We left Agua Verde for a three-hour sail north to Candeleros Cove as we venture further up the inside coast of Baja California. The wind was light and coming from behind us; so we had an enjoyable sail with a little use of the motor when the wind died near the end of the trip. This put us about two hours away from an internet location at Puerto Escondido, but we decided to spend a couple of nights in this nicely protected cove.
I took out my kayak the other day and Sheilagh snapped a picture of your intrepid cruiser (see photo nearby). Perhaps you can see the increased shoulder development from all the paddling I’ve been doing! I usually strap a water bottle in back of the kayak, wear gloves to keep down the blisters, carry my IPod in a Ziploc bag in a pouch around my neck, and turn on some good music to keep me company. On this occasion it was Roy Orbison who kept me company. I circled the entire cove and found the beach to be very shallow out to at least 20 yards, which makes it difficult to land a dinghy close to the dry edge of the beach. This shallow beach will make the cove a great one for children playing in the water someday. We noticed a palapa-like hotel on a hill on the beach, and learned later that this entire cove is destined to be “condominium-ized” in the near future completely around the cove. I’m glad we could see it before it gets fully developed.
Cruisers nearby found a spot in the cove where they were told clams were living under water about 8’ down. They found the place and dove down looking for two breathing tubes about a half-inch apart coming out of the sandy bottom. They then stuck a knife into the sand beside each clam and dug it out before it could escape down deeper. Apparently they could only grab one clam with each dive because they only had on snorkel equipment, but they came up with some 18 clams apiece. We learned this story later after we had left the cove, but we know where to go on our return.
We stayed a couple of nights at Candeleros and then made our way to Puerto Escondido, which is the largest natural marina in Mexico, and serves as a Hurricane Hole for all the cruisers within a two-day sail from the surrounding islands. This is a Mexican-government-developed port, where the mooring balls were originally installed improperly and broke loose in the first heavy storm a few years ago. The mooring balls have been properly set up now (we are told), but the government charges very high rates to moor here. There are over 100 mooring balls in the entire bay, with only about 7 boats moored there, including ours. Other cruisers refuse to pay the high rates and anchor just outside the bay, ready to hustle in and grab a mooring in the case of a hurricane. We decided to get the weekly rate, which covered 7 nights for the price of 4 nights ($10 a night), and which gives us access to a laundry, the internet, and a Jacuzzi.
That’s about the limit of the amenities here. There isn’t even a coke machine on the premises, and when two separate cruisers showed up to do their laundry, the maintenance man had to run a haphazard extension cord to power more than one of the four washers and one of the three dryers. The extension cord was wrapped with electrical tape and the plugs for each washer had to be positioned just right to keep the current flowing. We had to sit and watch the connections to make sure they didn’t blow a fuse or stop working. The Jacuzzi has to have the jets activated by the maintenance man, too, and he has to return every 25 minutes to activate it again. I doubt that this latter problem will be solved, because he seems to enjoy observing the ladies each time he comes around.
We decided to get more involved with local social events, so we joined a group of locals and cruisers for an afternoon of Minnesota Canasta, where we learned how the Minnesotans spend their long winter days when it’s too cold to go out. Sheilagh and I both had some early luck, but the “old hands” at the game kicked our butts overall. We later joined the group for the dominoes game, Mexican Train, on another afternoon, and also got our butts kicked there. I’ve been told by others that I am way too competitive generally, so my goal in these games is not to win, but to enjoy meeting and talking to a variety of people whom I would not meet otherwise. So far it is working well – I’m not winning and I really don’t care. The older women, who are the main participants, remind me of my mother and her dedication to card games, although they are far less competitive than I remember her to be.
On Sunday morning, Fathers’ Day, we cruisers and locals had a potluck brunch in the marina, and we met a number of people who are living locally in a small town called Juncalito (pronounced “hoon-ka-li’-to”). These folks do not have electricity in the town, but that isn’t a problem for them. Since most of them are former cruisers, they set up their homes as if they were boats. They have 12 volt systems for lights and radios (for communication),that are driven off a series of batteries and charged by solar panels. They use an inverter or generators to power a few 110 volt appliances, such as washers and dryers. They use propane to power freezers and refrigerators, although air conditioning takes too much electricity to be run for any length of time. Some of the homeowners move back to the U.S. during the heat of the summer to stay comfortable. They use a septic field for waste, although I’m not sure how effective it is in the desert here. It’s an interesting life style for folks who want to simplify their lives.
We are going through books very quickly and finding hundreds available in paperback form in book exchanges at every marina, and we also do some trading with other cruisers. Dedicated as I am to becoming a black belt in Sudoku, I don’t read as much as Sheilagh does. Instead I spend hours timing myself on the more difficult Sudoku puzzles, and am getting to the point where it is simply a matter of “how long to solve it” rather than “if I can solve it.” Sheilagh doesn’t see the value of this single-minded commitment to becoming a Sudoku Master, but I maintain that 1) it’s keeping my mind sharper than it might otherwise be, 2) I’m not hurting anyone, and 3) America might need this skill in the future to thwart the enemies of democracy. Sheilagh thinks the third argument indicates that the first argument isn’t working, and the second argument may no longer be true if I include myself. Oh, well, a prophet and master is never appreciated in his own family or his own country! More later . . .
