Puerto Ballandra

4-4-14

Puerto Escondito-Puerto Ballandra

25 deg 49' 04.0" N 111 deg 18' 54.5"W

26 deg 01' 0.25" N 111 deg 09'52.6"W

Engine hours 87.3-91.7

Winds 4-5 knots

Partly cloudy

Wind out of the N-NE

We dinghied into the marina to check out and pay for the last night at anchor only to find the office closed. We assume that the highway construction created a delay for the marina employees.  It did give us a chance to meet and talk with Joan and Jane from s/v Dolce Maestra.  They were an interesting lesbian couple about 20 years older than we are who did the Central America trip on their way to the Galapagos and South Pacific.

After waiting an hour, we decided to leave for Puerto Ballandra.  I thought we would have great wind, but it ended up being light winds (4-5 kts) and left us motoring most of the way.  I pulled out the keyboard and gave Mike about an hour or so concert in the cockpit.

About 3 miles away from our anchorage we spotted a whale with an interesting dorsal fin approximately 10 m long.  We are not sure what species, but it was definitely new to us.  Bryde's whale, Minke or Melon-headed are our guesses.

Pangaea in the background from the east shore

We had three anchor attempts before getting a decent hold in our anchorage.  Not exactly where we wanted to be, but not bad.  We enjoyed a wonderful sunset and decided to make popcorn for dinnner.  No bueno por mi stomico.  I was up all night as the reigning DQ.

Grateful for today,

First Mate Kate  

Looking at the north shore

Day 2

4-5-14

I am one tired pup!  After not sleeping much last night, we got up, paddled down to an lagoon connecting to an arroyo and hiked around 5 miles.

Mouth of the lagoon

Mike hiking on the arroyo

It was rocky walking and buggy, but interesting because of the cactus and spring flowers budding and caves in the cliffs surrounding us.

Caves

Looking down on the arroyo (and me)

We climbed to one and found the remains of either a baby bighorn sheep or a goat.  That made me a little leery of what had dined on it, so I was ok not exploring any more caves.  Ha!

Remains of a kill

We finally have an opportunity to sit and read, so I plan on doing that.

Fish that we got from a local fisherman named Jimmy (hai-mi) is on tonight's menu, with lentils and broccoli we bought in Loreto.  I think I'm going to make a little mediterranean tapenade as a fish topper.

Loving the sun's sparkle on the water as I sit here in the cockpit writing this.

Thankful for today,

First Mate Kate