June 18, 2015 - Caleta Algodones

We arrived at 8am, 12.5 hours after leaving Punta Chivato at 7:30pm the previous evening for a 70nm passage across the sea.  The voyage started with a bit of sea swell coming in directly off our bow so we had a bit of a smooth hobby-horsing effect.  Zappa is a little out of practice with the motion of the ocean so he quickly got sick,  poor cat.  He then just slept the rest of the trip.  The seas were for the most part smooth until about 5am when the winds were building from the SE and sea state a bit more rough.  Kids slept through it all and Steve and I took shifts overnight.   When we encountered the windy time for the last 3 hours, it reminded us of our crossing the sea from San Jose Del Cabo to Mazatlan and how the conditions were the same; smooth except for the last few hours.  This may be some localized weather as this 25 knot wind was not in the forecasts we consulted!  We only encountered one boat the whole night!  In fact, since leaving Puerto Esondido, we have only encountered a handful of vessels.   Where have all the boaters gone?  We can only imagine they are seeking cooler temperatures as it is getting quite warm here in the Sea.

Sunset as we leave Punta Chivato

This fish came aboard in the wee hours of the morning, we released it back
Big jump to get on deck, maybe 7-8ft.  Small fish, big jump!

Anchorage in Caleta Algodones

As we were arriving I looked at the guide book to find out the morning net in the area is on VHF 74, a channel we have not monitored previously and it is scheduled to start at 8am.  At 8am I had it on and ready, but heard nothing.  As Steve and I talked, first we thought we missed it.  Then we remembered there was a time change so maybe we were an hour late.  We went on to other things as we get the boat ready to stay at anchor and soon a message comes up stating the net is in 5 minutes.  We are now an hour earlier than the other side of the sea.  The net lasted a very brief 5 minutes, which we could barely hear as it is "controlled" by a boat in another bay, behind a big hill from us.  Only about 5 or so vessels check in – things are slowing down here for the season as well.  The Time zones have been interesting to try to keep track of and quite funny that we have many conversations about them.  We are in MST (Mountain Standard Time) in Sonora Mexico like Arizona and yesterday on the other side of the sea we were in MDT (Mountain Daylight Time).  So even though we came east we went back in time which now puts us in PDT (Pacific Daylight Time) clock time – same as at home in Washington.  Some parts of Mexico observe daylight savings, others not.  Also, the Mexican change to daylight savings happens on a different day than in the US.  It has been quite confusing at times for us to know what time it is!  So mv Adagio is right now at 9:30am MST and at home in La Conner WA it is also 9:30am PDT.  In all my database work, I don’t think I worked with MDT and would find it interesting now to play around with this time element MST.    

After a morning of chores and some schooling, we ventured to shore.  Again, the guide book mentions a resort/hotel and we can see their wifi.  But it appears to be closed too!  We believe though that they may be open with just a few guests but decided not to try to eat out there.  We played in the nice warm 80+ degree water and in the sand dunes for a few hours before coming back to the boat for the evening.  The sand was too hot to walk on without shoes.

Sand dunes!  Beautiful but the sand was too hot to walk around on!

Kevin trying to catch some air

Our beach spot, looking northwest.  Our dinghy anchored just offshore, and
our umbrella on the beach.

some waves here!

The kids are trying to make some pesos.  I bought some of the items below and each made 6 pesos.

Cindy's collection to try to sell

Kevin's collection to try to sell.

Heading back toward the boat and beautiful homes

This south end of the bay is lined with nice homes

Sunset from our anchorage

We are leaving the boat soon so our conversations revolve around our trip home and which way to go but most importantly, things to do to the boat to put it away.  We brought much too much from home initially that should go back to La Conner and not come back to Mexico, so the RV will help us transport it all.  I had looked into options for vehicle and truck rentals and it actually was better to just purchase an RV.  With everything to go home, and the items that need to return to Mexico, and don’t forget our cat, buying an RV was the best solution. 

June 16, 2015 - Punta Chivato

We left at about noon to head north and spend the night and the next day at Punta Chivato.  We were looking forward to eating dinner out as the guide book shows a nice hotel/restaurant right at the beach near the anchorage.  After the easy 4 hour run, 22nm, we arrive to find out it is closed and many of the homes here are closed up for the season.  Overnight I believe out of approximately 20 waterfront homes, we only saw a couple house lights on. 

The kids and Steve explored the closed-up resort on the point here.  We would have stayed here had it been open and we needed a place to stay, it appeared to be really nice lodging when it was open.  We speculated whether the hurricane Odile last year caused the closure but what damage was seen was due to aging and neglect rather than the hurricane.  Here are some of their favorite photos.

They came to pick me up for a dinghy to shore at the shelling beach.  On our way in the dinghy we saw many yellow tail tuna swimming.   We felt as if we should get out the fishing poles.  We caught some tuna back in Banderas Bay, but I have failed to make a good marinade the few times I have been cooking it, and we have just thrown it overboard as it has not been tasty.  I need to get the marinade that Jude from sv Sarita prepared our tuna in for dinner when back in Puerto Escondido.  Jude – I will be emailing you as that was very yummy!  You could spend hours at this beach just looking for shells; there must be millions of them.  There was what appeared to be an unfinished, potentially beautiful restaurant that was being built here at one point in the past. 

