April 11, 2019
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| The Great Blue Heron's Panga |
With no more painting to do, I had hoped to get up early and
exercise but it was perfect sleeping weather and we had gone to bed so late
that I slept until nearly 8:00. We
listened to the net and, after a quick shower, we walked up to Super Burros on
Abasolo for breakfast. I tried to order
a banana smoothie and bacon and eggs for breakfast but they were out of both
bananas and bacon. I ended up with eggs
scrambled with hot dogs (what passes for sausage in Mexico) and a glass of
horchata. The beans were especially good
and I enjoyed the breakfast, anyway.
We intended to go to Walmart to provision but Greg had some
paperwork to do and the internet was down all afternoon, so we never left the
boat. Lance picked up a printer
cartridge for Greg on his own trip to Walmart.
They carried a small motorcycle called a Honda Grom on their boat, which
gave them great mobility. Greg was
fascinated with that motorcycle. It was
slick.
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| Evening on the Malecon |
We had organized a trip to Dragon d' Oro for Chinese food
that evening. Don from Comet and Lance and Pam from Shamaya joined us. We walked up the Malecon and made a left just
before the Los Arcos Hotel. The
restaurant was a couple of blocks up on the left, across the street from Bob
Marlin’s. We all ordered a family style
package meal. We had chicken chop suey,
egg rolls, fried shrimp, beef broccoli, barbecued pork, fried rice, and
something like lemon chicken. It was the
most tasteless Chinese food I had ever eaten, but it wasn’t greasy. The fried rice was very good and had lots of
pork in it. We had enough left over for
a couple of lunches for Greg and me. I
found the food disappointing, but no one else seemed to mind. Maybe I was just spoiled, having grown up in
the San Francisco Bay Area where the Chinese food was fantastic. It was a nice restaurant with good service
and it was fun eating out with our friends.
It was a beautiful evening and the sun was setting as we
strolled back along the Malecon. We
stopped at the polka dot trees (La Fuente) for ice cream on the way back. That did not disappoint.
April 12, 2019
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| La Paz Sign Before Dawn |
I finally went for a run on Friday morning. The city was building a skate park and
exercise center in the highway median across from Marina Palmira. Our friend, Kevin, had bought a long
skateboard and used it to travel between Palmira, where he kept his boat, and
Marina La Paz. When the wind was out of
the right direction, he could use his body as a sail and just roll all the
way. It was probably a good thing that
the skate park wasn’t completed because I could just see Kevin trying to do
tricks there.
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| Skate Park Under Construction |
Our plan for the day was to go to Walmart for provisioning
but Greg had some paperwork that he needed to complete and send to the States
via FedEx. We sent our laundry out to be
done before we left for the islands and I decided to make the bed. That led to trimming the memory foam topper
in the forward cabin to fit the bunk which then led to checking the water in
the batteries under the bed. That
reminded Greg that he thought there was something wrong with the way he had
wired the batteries after replacing them, so he decided to take a look at
that.
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| Greg & Victor Working on the Batteries |
The batteries under the forward bunk powered the windlass
and bow thrusters, both of which took 24 volts.
They had been wired in parallel, which only put out 12 volts. They worked, but weren’t as strong as they
could have been. When sparks started
flying, Greg decided to call the electrician.
Victor, the electrician, came right over. He quickly rewired the batteries in series,
which made everything work great. The
trouble was: they wouldn’t charge. The
charger only put out twelve volts and with the two twelve-volt batteries
converted to one 24-volt battery, they wouldn’t charge. After much investigation and the passage of
several hours, Victor put them back the way they started. Greg would require a 24-volt charger or some
type of converter to be able to use those batteries to put out twenty four
volts. This puzzled him because he swore
they had worked when he bought the boat.
The cables, however, had been replaced and I secretly suspected that
there might once have been a different set-up.
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| FedEx Office in La Paz |
By the time Victor left, it was nearly 16:00 and we had to
rush to get to FedEx before they closed.
