Later in the day we had another encounter with a Moorings boat. We were out cruising around in the Metz admiring the flock of Snowy Egrets on the rocks and stopped by the "Monserate" to say hello. Tom and Pat Doyle from Vancouver, BC were on board with their daughter, Kimberly and her friend, Sarah. We went on board and chatted for a few minutes. Then later the whole crew came aboard our boat when Tom's motor quit as they were going by in their dinghe on the way to the beach. I went out and towed them back to our boat where they had a drink with us after I helped Tom get the fuel line unplugged. They have a boat at the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club and have been down here for a week's vacation. Another nice group!
The wind died down during the night and we'll hope it will stay that way for a few days.
10:00 - Anchored in the "Waiting Room" outer harbor at Puerto Escondido. I jumped in the Metz and went exploring while Lois worked on her bug screens. There don't seem to be many of the annoying little flies here, but there are some yellow wasp-like insects that Lois is scared to death of. They looked pretty formatable to me at first, but I've come to the conclusion that, unlike the northern black wasps, if you leave these alone they'll leave you alone. Anyway, Lois is very busy getting screened in with velcro tabs on mosquito netting for all the doors and hatches.
I checked in at the Capitan del Puerto's office - no sweat! The Capitan from Loreto was there (He's the boss) and he was the one who signed our papers so the young guy here was very friendly and said all was OK. I then went over to the Moorings office and spoke with Laura. Found out that the taxi fare to Loreto is 37,000 pesos which makes a round trip about $33.00, too much for a grocery shopping trip. Laura also said that we should check on Aeromexico schedules because she though they all changed without warning on April 1st. That bit of news gave me something else to fuss about. I ran the Metz into the inner harbor and talked with Norm on the Endeavor about leaving boats here, or in Santa Rosalia, and got some good hints from him. He said he had a friend at the airport checking schedules for him and would let us know if there was a change.
Back at the boat I was in the middle of changing fuel filters when I heard the call from "California Dreamer" telling Norm that indeed the schedule had changed and that the flight from LA now arrives in Loreto at 11:25 AM instead of 6:05 PM. I thought that they probably would have notified their passengers but decided to spend fifteen bucks on a Hi Seas call anyway. No, Kris and Bob were not aware of the change! So now we don't know for sure whether they will be here tomorrow or Monday. I told them that we'd be waiting.
That squared away I went back to my filter changing which always involves a bath in fuel oil. The guy that designed the Fram filters should be boiled in fuel which spills and leaks from them every time you change cartridges. The one big Racor filter is easy to change, never leaks, and has a cartridge that pulls out from the top so you can let it drain before removing. The six Frams we have require a wrench to change, almost always leak, and spill mucho fuel as you drop the bulb to get to the cartridge. One day I'll replace them all with Racors.
14:00 - Decided to move over to Lovers Cove for the rest of the afternoon and ran across. This time there was a group of campers on our favorite little beach so we anchored in front of the mangroves. Didn't last long though before the little kelp flies drove us out. We hauled anchor again and moved down to the south about a half mile where there was a little more wind and fewer flies.
Bob and Bryan took the Metz to shore where Bob headed off to explore the shoreline while Brian did some snorkling on the reef. Both came back with tales of fish and other sea life in the clear warm waters. It was kind of a cloudy and, for this country, cool day. They'll really love it when it warms up.
06:15 - Up with the anchor and on our way north to Loreto in the light of a spectacular sunrise. The clouds are still here, just enough to give the sky some real color, and the the Sierra Gigantas glow red in the light just before sunrise. The sea is flat calm. Looks like a good day for stopping at Loreto.
08:30 - Anchored off the mole at Loreto. We had the Metz all ready so it was down in a hurry except for a badly bruised hand when Bob got tangled up with the winch handle on the davit. The spring that holds the ratchet broke yesterday making it a dangerous weapon. With the flat sea all five of us were able to pile in the Metz for the ride to the beach. We had breakfast at the Embarcadero Restaurant on the beach, then walked on up to the plaza where we split up, each to do our own thing.
Bob and I had the beer, ice, and oil assignment which didn't take very long. The Refaccion store down town was open so we got a case of Quaker State Series 3, SAE 40 oil there, walked across the street to the Tacate agency and got our beer, then to the taxi stand on the other corner. Getting the ice was sort of interesting. We told the taxi driver we wanted ice so he took us down the street a couple of blocks to a building on the corner with a big sign, HIELO, painted on the side. It was all closed up but that didn't bother our taxi friend; he pounded on the door for a while and, when that didn't work, disappeared around the corner. After a while he reappeared and there was a rattle on the door which an old woman opened. Inside there was a huge vat with many wooden lids on the top. Our driver climbed up on top and started looking in each until he found one which was frozen then he used a hook to pull a steel box about four inches high, twelve wide, and two feet long from the vat. The woman took that from him while he hunted for another and dropped it into a tub of water. This was repeated for a second block then, after about a minute, the lady bounced the box on the side of the tub and out slid a twenty pound block of ice. Cost us 4000 pesos for two.
Back at the boat with our loot, Bob and I spent a while getting it all stowed then, with the Metz fuel jug in hand, returned to the beach for another run. We walked back though the square, took a short look at the old mission, got our jug filled at the Pemex station, and found the ladies and Bryan in the Super-mercado. Another taxi ride got us all to the beach and two trips with the Metz got us on board.
12:30 - Goodies stored, we hauled anchor and headed north again. We decided to take advantage of the still flat seas to stay again at the Isla Coronados anchorage so, in about an hour were anchored again north of the sandspit. Bryan went for a swim and Bob and I went fishing while Lois and Kris sat on the deck soaking up what little sun was coming through the clouds. Didn't have much luck with the fishing; too much sea weed everywhere we went. Couldn't troll, and our attempts at jigging came to nought. No matter, later in the evening we traded a couple of cold beers to some kayakers for a nice Pargo. We'll have fish one way or another.
11:30 - Anchored at San Juanico. Got in here just in time. The wind had been building out of the north ever since we left Coronado and by noon it was kicking up some pretty good seas but it's nice and quiet in here.
Lois and Kris fixed up a super lunch of green Mexican peppers stuffed with cheese, tortillas, and guacomole then we all headed for the beach. I took my hiking boots and had on long pants intending to explore the hills behind the fish camp. Bryan and Bob came with me for a ways but they were in shorts and the hostile vegetation soon turned them back to go snorkling while I climbed the mountain. I worked my way through the cactus up to the top where I could look down into Ramada Cove on the north side of the point. Saw my first jack rabbit! I'd seen lots of droppings that looked like rabbit but had never spotted one before. Things aren't moving around much in the daytime here in the desert. Other than for the occasional lizard, you don't see many animals of any kind.
