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 approaching. It's an idea worth considering wile on the water, too.)
Our sombreros seemed to be just an old mountain climber's tale because the several short gusts we saw on December 3 peaked at about 10 knots. Fine weather in which to dinghy ashore, do laundry, and buy beer. The morning's forecast called for near-gale winds in our region within the next 24 hours, so although the weather remained calm upon our afternoon return to The Fox, we raised the dinghy and stowed the outboard – just in case.
The northerly breeze picked up at about sunset but stayed in the high teens until about 0130 on December 4. Velocities seemed to peak in the low 20s and drop once again to the low teens after sunrise. Mooring Buoy #106, with its new tackle, held fine and all was well. The morning's SSB AmigoNet check-ins from Caleta San Juanico reported overnight breezes similar to Puerto Escondido's with calmer morning conditions for them. Looks like we could have waited out this wind event as comfortably in San Juanico as we did in Puerto Escondido. Except for the beer.
m
Leave a Reply