Playful Dolphins

Yesterday July the 31st, Judy and I arose early, hauled anchor, and sailed out of Bahia Marquer , bound for Loreto. We had heard good things about the Farmers Market where the fruit and vegetables are supposedly of higher quality and of lower price. However, if one considers the fuel consumed, the savings are most likely negated, but the quality would be worth the effort and expense. The vegetables in the mercados (markets) are normally old and of inferior quality. We arrived without incident and anchored off of Loreto. Once we had Wind Raven secured we changed and proceeded to leave for town. Upon leaving the cockpit to board the Dink I noticed a diver about 100’ off of our stern. I did not feel comfortable leaving Wind Raven unattended so far off shore with an unknown person so close. It just didn’t feel right. Judy suggested that I run her in with the Dink and return to the boat. Her suggestion sounded more prudent under the circumstances and that is what I did. Besides, I thought I could use the time to get some maintenance done on the boat while she was shopping. I gave her the hand-held VHF radio and told her to call me on ch-22 when she returned to the dock. About 20 minutes after I dropped her off she called me on 22. I responded but she couldn’t hear me on the “West Marine” VHF. Shit, I knew she hadn’t had enough time to walk to the Farmers Market, much less do her shopping. I had no idea why she would call so soon. I took the dinghy to the dock, but she wasn’t there. I then ran out to another sailboat anchored nearby and asked them call her on their radio to make sure mine was transmitting. Unfortunately, he experienced the same results, confirming that the problem was on her end. She must have called me 50 times in the next couple of hours. I could imagine all sorts of problems that were causing her to call, but there was simply nothing I could do but wait. It was very frustrating to say the least. To make a long story short, Judy was not lost mind you, she knew where she was, so it must be the market that was lost. I just kept waiting and watching for her to come walking down the Malecon while listening to her call Wind Raven over the radio. I finally spotted her on a bench as she continued to call Wind Raven on the hand held. I picked her up and discovered her broken foot was hurting pretty bad from her extended walk. It seems to be taking a long time to heal. Anyway, I ran her to the boat in the dinghy. She had not procured everything we needed in town, so I then went into town to finish the grocery shopping at the market, as Judy had only gone to the Farmers Market for vegetables, due to her foot.

The day had been very hot with extremely high humidity, which made it an uncomfortable day all around for us both. Upon my return to Wind Raven we prepared the boat for departure and then headed back to my (our?) favorite anchorage at Bahia Marquer. Feeling the breeze once under way was a blessing after the sultry atmosphere experienced in Loreto. We had put out fishing lines on our way over, but hadn’t had any luck. Jones-ing for a Dorado filet I decided to give it another go on our return trip. About an hour out I hooked a nice Dorado on a magnum Repala lure. This time I used the gaff and landed it without incident, well almost without incident. As I brought the fish over the gunnels into the cockpit he did a flip and came off the gaff. He must have thought he was free, because he was trying to swim at about 90 miles an hour in the dry cockpit, and making several quite admiral attempts to leap over the side and back into the sea. While these lively acrobatics were transpiring, I was standing on top of the lazarette intently watching that Repala lure with those huge looking treble hooks that he was flinging about in the cockpit. Once he settled down, I stepped off my perch, and approached him with extreme caution, while keeping a wary eye on those treble hooks and then removed the lure. Placing it safely out of his reach!

The rest of the trip was uneventful until after we anchored and I noticed our lack of a dinghy. It no longer seemed to be tied to the stern. Shit…..Shit…..Shit…… I knew it was there 45 minutes ago, because I had seen it tied to the stern rail when I reeled in the fishing lines as we entered the bay. We had only about three hours of light remaining to search for it. This would be like looking for the proverbial “needle in a haystack.” It would truly be a miracle, if we found it. The wind was blowing pretty hard and trying to spot a tiny white dinghy amongst the thousands of white caps, seemed an impossible task. I told Judy that there was no way we would be able to find it amongst all of those whitecaps. Judy said there was no way we could afford to replace it, so we had to find it. She said “we have to have faith” and pray for its return. She then looked at me and very firmly stated “WE WILL FIND IT” we have to. Somewhat reluctantly and being down in spirit I conceded, hauled anchor and headed back out into the vast sea. Her faith amazes me at times; she was so certain that we would find it. I wish I had her faith, it must be very comforting. We then headed out, bearing on a more northerly tack, while attempting to follow the dinghie’s yaw that was due to the winds course. While standing on the bow, with Judy at the helm, I searched 180 degrees off the bow. Looking through our 10 x 50 binoculars I thought I saw a tiny white cap on the horizon that didn’t seem to go away like all the others. We were about a mile out of Bahia Marquer at the time and something was telling me that it was our dinghy. It was way north of where I thought it should be, but if it turned out to not be it, dark would be upon us and would end our chances of finding it forever. You have to realize that our dinghy is very small; having about ten inches of freeboard and is white to boot. It was a “one in a million shot.” With Judy at the helm and me standing on the bow directing her, we preceded towards the tiny white spot, praying it was our dinghy. Judy was correct; we did find it 3.6 miles out. If you know anything about visibility at sea with the curvature of the earth, you will realize this was a miraculous find. Thank you for watching over your ignorant children Lord. After lashing our errant dinghy securely to the stern rail, we returned to the bay, anchored and retired for the night. We both slept like babies and all was well once again!