Bob spent a long time snorkling around the rocks and Kris and Bryan did some fish watching while lying on a couple of plastic floats they brought with them. A thunder storm passed by but missed us, just covering the sun with clouds and sending us back to the boat. There Bob found that he had something on the line that he had hung over the stern. It turned out to be an eel about three feet long; and, man, was it mad! I've never handled and eel before but it was obvious this guy was nothing to fool with. We got it up on the deck and tried to subdue it but nothing seemed to work. My fish club didn't even faze it and it was so slippery we couldn't hold it. I finally got the point of my knife driven into the top of it's head, and it just twisted its body and broke the knife off. After about fifteen minutes we finally won the battle but even after we got the thing beheaded and gutted it was still squirming. I did my best to fillet it and we had it for dinner. The meat was white and had a very good flavor but still had hundreds of tiny bones. Kris and I figured out that we could pick it up and gently separate the meat from the bones with our teeth getting some pretty good bites that way. We even had a little rain during the night! What is the Baja coming to?
The wind stayed down all day so, about five o'clock Bob and I decided to try again on the fish. This time we hit it, seven nice Barracuda! So we've got fresh fish for a couple of days.
09:30 - Anchored in the bight south of Pulpito just behind a shrimper that was still emptying its net and expanded our picture of why the birds follow them. The fishermen were cleaning fish that had been caught in the shrimp nets and were tossing the remains, as well as hundreds of trash fish, to the birds. The pelicans and frigatebirds must be well fed; the only pick the choicest pieces.
Bob took Bryan to the beach in the Metz and then went over to negotiate with the shrimpers for some Cameron whiIe started Gennie to wash the HRO filters. That was a mistake! About five minutes later I realized that something was wrong and sure enough, when I checked the sea screens this morning I forgot to turn her sea cock back on. I shut her down, let her cool, and then checked to find that she'd lost a vane of her impeller. Fortunately, I had the one which Nan just sent down with the Glaves. It replaced (I had to make a gasket because I forgot to order that.), she seems OK again. I think I caught it soon enough to avoid damage to the exhaust hose. Got to get that Aqualarm installed!
While I was busy Bob came back with a big bag of shrimp and Bryan climbed all the way to the top of Pulpito, about 500 feet high. There were still lots of the trash fish from the shrimper floating toward the beach and the ladies weren't too interested in it, so we decided to go around to the north anchorage off Punta San Antonita. We hauled anchor and made a slow run around the point where a group of kayaking divers were playing with the sea lions. The San Antonita anchorage is fair with a good holding bottom, but it shoals so slowly that we had to anchor about a half mile off the beach. It's also completly open to the north which was fine today but which, on most days, would be uncomfortable. Bob and I took Lois and Bryan to the beach, then went fishing. In about an hour we had five more barracuda. We seem to be getting that system down pat!
15:30 - Decided to go back to San Juanico for the night and headed south again.
17:30 - The weather was so nice we decided to anchor in the south anchorage at Juanico. It is really pretty with a nice beach, a reef for snorkling, and some spectacular rock formations on the point. Had a super seafood dinner of shrimp and barracuda!
11:00 - We decided to run down to Bahia Salinas on the east side of Isla Carmen for the night so we're on our way. It's starting to get cloudy and the little flies are the worst they've been. They don't bite or sting but they can sure get annoying!
14:00 - Stopped off the north end of Carmen and tried doing some deep water jigging. Didn't work! There wasn't much wind but we still drifted too fast for 250 feet of water. I finally got down to the bottom with my big halibut jig but gave up after a few minutes of jigging. That's not my style of fishing!
17:00 - Anchored in ten feet of water off the village pier in Bahia Salinas. Looks like there is more of a town here than I had expected. At least there are quite a few fairly large buildings. We've heard that there are salt ponds here and some kind of a magnesium operation going. We'll go in tomorrow and have a look.
Lois and Bryan fixed up a super dinner of barbequed steak and barracuda. Lois is also smoking a batch of barracuda so now we're going to have to catch more.
After breakfast the five of us went to the beach for a look at the village. It appears that at one time this was a very busy community. There is a nice school building, a church with a beautiful bell in its tower, about twenty fair sized duplexes in addition to the managers' living quarters which are now occupied by the fishermen, lots of heavy machinery, a good sized diesel electric power plant, and lots of well marked offices and shops of a going salt production operation. Now only weather torn bags of salt with the lable "Salinas Pacifica Sal" on them show what all the activity was about. Rusted rails leading to the broken down pier show how the salt was carried to barges for shipment.
10:30 - Headed south. The weather was cooperating, having dried out a bit from the humidity of yesterday and still quiet, so we decided to try one of the anchorages at Candeleros. On the way down we saw several manta rays surface; they must like this area!
13:00 - Anchored in the south cove at Punta Candeleros. This is another really super anchorage! Its only problem is that it is open to the north but, other than that it has everything, a nice little beach, beautiful scenery, good clean water, and lots of pretty reef fish.
We had hardly gotten the hook down when Bob went over the side with a splash, and Brian was soon after him. The water was warm, particularly near the surface, so Bob, Bryan, and I spent quite a while snorkling around the rocks. The surface was so quiet that Lois and Kris were able to watch the reef fish without even getting wet; although Kris later got on the Sun Float and drifted around for a better look. It was such a nice afternoon that Bob and I didn't even get around to fishing, although he hung a baited hook over the stern as usual.
We had leg of lamb for dinner, the last of the Price Club lamb and it was great, as usual, then the rest of the crew went to the beach to roast marshmellows while I caved -- too much sun today I guess. Great day!
I tried to call Mom to wish her a Happy Birthday and the High Seas Operator told me our calling card number is invalid. I suspect Rainier may have failed to pay our phone bill. Communications can sure get difficult down here!
Bob, Kris and Bryan went fishing and spent several hours trolling and sightseeing between the cove and Danzante which is only a couple of miles away. They didn't get much but had fun. While they were gone I installed some hardwood stops on the head so that you can't overload the mechanism. Hopefully that will keep it from breaking in the future.
About noon we had a visit from a kayaker named Roy Mahoff who is doing sort of a solo tour of the Baja in his converted coach with kayaks, dive gear, and camping equipment. A former commercial pilot and flight instructor, he is sort of a middle aged dropout working for a few months to make money to continue his tour. He will be coming back down in September and might be a possible way of getting some supplies to Santa Rosalia.
