Farewell Sail

December 8

We left Puerto Escondido and motored through the windless morning to Agua Verde. We arrived to see 5 boats in the northern anchorage. After a summer of having anchorages to ourselves further north this felt like a full parking lot. We opted to anchor farther away in the swell off the beach to have plenty of space. With the anchor safely set in the sandy bottom we loaded the dry bag with dry clothes and swam with it to shore. We hiked to the top of a hill in search of two bleating kids with a Mama Goat. Hundreds of crickets hopped out of our way along the rocky and thorny path. The top of the hill awarded us with a view of a valley bursting with the varying shades of green. On the way back down we met a man with a shovel and made friends with his Rottweiler.

Agua Verde- this place looks completely different than when we visited pre-rainy season. Everything is just bursting with green now!

Back on the boat we dined on tacos brimming with fresh salsa and BBQ steak while taking deep breaths of the fresh earthy smell wafting through the air and the deafening sound of singing crickets.

December 9

Next on our route was the sandy beach of Timbache with an impressive backdrop of the Sierra de la Gigante mountain range.

Mountain Range

Fisherman Manuel motored out to visit us.

Quiere pescado? – Do you want me to catch you a fish?

No gracias.

Quiere mi launcha? – Manuel had an extra dinghy for sale.

No gracias.

Quiere ir a la playa? – Do you want a ride to the beach?

Ladies and gentleman, we have a sale!

For a handful of pesos, batteries, and a bottle of wasabi Manuel took us to shore and drove us to Casa Grande. Manuel told us that his wife’s grandfather found a 5 carat pearl years ago. He sold it to a Spaniard and the pearl is now in a museum in Spain and worth millions. I’m sure he wishes they sold the pearl for more. Manuel and his wife raised 5 girls in this village of 22 families.

Getting a ride from Manuel to the beach so we can check out Casa Grande

Lovely hard flat beach. Perfect for a long walk or run

Casa Grande!

Timbache at sunset

December 10

Leaving early again we set sail for San Ysidro. The Norther was supposed to start today. The Northern Sea saw 45 knots. For us the wind slowly rose from 5 knots to 21 knots. The sky was speckled with feeding pelicans, boobies, and seagulls.

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Dolphins! This guy kept his head above water to check us out.

Bottlenose dolphins jumped across the horizon. We anchored off the salt pond ruins and tucked behind the sandy spit of land to wait for the wind and waves to abate.

December 11

After our morning cup of coffee, we sailed to the turquoise waters of Ensenada Grande on Isla Espiritu Santo. The sailing started out very mildly and ended with huge beam seas. Ensenada Grande offered a refuge from the building seas so Moondance could sit idly while we jumped off the boat and swam along the rocky shore to snorkel.

Ensenada Grande- amazing water at this anchorage

We made a new friend!

December 12

By 10am we had decided to leave. The wind was blowing 8-12 knots and the seas were calm. This was going to be a beautiful crossing to Mazatlan. Farewell Sea of Cortez. The last 6 months have been fabulous…

A Pretend Sailor

The last week of October my sister crossed the border with us, hopped on the 15 hour bus ride from Tijuana to Santa Rosalia, and settled in for a week of Moondance living.

In her own words:

I suppose it all began with the want for something new.  The desire to be different.  To have another adventure! I was on my sister’s (Lanea) boat, Moondance, with her husband (Conor) for a little less than a week and I was trying to do my part to be useful on a thing I knew nothing about.  I know that boats can float and they can make you sick in rough waters.  Aside from that my boat knowledge is limited to a lifejacket.  This means that when I ask to help out with something either Conor or Lanea tell me to grab some object from some part of the boat and put it somewhere else or tie it somehow, and I just give a dumb stare and wonder if I should just get below deck to get out of the way.

However, when they said they needed to clean the underside of the boat, I thought, well hell!  I know how to do that!  Rub dirt away?  Simple, easy, and completely do-able for a beginner!  My hesitation started when it was decided to clean the boat in the morning.  We had seen scores of tiny jellyfish in the water the previous 2 days but only in the mornings.  Hmmmm.

This was followed by Lanea repeatedly telling me that if there were any barnacles on the bottom of the boat they would cut my hands wide open.  Not only do not try to wipe the barnacles away but don’t even touch them.  In my mind a shark would come quickly after.  But hey, that is what imaginations are for!

Morning came and Conor was the first to jump into the water to test it out. First word out of his mouth when coming back up for air was “Ow.” Promptly afterwards he swam back to the boat and counted the little red dots appearing on his skin.  Hmm, again. Lanea, Conor and I all proceeded to get dressed in shirts and pants to cover our bodies from the jellies.  Snorkel on with rag in hand, we jumped in.  Not so bad.  Some stings here and there but overall, bearable. There was a point where I tried to pay attention to where the jellies where and avoid them but it was like avoiding raindrops while driving. Quite fruitless.  I am not going to lie, there may have been a time or two where a jelly was right in front of my face and I tried to blow it away…with a snorkel on. At this point I think I actually saw a jelly fish laugh at me.  Needless to say it didn’t work as well as I had hoped.  Swatting, I found, was almost just as ineffective.  Fortunately there were no barnacles and so the biggest problem was jellies rather than lost limbs and fighting sharks. Not too shabby! All in all the boat was not too bad. Gross in the fact I felt like a fish in a fish tank swimming in all the filth we just washed from the boat, it was nice to see the boat from a different perspective.

