May 18, Marlin, lobsters and rays...

Today could have been just another usual day out cruising.  But no!  Every time I think I am in for an ordinary day God surprises me with more close encounters with His amazing creations.  Today found us heading north to Isla San Marcos which is about 15 miles north of Punta Chivato.  It was flat calm today and we had to motor all but the last hour where we had a nice sail into an anchorage called Sweet Pea Cove.  On the way we were duly entertained by hundreds of small manta rays jumping all around us. The show went on for about an hour and we literally saw flying mantas in the hundreds.  Leaping out of the water, some flying straight others flipping wildly and then making a loud slap when they smacked back down on the surface of the water.  I got a few photos where I caught them in the air and a couple actually show 2 or 3 in the air at the same time.  

About a mile north of the anchorage is a rocky point called Punta de los Arcos (Arches Point) so Tallen and I decided to head up there in the dinghy to do some exploring and snorkeling.  We found a really cool low arch where we took the dinghy under and to the other side.  It was a tight fit but made for some pretty cool pictures.  We also snorkeled under and through a really cool archway with the light shining through from the other side making for some amazing underwater pics.  After that I found this little crevasse back in the rocks that was so small and tight that it got dark in there even though we were there in the middle of the day.  It intrigued me how far back into the rock the tight water cave went but we needed to go back to the boat to get my dive light in order to find out.

Back to the boat we went where we were greeted by a few hundred bees that had come aboard partaking of the fresh water.  After wrangling all the bees out of the boat we put up the screens to keep them on the outside.  We had some lunch, grabbed the dive lights and headed back out to Los Arcos to find the dark cave again.  As soon as we left the boat I saw a fin in the water attached to a long body.  I screamed to Tallen that there was a shark...right there!  As it turns out, it wasn't a shark.  On closer inspection it was a marlin.  Ya, a marlin, right there in the anchorage not 20' off the back of the boat. We had the GoPro with us so we stuck it in the water following this marlin as he slowly cruised around the anchorage.  I wish we had a way to catch it. Dang.  We did, however, get some awesome GoPro footage of the marlin swimming not 3' in front of us in the dinghy for about 5 minutes.  How cool is that?  That was a first for me seeing a marlin right there by the boat at anchor.

Murky vid of the marlin

And now for the part of the story you are probably most interested in...the lobsters! We went back to the area where the cave was and it took us a while to actually find it, it being a quite small crease in the volcanic rock shoreline on the northwest side of Isla Marcos.  However, we did eventually find it and I suited up with my snorkeling gear, dive light and spear ready to see what was in there.  I must admit, I was a little nervous as the first time I went just inside the mouth of the cave I saw a pretty large moray eel and after that it got too dark to even see.  Dark, narrow cave, maybe 2' of headroom above the water in the main channel of the cave and a large moray eel guarding the entrance...not really in my comfort zone.  haha.  However, it did get my adrenaline pumping and as most of you know, I'm kind of into adrenaline. lol.  As soon as I got far enough into the small opening to require my dive light to see I spotted 8-10 small lobsters in a little side crevasse.  They were smaller so I didn't take any but I was definitely excited about the possibilities.  All told the cave went back into the darkness about 75' or so with several other crevasses leading to other caverns on either side.  I saw lobsters everywhere I looked.  Not thousands, probably not even hundreds but certainly more than one hundred.  The Holy Grail of lobster caves!  The first time I exited the cave I came out with two really nice lobsters.  Tallen was stoked but still not stoked enough to actually go into the cave. lol.  I went back in and repeated the performace...several times.  Sometimes it took me longer than others because I was going deeper into the darkness.  Once you get about 20' or so in it was as dark as night and the only light was the small beam coming from my dive light.  The biggest bug I got was all the way at the back of the cave where I literally was in 10" of water, crawling on my belly and the lobster had crawled himself out of the water onto the dark rocks at the back of the cave.  When I was belly crawling back in there to get him I got poked several times from smaller lobster that my belly was dragging over.  No! I'm not making this stuff up!  Really, I promise.

