Log of the Emily B

Middle Islands

From San Juanico we headed 20m to Isla Coronados. The clear, turquoise water beckoned us for a cooling swim. Strong westerlies (30+) that night kept us rockin and rollin but smoothed out nicely the next day. Now on N end Isla Carmen at lovely Painted Rocks for a row and lunch. Heading around to Perico S anchorage for predicted 20+ kt northerly Sun-Tues. Follow our travels bottom R of emilyb.com on ShipTrack. Zoom in for sat photo of our location.

Back to San Juanico

After 3 nights at Punto Chivato, we cruised 54 miles south today to San Juanico Cove, one of our favorites. Watched beautiful sunset from the dinghy w/pinks and purples in the sky reflecting onto the mirror smooth surface of the water surrounded by verdant green hills.

Birthday Present

Dorado (Mahi-Mahi)

Took over an hour to bring in but got a big one- 57 inches nose to tail- about 20 miles out of San Carlos. Whew! Photos when we have internet connection.

Underway!

Left dock 0630 heading 70 m across Sea to Punta Chivato. Wind SE 6, seas rippled 1/2 ft gentle swell. Dragging a fishing line behind the boat. Feels great to be out on the water. All is well on Emily B.

Shakedown Cruise

It was beautiful day for a shakedown cruise on Emily B to Bahia San Pedro, 12 miles north of San Carlos. We had spent the past few days getting her ready for the winter cruising season. Canvas and side curtains are in place, windows and floor cleaned, provisions stored, new winch installed, flopper stoppers rigged, and a thorough washing from top to bottom. There was a lot of dirt and grime from the summer winds and rain. We had donated a day trip on the boat for a fundraising auction in Alamos last winter.

The folks who bought it, Hal and Anne Wambaugh (from Edmonds, WA of all places) came along for the shakedown and we had a wonderful time. All systems performed well, including the new winch, and we are looking forward to crossing over to the Baja Peninsula in a day or two. Still some topping off of propane, dinghy gas, scuba air, laundry, and last minute provisions before we take off. The weather report looks geat through the weekend. We'll spend a couple of weeks gunkholing south to La Paz, where we'll spend Thanksgiving. The Log of the Emily B is about to go cruising again! 

Home Improvements

Out with the Old  and.................................................    In with the New

Yes, we had the windows replaced in the front of our house. They were hand crafted by a local carpenter out of sabino (cypress) which is very termite resistant. You can see the effect of termites on the before pictures below. The new windows open from the inside on the top third. We are please with the work and it was completed ON TIME! (A rarity for Mexico.) 

November 1st marks the end of the Eastern Pacific hurricane season so it's time to get back to Emily B for cruising again.  We plan to leave here on Thursday for San Carlos and spend about a week there before heading out into the Sea of Cortez. We will then spend a couple of weeks cruising south to La Paz in time for Thanksgiving. It should be fun!

Rick Fizzles

Yep, Rick weakened rapidly a couple of days ago and took a radical turn east. It missed Cabo and came ashore at Mazatlan this morning as a tropical storm with sustained winds of 35 knots and gusts to 50. No word yet on how the marinas there fared, but likely there was little damage. Sunny skies here in Alamos today and no rain- we dodged that bullet! 

"Spectacular" Rick

The National Weather Service calls it "spectacular." We call it scary. Yes, folks, there's another one on its way. Rick, which peaked at 180 mph last night (Category 5), is the second strongest hurricane in the history of the Eastern Pacific, after Linda in 1997. And as you can see from the cone of the projected path, it threatens the southern portion of the Baja Peninsula and the northwestern coast of Mexico. It will slow down quite a bit before it reaches land, but is still forecast to be a Category 1 hurricane at that time. We are following it closely and you can too at: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/index.shtml?epac. So far, it looks like it will hit well south of San Carlos, but Alamos will undoubtedly get another heavy dose of rain. Cabo San Lucas may have a direct hit and La Paz also is at risk. We'll have to wait until Wednesday or Thursday to know its true impact, but the projected path will narrow between now and then.

 

My Hometown and Other Links

Not much happening here- my foot is still gimpy but it is coming along. Dean went off to San Carlos for a couple of days to check on the boat. So, to keep you entertained, I thought I'd share some of my recent internet browsings:

First- Bill Moyer's Journal last Friday night on the banking fiasco and health care reform lobbying: http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/index-flash.html

Next- NYTimes article about the US metro area with the highest rate of obesity- My HOMETOWN!!! (see photo): http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/11/magazine/11Oliver-t.html?th&emc=th

Also- An except from a new book on gender inequality in the developing world (it's long but compelling): http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780307267146&view=excerpt

Finally- An historical account of the 1868 Alamos flood with implication for the present day: http://www.martinmansfield.com/alamos/index.php?topic=354.0.