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Some Serious Vacationing
The Whitacre family of four (Heath, Marina, Elijah, and Gabriele) arrived from our hometown of Petersburg, Alaska and we commenced some serious vacationing! Prior to their arrival, we did piles of laundry, loads of provisioning for four teens (who never got full), and cleaned the boat inside and out. I managed to beat Chris (again)…
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Loreto Area Excursions
Tied safely to a mooring ball in Puerto Escondido, we rented a vehicle for a road trip to San Javier. This spectacular, winding 1 hour drive through mountains and canyons led us to San Javier Mission (founded in 1699 with the stone temple built 1744-1748) tucked in a picturesque oasis of palms. We explored the…
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A Child’s Mind
Woke up quite early to anxiety-provoking wind gusts, earlier than predicted, and decided to haul anchor and get underway to Puerto Escondido, winds having shifted pushing us onto the other shore of Honeymoon Cove on Isla Danzante. Our anchoring routine is getting old, as we’ve had a broken windlass remote, sketchily holding the hot power…
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Going North despite Northers
After the quietest night ever for New Year’s Eve (not even the sound of lapping against the hull) we woke to a brisk expected west wind and pulled anchor. Setting the main sail and Code Zero (screecher), we sailed NORTH, which is an unexpected gift in the Sea during these winter prevailing winds. We gladly…
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New Year Musings as We Click off 1,000 miles
After our Navidad rest, we were ready to start our two-month northward journey up the Sea of Cortez, an excursion before heading back south to cross the Pacific Ocean in late March. We started with exploration of three Isla Espirtu Santo anchorages. Into El Empachado, a tiny cove, we were a bit disappointed to find…
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Northerlies for Navidad
Into the Sea, we were greeted by the expanse of white sand beach and turquoise waters that is Playa Bonanza. In sheer bliss, we paddle boarded to shore, dug our toes into the sand, delighted in new shells, swam; then realizing we had brought neither water (nor beer) to shore; paddled back to the boat,…
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Winter Solstice Musings & Mirages
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Mangroves & Poetry Passages
Bahia Magdalena (known to yatistas as Mag Bay) is a massive, sheltered bay of mangroves, sand dunes, and fishing villages, 25 by 13 miles in size. We anchored for four nights off the village of Puerto Magdalena and could have stayed another week to explore the mangrove systems and beaches. The town has about 50…
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Bahia Asuncion & Bahia Santa Maria
Bahia Asuncion is 50 nm south of Turtle Bay. After a wonderful downwind sail with our asymmetric spinnaker flying, we anchored off this active fishing village for a few nights. The beach made for excellent walking, shell collecting, and surf swimming. The town is rustic, but had one main paved road with “handicap accessible” sidewalks…