Make Me Laugh Again

We were up by about 7:30. Somethings we have noticed, the anchor alarm program is pretty finicky, it is easy to set up, but also easy to do the wrong thing. For example, I had it set last night with too tight of a circle (too close to the anchor) so it alarmed when it should not have. But worse than that, I had bumped the off button for the sounds, so not only did it give a false alarm, it also made no noise when it happened. Good thing Renee’ was able to see the light from the screen flashing (at 2 in the morning). She looked at it and did not see the signs of dragging, rather that we were where we had been, but the circle was too small, so she adjusted it larger and went back to bed. It was not until this morning that I figured out the sounds were off.

We left aqua verde about 8:30. The wind was about 3 knots from the north. Then it shifted to coming from the west. Then went (in steps) to 10, then 15 then 18 then 22 topping out at 30 knots. Then after about 20 minutes back to 17 or so. Then down to 3 knots. Then shifted to coming from the north, and up to 8 knots. We sailed for about an hour, with the motor off. It is now 11:00 am. Mainsail out all the way, we were reefed for awhile, gib furled motor on, doing about 6 knots. About 2 hours to go to get to honeymoon cove.

We pulled into honeymoon cove. This is a small cove with three lobes one is very narrow, and somewhat deep. If you go in far enough the water gets shallow (like 10 feet) but it is still pretty narrow. Probably a good place for a small power boat or a catamaran, but not us. There was a boat in both of the other two lobes. The middle lobe is the biggest, and we decided to anchor there. As we approached the guy in the boat that was here before us, let us know that he was leaving soon. So, we anchored in the middle lobe in about 30 feet of water.

Renee’ made lunch, then we surfed the net for a bit. (Slow, not a great connection) then she took a nap. Later we planned out our next week or so. We are thinking we will stay here for a couple of days, then go into Puerto Escondido and either get a slip or a mooring ball. I checked rates, for a slip it is $112.50 a day, for a mooring it is $45 per day. We are going in sooner or later, with a plan to get the bottom cleaned. I will probably do an oil change on the engine as well. We might take an Uber up to Loreto, which is about 14 miles north of here.

Today we saw a whale, not real close, and not real big but it was a whale. We saw dolphins, and lots of birds and a turtle. Pretty good day for wildlife.

If you want to know where we are, click this link:

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

We got up had breakfast, did our devotions, and got underway. We drove the boat past Casa Grande and got some pictures then headed north.

While the wind came up a bit, it of course, came from the direction we wanted to go. So we motored and Renee’ fished (no, she did not catch anything). Very uneventful, just gorgeous scenery. The cliffs of the Sierra de la Giganta with the variegated colors ranging from Green to brown to tan and yellow overlooking the Sea of Cortez. Eventually we got to where we turned west to go around the point (and the rocks) the wind dropped and then we were at Aqua Verde (Green Water) we pulled in behind the 5 boats that were already there looking for a place to anchor, and as we did someone on the center boat said that they were leaving in about 10 minutes. So, we waited for them to leave and anchored where they had been. We anchored in about 35 feet of water right next to Karma. It was a fairly early day, about 2:30 pm. We got the kayak out and went ashore stopping by Karma to invite them over at 5, but they already had plans. So, we just went ashore for a beer and groceries.

We also picked up a needle point that Reina (from Karma) had asked to have done. We also talked to the lady about the work that Gary Kowal (friend of Van & Cida Diehl from the Power Squadron) had done. We were told this village has about 280 people in it. (I only see about a dozen houses right here), and that the school children need backpacks and crayons. We will see if there is a way for us to bring those back. At present we don’t think we will be back here this season.

On the way out from the beach we had a bunch of groceries in the dry bag, along with phones and stuff like that. We had a bag of hamburger buns on the bow of the kayak (tied to the handle). In any case, we managed to get the kayak cross to the waves, and flipped over. Everything got wet, but the stuff in the dry bag and buns.

We got back to the boat and dropped off the needle point. We put the kayak away, cleaned up a bit and got showers. Then dinner, salmon patties on buns with fried squash and onions.  A very good dinner. 

After dinner we read for awhile and then watched a movie “Herbie Rides Again” #2 of 5.

Then off to bed.

If you want to know where we are, click this link:

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

Up a bit later than normal about 7:45 or so. Renee’ was up earlier than me. We had breakfast, cereal with strawberries and homemade banana pumpkin muffins. We did our devotions and then got the dinghy down and made a quick trip into town. We were the only sailboat left in the area. Renee’ found the Tienda (small market) and bought some avocados and limes. She wanted hamburger buns, but they were not available. This is a small village, no cell service. About 30 houses, one restaurant and one market. 

We got back to the boat and put the dinghy away and got underway by 10:30. We had 20-25 knots of wind on the nose going through the channel, I was hoping to be able to sail when we got out of the channel. I saw a ketch going south at 10+ knots with only their Jib and mizzen sail out. But when we got through the channel the wind dropped to 2-5 knots, and shifted to the direction we were headed. Very frustrating! So, we motored for the rest of the day. We anchored at about 3:30 at Ensenada Timbabichi in about 16 feet of water. There is one other sailboat here. There is not really anything significant about this anchorage other than it is a place to stop and it is protected from the north winds. We plan on getting an early start tomorrow and going to Bahia Aqua Verde it is about 21 miles north, and is supposed to be very beautiful, also a good anchorage. That will be Friday night, Saturday night will be Honeymoon cove outside of Puerto Escondido. We will “hide out” from the big winds that are coming Sunday through Tuesday. Honeymoon cove, and Puerto Escondido are only about 3 miles apart. We will probably get a slip for part of those three days, and get the bottom cleaned. The next planned stop is Loreto about 20 miles north of Puerto Escondido then Some place north of Loreto like maybe Ensenada San Juanico (about 20 miles north) then Mulegé and Bahia Concepcion then about 30 miles or so to Santa Rosalie. Then after a day or two we will cross to San Carlos/Guaymas, which is on the Mainland. This is another 80+ mile crossing.

