Bahia Ballena to Bahia San Juanico

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Bahia San Juanico[/h2}

Another dawn start for the anchorage at Bahia San Juanico. It's Christmas day.Here is a photo of echo that shows what it looks like to be out sailing at the break of dawn. Once out of Bahia Ballena the wind picked up and by 0730 it was up to 18 knots with a little bit of sea. By 0830 the wind was over 20 knots and we both reefed down. By 0930 it dropped to 10 knots, so we took out the reef. At 1030 there was no wind at all, so we took down sails and motored in a glassy sea. The weather was perfect with a blue sky and a few cirrocumulus clouds - like a postcard.

Today is a water day for Ansa, once a week the Spectra Ventura 200 watermaker has to be flushed so I usually run it to fill the water tank and then flush it. Today it ran for 4 1/2 hours which means it made 36 gallons of water, which means I am using about 5 gallons of water a day. We have encountered other cruisers with small water tanks and no watermaker and they are seen trudging

through the streets of these little villages hauling water in gallon jugs. It is really a luxury to not have to do this hauling.

By 1610 we were entering the bay and passed by Mount Lazaro, which sits right on the northern entrance to the bay. Inside, we saw trailers, RV's, and some small houses on the shore. One thing is new to us. There is a 10 turbine wind farm here, we are guessing that it supplies power to the cannery. It's odd to see such a piece of modern technology in such a remote place; most of the villages we have seen to date have power from transmission lines. There is no Internet and no cell phone coverage here.

The next day, the 26th, we do some boat chores during the day and I make some bread. The next leg to Bahia Santa Maria is a long one so we plan to leave here just before sunset, sail all night, and arrive at our at Bahia Santa Maria about 0730 on the 27th. The fact that we don't want to enter and unknown harbor after dark drives our schedule.

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