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9/5 Head out the hawse pipe next to his kitty rescue climbing rope
9/5 Buster, Ziggy. Ziggy, Buster.
9/7 He doesn't fit in the small mixing bowl anymore!
9/12 Scary kitty on the main boom
9/13 Climbing "tree" made of dead cordon wood (future hiking sticks)
9/13 Outboard fin perch
9/13 Kitty overboard rescue rope
9/22 Climbing the main sheet
9/22 Wrapped in his "binky"
9/22 Ziggy on his "binky" We anchored in the Bahia before Noon today and are both very wiped out. Motored the first eight hours, finally were able to sail the next eight hours, but the wind dropped to almost nothing in the early evening and we had some very sloppy seas making us roll beam to beam. The end result of that was Ziggy throwing up for probably the first time in his life. I even saw it coming when he began nervously licking his lips. The good news was that he deposited it on the hardwood floor and not on a rug. He was not a happy camper with all the noise and motion and people up all night long, but now we're settled in here and he seems fine. It was definitely more stressful making a crossing with a pet since not only to you have to tend to yourself, but you have to make sure the animal is okay too. One of our first purchases will be a harness since we didn't dare let him loose on deck with the boat rolling so terribly, and he cried to get out any time we were both on deck. Fortunately we have a framed screen that slides in the drop board slots, and with the hatch slid closed he can see us but he can't get out.
We only sailed a couple of more hours this morning and the rest was a motorboat ride. John had to dodge a Navy ship after midnight but other than that it was an uneventful crossing.
John has gone to get the truck out of storage, and we plan to do laundry and internet first thing in the morning. Then it might be off to the vet's for Ziggy's first set of shots. We should be here in San Carlos for at least a week or two.
Linda and John
We left Ensenada Pescador early this morning and are motoring east in a flat calm sea. If we run into SE winds, we may head for San Francisquito, about 40 miles south on the Baja. But if it stays calm or we get the forecasted N wind this afternoon, we'll keep going across the Sea of Cortez to San Carlos (about 140 miles). We would expect to arrive in San Carlos by tomorrow early evening.
We're trying to keep Ziggy in the cockpit or down below to avoid any more catastrophes like getting his head stuck under the handrail. But he's a rambunctious boy so I doubt it's going to be easy. Fortunately, as long as we're playing with him, he's happy to be just about anywhere. Right now he's taking a cat nap to build up his strength for the next round. I just hope we can keep up with him!
Linda and John
Well, maybe not quite blankets but we're sleeping under a top sheet again. Everyone in the BLA area has been reporting morning temperatures below 80 degrees for the past few days, and it's amazing what a difference it makes to wake up to 78 degrees in the cabin. It really is like throwing a switch, the change in the weather seems to happen so suddenly. I'm sure we'll have a few more hot and muggy days, but at least we know they're mostly over with. The water is still around 80 degrees, and we're doing more swimming than hiking. Everyone is currently watching tropical storm/sometimes hurricane Ivo to see what he's going to do but it's doubtful that it will get up this far north. A few boats have already started moving south to Santa Rosalia, and others that were headed that way have paused to see what's going to happen. We should know for sure by early next week.
Ziggy Stardust continues to entertain us as he also taxes our patience. He's either full of energy, running around like a crazy kitten, or asleep. There are very small windows of purring affection in between those two states. As a last resort we put him on his "binky," one of John's bandanas that he likes to suckle. This calms him and we can pet him as much as we want when he's occupied with that. He likes to have visitors, and Ray and Jayne from Adios even coaxed him to jump in their dinghy from Nakia's caprail when they came by yesterday. He wants to be part of whatever we're doing, but we've started to draw a line at allowing him on deck when we're raising anchor or sails. So far he's been good about sailing, mostly sleeping the whole time, and he hasn't gotten seasick yet.
We still plan to cross to San Carlos in mid-October for a trip to Nogales to pick up parts, before continuing on south to reach Mazatlan by November 1. Until then we'll make one more trip into the village for water and veggies, enjoy friends and anchorages in the area, and then wait for a good weather window to make our crossing. It's hard to believe that another summer is almost over!
Linda and John
8/16 Two months old, but malnourished
8/19 Space alien kitten
8/21 How do I look?
8/22 Asleep in his food dish
8/23 Still a face only a mother could love!
Well, Henriette was a complete non-event for those of us here in the BLA area - no wind and no rain. We went to the extreme of breaking down our inflatable dinghy and stowing it in the quarter berth along with all of our sails, which ensured we would see no ill effects from the storm. From reports we've had, Santa Rosalia saw 40-50 knots of wind and some boats broke loose in Puerto Escondido. This is exactly why we come so far north for the hurricane season.
We came back to the village yesterday to get laundry done and pick up some fresh vegetables. Life goes on! For the record, here are the boats we know to be in the northern Sea of Cortez and where they were for Henriette.
