The bay here is full of pelicans with quite a few boobies and skimmers also competing for the many fish. A booby seems to have adopted the water around 'Nereida' and regularly dives in right beside the hull for his prey. The pelicans are amusing to watch as they 'dive-bomb' with open bill to catch fish.
I got to bed very late in the wee hours of Sunday morning from 'El Canto de Las Sirenas', after enjoying a Mexican farewell by way of lots of great singing & playing by Jose Luis & others (including a great Cuban singer named Javier), so I was clearly in no fit state to deal with lifting & stowing of dinghy & outboard later that same morning, together with removing & stowing the awning & a few other miscellaneous items, ready to leave soon after midday, as previously tentatively planned. So a slight
change of plan seemed in order .... i.e. sleep until 1230(!), then do everything necessary - including a lengthy non-scheduled cleaning from the dinghy of Nereida's water-line to remove her 'green moustache. All to be done in relaxed mode, ready for early bed with a view to leaving for the Marquesas at first light tomorrow (Monday) morning - I feel far more comfortable with that plan and "Nereida" is better prepared to leave now!
Winds are forecast to be good once 50mls offshore - so I might have a reasonably fast passage (around three weeks, instead of four) with any luck. Time will tell... Keep an eye on my website: www.svnereida.com for updates!
4.30pm Monday 26th March Day 1
Well, as expected no useful wind for quite a time after leaving the anchorage, so motored and 'made' water and used SSB. (No contact made on each attempt to speak either to other boats who started out from Manzanillo this morning or to Barbara, VE7KLU, on the Great Northern Boaters Net, out of Sidney, B.C.) The speed/log impeller wasn't working when I left, but finally decided to behave around noon - JUST as I was about to make a log entry - good timing!! Now the wind has kicked in
nicely - but on the nose (W 17kn), so I've come off my intended course of 245T (making for a waypoint of 5N, 130W which should be vaguely around the ITCZ northern limit) to sail closehauled at around 6.5 kn on starboard tack.
8.30pm
Beautiful halo around the moon overhead with stars around - a long distance from it & quite spectacular. Having a bumpy ride in WNW wind, decreased to 13kn, still on a close reach.