Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Caleta Partida

5-14-14

Isla San Francisco-Caleta Partida

24 deg 49'20.8"N 110 deg 34'03.9"W
24 deg 31'98.3"N 110 deg 22'88.8"W

Winds out of the N, NW 15-24
Seas 5-7' at 3-4 secs
Sunny
9:30 am- 3:30 pm
Engine hours 158.6-160

We wanted a sporty sail for our last big sail and we got it!  We had 20+ knots of downwind sailing to Caleta Partida.  The seas were a bit choppy so we were rocking and rolling a bit, but it was fun!

That is, until we decided to go wing-on-wing to pursue a more downwind point of sail.  The other day when we used that sail configuration I found that I had to really pinch past running to keep the headsail full.  The difference was that we were in calmer seas and lighter winds. So, when I steered the boat to fill the headsail this time, I gybed.  Accidentally.  Yep. No longer a virgin to that experience.  

Unfortunately, even with a preventer set, that baby (the boom) swung around hard, taking out the preventer line (snap!) and port side dorade (it flew into the water) and bending a clip on the boom.  Hard lesson learned.

The positive side to the story is that when we gybed we actually ended up moving from being parallel to our destination to right on the rhumb line or the exact course we needed to get there.

We saw some dolphins performing arial  jumps in perfect formation near Isla Espiritu Santo.  Just beautiful.

An interesting sighting came a little closer to the island.  We were looking at the different anchorages along the north side of the island and noticed a few very large private yachts in Ensenada Grande. Then we noticed this really strange and fast boat. All dark navy or black.  Very stealth.  I think it came out from Ensenada Grande and it looked like it was going somewhere in a hurry.  Shortly afterward, all the private yachts left and went inside different anchorages.  At the same time.  Weird.

My overactive imagination decided that it was the drug cartel in the stealth boat making a delivery to the yachts or having a meeting with the Jeffe.  After the business was completed, the yachts all left at the same time from the "meeting point" and on to anchorages. What do you think?

We arrived in Caleta Partida and found a great spot in the north end of the shallows.  I went to drop the anchor and it wouldn't drop!  The anchor chain was stuck!  So...I quickly got myself back to the helm and told Mike the situation. I took Pangaea on a little tour around the anchorage while he rearranged the anchor chain in the locker.  Then we gave it another go. Stuck!  Again!  I switched places with Mike again and he was able to get the chain to release.  A successful anchor! Phew!

We were greeted by Steve and Gertie from dock 3 at Marina Palmira.  Gertie was excited to see us and tried to get on our boat.  We opened the gate and sat on the edge of the boat to give her plentiful scratches, rubs and a little dose of love.

We grilled up the last steak we got from Dali in Loreto along with our last baked potatoes.  We had a beautiful dinner with a nice reserve cab we bought in Santa Rosalia.  Mike toasted to eating steak and drinking wine on our yacht in paradise.

Spoiled and sleepy,

First Mate Kate

5-15-14

Day 2

We got up this am and the anchorage was calm and the sea turtles were checking us out.  It was a perfect morning for a paddle.  We hopped on our SUPs and took a little lagoon like passage to the other side of the island.  It's about an hour paddle each way.  The wind picked up as we got going so we got a little extra workout.  On our way we saw a couple from a catamaran in the anchorage on paddle boards heading the same way and one had a dog riding with him.  I wish I had my camera with me.  It was pretty darn cute.

We got back to the boat ready for lunch and then took a little reading break.  It was getting hot so we took a swim and hung out on the SUPs to dry.  The wind picked up and the guy on the cat either had a windsurfing rig or some kind of setup for his SUP but he was out killing it on his board.  It was pretty impressive!

We decided to paddle around the anchorage before sunset and caught the wind at the right angle to push us back to the boat.  We somehow both decided to paddle together and rode the waves back side by side.  We had a little audience from a Turkish ketch tour boat who seemed to appreciate our fun.

We made dinner and had a quiet evening.  It was nice to just relax.

Winding down,

First Mate Kate

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