Rough landing

Puerto Escondido, BCS, Mexico

Two days ago we left our lovely anchorage at Isla Coronados. The last night we spent there was quite a bit more rolly than it had been previously. A SE swell had found us, indicating a change in the prevailing winds. I'm pretty sure every other boat anchored there left as well, some just went around the corner to the NE side of the island and others, like us, headed for other places. We decided to fight the light SE winds and head SE for the very protected harbour of Puerto Escondido.

We left Isla Coronados at around 8:45 AM, had our sails up within a few minutes and sailed for 6 straight hours in winds of between 4 and 8 knots, close hauled on just four tacks all day, making our way southward. As we neared Escondido, the wind started freshening up and we soon found ourselves punching into heavier seas and up to 20 knots of wind, coming of course from exactly the diretion we wanted to go. We had to hurry and close all the ports down below before the spray got too boisterous. With about 5 miles to go, we took in our Genoa and started the engine and motored into the wind and waves until we rounded Punta Coyote and made our approach into the harbour. All in all, we traveled about 26 miles on this 19-mile passage.

The harbour at Puerto Escondido is entered from the SW. First is a moderate-sized anchorage area filled with quite a few private moorings and a bit exposed to southern winds, known as the "waiting room". Next is a very narrow entrance channel with only about 9 feet of water and subject to currents (about 1.5 knots going with us as we entered). There is a small, semi-circular, shallow harbour here which is always full of boats anchored in very close quarters; then you pass a breakwater and enter the main harbour - a huge, completely land-locked bay with a small marina (can handle about a dozen boats) and about 112 permanent mooring balls, plus some room around the edges for boats to anchor. These moorings are basically first-come first-served and a fee is charged at the marina. Because of the upcoming festival (Loreto Fest), I guess they are taking some reservations as well, but we just grabbed a mooring and hoped for the best. Since by the time we were moored, it was 5:00 PM and the office was closed, there was little we could do about it anyway.

The real excitement for the day was our attempt at grabbing a mooring ball. At the best of times, this has always been a challenge for us. Somehow, I have to get the boat close enough to the mooring for Susanne to use our boathook to grab the float and rope connected thereto, and keep it stationary long enough for her to get one of our lines strung through it and tied down to a cleat on deck. As we were attempting it this time, the wind was a pretty steady 17 knots and I was having very little luck putting the boat anywhere close to where I wanted it. In the end I think we were at it for almost an hour before we had some success. I'm sure we gave everyone in the harbour a lot of entertainment. To add insult to injury, as soon as we had the boat tied on securely, the wind completely died. There is no justice in this world!

Yesterday was Sunday but the office was open and we managed to pay for 10 days on the mooring, which will mean we will be here for Loreto Fest. As anticipated, they do have internet; however their big antenna has been knocked down by the wind and we cannot get any signal our where we are moored, even with our big Wi-Fi antenna. This being Mexico it is hard to say if and when this will be rectified. In case you are wondering, the cost for us staying on a mooring here is about $8.00 Cdn per day - as far as I know, the charge for anchoring in the harbour is the same. Currently the moorings are about 1/2 full. I suspect that this will change drastically as the week progresses - Loreto Fest starts on Thursday.

Last night we paid a visit, for cocktails, on a neighbor's boat - a nice big power boat with an ice-maker. We did not leave until well after dark and we had a great time trying to find our boat in the pitch-dark harbour - we neglected to turn on our anchor light as we did not think we would be gone that long. Thank you Barry for the loan of a flashlight.

Today, we shared a taxi with two other people and took a trip into the town of Loreto, where we had a walk around, a great lunch, and did some shopping for some luxury goods such as M&M's to replace our dwindling supplies of same. Tomorrow we may be off on a day-trip for some local sight-seeing. With any luck, my next post will have some pictures, as there is internet service if we lug the computer to the marina office or one of the local restaurants. We shall see...

{GMST}25|49.2|N|111|18.6|W|Puerto Escondido, BCS, Mexico|Puerto Escondido, BCS, Mexico{GEND}

Hiding from the wind

Isla Coronados, BCS, Mexico

We managed to go to shore a couple of days ago and discovered some interesting nature trails on the island, complete with signage explaining what we were seeing along the way. We started out on the walk to the volcano but gave up when we realized we were not very well prepared; we had on only our shorts and sandals and the trail had a lot of sharp, pointy plants lining the way, plus we were not carrying enough water for a serious hike. We thought we might go back another day. This is a very pretty island with a beautiful white sand beach and sand dunes. It is a popular place for boats taking tourists on day-trips from the nearby town of Loreto. Like many of the islands around here, it is a national park as well.

