Isla San Francisco to Playa Pichilingue

On Monday, November 21, the crescent moon was still visible well into the fiery red sunrise.

The kids from Oceananigans came over to play first thing in the morning. They were leaving in the mid-morning, so they maximized their playtime. While the kids played, Eric fixed exhaust leak. This time he used a fiber glass wrap that was soaked in sealant. We’re hoping this fix lasts longer.

Eric took the kids back to Oceananigans when they were ready to depart. On his way back, he stopped and chatted with one of the other neighbors in the anchorage, who invited us to come to his boat for lunch. Then he went over to visit his former colleague, and Eric invited them over to Kosmos in the evening.  

The lunch was fancy. The owner of the boat had three of his siblings aboard, in celebration of an important family event. All four were passionate about cooking. The food was amazing; better than a gourmet restaurant. As an appetizer, he served chocolate clams (called this because the shells are brown), which are a local delicacy. The clams were far and away the best clams we’ve eaten in our lives.

For dessert, Christi tried corn ice cream, which tasted like frozen sweet creamed corn. Being as she was a creamed corn fan, she loved it. Eric had flan for dessert, which was custard topped with a caramel sauce. The texture of flan was usually less firm than a creme brûlée and more firm than a pudding, but this flan was closer in texture to a cheesecake. They were a nice family and we had a lovely visit.

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Keith’s Perspective on Espiritu Santo and Our Second Trips to San Evaristo and Isla San Francisco/Le point de vue de Keith sur Espiritu Santo et nos seconds voyages à San Evaristo et Isla San Francisco

I loved Isla Espirtu Santo!!! It is awesome! There is a great hike. It has a bunch of rocks; I had to jump from one to another!

J’ai aimé Isla Espiritu Santo!!! C’était merveilleux! Il y avait une très belle balade qui avait beaucoup de rochers. J’ai dû sauter de rochers en rochers.

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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 4

Fish activity around Kosmos the morning of Thursday, November 17

Eric had made plans to go diving along the big rock island with some of the Oceananigans crew. Diving the rock was even better than snorkeling it was. They saw an eel that was so big that it could be mistaken for a sea monster. The head was as big as a man’s torso.

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