With Di on her way back from San Diego, new 180 days visa in hand, I raised anchor and headed towards Puerto Marina Escondido's fuel dock.
I stopped outside the marina, waiting for her message confirming her arrival. As it came in, I opened the engine up, headed to the fuel dock and maneuvered the boat, shouldering it starboard side to the float. No docking lines needed, Di simply jumped on board and we were on our way.
Things going to plan we'd be on our way North for a 6 months "no marina" cruise that would take us in a big "U" around the Sea of Califonia and end up in Puerto Vallarta.
Except things didn't go to plan!
The day before, as I emptied our black water tank offshore, the macerator pump died. No worries: We carry plenty of spares, and whilst it's not a pleasant or easy job, I was certain I'd be able to repair things quickly.
Alas, not only had the easily replaced pump's impeller been damaged, I also found that the electric motor had burned. Unfortunately we have no spare motor on board.
A quick search of various suppliers in Mexico and the US revealed the fastest and easiest option would be to use Amazon Mexico, with a 2 weeks delivery time.
After months in the area, I was so looking forward to exploring other cruising grounds, that I must say I felt disappointed. A couple of weeks' delays isn't much in the grand scheme of things, especially considering we could spend it in some magnificent anchorages around Puerto Escondido. Yet, I felt disappointed that this delay would also slightly shorten our planned 6 months' cruise.
Even more annoying, the pump didn't burn on our shake down cruise, but at the start of the real one.
Di, with all her wisdom, said "the boat decides".
She's absolutely right. As much as I try and have all system maintained and working on board, spot failures are still going to happen and I won't always have the necessary spare. Cruise stopping repairs have been very rare, but are inevitable.
The last time "the boat decided" was when one of our AC's compressor died a couple of years ago. That somewhat forced us to hang around Anacortes for a few months awaiting COVID delayed delivery of a full new AC unit. Looking back, we had a great winter spending time in the San Juan Islands, and we still continued on South a few months later. Nothing lost, and we have a brand new AC unit.
So the boat has decided: We're staying in local anchorages a little longer than anticipated and -fingers crossed- we'll get our packages in time and be on our way soon thereafter. It'll give us one last opportunity to top off our diesel tanks and provision fresh food.
Our first stop is Ballandra Bay, a large circular bay on Carmen Island that provides shelter from both Southerlies and prevalent winter Northerlies. It is popular with cruisers, yet not very crowded: We've had the whole bay to ourselves, enjoying the abundant nature on display.
The cooler temperatures seem to bring life back everywhere. We see more fish and more rays, which in turn means more dolphins, and birds.
Dolphins in particular pay the bay regular visit, with a pod even spending the whole day fishing in the bay, undisturbed as we kayak past them for walks ashore. Distant seals show up regularly too.
Once in a while they come close to the boat, where we can count on Princess to alert us excitedly. Her frantic pacing up and down the deck tells us that something is happening if we haven't heard the dolphins' blows first.
Birds diving for fish complete the spectacle, and I love spending time in the cockpit just taking it all in.
Like often in beautiful anchorages, the days go by fast. Each very similar to the previous one, yet always different and always bringing new surprises and adventures.
My favorite so far: One night the bay turned bio-luminescent. After getting our eyes well accustomed to the dark, we could see thousands of tiny lights around the boat, trails of all the minuscule fish we see during the day. Once in a while a larger fish, lighting things up, scatters the tiny rays of light. And, best of all, the dolphins come back, their bodies completely highlighted by the glowing organisms, their path forming a long luminous trail behind them. The best Christmas present nature could offer us.
The boat decided we'd stay a little longer and we're making the best of it. It's never been about beating records and going fast anyway, so we're just enjoying making new wonderful memories here. There still is plenty of time to push North soon.
Merry Christmas from all on Enfin.
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