Puerto Don Juan (28):
Adios - Ray, Jayne, Captain Morgan (cat)
Afroessa - Dan and Lee
Balena - Randy and Gina
Blew Moon - Houston and Gail
Cambria - Michael, Elizabeth, Gordon (cat)
Came to Believe - Rich, Annette, Tito (cat)
Catherine Estelle - Ricardo and Linda
Ceilidh - Jay, Janice, Buster (dog)
Gemini - Les and Diane
Guinevere - Greg and Jill
Hooligan - Tim, Paula, Maggie, Nigel (dogs)
Java (catamaran) - Evan (not on board)
Jenny - Doug, Jo, Ziggy (cat)
Lightheart - Steve and Carolyn
Maitairoa - Alex, Susan, Gigi (cat)
Masquerade - Tim, Cindy, Willie (cat)
Momo - Bernie, Michelle, Lola, Jana
Moonhunter - Bill
Nakia - John, Linda, Ziggy Stardust (cat)
Panoya - Jim and Lita
Que Tal - Dave, Caroline, Paws (dog)
Sail Soon - John and Bridgett
Southern Belle - George, Melinda, Joshua
Sweet Lorraine - David and Kellie
Tony Reyes - fishing charter boat
Two Pieces of Eight - Peter, Marni, Tigger, Latte (cats)
V'ger - Casey and Ann
Windy City - Mike and Mon
North of BLA (11):
Daydream (bare aluminum) Wayne and Susan [Gonzaga/Willard]
Ebenezer (catamaran) - Jim, Shelley, Grover (dog) [Gonzaga/Willard]
Ensueno - Ralph and Joanna [Refugio]
Milagro - Lance, Jo, Rocky (dog) [Gonzaga/Willard]
Niaouli (Swiss boat, bare aluminum) - Andre and Claire [Gonzaga/Willard]
Rapscullion (catamaran) - Henry and JJ [Gonzaga/Willard]
Sailor's Run - Jeff and Debbie [Refugio]
Tao 8 - Larry and Angie [Gonzaga/Willard]
Kia Paha - Christian and Mike [Estanque]
Nala Setia (Rhodes Bounty II) - Clint and Jacinda [Gonzaga/Willard]
Questor - Dave [Refugio]
San Francisquito (4):
Flying Cloud
Idefex - Scott, Frederique, two kids
Ojo - Tracy and Renee
Sea-tacean - Archie and Bev
Isla San Marcos/Santa Rosalia area (5):
Nina del Mar - Lew and Billie
Peregrine - Bill
Reflections - Lew and Shirley
Two Can Play - Dennis, Susan, Jack (cat)
Vita e Bella - Colin
Yesterday the weather report had Henriette coming our way mid-week so we left Isla Ventana (where we had been joined by two other boats in what is typically a one boat anchorage) to go to the village for laundry and water. Before we had even cleared the islands John heard a loud yowl from the bow area and rushed forward to find Ziggy with his head stuck under one of the teak handrails. We tried twisting and turning him every which way but we couldn't get his head to slip out backwards, and his belly is bigger than his head so even though he got his shoulders through, he couldn't go the rest of the way. We even tried greasing his head with oil before John got out the tool box. We were in as much a panic as Ziggy was, and so John took a hammer and chisel to the underside of the rail to chop out enough wood for us to slide Ziggy's head out. Fortunately we were sailing in very light air so Nakia took care of maintaining a course all by herself. I took a few scratches and Ziggy spent the rest of the day washing off the oil, seemingly none the worse for the traumatic experience. John's hoping he grows up soon so he can't get into any more tight spots.
We had a quick change of plan after that, fired up the motor, and headed straight for Puerto Don Juan where we are currently neighbors with 24 other boats waiting to see what Henriette is going to do. Fortunately it doesn't look like it's going to be much for us, especially when you look at what Felix is doing to Central America. But we take no chances, so our sails are off, we have a tandem anchor set (a first for us), the hurricane anchor snubber is on, and the decks are mostly clear. Ziggy doesn't know what to make of his bare bones jungle gym and quickly learned how to walk the balance beam (our now bare main sail boom).
Assuming nothing comes of Henriette, we'll hang out here until Thursday or Friday and then go on into the village.
Linda and John
Nakia has a new crew member: a two month old mostly white kitten with blue eyes. We adopted him a week ago from the local animal rescue volunteer, and he's small for his age because he'd been left to fend for himself. We're going through adorable baby phase, when he actually looks like he belongs to the space aliens in "Close Encounters of the Third Kind". But we think he's pretty cute and our lives now revolve around his waking and sleeping moments. Fortunately he sleeps through the night without a peep (for now), and already knows what "No!" means (with a water squirt bottle as backup). We'll post a gallery of Ziggy photos when we get internet access for the laptop (probably not until the fall), and you can email us if you want the long version of how we got him.
We're not doing much else besides playing with Ziggy, supervising his on deck activities (we have a kitty overboard plan and hope we don't have to use it, though it's probably inevitable), reading, and taking our afternoon swim when weather permits. We're looking forward to hooking up with friends who are bringing kitten supplies up from Santa Rosalia so that we can keep this baby healthy and happy. We'll be going into the village tomorrow for fresh veggies and then down to La Mona in the southern part of the Bahia for the annual Full Moon party with the summer gang.
Linda, John, and Ziggy
We must finally be in cruising mode because we had a record stay in one anchorage/area: five nights at San Francisquito, three nights at Isla Las Animas, 10 nights at San Francisquito, and four nights back at Isla Las Animas. We knew it was time to move on from San Francisquito when I began to recognize every rock and sea star in the bay from my daily swim. The water there never really cleared up much for us and the weed was still ringing the perimeter of the shore when we left so I couldn't swim in to the sandy beach. But we took the dinghy in to shore and were amazed by the number of pencil urchins we saw there.
Isla Las Animas was the first place we've been since La Ramada where we could clearly see the bottom. We had a couple of excellent snorkeling days, but by the time we left the water was getting a little warmer and was greening up. We went snorkeling two times on Sunday and had the pleasure of seeing a jewel moray (which John actually fed from the tip of his knife as he gathered objects off the rocks for our dinner); two golden grouper in one sighting followed by a third on my swim back to the boat; a sea lion checking me out by leisurely swimming below me in about 15' of water; a free swimming/creeping octopus making its way back to a hidey hole where we had seen it the day before; a flag cabrilla, a parrotfish, a few giant hawkfish, a few stone scorpionfish, a barred pargo, and several Cortez angels; and many, many triggerfish, grouper, shovelnose guitarfish, Cortez stingrays, and other fish. It was the best!
We could have easily stayed there longer but we were out of fresh vegetables, including basics like potatoes and onions. And then the weather helped make up our minds. After our last snorkel of the day on Sunday we noticed a big black cloud forming to the east, and hastened to finish our bathing in order to exit the water. We watched in awe as the cell moved NW, headed straight for Isla Partida (IP norte - not the Isla Partida down by La Paz) where Hooligan and Gettin' Around were anchored. We called them on the VHF to make sure they were aware of it, and they reported that they were battened down and waiting. After it was all over (well before sunset) we had seen only 10-12 knots of wind and barely enough rain to wipe the decks with, but the boats at Partida had their dinghies flip (with outboards on) as they took an almost direct hit, with a 52 knot highest measured gust and lots of rain. The lightning and thunder were impressive but nothing compared to what was still in store for us.
