Rainy Days, Stormy Nights
03 February 2010 | San Blas, Nayarit, Mexico
Jodee
Well it is another day in San Blas and it looks like the rain may leave by tomorrow sometime. So let me back up a little.
For the last three days we have been swaping movies with other cruisers and going to town for the famous tacos and of course a few other items. We have had many potlucks on shore at the Singlar Marina and on the boats.
Yesterday Russ and Rich jumped into Rich's dingy in the pouring rain and went out into Mantenchen Bay to tow a 29 foot bayfield sailboat in to the estuary. The engine did not run. By the time they got back they were soaked from the rain and freezing. Russ got out of his wet clothes and into sweats and under a blanket with slippers on. I fixed him a cup of hot coco tea. It rained all day.
I then put on the rain gear I had and jumped into the dinghy to pick up Dave on Exit Strategy to head to town. He knew where to have my Tel Cell internet card recharged. So off we went. We all so hit the the famous taco stand for a taco and when I stood up from the stool the top of the stool which was red when I sat down is now yellow. The entire yellow waterproof coating on the Helly Hanson rain gear was now on the stool. I said I was sorry and started to scrap as much as I could off. Now we headed for the bakery outlet and the "Kane" store for a few items and then over to get bacon.
The vessel Exit Strategy has been trying to leave this beautiful anchorage of San Blas to little avail. We had a little get together on our boat as a sort of bon voyage and happy birthday for Jean. Her birthday is actually Feb 4th, since they were not going to be here we had it last night. We seasoned the fresh pork molida and cooked it up and Third Day made the sauce and noodles and we had a fantastic spaghetti dinner. Peter from Delphis also attended. It is always nice to get a bunch of friends together for a pot luck.
Every one left about 8:30 and we decided to watch a movie after doing dishes. At about eleven pm the wind came up instantly and it was cold. Russ decided to let the fleet know that we were going to monitor chanel 22 all night and about 10 minutes later the boat heeled over to about 20 degreees and everything that was not hooked down on starboard took a nice flight over to port. There was about a 3 knot current running and that is what held us sideways to the wind and caused us to heel over. If there was no current we would have pointed into the wind and not heeled over. Just then the BBQ Lid Reality Meter let us know that we had in excess of 40 knots. Rich on Third Day came on and said that he saw 46 knots on his instruments and Peter in the Marina reported 47 knots and Exit Strategty came on the radio with 46.1 knots. Now keep in mind we still have our back bimini (awning) up and by the time we got it down it was torn. We did get it down and I retreived the empty water jugs from the side deck. Lucky they did not blow over. Normally we pull the dingy up and have it hanging on the side. There is a pole that is attached to the mast and attached to the other end of the pole is a four to one purchased and at the end of the purchase is the dinghy. That is how we can raise and lower the dinghy. We put the dinghy on deck before any of this happened because as the rain collectes in the dinghy it would get to heavy for this system. Rain at 8 pounds per gallon can quickly over stress all fittings. This morning Russ pumped out about 25-30 gallons of rain water. During this rain of two and a half days we have discovered major leaks over the bunk under the aft (back) cockpit. Now Russ has another project to add to his list when the sun comes out.
We have been told to expect an influx of no-seeums which we now call you-seeums due to the rain. Last time it rained like this I hear it was about five days later that the you-seeums were really bad. Good thing we have our Autun bug cream ready and the bug screens.
Today a sailboat with a ten foot draft tried to come in the entrance and ran a ground and the navy and two pongas had to go rescue them and guide them in. In the estuary there are 10 sailboats and in the marina there are about 8 sailboats. The most so far.
This afternoon is supossed to be the start of St. Blaz or also know as San Blas Days. It is supossed to start today Feb 3 and goes on for about 3-4 days and tonight is scheduled for fire works on the plaza. From what we are told there is a fireworks tower with pinewheels and all kinds of phyrotechnics shooting from the tower. We will have to wait and see if it will go as scheduled or if it is cancelled due to rain.
Have a great day.