On Monday (October 31), at about 1030, we left for an anchorage called Bahia Agua Verde. It was a four-hour ride, heading south. Before leaving, Christi and Keith gave Kosmos a quick wash down. Keith was really happy about it.
We’ve mentioned that the charts for the Loreto area are inaccurate more than once. Here is the chart of us in the channel as we were leaving Puerto Escondido. Eric had set the offset a different zoom so things are quite shifted at the zoom level on the picture. Good thing we did that upgrade to amphibious vehicle before we left San Diego! 😉
Sunset, Puerto Don Juan, Wednesday, September 28, 2022Sunset, Puerto Don Juan, Wednesday, September 28, 2022. To the left, the crescent moon is about to sink below the mountains. Continue reading →
We had stayed out late for the Dia de Los Muertos festivities, and on Saturday morning, we were off to a slow start. The diver came and cleaned Kosmos’s bottom. Eric met one of the neighbors, who had a dive compressor onboard his boat and offered to fill our empty tank. Yay!
Dan and Drake came over in the late morning. Claire had told us that the hotel/restaurant a mile away from the marina, called Hotel Tripui, had pretty good food, and they would let us use their pool, which was warmer and larger than the marina pool. We walked over there for lunch and brought our swim gear.
Sunrise on Friday, October 28, looking at the channel from the edge of the docks
On Friday morning, Eric flushed the grey water tank. Then he filled up the tank and added Seazyme, an enzyme that dissolves some of the bio-solids that tend to build up in tanks. He turned off the pump for a day so Seazyme had time to do its thing before being pumped out.
It has taken us a while to figure out how to keep the smell from our grey-water tank under control. While the things that go into grey-water tanks aren’t as inherently gross and smelly as what goes into blackwater tanks, things such as hair and toothpaste tend to get stuck in the tanks, build up and smell bad. It actually creates a grey sludge. In the past, we’ve mentioned a few things that help, such as doing laundry at sea and turning off the pump so that warm, soapy water sloshes around and helps clear out some of the icky stuff that builds up in the bottom of the tank. Seazyme is another trick that we’ve learned. (Side note: in 2021, we did a major overhaul of both the blackwater and grey-water tanks, which has also helped with the smell.)Â
Earlier in the week, we’d told Claire and Phil that we were planning to go to two Dia de Los Muertos parties in Loreto on Friday. We’d mentioned that we were going to rent a car to get to Loreto. Claire and Phil told us that that they wanted to go to the parties, and they had a vehicle and could drive us. How perfect! Claire also offered to take Christi grocery shopping in Loreto on Friday before the parties.
Grocery shopping was uneventful. We’re now pretty well stocked up for a while. Keith and Eric did chores. We’re not sure if we’ve ever mentioned this before, but the drive between Puerto Escondido and Loreto is stunning. The road is hilly and offers spectacular views. This is the ex-pat community just south of Loreto
There wasn’t much time between returning from the stores in Loreto before heading back to Loreto for the parties. Our first stop was Dan, Liz and Drake’s house, where Liz did face painting on all the willing participants.
Initially, Keith was going to wear this as his costume:
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.