As I started to explore more I found at least 4 or 5 other deep crevasses leading off in other directions...all with lobsters crawling around.  There were definitely many, many bugs that I had no chance of reaching as they were way back into very tight, dark places.  There was one really big one that was way back in a hole that I wanted badly. I could see him with my light but no way to reach him.  As I was shining my light on him, to my surprise, he started walking out of the hole right towards me.  Just before he was in range my grip on my sling slipped and it fired and hit a rock scaring the big guy back deeper into the hole.  Anyway, all told I hand selected 11 lobsters to grace our freezer and dinner table.  I know this sounds like it isn't real.  It still seems unreal to me.   It was SO COOL!  After about 45 minutes in the cave I had pretty much scattered lobster everywhere and I look forward to going back tomorrow when things have settled down a little.  YES...I am going back!  haha.  That is the most incredible mother load of lobsters ever and I will be putting more in my freezer tomorrow. Marne...I hope you like lobster because this will be our first stop next this fall! 

I think that is enough excitement for one day.  I had better get busy preparing this lobster feast.  Ciao for now.

Bret and Tallen
SV Liahona

May 18, Isla San Marcos, Lobsters and wildlife day...

Today could have been just another usual day out cruising.  But no!  Every time I think I am in for an ordinary day God surprises me with more close encounters with His amazing creations.  Today found us heading north to Isla San Marcos which is about 15 miles north of Punta Chivato.  It was flat calm today and we had to motor all but the last hour where we had a nice sail into an anchorage called Sweet Pea Cove.  On the way we were duly entertained by hundreds of small manta rays jumping all around us. The show went on for about an hour and we literally saw flying mantas in the hundreds.  Leaping out of the water, some flying straight others flipping wildly and then making a loud slap when they smacked back down on the surface of the water.  I got a few photos where I caught them in the air and a couple actually show 2 or 3 in the air at the same time.  

About a mile north of the anchorage is a rocky point called Punta de los Arcos (Arches Point) so Tallen and I decided to head up there in the dinghy to do some exploring and snorkeling.  We found a really cool low arch where we took the dinghy under and to the other side.  It was a tight fit but made for some pretty cool pictures.  We also snorkeled under and through a really cool archway with the light shining through from the other side making for some amazing underwater pics.  After that I found this little crevasse back in the rocks that was so small and tight that it got dark in there even though we were there in the middle of the day.  It intrigued me how far back into the rock the tight water cave went but we needed to go back to the boat to get my dive light in order to find out.

Back to the boat we went where we were greeted by a few hundred bees that had come aboard partaking of the fresh water.  After wrangling all the bees out of the boat we put up the screens to keep them on the outside.  We had some lunch, grabbed the dive lights and headed back out to Los Arcos to find the dark cave again.  As soon as we left the boat I saw a fin in the water attached to a long body.  I screamed to Tallen that there was a shark...right there!  As it turns out, it wasn't a shark.  On closer inspection it was a marlin.  Ya, a marlin, right there in the anchorage not 20' off the back of the boat. We had the GoPro with us so we stuck it in the water following this marlin as he slowly cruised around the anchorage.  I wish we had a way to catch it. Dang.  We did, however, get some awesome GoPro footage of the marlin swimming not 3' in front of us in the dinghy for about 5 minutes.  How cool is that?  That was a first for me seeing a marlin right there by the boat at anchor.

And now for the part of the story you are probably most interested in...the lobsters! We went back to the area where the cave was and it took us a while to actually find it, it being a quite small crease in the volcanic rock shoreline on the northwest side of Isla Marcos.  However, we did eventually find it and I suited up with my snorkeling gear, dive light and spear ready to see what was in there.  I must admit, I was a little nervous as the first time I went just inside the mouth of the cave I saw a pretty large moray eel and after that it got too dark to even see.  Dark, narrow cave, maybe 2' of headroom above the water in the main channel of the cave and a large moray eel guarding the entrance...not really in my comfort zone.  haha.  However, it did get my adrenaline pumping and as most of you know, I'm kind of into adrenaline. lol.  As soon as I got far enough into the small opening to require my dive light to see I spotted 8-10 small lobsters in a little side crevasse.  They were smaller so I didn't take any but I was definitely excited about the possibilities.  All told the cave went back into the darkness about 75' or so with several other crevasses leading to other caverns on either side.  I saw lobsters everywhere I looked.  Not thousands, probably not even hundreds but certainly more than one hundred.  The Holy Grail of lobster caves!  The first time I exited the cave I came out with two really nice lobsters.  Tallen was stoked but still not stoked enough to actually go into the cave. lol.  I went back in and repeated the performace...several times.  Sometimes it took me longer than others because I was going deeper into the darkness.  Once you get about 20' or so in it was as dark as night and the only light was the small beam coming from my dive light.  The biggest bug I got was all the way at the back of the cave where I literally was in 10" of water, crawling on my belly and the lobster had crawled himself out of the water onto the dark rocks at the back of the cave.  When I was belly crawling back in there to get him I got poked several times from smaller lobster that my belly was dragging over.  No! I'm not making this stuff up!  Really, I promise.

