Friday, March 28, 2014

Punta Prieta

Tibabiche to Punta Prieta
Winds from NE 11 kts
Seas 1'
Sunny day
Engine hours 77.7-78.4

25 deg 16.22' N 110 deg 56.38 W
25 deg 19' 37.7" N 110 deg


Today was a short and sweet sail right to our anchorage.  It was our whale day!  We had a humpback give us a breach show better than we've seen this whole trip.  I even managed to get a bit of footage for mom.





Welcome to our beautiful anchorage.  I have to share with you some gorgeous photos of our home for the night.

Gorgeous rock formations and clear blue water

A view of the mouth of the anchorage from the inside looking out
Pangaea
Red rocks !


We got settled in our anchorage and went for a paddle. While we were out, Jajime came by and caught us two langostas!  More lobster dinners!  Yay!

Mike paddling back to Pangaea












Jajime and Mike

















Rock Lobsters for dinner !






















Hot showers were next on our agenda, followed by dinner prep.  A good day for all!  We watched rays jump while we enjoyed our sundowner G and Ts.

Humpbacks and Lobster, what more could a girl want?

First Mate Kate (and Captain Mike)

Thursday, March 27, 2014

Timbabiche


San Evaristo - Timbabiche 25 nm
Wind variable from NE 4-11 knts
We sailed most of the day.
9:30-5:00
Engine hours 74.6-77.7

24 deg 54.61'N 110 deg 42.36' W
25 deg 16.22' N 110 deg 56.38 W

We saw a couple of pods of dolphins feeding again today, as well as a lot of rays.

No whales. For now.





 We were greeted by Manuel when we finished anchoring, with three small langostas for sale.  Thus, we had lobster for dinner!  We bought fresh fish from Jajimi (hai-mi) who came by after Manuel.



Mike and I sang/played the guitar at sunset in the cockpit.

Thankful for today,

First Mate Kate











Wednesday, March 26, 2014

San Evaristo

Isla San Francisco- San Evaristo
8 nm
Engine hrs 72-74.6
S winds (light)
Sunny and pleasant

24 deg 49.289'N 110 deg 34.276 W
24 deg 54.61'N 110 deg 42.36' W

The sweet fishing village of San Evaristo












Wind was out of the south but didn't pick up until we buried the hook. We had another escort into the anchorage. This time it was a sea lion.  


Salt ponds in Isla San Francisco
















This am we paddled to shore and gathered more sea salt from the salt ponds.  Then we paddled back out into the wind and did our daily set of squats, pushups, planks, and roll downs.  We had a sweet sea turtle sighting while we were paddling.  First turtle sighting at Isla San Francisco for us.

At the anchorage we enjoyed a quesadilla and read until dinner time.


Mike jamming in the cockpit
















At sundown, we enjoyed G and T's and I played Mike a sundowner concert with guitar.

We noticed before bedtime as we checked out the stars and the fish seeking the light of our solar light that we had an osprey on top of our mast.  Cool.

Thankful for today,

First Mate Kate

First Mate Kate

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Isla San Francisco

Ensenada del Cardonal-Isla San Francisco

11:15-3:20
Engine hours 68-72
21 miles

24 deg 33.062'N 110 deg 23.21'W
24 deg 49.289'N 110 deg 34.27'W




















A motor day.  No fish or whales but I saw two sea turtles this am while paddle-boarding the anchorage and two pods of dolphins under way. We also saw a few sea lions and rays.



Thankful for today,

First Mate Kate

Monday, March 24, 2014

Our journey begins...

3-24-14

La Paz to Ensenada el Cardonal

Well, if the marine life we saw today was any kind of universal sign that we are supposed to be doing this sailing thing, we got an amazing showing!

We left yesterday morning from Marina Palmira after saying goodbye for now to all our friends on dock 3 and in La Paz the night before at a Pirate Party hosted by Jeanne and Tom on Eagle.


Here are some photo highlights from the Pirate Party.  ARRRGH!





 



My favorite pirate saying :-)














Jeanne and Tom  (pirate party hosts- S/V Eagle)

Mike and Wendy (S/V Willow)
Kevan (S/V Entre Nous) and Dave (S/V Swan)



Kate and Rhonda (S/V Swan)

One of Tom's pirate shirts :-)


Dave won the pirate costume competition
Dread Pirate Mike


Rhonda and Dave

Wendy and Marilyn (S/V Shaman)



We headed out in more wind than we like, but got off safely thanks to Wendy, Dianne and Terry.

