Take to the sea

The (mis)adventures of two dreamers that do

Passage notes: Puerto Ballena to Bahia Agua Verde

We were hoping to sail at least a portion of the 8 miles from Puerto Ballena to Bahia Agua Verde, so we were pretty excited to see (what we decided was) a prominent wind line in front of us. Small white caps were taunting us from afar surrounded by ominous blue water. We had been so wind deprived on our last few passages that we were actually looking forward to white caps? Suffice it to say we have a short collective memory. We both eagerly prepared, stowing anything that might fly around if we started bucking. We hoisted the main in anticipation and readied the jib. Come on wind!

Puerto Ballena

This was an “accidental” anchorage since we didn’t originally intend to stay. But once we dropped our hook and took a look around, I knew that I wanted to stay at least the night. The rock just behind our cockpit is monumental, and monstrous boulders hover just beneath the surface of the water. Aside from fish leaping sporadically and water sweeping across the shore, it’s so very quiet.

Our first mission upon arrival was to check out the sea cave. Jeff took along his fishing gear for good measure (he’s rarely without his fishing gear these days) and I rowed us along the rocky shoreline towards the cave.

Passage notes: Puerto Los Gatos to Puerto Ballena

Jeff and I were both ambivalent about moving anchorages. We really liked Puerto Los Gatos and we finally had the place all to ourselves. I was alerted to the fact that the only other boat in the anchorage had left when Jeff gleefully stripped down to his boxers.

“Did the other boat leave?” 

“Yup!” He replied, as his pants flew into the salon. I didn’t even really need to ask.

A vacation from vacation

All right, all right. Harmony has shamed me in that sweet way of hers to write a little something. I bow to the master. What can I say? The sailing life has started to reach a comfortable point of regularity, I couldn’t think of a way to purple it up with prose any differently than all the other folks out there, and I didn’t want to waste any of all y’all’s valuable time on anything that wasn’t my best effort.

Thank goodness I’m over that! Here’s some crap about stuff:

  • I’m in New Jersey right now. Surprise!

March 2013: cruising budget

So, I’ve adjusted our spending categories and brought our monthly goal up to $1,500. And since I raised our monthly budget, it means we came in under budget for the first time! Sheer genius. Hopefully we’ll kind of hover around this figure – exceeding it some months, falling below it in others – so that it all evens out.

Why blog?

After trying to do this blogging thing for several months I just have to say kudos to all of those people who can find it within themselves to blog on a regular basis, especially those who live on a boat. I’m thinking particularly of the Windtravelers, Bumfuzzles and Controlled Jibes of the world – though there are many, many more who make it happen.

It turns out that it’s really hard work to generate content while trying to make it all interesting and pretty to boot (at least it is for me…maybe others have uncovered some secret). In addition to taking time, it requires electricity and internet (which aren’t always easy to come by at sea, which is partially why I love being at sea). Some days the thought of updating the blog completely exhausts me.

Puerto Los Gatos

There is a lot to love about Puerto Los Gatos. I’ll let the pictures do the talking since I fear my adjectives are getting pretty tired.

Passage notes: San Evaristo to Puerto Los Gatos

When we left San Evaristo we had 12-13 knots of wind from the NW, which was enough to keep us moving along at a healthy clip and keep us cool beneath an already hot sun (forget spring, summer is here!). We were passed early in the morning by SV Alley Cat, and snapped a couple photographs of her under sail. Jeff then hailed them on the radio to chit chat and grab their email address so we could send pictures at the next hotspot. It’s hard to get pictures of your own boat under sail and we’re hoping that someday someone will snap one of Serenity (I don’t think we have any!). Throughout the day we were passed by at least 3, if not 4, other boats who were all motoring in a straight line as we snaked up the San Jose channel.

San Evaristo

San Evaristo was a relatively short stop for us, though, like most all places, we would have liked to stay for longer. Our front water tank (under the v-berth) had run dry and we were already a day into our portside water tank (which is smaller). San Evaristo has a desalination plant, so purchasing water was top on our list.

Our fresh produce had also dwindled down to several peppers, some carrots, potatoes and a grapefruit. We were in need of more onions (we use them in everything) as well as eggs (didn’t know how much I’d miss them once they were gone). Jeff was also bemoaning our lack of snack foods aboard.

Passage notes: Isla San Francisco to San Evaristo (via Bahia Amortajada)

It wasn’t a great day for sailing, per se, since the wind was so light, but we were pretty eager to move on to the next anchorage. We also wanted to check out the mangroves and lagoon at Bahia Amortajada, which was en route to San Evaristo. We motored to Bahia Amortajada past Isla Coyote, which is a very small inhabited island in the Sea (I think the only inhabited island). The beach at Isla Coyote appeared to be very active with sea kayaks and pangas.