We had made it all the way up to Bahia de los Angeles for hurricane season and even lived through a hurricane with out an engine. Jodi had been so kind in bringing us our high pressure pump from the States. We placed that on with the thought that our troubles would be over. Nope…didn’t work that way. We were beginning to think our luck was just really bad to get a faulty part when Bill from Calico Skies offered us a set of compression gauges. We just didn’t understand why the new part didn’t work. Sweet….we placed it on and our hearts sank. The worst case scenario just occurred. We had lost compression in valve 1 and 3. The part wasn’t faulty it wasn’t needed. The engine was dead. We will be without a motor until we either buy a new one or we rebuild this one.
Even though we felt defeated we did not let it get us down and we decided then and there that we would finish the summer. We were confident now that we could manage the boat with out an engine. We contacted Lauro, the mechanic in Puerto Escondido Marina that we would be back there in November and would he be interested in rebuilding the engine. He said yes. We decided that we would order the parts when we began the trip back South and that would give them enough time to reach Lauro. Little did we know that was going to become it’s own story.
We gave Bill back his gauges. Said goodbye to Kirby and Jodi as they were heading south. We hoisted our sails and decided to let summer commence. Off we went out of Don Juan and headed over to the Village to gather some much needed supplies of fresh meat and veg, drinks, and snacks. We heard that the supplies were starting to come in as the roads had been cleared from the damage caused by Hurricane Kay.
As we sailed into the anchorage we find all of our friends and a few new ones. We sailed on our anchor and cleaned up the boat. We seen Perspective, Dog fish, Alegria, Lusty, Phoenix Rising, Double Deuce and Eyoni. It was a family reunion! This is also where we meet the Gen M crew. We all meet at the sand spit and hike along the shore line to Campo Archelon. A quaint coffee shop bistro with a view of the sea. We eat, drink, and catch up.
Over the next few days in between happy hours and daily floats under GenM hulls the group starts to shift as some are heading further North, some out to anchorages, and some heading south. We stay in the Village as the winds had completely died making the air temperatures reach their peak. But, that gave us a chance to visit with Meredith and John on Jackdaw and George and Toni on Thalia. More Birria Tacos and beach walking.
One excruciatingly hot afternoon the breeze picked up ever so slightly. That caused us to look out at the bay Jackdaw and Hiraya could see white caps! There was wind just a mile away. We decided we would race to Mitlan. Let’s go! We raised the sails and slowly made our way out of the anchorage. Creeping ever so closer to that wind line. With barely enough speed to steer we drifted in a kind of out of the anchorage direction. Jackdaw was just a boat length away and as soon as they hit that wind line they were off like a rocket. At 5 knots it hardly looks like a rocket but feeling the wind fill the sails and power up was a relief. And the fact that the air was now moving was beyond energizing. As soon as we were out of the anchorage we tried everything we could to catch them. Actively and constantly adjusting the sails to maintain speed. As they got closer to La Gringa we could tell we were gaining on them. Finally! We can do it. As we inched closer and closer it occurred to us that maybe something was up. “Did the current change?” “Don’t know didn’t check.” In our hast we didn’t even think to check the tides. “Oh crap.” We pushed on as we were still maintaining speed gaining on them more and more. As they passed La Gringa and entered the channel we watched as they seemed to stop. They Tacked and then they tacked again. We radioed up to them and they confessed they were following their exact same track with every tack they did. They weren’t making any head way and are about to start their engine and head directly across to Smith’s for the night. The opposing current got them. There would be no hope for us in this light wind so called a forfeit and we turned right into La Gringa.
Sad to see John and Meredith go we had a few solo nights in La Gringa. We had only planned on staying the night but it was so calm and peaceful we staid. We spent our time catching up on vlogs, hiking, and watching the wildlife. We spotted a whale shark. It was small but still bigger than the dinghy so that was fun. We were mesmerized by how the sun made its gold spots sparkle. We considered staying until the full moon when everyone else is coming back for the float but it is weeks a way. You can only do this float when the tide is a flood. Full moons make this happen. We decide to move on and will catch the float some other time. Besides there is still a bit of hurricane debry caught up in small estuaries like this one.
We find a weather window and head over to Mitlan. A small island nestled under the gigantic Isla Coronado. We timed the tides so that we could make the small 3 mile trek across the channel. Wowzah. We got swept away. Entering the anchorage at a whopping 9.5 knots we were flying and hoping that we would still have enough wind to make our way to starboard (right) and up out of the current. Other wise we would be pushed right onto the beach of Coronado. We slowed significantly as we entered the anchorage. The wind shielded by Mitlan slowed us down but we still had enough to get us to a decent spot. We dropped hook and relaxed.
Looking around us in all directions there were magnificent lava rock cliffs. Years and years of erosion working their artistic brush of salt water and wind to carve the most spectacular view. We grabbed our camera hopped in the dinghy and went to explore.