For the last two days, we have been confined to the boat as a strong north wind has made its appearance, making it a little rough for going to shore. Normally this would not stop us but with the outboard motor acting up, we are a little concerned if we end up having to row the dinghy against the wind - inflatable boats are not the best in those conditions. Our anchorage here is really good though, since we are on the south side of the island and have no big seas to contend with. As a result, more and more boats have been showing up, taking shelter along this protected coast. Last night we had around a dozen neighbors.

The weather has been a bit cooler and, for the first time since we left San Carlos, the skies have been cloudy. Don't worry though, it is still shorts and tee-shirt weather for us. Today, the skies have cleared and the sun broke through. The wind was still blowing this morning but has been easing off all day. Right now, around 4 in the afternoon, it is almost calm.

Tomorrow we will most likely head a little further south to the major harbour at Puerto Escondido. There is a big annual boating event called Loreto Fest starting next week at this harbour and the marina there is offering a discount on the moorings for the duration. We missed this party last year as we were too late coming north from La Paz, so this year we thought we would stick around and see what all the fuss is about. As a bonus, we should be able to pick up some internet in the harbour.

{GMST}26|06.1487|N|111|16.807|W|Isla Coronados, BCS, Mexico|Isla Coronados, BCS, Mexico{GEND}

Equipment update

Isla Coronados, BCS, Mexico

I suddenly realized that I have not talked about equipment failures since we left San Carlos. It goes without saying that if you cruise on a boat there will be failures - nothing designed for the marine environment will work for more than its warranty period, and anything that is not designed for the marine environment has probably voided its warranty by just being on a boat. Either way, equipment failures are a way of life for the average boater.

Having said that, we have been very lucky on this trip so far. On the crossing from San Carlos to Bahia Concepcion the only thing that went wrong is that the oil pressure gauge stopped working after running the engine for about two hours. The oil pressure warning buzzer was still ok and I did check to make sure that we had plenty of oil and the engine was not overheating, so overall this did not affect us greatly. After we were anchored in Bahia Concepcion, I traced the wires for the pressure sensor and made sure all the connections were secure. I could not find anything wrong and everything was good and tight - and now for some reason it has been working fine every since.

When anchoring for the first time in Bahia Concepcion, one of our depth sounders (the reliable one) could no longer find the bottom. Fortunately we have two separate depth sounders and the other one did not have any problem. After we were anchored, I determined that I had inadvertently dislodged the in-hull transducer for the depth sounder when I was storing some 2-liter Diet Coke bottles in the bilge. Easy fix - silicone to the rescue.

One good surprise has been how well our little Mercury 5-horse outboard has been working. After I gave it a little TLC back in San Carlos (just an oil change really), it has been a real trooper; starts easily and actually idles smoothly for the first time in its life - I can even get our dinghy, with just me aboard, to plane. Just yesterday I was commenting on this to Susanne, who agreed that it has never worked this well before. Of course, that was the wrong thing to say. We had angered the boating gods and they immediately got even. Minutes later, the motor started dying. Right now, it still starts easy and idles like a dream, but it as soon as you crank up the throttle, it dies. Probably a plugged fuel filter (no, I don't have a spare) or fouled carburetor jet, caused no doubt by me trying to use up the gasoline I purchased last year in San Diego - when will I ever learn! For now, we have just stowed the motor and are using oars - hopefully we will not have to row very far until I can get this solved.

Meanwhile, the mothership is on the move. After 3 wonderful nights at Caleta San Juanico (some nice hikes and more bocce ball on the beach), we have motored about 20 miles further south and are now anchored off the south shore of Isla Coronados. We might have stayed longer at San Juanico except that we could hear on the VHF radio that a lot of boats, especially power boats, were converging on the bay for some kind of party tonight. We prefer when things are nice and quiet. Here in the anchorage at Isla Coronados, there are only 4 sailboats including us; Perfect!

Isla Coronados is a small island, made up primarily of a single volcanic cone, rising to a height of 928 feet. There is a trail to the top if we feel really energetic tomorrow. We shall see...

{GMST}26|06.1487|N|111|16.807|W|Isla Coronados, BCS, Mexico|Isla Coronados, BCS, Mexico{GEND}

MV Sine Timore

Caleta San Juanico, BCS, Mexico

Once again the Sea of Cortez has turned our hardy sailing vessel into a motorboat.

