October 1 – 8, 2013
We enjoyed Puerto Refugio so much we had to come back, and well, it was a natural stop between BLA and San Felipe, where we are headed. This time we were here during a Norther, so we anchored in what’s called the West Bay, which is basically a channel between the main Island of Isla de La Guarda and a smaller island called Isla Mejia. We had excellent wind protection but the swells came through from both sides, so it was a bit uncomfortable at times. The no-see-ums weren’t as bad this time, so we were able to go ashore and we also did some snorkeling and spear fishing. This is one of my favorite places so far. It’s very remote since so few cruisers make it this far North into the Sea. Not even all the boats that were in BLA this summer came up here.
Logbook – October 1, 2013 (BLA Village to Alcatraz)
Passage Log Highlights
- 1113 Depart BLA Village
- 1138 Engines off – Main + Genoa
- 1556 Arrive Alcatraz
Daily Notes
- Whale sightin off the bows dead ahead
- Boys reminded me about “Momma, why you oways caw dem smooches?”
- Boys invented scribble game
(Edit: When the boys were little and I would put them to bed in their bunk beds I used to say things like, “who has goodnight smooches for mom?” They were always baffled that I called them smooches and not kisses.)
(Edit: The scribble game was where one boy drew a random scribble and the other boy had to try to draw it into something recognizable)
Email to family and friends dated October 2, 2013
Subject: Shutdown?
I heard our federal government has shut down? What’s going on? I’m just really glad there isn’t a raging hurricane heading up the sea of cortez right now, since we depend on the National Hurricane Center (which is shut down) for our tropical storm updates. I also heard the NOAA website is shut down. Not good for all the mariners out here. OK, there’s my egocentric take on the shutdown, what’s goin on at home?
We had a crazy sail from BLA village up to Alcatraz yesterday, we went from moderate winds to absolutely nothing, and then not 10 min later we had 25 kts and had to reef the head sail. We also lost our big trash can overboard and were too slow to retrieve it. We pretty much failed at that man over board drill, although most of the time was wasted debating whether we should go back for it, which I’m guessing we wouldn’t have done if it was one of the boys who had fallen over. 🙂
The wind is still blowing about 15 kts from the SW, so we will be heading up to Refugio later this morning. We’ll hang out there a couple days and then start heading North to San Felipe.
Love and miss you all,
-D.
Logbook – October 2, 2013 (Alcatraz to Puerto Refugio)
Passage Log Highlights
- 0937 Depart Alcatraz
- 1503 Arrive Puerto Refugio
Daily Notes
- Upwelling in the water – thought it was dolphins
- Seamless transition from genoa to genniker
- Wind died and Steve put the choice out there. Diesel or spearfish. Spearfish was unanimous.
- Dinner @ Chara. Joyce gave the boys cards to play. Very nice evening.
- Refugio is beautiful without no-see-ums.
Logbook – October 3, 2013 (Puerto Refugio)
Passage Log Highlights
- 0953 Depart Refugio middle bight
- 1038 Arrive Refugio west bay
Daily Notes
- Moved anchorages to better NW protection
- T, B, Steve, Kyle – Spearfishing at Roca Vela. B didn’t like it, “too deep”
- D, A, Carolina, Joel – snorkeling near the boat. Alex, Joel collected rocks
- Fish dinner on Exodus
- Winds picked up from SW to 22 knots. Rolly night.
Logbook – October 4, 2013 (Puerto Refugio)
Passage Log Highlights
- 0933 Engines on to move anchor
- 0950 Reanchor complete
Daily Notes
- Boys – scalloping and dinghy fishing
- Chicken dinner – gross chicken – good potatoes
Logbook – October 5, 2013 (Puerto Refugio)
Passage Log Highlights
- 0837 Depart West Bay
- 0933 Engines off at the West Bight
- 1103 Depart
- 1230 Arrive back at West Bay – N Side
Daily Notes
- Tim was annoyed by the side swell so we took Exodus to check out the West bight. It was worse, but we still dropped anchor and waited about 45 min, then raised anchor and came back. Anchored on the other side (North side) of West Bay when we returned
- Windlass wouldn’t work. Dropped anchor manually.
- Boys – dinghy fishing – caught a yellowtail
- Sleepover on Lady Carolina
Logbook – October 6, 2013 (Puerto Refugio)
Daily Notes
- Hike up Isla Mejia. Beautiful views
- Boys – more dinghy fishing
- Spaghetti dinner on Lady Carolina
Logbook – October 7, 2013 (Puerto Refugio)
Daily Notes
- Family snorkel. Mom in the land of the minis. Tim shot a small yellowtail, it got away, then Brenden shot it. On video.
- T/B – more spearfishing in the afternoon with Steve and Kyle. Alex dinghy fish with Joel.
- Dessert & drinks with LC on Exodus. Game of Oh Hell.
Email to family and friends dated October 8, 2013
Subject: Headed to San Felipe
We have a three day weather window where the winds will be out of the south, so we are leaving in just an hour or so from Puerto Refugio for San Felipe. It’s 111 miles and we plan to head straight there so it should take just over a day, but it will depend on wind, of course. We are having trouble with the anchor windlass again, so that’s why we don’t plan to stop anywhere in between, so Tim doesn’t have to lower/raise the anchor manually. We’ll be arriving in San Felipe much earlier than necessary, but hey, hopefully there’s wifi. We had a great goodbye get dessert, drinks, and cards get together with Lady Carolina last night. We probably won’t see them for 6 weeks or so, which will be strange, since we’ve pretty much been inseparable for 4 months. We’ve had a great couple days here at Refugio, hiking and snorkeling. This is actually one of the most beautiful places we’ve been and it’s so far North up in the sea, most cruisers don’t come here.
Time to get the boat ready to go. We’ll have the inReach on, so follow us if you like.
-D.
Gresham Family Exodus 