05/18/2012, Ballandra on Isla Carmen
May 8 - 12, 2012: Well, today was a first for Ponderosa and her crew Â... we couldn't free our anchor and boy were we stuck. I knew something was wrong, as I lay ready to flake our chain, when Bob pulled chain in and then let chain back out several times. When the bow dipped forward I was dreading the worst which was losing ground tackle.
We tried for a good hour swinging the boat back and forth but no luck even with help from a fellow cruiser in his dinghy pushing and pulling on the chain. Finally I put out a call to the fleet in the anchorage asking for help. Turns out a local diver was working just a short distance from our boat. The cruiser notified the diver of our plight and sent "Carlos" over to dive on our boat. Carlos was one strong beefy Mexican who in less than ½ hour freed our 66 lb Bruce anchor from the sunken boat that we believe was a panga. Wow, were we ever relieved to be free with all our chain and anchor intact. About 60 ft of chain ended up wrapped around this sunken vessel. So $500 pesos (about $40 USD) and 2 hours later we were happily on our way.
Don't even bother to wonder if the port would mark this hazard Â...
We have had other interesting anchoring episodes but this was first for us. The old saying about: "those that have and those that will" rings true. It's just a matter of time. Time to check this off the bucket list of boating no-no's.
Once underway we did a short hop up to Nopolo, a great spot that has incredible internet access. It was time to catch up on emails and news. The access in Puerto Escondido is pathetic at best so using the Banda Ancha near the lovely resort in this bay is well worth the stop. We hung out here for a couple of days with the place to ourselves; it's timeout from social activities.
Our destination on Thursday was suppose to be the south end of Coronados Island. But we were having such a nice sail and heading east that we changed plans and went to Ballandra on Isla Carmen, aka "Bee-landra", home of the bees and many other flying critters. So far we have only seen 2 bees, 1 pesky horse fly and numerous annoying mosquitoes. Let's hope it stays that way for now.
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05/18/2012, San Evaristo - North Anchorage
May 13 - 17, 2012: The lure of a fancy resort, wi-fi, swimming pool, cold umbrella drinks, etc was just too much for us to ignore for the good crew of Ponderosa. It was time to experience Bahia Candeleros home of a swank new resort hospitable to cruisers. We were allowed to enjoy the refreshing pools, (towels provided) buy food and drinks even though we are not official guests. Rumor has it that the vessels out at anchor add that touch of romance, ambience and great photo shots for the short-term visiting gringos. Doesn't hurt that the resort is making a killing off of the cruisers with their drink and food prices - my strawberry daiquiri cost $12.75 USD, but then again it had a liberal amount of rum added to it Â... about 3 shots. I felt goooood soaking in the pool sucking down my foo-foo drink.
It was pleasant to be off the boat for a couple of afternoons since the Baja is heating up to the mid-90's. Far too hot for my blood Â... just walking a few steps from our shaded lounge chairs to the pool burned our bare feet. Even the pool water, only 3 feet deep or so, was getting to lukewarm bath water temperature. You could readily spot the newly arrived gringos in their pale white skin. Some were going to sport a really bad sunburn. After two days of fun and $85 USD later (the price of "free") we ventured off southbound to Agua Verde where the water temp was about 78/80° and very refreshing.
Our next destination was Isla San Francisco as we are beginning to stage ourselves for going into LaPaz. This trip is 52 nautical miles so it was going to be a long day on the water. And of course, the wind was predicted out of the SE 10-20 knots Â... yup, you guessed it, right on our nose plus we were bucking about a one knot current. Not much current according to Pacific Northwest standards but enough to slow our progress considerably.
Bob got in a full day of calisthenics managing the sails - in and out, in and out. First we motor, then we motor sail, then we kick ass and have fun sailing, then we reef, then we motor, then we sail again Â... I think you get the drift. Mother Nature was being very fickle and hard to manage. In the end, we anchored in an alternate site with protection from the winds 11 miles short of our destination. Oh well, we can be lazy here too for the next day or so.
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05/09/2012, Puerto Escondido
May 1 - 7, 2012: The chatter of Loreto Fest activities was in full swing on the nets and VHF radio. We were looking forward to seeing friends and having a chance to say hello to Chuck & Margie on Dream Catcher as well as saying goodbye to others we probably won't see again.
Besides fueling the boat we caught up on a few chores like laundry and grocery shopping. We also traded information with Dream Catcher about our favorite places to go here in Mexico and what to expect if they summer over in the Sea of Cortez.
