05/03/2012, Agua Verde
We awoke Saturday morning to clear skies, no wind and calm seas, so our choice of activities was a snorkeling trip on the reef just off our stern. It was unusually poor visibility for this part of the Sea of Cortez, but with the shallow water, we were able to see large schools of Sargent Majors but not much of anything else. After returning to the boat, we awaited the prospect of some wind before heading north, and sure to the weather report, the winds began blowing out of the southeast. We took advantage of the wind direction by heading due north rather than the NNW towards our final destination-Agua Verde, but it meant sailing for 2.5 hours and only motoring the last hour rather than 3 hours of non-stop motoring. It also put us far enough offshore to do a discharge of our black water tank. The winds started at about 9 knots, and we began sailing at about 4+ knots, but by the time we had to turn to reach Agua Verde, the winds had built to a nice 12 knots with boat speed approaching 6 knots. However, as Andy had predicted, the winds died as we approach the Baja coast so we turned on the engine and motored in at a comfortable 7+ knots. There are 3 separate anchorages in the bay known as Agua Verde, so we chose to anchor in the one which gave us the best access to the small village and the tienda (minisuper) and a restaurant. We launched the dinghy and took a trip around the entire bay before landing on the beach at which point we ran into a couple of cruisers who had been here for the last four days. They told us about a new tienda with fresh veggies and assorted goodies and described the restaurant which convinced us that it was not for us, so, after picking up a few essentials at the tienda (garlic, limes and tomatoes), along with some locally produced goat cheese from the goat dairy, it was back to Murar's Dream for dinner aboard. We finished the evening with a round of all 5s, and I fortunately continued my winning streak. We talked about spending two nights at this anchorage until we spoke with some cruisers at a bay not too far north of here. They told us about the hotel there and the amenities, including wi-fi. Since we have been without internet now for 8 days, getting access sooner than later is the order of business. We will wait to see if the winds fill in before leaving, but it looks like our stay in Agua Verde will be short lived.
| Sea of Cortez |
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05/03/2012, Los Gatos
We awoke early Friday morning to mild winds, so we decided to take our chances and head north before the predicted strong winds arrived. We did experience 15 knot winds at the start of the trip as we passed inside the San Jose Channel between the Baja and Isla San Jose, but things calmed down shortly thereafter. At one point, we tried setting sail in about 10 knots of wind, but it was short-lived, so it was motoring almost the entire 30 nautical miles to our next destination, Los Gatos. The trip took only about 3.5 hours, so we set anchor just before 11AM . Los Gatos is one of the more beautiful anchorages surrounded by rocks of red sandstone with the Sierra de Giganta mountainsin the background. We launched the kayak and went ashore to do a bit of exploring. It was interesting to land on a beach of red sand, and we combed the beach from one end to the other, at one point walking out to the end of the point along a rocky ledge overlooking the Sea of Cortez. It was then back to the boat for a restful afternoon ending with a game of all 5s dominoes. This is one game that I can consistently beat Debra, which is a small payback for her handing me my lunch on the tennis court. We have been unable to play tennis since leaving PV, and our next tennis stop will not be until we return to La Paz sometime later in May. We are waiting to hear about Andy's possible need to return to Colorado for one of the last cases in which he remains lead counsel. The afternoon was topped off by a visit by Manuel, the lobster fisherman who comes daily to this anchorage to sell langostas. They are absolutely fresh as he takes your order by weight and then goes out with his son to catch them. He spent some time visiting with us while his son was free-diving, and Andy's Spanish held up since Manuel spoke not a word of English. He then returned to his son, and they moved to a location outside the bay, apparently looking for more langostas. Just after sunset, they re-appeared in their panga with a fishing net containing 8 langostas weighing a total of 4.5 kilos (10 lbs.) for a whopping 400 pesos (about $30)! Thus, it was a surf and turf dinner (with enough lobster tails left over for further dinners), starting with an appetizer of Korean beef, followed by two of the larger lobsters grilled with garlic butter and asparagus, accompanied by a nice glass of an Argentinian shiraz-cab blend. By the time all was done, we spent a short time reading before calling it a night.
