Puerto Escondido - Monday March 28 & Tuesday March 29

Scallop shells on San Marte beach

INTREPID II left peaceful San Marte shortly after 07:00 am, spotting SV Juniata already on her way; one boat remained behind to enjoy the anchorage.  Skirting well outside the reefs, we headed north, to light swell and light winds. No point in raising the main at that moment as we were not rolling.  We had lost our sailing tracks from last year on the chart plotter, but verified some additional GPS way-points.  This passage had several rocks and spots to avoid as we headed towards Puerto Escondido.

The treat of the day was a long line of dolphins heading south east in front of us.  They were too far off to get good pictures or video, but none the less a highlight.  Not enough wind to raise the sails even a few hours out, so we continued motoring through the passage between Los Candelaros which are three stubby chunks of rock between Punta Candeleros and Isla Danzante.  The wind and chop picked up slightly here.  Gap winds and currents caught INTREPID II as we turned from west to north west again towards the "hidden harbour".

Nearing Punta Candeleros

Approaching the fuel dock we viewed a yellow panga and a dinghy effectively blocking our plans to tie up right away and take on fuel.  Singlar Marina staff did not come back on the radio to assign a mooring.  We successfully picked up #106, near the SW end of the mooring field; there is an element of chance in this maneuver. With our dinghy in the water and outboard motor attached, we headed for shore.  There was still no one in the office, so onward!  We strolled to the works yard and enjoyed meeting Janice and Jay and boat dog Buster as they worked on putting SV Ceilidh to bed.  Both are Sonrisa net controllers and we have heard their voices over the past two seasons.  Often they have relayed our check-ins as well.  The nearest tienda is a short hike out of the marina complex and down the road and although there was not much fresh produce left, it was a chance to stock up.  The owner, Fernando, was gracious enough to drive us back to the marina.  Muchas gracias!

On our return we finally checked in at the marina.  Constanza efficiently updated our information from the previous year and contacted Singlar Guaymas for us to confirm they still are expecting us to arrive in mid April.  She stated there was a chance the fuel dock was low on fuel.  They would try to save us some, so we thought it best to head over asap.  That meant tying the dinghy to our mooring to save it, motor to the fuel dock,  hover until one boat left and we were able to slide in.  Then we waited while a power boat took on copious amounts of diesel.  Eventually we had our 60 gallons on board, topped up the water in our port tank and headed back to the mooring.  Time to relax a bit.  We treated ourselves to a ride ashore once more as the water was calm to dine at the Puerto Bello restaurant overlooking the bay.  They served excellent food, if a bit pricey; good service and very enjoyable.  A quiet night and no need to maintain an anchor watch.

Tuesday morning.  I am aiming to complete blog updates.  We will head north again, possibly to Isla Coronados for a night, then on to Bahia San Juanico to wait out more northers.  The forecast states to expect them tomorrow instead of Thursday.  We may experience blustery conditions as we move north.

Hope all is well with everyone.  Fair winds to our cruising friends.