Cruisin North Bound

Crew Change in Loreto, May 7th (Mon)

Monday is our transition day. Morning ham radio net weather looks favorable for us to do the crew change anchored in front of Loreto where there is little protection from the weather. Wind has been laying down nicely every night and more of the same is forecasted.

SeaEsta will sail with us over the next two days. The plan is to do some sightseeing today. We sailed out @ 10:30 and cruised the short distance to Honeymoon cove then up the west coast of Carmen to anchorage Ballandra directly east of Loreto. While in Ballandra we rafted up with SeaEsta and watched as Kurt tried out SeaEsta’s new underwater air system used to clean their bottom. I’m sure our new crew will want to try it out on the bottom of Vee Cove tomorrow.

(2:30) Boats heading into the anchorage report winds are up and we’re positioned for a broad reach race with SeaEsta to Loreto 12 miles directly west. Yep… It was a fun dash to Loreto. Gato Loco set dual head sails and got a good lead while Kurt worked with John to get sails dialed in on SeaEsta. In the picture above SeaEsta finally gets her mo-jo going and bears down on us trying to steal our wind. We arrive in Loreto side by side after hitting 8+kts in the 14kt wind.

The Loreto anchorage was a little bumpy as we set anchors. I was hoping it would settle down quickly since I was responsible having SeaEsta anchor with us in this marginal location. Good news, weather settled down as forecasted and we headed in to a malecon restaurant while we waited for the new crew to arrive.

Like clock work, the small plane on final approach signaled their arrival. Before long we were all setting having dinner and making plans for the next leg. The final stage of this crew change is my lovely wife Frankie’s departure tomorrow morning…

(6:00 AM, Tue May 8th) Neither of us slept well anticipating her departure. Off to the taxi at 7 and we see her plane fly out at 8:30. I’m sad to have her leave but I know she misses our dog Neely and will enjoy spending time together. We will meet again when Gato Loco arrives in Penasco May 18th. She will now enjoy the cruise through our updates for the rest of the cruise.

The next leg crew pictured right, Bill Hensler, Marina Wheeler, Rick Quant, Lowell (me) and Kurt Jerman crewing on SeaEsta in front of the Loreto Mission as we head for the mercado for prevision.

(12:30) anchors up and off to Isla Carmen’s north shore, crew wants to return to Vee Cove… This leg is to the NE and just as our last visit winds on our nose. Until the next Update…

The Gato Loco Crew.

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