March 25, 2016: The morning was calm in Bahía San Carlos but due to the Semana Santa activity we decided to spend several days at one of the nice anchorages a short distance to the north. Bahía San Pedro is a pleasant stop and a mere 16 miles from Bahía San Carlos, so off we went. We noticed a rolly 3-foot NW swell with a bit of chop, though the breeze kept itself below 15 knots NW. Entering Bahía San Pedro we found seven other vessels at anchor, including one power boat, a catamaran, two ketches, and three sloops. We anchored without incident in about 29', looking forward to some time ashore.
Yeah. About that.
We got our shore time/seashelling opportunities which was nice. Intending to do more of the same the next day, we broke our usual habit of raising the dinghy and outboard as we typically do at sunset. (We've learned that when the weather changes, it usually happens in the wee hours when it is the most difficult to manage dinghy and gear and keep them safe.) Instead, this time we left the dinghy with its outboard floating beside The Fox. However, overnight at 0230 exactly the NW breeze shifted to the SE – a direction that soon makes Bahía San Pedro uncomfortable. Swell entering the bay made the anchorage rolly but holding was good for all us boats. At sunrise, a couple of hours after low tide, we reanchored under the bay's southern bluffs in 22' to get in calm enough water that we could raise the outboard and dinghy. Three vessels of our group decided they'd had enough of the strong swells; they left around sunrise but about an hour later three other vessels arrived to take their place. From sunrise to sunset the winds still blew out of the S and SE, gusting to 18 knots. A few boats joined us under the southern bluffs. The wind slackened after sunset but the incoming swell kept the bay good and rolly.
The following morning the swell wrapped into the bay even more strongly. We were familiar with other anchorages even further north along the mainland, but they all were similarly exposed to southerly wind and swell. We decided under these conditions to schlep back to the better shelter of Bahía San Carlos. It was an uneventful motor-sail, slogging through swell and chop of about 3'-5' with noserly winds averaging 15 knots, blowing from the E > SE > S and back again.
Upon entering Bahía San Carlos we saw that a few more boats at anchor than there had been, but we eventually found a spot in about 36' depths somewhat close to the main mooring field. And we began mulling a haulout, now that Semana Santa was officially over…
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