Fish for Dinner!

We are still at Isla Partida and are still the only people here. We haven't even seen a panga. This means we are still swimming naked in the bracing 78 degree water and not wearing clothes when we come up on deck. It is a very freeing feeling and I like it.

The water here is only 78 degrees because of the depth and the currents, which bring cold water from down deep up to the surface. I like it. It is very refreshing and not so much like swimming in a bathtub. After a swim, you stay cooler longer. I like that part especially. And 78 is not really cold - if the water in San Diego got that warm I would have thought I had died and gone to ocean swimming heaven.

Today we decided to go fishing and see if we were going to have fish or pork chops for dinner. I chose pork chops because I didn't have to take them out of the freezer to thaw before determining whether or not we catch a fish. So off we went in the dinghy, to troll along an islet that is almost completely covered in guano. We were a bit concerned because there are so many boobies around, and I have already had the bad experience of having them dive for the lures and getting hooked. But today fate was smiling upon us. No boobies came near the lures. While we were circling the islet, we discovered that besides being a bird nesting grounds, it was also a sea lion rookery. The alpha male was not really pleased to have us there, and let us know in no uncertain terms by barking loudly and aggressively at us. It was a true cacaphony of sea lion noise - angry males, defensive females, and wailing babies. Of course we did not bother them or even try and get to close. I took pictures and I hope they came out well.

We had barely begun to troll when we caught a triggerfish. After taking it off the line, we put the lure back in and almost immediately caught another one. That is enough for dinner tonight - we never try to catch more than one night's dinner. There is not that much room in the freezer, and also it would be greedy. We have never had triggerfish, but the fish book says they are sort of the consistency of lobster tale with a crab-like flavor, which sounds positively delicious. I plan to poach the awesome looking filets in white wine, herbs, and olive oil. Mike did a great job of cleaning them - you have to do it differently than other fish, but luckily we have a book all about Baja fish that tells how to do it. You would have thought Mike had spent his life cleaning triggerfish. We are having the fish with brown basmati rice and canned vegetables zapped up with some chipotle peppers. That is the one problem with cruising - you use up your fresh veggies really fast, because even with those magic green bags they advertise on TV fresh veggies only last so long. We have plenty of fresh poblano peppers (which I use in place of bells), serrano peppers (really hot so they are more of a spice than a veggie), and a few tomatoes left. So canned veggies it is.

The weather here is good so far, but we keep our eyes on the clouds because a chubasco storm (short, angry squall with high winds) can blow up pretty quickly and we have already weathered two of them - one at anchor like we are now and one at sea. I think the one at sea was maybe not a chubasco because it lasted too long and did not rain on us. I think it was a storm, pure and simple. But I am probably splitting hairs in how I define things - either way, I want things to stay calm and peaceful.

Tonight we are having movie night - we have a bunch of DVDs and the way we decide what to watch is to reach in the basket that holds them a draw one. Most of our movies are movies we chose, but some were given to us and we have had some real duds. TOnight we drew "Rebel Without a Cause" - we like that one a lot and are excited to see it again. We tried to watch it last night, but discovered the first half of the DVD contained a documentary about James Dean. By the time that was over and the actual movie was ready to start, we decided to go to bed and leave the actual movie for tonight. If you want to now anything about James Dean just ask me - I now know everything about him. He was not a tortured soul like Montgomery Clift, and had no problems with drugs or alcohol. The accident that killed him was just that, an accident, and not at all his fault.

We have learned a lot about sailing and living out here and all that sort of thing - we both feel much more confident than we did even three months ago. If my nephew decides to come back, he will see that things are different. We are both a lot more relaxed about everything, and even I don't get as nervous and scared as I used to. Mike is more patient as well. We have perfected the art of loading and unloading the dinghy, as well as anchoring and raising the anchor (as long as that windlass keeps working, then all bets are off). We are not planning to leave this anchorage any time soon, at least until we need to go to Bahia De Los Angeles to get more food and stuff. The only commitment we have is to be in Topolobampo by October 10 or so, for our six day trip to the Copper Canyon area. Google it if you are interested - I have been wanting to go there for years and we are doing it with our good friends from Sundancer, which will make it even more fun.

Well, that is it for today. Just another day in paradise for us. I am starting to miss having regular internet access - this is really nice, but I miss regular email. Take care and have a really good day!

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