We called an Uber, which worked beautifully, although we got dirty looks
from the marina taxi drivers. Forty pesos
(just over $2) got us to the FedEx office.
A taxi would have cost a minimum of fifty pesos and likely more. Greg sent off his documents and then we
caught another Uber to the Walmart for forty-five pesos. We did our shopping and caught another forty-five-peso
Uber back to the marina. I was convinced
that Uber was the way to go in La Paz.
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| Koko's Restaurant |
It was 19:30 by the time we got back from Walmart and too
late to go to the cocktail party we had intended to attend.
Neither of us had been able to get our
prescriptions filled at Walmart, so we walked up to the nearest Farmacia to
take care of that errand.
Then we
decided to patronize our friends at Koko’s who were just starting to open for
dinner on the weekends.
Greg didn’t much
like his chicken taco, but the beef and shrimp ones I had were delicious.
We shared a ballena (40 oz) of Pacifico and
chatted with the staff, since we were the only customers.
It was nice to relax after our rather
frustrating day.
April 13, 2019
The day had finally come to leave La Paz but we were in no
real hurry. We had to pick up our
laundry and check out after 9:00. We
followed our normal morning routine and then loaded the dinghy onto the
foredeck and returned the spinnaker and lines to the bosun’s locker. It was nearly 11:00 by the time we pulled out
of the marina and headed for the islands.
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| La Paz in the Rear View |
There was plenty of wind but it was on the nose. It was so hazy that we couldn’t see the
islands when we left. We motored out of
the channel and headed across to Espiritu Santo. The port had been closed for a couple of days
and there were numerous boats making a break for it. The wind continued on the nose and we never
did get to sail. We motored along at a
good clip and arrived in Ensenada Grande on Isla Partida about
mid-afternoon. Unleashed and Sea Note
were already anchored there, having spent the wind event in Caleta Partida.
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| Sea Note in Ensenada Grande |
We were in no mood to launch the dinghy. The wind was cold and I had spent the entire
day in long pants and a fleece. I got
chilled standing on the bow operating the anchor windlass, so went below to make a hot
drink and warm up. Greg took a nap and I
spent the rest of the afternoon reading and dozing.
Once we were both awake again, we opened a bottle of red
wine and sat in the cockpit. The wind
had finally died down. Westerlies were
predicted for that night, which would have made the anchorage a lee shore, and
we hoped they wouldn’t reach us where we were.
Eventually, we got hungry and I cooked pork chops and mashed potatoes
with salad for dinner. By the time dinner
was consumed and the dishes done, it was time for bed. The west winds still had not appeared and the
anchorage was calm. We passed a quiet
night and slept like rocks.
April 14, 2019
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| Gulet at Anchor |
It was chilly when I got up and I sat, bundled in a blanket,
writing in the cockpit and drinking hot peach drink. Coffee and even tea gave me an acid stomach,
so I was constantly searching for warm drinks that did not. I had started the season with Postum, which
worked fine but turned to a rock in the humid environment. I had ground the rock in a coffee grinder but
the resulting powder was even more rocklike by the following morning. Hot Zuko, the local version of Tang, seemed
to be the best alternative. When it was
warm in the morning, I just didn’t bother.
When Greg got up and had consumed sufficient coffee, I made
improvised latkes out of the leftover mashed potatoes from the night
before. There seemed to be a huge
quantity, but we somehow managed to consume them all. A Turkish gulet was anchored next to us and
we admired it while we ate. Having
sailed on one that leaked like a sieve in Turkey, I wondered how it had ever
managed to survive the trip to La Paz.
Maybe I had just been assigned the worst gulet in Turkey. It had been a last minute substitution.
Once the dishes were done, we pulled up the anchor and set
out for Isla San Francisco, leaving the anchorage in Ensenada Grande about
10:45. Winds were light and pretty much
on the nose. We motored north at nearly
eight knots.
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| Motoring Towards Isla San Francisco |
The trip to Isla San Francisco was uneventful. We arrived off the “Hook” at 13:30 but
elected to motor around to the far side because we were expecting wind out of
the south that night. The wind was still
out of the north when we arrived at 14:00.
