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Friday, May 13, 2011

5/13/2011 - If I knew then what I know now...

Hindsight is great, isn't it? You just can't let it get you down. For instance, If I knew that all the weather predictions of N and NW winds of 10-15 knots were going to be flat wrong, AND if I knew that the makeshift repair to the exhaust system was going to work so well, we probably would not have chosen to backtrack 78 miles to La Paz. Nope. If I'd known I could run the engine all day and the repair would show not one sign of leakage and I knew that what little wind we would have today would end up coming from the south, we probably would have returned to Timbabiche day before yesterday, made the repair, and then as soon as the north winds dropped (today) would have motored or sailed to Agua Verde and then on to Puerto Escondido, a mere 38 miles from where we decided to turn back.

Oh well, no matter. The important thing is that the repair is holding up way better than anticipated. We motored all day today at 2200 RPMs and there were no signs of leaks or any other signs of failure. That Rescue tape is some amazing stuff.

Yesterday, while we were at San Evaristo, the north winds blew nicely all day long. We were looking forward to more of the same today. Maybe we should have left yesterday but we were busy all day getting the boat shipshape, getting a few things from the tienda and restocking the cerveza supply.

We went to bed early last night and got up today ready to go. Left the anchorage about 0900 after breakfast. As soon as we were clear of the bay we hoisted the sails. It looked like there might be a little bit of north wind but it ended up not being enough to even begin to fill the sails. And then it dropped to nothing. So, we motored on. By mid-afternoon we were obviously getting some wind. Unfortunately it was on the nose. I tried adjusting course to see if maybe we could beat into it but we ended up 90 degrees to the rhumb line so we bagged that idea. Continued motoring.

San Evaristo was packed with boats yesterday. There were 14 in all and half of those were in the little north anchorage that seems really about big enough for maybe, MAYBE 5 boats at the most. When we passed Isla San Francisco, I counted 10 boats anchored. So we didn't have much hope for Ensenada Grande. Imagine our surprise when we got here. There was one sailboat and one power boat in the north lobe, none in the middle, and only one, a Moorings charter power catamaran, in the south lobe where we were going. We could anchor pretty much anywhere we wanted. Shortly after we anchored the power cat left but another power charter boat came in, loaded with toys (jet-skis, etc.). And, of course, they parked right ahead of us. Oh well, good chance they're not planning to spend the night anyway. BTW, arrived Ensenada Grande at 1600.

The anchorage is starting to fill up. Another charter (sail) catamaran just came in and another power boat is anchoring behind us even as I type.

So, tomorrow we'll get to La Paz (27 nm, same as today's run) in the afternoon. The up-side of going all the way to La Paz is that we can get some stuff taken care of. Yes, we could probably have gotten it done in Puerto Escondido, too, but shut up. Anyway, look for some photos soon. I think I'm just going to edit the existing blogs by inserting the appropriate photos. I'll let you know when it's been done. Then just go back and re-download all the blogs since 4/20/2011. But not yet. I'll let you know.

The current thinking is to order a new mixing elbow (unless it's more than normally stupid-expensive) and not remove the old one until the new one is here. Right now, we can motor. Once the elbow is off, we're dead in the water. So we'll install the new one when we get it and then head back up north. We'll get the old one fixed, if possible, in Puerto Escondido or maybe Guaymas later in the summer or early in the fall. Of course, once we have a new elbow, we shouldn't ever need a spare, right?

So, Doug and Jody, Neil & Lisa, David & Carolyn, Jay and Judy: Need anything from La Paz while we're there? Let us know.

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2 comments:

Jay's blog said...

Is that a Velcro sucking sound we hear?

Steve and Lulu said...

No. That sucking noise is the money being sucked out of our wallets.

-Steve