We've been without cell or internet coverage since we left Caleto Lobos (just outside of La Paz). We're compiling some longer posts for the blog which we'll publish as soon as we get back to civilization. In the meantime, I'll send this mini-post over the Ham radio... just so you know we're still alive and having fun.
We spent the last few nights at anchor off of the tiny fishing village of San Evaristo. We scored some tasty fish, fresh off the boat from the local pangueros (panga fishermen), made a trip into the micro store (tiendita), went for an energetic walk and shared a few happy hours with two other cruising couples (Deb and Andy on S/V "Swan" and Judy and Bruce on S/V "Juce" - who've been down here cruising the Sea for many winters).
Last night, after having monitored the weather forecasts several times a day, we made a more-or-less group decision to up-anchor early this morning and make our way north to one of the several great anchorages before Puerto Escondido. The first challenge (at least for me) was getting up and ready to haul anchor at first light. The second challenge, we thought, was going to be dealing with the 30 lbs of sea grass that we had seen other boats lift up with their anchors. We were lucky... our anchor and chain came up clean as a proverbial whistle and we had everything secured in short order and heaved a hugh sigh of relief as we motored our way out of the bay. Our friends called us awhile on later on the radio and told us that they had not been so fortunate.
We carried on and had quite a pleasant day... with a bit of everything ... clear sunny skies, flat water and no wind; clear skies, hot sun, flat water and a perfect breeze(for 30 minutes, we had the best sail we've had for months)... and then came the dark, ominous thunderclouds, rain squalls and unnerving lighting bolts, flashing from sky to ocean about a mile or two away from our boat. After the largest and closest flash, we were amazed to see a little panga come speeding out of the mist very near where the lighting had just come down. The three fishermen waved and hooted as they came by us ... celebrating their near brush with disaster.
Finally, after about 10 hours of mostly motoring, we made it to Agua Verde... one of the most popular anchorages along the Baja. There's a community of fishing pangas, a restaurant and proper tienda on at the village, and active goat farming on the hills. The local goat cheese is reportedly available at Maria'a Tienda...so we'll be sure to make the trip.
Our plan, as always, depends on the winds. We may stay here a few days and when the time is right, we'll move on to Puerto Escondido to reprovision, do laundry and restock on fuel (and rum).
We've heard Escondido has internet, so we'll check our emails and upload our offline posts when we get there.
talk to you soon.
