January 8, 2010 - La Cruz

January 7, 2010 – underway to La Cruz,

One night down and one to go. It was not as bad as I had feared. That was probably because Earl did most of the watching. I tell myself that is okay. It is only proper since a) he is the man¸ b) it is really his boat and c) I need more sleep. We took naps, but mine were significantly longer than Earl’s. There was very little traffic to keep us occupied. Earl amused himself using the spotlight to light up the flying fish. I preferred to look at the stars. There were so many showing last night that they actually look ‘thick’. I mean I had the sense of depth, that some stars were nearer than others. Finally at 5 am Earl called it quits, left me in charge and went downstairs to sleep. That only lasted till about 8. He admits to being a little tired and has agreed to go take a nap.

We are still fighting a leak issue. We now have a leaking connection under the ice maker. Earl thinks that he probably caused it, pulling or pushing the hose while looking for the cause of the first leak. The solution will apparently involve moving the frig again and replacing the hose fitting. In the meantime, if we turn the water off, which is not very convenient, there is no leak. However, we have found that by sticking a sham wow around the hose fitting and leaving it hanging down into a bowl, it serves nicely as a wick and most of the water is collected in the bowl.

This afternoon, while I was downstairs taking a shower, there was a explosion. Earl’s first thought was that I had done something, till he realized that the top had come off the cupboard below the ice maker. I came upstairs to find an unhappy man taking the cupboard apart. Water from the leak had dripped on one of the life vests stored in the cupboard and had detonated the automatic inflating device. It filled the cupboard and we could not get it out without getting to the valve and partially deflating it. Earl had some extra gas cartridges, so he replaced the used one, and then managed to set off the new one. Oh well! We have now decided that we should disable the automatic set off on the vests. Earl will explain the safety issues to those interested. From now on, we will need to pull the tab to inflate – just like on a plane.

We have been visited by boobies. They rather liked our boat and, having landed, were reluctant to leave. Two of them settled on the radar and proceeded to crap all over the top of the boat. Earl finally chased them off with a broom. The boobies like to sit on things. In fact, Earl has seen several of them resting atop turtles on the surface. I imagine they crap on the turtles too.

As forecasted, the weather has gotten better and better. There is only a very small swell now. The water has returned to the deep ocean blue color. It has also warmed considerably and is 6 degrees higher than when we left La Paz. The air is much more humid. I guess we are leaving the Baja desert environment.

We are about 20 miles from the Marias. This is a group of islands which are apparently used by the Mexicans as a prison. We need to maintain a certain distance from them, which is too bad since Clark said they were a wonderful place to snorkel.

January 8, 2010 – approaching Banderas Bay

We were treated to one of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen last evening. It was like fire and almost impossible to really capture with the camera. We watched in awe.

The second night was interesting. Earl watched until 11 while I slept. Then we both were mesmerized by the dolphins and flying fish. Earl had the flood light on and we could see quite a ways. There were many dolphins, almost continually in sight, marked by phosphorescent trails. They were feeding on the flying fish. Once in a while we would see a turtle go by. Earl went to bed for a couple of hours. The water continued to warm up. The evening was not clear and off in the distance there were flashes of lightening, not surprising given the muggy air. Around 3, Earl took over, and I went down to nap. I woke around 5 when the engine slowed down. Coming up, I asked Earl what the problem was. I was a little disturbed to have him tell me he did not know where we were. The radar showed that there were large masses about 4 miles ahead. The chart and plotters did not. Nor had we expected to see anything there. But, we have had issues with Mexican charts before. Finally, with an eye on the depth, we decided to resume our course at half speed. Within a few minutes the wind picked up with gusts up to 35 and we found ourselves in a steep chop and driving rain. Mystery solved! They have serious rain clouds and storms in this part of the world. Daisy and I left Earl at the helm and went back to salon and a rather bumpy nap. We are now about 10 miles out. It is not clear, but the storm has passed. The air is slightly less muggy and a warm 78 degrees – two degrees less than the water which has continued to warm.

I am ready to be at the dock and the boat needs a thorough cleaning – at least inside. I think the outside should be pretty good.