Author: cruisingrunner

Puerto Refugio Photo Log

September 6-10, 2013

I would like to say that we loved Puerto Refugio, but the no-see-ums really put a damper on our enjoyment here. We also had an awesome view of convection all around us but never had any lightning right there in the anchorage with us.

Logbook – September 6, 2013 (La Ventana to Puerto Refugio)

Passage Log Highlights

0910 Depart La Ventana
1136 Spinnaker
1439 Genoa only (15 knots TWS)
1627 Arrive Puerto Refugio
1900 Re-anchor

Daily Notes

Beautiful sail up to Puerto Refugio w/ LC, Dazzler, Chara. Spinnaker run most of the way
Everyone in the water quickly (hot)
Small bird visitor while we were anchoring. Boys got a kick out of it. Fed it chips.
13-foot tide swing
No-see-ums, so we moved anchor spots further from shore
Kyle & Joel over for dinner & a movie
Thunder & lightning from multiple directions, not too much wind. Large swells in the night.

From La Ventana to Puerto Refugio was a nice day sail, and we even busted out the spinnaker

This is Volcan Colorado which is on Isla Coronado (Isla Smith) which we passed along the way.

We had a gorgeous sail up to Puerto Refugio. It was a spinnaker run most of the way. We caravanned with Lady Carolina, Charra, and Dazzler. This is Lady Carolina with her colors flying!

The geography of the northern tip of Isla Angel de La Guarda

Capture — The geography of Puerto Refugio on the northern tip of Isla Angel de La Guarda. There are three lobes to anchor in and this time we chose the middle lobe.

Logbook – September 7, 2013 (Puerto Refugio)

Daily Notes

Shifty winds
D – unsuccessful paddle due to wind & chop
T/B – spearfish
Potluck on Exodus w/ LC, Dazzler, Chara, True Blue V
No-see-ums are the devil

Email to family and friends dated September 7, 2013

Subject: Puerto Refugio

We sailed up to Puerto Refugio yesterday, and it was a fantastic sail. We “caravaned” with 3 other boats and we all had our spinnakers out because the wind was almost directly behind us. This anchorage is beautiful, except for the no-see-um bugs that are eating me alive. We moved our anchor location to be further from shore hoping that would help. It’s hard to tell since I’m already covered in bites. We had quite the thunder and lightning show last night, and although I never turned on the instruments, I’m pretty sure we didn’t see over 20 kt winds. The swell got pretty significant though, making it difficult to sleep. We plan to stay here a few days and head back down at our first North-ish wind opportunity. Alex’s ear is much better, but he’s still a little restless since he can’t swim or dive. Tim and Brenden are getting some pretty good one-on-one time though. The day before last when they went spearfishing Tim could tell that the current was pretty strong, so he had B stay in the dinghy while he checked it out, which was good because Brenden had to go pick him up! B raised the dinghy anchor, started the outboard, and drove over. If Alex were there, Alex would have had all the responsibility. I’m not sure what the plan is for today, but I’m going to have to get in the water soon!
Love and miss you all,
-D.

Logbook – September 8, 2013 (Puerto Refugio)

Daily Notes

Tim tried to stern anchor fo the first time
D paddle – turned back due to lightning and thunder
D – made yogurt and bread
Boys – lots of lego playing w/ Joel
Dinner w/ LC on Exodus – Carolina made spaghetti, D made clam chowder & bread

Logbook – September 9, 2013 (Puerto Refugio)

Daily Notes

D – paddleboard to the window
T – defrosted the fridge & permanently installed fan
Leftover clam chowder & another loaf of fresh bread
Drinks on Exodus w/ LC, Dazzler, Chara

This size fish is pretty much what they bring back all the time, unless we restrict them to only Yellowtail.