| Sea of Cortez |
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05/03/2012, San Evaristo
Once again, weather has dictated our course of travel. Last night, we experienced a Corumel (a strong wind out of the west in the Sea during nighttime, not unlike but not as drastic as a Chinook). Then, we listened to the weather report this morning, and winds were predicted to be in the 20 knot range all day in the direction we wanted to travel-NW, so it called for a reconsideration of our intention to continue our travels northward. We also decided to abandon our plan for the dinghy trip up the lagoon due to tides, it being low tide this morning and a very shallow entrance into the lagoon. Our first leg of travel was by motor across the bay that we were in. We briefly anchored for long enough to prepare the boat (store the dinghy and motor) for a westerly crossing to a safe harbor in these kinds of winds-San Evaristo. True to the forecast, the winds were blowing in the 20 knot range directly down the channel separating the Baja from Isla San Jose and continued to blow throughout the day. We had anchored here on our last trip up this coast from La Paz, so we were familiar with it. Other than the "minisuper" market and a tiny restaurant (if you can call it that) by reservation only (they only open if people are coming and prepare a single meal for the customers for that day), there really is not much to do at this location other than enjoy our time on the boat. However, we were treated to a show by a whale that was flicking his tail and spouting about a half dozen times just outside the north point of the cove while we were at anchor. We also thought better than leaving the boat and taking the dinghy ashore when we watched one of the boats in the anchorage break free and begin to drift south toward the other side of the cove while they had gone ashore in their dinghy. Fortunately, one of the other boats saw this happening and sounded the danger signal (5 blasts of the horn) to let the people onshore know of the situation. They quickly returned to their boat just as it was nearly half way across the cove and re-set their anchor in hopefully a better location-There were strong gusts of wind coming over the top of the hills at the north end of the cove where we were also anchored. We will await a break in the winds before continuing our travels north, which may be tomorrow or not until the weekend-only time will tell.
| Sea of Cortez |
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05/03/2012, Bahia Amortajada
Wednesday was Andy's birthday, and he said that it was one of the best ever. It started with a nice omelet for breakfast, and then it was off to our next overnight stop but not first without Debra's first birthday present-A buzz cut using the electric hair trimmer that Andy had purchased earlier for just such an event. Debra had been somewhat concerned about undertaking such a task, but she did a beautiful job, and Andy feels great now that his hair has been properly prepped for the anticipated and continuing 90+ degree weather. We then took a detour to Isla Coyote which is a tiny island with a major fishing village. We sailed around the northern end of Isla San Francisco and quickly crossed the 2 or so miles to the anchorage at the fishing village. After finding a proper place to anchor in about 25 feet of water, we launched the kayak and paddled the short distance to the village where the fishermen were working on their daily catch. They were amazingly friendly, and Andy was able to communicate sufficiently in Spanish to find a quite large Pargo (Snapper) which we quickly purchased for Andy's birthday dinner. The women at the village were also noted for their assorted jewelry, and we could not go away without purchasing a few items including a shark's tooth necklace which was Andy's second birthday present. After re-loading the kayak aboard Murar's Dream, it was time to head an additional few miles to Bahia Amortajada at the southern tip of Isla San Jose, one of the larger islands in the Sea of Cortez. This anchorage is noted for a dinghy trip into a lagoon at the southern tip of the island which will be one of the trips planned for Thursday before moving to a new anchorage farther north as we work our way to Puerto Escondito and Loretofest, an annual gathering of cruisers for three days of partying and activities. We decided to launch the dinghy and head to shore for an afternoon hike along the beach while we searched for seashells to take back to the grandkids. We then took the dinghy around an offlying island which was a bird sanctuary before returning to the boat. We relaxed onboard for the remainder of the afternoon, partaking in Pina Coladas before Andy prepped the fish for grilling whole on the barbeque. The first procedure was to filet off one half of the fish which was far too big for both of us to consume at one meal. He then proceeded to scale the fish, which was not easy without a fish scaler, but he managed to accomplish the task, creating quite a mess of fish scales which took some effort to clean from the boat. The fish was so large that it took 30 minutes to cook it, and it was the best fish that we have eaten, to date. We ate, as usual, in the cockpit and enjoyed a beautiful sunset over the Sierra de la Gigantas Mountains on the Baja Peninsula even though it was pretty much overcast all day, a Pineapple Express (cloudy area of weather from the region around Hawaii) having moved into the Sea. Dessert was Andy's favorite-key lime pie which Debra cooked using the Joe's Stone Crab recipe. The oven was not very cooperative, and what would otherwise have taken 10 minutes of cooking to harden the filling, took over 30 minutes before the filling sufficiently hardened. Nevertheless, it tasted just as good as ever. It was then off to bed for another pleasant night of sleep on a perfectly calm, almost glass-like sea.
