Category Archives: Q&A

Questions from comments and our answers.

Bahia Aqua Verde, Day 4

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Q: What is the difference between paravanes and flopper-stoppers? You guys seem to use the words interchangeably in your blog posts.

A: Paravanes are a stabilization system designed to be used while the boat is in motion. It involves lowering weights into the water to add more resistance to the motion of the waves. Our “fish” (weights) are 45-lbs on each side. More details can me found here and here. Unlike active-fin stabilizers, the paravane poles/fish can also be deployed at anchor to help dampen the roll in anchorages.

Flopper-stoppers are light-weight (2-lbs) flat, rectangular plates that can be hooked to the end of the paravane polls (instead of the “fish”). They are meant to be used only at anchor. They can be pushed down by a wave pretty easily, but they are resistant to coming back up, which dampens the motion. At anchor, flopper-stoppers work better than the “fish.” Since they only weigh 2-lbs each, flopper-stoppers are significantly easier to deploy and retrieve than the “fish.”

We didn’t buy real flopper stoppers until after the blog went inactive. In our old posts, we did talk about deploying the flopper-stoppers, but we had been mistakenly using the word incorrectly. What we’d meant in those old posts was “utilizing the paravane ‘fish’ while at anchor.” Sorry for the confusion.

In the recent posts from the Sea of Cortez, we’ve been careful to use the two terms accurately. When we first arrived in the Sea of Cortez, we were using flopper-stoppers at anchor. But after two failures (first, second) we’ve given up on flopper-stoppers and are back to using paravanes at anchor.

Sunrise on Thursday November 3

After we finished our morning chores, we went snorkeling along the rocks behind the boat again. Eric and Keith also donned wetsuits for extra jellyfish protection. The spot was still nice and we got to enjoy it more fully this time.

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Puerto Refugio Day 2

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Blog Q: Do you worry about boat thieves?

A: It is difficult to steal a larger boat, like ours. We’d report it to the authorities and it’d be found pretty quickly. 

That said, dinghy theft is a little more of a concern. Dinghies that are fast with big motors have appeal to thieves, but even that kind of theft is rare. We have a slow dinghy with an electric motor, so no one wants our dinghy/motor. 

The biggest concern is people stealing things off of the boats. As far as we know, all the places that we’ve stopped are safe. It was explained that because this part of Baja is off the trafficking routes, there is nothing to attract criminals. There are reports of theft being an issue in some other areas, such as Guayamas, but we don’t plan to go to those places. 

On Wednesday morning (September 21), it was a bit rolly when we woke up. Eric put out the paravanes, which helped. While Eric was working on the paravanes, the family, on s/v Auryn, called on the radio and invited us to go for a hike onshore with them. Here was the view from the shore.

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Puerto Escondido to Ballandra Cove on Isla Carmen

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Q: What kind of food do you cook onboard? 

A: Currently, Keith’s favorite meal is chicken tacos, so we make that frequently. Keith also loves homemade chicken noodle soup, so Christi makes soup out of the bones every time she makes chicken for the tacos. Other foods Christi has made recently include: Ground Beef and Rice Florentine, Cabbage and Asparagus Salad with Tahini Dressing, Roasted Broccoli with Tomato Vinaigrette, Lemon-Asparagus Risotto, Coconut-Lime Rice, and Carrot-Cabbage-Potato Soup.

Thursday (August 11) was a chores day. Eric equalized had batteries and changed the watermaker filter. He also went over to Sprezzatura to help the other Eric with a repair. 

In the evening, we had dinner with Sprezzatura Eric at the marina restaurant. We also visited with Nick (from the volcano hike) and his girlfriend, Veronica, who had also recently come into Puerto Escondido.   

On Friday, we got the boat ready to go first thing in the morning. We left the marina at 1000, and arrived at Ballandra Cove on Isla Carmen at around 1300. The seas were smooth. We were the only boat there. The first photo is looking at the mouth of the bay, with Baja and Loreto in the distance. The second two are what it looks like in the anchorage.

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Bahia Candeleros to Puerto Escondido

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Q: How far north are you planning to go?

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. 

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Welcome

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The Kosmos Travel Log is a place for Christi, Eric, and Keith to share and document our travel stories.

Christi and Eric circumnavigated the globe aboard Kosmos from 2007-2009. The circumnavigation posts begin here. There are about 800 posts from the trip!

Christi, Eric, and Keith took Kosmos on an eight month trip to the Sea of Cortez from July 2022 to March 2023 (about 130 posts). Keith did updates in both English and French.

Since then Kosmos has been in San Diego doing various retrofits getting ready for more traveling.

Below are links to some good places to find specific types of information. In addition to boat travel stores, there are also posts on various other topics, including preparing for travels via boat, and stories about assorted land travels.