Mostly motoring except for short periods of using the jib we made our way up to Punta el Alacran. I’d enjoyed this anchorage a few years ago and was happy to be back and even more happy to have the anchorage to ourselves. Score!
Shalise headed off for some kayaking and the possibility of snorkeling (in the 55 degree water, brrr). While she was gone I caught up on some sleep. Nearly three hours later and no Shalise – I decided to do a recon mission. Of course in the dinghy and no more than 50 feet from the boat when I spotted her coming around the point. Oh well, I continued on and found an exuberant crewmember who swam through kelp, spotted a turtle feeding on the bottom, and found a number of large parrot fish. No doubt she had a good plan, even with the cold water.
A spectacular sunset over our calm private anchorage. Seems we needed a movie night so the saloon bed was dropped, popcorn was popped, and Hangover 3 was played on the big screen. Of course even with my nap I missed twenty minutes towards the end movie. Ugh, me and movies just don’t seem to coexist very well.
The next morning a plan was hatched for a hike. To the north there are sharp pointy hills that were calling our names. Shalise and I scrambled up one while Jack sought his own path up a nearby hill. We crisscrossed hills, separately making it down the fingers of land that dumped us off on a beach. A walk following the shore brought us back together where Jack pointed out an empty Osprey nest. Our final decent took us to a beach that was perfect for some downtime and shuffling through endless little shells. Deciding our stomachs would like some food we headed for our kayaks but I wasn’t satisfied without one more hill. Three hours later we skarfed down some lunch before nap time. Ah it is a tough life at sea.
In the afternoon we puttered in the dinghy along the southern coast. Stopping to check out a beach where we found a large sailfish (??) skull. The goal was checking out the sea lion island. Approaching slowly we reached a point where the mass of them (a few hundred) dove into the water swimming towards us. Looking like they were entering an attack formation we powered up the dinghy and sped away. Hmmm, what to do… Go back for a closer look seemed foolish so that is what we did. With successive trips closer before retreating we came to the conclusion that we could co-exist with them. Ultimately we donned a snorkel and mask to watch them swim under the dinghy and approach us on the surface barking and checking us out. There were more than a few squeaks from us and the playful guys (and gals) who entertained us.
That night we had a pretty good blow, mostly in the 15-20 knot range but some periods of 30 knots. With no fetch and great holding we slept well despite the wind. Thankfully by midmorning the wind subsided and a plan was hatched for a sandcastle building excursion. Grabbing castle making containers and buckets we found a nice little beach out of the wind and began making our creation. It grew and grew and started sporting terraces and shell covered towers. What would a sandcastle be without a moat and drawbridge? Happy with our creation, Jack and Shalise took off for snorkeling while I wimped out and enjoyed the sun – I just won’t do upper 50’s water temps…
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