14:30 - Decided we'd better get going if we wanted to park off Loreto this evening so up with the Metz and anchor and off we go.
15:30 - Same story as with Sis and Paul. Wind coming up, not strong but just enough to make a night at Loreto very uncomfortable, so we change course and head for Balandra.
16:30 - Anchored in Balandra next to the Santa Maria. Peter and Mary Leopold have been slowly working their way up from La Paz. They came over for a drink and a nice visit with Bob and Kris. They are planning on going to Santa Rosalia and beyond so I'm sure we'll see them again.
I was a little surprized at the lack of flies in Balandra. The guide books say it's bad but there were fewer than we've had at other places. This isn't the first time we've found a statement that appears in more than one book to be untrue, at least at the time we were there. I think sometimes the books are written on the basis of very few visits and that authors copy stories from one another.
06:15 - Off and running heading for Loreto, 9 miles away.
07:45 - Anchored, Metz down, bags all ready at the door, and Bob on his way to shore with Grandma and Bryan. Back for Kris and I and we all head down the road to town. Had a nice breakfast at the Cafe Ole, an "Order Here - Pickup Here" type place, but with very good Huevos Rancheros at a very good price.
Things just went Tickity Boo all morning. After breakfast we walked over to the Plaza Supermercedo to get groceries and gas for the Metz. The Pemex station there was out of gas but when I went to get a taxi I had a stroke of good luck; I got Gustavo Fernandez for a driver. Gustavo is a real jewel! He speaks English quite well and seems to really enjoy helping people. He took us to the Tortillaria where they make corn tortillas and where we went before but then, when I said we really liked flour tortillas, he took us to Senor Drew's house where a nice lady made us up a kilo while we waited. He also pointed out the store where they sell liquor at about 40 percent of the supermarket price, took us to a Fruiteria where they had much better produce than any of the super markets, took us to another Pemex station where we got gas and where he made sure they gave me the right change, pointed out Cesar's as the best restaurant in town, helped us buy a couple of bags of clams from the boys diving off the beach, made two trips to the beach and waited while I took stuff out to the boat and brought bags back, then took us all to the airport and brought Lois and I back. For all that he asked 30,000 pesos, or about $13.27. I gave him 40,000.
Back at the boat we found that Peter and Mary had also come to town, had finished their shopping, and were planning on going to Isla Coronado for the evening. We decided to join them and invited them to share our clams for dinner.
12:30 - On our way.
13:30 - Anchored, this time still north of the sandspit but near the most easterly beach. There was a slight swell still running from last night so we got in behind the island as far as we could. Had a lazy afternoon straightening up the boat, napping, going for a walk on the beach, and feeding bait and hooks to the box fish under the boat. Peter and Mary came over about 6:00 and we had steamed clams and clam nectar. The nectar was great, just like Lois usually makes it, but the clams were a little disappointing. They were fairly large and tasted sort of flat, without the tang that we've come to expect from littlenecks. We think we'll use the rest for chowder.
After a dinner of clam chowder we took the Metz out for a few minutes for a run along the beach and a short visit on the Santa Maria just to get off the boat.
08:00 - Anchored off the pier, took Metz to the beach with a big load of garbage we'd forgotten to get rid of when we were here last, and walked to town for breakfast at the Cafe Ole again.
Things went well in town again today although we couldn't find our super taxi driver, Gustavo. I couldn't get the operator on the pay phone in the plaza so we walked up to the Larga Distanca station and had the lady there place a collect call to Nan. I asked her to call Dad and Mom, and also Dick and Allyn for us. She'll be here on the 22nd.
We then took a cab out to the Port Captain's office to get our papers squared away. When we were here on the 22nd of March he cleared us to stay for 15 days so, having heard some bad things about the Puerto Escondido Port Captain's itchy palm, I wanted to get our clearance updated by the head guy. As our run of good luck would have it, the Puerto Escondido Captain was in the office today. Both Capitan Araico and he considered our request to stay in the Loreto district another week, "No problemo!". Capitan Araico's young wife, the mother of 10 month old twins, was there and she speaks English quite well. Lois and she talked and everybody was all smiles and friendly wishes so, even if we have to go to Puerto Escondido to pick up Nan I don't expect any problem.
10:00 - All our business done, we headed north bound for San Juanico. The wind was picking up, from the southeast this time, so we had a nice easy run. Once we cleared Isla Coronado we started to pick up a swell so we put out one flopper stopper but still had a nice ride.
13:00 - Anchored in the far south cove at San Juanico with the Santa Maria. The wind was really picking up by then and came whistling around the jagged pinacles on the point but he seas were pretty flat. We stayed there until about 5:00 when the rolls started coming along with the high tide then, at Lois suggestion, we moved in to a spot near the south beach behind the reef. I was for trying Ramada again but her suggestion turned out pretty well. Soon after dark the wind veered around to the west so the rolling stopped and, except for the wind which kept Lois awake, it was a quiet night.
Spent the rest of the day sort of fighting with the wind, not a bad one but just enough to keep things moving. I'd planned on doing the cleaning job on the HRO membrane but I need a quiet anchorage where I don't have buckets of chemicals slopping all over. About noon the wind backed around to the south again and started to build so we move back to the south anchorage. Although the wind was gusting 15 to 20 knots it was warm and sunny, and just generally a lovely day. I decided to take advantage of that and go to the beach even though Lois said she was too busy. It was great. The beach is pretty much protected from the wind and I snorkled a bit along the rocks, laid in the warm water shallows for a while, wandered up and down the fine sand beach in the nude (We had the whole bay to ourselves), and just goofed off most of the afternoon. This is what Baja's all about!
10:00 - Anchored again at Isla Coronado within easy reach of Loreto. The wind by now had swung to the south again so we parked in the east anchorage. I went to work on old Metz, in sad need of attention. I found the leak in the bottom, patched that and repatched another that was leaking, then put reenforcing patches where the lift lines chafe and painted the last of my Hypalon on the bare spots to keep the sun away. I've about given up hope of saving Metz for mush longer; just hope we can make it last until we get to Santa Rosalia. I think next year we'll carry a spare.
It was really a lovely day, warm with light and variable winds as the weathermen say. The only thing keeping it from being perfect were the tiny flies that seem to be everywhere these days. They don't bite but they love to tickle your ears, eyes, and nose, especially when you've got both hands busy. Lois has mosquito netting screens made for all the doors and hatches now so we can escape the bugs at the cost of just a little freedom. All the time I was working on the Metz I kept cool and away from them by diving over the side every few minutes. The water is really getting nice now, probably close to eighty degrees though I haven't measured the temperature.
