Lost In Concepción

Dec 1

Leg 4 of this journey starts today as we make our way back out of Concepción Bay and around the Northern most chunk of land. We are up and sailing again with no engine by 9am. Bit of a long process taking er’ out of this area in such light airs. We round the point of Conception and head East until we finally begin to start pointing south. By 12:15 we raise the spinnaker and are cruising downwind at 5-6 knots. Wind from behind so we spend the next few hours adjusting sails, adding lines, removing poles, scratching our heads, and getting to know how she likes the downhill run. 

This kind of sailing is great for newer sailers and myself alike. There are no experienced Captains looking over the shoulder telling us what to do. Sail adjustments and angle changes are made for speed and direction now by our own feeling. After each change we watch the speeds and the slight luffs in the sail corners. TRIM

The amount we will learn this trip alone at sea would have taken years while crewing for other captains. The safety, speed, and comfort of this ship depends on us alone out here and will help build a better captain. 

Fine examples of this are easing sheets while others are cooking or trying to pour hot coffee. This might seam obvious but it takes a bit of time to get this kind of thing ironed out. 

2:30pm

Billy is resting below grabbing some shut eye when one of our trolling lines starts humming loud. The lines spins well into the backing line on the reel so I ease the spinnaker and head almost dead downwind! FISH ON. It takes a few moments for Bill to wake up to the screaming reel going off. We try to slow the boat down but its difficult on this run. After 20 minutes I pull in my first fish of the trip. Nice fighting SkipJack Tuna. Before I can get it calmed down in the bucket for dinner the other rod starts screaching out Billy lands a slightly smaller SkipJack ;)

The excitement about the double header was so high were almost forgot to keep watch for the shallow rock submerged just below the surface, an obstruction we had been closely looking out for hours now.

We make it around the rock and start heading SW into the first big bay. Winds are fresh 15 knots and seas around 5-6’ feet high. Just before dropping the spinnaker I look forward and see our spinnaker pole bend in half! It has folded up and headed home right at the joint where the 2 tubes slide into each other. I didn’t think we had much force on this area today but obviously it was too much for this section of the pipe. Good to get these kinks out now before getting into the pacific. I’ll inspect and try and fix/recover at the next anchorage. 

What a heap of a mess getting this spinnaker and pole in. I really have a D'oh D'oh’  moment and grab the spinnaker sheet/rope when it’s clearly not on a winch or cleat. The 1,000 square foot sail, is ripping through the air at full speed and my right hand gets a real good burning. Pointer and middle finger end up bubbling up with a white puss bubble right after trying hold down the massive sail. We get it in, unfurl the headsy’l, and continue on at 5-6 knots to the mouth of the smallest bay Ive ever anchored in (by far). Heathers Cruisers Guide says do not attempt at night or in any foul weather. Fair weather anchorage suitable only to hold one medium size yacht. This is perfect.

We’re currently on a 4 days streak for not using the engine to set anchor so we stubbornly crawl into a 200’ entrance under mainsail alone. Bill drops anchor at 15’ and we settle in at 12’. 100’ foot of chain out.

It feels like you could cast a line to both sides of the bay. A few nice homes line the green palm treed bay. Oasis

We feel its a great time to practise our stern anchor procedure. We load the anchor (which is stowed in the stern lazaretto) into the Snuggler and row out about 75’ directly behind the boat. Drop the 20lb Danforth anchor and row back. We then pull in about 10-15’ of the bow anchor until both lines from both front and back appear to be tight. We are set up crossing the bay. Only boat here thank goodness.

Magical place. But we hear a voice from one of the local homes yell out “no anchor lights allowed here” We have a little chuckle and laugh that one off. These expats dont like anyone else using their ocean. I get the frustration and know the feeling, but we are only visitors leaving nothing behind or taking anything with us. So one thing I won’t do (in this bay especially) is shut off my anchor light..

BBQ the fish with rice and some guitar before bed.

Dec 2

Up for coffee as a flash of sunrise slowly pushes into the bay. The homes on shore become visible as they start to appear. We get the inverter running (turns out there was a fuse that had flipped off in the engine bay) We fire it up and charge up a few things that require 120V power. The drill battery that hasn’t been used since the dustbowl being one of them. The spinnaker pole appears to extend out 8 feet past the 8 foot base. It looks like we snapped 4 feet off the end of the pole. We cut off the broken section, slide out the next (and last) 4 feet, and rivet the end back on. We are left with what we had yesterday morning but now we have a bit more experience with how to operate the 2mm thick aluminum pole. We will use it more as a whisker pole compared to a full on spinnaker pole. I guess it’s not as important how long it is but but how you use it.

Ill row into shore and walk past the fancy homes up a dirt road lined by a dried up riverbed. This little green oasis in the valley is slowly eaten up by the endless red rocks of the Baja outback. No sign of life between mountain and valley, east to west.