DSCN5423 — Brenden poses in the pink hue of the sunset

Logbook – September 10, 2013 (Puerto Refugio)

Daily Notes

I am an anti-itch gel junkie

Email to family and friends dated September 11, 2013

Subject: Heading South

We will be on the move today back towards the BLA area. The wind is supposed to blow from the north for the next several days, so we will probably settle in at La Gringa until we run out of fresh veggies, then it will be back to the village. I’ve started making bread, and it’s been a huge hit. When I come up to the states I will have to load up on little packets of yeast. I also made clam chowder with fresh clams, and I probably mentioned this before, but I make my own yogurt too. We haven’t been able to enjoy Puerto Refugio as much as I would like because of the bugs. I am looking forward to being in a bug free anchorage for awhile.
Love and miss you all,
-D.

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Is There a Doctor in the House?

Post author By cruisingrunner
Post date May 25, 2020
1 Comment on Is There a Doctor in the House?

While still at home we put together a pretty comprehensive medical kit. Thanks to Uncle Mike we have enough sutures to sew up a small village when we get to the south pacific, and thanks to Mom we have antibiotics purchased in Mexico (where you can get them without a prescription). The boys’ pediatrician actually gave us prescriptions for azithromycin as well. Luckily we haven’t had to use much from the medical kit, but after a dive one day Tim developed a pretty severe earache. I checked inside (using the ENT scope, also provided by Uncle Mike) and it was definitely inflamed and pussy, so I started him on Cipro right away. Shortly after, Alex’s ear flared up as well, so I started him on Azithromycin since I felt better giving him a drug that I knew for sure was the right dosage amount for him. They both got better and were cleared for diving again within a week. Unfortunately, Alex got another infection, or maybe this one never cleared up all the way. Of course, it flared up just hours after we left BLA village for La Ventana, and he had trouble sleeping that night due to the pain. Since there is a medical clinic in the village, we went back the next morning. We asked Kyle from Lady Carolina to go with us to the clinic since he’s fluent in Spanish, and the doctor gave us amoxicillin and ear drops, and it did the trick, albeit Alex was out of commission for diving for 10+ days. It is a free clinic but they accept donations of anything you want to give. I gave her 200 pesos, which is less than $20, and at the time I had no idea if that was the right amount, and in hindsight I wish I had given more, since the treatment was effective and all.

Like I said, we are well prepared for worse mishaps, but luckily to this point we haven’t needed it

Photo Log

La Ventana Photo Log

September 3-5, 2013

Isla La Ventana is a small Island very near BLA village to the NE. We didn’t stay here very long, and there was sort of a damper on activities in that Alex came down with an ear infection. We actually went to the village and back just to go to the medical clinic. Tim and Brenden did a little spearfishing, but Alex and I just hung around the boat.

Logbook – September 3, 2013 (BLA Village to La Ventana)

Passage Log Highlights

1505 Depart BLA Village
1817 Arrive La Ventana

Daily Notes

Left BLA Village – sail to La Gringa – D tacked too early
Decided to stop at La Ventana
Chubasco warning – lots of lightning – winds picked up about 11:30 pm
Mostly high teens, some low to mid-20s, gusts to 27-30. No rain. No issues.

BLA to Ventana — BLA VIllage to La Ventana. In the logbook it says that I tacked too early, so that mush be that little dogleg.

A little evening school up on the foredeck

Logbook – September 4, 2013 (La Ventana to BLA Village to La Ventana)

Passage Log Highlights

0930 Depart La Ventana
1024 Arrive BLA Village
1355 Depart BLA Village
1527 Arrive La Ventana

Daily Notes

Alex earache. Trip back to BLA Village to the clinic. Dr. spoke some English.
Kyle went with us to help translate. Payment is by donation.
Gave up Amoxycillan & ear drops
Quickly back to Ventana
Tim/B – spearfish for dinner – Sierra (totally forgot!!!)
Alex’s ear got worse & worse, couldn’t eat dinner

