WE KEEP MOVING NORTH

We've now gotten as far north as Bahia Concepcion on the east central coast of Baja California. Mirador has moved 78 miles north since our last WEB update from Agua Verde. That is the greatest distance we've covered in an 11-day period since we arrived in La Paz before last Christmas. We are now 190 miles north of La Paz at 26° 52' - which is about the same latitude as Padre Island, Texas, Punta Gorda, Florida, Palm Beach, Florida, or Little Abaco Island in the Bahamas.

The picture to the left is taken from shore at Bahia Santo Domingo looking WNW into Bahia Concepcion.

It is now approaching serious hurricane season in the Sea of Cortez and we really want to get further north to avoid most of the storms. During the 41 year period from 1952 thru 1992 only 13 hurricanes have gotten this far north and three of those were on the east side of the Sea which is about 90 miles wide at this latitude. There were 34 hurricanes somewhere in the Sea in those 41 years, 9 in August and 16 in September. So the next seven or eight weeks will be our most nervous period as we keep a close eye on the tropical waters.

We have superb weather forecasting services available via HAM and Marine SSB radio. Chubasco Net (HAM) does an excellent weather forecast each morning at 14:50 Zulu. They provide detailed coverage of any tropical waves, disturbances, depressions, storms, and hurricanes. "Don - N6HG" from SV Summer Passage does a very involved weather forecast at 15:15 Zulu on Baja Net (HAM), including the tropics as far south as Costa Rica. I've mentioned Don before but it is still very reassuring to have him doing a detailed weather analysis for the Sea of Cortez and tropics. Don has been cruising from Los Angles to Panama for 41 years and knows every important detail necessary to provide accurate forecasts. He is particularly good at interpreting tropical waves and the motion of tropical storms.

At 01:45 Zulu on the SSB Southbound Net a recap and update of the Chubasco and Baja forecasts are broadcast.

And - I can download any weather data I need from the Winklink HAM e-mail system. I have complete acess to all the National Hurricane Center and Tropical Prediction center weather charts and text forecasts. I can usually receive a complete weather chart in about 3 minutes using my Pactor III modem. Winlink is a truly amazing system and worth every penny we spent on HAM and TNC hardware and software.

However, the Sea of Cortez has very localized weather and no matter what you hear on the radio - our conditions will be different. Yesterday was the fourth day in a row for which the forecast was "light and variable with mainly a southerly component." Yesterday was also the fourth day in a row in which we experienced more than 20-knots for more that two hours. In fact we had steady 25 gusting to over 35 for an hour.

We had to bail out of the Los Pilares anchorage at about 14:00 yesterday. The SSE wind came up to 20 - 25 knots at about 11 AM and by 1:30 PM there were 4' rollers coming into the anchorage. Mirador was rolling 20 degrees since the wind had gone more to the south but the rollers were from the east and hitting us broadside. We had thought the wind and waves would be no problem since there is a point at Los Pilares that extends ENE about 1/2 mile from where we parked. The anchorage is only exposed to wave action from the NE, thru North, to the NNW.

Somehow, the swells coming from the ESE were wrapping clear around the rather sharp and well-defined point to our ENE and sweeping into the anchorage to roll us.

As we prepared to leave Los Pilares we picked up the Portabote to put it on the bow because we could see big breakers out in the Sea and we had to go 2 miles in open water to round Pt. Concepcion to enter the more protected Bahia Concepcion. As we got the Portabote up to Miradors lifelines, while rolling violently, the three pop rivets that hold the starboard oarlock pulled out. The hoisting line is tied to the oarlocks so the Portabote fell back into the water, sideways and bow first. What a mess -the bow went under letting 10 gallons of water into the boat. I had to rig a new lifting harness while the Portabote was pitching up and down 5'.

We only traveled 4.5 miles around Pt. Concepcion to get into the Bahia Santo Domingo anchorage. But we now have a landmass to our NE, east, and SE so the ever annoying ESE swell can't reach us any more.

Since we last posted an update we've cruised into Puerto Escondido to get some basic provisions. Now that was a treat - we had to walk a half-mile uphill from the dinghy dock on a blacktop road in 98 degree temperature with not a cloud in the sky nor any shade.

