whales all around us!

Ardie of Odyssey took this photo, timed perfectly as the whale came up to the surface. There was no wind in this current as the tide was running fast. We had to sail (disabled engine) or drift (more accurate). In 12 hours we went only 17 miles!

Whales!

We were surrounded by feeding finback whales, much bigger than our boats! Odyssey photo.

sailing - wind very light!

After our shaft slid out and hit the rudder, we were able to hammer it back but could not use the engine. No wind was the weather prediction but we managed to find a little. Later that night we found too much! It blew 25 K and made 6 to 8 ft steep breaking seas for about 10 hours. Photo by Odyssey.

dividing up the lobster

Marv and Ardie of Odyssey joined us for the feast !

She's a HUGE lobster!

This one is the biggest we have ever seen and it fed 4 people with some left over. Unfortunately, we do not know how to tell the sex of lobsters (longusta) so did not know until she was cooked that she had a lot of eggs. Sorry!

jolly fishermen and Marv

This group came by and gave us a lobster! Marv of Odyssey was invited abord the panga for this photo. SV Odyssey and the MV Darkside were the only boats we saw in the 2 weeks we were out! These fishermen have been diving for sea cucumbers which are shipped to Japan by air. The one from California speaks English.

oyster shells - all empty!

dinghy on the beach in Bahia San Francisquito

Nice bay with big piles of oyster shells. Water up here is still a cool 72 degrees, just great!

dinner on Sea Tern

another night at sea coming up

doggone salt water pump!

Herm fixed it. Washing dishes in salt water will make our fresh water last longer

putting dinghy in the water

We'll go for a ride to explore this bay. Still have not seen another boat!

this guy has been here for millions of years!

bay south of Kino

Cruising at last! Have not seen any other boats. Tomorrow we'll cross to the Midriff Islands in the northern Sea

sunset over the Sea of Cortez

into the water

Sea Tern is being launched in Marina San Carlos after her trip from the workyard at marina Seca about 1/4 mile away.

under the keel

Sea Tern is up on big blocks of wood so Herm can get under most of the keel

making a new tarp sunscreen with grommets

The three shrimpers: sons Alan, Ed and Fred

This is on the Hood canal in Washington. They got their limit!

Finally - Sea Tern is in the workyard!

She was covered with sand and dirt so we could not do anything on board until she was hosed off and cleaned inside. Here's Herm doing that with lots of water. Her batteries were not disconnected as Herm had asked (when the mechanic finished last summer) so they were dead. The starting gel cell has to be replaced. It was bought last year so is nearly new. Of course, the nearest new one is in Tucson! A guy is getting it today, we hope. We are scheduled to splash next Monday. We hope all systems will be working so we can GO!

visitors from Mazatlan!

Kathy, Dan, Bea and Horst stopped for the night on their way up from Mazatlan so we all had dinner at Bananas.

nice pottery

Too bad there will be no room in our car for any of this!

Jacuzzi is cool!

Adlai Motel has 12 rooms all around this (party!!) courtyard

The jacuzzi is not heated - fortunately!

Herm gets cantaloupe

The owner of te motel was a chef. He treated Herm to this feast.