One of the big plusses of being in a marina is being able to run the air conditioning 24/7. One of the big negatives of leaving a marina after running A/C 24/7 is that it is hard to adjust back to the heat. Most days have been in the 90s and humid, with the “feels like” temperature close to 100 degrees Fahrenheit. The heat makes us all lethargic. It is hard to sleep, so we’re also tired and a little grumpy. 

On Sunday (August 14), Eric broke down and ran the generator all day so we could be comfortable. Eric did go for a swim at one point, but we pretty much holed ourselves up in the boat all day. The cool air gave Christi a burst of energy, and she did chores. She tried out her solar oven again, this time with roasted broccoli, and was successful. Woo hoo! 

Temptress pulled out early in the morning, but later in the day the other neighbors that we had gotten to know in the marina, on a boat named Namaste, pulled in. 

Nick and Veronica made an awesome dinner for us. They brought the food to us at Kosmos to enjoy the A/C. Later in the evening, the Namaste crew also came over. The adults had a great time, but Keith was bored with the adults’ boat talk. 

Here are a couple of shots of the sunrise. The second one is facing Loreto and the moon.

Prior to choosing to visit Ballandra, almost everyone we talked to said “Oh, Ballandra is a great anchorage, except the bees are a problem this time of year.” There had been several bees floating around since we’d arrived, but they hadn’t been a problem. That was until Monday, when the bees had another party in the cockpit. Last time, they mostly stayed on the mat. This time they were flying everywhere. As the day went on, more and more bees came.  

Eric went diving with Nick and Veronica in the morning. They kindly let him use one of their air tanks. Christi and Keith snorkeled. In between our respective outings, we got Kosmos ready to go to sea. 

We lifted anchor at 1800 and set course for Santa Rosalia. We realized that we hadn’t gone to shore once in the four days that we were in Ballandra! That is out of character for us. Apparently, there are big horn sheep, a hunting lodge, and a ghost town on the island, but it was simply too hot to explore onshore. Here is a shot of the cove taken as we were leaving. The visible boat is Namaste. Nick and Veronica’s boat is to the left, but it is just around the corner of the anchorage and not visible in this picture.

Monday’s sunset was dramatic. 

Once it was dark, we realized there was a major thunderstorm over mainland Mexico. While it was cloudy and starless over the landmasses of Baja and Mainland, the sky overhead was clear. No moon was visible until 2330, and the stars were luminous until then. The lightning seemed to die about the same time the moon rose, and the clouds eventually rolled in over us. There were two stars that still shone magnificently despite the bright moon and cloud cover. There are four planets close enough to Earth right now to be seen: Jupiter, Saturn, Mars and Venus. Christi wondered which two of the four we’d seen.

Here is the sunrise on Tuesday (August 16)

We pulled into Santa Rosalia bay about 0945. It is a small bay, and the marina is close to the entrance of the bay. There was a boat in the slip we were assigned to, so we tied up at the fuel dock and waited for the space to become available. By 1115, we were tied up in our new spot.

 Here are a photos of the harbor from the second floor of the marina building. The top photo is the only dock in the marina, the fuel dock, and the harbor mouth. The second one is the panga dock, ferry terminal and inner harbor.