Day 2 - Out to the Islands

Smokey and Gypsy Rose Lee decided to join us on our sail. They showed up bright and early and came aboard for the trip.

It was blowing pretty hard directly on the stern as we prepared to depart. Winds and currents can run strong in La Paz with 3-knot currents not unusal. Dave gave Melissa the run down on releasing the lines as he prepared to back out of the slip. Perhaps Dave was a little too paranoid about how hard the wind was blowing but he was horrified to see Melissa standing there with the final line just in her hand before he got to the controls. A 10-ton boat in 20 knot winds and who knows what current being held in place by a single line in his dear wife's hands made him move quickly to the throttle and get the boat moving backwards before it went through the dock. OK, perhaps he was overreacting but better safe than sorry. The departure was uneventful.

We got underway around 9:00 and motored our way up through the narrow channel. The alternators seem to be charging just fine which is good because this boat has electric refrigeration. We are stocked full of ice but we like the refrigeration despite its demand on the batteries. Besides, it can make ice in case we run out.

Once out of the channel, Dave put up the mizzen and rolled out the jib. Melissa made chorizo eggs with cheese for breakfast. The boat was sailing along at about 5 MPH. Not satisfied, Dave raised up the main, which promptly killed the wind. This is the first of many instances where the air molecules were apparently conspiring against Dave. On goes the iron-jenny until we arrive at the selected bay only to look a little too occupied and exposed to the winds we saw earlier. Off to the next bay that points a bit more towards the west which should block the southeast wind. Or, that is the theory.

We anchored and had a nice evening in the calm with three other boats. Dinner was steak skewers with onions and mushrooms marinated in soy sauce and sesame oil with a side of pineapple. After dinner the boat next to us entertained us. Two couples were playing 70's disco music and dancing wildly on deck. They were all wearing what looked to be hard hats with disco lights on top. Just goes to show that some people shouldn't drink.

The debate between Dave and Melissa was whether we left the wind behind or it was just taking a pause. The debate was settled when the wind came ripping into the bay with whitecaps sometime after midnight. The problem was that the waves refracted around the point and did not align with the winds. The result was a lot of rolling, crashing and Dave fretting. Sleepless on Seascape.