Sailing on Starshine

Today is Sunday May 8, 2016.

We just finished attending the 20th Annual Loreto Fest here at the Fonatur Marina in Puerto Escondido.
The last time we had internet was in La Paz. We left Marina Palmira on Saturday April 30 after topping off our fuel tanks at their fuel dock. We seem to be getting better fuel economy since we re-pitched our prop back in November. Our first stop was Isla San Francisco. We had a pleasant sail there and even caught a fish. Too bad it was a skipjack which don’t taste all that good. It was that fish’s lucky day. We let it go.

We chose to anchor on the east side of the island. It doesn’t have the post-card picturesque long sand beach that the west side does, but has a rocky beach. It is still very scenic and the beach has agates Melodie enjoys searching for. She also enjoys the variety of multi-colored tumbled rocks which make up the beach. The water was clear and relatively warm at 78.3 degrees. There were no jellyfish or other Jelly-like “creatures” in the water as there were when we anchored on the west side when our friends were visiting. It made for a nice swim/shower off the stern of the boat. The real reason we anchored there is that it offers protection from the night time winds (Coromuels). Strong winds out of the west. The winds came up at about 3:30 am. We swung around toward a large power boat that arrived after us. We were only 60 feet from them, so we chose to re-anchor. The early morning re-anchor in the dark with the radar on went well and we were able to go back to bed for a few more hours of sleep.

Our next stop was Los Gatos. This is a pretty anchorage with an area of stunning red sandstone rocks similar to those at Zion National Park. It also has a nice beach for walking and typical desert landscape. A little of everything. There was even a coyote strolling on the beach later in the day. When we were here last year we were with our friends on Optimus Prime and Wind Dancer we took a hike up one of the arroyos. This year we were by ourselves, but had the kayak and SUP. We took them ashore (much easier than dealing with the dingy) and walked around the rocks at the north point. There were lots of small crabs and we saw what we think was a baby whale skeleton. It was about the size of a cow skull, with lots of vertebrae larger than a cow, and the eyes and teeth were in the wrong spots and the wrong shape to be a cow. The photo is me standing at the north beach at Los Gatos. There were schools of fish about a foot long swimming in a big circle next to the boat with a variety of other fish scattered about. Fish seem to hang out next to the boat. Not sure if they think it’s protection or if it’s for the shade. Later in the day some parrot fish hung around to eat the old grapes we threw in the water. We stayed there two nights. Calm nights, very calm nights…Yippi! What a nice change. There was no moon which made the stars super bright. Melodie saw a shooting star and the Milky-way was easily visible. It was amazing how RED Mars looked as it rose just above the horizon. Yes, you can actually see stars (and planets) just above the horizon. There is so much more to be seen with no city lights. When doing a passage at night you sometimes think they are another boat. Melodie has woke up Pat a few times to double check the bright light out there and if we were going to collide or not.

Our next stop was San Marte, the north anchorage of Bahia Santa Marte. We chose to bypass San Everisto, since we were just there and Lupe Sierra’s restaurant was closed that day. We think our stopping at San Marte has been our best choice yet. It is surrounded by a reef, so we really had to pay attention to our navigation, but it was a really pretty anchorage. We had the place to ourselves. There were tons of manta rays swimming around and jumping out of the water. At night you could see them illuminated as they swam by stirring up the bioluminescence. Whole herds would go right next to the boat. It looked other-worldly as a glowing swarm came by. We shone the spotlight on them once and could see they were about 3-4ft across with dark topsides and a white belly. One headed straight or us with its mouth wide open. There were also bright blue 1-2ft needle fish and the water was filled with tiny moving critters. That must be what the rays were eating. Just sitting on the side of the boat you can see the bioluminescence twinkling in the water. The nights have been rather cool in the 60’s, but tonight was pleasantly warm in the 70’s. It was nice to hear only the slapping of the rays when they landed on the water after jumping. You could also hear the bugs buzzing on shore in the distance. No bugs on the boat though. It is very peaceful with the sparkling stars above and the sparkling water below. During the day we went swimming and Melodie took the SUP out for a few exploratory trips. There were a lot of reef fish and some coral. She reported back that the big dark area under the water (indicating that there are rocks down there) she saw the day before was changing positions. It was not rock at all, but a huge swarm of Manta Rays. The water had less ripples this day and the rays white undersides could be seen as they swam in a group near the bottom. So…San Marte has moving rocks.

We left San Marte and arrived in Puerto Escondido. Fonatur (the govt. run marina) has a large mooring field here. It’s only 4.5 pesos/ft. per night, about $11 USD per night for us. We arrived in time for Loreto Fest. The Hidden Port Yacht Club has sponsored the event for many years, but they recently voted to become a “social club” and not a yacht club. There has been talk that this would be the last Loreto Fest. There were as many as 45 boats in the mooring field. It is a safe and pretty spot with the gigantic rough mountains seen in the near distance. They look like a painting when the sun is getting low.

I got to meet the people who I’ve been talking to on the Amigo Net: S/V Jake, S/V Que Linda, and S/V Interlude. We also met some new people. A group came down from San Carlos and we hung out with them for a bit. Melodie and I participated in the Bocci tournament and came in first place! This is mostly because we were uncontested in the third round. Another example of how much of life can be had by just showing up. We were recognized by the MC and won a Hidden Port YC burgee (which you can’t get anymore!). Melodie also prepared a salsa for the salsa tasting contest, but we didn’t win that one. The winning recipe was a mango salsa that was VERY spicy and made by the boat Cubra Libre.

We will stay here until Tuesday. Then we will make our way north, crossing over to San Carlos sometime near the end of the month. The next cell/internet spot is in Mulege, at the mouth of Bahia Conception.

That’s all for now.