Loreto Fest is history

We are currently anchored in Honeymoon Cove on Isla Danzante. It was just a 3.5 mile trip across from Puerto Escondido, but it was nice to get away. Helen flew out yesterday and with the driving help of Louis on Azzuza it was a stress free day. I did some re provisioning in town after letting off Helen at the airport so I should be good till she gets back. Helen wrote from D.C. that she had arrived to a thunderstorm and was having her first rain since October. Hope she has a great trip.

Loreto Fest was a lot of fun. It was great to see some old faces that we had not seen in about 6 months. I was really surprised how many new boats we meet. They have all spent the winter up here or in La Paz, and most will head to the mainland next fall. there were about 100 boats that came in for the event. The fest had something going every hour of the day for 3 and 1/2 days. Games and seminars were held every day. We sold drink and food tickets for two hours each day so we basically got to meet everyone during that time. The event is sponsored by the Hidden Port Yacht Club, and Michael and Mike and Marcia would be proud to know we are now members of HPYC. Hey for 600 pesos we got two memberships, two tee shirts, a burgee, and free spaghetti diner and pancake breakfast. What a deal. They actually have reciprocating all over the world or at least it has been used all over the world. We also have a Burgee to fly proudly. I will include a picture when I get internet some day. The main event on Saturday night was a togo party. Holding to my usually self I wore a stunning white with purple trim and colorful butterflies togo. Helen's matched, and she looked a whole lot better in hers than I did. It made a fun night. Some friends from Mystic Moon wore bright yellow togos and looked just like Harry Christna (sp) even including a little dance to go with the mood. Every night was some sort of potluck, so it was one big social event. Chances are this was our only fest that we will attend since we should be in Costa Rica this time next year.

We will now spend the next couple of months exploring the northern part of the Sea of Cortez. The weather will start getting really hot, soon but the water should warm up and the fishing should be getting a lot better. When we can't stand the heat we will put the boat on the hard and spend a little shore time exploring. Hope all is well with everyone.
Dave and Helen

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It is getting hot

We are on a bouy here in Puerto Escondido. Last night when we tried to go to bed it was 85 in the cabin at 11pm and 80 outside. At 9 am it was 82 in the cabin and 78 outside. The high has been right around 90 most days so the heat is on. The location is amazing. We are nestled below the Giganta Mts and they are breath taking. The bay is almost land locked with the entrance only being 10 ft deep and about 100ft wide. We are paying $84 a week to tie to a mooring bouy, and that is a pretty good deal. The problem is there are no extra facilities. It is 15 miles to the town of Loreto and a $70 round trip taxi ride. They will take you to town and let you off, and then come back to pick you up when ever you want. They also take you to the store and any other errands you need for the same price. Today we spent 7 hrs seeing Loreto and shopping, and the driver was always there to meet us when we needed him. There is a taxi mafia so there are no options on transportation. A number of years ago a local person took some cruisers to town and was arrested for having started her on taxi company. This was a one shot deal, but she actually saw the inside of a jail before everyone came to her rescue. I understand that it is not as big of an issue now. Tomorrow the Loreto Fest starts. It sounds like a lot of activities, but we really have no idea what it is about. There are a lot of boats we know here so it will be fun catching up with those people. Some we haven't seen in 6 months.

Before we came here we were in Bahia Candeleros. This was a very open bay not protected from most winds. The only resident occupant was an Eco Resort on one end. We had a great time exploring the beach, and when we got back to the boat we snorkeled for Chocolate Clams. The water is now 75 degrees so it is comfortable. Chocolate clams are brown both on the outside and the inside as well. We didn't get too many, but what we got were great. We only spent one night there, being anchored in 10 ft of water makes me a little uncomfortable but we had a great time.

On our trip up from La Paz we anchored in Ensenada Grande on Isla Partida. This was a new place for us. We choose the wrong anchorage out of the 3 available and spent the whole night bobbing in the wind and waves. There were two other anchorages in the same bay that would have been much better.

The next night we spent anchored in Isla San Francisco. This is a small volcanic island, and we were anchored right in the bowl of the volcano. I wished we would have done more exploring of the island, but I cleaned our whole bottom instead. Next time we will explore more.

The next couple of nights we anchored in Evaristo and Agua Verde. We have been to both places before, and it was nice to be back. At that point we were on a fast pace to get to Loreto for the Fest.

Hope all is well for everyone and we are looking forward to cinco de Mayo in Mexico.
Jammin

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Sitting Back in La Paz

We are currently sitting at anchor in La Paz in the La Costa virtual anchorage. We had no idea we were in a virtual anchorage until the Harbor Master of this non sectioned off piece of open water came and told us so. To anchor in his virtual anchorage was going to cost us $5 a day unless we wanted to move literally 50ft then we would be outside their anchorage area. Actually when the tide goes out the boat is officially not in the anchorage, but the anchor is. Being too lazy to move, and we do get great showers and a locked dingy dock we choose to stay put. When I asked the Harbor Master what were the boundaries of the virtual anchorage all he said was just a little over there, behind us of course. Everything is just a suggestion here in Mexico.
It is amazing how the weather changes since coming across. It is still just as hot and the sun beats down hard, but there is no humidity. You would think that is a good thing, but I can't seem to keep enough fluids in me, my nose is plugged up from it and my throat is so dry it hurts. I remember this happening when I used to go play over in eastern Oregon during the summer. Oh ya and my lips got chapped in one day without chapstick. I'm the one who is suppose to like the heat so I better shut up.

