Thursday, May 3, 2012

0710, Thu, 050312.     Bahia Chuenque.     We had a very busy day yesterday.  With Loreto Fest coming up it was time to move on.  We also needed to restock the food supply.  So, right after the morning routine we were anchor up and movin' on.  We headed into Loreto, a nice calm six mile run and dropped the hook outside town.  We dinked in and were greeted once again by the kids at the dock who try their hardest to be most helpful, tying up the painter, getting your stuff from the boat to the dock, even grabbing the flip flops and lining them up at the edge of the dock for you.  We headed into town.  It looks like they are making progress along the waterfront replacing the old road (not that old) with a new road, new curbs, a lot fancier.  You can still smell raw sewage as you turn the corner but that doesn't show, so nobody does anything about that. 

We walked about ten block into town and were headed across a tiny little one way street when we ran across Tom and Jeanie of Eagle.  They were headed around the corner to the telephone shop.  We had a good chat with them and are now signed up for the bar at Loreto Fest for a couple of hours of duty.  Leaving them we headed to the grocery store, filled up our little granny cart and headed back to the boat.  At the grocery we came across Tom and Jeanie once more as well as Bella Brisa, Rich and Cathy.  The store was hopping since it was Taxi day into town from Escondido where all the boats are hanging out for the Fest.  I'm not sure why they call it Loreto Fest when it all takes place in Escondido.

One of the two dock kids was still hanging around the dinghy so he got his reward and we were off to Neos. 

Back home, we made water and got the groceries restocked and during that time the waves kicked up a little.  It was a bit rocky and rolly but nothing we couldn't handle but who knows what it might turn into.  With just a few hours of daylight left I made the decision to cross the channel to Isla Carmen to an anchorage we had been to last year, Bahia Marquer.  Sue agreed and we were out of there in five minutes.  Then I got the idea about a place I had seen on our trip north, Bahia Chuenque doesn't get much of a write up in the guide other than a picture of the bay with an anchor indicating a good anchorage.  It is right around the corner from Escondido with an excellent protection from the southerly swells so we were headed in that direction.  It blew pretty good right on the nose slowing us slightly, but we made it into Chuenque without a hitch with plenty of sunlight left over.  The waters went from rough to nice and smooth so we were real happy for our move.  We were even greeted by a pod of dolphins on our way in as I put the auto pilot on to run forward with Sue so we could enjoy the show up front.  Several dolphins were playing with our bows, one looked to be a mother with her pup.  Real cute to watch the team swim along almost touching the bow and leaping out for a breath of air now and then.  Soon they were gone and we were almost to our destination.

The bay is about a half mile across with lots of palm trees, real unusual.  There is a row of houses along the water's edge looking mostly like gringo places, lots of mobile homes and roof shelters next to homes for protection.  There are a few fishing boats but not many.  Highway one runs just behind town up on the hillside so you can hear the traffic at times as the cars and trucks zip by.  Then just behind the road are the giant mountains that look like something out of the grand canyon with all the layers with their different color stripes.

Shucks, no time for cards yesterday, but we did get in our nightly fix of Sopranos.  More mob problems, more people getting written out of the script, ha……more later..