There were about 40 or so boats in Puerto Escondido while we were there. Near as I can tell; only about 10 other boats had people on them. The rest had no sails, no dodgers/bimini/awning and no dinghy. I guess people leave them for the summer. It really is a well-protected anchorage. There are two 90-degree doglegs in the 20-yard wide entrance to the harbor so no wave action can get in. The inner harbor, technically "Hidden Harbor", is about 3/4 mile wide and a mile long, surrounded by hills. The only real drawback of anchoring there is the water depth. It is 40' deep about 10-yards offshore and over 60' in the middle.

We only stopped in Escondido long enough to get supplies and then left for Puerto Ballandra on Isla Carmen which is about 14-miles NE of Escondido. Carmen is a big island, 16-miles long and over two miles wide. Isla Carmen, like almost every other island in the Sea of Cortez, has no permanent inhabitants. There are only small fish camps on a few of the islands. The first anchorage we came to, Marquer, had eight boats in it so we proceeded on to Ballandra which, is more scenic and had only one other boat in it. The next day we found out that most people avoid Ballandra because of the mosquitoes and no-see-ums.

I didn't experience any problem with bug bites during the three days we were at Ballandra. However the bugs decided Arlene was a real taste treat. She thinks she was being bitten by mosquitoes but the place is notorious for no-see-ums. I think she is allergic to their bite 'cause she gets nasty red welts that last for several days. The bites also itch terribly for days. I got one or two bites, compared to Arlene's dozens, but never felt them and they never itched.

While at Ballandra we finally made contact with the famous 'Chocolate Clams' that experienced Sea of Cortez cruisers rave about. We have now discovered how to harvest the clams. The trick was to figure out what their vents look like in the sand bottom. They are plentiful in 3' to 12' of water. The deeper the water the more clams. I guess because most people don't or can't harvest them in the deeper water. They are buried about 3" under the sand bottom.

To get a clam I snorkel along the surface until I see what looks like two white filter cigarette butts, an 1" apart, sticking up about a 1/4" above the sand. I then have to swim to the bottom and dig around until I find the clam. I can always get one clam per dive, sometimes two, and occasionally three in a single dive. Once in a while I get a big white clam that weighs over a pound compared to the 4 oz to 8 oz chocolate clam. The white ones are even better to eat.

Twice in the last week I have filled a five-gallon bucket with clams in less than an hour. They are really tasty.

We have also had great luck at catching fish. We've caught five Dorado (also called Mahi Mahi or Dolphinfish) and landed three of them. The biggest one was over eight pounds and provided several excellent meals. We caught three Black Skipjack Tuna which, some people don't like but we think are real tasty. The biggest Tuna was 10-pounds and gave me quite a battle. We were sailing downwind in more than 15-knots and four-foot seas so we couldn't really slow the boat below about 5-knots.

After a few minutes of struggling I realized I needed both hands just to control the pole and therefore couldn't hold the pole and wind reel at the same time. So, for the first time ever, I put on a fighting belt/harness that provides a cup for the butt of the rod to rest in, thus freeing up one hand. It took me over 20-minutes to land the Tuna using our big PENN Senator 6/0 reel on a very stiff 5' deep sea rod.

We've found that the easiest way to subdue the bigger fish is to pour 1/4 cup of CHEAP vodka down their throat and then leave them laying on the floor of the cockpit for five minutes. They lay there, behind the wheel and between three drains, where the helmsman can keep one foot on them to stop them from flopping around too much. A 10 pound Tuna or Dorado is a pretty big and strong fish to have thrashing around in the limited space found in the cockpit of a 40' sailboat. The vodka helps.

I am a very lucky fisherman - my wife loves to clean fish. She has gotten quite proficient and can clean them faster than I catch them.

The smallest Dorado was on the table, being presented as the featured luncheon guest, just 1/2 hour after we boated it.

We've also caught several mackerel and most annoyingly, two Boobie birds. The darn things dive on the lures and then get the hooks thru their beaks. We were able to boat both birds and free them. They were nice to handle, they just relaxed as soon as Arlene wrapped her arms around them and didn't struggle as I removed the hook from their beaks. I guess they told their friends about us. Within 20 minutes we had six or more Brownfooted Boobies riding along with us, all perched on the bow pulpit. Arlene walked up to the bow to shoo them away but they just sat there. She literally had to push them off the boat. One let her pick it up and pet it for a while.

