Ballandra Cove on Isla Carmen to Santa Rosalia

Posted on August 19, 2022 by Christi

One of the big plusses of being in a marina is being able to run the air conditioning 24/7. One of the big negatives of leaving a marina after running A/C 24/7 is that it is hard to adjust back to the heat. Most days have been in the 90s and humid, with the “feels like” temperature close to 100 degrees Fahrenheit. The heat makes us all lethargic. It is hard to sleep, so we’re also tired and a little grumpy.

On Sunday (August 14), Eric broke down and ran the generator all day so we could be comfortable. Eric did go for a swim at one point, but we pretty much holed ourselves up in the boat all day. The cool air gave Christi a burst of energy, and she did chores. She tried out her solar oven again, this time with roasted broccoli, and was successful. Woo hoo!

Temptress pulled out early in the morning, but later in the day the other neighbors that we had gotten to know in the marina, on a boat named Namaste, pulled in.

Nick and Veronica made an awesome dinner for us. They brought the food to us at Kosmos to enjoy the A/C. Later in the evening, the Namaste crew also came over. The adults had a great time, but Keith was bored with the adults’ boat talk.

Here are a couple of shots of the sunrise. The second one is facing Loreto and the moon.

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Puerto Escondido to Ballandra Cove on Isla Carmen

Posted on August 18, 2022 by Christi

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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Keith’s perspective on Isla Coronado/Puerto Escondido/San Javier/Loreto

Posted on August 16, 2022 by Keith Grab

In Isla Cornados, we went to the beach. We also snorkeled. We went on a walk. Dad hiked a volcano while Mom and I went to the other side of the island. I saw lots of cool fish. I jumped off the bow of the boat and the top deck. I did not like Isla Coronados because there was no civilization.

A l’île Coronados, nous sommes allés à la plage. Nous avons aussi fait de la plongée. Nous sommes allés faire une promenade. Papa est monté sur un volcan pendant que maman et moi avons marché jusqu’à l’autre côté de l’île. J’ai vu beaucoup de poissons cool. J’ai sauté de la proue du bateau et du pont supérieur. Je n’ai pas aimé Isla Coronados parce qu’il n’y avait pas de civilisation.

The we went to Puerto Escondido. I like Puerto Escondido because it has a pool and a restaurant.

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Park Passes, Dive Compressor, and Solar Ovens

Posted on August 15, 2022 by Eric

On Tuesday morning (August 9), we left Puerto Escondido at 0830 to go to Loreto to get our park pass and do some more grocery shopping. We went to the park office first, arriving right before it was supposed to open at 0900. It was a good thing we hadn’t started the process yesterday; what we thought would take five-minutes took 1.5 hours to complete.

As part of the process, we had to go to the bank in the historic town center to pay for the pass. As we mentioned in the last post, Loreto was the first Spaniard settlement in the Californias, and was the capital until 1777. This is the Capital building.