07:30 - Anchored off Loreto. Nice and quiet here. Got in the Metz (It seems to be holding air much better now.), went to the beach, and had breakfast again at the Cafe Ole. After breakfast we walked over to Gustavo's house and found that he was working the Hotel Oasis today. Another nice walk and, sure enough, we found our friend at that neat, palm tree covered, hotel. Things really worked out well. By the time he took us to the ISSTI store, the tortillaria, the supermercedo, the fruiteria, the hielo (ice) store, and back to the beach, guess what, Don and Shirley were there!
Lots of greetings, then some wet rides to the boat to get all the stuff on board, then Don and I headed off to find Gustavo again to find out where we could leave his car. Gustavo, as usual, was very helpful. He led us over to his house, put Don's little truck in his fenced yard, and took us back to the beach. What a neat guy!
12:00 - On the run again, this time for Balandra. Pretty rolley out here, must be some good winds up north. Almost to Balandra old Gimmy went to an idle all on his own and I knew at once what was wrong; he was starved! We'd run the port tank dry. A quick valve change fixed that problem.
13:30 - Anchored in Balandra with the whole place to ourselves. For the second time there were fewer flies here than we've had elsewhere, in spite of what the books say. Don and I tried a bit of fishing out where Paul caught his barracuda but had no success. It was still pretty bouncy out there and we didn't stay long.
While we were in Loreto we found that Aero Mexico is no more, having folded last week, so I tried calling Nancy on the High Seas telephone. No luck, she's off in Friday Harbor so I had to leave a message with Donna. Hope she finds a way to meet us. The bus looks like the only option.
Along toward evening a big, streamlined boat came in and anchored on the south side. There was no name on the boat and when I went over in the Metz to ask about their satellite communications antenna the answer I got to my question about the name was, "It changes from time to time." We're speculating about the Mafia!
11:15 - Anchored at Mangles. Don and I got in the Metz and went ashore while the ladies soaked up a bit of sun. There's not a very inviting beach. The bay has a large shallow area with a rocky bottom that is so covered with weeds that we had to hunt for a path to the beach. The beach itself is mostly gravel near the water with a fairly wide sand area between the shore and the brush behind. There are a couple of fish camps, one quite elaborate tucked into a pile of sandstone rubble at the base of the south cliff. I later identified a large pile of shells we found as winged oysters, something we'd not seen in the camps before. A large growth of manzanita and a single palm tree mark a source of fresh water. We didn't go far into the brush because it was guarded by some very mean looking black hornets with red wings.
13:00 - Back at the boat we decided this probably wasn't as nice a place to stay as Juanico so up with the anchor and off.
14:30 - Anchored behind the pinacle island in San Juanico again. It was a bit breezy and not awfully warm this afternoon so we just stayed on the boat napping and visiting.
Had the last of the fish Paul caught for dinner and Don, who's recovering from minor surgery, was sick during the night. Don't know what it might have been.
Lois and Shirley took a couple of trips to the beach but, other than that, it was a pretty uneventful day. Stuck in the stateroom, I was glad that the weather was quiet, and remarkably cool.
In the afternoon Don and Shirl went out for a couple of hours fishing (Again, no fish.) while Lois and I watched in amazement as the Moorings boats poured in around us. By three o'clock we were surrounded by six of their charter boats, all seeing how close they could anchor to us. One guy on the "Great Pumpkin" spent an hour and a half anchoring, putting down one hook, going out in the dinghe (At my suggestion) and finding he was too close to the reef, pulling it and dropping it again, then going out with a wet suit and snorkle to look at it and to survey a place for his second anchor, and finally rowing the second anchor into position and dropping it. The final straw came when the "Marline J", a power boat we'd seen in La Paz, came in and anchored about 100 feet in front of us. We moved over to the east cove which was empty.
Don went out fishing again while Lois and Shirl fixed dinner, and finally brought home a barracuda. Said he had several strikes but only landed the one. At least he didn't get skunked.
11:00 - Ran in close to take a look at the Presidente Hotel at Nopolo about five miles south of Loreto. Looks very nice but seems to be deserted. I suspect the demise of Aero Mexico will really hurt their business. Nopolo is open to the north except for a shallow bay behind a sandspit that the hotel panga fleet uses. There's a fairly nice sand beach but it's accessable by road and heavily used by campers.
12:00 - Swung by Bahia Chuenque which is very similar to Nopolo but without the hotel. The "small community" of the guide books appears to be a group of mostly RV's.
13:30 - Anchored again in our pretty little south cove at Punta Candeleros. There was another boat, "Alacia's Wrath", in the tiny anchorage when we approached and we were about to turn around and go to the north anchorage but, on seeing us, they hauled anchor and, saying they were about to leave anyway, turned the only anchoring spot over to us.
Spent a nice afternoon lazying around. Lois and I went to the beach for a while then Don spent an hour or so in the Metz fishing while he finished a book he was reading. I got a'hold of Nan on the High Seas telephone and confirmed that she is coming, will ride the bus from Tijuana, and will be here sometime Saturday. Toward evening the clouds started getting a little thicker and by nightfall the wind was picking up. The front ought to be here about tomorrow. Wonder what it has in store for us.
Spent most of the day dawdling. Ran the watermaker to finish filling the tank then changed the filters. All of us piled in the Metz and spent several hours floating around the rocks and beaches. There are some nice tide pools on the little island that forms part of the cove where you can see many of the reef fish without going snorkling. That was nice for Don and Shirl. It warmed up enough in the afternoon that I even went swimming - couldn't get anybody to come with me though. Maybe when Nan gets here.
09:30 - Anchored at Marquer. There had been a light northerly during the night and a bit of a swell was coming in from the north onto the best beach so instead of anchoring where you normally would we parked on the north side and went ashore. It's a pretty rough shoreline with big rocks and gravel on the beach rather than sand, but there's sort of a lagoon behind the beach with lots of interesting life in it. Thousands of tiny crabs, not more than an inch across, with one large pincher like a fiddler crab, run across the bottom of a little mud pond like ants on an ant hill. We fooled around there for an hour while the ladies salted the beach with the rejects of all our shell hunts of the last month.
11:00 - Decided to move on to Balandra as the wind started picking up from the north.
12:30 - Anchored in Balandra. Had a nice afternoon there watching the Moorings boats put on their anchoring show again. Don took the Metz out fishing and got nothing but as soon as he got back, baited a hook, and put the pole in the holder he had a big one on. For the next hour he kept pulling them in, mostly trigger fish with a few other what'cha'call'em fish to keep things interesting. I was sure glad the fish decided to cooperate on his last night here.