We sailed 24 nautical miles from Puerto Ballandra to the La Ramada anchorage on one of those days where the forecast was light and variable but we had 15 to 20 knots all day with seas building to 4 feet. The wind was from almost astern but the waves were from abeam. We had the full main and genoa up and were doing a steady 6.5 to 7.0 knots but rolled 20 degrees to port and 10 degrees to starboard.

The Portabote is scary to tow in those conditions. It accelerates down the face of the waves and then shears sideways in the troughs. By the time we arrived in La Ramada there were 20 gallons of water in the boat, all of it having come over the bow. As the waves got bigger we had to tie the Portabote up close to Mirador's stern in order to hold the dinghy's bow up out of the water.

After spending three days in La Ramada we had another boisterous 13 mile trip to the anchorage on the north side of Punta San Antonio. The anchorage is not much as anchorages go. The only thing that makes it useful is that Punta San Antonio sticks out to the NE for 1/2 mile and breaks up the SE swell. The beach is just white sand with low hills and cactus for miles. And COWS!

What the heck are cattle doing wandering down a white sand beach in the middle of nowhere?

As we approached Punta San Antonio we had to gybe, in 17 knots apparent wind with 4' waves, to clear the reef that extends NE from the point. Due to our crash gybe coming into Agua Verde I decided the prudent thing to do was a "cruisers chicken gybe", i.e. turn upwind and tack thru the wind, easing the sail on the other tack. Slower but a lot safer.

At San Antonio, as in many other of our anchorages recently, the ocean swell comes from north of East while the wind blows consistently out of the SE or South. How does that work?

We only spent the night at Punta San Antonio before we made the 32 mile trip NW to the Los Pilares anchorage which I described earlier. Before leaving San Antonio we stowed the Portabote on the bow and prepared the boat for another windy, rolly trip. Naturally, we arrived in the anchorage at 2:30 PM and the 20 knot SE wind did not start up until about 3 PM.

The weather has settled into a summer pattern, or so it appears. The sun is HOT from the moment it comes over the horizon until the moment it sets in the west. The air temperature is not too bad - it only reaches the mid-90s. Most of the time we are quite comfortable since the ever present 5 to 15 knot SSE breeze provides good cooling. However, at night, usually after midnight, the wind dies completely and it gets very stuffy in the boat. The cabin temperature drops to the mid eighties by midnight and the low 80s by daybreak.

The humidity ranges from over 80% at night to the low 40% area during the day.

We are sleeping in the main cabin or on deck most nights. There is just not enough air circulation in the sleeping cabin when the wind is not blowing. Even the big Windscoop can't bring any air into the sleeping cabin if there is no breeze. We really need to find the 2nd Hella fan and mount it in the sleeping cabin. But, we can't find it yet.

The water temperature ranges from the high 70s to the mid-80s. The water is still cool enough that a swim feels good. I suspect that the water will lose most of it's cooling properties in the next couple of weeks as it warms to the upper 80s.

For now the heat and humidity is tolerable but if it gets any warmer at night or any more still we will have trouble sleeping.

As I said at the beginning of this update - we are inside Bahia Concepcion. And, I am so much happier at anchor. Since we left the anchorage at the Hook on Isla San Francisco, in late June, we have anchored mostly in what I would call open roadsteads. That kind of anchorage is not so comfortable for a Puget Sound cruiser. I still haven't gotten used to being anchored in front of a beach that extends for a mile to both port and starboard and the bow of the boat points out into the Sea where all you can see on the horizon is more Sea.

Now I can see land 3 miles to the west, 10 miles to the south, and 100 yards to the east. I don't have to worry about a big swell coming in from weather that is over the eastern horizon. I suppose lots of California and East Coast boaters will find it hard to understand but I am just not used to being exposed to so much of the Sea while anchored. Bahia Concepcion is two to four miles wide and 21 miles long and seems like home to me.

Our current plans are to cruise here in Bahia Concepcion for a while and then make tracks for Santa Rosalia, about 32 miles north of here. We need to pick up our mail and the Link2000R voltage regulator cable that is waiting for us at the Dockmasters office. We also need to get propane and gasoline for the dinghy. We hooked up our smallest propane tank the night before last so we have only six to 10 days left. We've only been in one store since June 19 and that was 1/4 the size of a 7/11. We are getting low on all supplies and will have to spend several days in Santa Rosalia getting provisions.