“Blue unending skies”

I walk for a few hours in one direction without seeing anything except a few manmade rock piles on top of some distant hills. I arrive at a  ‘Y’ in the road and decide that is probably enough for today. Returning back on the only dirt road in, walking by the ‘locals’ I give a friendly smile and a wave, only to receive stares and straight faces. This is the first place on the trip we have not been welcomed and they are definitely not Mexicans here.. I make it back to the Snuggler before sunset. Row home for a fresh fish and potato dinner. 

Evening is spent chatting about how much we have seen so far. These place change each day and no bay is ever the same as the last. The more you zoom into your map and get out on foot or sail, the more you discover. Its like anywhere on earth but this place specifically, once you get out of your zone and look, is not just a dried up desert. 

Dec 3

Happy Birthday Dad. We are okay out here. 

We lift the sails, manually crank up the anchors, and sail out of this tiny cove without the engine. A bit of stress as we needed to flip around once the main was up. The goal now is to go as long as we possibly can without using Strugglers 38 horsepower Diesel engine. We have not used it in 12 days and 7 anchorages. We have however checked the fluids and fired it up for maintenance in case of any emergency along the way. Another thing that has been working remarkably well on the ship has been the 400 watt solar panels and batteries. We have not been low on energy this trip and have not fired up the engine to charge the batteries at all. The battery bank capacity can obviously handle our new fridge, autohelm, and additional electrical additions. 

Slow start leaving the bay and we look back at one of the homes where 3 men stand with their arms crossed watching us leave… I was going to leave this part out but its important to be in here. This magical place was scarred by these attitudes. I do get it guys. We won’t be back. Enjoy your home as we are only passing through for some rest. 

We are becalmed for one hour from 9:30am-10:30am.

Once the winds pick up we are downwind for the next 15 miles

“It can’t get any better. How could it? Maybe a kiss from a sweetheart”
-Hal Roth

Double header Fish on! I prepare fresh raw sashimi on rice for lunch. Bills fish is ready for dinner later tonight. Sailing downwind Easterlies 4.5 knots all day.

We sail into San Juanico anchorage. We count 15 other sailboats tucked into the sandy beach ahead. Was not expecting the crowds. 14’ of water. 100’ of chain. 22 miles sailed today.

Should we put the mainsail cover on….?  Doesn’t happen right away, doesn’t happen at all.

Anchor watch. Bill smokes the last of Susies menthol darts.

Nap. Row into shore. Backgammon before bed shows we are indeed missing one brown piece/marker for the game. The gammon board is actually built right into the galley table so to live happily aboard the Struggler you must enjoy the game. Its like pulling teeth trying to teach Billy the game. He obviously isn’t a board game enthusiast. Will have to find someone else to play with. 

Dec 4

Morning chores. The mainsail cover goes on. A swim under the boat to ensure we are in fact gathering no moss ;) She looks brand new but I give the exterior and bottom a quick dusting. 

We climb to the top of a mountain for the beautiful arid dessert views. The colour of the turquoise water in the bay below is the brightest colour for miles. A few other sailors from sea and a handful of permanent campers spot the bay. No one is moving fast around here in fact there doesn’t seem to be any sort of schedule whatsoever. Finally starting to adjust to life out here and realize a week can go by without even knowing it. We have a dinner plan in mind but it requires fresh fish so we cast off in the Snuggler Pangita with the rod and fish spear in hand. The grocery story is an outcrop of rocks showing up above the waterline close to a cliff at shore. Below holds fish everywhere. We snag a few and back for a flakey white fish white sauce pasta.

Early one to bed. (I mean early. Bed at 7:30pm ha ha)

Dec 5

Sunrise. Lift anchor and sail off with the island of Coronados in course. She will be our first island anchorage on this trip. 23 miles downwind all day. Just over 4 hours to make the passage. We’re out sailing and working the ropes, these jobs were done stripped down to the waist in pure sunshine.

We round the point screaming into the west anchorage at Isla Coronados at full speed with the wind on our port side. We flash 7.4 knots of speed as we furl in the heads’l and start thinking about shedding some speed now that the depths are a risin’.  50’, 40’, 30’!!
We do a big loop to spill the wind and find our new home just a few degrees off of heaven. We drop the anchor in 15’ feet of water, 100’ feet of chain, and down comes the mainsail once we know the hook is set into the white sands below. With all the wiggle room out here and a bay to ourselves we never considered turning the engine on this time… again.
Teal water Bliss

Dec 6

Watching mountains appear from the darkness with a black coffee on deck. Isla Coronados is actually a dormant volcano so to us that means we need to see if there’s still a crater on top. We make the row in and 4km hike up the side of the heavily eroded mound in the sea. We are the only boat in the West anchorage but we can see 3 others in the South anchorage. Could be a little more coverage from the rolling swell in South or maybe these sailors have better weather forecasters aboard. 

We get down and back to the boat. Lift anchor and sail out the same way we came in. 

Some 7 miles headed south reveils little Loreto appearing directly ahead of us. We drop the anchor in a HUGE, open, unprotected area with no coverage. The waves are blowing through with nothing to stop them. Anchor watch and a row to shore.
This will be hard to leave this one.

Dec 7-8
The historic little charming town of Loreto does not disappoint. Neat place.
♥︎
“Moonlit nights extend our curfew"