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| Red rocks of Los Gatos |
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| SV Snow Goose |
Snow Goose and INTREPID II departed San Evaristo at 09:30 Friday morning, with plans to reach Los Gatos, 29 nm away. Winds were light, seas rippled, light swell, some clouds with a bit of sun peaking through. Kelly started the water maker and we were on our way for a 6 hour or longer journey. Batteries needed charging, so we motor sailed. Just after 11 am we spotted dolphins and radioed Snow Goose to watch for them as well. It is always a treat for us to watch them swim by so quickly and gracefully and often no time for the camera only time to be in the moment and enjoy.
The wind was on our nose as expected from the north so we continued motor sailing, with Snow Goose following in our wake in no real hurry. More dolphins - Pacific Whitesides - stayed with us for almost 10 minutes. Our sailing friends on Keetya I were already anchored when we arrived at Los Gatos, with two other boats (Dark Star and Zephyr), just as the sea was getting a bit choppy and white capped - good timing! We didn't have a prime anchor spot, but dropped the hook in 20 feet of water while Snow Goose picked a spot further south.
This time we quickly put the dinghy in the water, with the outboard and paid a visit to Rob and Kim on Keetya I. We've rarely shared an anchorage with enough time to visit and catch up on our adventures. We also met Patricia and Bob and "Rocket Man" on MV The Dark Side; it is nice to meet folks we've heard frequently on the nets. Then as we headed off to see Frank on Snow Goose, the outboard started to act up. To make another long story short, Rob came to our rescue with his excellent mechanical skills and ultimately, the outboard is working better. Thanks Rob and Kim!
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| Anchorage from the beach |
Kelly set up the flopper-stopper and we were glad he did, as it certainly slowed down the effect of the swells. The sunset tonight was incredible - deep reds and we captured great photos. Frank blew his sunset conch shell salute and all was well.
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| Can you believe the colours? |
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| Lagosta for dinner |
Winds didn't start up until 05:00 am, so we had a fairly quiet night. Unfortunately, those winds were from SSW 12 -13 kilometers with light chop, although both weather gurus Don and Geary had said "no winds" due to no gradient in the sea. Not the ideal day we hoped for to explore, but off we headed to pick up Frank and dinghy to the beach to explore and view the incredible red rocks up close and personal. Just before that we finally had a visit from the three fishermen who had been on the beach, who motored up in their panga to offer us
lagosta (lobster tails) and a
cabrilla (a tasty fish of the grouper family). As we'd rarely been approached to barter for seafood, we were pleased to do so this time, exchanging some pesos and
limones and our one bottle of "coca". We paid for the fish separately and all turned out to be delicious with the cabrillo sufficient for 3 separate meals!
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| Kelly hiking over red rocks of all sizes |
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Carol and Frank observing beach critters
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We'll let the pictures tell their own story of Los Gatos. It is considered a "fair weather anchorage" but a must-see for the impressive rock formations and striking colours, especially the rusty red on the north shore. There are several reefs here as well and we'd hoped to snorkel, but the grey day and forecast stronger winds put a damper on that idea. We took photos, met Rob and Kim on the beach to chat further and ended the day with a fantastic lobster dinner.
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| Amazing colour and shape |
