After drama the day before when the travellift operator accidentally scratched Strikhedonia I was ready to hit the seas and hopefully a chance to unwind. But not before a bit more work. To start the day, filling the jerry cans and waiting for Rick to come finish the non-skid installation on the swim step. The night before I had noticed that his work on the port fiberglass swimstep appears to have delaminated so my thinking was I’d show him and we would schedule it to be repaired the end of March when I returned to Maz. He was supposed to start at 9:00am. Nope. 9:30. Nope again. I went down to his boat and to the office with no luck. Blerg. Finally around 10:30 Sergio (Rick’s top guy) arrived. I showed him the issue and he agreed it needed to be repaired. Finally about 10:40 Rick arrived and we all agree the repair will wait until my return.
Oops, scratch from the travellift
Finally off the dock a little before eleven we start for the open ocean. Nearing El Cid I am shocked to see the dredge running (there is a fixed schedule posted and Sunday is an off day). Ugh, it is a bit windy and if necessary is it would be a tight spot to turn around. What to do. With some luck the water taxi was loading up people and I hollered over if he could call the dredge for me. Whew, he gave me the green light and said it would be fine. Engines reengaged we headed for the dredge. Pulling close I could see there was no room in front of the dredge and the operator pointed to going over the submerged suction hose. A bit nervously we proceeded and with a deep sign we were around them.
The fun was not quite over yet, clearing the break water we found a 7-8 foot swell, – thankfully not breaking but still a bit of a pucker factor. Up and over each wave we went and once around Isla Parjaros the swell was mostly behind us, so I handed off the controls to my friend Nora who had joined me for this leg. She was completely new to sailing and today was a chance to get her comfortable before our overnight passage to Isla Isabel. The two hour trip to Isla Pierda (Stone Island) was pretty chill and we anchored in the same spot Jean and I took in December. The island and Mazatlan breakwater creating flat calm water. With the sound of bands on the beach we set to relaxing and enjoying the afternoon. We had a long night coming we decided to stay aboard to rest. Laziness continued and cold sandwiches became dinner. With a 9:00pm departure I headed to bed in hopes of getting a bit of sleep.
Sunset before our crossing
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