"Kievit, Kievit, Siempre Sabado."
"Kievit here."
"Let's go to channel 17"
"17"
"Okay, what the heck are you doing back here?"
"Well, we have some stories to tell. Want to hear them?"
Our friends Dave, Marj and Claire on Kievit left yesterday to go across the San Jose Channel to spend some time at Bahia Amortajada on Isla San Jose. But late yesterday afternoon we saw a sailboat entering the anchorage at San Evaristo. When they got close enough, we realized that it was Kievit. Turns out they were driven out of Bahia Amortajada by the scourge of summertime travelers in the Sea of Cortez: BEES!
We've read about this and heard about it but so far haven't experienced it. Apparently, honeybees get pretty darn thirsty down here, it being a desert and all. When a new cruising boat enters an uninhabited bahia, a couple of scout bees head out to check things out. If they find any fresh water (a wet washcloth, a little puddle in the sink, whatever) they head back ashore and tell all their friends, Next thing you know, the cruising boat is inundated by hundreds of bees looking for a drink of fresh water. The trick is to either kill the scout or not leave any traces of fresh water anywhere.
The crew of Kievit dropped anchor in Bahia Amortajada and headed off in the dinghy to check out the adjacent lagoon. It being very hot, they left the boat open so it could air out and not get too stuffy. When they returned they found hundreds of bees in the cabin. There were a couple of cups with a little bit of fresh water in them in the sink and the bees were piled in so deep that the bottom ones had drowned. They shooed them as much as they could, fired up the engine and got the hell outa Dodge. San Evaristo was the logical place to return to.
This worked out well for us because it inspired Lulu to finish the companionway bug screen. This was the only opening left that wasn't screened and now it will be. Besides that, Dave came over and got me and we took his dinghy out to do a little fishing.
We found a sweet spot that we drifted over a few times. Every drift, Dave would tag at least one good-size trigger fish. I had a few on the line but lost them all. The only pole I had suitable for what we were doing was my little ultra-light trout pole. Unfortunately, it was strung with 4 lb. test monofilament that must be at least 30 years old. First hit, the fish just snapped the line, taking my hook, lure, weight, everything. Next time, I lightened the drag a lot. Unfortunately, this meant that I couldn't really set the hook as it would probably just snap the line again. So, I had to hope the fish hooked themselves. They didn't. I managed to play a few of them but ultimately they all were able to spit the hook out before I got them near the boat. Dave caught 5 nice trigger fish before we were both too damn hot to continue. Back aboard Kievit, Dave gave me some smaller hooks and heftier line so next time I just have to blame myself rather than my equipment if the fish get away. He gave us the filets from 3 of the 5 fish as well. Later in the afternoon, Marj made a big batch of nachos. This turned out to be enough for lunner so we'll wait until tomorrow to cook the fish.
It was quite hot today. Everybody ultimately ended up in the water to cool down. BTW, the water temperature has come up enough that getting in the water is no longer even a little bit of a shock.
This evening, we folded and stowed the dinghy and generally got the big stuff ready for departure. The plan is to leave tomorrow morning, relatively early. We need to charge the batteries and run the watermaker so the totally windless morning will work out just fine. Next stop: Bahia Los Gatos.
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1 comment:
Holy crap! Now I can add bees to the list of insects to have to be concerned about.
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