Here is a photo of the area we went snorkeling in on Saturday. We were in the small, shallow strait between Isla Carmen and the tiny rock island. The anchorage is just to the right (south) of where this photo ends.
On Sunday morning, it rained again. The rain didn’t last as long as it had yesterday, but it rained harder, so Kosmos got a good wash down. Undeterred by the heavy rain, the Erics went for a hike onshore.
They literally watched the flora and fauna come to life with the rain – flowers blooming and bugs and lizards coming out of hiding.
On Tuesday, our friends on Whirlwind (the sailboat with the kids) and Sprezzatura (the Nordhavn 40) had gone to an anchorage called V Cove on Isla Carmen. On Thursday, we joined them. We left the marina in Puerto Escondido at 0930. We were delighted to find there was no wind and the water was calm and glassy. It barely felt like the boat was moving!
We arrived at V cove at 1400 (2:00 pm), not long after the wind picked up and the sea conditions had begun to deteriorate. The anchorage was small, tucked behind some cliffs.
We dropped anchor on the outskirts. According to the charts, we were anchored on land. After waiting a little bit to make sure the anchor was secure, we got the dinghy down and went to shore. There is a small, white sand beach with a sand dune. Eric and Keith snorkeled for a bit. The cove was loaded with fish! The family from Whirlwind joined us. The kids ran on the dune for a short while, then snorkeled in and around one of the caves in the cove.
A: We doubt we’ll go farther north than Bahia de Los Angeles, but we have no firm plans.
Q: Have you fished? Is the sea warm?
A: We have not fished as of yet. The sea is about 84 degrees Fahrenheit.
On Thursday, Eric ran the generator first thing in the morning, as he normally does. But this time, the batteries weren’t charging. Eric spent some time trouble-shooting the problem. We decided that we should head to the nearest marina, where it would be easier to diagnose and fix the problem. The batteries were still charging from the wind generator and the solar panels, and we have a small back up battery charger that was working, so this wasn’t an urgent issue for us. But charging the batteries with the full-size battery charger certainly makes life easier.
We contacted the marina at Puerto Escondido, only 6 nm away, and made a reservation for Friday. We spent the rest of the day doing chores. In the afternoon, Eric got out the SNUBA gear so Christi could tackle her most arduous chore: cleaning the bottom.
It was particularly rocky in the water that day, so swimming took a lot of effort. She pooped out pretty fast. Eric used the SNUBA to make sure all was fine under the waterline, then he used it to adjust the flopper stopper. Eric and Keith played in the water for a while before we called it a day.
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.
On the passage, I got kind of seasick part of the first day. On the second day, I got more adjusted to the ocean. Day three, I got better sea legs. Days four and five were about the same as day 3. I played lots of video games and read lots of books. I mostly ate soup and microwave burritos. My watches were from 10:00 am to noon and 2:00 – 4:00 pm.
Pendant la traversé, j’ai été un peu malade une partie du premier jour. Le deuxième jour, je me suis habitué à l’océan. Le troisième jour, j’ai finalement commencé à avoir le pied marin. Le troisième et le quatrième jour étaient presque pareil que le jour 3. J’ai joué à beaucoup de jeux vidéo et lu beaucoup de livres. J’ai principalement mangé de la soupe et des burritos réchauffés au micro onde. Les tours de garde étaient de 10h à 12h et de 2h à 4h.