Loreto Fest fun started Thursday afternoon and continued thru Sunday featuring card games, bocce ball, horse shoes, dinghy races, silent auction, music each night, Mexican dancers and singers plus last but not least lots of food and drink. The weather was hot and dry so I am sure the bar made a killing providing liquids to the highly tuned athletes; I say with tongue- in- cheek.
I participated in bocce ball losing 2 out of 3 games ... I blame my poor performance on the tacky light weight balls and nasty side hill pit. The other set of balls and pit was great and our team won hands down in that one, oh well, the sad laments of a loser.
However, team Ponderosa/Dream Catcher, aka Bob & Chuck, made a grand showing in horse shoes. They placed 2nd winning themselves a fine little award for their achievement. Not bad for a couple of guys that haven't pitched a shoe for awhile. It was grand fun and for the most part everyone was a good sport but then again you have a few that can't help but be competitive especially after a few beers kicked in.
It's pretty quiet around the anchorage today, as in Monday. The Baja Olympics for old geezers is finally over and everyone is resting up, nursing sunburns and heat exhaustion. Personally I glad not having to face hot dogs for awhile.
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05/09/2012, Los Gatos, Agua Verde
April 25 - 27, 2012: These 3 days were spent in Los Gatos, a fair-weather anchorage nestled among striking red rock formations. Manual, our local fisherman, never fails to entice the cruisers into buying lobster and of course, we dined on a few ourselves. We had several days of north winds so it was easy to kickback reading and doing some needlework.
April 28 - 30, 2012: Agua Verde or green water in English truly lives up to its name. The water was very clear and a lovely emerald green. This place is one of our favorites with numerous snorkeling areas, a friendly local community and comfortable anchorages. Kids will paddle out and take garbage off your hands for just a few pesos. It's too bad we didn't have candy since that was a popular request. The anchorage was full of cruisers transiting north for Loreto Fest as well as local well-to-do Mexicans enjoying a long weekend on their huge yachts.
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05/09/2012, Bonanza, Isla San Francisco
April 19 - 24, 2012: It took all day Thursday to recover from our passage from Mazatlan, which is no surprise. We did continue north to Bonanza Bay on Friday and managed to be the ultimate couch potatoes. The 74° clear water lured us in for a swim. It was very refreshing and kept our core temp cool for several hours.
Hoping for a nice sail, we left Sunday for the eastside anchorage on Isla Francisco. No luck in the wind department but it was a calm and pleasant journey to once again take in the scenery of the Baja landscape. We found ourselves in company with fellow cruisers we hadn't seen for awhile so it was great to catch up visiting. One boat hosted a pizza party while the rest of us pitched in with various toppings and other goodies to eat. Who would ever guess the barbeque grill works so great to cook up pizza? All the heat stays outside which is a big plus ... and all the combinations of toppings blended together made for wonderful flavors.
We did some snorkeling around one of the reefs but only lasted about ½ hour in the water due to the cooler temps. But it was still fun with lots of fish about .
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05/09/2012, Los Muertos
April 17 - 18, 2012: We cleared the breakwater about 8 am facing about a 30 hour passage across the Sea of Cortez to the Baja, destination - Los Muertos. I was happy the entrance to the estuary was calm and the dredge was sitting idle. Also, the skies were clear with no fog in sight. It was good omen except for the lack of wind.
The day passed rather quickly. Eventually, the wind filled in but where else but right on our nose. Why, why, why does it never come from the correct direction? There was one highlight of the journey ... seeing the green flash when the sun set. That was spectacular! Finally the conditions were just right with clear skies and good visibility. The night skies were just as awesome ... so many bright stars along with the milky way. Some of those bright stars kept moving; lots of ship traffic including a ferry and a couple large fishing vessels. Bob also saw a green flash as the sun rose; I can't verify that story since I was happily sleeping.
The morning of the second day found us with flat calm seas and no wind. The remaining 50 miles was a piece of cake. The harbor master at Los Muertos was rather an imposing figure. He came up next to the boat blew, promptly dived but wiggled his tail as if to say hello. Nothing like being greeted by a humpback whale as we entered the anchorage. It's hot and dry over here with the water an incredible blue to aqua in color and very clear.
We had zipped in our dodger windows for this crossing. It was a good idea after getting soaked on our passage from Chamela to LaCruz. Again we encountered salt spray but also very cool temperatures at night. We actually wore long pants and fleece jackets; a first in a very long time. After a bit of food, it was nap time. I wish I was 20 again ... this cruising would be a lot easier.
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