Second Trip to Isla San Francisco, Day 2

The crescent moon was also bright in the early light of Sunday, November 20. All the dots of light are boats in the anchorage. It was packed.

Sunrise

In the morning, Eric tried to fill another tank. It seemed a belt was slipping, so completely filling tanks still wasn’t viable.  

Some boats close to the shore left, so we moved Kosmos closer to the shore for less fetch. Even though it was quite windy out, it was calm in our new spot.

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Ensenada del Candelero on Isla Espiritu Santo to San Evaristo to Isla San Francisco

On Friday, November 18, the crescent moon was still shining brightly even as the day dawned.

Oceananigans in the glow of sunrise

Eric was eager to refill the tanks and dive again, so he spent some time in the early morning working on the dive compressor. He took apart the part he believed to be broken to the best of his ability to see if it could be easily fixed, lubricated it and put it back together. Still not working. He gave it Mike on Oceananigans, who also took it apart to look at it. It sounds like Mike didn’t do anything much different than Eric did, but after he returned the part, the compressor was kind of working. However, there seems to be an issue with another part. 

The wind died in the morning, and the tiny flies came out to the boat. The tiny flies didn’t bite, but they were super annoying as they tended to gravitate towards the eyes, ears and nose. We got Kosmos ready to go to sea and pulled up anchor at 10:45.

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Ensenada del Candelero on Isla Espiritu Santo, Day 2

Sunrise on Tuesday, November 15, 2022

Eric did not sleep well from all the rolling in the anchorage. First thing in the morning, he deployed a flopper stopper. It helped some, but it was still uncomfortable. The water was too shallow to put out the paravane, so later in the day, he fixed the broken flopper stopper. The flopper stopper had metal clips and it was the clips that had broken. He just tied knots in the line and deployed it. Much to his pleasure, it worked! Having the second flopper stopper helped even more, but there was still a lot of movement.

Our friends on Oceananigans arrived in late morning. With all the rocking, we were desperate to get to day land. Shortly after they arrived, we went to shore with them to do the hike up the ravine.

This was the view from the top of the peak seen in the above photo.

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Third Trip to Puerto Escondido Days 2 – 4

Sandy had offered to take us to Loreto with her on Tuesday (October 25) to run errands. Christi took her up on the offer and spent most of Tuesday shopping. Christi and Sandy had lunch at a Birrieria stand that was packed with people.

Birria is a type of stew that is traditionally made with goat meat, though any type of meat can be used. Someone nearby told us that this stand used beef. It sounds like chili paste makes up the base of the stew, and any vegetables added, such as onions or garlic, are pureed into the base. We’re told that birria is usually served in a as a bowl as a stew, but at this stand, they used the meat to make tacos. Christi found the meat to be bland. The tacos were served with all the usual accoutrements to doll them up. 

Meanwhile, Eric did chores. Eric repaired the smokestack and lubricated the snaps on the window covers. He dropped off our empty propane tank at the marina office. The place that fills propane tanks is a few miles away on Highway 1, and the marina will take the tanks over to have them filled for a $5.00 service fee. 

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Second Trip to Santa Rosalia, Day 2

Saturday, October 1

In 2009, when we were in Dominica, our smoke stack fell over. The stack had bent a little bit at an outdoor connection of the smoke stack causing a small exhaust leak. Unfortunately, none of the repairs that Eric has made have held long-term; all of them have failed sooner or later. The trouble is the sealant eventually goes bad. We forgot to mention this, but a few days ago, when we were in Don Juan, he’d noticed that the leak was back. He was frustrated; he’d been sure that the last repair he’d done would last longer.

This morning, Eric repaired exhaust leak first thing. He tried a new sealant, and hopefully this fix will last a good amount of time. After that, he got everything out that he’d need to do an engine oil change so that he could do the change first thing tomorrow the morning, before it got hot. It actually takes longer to get everything out and ready than it does to actually change the oil. 

In the afternoon, we decided to get lunch at Los Compadres. From the roundabout, we took the other road inland, passing many more piles of mud.

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