We woke up about 7 am, listened to the net on the SSB Amigo Net 4149 Khz Upper Side Band, or 4146 frequency, at 1400 Zulu time. We will also try to check in, or least listen to the La Paz Net channel 22A at 8:00 am Monday thru Saturday.
The NETs are a way for cruisers to stay connected. They have a check in period for emergency traffic, cruisers underway, then finally for cruisers that are anchored/docked. This is followed by the weather report and a chance for anyone to send a message to anyone else (like stay on this frequency for a few minutes after the NET is over for some personal communications). There are also general announcements given, like updates to the COVID status. SSB has a very long range, we had people on the net near Puerto Peñasco (north end of the Sea of Cortez) and as far south as Acapulco or Puerto Vallarta. As a comparison, we heard 70 degree and 80 degree sea water temps, discussed this morning. This covers an area of about 1000 miles or more north of where the NET was hosted from.
We were here last February 19, and 20. We were anchored near the town, in about 16 feet of water and we snorkeled. I suspect the water was warmer then, but we might give it a shot here again. We are planning on staying through Monday to avoid high winds on Sunday.
Our plan for today is Breakfast (cereal) they kayak for a bit and a trip into town.
We kayaked around the bay, found the restaurant (closed for the next 2 days, as the boss is out of town). Talked to some fisherman cleaning rays, and then back to the boat (had a beer). Lunch and snorkeling for awhile then a nap, and happy hour, (beer, sausage and crackers). Then nothing for a bit, in a really great quite bay. Then put the kayak away and watched another sailboat come in and anchor much closer to town. We checked the weather and will probably get underway very early Monday morning and go straight to La Paz.
Details about the snorkeling, we started from our boat, I swam under and checked the status of the bottom, it is OK, but will get cleaned in January before we leave La Paz. I scrubbed the heat exchangers for the the fridge and freezer. We went into the beach, and stayed within 10-15 feet of the shore as we swam looking at the fish, we saw Puffer fish, we saw a ray, (12-15” in diameter) we saw lots of coral, we saw black fish (very small) schools of sand colored fish (about 1 foot long) and bunches of yellow and black stripped fish. It was like swimming in a fish tank. This snorkeling took us about an hour, and was very pleasant, water temperature was 75 degrees, and air temp was about 79 degrees. It is nice to have a hand held depth and temperature gauge.
Dinner tonight is fish burritos from the Bonito that Reneé caught the other day.