We waited outside the channel for Wendy, who left shortly after us to head home to California.  She met up with us and we sailed toward Isla Espiritu Sancto where Wendy headed south to Muertos. On our way there, we both got a great show from two humpbacks breaching and splashing for a good long time.  A beautiful beginning to our journeys.

S/V Willow with Wendy and monsters aboard


On our 31 mile trip to Ensenada el Cardinal, one of our favorite anchorages, we encountered sea lions, rays doing wild acrobatics in the air, a pod of dolphins feeding and splashing, more whales breaching and our final and favorite....an escort into the anchorage at sunset by two dolphins who not only led us in but then gave us an aerial show of jumps and flips as the sun went down.  It was an amazing day.  I was able to capture the dolphins at the end with my camera.





Thank you, thank you, thank you universe, for such an amazing gift of today.

We anchored in the left side of the anchorage in about 17' of water on a nice sandy bottom.

First Mate Kate



Sunday, March 16, 2014

Transitioning to Living Aboard Pangaea

It may be hard to tell from the happy blogs and photos, but when we first came down here for an extended time in October, I was really depressed.  It wasn't until Nancy on Shindig introduced me to La Escuela de Musica and got me singing and playing the piano that I found my happiness again.  Because I spent the last 20 years in my career singing and playing the piano to teach singing and restore the health of the voices of my patients, I wasn't ever really without playing the piano or singing. All it really took was one month of no music making to see that it's not just something I love to do...it's something I NEED to do.

When Mike and I came down in October, we decided to leave the instruments at home because we had so many other things to bring down.  Big mistake.  I should have taken this sign we saw in Portland, ME while taking an Offshore Emergency Medicine course as a true SIGN!



So, I found a guitar at the sailing community's Swap Meet for $60 (including a soft case and extra strings and with an electronic tuner and pickup!) and regained my musical "power".


When we came down two weeks ago...we brought down...



A ukelele from the Boulder Music Co and a keyboard courtesy of my friends Kathryn and Marc!

Now we make music on Pangaea every day!  In fact, Mike is playing the guitar for me as I write this blog.  :-)

It has been a really windy day today.  We spent a good part of the morning securing the boats on Dock 3.  Many people are away, so we made sure their boats were tied up well and nothing could potentially fly away.  The forecast was for wind speeds around 20-25 mph, but we heard there were gusts up to 45!

This was taken from my iPhone, so not the best, but you may be able to see the red channel buoy up against the breaker instead.  It takes a lot to move what should be a permanent channel marker off its mark.  Definitely not a day for casual cruising.  It would have been a fun day to kite surf.  Unfortunately, we are just wanna-bes right now.  Next time!

I thought that I would end up with dreadlocks if I spent too much time outside, so Mike and I resorted to a lazy day of watching episodes of Arrested Development.  I tip my hat to you, writers of such smart comedy.  We spent the day laughing our ars's off!

We ended our day with a night on the town with some of our fellow dock 3-ers.  We wanted to go to the restaurant Trocadero, but it was closed.  Thus, we headed to Nim on the advice of Lance on Kylahi.  Great choice!  The food was wonderful, as well as the service ( I had the chicken mole) and everyone was happily just a little too full on our way out.  I think I had the best chocolate-chocolate chip ice cream I have ever had, served with a chocolate chip lava cake.  My new PMS go-to food.  Oh....and I sang "Besame Mucho" with the mariachi band!  They seemed to like it.  :-)

First Mate Kate

Friday, March 7, 2014

Snorkeling Trip

Mike and I were invited by Kay and Bob on Tutu to go for a day trip snorkeling just across from Isla Espiritu Santo.  They raved about the beach, the coral, and the privacy, and I have to say, it was one of the nicest displays of coral around La Paz.  The water was a bit chilly, so neoprene was in order.

 

Of course, Mike had to start his snorkeling experience with a Corona.


Kay found a bunch of sea glass along the beach for her collection.  Bob waits for the tide to come in before getting his wetsuit on.



Such a beautiful view!



Isla Espiritu Santo in the distance




Here are some highlights of the underwater explorations:

















A really great day!  Thank you Bob and Kay!
















First Mate Kate