02-DEC-2014 - Cozumel

Four ships...guess which is ours?

We arrived in Cozumel fairly early (that is, before I got up), and backed into the spot.  There were four ships at our pier, and ours pointed out.  I found this amusing, since I habitually back into parking spaces myself.  But, our tour wasn’t to meet until 11 AM, so we had a leisurely morning.  About 10AM, we headed out to explore the “shopping” at the end of the pier.  Of course, everything is advertised as though they are spectacular deals, and I am fairly sure they are the best around, as long as you define “around” as in that store at that moment.  We found a place that gave free samples of tequila, and sampled a bit.  One was nice, one was fruity, and one was turpentine I’m pretty sure.  The “nice” one was $68, but she was going to give us a deal and let us buy it for only $60!!!  Although we were clearly “special” (seeing as she knew nothing of us), and getting the “best deal”, we skipped it.

Cozumel coast with Mexican Rain

As we gathered for our tour at 11, the clouds gathered and looked like storms coming.  The guide came and told us there would be “Mexican rain”, which I thought was obvious, unless it meant something to him that he did not share with us.  We were led to the souvenir shop where we sheltered the downpour.  Then 10 minutes later, it ended and we headed out to the “tender” catamaran. 

The competitors!

On the way we were told there were two boats, the Stars and Stripes, the US yacht that won the 1987 America’s Cup, and the True North 40, the Canadian yacht from the same year.  We heard there are a few places they do this, so likely this is simply a replica of the real one, but close enough!

What is a 12 meter yacht?

The race is 12 meter yachts.  (Math Alert…skip to next paragraph if you don’t care!)  It is pertinent that the 12 is underlined, because this is not a 12 meter (40 foot) boat, but an equation (the boat is actually 60 feet or so long).  It is the length of the boat, plus two times the difference in the “skin” girth and the “chain” girth, subtracting the freeboard, and adding the square root of the sail area.  They had a t-shirt that showed it but said “square route”, which I found funny and a good reason not to buy the shirt!

Stars and Stripes, and ominous horizon!

Anyway, they split us into two teams, one for the US and one for the Canadian yachts.  Then asked who wanted to work the boat “actively”, part time, or not at all.  I choose active and Theresa part time.  So they assigned roles to each of us.  I was assigned “primary grinder” (one of four) and Theresa was “main trimmer”.  Then he came back and reassigned Theresa to “bar tender”, presumably as someone else chose active and there were not enough tasks.  She was disappointed to find there was no real function there.  As we boarded the Stars and Stripes, we were put in our respective places. 

The view forward

Our Canadian "friend", lying in wait!

Our crew...and the "bartender"

We knew nothing about sailing before we started.  And although we learned a lot, we don’t pretend to know a lot, still.  So, for the true salts out there, pardon the clumsy explanations.  But we learned the following.  There are two sails; the main sail (obvious), and the genoa sail (the triangular one in front).  (There would have been a spinnaker as well, but evidently it was too dangerous for a bunch of clumsy tourists, so it was removed for safety.)  It took four of us to hoist the main sail, the top of which was 80 feet high.  The genoa sail wrapped around the front mast.  I think he said there was 160 square meters of sails, which is something like 1700 square feet.  Both sails pivot on the front side and swing on the back side, so they have a track in an arc.  

The daily "grind"!

When the boat changes direction, the wind may go from left-to-right to right-to-left, and the sail swings to the other side of the boat.  There are lines to keep it in place, but as it swings, the one side goes slack and the other needs to be made taut.  So, the “grinders” turn these cranks that cinch up the lines holding the sails in place.  Someone controls how far the sail needs to go, and someone else grinds.  For the main sail, one person controls it and two grind.  For the genoa sail, two people control it (one on each side of the boat) and four people turn the crank (grinders).  There are three gears, so the controller changes gears and calls out to the grinders which gear and when to start and stop.  (First gear is 1:1, Second is 10:1, and Third is 22:1). 

The Enemy!!!

We raced in a course that had us going into and with the wind about three times each.  So, when you sail with the wind, you basically let the sail catch as much of the wind as possible, and let it push you.  When you sail into the wind, you have to turn the sail so the wind flows over it like an airfoil (and airplane wing), and then it works exactly that way, pushing like a wing lifts.  This means you really have to zig-zag into the wind which means a lot of work for the grinders.  Then we change directions, and sit back with a beer, and wait.  OK, the real racers would not be drinking beer, but this was a “fun race”, and they had beer, soda, and water.  We were in the lead almost the entire race, but in the end, we took second.  It was a crushing second place, but the beer comforted us!

Happy with second place.

Then we sailed leisurely about for 30-45 minutes and headed back.  On the way, the captain asked if anyone wanted to “drive”, so, having only 2 beers (I think), I thought driving a boat was a great idea!!  He pointed me to a building off in the distance and said, “Head that way!” and left.  I steered for 5-10 minutes, then another guy took over for a while.

It was a lot fun, and a great chance to learn about how a sailing team works!  I can see why people like sailing, although I am in no rush to go buy a boat!!  The tour company had a second group coming right after us, and as we stopped, we noticed it was getting hot and the sun was getting bright.  The overcast and clouds seemed to keep us cooler, and although it rained early on, it did not at all during the sailing.  So, we lucked out big time!

A whole lot of sail!

He said point it to the green building.  Which one is green?!?!

Back on the ship, we had lunch and watched it rain.  Poor saps in the second race!  Then we took a nap!  In the evening, the main show was a hypnotist.  The show was pretty good.  At least that’s what he told us to say! 

Tomorrow we go to Belize, and hopefully post this!