Gato Loco Leg 5 Blog #3
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We got another early start to Vee Cove, our next anchorage. It was a longer sail today, with about a 5-6 hour trip. We hit some rougher water with more wind. It was a pretty bumpy ride most of the way. A couple us got a little queasy, but I’m not saying who! I fell asleep on the bow listening to music and watching the waves. Unfortunately, even with sunscreen, I was a lobster. Not a good way to start the day, especially when we saw how breathtaking our night’s anchorage was as we sailed in. There was one other boat, a beautiful power boat, the Mola Mola, from Newport Beach. They dingyed over to meet us. When Bill started chatting with them, they realized they had many friends in common from California. Such a small world, isn’t it?
The small cove was lovely with a white sand beach, a large sand dune at the shore, and cliffs on either side. At the base of the cliffs were some amazing caves that we were able to drive the dingy inside of. We spied starfish, sting rays, Sergeant Majors, angelfish, King Angelfish, Guitarfish and a wide assortment of other sea creatures. The caves ranged from about 20 feet over our heads to only a few inches. When we were inside them, we could hear the waves crashing against the other side of the rocks. It sounded just like a growling bear. Marilyn was awesome by facing her fear of being in an enclosed space. She was having a blast!
We did some snorkeling, but it was colder and there was algae in the water that made it difficult to see much. We went to shore and hiked up the sand dune. We could see all the way back into the hillside, where there were little caves carved out of the hillsides and tons of lush, green, desert vegetation. It was absolutely beautiful! During the day we heard a MAYDAY call over the VHF radio. A power boat was hit by a whale and lost its outdrive. They were 10 miles west of San Carlos. The captain asked over the radio for someone to find his family at a hotel in San Carlos and let them know what was going on. A navy ship showed up and towed them in. I am sure that his family was very happy with the ending to that tale…
After all the sun we had that day, we were pooped and it was a lazy night. While I was rinsing dishes off the back of the boat in the dark, I thought I saw something moving in the water. But, not wanting to be a big chicken, I tried to ignore it. A bit later Bill and Sally yelled for us to come see…there were millions of little snake-like, worm-like creatures surrounding the boat. Some of them were only a centimeter long, but the others were several inches long. When we flashed the light on them they went crazy. Marilyn, always wanting to challenge herself, decided to pick them up. You go, Marilyn! When we turned out the lights, we noticed that were a bunch of other creatures swimming in the water by all the phosphorus trails as swam. It looked like something out of a science fiction novel! We flashed the light on, and it was several hundred bright red-orange nocturnal fish, feasting on the worms! When the light came on, they disappeared, as if it hurt their eyes. When we turned it off, they came back. Easily entertained, we did this over and over for quite some time. Not wanting to waste the battery on the flashlight, we called it a night… Manana we set sail for Isla Monserrate…more blogging tomorrow…as Capitan Brian says, “Hasta pasta…”
Until the next Update… The GatoLoco Crew _____________________________________________________________ Leg 1 April 11-19, Crew: Bill, Bruce & Cynthia Tegge, Clyde Betts sail from Puerto Penasco to San Carlos |
