We sailed with our buddy boat s/v Delaware Girl (Charlie & Wendy) on a 25 NM journey to beautiful Isla Coronado. This island is a national marine park known for its snorkeling, clear blue waters, white sandy beaches, and a variety of marine life . After anchoring in this crystal clear water we took the dinghy to shore and took a hike on the nature trail. If you continue on the trail it leads to the top of the volcano. It was getting to be sunset so our hike was cut short but we didn’t miss the bright red sky as the sun set beyond the horizon.
The next morning we were greeted with sunshine and a pair of dolphins that were very interested in either our boat or Riley. Riley seldom barks but he barked at the dolphins swimming by.
We pulled up anchor after breakfast and continued North heading to San Juanico another 24 NM. We got about 15 NM when the weather started changing and the sun hid behind the clouds and the wind and swell increased. It got ugly! Time to get out the sea sick meds.
Even looking at 4 different weather models there’s no real guarantee of good weather or the weather you expect, especially when local landforms can accelerate wind when waves bounce off the shore, etc. We were getting 19kts on the bow.
Occasionally we dove into a wave and had water on the foredeck. We tried zigzagging and we tried slowing down but it was just an unpleasant experience. We’d finally determined that the best course of action was to dodge into a moderately sheltered anchorage for a few hours to wait for the wind to die down which it usually does in the evening. As we were changing course, I happened to notice a forward hatch open. Oh oh! I looked below and could see water spilling from the hatch onto our bed in the front cabin where we sleep. Water was cascading off the bed and onto the walls and floor soaking bedding, shoes, hats, backpacks, etc. and everything else along its path! It’s one of those salty, wet messes you stand and stare at and you’re not sure where to start to clean it up.
Since everything was wet we decided the first step was to dry things out. Even though it was cloudy, it was still a warm day so we strung things out all over the deck and cockpit and headed back to Coronado Island to anchor for the night. The next day we headed straight to the marina where we spent the afternoon into the evening doing load after load of laundry.
Today we are getting s/v Island Summers ready so we can leave her on a mooring ball here in Puerto Escondido while we’re home for the holidays. We hired a boat watcher and a diver to check the ground tackle to keep her safe. There’s a camera onboard so Kevin will be able to monitor it and the batteries remotely. We will take a water taxi to land tomorrow and get a land taxi at the marina to take us 27 km to the Loreto airport.
We took a break from our chores today and took the dinghy over to a sheltered area looking for the baby hammerhead shark Wendy had discovered while on her paddle board a few weeks ago. He’s living in his nursery until he gets big enough to go out into the ocean. We didn’t see him today but we’ll check again later this afternoon. At first it was disturbing seeing a shark fin heading right towards our inflatable boat until you see him and realize he’s just a juvenile shark (5 ft long…little shark) still I wouldn’t want to swim with him!
We are headed home to the cold . . . Brrr! We will be back cruising inJanuary to warm up! We hope you all have a great holiday with your family and friends.
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