07:30 - Anchored off the pier, walked down to the Hotel Mision, and guess who we found. Nancy, just finishing breakfast! She'd gotten in at about 6:30 and come to the hotel after an all night bus ride from Tijuana. We all walked down to the Cafe Ole' for breakfast then Don and I went over to Gustavo's to pick up his pickup. Gustavo was working out at the Hotel Presidente at Nopolo today so we didn't see him but his wife was very nice. She didn't want to take the $5.00 bill that Don gave her for Gustavo. Back to the hotel, picked up Nan's stuff, took it to the boat, and brought back Don and Shirl's luggage. The wind was picking up a bit early today so we decided to postpone our shopping until Monday. I've got to check out with the Port Captain then anyway.
10:00 - Back at the boat with Nan aboard we headed, first for Balandra, but then decided to go park for a while in the lee of Coronado while we did a wash and made some water. That worked out pretty well. The south anchorage at Coronado is fairly well protected from the north but open in every other direction so I wouldn't feel comfortable for overnight. It also shoals quite a ways out and has large growths of weeds along a not very interesting looking shore.
Nan slept while I worked on the mail she brought, Lois did a wash, and Gennie kept the watermaker running.
15:00 - Headed on into Balandra. Nobody there again this afternoon so we dropped the hook in our favorite spot and settled in for the evening. At almost dark the three Moorings boats we've been seeing came in and anchored around us. They're getting much better at it. It only took about a half hour tonight. When they were complaining on the radio that they were out of coffee I called them and offered enough for breakfast. One of the guys came over, nice kid from Denver. They as usual are pretty happy with the Moorings charter. Must be a good outfit.
Nice dinner of Don's fish. The triggerfish is good, quite flakey, but I think I prefer the barracuda which has a little firmer flesh.
Lots of interesting vegetation upstream including one tree looking very much like a cherry tree in early bloom, before the leaves come out, but on this one the blossoms look like tiny orchids or snap dragons. One big bumble bee was taking advantage of this single soda fountain in the desert.
Later in the afternoon all three of us took a walk along the beach, just enjoying the water and sun in spite of a still brisk wind. We had a fresh fish dinner, courtesy of Nancy who caught four nice triggerfish off the aft deck. She had fun doing that.
07:15 - Anchored off the pier at Loreto. Even here there was enough swell to make landing in the Metz exciting but we managed to stay dry. We walked up to Gustavo's place, found he was working downtown, went there and in a few minutes of scouting around found him, made an appointment to meet him at 9:00, and went to the Cafe Ole for breakfast.
After breakfast I sent the ladies off shopping while I met Gustavo to do the business of the morning. Again things went tickity booh! We went out to the office of El Capitan del Puerto where Capitan Araico checked us out with no fuss. I had redone our crew list to eliminate Nancy's name because she somehow never got a "Tourist Card" when she came down, so right now she is in Mexico illegally. I knew that if we had her on the crew list they would want to see her card and, as I understand the game, you have to go back to the border to get one! We've never been checked and so I'm gambling a small probability of getting a scolding against a sure hassle if we raised the issue.
Over that hurdle, Gustavo and I went back to town, picked up the tortillas he had ordered for us, went to the fruiteria for a bunch of good fruits, vegetables, and eggs, to the Deposito for a couple of cases of cold beer, and then to the Supermercedo where I had the shopping almost done by the time Lois and Nan showed up at ten o'clock. We picked up a block of ice at the Hielo place on the way back to the boat. At the beach the tide had gone out a bit and the wind was picking up so there was even more surf than on the way in. Now it didn't matter if we got wet though, so by making two trips we got all our stuff though the waves with no problems. We'd wade out 'till the waves were up to our knees then I'd hold the boat while first Nan, then Lois, jumped in and started rowing to keep the bow into the surf. Then I'd jump in and get the motor going for the trip to the boat.
While we were gone someone, probably kids, had been messing with the Metz. They'd taken the cover off the motor and didn't get it back on right, and done something to poke some holes in the wooden seat. First time that has happened in all the times we've left it on the beach.
11:00 - Metz and anchor aboard and we are on our way north for the last time this spring. As we headed through the Coronado channel I could see some pretty good white caps to the north and was wondering if we were going to get turned back but, as it turned out, the waves were long enough to let us ride over most without taking water over the bows. Other than for a short period when Nan had to go out on deck for a bit of fresh air, it was a nice easy, if splashy ride.
15:00 - Into San Juanico after going past and then turning to ride the waves into the bay. It was nice and quiet behind the pinacle island and, for the first time, we were the first ones in so we had our pick of spots. There wasn't another soul in the whole bay.
The wind was still blowing at about twenty knots so going ashore wasn't very inviting so I mixed up a batch of Margaritas and we celebrated our successful passage. The one batch tasted so good I did another and the afternoon went very quickly. Lois was drinking Margaritas like they were lemonaid and she's not used to having more than a couple of watered down Martinis. By the time the wind died we put her to bed and Nan and I went off to the beach to look at the "Shrine" and walk off the buzz. While we were there another boat, the "Magic Tern" from Victoria, came in and anchored almost on the reef. We went over and showed them where the edge of the rocks is so they thanked us and moved to a bit safer spot.
In the afternoon Nan and I went over and took pictures of the "Shrine" and then put on the wetsuits and did some snorkling. The pretty little fish are still there but the visibility wasn't as good today as it was the last time I snorkled here. It's either because of the winds yesterday or it may be that the summer growth of alge is starting to cloud the water. It was fun anyway.
In the evening I fixed up a batch of macaroni and cheeze so we had a little change from our fish diet. 'Bout time to go fishing again. We'll hang out the lines tomorrow on the way to Bahia Conception.
08:30 - Whale about three miles north of Pulpito surfaced three times of the starboard bow. Couldn't identify it by our books but it had almost no visible blow (but we could sure hear it), a small curved dorsal, and it sounded without raising its tail. It was large, more than fifty feet.
09:30 - Otro Ballena, this one a little smaller with a smaller fin but again no visible blow.
12:00 - Anchored at Punta Domingo. Not so many people here this time, just one pickup and a single inflatable. We're here just in time as the wind starts to pick up from the north. Lois wasn't feeling so good so she took a nap while Nan and I went to the beach. It was the first time we'd gone to this beach and we had quite a surprize. It has more shells of various sizes, shapes, and colors than any other we've been to. We spent about three hours walking along the beach and the rocks to the south and then talking to the two families in the pickup and boat. They said it is a three hour drive from the main road at the south end of the bay to here. Surprizing that there were so many vehicles here during spring break!
