Starting North

Today is May 28 and it has been just over a week since we left behind Marina Palmira, access to the internet, and cell phone service. We are disconnected. For the next six months (hurricane season), our travels will take us north into the Sea of Cortez where internet access is a rare luxury. The single side band radio (SSB) is our primary means of communication with the outside world. With the SSB, we can communicate with other cruisers, exchange emails with family and friends, and post this blog. The bad news is that only small files can be transmitted over the radio and we will be unable to post pictures. We will catch up on the pictures when we find an internet connection.

The SSB also provides our weather information. Until recently, we depended on the daily cruiser nets for our forecasts. This was frustrating. Sometimes we would get busy with something else and forget to turn on the radio. Other times the signal was weak and we could not hear the forecast. We needed a better way to get the weather. Trisha took on this challenge. In her research she found a very helpful article posted by Chuck on Jacaranda, a veteran cruiser out of La Paz. We owe Chuck a big thank you for helping Trisha get everything set up. Weather forecasts are no longer a problem. Each morning Trisha sparks up the SSB and downloads emails with current weather forecasts for the Sea of Cortez and hurricane tracking updates from NOAA. If there is a tropical storm brewing, she uploads the NOAA tracking information into a piece of software that generates a storm tracking map for the Eastern Pacific. During the rise and fall of Hurricane Bud, the tracking map provided daily updates on where the storm had been and its projected path.

The last seven days were spent anchored in San Evaristo where we have pretty much seen it all wind wise. Upon arrival, we anchored in the south end of the bay to get protection from the southerly winds and waves coming up from La Paz. By midweek the coromuels were done. The daytime winds went light and it got hot. The nights brought vicious westerly winds screaming down the mountains. One night we saw a sustained 25-35 knots from about midnight to 0430. As we got ready to make the passage north to Los Gatos, strong northerlies came. We re-anchored Interabang in the square slot on the north end of the bay and spent a couple days hunkered down behind the hills.

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