Sailing at last

October 6, 2012

Ahhhhhhh. And again  I say ahhhhhhhhhh.

Didn’t awaken until 7:30 a.m. This is unusual for me as I often wake by 5:00 to 5:30, then read or use my computer or just make some coffee and sit and watch the morning arrive…until the grumpy old men net comes on and wakes Larry.  But I slept like a log last night, rocking gently as the waves came at us in our anchorage.

It started yesterday morning with the decision that we would actually leave Palmira and head out to the nearby islands and then up into the Sea of Cortez. I arrived back here in mid-June and we thought we would be out on the water within a month; however a myriad of little, and occasionally bigger, problems continued to push back our start date. There were three potential hurricanes that headed our way…then, as hurricanes are wont to do either moved in another direction or fizzled out. Then we had a serious problem with refrigeration which took a total of several weeks to diagnose and fix. And of course Larry found other small projects to complete.

Yesterday morning we awoke to a perfect blue sky, very little wind and a good weather report. After a

First step...topping off fuel tanks

hearty Dinghy Dock breakfast and hugs and handshakes from the waiters (now our good buddies who help us with Spanish lessons) we readied Milagro and cast off our dock lines; first stop, just around the corner at the fuel dock. Then it was out into the channel and north past the Pemex plant. As we passed Ballandra we were hailed by friends aboard Voyager asking us to pull in and join them. But our destination was somewhat north of there and we replied we’d see them later.

Checking out the cruising guide

 It would have been a perfect trip to Ensenada Candelero if the Captain had not insisted I take the wheel. Milagro is a great sailing boat but her steering requires some getting used to and I hadn’t done any sailing since February.  However I manage to get to our destination without incident; passing the Lorenzo channel with wind funneling in at 16 knots it looked as though we might sail into Candelero, but Larry reminded me that the wind would fail as soon as we passed the channel and the islands were on our starboard side. We pulled in to Candelero and Larry went on the foredeck to drop the anchor.

Roco Momumento

How beautiful it is. We are surrounded on three sides by rugged rock walls while the middle of the anchorage is dominated by a small island, Roco Momumento, which reminds me of an ancient fortress. The sea is deep blue and the little bit of vegetation residing in the hills is quite green due to recent rains. I can hardly wait to dingy to the beach and hike the trail which winds up one of the hills and offers, I am certain, a wonderful panorama. And my kayak will soon be traveling to Roco Monumento and to the edges of the anchorage to view the fish and formations up close.

But last night it was time to really relax…to take a mat up on the foredeck and watch the stars come out and then fill the sky. The air was perfect, not to warm not too cool, and we snuggled together and took a long deep breath in unison. Magnificent!