Category: Photo Log

Puerto Refugio – Again

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.

The wind didn’t cooperate so we didn’t make it all the way to Puerto Refugio, rather we stopped for one night at Alcatraz

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.

We anchored in the middle lobe of Puerto Refugio again

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.

I did a little on shore exploring before we moved anchorages

Chara, Exodus, and Lady Carolina at anchor at Puerto Refugio

We moved anchorages over to the “West Bay” which is was really just a channel. We were in search of better protection from winds from the NW. We found wind protection here, but there was plenty of wraparound swell that made for some rolly conditions.

When we moved to the West Bay, this fishing boat was already there. They left later that day.

If you squint you can see Alex, Joel, and Carolina at the shore. We snorkeled around the rocks to the left and I took this after I came back to Exodus. Alex and Joel actually didn’t snorkel for too long, they enjoyed collecting rocks on the beach.

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

When we returned to the West Bay we anchored on the other side hoping to get just a little less side swell

Logbook – October 6, 2013 (Puerto Refugio)

Daily Notes

Hike up Isla Mejia. Beautiful views
Boys – more dinghy fishing
Spaghetti dinner on Lady Carolina

The gorgeous geography of Puerto Refugio

1024Roca Vela (Sail Rock). The boys spear fished there and swam with sea lions. When Brenden came back he told me he didn’t like it because it was too deep and he didn’t get any fish, oh and by the way he swam with sea lions. I guess after going to Los Islotes three times he’s taking sea lions a bit for granted.

Kyle and Brenden getting ready to clean their latest dinghy fishing catch. They ususally take turns with each filleting one side

We took the dinghy to shore and found this very small patch of sand to park on.

This is the view from a very small hill just near where Exodus was anchored. You can see Roca Vela in the distance. That’s the SW end of the channel.

*D with Exodus, and that is also the SW end of the channel out there*

Looking the other direction you can see Lady Carolina and the NE end of the channel.

Another, less sandy, parking spot for the dinghy

There’s a frame of reference for you. These cacti must be very old!

Here we hiked up to a much higher ridge first through this ravine with enormous cacti

I think this is my favorite picture of our whole trip so far

Lady Carolina in the West Bay of Puerto Refugio

A beautiful sliver moon rising at Puerto Refugio

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.

Our “we didn’t get our butts kicked by a Chubasco or a Hurricane this summer and so long to Lady Carolina for 6 weeks” dessert, drinks, and games party. Joel and Brenden are down below watching a movie.

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.

Photo Log

La Gringa and BLA Village – Again

Post author By cruisingrunner
Post date May 30, 2020
No Comments on La Gringa and BLA Village – Again

September 27 – October 1, 2013

These were quick stops at La Gringa and BLA village. We got blown out of Isla Mitlan and took refuge for a night at La Gringa from the North wind, and then made a quick stop at the village for provisioning before heading North to Puerto Refugio and then San Felipe.

Logbook – September 27, 2013 (Isla Mitlan to La Gringa)

Passage Log Highlights

1310 Depart Isla Mitlan
1405 Arrive La Gringa

Daily Notes

Killer game of hearts – Brenden had a comeback win by accidentally shooting the moon
Dinks on Exodus with LC & Odyssey

Logbook – September 28, 2013 (La Gringa)

Daily Notes

Boys after school – Bocce ball on the beach, then dinghy fishing. They caught sierra & bonito.
Lost the Raybans 😦 Both Alex & Brenden dove in, B said if he had fins he would have gotten them
Game of hearts before bed

Dinghy fishing is now a favorite pastime. Favorite catches are Bonito, Yellowtail, and Sierra

