Our Perfect Storm

Our Perfect Storm

For all the boaters in or headed for Baja. I thought you might enjoy this story of a little adventure my wife and I had on the water. Although this did not happen to us in Baja, it has happened to others on the Cortez in similar ways.............It all started a while ago..... in the summertime, 2004.

Up North.....Yesterday a relative had just returned my boat after I had loaned it to him for a week's fishing/camping in the northernmost reaches of Lake of the Woods in the NW corner of Minnesota. The lake is huge at almost 1500 sq. miles of water, of which more than half is in Canadian waters of Ontario. We happen to be in what is known as tornado alley.

Now it is the next morning...It was a 'colorful' sunrise of what looked like a beautiful day for my wife and I on this far-north lake. Up early as usual, we were enjoying a coffee in front of a cozy hearth fire, when Felipa suggests, "Let's go fishing...it's too nice to stay inside."

Some fleeting premonition about that wildly-colorful sunrise briefly troubled me but it passed quickly with the prospect of catching some tasty walleyes and boating with my wife.

(You know the old sailors lament...Red Sky in the Morning, Sailor Take Warning...Red Sky at Night, Sailor's Delight.) Anyway, we made a nice shorelunch, packed everything into the boat, gassed up, filled the oil reservoir, and away we went to launch at Rocky Point near the big part of the lake..about a 30 mile drive from our lake cottage.

Before much time had passed we were a long way away, trolling on the big waters of Lake of the Woods..many miles offshore. The surface was glassy smooth and the sun was shining brightly...we applied sun-screen, got comfy, and lazily awaited the first bite. Pretty nice start to what we hoped would be a good fishing day.

Our idyllic day on the water comes to an abrupt end when a short time later I notice the southwestern sky has become heavily clouded and dark.

'Oh-oh', I think, 'We could get wet if we don't move a little farther south..that's one big thunderstorm brewing up..and it?s getting bigger all the time..coming closer now, winds building quickly...

..Wow, those were some BIG lighting bolts!...

..Hey, now some more.....!

Okay!...in fact, maybe it would be best if we just got the hell off the lake!...NOW!'

I hurriedly get all the lines in the boat, start the engine, heading for the safety of the lee shore, all the time looking at the huge waves building over to the west. 'This is happening way, way too fast', I realize as we are speeding along, 'we're gonna catch it if we don't get out of here...muy pronto'!

I break out our rain gear and make sure our life vests are securely buckled.


All of a sudden the engine revs out and dies a sputtering death. 'Wha the hell?', I quickly restart, it coughs to life, and I notice a faint worrisome noise forming in the engine....that?s not good...and now the boat is rocking in huge waves and the sky is pouring rain.

We race again towards shore. The engine revs and dies again...now I am getting a little more than concerned...Felipa is sitting on the floor wearing a life vest and clutching another spare around her..the boat is bucking up and down in huge crashing waves..50mph winds driving the rain like needles into our faces and cracks loudly on the rain gear hoods, making it difficult to hear anything else..this is not a nice place to be.

The engine keeps acting up..and now the 'overheated' warning is screaming away above the noise of the storm. I think, ?We have a water or oil problem, but no time to fix it here and now. Best get to shore quick.?


Just when we thought we were having some bad luck..we got more. I had been keeping an eye on the southwestern sky.. and all of sudden there it is..a huge angry-looking waterspout churning across the whitecaps right at them.

This was a land-formed tornado and now on the big lake. It's over a mile away, but closing fast. The wind is now slamming into the boat sides, sending spray everywhere.

'Jesus, Mary, and Joseph...we are in deep yogurt now!', I think, and hope Felipa doesn't notice the mortal danger approaching us.

No such luck.. ? What is THAT thing!!", Felipa shouts over the wind and pelting rain. 'Just a dust devil on the water, nothing to worry about.', I yell back, hoping she missed the quaver in my voice as I start the engine...and it dies again..


Options are running out, I quickly start the bilge pump, grab the VHF and radio for help...no response on normal call and fish-talk channels 16, 06, 22...the waterspout has now become a roar... I hurriedly go through channels and reach Ch. 69, whereupon a resort answers his SOS. (Okay Baja boaters..Now HERE is where I am in favor of every VHF station monitoring an agreed-upon channel in given area)

I hurriedly give out our GPS location, our trouble, and request urgent assist.. They radio back they are sending out a tow boat. 'Hope they get here in time.', I think as I get the engine started again and head the bow into the waves..only to have it die seconds later..this time with a clanking sound... 'Well, that does it. I better make sure we are life-lined to the boat...it's unsinkable flotation and if we flounder at least the rescue boat will see us easier.

Then Felipa says, 'I think I'm getting seasick!'.....'No problem babe, just puke anywhere.', I reply, and she grins back..almost losing it right there. Then the looming spout mercifully veers northward and disappears into the maelstrom of waves and low dark clouds. 'At least we won't die from that thing.'

(Later reports put the wave heights at 6-8 feet during the height of this storm. The wildcat tornado was a force 1 building to a force 2..internal winds of over 150mph).

The tow boat radios it's location and we finally see them crashing through the breakers towards our floundering boat. On the bucking bow I make ready and securely tie a throw/tow line secured to the bow-ring. I am getting slam-soaked every few seconds in the crashing waves. The boat's bilge pump is throwing out a steady stream of water....then quits.. 'Hmm..maybe today was not such a good time to take Felipa fishing?'