I forgot to mention previously, that the last time we were on our way out of Puerto Escondido, I noticed a large disturbance on the water about 500 yards off the port bow. Since I had a couple of lines out, and thinking it to be Dorado chasing baitfish, I headed towards the disturbance. As the bow entered the disturbed area we realized it was not fish, but Dolphins. We were literally surrounded by hundreds of these beautiful animals. Judy was standing on the bow laughing and screaming with joy as the dolphins jumped out of the water all around us. They stayed with us for a mile or so, playing and racing with Wind Raven. It was an unexpected exhilarating treat to be so close to these beautiful and intelligent creatures.

After spending a day or so kicking back and enjoying the sea we decided it was time to do some maintenance. We cleared out the quarter birth to access the house batteries and check the water. They turned out to be fine. When we were about finished I took a break and as I entered the cockpit I noticed a pod of Dolphins in the bay. This was a first, as they usually stay outside of the bay and off the point. I hollered at Judy that there were Dolphins present, as she truly enjoys them. Her enthusiasm is reminiscent of a child’s anticipation and joy as they enter the gates of Disneyland for the first time. I hailed Richard on his trimaran that was anchored close by, informing him of their presence, as he had indicated interest in photographing them earlier. Judy and I jumped into our rescued dinghy and headed over to them, with Judy laughing and whooping on the bow. As we entered the school they all came to our boat and were swimming, jumping and cavorting all around and in front of us. Richard was still on his boat, as he was in the middle of a painting project. I thought, well if he can’t come to the Dolphins, we will try to lead them to him. I turned sharply to port to see what the Dolphins would do. They also turned with us and were in a very playful mood, jumping up to at least ten feet in the air at times (double half-gainers). We led them over to his boat, but when we got within about a hundred feet they turned away. We went back out and led them back to his boat, and again they turned away as we got close to his boat. I yelled to Richard that they obviously did not like his boat. About this time he finished his painting, grabbed his camera, jumped in his dinghy and joined us playing with the Dolphins and taking photos. The photos displayed are the ones he took, as We were” having too much fun” and forgot the camera.. The Dolphins stayed around playing with us for almost two hours. It was a Great experience. Next time they visit I will take my camera! (and our snorkeling masks so I can jump in and see them swim under water!) Judy

Today I must check the engine batteries water. To do this I must empty the port lazarette , so I might as well run the water maker while I have access to the valves. I checked the Capstan battery yesterday and it seemed to be okay, but I think I will add the other new battery to it, which will give me 1500 amps. That should do it! Maybe the Dolphins will visit again today. I sure hope so, it is good to see Judy so happily excited!

While checking the starting battery on 8/3/2011, I discovered the alternator and the water maker belts to be loose. I procured the necessary tools and tightened the alternator belt, but then discovered that the water maker belts were adjusted all the way out. It’s always something, it seems. I removed the bracket and extended the slide so as to give it more room for adjustment. Upon doing so I discovered the bracket had been bent to facilitate an improper installitation. I have no idea why they did this but it is correctly shaped and properly installed now. Unfortunately, this was not the only problem. Behind the refrigeration pump someone had installed the wrong pipe fitting, which restricted the movement of the pump, which the belts were around. Since I did not have the correct fitting, I had to move the high pressure water pump back an inch and a half to secure the adjustment space needed. I put up the tools and fired up the water maker. It worked great. That is until a pressure hose rubbed up against the pulley and caused a small hole that was squirting water towards the $350 alternator (not good). I shut it down, made a temporary repair, ran it to fill the tanks and then shut it down and removed the damaged hose. We will try to get a replacement hose and install it soon. I have to go catch a fish for dinner now. It’s such a pain, to have to go fishing every day so as to have fresh fish jumping the frying pan. He! He!

Maybe the Dolphins will return today!