Fair weather risks

We made our escape from the marina yesterday with fuel tanks topped off. Getting in and out of marinas and fuel docks is always the most stressful part, but we time it well and didn't have much wind or other boats to contend with.

With calm winds we're taking time to stop at a couple of fair weather anchorages that we couldn't visit on our way north. We stopped at the SE end of Carmen Island last night. It was reported to offer whale sightings and nice views. Whales have been spotted, but they're a long way off. Tonight we'll see if there is anyone in a small cove called Caleta Candeleros Chico or Little Candlestick Cove. It's only got room for one boat so we'll head for an alternate if it's already occupied.

Kay is baking today. We're not entirely sure we have enough propane for such an extravagance, but brownies and banana muffins are worth the risk.

----------
Sent via SailMail, http://www.sailmail.com

It blows

We wait.

Mission Abort!

We've been docked in a marina at Puerto Escondido for several days now. We refilled our tanks, recharged the batteries, reprovisioned and enjoyed showers and Wi-Fi.  But, as nice as it is to take care of necessities, the crew was anxious to be under way again. There is only so much civilization we're inclined to tolerate.

The plan was to depart this morning, stop at the fuel dock and be on our way. The wind had other ideas. It was forecasted to blow fifteen knots today, gusting to 25, but we figured that traveling down wind as we were, it shouldn't be a problem.  The trouble came trying to get out of the slip.  

It's easy to turn the boat into the wind when there is forward motion and water is flowing over the rudder. We can even push water over the rudder with the propeller when the boat is standing still, but the turning force is much smaller and can't counter much wind. It is one thing to know all that and another to know how the present wind and the condition of the hull will impact our ability to turn. 

Had we been able to back the boat into the slip, it might have been easier to exit with a running start and turn the boat, but we were bow in and had to back the boat out of the slip and then start forward again. We were doomed. The wind just kept blowing the bow around, preventing me from turning into the wind. We were being pushed sideways down the marina. I was luckily able to duck into an empty slip several spaces downwind from where we started. We are so lucky we didn't crash into another boat - like one that might have been occupying the slip I was forced into.

The wind isn't supposed to let up for several days, so we'll be here for a while, trapped in an expensive marina with no way to get out until it calms a little. And how much is a little?

Oh well, at least the boat and crew are in one piece. The expense of the marina is much less than repairing someone else's boat. Thank goodness for inexpensive lessons. 

Kay's Blog address

For a more complete picture of this trip, I highly recommend Kay's Blog:

https://adventureswithkay.com/

I don't have the luxury (to say nothing of the inclination) for posting photos of myself, so Kay's Blog also offers evidence that I am actually participating! 😃

Sent from my rgPhone

Inquiring minds want to know!

Every now and then we find ourselves wishing we had better access to online information. Watching pelicans diving for fish for example, I wondered out loud: what is the life span of a pelican? The reason I was wondering that is because I stood in same spot twenty-five years ago, watching pelicans dive and it made me wonder how many generations of pelicans have come and gone in that time. Then Kay had a great idea: we should ask our loyal followers to post the answers to interesting questions as blog comments. We'll try that and see what kind of response is generated. For now, we're in port and can answer that question: Pelicans are reported to live 15 to 25 years in the wild, which means we could be seeing some of the same pelicans I saw 25 years ago.

Sent from my rgPhone

Vultures await

Quijote has wheels!