La Paz Log 4 June 2015

06/01/15
We had a calm and restful night at anchor. We awoke to crowing chickens, arguing gulls, and splashing fish, all under warm and clear skies. I took the paddle board to shore to get some supplies (beer) at the tiny tienda while Susan enjoyed her coffee aboard. We upped anchor and made a short trip to a tiny rock called Isla Coyote, just off of Isla San Francisco's northern end. There is a small collection of fishermen's houses ashore, and the surrounding rocks are a nature preserve. While having refreshments ashore last night, our friend Steve told us this was a must-do snorkeling spot. Once we got the anchor down, Susan wasn't feeling so hot, so we were going to skip the snorkeling and just paddle around on the boards. Well, one thing led to another, and we were soon paddling over to the rocks over 78 degree turquoise water with masks in hand. We ended up kind of hanging onto the boards while looking through the masks. Steve was true to his word, as we saw lots of huge Parrot fish, and assorted others. It really was amazing. After a quick lunch aboard Odyssey, we weighed anchor for the 55 minute trip to our favorite spot, the "Hook" on Isla San Francisco. We are going to get spoiled because we pulled into an empty anchorage. That's at least twice on this trip that we have been the only boat here. As usual, the first order of business after dropping and setting the anchor, is a jump over the side and a cold beer. Does it sound like I'm bragging? Sorry, it just amazes me being down here, all the small moments that are so incredible. Since we opted for a light travel day today, our last full day out, tomorrow we will have to cover about 45 miles (at 6mph), so an early start will be necessary. Other than the one Skip Jack Tuna that we landed, and the one small Dorado that we lost, the fishing has been slow. We enjoyed a simple dinner of stir-fried rice and relaxed in the cockpit watching the full moon rise. There was not even a ripple on the bay as we turned in, and I kept asking for a breeze to cool us off. Well, careful what you ask for! The wind came up at about 10:30pm, slowly building throughout the night. By 2:00am we were being rolled and rocked all over the place. This continued until we prepared to get under way in the morning.

06/02/15
We made coffee and secured things under a clear and windy sky. We had the anchor up and were motoring dead into the 3-4' waves and 15+ knots of wind at 07:00am. The conditions were very sloppy for a couple of hours, but gradually smoothed out as we neared Isla Partida. Things got more settled as we continued south, and then Susan caught a nice Bonita off the west end of Isla Ballena. After securing her fish for eating later, I threw the cedar plug lure back into the water where it was immediately grabbed by a very large Dorado. As the big fish leaped into the air repeatedly, I scurried to get to the pole. I applied thumb pressure to the reel to try to slow the rate that the fishing line was being pulled out. As my thumb began to burn and blister from the friction, our beautiful Dorado spit out the lure and headed for the safety of deeper water. Oh well, it was quite a thrill while it lasted. The winds came and went several times during our 8 1/2 hour trip, and I even put out the sails several times, only to roll them back up a short time later. We arrived safely back at the dock at about 3:30pm, in the middle of the hot afternoon. After a few small chores we quickly retreated to the air conditioned restaurant at the foot of the boat dock, called The Dock. Eventually a breeze came up, which helped dissipate the warm air that seemed to be blanketing the area. Both being tired and sunburned, we called it an early night.