We headed out about 0830 and headed North from Ensenada Grande for San Evaristo along the Baja coast. The winds were in the low 20s and the chop was kicking up to a good 3 to 4 feet with the occasional wild wave that really lifted us up and let us crash down in the trough between the waves with water flying all over the place. The Sun was long since up and brilliant on the water. Several sailboats and one small cruise ship passed us heading South along the coast. As we headed North, the tide was flowing out of the Sea of Cortez and with the winds against us, we were only making about 4 knots. I looked in our cruise books for Isla San Francisco, a small island along our route about 9 miles short of San Evaristo where we had planned to stop to wait out the up coming blow due on Thursday. It looked quite well protected so we thought we would stop in and check it out. It's quite a popular bay for boats heading North and South along the coast.

We got in about 1230 and found 10 other boats already at anchor having a nice time and saw people strolling along the nice white sandy beach and climbing the hillsides. We talked it over and slowly checked out the anchorage for a good spot. The cruising guides say to park your boat along the North cliffs so the winds that blow will pass right over your boat. We found a nice spot in about 18 feet and decided to drop the hook(24 49.265N 110 34.369W) and stay for a while. At the worst, if we hated it or found it uncomfortable, we could always move to San Evaristo on Wednesday and still beat the storm.

After a nice lunch of a BLT, we launched Puff along with Dragon and took off for shore. A couple of other sailboats arrived throughout the afternoon. We attached out dingy wheels incase it we needed them to get us up on the beach. As it turned out, the beach was deep enough at the waterline that we didn't need them. They actually made it harder to beach Puff. We took them off and pulled Puff up on shore. Our tide listing said that the tide was still going out(till 1800) so we weren't worried about leaving Puff right were she was. We hiked up and over to the other side of the island to explore what is known as Agate Beach due to the Agates found there(duh). It helps, I guess, to know what an agate looks like in order to find them. We did see lots of beautiful shells and coral along with a few birds.

We headed back about an hour later to find Puff just about at waterline. The water wasn't going out, it was coming in. If we had dawdled for another 30 minutes, poor Puff might have washed away from shore(really bad). We shoved her in the foot she was still above the waterline and climbed in. I was at the stern with the engine started while Tracy climbed in over the bow using the new ladder assembly that is made for inflatable boats from Latitiudes & Attitudes magazine. They fit over the inflatable tubes and tie to the lifting ring that is installed in the floor. The ladder extends right down into the water on a slide mechanism that allows the three steps(don't buy the two step model- too short) to extend under the water making it easy to get on board--well, easier. It's still not easy getting aboard a rolling inflatable boat. A slick way to get aboard a normally hard to board boat.

Once back at Zephyr, I put on my snorkel gear and jumped over the side and dove on our anchor to make sure it was set and set well. Yep, while it had dragged a bit until it was set, the anchor was dug in quite well. I'll be checking it again tomorrow to make sure it's still dug in with the blow scheduled for Thursday with winds in the 30 knot range if the forecasters are right. I guess time will tell.

For dinner, we had some of our first Mexican beef. Hamburger patties from City Club(like Costco). Supposedly Sirloin, but you couldn't tell by the look of the meat. They looked more like a beef paste than what we normally think hamburger should look like. A bit pale in color also. Oh well, with proper spices how could you go wrong. I topped mine with jalapenos and cheese along with a nice spicy "rub" that is normally used on steaks, while Tracy's was salted, peppered and coated with garlic powder. Adding some provolone cheese and she was set. While I got mine down, Tracy just couldn't get past the texture of the paste it not only looked like but tasted like. Not sure what we will do with the 14 burgers that are left, but you can be sure they will not go to waste.

Now that the Sun has gone down, the winds we had earlier have stopped and it is now nice and quiet outside. Tracy has already crashed for the night. Tomorrow, off to explore and get a few more tasks done on Zephyr(a work in progress)