The 30 foot tow boat comes bouncing up alongside, a scared-looking deckhand holding onto the stern rails..and the other wild-eyed youngster running the helm shouts out, ?Holy Crap! ...it's damn $#!%ing rough out here!? That kind of introduction inspires no confidence in me. I hold up my arms, showing them my towline and point downwind. The towboat's skipper shouts to throw them the tow line...I shout back, ?You bet, just get on my downwind side so I can get it there. You're on our wrong side...and get your boat hook ready to catch the line in case it goes in the water!? I had done this with stranded boaters a few times in the Cortez myself..only I was doing the towing.

The deckhand then sputters, 'Naw, just throw it now, feller, I can catch it for sure.' The towboat is pounding dangerously close..on the wrong side, the windward side..and throws a huge wave of white water into our already waterlogged boat. 'Would be better downwind, but...', I think,, as I heave the line as hard as I can....the deckhand is not very agile on the bouncing deck and misses the throw as the coils hit him in the face. In slow motion, the startled deckhand lets the rope fall back into the water, ..they had no boat hook ready ..then for some unknown reason the inexpeprienced boy-skipper backs over the rope as the winds push their boat and fouls it around the towboat's prop... and it's engine growls to a stop. ?Now why the heck did they do it that way??, I think as I assess the chances of making it out of there alive with this 'rescue crew'.

I radio the resort first and tell them the situation..much to the chagrin of the towboat crew. After a brief and harsh questioning of the twosome, the resort dispatches another boat with a more experienced skipper. Meanwhile the deckhand is shouting at us to 'motor' over and tie up to their stern and wait for the other boat. I yell back that our motor was useless.. and that?s why they were here!..'What?s with these guys?', I think. And because both boats are now bouncing dangerously close in the storm waves, I tell him we are better off drifting away a safe distance and rigging a sea anchor to position our bow into the wind and slow down our drift. The deckhand shouts back, ?What's a sea-anchor?? Not wanting to alarm Felipa further by educating our would-be rescuers while floundering on how to rig a driftbag or line as a sea anchor, I angled our furled bimini out to ?sail? away from their boat a safe distance before throwing the driftbag overboard. The driftbag does it's job and brings our bow into the wind while I angle our bimini to sheild us from most of the hard-pelting rain. We hunker down to wait for the next boat.

The boat arrives in due time....and tows the first towboat back?..without us as caboose!...leaving us at the mercy of the elements for a second time. I now vow bloody revenge. Felipa votes for forgiveness, but I want to strangle them....slowly. It would have been no sweat to tow our little 18 footer behind the towed 30 footer. Grrrrr....

We bounce, soaking wet, cold, shivering, trying the engine again and again. It is fried..and grinds away. One good thing...the storm has settled down finally..and that is a relief. I get us as comfortable as possible and even take a couple polaroid shots of our plight. I ask Felipa if she wants to try some walleye jigging..she gives me The Look and splashes some floorwater at me. I shut my mouth and get to bailing with my boatpot.

Finally, the second boat returns. I had got our anchor line re-rigged to be used as another towline and was ready as I loudly give them EXACT instructions this time as to HOW we want to be rescued and WHAT they will be doing..they did so with a subdued and worried look on their faces. I suppose they thought...?Oh brother, what did we get into now! That guy seems peeed!? I make all the rope throws ..?downwind? this time.. and tie the towline to our bow ring and cleats...making a Y-harness for their stern tow-rings. I keep the outboard tilted down to provide us some steerage, we get underway, and are towed back to safe harbor without further mishap..the towboat guys keeping one eye on us all the way.
Meanwhile the storm moves off further to the northeast, leaving us in that safe afterglow of nature's spent fury. I get done loading the crippled boat onto the trailer, and we head for the resort lounge and cups of hot coffee with Kahlua and brandy. I buy a round for all the towboat's crews, give them a bonus...and silently forgive the asylum-released first crew...who were warily seated a few tables away. A quick shot of tequila to ward off the chills and we head home....alive after our wild adventure on Lake of the Woods.

Postscript : The next day I took the engine to our local outboard shop and had it checked out. Water pump and oil pump both were kaput which eventually seized the engine.. the mechanic showed me broken peices of impeller. Hmm..wonder what got into it? I had sacrificed that engine to get us closer to shore..but an engine is easily replaced, which I did that day, a new 4-stroke.....along with a kicker, just in case this all happens again!

Morals of this story...heed old sailor advice of 'Red Sky in the Morning, Sailor take Warning....' ...never, never lend boats to relatives..always check your engine before a trip...carry a kicker...AND..it doesn?t hurt to have a wife who will still go fishing with you after a day like this!

(edited to add this stock photo..our tornado-turned waterspout looked just like this.)

[Edited on 1-7-2008 by Pompano]

Having fun, Felipa?

Care to wet a line for some walleyes, dear? Those guys up ahead don't know it, but they are towing us through some nice waldo water.

Phyl?..Phyl? Dear? Oh, sweetheart...yo-hoo...hmmmm.

(edited to re-post this photo of Phyl)

[Edited on 1-7-2008 by Pompano]

Wow, Pomp--------

Great story Pompano!!

depending on were your at this saying could come in handy. in the cortez i like red sky in the mourning, not on the pacific.

'Red sky in the morning...........'

'Red sky in the morning.....'

"Red sky at morning... sailor take warning, Red sky at night (sunset)sailors delight"