Living On The Hook

"Living on the hook" means that the boat is anchored rather than being tied up to a dock. We haven't done that before, because we were always in a marina or on the hard or underway. So this is new, and we like it a lot.

Turtle Bay is a tiny little village in the middle of nowhere, literally. There is a 135 mile dirt road that links it to another tiny town on the only highway running the length of Baja. At one time there was a fish cannery here, and more people, but the cannery is in ruins and I have no idea how the people here live, other than some fishing and dealing with us yatistas (that is what they call us boaters here) that stop here on their way up and down the peninsula. Almost everyone stops here, but most people stay only a day or so. We plan to spend at least a week. There are a couple of tiny grocery stores, a surprising number of auto parts places (maybe not so surprising when one considers that 135 mile dirt road), a couple small eateries and cantinas, a school, a church, and some other things I have not yet identified as well as the people's houses. Some of them are nice, but most are pretty poor by our standards - lots of plywood and concrete blocks and stuff like that. The place looks like the southern desert area near Yuma, only with a beach. The mountains are rugged and different shades of browns, tan and different colors at sunrise and sunset. Everything is about as sere as can be. There is no grass or any green to be seen, unless someone planted it and is tending it.

We had barely dropped our anchor Friday when a panga pulled up and arranged to bring fuel to us the next day. We found out later two companies (read families)are competing as to who will be the top panga service in Turtle Bay. Besides fuel delivery, they run a water taxi service. I guess that would be good if you wanted to hit the cantinas hard - wouldn't be drunk driving your dinghy. When we went to town yesterday (Sunday) we stopped and had some tacos. While we were there the woman running the place told me it would be very cheap for me if I brought her my laundry, and I readily agreed. So that issue is taken care of. We can get water for our tanks, and plan to top those off before we leave here.

Our power sources are working well. It has been really windy here, so the wind generator has proven to be worth the costs. Our solar panels are also contributing, although we are planning to rewire them today and see if we can get them to produce even more. We have been able to use the computers and the SSB radio, the coffee maker, the microwave, and all the lights we want to, as well as the stereo. I am really enjoying life now. There are a couple other boats here, but we have seen 5 or 6 come and go just since Friday. It is warm and sunny, and we are wearing shorts. No more space heater either. I can hardly wait to do some painting - there is a little cluster of multicolored tumbledown homes set apart from all the others and nestled in the brown hills that looks intriguing. I can set up right on the deck!

I made chili last night in the pressure cooker and it was great. SO now we will be eating chili for two more days because there is really no room for leftovers in this small frig. My goal as a chef is to learn how to not make too much food. Mike has graciously granted me free rein with the galley (kitchen) and I am ecstatic. Finally, a job of my own! SOme real responsibility! It was getting depressing not to have any say over anything. But this is just what I have been looking for. I might not let MIke go to the store with me. It will be fun to ...

This post was interupted by a holding tank emergency - Mike notices the toilet is not flushing properly and guess what! A tank fix was in order, and the floor needed to be washed anyway. Now it is not only clean, it is sanitized!

I think this is a sign that it is time to end this post and get back to what needs to be done!

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