17:30 - The clouds that had been around all day started to look like they could have some weather with them so I got the 16:30 weather fax. Sure enough, there was a low about 400 miles to the west and moving fast in our direction. It wasn't very strong but we decided to play it safe and get to a more protected anchorage. So, up anchor and off to Santispac.
19:00 - Anchored in the north passage where the wind can come from any direction without bothering us. As it turned out we never got much wind but we can sleep better if we're not in an exposed location.
10:00 - Anchored off the west beach in Bahia Santa Inez and went ashore on a shelling expedition. Lots of nice shells of several kinds but hundreds of the multicolored scollops. Got a real haul!
12:00 - Ran on over to Punta Inez and anchored near the Hotel Punta Chivato. The wind had picked up a bit and there were even a few drops of rain now and then, so we had lunch then all took a nap while things calmed down. Later Nan and I went over to one of the shrimp boats anchored nearby and she had quite a conversation with the crew. We got a lecture on how the nets worked, why they fish at night (The shrimp feed at night.), what the multicolored pom-poms were for, and when and where they fish. Nan speaks pretty workable Spanish considering that she hasn't used it for ten years or more. We ended up buying a kilo of shrimp for dinner.
After that we went to the beach which Charley of "Charley's Charts" says is an extraordinary shelling beach. He's right! We've never seen so many shells in one place. Evidently the conditions are just right for the southerly storms to toss shells by the millions onto the shore. Lots of them are broken, of course, and since it's been quite a while since the last storm they've been picked over by lots of people, but we got another haul anyway. As Nan told the fishermen, it's tough work!
Back at the boat Lois was ready to go out, so we changed our clothes and went over to the hotel for Margaritas. The wind had died and the clouds were almost gone, just enough remaining to paint a lovely sunset while we sat on the patio and finished our drinks. Dinner of shrimp to cap off a great day.
08:30 - Anchored about 100 yards from the road at the San Marcos south anchorage, took the Metz to the beach (sand and smooth rocks), and walked the dirt road about a half mile over the hill to town.
San Marcos is a company town of about 500 people. There is a church, a hospital, three schools, a socker field, a baseball diamond, airstrip, company store as well as several of the tiny grocery and novelty stores attached to peoples houses, a library, and a municipal building which appeared empty. The houses are maybe a little better than average for a small Mexican town but over everything is the dust, a fine while powdering of gypsum that must take a lot of getting used to. From the road we could see the trucks hauling the gypsum from the mines through a tunnel to the huge storage pile near the pier. From there bulldozers pushed the ore into hoppers leading to long, fast moving conveyor belts which took it out to the pier. While we were there a ship, the "Gold Coin Conveyor", was loading. From on of the workmen Nan got the information that the ship took 24 hours to load, held 28,000 tons, and was bound for San Diego. The greatest dust producing operation was when the ore dropped from the last belt into the ship; a huge white cloud almost totally hid half the ship from view.
10:00 - Back at the boat we drank a cerveza to clear the dust from our throats, hauled anchor, and headed around Roca Lobos to run up the west side of the island. It's a long way out and a long way back to clear the narrow reef that extends southwest of Lobos so an hour later we were back to the south end of the island. As we passed the loading pier the dust, now driven by about ten knots of wind, extended in a long cloud to the south.
With the wind picking up we decided to bag looking for a good skin diving spot (which Nan sort of wanted to do once more) and run for Santa Rosalia. There wasn't a strong wind but the long reach to the northeast put a pretty good chop on the water as we bounced our way across the channel.
13:30 - Docked at Santa Rosalia in "our slip", number 6, with the help of Salvador, the painter, and Zac, the skipper of the "Aurone", a 40 foot sailboat from Portland, OR. On checking in we found that Edith was gone and her place had been taken by a very enthusiastic youn lady named Rosemary who wants very much to practice her English. During the afternoon, with Nan as our interpreter, we learned lot of things about the port, marina, and town. We met one of the owners of the marina, Antonio, also the owner and operator of Farmacia Luz. He displayed a dry sense of humor when he told Nan that the owners of the marina were the twelve apostles without a Jesus. Pepi (Benjamin) came by and Nan talked to him a while, we walked down to the Port Captain's office and got there just in time to see him taking off for the weekend, so we postponed that and went on over to the bus depot and got the schedule for buses to Tijuana. The Santa Maria with Peter and Mary was anchored in the harbor and they stopped by for a drink then they, we, and another couple named Ken and Phyllis went to dinner at the Mairen. Ken and Phyllis had just left their boat at San Carlos so they gave us some good poop about that place, so we got a good start already on sorting ourselves out for the summer.
In the afternoon it was getting pretty warm so Lois begged off and stayed on the boat while Nan and I went to the plaza to see the children's fiesta. It was really neat! There were hundreds of kid ranging from two to about twelve dressed up in all kinds of costumes on about a dozen floats in the parade. It, like most parades, started off two or three hours late and went in fits and starts, but it was fun. The central plaza where we were most of the time was actually a very comfortable place. There are many large shade trees and there was a gentle breeze that made sitting around waiting very bearable.
Back at the boat after the parade, Zac and Jody came over for some conversation and a drink with us. They seem like a fun couple and have lived on their 40 foot sailboat for 12 years. They plan to cruise here in the Sea of Cortez for the summer and Jody has been working on awnings for their boat. She's made them to cover everything so that they have good protection from the sun. Zac says the summers are unbearable unless you can stay out of the sun for at least the hours from 1:00 to 4:00. I mentioned to him that I had no fuel additive and needed it before we fueled and he suggested that I try contacting Downwind Marine in San Diego on the Single Sideband radio. He has his mail forwarded through them. I think I'll do that. He also recommended that we NOT have mail forwarded to the marina, but said that it should go to the Port Captain instead. He feels that is a more reliable way to go unless we can use the Yachty net through Downwind. He also gave Pepi a good recommendation, saying that he was a good and conscientious worker. Pepi spent the day varnishing their boat for which Zac is paying him 2000 pesos per hour, about 88 cents.
We tried a little bike riding anyway but it wasn't very pleasent; the dust was so bad we couldn't see where we were going so, after a short ride around the north end of town, we ended up out on the breakwater watching the seas build. And build they did! By two in the afternoon they were visible from inside the harbor as they broke on the far side of the thirty foot high mole. So, we returned to the boat, doubled up on the mooring lines and spent the last day of Nan's visit cleaning and sorting shells; not a bad way to spend a windy day. Zack and Jody loaned us some shell books (they've been collectors for a long time) and I did the research while Lois and Nan sorted and polished. It's surprizing how many fairly good shells we have considering the fact that almost all have been picked up on the beach rather than being collected alive.