Email to family and friends dated September 4, 2013

Subject: Alex ear infection

We left BLA village yesterday headed back to La Gringa but the wind died and we ended up staying at a great little anchorage off one of the small islands called Isla Ventana. Last night there was a chubasco alert. Basically, there was convection all up and down the mainland and in our area it had made it about 1/3 to 1/2 way across the sea by 8pm. We prepped for the worst, but luckily didn’t see any winds over 27 kts. Back at the village they saw high 30s and a bit of swell, but not too bad either. The lightening seemed to be all around us so I thought we were going to get nailed for sure, but it seems we escaped again. We went back to the village today, because Alex’s ear ache flared up yesterday and was worse this morning. We had self treated an ear infection with azythromicin a couple weeks ago, so since there’s a clinic at the village we decided it couldn’t hurt to get some help. The doctor there spoke a bit of English and we took Kyle (13 yrs old from Lady Carolina) with us, who speaks pretty good Spanish, so we got along pretty well. She gave us amoxycillan and ear drops, so hopefully that clears it up. It is a free clinic but they accept donations of anything you want to give. I gave them 200 pesos, which is less than $20, and I have no idea if that’s enough… I guess if the treatment is successful I can always go back and give them more. The worst part of all this is Alex can’t dive or swim. Tim and Brenden are our spearfishing and Alex is stuck here with mom. I offered to play a game with him but he’s deeply entrenched in the 3rd book in the hunger games series, so he’s not interested.
Maybe he’d play if Grandma were here.
Love and miss you all.
-D.

Logbook – September 5, 2013 (La Ventana)

Daily Notes

Alex had a rough night. Up at 4am for more advil & drops
Better when he woke up
So many turtles in this anchorage – they are loud mouth breathers
T/B spearfish – trigger fish for ceviche
A/Mom – game of rummy cube moving around the boat escaping the sun as the boat swings

This is looking NW out of the anchorage at Isla Flecha (on the left) and Isla Bota (smaller island in the distance on the right)

Photo Log

BLA Village – Again Photo Log

Post author By cruisingrunner
Post date May 25, 2020
No Comments on BLA Village – Again Photo Log

September 1-2, 2013

We spent a couple days at BLA Village again, and we even celebrated Joel’s 9th birthday, but I have no photo evidence of any of it.

Logbook – September 1, 2013 (La Mona to BLA Village)

Passage Log Highlights

1103 Depart La Mona
1205 Arrive BLA Village

Daily Notes

Shopping & internet at BLA Village
Fish curry for dinner
Particularly hot and sweaty day

Facebook Post September 1, 2013

All caught up on photos. WAY behind on essays. We are spending the summer in the vicinity of Bahia de Los Angeles, and internet access is spotty. Hope everyone else is having a great summer too!

Logbook – September 2, 2013 (BLA Village)

Daily Notes

Laundry + 3 tiendas – crusty towels / line dry
Joel’s birthday – Chicken dinner on LC
Treats & dinks on the beach
Daydreaming about being cold early in our trip.

Email to family and friends dated September 3, 2013

Subject: BLA Village

We’ve been at BLA village for a couple days and have had intermittent wifi access. I uploaded a bunch of new photos to Facebook in case you missed them. Joel (Lady Carolina) turned 9 yesterday and we had a great birthday celebration. It’s been especially hot and sticky the last couple days, or maybe I’m just getting fed up with the humidity. It’s been said that on or about Sept 10 the weather starts too cool off here, just a couple degrees at first but noticeable, and I can’t wait. We are going to try to leave the village this afternoon, but maybe not until tomorrow morning.
Love and miss you all,
-D.

Photo Log

La Mona Photo Log

August 28 – 31, 2013

The weather chased out of Ensenada el Pescador so we made a brief stop at BLA village and then hunkered down at La Mona. La Mona is the beach at the very southern end of Bahia de Los Angeles. La Gringa is at the Northern end and BLA Village is in the middle.

