M/V Antipodes

After a two year hiatus from posting, Yorksafloat is back! Last May we purchased the M/V Antipodes, a 55' Steel Yachtsmith Trawler, in California. After some much needed training, we moved the boat to Ensenada Cruiseport Village and have been feverishly working to get ready to cruise to Alaska this summer.
The following is from our trip log down from Alameda to Ensenada last summer:

June 30, 2007. John Curry (our training captain) came aboard last night so we could get underway early this morning. By 6am, we were warmed up and cast off from Marina Village for the last time. We were a little worried about the weather since it looked like we might not be able to make it much past either Monterey or Morro Bay due to the wind and wave forecasts.
The ride out under the Golden Gate was a little rough due to the ebb tide but nothing too bad. Once we made the turn to the south, the ride smoothed out and we actually had a fairly decent run down the coast. The forecasted weather never really materialized until crossing Monterey Bay when it got a little too much for the autopilot and we had to hand steer the boat the last hour or so.
While crossing the bay, we saw a humpback whale broach three times right next to a boat about a mile away. It must have been a little nerve wracking for them!
Pulling into the Monterey Harbor, we got a slip assignment in a pretty tight fairway and I had to use the thrusters more than I like in the unfamiliar spaces.
Late that night, our friend Russell Vinton showed up to join us for the next leg of the trip. The weather was still looking pretty iffy but we thought we could at least make it to Morro Bay. We were beginning to worry that we might end up stranded there for quite some time before being able to safely make the passage around Point Conception.

July 1, 2007. The run to Morro Bay also turned out to be somewhat anticlimactic. Even though there were periods where we had to hand steer the boat and we had to constantly watch the helm, it wasn’t too bad. The boat definitely has a tendency to hull steer when in a following sea. This can create some dangerous uncontrollability and a tendency to broach the boat.
Morro Bay is an interesting little harbor between Monterey Bay and Point Conception. We got a berth there around 9pm and after much discussion agreed to try and make it around Point Conception the next day. We planned to get underway around 4am to try and avoid the building winds in the afternoon.

July 2, 2007. 4am came rather early. We looked outside while the engine was warming up to find a huge ebb tide ripping by. This really complicated the process of getting underway. After talking it over with John, we agreed on a plan of action for me to take and I managed to get it out of the slip (although a small amount of rub rail paint remains in Morro Bay).
We had set a series of “decision points” for the day. Basically, we evaluated the decision to continue at several points where we would turn around if conditions exceeded certain levels. The day actually went very well and pretty soon we were committed to the run around Point Conception.
This point is known as the “Graveyard of the Pacific” or the “Cape Horn of California” depending on which pessimistic guide book you read. It’s actually about a 30 mile section of the California coast where the winds and waves are unpredictable and potentially very dangerous. Everything went well until we started to relax. Then the wind picked up fairly suddenly to 25-40 knots and the waves started building rapidly. Pretty soon we were surfing down the face of 8’-12’ breaking waves. For those of you who are not familiar with trawlers, they do NOT like to surf).
These conditions really exceeded my skill level so John was at the helm and obviously a bit nervous. Suddenly we both looked out the port side to see a long roller that was at least 10’ (probably closer to 12’) with a 200’ foam trail as it broke and curled. While we were looking at it, the wave caught our stern quarter and immediately slewed us over hard on the face and we took a 50º+ roll onto our side with water coming over the down swell rail (I was standing on the side of the cabin after hitting the floor). The boat continued to slew around and rounded up into the next wave which was a boarding sea over the bow. Fortunately, John knew what to do and fairly quickly got things back under control. A great learning experience. It is also comforting to know that this boat can take a knock down and right itself. On the other hand, it is concerning to know that it needs that ability! I have already sent an email off to the marine architect who designed the boat to see what can be done to improve the boat’s initial stability. We are also seriously discussing adding stabilizers to the boat!
After another couple of tense hours, we rounded the point and the seas gradually subsided to the point where I took the helm again and we had an easy run into Santa Barbara. The marina was completely full so we anchored out with a bunch of other boats (after failing to read the note in the guidebook about the uncomfortable surge). We went to dinner ashore with John since that was his last night with us and then tried to get some sleep with the boat thrashing about in the surge.

July 3, 2007. After not much sleep, we got up and dropped John off at the marina fuel dock for his flight back home and then we departed south. We initially planned to head for Catalina Island but a phone call to the harbormaster informed us that we would almost certainly be anchored out again and we didn’t want to have to deal with the inevitable Independence Day parties. After talking it over, we decided to go to Newport Beach Harbor even though it is said to be terribly confusing to first time visitors. The ride down to Newport Beach was beautiful with an abundance of playful dolphins and seals and the occasional whale sighting.
We entered the harbor at dusk and it lived up to its reputation. We were unable to dock at the harbormaster’s dock for a berthing assignment and directions since they were busy dealing with a boat fire in the harbor. Eventually, they just gave us a mooring ball assignment and woefully inadequate directions. After wandering around the dark harbor for a while with repeated telephone and radio calls to the harbormaster, we managed to stumble upon our mooring ball and get the boat put to bed. Somehow this process seemed to be easier with a professional captain aboard!

