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We arrived in La Paz around noon. Last night the winds were about 16-18 knots all night with gusts up to 20 knots. It was our third night in a row with hourly checks on the anchor, even though we had the anchor alarm set. The marina is full with other boats returning from the nearby islands before the next Norther hits and also the 2010 BaHa HaHa boats. We heard that a big catamaran exploded (propane leak) and burned to the waterline. One person was aboard but he dove into the water and was OK.
We ran out of fuel several miles out of Isla San Francisco. Changed to the wrong tank and didn't realize it because the main tank gauge doesn't read for the first 1/4 tank. Fortunately we had 10 to 12 knot winds and Judy sailed Grace while Paul bled the engine. Later some big yacht nearly ran us down even though we had the right of way. We question whether anyone was at the helm. We dropped the anchor into seaweed so it couldn't catch, second time it worked. Paul dove the anchor and checked the prop. Believe it or not, we are having fun.
Lull before the storm, according to the weather forcast. We covered 53 miles with no real help from the wind. Tried various attempts to use the wind but it was directlfy behind most of the time and very light. This is a beautiful anchorage with long white beaches in the shape of a half-moon. We saw some kind of a fish, large and diamond shaped, silver, jumping out of the water. Anyone have an idea what it might be?
Fron Puerto Escondido we motor sailed to Agua Verde. Very light winds from the North and swells made it nearly impossible to sail. We jibed back and forth and finally gave up the last several miles. Now we are rolling around quite a bit at anchor from the swells. There are eight boats in this anchorage now and it is only 3:30 pm. The next safe anchorage is South about 44 miles, our goal for tomorrow. Weather is 86 degrees outside, 77 degrees in the cabin, thanks to our wind scoop. We defrosted the freezer this afternoon, a weekly chore. The refrigerator and freezer are working great ! (Better than the five previous years). Adios
A nice 6.5 hr ride with some good sailing. When we had to motor, we reviewed Keith's notes on assembly of the trysail, which is a small sail used in heavy weather. We remarked on how many people had helped us in various ways, like Denny refinishing our table, the "other" Dennis doing our Hella fans (for which we have been very grateful), Bill (and Amy) for always being available and offering their assistance, Oddy for the winch handle (I still think it's too long), Doug for his admin while we're gone, and Christy for lots of support. I know we missed some people, but believe me we think of all you constantly.
The longest trip (mileage). We motor-sailed the entire distance in very pleasant winds of under 7 kts for 9 hrs. We had a visitor last night; we heard something in the cockpit and Jud saw something moving thru the portlight. Jumped out of bed, raced to the cockpit and found nothing. Think it was a BIG pelican, as we both heard it. It's getting warmer as we head south; 76 in the cabin and 83 in the cockpit at 4:00 pm.
Left at 6:30 am and arrived at Playa Burro at 3:30 pm. Motor sailed the whole way with winds from the ESE. Smooth seas and great speeds. Danced with dolphins along the way. No other boats around. We will celebrate with popcorn and Gatorade and a margarita for Paul.
After a difficult 9 hr voyage from Santispac, we arrived at our most northern (and turnaround) town of Santa Rosalia. It was our goal to get here as quickly as possible, because a "norther" was coming, bringing big wind & waves. I'm reading winds to about 27 kts here in the harbor at 5 p.m Fri. Temperature is 72 deg. The 'norther' is scheduled to peak on Sun. Then a more leisurely trip back to La Paz. This town is not a tourist town, we are the only gringos around. The people are friendly, and prices are not outrageous. Breakfast this a.m. for Jud & me was 75 pesos, about $6.
We had a fairly difficult voyage to Concepcion (Sanispac) arriving 11 hrs after departure from San Juanico. It was very lumpy, wind on the nose, and not fun. We arrived at Santispac at sunset, and were very thankful to have made it before dark. The charts in Mx are up to about 2 miles off, cannot be relied upon, and are in fact deceiving. One must pay VERY close attention, as the reefs and shoaling are potential disasters. This is a very nice secluded anchorage; depending on weather we may stay another night. Sustained some damage due to an open hatch, and we lost a dingy oar.
If y;ou write us please put grace393 in the subject line, using a new e mail to paul@skymate.com. Our comcast mail is non-functional down here, and we have reason to believe that we are missing some communications. Gracias!
A really fun voyage to San Juanico, we were able to put up the Code Zero sail. We had forgotten how to put it up, so we recorded the procedures this time. Last nite we experienced the no-see-ums which are described as very tiny flying jaws. We used OFF and Deet and did OK. We are at anchorage, Jud is reading and I'm gonna fix a margarita. Cheers!
We arrived at Loreto in time to catch the Sunday only farmers market. We had anchored out in the seaway, which is not great for an overnite. Took the dink into Loreto, stocked up, and had lunch at Cafe Ole, all the time wondering if the dink would still be at the dingy dock when we came back. It was (PTL) and we got back into Grace to go the 10 miles over to Isla Carmen and specifically Puerto Ballandra. It is a picture perfect cove, protected from nearly every direction except for the west. I think we are going to have westerly winds this evening.
We motored the whole distance, no wind with calm seas. Escondido means "hidden", and the port truely is hidden. What a beautiful place, we wish we could share the beauty with all our people. This is a Singlar marina, somewhat like La Paz but managed much better, we even had tp in the bathrooms. What a thrill. There is a nice little restaurante and tienda, so we had fish and tortillas for lunch. We filled the water tanks, and got the dink inflated in preparation for our time in Loretto. Jud is at the helm, PW is blogging and listening to the SSB so we can keep up with the weather. The Sonrisa net weather comes at 1500 Zulu (GMT).
We motored 45 nautical miles today arriving in Agua Verde around 3:30 pm. Winds around 10 knots from the North, right on our nose. We went hours without seeing another boat. Temperatures are currently 80 deg. F. We both hopped into the water after we anchored to cool off. The Sierra de la Gigantes are very colorful with striated deposit layers. We saw a yellow butterfly checking out our boat. The density of the stars last night was amazing. We were at or close to a new moon which helped. The ghosts of past shipmates haunt us.
We left Caleta Partida on the Isla at 8:00 this a.m. after meeting up with Craig and his wife on "Philosea". They are retired and living at La Paz and happened to come out to the islands at the same time. The knot meter works great now, and we were able to sail most of the way in glorious weather. Dropped the anchor in about 17' depth and put out 140' chain, more than enough. We are the only sailors here so far except for a catamaran. San Evaristo is a quiet little fishing village with about 20 families living here. There is a tienda (store) on shore that Jud wants to see, so we need to set up the "dink" (dingy) and give it a try. Jud has prepped a little snack of potato chips and pico de gallo before we start the project. It's hot, about 84 deg, so at night it's kinda hard to sleep. |
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edward p witzke
Monday November 22, 2010 @ 01:09 AM GMT+00:00
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