Logbook – August 28, 2013 (Ensenada el Pescador to BLA Village to La Mona)

Passage Log Highlights

1138 Depart el Pescador
1358 Arrive BLA Village
1720 Depart BLA Village
1846 Arrive La Mona

Daily Notes

25 knot winds at 4 am
Motorsail to BLA Village – bugs in the flour 😦
Anchor in La Mona. Fish chowder for dinner
Chubasco prep – No chubasco

Ensenada el Pescador to La Mona via BLA Village

Logbook – August 29, 2013 (La Mona)

Daily Notes

Light rain in the morning
Rain all day
Boys – PS3 and dinner on LC

Cloud cover = no bueno
We rely on solar power to charge our batteries

Email to family and friends dated August 29, 2013

Subject: Rain, rain, rain

We moved to La Mona yesterday after a brief stop at BLA village for some provisions. I’ve been making a lot of bread so I needed some more flour, so I bought 2 big bags, and they were both infested with bugs. That’s the first time that’s happened to me so far in Mexico, but I was so disappointed. I still had a little bit of flour so I was still able to make fish chowder last night, but no bread. There was a lot of convection in the area last night so we were on our toes preparing for a Chubasco. We had quite a lightning show over the hill at our anchorage, but no Chubasco. It started raining early this morning and has been light and steady ever since. It smells like Arizona thunderstorms. I guess tropical storm Juliette is roaring up the pacific side of Baja today but she is supposed to head west once she gets to Turtle Bay, so this is about the worst we will see here.
Love and miss you all.
-D.

Logbook – August 30, 2013 (La Mona)

Daily Notes

D – Paddle to scout beach – not a good running beach
T/B/Steve/Kyle Spearfishing w/ Craig from True Blue V. B got a leopard grouper
D/A/Carolina/Joel – dominoes, bird ran into the boat
Dinner on Exodus
D is the queen of shush! No one talks during the Chubasco Net

Alex fell down the stairs and bruised his back. We are very lucky this wasn’t a whole lot worse

Logbook – August 31, 2013 (La Mona)

Daily Notes

Potluck on beach w/ True Blue V, Sea Note, Drifter, Entre Nous, LC

Email to family and friends dated August 31, 2013

Subject: Still at La Mona

We are still at La Mona, and we originally planned to head into BLA village today, since fresh veggies get delivered to the stores on Friday nights, but some other cruisers have organized a pot luck on the beach here tonight, so we are going to stay and head into the village tomorrow. At the last potluck someone made cake that Brenden thought was bread. He told me how good the bread was and that he had 5 pieces, then later when I tasted it I realized it was cake. So Brenden asked me to make something tonight that he knows what it is, so I’m just going to make pasta in red sauce. We taught Carolina and Joel Mexican train yesterday, and they like it, so I think that will be a common activity going forward. I made a trade matrix today for all my options for getting back for Danna’s wedding that includes everything from flying from Loreto to taking a bus to Mexicali or Tijuana. I Will let you guys know when we figure it out. In any case I will be renting a car at some point because I want to spend some time in LA too. Can’t wait.
Love and miss you guys,
-D.

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Organized Fun for the Boys

Post author By cruisingrunner
Post date May 25, 2020
2 Comments on Organized Fun for the Boys

The boys are generally able to entertain themselves with minimal electronics time, especially traveling in the company of Lady Carolina and their two boys. They swim, make up games, play on the beach, read Big Nate books over and over again, and they’ve even started writing their own fish guidebook because they have noticed that none of the fish books indicate the tastiness of a fish. However, sometimes an organized activity is what they need. So, while in Las Rocas, Tim organized a scavenger hunt for them. He made a list of things they had to find on the beach, split them into two teams (Alex/Joel, Brenden/Kyle, surprise, surprise) and sent them away. Here is the list:

- Piece of small dead cactus
- Something that could have been left by a
- Something likely dropped by a panga
- Plastic bottle (+1 if it has a lid on it)
- Piece of styrofoam (must float)
- Something red
- Something blue
- String or fishing line or net
- Beer or soda can
- Cool seashell
- One bone from a fish (+1 if it’s a puffer)
- Beach glass (worn so you can’t see through)
- Bird feather over 10 inches long
- Piece of driftwood
- Very flat rock
- Something metal
- Piece of clothing
- Sexy mermaid
- A hat (yes, a hat)
- Something that crawls

Alex and Joel won but by a very slim margin. They found a puffer fishbone, which pushed them over the top. I’m sad to say that neither team found the sexy mermaid, but Alex and Joel enjoyed their prize of M&Ms and Skittles nonetheless.

