//WL2K Finally, an anchorage all to ourselves.

Ham Radio Email Update:

After leaving La Paz, we spent our first night anchored in Ensenada Grande at Isla Partida. It was a new first for us—-we earned our dinghy-painter-around-the-prop badge! We had been towing the dinghy, and I forgot to pull it in closer to the boat as we entered the anchorage. I dropped the anchor and Heather put the engine in reverse to back down and set the anchor, only this time there was a sudden klang and then silence as the tow rope was now wrapped tightly around our propeller. At the very least, it was a good excuse for me to go swimming 🙂

Everything checked out ok, and we were able to motor out of the anchorage the next morning with no problems.

The painter around the prop was only one of the issues we faced that day. While in La Paz we installed a reverse-osmosis watermaker (I do what I can to keep HJ from threatening mutiny 🙂 which worked flawlessly at anchor turning dirty sea water into delicious drinking water with disolved solids at around 200PPM. Unfortunately, we soon discovered that tiny air bubbles travel along the hull and trickle into the sea water intake when we are under way. The little bubbles collect until they become a big bubble, which is the mortal enemy of a high-pressure reverse osmosis system.

It was a little depressing, because we thought we were going to be taking 3 showers a day from now on, but it turns out there’s a little more creative problem solving to do.

The next day we sailed north past Isla San Jose with a southerly wind. It was HOT enough that Heather was inspired to build a sail-friendly cockpit bimini out of old tent parts that we brought along with us. Our normal cockit awning is too big to use while underway and gets in the way of the mainsail.

We made it to Punta San Telmo just as the sun was setting. Heather made taco salad (tex-mex style) and we slept like babies. It was the quietest, calmest night we’ve had in a while.

Punta San Telmo is also the first anchorage we’ve had all to ourselves since Bahia Magdalena on the pacific side. We had one of the coolest sunrises we’ve seen this trip with purple, orange clouds and red rock formations of the Sierra de la Giganta. We’re now enjoying a delicious cup of coffee this morning and preparing to head to Agua Verde to meet Genny and Steve.

Our current position is:

25 19.867’N
110 57.684’W

Unfortunately, the fishing report is short. We have had no bites since leaving La Paz.