July 4, 2007. We got underway around 7am (practically sleeping in on the boat!). Since we hadn’t checked in “officially” the night before, we had to stop by the harbormaster’s office to pay our mooring fee. We were a little worried to see how bad it was going to be and were shocked to find that it was $5.00!
The run to Mission Bay was a lot of fun although the morning marine layer kept visibility down until about noon.
On the way we saw frequent pods of dolphins and even a pod of False Killer Whales.
The entry into Mission Bay was a bit crowded with all of the holiday boat traffic. We managed to find a nice anchor spot in Mariner’s Basin and got the boat on the hook with a minimum of fuss.
Lara had decided that she needed to fly back to Phoenix to be at work on Thursday so I dinghied her over to the Hyatt for a taxi to the airport.
Now it’s just Russell and me for the run to Ensenada tomorrow. Hopefully, the parties will not be too rowdy tonight so we can get a good night sleep. The afternoon of relaxation has been very nice after 5 long days of cruising down the coast. Tomorrow’s run should only be about 8 hours or so.

July 5, 2007. After 616 nautical miles, we are safely in Cruiseport Village Ensenada. This will be our home port for the next 11-12 months.
The morning started calmly with a quiet departure from Mission Bay. The normal marine layer kept visibility down to a mile or so as we left US waters. As soon as we hit Mexican waters, the fishing lines went out. Along the way, we stopped at a few kelp patties to throw some lures but no fish seemed interested. With the currents and water temperatures, we were really far too close to shore but we didn’t want to spend the time to stand off further since we wanted to get to Ensenada at a reasonable time in the afternoon.
We saw a lot of dolphins, including one pod of several hundred that played around the boat for a while. It’s a lot of fun to watch the young ones jumping and dashing around. We also saw several whales within a mile or less of the boat. We also saw two pods of False Killer Whales. One of those pods came so close that we put the motor in neutral for fear of hitting one with the prop.
When we got to Bahia Todos Santos (the bay where Ensenada is located), we cruised by the Todos Santos islands and saw a lot of fish on the depthfinder. About the same time, we saw a kelp patty and drifted up to it to throw some lures. No fish and we drifted almost on top of the kelp patty. (At this point it might be helpful to remember that there are two very stout trolling lines hanging off the back of the boat.) Not wanting to drive through the kelp and foul the prop, I told Russell to put us in reverse to back away from the kelp (remember the stout lines?). I came back in and put the boat in gear forward when Russell asked if he should check on the lines at the stern. Oops. Immediate shift to neutral and run back to the stern to see one of the lines obviously fouled in the prop.
I got the pleasure of digging out the dive gear while the boat wallowed in the swell and then multiple dives under the boat to cut away the fouled line. The whole time I was really wishing for a compressor to provide air since I was snorkeling! After a dozen trips under the heaving stern, I got it all cleared up and we were back underway (with a remarkable decrease in fishing enthusiasm!).
When we entered the harbor, we were unable to raise the harbormaster on the radio. Fortunately, I had a slip assignment and the chart on the chart plotter actually shows the slips if you zoom in enough. I snaked my way into the VERY crowded marina with VERY narrow fairways and squeezed Antipodes into a VERY narrow slip without hitting anything. A couple of cruisers a few boats down paid me a huge compliment by saying they were going to come over and help with the lines but we looked like we knew what we were doing and didn’t need any help. I guess all that time with Captain John paid off!
Once we got everything hooked up, Russell and I spent several hours scrubbing off the accumulated salt and grime on the boat from the trip.
We had hoped to handle our Mexican paperwork that afternoon but the marina office apparently closes at 4pm (plus or minus several hours).

July 6, 2007. We got up in the morning to see several workers washing the boat next to us. After washing Antipodes the previous evening, that looked like a pretty good deal! One of them told us that the harbormaster would be in the office by 8:30am. I think that might have been Hawaiian time since he didn’t actually show up until about 11am.
While we were waiting, we wandered around the marina looking at various boats, including one that was a movie prop boat from the Pirates of the Caribbean movies!
When the harbormaster finally arrived, we got our marina paperwork all sorted out and then he gave us a ride downtown to the Migracion, Capitano del Puerto and Aduano offices. We then spent several hours going back and forth between various desultorily staffed counters to get all of our paperwork stamped and validated and my wallet somewhat lightened.
By this time, it was getting late since we were supposed to meet my plane partner (Chip) at the airport at 2pm. Russell and I quickly walked back to the marina and hailed a taxi while we emptied the refrigerator and buttoned up the boat.
When we were about 5 minutes from the airport, Chip called to ask where we were since he had just landed. It turned out that he got held up in Migracion as well so it all worked out.
We did a quick preflight and we were off.
The processing through US customs in Yuma was quick and easy and then it was a short flight back to Deer Valley where I landed in a pretty lively dust storm. As quick as that, our first trip on Antipodes was over.

I will be spending most of the month of April "on the hard" at a shipyard in Ensenada getting ballast added (to improve stability) and two hatches replaced (to improve water tightness). If you read the account from July 2nd above, you will have a good idea why we are doing this! The issue of stability is actually quite complex and has involved a lot of reading and countless emails to naval architects and a number of strange experiments on the boat.

We're really looking forward to some extended cruising time on the boat this summer!