Fortunately we left everything stowed and tied down from our previous storm prep before we went to bed that night, because more lightning and a building wind from the E/SE got John up at 0200. I soon joined him to watch as lightning began to appear on every point of the compass. There were some phenomenal triple strikes that I dubbed "retina burners" but nothing came within 10 miles of us and we got very little rain. The new 55 lb Delta anchor (thanks Flying Free!) held us in gusts to about 45 knots, and Adios rode it out just fine right next to us. We finally went back to bed at 0430, and the morning HAM and SSB nets came all too soon.
We decided to take advantage of the leftover breeze and headed out at 0900 to ride the back of the front (which was still obvious to our north and moving west). It was a perfect downwind sail. We eventually rolled up the jib and even reefed the main after the skies cleared behind us and the seas got a little boisterous. We briefly dropped the hook in Quemado but there was too much swell wrapping around the point for our liking so we upped anchor again and used the jib alone to get us to Puerto Don Juan. We'll be here for a day or two before heading into the village of BLA to get veggies, water, gasoline, beer, and clean laundry.
Linda and John
We took a couple of hikes, but couldn't snorkel because the water was too green and cold. The coyotes sang us to sleep at night and one morning at dawn I counted a group of seven of them on the beach. We waited for a period of calm weather and sailed out to Isla Las Animas on July 27. We had a terrific three hour spinnaker sail practically from anchor up to anchor down, and were thrilled to find we could see the bottom in 20' of water when we got there. This year's crop of fledged pelicans stopped their fishing practice and gathered around to see what Nakia was all about. One was especially enamored of the new potential roosting place, and we had to shoo him off the rails twice before he decided we weren't being very hospitable (the first time I actually had to give him a gentle shove underneath his tail!).
We went ashore for a hike the next morning and were relieved to see that there were not many "diaper babies" in evidence. This is what we call the ones which haven't fledged yet because they still have fat white tails and can barely waddle around. They are also the ones which make the prehistoric scream that sounds like someone's being murdered. It's very odd that after they fledge you never hear another peep from a pelican.
So unlike last year, when we visited a month earlier in the breeding season, this time we could hike most of the island without disturbing any babies. We climbed over the first ridge to the valley of the chollas but when we had to watch every step to avoid the prickly "leaves" on the ground we climbed up to the next ridge where there was also a better breeze. And because it was such a clear, dry day we got the bonus of seeing terrific views of Islas (from south to north): Esteban, Tiburon, Partida, Angel de la Guardia, and Smith.
After our hike we cooled off with a snorkel. I couldn't stay in long because the water temp was still only 74 degrees, but it was nice to see that there were trigger fish and grouper in the same large numbers as last year. We snorkeled twice the next day, and while we were there John caught a Mexican bonito and a grouper - yum.
I hated to leave the clear water but we needed to get back to San Francisquito before the southerlies picked up again so that we could do some more hiking in this area. We had a much longer motor trip back against a wicked full moon flood tide - the channel is notorious for its "jumping waters" - and it was slow going. Last night we got rolled around in the east anchorage so we moved inside today after our morning hike. We'll probably stay here until the winds calm down again.
There are only six boats (regularly checking into the nets) north of here with an anticipated 30+ coming in behind us! It's going to be interesting to see how many we actually pack into Puerto Don Juan for the first hurricane this season...
Linda and John
[I hope that's how you spell "sayonara." I guess it really should say "adios" but my niece, Mackenzie, is on a student exchange in Japan at the moment, and besides, it's alliterative!]
With every food locker and the fridge packed to capacity we are currently underway to San Francisquito, 75 miles north of Santa Rosalia. We spent the past week at the Singlar marina in Santa Rosalia and the week before that at Isla San Marcos where the water was too green for snorkeling. But we managed to get two good hikes in, and a visit to the caves where the day tripper garbage wasn't quite as bad as it was last year. The two fish camps were still just as full of trash though, so no beach walking this visit.
We made what turned out to be a day sail to Punta Chivato norte on July 11. The previous two days had been calm so we thought we had a good window for a night or two there. The water visibility was poor but we swam ashore for a walk on one of my favorite beaches. It's unique in that it has small pieces of shells polished to a glossy smooth shine - very pretty to look at and wonderful to the touch as well. We were prepared to stay the night until we heard chubascos were forecast to come into the Sea. The anchorage is fully exposed to the east, so we made the prudent decision to beat a hasty retreat back to Isla San Marcos.
When it began to sound as though the first wave of northbound migrating boats was about to overtake us we moved to Santa Rosalia while we could still get a slip in a marina. The old marina was already full of boats on extended stays - either for the entire hurricane season; for trips by bus back to the States; or waiting for parts or repairs. We anchored out for a night and then decided to move to the new Singlar marina where it would be easier to take on fuel and water, wash the boat, provision, etc., without the squid panga fleet roaring by us every night.
The Singlar daily rate is still unreasonably high ($1/foot for our 33' documented length) but their weekly and monthly rates were much better so we opted to buy a week. Carlos, Ivan and the rest of the staff went out of their way to provide services that made it well worth the slightly higher cost, and I would highly recommend their marina for anyone needing a week or more in Santa Rosalia. We wouldn't normally choose to spend so long there but John used the extra time to replace the rudder bearing, which turned out to be a two day job (thanks again, Leslie and Tom, for bringing the part down with you in February!) Interestingly, John learned that all the new Singlar marinas are up for sale to private owners. Apparently it was never the Mexican government's intent to run them after they were built.
Unfortunately July is not the best time for a stay in Santa Rosalia's harbor. It's squid season and the small harbor is full of pangas which race out before sunset and roar back in after midnight. They clean their catch just outside the harbor entrance where there's a beach littered with plastic soda bottles, and packed with kids swimming during the day. Inside the harbor they unload their catch into waiting trucks and to the north is the canning factory. With the right breeze we were occasionally awakened by a squid stench so bad that we had to cover our noses. In one corner of the harbor the surface of the water is covered with plastic gallon water jugs which the fishermen discard after a night's work.
