December 8, 2016, was a fine day to stay aboard and regroup. The SSB forecasts from the AmigoNet and the Sonrisa Net, plus some spot forecasts I took from Saildocs, all called for stronger weather. We saw increasing rolliness and whitecaps outside Agua Verde's bay but the NW lobe remained significantly calmer than all the…
December 7, 2016: The wee hours saw some breezes from the SSW of about 12-17 knots that quickly decreased to the 10-12 knot range. By sunrise the bay was calm. Conditions were much lighter throughout Agua Verde than had been forecast for the region, which was lucky for the anchored fleet. One less-than-cool sailboat arrived,…
There are reasons why Agua Verde is such a popular cruising destination. Opportunities abound for swimming, snorkeling, paddling, and fishing. The seashell enthusiast has a selection of beaches with good collecting potential. The fishing village of Agua Verde welcomes you to look around; maybe you could bring some basic supplies for their school while you…
The weather on December 5, 2016, was once again calm, making an easy 23-mile southbound passage from Puerto Escondido to the ever-popular anchorage of Agua Verde. It is very common to enter Agua Verde and find boats of all sizes anchored in the bay's SW lobe, along its broad southern shore, and especially in its…
December 3, 2016, was calm in Puerto Escondido despite the presence of sombreros on the peaks of the Sierra Gigante range. (A general rule of mountain climbers is to skedaddle to lower elevations as soon as one sees a cloud hovering on a mountain peak like a hat because it means that gusterly weather is…
[Photo on left by Darlene Topilko] Kia Ora and The Fox temporarily parted company at Isla Coronados as we both raised anchor at 0700 on December 2, 2016. The winds were a mere 12 knots from the SW in the Coronados southern anchorage. However, only 1/4 mile offshore from the anchorage, we had the winds…
Long-term cruising ingrains some habits that normal people may find a bit odd. Like a fixation on weather forecasts. Comparing and contrasting differing meteorological opinions. Analyzing and discussing – at length – which forecast might turn out to be the correct one. Discussing them all over again. So it was for us on the Thursday…
Who has time for photos when there are so many things to do? Darlene T. and her pup Scruffy, crew of Kia Ora, and I took beach walks while Cap'ns Tom and GB spent their time getting skunked while dinghy fishing. Kayaks were paddled. Dinners were shared. More boats arrived bringing the total tally to…
The Fox and our buddy-boat, Kia Ora, raised anchor at Punta Pulpito for a very short 10-mile southbound voyage to the popular anchorages of Caleta San Juanico. Both vessels were underway just after 0700 on Sunday, November 27, 2016. The morning air was calm with skies overcast. Arriving in San Juanico we found only two…
The Fox put to sea out of San Carlos a bit over an hour after our buddy-boat, Kia Ora, had set sail. We intended to make a 90-mile northern crossing of the Sea ending in a nighttime landing in the anchorage at Punta Pulpito. Although it is our policy to avoid nighttime arrivals, we knew…