| Sea of Cortez |
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05/03/2012, Isla San Francisco
Saturday was our day for final preparations for our crossing of the Sea of Cortez back to the Baja side. It was hard to believe that we had spent the last five months on the Mexican Mainland. As usual, the weather report was about to change our timing for the crossing. The weather reports earlier in the week had predicted Sunday as the best day for crossing with possible WSW winds rather than the prevailing NW winds we would otherwise be facing on our nose as we headed directly into the wind to our desired destination on the Baja side. However, the Saturday morning report changed everything with predicted 15-20 knot winds out of the NW starting Sunday afternoon. With almost a two day crossing, it would mean pounding our way under motor, something that neither of us was looking forward to, so we decided to accelerate our departure for Saturday afternoon. Because low tide was scheduled for 3PM and after our last experience hitting bottom as we left the channel, we put off departure for 5PM, but it accelerated our final provisioning time. Andy's first trip was to Sorianna for a haircut while Debra stayed behind. Unfortunately, there was no hair cutting salon at the Sorianna like the one I had found in PV. We then both took a taxi to the local fruit and vegetable stand we had earlier found for the balance of our fresh veggies. We first stopped at the juice stand that we had found on Thursday and one of the local carne asada stands for a quick lunch. Debra then grabbed a whole chicken from the pollo asada stand for future lunches onboard. After returning to the boat, we made final preparations for departure as we awaited the 5PM time to depart. We pulled away from the dock right on time and were on our way without bottoming as we crossed the bar at the end of the channel and entered open water. We had decided to let the wind direction dictate our course, and there was enough breeze to sail for the first 5 hours, but we had to sail more south than we would have preferred-We were heading straight for Cabo San Lucas, not our ideal landing spot. However, when the wind finally died at about 10PM, we started up the motor and headed in the direction that we wanted to go-Isla San Francisco. By the time that the sun rose the following morning, it was like sailing on a calm lake with virtually no wind, but as the afternoon arrived, we were able to sneak in a few hours of pure sailing before the winds disappeared for the evening. When it was time for Debra's watch from midnight to 3AM, we considered setting sail with winds in the 8-9 knot range, but we decided to continue motoring, which was a good thing. About one hour later, we were in 14-18 knot winds which continued into Andy's watch at 3AM. However, by 3:30, the winds calmed down to the 8-9 knot range at a good angle, so the engine was killed and the sails set for the remainder of our journey.
We arrived at 8:30AM in the cove at Isla San Francisco, just where we had visited before crossing to the mainland way back in early December. The crystal clear water was quite a change from the murky waters we had experienced everywhere on the mainland side, and we could see the bottom clearly, well past 30 feet. We set anchor and prepared a breakfast of french toast with real maple syrup that we finally found in a grocery store in Paradise Village. We then caught up on sleep even though, for the first time, we were each able to sleep through our 3 hour non-watch periods. We noticed that the boat next to us was Seychelles, a boat which had shared Christmas Eve with us in La Cruz, so it was great to see them and catch up. You just never know who you will run into again after making cruising friends. This was the first day that we both felt like we were on "Manana time," basically sitting aboard and enjoying the scenery and weather. It was quite warm, about 90 degrees, but there was a breeze coming though which made it quite tolerable. We finished the day with Andy swimming ashore for a bit of exercise before it was time to prepare dinner. After dinner, we managed to watch a movie, the Big Fish, a movie that we had never heard about but both enjoyed.