This is all such a shame because the city itself is absolutely delightful. The French copper mining history makes its architecture unique among Baja cities and many of the wooden houses (very unusual for Mexico) are truly charming. There are several tiendas, all of them selling different, must-have grocery items, so that the serious shopper has to visit them all. There's the famous "French" bakery, the Eiffel church, Chuyita bacon wrapped hot dogs on soft flavorful buns loaded with the works, Thrifty ice cream, Splash paletas, and enough restaurants to give the ship's cook several nights off. The city is very easy to navigate, and everything is within easy walking distance of both marinas.
We worked hard to take advantage of this last stop in "civilization," but we also had a lot of fun socializing at end of the day pool/jacuzzi parties, a BBQ potluck dinner, and dock side happy hours while we were there (thanks to Doug and Jo of S/V Jenny for organizing things with the marina for many of these). Now, with a clean boat full of supplies (including a small dorado John caught this afternoon!), it's time to move north for the rest of hurricane season.
Linda and John
We spent most of the past week enjoying all that Mulege has to offer thanks to Garth on S/V Inclination. He has bounced between Mulege, San Carlos, and Friday Harbor for over 20 years, and has spent so much time in Mulege that he's been "adopted" by a local Mexican family. He has a small apartment attached to the back of their house where he spends a few months a year fishing and diving the local waters in his panga when he's not working on improvements to the house.
Ever since we first came up into the Sea it's been a goal of John's to take Nakia into the river basin at Mulege. We knew Garth did it, but had never met him until this year when he reported a new channel, deepened by the flooding from hurricane John (in 2006), and with minimum depths of 7-8 feet. He sat down with us in the Santa Domingo anchorage to point out the route and hazards using the excellent aerial photo in our Williams guide. Garth returned to Mulege in his panga that afternoon and led another boat across the bar. At 5 PM when we heard they had made it safely in, we made a quick decision to get over there ourselves before John had to start the Southbound net at 6:45. Garth and the other people had already gone out to dinner so we were on our own, but John took it slow and easy and we made it in without bumping anything. The water was green and opaque, making it impossible to see the bottom, which may have been for the best!
Rather than rush ourselves trying to get Med moored to the sea wall before the net started, we dropped our bow anchor on short scope just aft of the other boats. John went ahead and ran the net as if there was nothing out of the ordinary while I sat up on deck to make sure we stayed put. After the net finished we pulled up the bow anchor, dropped the stern hook, and pulled in close to the wall with two bow lines securing us in position. Once everything was set it felt like we were in a marina (other than no power or water), and the best thing was that the temperature was much cooler than it had been at Santa Domingo. Instead of a hot land breeze we were now getting a cool sea breeze and even the water was cooler.
Garth was kind enough to loan his truck to the two visiting sailboats and we rode all over town in the back of this little pickup. In his spare time Garth introduced us to various members of his family, and he even drove us up to the Lookout for a lovely view of the river winding through acres of date palms and up into an agricultural valley. We did some shopping, laundry, internet, took on water, and had delicious mango and lime paletas (real fruit Popsicles) before it was time to go to Gary's for the big Fourth of July party in El Burro Cove.
The ride in the back of the pickup was wild (top speed of 55 mph) and surprisingly hot. We were amazed to feel a 10 degree rise in temperature between Mulege and El Burro Cove, and were very happy we made the decision to keep Nakia at Mulege. I counted 16 boats anchored off of Gary's beach palapa, and the karaoke machine was getting a workout when we arrived. Gary had just handed out the last of his 240 free hot dogs, so we had some of my corn bread and ice-cold 10 peso Pacificos to tide us over until the fireworks show. These started before the sky was completely dark, which was probably just as well for those of us who had to drive home. There were lots of oohs and aahs for the wonderful efforts of the volunteer fireworks committee, and an especially enthusiastic round of applause for the moment when a bunch of rockets lit unexpectedly and fired off mostly horizontally into the desert brush. We loaded everyone back into the truck for the return trip, and Garth was a prince to stop at a hot dog stand in Mulege so we could have salchichas with the works to make it a truly complete Fourth of July experience.
Linda and John
Things I'd rather be doing instead of composing this blog: walking on the white sand beach looking at shells; reading my latest good book, "Barometer Rising" by Hugh MacLennan; snorkeling and swimming in the aquamarine swimming pool we call an anchorage, and looking for the school of 15 golden rays residing here; hiking to San Juanico bay over the small hills to the south; listening to the two morning nets to find out where our friends are; or working a crossword puzzle with John. Things I've had to do instead of writing a blog: vacuum the boat (the first time this summer that the heat and humidity were so high I had to wipe up the sweat dripping from my chin and elbows as I went along); clean out the cockpit for company (where does all that sand come from?); get outboard parts out of long term storage for various repairs John had to make; and make the morning coffee and lunches, and wash the breakfast, lunch and dinner dishes. Okay, so there's not all that much to the latter list!
We've bounced from La Ramada to Punta San Antonio (just north of Punta Pulpito) and back south here to La Ramada, one of our favorites. The boats already up in Bahia Concepcion are reporting cabin temps in the mid-90s and water temps from the mid-80s to the low-90s, depending on depth. If that keeps up, we will most likely not go to El Burro Cove for the Fourth unless it's by rental car from Mulege! So we're taking our time and enjoying the places we like best for as long as the weather cooperates.
We've been a bit dismayed by signs of development in both the San Juanico and Punta Pulpito areas. New dirt roads have scarred both landscapes, heavy equipment and a construction trailer have sprung out of nowhere, and Pulpito is sporting an expensive looking and perfectly straight (great surveying job), three strand, barbed wire fence, protecting what looks like a dirt air strip in progress. The latter runs from the beach up an incline to the west which means the prevailing north-south winds blow at right angles to the air strip. That should make for interesting landings - up a hill in a cross wind. I guess the takeoffs would be downhill, except that if you didn't get lift off in time, you'd end up flying off the bluff into the sea. Kewl!