Finally, after lunch on our last excursion we went around the point to the sand dunes and sandy beach out there.  Seagulls lined the shore and there was a great deal of seaweed.  The kids swam in the water a bit with some small breaking waves.  Seems like a long time since we have seen breaking waves.

Cindy looking for some air time

Kevin also trying to launch into the air

Kids looking for some waves, not much...........

Kids now throwing sand!

June 15, 2015 - Bahia Concepcíon, Playa Coyote & Isla Coyote (Bargo)

This could be one of our favorite locations on our trip.  We had this small anchorage to ourselves on this deserted island, so no homes or highway 1 noise to listen to.  Private and quaint although tourists do come by panga or on kayaks out here.  Most stay for an hour or two and are then gone.  The water was beautiful and snorkeling amazing on both sides of the island.  Clear water and no stinging jellyfish!  The water in the afternoon at the surface felt over 90 degrees and 2 feet down it is 82 degrees (according to our depth sounder).  You could certainly feel the temperature decline when you dove down.  Steve was able to spend another couple hours cleaning the bottom of the boat.  We are ready for the crossing of the Sea with no barnacles or sea life clinging to our hull to slow us down!  Air temperatures during the afternoon again were in the upper 90’s and humidity high.  Steve and I slept outside until just after midnight when the mosquitoes buzzing were too annoying to sleep through.  Another hot night and we are finding it hard to sleep.  I know, we complained about unpleasant seas at night just a month ago so this is a replacement complaint! 

Our own private island! Anchorage and island to ourselves

Cindy feeding the fish

Kevin feeding the fish

 We went snorkeling around the other side of the island in some nice warm and clear water

Cindy diving down to the bottom

Cindy

Indigo Wrasse 

Bullseye Puffer

Cortez Angelfish

Kevin with the dinghy anchor, letting it sink him 

Cindy with the dinghy anchor.  The kids would bring to surface and
let it take them to the bottom, only about 7 feet deep

very clear water.

Cindy

Cindy

Dinghy ride back to the boat

Cindy 

Dinner on the flybridge to stay cool in the light breeze

June 12, 2015 - Bahia Concepcíon - Posada Concepcíon

After a long day of cruising, we entered Bahia Concepcíon.  The voyage was calm and conditions great for this run north.  It was a bit breezy right at the entrance but the sea state was still fine.  We could not hear the SSB net in the morning for weather and we had heard that there was an update on the Tropical storm or Hurricane Carlos.  We could not get internet access so Steve was able to text with Pat and Doug and get us an update.  The storm was building to hurricane strength but was stalled far south in Mexico near Acapulco.  Predictions were that it would be at least 5 days before it would get up to our location, so we decided to stay a while in Bahia Concepcion and watch the storm’s progress from here.  Had it been quickly headed toward us our plans would have certainly changed. 

We anchored in Posada Concepcíon.  A cute cove with two sailboats that are unoccupied.  Some nice homes line this cove and the main highway runs quite near the water’s edge.  Unfortunately, the noise of semi-truck compression braking is an all too common and very loud disturbance in this otherwise tranquil location.  The homes were all vacant except for one or two, we expect these are people who go elsewhere for the summer.  In fact the entire run north (and now in here) we see no other cruising boats.  We cannot figure out why it may be, except that it has been hot with temperatures in the upper 90’s, high humidity, and water temperatures in the low 80’s (surface sea temperatures seem more like 90 in the afternoons).  It just so happened that we were able to connect to an unsecured wifi here so were able to get weather and send some emails out.  We spent a few days here which were quiet and calm.  Steve was able to work on the hull some more as growth on the bottom is incredible! The kids are finishing up their homeschooling.  

Swimming

Diving

exploring by dinghy

We went snorkeling at Isla San Ramon via the dinghy.  Beautiful water and fish.

Steve and Cindy being funny, using fins to look higher out of the water

there are Panamic Sergeant Major fish

Round Stingray

Kevin diving 

Kevin

There is a rugged hike here that we were not prepared to complete, but the beginning section has some ancient Amerindian petroglyphs that we were able to explore after going ashore in Playa El Burro.

Cruising has changed during our time in the Sea of Cortez.  What an amazing place and one that needs a great deal more time to explore.  We have found that our hydraulic stabilizers used underway have not been needed in these calm seas.  Our anchor stabilizers have also not been needed since leaving the La Paz area as the anchorages have all been nice and calm.  The heat is something we are all trying to get used to.  The boat warms during the day and cannot cool at night without a good breeze – we know we need more fans now.  Steve and I have each found a spot outside to sleep and Cindy chooses the salon or pilothouse.  Kevin is good on the middle bunk in the forward stateroom as there is a fan blowing right on him.  The salon is the warmest room in our boat.  We do have air conditioning onboard, but we don’t want to run the generator all day every day.  It’s noisy, smelly, and uses about a gallon of diesel per hour.