06/07/14
With the wind still howling, we upped anchor and headed north. As we left the shelter of our anchorage, we got slammed by waves and wind. We put up the mainsail to lessen the rolling, and heard the half-full coffee pot go flying across the cabin. What a mess! So we secured things as best as we could for the day's trip, which was to be to San Evaristo, 30 miles away. As we were working to get squared away, Cody caught the first of two huge Bonita fish. Lots of fun with him struggling to land the fish, and us trying to steer and assist him. His second fish came soon after the first, with me catching a third at the same time. Yikes!

Things settled down eventually, with the wind and waves lessening to almost nothing as we passed Isla San Francisco. We dropped anchor in San Evaristo where we met a couple who live there on their sailboat, Willful Simplicity. This is a beautiful little bay, with a small village of fishermen and their families. We dinghied ashore to the small market and bought some boxed milk and other staples. Back aboard, we passed the afternoon playing Trump, a card game borrowed from the fire department. We made kind of a Hawaiian Poke dish out of the Bonita that Cody caught, which was delicious. Raw chunks of fish mixed with soy sauce, onions, wasabi, and some other ingredients. It was amazing.

Our new friends, Steve and Charlotte, from Willful Simplicity, came over for some cocktails, and we ended up talking with them until almost 1000 pm. Cody was starving, so he cooked some pork chops for us. We called it an early night and hit our bunks. The big wind never came up, but that left the anchorage kind of rolley, so we see-sawed side to side all night. I went on deck several times to check things and to find sources of banging. The stars were so bright and endless, with the Milky Way just overhead.

06/08/14
Another clear and beautiful morning. All the other boats have left the anchorage, so it was not just us who noticed the rolley conditions. We were thinking of leaving for Isla San Francisco, but we spoke with our friends Michael and Judy, from the sailing vessel Milagro, who spent last night there. They got rolled around more than we did, so we ended up just moving closer to shore, and decided to spend another night here. We paddle-boarded to shore and burned our trash with Steve and Charlotte. Milagro arrived soon after, and anchored in our previous spot. After that, we brought our shoes and socks and took the dinghy to shore for some quality walkabout time. We walked up a rough road to the north to the other side of the point, where there was a wide stone beach, with salt ponds nearby. We swam in the warm clear water, and collected precious stones and shells along the shore. After stopping in the local tienda (market) on The way back, we dinghied back to Odyssey for some well deserved Bloody Mary's. Upon boarding Odyssey, we were informed by radio that the locals had agreed to open their simple cantina for us, and that we had reservation for 600 pm. Yay! A break from my cooking!

Since we had so much fun looking for shells and rocks earlier, we decided to change our plans to allow one additional night at anchor, and to make our last night at Playa Bonanza, on Isla Espiritu Santo. I anchored there a couple of months ago with my good friend John. The entire beach is formed of polished, rounded shells. There are literally billions of them, with lots of dried bodies and skeletons of puffer and trigger fish thrown in. Susan and Cody are going to love that place. We all managed to get a short nap before going ashore for dinner. The meal was shared by the three boats, Odyssey, Willful Simplicity, and Milagro. It consisted of all you can eat fish and carne asada, served with fresh tortillas, salsa, limes, rice, and cold beer. What a great dinner.

We returned to the boat stuffed and lazy, so we continued our long running card game of Trump. Susan and Cody won all the games. We settled in for a quiet night, with virtually no breeze as we went to bed.