Break out the blankets!

21 September 2007
Ensenada Pescador (just south of Bahia de los Angeles)

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

September Ziggy Pictures

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!

8/28 Growing fast

9/1 Ziggy in the dorade

9/2 The boys taking a nap

9/4 All legs now

Henriette roll call

7 September 2007

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

Puerto Don Juan

4 September 2007

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

Welcome Ziggy Stardust!

24 August 2007
Puerto Don Juan

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

Chubasco!

14 August 2007
Puerto Don Juan

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

San Francisquito and Isla Las Animas

From Santa Rosalia we made a 15 hour, 75 nm passage to San Francisquito on July 22. We could only sail for a few hours, but John hooked three dorado, the last and smallest of which he managed to get to the boat. It was just as well that it was a small one since both the refrigerator and freezer were packed. We spent five nights at San Francisquito, all but one of them on the outside east of the entrance to the inner harbor. We went inside one night after a strong chubasco possibility was forecast, but nothing materialized and we came back out the next morning. The inner harbor is very secure and the water is flat even in a strong breeze, but with a Mexican Navy presence established just up from the beach, we prefer the privacy of being outside.

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

Sayonara Squid Stink

22 July 2007

[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

A few pictures

It's hard to believe, but it has been since March that we've had a stable enough internet connection to download pictures. Here are a few to look at.

John

Looking back into the river at Mulege

 

Mooring area at Mulege

 

Village at Punta San Telmo

 

The deserted village at Punta San Telmo.

Tile sea shore

 

This is the natural state of this sandstone sea shore around Punta Cobre. It looks like hand carved tile.

At anchor at Punta Cobre

 

Salt Flats at Isla San Jose

 

Urchin shells

 

Here are a few of the urchin shells to be found on the beaches.

Clam digging

 

John, Lisa and Steve looking for clams...

Argonaut Shells

 

Here are the Argonaut shells Linda found on the beaches of the Sea of Cortez in the spring.

The Argonaut swimming