This week we departed from the beachy oasis of San Juanico Bay and headed to the posh resort area of Puerto Escondido Marina just south of Loreto, Baja California Sur (South). We had spent almost three months here last winter, using the marina as our home base between visitors and to provide protection from the strong Northerly winds.
Our plan was to spend a few days living it up doing chores, where we knew it would be easy and efficient. Perhaps the primary rationale in the stop for me...was to secure a visit to the delicatessen in Loreto that carries great US-cut steaks. I was eager to add a few New York/Top Sirloin/Filets to our provisions of "comfort" food. In addition, the marina's rooftop pool was now open and we felt like we'd missed out on its use when we were here last winter. Time to 'cash in' on that benefit! The marina caters to the super yacht crowd and features a wine shop now as well as a market that offers everything fancy you could imagine! Double bonus!
Coming into the bay felt familiar, which is something that is rare on our boat. It isn't often we pull into a place and think, jeez -- I've done this 10 times before! Piece of cake. That is how it is in Puerto Escondido. In the harbor we tied up to a mooring ball. The harbor was very calm this week. When we were sleeping it was so quiet and still it was difficult to tell we were even on a boat. Even with a nice nice afternoon breeze, and finally a few 85-90 degree days -- the coolest we've had since we left Seattle in September we hardly moved. The weather is finally getting tolerable!
For those of you that think living on a boat is just laying around doing nothing, well, there is some of that, however, on most days there are boat chores. The first day in port, I spent the day in the laundry room. Boat yard laundry rooms are like the 'water-cooler' of the boating world. You meet other like minded souls and find out where they are going and their plans for the season. If you are lucky you get some good tips and possibly a good book. Today many boats have their own washer/dryers (as we do), but a laundry facility can speed up the process and handle much bigger loads. For Okisollo, all of our linens that we'd used to cover our cushions and mattresses on the boat during dusty storage were gross and a good heavy duty cycle was just what they needed. I did at least 6 loads. I was pleased that I also got a new cookbook from the share library--just the inspiration I needed for some new easy to make boat food. Another bonus! The laundry room was a sweat box though, and again, the pool was a great reward.
On Halloween, we rented a car and drove into Loreto Town proper to replenish our fresh food and to get a few things (like the steak) that we had been unable to find back in Puerto Penasco. Loreto hadn't changed all that much in the 8 months since we'd been here last. Everything was looking spiffy and festive for the Halloween/Day of the Dead festivities. We couldn't find any official activities but did admire the decorations around town, and a few children dressed up in the town square.
With our bellies fully of fish tacos and chili rellenos, and the car packed full of random things like tortollini and kalamata olives (both rare to find in the local Tiendas/village markets), and a 4' piece of PVC pipe to use as a dive flagpole, we headed back to the boat and began the process of putting everything away. After loading the food into the car, out of the car, into the dock cart, into the dingy, out of the dingy, onto the back deck of the boat, down the ladder to the galley -- its luck we didn't break any of 36 eggs we had in tow. We were also able to drop off and pick up the filled scuba tanks and propane tanks. The only thing left on our list was to fuel up the boat.
So today, on our way out of the harbor, we stopped at the fuel dock and
filled the tanks. This marina is reputed for having 'the best fuel in Baja' -- and is a destination for many mega-yachts with very large tanks. We filled up with over 700 liters (which is about 3/4 tank). The guy who worked the pumps had to stand and patiently hold the nozzle 'just right' -- as to not have diesel spill everywhere. It took over an hour to fill. I think the guy was wishing he had not been on shift this morning! I learned a new spanish word though -- tedioso! We are hoping that this fuel will last us most of the winter cruising season. With our expanded solar panel arrays, we should be able to generate most of our daily power from the sun, reserving our diesel for only when the wind isn't strong enough or in the right direction to get us to where we intend to go.
This afternoon, we set our anchor down in what is my favorite anchorage on the Baja Peninsula. This time, we are the only yacht in the bay. We are probably 2 weeks before the crowds show up. We can see that the beach taco stands are open, but this afternoon we are expecting a wind change and want to make sure we are close by to monitoring the situation and ensure the anchor is set. So Dan is up the mast, down the mast 6 times to replace the steaming light and to fix some of our running rigging that was tangled up. There is a flock of goats (the village has several herds) on the steep hill behind the boat, under the shade of a very small tree. They bleat from time to time. The pelicans and boobies are diving in to the water to fish. We couldn't ask for a nicer day. So the moral is, there is always some chore to do. So why not do it here?
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