We dropped the hook in twenty-five feet behind the island. The catamaran Orion soon joined us.
We ate a little lunch and then I napped. Isla San Francisco offers a fun hike to the
top of the ridge overlooking the anchorage, but we had not launched the
dinghy. Greg decided to make green sauce
before taking his own nap. I always
preferred to nap in the cockpit but was awakened by annoying little flies that
didn’t bite but insisted on landing on my face.
By 16:00, I gave up on sleeping and set about practicing the guitar.
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| Anchorage Behind Isla San Francisco |
Greg got up shortly before 18:00 and fixed us
cocktails. That quickly put an end to my
guitar playing. Greg did his best to
make chicken enchiladas for dinner even though we had only flour tortillas. It was lovely to have someone else cook
dinner on the boat and I enjoyed the meal.
I put on Bach violin concertos while I did the dishes and we spent the
rest of the evening reading and listening to music.
The wind did eventually turn around and blow from the south,
which set off our anchor alarm and made Greg uncomfortable. He stayed up after I retired at 23:00 to
assure himself that the anchor was not actually dragging. Once the wind shifted, we found ourselves a
little outside the most sheltered part of the anchorage and we rocked whenever
we turned broadside to the swell. Still,
we passed a fairly peaceful night.
April 15, 2019
It was sunny when I first poked my head out the
companionway, but quickly grew overcast.
I had to put on a third layer to be comfortable sitting in the
cockpit. I had hoped it would warm up
enough for a shower but quickly gave up on the idea until later in the
day. The wind was still blowing from the
south, but it was cold nonetheless.
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| Orion at Anchor Behind Isla San Francisco |
I sat, writing, in the cockpit while Greg drank coffee and
tried to determine what Unleashed, Sea
Note, and Shamaya were
planning. This was Unleashed’s first cruise in the Sea of Cortez and it would be a
shame for them to miss anchoring in the “Hook,” but the south wind made
conditions unfavorable. As much as we
wanted the other boats to join us, we favored the idea of heading for the north
side of Punta San Evaristo while the wind was favorable for sailing north.
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| Sailing North |
As soon as we determined that everyone was headed for San
Evaristo, we pulled up the anchor and motored around the south side of the
island to peek into the anchorage on the other side. Many boats had already departed and it looked
like we had made a good call to stop on the far side. It was windy and we put up the sails as soon
as we cleared the island and sailed up the San Jose Channel towards San
Evaristo. The wind was coming out of the
south and pushing us along nicely.
Predictions called for strong wind from the south and west, so we headed
for the north side of Punta San Evaristo, arriving by 14:00. It was a shame to pass up visiting the
village but we valued a calm night's sleep and determined we could stop in the
main anchorage on our return.
Unfortunately, our friends decided to anchor in the main bay. We were alone.
We ate lunch and Greg took a nap while I practiced the
guitar. When he got up, we made pizza,
enjoyed the sunset, and watched a movie.
The wind did, indeed, howl out of the west that night but our anchorage
was flat calm. By the next morning,
Unleashed was ready to join us on the
far side, but we were ready to move on.
April 16, 2019
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| Greg Sailing North |
The wind was still blowing strongly from the west when we
got up and we decided to leave before breakfast to take advantage of the wind
to sail north to Agua Verde. Once we
were well underway, I went below to make a frittata. The wind gusted to twenty-eight knots as we
passed some deep canyons and we were over canvased. We heeled over so far that Greg’s printer, a
carousel of poker chips, a bowl of fruit, and anything else on the port side of
the boat that wasn’t tied down went flying across the salon. I paused making breakfast to hurry on deck
and let out the main sail. It took me
quite a while to track down all the poker chips and stray fruit before I could
resume cooking. It was definitely
another episode of “Extreme Galley.”
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| Unseasonable Weather |
We made eight and nine knots nearly the whole way to Agua
Verde. The wind was very cold and I dug
out my foulies, wool socks, and watch cap.
