HEADING NORTH

The plan was to leave La Paz at around 7:am on 5/15/ 2012, but  Heimie wasn’t ready until 10:45. When I finally saw him pulling his anchor, I headed out of the anchorage in the Magote. As I approached the narrow channel entrance leading to the main channel I passed Paul  on Seamentress and waved goodbye . As I was about half way through the short channel I noticed the engine temperature was rising. I always keep a close eye on the gauges and have to say that this was quite a shock, as the engine always runs around 170 degrees. By the time I got through the narrow channel the temperature was well over 220 degrees. I shut the engine down and almost coasted across the main channel and dropped anchor. Damn, here we go again, more problems. Does it ever stop?

JAMIE'S BOAT (SALTSHAKER)

THE CULPRIT SETTING HOOK ON MY ANCHOR

While I was letting the engine cool down Jamie came by and asked if I needed help. I told him that I could handle it and that I would meet him at Colita Partida when I fixed the problem. It turned out to be the impeller on the raw water supply pump. It was missing several fins, but why had it failed?  I replaced it, but the pump refused to prime. About this time Paul had seen me drop anchor and came over to help. He suggested I start at the strainer to see if I had water and follow it to the pump. To make a long story short, we discovered a loop in the line that trapped an air bubble, which caused the problem. I eliminated the loop by cutting out a section of the hose and the pump then primed itself. I thanked Paul and was off once again.

I arrived at Colita Partida at sunset, and anchored in 20’ of water with 150’ of rode out. It was windy when I arrived, but not near as windy as it was to become later. Sometime around midnight I was treated to my first Coromuel. Everyone has built these up in my mind with their horror stories of extremely high winds hitting suddenly without warning in the middle of the night. Some of the boats there did drag, but I believe it was caused by their anchoring negligence, rather than the winds. I admit the winds were fairly strong, but nothing compared to what we get on a regular basis on the Oregon Coast. Unless they get a hell of a lot stronger than they were at Colita Partida, I really don’t think I will get too concerned. I will say that I can’t see the attraction there that warrants anchoring in such a funnel. I mean it is in a sort of canyon and open at both ends. For some unknown reason Jamie likes it there!

FISHING CAMP

The next day Jamie caught a Trigger fish that he had for dinner that night. I also went out to the reef to do some fishing. I caught eight fish. All of which I released, as I had plenty of meat aboard. Basically the day was spent just kicking back and resting up. My right knee was still swollen from spending five days kneeling down while installing the rear main seal on the engine the previous week.

SAN EVARISTO PALAPA

On the morning of the 17^th Jamie headed out for San Evaristo while I finished up some maintenance on Wind Raven. I followed him about two hours later. The wind was blowing around 20 knots when I left and I was doing 6 ½ knots with the jib alone. Of course this is the Sea of Cortez and someone abruptly “turned off the fan” about half way there, and it was back to motoring!

DESALINATION PLANT....SAN EVARISTO

I anchored between Jamie and the southern point in 17’ with 140’ of rode. It looked like I had plenty of space between us, but figured I could always shorten my rode if need be.  A moderate breeze came up a little later and everything looked fine with the anchor lines stretched out. About a half hour before dark I heard a motor that sounded close and went out to look. To my surprise there was a cabin cruiser anchoring in front of me between my boat and the point. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. It was obvious that there was not enough room to anchor there.  He was setting his hook about forty feet off my bow and his anchor rode was stretching out directly towards my anchor. The gentleman was a Mexican who I discovered didn’t speak English. I called over to him and tried to explain the problem with his anchoring there with my incompetent Spanish and mimes. He must not have understood, because he demonstrated through mimes that he had set his anchor “muy duro” (very hard). I finally gave up and got out my camera, took a photo of his boat, and called over stating that I hoped he had good insurance. My boat was now trapped between his boat and Saltshaker. By this time it was getting dark and I was resigned to a sleepless night. I would have to make sure his boat did not hit me in the night if the wind started blowing or shifted.

BCS TO PORT, ISLA SAN JOSE TO STARBOARD

Around two in the morning the wind not only started blowing hard, but also shifted and his anchor started to drag. His boat was now about ten feet off my bow when I finally got his attention and he woke up. I think he was a bit embarrassed, as he never spoke to me. He fired up his engine and started to haul in his anchor. Yep, he hooked mine and I started to drag. I had already fired my engine in preparation, as I expected this possibility.  After he got his boat out of my way, I pulled anchor and moved out into the middle of the bay and re-anchored. I couldn’t believe it when I looked back and saw that he had re-anchored right between Saltshaker and Willful Simplicity, endangering both of their boats. Willful Simplicity was on a mooring and the next morning they moved off the mooring ball and anchored well away. They then gave the mooring to the Mexican with the power boat. I slept much better knowing the power boat was now on a mooring!

My knee was acting up more, due to kneeling on it for those five days while working on the engine and the recent activity. I decided I had better give it a rest, so for the next four days I used it very little. I spent most of the time reading, with my leg propped up in the air. I did go fishing for a couple of hours, but they were not biting. I also did a few light chores on the boat, but nothing worth writing about

NOPOLO VILLAGE    Click on the photo to enlarge

.

Our plan was to leave San Evaristo on Tuesday the 22^nd and head for our next anchorage, working our way North. On Monday the 21^st Jamie came over and said we weren’t going North until Wednesday the 23^rd, because there was going to be a big party inland about five kilometers and everyone was going. Well, I explained to Jamie that I didn’t come to the Sea of Cortez to go to a party and watch a bunch of people get drunk. I told him if he wanted to go that it was fine with me, but I would be heading north the next day as planned. He tried to talk me into taking a Taxi to the party and leaving later, but I declined.

KICKIN BACK

The next morning, Tuesday the 22^nd I hauled anchor and headed North out of San Evaristo. My plan was to sail to Bahia Santa Marte and do some fishing on the extensive reefs in the area. Well, you know what they say about the “best made plans.” When I left there was no wind, so I was forced to motor for an hour or so before it started to pick up. It eventually built to around fifteen knots off the stern.  The rollers also built and made me change my destination to Agua Verde, as Bahia San Marte has a southern exposure. Agua Verde is an anchorage I am not particularly fond of, due to its popularity. I prefer more secluded anchorages, not only for their peacefulness, but they aren’t fished out either. I’m glad that most cruisers like to gather in these “popular anchorages” to socialize and drink (party). If they didn’t  It would be a lot harder to find the peace and tranquility I seek in the unpopular, or remote anchorages. And like I said, the fishing is much better. To my surprise there were only three boats anchored in Agua Verde when I arrived. I have never seen so few boats here. I heard that Ensenada Blanca is becoming very popular this year and is crowded. That’s too bad, as it was one of my favorites with very good fishing. I guess I will find out soon, as that is my next stop.

So far since I left La Paz I have seen three whales, all at a respectable distance from Wind Raven. I like whales, as long as they keep their distance. They make me nervous when they get too close. Sorry, but that means no photo’s folks. You will just have to look at the ones on the internet. I also was surprised by two seals cavorting (playing) about ten miles off shore. They were jumping and frolicking around and having what looked like a great time playing with each other. As I passed they stopped and watched me, and once by they continued to play with each other until out of site. I also saw a huge Marlin come flying out of the water about fifty yards from the boat. Wow, what a beautiful fish it was!

AGUA VERDE'S PAINTED ROCK  (BIRD WORK)

ONLY THREE OTHER BOATS

AGUA VERDE VILLAGE

I think that since Agua Verde is so empty, I might stay here today to rest my knee a bit and head to Ensenada Blanca tomorrow. I guess there’s no rush, right?