Category: 2020-01 (January)

We got up did our devotions, and read for a bit. By 10 am, most of the overcast had burned off, and we got the kayak out and went to the beach between the two islands. There is a fish camp there. The beach stretches from Isla Partida towards Isla Espiritu Santo with a gap of 50-100 feet between the two islands. Deep enough for a dinghy, but not a sailboat. We then kayaked out to the entrance to the cove and snorkeled. Finally headed back to the boat, put the kayak away, and then pulled anchor and headed out to go to our next anchorage.

We went out and dumped the holding tank, and started the water maker, we motor/sailed around the island to the north, and pulled into Playa Bonanza about 5:30 or so.

We dropped anchor in 15 feet of water. There is a slight swell here, but not too bad. There is another sailboat here, and a very small cruise (?) ship here. It is 200 feet long (based on AIS information), has a 9’ draft, and I can see that it has about 3 decks. There are a number of dinghy’s associated with it, probably to get passengers ashore. This beach is a couple of miles long, white sandy beaches!

I called my Uncle to check in via satellite, and we spoke for about 15 minutes or so. One of the longest sat phone calls I have been able to make. It is significant that it connected on the first try, and stayed connected until we were done and I hung up. Both of those are firsts as well!

When we rounded the point coming into this beach from the north, we were about 3/4’s of a mile off shore and the depth got down to 15 feet. We slowed way down and turned out to sea, and waited for the depth to get back in to the 40’s before we headed south again, and then turned into the beach. The charts do say to be careful, due to rocks off the point, it is just hard to figure out just how far off we need to be. It looked like we were quite a ways out, but apparently not far enough.

We watched another movie, The Maltese Falcon with Humphrey Bogart. A really good movie. The big boat left before we went to bed, so there was only one other boat here.

As a reminder, you can see where we are physically at, and what our track has been since we left San Diego October 30, 2019 here:

https://forecast.predictwind.com/tracking/display/Make_Me_Laugh_Again

We had quite a bit of wind last night, and not much in the way of waves. The wind is coming over the island in front of us, so there is not much room for the waves to get bigger here. I don’t know how fast the wind was, as the wind meter is not working. But it sure pushed the boat around. Our anchor held firm and we did not drag.

When we got up, it was near high tide, I don’t remember the exact time for high tide, but it was very high when we looked. This little cove had a very large beach yesterday, with the high tide, there is no beach left. We heard on the net the other day, that this was supposed to be the biggest tide swing in a while, a total of about 5 feet. We were aware of this and it figured into how much anchor rode we put out when we dropped our anchor. Since we were expecting the high winds, and the high tide, we anchored a bit further from shore than we normally would have, (still in about 20 feet of water) and put out 150 feet of rode. If you consider 20 feet of water, 5 feet of tide swing and 5 feet from surface of the water to our bow, that is 30 feet and to get 5 to 1 scope we needed 150 feet of rode. If we had waves to consider as well, we should probably have put out another 25 feet of rode.

I have checked the weather again, and it is currently 7:45 am and we are supposed to have about 18 knots of wind and it is supposed to increase to about 25 knots by noon, then drop off to about 12 knots by 7 pm tonight, and then down to basically nothing until Tuesday morning where it starts back up again.

Thinking back on all of my blog posts, I have made quite a few comments about high wind. Making it sound like it really always blows here. Well, consider that anytime I was not commenting on high wind, there was no wind to speak of and instead we just had a beautiful day. Today, even with the high wind this is still a beautiful anchorage.

As a reminder, you can see where we are physically at, and what our track has been since we left San Diego October 30, 2019 here:

https://forecast.predictwind.com/tracking/display/Make_Me_Laugh_Again

We got up and had breakfast and did our devotions. The wind is blowing pretty good, which makes our boat move around the anchor pretty good. We watched a catamaran pull in and anchor not far from us, then not too much later they upped anchor and left, and almost immediately a cutter pulled in and anchored in almost the same spot. Shortly after that one of the catamarans that had been here last night moved their anchor. There are currently 6 boats, here. A very large cutter (60+ feet?), a smaller cutter (40’?), two catamarans, a smaller sloop and us. There is still a lot of room for anchorage. The sun is shining, there are a few clouds in the sky and the temp is high 60 (guessing). The only issue is that there is a bit too much wind.

Renee’ says, if we can’t snorkel, or swim or kayak, it must be a work day. So, she will work on polishing stainless steel and I will work on the wind speed indicator.

We looked at the weather for the coming week. We think that we will stay here tonight and tomorrow, probably snorkel on Sunday morning, then head back to La Paz and get the outboard fixed. Renee’ was in the water the other day and says that we need to get the bottom cleaned again. Last time was by Josh in Cabo San Lucas on Dec 17. So, it is time to get it done again.