Time and time again I find that I have a hidden fear of suffocation.  I feel perhaps I am not alone in the feeling of unpleasantness when I can’t breathe.  Yes? Any takers? Everybody likes to breathe? Good. A few times, while cleaning the boat, I came up to the surface coughing up water and gasping for air but this can happen to me in a 4 foot pool as well. At least here I have the excuse “I’m in the ocean!” and maybe sound a little cooler?  When you are in a pool surrounded by children starring dumbly at you as you cough and gasp for air and are 2 feet taller than them, it is harder to validate.

Lanea and Conor already assigned me to the top part of the bottom of the boat to clean so that I wouldn’t have to swim much, just keep afloat.  When finished I felt comfortable and ready to ignore my fears by swimming further down to clean. By the 7^th time I swam further down my heart was beating so hard it was all I could hear in the water. I thought this was a normal thing.  Apparently it is just as awkward semi drowning in a shallow pool as it is describing how scary it is to swim 5 feet down to sailors. I can just imagine my sailor stories now. “Well, it was just me and the boat.  We were in calm waters and there were tiny jellyfish. I knew it had to be done so I dove in the water and swam.  It felt like miles but when I reached 5 feet, I knew I had reached my limit!”  I would be beaten with manta rays and thrown onto land for good!

To sum up the trip with my sister and her husband, it was amazing.  Coming from a family with no sailors on either side and for them now to be living on a boat, I tip my hat to you.  I know I am preaching to the choir when I say that sailing is hard.  There is a lot of upkeep and watchful eyes needed at all times.  But, this was so much more amazing than I thought it would be.  Dolphins, manta rays, and fish jumping out at you on a weekly/daily basis.  Colors that seem to be impossible in the wild, beautiful weather in all its natural glory.  This was a good week to be a pretend sailor!

Making friends with the locals… dogs

The best ice cream in town

Sabrina on the bow on the way to Isla San Marcos

Sabrina taking it all in

We introduce Sabrina to the hot dog cart

Hiking in Santa Rosalia

Spear fishing spoils

Hiking with flip flops can be hazardous

The Ocean is Calling Us

When we first returned to California we wanted to have nothing to do with the ocean. We hiked in the mountains instead of on the beach. We preferred to go to a restaurant with a view of land in favor of the beach.

This weekend we finally took some time to reacquaint ourselves with the ocean.

San Clemente Pier

High Tide in San Clemente

San Clemente Palms

Conor and Mama Riley

Paddle Board Surfer with Regatta out of Dana Point in the background

After a very successful trip to the Yacht Surplus store, Minney’s in Costa Mesa (LOVE that store!!), we are ready to return to our dear Moondance this week and sail her to Puerto Vallarta before our return trip to CA for the holidays!

Dinghy Racing on Monday Funday

Our Mondays here in the Sea of Cortez are not quite the same as they were in Northern California.

After our early morning hike on Isla San Francisco, we set out to snorkel. This attempt was foiled as soon as we were about to get in the water as the easterly winds picked up and whitecaps were quickly forming. We hurried back to the dinghy, rowed out to the boat and decided to wait out the easterly wind at Bahia Amortajada on San Jose Island which is known for having mangrove lined channels perfect for dinghy racing.

As soon as we arrived the north Bahia Amortajada anchorage we were visited by a handful of bees. Scout bees looking for fresh water. Our boat is covered with salt, how could they possibly be interested in us?

Click here Dinghy racing! to see our youtube racing video http://youtu.be/HU9cQgQEkLY

The smallest inhabited island we have ever seen! We passed it on the way to SJ Island.

Unlike mainland Mexico, these mangroves have cacti and desert mountains behind them.

Dinghy racing through the mangroves at San Jose Island

Moondance at anchor on the north side of Bahia Amortajada on Isla San Jose. You can anchor on the north or south side of this spit of land depending on the wind direction but it offers little wind protection at night.

Hello Mr. Hermit!

Is it safe yet?

On the run

And away he goes!

The water was amazing. We landed the dinghy just inside the channel. We found clam shells the size of our heads!

After our dinghy adventure we returned to the boat to rinse off with fresh water. As soon as I finished my fresh water rinse on the foredeck I saw a bee land in the water and lift its butt up and down several times- it looked like a happy dance.

Yeah, wait till I tell the guys about all this fresh water I found!

As we have head tales of bees completely covering a boat in search for water in such great numbers that the boat looks black from a distance, I ran back to the cockpit and said, “Conor, we have to leave NOW!!!”

15 minutes later we weighed anchor and made our way back to Isla San Francisco.

San Francisco Island

On Sunday, June 17th we sailed from Playa Bonanza on Isla Espiritu Santo to the eastern anchorage on Isla San Francisco.

