With the wind mellowed, we dropped the mooring ball pendant at 7:00am and made our move south to Los Gatos. As we approached Candeleros a SE swell hit us, the period was reasonable and the shape rolled the waves under us without too much discomfort. With the Jib out we added a few tenths of a knot to help fight the incoming tide. Then once near Roca Blanco we raised the main and motorsailed up and around Agua Verde. More wind as we headed towards Los Gatos helped us along, however the waves and current slowed us to 5.2-5.3 knots. On arrival there was just one boat in the anchorage, leaving us a good spot to anchor.
In the afternoon, I kayaked into shore to absorb my last visit to my favorite place in the Sea of Cortez. The red rocks were even more impressive with the yesterday’s and the summer rains. There was a shocking amount of erosion and many medium to large rocks had been rolled to lower ground. The thin horizontal lines were even more accentuated. A better photographer than me was needed to capture what my eyes took in. I climbed to the cross overlooking the bay and the trail was nonexistent, wiped out by the weather. On the ridgeline it was visible with less rock available for the rains to wash off. It was here I sat down to work on my Thanksgiving, “What am I thankful for” list. Then I was off to the cairn hill. Again no trail and so much destruction by the rains. Simply mindblowing. The last few hundred meters I hauled a cool triangular rock to make my final contribution to the rock cairn. Before exploring the red rocks I drifted over to a ridge giving me a view north. The green on the mountains, just spectacular. Then I descended and once at the red rocks traversed them. Hopping over some steep narrow crevasses. I was so thankful for a final chance to visit this special spot.
Back to the boat it was go time for cooking Thanksgiving dinner. It came together really well and other than nearly forgetting the Stovetop Stuffing I hauled from MN (thank you Vicki for the reminder). We stuffed ourselves with chicken, roasted potatoes and carrots, garlic zucchini, stuffing, and a salad. Truly gluttonous! Oh and some red Chilean wine, can’t forget that. Bellies full we shared our “Thankful” list. Both of us have so, so very much we are thankful for – and isolation of sailing in such a remote place away from our families really brings that in to focus.
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