In the morning there was a chill in the air and no one was anxious to get moving but by 7:30 there was movement aboard. After a weather check was completed we came to the realization that we would likely see wind the next five days. Duh. But today looked pretty mellow so we upped anchor and made our way for a provisioning stop in Bahia Los Angeles.
After a bit of internet access while eating lunch we grabbed the provisions we needed and beelined it for La Gringa. It was nice afternoon with calm conditions. We took the dinghy to explore the lagoon that outflows during full moons (which was the night before). When the tide goes out there is a current that you can give you a fast ride on an inflatable. It looked perfect but dinner was calling so plans were made to hit this up the next day. We had a great meal and with the moon rising over the flat calm anchorage Shalise headed off for a paddleboard ride.
With a busy day we headed to bed early. Ah the cruising life. The flip side of the coin showed itself at 1:00am when the wind shot up. Our anchor was holding well and the wind was reasonable so I fell back asleep. Around 3:30 it really started to blow in the 30+ knot range. The holding might be good but that doesn’t stop the waves from building to a few feet giving the boat a hobby horse rocking motion. Fuck me. I turned on the instruments, grabbed a blanket and pillow and tried to rest in the saloon while keeping an eye on the anchor alarm. An hour later Jack joined me and we both “rested” until sunrise.
Once there was enough light to see, we upped the anchor and begin heading for a hurricane hole called Don Juan. The waves splashed on the starboard side sending spray across the boat. No danger but just annoyance. As we made our way to the south part of the bay the wind began to diminish. Which allowed us a more direct route and soon was down to less than eight knots. Hell we even unfurled the sails and shutdown the engine. Hard to believe that six miles could be so drastically different. Anchored on Don Juan we laughed at how quickly things can change and how nice it was to be settled in this protected spot with zero wind.
In the afternoon we used the dinghy to explore the bay checking out the “bathtub” (small cove that fills at high tide) the shoal sandy beach where there is good clamming, and a dike that was put in place to block waves entering the anchorage. It felt great to stretch our legs and explore.
A call was put up on the radio for sundowners on the beach at 6pm by Salish Dragon to the fleet of seven boats here. Maybe that triggered the wind or maybe not. But holy Hannah did the wind kick up less than an hour later. We had sustained winds of 30 knots with a peak gust of over 33 knots. Thankfully Strikhedonia and all the other boats stayed put. We did have to remove the paddleboard from its resting place on the stations and removed the seat cushions from the double kayak. The carrying handle broke off the kayak forcing a quick readjustment of how it was tied down. Oh the fun we have.
A few hours later the wind abated a bit down to the low twenties and life mellowed out a bit. Dinner was great and we even finished up watching the movie Fight Club before heading to bed with the wind down to around 10 knots. Overnight we had a few gusts but nothing terrible. Thankfully.
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