At Isla Espiritu Santo

We are now at anchor in Ensenada La Gallina (24N27.00, 110W22.39) which in my opinion is the best anchorage on the island. We are snuggled in the SW corner of the bay, close enough to the cliff to hear the gentle lapping of the water, and protected from all sides except the west. At the moment the wind is out of the east at 7 knots, the sky is full of stars, and we are feeling pretty secure with 35 meters of chain in 9 meters of water over a good sand bottom.

The day went as planned with one exception. We left the slip at 0945 and motored out in a gentle wind and calm sea. As we cleared the La Paz channel I remarked that the navy mother ship was ahead with a panga hanging off its stern. Within 30 minutes the panga chased us down for another inspection. This one was different: Brenda said that the automatic weapons were much bigger, and they were not interested in the boat's equipment or in taking photographs - just the papers - and there was no customer feedback form to fill out. (I've haven't noticed the armament of either group of inspectors. Maybe it's a survival thing to focus on the people rather than the guns that they are toting.)

I actually enjoyed the visit. One official came on board, made himself comfortable, and asked to see the ship's papers. I told him no problem, but that this was the second inspection in three days. He asked about the boat's name Pachuca and told me how it was the name of the capital of Hidalgo province. I told him that the boat was named in Australia. During the process he noticed my fishing licenses and asked if I did any fishing. I let him know that I am the world's worst fisherman and haven't caught a fish since I left Australia two years ago. (Brenda told me later that when the armed crew on the panga overheard this their serious demeanor was changed to smiles.) Then this fine man proceeded to give me fishing tips, principally what bait to use and how to keep the fish from stealing it. He apologized for this second inspection and told me that the boat's name would be noted so that we would not be bothered again. I told him that it was no problem. He shook my hand and I felt like I was saying goodbye to a friend. I like this splendid place Mexico. It's the people that make it what it is.

After the inspection we proceeded to Isla Espiritu Santo at 2000 rpm doing speeds over the ground ranging from 6.1 to 7.4 knots. Along the way I figured out why the AIS was not displaying on the chart plotter: months ago the chart plotter had hung up and I figured out how to do a factory reset which had changed the NMEA baud rate. At 1.40 PM we dropped anchor, tidied up the boat, had lunch, and then a nap. In the late afternoon I launched the Zodiac and we made the 1 mile run to the head of the bay and landed on a patch of sandy beach to look around. On the way we waved to the people on a 42-ft yacht sharing the bay with us.

Back at the boat we had refreshing swims followed by fresh water rinses then we had some margaritas while Brenda produced a find dinner which we had in the cockpit over a bottle of wine. There was a cool wind, the stars were out, we felt secure, and it didn't get much better than this, as they say.

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