Last night at Isla Partida was quite eventful so we were not unhappy to leave. The only direction that anchorage is unprotected is from the north - and wouldn't you know - we got winds up to 22 knots from that very direction. Now wind is not a huge issue - our anchor is strong and we have withstood stronger winds than that. But waves are a problem, especially if the boat is pitching, which means going up and down from bow to stern. That is the sort of thing that will pull an otherwise well set anchor out and allow the boat to drift. We had a few scary moments as the waves got up to four feet, which is not small for an anchored boat. Neither of us got much sleep as we kept getting up to check things. We did live to tell the tale. Unfortunately this is where our lack of an anchor windlass really hurts, because wave action makes it a lot harder for Mike to pull up that anchor by hand, and we had let out extra rode (anchor chain) in order to ensure the boat could swing on the chain and not uproot the anchor. The extra rode adds extra weight. But I am getting a lot better at helming, so I was able to move the boat back and forth to use the power of the engine to help Mike pull the anchor up.
After we left the anchorage, we spent a good part of the day motoring rather than sailing for two main reasons. One, there was virtually no wind, and we were in an area with lots of islands and strong currents. If we let ourselves just drift along, as we are sometimes likely to do while we enjoy the scenery, the boat could get into a strong current and we could get in trouble trying to get out. The other reason is that we have been having problems with the engine, and for some reason it seems like it behaves better the more we use it. But after we got through what is called the Midriff area where all the islands are (the part of the Sea of Cortez that is the narrowest) we turned off the engine and began to sail. Because we were through the islands, there was nothing blocking the winds and we have sailed along nicely ever since. It is nice not to have the winds and currents against us and to be sailing at a decent speed in the right direction.
We saw all kinds of stuff today, including more whales than I have ever seen. Big ones, too - and they were all around us, although mostly too far away to get good pictures, even though we got good looks at them. They were jumping clear out of the water! It went on for a couple hours, and was truly amazing. We have had fishing lines out all day, but despite seeing dorados jumping all over the place, we have failed to interest them in our lures. Too bad - no fish for dinner tonight unless something happens really soon.
I am not sure when we will arrive in San Carlos - we are making good time now but my experience is that could change at any minute. I hope we get some of the wind we got last night - we'd fly along in the right direction!
Well, I had better get going - I am writing this on batteries only as I want to save the power so Mike can send this via the SSB radio. I hope your day has been as great as mine has been!
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