4/20/14
The morning broke sunny and calm, so I ran around to finish getting ready for my mini trip. I was on my way out of the Marina by 1000, motoring (of course) in a dead calm. I arrived at Bahia San Gabriel in 3 hours without catching any fish, or, get this, without seeing any rays jumping! That was a first for me. I dropped anchor and got everything shipshape. As I was congratulating myself on a job well done, I looked around and realized that I had anchored too much in the middle of the bay, with no protection from the winds. So, up with the anchor, motor for 5 minutes, and do it all again. As my buddy Skorsy can attest, I have come a long way with my anchoring.
After getting settled, I began to do some projects. While I usually do this at the dock, I figured there is no reason not to do this stuff in some beautiful anchorage instead. About that time some bees came by to check out the boat. While this is pretty normal, what happened next was not. Apparently, the first scout bees liked what they saw, because I was soon the host for maybe 100+ bees. They ended up driving me inside after I secured both doors and closed hatches. I've heard that they are looking for water, so I put some out on the back deck. No luck, they wanted inside for some reason. Maybe they know that I am bee friendly back home? :) Well that changed in a hurry as I attempted to drive them off with spray cleaner. Most of them eventually left, some super clean. I paddled over to a boat anchored nearby to see if it was just me, or if everyone was having bee problems. I found that the bees like everyone, so I began hoping they would be gone when the sun went down. They were.
I made BBQ tacos for dinner after refilling my small propane tanks from the big ones. It's a pretty easy process, but you MUST make sure the big tank is shut off before removing the small one. Yow, that was exciting! As night fell there was only one other boat in the bay. The stars shined brilliantly in the black night sky, while the sounds of leaping rays played in the background. Pop, pop, pop. This is so amazing!