Sea Change by Maxwell Taylor Kennedy

Author:Maxwell Taylor Kennedy
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Islandport Press
Published: 2018-04-12T14:52:50+00:00

20. The Gulf of Tehuantepec

In the tropics one must before everything keep calm.

—Joseph Conrad, Marlow in Heart of Darkness

The passage across the Gulf of Tehuantepec is the most treacherous section of the coastal trip to Panama. The Gulf is one of the windiest places on Earth, at least during the winter months. Cold fronts moving across Central America are funneled into the mountains between Mexico and Guatemala and are essentially slingshot across the bay. Winds often blow 20 knots, but during weather events, which are not infrequent, they may blow 40 knots or more, causing huge westbound waves to drive out to sea, hammering sailboats hundreds of miles offshore.

Experienced cruisers with blue-water boats will tell you that 250 miles out at sea is the minimum safe distance. I knew Valkyrien was a strong boat, but I would certainly not cross the ocean with her, and I would not sail her that far offshore. The next best choice was to sail the entire bay while staying about a quarter-mile from shore. The wind jumps a little bit at the beach, creating a narrow line of safe navigation that winds along the edge of the shoreline, where the water is just deep enough—at thirty feet—for sailboats.

La Niña had been active that year, which somewhat weakened the effects of the gigantic wind tunnel, and we did not begin this portion of the trip until late March—well after the windiest days of December through February. According to the reports Wes had gathered, we had a safe weather window, and so we headed off along the Gulf shore with the wind steady at about 20 knots. That is a hell of a lot of wind when you are sailing, but was considered fairly calm for the Gulf of Tehuantepec.

Nevertheless, the narrow band we sailed along the coast was really the only smooth line on the long haul across the bay. Just a kilometer or so further offshore, winds were gusting over 30 knots as we sailed along that desolate desert shoreline, past the tiny fishing village of San Mateo del Mar. Most young people have left the villages along the Gulf for life and jobs in Oaxaca. The old ones remain, living as subsistence fishermen, in simple poverty. They care for their boats and tiny homes, eating their own daily catch.

I looked across at the villagers staring out at Valkyrien, each of us perhaps thinking of the lives of others, and I was happy with my choice to continue the journey. Valkyrien beat hard, her sails pulled tight to stay on the safe side of the wind line. The wind blew beautifully strong, beckoning on a heading that would keep our course on a perfect reach directly across the bay. This was precisely the wind and weather schooners were designed to sail. I stared out at the rolling waves. I wanted to sail with that wind. I have never shied away from a fresh breeze. On Cape Cod when the wind is like this, we say, “It is blowing like stink out there.

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