Stepping it up a notch, while we were at Ensenada el Pescador Tim and Steve put their heads together and made a treasure hunt with a series of clues for the boys to follow. They had to go talk to some guy on shore for their first clue, and it turns out he didn’t speak English as well as Tim and Steve thought, so he didn’t really understand what they asked him to tell the boys. They had to find a cactus with a red ribbon on it and use GPS locations and compass bearings. The last clue was in the water, they marked it by a weight attached to a float, and the note on the float said to dive down to get the next clue, but by the time the boys had read the note they had pulled up the weight, and then they had trouble finding the clue. In fact, they never found it. Tim and Steve dove for it and they couldn’t find it either. So, they had to tell them the prize was underneath Lady Carolina, and all four of them enjoyed a package of Oreos as the sun was setting.

Photo Log

Ensenada el Pescador Photo Log

Post author By cruisingrunner
Post date May 25, 2020
No Comments on Ensenada el Pescador Photo Log

Aug 26-27, 2013

Since we were expecting calm weather for a couple days we headed back down to Ensenada el Pescador. Carolina and I had walked across to this beach when we were anchored at El Quemado. Although not featured in these photos, Pescador had an awesome sandy beach good for football, Bocce, and, of course, running! Our last morning we got blown out by SE winds and rain and we headed up to La Mona.

Logbook – August 26, 2013 (Las Rocas to Ensenada el Pescador)

Passage Log Highlights

1005 Depart Las Rocas
1313 Arrive el Pescador

Daily Notes

Football, frisbee, bocce ball on the beach at el Pescador (very nice beach)
Beef stew & cornbread (no fish)

(Edit: Apparently it had to be noted in the logbook when we did *not* have fish for dinner)

Las Rocas to Pescador — Las Rocas to Ensenada el Pescador

Logbook – August 27, 2013 (Ensenada el Pescador)

Daily Notes

D – awesome morning run. Beautiful beach. Strong breeze to keep cool (made the paddle to the beach tough, though.
Awesome treasure hunt for the boys – still have not recovered the last clue
T/Steve spearfishing – yellowtail & grouper. Dinner on Exodus

Email to family and friends dated August 27, 2013

Subject: Ensenada el Pescador

We moved a bit south yesterday. Since winds were forecast to come out of the NW today and tomorrow we decided to head down to this anchorage that we had skipped past before. It has good W and NW protection but usually the wind is coming out of the SE. Tim and Steve (Lady Carolina) are at the beach putting together a treasure hunt for the boys. The beach here is gorgeous, in fact, it is pretty much the best running beach so far. I had a great run this morning (if you call 3 miles in sand and heat great). We are back to school after taking a week off, and it’s a pretty slow day so far.
-D.

Tim and Steve created a scavenger hunt for the boys. this is just a glimpse into their effort

The boys eating their scavenger hunt prize (oreos) on the back of Lady Carolina. Well, except for Brenden. He’s just a monkey.

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Paddleboarding

We (and by that I mean Tim) bought 3 paddleboards when we were in San Diego. I have no idea why we need 3, but that’s what we have. Two of them are of the inflatable variety and one is rigid. In fact, we have yet to even inflate both of the inflatable ones. I was always pretty sure I would enjoy paddleboarding, and I tried it for the first time at San Francisquito. It was amazing. I went out for over an hour, and really only headed back because I hadn’t taken any water with me. The only real downside is that after about 20 minutes my toes start to go numb, so I have to sit down and paddle for just a bit until I regain feeling. The inflatable paddle board is more stable and the rigid is faster and tracks better in the water. I tend to use the inflatable one because it’s lighter and Alex and I can put it in the water and also because there’s less concern about running it into Exodus (since it has softer sides). I have only fallen off once, and that was when a panga went by and I showed little concern for the wake when I really should have. Luckily, I didn’t lose my sunglasses. Paddleboarding provides at least part of what I used to get out of running all the time. Namely, the solitude and the very simple goal setting (I’m going to paddle there and turn around). However, it doesn’t come close to being the aerobic workout and I still immensely miss running.