Kyle and his mini-me after dinghy fishing

Email to family and friends dated September 29, 2013

Subject: Better Weather

We got chased out of the Isla Mitlan anchorage two days ago because the wind blew directly out of the NW right into the anchorage. We probably had 6-8 ft swells. When we were leaving I actually got sprayed from water from the bow when I was at the helm. Pretty sure that’s a first for me. I was really bummed that our time at Mitlan was spoiled by wind because it’s a beautiful place and I was hoping to do a lot of paddle boarding and hike the volcano. We moved to La Gringa with better North wind protection. Yesterday the boys went out dinghy fishing with the Lady Carolina boys and brought back a Sierra and a Pacific Bonito. They caught it and cleaned it themselves and then later we had Sashimi for dinner. Today we will probably head to the village for our last wifi and grocery fix before beginning our trip up to San Felipe. Less than a month!
Love and miss you all,
-D.

Logbook – September 29, 2013 (La Gringa to BLA)

Passage Log Highlights

1203 Depart La Gringa
1418 Arrive BLA Village

Logbook – September 30, 2013 (BLA Village)

Daily Notes

A little chilly in the dinghy on the way back from dinner
AM – boys dinghy fish with LC boys
D/T – groceries and laundry
T – fuel run with Steve & Alex
Dinner @ Guillermos

Alex’s rock collection. This was a school assignment and he was supposed to make a display for them, and when you homeschool on a boat, you just make due with the materials you have

Photo Log

Isla Mitlan

September 24-27, 2013

Brenden wanted to go to La Gringa for his birthday to play in the estuary, but since the forecast was for strong (20+ kt) winds from the SW we decided that being tucked in behind Isla Mitlan would provide better protection. Our first full day there, which was Brenden’s birthday, was not bad and the boys spear fished and then we had an awesome pasta dinner and sugar cookie celebration for his birthday. The next day, though, the winds blew hard out of the West, so we had a fair amount of wraparound swell, which wasn’t great, but it wasn’t too bad either. Then the next day it blew hard straight out of the NW and we had to get out of there. We ended up retreating to La Gringa for protection from the NW swell.

La Mona to Isla Mitlan. Light winds and a tack.

Logbook – September 24, 2013 (La Mona to Isla Mitlan)

Passage Log Highlights

1219 Depart La Mona
1447 Fish on! Sierra
1650 Arrive Isla Mitlan

Daily Notes

Caught 2 sierras underway. Second one was huge but it got away while we were anchoring. First one was big enough for sashimi dinner.
Brenden shot 2 parrot fish for his birthday ceviche

Isla Mitlan is a small island next to Isla Coronado (Isla Smith) and the anchorage is between the two islands.

Lady Carolina and one other boat in the anchorage. It was a tight fit.

This is Volcan Colorado, which we had wanted to hike up to, but with the strong winds it didn’t work out. It is on Isla Coronado (Isla Smith)

En route to Isla Mitlan the boys had caught a sierra, but we lost it b/c it got pulled into the prop when we were anchoring. Brenden got all suited up and jumped in to find the sierra as soon as we were anchored. He didn’t find it, but he did get a Parrot fish for his birthday ceviche.

Peaking up the channel to the Las Rocas anchorage

Logbook – September 25, 2013 (Isla Mitlan)

Daily Notes

Reanchored in the middle of the night because we were too close to the pinnacle rock
Happy Birthday Brenden!
Spearfishing party! Steve caught a yellowtail, B caught a triggerfish
Ceviche, sashimi, bread, pasta, suchini, sugar cookies

Email to family and friends dated September 25, 2013

Subject: Happy Birthday to Brenden!

We moved yesterday to Isla Mitlan. We had a nice sail, although slow, and several times the wind died completely on us, but we made it 11 miles in 4.5 hours, lol. The boys caught 2 sierras while underway, but one was dragging in the water behind one of the props when we were anchoring and it got caught in the prop and fell off the stringer. As soon as we anchored Brenden was suited up in his wetsuit to dive looking for the sierra, because, you see, they make good sashimi (not as good as yellowtail, but pretty good). He couldn’t find the sierra but he came back to the boat for his spear because, “there were fish everywhere” and not long after that he came back with a couple parrot fish, so he could have “birthday ceviche.”