The fancy fence prevented us from hiking to Punta Pulpito, but the cleared area next to it made for a nice path out to the SE edge of Punta San Antonio where we could turn west along the bluffs back to the beach. There were a couple of interesting veins of quartz and some other crystallized rock along the way and, because it was Saturday, there was no one around to chase us off if they would have been so inclined. It was interesting to us that unfenced San Juanico had a few "Propiedad Privada" signs posted on the new dirt roads, while at Punta Pulpito the fence was the message. During the week at San Antonio clouds of floury dirt were created by the industrious work of a dump truck, a bucket loader, and a grader. The workers drove their pickup trucks to and from the work site along the pristine white sand beach of the anchorage. Curious that an airstrip would take priority over a proper road out to the site.
We returned to La Ramada and found that the annual squid mate and die event had arrived. There were at least 100 dead squid (1-2') in the shallow water by the rocky berm. They haven't stunk up the anchorage because they're not up on the beach, and the gulls and rays have had a feast. One night we could even hear what must have been a new batch of squid dying in the shallows of the far corner. As they sucked air they made a racket of gassy sounds which was quite unique and entertaining in spite of the somber finale.
Monday night we watched a bright object move across the sky at a rapid clip before fading into a red dot and disappearing. Tuesday night at about the same time but in a different part of the sky we saw the same, Venus sized object pass by again. Wednesday we put the word out on the net and were informed by another boat that it was the International Space Station. We looked for it again last night at the same time and saw something only half as bright pass overhead west to east. Definitely an event we would have missed had we not been sitting outside enjoying the cool of the evening.
As many of you know I collect shells, and am especially enamored of very small ones. I check them carefully to make sure there's no animal living in them but I've occasionally been surprised by a tickling in my palm when I'm holding shells in a loose fist and a hermit crab decides he wants off this ride. The other day I brought some home in the little container I carry and I forgot to wash them in fresh water until the next morning. I laid them carefully on a galley sponge to dry, and we went for a hike. We walked over to San Juanico and got to watch sting rays munching on dead squid in one foot of water, which was pretty interesting. When we got back to the boat I went down the companionway steps into the galley, squealed, and then burst out laughing as I tried to tell John that one of my shells was walking around on the counter top. John was kind enough to run the little guy back to the shallow part of the beach where I found him.
And now my "homework" is done, and it's finally time for a swim!
Linda and John
Linda
Yesterday was another slow sailing day with our best average hour being 3.7 kt and our slowest, 1.0 kt. We did a fly-by of the boats anchored at Juncalito and had some of our best sailing in the cove there. The wind got lighter and lighter as we passed the Nopolo resort area but we were still creeping along. John lost track of the time, and even though we finished the run motoring, it was too late to buy a fishing license by the time he got to the office - they must have closed up mid-afternoon.
We came in yesterday so we could get up early and go to the "farmer's market" people had been telling us about all week. Well, it turned out to be more or less the local tiangue, with more produce than usual, especially for its small size. We loaded up on: broccoli (3), cabbage (1), cauliflower (1), green peppers (2), limes (12), cucumber (2), avocados (4), tomatoes (8), jalapenos (4), poblano chiles (2), another type of small, yellow chile (6), carrots (6), onions (6), asparagus (2 bunches), zucchini (6), bananas (6), eggs (2 doz), and goat cheese. In order to make this last until around the end of the month when we might get to Mulege to restock most of it has to go in the fridge. We left out one avocado, the tomatoes, cabbage, onions, bananas, and eggs, and managed to fit everything else in the fridge along with four cans of beer, four liters of water/juice, yogurt, and the salad dressing, margarine, mayo, lunch meat, and cheeses we already had stored there. Our fridge is nine cubic feet. This means that most of the food has to be taken out in order to get at anything not stored right on top of what is essentially a misshapen hole with a lid on it. Coming home from the "grocery store" isn't a simple thing to do when home is a boat!
Cool Nature Stuff: We got to see an osprey dive from it's perch on top of a cactus straight down into the water (just like a tern!) and pop back out with a fish in its talons because we happened to be sitting out in the cockpit before sunset enjoying a beautiful evening. I'm pretty good at spotting osprey, and John picked up the binoculars and commented on how it was sure moving it's head around looking at something, like it was getting ready to fish. But the way it completely disappeared under the surface of the water took us totally by surprise! And during our slow sail to Loreto we were accompanied by a huge school of some small sardine-like fish. They were right at the surface with mouths wide open, making that fish fountain splashing sound whenever parts of the school broke the surface in unison. They kept up with us for a few minutes until we got a bit of breeze and Nakia left them in her wake.
Boat projects: John had been assured by another boater that pouring muriatic acid into the head periodically would clear out the calcified stuff that builds up when urine meets salt water. So one night he was a little overzealous in trying to clean our Lavac head by flushing two liters of industrial strength muriatic acid (complete with skull and crossbones on the bottle) through it. But he lives under a lucky star, and the manual bilge pump (which is black) for this boat is the exact same pump (white) that the head uses, which is where the parts broke (including one side of the housing). He cannibalized parts and now we have two "mixed race" pumps! Also, lately our Garmin 65 GPS has begun turning itself on, usually during the night (beep, beep, beep), and even tried turning itself off once when we were underway. The PWR/STAT button must be sticking somehow but there doesn't appear to be any way to access it for John to take a look. And a quick check of the web found that Garmin doesn't even make this model anymore, so not only can't we get a plain old GPS, but we have to get a chart plotter just to replace it!
Decks and bright work: What? Are you kidding! John's still burned out from all the work last winter, and is taking a much needed hiatus from the big stuff.
Fishing: The sailing has been too slow for any big ones like dorado (not that we've heard of anyone else catching those) and he hasn't been out trolling much lately, so we're eating rice and beans these days - kidding!
Linda and John
We made our annual stop in Agua Verde for provisions on May 31. We thought we were all set for a nice SE light air sail from San Marcial/San Marte (depending on whether you're using the Williams or Cunningham guide books) but an hour later we were watching a line of white caps building to the north of us. Rather than face tacking into the anchorage in the chop we reluctantly fired up the engine and motored into it for an hour.