We had a good crossing but had to cut it short and went to Muertos instead of straight to La Paz. On our second day at sea everyone forecasted 25 to 30 for the whole day and at 3:00 am it started. When we got to Muertos it was blowing 20 + so we sat for the day. Rick and Don said it was going to settle down and max would be 10 to 15 the next day. Next morning it was a little gusty to start and I kept waiting for it to calm down. Oh ya did I mention we took off to go north. Well we rounded the point and headed into Cerralvo Channel and hit 25knts on the nose with 6 to 8 ft swells left over from the day's blow before, and side bashing from cross swells. Helen left her seat and landed in the cockpit floor before going down below for better traction. It was suppose to mellow out so we continued. We ended up beating our selves up the whole day to make it to La Paz. It finally calmed down when we turned the corner to make the run to La Paz. A couple of the boats, who also took Don's advice and were out there with us, said it was the largest swell they have ever seen in the sea that either could remember. Go figure.

We will be here one or two days more to reprovision and then head north. This will be our last large city till we hit Santa Rosalia in a month or so. Loreto is a good size city but where we anchor is 12 miles south of the town and a $45 taxi to get to town. WE are looking forward to visiting the many isolated anchorages along the way. Chances of internet are very slim so sailmail us when you get a chance.

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Across The Southern Passage

After spending three weeks in La Cruz we are on the 5th day of a fast passage to La Paz and the Loreto for the Loreto Fest. Stops along the way included Punta Mita, Chacala, San Blas, Mazatlan, and we are currently crossing the Lower part of The Sea Of Cortez. It is 247 miles to La Paz so it will take about two days, at least two full nights. We are currently about 40 miles off the coast of Mazatlan and it is 3:00 am. The winds are calm and the seas are flat. We were sailing but the wind died about 2 hrs ago. Our current speed is only 4.7 knts. I am not sure if there is a current, tide, or just a lot of growth on our bottom. I wanted to check it out before leaving, but the water was cold and cloudy. I probably should have done it anyway. The weather is suppose to turn to a strong Northernly by Thursday, which means if we would have waited till then we would have wind right on our nose at about 25knts and wind waves of about 6ft coming the same direction. I don't really want to do that for 247 miles.

We have had a great time on the mainland side of Mexico and look forward to next fall when we will head down that way again. Our plan right now is to spend as much of the summer up in the northern part of the Sea, as long as we can stand the heat. Right now we are scheduled to put the boat on hard ground for the months of August, September, and part of October. July might be too hot also so we will have to see. During the time on land we hope to see both Mike and Kelsey and visit our friends back home. I will do a better job of updating our log now that we are heading for new territory again.

Hope all is well with everyone, and cruising is everything we had hoped it would be. The water just needs to be warmer!

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Barra De Navidad

If Disney would make a Mexican City Barra would be it. It is clean with small narrow streets , and friendly English speaking people. We are anchored in the Barra Lagoon, a large and very shallow body of water that is surrounded by a resort on the south side and Barra on the north. We are anchored in 11 ft of water with 120 ft of chain out. Every boat has the same amount out, and boats drag every time the wind gets above 25knts. The bottom is really bad holding with gooey mud about 2 ft thick. Bruce and CQR's seem to have the most problem. The town does make up for the pain it is to get into the anchorage. There are taco stands and tourist shops on every corner. Unlike PV and Mazatlan the prices are more like what we had hoped for in Mexico. The daily temperature has been in the high 80's every day; our tans are getting great. The French Baker makes his rounds every morning using a panga to deliver his goods. True French pastries and french bread are the way to start the morning.
Today we had to say goodbye to Hiatus and Moody Blues. They are both heading south and we are going north. It was a little hard as we have been cruising with Hiatus since the end of September. We look forward to meeting up again, but it might a year till we see both again. It has been great having been able to cruise such a long time with special friends. The memories will last a life time. Go dingy surfing!!!! Thanks to you all.

Carrizal Bay

After Leaving Santiago Bay. We spent one night in a little cove called Carrizal. Of course it is not really on any charts but it is recommended in the cruising guide. Moody Blues, Hiatus, and us were the only boats. There was a 4 to 5 foot swell running into the bay but it wasn't too rolly at first. Later that night when we went sideways to the swell it was very uncomfortable. We had diner of smoked pork chops and drinks on our boat with Kent, Heather, Gene, and Susea. The surroundings reminded us of the northwest. Because of the swell and lack of sleep we left for Barra the next morning, but not until I started cinnamon rolls which we would have once we arrived at Barra.

Santiago Bay

We left Santiago Bay about a week ago. We had a great time being part of the local cruising community. It was the first time we felt like we really did belong. Santiago is just a few miles away from Manzanillo but a world away from the hustle bustle of the city life. The pollution from the power plant was much less, but in the end it was one of the reasons we left. The community of Mirimar, which is the anchorage part of Santiago Bay, is very upscale, but smaller beach front homes. We were still able to go to Manzanillo for final provisioning on a 5 peso bus. What a deal! We also went to two local semi pro soccer games with about 30 other cruisers. We did this two Sundays in a row. On the second trip we actually commandeered a bus which we actually filled to take us to the game. It was great interacting with the local crowd. The silly string was flying. Drums and noise makers were all around us. It was a blast.

On Feb 28th the cruisers took over a local outdoor bar to celebrate Kent and Linda from another boat joint birthdays. We stayed till dark when the bugs drove us back on the boat to finish the celebration.