Tuesday brought another day of good weather, and we launched the kayak for a hike ashore. Our first try was to continue on the trail that we had followed on our last visit, but only after about 100 yards, it became steep and almost impassable, so we decided to backtrack over the trail we had earlier followed and again visited the high ridge overlooking the cove. After returning to the boat, Andy felt that we should move our anchoring spot to the other side of the island for a new experience. The winds were perfect, so we sailed the two miles it took to round the tip of this small island and reach the new anchoring location. Seychelles decided that they, too, would come over to the new anchorage, so we were again anchored right next to them. We spent the rest of the day on "Manana time" before finishing the day with some pork fried rice and a game of cribbage before calling it a day.
| Sea of Cortez |
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05/03/2012, Mazatlan
Our trip back to Mazatlan via bus on Tuesday was, by far, the nicest bus ride yet. TAP first class buses really live up to their name-reclining seats, movies, headphone music, 110V power, and, best of all, wireless internet! Hence, we were able to occupy the six hour bus ride by checking and sending emails and surfing the net. The only drawback was that the bus was about an hour late in leaving, so we had to sit in the Los Mochis bus station for almost 2 hours before leaving. We arrived in Mazatlan at 4PM and, after rejecting the overcharging taxis inside the terminal, we flagged down one of the open air taxis which are converted, old Volkswagen beetle chassis. We were promptly delivered back to the boatyard and were back aboard Murar's Dream for a night "on the hard," as we were scheduled to be placed back in the water the following morning. Total Yacht Works had done very nice work but had forgotten to have the boat washed, polished and waxed, so they would have to do that after the boat was back in its slip at El Cid Marina on the following days, as this is about a 2 day process. Before turning in, we enjoyed a very nice dinner aboard Double Diamond and were joined by our friends from Glory Days who were also "on the hard."
Upon arising Wednesday morning, it was time for the boat to be moved back into the water. This process consists of a large machine which hangs straps under the hull, lifting and lowering the boat, as needed. We had actually spent the night in the slings as they had to lift the boat to apply the final paint to the bottom of the keel which had been resting on the ground while in drydock. The machine is set on four extremely large wheels/tires and is moved around by remote control at extremely low speeds. After the boat was safely back in the water, we contacted El Cid Marina to get our slip assignment and experienced our first delay-Fog had rolled in overnight so that the channel out of the harbor had been officially closed by the port captain. The boat which had been occupying the slip to which we were assigned therefore could not leave, so it meant waiting out the delay until the fog lifted and the channel was re-opened. After about an hour or so of sunshine, they finally cleared our slip, and we moved into our "home" for the next several days as we prepared the boat for our trip across the Sea of Cortez to the Baja side. This proved to be a relatively uneventful day, unworthy of blogging data.
Thursday began with a bike ride. We first rode over to Total Yacht Works, about a ½ mile away, to take care of our outstanding bill, and then we rode north on the road paralleling the shore for a few miles. We then turned around and headed south towards town to look for the fresh vegetable stand that Double Diamond had told us that they had earlier discovered. A few miles later, we found it and picked up a few items to tie us over until we leave on Sunday. We also found a juice stand next door where we were greeted by its very friendly owner who insisted on speaking English since he was going to language school. His English was very good considering that he had only been taking classes for only 9 weeks. We both enjoyed fruit smoothies while we enjoyed conversing with him. After returning to El Cid, we lunched at El Fish Market, clearly one of our favorite Mazatlan restaurants. The remaining afternoon consisted of a swim at the resort pool for some additional exercise before checking out a new, recommended restaurant, Ernie's, within walking distance of the marina. Unfortunately, we were both disappointed with the quality of the food, so we are striking that one from our list.
We awoke Friday in the deepest fog bank that we have experienced in Mexico so far. It was a bit of deja vu, reminding us of June Gloom and Fogaust we had experienced last summer in Marina del Rey. The workers arrived later that morning from Total Yacht Works to finish the washing and waxing, having spent all day Thursday working on the hull which is now quite beautiful. They spent the day working on the decks and cockpit, finishing in the afternoon. Our projects were to do laundry and prepare the interior for a thorough cleaning by Norma from the marina, who had cleaned the boat on our last visit to Mazatlan and whom we both felt did a very good job.
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