The next morning we picked up Jerry, a single hander on the BCC Destarte, for a walk through the village to the tienda. Big changes are afoot in Agua Verde. There are several new cinder block homes being built, and the tienda is now in a similar new building just below Maria's house where the old tienda used to be. According to the woman running the tienda, it's all thanks to government efforts to provide housing which will stand up to the summer rains and hurricanes. The new homes had a layer of Styrofoam insulation under the tin roofs (a luxury the tienda building didn't rate), and are being painted the wonderful bright oranges, greens, and blues typical of houses here. Sadly Maria is no longer able to run the tienda as she must now care full time for her husband, who has taken a serious turn for the worse.
We enjoyed our stay in Agua Verde, with no weather to speak of, but on June 3 we decide to move to Candeleros to catch up with Flying Free before their friends, Rick and Kathy, arrived from the States. We had a lovely spinnaker sail which was interrupted by a VHF call as we passed Candeleros Chico. It was Evan and Flossie on Jambo hailing us! We had missed them in Evaristo because we left the morning after they arrived in the main harbor, unbeknownst to us. Normally Chico is a one boat anchorage, two max, and Jambo had already anchored behind Adios. But they were on their way from Loreto south to La Paz, and we hadn't seen them since our Seattle visit, so we dropped the spinnaker and raised the jib to sail back into Chico for a quick get-together. John dropped the hook in 11' on short scope to stay out of Adios' way and we dinghied over to Jambo. Two hours later, after a great time catching up with Evan and Flossie, we sailed off the anchor and hoisted the spinnaker once we cleared the cove. We weren't able to anchor under sail that day because the wind died just short of the anchorage at Candeleros, but we had a refreshing swim to Que Tal for a chat before the sun disappeared behind the mountains and we had to swim back to Nakia for showers.
With both tiendas in Puerto Escondido closed, we hiked 3-4k out to the Ligui tienda on Hwy 1 for beer and tortillas Monday morning. It's an easy one hour walk, with a Tienda Comunitaria in the tiny village of Ensenada Blanca along the way. The next day we followed Flying Free to Puerto Escondido where they picked up a mooring in the Singlar harbor and we dropped the hook in the Elipse anchorage.
The Puerto Escondido old-timers have, for the most part, been boycotting the Singlar mooring field because the daily rates doubled when the new facility was completed; we saw only a dozen boats on the Singlar moorings when it might have been double or triple that in the past. In the old days the mooring fee was something like .10/ft/day and now it's around .25/ft/day, but the old rate got you nothing but a mooring. Now there's a self-service laundry (33p/wash&dry) with brand new machines; lovely bathrooms and showers; what looks like a comfy lounge area w/fireplace (not quite open yet); a small lap pool and jacuzzi; and dock tie-up for taking on potable water or washing the boat. The new facility is very nice with already much to offer and lots of potential for more, so we doubt that it will stay empty for long. All it needs is wi-fi, a tienda, and a restaurant/bar and it will be packed, because at the monthly rate it's still half the cost of private marinas. For anchoring in the API controlled Elipse (this goes for the Waiting Room too) we paid API a $6 one-time annual fee plus a whopping $1/night (it's $3/night for bigger boats; and that's NOT per foot), and were able to do laundry and take on water at Singlar. The bathroom situation at Singlar was odd in that they were locked after office hours and often even during the day, but we managed to help ourselves to showers one day while we were there. They probably just haven't got the key system worked out yet.
We liked having a foot in both worlds but with Willy's tienda completely gone (he died) and the Tripui tienda/laundry closed up (rumored to have been run out of business by the woman who runs the RV park), we needed to move on to Loreto.
Linda and John
About a week ago someone flipped the Summer switch to the ON position and it's been warm and flat calm ever since. We struggled to sail from Moreno Rocks to Punta Prieta on Saturday and managed to cover 12.5 nm in five hours. The next morning we roused Flying Free out of bed for a hike up an arroyo north of where we were anchored. Except for the soft sand and gravel dry stream bed it was an easy and very beautiful walk all the way back to the tallest of the dry "waterfalls." It would have required more strenuous climbing up some loose rock to get past this one so we made it our turnaround point. There was an abundant variety of vegetation, and several hummingbirds buzzing around to enjoy it too.
On our return to the rocky beach landing we explored what appeared to be an abandoned village complete with its own cemetery. There were several small primitive huts, and fenced pens for goats, chickens, and cows. The lush palm tree oasis at the mouth of the arroyo would seem to indicate the presence of ground water, and perhaps it used to be plentiful enough to support families and livestock. The most elaborate grave of the dozen in the cemetery was dated "Abril 1989."
We returned to the boats for lunch and a short siesta before an afternoon snorkel on the south side of the point. The water clarity was perfect for snorkeling in 5-15' depths, and we saw all the usual suspects including one of the largest Crown of Thorns sea stars that I've ever seen. I wish we'd had the spear with us to get rid of the critter. They are very poisonous and they devastate coral reefs. This one was so big that you could barely see the poor coral head it enveloped.
There has been no shortage of awe inspiring wildlife sightings. In the "pure dumb luck" category we were visiting with friends who had dinghied up from Puerto Gato, when a baby (25') gray whale appeared out of nowhere headed straight for Ray and Jayne in their dinghy off the stern of Nakia. It missed hitting them by veering off to port and continuing up the side of Nakia passing within 15' of our vantage point at the rail and continuing on towards Flying Free. It was pale mottled gray in color, and headed south where I'm hoping it hooked up again with its mother.
The second coolest thing was when we were enjoying a late afternoon in the cockpit and noticed the sound of a rushing river. Way across the glassy calm sea we watched a densely packed pod of hundreds of dolphin moving through the water. We can only assume they were chasing fish since they changed direction several times. We've also seen, but mostly heard (at night), fin whales passing the anchorages. They have a unique sound which I think our whale book describes as an asthmatic wheeze, and once you've heard one, you'd recognize it anywhere. The coyotes were also out yipping at the moon, and I caught a glimpse of one on the beach one afternoon.
