ENSENADA DE LOS MUERTOS

We arrived in Ensenada de Los Muertos (Bay of the Dead) yesterday afternoon about 2 PM.

Our trip from Los Frailes to Los Muertos was uneventful except for the fish I couldn't land. We caught a nice 10 pound or so MahiMahi while trolling. When we finally got it back to the boat I tried to gaff it but only managed to knock the hook loose. Goodbye!

Later in the day I did the same thing with a bigger amberjack tuna. I got it almost into the boat when I bumped the hook with the gaff and lost the fish. That lost fish hardly counts because it was snagged on a treble hook on the outside of the gill!

Then justice prevailed. We were in the process of bringing in the trolling lines as we came into the Los Muertos anchorage. After I retreived about 1/2 of the heavy line something struck hard and made a big run away from the boat. About 10 minutes later we succesfully landed a nice eight pound MahiMahi. They are spectacular as you bring them in. They change colors from blue to yellow to almost an orange as they fight. They put up a real struggle once they see the boat. A shot of cheap vodka in each gill quiets them down nicely.

Last evening we were trolling from the Portabote at sunset and I managed to lose yet another fish. Something struck very hard and made two spectacular jumps. It was silver and several feet long. I was using a light spinning reel and 15 pound line. I tightened the star drag too quickly and too much; the line snapped on the next run and the fish made one last jump, just to show us what we lost.

When we arrived at Los Muertos we tried to anchor as close as we could to the old pier on the NE corner of the little cove. That spot is recommended by all the cruising guides. When we anchor I work the bow and Arlene works the engine controls and manuevers the boat. We communicate via little Motorola handheld FRS (Family Radio Service) radios. It works great.

Just as I released the anchor to drop into 30' of clear water, a Mexican Marine helicopter came in low and fast, headed for the beach. They were only about 100' above our mast and we were about 1/4 mile from the beach.

The beach has a lttle white sand but is mostly red dirt and cactus. Four passengers boarded the helicopter which then took off.

Before we could react we were covered with fine red dust. All the ports and hatches were open so the dust settled everywhere.

We had a bit of an anchoring adventure early this morning, due mainly to my laziness. Normally when we anchor I set the anchor by running the engine in reverse to drive the 44 pound Bruce down into the sand. I try to get the engine to at least 2500 RPMs and really want to see 3200 RPM which puts a strain on the anchor that is equivalent to about 35 knots of wind from abeam.

Yesterday afternoon, in flat calm water, the most the anchor would hold was 1800 RPM. I decided to let the anchor "soak" for a while. That is let the boat pull on it and drive it into the sand. I subsequently forgot to go back and reset the anchor after it soaked. About 4 AM the wind came up to 15 - 20 knots out of the west which made the rocks 150 yards to our east a lee shore. I checked our position at 4 AM and again 5:30 AM and didn't note any movement.

I got up at 7:30AM to find our stern about 10 yards from the rocks in 10' of water. The wind had diminished to about west 10 knots but the anchor was just scooting across the bottom. Normally we can hear the anchor drag from the sleeping area, but in this case it was not making a sound. I had serious doubts that we could get all 150' of rode and chain up before we bumped.

We escaped undamaged and moved about 1/2 mile west into the middle of the cove.

I'll be much more careful about setting the anchor, even in calm conditions.

We'll update the web site again, once we reach La Paz. That had better be in the next couple of days 'cause we haven't been to a grocery store in 29 days. We can catch fish, we have lots of rice and potatoes. Our bread is moldy, our fresh veggies gone, and Arlene is almost out of Diet soda. So it's off to La Paz at the first weather window.