We're now in Punta Lobo, 64 miles farther up the coast. The last two days had been spent doing some chores while we waited for the right forecast of Southwest winds. We've now covered 4122 miles since we left Port Townsend in April of 2009.

We did the laundry on Saturday as it had been quite a while since we last saw a laundromat. Tracy pulled out the "Wonder Wash", our washing "machine". It's more like a short stubby bottle with a screw on lid that sits in a frame so it can be turned over and over again. It's the first time we have really "used" it for all the wash. We bought a "wringer"at Downwind Marine in San Diego before we left there and we attach it to the folding ladder(laid on its side) we use to get on and off Zephyr when we are at a marina. Out came the soap and spot remover and the tea kettle to heat the water and off we went for several hours spinning the Wonder Wash. Each load is not much bigger than maybe 7 shirts as the "washer" is not the biggest thing. Put in the clothes, add soap and hot water and close the top. Grab the handle on the side and start spinning. Two minutes to a load for the "wash". Amazingly, when you open the "washer", pressure gets released. The ads for the unit say it's caused by using hot water and is supposed to get the clothes cleaner. Tracy washed and I took the clothes out and put them through the wringer and hung them out to dry. I'd strung our "jack line"(long nylon strap that goes from the bow to the stern)to use as our clothes line. Out came the clothes pins(every boat must carry clothes pins). We had laundry from the bow to the stern by the time we were done. We had to wait on the socks till line became available. And you guys think cruising is all fun and games!!

Tracy watched the winds over the last several days and compared them to the forecast. Every forecast had them slowly shift from the North to Northwest through out the day. We'd found that they tended to shift from the West to the Southwest as the day progressed dying out as the Sun set. That type of wind would be perfect for the trip North. I'd gotten suckered by the forecast so we had spent one extra day due to the continued forecasts of North to Northwest winds. With Tracys observations, we decided to take off Monday (yesterday) and get out of Punta Rosa--also known as Bahia Santa Barbara.

Sunday afternoon, two fishermen in the their panga had stopped by on their way back to shore to see if we wanted to trade for some fish. They asked(more like sign language) if we had any cigarettes.. That's one thing we don't carry. We did offer them two cokes and that was just fine. For the two cokes, we got three nice Sierras just like we caught a few days earlier. Two smaller and one bigger fish. We've been visited by several pangas during our stay in Santa Barbara but we think more of a curiosity than as a "customer". One even took pictures of us with his cell phone and another brought his kids out to see us as they went around Zephyr. I guess Bahia Santa Barbara doesn't get to many visitors. For a wide space in the coast line, it's not a bad place to spend a day or so. If the winds had been less, I'm sure we would have gone ashore to walk the beach. Once we had the fish, I proceeded below and started the butchery. Out came the cutting board and our filleting knife(just recently sharpened) and in I went. I cut here and there and managed to get some nice looking fillets of fish out of them. Tracy went at them later and cleaned them up. We've since had them in fish tacos and another meal served with homemade tartar sauce(not available in Mexico). All in all, we got three big meals out of the fish. It was nice to have a fisherman come up and want to do a trade.

Anyway, after Tracy's wind observations, we upped the anchor yesterday at Sun up and took off. This side of the Sea of Cortez is loaded with fishing nets as there are lots of fishermen along this side of the coast. Some use flags to show where they have put out their nets and some just put out pop bottle(or any kind of bottle) to show where they are. As we headed out, I stood at the bow and watched carefully for these nets. Lots of boats get caught in them and they can really mess up your prop and shaft, not to mention your transmission. We by passed one and made our way out going between two other nets. Unfortunately, we had to do this under motor as we needed the maneuverability to go around or pass them. We ended up motoring almost 12 miles before we felt clear enough to continue. We'd had to start out heading South to avoid the nets that had been placed in the bay with us.

Once clear, up went the sails and off we went. The winds were out of the West and that allowed us to hit a narrow slot of air to make progress Northwest. As we moved along, we had to keep a good watch for pangas and their nets all along the coast. We headed out a bit more, but still found nets. Pangas came at us at high speed to make sure we stayed away from their nets. We finally ran over one but it never snagged on Zephyrs hull. The bottles are attached to lines to allow the nets to hang deeper in the water to catch more fish. By late in the afternoon, the winds started to die and we started the engine to do some engine assisted sailing to try and make better time. Tracy had called the winds right as they slowly shifted a bit more from the Southwest as the day progressed. On we went as the Sun slowly dropped below the horizon for a beautiful sunset. Punta Lobo is a wide spot along the coast with no cove involved, just a small hook in the coast to anchor behind. We arrived just after 2100 with the radar and chart plotter running to show us our location. We've found our chart plotter to be as much a 2 miles off so we proceeded carefully mainly using the depth sounder and visual as well as the radar to "see" where we were. Once we hit 25 feet, we dropped the anchor. We were a way from shore, but we'd rather be a bit farther out than too close in case a bit wind comes up. We set the anchor drift alarm incase we drag our anchor. We routinely set it for about 150 feet range of movement to give the anchor some leeway.

As we progressed North, Tracy made a great meal with the last of the Sierra--lightly batter coated and fried with the home made tartar sauce to go with them. Along with some fruit cocktail, we had a nice dinner in the cockpit as we moved Northwest along the coast.

This morning, we awoke to a deck covered in water like it had rained(which it hadn't). There is so much dew along this side of the Sea of Cortez that your entire boat get soaked each night. We had anchored a good way from shore and upped the anchor and moved a bit farther in toward shore. We're now anchored(27 16.675N 110 28.216W) in about 15 feet with lots of chain out to keep us set. Today, we will launch Puff and go ashore to explore. I don't think too many boats stop here as they go North or South as the one of the panga that passed us today took our picture as they passed. Most cruisers just head out from Guaymas and go straight South or from Topolobampo straight North. We prefer to stop if possible and explore to see what the mainland side has to offer. Some times the wind stops us as it did in Bahia Santa Barbara, today it is relatively calm so we will head in. I'll let you know what we find.