Enroute to Topolobampo

The swells made the first half hour of the trip a little rolly, but it settled down quickly, the sun came out, and we had a nice motor boat ride to Guaymas.  We could have put the sails up, mostly for show, but Don was too busy trying to get the GPS to work.    When we pulled into our Secret Marina in Guaymas, Carlos (Securidad) was waiting on the dock.  We poured a few cokes and talked with him for a while.  I told him we had a small engine problem (the engine was idling a little rough), he asked if we wanted him to call a mechanic, or if we needed anything else, come and see him in the guard shack. I told him Don was my mechanic, and the builder of the boat, so he would be able to fix the problem.   He said we were welcome to stay as long as we wanted.  

 We did depart the next morning with the sunrise,  and made our way down the mainland coast towards Topolobampo.

First stop was Punta Lobos.  We had anchored there previously, but that anchorage point was still a little rolly, so went back about 3 miles to get into the shelter of the sand bar.  It settled down enough to make supper, and the rocking should have lulled me to sleep, except there are way too many things that go bump in the dark and I can’t tune out the noise.  On one of my trips outside to tie down the swim ladder so it wouldn’t bang, I found a pod of dolphins circling us.  Their eyes were like little neon lights every time they surfaced.  Watching them for a while made it  all worth while putting up with the little inconvieniences of life at sea.

We left Punta Lobos around 2:30 in the morning under a very bright full moon.  If I have to sail at night, I certainly prefer to do it under a full moon.  Swells have settled down, or a least we are travelling in the same direction as the swells, so the ride this morning was quite pleasant.  Continued all day, no wind, no swells, we did have sun, but still not quite warm enough for my liking. 

Next stop was at Santa Barbara, about 10 miles NW of Yavaros….miles & miles of sandbars and a depth of about 20ft, which was a little more comfortable than yesterdays 11ft  anchorage.   A panga approached just as we were dropping anchor, I thought we were going to have some fresh fish for supper, but they just circled around, then went on their way.   I made some cookies while Don had a little nap, then we had an early supper in the cockpit.  Just as we were discussing the possibility of a long walk and maybe a little shelling on the beach, a very large wolf appeared from out of the brush. 
 Maybe not such a great place for a walk!
 

It was beautiful  anchorage though, no swells or breaking waves, just lots of birds to listen to.  I Told Don I’d better set the alarm if we needed to be up at 2AM again as it’s so peaceful here, we could sleep right through the night.  That is, if the wolves don’t howl all night, and sure enough, just as our heads hit the pillow, the howling started.  It only lasted a few minutes, must have been Mom telling the kids she had caught supper – we heard the pups answer her, then it was quiet. 

Left Santa Barbara just after 2AM, there was a full moon, but it was hidden behind the clouds.  No swells today, but we had wind on the nose all day, so it slowed us down and we won’t be able to make Topolobampo in the daylight, so we are pulling in early at Punta Ahome.  Don is getting quite adventurous, trying out these little anchorages that hardly no one goes to.  We could see a shrimper anchored in there, so it worked for us following the shrimper yesterday, we’ll try it again.  Lots of depth in here, and again, miles of sand dunes.

But since the wind is still fairly strong and we are over a mile off shore, don’t think we’ll dingy to shore.  The wind did die down by late afternoon and it was quite comfortable and a little warmer.  We had supper in the cockpit, but as soon as we had the dishes done and were ready to crawl into bed, the wind died completely and we started to roll with the swells.  No sleeping tonight.  !!

So, we’ll head off a little earlier than planned, and as we pulled up anchor, we saw a little sea snake swim by, the same kind we had seen at Carazel.  The moon is hidden behind the clouds again, but no wind, just a couple of crazy frigates trying to land on the top of the mast.  Tried to shoo them away by shouting at them, turning the light on an off etc, but no luck.  Don re-inflated the fog horn to see if that would scare them off, unfortunately, he tried it only a few minutes after I had laid down, so the only one who got scared was me!