Good-Bye Isla Partida

We are leaving here tomorrow morning and will head directly for San Carlos on the mainland - it is about 122 miles. The fishing here has been disappointing - we got a tiny barracuda and a tiny triggerfish that we let go. We did catch two ribera cabrillas - a very strange looking fish with a huge head and mouth that seem way too big for the small body, but they were pretty tasty. I guess they are a variety of bass. (Bass must be the lilies of the fish world - so many different varieties that do not resemble each other at all sometimes.) Mike hooked a BIG dorado, but it threw the hook on its third jump and we were very sad about that. It would have fed us all the way across the Sea of Cortez and fed our friends when we meet up with them as well. Oh well - that is just how it is with fishing. Additionally, today has been the hottest day of the year up here according to tyhe other cruisers - although it didn't seem too bad because of really low humidity. There is absolutely no wind here at Isla Partida, although we just finished listening to the cruiser's net on the SSB radio and there are 20 knot winds at Bahia de Los Angeles - what a difference a few miles can make.

Otherwise, things are fine. We have had this anchorage all to ourselves just like last time, and I really enjoy it when that happens. There were a lot of boats around at Bahia de Los Angeles and most of the time there were other boats at Puerto Don Juan, but it seemed kind of clique-ish - I think most of the boats had been together up here for most of the summer. They weren't really unfriendly, though. It's hard to explain.

I have no idea what the crossing will be like - there is a hurricane many miles south of here, but all indications are it will not be an issue for the Sea of Cortez and what they call The Northern Crossing. The Southern Crossing means between Cabo San Lucas and Mazatlan. Here is is between Santa Rosalia and San Carlos. We are about 100 miles north of Santa Rosalia, andtaht s plan to head across before we get that far south. There are a lot of islands between here and the other side, and that means strong tides, currents, and winds that can get funky even when they are not strong - coming from strange angles and fighting the currents, which is what we had when we left here the first time and went to Puerto Don Juan. But we had to be in a narrow channel that time, and this time we won't, at least not for the majority of the trip.

We are waiting to see if the nephew is going to join us for the winter/spring trip to El Salvador.

I am not likely to write another post until we arrive in San Carlos, where hopefully we will have regular internet access and I can post some pictures of what we have been up to in the last month. So until next time - have a great day!

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