At 4:30 Zack drove us down to the bus depot with Nan's luggage and, somewhat to our surprize the bus was on time, she got a reserved seat (front row right side), and was on her way right at five o'clock. It's a fourteen hour run to Tijuana so she gets in there about 7:00 AM and will have the day to look around before catching her 5:30 flight from San Diego to Seattle.
We went to dinner with Zack, Jody, and a couple, Dick and Jeanie, from a just arrived sailboat named the "Seafever" at a tiny restaurant that served some excellent barbequed chicken. On the way back we noticed that the Guaymas ferry, due in at five o'clock, was still standing off outside the harbor. Evidently he couldn't come in with the wind blowing this hard. He finally made it in sometime before midnight, but didn't leave at the scheduled 11:00 PM time.
And he stayed there all day, and the wind blew again all day, and so we stayed pretty close to the boat all day. I made a couple of trips to the Port Captain's office but he never showed up. I did get to the bank and bought some pesos, 2257 for a buck today, down three pesos from La Paz but it's been pretty stable. I also stopped at the PEMEX station and talked to a nice guy named Capitan Edmundo Elixondo Encinas who manages the station and is also the pilot for the port. He steers in the ferry and other big ships coming to Santa Rosalia. I made an appointment to fuel at 4:00 PM on Wednesday. We'll move the boat over to the concrete bulkhead on the north side of the harbor and a truck will bring down the fuel for us. Looks like it should work pretty well. The government controlled price is the same for us as it is for the guy with the five gallon can, 445 pesos per liter or about 76 cents per gallon. That's about 12 cents more than we paid in San Diego.
Later in the afternoon we took a short walk out on the breakwater but the wind was gusting so hard we could hardly stand up and the dust was so bad everywhere else that we gave up, came back to the boat, and read books. The whole boat is covered with a fine, sticky, dust but there's no use trying to clean it up until the wind stops.
After we got though with the cleaning I changed Gimmy's oil, using the Series 2, Delo 100 that Bob brought down. That will give me a chance to contact a
GMC engineer in the States before I change to using Series 3 oil. I think it will be OK but want to be sure.
About the time I was in the middle of the oil change the Seafever left for San Carlos and another boat, the "Spring Moon" from Vancouver, BC, came in and docked next to us. Seems we're in a bit of luck because the skipper, Al Warawa, is planning to stay here until September and has already said that he would be glad to keep our boat alive. If that works out we will be able to keep power on the boat, the battery changer and freezer running, and the engines warmed up now and then. I'll feel a lot more comfortable if a fellow boat owner is keeping an eye on us, especially one who speaks English and who can call us if there is a problem.
We fooled around until we missed the Port Captain again; he leaves the office at 15:00. That will be my prime task tomorrow before moving over to get our tanks filled.
Since I still had the cart attached I stopped at the Deposito and picked up a case of cervesa, took it home, did a little fooling around there, then back to the Capitania del Puerto. Still no luck! I decided to go find the name of the place where we got such good chicken the other night and rode up there. I'm glad I did! I met a very nice English speaking Mexican man, Joel Sanches, and his wife, Juanita, who insisted on buying me a cervesa while we talked for an hour. He is in the construction business and his wife runs a small restaurant in Palo Verde, a small town near Punta Chivato. They have twelve children, all of whom are either professionals or are in schools or college. A former fisherman, he answered a lot of my questions about how the Mexican fishing industry works. He invited us to come to Palo Verde, saying that he had two cars and would be glad to loan us one or take us around to see the sights in the area. It was a very pleasent hour.
About two o'clock I went back again to the Port Captain's office, this time with success. Capitan Castillo remembered me, welcomed us back, and asked if there was anything he could help us with. There was no additonal paperwork for this visit since he had cleared us until July on our former stay.
About 3:00 we cast off and moved over to the bulkhead where the fuel truck was scheduled to arrive. Pepi had shown up and was with us, and Peter and Mary, who had arrived back in the Santa Maria, also came about the time that the fuel truck arrived at 4:20. It was quite and operation! The truck only had about fifteen feet of hose so we had to fill the two tanks on one side then turn the boat around. The hose had no nozzle and leaked at the fitting where it joined the truck so they had a big bucket to catch the drip and empty the hose into between tanks. Of course there was no meter on the truck so we had to take on faith that there was the full 4870 liters I had ordered and was charged for. We filled the aft port tank first and only spilled a quart or so. Then the forward port tank, which went well because I could use the dip stick to see how we were doing. We then turned the boat around, only getting a few black marks from the big tires hung as fenders on the concrete bulkhead, and filled the forward starboard tank. Got that done and started on the aft starboard but hadn't had the hose in it's fill port but about ten minutes when Peter noticed that there was no air escaping from the vent. Sure enough, the truck was empty! I'm not sure how much fuel we got into the aft tank. I'd been adding Biobor JF, a biocide, to each tank in the proper amount for the fuel I estimated it to take, so I probably have too much in that tank. I'll just have to hope that it doesn't "form solids" which the directions caution you may form if it is used in too high a concentration. Oh well, that was my contaminated tank anyway.
Finally got it all cleaned up, put the boat back in our slip, took a shower, and then went over to the Santa Maria to help Peter and Mary eat a delicious meal of the big Pargo (Red Snapper) that Peter shot while he was diving off San Marcos island today. All in all, it was a very successful day!
I also decided that I wanted to know just how much fuel we did take on yesterday, so I rigged the little electric fuel pump to pump fuel from the forward port tank into the aft starboard until it was full. The result was a bit disappointing; they shorted me somewhere between 150 and 200 gallons. There's no way I could prove it but I think I'll mention it to Capitan Castillo. It's no big deal to us, in effect raising the price from 76 cents per gallon to 87 cents, but I hate to keep having these little disappointments in what seems to be a very lovely and happy people.
We spent most of the day inside. I cleaned up the engine room, serviced all the batteries, then started on our inventory. We still have four boxes of food stored under the bunks in addition to everything in the pantry. I got that about half counted and in the computer. I'll finish that tomorrow and then start on our other supplies. We'll need the list when we provision next fall.
I went up to the Farmacia California and called Nan this afternoon. She got home all OK with only one flat tire on the bus. I told her to send our mail to the Port Captain. We'll see how that works. Our letter from Sis went there even though it was addressed to the marina.
