3/20/2011 - Yikes! Bobos!

The bobos drove us out of Caleta Lobos this afternoon. Bobos are these little non-biting flying bugs that live in the mangroves. If the wind isn't strong enough to keep them home (it wasn't) they love to fly out and hassle anchored boaters. They were there yesterday when we arrived but they pretty much disappeared after sunset. Today, they showed up shortly after I got up at 7:00. At first they weren't too bad. Lulu slept in, I read, we had a leisurely breakfast. Later, Lulu stayed below and worked on the macrame cover she's making for our cooking wine bottles (Ernest & Julio jugs).

I sat up in the cockpit splicing eye splices into our fender lines to hold snap hooks. We planned to spend another day at anchor. However, by about noon, I was covered in a sheen of sweat and there were all these little bugs (a little bigger than a gnat - about the size of a psychoda fly) swarming around my face and landing on any exposed skin. Again, they don't bite but they are extremely annoying. Finally, about 1:00 I told Lulu that I'd rather head back to the marina than keep putting up with this. After all, there will be plenty of hot, buggy anchorages later on where we won't have the option of heading back to a marina.

We let the air out of the kayak and stowed everything we'd gotten out. Warmed up the engine and, by 2:00, we were weighing anchor. It was a completely breeze-less ride back to Marina del Palmar. A couple of bobos even managed to make the trip with us. We've killed most of them but there are still a few lurking around.

BTW, David & Carolyn got off about 7:30 for what probably turned out to be a motorboat ride to Ensenada de Los Muertos where they are probably spending tonight. Tomorrow morning they should be off for Mazatlan. Listening to Don Anderson's weather this morning on the Amigo net (SSB radio), it sounds like their crossing may also be a motorboat ride. Don was predicting NO WIND for the southern Sea of Cortez and the "southern crossing" for the next 48 hours.

Also on the Amigo net this morning, I heard s/v Doin' It check in. Kim from Doin' It was Lulu's yoga instructor here in La Paz for a little while this winter. Anyway, they're on their way to the Marquesas and I was able to get a pretty good copy on them on the radio. What's cool about that is that they were at S 04°20', W 131°34'. That puts them way the hell and gone out in the Pacific and I was able to pick up their transmission. Probably no big deal for the veteran hams out there but pretty exciting for me.