THE UGLIEST TRIP EVER !!!

Well, now we know what CAN happen in the Sea of Cortez! We left Mazatlan on Nov. 23 under fair skies and began our trip back to La Paz to complete some repairs we had started earlier. The first twelve hours were great- lost THREE fishing lures, which was really weird, but that was nothing compared to what lay ahead! Twelve hours into the trip the sea began to whip up with a strong south wind blowing. The internet weather had said there would be a west wind. As night came on and all through the night Bill battled waves which slowed us to 3-4 knots, rather than our usual 7. We hoped for calmer water at daybreak, but all we got was a better look at the raging sea with whitecaps everywhere! At one point I counted 15 waves in 1 minute- and they were 6-10 feet high. We both fell and scraped ourselves trying to take care of the essentials, which was the only reason we would even leave our seats. Just 15 miles before the end of our 190 mile trip the sea finally calmed down... Everything fell that could fall; one porthole had not been tightened down (Alice's error) and now the carpet in the stateroom is slowly drying out- two days later! 4 miles from our anchorage the engine began to choke and Bill had to turn it off and go below to troubleshoot, finding a clogged fuel filter! We certainly were blessed with the Lord's protection and guidance, for if the filter had clogged in high seas, who knows what would have happened to us! (Photo at top shows a saltwater shower over the bow after we hit one wave)