Peter and Mary joined us for a seafood dinner, courtesy of our next door neighbors, Al and Beth. They had been down to Santispac and picked up a bunch of clams, scollops, and snails that they gave us. We've got something to learn about preparing the snails. They tasted great, but were full of sand even though they'd been in clean salt water for about 24 hours.
Peter entertained us with a tale of his escape from East Germany, and quite a tale it is. After graduating from college he managed to get a job as an engineer on a ship, created a medical emergency by bashing his head intentionally, thereby getting transferred to a hospital ship which landed at Norway for fuel, then jumped ship and hid until the captain of the ship gave up and left. That's the outline but, as he tells it, it is as good a story as any I've read about escapes from the east. He really ought to write a book about it.
In the afternoon we rode the bikes up to town and had lunch at a Tacoria near the bakery - best Tacos we've had since Cabo San Lucas! We got a few groceries, including a big filet of yellowtail large enough to feed four people for which I paid 70 cents. In the evening we walked up to La Murara, the barbequed chicken place, with our Canadian neighbors the Warawas; Al, Beth, and daughter Lee Ann. Had a nice dinner and visit with them. They caught the 11:00 PM ferry to Guaymas and will be gone until Tuesday.
08:30 - Back in the slip, I pickled the HRO again for the last time before heading north, then, because it was Mothers' Day, we walked up town with the intent of calling Mom, Dick, and Kristie. No luck! The guy at the Farmacia had been trying unsuccessfully for more than forty-five minutes to get a direct call through. He wasn't even trying to reach the international operator. Oh well, we'll give folks a call tomorrow.
Lois was pretty disappointed that she couldn't talk to her kids, but she soon cheered up. The wind never got very strong, so she put on her bikini and lay on the deck soaking up the sun. I rode up town on the bike and brought her back a dish of ice cream which made her feel better, and she invited the other mothers, Mary and Jody, to come over after dinner for a movie to celebrate the day and then went down in the galley to mix up a batch of brownies. By afternoon she was feeling chipper again.
In the afternoon I changed the cruise generator hydraulic oil and managed to do it without spilling a drop. That's a first! It's a nasty one to get to, but I think I've finally got it figured out. When I went to refill I found that I had lost my flex funnel but, fortunately, Zack came up with one which he gave me, so that's one more job done.
We had our yellowtail for dinner (It was great), then Zack and Jody and Peter and Mary came for the movie. I made a mess of popcorn and we all watched "Mr. Mom", a silly movie about a man having trouble filling a mother's role. The ladies loved it!
Called Mom & Dad; no problem today. Dad's feeling OK after his hernia repair, just a little sore. Said he was in the hospital one day and out the next. I also talked to the port captain about being shorted on fuel. He was quite concerned, and recommended that I write a letter to the Mexican Tourist Department explaining what happened. He said he is going to La Paz nest week and would like to take a copy of my letter and measurement data with him. I'll write the letter and we'll see what, if anything, happens.
Lois set up another movie night with Zack, Peter, and Mary - Jody wasn't feeling so good. We made popcorn and watched the "Shining", a scary movie from our neighbors, the Warawas. They got back on the ferry tonight. I gather they weren't particularly favorably impressed with Guaymas, just another big city. We'll talk to them some more tomorrow.
Pepi showed up about 9:00, so I put him to work finishing the rails and doors while I continued with my cleanout and inventory of the aft lockers and lazerette. Lois worked all day on covers for the hatches. Looks like we should be ready to head north soon after Al gets back from San Diego. He's taking Beth and Lee Anne up on Monday and will spend a few days there before returning. That would make it about the 20th.
The laundrymat in Mulege is a very good one, patterned after the best in the U.S., and very clean. While Jodie was did her laundry Lois went to the Beauty Shop and got her hair cut, Zack made a long distance call (a major project as usual), and I wandered around the town which, I think I mentioned before, is very Americanized. After that we had a lunch of Margaritas and hambergers at La Casita, then visited the old prison (It's still being used as a jail).
Back at the boat we found Pepi just about finished with cleaning the hull so we practiced our Spanish on him for a while then went to dinner at the Mairen for the first time since we've been back. The dinner of cameron was great, as usual, and Ivineo, or "Neo" as he is called, sat at our table and talked with us all though it. He and his wife, Philipa have promised to come to the boat for a visit on Saturday morning. They also recommended the little Carniceria next door for meat. He checked and they'll have a shipment Saturday morning.
Back at the marina, we found a meeting of the owners just breaking up so we went in and met most of them. They were very interested in our suggestions on what they could do to make yachties more comfortable in their marina. A couple of them speak fair English so we were able to converse fairly well. Seem like a nice group of businessmen.
We rode up town a couple of time on the bikes. I mailed my letters on our fueling problem off to all the officials. On one of the trips I we found Francis Palencia, one of the English speaking marina owners and also the proprietor of the Casa de Palencia, a used furniture store, the owner of a hotel and eighteen other rentals. He looks to be about seventy and is working very hard to improve his English. He offered to help us in any way he can. Again for the record, his phone number in his store is 2-01-61 and his address is Box 60, Santa Rosalia, B.C.S.
The power was off most of the night last night and, when I started Gennie so that Lois could fix breakfast, the new alarm system went off. Sure enough, we'd lost another impeller, the vanes just came loose from the hub. I think I'll gather up all my old delaminated impellers and send them to ONAN along with a nasty letter. It's a dumb design! The neoprene vanes are glued to a slick bronze hub with no mechnical grip what-so-ever!
Philipa and Neo came down to visit us this morning about seven; caught me in the engine room working on the impeller. We had a nice visit, Lois and I practicing Spanish while they practiced their English.
Didn't accomplish a lot today. I was up at the Farmacia making a call to Nan when I stepped off the curb and turned my right ankle. It hurt a bit when I did it, but it was soon better and I thought I had lucked out. A few hours later, though, it started hurting again, so I'm hobbling around and letting Lois do most of the walking. We did get the Metz stowed in the Ranger sailing dinghe, and also got some of the forward windows covered with cardboard and foil to reflect the heat of the summer. We're getting down to the short strokes now.
We went over to the Spring Moon for a dinner of lobster which Allen bought from a local fisherman and Beth prepared. She served it sort of like a thermadore. Delicious! We had a nice evening visiting with them. It turns out they know Bob Car, the old sailor we met in Port Angeles last fall. Small world.
Got all the lines and chain cleaned up, dried, and stowed, then defrosted the freezer. That's the last of the big jobs. Now it's just a matter of packing and making sure everything is as it should be. I tried twice to get Don or Shirl with no luck; didn't have any luck on our mail either. Well, I'd just as soon not rush off until we've given things a chance to settle anyway. Click here for MORE.