Puerto Ballandra, Dec. 16
Another day of strong winds and waves outside the cove, so we will stay here. We were joined by a 38' Erickson who anchored off to port. We got intermittent cell coverage that allowed us to check the forecast and it looks like a repeat for the next 3 days. This is very different sailing from the last summer sailing we had here. We never experienced such long periods of heavy weather interspersed with short windows for good travel, both in Mexico and in Canada. Just goes to show, you are always at the mercy of the elements which is what we love about sailing…always adjusting our course.
I took advantage of the lull to catch up on journalling and picture organization…making progress. Chris on the other hand had a strong case of cabin fever and spent most of the day off the boat rowing and hiking. Chris likes to hike up the hills around our anchorages to photograph the layout and our boat at anchor. This time the hill he had to hike up was very steep and was about 400’ high. He couldn’t safely get all the way to the top, and stopped short of the top. It was an impressive site to look over the saddle of the hill at the channel between Isla Carmen and the mainland 10 miles away. There were large seas with lots of whitecaps after 3 days of constant Northerlies, and lots of wind. During the hike he found a roughly worked Amerindian arrowhead and some pottery shards to add to his collection.
He spent a lot of time looking along the beaches and the lagoons behind the beaches looking at the middens-those piles of discarded shells left by the Amerindians over thousands of years of shell fish harvesting. These piles can be found throughout the islands and coasts of North America. The scientist he is, he spent lots of time looking at the geology and ecology of salt flats, lagoons and beaches.
He spent a lot of time looking along the beaches and the lagoons behind the beaches looking at the middens-those piles of discarded shells left by the Amerindians over thousands of years of shell fish harvesting. These piles can be found throughout the islands and coasts of North America. The scientist he is, he spent lots of time looking at the geology and ecology of salt flats, lagoons and beaches.
Later on in the afternoon, we were hailed by Encore, an older 38’ Ericson in beautiful condition, who was anchored next to us. We seemed to have been creeping closer to them and they were getting a little nervous. Ironically, we had just noticed and started to make arrangements to re-set one of the anchors. They requested a conversation over the VHF and very politely and graciously asked if we would re-set our starboard anchor. They acknowledged that being the later vessel to arrive, it was incumbent on them to move, but since they were both in the 70’s and were less maneuverable than us, they hoped we wouldn’t mind. We were happy to oblige.
When Chris went to pull in the starboard anchor from the dinghy to re-set it, he discovered it had little resistance because it had a large chuck of ancient coral lodged in the flukes of the Bruce anchor, making it ineffective and causing the boat to drag. Currently, the closest living coral reef is well over a 100 miles to the south. The possibility of dragging anchor is the very reason Chris almost always sets two anchors. We reset the anchor by adding addition line to the existing 150’ and Chris rowed the anchor shorward to good holding ground. We pulled in until the anchor firmly set. Encore was very happy, and so were we.
When Chris went to pull in the starboard anchor from the dinghy to re-set it, he discovered it had little resistance because it had a large chuck of ancient coral lodged in the flukes of the Bruce anchor, making it ineffective and causing the boat to drag. Currently, the closest living coral reef is well over a 100 miles to the south. The possibility of dragging anchor is the very reason Chris almost always sets two anchors. We reset the anchor by adding addition line to the existing 150’ and Chris rowed the anchor shorward to good holding ground. We pulled in until the anchor firmly set. Encore was very happy, and so were we.
Using a bit of aluminum foil on the vents on the grill, Chris lessened the air circulation in the BBQ so the flames wouldn’t blow out because of the gusts of wind. He then grilled the last trigger fish fillets which had been marinating in Teriyaki sauce. It was a lovely dinner and we split wins at Shanghai before retiring for an extremely windy, gusty, squeaky and rocky night. Though the cove is well protected from wind and seas from the north, the large waves wrapped around the protected point creating swells that rocked us not so gently to sleep.
Using a bit of aluminum foil on the vents on the grill, Chris lessened the air circulation in the BBQ so the flames wouldn’t blow out because of the gusts of wind. He then grilled the last trigger fish fillets which had been marinating in Teriyaki sauce. It was a lovely dinner and we split wins at Shanghai before retiring for an extremely windy, gusty, squeaky and rocky night. Though the cove is well protected from wind and seas from the north, the large waves wrapped around the protected point creating swells that rocked us not so gently to sleep.