Photo Log

Las Rocas Photo Log

August 22-25, 2013

Las Rocas is an anchorage on Isla Coronados (Isla Smith). We had a lot of rain and clouds while we were there due to a tropical storm passing along the outside of the Baja peninsula. In fact, here is where we had to run the engines just to charge the batteries for the very first time. But it was a beautiful anchorage.

Logbook – August 22, 2013 (La Gringa to Las Rocas)

Passage Log Highlights

1114 Depart La Gringa
1300 Arrive Las Rocas

Daily Notes

Brenden slept his sickness off all day
Tim, Steve, Kyle spearfishing – sierra, yellowtail, parrot fish cabrilla
D/B – Quiet dinner & movie
T/A – Dinner on LC

Looking through the channel at sailing vessel Lungta anchored off of Isla Mitlan. Isla Mitlan is on the boat in the picture

Logbook – August 23, 2013 (Las Rocas)

Daily Notes

T/Steve spearfish 3 yellowtail & 1 sierra. Yummy sashimi
D – paddle over to north bay – met Lungta (Dan & Kathy) and Sara M (Paul) tough paddle back against wind & current
Boys scavenger hunt on the beach. Alex & Joel won.
Dinner on Exodus w/ Lady Carolina. Yummy sashimi.

DSCN5337 — Looks like a Lagoon Catamaran advertisement

Email to family and friends dated August 23, 2013

Subject: Las Rocas

We had a great time at the cruisers party at La Gringa, but one of the highlights had to be swimming with a whale shark. Brenden absolutely loved it! And one of the low points had to be Brenden getting food poisoning at the pot luck and spending all night and the better part of the morning leaning off the back swim step. So, Brenden and I had a quiet movie night last night as he recuperated and Tim and Alex went over to Lady Carolina for dinner and poker. We moved just a couple miles yesterday out to an island to a bay called Las Rocas. It’s really nice, but the wind has picked up. This morning we are seeing gusts up to 26 kts. It’s actually nice and cool for a change (only 81 deg, but still 75% humidity). Sunday is supposed to be the real blustery day with winds up in the 30s. We will probably stay put until that blows through.
Love and miss you all,
D.

Logbook – August 24, 2013 (Las Rocas)

Daily Notes

T, Boys – Spearfish – B got a parrot fish. More yummy yellowtail.

In the anchorage with us – sailing vessel Let it Go (another Lagoon Catamaran) and motor vessel Mai Tai Roa.

Logbook – August 25, 2013 (Las Rocas)

Daily Notes

Rain in the night. Very low batt voltage this morning
T/D – paddle to the first lagoon. Panga wake knocked D off. Rain.
Downpour in the afternoon. Boys soaked on paddleboards
Had to run engines to charge batteries for the first time. No sun 😦
Cocktails on Mai Tai Roa with Alex & Sue

Tim plays a game with the boys… whoever talks louder than him gets to do boat chores. Alex and Joel decided to ensure they didn’t “win”

Email to family and friends dated August 25, 2013

Subject: Tropical Storm Ivo

Tropical Storm Ivo passed along the pacific coast of Baja. La Paz reported not having any weather fall out, but Puerto Escondido had 30 kt winds and 8 in of rain yesterday. We saw winds in the 20s yesterday, and it rained a bit last night (not anywhere near 8 in) and we are totally socked in with clouds this morning. I actually had to run an engine just to charge the batteries for the first time this morning, because no sun means no power for us. However, I wouldn’t say we have been power neutral with just the arrays. We move anchorages so often that we get engine charging every time we raise and drop anchor and sometimes on passage if there’s no wind. Everything is great here. More yellowtail sashimi last night, and Brenden shot a Parrot Fish that made excellent ceviche.
Love and miss you all,
-D.

