Tempest-tossed adventure

In early April, I sailed my boat, Windspirit, to Isla Guadalupe, an island 140 miles off the coast of Baja and 200 miles south of the United States-Mexico border.

At Guadalupe, I got hit with bigger winds and seas than I could handle and lost my engine due to contaminated fuel. On the fourth day of trying unsuccessfully to work my way back north from the island, I gave up and ran with the wind and the seas.

I ended up in Turtle Bay -- Bahia San Bartolome -- 400 miles down the Baja Coast. Once I made it to shore, I contacted my department director and got the OK to go on an unpaid leave of absence. It was Thursday and I was due back at my desk the following Monday.

It took nine days to get the engine running again, during which time I ran out of cash. Nowhere in Turtle Bay takes plastic and there were no ATMs. It took a 150-mile bus trip each way over primarily dirt roads to get to the nearest bank and ATM.

When I left Turtle Bay, the big debate was whether to try to motor the fragile engine 400 miles north into headwinds and seas to get to San Diego or to sail 400 miles south to Cabo San Lucas, where there are boat parts and mechanics. Well, the engine failed while weighing anchor so the decision was made for me.

Plus I was down to my last $84, so if I re-anchored at Turtle Bay to continue working on the engine, I’d be back on the bus for another ATM run.

I sailed south to Magdalene Bay and Cabo San Lucas. Then I rounded the corner at the southeast tip of Baja and went up into the Sea of Cortez. I timed it right because the predominant winds in the sea had become south winds and I was able to sail north to a “hurricane-safe” port and put the boat in dry dock.

So my 2 1/2 -week vacation turned into nearly 2 1/2 months. Minus the storm, the mechanical failures, and the fact that I was supposed to be at work, it was actually a great sailing trip.

* DAVID GROVERMAN is a plan check engineer for the city of Newport Beach and a resident of the city.

* TRAVEL TALES runs on Thursdays. Have you, or has someone you know, gone on an interesting vacation? Tell us about your adventures in about 400 words, accompanied by a couple of photos to choose from that do not have the Daily Pilot in them, and send it all to Travel Tales, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92626; by e-mail to dailypilot@latimes.com; or by fax to (714) 966-4679.