First time out of the cave with a couple very nice bugs.

As I started to explore more I found at least 4 or 5 other deep crevasses leading off in other directions...all with lobsters crawling around.  There were definitely many, many bugs that I had no chance of reaching as they were way back into very tight, dark places.  There was one really big one that was way back in a hole that I wanted badly. I could see him with my light but no way to reach him.  As I was shining my light on him, to my surprise, he started walking out of the hole right towards me.  Just before he was in range my grip on my sling slipped and it fired and hit a rock scaring the big guy back deeper into the hole.  Anyway, all told I hand selected 11 lobsters to grace our freezer and dinner table.  I know this sounds like it isn't real.  It still seems unreal to me.   It was SO COOL!  After about 45 minutes in the cave I had pretty much scattered lobster everywhere and I look forward to going back tomorrow when things have settled down a little.  YES...I am going back!  haha.  That is the most incredible mother load of lobsters ever and I will be putting more in my freezer tomorrow. Marne...I hope you like lobster because this will be our first stop next this fall! 

I think that is enough excitement for one day.  I had better get busy preparing this lobster feast.  Ciao for now.

Bret and Tallen
SV Liahona

May 17, Punta Chivato

It's 10:35am.  Tallen and I pulled anchor around 8:30 this morning and are headed north toward Punta Chivato leaving the Bay of Conception in view off the stern.  Punta Chivato is a point of land reaching eastward into the Sea of Cortez just north of the town of Mulege.  From a distance, Chivato appears to be an island as the land that you can see near the point is a small hill but it is connected to mainland Baja via a very low lying stretch of land that is indistinguishable from the surface of the ocean from our distance about 10 miles to the south.  

Anchored off of Punta Chivato. Tallen relaxing on the foredeck.

The seas are perfectly flat with a slight breeze of 9 knots coming from the northeast. The engine was turned off about an hour ago and we are sailing along at about 5 knots with the the bright blue and white reacher and a full white mainsail.  The only disturbance on the surface of the ocean are the small ripples that tell of the slight breeze which you can easily see well before the wind is felt as it blows your hair on the way through.  Tallen is lying in the hammock that is stretched across the foredeck tied between the front of the mast and the furled genoa.  He is slowing rocking side to side as the boat heals slightly to the port when the soft puffs of wind fill the sails.  The only sound you can hear is the water as it pushes past the bow and flows aftward and behind the boat. Every now and again you can hear the clicking sound of the autopilot as it makes a slight course correction.  A perfect day. A perfect sail.  If you are aboard on a day like today and are still bothered with the stresses of life...you need therapy. This is my therapy giving me clarity about the beauty around me and the enjoyment of this amazing place.  This is my life and I love it.

This afternoon brought me and Tallen to shell beach, aptly named for it's thousands and thousands of shells.  Just up from the surf line there is a band of shells that is about 10-15' wide by maybe 3' deep by a half mile or more long.  No sand, just shells. After collecting a few we headed back to the boat to read and relax.  Actually I am typing this blog and Tallen  headed out on the paddleboard.  

We are anchored here with just one other boat named Loomba Loomba from Washington.  They plan to head across tomorrow to San Carlos and then pull out for the summer on the 26th of this month.  Tomorrow Tallen and I will go out to the small island about 3 miles offshore to check out the colony of sea lions there.  Several months ago Nathan and I went out there and tried to snorkel with them but they really were not that interested in us and kept their distance but Tallen wanted to see them.