The yellowtail expedition will be leaving later this morning, because more than anything, Brenden wants “birthday sashimi.”

At BLA village Alex found a lego Battleship game to give to Brenden, and he was so pleased that it’s the perfect present for Brenden. We should have a nice day today, the plan is to have a big pasta dinner with Lady Carolina this evening, and then maybe have all the other boats in the anchorage over later for drinks and desserts. I haven’t decided if I’m up for that yet after being up half the night last night moving anchor locations because we got too close to an underwater pinnacle rock.
Love and miss you all,
-D.

A fine catch at Brenden’s “spearfishing parting”

Alex picked this gift out in BLA Village. In case you can’t read the sign on the gift.. the P.S. at the bottom says “I dibs beating you first.”

This is a reenactment of Brenden’s surprised face when he realized the gift from Alex wasn’t just the game Battleship, it was Lego Battleship (where you build the ships out of Legos)

This is also a reenactment. Mom’s a little slow with the camera tonight.

Logbook – September 26, 2013 (Isla Mitlan)

Daily Notes

The wind blew hard all day, 20-33 knots. We decided to put out more chain.
We didn’t get off the boat all day. Brenden finished test lesson 120!
Needed sweatshirst for the first time last night in a long time.

It’s officially the end of summer! Breaking out the sweatshirts!

Email to family and friends dated September 27, 2013

Subject: Brrrrrr

We got blown around pretty good yesterday with steady wind in the 25-35 kt range, and we picked an anchorage with SW protection, because that was the forecast, of course it blew more NW and we basically had white caps breaking under the boat. It was like being underway! It’s calmed down this morning, only 10-12 kts, but it’s supposed to blow hard again today. The wind has also brought cold air with it, in fact the boys put sweatshirts on last night, we slept with the salon doors and windows shut for the first time in I can’t remember how long, and when I got up this morning it was 68 degrees! Looks like summer is over.
Love and miss you all,
-D.

Logbook – September 27, 2013 (Isla Mitlan to La Gringa)

Daily Notes

68 degrees when I got up this morning!
Wind from the NW blew us out of the Isla Mitlan anchorage. BIG swells when leaving, I got sprayed from the bow while I was at the helm

Edit: Tim and Steve were out spearfishing when the wind shifted and kicked up and they had no idea the conditions we were facing. Carolina and I went crazy waiting for them. I was on high alert makin sure we didn’t drag, and as soon as they got back we raised the dinghy and got out of there!

These are the swells coming into the anchorage. They don’t look nearly as bad in the photo

Photo Log

La Mona Again

September 19-24, 2013

This time we were at La Mona primarily for the Sept Full Moon party. Where has the summer gone?

Logbook – September 19, 2013 (BLA Village to La Mona)

Passage Log Highlights

1108 Depart BLA
1222 Arrive La Mona

Daily Notes

Talk like a pirate day
La Mona full moon party

Brenden trying to stay cool in the water

September full moon party – relaxing in the whirlpool

*September full moon party –* A game of bocce ball

Logbook – September 20, 2013 (La Mona)

Daily Notes

“Progressive” on Mai Tai Roa
Deanne’s “Me time” cut short when 4 boys showed up
Check in from Morro Bay on the South Bound Net

Brenden’s ready for some serious fly swatting

Logbook – September 21, 2013 (La Mona)

Daily Notes

D – exploring on shore
Boys – dinghy fishing

We had calm mornings here, so I paddled to shore and walked almost every day

Boats at anchor between the rocky shoreline and the desert mountains

Brenden looks a bit disgusted, but he got the job done

This is our EPIRB. Thankfully, we never needed it.

Not sure exactly what’s going on here. I guess the boys still aren’t too big to wrestle with dad.

