Day 4 - Ensenada El Cardonal and Oil Problems

Pachuca and Murray Grey

Today we moved the boat about 11 miles from Bahia San Gabriel on Isla Espiritu Santo to Ensenada el Cardonal on Isla Partida.

Dipstick sinner making amends

You Lookin at Me? - Night Heron

At 10.45 AM we weighed anchor and motored north, leaving Gallina, Gallo, and Ballena islands of starboard. We had a bit of breeze from the port beam so we rolled out the headsail near Isla Ballena and inched along at 1.8 knots for about 90 minutes. It was good to roll out the headsail and expose it to air and sunlight after so many months. The high-tech material showed severe crease lines after so many months tightly furled for the hurricane season. After lunch we reverted to the "iron jib" and dropped anchor in 4.2 meters of water at Ensenada la Cardonal at 1.55 PM. There was only one other boat in the anchorage, "Murray Grey" from Oregon. Soon Jim and Bonnie motored over to say hello. Brenda with polite hesitation said that a Murray Gray was an Australian cow. Jim and Bonnie reacted with delight, saying that the observation proved that we were genuine Australians. I offered a jar of Vegemite but they politely declined. Jim and Bonnie raise Murray Greys in Oregon and spoke very favorably of the breed. Brenda noticed that Jim was even wearing a "Murray Grey" cap.
Ensenada el Cardonal is described as "a long, shallow bay, extending nearly 1.5 miles into Isla Partida, almost dividing the island." We certainly feel snug and cozy at the end of this long bay, threatened only by the SW Coromuels which are very light this time of the year.

Exposed shell bank

After a short nap I got the Zodiac ready - we had towed it without the outboard motor, which we carried on the stern rail - and we soon headed off for the beach for the "short" walk through the arroyo to the other side of the island. Because the tide was so low the task proved unpleasant and somewhat dangerous. We were forced to beach the dinghy well short of the end of the bay and then had to walk hundreds of meters along the mangrove to get to the head of the trail. Brenda took a fall which fouled her binoculars with mud and decided that this was about as far as she's go. It turned out to be a wise decision. I pushed on, wading through hundreds of meters of muddy and slimy water in order to walk with shoes and socks heavy with water to a beach that was rocky and uninviting.
By 5 PM we were back on the boat and enjoying Sundowners (Tequila with pineapple juice for Brenda, beer as as starter for me). The wind had dropped from 10 knots to 5 knots, the sky was clear with a canopy of stars, and we expected a quiet night.
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