I seldom comment about other Rocky Point Times contributors, but The Old Gringo hit the nail on the head when he said never to turn your back on the water. As a wise person once said, the sea gives, but it also takes away. Been there, done that.
While piloting boats on an assortment of oceans, rivers and lakes, I have been caught in rip tides, sudden gale force winds, snowstorms, mountainous following seas and swells so big that boats 100 feet from me disappeared in the troughs and towered over me on the crests. As far as monster storms in large vessels, I was on a 610-foot US Navy cruiser in the Mediterranean that survived a 40-degree roll, and an aircraft carrier in the North Atlantic that took green water over the bow.
Twice I have been swamped and nearly sunk by the wakes of larger boats. I have been bumped by an orca just west of Cholla Bay. A mile from Sandy Beach I came within a whisker of disaster when the tail of a diving fin whale brushed against the T-top of my center console Trophy.
In a bit more than an hour I have skipped on a sea of glass to blue water southwest of Bird Island, with the return trip to Peñasco taking three times as long while running just above idle into six-foot waves.
Building on what The Old Gringo cautioned, I urge you to absolutely enjoy the Sea of Cortez but be aware of its limitless power. Before you venture out, check the weather forecast, then make sure the boat has personal flotation devices for all passengers, communication and navigation equipment with battery backups, more than enough fuel for a round trip and even a kicker engine, just in case. Cap’n Greg wishes you “Viajes buenos y seguros.”