Successfully anchored! We first checked out the eastern anchorage but the waves and wind were coming out of the east so we dropped the hook on the western side. The wind changed and started to come out of the west. After several nights of 30knot coromuels in our last anchoarage off Playa Bonanza we decided not to knowingly sign up for a rough night. We weighed anchor and dropped the hook on the east side. A beautiful and peaceful anchorage.

We shared the beach with a fish camp.

Salt

The popular sandy ‘Hook’ anchorage is on the west and the rocky secluded anchorage is on the east. There is one more anchorage on the north side of the island.

We are protecting ourselves from the sun with our new hats gifted by Total Yacht Works in Mazatlan.

We hiked along this entire ridge

Isla San Francisco

Meeting the island wildlife

These guys are everywhere! They live on rocky beaches and scatter away from you like cockroaches in the hundreds.

It’s time for the crabs to shed. We saw huge live crabs on San Francisco Island.

Our first taste of the Sea of Cortez

Playa Bonanza on Isla Espiritu Santo.

We arrived at dawn on Friday, June 15th and left for Isla San Francisco on Sunday, June 17th after two nights of evening coromuels which brought winds of 30 knots. We often refer to a Simpsons episode when Bart Simpson is left at home alone while the rest of his family is gone.

Daytime is AWESOME!!

Nighttime is SCARY!!

During our hike on shore along the beach, through the brush, and up the surrounding hills we were attacked by thorny bushes and a seagull who repeatedly dive bombed us when we unknowingly got too close to his/her babies. The water is incredibly clear, warm, and beautiful!

View of Moondance from la playa

Playa Bonanza

The water is here is beautiful!

Crazy cactus!

Our decent down the hill back to the boat.

Conor rowing to shore.

We had dinner and a show on the deck. We ate and watched manta rays and flying fish both jump out of the water.

Gone Sailing!

Bidding farewell to towel service, 2 pools, and the best ice cream we have had in Mexico, we left Marina El Cid in Mazatlan on Wednesday morning at 8am. We turned off the engine and set the sails by 9am and sailed straight for the next 31 hours! This is not only our longest record of sailing straight without engine assistance, we also had such great winds that we hit 146 nautical miles in our first 24 hours and saw flying fish, dolphins, and sharks!

If I were a cowboy, I would have loved this passage. Crossing the sea was like riding a bucking bronco. The choppy sea had its way with us and inflicted me with a case of mal de mer so bad that I ate little more than a bowl of cereal in the next two days. Surprisingly, I was still  able to do all of my watches. As the first time I was seasick was the crossing from west to east, I figured that I would be seasick from east to west. I was happy that we had winds up to 22 knots which would ensure that it would be over as fast as possible!

We were actually doing such great time that we were on track to anchor at Playa Bonanza on Isla Espiritu Santo 8 hours earlier than expected. When we had passed Isla Cerralvo and had Isla Espiritu Santo in sight the wind died. We finally turned on the engine, took down the main sail, and as I scanned the horizon I saw that there were wind waves past the island. Our plans to anchor that night were quickly foiled as we were hit with a coromuel and had winds of up to 30 knots on the nose. After a night of 2 hour watches, putting all of our foulies on (ski clothes for sailors), and getting drenched by the waves coming over the bow and in to the cockpit we finally dropped the hook at 7am the next morning.

We have spent two more nights in Playa Bonanza, each night with coromuels containing winds of up to 27 knots coming out of the SW. Our anchor has held very well, we hiked the  island, walked the beach, and have experienced the clearest water we have seen so far in Mexico. Last night, we had dinner on the deck and watched what looked like mini longhorns coming down to the beach with babies. We saw schools of manta rays that swam by the boat and waved hello to us. They then spread out across the bay and we could hear flop, flop, flop, for several hours. The flop was the sound of them hitting the water after jumping up and out of the water, waving their fins, and trying to fly in a feeding frenzy.

This has been so much fun and we can’t wait for the next anchorage!

Internet is only marginal here so no photos and we may not be able to post for another 2-3 weeks but we will post when we can!

 

May 15th. Happy Tropical Storm Season!

May 15th marks the beginning of the Tropical Storm Season. This means that we have now entered Hurricane Season in the Northeastern Pacific. Tropical Storm Aletta is right on time.

The good thing is that Aletta (marked in yellow) is not that strong, moving west and poses no threat to us in the Puerto Vallarta area. Read more about Aletta HERE.

The Tropical Storm Season also means that it is time for us to head north which we plan to do in the next week. The storm area reaches as far north as the Tropic of Cancer at 23.28 degrees latitude, insurance companies typically cover boats north of 24 degrees latitude (La Paz is just north of 24 degrees), and we intend to stay well north of that latitude this summer in the Sea of Cortez.

We expect to have pretty soft (easy) conditions to go north. Despite the daily temperatures north of 100F (in La Paz), we are still excited to head north!

Updated Sailing Route

Updated Sailing Route

San Francisco Bay to Banderas Bay

We have made it as far south as we are going to go this season and plan to head up to the  Sea of Cortez next month where we will remain for hurricane season.

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