Islas Coronados to Puerto Escondido — And Alternator

On Friday morning (August 5), the water was again calm and clear when we awoke. We got Kosmos ready for sea first thing in the morning. This included bringing up and securing the dinghy, bringing in and securing the flopper stopper plates/paravane poles, bringing in the snubber line (which is basically a shock absorber for the anchor chain), securing all loose items on board, etc. We weren’t leaving early; we just wanted to have everything done before the tourist pangas started roaring past us, creating wakes. Then we went for a swim around the boat and saw a lot of fish, including a pair of puffers sitting on our chain at the bow of the boat.

We set off for Puerto Escondido a little before noon and arrived around 1500. It is less stressful for us to go someplace we’ve been before. This time we were assigned to a different dock. We spent a couple of hours at the pool and had dinner at the marina restaurant. In the evening, we got to know our new neighbors. 

Here is a picture of the sunset, looking at the north end of the bay. The topography of this picture is important for the next part of the story. While there are taller mountains to the west and south, the east and north parts of the bay are protected by low hills with gaps. 

On Saturday (August 6), in the wee hours of the morning, Eric was awoken again. He saw that wind picked up to 23 knots. There was lightning, thunder and later a heavy rain. Eric was shocked to see that the waves were big enough that they were splashing over the end dock where the big boats tie up.

Continue reading

La Paz to Bahia Candeleros (aka Ensenada Blanca)

Sunday beautiful morning’s sunrise in La Paz

On Sunday morning, our first chore of the day was plan the logistics of moving Kosmos. The ideal time to leave seemed to be 1800 (6:00 pm), when neither the tides nor wind would be too strong against us. We picked an anchorage 18 hours away, which meant we’d pull in around noon, when visibility would be good.

Continue reading

We Have Arrived in Bahia Falsa (Near La Paz)

We are pleased to report that we have completed a 828 nautical mile passage from Ensenada, Mexico to Bahia Falsa, which is a few miles away from La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico. 

The five-day passage down was uneventful. We were in the Pacific for the first four days. Wind speed was 7 – 22 knots, from the north. Waves ranged from 3 – 8 feet from the north, with 0 – 4 feet wind chop. It would have been an uncomfortable ride had we been going north (against the wind and waves), but since we had “fair winds and following seas,” the ride was fine. Conditions slowly and steadily worsened from Friday to Sunday, then from Monday on they slowly and steadily improved. 

The tip of Cabo is infamous for being rough waters. Even that stretch wasn’t bad. Conditions were a little bit confused as we rounded the corner of Cabo, but it was still better than it had been in the Pacific. Once we’d passed Cabo and got into the protected waters of the Sea of Cortez, the wind and waves died, making our last day at sea pleasant (though it is uncomfortably hot outside). 

We’ll post again within the next couple of days. Meanwhile, if you have questions, feel free to post them and we’ll try to answer them in the next blog post.