Just thought people might want to know that we survived Hurricane Marty here in San Carlos. Naomi and I spent the worst hours in the hotel, but thanks to the other cruisers walking the docks all night, Seafire and most other boats came through safely.

The previous Thursday, we saw Bill and Jackson off to Bellingham (they flew out of Tucson); Naomi and I spent a couple more days there getting more shopping and electronics repairs underway. We had no idea there was a hurricane until Sunday night at the TBC bus station, waiting to catch the bus back to San Carlos. The short bit they had showed it heading towards Cabo in a NW direction, so I was hoping that it would go outside Baja. Since the station was in Spanish, I had no idea what the forecast was.

I got around 3 or 4 hours of sleep on the bus (well, sort of -- in 30 minute bursts, waking up with a stiff neck each time!), and planned on catching the city bus back to San Carlos and napping the morning away. We dumped our bags on the boat and headed for Barnacle Bob's (and internet access), only to find out that Marty had changed course and was heading directly for San Carlos. So instead of napping, I spent the next 6 hours taking off the solar panels, tying up the main, putting out extra lines, loading up on water, putting chafing gear on all the lines (special thanks to Flint, who had lots to give me -- I only had enough for four lines and we had 9 places that dock lines ran through cleats). He helped me put a line from the boat to a palm tree on shore, something that proved essential later on, along with his adjusting it mid-hurricane to keep Seafire from taking out the dockbox with her port bow.

Once I was done, I tried to sleep, but the wind was increasing and taking my adrenaline levels up with it. So I called Bill, who told me to please stay in a hotel room. I acquiesced, knowing that if the predicted winds showed up, I would never be able to get both myself and Naomi safely off the boat and to high ground if the storm surge floated the docks off the pilings.

We stayed in the big hotel next to the marina, videotaping until it got too dark to see, staying safely under the overhang on our balcony to avoid the roof tiles that fell (only 2, but from 5 stories up). Our boat's mast was at one end of the clump of sailboats, so I could see how much it was moving around, which was frustrating and scary, because I couldn't leave Naomi to go tend to the boat. I had a handheld VHF with me, so I followed conversations until I passed out from fatigue, and even talked to someone on our dock for reassurance on how things were going.

Fortunately, the winds were lighter than predicted (highest gust in the marina here was 68 knots, but Marina Real had more wind and I'm sure it was more out in the bay). There were 11 boats beached, several of which have been pulled off and seem to be ok. Two were total losses, including a trimaran that someone spent at least a year restoring and only launched this January. Most of "O" dock is gone (where all the charter boats go, closest to the entrance on the north side), including one boat that tied up there and left -- still attached to the dock -- during the hurricane. The dredge also split in the middle of things, having to be fended off by people on the few boats left on moorings. Marina Real had much more damage, with cleats pulling out and a 60' boat that took off from its end tie in the middle of the hurricane and wandered around the marina.

The big palapa at the hotel pool collapsed, one of the little table / palapa combinations went over onto the sidewalk below, and a small part of "G" dock needs replacing. Most of the roller / plywood parts around the pilings were busted. Many of the ficus trees on the south walkway were listing (a couple nearly on the ground), but most of those have already been pulled up and staked. (And before I got good pictures!) I haven't been out of the marina, but I've heard that the parts of San Carlos close to the beach got hammered, with many first-story windows blown out and a lot of water and sand in buildings.

According to the ham and SSB nets, Marina de La Paz was devastated, with estimates of the destruction ranging from 75 to 90 percent. The only particulars I know are that T'n Honey is ok but that Novia (owner Neil) sank, and my impression is that there are other boats that sank as well. The report also said that they had winds of 105 mph for seven hours. The boatyard at Marina Palmira had boats fall over again, but only a few. Heck, even Marina Seca in San Carlos had boats fall over; according to the folks on another boat here, all those that fell were on the special hurricane poles.

Puerto Escondido also had boats that ended up on the beach, and Mayahana took off without owner Richard aboard, made it out the entrance and beached herself on Danzante. I haven't heard what sort of damage she sustained yet.