The wind dropped off after noon and we slowed to a crawl, eventually
electing to start the engine. Once
again, we arrived by 14:00 despite having covered forty-four miles. Agua Verde was one of my favorite anchorages
and Don and I had been forced to skip it the previous year because a norther
had kept us pinned in Puerto Escondido for five days and we were behind
schedule. We cruised through the
anchorage to see who was there and then settled in the southern lobe of the
anchorage where we hoped to be protected during the southwesterly winds predicted
for that night. By the time the hook was
set, we were quite close to the rock wall and it took a lot of faith to stay
there in the belief that the wind would soon blow us away from the wall. The protected part of the bay was quite
crowded.
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| Rock Wall Just off Our Stern |
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| Palapa Restaurant in Agua Verde |
Once the hook was set, Greg took a nap and then we lowered
the dinghy into the water, mounted the engine, and set off around the corner to
the beach in the main bay where someone had constructed a palapa restaurant on
the sand. Most of the items on the menu
required reservations for the following day, but we were able to order fish
tacos and beer on short notice. We sat,
waiting for our food and watching several pick-up trucks trying to pull another
pickup out of the water where it had become mired in the soft sand. Semana Santa was in full swing and many
people were camping on the beach. All of
them seemed to be involved in rescuing the unfortunate pick-up. Eventually, the two strongest trucks trained
themselves together and, with a line long enough to allow them to avoid driving
uphill, managed to free the pick-up from the water. Our food arrived about that time. The fish was very tasty. Greg had his a la plancha and I had mine al
mojo de ajo. Both were very good.
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| Our Anchorage in Agua Verde |
We headed back to the boat as soon as we paid our bill,
paddling the dinghy through the surf until the water was deep enough to lower
the engine. The boat had, indeed, turned
around by the time we returned. The wind
never did blow very hard and we passed a very calm night.
April 17, 2019
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| Scout at Anchor in Agua Verde |
Not wanting to be close to the rock wall when the wind
started blowing from the north, we got another early start. By the time we said goodbye to Agua Verde,
the wind was on our nose and we never even unfurled the main. As it was not very far to Puerto Escondido,
we towed the dinghy behind us which limited our speed to six and a half knots.
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| Towing the Dinghy Through the Gauntlet of Islets |
It was a cold and windy trip, but not so cold that I needed
to dig out my foul weather gear again, although I did make the trip in long
pants and wool socks. I made French
toast underway but did not experience the excitement of the previous
morning. We threaded our way between the
islets that line the coast between Agua Verde and Puerto Escondido and then
slipped into the entrance to Puerto Escondido.
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| Entering Puerto Escondido |
We found new moorings in the ellipse (an elliptical bay just outside the main bay), but all were full. We had to venture to the far end of the main
anchorage before finding an empty, intact mooring. The wind was blowing nearly twenty knots and
we had an interesting time securing the mooring line to our bridle because the anchor
interfered with the lines when they were led through the chocks. Eventually, we bypassed the chocks and led the lines directly to the
cleats which allowed the lines to drop far enough to clear the anchor. We were sailing around the mooring but were
firmly moored. We had a snack, Greg went
below for a nap, and I settled down to write.
The wind had dropped somewhat by the time Greg arose from
his siesta and we decided to go ashore for dinner. I was not a big fan of zooming around in
dinghies, so I white-knuckled it as Greg took the dinghy up on plane and
screamed for shore. On shore, I headed
for the showers while Greg visited the marina office to check in. Once we completed our respective business, we
adjourned to Pepegina’s Restaurant on the second floor deck for dinner. I had a large and tasty burrito and an
excellent margarita. We enjoyed the view
and the Wifi until the sun started to set and we decided we had better head for
the boat. Greg convinced Frank, the
fellow who did the shopping for the market in Puerto Escondido, to stop by the
pharmacy in Loreto and pick up his prescription for him the following morning, thus saving us a trip
into Loreto.
The wind had calmed down considerably and Greg took pity on
me and returned to the boat at a more sedate pace. We spent a quiet night on our mooring.
