also friends, decided to follow our example.

We safely arrived at the marina and immediately started to bring out all of the lines we had to secure our boats to our slips. Now we wait.There was little or no rain ahead of Odile and the winds were light. At around 9:00 pm the winds started to pick up. I had went to bed early so I could get some sleep fully expecting to be up most of the evening and the next day until the worst had passed.You are probably asking yourself at this point, "Did he stay on his boat?" Yes I did. I have caught more hell from family and friends that I have had to swear never to do that again.

I went off of the boat several times to move my fenders and check the lines as well checking other boats. I was careful to always hang onto something so as not to be blown over into the water.

It is now 5:00 am. The eye is now passing and when doing so, the winds become very calm. You probably have heard the words, The eye before the storm. The second half of the storm can, and often is much stronger. The direction of the winds changes 180 degrees. All hell breaks loose again and we all hang on and hope for the best. By 3:00 pm the winds settle down. We all breeze easy again. All of us were outside of our boats assessing any damage to our or others boats. The marina is well protected and other than minor damage to the docks there was little damage to the boats around us.

We next called cruisers on the radio to see how others had survived and we were told it was a total disaster for many boat. Later we were told of the boats that sank. Three people on two of those boats were later found to be missing. I knew all three of these people well and had spent many times together sharing stories about our lives sailing.

The body of a German man named Gunther was found on his boat. It was later found that he had died of a fatal heart attack. The other couple were Paul and Samone. Their bodies were found in the mangroves.

Now recovery begins. Many of us helped to pull boats off of the beach that still can still. Items are being taken off of other boats that can not be saved by the owner with help from other cruisers. I assisted others in pulling four boats off of the beach with many more boats waiting.

Here is the list of all of the boats that were beached, damaged or sunk.

• Star Duster - aground
• Rock Bottom - aground with water intrusion
• Beyond - aground
• Maia - aground
• Om - aground
• Callisto II - aground
• Island Seeker - aground
• Steel Breeze - aground
• Ocean Light - aground and awash
• Last Hurrah - aground and awash
• Dolphin - aground
• Dorikam (Honolulu, HI) on the rocks and piled up with Aspara
• Aspara - on the rocks and piled up with Dorikam 
• Tabasco II - sunk (Paul and Samone's boat)
• Timberlake - aground
• Luci - aground
• Oceanis ARC - aground
• Damiana - aground
• Satori - aground
• Satin - aground
• Pampered Lady - aground
• Princess - sunk (Gunther's boat)
• Cementress - aground
• Andariego - sunk/aground/awash

"In addition to the vessels named above, four vessels that were initially aground have been successfully refloated and are doing fine.

I could go on with other stories of people's escape from near death and the many stories of how our cruising community has all held together to help each other in need. This is an example for everyone to follow to help ourselves and others when disaster strikes our lives and lives of others.

Here now are a few photos of the affected boats.

Paul and Samone's boat.

FInally let me leave with these final words. My sister sent me this which was read at our father's memorial. For those of us who have lost friends, may this bring us peace.

I'm Free

Don't grieve for me for now I'm free

I'm following the path God laid for me.

I took his hand when I heard him call,

I turned my back and left it all.

I could not stay another day

to laugh, to love, to work or play.

Tasks undone must stay that way.

I found that peace at close of day.

If my parting has left a void,

then fill it with remembered joy.

A friendship shared, a laugh, a kiss,

ah yes, these things I too will miss.

Be not burdened with times of sorrow,

I wish you the sunshine of tomorrow.

My life's been full, I've savored much,

good, friends, good times, a loved one's touch.
Perhaps my time seemed all too brief,
don't lengthen it now with undue grief.
Lift up your hearts and share with me,
God wanted me now; He set me free.

 With heartfelt sympathy to you and others in the cruising community there and to the families.  Wishing you all God's Blessings.

Life in better times. They swam past my boat while at anchor. Mom, Dad and the little baby out for a swim.