It's 2230 hrs (1030PM) and the swells have finally calmed down enough I can hold my old IPad on my lap... What an evening we've had. We woke (at Ensenada Raza) to a beautiful, sunny, calm day. Left right after breakfast so we could to get to our next stop early enough to have some fun exploring a bit. We were heading to Ensenada Grande as it is the closest anchorage to Los Islotes (the small rocky bits, housing a sea lion colony) about 4 nautical miles north of Isla Espiritu Santo. Swimming with sea lions is very cool and Kathy managed two dives with them when we were here last in 2012. Our goal is for the both of us to dive with them this time...
Anyway, first things first... we really enjoyed our afternoon anchorage at Ensenanda Grande. Even though the water was a wee bit cool by Mexican standards, we hardy BC types (well most of us :-) jumped in for a swim after lunch. Then Kathy took the kayak and John, Sue and I fired up Dobby the dinghy to explore our anchorage. This place is beautiful, complete with water as green as our lime green kayak (I kid you not) and beautiful geological formations all along the shore... really amazing architecture created by mother nature and her forces. Back on board it was siesta and book reading time... for a bit, and then it was happy hour which, of course, led into dinner time.
Now we're back to where my story began. When we first arrived we chose our anchoring spot very carefully. After all we'd studied numerous weather forecasts (none of which agreed) and selected a spot that would be, hopefully, fairly protected from whatever might come our way. Well, you guessed it, just as I was firing up the BBQ for the chicken portion of our meal, the wind piped up.... followed closely by an increase of swell size. Oh, I should have mentioned it was dark by then and the direction the wind came in was neither forecast nor pleasant as it put us on a lee shore. Not to be starved to death, we continued with the cooking, at one point using the ships umbrella to divert the wind away from the BBQ so it would stay lit (which it did :-). Unfortunately, by the time the chuck was cooked, the wind and waves were so strong dinner at the table was nigh impossible and folks ate as they could and where they could.
By now (about 1930 hrs) we were all thanking Kathy heartily for her prowess on the foredeck (she's in charge of discharging the anchor from where it lives, sending it to the bottom of the sea, to a precise location selected by the crew in advance and then amended by wind and current at will), and for her diligent 'setting' of the anchor, a process that requires experience and patience. As we watched two catamarans not far from us, climbing up and down the seas and worrying about their anchors, we patted Kathy on the back for 'sticking the hook' well, at the same time as we discussed the need for an anchor watch until things died down. Just to give you a sense of how it felt... on several occasions I went forward to check the anchor chain and snubber and had to crouch on the foredeck, hanging on to the pulpit with both hands as the nose of the boat..... almost...... buried itself in the each swell... Yup we were doing a pretty good imitation of a rocking horse! It wasn't too unlike parts of our journey down the coast in '11. And so it continued....
It's now 2330 hrs. I drew the first watch (2100-0000) and I'm happy to report the wind and seas have started to calm down. If they stay calm we'll be able to call off the formal anchor watches and all get some sleep. I gotta say though, there's nothing like a little unplanned chaos to draw a crew together. Hurray for good friends and sailors to boot!
Wind's down, seas quieting.... Time for bed. G'night. Zzzzzzzzzzz
Good morning... 0700 and all's well. Wind is gone, swell is comfortable, and everyone had some sleep (some still snoozing :-). Kathy and I have decided that as we both still have the tail end of our colds, and given the unsettled weather conditions, we will forgo our trip with the sea lions and save it for the next time we're by this way. Instead, once everyone's up and ready, we'll press on... either to Isla San Francisco (our personal favourite and place we really want to show Sue and John) or the fishing village (with a safe anchorage in strong winds) of San Evaristo... 9 miles further. The village also has a small restaurant so we can treat ourselves for dinner one night.
For now... We collect ourselves, tidy up the cabin and decks and have breakfast (all very civilized isn't it?). We'll slip when we're ready.....
By the way... Two things. First, I don't know when this post will actually be published as we're not in contact range for the Internet. I may try sending it over the SSB. We shall see.
Second: If any of you are interested, we are posting the ship's position as we travel (via SSB and as we change position and have radio contact) and you can check to see where we are by clicking on the "Where is Shannon's Spirit" link on the front page of the Blog.
So, that's it for now... Hope you enjoyed the story. Mañana ... CJ
Sent from my iPad