I have communicated with Josh and Cozette on Merry Lee about the bottom cleaning. We will be back in La Paz by Monday to get the outboard working again, and Josh will clean the bottom assuming we are in a marina. (Which, since the outboard is not working is pretty much a given).

I have been dealing with a headache all day, allergies of some sort. Sinus pain, I can’t sleep with it, and I really don’t want to do anything. Renee’ got the stainless steel on the arch and the bathrooms cleaned, I read some and relaxed.

We watched part of a movie, until we no longer wanted to and stopped it and put it in the pile of movies to trade. Money Train with Woody Harelson. Just not interested.

As a reminder, you can see where we are physically at, and what our track has been since we left San Diego October 30, 2019 here:

https://forecast.predictwind.com/tracking/display/Make_Me_Laugh_Again

Well, we got up had breakfast and did our devotions, thought about kayaking over to the little island and snorkeling, decided it was too cold and elected instead to move to Partida Cove (the spot between Isla Partida and Isla Espiritu Santo) and to spend some time just filling the water tank. So, straight out once we were a couple of miles out, we started the generator and the water maker. Then slowly motored (NO wind) across the bay. Around noon we turned around and motored back across. We ran the watermaker for about 4 hours, made 80 gallons of water, then dumped the holding tank. Came into Ensenada de la Partida, found a spot and anchored. All in all a pretty quiet day, again no schedule and we are sticking to it!

The night started off very calm, with a very flat sea. About midnight we started to get some wind from the west. The wind was not bad, but the sea got rolly. Again not really uncomfortable, but still not as quiet as we would have liked.

As a reminder, you can see where we are physically at, and what our track has been since we left San Diego October 30, 2019 here:

https://forecast.predictwind.com/tracking/display/Make_Me_Laugh_Again

I got up earlier than Renee’ this time, 6:47 am. She slept in a bit, something she doesn’t usually do. The water is fairly calm this morning, though there are some swells. We are planning to take the kayak ashore and do some snorkeling. We are also thinking about putting the dinghy down and hooking up the tow rope, as we want to snorkel on the other side of the small island that is slightly west of us, and that is further than I want to kayak in, snorkel, and kayak back.

Well, we kayaked into shore, and about half way there it got pretty shallow. As in two to three feet. When we got close to shore (we were still about 50 feet out) there was not enough water to float the kayak. So, we got out and pulled it a bit closer to shore. Then left it and walked ashore.

We did a bit of exploring (wandering around), and found a turtle shell and bones. We also found a fresh water lagoon, and a bunch of cactus. We did not walk too far, as we were in our water shoes. Mine go inside of my flippers, Renee’s are for walking in the water, neither are meant for walking in the desert, with cactus and sharp rocks.

After awhile, we sat down at the waters edge and ate our snacks, and looked out at the water, and talked. By this time the tide had gone out, and now the kayak was about a hundred feet from the edge of the water, so eventually we got up and went back to the kayak and hauled it back to the water, and then continued until the water was deep enough to float the kayak with us in it. We then proceeded to go back to our boat. A long way off shore, the water was still very shallow (see pictures). We got back to the boat, and had lunch and took a short nap. About this time another boat came in, which means we no longer have this little cove to ourselves. It is a large Beneteau Oceanus. Who (of course) dropped anchor right next to us.

Renee’ asked why that happens, there are only two boats in the cove, lots of places to anchor, why does the second boat always seem to park right next to the first one? I don’t know, but I have seen that question on every facebook group about sailing that I am in. The same thing happens when I drive my truck and park out at the end of the lot away from all the other cars, just so that I can avoid the door ding, (I am talking about our ‘54 GMC) someone always comes and parks right next to me, leaving the rest of the lot empty.

Early afternoon, we heard the Merry Lee calling us on the radio, they were going by and headed to Caleta Partida, the cove between the two islands Espiritu Santo and Isla Partida. We chatted for a bit, and watched them go by. The lost Pearl was behind them as well. They are planning on being there two days.

Anyway, in the afternoon, we got the dinghy down, and the outboard and put the whole thing together so that we could dinghy over to the little island to do some snorkeling. We got a couple of hundred yards, when the outboard quit. And would not restart. Coincidentally, a power boat came by at almost exactly that moment and asked if we wanted a tow. We accepted and got pulled back to our boat. Renee’ suggested that I review the manual and see if I could find any help for our issue. Nope. Engine is not starting, and I don’t know why.

After a couple of try’s, I gave up and we put the dinghy away.  Then the kayak as well. Tomorrow we will probably snorkel here at the boat or maybe not, then go out and make some water and go somewhere else. I really want to go to Caleta Partida, as the reviews are pretty good. I am not really happy to not have a dinghy to go ashore though.

As a reminder, you can see where we are physically at, and what our track has been since we left San Diego October 30, 2019 here:

https://forecast.predictwind.com/tracking/display/Make_Me_Laugh_Again