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Petunia in Baja


Docpal

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After  a bunch of repairs due to the road trip down here I finally sank my mooring and hung Petunia on her this week. Puerto Escondido is the local hurricane hole and very well protected inside the harbor (see attached ), but there can be a bunch of boats anchored in there when the weather kicks up so I decided to stay outside the main harbor to get some privacy, and have less traffic running past  us constantly.

I had scouted this location in the Spring and it's between Puerto Escondido marina, and Rattle snake beach,18 miles South of Loreto .

ALL of the East coast of Baja is a lee shore in the Winter so I decided to swing from a mooring rather than launch/retrieve on a daily basis.

 We're in 18 feet of water,  and I've got three 22 pound Danforths set in a pattern similar to the Mercedes logo with swivels on the bottom and top of the "up chain". Anchors are oriented North, East, and South. There's a sizeable hill blocking all winds from the West.

Weather patterns down here are from the North in the Winter, and South in the Summer which is the hurricane season locally. I will not be here in the Summer so even though I'm somewhat exposed to that direction it's not a problem.

As you'll see in the attached pix I'm only about 30 yards off of the beach/rocks at low tide but the water is deep right up to those rocks.

I bought a 58 year old wooden dinghy ( now named "Peaches")and I put wheels on her transom so I can flip and roll her to the water's edge at low tide instead of dragging her all the way.

Weather runs in cycles down here with "Nortes" blowing in for a few days with winds anywhere from 15-45, and then periods of beautiful, Sunny days and breezes between 5-15. Daytime temps are currently running in the upper 70's, nights are low 60's. Locals think it's humid, I don't.

This time of year there are usually  large cruisers, power, and sail hanging in the area. Local "Pangeros" use 24 foot power boats and beach launch, or use the ramp in town for access to the Sea of Cortez. Much of this area is part of a national marine park now and large scale commercial fishing boats aren't allowed anywhere near here.

Minimal, if any "official" presence on the water too. There is a small naval station nearby, but I've only seen one vessel at their pier in the 2 months I've been here.

NO services such as Sea Tow, BoatUS etc., so it's very real out there. You get into trouble, you get your self out of it. As in many places more people carry cell phones than VHF but once you're out of range..... And even if you can raise someone you need at least basic Spanish to expect results.

My goal for the next four months is to try and hit a few more of the off shore islands, and do some exploring, beach camping, and a little snorkeling. I was in the water doing the mooring this week and with a 3mm farmer john wet suit it was tolerable.

When I go back to Mendocino for the Summer, Petunia is going to stay in Baja! I got a 10 year "import permit" before coming down here so I'll just find a storage yard and throw her cover on her. I don't want to run her back and forth again after this last trip, and she's not the right boat for the Northern California coast anyway.

Damn, I guess that means I'll need another boat for California...

Attached pix are all from today which was cloudy, and windless most of the time. I took shots from different angles so you can get a relative feel of the location, area.

If I can figure out how to use my video camera I'll try to get some footage as we start exploring the coast/off shore islands.

Feliz año nuevo to all...You can see what I'll be having for dinner tonight....

Mooring-site.jpg

Puerto-Escondido-8.jpg

Puerto-Escondido-1.jpg

Puerto-Escondido-3.jpg

Puerto-Escondido-12.jpg

Puerto-Escondido-10.jpg

Launching-beach.jpg

Peaches.jpg

Grande-shrimp.jpg

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  • 1 month later...

Had a beautiful day on the water today as a Buddy and I sailed our boats down the coast looking for prospective places to cruise/camp.  8-10 knots of breeze kept us moving, but we had the problem of a lee shore and falling tide which kept me from getting in too close to the beach. Even so the Sun kept me from spotting an underwater rock and luckily the "breakaway centerboard cam cleat" did exactly what it was supposed to do and kept me from dealing with more than a wet speed bump...

Still haven't quite figured out how to take videos, but I will keep practicing. Here's a short one..:

 

 

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