Itchen Log July 6-15, 2008, El Burro - Santa Rosalia

Sunday – July 6, 2008
El Burro – Dinghy out to the reef for snorkeling with BEYOND REASON; saw clams and big angelfish. The angelfish were curious and we could almost get one with a blue mesh bag we were swimming with. Dinner on BEYOND REASON. I slept in the cockpit and Julie in the v-berth … it was cooler for both of us.

Monday – July 7, 2008
El Burro – Overcast morning, which kept things cool for a bit. Switched anchorages to Posada Conception (next anchorage north) for the night. 20 knots of wind at 2am; got up and checked the anchor (even though we have an anchor alarm). Clear night with lots of stars; the wind died as quickly as it had risen.

Tuesday – July 8, 2008
El Burro – Anchored back in El Burro in the am; afternoon cocktails with the remaining cruisers then dinner on JAZZ with JAKE (champagne, wine, caviar, two kinds of curry and lemon meringue pie). During the dinner conversation we reflected on cruising. One of the questions JAZZ always receives is “what do you do with your day?” On a boat one can’t tackle a single problem … it’s sort of like the “begets.” In order to attack a problem, a variety of things need to be moved (or repaired), which usually leads to another discovery (minimally a distraction) of something else that needs repair … there is always something on a boat that needs repair. It took a while for us to understand this, but we’re beginning to accept it now (this as opposed to fixing/installing something once and being done with it forever). The projects can be overwhelming at times because of the number in addition to the “begetting” problem. There is a steady pressure to keep on top of things lest they get out hand. Cruising, for us, has not been the picture of blue skies, azure seas, fair winds and white beaches with scantily clad … persons … lounging about one sees on the cover of sailing magazines. It has been an adventure, to be sure, just not what we expected. There is a good deal of work and inconvenience involved in the day-to-day cruising life, but upon reflection we’d rather be doing this than living on land (with all it’s conveniences).
For example, power consumption (a land convenience) is closely watched by all cruisers. Usage is measured in amp/hours and fuel; all cruisers know just what it takes to keep their batteries charged, which of their electronics is the piggy (most will say it’s the refrigerator and water maker) and how much fuel they need to keep the batteries charged up. We’re running the engine one or two hours a day to keep up with our power consumption especially when we use the computer (that’s using only one of the two banks of batteries). Our power consumption is nothing compared to almost every other cruiser we’ve met. Most have multiple solar panels, a wind generator, a fuel generator and the engine; and they use them all. We have only the engine and a 600 amp portable power pack (we sold the generator). We don’t want, nor do we think we need the hassle, expense or complication of the alternate power sources. At anchor, we run one or two interior lights (maybe a couple amps in 24 hours), a refrigerator rated at 1.5 amps/hour (which cycles on every 10 minutes for 45 seconds) anything else uses micro amps. We can easily go for several days (at anchor) without turning on the engine, if we’re not using the computer (4-5 amps – wi-fi is usually not available in anchorages). We figure we can run the engine for two hours a day for 88 days (minimally) without running out of fuel.

Wednesday, July 9, 2008
El Burro – JAKE headed north to Santa Rosalia this morning. We headed south, deeper into Conception Bay, to Isla Requeson. Cruisers had mentioned a good hamburger joint on the beach along with a pretty well stocked mini-mercado; the anchorage was windy; the hamburger was marginal (we ordered a mushroom bacon-swiss burger, but they didn’t have any mushrooms or bacon ) and the grand total (along with a beer and two soda’s) was $16; the mini-mercado was vacated, but … “the memory is priceless.”
Julie programmed the MMSI function on the VHF;(TJ was unable to read the instructions and program it himself!) a feature that allows one vessel to call another without openly hailing on a frequency. We switched water tanks, 44 gallons has lasted us since June 28 (12 days) - we can do better. Still on first propane tank (those usually last about a month); Fuel ½ tank - we’ve run the engine 65 hours on half tank a diesel (that is just outstanding!). Spoke with Tim via satellite phone, he ships out for Okinawa on Friday.

Thursday – July 10, 2008
El Burro – Dinghy to Bertha’s and swam. El Burro has a southerly breeze most afternoons, which help keep’s things cool. The heat in the sea is not as bad as we were led to believe, but the humidity is wicked at 70% and will continue to rise. We do anything we can to keep cool (shade, minimal clothing and ice cold drinks).

Friday – July 11, 2008
0715 – Weigh anchor for Santa Rosalia. Winds from the SW, moderate southerly swells and cloudy. Able to let out the jib and get a little boost (average speed 4.5 knots).
1400 – Julie caught two Dorado’s (dolphin, mahi-mahi) off Isla San Marcos (a male and female). Julie had been trolling off the back of the boat since La Paz and was disconsolate over not having caught anything. The fish were about 24-30” long and maybe 10-12 pounds. They’re a beautiful fluorescent green and blue with the male having a much more pronounced forehead and the female looking like a proper fish. We cleaned them underway over-the-side (messy and awkward), filleted ‘em and tossed ‘em in the refer.
1740 – Arrive Singlar Marina Santa Rosalia; engine hours 349.5; fuel just over ¼ tank remaining. Out to dinner with JAKE at Tercos Pollo Grande. Julie had a two-piece and I had a four-piece BBQ chicken dinner along with beers and soda for $20. I say this only so you can compare that with the single hamburger we had two nights ago and spent $16.

Saturday – July 12, 2008
Santa Rosalia – Washed and waxed boat … all cracks, corners and crevices; full day job. Julie made the Dorado for dinner with JAKE; West Wing after.

Sunday – July 13, 2008
Santa Rosalia – Awoke to church bells. Santa Rosalia is an old copper mining town that has similarities in layout and building structure to a company (mining) town in West Virginia. The church is famous in that it was built by Gustave Eiffel (of Eiffel Tower fame) in France, deconstructed and then reconstructed in Santa Rosalia in 1845. Santa Rosalia is enjoying some reinvigoration with the current high price of copper; apparently a Canadian firm has bought out the old mine and is leeching the copper from the tailings using arsenic. Walked around town and did some minor provisioning. I changed the transmission fluid (all 120cc) but what a pain in the neck to get to; I used a 100cc glass syringe and a foley catheter to aspirate the transmission fluid. Julie sewed some t-shirts for me and a dress and blouse for herself.

Monday – July 14, 2008
Santa Rosalia – Resealed the port aft chain plate; filled the water tanks; cleaned and UV coated the dinghy and filled it with gas. Toyed with the ideas of putting on dinghy wheels, but it was too humid and we’ve never liked the ideas of putting holes in a boat. We’ll hold off on the wheels for now. Temperature is in the high nineties with 70-80% humidity; the height of the day is next to impossible to work as one just drips with sweat. We’ve installed fans throughout the boat (two in the v-berth and one in the main salon) and they run constantly. Naked, or as few cloths as is decent, is the uniform of the day and actually last night we got a little cool and used a blanket; it’s the first time feeling cool or using a blanket since La Paz.
The Santa Rosalia Singlar Marina is the most complete Singlar Marina we’ve been to yet. It has a working bar with disco outside and a single performer inside; air conditioned cruisers lounge complete with magazines, books, wi-fi, big screen TV and DVD/VHS player. The pool and hot tub work and bathrooms are immaculate; 24 hours security and the marina is located near the center of town (certainly easy walking distance to anywhere).

Tuesday – July 15, 2008
Santa Rosalia – Rode bikes around town and topped off the batteries with water. Pot Luck in the cruisers lounge and West Wing with the whole group of Cruisers. Ice Cream afterwards.