Fishing report - Zip. Nothing to report. Ugh.

Boat repair report - While we were sailing today we had a small little gust and heard a pop from the reacher sheet.  It turns out that it pulled a screw loose on the turning block that is mounted to the deck that turns the sheet from the clutch up to the main wench on the port side.  So this afternoon I pulled it, filled the hole with wood splinters then sealed each hole with 3M 4200 and screwed it back down to the deck.  I kind of have my doubts whether it is going to hold up or not.  If not I will pull it again, fill the holes with Marine Tex, an epoxy compound, then redrill the holes and screw it back down.  We will see how she holds before I go into it that far.

That's it for today.  An absolutely perfect sail all the way here, a great exploration trip to shell beach, an easy boat fix (I hope) and in about an hour we will throw some Arrachera (marinated flank steak) on the barbie for dinner.  Ciao for now.

Bret and Tallen
SV Liahona

May 16, Buenaventura

This morning Tallen and I decided to visit the in-laws down in Buenaventura, about a hour and a half sail further south into the Bay of Conception.  Nathan's dad Mark was there and it was good to see him.  His wife is up visiting family in Ensenada and Nathan is in San Diego so it is just him and the cook Berta and it sounds like he doesn't really like running the show there. haha.  Anyway, I had a bacon burger and Tallen had a delicious fish sandwich with pesto.  

The beach at Buenaventua

We were there with some friends off of a Morgan 45 called Miss Teak.  The wind started coming up out of the north so we decided we had better pull anchor and get back up to Santispac as the anchorage there is not very good and offers no protection except from the west.  Earlier when Tallen and I got to the beach in the dinghy I had Tallen help me pull the dinghy up the beach and turn it around so the bow was facing the water.  That way if the wind or swell picked up it wouldn't crash over the stern and into the dinghy.  Our friends Chip and Katie were not quite as prepared and when we got back to the dinghies there were 2' waves crashing over the back of their dinghy and it was completely full of water.  Yikes.  We grabbed a bucket and helped them bail the water out then headed on our way.

Heading north from Buenaventura

On the short trip back up to Santispac we had 5 or 6 very large dolphins come visit us along the way.  Two of them hung with us for about 10 minutes.  Tallen was filming them with the GoPro and they seemed very curious about the object that was just above the water turning their heads sideways for long periods of time so they could see what it was.  We got some great photos and videos of them before they headed off another direction.  

At 5pm we were invited over to Nauticat for some horderves (I know that must be spelled wrong) with a couple other boat and we enjoyed good company while we talked and watched more dolphins swimming around the boat.  It has been a bit windy today but all in all...a pretty good day and according to Tallen "day one was a success". haha.  Ciao for now.

Bret and Tallen
SV Liahona

May 15, Santispac

The Eagle has landed! (See what I did there? Tallen/eagle talon...I think you get it... haha) Ok, I realize that I am kind of a strange character sometimes. lol. After an hour and a half drive in the back of my Mexican friend's car we picked up the little man and drove back here to Playa Santispac.  So good to have him here!  Driving  from down Hwy 1 south to Loreto I was amazed at the vast, open spaces covered only in rocks, cactus and several other thorned plants.  Every so often we would pass a small ranchito where a family lives.  The house is made of scraps of plywood and tin, a fence with second hand wire wound around crooked sticks.  A broken car or two out front and an old pick up that is probably their only running vehicle.  A couple of starving, skinny dogs, a few chickens, may a cow or two.  Kids scampering around in the dirt.  Simple. Living hand to mouth is all they know.  For the most part, they are happy.  More miles goes by then another ranchito that is a slightly different version of the last one.  

As we follow down the delapidated highway toward Loreto I am astounded at the stark, desolate beauty of this country.  Rocky bluffs line the horizon with the noble looking saugaro cactus rising out of the dried desert land.  There is a raw beauty here. One that I can appreciate and be grateful for.  

As for now, I am struggling putting my thoughts together to write this blog because I am distracted having Tallen here. All smiles for the captain today.  Until tomorrow.  

Bret and Tallen
SV Liahona