Logbook – September 22, 2013 (La Mona to BLA Village to La Mona)

Passage Log Highlights

1009 Depart La Mona
1117 Arrive BLA Village
1349 Depart BLA
1458 Arrive La Mona

Daily Notes

We sailed Exodus to BLA village and back in order for Alex to buy B a birthday present
Bell Peppers!!! Red, yellow, orange!
Ad hoc party at the whirlpool
Bitter, bitter civiche

There are actually houses all along the La Mona coast (except the small stretch where the estuary and the “SS Minnow” are.

Sailing Vessels Sara M and True Companion.

The houses along the shoreline at La Mona

Ad hoc party at the whirlpool – Tim and Joel kept busy building a dam

Logbook – September 23, 2013 (La Mona)

Daily Notes

Deanne almost forgot about the Amigo Net
75 deg this morning! My coffee is actually enjoyable again
Carolina’s birthday – drinks and dinner w/ LC and Chara
Morning paddle – lots of jumping fish adn an uninterested pelican
Reminded that TBV left San Diego on the same day we did

Photo Log

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).

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

The sunrise reflecting off of BLA Village

This is where the boys like to sleep these days

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.

DSCN5536 — We finally got the anchor up and our sails raised

Lady Carolina approaching the turnaround point

IMG_1495_edited — Mom having some fun at the helm

IMG_1507_edited — Alex looking sharp in his Exodus crew shirt

DSCN5523 — The lighthouse at Punta Arena right near the village

After the race the hot wind kicked up and the temperature reached 100 deg

When Alex saw this picture he said, “creepy, Mom”

DSCN5554 — 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

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

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.

Photo Log

La Gringa – Again

September 12-15, 2013

Logbook – September 12, 2013 (Alcatraz to La Gringa)

Passage Log Highlights

- 1425 Depart Alcatraz
- 1646 Arrive La Gringa

Daily Notes

- Issues dropping spinnaker in strong winds. Tim injured toe, rope burns on hands. D-rope burn on foot.
- Alex test lesson 80.
- Apple crumble

Alcatraz to La Gringa — Alcatraz back down to La Gringa

Logbook – September 13, 2013 (La Gringa)

Daily Notes

- Boys – pizza, movie, sleepover @ LC
- Dinner on Exodus, talking on the net until 2 AM:-)

Logbook – September 14, 2013 (La Gringa)

Daily Notes

- Boys – after sleepover on LC, capture the flag on the beach then lots of swimming. Alex back in the water after his ear infection
- T/Steve – Dinghy fishing. Yellowtail & Sierra. Sashimi appetizer on LC
- Still have residual no-see-um itching
- B has growing pains

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

Daily Notes

- Boys cleaned the hulls before leaving La Gringa

The bottom of a glass bottle of tonic water detached itself so I has to clean the sticky mess out of the bilge.

Photo Log

Ensenada Alcatraz

September 11-12, 2013

The anchorage called Alcatraz wasn’t in the guidebook, but we had heard about it from other cruisers, so we decided to make a pitstop on the way from Puerto Refugio back down to La Gringa.

Logbook – September 11, 2013 (Puerto Refugio to Alcatraz)

Passage Log Highlights

- 0910 Depart Puerto Refugio
- 1604 Arrive Ensenada Alcatraz

Daily Notes

- Survey the little cove, fish on, no helm control
- Dorado!
- Dinks on Exodus w/ LC and TBV. LC stayed for dinner.
- Plate full of fish
- Religious discussion on the net – boys to LC to watch a movie

Refugio to Alcatraz — Puerto Refugio to Ensenada Alcatraz

DSCN5510 — On passage from Puerto Refugio to Alcatraz both Exodus and Lady Carolina caught Dorados so we had to pull up next to each other to compare and snap photos. Here’s Tim with his.

Photo Log

Puerto Refugio

September 6-11, 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.

Photo Log

La Ventana

September 3-6, 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

September 1-3, 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.