Picture: Ted walking up the ramp towards the hot spring at Bishop Bay. "Shuang Yu" is moored in the background. The lower right hand corner shows the two hot spring pools.

Noon to noon miles: 50 Miles since Mexico: 25,576

Weather: Cloudy in the morning but clear and sunny in the afternoon and evening. Wind: Changeable and low. Boat speed: 5 - 6 knots. We motored the whole way.

We slept until 09:00 and left at 10:00 in the morning. It was only 24 nautical miles away and again we had favorable currents but not much wind so we motored.

At Bishop Bay there is a small pontoon with a brand new ramp leading up to the hot spring. We tied "Shuang Yu" to the pontoon and went ashore only to find a notice saying that any vessel over 36 feet must use one of the mooring balls or anchor in the bay. The reason was that the anchors holding the pontoon to the sea bed are not strong enough to handle a heavy boat. Without delay, we untied the boat and tied onto a mooring ball. It seemed very sturdy so we felt secured. The only inconvenience about it was lowering the dingy and motor, which was fine. We needed the exercise.

Ted attached the spinnaker halyard to the dinghy and I winched it up from the deck and then lowered it over the side into the water while Ted guided it. We did the much the same for the 8 horse power outboard motor. I hauled it up and then lowered it down over the side and Ted guided it onto the dingy. I guess once we get our procedures down; it is relatively simple.

We took the small boat to the hot spring, our main purpose for coming to Bishop Bay. There were already two fishing boats on the dock with several men standing there; I am glad we moved to the mooring balls. We walked up a short and well maintain trail. The hot spring is inside a small wooden hut with two concrete pools. I closed the wooden door for warmth and privacy. It says we could use shampoo and soap in the first pool. The second pool is cooler so we did not go out there. We did not take too long there since there were already people at the dock and they might want to use the facility. The warm bath felt super nice but in comparison to Japanese onsens, the water is much cooler. Nevertheless, it was a wonderful warm bath! It worth the time and energy coming here!