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BLA Village yet Again

September 15-19, 2013

We went back to the village to provision, do some laundry, and for the annual BLA Regatta!

Logbook – September 15, 2013 (La Gringa to BLA Village)

Passage Log Highlights

    • 1334 Depart La Gringa
    • 1524 Arrive BLA Village

Daily Notes

    • Delay weighing anchor because the windlass cut out mid way.  Turned breaker off/on then it came back on but immediately tripped again when activated.  Could not get it to work manually.  Tim cleaned it, then it worked (electrically).
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Heading back to BLA Village

Logbook – September 16, 2013 (BLA Village)

Daily Notes

    • B caught a small yellowtail off back of boat.  Sashimi snack.
    • D – trip to tienda x 2

Logbook – September 17, 2013 (BLA Village)

Daily Notes

    • Regatta !!!
    • Issues with windlass again.  Had to manually raise & lower.  Got a late start in the regatta – came in 4th place (1. TBV 2. Trimaran 3. Sara M).  Great sail up wind both ways.
    • Elefante – strong, hot westerly up to 26 knots.  Temp got over 100 deg with very low humidity.
    • Dinner at Costa del Sol w/ Odyssey (Ken & Denita), TBV (Craig & Leanne), LC, Sara M (Alan), Mai Tai Roa (Alex & Sue).
    • Tied out dinghy to LC’s dinghy
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Beautiful morning for a regatta
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The sunrise reflecting off of BLA Village
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This is where the boys like to sleep these days
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The boats in the anchorage
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Exodus crew is ready!
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Our anchor windlass picked this moment to crap out so we pretty much started in last place, right behind Lady Carolina. We didn’t end in last place, though.
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We finally got the anchor up and our sails raised 
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The Exodus pose!
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Mom at the helm
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Team Exodus!
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Lady Carolina approaching the turnaround point
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Lady Carolina approaching the turnaround point
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Mom having some fun at the helm
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Alex looking sharp in his Exodus crew shirt
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Sara M with the maroon sails
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Tim at the helm
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Brenden keeping busy during the regatta
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The lighthouse at Punta Arena right near the village
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After the race the hot wind kicked up and the temperature reached 100 deg
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When Alex saw this picture he said, “creepy, Mom”
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The after party at Costa del Sol restaurant 

Logbook – September 18, 2013 (BLA Village)

Daily Notes

    • T/Steve – worked all day to fix the windlass.  Help from Alan (Sara M) too.
    • D – laundry, internet, groceries
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Looks like it’s getting to be a full moon – it must be time to head to La Mona for the September full moon party
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The cockpit table became a workbench
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Working on the anchor windlass

Email to family and friends dated September 18, 2013

Subject: Regatta

We had the annual cruisers “regatta” yesterday across the Bay of LA with 8 boats “racing” from BLA village to La Mona and back. Our day got off to a rough start when we were raising anchor and the windlass cut out on us. After troubleshooting for a little while we ended up raising the anchor manually, and by that I seriously mean manually. Tim raised it hand over hand. Mine and Alex’s jobs were to feed the chain into the locker and Brenden’s job was to standby with a hook that was attached to a line attached to a cleat and hook the anchor chain secure when Tim needed a break. What fun! By the time we raised anchor and got our sail up the “race” had already started, but we actually weren’t in last place, believe it or not. We had a great sail across the bay, and we all wore our blue Exodus shirts (thanks Marsha!), but when we got back (in 4th place, I might add) the windlass still wasn’t working and we had to drop the anchor manually as well. Needless to say today’s top priority if fixing that windlass. We had a great dinner onshore with everyone last night as well. Tomorrow is the full moon party and potluck at La Mona so hopefully, we can solve the windlass problem today so we don’t have to manually anchor again!
Love and miss you all,
-D.

Email to family and friends dated September 19, 2013

Subject: Hurricane Manuel

To our surprise (and apparently the surprise of the forecasters) Manuel was upgraded to a cat 1 hurricane yesterday and is parked near Los Mochis in the sourthern Sea of Cortez. The forecast track has it continuing N and dissipating over the mainland, but there’s lots of uncertainty so we are all watching it closely. Tropical storms love the warm water in the sea. As of right now, we aren’t seeing any affects up here, not even any cloud cover. I just wanted to let you know all is well up here and we are watching. This SSB radio, while expensive, has been very much worth it to me. In addition to keeping in touch with all of you when we are away from internet (which seems like most of the time) I can download weather any time so I can stay informed on wind and sea state predictions and tropical storm information. Several boats up here don’t have SSB, and they rely on those of us that do to relay information over VHF, which we all do, because that’s what we do, have each other’s backs.
Speaking of… Tim thinks the windlass is fixed after working on it all day yesterday, and he got a lot of help from other cruisers. There’s a guy up here who is a single-hander of a 60 ft schooner, and he built the entire boat himself, down to cutting and sanding the wood. Amazing! And he doesn’t have an engine either. He’s a really nice guy, and he came over and helped Tim for awhile yesterday.
Today is talk like a pirate day, and it’s also our full moon party and potluck, and we are going to have a bocce ball tournament. Should be a lot of fun.
Love and miss you all,
-D.

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