We expect to be in San Carlos or Guaymas by no later than March 7th. 

If you want to know where we are, click this link:

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

We got up at 7:30, Renee’ made coffee in our stainless steel French press. This is only the second time she has used it. In the past, we got the water hot on the stove and used a drip coffee maker to hold a filter and made coffee into the drip pot. Downside to this is the pot only holds enough coffee for 1.5 of our coffee cups. So, we have to do this twice. The French press makes enough for both cups. 

I spent a few minutes this morning trying to figure out what was going on with the hand held radio. The only thing I could figure out was that the string that goes around a persons wrist had gotten under the radio in the charging holder and was keeping the radio up (just a bit) preventing it from connecting. The battery was so dead, that once it started charging, it took a couple of minutes before it registered on the screen to show it. Anyway, that is something I will look at when I put the radio away in the future. 

it is starting off as a beautiful morning, the sun is shining there is no wind, and no waves/swells. We are planning to get breakfast and get underway shortly afterwards. We have not really decided where we are going today, but we at the south end of a channel between the peninsula and a couple of islands (Isla San Fransisco and Isla San Jose). At this point of Baja, the Sierra de la Giganta (mountain range) is very near the coast and very tall. Isla San Jose has a tall ridge as well (2100 feet). This makes for a channel between the island and the mountains. Which have a funneling affect on winds from the North. I have checked the weather and we are looking at some pretty calm weather for the next couple of days, but early next week it is supposed to get up to 25 knots from the north. We need to be through this channel and find a good spot to park before that happens.

After Breakfast and devotions, we looked at the maps and books and planned out our basic route to get from here to San Carlos/Guaymas. Basically we will go north with an average of about 20 miles per traveling day to Santa Rosalia, and then cross the Sea of Cortez to get to San Carlos/Guaymas. This will be about 2 weeks or thereabouts.                     

Today will be a short (9 mile) jaunt across the channel to the town of San Evaristo.

We anchored in about 16 feet of water, north of the village. There are a couple of boats in this little cove, and a couple of boats in front of the village. As we finished up dropping anchor, Mark from S/V Prole (we had coffee hour with him a week or two ago) called on the radio. He is near the village. 

We were unable to connect with Mark again later. We snorkeled and then took a nap and read for awhile. Later we watched a movie. Herbie the love bug, the 1st movie. Then early to bed.

If you want to know where we are, click this link:

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

 

We woke up at about 6:30. One of the two bigger power boats had left but there are still 11 boats at anchor here. The sunrise was beautiful! The water is calm and there is just a hint of a breeze. The plan today is to go ashore and hike for a bit, then come back to the boat for lunch and then out again snorkeling.

We had breakfast, did our devotions and then kayaked ashore. We went for a hike crossed the island and then up to the ridge to the south. We met a few people on our hike one couple was Clint and Reina Burnett on S/V Karma. They asked us to come over for happy hour at 5 pm, and we did later that evening.

We hiked back to the kayak and paddled back to the boat. Renee’ made banana break (Very good) and we played a game (Qwirkle, thanks Ken for suggesting it!) I won the first round and Renee’ won the second. The game is played with tiles, and you are supposed to play till you run out of tiles, but we played the first round until we ran out of room for the tiles on the table. When we tried to move the tiles further down the table we got confused on what the layout had been and decided it made more sense to call the game and start over. The second game ended when we looked at the clock and it was time to go. In any case the first game was not close and neither was the second one. Then we went over to the S/V Karma and chatted for a couple of hours.

S/V Karma Clint and Reina Burnett

sailblogs.com/member/karma

They have been sailing for a few years and are just back from the south end of South America, they have actually been to Antartica. I have not read their blog yet (no cell service here) but will be doing this when I can).  They spent 5 years down their and are in the process of sailing their boat back to the Puerto Penasco to get their boat ready to sell. They plan to move from a sailing yacht to a land yacht and do some driving. We got quite a few idea’s from them!

We got back at about 7:15 pm. Started the generator and had dinner. We plan to put the dinghy away after we shutdown the generator. The issue is that the exhaust from the generator is at the stern of our boat, gets the side of the dinghy dirty and wet as we try to put it away while the generator is running.

On the way back to our boat (in the dark) the outboard died and it was the same as had happened before, I apparently did not get the fuel line plugged in well enough and the outboard ran out of the gas that was in the filter system inside the engine. When that ran out the engine died. I had to unplug the fuel line and get it plugged back in again and then pump the priming pump to get it full and then start the outboard as we drifted away from our boat with the wind up. I really need to take a close look at what I am doing wrong the next time we do this and make sure I have it hooked up correctly so we don’t go drifting away in the dark sometime.

We ran the generator until about 9:30, then brought the dinghy back on board and tidied the deck and got ready for bed. As I was shutting down stuff at the Nav station, I noted that the hand held radio (which I keep on but plugged into the 12volt outlet) was dead. I did not find any obvious reason for this, and elected to figure it out in the morning.

If you want to know where we are, click this link:

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