Email to family and friends dated August 26, 2013

Subject: Rain

We still have overcast skies and we had some fits of heavy downpour yesterday. If not for the decreased power generation I would be loving the relief we are getting from the sunshine and heat. I actually took a warm shower last night for the first time in months! We will probably head back to the village today or tomorrow, but I’m not hopeful about the internet. We heard on the radio net last night it’s been down.
-D.

Photo Log

La Gringa Photo Log

August 19-21, 2013

La Gringa and the Full Moon Floatie Contest party. Need I say more? OK, I will. La Gringa is the beach on the north end of Bahia de Los Angeles. There is an estuary and at the extreme tides around the full moon you can ride the current in and out. Not exactly rapids, but a lot of fun all the same. There was a floatie contest with 3 categories: 1) Best Store-bought Floatie (which went to Gravel on SV True Companion for his beer can floatie throne), 2) Best Floatie made of Noodles (which went to Craig & LeAnn of True Blue V for their Floatie Chairs that could have qualified for any category, but hey they had noodles on them), and 3) Best Floatie made of anything you can find in your bilge or anywhere else on your boat (this prestigious award went to Lady Carolina). Sue (Mai Tai Roa), Trish (Interabang), and I were the contest judges, and the best bribes we got were from Joel of Lady Carolina which included cookies and hugs, but I’m pretty sure they would have won the contest anyway.

Logbook – August 19, 2013 (BLA Village to La Gringa)

Passage Log Highlights

0940 Depart BLA Village
1119 Arrive La Gringa

Daily Notes

Whales on passage
Alex rescued the compost bucket
D/T paddleboard into the estuary
Dorado and “Costa Rica” rice on Exodus
Chubasco chance – whales in the bay when we were securing the deck
Tide delta is now 10 ft

BLA to La Gringa — La Gringa is at the very far north end of Bahia de Los Angeles (BLA)v

Logbook – August 20, 2013 (La Gringa)

Daily Notes

- Boys rode their surfboards in the current at the opening of the estuary
- Whale sharks in the bay – B & T swim with them
- Diagrammed the SeaTalk network
- Played in the rapids at the estuary

Email to family and friends dated August 20, 2013

Subject: La Gringa

We left BLA Village yesterday and moved about 6nmi North to Ensenada La Gringa. Tomorrow is the full moon cruisers party here, and we are helping to organize. There’s about a 10 ft tide swing and a small estuary, so we are going to have a floating party around high tide where we first get sucked into the estuary, then pushed back out. There are prizes for best floaties, so you can believe Tim’s already got diagrams drawn up for the plans for the Exodus floatie. Alex had a good idea of using empty 5 gallon water jerry cans. I’m one of the judges, and yes, I will take bribes, especially if anyone has any CA Chardonnay. 🙂
I’m not sure the inReach acquired GPS signal yesterday when we moved, so I’m not sure the map shows us in the right spot, but we are not too far away from the village, just a little ways North.
Yesterday, we had some excitement on passage… I was rinsing the veggie compost container, and I dropped it overboard. We circled back to get it, and when we spotted it, without hesitation, Alex dove into the water off the port bow. He retrieved it, but then missed the back step as we circled around. Then it was like a man overboard drill… Brenden grabbed the pole and we pulled him in. I promise, grandparents, that at no time during this exercise was Alex in any danger. It was good fun, and Alex got to be the hero. Of course, he said next time it’s my turn, but he always says that.
I heard there was lots of lightning up in the bay area last night… we didn’t have much action here, thank goodness.
Love and miss you all,
-D.

Logbook – August 21, 2013 (La Gringa)

Daily Notes

D – long paddleboard, prep for potluck (oreos & beer bread)
T – spearfish w/ (sentence abruptly ended… assume he went with Steve)
Boys make a raft, whale shark right by our boat
Full Moon Party at the estuary and potluck on the beach
B – sick (vomiting) in the middle of the night

Edit: At the potluck Brenden came to me and told me how someone brought the best bread ever, it was the greatest bread he’s ever had and he had 4 pieces of it. I asked, Brenden, do you mean the pineapple cake?