Hunkered Down in a Blue Norther

Just so people don't get the idea that cruising is all fun and sun, we've been hunkered down since Wednesday in a classic blue (read: COLD) 'Norther'. The good news is we're not out on the hook, but rather rocking and rolling in our snug slip at Marina de La Paz. The wind has been blowing from the high 20's to the low 30's and yesterday's high temperature was 58F! Yesterday, the Captain of the Port shut the port down due to the weather. It's Friday now and this weather is expected to moderate sometime Saturday evening.

There have been boats, moorings and channel buoys doing the La Paz Bay 'walk around', coming free and moving with either the wind, tide or both, with cruisers and or the port workers in pursuit. One boat came into the marina yesterday afternoon with their 40-pound, high-tensile, Fortress anchor wrapped in a ball of chain. The bays bottom isn't well suited for Danforth style anchors. With the high winds and large tidal flows, often in opposite directions, boats tend to spin on their anchors. The boat with the Fortress anchor had lost it's holding and the anchor had become entangled in it's own chain. Fortunately, the crew of about five was able to retrieve the tangled mess, motor to a side tie in the marina and untangle the mess before heading out again to try re-anchoring.

It might be sunny, but we're bundled against the cold and wind. It is predicted to get warmer. Today's high is predicted to be 63F. We're considering a road trip to Todos Santos just to break our cabin fever. We are having an old friend visiting. He's scheduled to arrive Sunday evening and we're hoping that more benign conditions will prevail for his visit. The forecast is for calmer, warmer weather so we hope to get out and do some island exploration during his visit.