Yesterday we left Bahia Santo Domingo at first light, around 6:45 AM, anticipating a nice, gentle north wind to waft us southeast. Alas, it was not to be. As we rounded the northern tip of Punta Concepcion, we found ourselves heading into a moderate east wind, around 8 to 10 knots right on the nose. We persevered until we were around the point and could turn to the SE to follow the coastline. As we approached the turn, the winds shifted to come from the SE, proving once again that age-old sailing adage that defines wind as "that which comes from the direction you want to go".

Being the diehard sailors that we are, we launched full sails and attempted to do some close-hauled sailing. We were able to sail for almost a full 1/2 hour at roughly 3 knots in a direction we did not want to go, until the winds died and we found ourselves crawling along in less than 5 knots of breeze. As we had a long way to go and could not waste any more time, we furled the headsail and turned on the iron genny. We motored at around 6.3 knots on very smooth seas for the rest of the day, arriving at Caleta San Juanico around 3 PM (Total distance was about 45 miles). We found ourselves a spot amongst the 8 to 10 other boats here and settled down to bake in the sun for a while. Temperatures over the last few days have been on the rise, hitting the low 30s for daytime highs. In this very protected anchorage with virtually no wind, it felt very hot.

Moments after we arrived, one of the neighboring boats dinghied over to invite us to a potato roast on the beach around 6 PM. Susanne put some potatoes in the oven to bake and created some sort of topping from our dwindling supplies of fresh produce. I got the dinghy pumped up and launched and we made it to the beach right on time. Bocce ball and good food was a nice end to a busy day.

This morning, we find that we are having our usual affect on the cruising fleet as a lot of the boats seem to be on the move, heading out for places unknown. Meanwhile we will stay put for today and explore this bay. Our cruising guide lists it as "one of the favorite cruising destinations in the Sea of Cortez for its assortment of beautiful beaches and geological formations, not to mention the superb hiking, snorkeling and fishing." We shall see!

One interesting note: When we were traveling northward last year, we did not stop here as the winds and seas at that time were quite boisterous from the SE, the one direction in which this bay has little protection. Instead, we had anchored around the corner in a little bay called La Ramada. Now we will get to see what we missed.

{GMST}26|22.13|N|111|25.81|W|Caleta San Juanico, BCS, Mexico|Caleta San Juanico, BCS, Mexico{GEND}

Going North to go South

Bahia Santo Domingo, Bahia Concepcion, BCS, Mexico

It is Wednesday, the day we thought we might start heading south. As a matter of fact, we have made a start - by going north of course.

You see, the problem with going south from Bahia Concepcion is the fact that you first have to get out of Bahia Concepcion. This means going north until you have exited from the bay, then curving slowly around to the east and ultimately to the south, going around Point Concepcion. This adds 2 or 3 hours to the overall trip. For that reason, and the fact that the prevailing winds have moved around and are now forecast to come from the SE for today and tomorrow, we have elected to just move 8 or 9 miles north within Bahia Concepcion and are now anchored in Bahia Santo Domingo, spitting distance from the point. This anchorage is pretty open to all directions except the east. Fortunately for us the winds are currently coming directly from the east and they are very light (around 10 knots).

Most of the boats that we were sharing the anchorage in Santispac with have left already. Most are going across the sea to San Carlos and were just waiting for the strong NW winds to abate. Our intention is to hang around here in Santo Domingo for another day, waiting for the NW winds to re-assert themselves (10 to 15 knots would be nice), then use them to push us south. As usual, we seem to be the only ones following this plan and we find ourselves completely alone again. I can't decide if we are just smarter than everyone else or have missed some crucial detail about the weather. A couple of other sailboats that were also heading south left early this morning - they waited until the NW winds were gone and took off to challenge the SE winds - I really don't get the logic! Plus the fact that the next logical anchorage south of here is one that is best visited during a north wind - totally exposed from the south and east.

Meanwhile, this Santo Domingo anchorage is a beautiful spot to spend some time. Dramatic shell-covered beach and striking red rock formations. The water is a lovely turquoise color and we can see clearly to the bottom - we are anchored in only about 17 feet of water. The anchor is well set and we have about 100 feet of chain out - we should sleep very soundly tonight. We will just have to wait and see what tomorrow brings...

{GMST}26|52|N|111|50.8|W|Playa Santo Domingo, BCS, Mexico|Playa Santo Domingo, BCS, Mexico{GEND}