Here's something we need help with. As we entered the anchorage at Punta Ballena yesterday we counted almost 20 rays, the most we've seen swimming on the surface anywhere so far this summer. Our fish book only has entries for a few species of rays. We recognize all the various sting rays, mantas, and bat rays but we're not sure what these were. One of them was orangeish brown and definitely not white underneath; the other was brownish gray with a white belly and a black "raccoon" band between its eyes, and it had "horns" like the manta. Both kinds were small (2-3'), diamond shaped, swam in schools of 2-6 near the surface (and commingled in even larger schools), and regularly leaped clear out of the water to splat like their bigger cousins, the manta rays. While we were in La Paz someone said that the ones people see jumping all the time in the Sea are called something like mobilars or mobilas. If anyone is interested in researching these for us, we'd love to hear more about the different species of jumping rays.
Today we had a short sail from Punta Ballena to San Marcial. It was less than three miles so we even towed the dinghy. We'll probably spend one night here before moving a little north again. This is the first day in a week that we've had any sustained wind, so I guess we're out of the doldrums for awhile.
Linda and John
The settled weather has made this a good place to hang out for a few nights. There's basically no wind blowing down the middle of the Sea of Cortez or on the outside of the Baja, making for calm seas and light breezes in the anchorages. Last year we only spent one night here probably because it was too rolly. The rocky reef provides only a little protection from the SE swell, otherwise it's just a stop on the side of the road. It took us six hours of spinnaker sailing and a little over an hour of motoring to get here from San Evaristo; that's 23.5 nm for 20 nm made good. But it was a beautiful sunny day with cool breezes and we were in no hurry.
Yesterday we walked the beach around Punta Cobre to see if there was anything remaining from the dead whale we found on the beach last May. We didn't see a single sign of it and a later chat with Manuel, a local panga fisherman who routinely visits the cruisers to sell fish or bum a cold Coke, confirmed that Hurricane John washed the remaining bones away. There wasn't much in the way of shells on the rocky beach but pin cushion and pencil urchin shells were plentiful. The (sandstone?) rocks were wonderful to walk on at low tide, in one place looking like a jacuzzi and in another, a tiled terraza. We left the beach to hike back along the low bluff and up the ridge of Punta Cobre for a nice view of the shallow spots in our anchorage.
The water clarity was terrible when we first got here. We dropped the hook in 14' of water, the boat ended up sitting in about 9', and we still couldn't see the bottom through the green murk. This morning we woke to much clearer water and went for a "dinghy snorkel." The water is still only about 69 degrees which is too cold for swimming, so we went for a ride over the reefs and rocks to view urchins, King angel fish, porcupine fish, sergeant majors, coral, and even a school of Jack Crevalle from the warmth of the dinghy.
We found a good spot on the beach below the high tide line to burn our weekly grocery bag of garbage. We're very meticulous about separating our garbage into non-burnables (cans and glass), kitchen (food scraps), and burnables (paper and light plastics like bags). The first two categories are broken down as much as possible and saved until we can dispose of them when we're in deep water and far from any inhabited shoreline. We thoroughly burn the third category, and are subsequently left with very little that actually has to be stored for disposal in a larger city. We take pains not to leave our garbage with any of the smaller fishing villages because they either burn it in unsightly piles (including cans and glass) on the side of a road or next to a house, or it's left out in the desert to be blown back to the sea by the winds. We met one boat asking where to dump their three full size garbage bags and can only assume they have no onboard garbage management plan yet.
We hope to try a short swim this afternoon before our daily sea bath. We like to take care of the latter before 5:00 which is when two pangas arrive to catch bait fish. They beach the pangas and then two of the guys walk a small mesh net along the beach. The men are fully clothed, including rubber boots, and they walk in waist to chest deep water while the other two guys walk the pangas over to them to pull the net of fish in. There's a third panga which throws their net into the water from the panga and then pulls it in to the boat, which makes more sense to us, but maybe they don't get as many fish that way.
Except for the cold water, we are living in paradise and loving it! I heard a reference to Memorial Day weekend on the radio today and experienced a moment of total confusion when I couldn't place the holiday - wasn't that weeks ago? No, it's this weekend. That's how disconnected we are from the "real" world. It's a lovely feeling. :-)
Linda and John
After spending two peaceful and bug-free nights in the north anchorage here, we decided to take a ride across the San Jose channel to Punta Salinas just north of Amortajada where we were last. There's an endless beach on that side and a large salt pond operation just over the dunes. We were a little concerned after a boat departed south and then immediately returned after deciding they didn't like pounding into the 2-3' wind chop, but we were headed east and figured it would be a good sailing breeze.
It only took an hour to cross the channel to Isla San Jose but instead of finding flatter water and calmer breezes in the lee of the island it was still a little rolly from a wrap around Punta Salinas. We decided to anchor anyway and after lunch John rowed us ashore in the dinghy. The salt ponds appeared to be in operation with about 20 bags of salt in one corner, but it being Sunday there was no one around to chase us off. We walked across the raised berms to the south side of the point for a look at half a dozen dilapidated buildings and a few rusted trucks and pieces of machinery. A cursory search of both beaches for paper nautilus turned up nothing but a still rotting pilot whale carcass. Hmmm, we may have to return in a month or two...
We had a pleasant sail back across the channel to San Evaristo with lighter winds and a big swell to catch us on the beam every now and then. Even though it's one of our favorite anchorages, we have decided that we won't be visiting the hook at Isla San Francisco this trip because everyone is reporting large chop and heavy wind there. We are very cozy here with virtually no roll and only light breezes. John is working on sewing projects this morning and we'll probably take a hike this afternoon. We're happy to stay here until we decide to mosey up farther north.
Linda and John
Today was a red letter day because we saw something new and quite extraordinary on our beach walk with Steve and Lisa of Flying Free. We hadn't walked 20 feet from where we landed the dinghies when I spotted the holy grail of shells (at least it is to me), a paper nautilus. Lisa was closest to it and she discovered that the animal responsible for making the shell was still in it! According to our shell book it's an argonauta, similar to an octopus, but only 4-8" big. The shell encloses the eggs laid by the female and part of the animal itself. You cannot imagine what serendipity it was to be at that spot on a long beach circling the bay, on an ebbing tide, when the animal had just been deposited at the water's edge. After taking pictures of it (thank you Lisa for always bringing your camera with you) John put it back in the shallow water close to shore and tried to get it to swim farther out. It shot a wad of ink in distress, and didn't seem to be making any headway back to deeper water. We couldn't leave it there where it might get washed back up on the beach so John put water in a bucket we keep in the dinghy, loaded the animal in the bucket, and motored out to where the water went from azure to deep blue. When he got back he told us that the animal attached itself so firmly to the bottom of the bucket with its suckers that he had a hard time floating it free. We hope that it was able to swim down to deeper water where it could find a nice rock to attach itself to until the eggs it was protecting are hatched.