I took out my kayak the other day and Sheilagh snapped a picture of your intrepid cruiser (see photo nearby). Perhaps you can see the increased shoulder development from all the paddling I’ve been doing! I usually strap a water bottle in back of the kayak, wear gloves to keep down the blisters, carry my IPod in a Ziploc bag in a pouch around my neck, and turn on some good music to keep me company. On this occasion it was Roy Orbison who kept me company. I circled the entire cove and found the beach to be very shallow out to at least 20 yards, which makes it difficult to land a dinghy close to the dry edge of the beach. This shallow beach will make the cove a great one for children playing in the water someday. We noticed a palapa-like hotel on a hill on the beach, and learned later that this entire cove is destined to be “condominium-ized” in the near future completely around the cove. I’m glad we could see it before it gets fully developed.Cruisers nearby found a spot in the cove where they were told clams were living under water about 8’ down. They found the place and dove down looking for two breathing tubes about a half-inch apart coming out of the sandy bottom. They then stuck a knife into the sand beside each clam and dug it out before it could escape down deeper. Apparently they could only grab one clam with each dive because they only had on snorkel equipment, but they came up with some 18 clams apiece. We learned this story later after we had left the cove, but we know where to go on our return.
We stayed a couple of nights at Candeleros and then made our way to Puerto Escondido, which is the largest natural marina in Mexico, and serves as a Hurricane Hole for all the cruisers within a two-day sail from the surrounding islands. This is a Mexican-government-developed port, where the mooring balls were originally installed improperly and broke loose in the first heavy storm a few years ago. The mooring balls have been properly set up now (we are told), but the government charges very high rates to moor here. There are over 100 mooring balls in the entire bay, with only about 7 boats moored there, including ours. Other cruisers refuse to pay the high rates and anchor just outside the bay, ready to hustle in and grab a mooring in the case of a hurricane. We decided to get the weekly rate, which covered 7 nights for the price of 4 nights ($10 a night), and which gives us access to a laundry, the internet, and a Jacuzzi.
That’s about the limit of the amenities here. There isn’t even a coke machine on the premises, and when two separate cruisers showed up to do their laundry, the maintenance man had to run a haphazard extension cord to power more than one of the four washers and one of the three dryers. The extension cord was wrapped with electrical tape and the plugs for each washer had to be positioned just right to keep the current flowing. We had to sit and watch the connections to make sure they didn’t blow a fuse or stop working. The Jacuzzi has to have the jets activated by the maintenance man, too, and he has to return every 25 minutes to activate it again. I doubt that this latter problem will be solved, because he seems to enjoy observing the ladies each time he comes around.
We decided to get more involved with local social events, so we joined a group of locals and cruisers for an afternoon of Minnesota Canasta, where we learned how the Minnesotans spend their long winter days when it’s too cold to go out. Sheilagh and I both had some early luck, but the “old hands” at the game kicked our butts overall. We later joined the group for the dominoes game, Mexican Train, on another afternoon, and also got our butts kicked there. I’ve been told by others that I am way too competitive generally, so my goal in these games is not to win, but to enjoy meeting and talking to a variety of people whom I would not meet otherwise. So far it is working well – I’m not winning and I really don’t care. The older women, who are the main participants, remind me of my mother and her dedication to card games, although they are far less competitive than I remember her to be.
On Sunday morning, Fathers’ Day, we cruisers and locals had a potluck brunch in the marina, and we met a number of people who are living locally in a small town called Juncalito (pronounced “hoon-ka-li’-to”). These folks do not have electricity in the town, but that isn’t a problem for them. Since most of them are former cruisers, they set up their homes as if they were boats. They have 12 volt systems for lights and radios (for communication),that are driven off a series of batteries and charged by solar panels. They use an inverter or generators to power a few 110 volt appliances, such as washers and dryers. They use propane to power freezers and refrigerators, although air conditioning takes too much electricity to be run for any length of time. Some of the homeowners move back to the U.S. during the heat of the summer to stay comfortable. They use a septic field for waste, although I’m not sure how effective it is in the desert here. It’s an interesting life style for folks who want to simplify their lives.
We are going through books very quickly and finding hundreds available in paperback form in book exchanges at every marina, and we also do some trading with other cruisers. Dedicated as I am to becoming a black belt in Sudoku, I don’t read as much as Sheilagh does. Instead I spend hours timing myself on the more difficult Sudoku puzzles, and am getting to the point where it is simply a matter of “how long to solve it” rather than “if I can solve it.” Sheilagh doesn’t see the value of this single-minded commitment to becoming a Sudoku Master, but I maintain that 1) it’s keeping my mind sharper than it might otherwise be, 2) I’m not hurting anyone, and 3) America might need this skill in the future to thwart the enemies of democracy. Sheilagh thinks the third argument indicates that the first argument isn’t working, and the second argument may no longer be true if I include myself. Oh, well, a prophet and master is never appreciated in his own family or his own country! More later . . .
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