About twenty minutes after I sent yesterday’s post into the ether I realized that whining about not being able to snorkel because of the virus was pretty tone deaf. In light of the suffering and death brought about by this pandemic, our petty problems don’t amount to a hill of beans. So even though we are impacted by this disruption in many ways, most problems are still of the First World sort. Let’s hope they stay that way.

We had good wind and a fast, bumpy ride most of yesterday until about midnight when the wind started easing, leaving sloppy waves that threw us about and made sleep impossible. The first night of a passage is always pretty rough; we kept three hour watches and having Ryan, our crew/guest aboard definitely made the watches more pleasant. We are about 80 miles from Isla Isabela and hope to stop there in the morning if the weather allows. It isn’t a great anchorage unless the winds are light, so we are prepared to press on to Mantachen Bay if it doesn’t look safe.

This morning I was at the bow, mentally adding more tasks to my refit list when I was buzzed by a brown footed Boobie. He made several passes and was attempting to land on the boat. Or so I thought. The attached photo tells the story and now the Boobie is my new Spirit Animal (replacing the three toed sloth).

Sent from Iridium Mail & Web.

Our stay in los Frailes was a disappointment. As soon as Melissa and I got into the water to snorkel on the nearby reef, a park ranger came by and told us the park was closed due to the pandemic. This is Semana Santa, a weeklong holiday in Mexico, and the government is trying prevent the usual hordes of families from descending on the beaches. We dutifully got back on the boat frustrated by the fun-sucking complications this virus has wrought.

So we moved our departure date up and left Monday morning (the sixth). The winds are a bit stronger than predicted and we are flying the cruising spinnaker with main on a beam reach. Very lovely. We will fly the spinnaker until the wind builds or just before sunset.

This is my first attempt to post a photo to our blog using the sat phone.

It was another day of motoring from Los Muertos to Bahia Los Frailes. What wind we had was almost, but not quite on the nose. Sometimes a sailboat is nothing more than a trawler with a stick.

And no fish were caught today. After yesterday’s catch I thought our dry spell was over. I usually drag a lure or two behind the boat whenever we are underway and it is amusing to see the boat’s crew, in various states of drowsy repose, jump to the aft deck when we hear the click click click of the drag on the fishing reel. When we cross the sea to Isla Isabella, there will be plenty of time to fish.

We did see a few humpbacks in the area as we approached Cabo Pulmo. That was the highlight of the day. We never tire of seeing whales.

Bahia Los Frailes (Bay of the Friars) is just south of Cabo Pulmo National Marine park, and a popular area for diving and snorkeling. We plan on staying a couple of days, weather permitting, to snorkel the area and enjoy the abundant sea-life. Because the area is protected as a marine park, the coral here is abundant and healthy. With most of the local tourism shut down, it is quiet here. There are three other boats in the anchorage, and we see little activity on shore.

I should mention that without cell service we cannot check and approve comments. If you comment to a blog post that was made from the sat phone and it doesn’t show up within a day or so, you now know why. When we get cell service we will go in and approve your comments (unless you are a troll).