We've found a few of the empty shells so far, but only one of them has been intact. Anita on Liberty Call II has found even more very nice intact shells. So Linda, aka She Who Seeks Shells, is a happy camper today!
Linda and John
As John wrote almost a month ago we had one of our best passages ever when we crossed from Mazatlan to La Paz. The stats are:
Sailed: 36.5 hours (31 of those were consecutive)
Motored: 12.5 hours
Total elapsed time: 49 hours
Fastest hour (by GPS): 7.6 kt (a favorable current helped)
Slowest hour: 3.2 kt
We had eleven consecutive hours of sailing at a 6+ kt average.
It was a blast!
We then spent a week anchored off the Naval Base before moving to Marina Palmira to use up the last of our five nights of credit left over from last year. We enjoyed catching up with friends on Milagro and Ceilidh and giving the boat one final wash before moving back out to El Magote (the anchorage across from the town at the sand spit) on 4/21. The weather was very changeable with mostly strong coromuel winds at night, often continuing a little lighter on into the day time. We had a few days of minimal breeze which made for pleasant beach walking and shelling. The nights and mornings were unseasonably cool and John eventually had to fix a small problem with our Webasto heater so that we could warm up the boat a little. Swinging with the tides (which prevail over the wind in that anchorage) meant our solar panels were pointed at the sun all day and kept our batteries fully charged which was a nice bonus.
On 4/29 we sailed here to Caleta Partida. We managed to sail the entire way (25 nm in nine hours), waiting patiently for the wind to return every time it died (which was at least 4-5 times). We tacked into the bay and anchored under sail, earning us a placard with "10" held up for us to see from John and Debby on Lovely Reta. We moved to Ensenada Grande on 5/1 to meet Flying Free after their passage from Mazatlan and had a beautiful afternoon/early evening for cocktails on Nakia. Our guests left at 8 PM, the wind came up straight out of the west, and by 9:30 PM I was taking something for sea sickness (just in case). We were completely exposed to the 2-3' chop that rolled straight into the anchorage and caused us to stuff the bow sprit several times during the night. Fortunately we managed to get the dinghy up on deck before it worsened leaving us with one less thing to have to worry about. No one slept well that night, and all but one boat departed for the safety of Caleta Partida the next morning. That evening, while we had dinner and played cards on Flying Free, we all listened for any indication of the wind revving up again but of course that night stayed flat calm and glassy. This time John woke up in the middle of the night disoriented because he thought he was back in a marina!
The water in the shallow areas here is swimming pool blue and crystal clear. It's so gorgeous you ache to jump in, but with the temps still in the low 70's it's still too cold to stay in for very long.
The gang was on Nakia again last night for drinks, and with only two ballenas of beer left we may have to make a run back to La Paz for supplies soon! That's okay though because we're in no particular hurry to go north this summer.
Linda and John
We arrived in La Paz this morning after a very fast passage. We sailed almost all the way, and with the wind just aft of the beam we were able to do 7 knots at times. It too just over 48 hours for us to cross from Mazatlan, which is a good 10 hours shorter then the last two times we've been over that stretch of water.
We've both had hot showers and a nap and are both very happy to be back on the Baja side and cruising again. I (John) even opened a book for the first time in almost 6 months!
John
Well we were waffling on going across the Sea of Cortez today and had decided not to leave Mazatlan until tomorrow. But then we got out in the ocean and started sailing and it was so nice out we changed course for La Paz. How's that for decision making.
Hopefully the windy weather reported by other boats on the Baja side will break up a bit by Monday and we'll have a better ride. We'll see.
Our position at this time is:
23o 20'N 106o 40'W
ETA La Paz, Monday afternoon
John
I have a couple extra notebook sized hard drives laying around on NAKIA so I put one in, installed Windows from the recovery CD and began the long process of getting all the applications loaded again. Man what a process.
We have a back up from November so our data was just out of date, not completely lost. The one thing that was really bad was that our back up from Quicken was a week or two old, which meant all our tracked expenses for that time were lost. In an effort to recover that, I bought some recovery software online and put the crashed hard disk into an external USB case. The recovery software (Data Doctor Recovery) was expensive but worked as advertised and I was able to recover all our Quicken data and all the pictures we'd taken since the November backup. Whew!
The one saving grace in all this was that this year I decided to do my taxes online at TurboTax.com instead of downloading the software and doing them on the computer. As a result, I didn't loose any of my yet-to-be-filed tax data. Yeah!
Now, everyone repeat after me: "I resolve to backup my valuable data every month!"
John
As part of getting ready to leave Mazatlan for another summer in Baja we returned our truck to San Carlos, Sonora yesterday (Thursday). Here are some of the stats for the drive north:
490 miles
9 hours
9 toll road stops
545 pesos in toll fees
340 pesos for one premium gas fill-up on the road (we departed with a full tank, and left it empty in San Carlos)
After dropping the truck for storage with Ed and Dorothy we caught a TAP primera class bus back to Mazatlan that same afternoon:
11 hours
520 pesos per person
70 peso cab ride from the bus terminal back to the marina
Total trip time was about 23 hours, and it's obvious that bus travel is the most cost effective way to travel in Mexico. But having the truck with us for three months in Mazatlan was invaluable for making multiple trips to Home Depot and the industrial park for refit supplies.
We'll spend the next week putting the boat back together for the passage to La Paz. We've had the booms, sails, halyards, and sheets off to get them out of the way of the refit projects and all the condo construction dirt. John's put two coats of paint on the dodger, and we have the dinghy inflated again. It's almost difficult to imagine life on the hook again, and I'm sure we'll go through a bit of marina amenities withdrawal, but we're looking forward to going cruising again!
Linda and John
