Lots has happened since our last post. We did get out to Isla Espiritu Santo, as planned. Spent three days and nights at that beautiful anchorage. We took one walk along the long white beach and into the shallows on our first day. The southern shore is a frigate nesting area. While taking a dinghy tour of the shore on our second day, we got close enough to see hundreds of birds nestled among the rocks and vegetation. When we got too close, a swarm of adult frigates came overhead, squawking loudly. We took that as a message to retreat and head home to Damiana.
One week away from La Paz and our fresh produce supply had dwindled. Since we were only a few hours away, we sent an email to Lynda and Bob to ask if they were interested in spending another day away from the noise and dust of the work being done on their boat and come over to our "beach at Bahia Falsa" and take Marlene shopping. They very happily did so, so we had another nice visit with them and re-stocked our veggie supply. After that boomerang trip to Bahhia Falsa, we departed, again for Isla Espiritu Santo. We passed by Bahia San Gabriel, planning to continue on to Caleta Partida. Wind was down so we were motoring. Around 12 noon, we were hit with sudden gusts of wind on the nose -- 17-20 kts. We turned right, toward the island, and took refuge in Ensenada El Gallo. The wind persisted all afternoon and through the night, sometimes as much as 25 kts. The next day, yesterday, we decided to once again try for Caleta Partida. Instead we went into a narrow cove just north of the entrance to Caleta Partida. We usually anchor in 10-12 feet of water, so we continued moving further into the cove. However, the high rock walls were so narrow that we didn't have the usual 1/16 of a mile clearance around our boat. In calm weather this shouldn't be a problem. However, the afternoon gusts returned. Roy tried setting a stern anchor but the gusts were too strong to keep the boat steady. We weighed anchor and moved north to Ensenada Cardonal. This is a beautiful anchorage, like just about all the anchorages on Isla Espiritu Santo, so we plan to spend a few days here. There are remains of an aquaculture structure here, as well as a trail that leads across the island to the eastern shore of Isla Partida. We have the hike on our list for late afternoon when the tide is low and we can safely leave our dinghy securely anchored.
More later....
Roy and Marlene
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